Georgia Tech special teams coordinator Dave Walkosky is no longer on the staff. The separation was first reported by coachingsearch.com. It is not clear if it was a firing or if Walkosky left voluntarily.
The separation appears to have been unexpected, catching employees within the athletic department by surprise Friday. Asked for comment by text message, coach Paul Johnson deferred to Walkosky. The reticence of Johnson and others to comment or offer insight suggests that the circumstances of the job change were not typical.
Senior associate athletic director Ryan Bamford confirmed that Walkosky was no longer part of the program and added “That’s probably about all I can tell you.”
It is clear this was not a performance-based dismissal. Walkosky received a one-year contract in April that was set to take effect in July with a slight raise to $183,950. Further, had Johnson wanted to dismiss the first coach he had ever hired to coach only special teams, he almost certainly would have done shortly after the 2013 season.
Walkosky was hired in February 2012 after Tech had had subpar play on special teams in previous season. Under his supervision, Tech returned its first two kickoffs for touchdowns since 1998. Return specialist Jamal Golden was the only player in the country to finish in the top 10 in both kickoff return average and punt return average. Last season, Tech blocked five kicks, tied for fifth nationally.
