Aaron Joseph "A. J." Suggs (born December 8, 1980) was the starting quarterback for Georgia Tech in the 2002 season, and for the University of Tennessee during portions of the 2000 season. Suggs went to

McEachern High School John McEachern High School or McEachern High School is a public high school established in 1908 in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. It was originally established as the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Due to its hist ...

and graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. degree from the College of Management in 2004.

Early years

Suggs was a four-year starter for the high school football team at

Powder Springs, Georgia Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. In 2015, the cit ...

. He earned many honors including All-State, All-Region, All-District, and AP Player of the Year for the state of Georgia. After his senior season, he was named to the ''SuperPrep'' All-American team.

College career

Suggs started his career at the University of Tennessee under head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

. He was given a redshirt season in 1999. In 2000, he started four games for the Volunteers and played in three others, completing 53.8 percent of his passes for 785 yards, with five touchdowns and three interceptions. His best game came against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

where he had 319 passing yards and three touchdowns. He was initially sharing playing time with

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

Joey Mathews but both ultimately lost out to

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

Casey Clausen. Suggs transferred to Georgia Tech in 2001 and ushered in the new Chan Gailey regime, being the first skill position player to play for Gailey who was not recruited by previous coach

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015 ...

. Due to eligibility transfer rules, he had to sit out the 2001 season. During that time, he apprenticed under former star quarterback George Godsey and eventual Delaware transfer Andy Hall. In 2002, Suggs posted a 7–6 record as a starter, throwing 12 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 2,142 passing yards, and completed 57.3% of his passes. Suggs's last start was in 2002 against Fresno State University in the Silicon Valley Bowl. He was taken out of the game in favor of redshirt freshman

Damarius Bilbo Damarius Bilbo (born ) is an American sports agent and former American football player. He played college football at Georgia Tech as a quarterback and wide receiver. High school Bilbo attended Moss Point High School and was a three year le ...

.Suggs benched in Silicon Valley Classic
/ref> Suggs's most notable game was a victory on November 2, 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Georgia Tech was 5–3 headed to face a #10 and 9–0 N.C. State squad led by All-American quarterback Philip Rivers. Suggs led the Yellow Jackets past N.C. State by a score of 24–17 with a dramatic fourth quarter rally that ended Rivers's Heisman hopes and N.C. State's national title run. Suggs passed for 211 yards and a touchdown in the victory.Jackets Rally Past Wolfpack
/ref> Suggs lost the starting job in 2003 to true freshman quarterback

Reggie Ball Reginald Lewis Ball (born October 6, 1984) is a former American football quarterback. He was originally signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Georgia Tech. Early years Ball played his high ...

. Ball started every game but two for the next four years. Suggs's main playing time as a senior in 2003 came in a loss to Georgia after Ball was injured and in a rout of the Tulsa in the Humanitarian Bowl.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suggs, A. J. 1980 births Living people People from Powder Springs, Georgia Players of American football from Cobb County, Georgia American football quarterbacks Tennessee Volunteers football players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players

Early years

College career

See also

References

External links