Bill Curry's Thoughts

[AE 87]

Why? Is the comment earth shattering in some way? Pretty innocuous imo.

I think he doesn't trust him.

 

[steebu]

I think players are fair game so long as it’s fair criticism and not insulting.

True.

There is a difference between, "Man, if #99 had made that block this would've sprung a big play"

and

"#99 sucks at blocking and at life"

I still prefer not to be critical of players - I'm sure the coaches are giving them an earful of correction anyway, and it's not like they're going to learn technique from me. I don't think we have any Antonio Brown types on our team; they're doing the best they can, so if a guy misses a block I'm not going to denigrate his abilities.

Coaches, however, are different. Spurrier once told a story about how he and a friend of his who coached a division 3 school went golfing, and the friend kept complaining about alumni, players, players' parents, other coaches, etc. Spurrier said he just laughed and asked him, "Hey, if you think you've got that kind of criticism and pressure at your school, what do you think it's like for me at Florida?"

And his friend replied, "Yeah, but when you go to the bank on Friday to deposit your check I'm sure that pressure's a lot less."

 

[TheFlyest]

Although in spirit, I agree mostly, Vamos. But, there is NO fanbase of any college team that will accept 3 years of what we saw Saturday without "grumbling". I don't think that is possible, but each and every fan/alum has to make that decision for themselves. I don't think we can go 3 years of pain and suffering saying, "kumbaya", and then suddenly bring out the pitchforks. Saturday was a loss of historical proportion, against a team with limited scholarships who lost to Elon and Towson. I just don't know if it is fair to label as "bad guys" the fans/alums who choose to grumble or criticize in a "respectful" fashion. I do think we should be respectful in whatever "grumbling" we do.

3 years? Try 3 games?

 

[smokey_wasp]

I agree with Coach Curry. There is a time for criticism. I don't think this is it. The reason is that it's just not going to be productive at all. Adopting a spirit of harsh truth without love at this point is going to do wayyy more harm than good. Saying there was a bad call or a missed block without a "sky falling" attitude is fine. I think Curry is talking more about the absolute declarations or even the stances of high skepticism from this point forward - those kinds of views at this point are both unreasonable and damaging (in the age of social media-based public perception). I truly believe that the best thing George P. GTFan can do for a while is to grow up, look to take the long-view, to give the benefit of the doubt, to be optimistic and excited about what we could be 3 years from now, be "inordinately" supportive (to use a CGC'ism) of the team, and enjoy being a GT fan with other GT fans. That would actually be productive ... it would make GT a more attractive place for future players, future coaches, and future GT fans.

This is coming from someone who felt very strongly about who we should've hired. If we had hired my guy, we would not be in this spot right now. But, we are in this spot right now - which to me is not a surprise at all ... BUT it's very possible we can get to a good spot again. A spirit of grumbling for the next 3 years will do nothing to help us and will hurt us in getting to that good place again. 3 years from now, it is a completely different story. At that point, serious evaluation will be warranted. At that time, I will be ready to make some declarations with my mind either confirmed or changed. That time has not yet come.

You don't bash a kid who is a freshman, you don't ride that young guy as hard as you would a senior/veteran. You expect that freshman to make some mistakes and you try to encourage him along the way so that he doesn't get down on himself. It doesn't mean you don't correct him, it just means your approach should be a little more honey and a little less vinegar. We have a freshman regime/program right now. Expect mistakes and gaffes and inexplicable failure. Support and encourage the program through it right now. Help the program grow up without getting down on itself. You might be surprised the way that kid/program comes out and plays as an upperclassman, if he/it is able to get through the awkward years with a good attitude.

If I sound like Bill Curry, GOOD! Bill Curry optimism and inspiration is exactly what we need right now and for the near future.

Class comment.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I've stayed away from the Football section for most of 4 days.

I think we need to be quiet and accept what is. I say that for two reasons.

First, it does little good to ***** 2 games in. Give the guy 3 years and then let go with the criticism. I recognize this is the worst loss in decades. I don't know if he is going to work out. But TStan did think so and he has done well by the baseball team. I really hope it works out.

