Brent Key is not the answer

[stech81]

Deion just blew a 29 point lead to the worst P5 team in football with idk 30 more 4 stars and 5 more 5 stars than we have. I could only imagine if we did that with anyone not named Deion lol

And some on here don’t understand 1/2 of them or more could not get into Tech.

 

[Eli]

And some on here don’t understand 1/2 of them or more could not get into Tech.

They also forget Deions signature win is against TCU who just got obliterated by Kansas State. Charles Kelly has that Colorado defense ranked 126th in the country

 

[CEB]

Just hire a guy who’s been a coach before and won at a decent clip not just had one random ok year aka TFG.

Tech has enough issues as it is. So do the easy thing. Get a guy who’s won at another place before with some coaching pedigree. GT ain’t Clemson and in many ways the Dabo hire was luck.

While personally Brent is a great guy and him loving the institution is great as a coach him loving the institute means f all. Getting “GT Men” as coaches is just empty platitudes. Just get guys who know how to win.

Stod as men’s bball coach has zero connection to the school. He’s also a guy who’s excelled. He excelled as a college player, stayed in the league for years, and was moving up the coaching ranks cause he was good everywhere he went. Get THAT guy for football.

I think it’s funny you choose CDS as your analogy. My one and only question about CDS when we hired him was “yeah, but can he actually coach?”
Key is pretty much CDS circa year 2 at Pacific. Student of the game, player, asst coach, great resume, highly respected and zero prior head coaching experience.
If Key wins 6 next year and 7-8 in ‘25, he is tracking to be EXACTLY what Stoudamire was at Pacific. Hopefully he doesn’t leave us after resurrecting the program.
This isn’t a CDS thread and I’m not saying I DON’T believe CDS will be successful, but its funny that you believe Key is a failure and CDS is your example of success, when their trajectory is so similar.

 

[CEB]

Meh, not sure Batt will get much credit or blame for Key. I don’t think he had much of a choice in the matter

Credit? No.

Blame? If it comes to that, absolutely.

 

[stinger78]

I think it’s funny you choose CDS as your analogy. My one and only question about CDS when we hired him was “yeah, but can he actually coach?”
Key is pretty much CDS circa year 2 at Pacific. Student of the game, player, asst coach, great resume, highly respected and zero prior head coaching experience.
If Key wins 6 next year and 7-8 in ‘25, he is tracking to be EXACTLY what Stoudamire was at Pacific. Hopefully he doesn’t leave us after resurrecting the program.
This isn’t a CDS thread and I’m not saying I DON’T believe CDS will be successful, but its funny that you believe Key is a failure and CDS is your example of success, when their trajectory is so similar.

IIRC, one of JBatt's directives was to get the financial house in order. He's supposedly good with the financials and that was supposedly a major reason he was hired. Therefore, I would expect him to start out with a conservative financial commitment. I have no issue with that. It's just where we're at today due to a long string of very stupid financial decisions, contracts, etc. This is a long-term dig out, and we just have to be patient, like it or not.

 

[CEB]

IIRC, one of JBatt's directives was to get the financial house in order. He's supposedly good with the financials and that was supposedly a major reason he was hired. Therefore, I would expect him to start out with a conservative financial commitment. I have no issue with that. It's just where we're at today due to a long string of very stupid financial decisions, contracts, etc. This is a long-term dig out, and we just have to be patient, like it or not.

I completely agree.
The post I was replying to was touting the CDS hire as getting a guy who was “proven successful” as if Key was not. The two seem to be on the same trajectory, albeit Key is about 4-5 years behind… that’s where the patience comes in.

 

[wvGT11]

Honestly this thread really confirms how good we had it under CPJ

CPJ wasn't shy on talking about the lack of resources from Tech and fan support,

But he managed to get us to pretty good years , even with recruiting lower start kids.

Thing Is I remember pretty much all through his tenure, we had folks even on here wanting a new offense or similar defensive complaints.

 

[Jacket0323]

Regarding your last sentence...a coach's best friend is the pine and if that does not work, show them the door. There are plenty of players on that team that need to change their attitudes and work ethic or hit the road. A Florida coach once had a situation with a player not going to class. He told the young man that he was being punished with extra conditioning drills to change his mindset. Replied the outraged player who had been hyped as possible All SEC material the next year: "Do you know who I am?" Replied the coach: "Sure, you used to play football for the University of Florida" This was not all that long ago either.

That sounds like Reggie Vickers....??

 

[g0lftime]

Honestly this thread really confirms how good we had it under CPJ

CPJ wasn't shy on talking about the lack of resources from Tech and fan support,

But he managed to get us to pretty good years , even with recruiting lower start kids.

Thing Is I remember pretty much all through his tenure, we had folks even on here wanting a new offense or similar defensive complaints.

His offense was designed for ball control which limited number of possessions by the opposition. Their offense can't score if on the sidelines. It also had the negative of not being capable of late game comebacks without a good passing offense. JT and Nesbitt were exceptional in his offense.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

I see no evidence for this.

