Ten days after losing to Georgia Tech on the football field, the Georgia Bulldogs will lose a player to the Yellow Jackets.
J.J. Green, who played running back and defensive back over two seasons with the Bulldogs, will enroll at Georgia Tech in January and join the football team as an A-Back. The 5-foot-8, 183-pound sophomore will have to sit out the 2015 season as per NCAA transfer rules but be eligible to play as a junior in 2016.
Prince Avenue Christian School coach Jeff Herron, who coached Green at Camden County, confirmed the transfer and participated in Green’s decision.
“It’s just a better fit for him,” Herron said Monday. “He wants to play running back. He’s been telling me that all year. J.J.’s a great player, but he wasn’t going to beat out those running backs at Georgia with the type of system they run. And Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt wants big defensive backs to match up with all those big receivers in the SEC. So J.J. sees Georgia Tech as an opportunity to get back into a system similar to what he was doing in high school.”
Green played wingback in Herron’s Wing-T offense at Camden County. As a two-way player his senior season, he rushed for 919 yards and 16 touchdowns while also recording 39 tackles, three interceptions and a sack opn defense.
As a likely A-back at Tech, Green will be asked to run the ball on tosses and option pitches, catch downfield passes and block on the perimeter. While 2016 is a long time away, Green figures to have a chance to contribute. With four A-backs graduating, there are three scholarship A-backs expected to return in 2015.
At Georgia, Green was a similarly versatile player for the Bulldogs. He came through for them in a big way as a freshman, stepping up to play in 13 games and start two at tailback after Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall were both sidelined with injuries. He finished with 384 yards on 68 carries (5.6 ypc) and scored three touchdowns. He was named SEC freshman of the week after rushing for 129 yards on 17 carries in a win over Tennessee.
Green was switched to defensive back this past spring and entered fall drills No. 1 at the star position. But he eventually fell back down on the depth chart and saw only limited playing time. He played in eight games with one start and recorded nine tackles with one pass break-up and a quarterback pressure.
Green moved back to offense briefly at midseason after Gurley was suspended and Marshall and Sony Michel were sidelined with injuries. But he never got a carry and eventually moved back to defense.
Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday that UGA had issued Green his unconditional release and Green was free to transfer anywhere, including Tech. Herron said the Bulldogs’ coaches were not upset about Green’s decision.
“They think it’s the best thing, too,” Herron said. “They all love J.J. and just want the best for him and J.J. loves Georgia, too. He just needed to find a better fit and he should fit in well at Tech.”
Green’s cross-rivalry transfer is rare, though not unprecedented. The most prominent may always be John Dewberry, who transferred from Georgia to Tech and quarterbacked the Jackets to wins over the Bulldogs in 1984 and 1985.
Tech’s roster actually has one player, walk-on B-back Justin Bryan, who played for Georgia’s baseball team before transferring.
