Geoff Collins was named Georgia Tech’s head football coach, the school announced Friday morning.
A team meeting has been scheduled for this afternoon with a news conference to follow at 5 p.m.
Collins met with athletic director Todd Stansbury on Wednesday in New York and then again in Atlanta on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Collins’ hire ends Stansbury’s search, which began Nov. 28 with coach Paul Johnson’s decision to step down after 11 seasons at Tech.
Tech likely wanted to moved expediently to allow its new coach to meet with recruits before the early signing period begins Dec. 19. Tech has 16 committed players, many of whom are scheduled to visit campus this weekend for their official visits.
Collins has been the Temple head coach for the past two seasons, leading the Owls to seasons of 7-6 and 8-4. Before that, he was defensive coordinator at Florida (2015-16) and Mississippi State (2013-14). Collins left Mississippi State after the 2014 season and before the Bulldogs played against Tech in the Orange Bowl that season.
Collins, 47, is seen as energetic and innovative and has a reputation as a strong recruiter. In the second of his two stops at Tech, in 2006, he was credited with helping put together the Yellow Jackets' famed recruiting class that included Derrick Morgan, Jonathan Dwyer, Morgan Burnett and Joshua Nesbitt. Another member of that class, Roddy Jones, called Collins "ahead of the curve" in a recent interview with the AJC.
Stansbury’s comfort level with Collins is understandable. Collins coached at Tech in two different times, first in 1999-2001 as a graduate assistant and tight ends coach for coach George O’Leary, then in 2006 as the director of player personnel for coach Chan Gailey. O’Leary went on to Central Florida, where his athletic director for four of those years was Stansbury.
More information to come.
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