Bobinski Q&A

[B Lifsey]

Despite him being a UGA fan, I liked Grizzard's writing. This was my favorite...

 

[Skeptic]

Lewis Grizzard loved the mutts but he was so funny. In an attempt to get a favorable mention my companies marketing department sent him a Carrier pigeon through which he could make his reply. In response Grizzard had a box of chicken bones delivered to the dept with a note that stated "thanks for the bird, it tasted great" .

That was a classic response to a pretty good marketing idea. One of his banquet speaker lines was about falling ill in London, with that heart valve that eventually killed him, and the season opener was near. He said he was "not gonna be sick in some foreign hospital during football season."

 

[Northeast Stinger]

You know Joe Kovac? That guy writes good stuff.
I'm assuming this was at The Telegraph?

Do not know him personally, certainly know who he is. I left Macon in 2008 and I think he came to the telegraph in 2009.

 

[DaddyBill]

I remember as a young lad being at my uncle's office in the Peachtree Arcade (Atlanta's first indoor mall) and him sending me out to the street to get him a copy of the Journal's "bulldog" edition which has that day's closing stock prices.

Yes, Lewis became as much of a dawg as Larry Munson, but he was state prep editior of the Constitution for a couple of years. A job I almost had back then.

I also remember covering the Tech-Miami game (11/10/67) in the Orange Bowl with Furman, Jesse and Jim Minter one Friday night and then being with them on the plane to Jacksonville the next morning for the GA-FL game.

 

[DaddyBill]

p.s. Sorry for hijacking this thread

 

[orientalnc]

I worked for 18 years in the newspaper profession...sports writer up to editor and general manager. Back in the days of Tech SID Ned West and journalist Furman Bisher, Jesse Outlar, Charlie Roberts, Richard Hyatt and Lewis Grizzard. When computers replaced the laptop typewriters it seems the ability to write was victimized. There were two newspapers in Atlanta back then...the Constitution in the morning and the Journal in the evening and they covered the entire state. Over the next few years all we are going to have left in print, I fear, are a smattering of local community weekly editions. A great art lost.

Richard recently wrote a book about Roger Kaiser and still does stuff for the Columbus paper. One of a small handful of uga grads I respect

 

[DaddyBill]

Richard is actually a GA State grad and he has written several books. One about our Sylvan High back-to-back state championship basketball team called "Ozzie's Boys" or something to that effect. He and I still stay in touch.

 

[ClydeBrick]

Despite him being a UGA fan, I liked Grizzard's writing. This was my favorite...

35 - 18 Baby!

The 5-4-1 Jackets gave the mutts their 3rd straight loss after they were ranked in the top 10 earlier in November.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

p.s. Sorry for hijacking this thread

Not at all. I love hearing about this history. Some I remember from childhood. One more hijack. The Arcade was torn down before I was even aware it existed. When I see photos of it I lament that one of Atlanta's original and unique pieces of architecture was just thrown away.

I remember the two papers. We got the Constitution because our family liked to read first thing in the morning before breakfast, school, work etc. My elementary class mate who lived across the street was in a Journal family. We used to argue over which paper was better.

 

[Essobee]

I also remember covering the Tech-Miami game (11/10/67) in the Orange Bowl with Furman, Jesse and Jim Minter one Friday night and then being with them on the plane to Jacksonville the next morning for the GA-FL game.

Maybe you could answer one question I've had on my mind all these years. Could Minter even smile or would it have caused his face to break?

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Great question for the AD who grew the football support staff 300 percent, upped the dc pay and the hc contract from the predecessor. You guys are way too hard on him. He is doing a far better job than he is getting credit for imo. All of pauls assistants got a raise this year something like 15-20 percent. Oh. Fyi. The avg employee is getting 3-5 percent. Lets play nice for a day. We all have our faults. But he is doing a far better job than both braine and rad at supporting the football program.

I'm not ready to run him out in a rail yet....but he hasn't done very much to earn much trust either. Increases support staff, which was woefully staffed before. Ok great, he fixed a glaring problem, with little expense. Grant him a kudo there.

Now for the demerits. His handling of CPJ's status last year earns a few. Some thought he handled it perfect. I couldn't disagree more. Delaying the extension was bad. Bad for recruiting and bad for generating any trust or loyalty between CPJ and Mbob / Tech. Shows that he's not capable of recognizing good coaching talent and ability. That does not bode well for for him retaining staff or bringing in new staff. (I understand many fans were growing restless with 7 wins...that's what fans do...I expect better of an AD)

Many Tech fans think everyone who ever becomes associated with Tech should share their love of the institute, to the max. Pardon my candor but I think that is a pretty ignorant take from a fanbase that, by and large, is more logical about things generally than other fanbases. Tech is a great institute. Tech student athletes have few peers when looking at them as a total package. None of that makes coaching here easy. Throw in the academic obstacles with less $ for staff and fewer resources than damn near all our competitors...not a lot of incentive to stay here long term. When we find a coach worthy of keeping long term, we should do a hell of a lot more to encourage him to stay long term.

