Athlon: ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2018

[CuseJacket]

Always entertaining. This year's quotes re: GT are pretty tame compared to prior years.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-coaches-talk-anonymously-about-conference-foes-2018

Georgia Tech
"Paul Johnson is an acquired taste. I personally like him, and I think he gets a bad reputation as a curmudgeon. But he’s engaging and funny, and his players love him and play hard for him. And that’s really all that matters. You have to be a heckuva coach to use that triple-option at this level of the game — and win big like he has."


"A lot of the advantage of the Georgia Tech offense is the reality that you’re not practicing against it but for a couple of weeks. We tried to practice against it in spring practice, and in fall camp, and it just doesn’t stick as much as game week. It’s the element of surprise — and that Paul teaches it so well."


"(TaQuon) Marshall is about like most of the quarterbacks Paul has had. He’s really good in the run game and can do enough in the pass game to make you pay. They’ll just stick it in (KirVonte) Benson’s belly, just grinding away."


"They’re always so prepared on offense, and they’re going to get their rush yards and score on you. You just have to limit those third down conversion. If they keep stacking those up and the clock runs, you’re in trouble because it just snowballs. Your defense gets tired and they get more confident and you start arm tackling and then a simple dive becomes a 70-yard touchdown."


"When they’re really good on offense, when they protect the ball – fumbling is their biggest problem every year – it makes their defense better."


"They’re not going to blow you away with sheer talent on that side, but they play hard and if they’re winning the time of possession and staying close or leading, those guys are fresh in the second half and close out games."

 

[CuseJacket]

Some other quotes that stuck out to me:

Clemson
"You look at that defensive line, and I’m not kidding, there are NFL teams that would be pretty happy having that group. You’re looking at a two-deep of guys that will play in the NFL. Guys that are legitimate disrupters, like Dexter Lawrence and Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins and Austin Bryant. It just never stops."

Duke
"They struggled in the passing game last year, and it wasn’t just the quarterbacks. Cut will usually have one or two guys that can win on the outside, yet last year they really had no one that could do it. They didn’t have a receiver who could go up and get a ball, or a guy that could get physical and get open any time he wanted to. That was a big problem, and it certainly didn’t help (QB) Daniel Jones, who I think regressed from his freshman year."

Louisville
"I wouldn’t worry too much about who’s playing quarterback for Louisville. Bob (Petrino) has few peers when it comes to coaching quarterbacks and getting them ready to play. It looks like it’s going to be (Jawon) Pass. The most interesting part about this is that Bob has now completely embraced the idea of the dual-threat quarterback. You’ll still see pro sets and still see them run under center, but he’ll keep using those dual-threat, spread, QB run concepts. He’s all in."

North Carolina
"There’s no secret to beating them. They can’t stop the run. Haven’t been able to do it for at least three years and maybe more. If you can run the ball and keep that offense off the field, that’s an easy formula. The problem has been stopping them on offense. Last year, when they were young on offense and the quarterbacks struggled, it was a different deal altogether. That’s why the record looked so bad. Want to know why they won only three games? They didn’t have the offense to make up for their annual struggle to stop the run."

Virginia
"It just feels like forever since Virginia has been relevant, doesn’t it? Bronco Mendenhall was such an important hire for them, but it’s got to be for the long haul there. This can’t be a thing where if it doesn’t work in a couple of years, you fire him. He has proven he can win under difficult circumstances. He’s a coach who does it the right way, and I’m telling you right now, they will become relevant again under him."

Virginia Tech
"They’re just as dangerous in the kicking game under Justin as they were with Frank Beamer. A majority of that is coaching and attention to detail, and then there’s the feel of when to do it. That can’t be overlooked. Justin definitely has that. That fake punt in the ACC Championship Game two years ago was a thing of beauty."

Wake Forest
"They’re so smart in the way they play defense. They’re never outcoached and never out of position. And they play hard, really hard. Their defensive line isn’t as talented as Clemson and Florida State and Miami, but they’re as productive. They’re replacing two really good ends, but they’re at the point now where they’re plugging and playing. Did you ever think you’d say that about a Wake Forest defense?"

 

[slugboy]

One guy over at Athlon likes the Nate Woody hire: https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-football-2018-predictions. They forecast us to 7-5.

 

[kg01]

Some other quotes that stuck out to me:

You forgot one ..

Syracuse
"Aw man, Syracuse suuuuuuxx. Plus they wear safety-cone orange. What self-respecting grown man wears that shade of orange?"

Seriously though, thanks for posting these. Always interesting to hear the 'anonymous' views.

 

[year_of_the_swarm]

Syracuse....... the answer to your problems is in your state. His name is Jeff Monken.

 

[iceeater1969]

Syracuse....... the answer to your problems is in your state. His name is Jeff Monken.

Hey, don't give them any ideas.
AFTER - we ball out next 2 years and Coach goes out in a blaze of glory, JM is our hire.

 

[kg01]

Hey, don't give them any ideas.
AFTER - we ball out next 2 years and Coach goes out in a blaze of glory, JM is our hire.

