Who, this guy????
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Mike Sewak, who has coached on the college level for 26 years including four years as head coach at Georgia Southern, enters his third year at Georgia Tech as co-coach of the offensive line. Sewak works primarily with the guards and centers.
Last season Sewak helped assemble an offensive line that overcame several injuries to help Georgia Tech lead the ACC and rank second nationally in rushing offense (295.4 ypg), and lead the ACC in total offense (422.1 ypg).
Two Yellow Jacket offensive linemen -- guard Cord Howard and center Sean Bedford -- were named first team All-ACC. Under Sewak, Bedford has developed from a walk-on defensive lineman into an all-conference center.
In Sewak's first season with the Yellow Jackets, he coached a youth-laden offensive line that had to quickly grasp Tech's new spread option offense and unique blocking scheme. The end result saw the Jackets lead the ACC and rank fourth nationally in rushing offense (273.2 ypg) and lead the ACC in total offense (372.5 ypg).
Two Yellow Jacket linemen -- senior tackle Andrew Gardner (1st team) and Howard (2nd team) -- earned All-ACC honors in 2008.
Sewak, Johnson's offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern from 1997 to 2001, replaced Johnson as head coach of the Eagles in 2002. He produced a record of 35-14 as Georgia Southern's head coach and led the Eagles to three NCAA Division I-AA playoffs appearances and two Southern Conference championships. He was named the 2004 Southern Conference Coach of the Year.
In his first season as head coach in 2002, Sewak led Georgia Southern to the I-AA semifinals and within a last-second missed field goal of the national championship game. The Eagles finished the season with an 11-3 record, won the school's sixth consecutive league title and made their fifth straight national semifinals appearance. In addition, Sewak's offense led the nation in rushing, averaging 386.2 yards per game.
Georgia Southern followed with an uncharacteristic 7-4 mark in 2003, a season which saw Sewak valiantly sidestep adversity and numerous key injuries to guide GSU to victories in six of its last eight games and earn his second straight rushing title as a head coach with a 335.6 yards per game average.
Sewak put GSU back on track in 2004. Georgia Southern rolled through the regular season with an offensive juggernaut, averaging 47 points per game and winning eight games in a row between losses to I-A Georgia and Southern Conference co-champion Furman, the No. 2 ranked team in I-AA.
While young on both sides of the ball in 2005, Georgia Southern led I-AA in rushing again. After a 1-2 start, the Eagles won seven of their last eight games to clinch an at-large playoff bid. The only loss during that stretch was to Appalachian State, the Southern Conference champion and the No. 2 seed in the I-AA playoffs. Sewak also led the Eagles to a win over Furman when the Paladins were ranked No. 1 in the country.
As offensive coordinator under Johnson at Georgia Southern from 1997 to 2001, Sewak's offensive unit consistently ranked as one of the nation's best at the NCAA Division I-AA level during the five-year span. After finishing second in rushing offense, total offense and scoring offense in 1998, the Eagles improved to a first-place national standing in all three categories in 1999 -- averaging 419.0 rushing yards, 551.7 total yards and 50.0 points per game.
In all, as Georgia Southern's offensive coordinator from 1997 to 2001, the Eagles rolled to a 62-10 mark, scored 2,855 points (39.7 ppg), picked up 25,941 rushing yards (360.3 ypg), 7,816 passing yards (108.6 ypg) and 33,757 total yards (468.8 ypg). Sewak also played a key role in helping lead Georgia Southern to five straight Southern Conference championships and NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances, three national championship games and two national titles in 1999 and 2000.
In addition, three Georgia Southern offensive linemen earned All-America honors under his direct guidance from 1997 to 2001. Guard Mark Williams, who also was the recipient of back-to-back Southern Conference Jacob's Blocking Trophies in '97 and '98, tackle Rich McGrath and center Matt Winslette all earned national honors under Sewak's leadership.
During his time at Georgia Southern, Sewak took an active role in the community, serving as a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) in the Bulloch County (Ga.) School District. He kept ties with the Special Olympics program, serving as a volunteer in various capacities. He also instilled a community relations leadership role for his players who spent many lunch and reading sessions with children at Statesboro's Mill Creek Elementary School and donated their time to the March of Dimes Walk America and "Operation Cleanup".
Sewak was appointed as the honorary chairperson of the Keep Bulloch Beautiful campaign in February, 2002, and was selected to a similar capacity for the 2003 Bulloch County's Walk America in January.
Prior to his second stint at Georgia Southern, Sewak helped turn around a struggling program at Ohio University as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under current Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe in 1995 and 1996. The Bobcats, after going 0-11 prior to Sewak's arrival, went 2-8-1 in '95 before posting a 6-6 record in 1996 - the school's best mark since 1982. Sewak directed an offensive unit which ranked first in the Mid-America Conference in rushing with a 274.0 per game average.
Prior to Ohio, Sewak spent eight years as an assistant coach at Hawai'i, where he coached the Warriors' offensive line for seven seasons and the wide receivers for one. During his tenure in Honolulu, Hawaii won the 1992 Western Athletic Conference championship, broke more than 150 offensive records, and finished among the nation's offensive leaders each year, averaging 31.7 points and 418 yards per game.
Sewak's first stint at Georgia Southern came as an assistant coach with the Eagles in 1985 and 1986 when he worked under coach Erk Russell. Sewak coached the running backs and the defensive backs on national championship teams in 1985 and 1986, respectively. The Eagles captured their first two NCAA Division I-AA titles those seasons, recording consecutive 13-2 records.
Sewak's first association with Georgia Tech came in 1984 when he served as a graduate assistant tight ends coach under head coach Bill Curry.
A native of Johnstown, Pa., Sewak began his career in 1982 at Hobart (N.Y.) College where he served as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
A three-year letterman as an offensive lineman at Virginia, Sewak earned a degree in psychology from UVA in 1981. He was invited to tryouts with the Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers after the completion of his collegiate playing eligibility. Sewak added a Masters degree in the spring of 2008 from Georgia Southern.
He and his wife, the former Robin Farmery of Marietta, Ga., are the parents of three children -- Michael Robert, Olivia and Nicholas.
Mike Sewak
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Originally Posted by CajunNation
