Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof’s impact on the Yellow Jackets was affirmed again Wednesday. Roof, in his first season back at Tech, was one of 40 nominees for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Roof took over a defense that finished 43rd last season in total defense (374.0 yards per game) and 65th in scoring defense (28.3 points per game) and has improved the respective rankings to 24th (21.0) and 17th (342.6).
“I think that Ted’s made it fun for them to play,” coach Paul Johnson said Tuesday. “They’re not bogged down with all the thought process or the what if’s.”
Roof will participate in his first Tech-Georgia game since leaving his alma mater for a job at Duke after the 2001 season.
“When you’re coaching at the school you played at, the history of it, the history of the players, all the traditions and things like that, that makes it special,” he said.
Roof reminisced Tuesday about Tech’s 20-16 win in 1985, Roof’s final season as a player. He played in the game on an injured ankle. He remembered Gary Lee’s kickoff return for a touchdown in the fog and also thought he remembered a goal-line stand.
“We had 13 men on the field, and we didn’t get called for it,” he said. “We didn’t want to stop at 12. We wanted to go for 13.”
More on Broyles: Two other nominees for the Broyles Award are Tech grads, Central Florida offensive line coach Brent Key and Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer. Last Saturday, Oklahoma State held Baylor, the nation's scoring offense leader, to 17 points.
Spencer was a teammate of Roof’s under Bill Curry, whose team also included San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. The namesake for the award, Frank Broyles, is himself a Tech grad and former Tech assistant under Bobby Dodd before winning seven Southwest Conference titles at Arkansas.
Gotsis gets it: Tech nose tackle Adam Gotsis knows about rivalries. His mother pulls for Collingwood Football Club and his father is a fan of Richmond Football Club. Both are Australian football teams in Melbourne, Gotsis' hometown.
Said Gotsis, “I grew up with a house divided.”
Gotsis said Aussie football rivalries are the closest his country comes to those like Tech-Georgia, as college athletics is a distinctly American phenomenon. While a sophomore, Gotsis has picked up on the meaning of the rivalry.
“I know exactly what it’s all about,” he said. “We’ve got to go in there and just beat them up.”
Senior day: Saturday will be the final game at Bobby Dodd Stadium not just for Tech's football players, but also band members and cheerleaders.
For Tech center Jay Finch and cheerleader Chelsea Owen, it will be a chance to recognize a long run playing and cheering for the same team. Both attended Kennesaw Mountain High, and Owen cheered for Finch’s teams going even further back to the Kennesaw Mountain youth teams.
“She’s been a great friend always, thick and thin,” Finch said.
Toy drive: Tech athletes will collect new, unwrapped toys outside Bobby Dodd Stadium as part of the 13th annual Michael Isenhour Toy Drive. They also will accept cash donations. The toys will be donated to needy children. The drive is named in honor of Isenhour, a Tech basketball player who began the toy drive in 2001 before dying of leukemia in 2002.
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