Catching up with former Jackets: Running back Jonathan Dwyer

While Georgia Tech fans are excited about what is to come during the 2025 season, it’s always good to look back at great memories and the players that made them happen.

JOL will be doing that over the course of the next few weeks with this series that will put former Yellow Jackets in the spotlight as they each give some insight on what they’ve been up to recently, how much they still follow Tech Football, their memories of their time on The Flats and more.

First up is former Jackets’ running back Jonathan Dwyer who made his way to Tech after a stellar prep career at Kell High (Ga.) where he was heavily recruited by many of the top college programs in the country and went on to have one of the most productive and decorated careers of any offensive player that ever suited up in the White and Gold.

Dwyer rushed for 3,226 yards in just three seasons at Tech along with 35 career rushing touchdowns. He is sixth all-time in career rushing yards as a Jacket, tied himself for fourth in rushing yards in a single season with back-to-back 1,395 yards in both 2008 and 2009 and is tied for third in career rushing touchdowns while also having the fifth (tied) and 10th (tied) marks in single-season rushing touchdowns with 14 in 2009 and 12 in 2008, respectively.

Dwyer’s list of accolades is a long and prestigious one as he was the ACC Player of the Year, a First-Team All-American and a First-Team All-ACC pick in 2008, a Second-Team All-ACC pick in 2009 and a member of the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2007.

Dwyer chose to forgo his senior season and enter the 2010 NFL Draft where he was selected in the sixth round with the 188th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went on to play four seasons with the Steelers and one with the Arizona Cardinals before off-the-field issues ended his pro career prematurely after rushing for 1,022 yards and three touchdowns in five seasons. He paid the price for those mistakes, learned from them and made positive changes in his life going forward for a brighter future.

In recent years, Dwyer has returned to his alma mater of Kell and serves as an assistant coach for the powerhouse Longhorns’ program as he hopes to give wisdom to student-athletes on and off the field who are in the same shoes he once occupied.

Recently, JOL caught up with Dwyer for an interview, and here’s what he had to say:

JOL: What have you been up to in life the last few years?

DWYER: “I got married last year on April 27th and expanded my family this past year with my baby girl Jaycee “Junie” Dwyer. I’ve been coaching varsity football at Kell High School the last six years and loving it.”

JOL: What level would you say your passion is at for Georgia Tech Football right now? Do you live and die with each game like some fans and alumni do or are you more laid back?

DWYER: “I still watch pretty much every game and I’m a big fan, but I definitely don’t let it ruin my week. But I don’t like it when we lose.”

JOL: With that previous question in mind, how do you feel like the program is trending right now and how much faith do you have in Coach Brent Key that he’s going to have big success on The Flats?

DWYER: “I love what Coach Key is doing with everything. His leadership is elite, and you can see how he finds a way to motivate the guys and keep them locked it and have everyone buy into the culture he is building. I have full faith in my brother Brent Key.”

JOL: What are your thoughts or predictions on what the Jackets can accomplish for this upcoming 2025 season?

DWYER: “(I think they will) have a nine-win season, play in the ACC Championship Game and win it. Would love for us to play in a New Years Bowl Game.”

JOL: Take us back to your recruitment in high school back in the day. When did it really pick up, what schools were really going hard for you to sign with them and what were the ultimate factors that led you to sign with Georgia Tech?

DWYER: “My recruiting was wild. After my junior season my recruiting went crazy. Tech obviously did a great job recruiting me, and the other commits that were in my recruiting class. But I was getting calls from pretty much everybody. Urban Meyer came by my school, Pete Carroll and many others. I was committed to Florida for a while, but the ones who really recruited me crazy was Ole Miss and Ohio State. They were writing letters to my family and to my little brother, who was like 10 years old at the time. Bama and Coach Smart tried to flip me at the last minute. What made me to go to Tech was just the guys I ended up going to school with. Like me and Josh Nesbitt wanted to play together and be teammates, and then I got close to Roddy Jones, Kyle Jackson and Morgan Burnett. We were all the same visit together, and we were just like ‘man, let’s just go together and just change this place.'”

JOL: What were your best memories while you were at Georgia Tech? Maybe one or two games or moments on the field that you remember the most and one or two as a student or with your teammates or friends that you remember the most?

DWYER: “My best memories were definitely the first game I ever played in, which was Notre Dame, and I scored my first college touchdown which was memorable, our big game against Miami on Thursday night and breaking some curses that we haven’t done in a while like beating Florida State and beating Virginia at Virginia and things like that. And then obviously beating the team down 85 and doing it at their house. Then of course, winning the ACC Championship and beating Clemson twice that year (in 2009).”

JOL: How often do you think about that comeback win in Athens against Georgia in 2008 and specifically your “explosion play” touchdown run to start the second half (as Wes Durham called it)?

DWYER: “It’s definitely a game that we all talk about together, and it was something that I will always cherish. How we came back and everything was so special. The crazy part is the first touchdown I scored when we came out in the second half, my best friend was in the end zone and that’s who I pointed out when I scored that first touchdown in the second half. That’s a special moment that me and him talk about daily.”

JOL: Lastly, what advice would you give to the current Georgia Tech players about their time on The Flats and soaking it in rather than thinking about what’s next?

DWYER: “Stay in the moment. Enjoy this game because it doesn’t last forever. And college is probably the most fun I ever had playing football because you’re doing things with people that end up becoming your family. We’re sweating together or working out together or going through hard times together and growing and becoming men together. You’re going to battle with each other each and every Saturday or Thursday night, and there’s nothing like it. That was what was so special about the 2008 and 2009 teams that we had. It was definitely ‘we over me’ mentality, and we understood that if we all buy in and be about the team, we all reach our goals individually, and that’s what happened. Player-led teams are the most fun teams to be on.”