One of Gus Malzahn’s top staffers is leaving according to reports from multiple outlets. Patrick Suddes, who served as the assistant athletics director for football, is departing to join the Georgia Tech staff under new head coach Geoff Collins.

Last month, Malzahn singled out Suddes as his “right hand guy” in the AU athletic department.

As the football staff’s top administrator, Suddes supervised the Tigers’ recruiting department among other administrative responsibilities. Those responsibilities were likely to increase with Malzahn taking over play-calling.

Collins and Suddes were both on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama in 2007. Suddes was Alabama’s director of football operations until 2013 when he left to be Mack Brown’s director of player personnel at Texas. He was assistant athletics director for recruiting at Arizona State 2014-15 and joined the Auburn staff in 2016.