Former UF defensive coordinator Geoff Collins during a game earlier this season. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Collins to Rely on UF Start to help in Temple transition
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 | Football, Scott Carter
Share:
The former UF defensive coordinator was on ground first month at UF with head coach Jim McElwain.
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Geoff Collins was introduced as the new head coach at Temple late Wednesday morning. Admittedly functioning on fumes, Collins displayed his trademark high-energy approach.
"It has been a crazy 48 hours,'' Collins said as he stepped to the podium in Philadelphia. "Right now I'm running on adrenaline and probably six to eight Diet Mountain Dews."
And while this marks the first head-coaching job for the 45-year-old Collins, he knows how to connect with his audience. Born in Conyers, Ga., and with a Southern drawl to match, Collins invoked memories of Philadelphia Flyer greats such as Dave "The Hammer" Schultz and Bobby Clarke.
Collins was a Flyers fan as a boy and his parents took him to the Omni in Atlanta when the Broad Street Bullies visited to play the now-defunct Atlanta Flames.
Geoff Collins takes over for Matt Rhule at Temple. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
"At a young age, I was drawn to the physicality, the toughness, the never-say-die, never-quit [attitude], which I think is Philly, which I think is us,'' Collins said. "We live on Broad Street. The way these young men play is kind of reminiscent of what I fell in love with watching the Flyers as a young kid."
Collins takes over a Temple program that uses the slogan "Temple Tough" and is built around defense. The 23rd-ranked Owls (10-3) are ranked third nationally in total defense (275.9 yards per game) entering their Military Bowl matchup against Wake Forest.
Collins replaces longtime friend and former colleague Matt Rhule, who led Temple to back-to-back double-digit win seasons and a conference championship this year. He is now head coach at Baylor.
Rhule was a strong advocate for Collins to replace him.
"We're close friends. I care about him,'' Collins said. "We've had great conversations and he said nothing but positive things about everybody that was involved in this process."
Collins spent two seasons as Florida's defensive coordinator after being head coach Jim McElwain's first hire in December 2014.
Collins plans to spend the next two weeks recruiting and getting a better grasp of the Temple program while interim head coach Ed Foley coaches the team in the bowl game.
Foley has been at Temple since 2008 and is in the middle of his third coaching change over that span. He told PennLive.com that Collins inherits a solid roster and locker room.
"There's better players in the program now,'' Foley said. "I don't think it's going to be some monumental changeover or rebuilding of any sort. I think the players are in place here and the culture's in place her for this program to be really successful for the foreseeable future."
The situation should be familiar for Collins, who took over a strong defense at Florida and continued its success under his guidance.
He credited McElwain for helping him achieve a lifelong goal of becoming a head coach.
"Great mentor, great man,'' Collins said. "One of the best things I've learned from him over the last two years is be yourself. Be yourself. You're Geoff Collins. Be that. Be who you are."
Like when he arrived at Florida, Collins will not be involved in Temple's bowl preparation. In his first month at Florida he worked alongside McElwain to evaluate the entire program as the Gators prepared to face East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl under interim head coach D.J. Durkin.
Collins expects that experience to help him at Temple in his first test as a head coach.
"I got to be with [Mac] through the entire transition. So for that three-week piece, I was with him on the ground in Gainesville,'' Collins said. "That was a huge step for how we won the SEC East two years in a row. I'm committing to watching these guys. I don't want to intervene. When we get back for the spring semester, then it's on."
