Article on Brent Key

[Heisman's Ghost]

So maybe the metric should be changed from number of wins/season to number of losses/season? ( i.e. Dodd had 4 0 loss seasons and multiple 1 loss seasons)

Dodd has a lot more talent than what we have now, comparatively speaking of course. Besides he had control of the schedule and that meant avoiding Ole Miss, Mississippi State, (because of money) and making sure Tech played plenty of mediocre at best teams like Tulane, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Duke (which was pretty good most of the time) and Clemson. Even Dodd though had to play LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, UGA, and Florida all of whom had talent and good teams just not every year.

 

[UgaBlows]

The most financially important part of the program is the recruiting pool of money. We could pay Key and Faulkner 20 million a year each and that wouldn’t improve our win total. Getting high quality players is what Kirby and Dabo have done and that’s how you win. Key could be the next Saban and we still won’t win 9 or more games until we pay for 4 stars across the board. That’s the new game and what will drive coaches to stay at GT or leave GT.

You ain’t wrong, but securing a top notch coaching staff is priority #1

 

[MWBATL]

Johnson was the best coach of the bunch. Amazing what he accomplished without a huge amount of MONEY

 

[AugustaSwarm]

You ain’t wrong, but securing a top notch coaching staff is priority #1

Both are equally important - see UNC and Miami as examples - good talent, not so good coaches.

 

[UgaBlows]

Both are equally important - see UNC and Miami as examples - good talent, not so good coaches.

We beat both with less talent- that tells me that coaching is a little more important.

 

[billga99]

Johnson was the best coach of the bunch. Amazing what he accomplished without a huge amount of MONEY

Clearly Johnson was a great Xs and Os coach. But I still think even with money that he would have struggled to get 4 and 5 star kids whose main goal these days is to make the NFL based on the uniqueness of his offense. Clearly money would have helped but unfortunately with unlimited transfers and NIL money, we are in an entirely different world. I fully agree Johnson would maximize whatever talent he could secure.

The big question to me is can Key succeed running offense and defenses which are more mainstream. I think he is really concentrating on hiring the best coordinators he can find to maximize player performance. I think he has made a good start but it remains to be seen whether he can consistently get us to 8 or 9 wins per season (and hopefully more). We certainly need to get in a better position to hold on to kids who have progressed from their high school rankings to being solid college football players. I think that is a combo of NIL and places the athletes perceive are a better fit to get to the next level That has really killed us on the defense side of the ball, particularly DL.

 

[57jacket]

Clearly Johnson was a great Xs and Os coach. But I still think even with money that he would have struggled to get 4 and 5 star kids whose main goal these days is to make the NFL based on the uniqueness of his offense. Clearly money would have helped but unfortunately with unlimited transfers and NIL money, we are in an entirely different world. I fully agree Johnson would maximize whatever talent he could secure.

The big question to me is can Key succeed running offense and defenses which are more mainstream. I think he is really concentrating on hiring the best coordinators he can find to maximize player performance. I think he has made a good start but it remains to be seen whether he can consistently get us to 8 or 9 wins per season (and hopefully more). We certainly need to get in a better position to hold on to kids who have progressed from their high school rankings to being solid college football players. I think that is a combo of NIL and places the athletes perceive are a better fit to get to the next level That has really killed us on the defense side of the ball, particularly DL.

Good post. Given equal talent Johnson could beat almost anyone. But, as you said , recruiting suffered with his O.
The future is iffy. Our single most shortcoming is recruiting educated , tough DL. Always has been, and will be. Other than that I believe we can compete in the NIL arena IF, big IF, well healed alums pony up the $. Batt is known for raising $. That will be key to our future success. All IMHO. But then what the hell do I know. Posters that know it all can correct me. LOL

 

[takethepoints]

The most financially important part of the program is the recruiting pool of money. We could pay Key and Faulkner 20 million a year each and that wouldn’t improve our win total. Getting high quality players is what Kirby and Dabo have done and that’s how you win. Key could be the next Saban and we still won’t win 9 or more games until we pay for 4 stars across the board. That’s the new game and what will drive coaches to stay at GT or leave GT.

Listen to that.

I just read an article that mentioned the undefeated 1939 (I think) Dartmouth football team. They were invited to the Rose Bowl (No, really, they were) and they refused to go. The team voted against it and the administration backed them 100%. Their prs at the time gave the reason: it was not a good idea for a school where young men came to study and incidentally play football to participate in a contest with a school where football players came to school to incidentally study (I'm paraphrasing).

Now, get me straight here. I know that the world we're in is the one where the football players come to school to incidentally study. That's how the sport has evolved. But it is too bad that has happened and I continue to think that somebody *cough* Congress *cough* will step in to get things straight sooner or later.

