Georgia Tech’s coaching changeover from Paul Johnson to Geoff Collins has raised the hopes among Yellow Jackets fans that the latter can build on the success of the former. It also has created questions of a different sort for fans of Western Carolina, the school that both men claim as their alma mater.
“Look at these coaches we’ve got out there,” said former Western Carolina sports information director Steve White, echoing chatter among Catamounts fans. “Why can’t we do better?”
In place of excitement over the Catamounts’ play on the field – the Southern Conference school hasn’t been to the NCAA FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs since 1983 – Western Carolina fans can take some pride in the apparent stranglehold that their alumni hold over the leadership position of Tech’s football team. Johnson proudly noted the Catamount succession in his first public comments about Collins.
“It’s unusual, it really is,” White said. “I guess it’s just a coincidence, you could say.”
The overlap between Tech and the regional school in Cullowhee, N.C., tucked near the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains doesn’t end with Collins and Johnson. Jackets great Ted Roof was defensive coordinator at Western Carolina in 1997 before coming to Tech as a coach (the first time) in 1998.
Joe D’Alessandris, who coached offensive line for Chan Gailey 2002-07, is a Western Carolina grad, as is John Sisk, who has served as Johnson’s strength and conditioning coach.
White, a Western Carolina alumnus who worked at the school from 1970-2000 and another 10 years part-time, knows both Johnson and Collins from their time as undergraduates. Though Johnson (class of 1979) did not play for Western Carolina, White said that he remembered Johnson picking the brains of then-Western Carolina coach Bob Waters and his staff.
Johnson was a physical education major who aspired to return to his high school alma mater Avery County High in Newland, N.C., and become head coach.
“In fact, I think I made a ‘C’ in football coaching class,” Johnson said earlier this month.
As Johnson was not a team member, he didn’t register on the radar of most fans and alumni until he became coach at Georgia Southern, where he annually faced the Catamounts in Southern Conference matchups and “came and kicked our butts,” White said.
Johnson and White have stayed in occasional contact over the years.
“He never forgets his upbringing,” White said.
Collins (class of 1994) made more of a presence on campus as an undergraduate, playing linebacker and defensive back for the Catamounts from 1989-92 and then serving as a student assistant in 1993-94. He returned as defensive coordinator (2002-05). White recalled Collins, who earned a degree in sport management and exercise science and also in education, as a constant presence in the film room as a player.
“When he was a player, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as intense as he was,” White said. “Maybe what you would call a student of the game.”
Tom Bodine was a linebacker two years younger than Collins who went on to make the school’s sports hall of fame.
“You never saw Geoff ever have a bad day in practice,” Bodine said. “And the way he played, it was just fun to be teammates with him because he loves the game and he just enjoyed being around his teammates, always cracking jokes, having fun, just playing hard.”
When Bodine watched the video of Collins’ introductory news conference, rife with energy and passion, he saw authenticity.
“One thing, Geoff is true to himself, because he is going to be who he is, not try to imitate someone else,” Bodine said.
Bodine recognized Collins had a future in coaching when he was a student assistant. When Bodine had questions about the scheme or similar matters, “I would ask Geoff instead of, I hate to say it, our assistant coach.”
Bodine and Collins still communicate sporadically. He said he would happily send his children to play for him, as “I know he would be the type of coach that would grow a young man into being productive in life.”
Bodine remembered a time when his alma mater was searching for a head coach and thinking Collins would be a phenomenal choice. But, given how his friend’s career arc has now taken him to Tech, he recognized that it probably worked out for the best for him. Just as it did for the man Collins is replacing.
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