Report: Geoff Collins is lead candidate for Georgia Tech coaching job

There is a strong possibility that the Temple Owls will be looking for a new football coach this offseason. According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Temple head coach Geoff Collins has emerged as a leading candidate to become the next head coach at Georgia Tech.

Thamel also added in his report that a deal between Collins and Georgia Tech could be done by Friday. OwlsDaily, a part of the 247 Sports Network, reported that Collins met with Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury on Wednesday to discuss the head coaching vacancy. 

In addition to those reports, ESPN’s Adam Schefter mentioned on Thursday evening that Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt has taken his name out of consideration for the job. Before Collins joined the fray, it seemed like Whisenhunt was the top candidate to replace Paul Johnson, who recently retired.

Nevertheless, if Collins does accept the job to become Tech’s new coach, it will be the second time in two years that Temple has lost a head coach to a Power 5 school. The first time was Matt Rhule, who spent four seasons at Temple and was hired by Baylor University to become their head coach on Dec. 7, 2016.

In only his second season at the helm, Collins has a record of 15-10, while leading the Owls to back-to-back bowl game appearances, picking up where Rhule left off.

This season, the Owls got off to a rough 0-2 start, losing games to both Villanova and the University Buffalo but eventually found their footing. Temple eventually won eight of their next ten games, finishing with a record of 8-4 and second in the AAC East behind No. 8 ranked UCF.

It does not come as a surprise to see the Yellow Jackets interested in Collins as he has some history with the school. The 47-year-old head coach is from Conyers, Georgia and spent two years (1999-2001) as a graduate assistant and a season (2006) as a recruiting coordinator at Georgia Tech.