By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

The attire and colors are different, but the wide eyes, the volume, the enthusiasm?

Brian Bohannon may have a new job at a new – and old – school, but not much else has changed.

And for a little more than half an hour, that’s what the audience at the Macon Touchdown Club got: same Bohannon, new passion.

“Those of you who have listened to me, some of you, I don't know what I say, but I'm loud,” he said. “I got some energy, some enthusiasm. That is who I am.”

Club members saw and heard the same Bohannon, but now as a Georgia Tech assistant instead of as a successful head coach at Kennesaw State.

The volume was the same.

When Bohannon spoke at the club a year ago, he no doubt didn’t expect that within a month, he’d be out of a job, having been abruptly fired as Kennesaw State’s first and only - and mighty successful – head coach.

“All good things must come to an end, some way, somehow, right?” he said. “This is life. These are the lessons we learned. Life lessons.”

And he didn’t expect what happened next. Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key sent a text of support.

“I've never met Brent Key a day in my life,” he said. “Wow. Never met him. Knew of him, obviously. Knew about him. I watched him play, so I knew kind of what was going on, because they play like I like to coach and play. They do it the same way. I'm like ‘What?’”

An invite to practice followed, a welcome invite for somebody in a new situation: not coaching football in the middle of football season.

Bohannon inquired about employment with the Jackets in any form or fashion, and hope became reality in January as an senior offensive assistant.

“That means I’m the oldest coach on the offensive staff,” the 54-year-old Macon native said. “Not sure what else it means.”

He’s part of an offensive staff with a run game that ranks 16th nationally in FBS with 232 yards a game and is tied for eighth with 16 rushing touchdowns. The Jackets are 56h in passing offense with 244 yards a game, and 18th in total offense with 476 yards a game.

His first game in the position was unforgettable, a trip to Colorado.

“Hyped up, going to play Prime, Deion, the whole nine yards, place is sold out,” Bohannon said. “You can smoke marijuana there. So, you're getting a whiff of it. I don't do that. But you're getting a whiff of it throughout the game.

“It's wild, but it's the truth. Deion said it. He was asked what's the most impressive thing about the student section. ‘The wave of marijuana during the game.’ What the hell?”

That game showed Bohannon what this team is about. The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over on its first three possessions, and came back to win 27-20.

“It was kind of, you got a glimpse of George Tech football right there in a nutshell,” he said. “You know, find a way to take care of one another, find a way for to play what we call complimentary football where the defense bails the offense out, offense finds a way to the defense, special teams …

“Not one side going south because the other side can’t get it done. It’s the other said saying, ‘I got your back.’”

Versions of the same scenario followed in wins over Clemson and Wake Forest, putting Georgia Tech at 6-0 and in the top 20.

“I believe what Coach Keys is doing is historical,” he said. “It's unique, right? In this day and age.

“You're recruiting certain kids to come to a place that fits what we do. They fit. There's a defined culture of what's going on and that's been probably the biggest difference and winning right now, more than anything.”

Bohannon’s second stint with Tech brings back memories of his first, from 2008-12. Back then, he worked with quarterback Joshua Nesbitt, a strong-armed Greene County grad who ran Paul Johnson’s triple option with the grit and stubbornness and physicality of, well, one Haynes King, the incumbent quarterback running a more versatile scheme still predicated on old-school physicality.

First, he let out something of a secret about King, so tough a player that he drew the admiration of most of Georgia’s fan base during last year’s unforgettable eight-overtime Georgia win in which he completed 26 of 36 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns while running 24 times for 110 yards and thre touchdowns.

“The longer it takes him to get up off the ground, the better he is,” the Georgia grad said. “Let him lay there a little while, and the longer he lays there, you better get your game face on. He is in his groove.”

He said King isn’t overly vocal, but the Jackets follow his example of consistency and toughness.

That led to a question about comparing King and Nesbitt, who was a little shorter and a little thicker.

Nesbitt played in 45 games from 2007-2010, rushing for 2,806 yards and 35 touchdowns. King began his college career at Texas A&M and played sparingly – six games in three seasons – before transferring.

In 30 games at Georgia Tech, King has rushed for 1,704 yards and 38 touchdowns, and has keyed the Yellow Jackets’ resurgence the past two years.

He couldn’t avoid a question of comparison. So physical was “warrior” Nesbitt that he didn’t practice on Wednesday because of the need of recovery time.

“Two tough suckers that lead the same way, by how they played the game,” Bohannon said. “I told Nesbitt when I went back, I said, ‘Dude, you’re the toughest guy I’ve ever coached’. I’m not picking anyone over him.

“I’m going to call it a tie.’