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Ted Roof Comes Home Again
Mitch Ginn, Arch 82, M Arch 85
Former Tech star and new defensive coordinator reflects on his journey back to the Flats. Ted Roof, a linchpin of the Yellow Jackets’ “Black Watch” defense and an All-American player, first returned to Grant Field in 1998, joining Tech to coach outside linebackers before being promoted to defensive coordinator a year later. When coach George O’Leary departed for Notre Dame, Roof, Mgt 87, left Tech for Duke. Then, in January 2013, several coaching stops later, Roof got a call inviting him back home. He accepted, and has since worked quickly to revamp the Yellow Jackets defense. Here, Roof recalls his winding journey through the landscape of college football. Were you focused on football growing up?
I played three sports: baseball, football and basketball in the winter. Things weren’t as specialized as they are today. I idolized Pete Rose in baseball, Dick Butkus in football, and in basketball I liked the way John Havlicek played. How did you decide to play at Tech?
I remember the night Coach [Bill] Curry visited. Tech was coming off back-to-back one-win seasons. I said, “All right, if I come to Georgia Tech, I’ve got two questions. Number one: Will we win? And number two: Will you help me be a football coach?” Coach Curry said, “If we get you, and guys like you, yes we will win. And if you are stupid enough to want to be a coach, I’ll help you.”
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What made you want to be a coach?
I loved the competitiveness of coaching, and I also felt that I could one day be a positive impact on kids the same way my coaches were having an impact on me. As a father, your perspective changes, because you know your children are the most important things in the world to you. I treat my players like they are my sons. I want my sons pushed and challenged, because that’s how you grow. At the same time, I want someone to care about them. What was it like, coming to Tech?
I loved my time here. I lived in Field Dorm, just catty-cornered from the athletic building and the chow hall, and the chow hall’s food was so good. My favorite restaurant was P.J. Haley’s Nest. I remember the painting of 11 Yellow Jackets in the wishbone formation on the building. … We had a really close group [of players],
and we’ve stayed in touch. After playing here and coaching here, there’s a pretty wide perspective of guys that I’ve been involved with. That’s one of the reasons I came back, because I’m really proud of this place, my teammates and the students I went to school with. How difficult was it during your tenure as head coach at Duke?
When I look back at my time at Duke, what I remember most was the relationships I had with my players and the guys I worked with. It was a tough job. But even through those tough times you hope to make a positive impact on the players who were there. What was it like going north to be defensive coordinator at Minnesota?
Our spring game was around the first of May. Three weeks earlier I had watched the Masters on TV with that beautiful Georgia weather. We walk out for the spring game and it is snowing, and I’m thinking “What is wrong with this?” The next January I get a call from Gene Chizik to come down and interview for the Auburn coordinator’s job. I’m driving to the airport and it’s minus 32 degrees, and that’s without wind chill! As I’m walking to the terminal, my eyelashes froze. What was it like being part of a championship team at Auburn?
It was a great experience. Football is still football, but in that championship year
the BASELINE
per game allowed by the football team through 10 games 22.4 Points this season. Tech allowed 28.3 points per contest last season.
needed for swimmer Erika Staskevicius to finish 24.08 seconds first in the 50 free in the team’s win against Limestone.
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