Dang, can I rescind the 'like' I gave @year_of_the_swarm . I like your comment better.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Always entertaining. This year's quotes re: GT are pretty tame compared to prior years.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-coaches-talk-anonymously-about-conference-foes-2018

"you have to limit those third down conversions..." The way to do that is to bring those safeties up and stuff the run on first down to three yards or fewer. Easier to say than to do when playing Tech but that is how to start. If I were playing Tech, I would stress that it is crucial to be physical, come off the cut blocks quickly and make open field tackles. Let me tell you if they, meaning Tech, starts getting four or five yards on first down it is setting up to be a very long afternoon. For the life of me, I do not understand why Tennessee last year chose to play their defensive linemen back like they did because it just about guaranteed a good gain on first down.

 

[wesgt123]

"you have to limit those third down conversions..." The way to do that is to bring those safeties up and stuff the run on first down to three yards or fewer. Easier to say than to do when playing Tech but that is how to start. If I were playing Tech, I would stress that it is crucial to be physical, come off the cut blocks quickly and make open field tackles. Let me tell you if they, meaning Tech, starts getting four or five yards on first down it is setting up to be a very long afternoon. For the life of me, I do not understand why Tennessee last year chose to play their defensive linemen back like they did because it just about guaranteed a good gain on first down.

Easy. Look at who their coach was lol. The weirdest corny goofy joke of a coach id ever seen. Even the way he looks made my blood boil lol. I’m still mad we lost that game. Mostly because we lost to HIM. Where is he nowadays anyways??

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Some other quotes that stuck out to me:

Clemson "it just never stops" No it doesn't and the most annoying thing about it is that they have more than enough defensive linemen when that is probably the hardest position to recruit.
Duke "they struggled in the passing game last year..." Could of fooled me they did pretty well against us.
Louisville "I would not worry too much about who the quarterback is..." I am not worried because we are going to run that damn bone right down their throats and whoever the quarterback is will be collecting splinters on the bench most of the game.
North Carolina "they can't stop the run..." It's hard to believe that the school that used to annually churn out great defensive linemen and linebackers has been reduced to this.
Virginia: "it seems like forever that they have been relevant" Those blasted "Hoos" are relevant to Tech every year especially since Coach Mendenhall has anointed himself the guru for stopping the triple option.
Virginia Tech: "they are just as dangerous under Justin as they were under Beamer" Maybe so in the kicking game but Justin has not found a Logan Thomas or Tyrod Taylor to run his offense thank goodness.
Wake Forest: "they're so smart in how they play defense" More power to them as we do not have to play them this year.

 

[iceeater1969]

"you have to limit those third down conversions..." The way to do that is to bring those safeties up and stuff the run on first down to three yards or fewer. Easier to say than to do when playing Tech but that is how to start. If I were playing Tech, I would stress that it is crucial to be physical, come off the cut blocks quickly and make open field tackles. Let me tell you if they, meaning Tech, starts getting four or five yards on first down it is setting up to be a very long afternoon. For the life of me, I do not understand why Tennessee last year chose to play their defensive linemen back like they did because it just about guaranteed a good gain on first down.

Agree that old way of defending gt using passive assignment alignment died in 2014 orange bowl.

Butch says it ain't scheme on defense its jimmie and joes.
Butch is fired.



That said if qb hits some of the wide open passes, Imo our offense can badlyvburn the aggressive all the time defense.

Its Chess!

 

[gtg936g]

Syracuse....... the answer to your problems is in your state. His name is Jeff Monken.

Do they still have that ice storm idiot of a coach or have they fired him yet?

 

[AE 87]

Babers is a good coach, imo.

 

[gtg936g]

Babers is a good coach, imo.

I forgot they hired him. They may be relevant before long, he is a good coach. I was thinking they still had the guy who made fun of the Atlanta ice storm where 100s of people were stranded on the interstate and local roads.

 

[alentrekin]

The way to beat our offense is to beat blocks... E.g. UGA blew up our ABs and Roquan shed the linemen. It's a lot like playing football against other offenses.

 

[RyanS12]

Do they still have that ice storm idiot of a coach or have they fired him yet?

Boeheim?

 

[JorgeJonas]

The way to beat our offense is to beat blocks... E.g. UGA blew up our ABs and Roquan shed the linemen. It's a lot like playing football against other offenses.

I wish this was true, but last year our tackles never touched Roquan.

 

[gtwcf]

Boeheim?

Scott Shafer....of 56-0 vs those softnosed players

 

[gtg936g]

Scott Shafer....of 56-0 vs those softnosed players

That’s the guy. We could have scored 100 on them. I think Babers will get them headed in the right direction in due time. I think he is a really smart coach. This off season has been so long I have forgotten who is coaching at various schools.

Back to the thread topic. I find it interesting how tame the GT reviews are. I wonder if there is a false sense of security with our opposition due to our lackluster record last year.

 

[Animal02]

Hey, don't give them any ideas.
AFTER - we ball out next 2 years and Coach goes out in a blaze of glory, JM is our hire.

Had the opportunity to talk with a W.P grad - football player at a Delta skylounge a couple of months ago. They all expect Monken to leave for Tech when CPJ retires.
He also raved about CPJ, having had the chance to meet him once.