 

[takethepoints]

The big question to me is can Key succeed running offense and defenses which are more mainstream. I think he is really concentrating on hiring the best coordinators he can find to maximize player performance.

I agree with this and I would also say that as Tech got better last year it was because they (well … Buster) decided to run the ball more. Tech looked a lot like Army toward the end and I'm betting we'll look that way again if the OL jells. I know I sound like a broken record on this aspect of the O, but I think that's what we need

 

[stinger78]

I agree with this and I would also say that as Tech got better last year it was because they (well … Buster) decided to run the ball more. Tech looked a lot like Army toward the end and I'm betting we'll look that way again if the OL jells. I know I sound like a broken record on this aspect of the O, but I think that's what we need

TBH, both GA and Alabama are run first teams. That doesn’t mean they cannot throw the ball well when needed. Running the ball has, as Pepper once said, advantages over passing the ball. Establishing the run is the pathway of champions, IMPO.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

TBH, both GA and Alabama are run first teams. That doesn’t mean they cannot throw the ball well when needed. Running the ball has, as Pepper once said, advantages over passing the ball. Establishing the run is the pathway of champions, IMPO.

As is stopping it.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Winning starts with believing you can win. I think that is the biggest change since the last regime.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

We beat both with less talent- that tells me that coaching is a little more important.

I don't think you can say one is any more or less important than the other - otherwise, CPJ would have been winning national titles. How would you explain our loss to Bowling Green last year? You've gotta have both - they both matter.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I don't think you can say one is any more or less important than the other - otherwise, CPJ would have been winning national titles. How would you explain our loss to Bowling Green last year? You've gotta have both - they both matter.

I agree with this. I would also say that you can do more with coaching and scheme on offense than you can on defense. On defense, you really need the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

I agree with this. I would also say that you can do more with coaching and scheme on offense than you can on defense. On defense, you really need the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.

I'll go a step further with it and say that coaching can really be split into a few major parts:

1. teaching and training - developing players into even better players

2. Schematics - X's and O'x - putting players in the best position to be successful, playcalling, etc

3. Culture - developing an identity for the program, whether intentional or not

All of these effect recruiting, but aren't mutually exclusive.

I think CPJ was excellent at #2, but he failed at #3. Our culture revolved around our offense and the defense was clearly an afterthought.

This is where I think the TFG was on to something, but he failed in the execution. Key seems to be finding a great balance and it is beginning to show up on the recruiting trail. He's brought in some good schematic guys (jury is out on Santucci, but I believe he'll be great). Key is instilling a culture that is definitely gaining some traction with players. I have seen some players really develop in a short amount of time (Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, Singleton, etc). Ultimately time will tell, but it appears to me that Key is building the foundations of something special.

 

[jgtengineer]

I'll go a step further with it and say that coaching can really be split into a few major parts:

1. teaching and training - developing players into even better players

2. Schematics - X's and O'x - putting players in the best position to be successful, playcalling, etc

3. Culture - developing an identity for the program, whether intentional or not

All of these effect recruiting, but aren't mutually exclusive.

I think CPJ was excellent at #2, but he failed at #3. Our culture revolved around our offense and the defense was clearly an afterthought.

This is where I think the TFG was on to something, but he failed in the execution. Key seems to be finding a great balance and it is beginning to show up on the recruiting trail. He's brought in some good schematic guys (jury is out on Santucci, but I believe he'll be great). Key is instilling a culture that is definitely gaining some traction with players. I have seen some players really develop in a short amount of time (Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, Singleton, etc). Ultimately time will tell, but it appears to me that Key is building the foundations of something special.

Johnson was good at all 3 at navy and georgia southern. 1 and 2 here but truthfully he only missed on one DC that was entirely his choice that should have been a slam dunk. Roof was not his selection (still roof did good in 2013 and 2014 was peak roof style defense)

CPJ DCs
Wommack - We wanted Ellis Johnson Drad wouldn't pay him had to settle for the cheaper option
Groh/Kelly - GRoh should have been a slam dunk. But the switch to fast uptempo offenses proved to much for him to keep up with. CPJ wanted to hire Kelly but the powers that be that lead to Collins really wanted roof back.
Roof - Leaky roof is a thing. Roof suffers from the same issue as Groh his style of defense is no longer as valid and he was not a very good 4-2-5 guy. in 2013 we were able to play a more traditional 4-3 due to sneazy locking down the edge and good linebacker play from davis.
Woody (who ended up having army have a good defense once he was up there)- Clearing up roof's mess and converting a 4-2-5 squad to a single gap high risk 3-4 / 3-3-5 scheme. Didn't really have time to work but we were not good that first year. I don't think this stays the truth.

Now for anyone that wants to remember tenuta, also remember that the Groh was basically a return to that style of zone blitz predicated scheme. The issue that groh ran into Tenuta also ran into. Their defenses were designed to face power run teams and disrupt play-action with exotic blitz packages. As well as use short zone's to create mismatch interceptions underneath on quick passes. Aka every good defense from 1995-2010 in the NFL when teams ran the under center west coast offense.

