Former Kennesaw State coach Brian Bohannon is returning to Georgia Tech.
Tech announced Friday the staff hirings of Kobie Jones, Mike Polly, Emil Ekiyor Jr., and Bohannon.
“We’re really excited to add Kobie, Mike, Brian and Emil to our staff,” Tech coach Brent Key said in a release. “They bring a lot of experience and knowledge, but beyond that, they’re all great men and leaders that will make our team stronger on and off the field. They are great additions to our program and the Georgia Tech community.”
Coming off a 10-year stint as coach at Kennesaw State, Bohannon returns to Tech as a senior offensive assistant. He was dismissed as KSU coach in November.
Bohannon put together a 72-38 record as the first coach in Kennesaw State football history from 2015-24. In the first seven seasons of program history, Bohannon led the Owls to seven straight winning campaigns, four 11-win seasons, four FCS playoff appearances and three Big South Conference championships.
Bohannon oversaw the team’s transition to the FBS over his final three seasons at KSU.
During his time at KSU, Bohannon was named the American Football Coaches Association FCS coach of the year in 2017, Big South coach of the year three times (2017, 2018 and 2021) and AFCA district coach of the year in 2018.
Before his time at KSU, Bohannon was an assistant coach for 16 seasons under College Football Hall of Fame coach Paul Johnson, including five seasons as quarterbacks and B-backs coach at Tech (2008-12). Bohannon also coached under Johnson at Navy and Georgia Southern.
Bohannon began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at West Georgia from 1994-95 before spending one season as wide receivers coach at Gardner-Webb in 1996.
A Griffin native, Bohannon played wide receiver at Georgia from 1990-93.
Jones comes to Tech and will serve as the Yellow Jackets' new cornerbacks coach, a role previously held by Ricky Brumfield, who left the program in October.
Jones joined the staff at Alabama in 2023 before being promoted to assistant cornerbacks coach in 2024. Prior to his two-year stint at Alabama, Jones spent two seasons as defensive backs coach IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Jones began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Alabama State, in 2020-21. He played four seasons at Alabama State as a quarterback and defensive back under current Tech chief of staff Donald Hill-Eley.
Ekiyor is a former all-SEC offensive lineman and has joined Tech’s staff as a quality control assistant working with the offensive line.
Ekiyor was an offensive lineman at Alabama from 2018-22 and was recruited by and played his first season under Key, who was the Crimson Tide’s offensive line coach at the time. A three-year starter, he was named first-team all-SEC as a senior in 2022.
He was invited to participate in the 2023 Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Combine and went on to sign a free-agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts.
Polly brings 17 years of college coaching experience to his role as assistant offensive line coach. Polly most recently spent 11 seasons on the staff at Middle Tennessee, first as running backs coach, then as offensive tackles and tight ends coach and finally as offensive line coach. He also served as the Blue Raiders’ special teams coordinator from 2014-21 and run game coordinator from 2016-23.
Polly previously spent three seasons at Murray State, first as the Racers’ offensive tackles and tight ends coach, then as their offensive line coach and special teams coordinator in 2011 and 2012.
Polly began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Georgetown College before spending three seasons as a graduate assistant at Middle Tennessee.
