March 27, 2018
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech football has added five staff members, head coach Paul Johnson announced on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets’ five new staffers include three new members of the player personnel department and two new graduate assistants.
The additions to Georgia Tech football’s player personnel department include associate directors Thomas Balkcom and Tevin Washington, as well as digital content coordinator Ryan Wise. They represent three of the four positions that will be added thanks to the success of the Tech’s Football Recruiting Challenge, which has raised nearly $500,000 in support of the Yellow Jackets’ recruiting efforts this offseason.
Balkcom, a former Georgia Tech defensive back and member of the Yellow Jackets’ 1990 national championship team, returns to his alma mater with 28 years of experience as a coach at the high school, college and NFL level. He has 11 years of experience at the collegiate level, including four seasons at Morris Brown (defensive backs coach/special teams coordinator – 1997-2000), three at Morehouse College (linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator – 2001-03), two at UCF (linebackers/defensive backs/special teams – 2005-06) and two at Savannah State (defensive backs/special teams coordinator – 2011-12). He also has five years of experience as a high-school head coach, most recently at Ridgeland-Hardeeville H.S. in 2017. His decorated resume also includes twice being awarded the NFL’s prestigious Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship, working with the Minnesota Vikings in 2003 (linebackers) and St. Louis Rams in 2006 (defensive line and special teams).
Washington, a former GT quarterback who served as a graduate assistant under Johnson the past two seasons, moves into a full-time role in the Jackets’ recruiting office. As a student-athlete from 2008-12, Washington started 31-straight games under center and led the Yellow Jackets to three-straight bowl games. He rewrote the school and conference record books, finishing his career ranked first or second in Georgia Tech history in 11 different statistical categories and setting ACC records for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season (20 as a senior in 2012) and career (38). After graduating with a management degree, he worked as a manager for Atlanta-based AT&T before returning to The Flats to attend graduate school and begin his coaching career in 2016. He assisted with the Jackets’ quarterbacks and B-backs over the past two seasons.
Wise, who will oversee production of the Yellow Jackets’ recruiting-related videos and other digital content, comes to The Flats from Liberty University, where he served as a video production specialist for nearly two years. He has almost eight years of video production experience in all, including stints with the Detroit Lions (2015 season) and at his alma mater, Bowling Green (2013-14).
“Thomas, Tevin and Ryan are all great additions to our recruiting operations,” Johnson said. “Thomas and Tevin will offer great perspective as former players, coaches and, of course, Georgia Tech alums. Ryan brings a lot of experience in video production and will be critical in helping us tell our story to recruits and fans alike.”
In addition to the three new full-time members of its recruiting staff, Georgia Tech has also welcomed two new graduate assistants for the start of spring practice – Trey Money and Nick Newsome.
Money, who will help coach inside linebackers, comes to Georgia Tech from Appalachian State, where he spent four seasons working under new GT defensive coordinator Nate Woody – three as a student assistant (2014-16) and one as a graduate assistant (2017). In his four seasons assisting the Mountaineers’ staff, App State compiled a 37-14 overall record, won bowl games in each of its first three seasons as full-fledged members of NCAA Division I FBS (2015-17) and claimed back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championships (’16-17). In his lone season as a G.A. with the Mountaineers, Appalachian ranked among the top 30 nationally in both scoring defense (20.2 ppg), total defense (342.5 ypg) and turnovers gained (2.0 pg). He graduated from Appalachian State in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Newsome, who will assist with the Yellow Jackets’ quarterbacks and B-backs, arrives at Georgia Tech with six seasons of coaching experience under his belt, including four at the collegiate level (2015-17 at Capital University, 2012 at Tennessee-Martin). In his first season at Capital (2015), he coached A-backs and was the special teams coordinator under head coach Craig Candeto, who currently serves as GT’s quarterbacks/B-backs coach. Newsome spent the past two seasons as Capital’s wide receivers coach, special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator. In his lone season at UT-Martin, he began as a G.A. with the Skyhawks’ linebackers before being promoted to coach tight ends/H-backs and slot receivers. He also served as UTM’s assistant strength and conditioning coach. He was a four-year letterwinner as an H-back and long snapper at Austin Peay (2008-11) and graduated from APSU with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He also earned a master’s degree in sports management from UT-Martin in 2014.
“It’s great to have Trey and Nick join Tyson Wachenheim as graduate assistants,” Johnson said. “All of them have gained coaching experience at a wide variety of different programs, so I’m excited about what they can all bring to our program.”
TRANSACTIONS – Georgia Tech adds Thomas Balkcom and Tevin Washington as associate directors of football player personnel, Ryan Wise as football digital content coordinator and Trey Money and Nick Newsome as football graduate assistants.
