Coaching career
Early career
Collins graduated from Rockdale County High School in Conyers, Georgia, where he played for coach and mentor Jeff Beggs. [5] He went on to play football at Western Carolina University. [6] Following his graduation, Collins served as a student assistant at Western Carolina, his alma mater, during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Following a year coaching high school, Collins became the linebacker coach for Fordham in 1996 before becoming the defensive coordinator at Albright College from 1997 through 1998. Collins left Albright to become a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech under George O'Leary for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Following two years in the GA position, Georgia Tech promoted Collins to tight ends coach at for the 2001 season. Collins returned to his alma mater to become Western Carolina's defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2005 before returning to Georgia Tech in 2006 as the Director of Player Personnel through 2007. After a year at Alabama as the Director of Player Personnel, Collins was reunited with O'Leary at UCF as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2008 through 2009. [7]
FIU (2010)
Collins served as the defensive coordinator for Florida International during the 2010 season. Collins' defense led the Sun Belt Conference in total defense, scoring defense and turnover margin.The team won the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game and the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. [1]
Mississippi State (2011–2014)
Collins coached at Mississippi State from 2011 through 2014. During that time, Collins coached All-American Fletcher Cox, who was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. Upon being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2013, Collins helped lead a Bulldogs team that finished in the Top 5 in the SEC in total defense, rushing defense and passing defense. Under Collins, the Bulldogs' became one of the best defenses in the Southeastern Conference. [8] In 2014, Collins' Mississippi State defense led the SEC in sacks and had the conference's No. 1 Red Zone defense en route to a 10-3 record. He was nicknamed the "Minister of Mayhem" at MSU. [9] He coached several linebackers that later went to the NFL, including Fletcher Cox, [10] Cameron Lawrence, Deontae Skinner, and Nickoe Whitley. [7]
Florida (2015–2016)
Collins spent two years as the defensive coordinator at Florida underneath Jim McElwain. While with the Gators, Collins oversaw a defense that ranked No. 6 in scoring defense in 2016 and No. 11 in 2015. [11] During the 2015 season, Collins' defense became just the seventh team in the last 20 years to not allow a touchdown against three FBS Power 5 schools on the road in the same season. [1] During his time at Florida, Collins coached five defensive players that were drafted in the 2016 NFL draft and produced a consensus All-American in Vernon Hargreaves. Hargreaves and safety Keanu Neal were drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. [10]
The team won the SEC East Championship in 2015, [12] and 2016. [13] Following the 2015 season, Collins was a candidate to replace O'Leary as the head coach at UCF, [14] although the position ultimately went to Scott Frost. [15]
Temple (2017–2018)
Collins secured his first head coaching job in December 2016 when he was named Matt Rhule's successor at Temple. Collins had previously worked alongside Rhule at Albright College and Western Carolina. [16]
In Collins' first season, Temple went 7–6 and won the 2017 Gasparilla Bowl, the program's first bowl win since 2011 and just its third bowl win overall. [17]
In his second season, the Owls started off 0-2 but finished the regular season 8–4 overall and 7–1 in conference play. The Owls qualified for the 2018 Independence Bowl as a result. Along the way, Collins surpassed Steve Addazio as the winningest Temple coach over the first two seasons of their tenure at the school. [18] He coached Rock Ya-Sin, a second round pick in the 2019 NFL draft. [19]
Georgia Tech (2019–2022)
On December 7, 2018, Collins was named the 20th head coach of Georgia Tech football. [20] He coached six Yellow Jackets who were drafted by the NFL, including Tyler Davis, Jalen Camp, Pressley Harvin III, Tariq Carpenter, Keion White, and Jahmyr Gibbs, as well as the free agent Nathan Cottrell. [10] He was subsequently fired by the Yellow Jackets in 2022, following the teams' 27-10 loss to University of Central Florida on September 24, 2022. [21] [22] Collins had a record of 10-28 at Georgia Tech, the lowest winning percentage for a permanent head coach in the program's history. [23] Assistant head coach Brent Key took over as interim head coach. [24]
North Carolina (2024)
Collins was hired by Mack Brown as defensive coordinator at UNC Chapel Hill, replacing previous defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. [10] Coach Collins was not retained and was replaced by a former Patriots assistant, Steve Belichick. [25]
In July 2025, Collins was hired to be on the staff of The University of South Carolina.
