Ted Roof hired as Tech coordinator
Ted Roof, once a Georgia Tech star linebacker and later an accomplished assistant, is returning to Tech once more.
Roof has been hired as the Yellow Jackets’ new defensive coordinator as the full-time replacement for Al Groh, fired in October. Roof leaves Penn State, where he had coached one season, for his alma mater.
In his only season at Penn State, the Nittany Lions ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (19.1 points per game), fourth in total defense (356.3 yards per game) and first in sacks (34).
“I’ve known Ted for a long time and I’m excited that he has decided to come back to Georgia Tech,” coach Paul Johnson said in a statement. “He’s one of the most respected football coaches in the nation.”
Roof served as linebackers coach for former Tech coach George O’Leary for one season (1998) and then defensive coordinator for three. He left to become defensive coordinator at Duke in 2002 with the changeover in head coaches. During that time at Tech, he worked with Bill O’Brien, now Penn State’s head coach.
He later became Duke’s head coach 2004-07, getting fired after a 1-11 season. He was coordinator at Minnesota for one season, then coordinated the defense at Auburn 2009-11, helping the Tigers to the 2010 national championship. He left Auburn to become coordinator at Central Florida for O’Leary, but left shortly after for Penn State.
Roof used a 4-3 defense at Penn State. He said last August that “the main core is I want us to be aggressive. I want us to play fast. I want us to be physical.”
In 2009, while at Auburn, he described his philosophy as using 4-3 some of the time.
“We’re pretty multiple in what we do,” he said. “You have to have a system that’s adaptable to different types of people — especially if you’re coming into a new situation. It’s one thing if you’ve been at a place several years and you recruit to a specific system. It’s another thing when you come in, you’re new and you have a system that’s broad enough and diverse enough to handle whatever personnel. This league, you don’t trick people. You have to out-hit people. There won’t be much tricking going on.”
With the departure of interim coordinator/secondary coach Charles Kelly for Florida State, Johnson still has one more opening on his staff to fill.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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355 comments Add your comment
RAMBLE ON!!!
January 10th, 2013
12:15 pm
How bout Giff Smith, best recruiter we have ever had here?
yeah, that ledge is looking better and better.
Mike
January 10th, 2013
12:18 pm
@Tech Troll – if you want to jump up and down about Roof go ahead. Fact is, his defense at Auburn was terrible and was statistically the worst in Auburn history in 2011. They averaged giving up over 400 yards per game in 2011. Its not my job to evaluate coordinators, but it doesnt have to be for me to see there was something seriously bad about his tenure at Auburn, as school that recruits with the best in the country.
GTBob
January 10th, 2013
12:18 pm
I like using history when available making my decision, how bout your self?
Sure I do. I like the most recent history. With a Penn St team in shambles from controversy he managed to have a defense that was much higher in every possible category than GT was. The most points his defense gave up all season was 35 to a good Ohio St team. GT gave up over 35 six times. Sorry we didn’t hire Bill Parcells like you might have hoped but for the money we have to offer and the DC’s available he wasn’t a bad hire and he could possibly improve things whether Tech fans want him to or not.
Drexel Gal
January 10th, 2013
12:21 pm
I hope this Roof doesn’t leak.
Tech1986
January 10th, 2013
12:22 pm
@ Mike, good point and you may be right, he might not know what he is looking for. However, many folks on the blogs want some top notch guy, like Kirby Smart, we can’t pay that kind of money. A young up and comer would be good, but again I would prefer someone who wants to be at Tech and not use this for a larger job, a little selfish on my part, but I believe in loyalty. Look at that Manny Diaz, did a great job at MSU, went to Texas and in his second year, their defense was not that good. I think we need a recruiter who understands Tech’s advantages and disadvantages and can get across to the student athlete that the advantages far out way the disadvantages (Math and science).
Mike
January 10th, 2013
12:25 pm
GTBob, Penn St. was not a unit in shambles from a talent perspective. OK they had to mentally overcome a lot with the whole Sandusky mess. Give O’Brien and his staff a lot of credit overcoming that, but Penn St.’s D was very good in 2011. The most points they gave up was 27 to Alabama before the final game of the year when they fell apart against Wisconsin in the wake of all that went on.
Roof’s Auburn tenure is what is troublesome.
lets be honest
January 10th, 2013
12:26 pm
what is needed more than anything is better talent. You better hope he can recruit better that PJ.
Mike
January 10th, 2013
12:29 pm
@Tech1986 – I agree, we wont ever get a big name guy in here, but then often the big name isnt the one you really want. Like you said, you never know what will happen when they get here. Thats why I think looking at mid-major conferences is a good idea. Often coaches at that level have good schemes, just not enough talent to run them. Tech cant recruit with UGA, but they are better recruiting than a mid-major team.