Maybe 3 star players could be successful in the TO, but not in a pro style offense?

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I think AD Batt has the best of both worlds. If the Key experiment works out, he looks like a genius. If he falls flat, he can point to the insiders and say, now, let me do it my way.

 

[g0lftime]

I think AD Batt has the best of both worlds. If the Key experiment works out, he looks like a genius. If he falls flat, he can point to the insiders and say, now, let me do it my way.

We need to remember Batt was just hired when all that happened with TFG. He was still buying a house, picking out schools for his kids, meeting the GTAA staff, hiring his own people, figuring out the big donors, etc. He is establishing his own culture and if he needs to make a hire in the future, it will be done with less haste and less stress for him. I am not sure how much the Key decision was his as much as Cabrera and his appointed AD interim when Stansbury was fired. He may have hit a homerun with our BB coach.

 

[billga99]

We're also closing in on Tech's longest institutional streak of not being in a bowl game. The Rose (1902), the Sugar, Orange and Sun (1935), and the Cotton (1937) are the oldest bowls. After the 1928 season ending in the Rose Bowl, GA Tech went 10 seasons without a bowl game. However, per the above, bowls were few and far between in those days. During those 10 seasons, GA Tech's W/L record was 36-55-8, or about 3.6 wins/10-game season. It was also the height of the Great Depression and very much apples and oranges from today.

So, starting with 1939 and going forward here are our lapses in bowl participation:
1940-1941 [2]
1945 [1]
1948-1950 (7-3 records in 1948-49) [3]
1957-1958 [2]
1960 [1]
1963-1964 (both 7-3 records) [2]
1967-1969 [3]
1973-1977 (7-4 in 1975) [5]
1979-1984 (6 wins in 1982 and 84) [6]
1986-1989 (7-4 in 1989) [4]
1992-1996 (6 wins in 1995) [5]
2015 [1]
2017 [1]
2019-2023 [5]

If we don't go to a bowl this season, which looks pretty bleak to me, we will have tied the second longest streak in our modern history. Both of those other two streaks, though, included years in which a bowl would be forthcoming today, leaving only 2 and 3-season streaks. Then, next season (2024), we will be playing to tie the record of 6 straight seasons w/o a bowl. However, that streak (1979-1984) included two 6-win seasons and would have left only a 3-season streak.

So, in today's bowl context, this is already the worst streak of seasons for GA Tech football since the Great Depression. Someone please check my math.

No wonder it all feels so bad.

And the other issue is a .500 season gets you in a bowl game. That was not true historically.
Bowl Games in 1940: 5, Bowl Games in 1949: 9, Bowl Games in 1950: 8, Bowl Games in 1959: 8, Bowl Games in 1960: 8, Bowl Games in 1969: 11, Bowl Games in 1970: 11, Bowl Games in 1979: 15, Bowl Games in 1980: 15, Bowl Games in 1989: 18, Bowl Games in 1990: 19, Bowl Games in 1999: 23, Bowl Games in 2000: 25, Bowl Games in 2009: 34, Bowl Games in 2010: 35, Bowl Games in 2014: 39, Bowl Games in 2023: 42 (84 teams out of 128 FCS Programs)

 

[TampaBuzz]

We all say blame the coach, players aren't amped at home, hire a new coach etc. One question: why, with 9 minutes of game time left and we go down 8, is there all of a sudden a mad rush to the exits? If we want our guys in white and gold play all of 4 quarters, we need to support them FOR ALL 4 QUARTERS.

I hung around....until we gave up a long touchdown run to go down 15 with about six minutes left and then proceeded to throw another forced ball interception. So I was gone with about 5 minutes left. My excuse is I did not want to be late to a 5 pm wedding; but I gotta admit, I was over it after we gave up 21 unanswered points with little resistance at the end.

 

[Thwg777]

We're also closing in on Tech's longest institutional streak of not being in a bowl game. The Rose (1902), the Sugar, Orange and Sun (1935), and the Cotton (1937) are the oldest bowls. After the 1928 season ending in the Rose Bowl, GA Tech went 10 seasons without a bowl game. However, per the above, bowls were few and far between in those days. During those 10 seasons, GA Tech's W/L record was 36-55-8, or about 3.6 wins/10-game season. It was also the height of the Great Depression and very much apples and oranges from today.

So, starting with 1939 and going forward here are our lapses in bowl participation:
1940-1941 [2]
1945 [1]
1948-1950 (7-3 records in 1948-49) [3]
1957-1958 [2]
1960 [1]
1963-1964 (both 7-3 records) [2]
1967-1969 [3]
1973-1977 (7-4 in 1975) [5]
1979-1984 (6 wins in 1982 and 84) [6]
1986-1989 (7-4 in 1989) [4]
1992-1996 (6 wins in 1995) [5]
2015 [1]
2017 [1]
2019-2023 [5]

If we don't go to a bowl this season, which looks pretty bleak to me, we will have tied the second longest streak in our modern history. Both of those other two streaks, though, included years in which a bowl would be forthcoming today, leaving only 2 and 3-season streaks. Then, next season (2024), we will be playing to tie the record of 6 straight seasons w/o a bowl. However, that streak (1979-1984) included two 6-win seasons and would have left only a 3-season streak.

