Vad Lee drove back to Atlanta Monday afternoon to retrieve his belongings from his apartment, pick up his Georgia Tech transcript and head back north to start a new chapter of his life.
The former Tech quarterback made public Monday his decision to transfer to James Madison, an FCS-level school where he’ll have immediate eligibility. He leaves Tech after three seasons despite having started every game in the past season.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lee shared insight into his decision. Primarily, as had become clear over the course of the 2013 season, he wasn’t an ideal fit with Tech’s spread-option offense.
“I tried my best to make it work and to make the team happy, but it was ultimately not what I was comfortable in,” Lee said.
Primarily, Lee envisioned himself throwing the ball more than the Jackets did. He harbors dreams of playing professionally and is a fan of NFL stars such as Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. Growing up in Durham, N.C., near the Duke campus, Lee befriended Duke coach David Cutcliffe and often watched game video of Cutcliffe’s protégé, Peyton Manning, in the Blue Devils’ football offices.
Tech attempted 203 passes this season, an average of 15.6 passes per game and fifth fewest in FBS. Further, Tech largely committed more to the run as the season went on. The Yellow Jackets averaged 19 passes in their first five games against FBS opponents but 15.2 in the final six.
Lee said: “I wasn’t doing what I thought I’d seen myself doing coming out of high school.”
Lee said he started having mixed emotions towards the end of the season about remaining at Tech. He said he began exploring the option to transfer following the Georgia game, in which he threw for a career-high 232 yards and said afterwards that “I feel like that’s what I came to Georgia Tech for.”
He made up his mind following the Jackets’ Music City Bowl loss to Ole Miss.
Tech’s average of 15.6 passes per game was the highest of coach Paul Johnson’s tenure, however. The previous high was 13.9 in the 2012 season, when Lee played a part-time role. Furthermore, Tech was not efficient when it did pass. The Jackets completed 45.3 percent of their passes, lowest in FBS, due to a variety of factors: inexperienced wide receivers, poor pass protection and, certainly, Lee’s play.
“I’d like to throw the ball more if we can get better at it and we weren’t better at it,” Johnson said. “You can’t blame all that on him, like I said during the season, but that’s the bottom line.”
Johnson asserted that he made no promises to Lee during his recruitment about passing more often or changing the scheme. Johnson wished Lee well and approved his selection of James Madison, which recently hired former Ohio State assistant head coach Everett Withers, who previously was an assistant at North Carolina.
Lee said he held nothing against Tech or Johnson. He said he made several close friends on the team and made clear his positive feeling about his experience both on the field and off, including interaction with fans, numerous charitable efforts and his school work.
In his final semester, he made dean’s list. He said he would encourage any high-school quarterback who is smart, likes to run and is strong-minded to play for Tech and Johnson.
He said he leaves Tech with his head up, anticipating two years of “showing what I’ve got and being in a system that will allow me to do that,” he said.
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