JB
January 10th, 2013
12:31 pm
Lets me more than honest…… don’t know if Saban could stop the bleeding on that side of the ball with the current crop wearing white and gold. After the whistle blows, the scheme and grease board talk is out the window…it’s time to hit and tackle somebody……I don’t see it…..
Good luck.
Jacket72002
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
Enter your comments here
GTBob
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
Lets me more than honest…… don’t know if Saban could stop the bleeding on that side of the ball with the current crop wearing white and gold.
Our talent level isn’t nearly that bad. People like to pretend that we just picked up some random students from the electrical engineering building but we actually do have several defensive players who were rated pretty high in high school and were coveted by other major programs.
Tech Troll 13
January 10th, 2013
12:39 pm
@ Mike – Yeah that NC at Auburn must have really sucked.
Jacket72002
January 10th, 2013
12:39 pm
One of the original members of the The Black Watch Defense, always had a bloody nose. This guy will bring some toughness back to the D. I think it’s a good hire, and I think he will be here for more than a a year or two.
Good hire, this guys knows DEFENSE!! Welcome back Ted
1 4 GT
January 10th, 2013
12:41 pm
Simply mindblowing!! One can find a surfeit of comments on the blogs from any perspective you want to look at. However, a lot of these comments today & yesterday on CPJ hiring Ted Roof seem to be on the not too logical side….which I thought would be where Tech people would excel. Some of y’all are the hardest to please people ever. Some of y’all are the most negative people ever. Some of y’all have the thickest, hardest heads ever. People! We have seen the offense control the ball and and score points and win games with an adequate QB. Now that everyone mostly agrees that QB play will be better, thus making offensive play better, all GT needs is a defense that is ranked somewhere in the top 1/3 in the nation instead of the middle 1/3 like we had. CCK had the defense trending that way. The stats for CTR’s past indicate that he can at least do that good a job for Tech. For God’s sake everyone, quit with all the knee jerk reactions and take a deep breath and relax. Enjoy the off season, watch the NFL playoffs & SB, play a little golf, drink a beer or three and see how the guys look in the spring game. CPJ wants to be a success. CTR wants to be a success. Let’s just sit back & watch things unfold and enjoy what I see as a bright future for GT FB….& BB too as the kids gain in experience. Don’t be surprised if they make the NCAA dance this year, by a slim margin. GOOOOO JACKETS THWGeorgie
Dirtybirdsin12
January 10th, 2013
12:46 pm
Am I the only person who remembers Ted Roof’s defence costing Joe Hamilton a Heisman trophy and a shot at a championship?
dry dirt road
January 10th, 2013
12:54 pm
He ran a leaky Roof D at Tech, never blitzing, and teams passed like crazy b/c LBs could not cover receivers well except for maybe tight ends who are more their sizes. He also wore black, half of Georgia’s colors. The prez of Tech Alum Assn came on Tech Topics after Black Watch years and said “black is out”. Ted wasn’t a good D coach then b/c of lack of experience, but for Cam Newton’s Nat Champ team he finally became good at coaching D. So we expect him to drop black tar paper leaks and coach as he did at Auburn. He could remind team to get flu shots during GT Girl pink powder puff breast cancer awareness month. NO pink and NO black unis, no girl powder puff football games. Blitz, safety blitzes, rush DEs to curl around blockers and then back toward the los where qb is looking for receivers.
RAMBLE ON!!!
January 10th, 2013
12:57 pm
Dirtybirdsin12
No, look at my post on page 2…I think
RAMBLE ON!!!
January 10th, 2013
12:58 pm
“Tech cant recruit with UGA, but they are better recruiting than a mid-major team”
Giff Smith did when he was here.
different year same result
January 10th, 2013
1:00 pm
Like seeing a Tech guy get the job, but folks in the end it doenst matter. If Johnson doesn’t start opening up the offense, able to throw the ball downfield with success and stop running the same 5 plays, it wont really matter how good or bad our defense is. Teams with disciplined and physical defenses (BYU, UGA, VT, FSU) showed how easy it is to stop a one dimensial offense.
GTBob
January 10th, 2013
1:05 pm
Giff Smith did when he was here.
Giff Smith was good at GT but never recruited anywhere near UGA levels. That is basically an impossible feat.