Second, focusing on the negative aspects in your life makes you negative. I am guilty of that (as are most engineers). I am much happier focusing on things that make me happy. Verbalizing (or typing) my frustration with how the team is doing damages me as much as others; maybe not for others. Football for me is entertainment, so why entertain yourself with things that piss you off? What is important at the end of the day is how the players are prepared for life. I don't know a single GT coach in history who hasn't tried to take care of the players.

Go Tech.

I’m finding a lot of these calls for “positivity” right now quite ironic. (Not referring to vamos’ post...he’s a better man than me and has always supported his team while staying above most of the rancor.).

Where were these calls for civility previously when posters...many the same ones crying for positivity only now...were bashing the prior scheme and staff and baselessly propagating many of the false narratives about same?

Still to this day they will deny stats, rankings, FEI etc about the last O. But many of these folks now clamor for unified positivity. In the face of one of the worst starts in the history of the program.

Despite the bad start I think the staff can possibly succeed eventually. I like the D scheme. Clean up penalties and they would have looked a lot better Saturday. A lot of consensus here that the O and OC have to go at years end. I actually disagree. I don’t think the scheme is fundamentally unsound. Some of the decisions with it have been (QB rotation and failure to find/utilize personnel mismatches.). Fix that and, like the D cleaning up the penalties, the O would look a lot better....even while being hamstrung by a very thin and injured OL.

And yes, I have less patience for CGC excuses when he repeatedly proclaims this year as a “monumental transition.” If the job is to big for him he shouldn’t have sought it.

But the irony and hypocrisy is rich indeed. The same people who claimed CPJ supporters weren’t real Tech fans, were just CPJ fans only, or were embracing mediocrity by supporting CPJ.....those are by and large the same people now claiming prior CPJ supporters (who are currently skeptical) are actually deep down pulling against Tech now because the scheme and staff is different now. Or some nonsense along those lines. Very hypocritical and ironic indeed. My ears are deaf to their calls for a positive consensus. I respect @vamosjackets however and will consider his position further for that reason.

 

[AE 87]

I admit that my perception of CGC has been influenced by our experience with CJP in basketball.

 

[White_Gold]

Why? Is the comment earth shattering in some way? Pretty innocuous imo.

Because I don’t have the opportunity to get to go to any TD club meetings?

 

[White_Gold]

I think he doesn't trust him.

Haha. No.

That’s not the case. Refer to my comment to WhiskeyClear for clarification on the subject.

 

[Animal02]

In Bobby Dodd's day, coaches were paid a percentage of the attendance. The responsibility to fill the stadium with a good product was the coach's and reflected both the schedule and the performance. Now, they are paid kazillions and insulated. I know for a fact that Collins told Brent Key not to get on any message boards Sunday morning because it might be demoralizing. Do you think?

He probably had his minions out trying to temper the (deserved) outrage.

 

[Animal02]

Well, I'm an engineer and if someone was criticizing my work that had never engineered a project I wouldn't take them serious. I would just laugh and walk away. Life is too hard to deal with crap like that.

There is plenty of reasons someone can criticize an engineering (or architecture) work without having done one themselves. That is the same sort of fallacy that 'if you did not play football in college you don't know anything and cannot say anything about it.

 

[Animal02]

Do you have to deal with "critics" that have no idea what they are talking about? Do you have to listen to people who use hyperbole to make you look worse without any context and not based on reality? That's what we are dealing with here.

Hyperbole like Tech always being ranked and playing in New Years bowl games when growing up? Oh wait...............

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Let’s see if I get this right. We are to be all rosey, but other teams fans get to unload on us.
Gotcha!

 

[TromboneJacket]

I side with Bill on this one. There are a lot of comments in this thread using the idea of constructive criticism as a counterpoint. Can someone show me where this “constructive criticism” is? All I’m seeing is “This is totally the coaches’ fault!” (Fair but not particularly insightful or constructive) and “We’re not gonna win another game. We made a mistake hiring Geoff Collins. He’s a conman with his positivity schtick.” Can someone point out to me how statements like that are helpful to anyone? You don’t get to make denigrating statements and then hide behind “constructive criticism”. That’s a pretty cowardly and dishonest move, and we should be better than that. Scream into a pillow, take a shot of bourbon, and let’s get back to talking about football! As a wise man once said, “We gon’ fight! ‘Til we can’t fight no more! We gon’ lie down, bleed a while! Then we gonna get up and fight some more!”

