Say the name Joshua Nesbitt to a Georgia Tech fan and a ton of great memories come flooding back to the brain, including just how much of a weapon he was at quarterback in the early years of Paul Johnson‘s option offense.
Nesbitt used his physical gifts and toughness to hurt opposing defenses in the running game during his career on The Flats (2007-2010) while also having the strong arm and mental awareness of coverages to create explosive plays in the passing game. When it was all said and done for him in the White and Gold, the former Greene County (Ga.) High standout had put together one of the most prolific runs of any QB in program history.
Nesbitt came to Tech in the 2007 recruiting class, which ended up being one of the most productive groups ever for the Jackets. He was recruited by previous head coach Chan Gailey’s staff and played sparingly as a true freshman that fall before the Johnson era began in 2008 and with it the triple option.
Nesbitt took the opportunity to lead the Jackets’ offense and ran with it, literally and figuratively, going on to a three-year run from 2008-2010 as the Tech starting QB that few have matched in production and success in the win-loss category. For his college career, he finished with 2,806 career rushing yards (seventh all-time in program history, most as a QB in GT and ACC history) and 35 rushing touchdowns (tied-fourth all-time at GT) while also throwing for 3,276 yards and 20 touchdowns.
His best season came in 2009 when he was named First-Team All-ACC while leading Tech to an ACC Coastal title and ACC Championship Game victory over Clemson to put the Jackets in the Orange Bowl. He finished that season (an 11-3 campaign) with 1,037 yards rushing and 18 TDs and 1,701 yards passing and 10 TDs.
Nesbitt briefly played in the NFL as a defensive back with the Buffalo Bills and in the time since his playing career ended has been a high school coach, a quarterback trainer and works in sales. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class and the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame class of 2025.
Recently JOL caught up with Nesbitt to reminisce about his playing days, talk about his memories on and off the field at Georgia Tech, discuss what he thinks of the Jackets’ program these days under head coach Brent Key, ask for his advice for the current players and more.
Here’s what he had to say:
What’s been going on in your life the last few years to give the GT fans a little bit of an update since your playing days?
NESBITT: “The past few years I’ve been working in sales, but also, I was coaching high school (football) for a few years. Then I stepped aside from that because my kid was growing up, and so I started coaching my kid. Now I’ve launched my (other project). I’ve been training quarterbacks and just stepping out on faith and really just trying to develop the youth lately, just building clients and trying to go from there. I was sitting around one day and decided, ‘hey, I’ve got a lot of knowledge in this game of football, so I prefer to give it back to the youth.’”
Joshua Nesbitt signs autographs for fans during his time as a player at Georgia Tech. (Photo by Georgia Tech Athletics)
How locked in are you the last few years as far as your passion for Georgia Tech Football? Do you live and die with each game like a die-hard fan now or are you a little more laid back?
NESBITT: “I’m dialed in…everything comes out about the team, about the school, everything. We’re dialed in from the football team to the women’s basketball, men’s basketball, baseball. We’re pretty dialed in in my house.
How do you feel about the direction of the program since Brent Key took over and do you think he’s the coach that can lead it back to where it needs to be?
NESBITT: “Yes, by far. I think that was the best thing Tech could have done was hiring Key because of his background with him being on The Flats as a player. How he has those kids playing these past couple years and the way he’s running that program…it’s only great things are coming.”
With the 2026 season approaching, do you have any expectations or predictions on how this year’s team is going to do?
NESBITT: “Yeah, I think they’re going to build off of the momentum they built last year. I think we let one or two games slip away from us last year, but that momentum is still there. I think that is still within the program…that mindset. It doesn’t matter how many kids they bring in, they still going to have to jump on that train. So I feel like if they’re going keep going, building off of last year, and if they can continue to do that, that 2027 (recruiting) class they have coming in is going to just take them (to the next level)…take them all straight through the roof.”
Looking back to your recruitment in high school, when did things start to really pick up for you, what schools were pushing really hard and what ultimately made Georgia Tech the choice for you?