Tech1986
January 10th, 2013
1:07 pm
Joe Hamilton got screwed on the Heisman because the media was into the “lifetime achievement” award theme in 99. Ron Dayne won it because of all the yards he gained in 4 years, setting NCAA career records. The media had a bias that year, Little Joe was the “most outstanding player” that year, he and Tech got screwed.
I bought my GT gear at WalMart
January 10th, 2013
1:09 pm
Doesn’t matter who you get to coordinate if you don’t have good coordinatees.
Al Bundy
January 10th, 2013
1:12 pm
Not impressed with this hire at all. The Auburn people called him Ted “Leaky” Roof because his defense was so bad. I live in Alabama and know lots of Auburn fans and they were thrilled when he was gone! Of course most of these people have an Engineering degree from Auburn and claim Auburns Engineering degree is every bit as good as an Engineering degree from Tech! I just look at them and say “Bless your heart”!
mic-man
January 10th, 2013
1:15 pm
Coach Roof had one decent year at Auburn because 1. he had the best defensive player in the country (Nick Fairley) and 2. the offense had the best offensive player in the country (Cam Newton).
@GTBob
I am not saying that he won’t be an improvement over Groh (or Wommack); but in 3 years at Tech, his defenses never dictated the game (even with all the talent he had in 2001). Both Edsell’s defense in 1998 and Tenuta’s defenses had the ability to dictate the outcome of the game–to come up with big stops in big game situations. I don’t remember Roof’s defenses ever being able to do that.
I disagree with Mark Bradley and others who consistently question our defensive talent–I think that with the exception of a young line, our defensive talent is very good (at least for us). I just don’t think that Coach Roof has the ability to make our defense into one that can influence wins (on its own).
5150 UOAD
January 10th, 2013
1:51 pm
Da ROOF! Da ROOF! D ROOF is on Fire!…….Burn MFer, Burn. Let the MFer BURN.
Chicken Farmer
January 10th, 2013
2:23 pm
WHAT? Call me crazy, but I didn’t see this coming. He was awful at GT as a defensive coach then defensive coordinator, he was awful at Duke as a head coach, he was awful at Auburn, even though he was on their NC team, but Auburn had a quarterback and offense that could outscore everyone. There weren’t too many teams their defense ever stopped. Ok, he had a decent year at Penn State, but what’s the old saying about a blind squirll can find a nut every now and then. Hope it works out, but I’ve got some very big doubts about this hire.
michael
January 10th, 2013
2:49 pm
FINALLY SOMEBODY LISTENS. I’VE BEEN CALLING ROOF’S NAME SINCE BEFORE A.G. WAS PICKED TO BE THE D.O.
GTSETTLESFORALSORAN
January 10th, 2013
3:33 pm
This hire is so GT, we beat the formally #1 ranked team in the nation in our bowl. USC was 7-5 playing with a freshman QB and a team that did not care. Good luck winning 7 games in 2013 and playing in the SUN bowl.
wreckmaniac
January 10th, 2013
5:22 pm
Would much rather yell Roof, Roof , Roof than Woof, Woof, Woof.
wreckmaniac
January 10th, 2013
5:24 pm
To 14 GT: Right on. great note. Roof will do a fine job at Tech.
jeffjacket
January 10th, 2013
5:34 pm
Great hire! I was there when GT defeated a very good ND team in the Gator Bowl with CTR the DC for CGO. Let me tell you something , you guys are going to see some fast, hard hitting defense! This guy knows his stuff , this is perfect timing for him and for GT!!!!!
I keep telling you guys to stop bashing CPJ , he is the Man!!!
GO JACKETS!!!! TO HELL WITH GA!!!
jeffjacket
January 10th, 2013
5:35 pm
Great hire! I was there when GT defeated a very good ND team in the Gator Bowl with CTR the DC for CGO. Let me tell you something , you guys are going to see some fast, hard hitting defense! This guy knows his stuff , this is perfect timing for him and for GT!!!!! Get ready GT is back!
I keep telling you guys to stop bashing CPJ , he is the Man!!!
GO JACKETS!!!! TO HELL WITH GA!!!
Kicking it with Cremins
January 10th, 2013
6:01 pm
For those posting about Roof being a possible CPJ replacement; guy went 6-45 as Duke’s HC. Is that what yall want??
I dont like the hire but I’m willing to give him a chance; If we can be slightly better than Groh’s D with the ability to pressure the QB I’ll be ok.
GTpack
January 10th, 2013
8:26 pm
When Ted would make a tackle (in the 80’s), we would all yell roof, roof, roof. Heck of a linebacker, hardnosed, tough son of a gun.
Welcome back Ted!!
