Pete Thamel: Names to watch for next Georgia Tech head coach, replacing Geoff Collins

Georgia Tech decided the Geoff Collins era had run it’s course, making the move to dismiss their head coach on Monday. Now, Pete Thamel of ESPN has revealed his names to watch to takeover the Yellow Jackets.

On Twitter following the dismissal, Thamel listed a bevy of interesting candidates for the job opening.

• Jamey Chadwell — Coastal Carolina HC
• Bill O’Brien — Alabama OC
• Jeff Monken — Army HC
• Troy Calhoun — Air Force HC
• Bill Clark — Former UAB HC
• Bronco Mendenhall — Former Virginia HC
• Todd Monken — Georgia OC
• Charles Huff — Marshall HC
• Sean Lewis — Kent State HC
• Al Golden — Notre Dame DC
• Bryan McClendon — Georgia WR coach
• Dell McGee — Georgia RB coach
• Thomas Brown — Los Angeles Rams TE coach
• Alex Grinch — USC DC
• Kane Wommack — South Alabama HC
• Brent Key — Interim Georgia Tech HC
• George Godsey — Baltimore Ravens TE coach

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As you can see, there’s a myriad of coaches with head coaching experience, but the most well known may be former Penn State leader Bill O’Brien. After impressing with the Nittany Lions, O’Brien took his talents to the NFL with the Houston Texans, where he coached until returning to the college game as Alabama’s offensive coordinator.

Additionally, coaches like Jamey Chadwell of Coastal Carolina and Jeff Monken of Army have proven they can lead programs successfully, but the ACC and Georgia Tech would be a different animal. Still, they would be worthy choices, deserving of the opportunity.

Nevertheless, Pete Thamel believes Georgia Tech will cast a wide net, and the Yellow Jackets can’t afford to strike out.

More on Georgia Tech cleaning house, dismissing head coach Geoff Collins

Moreover, it’s evident Georgia Tech is cleaning house, dismissing both head football coach Geoff Collins and athletic director Todd Stansbury on Monday, according to Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Both Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins and athletic director Todd Stansbury were told this morning by president Angel Cabrera that they have been dismissed, according to a person familiar with the situation,” tweeted Sugiura. “Upheaval at Tech. Story to come.”

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Yellow Jackets associate head coach Brent Key is expected to become the interim HC. He’s a former offensive lineman and team captain for Georgia Tech.

Moreover, since taking over in 2019, Collins has not been able to find success with the Yellow Jackets. He won three games in each of the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons, going 3-9 in 2019 and 2021 and 3-7 in 2020. Four games into this season, Georgia Tech was 1-3. 

In Week 1, Georgia Tech was blown out against Clemson, falling 41-10. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 35-17 victory over Western Carolina in Week 2, but dropped Saturday’s game against Ole Miss in Week 3. All three of those games were technically at home, as the showdown with Clemson was at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

Even though both of Georgia Tech’s losses this season were against top 20 teams, the fashion in which those losses came to be were likely the final straw in the tenure of Collins.

Collins ends his tenure at Georgia Tech with a record of 10-28 in four seasons. He posted a mere 7-19 record against ACC opponents. 

Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Collins spent two seasons as Temple‘s head coach. He led the Owls to two seven-win seasons and an 11-5 record in the American before departing for the Yellow Jackets.