Addressing the Vad Lee situation

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CuseJacket

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When it comes down to making decisions about your career, you have to do what is best for yourself, period. I wouldn't blame him if he transferred. PJ ain't helping him get to the NFL.

Going forward, I would honestly like to see Synjyn back at QB. The guy is bigger than Nesbitt, and I think he can lower his shoulder and get us the tough yards that Vad always seemed to stutter on.

I hope he gets to the NFL. I really do. Even if it's for no other reason than to give folks finality on the speculation about whether our system truly hindered him. But I don't think his career will be in the NFL.
 

Essobee

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I really would hate to see him transfer. Vad is a great kid, but I would be surprised to see him play in the pros. IIRC he red-shirted, so he has only two years (maybe only one) left of college ball. Wherever he goes, he will probably have to learn a new system. Bad for him, not good for the team he leaves behind. Glad we have adequate (some would say more than adequate) backup at the QB position.
 
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LibertyTurns

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Sophomore or younger QBs almost never work out. Even Lil' Joe struggled until he was a junior.

I think you saw the ceiling with a soph QB this year. Freshman starter is 1-2 more losses.
 

techman78

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Liked Synjyn at QB as well but he had serious ball security issues. He was a beast in short yardage though. Hope JT or TB can make it happen. At this point I'm at a loss for words. Hope our jackets can right the ship.
 

daBuzz

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Vad told Coach Johnson on New Years eve sometime by around noon because I knew by 1:15. Coach Johnson was ambivalent as he accepted the news and commented to several people that it really didn't matter because Vad didn't fit his system anyway.

Since that point, I found out that they told Matthew Jordan when he came on his official visit to be ready because they expect him not to redshirt now but to potentially get some backup time and that the coaches have had some indication this might be coming. Vad's high school coach and his family have been in his ear quite a bit about the move all year long. His family just want him to be happy but his HS coach encouraged him to go to a school that passes the ball more.

Vad felt mislead because CPJ had told him that, once he had a passing QB, the offense would be opened up to the pass more and wouldn't be so run heavy. As a matter of fact, if you can find the video of an interview with Vad after an allstar game following his HS senior year, he commented to this effect. At the time, he was verbally committed to Tech but hadn't signed a LOI. But when the question was posed about a passing QB going to a running offense, he commented, "Coach Johnson has told me they've just been waiting for a passing QB so they can open up the passing game and throw more" or WTTE.

I don't blame Vad for leaving. If he thinks he has a legitimate shot at playing QB in the NFL, he won't get an opportunity to do that if he stays in this offense...like it or not, but a QB from this offense is not going to get serious attention at the QB spot by an NFL team. The NFL has become a passing league and a team that averages 12 passes per game isn't going to give them enough footage for them to see him throw the entire route tree.

However, I am very disappointed that CPJ knew this was a possibility and still didn't get more PT for Justin. At the very least, he knew for the bowl game that this was a possibility but I'm told he knew as far back as mid-season that it was possible. If you want your program to be successful long term, you have to get more of the valuable snaps for your future guy. We didn't do that.
 

Rodney Kent

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Okay, I have been hinting quite strongly about the Vad Lee situation. I did not know he was considering a transfer, but I knew he would never be an option quarterback; he was the main one for the reference "square peg in a round hole". If I remember the AJC from his initial arrival at Tech, he thought about redirecting his talents to another school. Some said he had a girl friend that would attend the school of which he wanted to attend. However, I truly believe he knew his forte was as a standard drop back quarterback who could pass and had the speed to elude tackling when his receivers were covered.

If I am not mistaken, there were some rumors that CPJ promised he would open up the offense and pass more. This has not happened, the square peg was forced to learn to adapt to the round hole of the option. It is obvious to me, he does not have the quickness or decisiveness to play the option. He is just not talented in that direction. I think CPJ talked him into staying and learning the option. I think everyone knows he cannot run the option, and now he fully knows it himself. I do believe it probably bothers him that he is letting his buddies down. However, he is not letting them down. If he walks off to another school, it may be a win-win situation for him and the team. Since he is not an option quarterback, he would be hurting the team by staying and hurting his own chances to try and excel in another type of offense. I don't blame him one iota if he transfers, and I would guess it is correct that his parents sees the same thing.

In any business or business activity, it is sometimes best to cut your losses and go in a different direction. I honestly believe Vad Lee would excel in one of the Run and Gun offenses. If I was Vad Lee, I would definitely transfer, but I would go to a smaller school which needs his type of passing talent. He needs to be careful to shy away from a school that does not utilize the pass as an equal part of their offense.

