Travares Tillman returns to Georgia Tech as defensive backs coach

Travares Tillman, a Georgia Tech alumnus and 1999 football team captain, is returning to The Flats to join Tech’s football coaching staff as defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator, head coach Geoff Collins announced on Tuesday.

Tillman returns to his alma mater after spending the past six seasons under the tutelage of Michigan State head coach and 2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year Mel Tucker. As Michigan State’s cornerbacks coach this season, Tillman helped lead the Spartans to a 10-2 regular-season record, including a win over archrival, Big Ten champion and College Football Playoff participant Michigan, a No. 10 national ranking and a berth in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

“I’m excited to welcome Travares Tillman and his family — Kiki, Atticus, Harper and Saint — home to The Flats,” Collins said. “Travares’ familiarity and love for Tech, along with seven years of NFL playing experience and six years of coaching under one of college football’s best defensive backs coaches in Mel Tucker, makes him an ideal fit to coach our defensive backs.”

As a Georgia Tech defensive back from 1996-99, Tillman was a four-year letterwinner, three-year starter, two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and a member of the ACC’s all-academic team. His 236 career tackles ranked fourth all-time among Georgia Tech defensive backs at the end of his collegiate career and still rank eighth in school history among DBs. He also had seven interceptions as a Yellow Jacket, including a team-high four as a sophomore in 1997. Tech won 30 games, claimed a share of the 1998 ACC championship and appeared in three bowl games in his four seasons on The Flats.

He went on to be selected in the second round of the 2000 National Football League Draft by the Buffalo Bills (No. 58 overall) and spent seven seasons in the NFL with the Bills, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins. He played in 74 games and made 29 starts over seven NFL seasons, and recorded 180 tackles, four interceptions and 15 passes defended. He played in Super Bowl XXXVIII (2003) as a member of the Carolina Panthers.

Tillman started under Tucker as a defensive graduate assistant (2016-17) and defensive quality control assistant (2018) at Georgia. As a graduate assistant, Tillman worked directly with Tucker in coaching UGA’s safeties, while his quality-control duties included breaking down opponents and compiling weekly scouting reports. Georgia compiled a 32-10 record during Tillman’s three seasons with the Bulldogs, including a trip to the CFP national championship game in 2017, when UGA had the nation’s third-ranked pass defense.

Tillman went on to be a member of Tucker’s first three staffs as a head coach, first at Colorado (2019 — defensive backs coach), then at Michigan State (2020 — senior defensive assistant; 2021 — cornerbacks coach).

He began his coaching career as defensive backs coach at Calvary Day School in Savannah, Ga. for four seasons (2012-15), helping lead the team to a 41-8 record, four state quarterfinal appearances, two state semifinals and a berth in the 2013 Georgia Class A-Private state championship game. He coached eight players that would earn college scholarships during his four seasons at the prep level. He also coached Calvary’s track team for four seasons and served as assistant athletics director during his final two years at the school.

In 2013, Tillman was a recipient of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship and worked with the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive backs during training camp under head coach Chip Kelly.

Before embarking on his coaching career, Tillman returned to Georgia Tech following his seven years in the NFL to complete coursework for his bachelor’s degree in business management, which he earned in 2010.

“I’m proud and excited to return to my alma mater,” Tillman said. “I am honored to be a part of a great lineage of defensive backs at Georgia Tech. I can’t wait to get to work with Coach Collins and the rest of the defensive staff to help develop the next generation of successful DBs and play winning defense on The Flats.”

A Lyons, Ga. native, Tillman graduated from Toombs County H.S., where he was a four-year letterwinner in football and basketball, and lettered twice in golf. He was named Georgia 3-A Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1995.

Tillman and his wife, Kiki, have three children: Atticus, Harper and Saint.