The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Geoff Collins sells Tech, local ‘kids are buying it’
From Winston Gordon’s vantage point, the success that Georgia Tech has achieved in coach Geoff Collins’ first full recruiting cycle isn’t difficult to understand. The coach at Hapeville Charter has paid attention to the work that Collins has done in and around Atlanta and the way he and his staff have presented the team to recruits and high school coaches through visits to campus and social media.
“I think they made a concerted effort to put a fence around the city and have done a tremendous job hiring former players and just building a culture that it’s cool to go to Georgia Tech, and I think the kids are buying it,” Gordon said.
When the commitments become official today on the first day of the early signing period, they will speak for themselves. As of Tuesday afternoon, Tech’s 23-player class rated 23rd nationally and fourth in the ACC by measure of the 247Sports Composite
rankings. Should that rating hold, it would be Tech’s second-highest national finish in the relatively brief history of online rankings (which can be tracked to about 2002), standing only behind the famed 2007 class.
Further, Tech has commitments from four players in the state’s top 50: Dalton High running back Jahmyr Gibbs, North Gwinnett High defensive end Jared Ivey, Dutchtown High wide receiver Nate McCollum and Grayson High receiver Ryan King. (Gibbs, whose stock skyrocketed this fall, won’t sign until February after taking additional official visits.) The last time Tech had as many in-state top-50 signees was 2010, when it had six.
Gordon’s observations are similar to those shared by other high school coaches shared around the state: that Collins and his staff have jolted Tech’s recruiting.
Clint Satterfield, coach at Locust Grove High in Henry County, said he would be the last one to be critical of former coach Paul Johnson and
his staff. He had good relationships with two of Johnson’s assistants. But, said Satterfield, “I’ve noticed that energy that (Collins) brings. I’ve seen a change.”
Satterfield gave the example of his tight end Billy Ward, who in March was one of the first two prospects to give his commitment to Tech and Collins. “He came back (from a visit) and told me that he was going to commit to Georgia Tech,” Satterfield said. “I was like, ‘OK, wow.’ I was happy for him. Then I asked him (why) and he said, ‘I met coach Collins and that’s where I want to be.’”
Stanley Pritchett, a former NFL player now coaching at Arabia Mountain High in DeKalb County, likewise had a positive relationship with Johnson and his staff. But he recognized the work being done by Collins and his staff. “Coach Collins brought a new style of being on the internet, being on Twitter and the things that kids like to do these days,” Pritchett said.
By NCAA rule, head coaches have restrictions on their ability to make off-campus visits. Collins has maximized his visibility and contact time by being proactive in bringing coaches and their players to Tech’s campus to visit with him and his staff.
Gordon happens to live in Midtown near Tech’s campus. This past spring, he was having to get around on a broken ankle. To bring him to a spring practice, a team staff member went to pick him up in a golf cart. “That just tells you the type of person he is, and how welcoming he is to high-school coaches and wanting us to be at his practice,” said Gordon, who has three juniors (defensive ends Zavier Carter and Nick Hunter and wide receiver Jaquez Smith) that
‘We want to build relationships with high school coaches, because if they feel good about us, then they’re going to talk good about us to players.’ Geoff Collins
Georgia Tech head coach
Tech has already offered scholarships.
Being proactive and accessible is simply good business practice, Collins said, “because we want to build relationships with high school coaches, because if they feel good about us, then they’re going to talk good about us to players. And, it’s the right thing to do.”
Collins’ emphasis on creating local ties has notably paid off with commitments from Creekside High linebacker Tyson Meiguez and Mays High defensive end JaQuari Wiggles, though Wiggles may be on the fence after a recent official visit to Illinois. Tech could also sign Meiguez’s teammate Khatavian Franks, a linebacker who took an official visit to Tech this past weekend.
Tech has not had a signee from a Fulton Public Schools high school south of I-20 (such as Creekside) since 2013 and has not had a signee from an Atlanta Public Schools high school (of which Mays is one) since 2005. Tech signed players from throughout the state in Johnson’s successful tenure, but Collins has made Tech’s backyard a priority.