Inside The Chart: Real McCoy

Wichita, Kansas has a population of 400,000, making it the 52nd biggest city in the United States according to the 2020 Census. That makes it more populous - within its city limits, at least - than pro sports standbys like Cleveland (53rd), New Orleans (54th), Cincinnati (66th) and Pittsburgh (68th).

Yet within the Georgia Tech locker room, Wichita native Taje McCoy can’t seem to beat the allegations.

“They always call me country and say I come from a small town,” McCoy laughed.

“Sometimes they tell me to go back to the yellow brick road, little jokes like that.”

The transfer portal has made locker rooms delightfully diverse when it comes to hometowns, but it can also make a decently sized Midwest city seem downright exotic - or in this case, ripe for misconception. On the other hand, McCoy and his father raised chickens and pigeons in their backyard, and his brother owns a pair of horses, so his teammates may be on to something.

“I’ve got some country traits,” he admitted.

He also has playmaking traits, as evidenced by his first year on The Flats. And those same teammates may become card-carrying members of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce if it means its native son continues his disruptiveness.

In a year in which Georgia Tech’s defensive injury report has been longer than a CVS receipt, the senior defensive end has given the Yellow Jackets a much-needed double shot of dependability and production. Not only do McCoy’s 46 tackles rank second on the team, he’s surpassed his tackles total from the past three seasons combined (45). He’s also added five tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles, one of which was recovered last week against Pittsburgh.

“I feel like it’s always been in there, and now I’m just being able to get put in the right position to go show it,” said McCoy, who arrived at Tech following one season at Oklahoma State (2025) and three at Colorado (2022-24).

Taje McCoy Career	Tackles
2026 (Georgia Tech)	46
2022-25 (Colorado & Oklahoma State)	45

Compared to other players in Georgia Tech’s 2026 transfer class, McCoy’s signing may not have garnered the most headlines. But with the defensive line hit especially hard by injuries, McCoy has proven that sometimes a player’s best ability is durability. And with each week, he continues to reclaim the form that made him an honorable mention selection for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year as a redshirt freshman at Colorado.

“This is my style. This is how I’ve always played – having a motor, getting to the ball, affecting the play somehow,” McCoy said.

Wichita may not be a small town, but McCoy acknowledges he’s a smaller defensive end at 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds. That sometimes creates wariness from power conference coaches, who prefer their defensive ends to be 6-foot-4 with cabled arms and Pterodactyl wingspans. McCoy says he takes satisfaction in knowing he plays bigger than his size.

“In my mind, I’m in (there) to change the game. You don’t have to be the biggest. That’s just my main goal, and I kind of wear that chip on my shoulder. But also, when I do make a big play, you’re going to feel it even though I’m not your prototypical size,” he explained.

(One of the ball-carriers he’s leveled this year can vouch for that. In the second half of the Yellow Jackets’ game at Virginia Tech, McCoy delivered a hard shot to the side of Hokies running back Marcellous Hawkins, his former high school teammate.)

McCoy originally signed with Colorado in 2023, where his first year planted the seeds for a future at Tech. As a true freshman, his position coach was Sal Sunseri, a longtime friend of Tech head coach Brent Key and the father of Yellow Jackets secondary coach Vinnie Sunseri.

“I felt like Coach Sal was one of the first people to see that ‘this guy has potential,’” McCoy recalled.

As he vetted McCoy in the transfer portal, part of an offseason mission to add power conference veterans to his defensive ends group, Key reached out to Sal Sunseri for some intel. Sunseri raved about McCoy’s character and coachability, which helped give him a chance to play for yet another branch of the family coaching tree.

“I had done my visit, not even knowing that Coach Sunseri’s son was on this coaching staff,” McCoy recalled. “I think it was, like, my first day here. I just happened to walk by Coach Sunseri, and he said, ‘You know Coach Sal, right?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s my dad.’” McCoy called it a full-circle moment when Sal Sunseri attended Georgia Tech’s spring game and visited him afterwards.

Those traits have brought some welcome consistency to the Yellow Jackets’ defense, which began with a career-high 11 tackles in the season opener against his former school. McCoy will now try to maintain that steadiness in the final month of the regular season, beginning on Saturday when Georgia Tech returns home to face Louisville at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (7:30 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network).

But before he gave out hits this year, McCoy gave back. In a trip home to Wichita before the start of preseason camp, the senior hosted a back-to-school drive with the help of his family and church. McCoy handed out backpacks and school supplies to kids in his community; the festivities also included inflatables, an ice cream truck, and naturally, rides on his brother’s horses. McCoy says his family is hoping to do a turkey drive later this month.

“I come from a church family. We always think about giving back to the less fortunate. I was in the same position as them, looking up to college athletes and wanting to be like them. To me, if somebody did that to me, it would have just motivated me more. Now that I’m in the position that I am (in), I feel like I can do that and have an impact on some kid’s life that may have dreams and aspirations to go to the next level,” he explained.

In a final season that has reaffirmed his playmaking, McCoy will try to put Georgia Tech in the win column while continuing to put Wichita, Kansas on the map.

At this point, even his teammates know where it is now.

2026 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS

Single-game tickets for Georgia Tech’s two remaining home dates this season – versus Louisville (Saturday, Nov. 7) and Wake Forest (Saturday, Nov. 21) – start as low as $30. Tickets for the all-new Wreck Deck premium experience in the Fanning Center start at $150. 

For more information and to purchase tickets today, click HERE.

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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