NESBITT: “For me, the craziest thing is growing up I actually didn’t believe that I could play at that next level in college until my first offer from Duke. At that time, no knock on Duke, but at that time that football program wasn’t what it is today, and I looked at it, and like, ‘man, I am a horrible player,’ but that was just me being immature. Once I got that first offer from Duke, it kind of just went through the roof, and that was my sophomore year (of high school). Then once my junior year came, I kind of felt like I was hitting the groove and really having fun playing the game with friends. We went to the Georgia Dome, and we put up a lot of good numbers. Once I saw the other schools come in…I had offers from Georgia, Auburn, Central Florida, a whole bunch of other teams, but it was only a few that I felt like was real serious about me playing quarterback, and Georgia Tech was one of those teams. And the reason I looked at Georgia Tech was because of Reggie Ball. I saw how he was able to come in as a freshman, and they trusted him to play and he performed. I looked at that as in that’s the goal, get to that next level and prove that I belong, and I thought once I saw Reggie Ball do it, I knew I could do it. That’s when I decided on Tech. The main reason I decided Tech was because of Bay-Bay (Demaryius Thomas). Once I saw him there, and meeting guys like Morgan (Burnett), and once I got on campus, the first guy I met once I’m moving in was Brad Jefferson. When I met guys like that, it was a no-brainer that I made the right decision to go to Georgia Tech. Then we all had that same mindset of we can go here and play and change and the whole state. That was our mindset. We tried to change the narrative about Georgia Tech.”
Quarterback Joshua Nesbitt (9) makes a throw during a game in his career at Georgia Tech. (Photo by GT Athletics)
You were recruited by Chan Gailey’s staff before Paul Johnson took over the program in 2008. Was there any thoughts for you of transferring and once you decided to stick with GT, what was it like for you learning to run the option offense?
NESBITT: “Yeah, a lot of us was thinking about transferring. For me it took me a couple weeks to really just to say, ‘you know what, I’m here for a reason, let me give it a try,’. And once I made that decision, it is one of the best decisions I ever made was to stay at Tech. It wasn’t for any particular coach or anything like that. It was for the people that I’ve made relationships with, and I wanted to continue to have those relationships and to build that friendship. So once I made my mind up to stay, I was all in on learning the triple option. I can say the first year, the first maybe six or seven games, I had no clue of what I really was doing. It was all just going out there playing football, but once I learned the offense, learned to read the defense and which direction I was supposed to go, and who was my pitch guy…once we got that rolling, I understood that we can play with anybody. Because that ’08 team that we had, man, that team was so talented to where it didn’t matter. We felt like it didn’t matter what coach came in, that we can play with anybody, and we were going to be good no matter what. I think that was what took it to the whole other level. Coach Johnson had the mindset, and he’s proven that the offense can play at that level, but the athletes we had those his first few years…it was a whole different ballgame.”
What were your best memories at Georgia Tech, specifically certain games or plays on the field, and also off the field?
NESBITT: “I’d say off the field, the best times were what we made it. It didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing, we made it fun. And I think that’s the best part about it. We were in study hall or in class or just sitting around on our days off…like we made it fun and we really enjoyed each other because all of us had similar backgrounds. I would say my biggest, my fondest memories of off the field would be just sitting around getting to know the guys. We used to sit out in front of our apartments and just tell each other about how we were raised, our backgrounds, and we all figured and understood that we were really the same. We were raised the same, similar parents. Everybody was pretty much the same, and that’s how we clicked. As far as on the field…oh man, it’s a lot of memories on the field. A lot of good things happened, but I would say definitely beating Georgia in Athens would be one of my finest memories. Beating Virginia Tech when they were ranked No. 4 in the country. When we beat Florida State down at Florida State. We had that long lightning delay, and we still came out out and put up numbers. Yeah, we had a lot. It’s a lot of memories, but I would say those, those few will be my top memories. And beating Wake Forest…I almost forgot about that one.”
You’ve had former coaches and teammates talk about just how tough you were on the field and at practice. Where did that toughness and physicality come from? Was that just how you were built growing up?
NESBITT: “I mean it was how I was raised and where I was raised in my family. They pushed me. You had to be tough in my family and the people I was around. We had to be tough. We used to play football in a ditch, to where if you was in the ditch, you had to be tough, playing football in the middle of that. I think those times, it really built me for when I got to take in on that big stage. I just had that mindset because growing up I was always the smallest kid. I didn’t start really growing until middle school, but once I hit my growth spurt and I really had the mindset of being tough, everything just started clicking. But I had to have that chip on my shoulder growing up. Like I said, it was tough, because we used to play football in the road. And even when you played basketball growing up as kids, we played against grown people, going to the paint against like another grown man and you’re just a 10 or 11 year old kid. And the way we played, there was no such thing as a foul. You’ve got to learn to be tough.”
Last question, what kind of advice would you give to the current players at Georgia Tech about making your time count there?
NESBITT: “Enjoy every moment, and that’s from on the field, off the field…enjoy every moment. And go through your day as in you want that day to be the best day ever. Because those days will come to an end. Like your days on The Flats will come to an end, and you being on that field with your friends, that close bond that you guys have built…I would say definitely, definitely, just leave everything out on that field. And use every opportunity that you have to get better. It’s special times there. Make the most of it.”
Joshua Nesbitt answers questions from the media before the 2009 Orange Bowl. (Photo by GT Athletics)