Addressing the Vad Lee situation

[Nook Su Kow]

Is Vad Lee, Paul's most prized recruit? Most hyped? Paul really went Dan Uggla on this one.

 

[Squints]

So you really think going from an average of 12.9 to 15.4 passes per game is a definition of "passing the ball more"?

LOL, ok then.

Well considering Vad couldn't read coverages, constantly threw off has back foot, had very little pocket presence, and we couldn't pass block very well you could argue that a 20% increase in pass attempts per game is not insignificant..

 

[DvilleJacket]

If he told Vad that we would throw more which I imagine he must have to get him here, I can see why the players have a gripe with the coach. It makes me like Johnson even less. I believe the team will be better though with someone who WANTS to run his offense.

 

[Lexjacket]

Poor OL play and a very tentative QBwho ran backwards on every option play look very painful this year. Two successful plays were not used this year due to Vad trying to run around the DE/ DT instead of AT the DE or DT and pitching or running NORTH/SOUTH!! Due to being tentative we never ran midline. Our only decent play was rocket toss because the mesh, read, run/pitch triple option threat never was established.

My question? Did the coaches know this was a strong possibility? If so, why in the hell wasn't JT or TB playing more.

Vad seems like a very honorable kid but when multiple starting players are hearing/tweeting about you transferring MID-season then CPJ needed to SQUASH this fire THEN! (have Vad COMMIT to not transferring or BENCH his ***.)

Despite this news and the negative initial reaction, I belive our offense will be better next year with JT or TB. Both are better runners and certainly should be able to equal our completion percentage from this year. Both are also better scramblers IMO as well.......

As it seems this is a done deal, I am sad to see Vad go instead of persevering after a tough year for him. I think the team will be fine. I know Justin Thomas is #2 on the depth chart, but I think Byerly could pass him and end up being the starter. Tim is a determined player.

 

[awbuzz]

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?

But folks don't want facts, they want to jump on the popular bandwagon of it's the coaches fault. (First play of the bowl game was a pass that almost made it up to the stands... )

 

[ATL1]

Honestly do you think he can sale a qb on coming here just running his base offense?

 

[gtg936g]

Good Luck to the young man. It is not the decision I would have made, but I am not him. I wish him well!


I must admit my first thought when I read it was that I bet a lot of boards were in full meltdown mode.

 

[daBuzz]

Point is, CPJ is willing to pass more and I realize the attempts are only slightly higher, but it is not working. If it was working, Vad would be passing more.

I sure hope you're right. Personally, I haven't seen proof that is true yet but I sure hope we do continue to open up the passing game more. I think we have to in order to be successful against the bigger DL's like we see against VT, Clemson, UGA, and Miami. All of those teams have employed pretty much the same strategy over the past 4 years.....plug the A gap and stop the dive play to the B-back. Force the QB to extend to the outside and try to use their superior team speed to catch up to the QB or AB as we extend to the outside.

Honestly, this is one of the things that I think Justin can do better than Vad because he may just have the speed to get to the corner quicker. Still, the best way to stop this type of defense with consistently is a vertical passing threat or the ability to throw quick slants and get the ball to the perimeter.

 

[southernhive]

As it seems this is a done deal, I am sad to see Vad go instead of persevering after a tough year for him. I think the team will be fine. I know Justin Thomas is #2 on the depth chart, but I think Byerly could pass him and end up being the starter. Tim is a determined player.

I have not seen TB enough to make a definitive judgement on his ability, but from the little I did see, he looked considerably better at running the option than JT and VL.

 

[pckl300]

He is small, and I cannot see how he lasts through a few games against BCS opponents at QB, set aside a season.

LaMichael James is small. His college career was plenty fine, and Justin has similar speed.

 

[Alexlongstride]

LaMichael James is small. His college career was plenty fine, and Justin has similar speed.

but james didn't play QB now did he

 

[CuseJacket]

Is Vad Lee, Paul's most prized recruit? Most hyped? Paul really went Dan Uggla on this one.

Most hyped, probably, if we're basing it on message board hype.

Most prized.. I'd put JT, Custis, and Devine ahead of Vad. If we start talking about defense then Kallon is in the mix as well.

 

[John]

Anyone know if Vad will be able to finish his degree before he officially transfers out?

Wouldn't mind seeing Vad become a GT alumni for non-football related reasons.

 

[DvilleJacket]

I wonder how close he was to leaving first time around? Could have been better for us if that was his ultimate decision. He didnt like the offense plan and simple. We could have had Thomas or Byerly playing this year getting the reps.

 

[pckl300]

but james didn't play QB now did he

No, but he spent a lot of time running between the tackles.

 

[awbuzz]

Point is, CPJ is willing to pass more and I realize the attempts are only slightly higher, but it is not working. If it was working, Vad would be passing more.

This +9999999

 

[boozinbuzz]

Point is, CPJ is willing to pass more and I realize the attempts are only slightly higher, but it is not working. If it was working, Vad would be passing more.

Chicken or the egg argument. Are we not passing more b/c it isn't working, or is it not working b/c we don't pass more.

 

[GTrob21]

But folks don't want facts, they want to jump on the popular bandwagon of it's the coaches fault. (First play of the bowl game was a pass that almost made it up to the stands... )

I'm not so sure that its simply we should pass more, I think it's more that people want a different scheme. The truth is that it is much harder to take a snap under center, have a 3-5 step drop, while surveying the field and then accurately put the ball down field.

It's much easier for a QB to read the defense from the gun. Simply go look at the NFL and see how many teams run from the gun, even the ones that are running option are doing it from the gun. This advantage from a QB standpoint, who is the most important player on offense, plus the uptempo movement is what is so hard for defensive coordinators to adjust too.

This is what is frustrating for a growing segment of the TEch fanbase. Something which is seemly so obvious to so many people that is completely lost on a man who appears to be stubbornly clinging to his system to prove something to all the people who said He couldn't win along the way.

On the surface you have the appearance of something very petty by Coach Johnson...I'm not saying Coach Johnson is petty, but this situation makes him appear as such.

This is bad PR for TECH, Coach Johnson and recruiting as a whole.

Would anybody really say that a highly regarded QB who is 16, 17 is going to consider TECH? No way will they put themselves in that situation with all the people that will be in their ears.

 

[Boomergump]

Personally, I don't think this will hurt recruiting at all.

Also, why are we tying the Vad departure to a fixed belief that the passing part of the offense won't continue to develop?

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

To me, this isn't that hard to understand....

You can't pass without talented, properly trained blockers or without talented, properly trained WR's. I don't think we have either to a BCS level, so most likely PJ did not see a way to get there from here.

But, with that said, it was his system offense that contributed greatly to this dearth of talent, IMO.