Turnovers the name of the game for new Georgia Tech defensive coordinator
Takeaways.
That is Jason Semore’s calling card as a defensive coordinator, and part of the reason Tech coach Brent Key hired Semore to revamp the Tech defense in 2026.
“I think you have to be really calculated with what you want in terms of defining success in today’s college football. It’s really difficult to play elite defense. You can’t be good at everything,” Semore told radio station 680 The Fan on Thursday. “The game is very creative from an offensive standpoint. So from a philosophy standpoint, years ago, I decided that that was gonna be the staple that was gonna be what we hung our hat on in terms of production and affecting the game and helping the offense by creating more possessions.”
Semore, Tech’s linebackers coach in 2022, returns to Tech to take over a defense that has struggled, to put in mildly, to create turnovers in its recent history.
The 2025 unit, under now-former defensive coordinator Blake Gideon, managed only nine takeaways. The 2024 team totaled only 11. In Key’s first 21 games as the program’s coach, Tech had piled up 41 takeaways before the drastic drop-off.
A return to becoming a defense that wreaks havoc is sorely needed.
“Obviously, you do that through scheme, and you do that through the emphasis that you have at practice and things like that,” Semore said of the focus on forcing turnovers. “For us, we like to put our vision on the quarterback in multiple ways, be really multiple in coverage, that way you’re making quarterbacks play quarterback. That’s kind of our philosophy in terms of intercepting the ball.
“The next piece is how you attack the ball. I think the biggest difference between college and the NFL is if you (watch) an NFL game, you’re gonna see a lot more ball attacks than you do in college. So it’s a tactical discipline standpoint in terms of how you train your guys to tackle and things like that.”
Semore, a former linebacker at Adams State, a Division II program in Colorado, began his coaching career 20 years ago. His first opportunity to be a defensive coordinator came in 2014 at the Colorado School of Mines, where the Orediggers finished with 23 takeaways.
Two years later, Semore was promoted to defensive coordinator at FCS power Montana, and the Grizzlies had 18 takeaways in 2016 and 24 more in 2017. Valdosta State forced 21 turnovers in 2021 under Semore’s leadership.
Last season, Semore’s defense at Southern Mississippi had a national-best 23 interceptions as part of its 29 takeaways. Marshall’s defense collected 38 takeaways during Semore’s tenure there from 2023-24.
While turnovers will certainly be a large focus of Semore’s teaching throughout this spring and into preseason camp, it won’t be the only driving force, he said.
“The first thing that should jump out is, obviously, the identity of the defense, how hard the guys play, how they communicate, how they align, the cohesion of the group overall,” Semore said. “Just playing with confidence and speed. I think when you watch an elite defense play, you can see the confidence with how the guys communicate before the ball is snapped. So that’s the biggest piece.”
Semore will have at least have a few returning playmakers to build his defense around.
Defensive backs Daiquan White, Zachary Tobe, Savion Riley, Kelvin Hill and Tae Harris are expected to return, as are linebackers Kyle Efford and E.J. Lightsey and linemen Brayden Manley, A.J. Hoffler and Andre Fuller. Those players, as well as a large number of additions via recruiting and the transfer portal, will be part of Semore’s defense — and he hopes they will all have the same vision as he does.
“From a player-development standpoint, the level of investment you have in your players, at the end of the day, it’s schematic, it’s tactical, but it’s also teaching guys the identity piece. How to create choices and habits to prepare the right way,” Semore said. “So when you invest that level of time in young men and they also believe in what you’re doing and they invest in you, there’s a relationship and a bond that’s formed where two people are trying to be the best version of themselves.
“And I think that’s never gonna change in football. I think that’s what makes the game great. It’s a preparation game. As a coach you always wanna see the light bulb turn on for a dude in terms of the choices and the habits that he has to prepare to play at a high level. That’s why I coach. That’s where I find the joy. When a young man is trying to be the best version of himself and he sees that in a coach, more times than not he’s gonna give you that same level of investment.”
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