So IMO it's not time for tar and feathers....but it might be time to start up the fire for the tar. Only fair...Mbob was plenty willing to leave CPJ on a hot seat far too long. Damn sure ain't Homer Rice material.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I'm not ready to run him out in a rail yet....but he hasn't done very much to earn much trust either. Increases support staff, which was woefully staffed before. Ok great, he fixed a glaring problem, with little expense. Grant him a kudo there.

Now for the demerits. His handling of CPJ's status last year earns a few. Some thought he handled it perfect. I couldn't disagree more. Delaying the extension was bad. Bad for recruiting and bad for generating any trust or loyalty between CPJ and Mbob / Tech. Shows that he's not capable of recognizing good coaching talent and ability. That does not bode well for for him retaining staff or bringing in new staff. (I understand many fans were growing restless with 7 wins...that's what fans do...I expect better of an AD)

Many Tech fans think everyone who ever becomes associated with Tech should share their love of the institute, to the max. Pardon my candor but I think that is a pretty ignorant take from a fanbase that, by and large, is more logical about things generally than other fanbases. Tech is a great institute. Tech student athletes have few peers when looking at them as a total package. None of that makes coaching here easy. Throw in the academic obstacles with less $ for staff and fewer resources than damn near all our competitors...not a lot of incentive to stay here long term. When we find a coach worthy of keeping long term, we should do a hell of a lot more to encourage him to stay long term.

So IMO it's not time for tar and feathers....but it might be time to start up the fire for the tar. Only fair...Mbob was plenty willing to leave CPJ on a hot seat far too long. Damn sure ain't Homer Rice material.

And just how the hell do you know that there is any kind of bad blood between CPJ and MBob? Have you heard any complaints from CPJ or any of his staff? Just because things didn't flow in quite the order that YOU might have wanted does not in any way mean they were handled poorly. You are projecting your own personal OPINIONS on something you really don't know squat about.

 

[BerryGT]

Wasn't the recruiting support staff approved by Peterson during the interim period before Bobinski was hired? The weirdness with the CPJ contract situation isn't really a big deal compared to the colossal screwup of the Gregory situation. Can anybody point to any new or creative ideas he's brought to fundraising or marketing?

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I have no insider info at all. It all played out pretty openly in the news super. Most reasonable people in CPJ's position probably wouldn't have felt the need to kiss Mbobs *** for the late and....not very big at all...extension.

You say assistant coaches aren't beating down the doors to leave. Do YOU have insider info suggesting our staff can't be lured away?? Well they haven't been terribly hard to pry away recently. Charles Kelley left. That was lateral move at the time. He was promoted to DC later.

It's a competitive market out there. Tech will fail to keep up if they don't treat it as such.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Wasn't the recruiting support staff approved by Peterson during the interim period before Bobinski was hired? The weirdness with the CPJ contract situation isn't really a big deal compared to the colossal screwup of the Gregory situation. Can anybody point to any new or creative ideas he's brought to fundraising or marketing?

Since AA financing (therefore staffing and payrolls) is independent of The Hill, I don't much think Peterson approves or disapproves anything other than whatever is directly related to academics.

 

[33jacket]

Wasn't the recruiting support staff approved by Peterson during the interim period before Bobinski was hired? The weirdness with the CPJ contract situation isn't really a big deal compared to the colossal screwup of the Gregory situation. Can anybody point to any new or creative ideas he's brought to fundraising or marketing?

No on the first question. It was totally mbob helping.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I have no insider info at all. It all played out pretty openly in the news super. Most reasonable people in CPJ's position probably wouldn't have felt the need to kiss Mbobs *** for the late and....not very big at all...extension.

You say assistant coaches aren't beating down the doors to leave. Do YOU have insider info suggesting our staff can't be lured away?? Well they haven't been terribly hard to pry away recently. Charles Kelley left. That was lateral move at the time. He was promoted to DC later.

It's a competitive market out there. Tech will fail to keep up if they don't treat it as such.

