‘No. 1 running back on our board.’ Georgia Tech signs on coveted recruit out of Dalton
Georgia Tech finally got a signature from its most-coveted target.
Dalton running back Jahmyr Gibbs, a high school All-American, ended the long waiting game by selecting the Yellow Jackets Wednesday on National Signing Day.
Gibbs, a four-star recruit, has been committed to Georgia Tech since shortly after Geoff Collins became the head coach, but did not finalize his commitment on the early signing day in December. Gibbs entertained other suitors — LSU and Florida were the two other finalists after he spurned overtures from Ohio State — before ending the suspense when he donned a Georgia Tech hat in front of a crowd of enthusiastic friends and family members.
“We take pride in our evaluation piece,” Collins said. “Jahmyr was undervalued early on by the college football word, but he was the No. 1 running back on our board from Day One.”
Gibbs developed close ties with Georgia Tech assistant Tashard Choice, a former All-ACC back with the Yellow Jackets and now the team’s running backs coach.
“Tashard Choice did an unbelievable job of building a relationship with Jahmyr that is going to last for a long, long time,” Collins said. “He wants to be part of our culture and the great young men in our locker room and he wants to be developed at a high level. I think Jahmyr is going to be a household name in the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia for a long, long time.”
Gibbs, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound back, ran for 2,554 yards and 40 touchdowns as a senior and finished with almost 5,000 yards and 70 touchdowns for his career.
Gibbs was the high of the highlight of the three additions announced on Wednesday. He joined offensive linemen Devin Cochran, a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, and Cade Kootsouradis of Crestview, Florida.
The trio completes a class that was ranked 25th by Rivals and is the second-highest ranked recruiting class in school history. The Yellow Jackets signed seven four-star prospects and nine of the top 41 prospects in the state.
Cochran (6-7, 320) graduated from Greater Atlanta Christian, where he was a first-team all-state selection. Cochran will bring experience to a position that was extremely young and thin in 2019.
Cochran started 32 games over three seasons with the Commodores. He missed the first three games of the 2019 season with an injury, but returned to start the final nine games at left tackle.
“Played at a high level in a really good conference,” Collins said. “He’ll come in here and provide some leadership, some stability and a lot of length.
Kootsouradis (6-4, 295) was a consensus three-star prospect and was ranked as the nation’s No. 48 guard by ESPN.
“Cade was one of the first commits in this signing class,” Collins said. “He stayed with us and helped recruit a lot of the other guys in this class. He’s a big, physical guy who plays really hard and has high character. I’m excited to see him work with our guys.”