Record at time of hire: 63-50-1; Record at Georgia Tech: 31-26-1
Previous schools:
- The Citadel Bulldogs: 1973-1977
- Maryland Terrapins: 1982-1986
There have been numerous stops for Bobby Ross, but we’re comparing the time he was hired by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the time he was hired by Tennessee football. He went 24-31 in five years with The Citadel and then spend four years as an assistant. There’s not much to read into his tenure during that time.
When Ross took over the Maryland Terrapins, though, he inherited a program that was sliding but had seen some success under Jerry Claiborne. Following a successful coach is why he made this list, as Claiborne had gone 77-37-3 in 10 years with the Terps, winning three straight ACC Championships from 1974 to 1976.
Claiborne’s last year there, though, was a 4-6-1 campaign, the first time his team failed to have a winning season since his first year. That’s one difference from what Josh Heupel inherited with the UCF Knights. Anyway, Ross went 39-19-1 there with three straight ACC Championships in five years. Similar to Heupel, though, his worst year was his last year there.
When GT hired Ross, he had just gone 5-5-1. It didn’t matter. They saw something, and he had a great run, winning the national title in 1990. Ross then spent nine years in the NFL, five with the San Diego Chargers and four with the Detroit Lions, taking the Chargers to a Super Bowl, before returning to college for a failed three-year stint with the Army Black Knights from 2004 to 2006.