William Geoffrey Collins (born April 10, 1971) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player who was the defensive coordinator for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels. He was head coach at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

from 2018 until 2022 and the head coach at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

from 2017 until 2018. He previously served

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. He was nominated for the Broyles Award at three different schools,

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

in 2010, MSU in 2014, and UF in 2015.

Coaching career

Early career

Collins graduated from Rockdale County High School in

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is a city and the county seat of Rockdale County, Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of downtown Atlanta and is a part of the Metro Atlanta, Atlanta metropolitan area. As of 2020 United States census, 202 ...

, where he played for coach and mentor Jeff Beggs. He went on to play football at

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU ...

. Following his graduation, Collins served as a student assistant at Western Carolina, his alma mater, during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Following a year coaching high school, Collins became the linebacker coach for Fordham in 1996 before becoming the defensive coordinator at

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...

from 1997 through 1998. Collins left Albright to become a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

under

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 20 ...

for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Following two years in the GA position, Georgia Tech promoted Collins to tight ends coach at for the 2001 season. Collins returned to his alma mater to become Western Carolina's defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2005 before returning to Georgia Tech in 2006 as the Director of Player Personnel through 2007. After a year at

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

as the Director of Player Personnel, Collins was reunited with O'Leary at UCF as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2008 through 2009.

FIU (2010)

Collins served as the defensive coordinator for Florida International during the 2010 season. Collins' defense led the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

in total defense, scoring defense and turnover margin.The team won the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game and the

2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl The 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was an NCAA bowl game (previously the Motor City Bowl game) played at 8:30 p.m. EST on December 26, 2010 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan and aired on ESPN. The bowl game matched up the Florida Internat ...

Mississippi State (2011–2014)

Collins coached at Mississippi State from 2011 through 2014. During that time, Collins coached All-American Fletcher Cox, who was drafted in the first round of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. Upon being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2013, Collins helped lead a Bulldogs team that finished in the Top 5 in the SEC in total defense, rushing defense and passing defense. Under Collins, the Bulldogs' became one of the best defenses in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. In 2014, Collins' Mississippi State defense led the SEC in sacks and had the conference's No. 1 Red Zone defense en route to a 10-3 record. He was nicknamed the "Minister of Mayhem" at MSU. He coached several linebackers that later went to the NFL, including Fletcher Cox, Cameron Lawrence, Deontae Skinner, and Nickoe Whitley.

Florida (2015–2016)

Collins spent two years as the defensive coordinator at

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

underneath Jim McElwain. While with the Gators, Collins oversaw a defense that ranked No. 6 in scoring defense in 2016 and No. 11 in 2015. During the 2015 season, Collins' defense became just the seventh team in the last 20 years to not allow a touchdown against three FBS Power 5 schools on the road in the same season. During his time at Florida, Collins coached five defensive players that were drafted in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

and produced a consensus All-American in Vernon Hargreaves. Hargreaves and safety Keanu Neal were drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. The team won the SEC East Championship in 2015, and 2016. Following the 2015 season, Collins was a candidate to replace O'Leary as the head coach at UCF, although the position ultimately went to

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is an American football coach and player who currently serves as the head football coach for UCF Knights football, UCF. He was the head football coach at the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, University o ...

Temple (2017–2018)

Collins secured his first head coaching job in December 2016 when he was named Matt Rhule's successor at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. Collins had previously worked alongside Rhule at Albright College and Western Carolina. In Collins' first season, Temple went 7–6 and won the 2017 Gasparilla Bowl, the program's first bowl win since 2011 and just its third bowl win overall. In his second season, the Owls started off 0-2 but finished the regular season 8–4 overall and 7–1 in conference play. The Owls qualified for the 2018 Independence Bowl as a result. Along the way, Collins surpassed Steve Addazio as the winningest Temple coach over the first two seasons of their tenure at the school. He coached Rock Ya-Sin, a second round pick in the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Georgia Tech (2019–2022)

On December 7, 2018, Collins was named the 20th head coach of

football. He coached six Yellow Jackets who were drafted by the NFL, including Tyler Davis, Jalen Camp, Pressley Harvin III, Tariq Carpenter, Keion White, and Jahmyr Gibbs, as well as the free agent Nathan Cottrell. He was subsequently released by the Yellow Jackets in 2022, following the teams' 27-10 loss to

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

on September 24, 2022. Collins had a record of 10-28 at Georgia Tech, the lowest winning percentage for a permanent head coach in the program's history. Assistant head coach Brent Key took over as interim head coach.

North Carolina (2024)

Collins was hired by

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

as defensive coordinator at UNC Chapel Hill, replacing previous defensive coordinator

Gene Chizik Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who was most recently the defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defen ...

. Coach Collins was not retained and was replaced by a former Patriots assistant, Steve Belichick.

Personal life

Collins and his wife Jennifer have one daughter. Collins coined the phrase "Money Down" to describe third and fourth downs, and started a pledge to donate to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) for each Money Down made by the Yellow Jackets. In 2018, he organized and participated in a blood drive for an assistant equipment manager diagnosed with leukemia. He has also been involved with The Jed Foundation.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Mississippi State profile

Florida profile

Temple profile

North Carolina profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Geoff 1971 births Living people American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Albright Lions football coaches FIU Panthers football coaches Florida Gators football coaches Fordham Rams football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Temple Owls football coaches UCF Knights football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football players High school football coaches in North Carolina Sportspeople from Conyers, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Conyers, Georgia