Georgia Tech Football: Former Jacket now a grad assistant with Georgia Southern

Former Georgia Tech football player Jamal Golden has joined the Georgia Southern coaching staff as a grad assistant.

According to the Georgia Southern staff directory, former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Jamal Golden is a grad assistant with Georgia Southern.

The former Yellow Jacket is coming off his first year away from The Flats after being waived by the New Orleans Saints last fall during training camp. Golden was signed by the Saints as an undrafted free agent after going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Before taking a shot at his NFL dreams, the Wetumpka, Alabama native spent five years on the Flats where he made several key plays during his time. One such play was an 85-yard interception touchdown return against Clemson in 2014.

His most memorable moment, however, may be his forced fumble against Mississippi State in the 2014 Orange Bowl. Let’s set the stage, the Yellow Jackets are up 35-20 with just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Mississippi State then lead by now Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott is driving down the field, hoping to get the game down to one possession. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Jamal Golden and the Yellow Jackets defense had other plans.

Over his career on the Flats, Golden was an impact player on defense and special teams and his defensive playing making abilities could be seen in the two videos above. In the return game, Golden was a threat to return the ball to the end zone any time and once racked up 230-yards of total returns against North Carolina back in 2012.

In the end, his stats are pretty strong for a defensive back as he had 169 career tackles, 6.5 sacks, and eight interceptions over his career. In the return game, he would end his career with 1,860 return yards on 76 kickoff returns while taking two back for touchdowns. He was also a 2014 All-ACC Third Team Coaches selection.

Last season, Georgia Southern went 5-7 including 4-4 in the Sun Belt. Next season will be the Eagles fourth season of FBS play and will be looking to have their third winning season in their first four seasons. The Eagles and Yellow Jackets are quite familiar with each other despite just playing each other twice. The two schools have had numerous alumni and coaching staff members swap schools over history, including current Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Johnson.