Now go get Giff Smith to help with recruiting.
fatboyslim
January 10th, 2013
8:41 pm
Oh brother, this means that Derrick Cheek will be on the sideline again
Stephen CC
January 10th, 2013
9:05 pm
Welcome Back to Atlanta Coach Roof! Always enjoyed watching you play and have always appreciated your intensity. Hopefully your work ethic and intensity will be contagious. The last part of the season we saw what our players were capable of doing. Now we just need that to be consistent. Looking forward to hard-hitting defense! Maybe even bring back the Black Watch? Go Jackets!!!
Stephen CC
January 10th, 2013
9:12 pm
1 4 GT @ 12:41 pm — Well said! — GO JACKETS!!!
Bobo
January 10th, 2013
10:03 pm
Thank you Lord. FINALLY Tech has a piece of good news. Roof was a terrible head coach but a wonderful defensive coordinator. He has succeeded everywhere he has gone including Tech in the Keith Brooking & Ron Rogers days. I don’t think most people remember just how many defensive guys he put into the NFL. This will also be HUGE for recruiting. I’ve met Roof and he’s really likable and obviously extremely smart and could’ve been just as successful as an engineer. His coaching schemes are really complicated, but he’s a much better teacher than Groh (apparently). Roof also loves to blitz often, so guys will enjoy playing for him. As a hometown guy, he will be able to recruit much better than an outsider would have. This may end up being the thing that finally puts Tech back on the right side of things. Give Johnson credit for thinking of the one guy that fits perfectly and getting him to come back. I can’t imagine that the insane little bubble that is Penn State was very comfortable….probably like being the only sane person in the twilight zone. He was a great coordinator at Auburn too for two years (but had one disastrous year that ended it), by the way….and Chizik can ALSO thank Roof for the national title. Folks, we just got the defensive coordinator from the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP team from two years ago.
Bobo
January 10th, 2013
10:08 pm
For all you folks complaining….yes Roof was a HORRIBLE head coach. No arguments there at all. However, I maintain that other than a really bad year at Tech and one at Auburn, he has otherwise been a good coordinator. He is the best we were going to get right now and this will be a HUGE help to Paul Johnson’s complete incompetence at recruiting (after all you have to wonder what the HELL CPJ is doing. Is he farting at dinner at recruits houses or something?). Bud Foster or Kirby Smart are not just going to come to 8-4 or 7-5 Georgia Tech.
billyho55
January 10th, 2013
11:45 pm
Douglas,
Ga Tech’s record when Roof is associated with Tech against the dwags is actually 5-3. Thank you for playing.
dawgfan
January 11th, 2013
6:42 am
That’s probably true billyho55, but that was before CPJ ruined your program with his stupid offense and poor head coaching ability. Something had to be up at Penn State for Roof to take this job. It makes no sense. Its a step down.
Thanks for playing.
dawgfan
January 11th, 2013
6:47 am
“Chizik can also thank Roof for Auburn’s national title.”
LOL @ this delusional Techie. You might want to go check the stats on that 2010 Auburn defense there Bud. It ain’t pretty. Unless Roof was playing quarterback and called himself Cam Newton he had absolutely nothing to do with Auburn’s national title. Unbelievable.
ylojkt
January 11th, 2013
7:34 am
GREAT HIRE! WELCOME BACK TED!!!!!
Hal
January 11th, 2013
7:42 am
I am sure he has learned a whole bunch since he was last at Tech. Welcome back Ted and best of luck.
WayneJacket
January 11th, 2013
9:06 am
Excellent hire. Penn St. lost 18 players from the mess there before Roof arrived, yet he turned it around and they won with defence. Look at Auburn, they fell off the cliff since he left. Roof will recruit and he will have them hitting and tackling. We are fortunate to have him.
OldGold1964
January 11th, 2013
9:10 am
Bare with m, as my mind tends to wander: Suppose, just for a minute, that we invest in some ‘Just For Men’ to cover up the gray and we put Roof and Brooking on the field for awhile. After a few solid linebacker hits, opponents will abandon going over the middle attack options.
wrecked
January 11th, 2013
10:57 am
Waynejacket, Auburn fell off the cliff while roof was there, they fired him.
Tommy
January 11th, 2013
11:34 am
Roof does not have to have a great defense, but GT needs a defense that is good.
GT Lee
January 11th, 2013
12:03 pm
Dwagfan, something must be amiss at UGA for Garner to take a step down to Auburn.
Thanks for playing.
Wes King
January 11th, 2013
2:17 pm
Bad Hire….piss poor really. Proof that PJC is NOT a Head coach of any standards and GT doesnt really care about it’s football program.
Love my jackets and even love the triple option but I hate the leadership there