Earlier this week, Ken Whisenhunt was offered the Georgia Tech head coaching gig after only 5 days. This led to panic on message boards and social media sites from Georgia Tech fans who thought Ken Whisenhunt would be another failure just like Chan Gailey. Thankfully, Ken Whisenhunt has had some doubts about whether he wants to move to the college game.

With the pushback from boosters and fans, Geoff Collins’ name has been mentioned by multiple other Georgia Tech reporters. That eased some tensions at the time about this coaching search but thanks to new information from Temple’s 24/7 Affiliate, confirmed by 2 of my sources as well, it seems Todd Stansbury has widened his searches by interviewing Temple’s Geoff Collins.

Photo Courtesy: Yong Kim

Todd Stansbury was in New York Tuesday for Calvin Johnson’s Hall Of Fame ceremony but according to GoJackets.com, he decided to stay in New York for the week. Geoff Collins is in New York for recruiting after attending the ceremony on Tuesday so it makes sense that Stansbury decided to interview him.

It was reported when Paul Johnson retired, that Todd Stansbury was looking for a “Tech Man” and although I don’t think Tech should limit the coaching search to an Alum or previous coach but Collins is very qualified. Collins spent 4 seasons at Georgia Tech with 2 as a Graduate Assistant (1999 & 2000), 1 as a Tight Ends Coach (2001), and 1 as Recruiting Coordinator (2006). His last stint with Georgia Tech is particularly memorable as the 2007 class (the only one he recruited) is the best Georgia Tech has had in 20 years.

Geoff Collins’ “Swag Chalice”

I love Tony Elliott for Georgia Tech but Geoff Collins looks to be a great fit for Georgia Tech. He is credited with bring the “swag” and “fun” back to Temple Football and his defense and offense are both top 50 in college football in points and overall, his team is 34th in S&P Rankins.

One of my number one quarrels with Georgia Tech and recruiting is that Tech’s staff don’t sell Atlanta. Atlanta is the hip-hop/culture capital of America but most rappers and influencers don’t participate in anything college football related with the exception of Migos and UGA. If Georgia Tech could get rappers and artists to attend games, that would be a massive help to recruiting.

Unfortuantely, a full-staff takoever is expected as Collins will attempt to bring both his offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator to Atlanta. While that would mean the end of Nate Woody’s defense after a promising first year, the offense would get a big boost. Georgia Tech, despite running the Triple Option for the last 11 years, has a lot to work with given the current talent pool. Collins’ offensive coordinator is Dave Patenaude and he runs a “spread” offense. I use spread loosely as it is a bit more complicated. A quick rundown would be that he uses a lot of 11 personnel (whether shotgun or under-center) and will establish the run first. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The offense will then use quick passes assuming the defense cheats on the run. That type of philosophy would be, on paper, a perfect transition for Georgia Tech.

Geoff Collins has a wonderful ability to connect with his players and prospective players. He allowed his players to wear their Twitter handles on the back of their Spring Game jerseys, allowed his players with a 3.0+ GPA to wear a special patch on their jerseys to indicate their standing, and even allowed players to vote on the coveted single-digit jerseys. (@TheBestGear/Twitter)

Click here for a detailed breakdown of Temple’s Offense

This hire also comes with a ringing endorsment form Georgia Tech’s own Roddy Jones stating “I’d think he’d recruit his (Expletive) off” and ““He just always has kind of been ahead of the curve and will continue to be,” to Ken Suguira of the AJC. If Georgia Tech can pull this off, it will be a great hire especially considering the alternative of Ken Whisenhunt.