The 2024 edition of the Birmingham Bowl has any number of unique storylines. For Georgia Tech running backs coach Norval McKenzie, one of them is extra personal.
“Vanderbilt, obviously, is a special place for us just for the simple fact that I went there and played there,” McKenzie told Tech radio announcer Andy Demetra in a pregame interview for the Georgia Tech Sports Network. “I addition to that, I met my wife there. So we love Vanderbilt, we love Nashville. It’s near and dear to my heart.”
McKenzie not only graduated from Vanderbilt, where he played running back in the early years of this century, but was coaching the Commodores’ running backs as recently as 2022. But he left his alma mater in 2023 to join Tech and coach Brent Key’s offensive staff.
The odds that his current employer would face his alma mater in a bowl game don’t seem incredibly far-fetched, given the geographic proximity of the two schools, but considering that neither Tech nor Vandy had made a bowl game since 2018 when McKenzie moved to Atlanta in 2023, the likelihood the two programs would cross paths would have seemed slim.
“When we got the announcement about our opponent, honestly, I was like, ‘That’s pretty cool,’” McKenzie said. “Because here we have it where two programs, Vanderbilt predicted to win two or three games, we were projected to win three or four games, and a lot of similarities between the programs just in terms of both head coaches coaching at their alma mater, what both programs have stood for and been able to do this season. Pretty remarkable. And the fact that we get to play each other is special.”
McKenzie graduated from McEachern High School, where he was a standout running back and also was part of the school-record running 4x200-meter team. He began his Vandy career in 2001 and was part of teams that played Tech in 2002 and 2003. His teammate at fullback during those years was Clark Lea, now the Commodores coach.
In the 2003 game, played at Vanderbilt Stadium, McKenzie, scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to give Vanderbilt a 17-10 lead with 32 seconds to go in regulation.
“I remember us calling a timeout and the team gathered up and we just talked about, ‘Hey, we gotta stop (Tech quarterback) Reggie Ball,’” McKenzie said. “We wanted to contain him. And then on that very next play, we did not. It was an explosive play, and then the next thing you know we were defeated.”
Vanderbilt lost the ‘03 game 24-17 in overtime.
McKenzie would go on to earn two degrees from Vandy. He returned to his alma mater in 2008 (after a brief stint at Hiram High School) and also has made stops at Furman, Arkansas State and Louisville.
Since joining the Jackets, McKenzie has had a firm hand in guiding running backs Trey Cooley, Dontae Smith and Jamal Haynes, a converted wide receiver, to success.
“Man, a blessing. Took me in with open arms. He’s probably the first coach that really understands (who) Jamal (is),” Haynes said. “A lot of coaches, they look at a kid just for what he can do on the field. But understanding what goes inside a kid’s mind and what goes on and what goes on throughout a kid’s day, that’s something that college players and, personally me, I really like that. That’s something that means the most to me as far being a coach. Just with him having open arms and then coaching me hard, the way I wanna be coached, I just feel like I really appreciate it, and I’ll never take it for granted.”
McKenzie praised Lea for his toughness as a player and how that permeates through Vandy’s program now that Lea, in his fourth season, is leading that program. He added Key has a similar persona, and that’s what drew him to Tech in the first place.
Now McKenzie has a chance to be on the other sideline from, and to beat, his former school.
“Man, so excited for (Lea) and the team and for that program,” McKenzie said. “But like I mentioned before, excited for us and where we are as well.”
