Article on Brent Key

[SOWEGA Jacket]

This has been the best thread I’ve read here in a long time. A lot of you guys get it. I believe Key will be successful because he is already successful. Sitting in that stadium in Tampa watching our team turn the tide and then strangle UCF was one of the funnest days we’ve had in a long time.

But, the day will come when Key wants more than beating the UCF’s and UNC’s. The day will come when Key will be tired of walking off a field while watching a Dabo and Kirby smile. We all know how competitive he is and it’s gonna be hard for him to accept losing because of the uneven structure between the schools.

GT needs to embrace today’s college athletics and stop living in the past. We need to recruit any and all players regardless of academics. If they can play then GT needs to pay. We get zero extra points on the football or basketball scoreboard because we have players with a 2.7 instead of a 1.7. And as we sit and watch these expanded playoffs I can guarantee no one will care if any player can read or write or what their GPA is. They don’t even care about felonies. It sucks, I agree, but if we aren’t going to play today’s game then we shouldn’t play at all.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

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

At what point with Miami in particular is it the players and not necessarily the coaches. Numerous debates on Canes in Sight about this. Besides talking about past glories and national champions, Miami fans enjoy running off coaches more than anything. In a roughly 20 year period they hired and fired five coaches.
Larry Coker 60-15
Randy Shannon 28-23
Al Golden 36-27
Mark Richt 26-13
Manny Diaz 21-15

None of them had a losing record...OK, Manny did his best to do so but managed a winning record anyway. They fired Coker with a record of 60-15 We should have such problems.

 

[Bogey]

Gailey hitched his wagon, for better or worse, to Reggie Ball and Tenuta Patrick Nix.

FIFY

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

FIFY

Disagree to some extent. Nix was not the one throwing passes here and there nor was he the one with the horrible performances against Georgia. He was pretty bad though. Why Randy Shannon picked him to be his offensive coordinator is a mystery.

 

[stinger78]

Disagree to some extent. Nix was not the one throwing passes here and there nor was he the one with the horrible performances against Georgia. He was pretty bad though. Why Randy Shannon picked him to be his offensive coordinator is a mystery.

There were several factors to all that. Three of them were: First, some of the best 2-way talent went to the D. Second a t-FR QB with a strong but inaccurate arm. Third, an OC who could only come up with sideline routes to avoid INTs from overthrows.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Disagree to some extent. Nix was not the one throwing passes here and there nor was he the one with the horrible performances against Georgia. He was pretty bad though. Why Randy Shannon picked him to be his offensive coordinator is a mystery.

I think CCG had the handcuffs on a young OC that was also in over his head. Gailey wanted a conservative offense that didn’t turn the ball over. He was playing a pro approach in a college environment. Richt schooled him in what college was all about.

 

[Jacketman99]

One of Gailey's biggest problems was his failure to recruit and develop qbs. Reggie gets a lot of blame but I don't remember any Gailey qb lighting the world on fire.

 

[BurdellJacket]

Disagree to some extent. Nix was not the one throwing passes here and there nor was he the one with the horrible performances against Georgia. He was pretty bad though. Why Randy Shannon picked him to be his offensive coordinator is a mystery.

A typical Nix series, which I got exceedingly tire of, was: Run right, run up the middle, pass, punt.

 

[jgtengineer]

One of Gailey's biggest problems was his failure to recruit and develop qbs. Reggie gets a lot of blame but I don't remember any Gailey qb lighting the world on fire.

The best recruit gailey could have had we just didn't land. Matt Ryan was very very close to committing to us but we ****ed up the visit. Imagine that reality when matt ryan is throwing to calvin johnson for 2 years.

 

[4shotB]

Matt Ryan was very very close to committing to us but we ****ed up the visit.

