Technical Tidbits 1/11

Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson moved quickly following the firing of special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski, reportedly hiring former North Carolina assistant Ron West to fill the void left by CRR on the coaching staff. Though I trust Paul Johnson's judgment when it comes to hiring assistants, the role that West will fill is not totally clear right now. It was speculated that a new coach would be brought on to help out with the offensive line, but West's most recent position was as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at North Carolina before being replaced by Gene Chizik. Looking at his pedigree, there is some impressive experience as an offensive line coach -- most notably at Clemson and Baylor -- but none recently. His last coaching job on the offensive side of the ball came at Clemson in 2003.

Georgia Tech got what head coach Brian Gregory called the biggest win of his tenure over the weekend in the form of a 68-64 upset of No. 4 Virginia at McCamish Pavilion. The Jackets, who improve to 11-5 (1-2 ACC) with the win, are now just a single win shy of equaling last season's victory total. The Hoos, meanwhile, dropped a second consecutive game to an ACC bottom-feeder; they lost their previous game against Virginia Tech as well. Though the first two conference losses were discouraging, a win over a highly touted team like UVA is nothing to take lightly. The ceiling for this year's team could be higher than anticipated if all goes well from here.

Despite being a longtime LSU commit, offensive line prospect Donavaughn Campbell still intends to use an official visit on Georgia Tech later this month. Campbell, whose brother Christian is thought to be Justin Thomas' successor at Tech, is a four-star offensive lineman and would be the crown jewel of the recruiting class were he to commit. Georgia Tech is his last official visit -- he will come to The Flats on January 29th -- and should have a great time. The opportunity to protect his brother should be a big draw as his final decision looms.

I'll leave you today with the highlights from Tech's big upset over UVA. Adam Smith and Quinton Stephens make quite a formidable duo.

Have a great Monday!