There is no way of telling if Thomas can run the option if CPJ continues to stick with it. Some players need to be playing the position as the starter to excel in it. Thomas might be the quarterback needed for it, but he is presently in a no-win situation when he is not used by CPJ or used sparingly. Personally, I believe Thomas or any other quarterback at Tech who has the quickness and decisivenes will function better with the option than Vad Lee. I would wish Lee the best at another school, and I would wish Thomas and other candidates the best. Since CPJ has been held back by his own fears of making a system change, it appears to me next year may be a long year again, but, then again, it might turn out better.

I do believe the players did not appreciate the way CPJ handled things this year. While my son and I attended this year,and I saw the total ineptness, I told him that CPJ had lost the players and the rest of the year would not be good right after the VT game. I saw some things in that game that told me their were problems between the coach and players. As the year progressed, he finally admitted to me that it seemed true.

Now, does it make sense that we lost some early recruits last year in the last week, had others to quit ot transfer, and other possible flips this year. I think all of the problems on the team must come out and be handled by the coach and team prior to the NSD. Recruits may not be edgy if they know things have been covered and fixed.
 

33jacket

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Vad told Coach Johnson on New Years eve sometime by around noon because I knew by 1:15. Coach Johnson was ambivalent as he accepted the news and commented to several people that it really didn't matter because Vad didn't fit his system anyway.

Since that point, I found out that they told Matthew Jordan when he came on his official visit to be ready because they expect him not to redshirt now but to potentially get some backup time and that the coaches have had some indication this might be coming. Vad's high school coach and his family have been in his ear quite a bit about the move all year long. His family just want him to be happy but his HS coach encouraged him to go to a school that passes the ball more.

Vad felt mislead because CPJ had told him that, once he had a passing QB, the offense would be opened up to the pass more and wouldn't be so run heavy. As a matter of fact, if you can find the video of an interview with Vad after an allstar game following his HS senior year, he commented to this effect. At the time, he was verbally committed to Tech but hadn't signed a LOI. But when the question was posed about a passing QB going to a running offense, he commented, "Coach Johnson has told me they've just been waiting for a passing QB so they can open up the passing game and throw more" or WTTE.

I don't blame Vad for leaving. If he thinks he has a legitimate shot at playing QB in the NFL, he won't get an opportunity to do that if he stays in this offense...like it or not, but a QB from this offense is not going to get serious attention at the QB spot by an NFL team. The NFL has become a passing league and a team that averages 12 passes per game isn't going to give them enough footage for them to see him throw the entire route tree.

However, I am very disappointed that CPJ knew this was a possibility and still didn't get more PT for Justin. At the very least, he knew for the bowl game that this was a possibility but I'm told he knew as far back as mid-season that it was possible. If you want your program to be successful long term, you have to get more of the valuable snaps for your future guy. We didn't do that.

Your first paragraph basically sums up Pj. He will never change his 80 percent run first offense no matter who is there.

He will not change the blocking scheme

He will not change the tempo

He is willing to change anything else not his offense.

This is why he is considered by some to be an egomaniac and not flexible at all.
 

John

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Some of you guys really need to take a look at the numbers.

Joshua Nesbitt
  • 2008: 808 yards on 123 attempts at 43.9%
  • 2009: 1701 yards on 162 attempts at 46.3%
  • 2010: 674 yards on 105 attempts at 37.1%

Tevin Washington
  • 2010: 417 yards on 61 attempts at 41.0%
  • 2011: 1652 yards on 150 attempts at 49.3%
  • 2012: 1222 yards on 133 attempts at 56.4%

Vad Lee
  • 2012: 596 yards on 56 attempts at 48.2%
  • 2013: 1561 yards on 180 attempts at 45.6%
In 2013, Vad Lee attempted 11.1% more passes than most passes attempted with Nesbitt and 20% more passes than Tevin's most attempts. Yet Vad's completion% and completed yards were still below that of both Joshua and Tevin's.

This is not a knock on Vad; this is a knock on the "we should've passed more with Vad" argument. So what exactly makes some of you guys think that if we passed more, we would have been more successful?
 

BainbridgeJacket

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Coach Johnson was ambivalent as he accepted the news and commented to several people that it really didn't matter because Vad didn't fit his system anyway.

What a ******... I honestly thought it looked like Vad didn't trust the system most of the year, but was hoping it would all click and that it was due to a nagging injury. I don't think this will make us a tremendously worse team, but it won't make us better and that's what we needed.
 

daBuzz

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I'm quite sure if Vad could've completed more passes whilst not throwing off his back foot and scrambling into pressure, there would've been more pass plays called. CPJ isn't the bad guy here.
You & I will have to just disagree on this one. If he recruited the kid and told him at the time they'd put in more of the run & shoot component of the system, then he lied.

Also, if he knew it was even a remote possibility that Vad might transfer (and he did), then he's just flat out dumb to keep giving 99% of the snaps to the guy who might be leaving the program and giving none to the guy who is going to have to take over.
 
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