According to a report out of the Atlanta Journal Constitution Georgia Tech's leading wide receiver, Jeff Greene, is leaving the team and expected to transfer to another school to finish out his college career. The 6'6" pass catcher was expected by coach Johnson and many outside observers to be the next great "big wide receiver" at Georgia Tech, following in the footsteps of guys like Calvin Johnson and Demaryuis Thomas.
That's clearly not going to happen as Greene and the coaching staff apparently clashed often over his effort, or lack there of, in a Yellow Jackets uniform. He had shown off his talent at times this season, making seven starts and recording 18 receptions for 284 yards, averaging 21.8 yards a catch. Not bad numbers for a team that doesn't exactly chuck the ball all over the field, a la Mike Leach style.
What's sad is taking a look at the optimism and hope that both sides showed when he made is commitment originally. Of course things can and did change in this situation, but still, it's amazing how you can go from this quote announcing his verbal commitment:
“I’m excited about Georgia Tech. Coach Johnson is a winner, and has won everywhere he has coached. Georgia Tech has great academics, and a college degree from there will help you after football. And it’s close to home, which will allow my friends and family come to the games.”
To the quote from his coach talking about the ending of Greene's relationship with Tech: “It’s a crying shame,” Phillips said. “The (coaches) bent over backwards to help him. He was on his way to getting a college degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. It’s a shame he had to be a little selfish.”
It's not every day you hear a kids high school coach throw his own player under the bus a s selfish kid in a direct quote and that more than anything else should tell you exactly how bad things had become. As the saying goes, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can rise up and be successful, and that is the hope with Greene's playing career.
Clearly a talent with his size and clocked 4.6 speed in the 40 yard dash he'll land on his feet somewhere, but this is just another in a long and seemingly never ending line of stories of kids seemingly resting on their glory as high school players and simply not willing to put in the work that coaches are asking them to do in order to be great.
No immediate news on where he would be transferring to or what his exact plans were going to be were announced with this transfer.
