Geoff Collins
Geoff Collins went 25–38 as a head coach, 2017–2022, at Temple and Georgia Tech. Share
- Record
- 25–38 career
- Seasons
- 6
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Apr 10, 1971
- Alma mater
- Western Carolina 1994
- Best season
- 2018 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Temple | 7–6 | 3rd (East) | Gasparilla Bowl W | ||
| 2018 | Temple | 8–4 | 2nd (East) | Independence (not coached) | ||
| 2019 | Georgia Tech | 3–9 | 7th (Coastal) | |||
| 2020 | Georgia Tech | 3–7 | 12th | |||
| 2021 | Georgia Tech | 3–9 | 6th (Coastal) | |||
| 2022 | Georgia Tech coached four of 12 games | 1–3 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 15 | 2–13 | 13% |
| Against top-10 teams | 9 | 0–9 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 14 | 3–11 | 21% |
| Conference games | 42 | 18–24 | 43% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 21 | 10–11 | 48% |
| At home | 33 | 13–20 | 39% |
| On the road | 27 | 10–17 | 37% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 24 | 17–7 | 71% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 39 | 8–31 | 21% |
His own 63 games on file, 2017–2022, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dabo Swinney 2019–2022 | 0–4 | Clemson | 4 | |
| Charlie Strong 2017–2019 | 2–1 | South Florida | 3 | |
| David Cutcliffe 2019–2021 | 2–1 | Duke | 3 | |
| Brian Kelly 2017–2021 | 0–3 | Notre Dame | 3 | |
| Pat Narduzzi 2019–2021 | 0–3 | Pittsburgh | 3 |
Geoff Collins’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Clemsonseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| UCFseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| South Floridaseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Dukeseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Notre Dameseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Boston Collegeseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Pittsburghseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| East Carolinaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Georgia Tech for the 2019 season from Temple, where he was head coach. He had a prior connection to the school.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | Western Carolina | Assistant coach | |
| 1995 | Franklin HS (NC) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1996 | Fordham | Linebackers coach | |
| 1997–98 | Albright | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1999–2001 | Georgia Tech | Graduate assistant | |
| 2002–05 | Western Carolina | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2006 | Georgia Tech | Recruiting coordinator | |
| 2007 | Alabama | Director of player personnel | |
| 2008–09 | UCF | Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2010 | FIU | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2011–12 | Mississippi State | Co-defensive coordinator | |
| 2013–14 | Mississippi State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2015–16 | Florida | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2017–18 | Temple | Head coach | |
| 2019–22 | Georgia Tech | Head coach | |
| 2024 | North Carolina | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2025–present | South Carolina | Assistant coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Nick QuartaroFordham
- George O’LearyGeorgia Tech, UCF
- Mac McWhorterGeorgia Tech
- Kent BriggsWestern Carolina
- Chan GaileyGeorgia Tech
- Nick SabanAlabama
- Mario CristobalFlorida International
- Dan MullenMississippi State
- Jim McElwainFlorida
- Freddie KitchensNorth Carolina
- Mack BrownNorth Carolina
- Shane BeamerSouth Carolina
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dave PatenaudeNew Haven
- Ed FoleyTemple, Fordham
- Brent KeyGeorgia Tech
- Chris OstrowskyNorthern Michigan
- Jim ChaneyTennessee
Worked under (12)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Quartaro | Fordham | 1996 | Linebackers coach | |
| George O’Leary | Georgia Tech | 1999–2001 | Graduate assistant | |
| Mac McWhorter | Georgia Tech | 2001 | Graduate assistant | |
| Kent Briggs | Western Carolina | 2002–05 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Chan Gailey | Georgia Tech | 2006 | Recruiting coordinator | |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | 2007 | Director of player personnel | |
| George O’Leary | UCF | 2008–09 | Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Mario Cristobal | Florida International | 2010 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Dan Mullen | Mississippi State | 2011–14 | 2011–12: co-defensive coordinator; 2013–14: defensive coordinator | |
| Jim McElwain | Florida | 2015–16 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Freddie Kitchens | North Carolina | 2024 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mack Brown | North Carolina | 2024 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Shane Beamer | South Carolina | 2025–26 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Patenaude | Temple, 2017–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Georgia Tech, 2019–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | New Haven | |
| Ed Foley | Temple, 2017: special teams coordinator and tight ends coach; 2018: assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach | Temple, Fordham | |
| Brent Key | Georgia Tech, 2019–22: assistant head coach, offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Georgia Tech | |
| Chris Ostrowsky | Georgia Tech, 2019: offensive advisor | Northern Michigan | |
| Jim Chaney | Georgia Tech, 2022: offensive analyst | Tennessee |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Thacker | Temple, 2017: linebackers coach; 2018: defensive coordinator; Georgia Tech, 2019–22: defensive coordinator | |
| Taver Johnson | Temple, 2017: defensive coordinator | |
| Jason Semore | Temple, 2018: SDA; Georgia Tech, 2019–20: defensive assistant; 2022: linebackers coach | |
| Nathan Burton | Temple, 2018: defensive backs coach; Georgia Tech, 2019–21: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Chip Long | Georgia Tech, 2022: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Chris Weinke | Georgia Tech, 2022: quarterbacks coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Florida | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $236,000 | $1,051,500 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Florida | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $236,000 | $701,500 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Mississippi State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $47,917 | $575,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Collins’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 40% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 24.8 seconds a play, 2017–2021.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 13 g | Temple | 21 of 109 19% | 43% | 52% | 25.2 | −0.03 | |
| 2018 13 g | Temple | 26 of 102 25% | 41% | 49% | 23.0 | +0.02 | |
| 2019 12 g | Georgia Tech | 17 of 104 16% | 35% | 41% | 26.6 | −0.12 | |
| 2020 10 g | Georgia Tech | 25 of 81 31% | 47% | 45% | 23.1 | −0.03 | |
| 2021 11 g | Georgia Tech | 19 of 92 21% | 34% | 48% | 26.4 | 0.00 | |
| All 59 g | 108 of 488 22% | 40% | 47% | 24.8 | −0.03 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.