THE FLATS – Georgia Tech football has added Kobie Jones, Mike Polly, Brian Bohannon and Emil Ekiyor, Jr. to its staff, head coach Brent Key announced on Friday.

“We’re really excited to add Kobie, Mike, Brian and Emil to our staff,” Key said. “They bring a lot of experience and knowledge, but beyond that, they’re all great men and leaders that will make our team stronger on and off the field. They are great additions to our program and the Georgia Tech community.”

KOBIE JONES – CORNERBACKS

Cornerbacks coach Kobie Jones comes to The Flats after most recently spending the last two seasons at Alabama.

A highly regarded young coach, Jones began at Alabama in 2023 as a defensive graduate assistant under legendary head coach Nick Saban before being promoted to assistant cornerbacks coach under head coach Kalen DeBoer in 2024. During his two seasons in Tuscaloosa, Jones helped coach a pair of all-America cornerbacks in Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry, who were selected in the first and second rounds of the 2024 National Football League Draft, respectively. The Crimson Tide won the 2023 Southeastern Conference championship and a total of 21 games in Jones’ two seasons with the program.

Prior to his two-year stint at Alabama, Jones spent two seasons (2021-22) as defensive backs coach at one of the nation’s top prep programs, the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. At IMG, he coached more than a half-dozen defensive backs that have gone on to play at the Power Four level. He helped lead the Ascenders to a two-year record of 17-2 against top competition from across the nation.

Jones began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Alabama State, in 2020-21 (the Hornets went 3-3 during the Covid-19-delayed spring 2021 season).

He played four seasons at Alabama State as a quarterback and defensive back (2016-19). He appeared in seven games at QB as a redshirt freshman in 2017, throwing for 575 yards and three touchdowns, including a 173-yard performance against Tuskegee that earned him Southwestern Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Week honors. He had five tackles in four games as a DB in 2019.

Jones played and coached at Alabama State under current Georgia Tech football chief of staff Donald Hill-Eley.

An Ocala, Fla. native, Jones holds two degrees from Alabama State – a bachelor’s in political science and government (2019) and a master’s in information technology (2021).

MIKE POLLY – ASSISTANT OFFENSIVE LINE

Mike Polly brings 17 years of collegiate coaching experience to his role as assistant offensive line coach at Georgia Tech.

Polly most recently spent 11 seasons on the staff at Middle Tennessee, first as running backs coach (2013-15), then as offensive tackles/tight ends coach (2016-21) and finally as offensive line coach (2022-23). He also served as the Blue Raiders’ special teams coordinator from 2014-21 and run game coordinator from 2016-23.

During his 11 seasons at Middle Tennessee, Polly coached 10 all-conference performers, including two-time all-Conference USA offensive lineman Robert Jones, who is now a member of the Miami Dolphins. He also coached Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge – who earned all-America honors at Tech in 2024 – to a spot on C-USA’s all-freshman team in 2022 and first-team all-conference honors in 2023. He also helped lead the Blue Raiders to seven bowl berths in 11 seasons.

Polly previously spent three seasons at Murray State, first as the Racers’ offensive tackles/tight ends coach in 2010, then as their offensive line coach and special teams coordinator in 2011 and 2012. At Murray State, he helped coach an offensive unit that ranked in the top five in NCAA Division I FCS in total offense each season and paved the way for the school’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 2011 (RB Mike Harris).

In addition to being reunited with Rutledge at Georgia Tech, Polly will once again work with Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who he coached with at Murray State (2010) and Middle Tennessee (2013-15).

Polly began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Georgetown (Ky.) College (Spring 2007), before spending three seasons as a G.A. at Middle Tennessee (2007-09). MTSU earned only the second bowl berth in its Division I history in Polly’s third season as a G.A. with the Blue Raiders (2009 New Orleans Bowl).

Polly was a highly decorated student-athlete at Georgetown from 2002-06, achieving all-conference honors as a senior co-captain offensive lineman, as well as being a four-time academic all-conference honoree and three-time academic all-American. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Georgetown (2006) and a master’s in sports management from Middle Tennessee (2008).

