Georgia Tech cornerbacks coach Jeff Popovich has likely made a small piece of history with his hire by coach Geoff Collins. In the history of the five power conferences, it’s highly probable that no team has ever had a coach whose past work history includes these two gems: Abercrombie and Fitch catalog model and contestant on “The Bachelorette.” (Unless maybe Bill Curry has been keeping a secret.)
Popovich was in A&F’s 1999 summer catalog with his brother Doug while a football player at Miami (Fla.) He was also on the cast of the first season of “The Bachelorette,” which aired in 2003.
He only lasted into the second show, but did achieve a small measure of notoriety. Popovich won screen time when he fixed a flat tire on a camper that he and his fellow suitors and bachelorette Trista Rehn were riding in on a group date, though doing so only after he removed his shirt. His virtuous (and revealing) act gained him recognition as “the tire guy.”
Popovich said he enjoyed the overall experience, thankful that the show was cast before contestants saw the show as a door to celebrityhood.
“Really, you felt like you were back in college – you really did,” he said. “Because we hung out, when they had us at the house, we played cards, shot baskets, threw the football around. Just did all kinds of things like that where you really felt like you were just hanging out with a whole bunch of your buddies.”
Popovich’s new position will likely also require throwing the football around and spending a lot of time around young men – not to mention recruiting – but the similarities may end there. He is eager to begin work with a young group of Yellow Jackets corners including Tre Swilling, Ajani Kerr and Jaytlin Askew.
“Really excited to get to work with them,” he said. “I think they bring a lot of natural talent and ability and done some good things. So just looking forward to it.”
Popovich worked this past season as cornerbacks coach at Boise State. Prior to that, he worked two years for the Indianapolis Colts, first as an assistant to then-coach Chuck Pagano and then as a defensive quality-control coach.
He had also coached at FIU (where he worked with Collins, in 2010) and UTSA after serving as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Miami. Popovich walked on but ended up playing 46 games and earned a degree in biomedical engineering.
Popovich was undersized but managed to start 11 games for the Hurricanes and then earned spots in training camp with Tampa Bay in 2000 and the Falcons in 2001.
“Just raw effort and toughness and working hard,” Popovich said. “And then kind of the rest of it you hope takes care of itself.”
“He had a lot of field intelligence,” former Miami coach Larry Coker told the AJC. “You knew that because he understood the defense and was very, very smart. He studied film and he was kind of ahead of the game.”
Coker hired Popovich twice, once as a graduate assistant at Miami and later as a cornerbacks coach at UTSA.
“He’s just high energy and very smart, very good work ethic and prepared,” Coker said. “He’s always prepared.”
Popovich believes, as does Collins, in having cornerbacks line up in press coverage, close up against wide receivers. In recent seasons, cornerbacks occasionally lined up in press coverage for Tech, but they were also often seven or eight yards off the line.
Popovich said he believes in eliminating what he called “free-access throws” and disrupting timing routes, which can also force the quarterback to hold the ball longer, which gives the front more time to get to him.
“Anytime you can make the quarterback think is good,” Popovich said. “So if you start press, before the snap, you get off and play off or you bail or you press. And just giving them different looks and not allowing them to walk out, get under center and look around and know exactly what he’s getting.”
Former defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s only season with the team produced improved pressure up front and 25 turnovers, tied for 16th nationally, but the Yellow Jackets ranked 100th in defensive passer rating and 129th in defensive third-down conversion rate.
Playing a more aggressive style against wide receivers could help. It’s a style that could go into effect quickly with Popovich’s charges.
“We’ve got long corners, and so I think that’ll tailor well to their abilities,” he said.
Popovich will also be in charge of the punt and kickoff teams. He assured units that will play extremely hard and with toughness and schemes that will put them in position to succeed.
With his cornerbacks, Popovich promised a clean slate.
“There’s no starters, there’s no second-team guys, there’s no third-team guys,” he said. “They’re all corners in that room trying to win a starting job. Just really excited to see what they all have and what the potential is and try and develop them to their fullest.”
Sounds like the makings of a pretty good reality show.
About the Author
