Countdown to Kickoff: No. 23

Randy Rhino

The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.

Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.

With it now 23 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 23 Randy Rhino, a three-time First-Team All-American at Georgia Tech in the 1970s as a defensive back and punt returner and the second of three generations of Jackets on the gridiron.

Rhino came to Georgia Tech in 1971 after a stellar high school athletics career at Olympic High in Charlotte, N.C. where he was a standout in three sports, including football, baseball and basketball and earned All-State and All-American honors.

After playing running back for the Tech freshman team, it was suggested by a member of the coaching staff that he move to defensive back, and that proved to be a great decision for everyone involved. He went on to be a three-time First-Team All-American from 1972-1974 as he contributed as a starter in the defensive backfield and as a punt returner.

During the 1972 season, Rhino had an incredible eight interceptions, including a three-interception game against Rice. He finished that year with 72 tackles and also led the nation in punt return average with a 17.6 yards per return clip, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown. He went on to be a unanimous All-American pick in 1973 as a junior and was a First-Team selection again in 1974. He finished his career with 14 interceptions which is still tied for second all-time in Jackets’ program history.

Rhino held the single-season record for punt return yards with 441 until his son Kelley broke that record with 515 punt return yards in 2001. Kelley was the third generation of Rhinos following his dad Randy and Randy’s father Chappell, who played on Tech’s 1952 national championship team. Randy’s brother Danny also played for Georgia Tech in the 1970s.

Despite being selected in the 1975 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints with the 344th overall pick, Randy started his professional career with the Charlotte Hornets of the World Football League. He then went on to play six seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Montreal Alouettes and the Ottawa Rough Riders. He was named a CFL All-Star three times during his career, won the Grey Cup (CFL championship) in 1977 and also won the James P. McCaffrey Trophy (awarded to the best defensive player in the CFL East Division) in 1978. At the time of his retirement, he held the CFL record for career punt return yards.

Rhino was a 1975 Georgia Tech graduate with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management and after professional playing career ended he went on to get his Doctor of Chiropractic from Life University in 1983. He joined the Georgia Tech Athletic Association staff as a chiropractor in 2002 and was a part of the staff until his retirement in 2023.

Rhino was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, joining his father Chappell who had been inducted a few years earlier in the class of 1974. Rhino was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in the same class alongside legends like Dan Marino, Reggie White, Ronnie Lott and Kellen Winslow, among others.