Feb. 3, 2004
Giff Smith, who spent the last five years at Tulane University, has been hired to coach Georgia Tech’s defensive line, while Brian Jean-Mary, formerly of North Alabama, has been named linebackers coach, Rambling Wreck head coach Chan Gailey announced.
Gailey also announced that Patrick Nix, Tech’s quarterbacks coach and running game coordinator last fall, has been promoted to offensive coordinator, while wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Buddy Geis has been elevated to assistant head coach.
“In my opinion Patrick is a great young coach who deserves the title,” said Gailey. “He did a lot of work along those lines already, so we named him the coordinator and named Buddy the assistant head coach.
“Our basic offense won’t change, and I’m still going to call the plays and be very involved.”
While at Tulane, Smith coached the Green Wave’s defensive line all five years while also serving as recruiting coordinator his last three years. He has strong ties to the state of Georgia. A native of the Atlanta suburb of Mableton, he attended Pebblebrook High School and then played and coached at Georgia Southern.
A 1991 graduate of Georgia Southern, Smith was a member of three NCAA I-AA national championship teams at the school in 1986, 1989 and 1990. A three-time all-America defensive end, he helped the Eagles to a perfect 15-0 mark in 1989, and as a senior in 1990, he served as team captain.
He later spent three seasons at his alma mater, working with the wide receivers in 1996 and then the secondary in 1997-98. During his time on the staff, the Eagles won a pair of Southern Conference titles (1997-98) and advanced to the NCAA I-AA national championship game in 1998.
Smith began his coaching career in 1991 as a graduate assistant at Arkansas, where remained three years before moving to Georgia for two seasons.
Smith, 35, was inducted into the Georgia Southern University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
Jean-Mary, 28, coached defensive backs at NCAA Division II North Alabama last fall, helping the Lions to a 13-1 record, the Gulf South Conference title and a berth in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. North Alabama’s defense ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense at 14.1 points per game, as well as 25th in pass defense and 26th in total defense.
He previously spent two years (2001-02) as a defensive graduate assistant at South Carolina and one year (2000) as a graduate assistant on the strength and conditioning staff at Louisville.
A native of Apopka, Fla., Jean-Mary played collegiately at Appalachian State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1998.
“Both are excellent young coaches who came highly recommended,” said Gailey of his new hires. “I wanted as least one of them to have ties to the state of Georgia for recruiting purposes, and we accomplished that. I think they will both be great additions to our program.”
GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL STAFFChan Gailey, Head CoachJoe D'Alessandris, Offensive LineBuddy Geis, Assistant Head Coach/Wide ReceiversBrian Jean-Mary, LinebackersCurtis Modkins, Running BacksPatrick Nix, Offensive Coordinator/QuarterbacksTommie Robinson, Tight EndsGiff Smith, Defensive LineJon Tenuta, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive BacksDavid Wilson, Special Teams/Recruiting Coordinator--30--