An Erlanger, Ky. native, Polly is married to his wife, Meagan.

BRIAN BOHANNON – SENIOR OFFENSIVE ASSISTANT

Coming off a highly successful 10-year stint as head coach at Kennesaw State, former Georgia Tech assistant coach Brian Bohannon returns to The Flats as senior offensive assistant for the Yellow Jackets.

Bohannon put together an ultra-impressive 72-38 record (.655) as the first head coach in Kennesaw State history from 2015-24. In the first seven seasons of program history, Bohannon led the Owls to seven-straight winning campaigns, four 11-win seasons, four NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearances and three Big South Conference championships. KSU finished ranked in the top 15 in the FCS rankings five-straight seasons from 2017-21, including a No. 5 final ranking in 2018. He oversaw the football team’s transition to the NCAA Division I FBS ranks over his final three seasons at KSU, which included a 27-24 win over previously undefeated Liberty in 2024 that proved to be one of college football’s biggest upsets of the year.

During his time at KSU, Bohannon was named the American Football Coaches FCS Coach of the Year in 2017, Big South Coach of the Year three times (2017, 2018 and 2021) and AFCA District Coach of the Year in 2018.

Prior to leading Kennesaw State’s entry to college football beginning in 2013, Bohannon was an assistant coach for 16 seasons under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Paul Johnson, including five seasons as quarterbacks/B-backs coach at Georgia Tech (2008-12). Bohannon also coached under Johnson at Navy (wide receivers – 2002-07) and Georgia Southern (wide receivers – 1997-99; defensive backs – 2000-01). In his 16 seasons under Johnson, Bohannon helped lead Georgia Southern to two NCAA Division I-AA national championships and five-straight Southern Conference titles, Navy to five Commander-in-Chief’s Trophies and five bowl appearances and Georgia Tech to three ACC Coastal Division championships and five bowl games.

Bohannon began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at West Georgia in 1994-95 before spending one season as wide receivers coach at Gardner-Webb in 1996.

A Griffin, Ga. native, Bohannon played wide receiver at Georgia from 1990-93, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business in ‘93. He earned a master’s in business education from West Georgia in 1996. He and his wife, Melanie, have three children – sons, Blake and Braden, and daughter, Brooke.

EMIL EKIYOR, JR. – QUALITY CONTROL – OFFENSIVE LINE

Former all-Southeastern Conference offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor, Jr. has joined Georgia Tech’s staff as a quality control assistant working with the Yellow Jackets’ offensive line.

Ekiyor was an offensive lineman at Alabama from 2018-22. He was recruited by and played his first season under Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key, who was the Crimson Tide’s offensive line coach at the time. Ekiyor saw action in four games as a reserve under Key in 2018 and went on to play in 53 games with 40 starts at guard over his five seasons at Alabama. A three-year starter, he was named first-team all-SEC as a senior in 2022 and helped the Crimson Tide’s offensive front win the 2020 Joe Moore Award as the nation’s best offensive line. During Ekiyor’s five seasons in Tuscaloosa, the Tide won three SEC championships and the 2020 national title.

He was invited to participate in the 2023 Senior Bowl and NFL Combine and went on to sign a free-agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Following his time with the Colts, he worked in the insurance industry before returning to athletics. He also founded The Chase, an organization to empower youth and young professionals in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa by developing coaching and mentoring programs focused on success mindset, positive habit formation and financial literacy.

Ekiyor has served as a volunteer with the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and Samaritan’s Feet. During his time at Alabama, he led an initiative through Samaritan’s Feet to provide 25,000 students in the state of Alabama (ages 4-14) with a pair of new shoes before they returned to school in the fall of 2022. In recognition of his efforts in the community, he received the Senior Bowl Community Service Award in 2023.

An Indianapolis native, Ekiyor graduated from Alabama in 2022 with a B.A. in communication.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

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