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Georgia Tech Football: Jackets once again prove their legitimacy in recruiting

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Fans of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets cheer for their team during their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Fans of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets cheer for their team during their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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On Tuesday night, the Georgia Tech football program received a commitment from 2020 four-star wide receiver Bryce Gowdy, once again proving that they’re a legitimate threat on the recruiting trail.

For over the last decade, the Georgia Tech football program wasn’t taken too seriously on the recruiting trail. Sure, the Jackets would land a high three-star recruit here or there and maybe even a four-star recruit every few other cycle or so. But now, in the Geoff Collins’ era of Georgia Tech football, the Jackets have shown that they are a legitimate threat on the recruiting trail to land some of the nation’s elite talent.

The most recent example of how the Jackets are building their legitimacy on the recruiting trail was with their latest commitment from four-star wide receiver Bryce Gowdy. The Deerfield Beach, Florida native ended up committing to the Jackets over Oregon, Syracuse, and West Virginia. That being said, the offer list that Gowdy possessed before narrowing down his last shows just how high of a caliber player he truly is.

Offers that Gowdy had but did not end up in his final list of potential destinations include Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Penn State, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Overall, he received 29 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment, giving him plenty of destinations to consider. But in the end, the final destination for Gowdy was The Flats of Georgia Tech.

The 6-foot-2 and roughly 200-pound wide receiver is now the Jackets second-best commitment in the 2020 class, only behind another Florida native in Trinity Christian Academy cornerback Miles Brook. Brooks committed to the Jackets over 20 other scholarship offers including offers from Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, and Oklahoma to just name four.

Yes, the Yellow Jackets are still going to fill their 2020 class with mostly three-star prospects but they’re also making waves with top names in the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes. That’s not to mention that the Jackets were able to pull off a tremendous coup late in last year’s recruiting cycle by landing four-star running back Jamious Griffin, flipping him away from the North Carolina State Wolfpack. These are just three examples but within just eight months of being hired. Overall, the waves the Jackets are making on the recruiting trail are phenomenal and they’re only going to continue from here.

Georgia Tech will most likely never reach the heights of being a top-10 recruiting team year in and year out but there is no reason they can’t be a top-25 team consistently on the recruiting trail. The Yellow Jackets have been a sleeping giant for quite some time, sitting in the heart of Atlanta and more so arguably the best state when it comes to high school football talent. It’s very well possible that these first eight months of the Geoff Collins era has shown that, that sleeping giant is just beginning to wake up and that the Jackets for the foreseeable future are here to stay on the recruiting trail.

Of course, the Yellow Jackets success on the field will help dictate their success on the recruiting trail but so far through the first eight months, the Yellow Jackets are proving to be a legitimiate recruiting threat to programs around the country.