Georgia Tech has completed its coaching staff with the hire of Wofford defensive line coach Jerome Riase. The hire was confirmed by a person familiar with the situation. Riase will have to go through a standard background check for the hire to be made official.
Riase had coached at Wofford for the past four seasons. He did not overlap with new Tech defensive coordinator Nate Woody – who was defensive coordinator at Wofford 2000-12 before moving on to Appalachian State – but did coach with Shiel Wood, who was Wofford’s safeties coach in 2016 and its defensive coordinator in 2017. Wofford had six defensive-line selections to the Southern Conference all-conference team during his tenure. He also held the title of defensive run-game coordinator.
Wofford continued to run a 3-4 defense after Woody left, and Riase evidently had the knowledge base that Woody was seeking for that position. Tech decided not to retain defensive line coach Mike Pelton with a plan to hire a replacement with experience coaching the defensive line in the 3-4.
The hire was first reported in a tweet from a Spartanburg Herald-Journal reporter.
About the Author