 

[YellowJacketFan2018]

I side with Bill on this one. There are a lot of comments in this thread using the idea of constructive criticism as a counterpoint. Can someone show me where this “constructive criticism” is? All I’m seeing is “This is totally the coaches’ fault!” (Fair but not particularly insightful or constructive) and “We’re not gonna win another game. We made a mistake hiring Geoff Collins. He’s a conman with his positivity schtick.” Can someone point out to me how statements like that are helpful to anyone? You don’t get to make denigrating statements and then hide behind “constructive criticism”. That’s a pretty cowardly and dishonest move, and we should be better than that. Scream into a pillow, take a shot of bourbon, and let’s get back to talking about football! As a wise man once said, “We gon’ fight! ‘Til we can’t fight no more! We gon’ lie down, bleed a while! Then we gonna get up and fight some more!”

They may not be helpful to some people however they could very well be true..............................................................just sayin'

 

[Jacket 83]

I have to agree with both sides of the coin on this. I believe it is a fans right to voice their opinion about their team. They can disagree with the coaches if they feel like it. In Bill Curry’s defense it is a different situation for a previous coach to do the same thing. This is especially true for someone who has as much history with Tech as he does. In a situation like that he is almost forced to be politically correct and leave the complaining to people like us. He would also put himself in a spotlight that I’m sure he doesn’t want to be in. We will not be put in the paper or on tv if we mouth off. He will. I understand his position

 

[ibeattetris]

I side with Bill on this one. There are a lot of comments in this thread using the idea of constructive criticism as a counterpoint. Can someone show me where this “constructive criticism” is? All I’m seeing is “This is totally the coaches’ fault!” (Fair but not particularly insightful or constructive) and “We’re not gonna win another game. We made a mistake hiring Geoff Collins. He’s a conman with his positivity schtick.” Can someone point out to me how statements like that are helpful to anyone? You don’t get to make denigrating statements and then hide behind “constructive criticism”. That’s a pretty cowardly and dishonest move, and we should be better than that. Scream into a pillow, take a shot of bourbon, and let’s get back to talking about football! As a wise man once said, “We gon’ fight! ‘Til we can’t fight no more! We gon’ lie down, bleed a while! Then we gonna get up and fight some more!”

There are plenty of rational posts, though a lot are being drowned out. The only problem is Bill isn’t saying that the fans need to stop being babies and stop jumping off cliffs. He flat said not to criticize. I have seen plenty of people calmly say they think rotating QB’s is detrimental to the team. That seems valid critique (but arguable at least). People calling for coaches to be fired after three games are just delusional though.

 

[tmhunter52]

I find myself very uncomfortable with the ideal that our players need comforting right now. I guess at 72 years of age I'm just to out of touch to understand.

There were no “safe places” in the old days...

 

[33jacket]

I admit that my perception of CGC has been influenced by our experience with CJP in basketball.

So is that avatar a take on another posters bevis and butthead?

If so.

Good work.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

And on cue here comes curry.

The great captain of our 1964 team. The first season after his mentor killed so many great things in our program by leaving the sec.

The 1964 captain of the team that started out 7-0 and then (under some of his inspirational leadership?) lost 3 in a row - the most devastating to a ugag team under first year coach vince dooley.

Later to be the leader of our team that was embarrassed by furman - Twice.

Like I care what Dodd told him to do - Dodd also said drop the sec. so much for brains.

Maybe curry got these inspirational words from his great friend - the original bama cheap shot scumbag - darwin holt.

And I guess the same curry that was sitting on the patio at uvag, with vinnie & babs dooley as a Truly Great Coach named Bobby Ross led GT to victory. And the same curry pontificating about how he was responsible for so much of the greatness GT showed on the field that day.

Go back to bama or kentucky- no doubt they adore you in those places.

 

[bke1984]

I think the coaches are fair game, but I think the players should be off limits. Unfortunately I think I’ve seen too many people on our players. Maybe not directly but just subtle comments.

Curious when I hear this...how do you feel about college athletes getting paid?