Xavier Garcia is in his first season at Georgia Tech as a defensive assistant (defensive line).
Garcia came to The Flats from Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke, where he worked under Tech defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci for one season in 2023. In their lone season at Duke, the Blue Devils had the ACC’s top-ranked scoring defense in 2023, allowing just 19.0 points per game, which was good for 16th nationally. Duke also ranked among the nation’s top 50 in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense, tackles for loss, third-down defense, fourth-down defense and red-zone defense.
Prior to Duke, Garcia was a graduate assistant at SMU (2022), Temple (2020-21), Central Oklahoma (2019) and Angelo State (2018). He began his coaching career in 2017 at New Mexico Military Institute, where he coached linebackers.
Garcia played collegiately at New Mexico Military Institute (2013-15) and Eastern Kentucky (2016). He was a two-time all-conference honoree at NMMI before making 10 starts at defensive end as a senior at EKU.
An Austin, Texas native, Garcia earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies from EKU in 2017 and a master’s in higher education from Temple in 2021.
He has a wife, Kayla, and two daughters, Blakely Mae and Emma Lee.
