Reliving The Cinderella 1990 National Championship Season
By: John Toon | Categories: Sports, Tech History
When the Yellow Jackets lined up against NC State on September 8, 1990, their record included winning seven of the last eight games in their 1989 football season, including a 33 to 22 triumph over archrival Georgia—always a good way to end a season. Though the Wolfpack was just the first opponent of 1990, Coach Bobby Ross knew the contest would be pivotal to what the team could do that year.
“I always thought that one of the really key factors was winning that opening game,” he says. “We had struggled a little bit in our openers, and we came from behind in the fourth quarter to win that game. That built confidence as we went into the season.”
Not only would the Jackets beat NC State 21 to 13 that day, they’d go on to a national championship as the only undefeated college team in the country, topping off the year by whipping traditional powerhouse Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 1991.
Ross credits the team’s depth, which gave the Yellow Jackets the ability to step in when somebody was out. He lists the great achievers who won awards and found places in professional football. And he names another factor that may have been the most important of all.
“The team had great confidence, they really did,” he says. “They believed in themselves; they believed in what they were doing, and they went into games expecting to win. They were just that type of team. They had confidence and a little bit of a swagger, and that was good.”
In the 31 years since, players from the 1990 team have demonstrated that confidence, going on to impressive careers. In the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, kicker Scott Sisson, Mgt 96, is marketing manager for a large branch of a residential mortgage industry firm. After work, he teaches private kicking lessons to students in the Milton and Alpharetta area.
“Most any accomplishment in life involves some mix of key components like hard work, belief, confidence, and some lucky breaks along the way,” says Sisson, who played for the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings after his time at Tech. “I believe these were all factors that pulled this team together in 1990.”
The team was tremendously talented and had depth in key areas, but winning requires more than that.
“Anytime you take a group of people that truly start to believe in something, whether it’s a big goal or a winning streak, it’s fascinating to watch events play out and start to snowball,” explains Sisson, who was an All-America selection in 1992 and was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 2003. “When team confidence is building, you can see the extra effort on every play to a man, in practice and games. Our belief seemed to build by the week, and the more that happened, the more the wins rolled out in front of us.”
Marco Coleman, Cls 91, has a unique perspective on the dynamics of football teams. A linebacker for the 1990 team, today he’s the defensive ends coach for the Jackets after a 14-year career as a professional player and former assistant defensive line coach for the Oakland Raiders. While technology has changed how most young people communicate, football players must still work together the old-fashioned way.
“In today’s society with all the social media, people don’t have that direct contact,” he observes. “In football, folks are still talking to each other and engaging. That communication is helping these young men understand and grow.” In helping develop the players he works with, the 1990 season comes up in discussion. “When they bring up the 1990 championship, I help them understand how they can create that potential. We were able to have a successful season, and I tell them they can do the same thing.”
James Kushon, Cls 95, who played tackle for the 1990 team and is now a West Coast entertainment entrepreneur, credits Ross for building a team from “a bunch of guys who wouldn’t normally hang out together.”
“We had guys from all over the North and South, everywhere from dirt-poor to the upper socioeconomic strata,” he says. “We were thrown together in the middle of Atlanta under a guy who told us we were going to do something special. It was about looking after each other, and saying we were going to do this together.”
Kushon has found the camaraderie of former football players in the upper echelons of business. “There is a certain reverence within the fraternity,” he observes. “You have a respect for guys who played at other schools. I’ve always been in business development, so this has definitely been a conversation starter.”
Teamwork is a term used so much that it often has no meaning. Darrell Swilling, Mgt 92, who played inside linebacker and is now a regional vice president for a major carpet manufacturer, said the young men who took the field in 1990 knew they could count on each other.
“One of the things we had with that group was trust,” he says. “Everyone had their role and we never had to look to the left or right to question whether a teammate was handling their responsibility. We worked as a unit in practice and it carried over in the games. Coach Ross really emphasized accountability and not making excuses.”
No one lasts at Georgia Tech without hard work, and that goes even more for athletes, who must balance their time in practice with their studies. Swilling credits Todd Stansbury, now Tech’s athletic director, for instilling the kinds of skills needed to do that—and to be successful in the world.
Concern for developing people continued after the locker room door closed for the day. That was part of the “Total Person Program,” a first of its kind, developed by longtime Athletic Director Homer Rice, who at 94 still teaches the principles of developing complete people.
“It’s a positive leadership program,” Rice explains. “It teaches leadership and developing the kind of person you want to be by how you think and how you control what you think. It really works.” Rice, who coached the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, brought Bobby Ross to Georgia Tech and credits him for building a winning culture that created the foundation for the national championship.
“He put together the best staff anybody’s ever had,” Rice says. “His assistants were former head coaches or coordinators. They had been at the top levels. We turned him loose and by his third year, he put things together. In each game, they got better.”
Of course, no discussion of the 1990 Georgia Tech season can avoid a certain situation that still irks many longtime fans: a split national ranking in which coaches in the UPI poll ranked Tech first, while sportswriters and broadcasters in the AP poll put Colorado first.
Coach Ross says he focused on helping the team savor the spotlight. “I was very upbeat and positive about it,” he says. “I didn’t want to let any second of that spoil the feeling. I personally felt like we should have been the undisputed champions. We were the only undefeated team and we had played a tough schedule. But I was very happy and excited and felt like we were a really good football team.”
Ross left Tech in 1992 to coach the San Diego Chargers to an AFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl. He then served as head coach of the Detroit Lions before winding up his career at Army.
While the 1990 season began with NC State, the Clemson and Virginia games may have produced the most memories. An epic goal line stand against Clemson helped keep the winning streak going. But the tipping point was the 41 to 38 upset of Virginia on November 3. The Cavaliers were ranked No. 1 in the country and played like it. With the clock nearing the two-minute mark, Virginia got to within a yard of the end zone before being stopped by the Tech defense. The Cavs had to settle for a field goal that tied the game.
The Jackets took over possession, picked up 13 yards with a William Bell run, then 15 more with a Shawn Jones pass to Greg Lester. That set up Sisson for a 37-yard field goal with just five seconds left. What was going through his mind at that moment?
“I tell people it’s a good thing I didn’t know what was riding on that kick in that moment,” Sisson recalled. “I honestly don’t know that I would have made room in my brain to process anything other than ‘make-kick, win game.’ I had watched those guys fight all season and all afternoon to put us in the spot to make that kick. We all wanted it for Coach Ross, too.”
Where are they now?
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Boyd Andrews
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Position: Inside Linebacker
Darrell Swilling
Position: Inside Linebacker
Alan Waters
Position: Kicker
Position: Defensive Tackle
Marlon Williams
Position: Outside Linebacker
Scott Sisson
Position: Kicker
Mark Hutto
Position: Guard
Derek Goshay
Position: Tight End
