Georgia Tech alumni and fans — your defensive coordinator knows your pain.
Andrew Thacker's sister graduated from Georgia, as did his brother-in-law. His mother went to grad school at the state's largest college. Thacker, who grew up in the state, anticipated Thanksgiving with the same level of dread that Tech grads and fans know well.
In a state where UGA alumni outnumber Tech alumni 200,000 to 70,842 (each school provided the numbers in a delightful illustration of the colleges’ differences) and the disparity in the schools’ fan bases is undoubtedly greater, representing the white and gold is often a lonely calling.
“So that’ll be fun,” Thacker said, tongue-in-cheek. “Yeah, all the ribbing, all the smart-butt comments. ‘We’ve been rooting for you all year except for this one. Hee hee hee.’ And I’ll smile, and my eyes will roll into the back of my head.”
» MORE: Andrew Thacker is back home with those who know him well
Thacker’s boss has known the rivalry in a personal way, as well. Growing up in Decatur and then Conyers, coach Geoff Collins attended the annual Tech-Georgia junior-varsity game that was held on Thanksgiving when the games were played at Grant Field. The series ran from 1933-93, with proceeds going to Scottish Rite Hospital.
As the annual in-state clash nears, the rivalry has taken on a slightly different flavor as Collins and his staff, infused with Tech grads, take the stage for the first time. Indeed, both head coaches needed no indoctrination into Clean Old-Fashioned Hate upon their hires. Georgia’s Kirby Smart grew up in Bainbridge and played for Georgia.
“When I came to school here as a player (1994), it was one of the biggest rivalries there was,” Smart said Monday. “It was what you talked about as a freshman. It’s what was ingrained in you, to have the hate and build that up.”
Beyond growing up around the rivalry, Collins had two separate stints at Tech, working for coach George O’Leary 1999-2001 as a graduate assistant and then tight ends coach and for coach Chan Gailey in 2006 as director of player personnel.
Collins has four coaches on his staff who are Tech grads — safeties coach Nathan Burton, running backs coach Tashard Choice, defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Marco Coleman and offensive line coach Brent Key. He has two more who grew up in the state — Thacker and defensive line coach Larry Knight.
While it’s hardly difficult for a non-Georgian to pick up on the rivalry’s importance, Collins and many on his staff have lived it.
“This is something, as a kid growing up in the state, I looked forward to all year,” Thacker said.
Thacker was in middle school and high school when the series was at one of its peak — a four-year stretch between 1998-2001 when both teams entered the game ranked in the Top 25.
Around that time, Smart was playing for Georgia (1995-98), Key (1997-2000) and Burton (2001-04) were playing for Tech, and Collins was on O’Leary’s staff.
“It’s a great game, a great rivalry, and the thing that I’ve talked a lot about is getting this game back on the national stage that it deserves to be,” Collins said.
Both Collins and Smart shared memories this week from that time period. Smart’s final Tech-Georgia game as a player was in 1998, a 21-19 victory for the Jackets, as quarterback Joe Hamilton led a comeback after trailing 19-7 in the fourth quarter. It ended a seven-game losing streak for Tech in the series.
“It was my last home game at Sanford Stadium and lost on a game-winning field goal with Joe Hamilton's drive,” Smart said. “So that was my last memory of Sanford Stadium. Thank God I got into coaching; I got to fix that.”
Collins recalled Tech’s win in 1999, a 51-48 overtime thriller. The Jackets won on a 38-yard field goal by Luke Manget. O’Leary elected to have Manget kick on third down, a decision that proved prescient when the kick was blocked but was recovered by holder George Godsey, providing Manget with another chance. This week, Collins recalled being befuddled by O’Leary’s decision to kick on third down.
“As a young coach, I watched that, and just the presence of mind by coach O’Leary and just the coaching and the way that we attacked and all of those things are really, really special, so that was a really good memory,” Collins said.
Thacker wasn’t so aloof as to hide his anticipation for Saturday.
“It’ll be one of those moments where I’ll take a step back and I’ll pinch myself and be a part of the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry,” he said. “Sorry if that sounded cheesy — I’m not going to be uncomposed, I’m not going to be overwhelmed — but just appreciative of the moment.”
