Georgia Tech linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary has accepted a position at Louisville.
Jean-Mary, who has been at Tech for the past six seasons, will be assistant head coach, as well as linebackers coach, for first-year coach Charlie Strong.
The two have known each other since Jean-Mary was a junior in high school and Strong the assistant head coach at Florida (1991-94). They worked together for Lou Holtz at South Carolina in 2001-02, where Jean-Mary was a grad assistant and Strong the defensive coordinator.
Jean-Mary said it was a hard decision to make, pointing out that both of his children were born in Atlanta. But he hopes to one day become a head coach and believes that being more involved in the structure of practices and the final product on the field, which is what Strong offered, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"Always scary when you are going from a team that just won its conference to a team that hasn't gone to a bowl in two years," Jean-Mary said. "[My] career goal is to be a head coach one day. That was the No. 1 reason why I left. I have a lot of love for Tech, it's a special place. "
His departure marks the third assistant coach who has left Tech in the past two months, joining recruiting coordinator/defensive line coach Giff Smith (now outside linebackers coach for the NFL's Buffalo Bills) and special-teams coordinator/A-backs coach Jeff Monken (now Georgia Southern's head coach). Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack also was let go and replaced by Al Groh, who said he was also going to coach linebackers at Tech.
Jean-Mary said fans shouldn't worry that a few assistants have left. He said as long as Paul Johnson is at Tech, the future is bright.
"With him at the helm I don't think this train is going to slow down," Jean-Mary said. "Really good times for the Georgia Tech team and Georgia Tech fans in the future."
Jean-Mary said he wanted to thank the players and people at Tech, and he gave a special thanks to the Yellow Jackets fans, whom he said are as passionate as any in the SEC. Lastly, he wanted to thank those who have donated to Haitian relief funds. A Haitian-American, Jean-Mary asked for people to continue to give or do whatever they can to aid the relief efforts for the Caribbean country.
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