Damn. I was better off before reading your post and NOT knowing this. We (or at least many) of us saw what Ryan could do throwing the ball on Grant Field. And he didn't even have a Calvin to throw to,

 

[Techwood Relict]

The best recruit gailey could have had we just didn't land. Matt Ryan was very very close to committing to us but we ****ed up the visit. Imagine that reality when matt ryan is throwing to calvin johnson for 2 years.

 

[UgaBlows]

Disagree to some extent. Nix was not the one throwing passes here and there nor was he the one with the horrible performances against Georgia. He was pretty bad though. Why Randy Shannon picked him to be his offensive coordinator is a mystery.

IIRC we upset Miami the season before, he must have been impressed by Nix’s playcalling?

 

[stinger 1957]

Gailey was a horrible OC as HC of cowboys. Gailey's whole hold on coaching FB was his ability to evaluate talent. From Jerry Jones, "CGC was the best talent evaluator in the game." It's the reason he was made OC at KC and HC at Buffalo, they were doing a rebuild. Looks like he did a bang up job at KC. Guess school is still out on Buffalo.

 

[LargeFO]

The best recruit gailey could have had we just didn't land. Matt Ryan was very very close to committing to us but we ****ed up the visit. Imagine that reality when matt ryan is throwing to calvin johnson for 2 years.

Can you elaborate??

 

[Techster]

One of Gailey's biggest problems was his failure to recruit and develop qbs. Reggie gets a lot of blame but I don't remember any Gailey qb lighting the world on fire.

The irony of Gailey's tenure will always be his inability to recruit elite QBs...until his last season. He signed 4 star Nesbitt and 4 star Steven Threet in the 2007 class, then had a future NFL QB and 4 Star Sean Renfree committed to us until Gailey was fired.

 

[cpf2001]

The irony of Gailey's tenure will always be his inability to recruit elite QBs...until his last season. He signed 4 star Nesbitt and 4 star Steven Threet in the 2007 class, then had a future NFL QB and 4 Star Sean Renfree committed to us until Gailey was fired.

I always wondered what happened with Threet since he was out after one spring early enrollment but it doesn’t look like he was the guy who would’ve been the difference maker in 2007 anyway.

 

[stinger78]

I always wondered what happened with Threet since he was out after one spring early enrollment but it doesn’t look like he was the guy who would’ve been the difference maker in 2007 anyway.

I think there was bad mojo after the collapse of 2006 and some saw CCG as a dead man a walking in 2007. IMPO, it seems that Tanoota may have been a bit salty after that 2006 CCG and there was some leftover toxicity entering 2007. I think Threet may have seen the toxicity and decided it was best to leave. Just my $.02, not sure if any of it is correct.

I always wondered what CCG may have done with that influx of talent, but he was canned, and a future HOF coach was hired so we never knew.

 

[jgtengineer]

Can you elaborate??

Matt was treated like every other recruit we didn't bring him in for a big game and we didn't bring Calvin with him. Bc brought him in vs one of their largest home games and stuff. Along with complimentary visits

 

[stinger 1957]

I have to say I was skeptic of Key but without a doubt I back him 100 percent. I hope he stays a long time.
But I guess the question is what is a long time today.

His entire career, obviously we need to take care of him well, just watching what is going on I expect we will.

I see something that only presents itself in limited situations. A coach coming home to a really down and out situation which I see GTFB and the school, alums, fans, donors come together and it last a number of years. Having been in the dumps so long there are not a lot of expectations and everything is appreciated, and tough moments are tolerated better, it breeds longevity sometimes. Will be interesting to watch going forward.
We will need to end up in a good conference situation, that is a must not just for GT but many others. Somehow I think we will do just that.

 

[jgtengineer]

Matt was treated like every other recruit we didn't bring him in for a big game and we didn't bring Calvin with him. Bc brought him in vs one of their largest home games and stuff. Along with complimentary visits

Self quote to clarify something, Calvin was the year after matt but what i meant by this is we didn't bring in any recievers when we brought him in. Gailey decided Ball was the guy when he committed.