 

[slugboy]

I'll go a step further with it and say that coaching can really be split into a few major parts:

1. teaching and training - developing players into even better players

2. Schematics - X's and O'x - putting players in the best position to be successful, playcalling, etc

3. Culture - developing an identity for the program, whether intentional or not

All of these effect recruiting, but aren't mutually exclusive.

I think CPJ was excellent at #2, but he failed at #3. Our culture revolved around our offense and the defense was clearly an afterthought.

This is where I think the TFG was on to something, but he failed in the execution. Key seems to be finding a great balance and it is beginning to show up on the recruiting trail. He's brought in some good schematic guys (jury is out on Santucci, but I believe he'll be great). Key is instilling a culture that is definitely gaining some traction with players. I have seen some players really develop in a short amount of time (Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, Singleton, etc). Ultimately time will tell, but it appears to me that Key is building the foundations of something special.

I’ve seen someone else do a different breakdown, and assign different percentages to how successful it makes you. I may add a bit to it, but it was essentially this:

1. Recruiting: no amount of training will make a 5’4” player 6’7”. Some players are gifted with potential, and if they’re willing to learn then you’ll get better results with those players (now including the transfer portal)
2. Conditioning: everything from doctors to fix up an injury, mobility, strength training, nutrition, rest and recovery. Stanford in the early 2000’s really changed this to an advantage. It’s not hard to find a 5* player in high school who could go anywhere, but wastes their shot at conditioning and training
3. Operations: getting players to class and getting grades. Hiring and firing. Using scouts. Managing the books. Running the business of running a program. Saban was a master here
4. Fundraising and booster outreach: Saban was a master here, too. You need customers, capital, and support.
5. Game day management: on offense, Johnson was a master—managing time outs, calling plays, adjusting your scheme, swapping out players. It’s how you manage Saturday
6. Training: how you manage Sunday-Friday. Practice. Game plans. Teaching. Developing habits and reflexive behaviors. Film breakdown . If players hit the wrong hole , or make the wrong read, it’s a Sunday-Friday issue. If you do Sunday-Friday perfectly, then Saturday is a breeze.

And some of these don’t get evenly split between offense, defense, and special teams. For example , almost every coach recruits better on one side of the ball than the other.

You could add in culture

 

[roadkill]

I’ve seen someone else do a different breakdown, and assign different percentages to how successful it makes you. I may add a bit to it, but it was essentially this:

1. Recruiting: no amount of training will make a 5’4” player 6’7”. Some players are gifted with potential, and if they’re willing to learn then you’ll get better results with those players (now including the transfer portal)
2. Conditioning: everything from doctors to fix up an injury, mobility, strength training, nutrition, rest and recovery. Stanford in the early 2000’s really changed this to an advantage. It’s not hard to find a 5* player in high school who could go anywhere, but wastes their shot at conditioning and training
3. Operations: getting players to class and getting grades. Hiring and firing. Using scouts. Managing the books. Running the business of running a program. Saban was a master here
4. Fundraising and booster outreach: Saban was a master here, too. You need customers, capital, and support.
5. Game day management: on offense, Johnson was a master—managing time outs, calling plays, adjusting your scheme, swapping out players. It’s how you manage Saturday
6. Training: how you manage Sunday-Friday. Practice. Game plans. Teaching. Developing habits and reflexive behaviors. Film breakdown . If players hit the wrong hole , or make the wrong read, it’s a Sunday-Friday issue. If you do Sunday-Friday perfectly, then Saturday is a breeze.

And some of these don’t get evenly split between offense, defense, and special teams. For example , almost every coach recruits better on one side of the ball than the other.

You could add in culture

Something I’d like to add since this thread is about CBK, is the ability to prioritize and focus- a trait of most good executives. This may be a subset of a category you've already itemized, but Key has so far shown an ability to address the squeakiest wheels first.

• Kicking teams a joke and costing us games? Revamp the ST personnel and coaching.
• Players don’t seem prepared on gameday? Revamp practices and discipline.
• Anemic offense? Hire a young OC with fresh ideas and attract new talent via the portal.
• Defense just not getting it done? Fire and hire. Get new coaches with a good track record.
• Losing out on too many in-state recruits? Create a staff of former highly respected high school coaches with deep ties to Georgia high schools.

We’ve already seen the results of the first three issues addressed. The jury is still out on the fourth one, but appropriate action was taken. The last one appears to be paying dividends this summer.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Recruiting: no amount of training will make a 5’4” player 6’7”

There go my aspirations....

 

[iceeater1969]

Yeah but he did it 4x. Several more 9-win seasons.

That's why they rightfully named the coach of year for him

. .