Change of Course: From a former defensive back to a playmaking wide receiver, from a former walk-on to a coveted player in the transfer portal, Eric Rivers finally has the stage and success he always believed he could attain.
Inside The Chart | By Andy Demetra (The Voice of the Yellow Jackets)
He can’t predict what he’ll do in the moment. But after he scores his first touchdown for Georgia Tech, Eric Rivers already has his social media celebration planned out.
“When I do get one in the end zone, I’ll post that picture [of me] in that jersey,” the wide receiver laughed. “‘Poncho Man in the end zone.’ That’s what it’ll be.”
Yes, “Poncho Man,” the sobriquet his teammates have given him for his ill-fated, oversized punt return jersey that gained national notoriety in Georgia Tech’s season opening win over Colorado. It wasn’t quite the first impression Rivers had hoped to make with the Yellow Jackets, where he arrived after an All-America season at FIU. And good luck plowing through all the low-hanging, SEO-boosted articles to learn more about him online. But a month removed from that viral moment, the Chattanooga, Tenn., native has learned to take the episode in stride.
“I just wear that on my chin,” he said (better than wearing it on his body, he supposes).
Besides, it’s only a matter of time before “Poncho Man” will gain notoriety for what brought him to Georgia Tech in the first place.
“He’s an explosive play waiting to happen,” said wide receivers coach Trent McKnight.
VIDEO: Haynes King long DIME to Eric Rivers (ACC Digital Network)
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound redshirt senior has done his part leading a big-play resurgence for No. 16 Georgia Tech, which heads into its ACC road opener Saturday against Wake Forest (Noon ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network). Last year the Yellow Jackets ranked 58th nationally in plays from scrimmage of 40 or more yards. Through four games, they’ve almost equaled that.
| Year | Plays of 40-plus yards | NCAA Rank |
| 2024 | 13 | t-58th |
| 2025 | 11 | t-3rd |
Rivers had a few other chances to add to that tally – he couldn’t run underneath a pair of barely overthrown balls on post routes against Gardner-Webb and Temple, and he narrowly missed a 50-50 ball near the goal line against the Owls. He’s also still searching for his first receiving touchdown, where he ranked in the top five nationally last season.
Asked about his scoring drought, Rivers swatted away any talk of frustration or impatience.
“Whenever it’s time for me to get in that end zone, that’s when I’ll get in that end zone. I’m not rushing anything. I just feel like it’ll come when it comes,” he said.
Based on his numbers from last year, that seems like an inevitability. And Rivers speaks with the breezy confidence of someone who always expected this type of success for himself. Yet little of his path to Georgia Tech felt inevitable, a rare two-time walk-on who went from a sparingly used defender to a premier pass catcher and playmaker.
“Eric’s a unique kid. His story, and his journey, has been really remarkable,” said head coach Brent Key.
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As a two-way star at McCallie School in Chattanooga, where he won a pair of state titles as a junior and senior, Rivers had a handful of offers from NCAA Division I FCS schools, including offers from Chattanooga and Eastern Kentucky to play both football and basketball. A voice in his head instead told him to strive for something bigger, which prompted him to walk on at Memphis.
“I just believed in myself initially. Like, I’m going to take this chance and prove that I can play at this level,” he recalled.
He had hoped to catch the coaches’ eyes at wide receiver, where earned all-state honors from the Tennessee Sports Writers Association. They instead slotted him at defensive back.
“As a walk-on, you don’t really have any say-so. You’ve just got to do what the coach says, be your best at what he says. I just kind of accepted that role,” Rivers said.
He didn’t begrudge the decision. If that became his entrée into FBS football, so be it. Rivers appeared in six games as a freshman in 2021 and recorded six tackles for the Tigers, primarily on special teams. He moved back to receiver after the season and flashed in Memphis’ spring game with three catches for almost 150 yards, but he tore the labrum in his shoulder while lifting weights over the summer and missed the year. The birth of his son, Eli, in February 2023 caused him to change course once more.
“I ended up walking on at (FIU). I was going to go home or go to where his mom’s from. That’s how I ended up down there,” explained Rivers, who enrolled at FIU in January 2023. He earned a scholarship from the Golden Panthers at the end of his first semester.
After catching 32 passes as a redshirt sophomore, the former defensive back began terrorizing opposing defensive backs in 2024. Rivers ranked fifth nationally in receiving yards per game (97.7) and receiving touchdowns (12), and his school-record 295 receiving yards against New Mexico State was the second most in an FBS game last season.
“It was definitely fulfilling, because I always knew I could do it,” Rivers said. He capped off the year by being named first-team all-Conference USA and an Associated Press third-team All-American, the first player in FIU history to earn All-America honors.
Not surprisingly, those numbers made the former walk-on one of the more sought-after wide receiver prospects when he entered the transfer portal at season’s end. The prospect of playing in Georgia Tech’s beguiling, high-powered offense, led by a three-year starting quarterback in Haynes King, appealed to him. Just as important, the demeanor inside the Yellow Jackets’ facility did too.
“The mentality in this building, from the top down, everybody has that underdog mentality. Same as me. A lot of these players on this team came from stories that are similar to mine,” he recalled.
Rivers missed the spring while recovering from an injury to his other shoulder, though that did little to dampen the expectations for what he could accomplish in Georgia Tech’s system. His numbers may not be gaudy yet, but his threat as a jet sweep and downfield specialist has made him a field-opening asset to the rest of the Tech offense.
“He’s been a pro in how he’s approached everything. When you see the film, when you see the type of player. He’s twitchy, he’s sudden, he’s explosive,” McKnight said.
“He’s improving every day,” Key added. “I would not be surprised to see him be one of those guys who improves every week of the season and just becomes stronger and better.”
He’ll face a Wake Forest defense that doesn’t give up explosive plays easily – the Demon Deacons head into Saturday’s matchup ranked 11th nationally in plays of 20-or-more yards allowed. But five years after a modest start to his career, Rivers finally has the stage – and side of the football – he always believed he could reach.
His punt return jersey at Colorado may forever be banished to the XXXXL laundry bin of history. Don’t let that roomy uniform give you the wrong idea.
Eric Rivers has found the right fit at Tech.
2025 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS
Tickets still remain for each of the Yellow Jackets’ final three home games of the 2025 regular season at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.
Oct. 11 vs. Virginia Tech (Hall of Fame Weekend) – Click HERE for tickets.
Oct. 25 vs. Syracuse (Homecoming) – Click HERE for tickets.
Nov. 22 vs. Pitt (Senior Day/Military Appreciation Day/Michael Isenhour Toy Drive-25th Anniversary) – Click HERE for tickets.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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