There’s no denying the fact that Georgia Tech faces a monumental task in rebuilding its football program following the firing of both athletic director Todd Stansbury and head coach Geoff Collins, so where do they start?
It feels like a lifetime ago that the Yellow Jackets were competing for ACC titles and relevance in college football. While coaching candidates will be hotly debated over the next few months, 24/7 recruiting analyst Rusty Mansell laid out his keys to the turnaround in Midtown on 92.9 The Game’s ‘The Steakhouse,’ offering three things that can expedite the process.
Mansell began by stating that before a coach is hired, Tech must find an athletic director that understands the importance of football to ensure that the administration is fully bought in.
Most importantly, Mansell said that the athletic department must have a plan to maximize NIL opportunities for student-athletes.
“The number one thing a coach is going to ask, if they want to hire a good coach, he’s going to sit in front of whoever his AD, president and the big money guys are and say ‘what is Georgia Tech’s NIL plan? Because we’re not getting Jimmies and Joes [simply] because they’re playing downtown Atlanta now," he said.
The third and final point Mansell shared was to allow interim coach Brent Key to have a chance to earn the job—citing Dabo Sweeney’s rise from interim head coach at Clemson to creating one of the top brands in college football.
Key is a Georgia Tech alum and served as the OL coach and run game coordinator prior to taking over for Collins who was let go four games into his fourth season. He ends his tenure with a 10-28 record and never won more than three games in a season.
Whoever the new coach becomes, Mansell said they should lean heavily on the transfer portal just as Ole Miss has with Lane Kiffin and the Rebels using plenty of transfers in their 42-0 trouncing of Georgia Tech in week three.