There is pretty much a revolving door of assistant coaches throughout the entire country. The fact that Kelley left I think relates more to his relationship with Johnson than to finances. I don't recall any other unexpected staffing changes other than bigger opportunities elsewhere, not regarding financial considerations, but increased coaching responsibilities. Of course, members of our staff CAN be lured away, just as they can be from any school. Why, for instance would Pruitt leave a cush job at FSU to go to Athens? FSU certainly had the means to keep him; for whatever reason, he decided to move on. S**t happens.

As far as what "played out openly in the news," regarding Johnson's contract, again you only know what others have conjectured. Did Johnson ever express any dismay or disappointment? I sure didn't hear it if he did. Like I said earlier, just because it didn't play out in the manner you thought it should certainly doesn't mean it was bungled. I'm pretty sure Johnson would have said KMA if he thought he wasn't being treated fairly.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Wasn't the recruiting support staff approved by Peterson during the interim period before Bobinski was hired? The weirdness with the CPJ contract situation isn't really a big deal compared to the colossal screwup of the Gregory situation. Can anybody point to any new or creative ideas he's brought to fundraising or marketing?

As far as the Gregory situation goes, there are far more factors there than I think you are considering. I'm no fan of Gregory, but I'm also no fan of paying 3 coaches when 2 are no longer employed by Tech. You can blame DRad for that as much as you can blame MBob.

 

[Skeptic]

I have no insider info at all. It all played out pretty openly in the news super. Most reasonable people in CPJ's position probably wouldn't have felt the need to kiss Mbobs *** for the late and....not very big at all...extension.

You say assistant coaches aren't beating down the doors to leave. Do YOU have insider info suggesting our staff can't be lured away?? Well they haven't been terribly hard to pry away recently. Charles Kelley left. That was lateral move at the time. He was promoted to DC later.

It's a competitive market out there. Tech will fail to keep up if they don't treat it as such.

As I remember it Kelly went in to FSU as DC at something like twice his pay at Tech and with the all important 3-year contract, and he clearly respected Johnson. Hardly any occupation is more nomadic or uncertain than assistant coaches, almost all of whom work on one year deals, most of whom must depart when the HC goes. It is hell on a marriage and family, and the first question about buying a home is how quickly it could be sold. Most, even married, live in apartments or rented houses. In short they are leaving when they hit town. The HC then is directly responsible for the lives of the dozen or more people reporting to him. A strong incentive for all to coach hard, but still pretty heavy for the HC.

That being said the way Johnson's extension was annoying. Then to finish off with a $200,000 raise, well. (And believe me, I get it that is a lot of money and I would take it in a minute. But I'm not a football coach always on the hot seat, either.) I assumed and thought one of Johnson's demands was more money for assistants and that he was willing to forego a lot of increase if it was spread to staff. Swinney did that at least once at Clemson. If so, the increase is understandable. But dangling the contract like a rabbit down the track was unseemly and demeaning. Had he finished with seven wins and got the ax, well, that would be four years of mediocrity and defensible. I think the guy can coach. I love the offense he coaches. Given the restrictions, he can recruit, though it did not help when Bobinski came bobbing in to pronounce that academic requirements should have no effect on recruiting, like there is a Sean Bedford under every rock. (It occurred to me while looking at that video of Johnson's offense that the understanding and awareness required of a QB for Johnson probably is a major reason for the difficulty in recruiting them.) Given that, I wouldn't have fired him for another 7-win season, but I would be hard pressed to dispute it if he were.

Lastly it was not that long ago that there was some concern about assistants leaving, and just about as quickly as somebody hit the door questions were raised about coaching for Johnson. Now they're staying and we say that this being the case, why pay 'em more?

I know Bobinsky inherited the remnants of two awful contracts that somewhat crippled salaries and hiring for awhile. Even so, it was bad form to take Johnson, and all his assistants, and all their families, down to the last week of the season. I've never seen anything written about their working relationship, but I assume there is a built-in and natural tension between the two jobs, so if there is no open feuding, it must be stable enough.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

So IMO it's not time for tar and feathers....but it might be time to start up the fire for the tar. Only fair...Mbob was plenty willing to leave CPJ on a hot seat far too long. Damn sure ain't Homer Rice material.

Yeah, so here's the deal. It LOOKED like CPJ was being left on the hot seat far too long and I was not happy about it in real time. However, with what little news we got, and what we found out after the fact, it sounded like CPJ and MBob came to an understanding behind closed doors long before the the final deal was concluded in public. In retrospect not so sure the hot seat stuff was much more than a media creation fueled by a small sub group of Tech fans. I know the narrative of hot seat got repeated, and is still repeated, by the national media but maybe MBob never saw it that way and was just being deliberate and careful in making sure the contract was as good as he could get it all along.

Just offering an alternative explanation based on the same general lack of knowledge about what actually happened behind closed doors.