While Zachary Tobe was running around Fun Spot Orlando with his Georgia Tech teammates on Tuesday, he felt a sense of familiarity.
“It feels good to come back home,” said Tobe, who played football at Ocoee High and is back in Orlando as a junior cornerback with the Yellow Jackets for their Pop Tarts Bowl matchup with BYU on Saturday. “I don’t think I’ve played in Orlando since my senior night in high school, so it’s kinda nostalgic to get back here where I grew up … it’s amazing.”
Tobe, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound corner, is at his second collegiate stop, after beginning his career at Illinois. He said he’s happy at Georgia Tech, which is 9-3 this season and tied for third in the ACC at 6-2.
“I feel good. I’m blessed to be in this position I’m in today,” Tobe said. “It comes with ups and downs, but I’m just so thankful to be in this position and that God brought me this far.”
Early on during Tobe’s career at Ocoee, he had originally thought going to UCF would be his best landing spot, but as he started to pick up more recruiting attention his senior year, he started to weigh all of his options.
Tobe was the No. 25 player in the Sentinel’s 2023 Central Florida Super60. As a senior at Ocoee, the Knights went 9-5 and fell one game shy of making it to the state championship game, losing in the state Class 4M semifinals to Miami Columbus 41-36. That Columbus team was quarterbacked by Alberto Mendoza, the teammate and brother of Indiana’s Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
He ended up signing with Illinois, and played 10 games, starting three at corner for the Illini in 2023. Then, however, he decided to jump in the transfer portal.
Even though Georgia Tech coach Brent Key spent 10 years as a UCF assistant coach from 2005-15, Tobe and Key had never met prior to Tobe entering the portal.
“When I got into the portal, Georgia Tech caught my eye because of the type of person that coach Key is,” Tobe said. “I knew he’s gonna get the best out of you and that’s what I needed.
“So I was grateful to be able to run into him when I did and I believe that everything is on God’s time, so that was just all God right there and now I’m here.”
He played in 12 games as a sophomore a year ago, with his best outing coming in a seven-tackle performance during the Jackets’ 35-27 loss to Vanderbilt in the Birmingham Bowl. He also had two tackles for loss in that game.
This season, Tobe has started in 11 games, missing only the season opener. He has 29 tackles and a fumble recovery.
“I didn’t get recruited by Georgia Tech out high school,” Tobe said. “Only when I got into the portal, that’s when they started talking to me.”
He has 71 tackles and two pass break-ups in his 34 college football games. Tobe said he has enjoyed playing for Key.
“My senior year, that was his first year at Georgia Tech,” Tobe said. “Me going into the portal, I was just looking for the best fit for me. Coach Key is gonna get the best out of you. He doesn’t sugar-coat anything and he’s gonna hold you to that standard. That’s what I love about him.
“Nowadays, money goes into everything, but for me personally, I always look for the best fit, so it wasn’t really too hard. It was pretty simple to just go with my heart.”
Tobe has a very kind, easy-going demeanor and even though his recruitment in high school didn’t pick up until late in his career, he doesn’t believe he has anything to prove to those who didn’t recruit him.
“It just was what it was. I was blessed to be recruited by the people I was recruited by,” he said. “That’s why I’m here now, so I look at everything as a blessing.”
He did not get on the field right away at Illinois, but it did not quell his determination, and he finally got his shot.
“My freshman year, I got thrown in the game and, you know, when a new corner comes in, they’re gonna come at you. I feel like I got seven or eight targets that game,” Tobe said. “I did good, but it kind of woke me up a little bit, like, ‘This is real. I’m here now.’
“By the time I got to playing, since I didn’t play until like Week 5, I had already gone through fall camp and plus, I went to college early, so by the time I got to the point when coach put me in the game, I felt like I was ready.”
He doesn’t have a favorite individual moment at the college level, but he more so cherishes what he and his teammates have been able to accomplish. The Yellow Jackets, 16-9 since Tobe joined the team, have pulled off a pair of victories over the past two seasons that caused fans to rush the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. Those are the moments he will remember forever.
Fans rushed the field last year after Georgia Tech stunned Miami on a last-second touchdown by fellow Orlando native Christian Leary, and the Yellow Jackets also defeated Clemson this season to spark another impromptu field party.
“This year for sure beating Clemson, but being a part of two field rushes …,” Tobe said of his favorite collegiate moments. “Last year, we beat Miami and that was my first time ever experiencing fans rushing the field, and this year we beat Clemson, so those are my top two memories.
“The second time, I was just looking for my family, but the first time, I was with the fans just enjoying it and soaking it all in. Not many people experience that.”
The Pop Tarts Bowl will be his second bowl-game experience.
“Being back home this means everything. This is where it all started,” said Tobe. “We got to come here to Fun Spot and I was able to see my family yesterday. I love it.”
He had plenty of family members and friends he had to take care of with ticket requests.
“I think I got like 20-plus family members,” Tobe said. “I think I have 20 tickets, so I was able to get everybody in.”
He only has one goal for Saturday.
“To help my team win, man,” Tobe said. “That’s all I can do. That’s all I want to do, honestly.”
Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.
