Arguably the best player on the Georgia Tech offense this season announced Monday evening that he’s going into the transfer portal. Wide receiver Nate McCollum, whose pass catching helped support a below-average offense, said in a social media post that he will enter the transfer portal when the window for players to submit their names opens Dec. 5.
Since the season ended Saturday, McCollum is the second Tech player to make public his plans to transfer, following quarterback Jeff Sims, who made his announcement Sunday.
“At this time I believe this is the right decision for myself and my family,” McCollum wrote in the post.
McCollum led the Yellow Jackets with 60 catches for 655 yards and three touchdowns. His catch total was more than double that of Tech’s second-leading receiver (running back Hassan Hall, with 28), as was his team-leading average of 59.5 receiving yards per game. Of his 60 catches, 35 went for first downs, according to cfbstats.
It’s indicative of his ability as a receiver that he continued to produce even when it was clear to opposing defenses that he was the Jackets’ go-to receiver and further that Tech played four different quarterbacks this season.
His 60 receptions are the most by a Tech player since Calvin Johnson’s 76 in 2006 and are seventh most in team history. He was a bright spot on an offense that ranked 12th in the ACC in total offense and last in passing offense.
“That knack of being open, being able to make plays, it doesn’t matter to him who the quarterback is,” interim coach Brent Key said of McCollum late in the season. “It matters to everyone, but for him, the competitive juices in his body said, ‘I’m gonna get that ball. I’m gonna be in the right position to where that ball is.’”
McCollum, from Dutchtown High, has two years of eligibility remaining.
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