The 2001 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented Georgia Tech as member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Eighth-year head coach George O'Leary led the team throughout the regular season before resigning to accept the head coaching job at the University of Notre Dame. Offensive line coach Mac McWhorter was appotined interim head coach for the team's bowl game. The Yellow Jackets compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for fourth in the ACC. Georgia Tech was invited to the Seattle Bowl, where the Yellow Jackets defeated Stanford. The team played home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
Coming off three consecutive seasons with New Year's Day bowl appearances and wins over the rival Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech was expected to contend for the national championship in 2001. In 2000, quarterback George Godsey had picked up where his predecessor Joe Hamilton had left off, passing for 2,906 yards and 23 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions. Armed with targets like Kelly Campbell for his senior season, a number of preseason magazines named Godsey to first-team all-conference honors, and pundits predicted that a loaded Georgia Tech team would win the Atlantic Coast Conference title with the departure of many key players from the defending champion Florida State Seminoles.
