The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Collins adds pair of assistants
Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins named his fifth and sixth assistants, co-defensive coordinator Nathan Burton and cornerbacks coach and defensive special-teams coordinator Jeff Popovich.
Burton is a Tech graduate (2005) who earned four letters and a scholarship after arriving as a walk-on from Greater Atlanta Christian. He most recently was defensive backs coach at Temple for the 2018 season. He’ll also coach safeties.
Popovich comes to Tech from Boise State, where he worked for one season. He had previously been at UTSA and FIU, working at the latter with Collins in 2010. At Tech, Popovich will be in charge of kickoff and punt coverage.
Burton played safety for Tech from 2001-04, crossing over the regimes of George O’Leary and Chan Gailey. He stayed as a graduate assistant 2005-08, working his last season for Paul Johnson. He worked on Gailey’s staff with Collins in 2006, when Collins was director of player personnel.
Burton also served in a variety of positions at Oklahoma State, Tennessee-Martin, Shorter, West Alabama and N.C. State before joining Collins at Temple before the 2018 season.
This season, the Owls tied for fifth nationally in interceptions with 18.
“Nathan is a Georgia Tech grad. He has a tremendous amount of energy and is innovative,” Collins said of Burton in a statement. “He was a great player, then a great graduate assistant for us at Georgia Tech. It’s been a pleasure following his career. He did a great job for us in the secondary at Temple, producing one of the top pass defenses in America. I’m excited to bring his expertise to Georgia Tech.”
Popovich has roots at Miami, where he walked on and ultimately played in 46 games from 1996-99. He served as a graduate assistant there, then coached defensive backs or cornerbacks at Florida International, Texas-San Antonio and then Boise State. This season, with Popovich’s assistance, Boise State ranked 11th nationally in third-down defense. At FIU, Collins and Popovich helped the Panthers win the school’s first Conference USA championship, in 2010.
“I’m very excited to have Jeff join our coaching staff here in Atlanta,” Collins said of Popovich in a statement. “We had great success together at FIU coaching an elite, conference-championship defense. He will bring tremendous energy, enthusiasm and expertise to our secondary and special teams.”