So, in today's bowl context, this is already the worst streak of seasons for GA Tech football since the Great Depression. Someone please check my math.

No wonder it all feels so bad.

Good analysis. It’s hard to remain ‘patient’ while the program continues to find new lows.

I liken the new things like the dress up party pictures aka uniform gender reveal and blocking north avenue to playing the fiddle while Rome is burning.

 

[Vespidae]

Good analysis. It’s hard to remain ‘patient’ while the program continues to find new lows.

I liken the new things like the dress up party pictures aka uniform gender reveal and blocking north avenue to playing the fiddle while Rome is burning.

I recall an economist who looked at transfer payments and opined that things were worse today, economically speaking, than the Great Depression. We just don’t have soup lines anymore. They are replaced by EBTs.

Tech has long benefitted from the rise of the crappy bowl game. The Quick Change Oil Bowl, the Military Bowl, and a host of others … all designed for TV content … mask the real decline. It would be interesting to look at the same data set and remove all the toilet bowls.

Bobby Dodd said the same thing in 1976. NIL and the transfer portal aren’t improving things for Tech.

 

[GT33]

We need to remember Batt was just hired when all that happened with TFG. He was still buying a house, picking out schools for his kids, meeting the GTAA staff, hiring his own people, figuring out the big donors, etc. He is establishing his own culture and if he needs to make a hire in the future, it will be done with less haste and less stress for him. I am not sure how much the Key decision was his as much as Cabrera and his appointed AD interim when Stansbury was fired. He may have hit a homerun with our BB coach.

Batt's an Executive running a major college athletic department, he's not a burger flipper that can only do 1 thing at a time.

 

[slugboy]

Batt's an Executive running a major college athletic department, he's not a burger flipper that can only do 1 thing at a time.

Hiring a coach is multiple things at the same time. It’s more like buying a company than hiring an employee—there’s lock in, there’s an amazing amount of due diligence required, plus you have to get all your board members and investors aligned.

If he’d been AD for six months, he’d have arranged and gotten support for the next HC before firing TFG. His start date was after the firing, which handcuffed him in a number of ways. Our boosters handcuffed him in others.

Maybe he’d have picked Key anyway, but I think the odds are low.

Whether Key can turn the program around is a different question. He’s shown positives and negatives. However, Batt almost certainly had two candidates ahead of Key, if not more.

 

[GT33]

Hiring a coach is multiple things at the same time. It’s more like buying a company than hiring an employee—there’s lock in, there’s an amazing amount of due diligence required, plus you have to get all your board members and investors aligned.

If he’d been AD for six months, he’d have arranged and gotten support for the next HC before firing TFG. His start date was after the firing, which handcuffed him in a number of ways. Our boosters handcuffed him in others.

Maybe he’d have picked Key anyway, but I think the odds are low.

Whether Key can turn the program around is a different question. He’s shown positives and negatives. However, Batt almost certainly had two candidates ahead of Key, if not more.

I empathize with his predicament, but I would bet he was grilled on that as part of his hiring process. He had to have thought it through. His first task as an AD was to hire a Head Football Coach, he failed to sell his 1st or 2nd, etc (who knows how many) choices. I feel bad for him, but taking the AD job should have come with an agreement or understanding of the conditions under which his most important hire would be executed. Frankly, he lost. I think he'll be a solid AD or better, but he got decked in Round 1 and his legacy will be how he recovers. If he's fortunate, Key becomes a good hire, but odds are looking kinda slim on that at the moment.

 

[Root4GT]

I empathize with his predicament, but I would bet he was grilled on that as part of his hiring process. He had to have thought it through. His first task as an AD was to hire a Head Football Coach, he failed to sell his 1st or 2nd, etc (who knows how many) choices. I feel bad for him, but taking the AD job should have come with an agreement or understanding of the conditions under which his most important hire would be executed. Frankly, he lost. I think he'll be a solid AD or better, but he got decked in Round 1 and his legacy will be how he recovers. If he's fortunate, Key becomes a good hire, but odds are looking kinda slim on that at the moment.

The guy has been the actual HC for 7 games and you have given up already. He took over a expiative deleted show last year. There is no magic spell that can make 85 players better in one off season. The offense has gone from bottom 10 in Division 1 to an average P5 offense. That is actually really good progress in one offseason. The OL is still not up to what we need to be a good offense but they are a solid step up from last year.

Now this offseason something major needs to occur regarding the defense as it is still a bottom tier Division 1 defense.

Special Teams have also gone from terrible to average P5.