Brian Kelly Press Conference

[Northeast Stinger]

It is the one requirement of the high profile job that Johnson does not always do very well, maybe because he has spent so much time fending off the HS offense, gimmick labels and he just gets tired of it. (A particular reporter in Raleigh now runs from any association with it, though he was among the most adamant in disdaining the offense before and after the '08 game at UNC, and leading up to the '09 game, but never since that Saturday. He is a very quiet individual these days.)

I agree. CPJ has spent years answering stupid questions from reporters (questions that would make most of us roll our eyes) and I suspect sometimes he kind of listens on red alert. It will probably take him 10 more years at Tech to erase the residue of hundreds of demeaning questions that have accumulated in his memory bank.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

The big thing about the ND conference was you could hear the question.

I can't fathom how an Institute of Technology can't have a mic on the the guys asking questions in press conferences. How hard can it be to pass out pin on remote mic's?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I can't fathom how an Institute of Technology can't have a mic on the the guys asking questions in press conferences. How hard can it be to pass out pin on remote mic's?

I hate to say it, but this is not the first time I have marveled at other schools using technology better than Tech.

I have wondered if there is something in the Tech mentality, an idea perhaps that technology is just a tool, and you use the simplest tool to get the job done and avoid bells and whistles. In several areas of using technology for football Tech has seemed very utilitarian to the point of down playing the potential that better use of technology might bring.

 

[kg01]

I hate to say it, but this is not the first time I have marveled at other schools using technology better than Tech.

I have wondered if there is something in the Tech mentality, an idea perhaps that technology is just a tool, and you use the simplest tool to get the job done and avoid bells and whistles. In several areas of using technology for football Tech has seemed very utilitarian to the point of down playing the potential that better use of technology might bring.

Definitely agree here. Sometimes ... nah, make that many times, we're the smartest dummies in the room.

We should be at the forefront of every little gadget when it comes to stuff like this. However, we seem to be content with the utilitarian approach.

 

[CuseJacket]

GT passes around one, if not two, microphones to media during postgame pressers. They did the same for media day, which is the other media event I've attended this year. I don't fully understand what the mics do since our voices don't sound like they're picked up in the video/audio. Perhaps I'm supposed to turn the mic on when it's handed to me and that's an unspoken expectation that others aren't aware of as well. I'll check next home game. My question to Skov re: advice on playing at ND sounds like it came from another room. Not a problem with a synced up mic, otherwise it can become a problem if you're not in the front row and don't project or inflect well. Need to put myself on a performance improvement plan.

 

[18in32]

The question of the young century, but there doesn't seem to be many left. My local paper is a shell of what it was, and while all of I see of the once formidable AJC, it is too. On the other hand, good ones would be critical of the program once in a while, and watch the message boards go berserk ... wondering where all the good reporters are.

I believe all the good reporters are working in fields where there is economic demand for their skills. Perhaps this isn't you, but I and many other fans won't consider subscribing to the AJC or myAJC, hate paying for news in general, and then wonder why press coverage is poor. What is so fascinating is that the demand for that product is still there -- but because of the interwebs, it is very hard to satisfy. The havoc that the internet has wreaked on all the IP fields -- journalism, music, film, etc. -- is amazing. Coming soon to an industry near you.

 

[Skeptic]

I believe all the good reporters are working in fields where there is economic demand for their skills. Perhaps this isn't you, but I and many other fans won't consider subscribing to the AJC or myAJC, hate paying for news in general, and then wonder why press coverage is poor. What is so fascinating is that the demand for that product is still there -- but because of the interwebs, it is very hard to satisfy. The havoc that the internet has wreaked on all the IP fields -- journalism, music, film, etc. -- is amazing. Coming soon to an industry near you.

Not my area at all, so you apparently have the edge, or whatever. I pay for one site for the oldest reason -- it is worth it -- and don't any other. (If the AJC were the old AJC I think they would have a get, since I grew up in South Georgia). But for real news it is sparse out there. You want opinions -- loud, louder and loudest, mostly idiotic, those belonging to somebody who bought a keyboard -- it is there by the bushel. Besides, when I look at a couple of the aggregator sites I often see "blogs" that are eight paragraphs of babble and blather, posing as news but which do not contain a single fact. I am now more informed than I have ever been and the stuff I do know seems to be wrong ... all brought to me by the internet. The demise in newspapers has been a tragedy for democracy. . Check a site called realclearsports.com and see how often babble is sold as a news article. Because somebody has an ego, I suppose. As a political consultant I know said, anybody can blog so everybody does.

 

[RyanS12]

As we get closer to Saturday I'm getting a little more uneasy about this game. Everybody is writing ND off. They're hurt, they're no longer in the playoff hunt without Zaire and there a 2.5 underdog at home. This team has Nfl talent all over on D and they were embarresed at UVA last week. This has all the markings of a circle the wagons game with nothing to lose. They have experience with the option "Navy" so I'm sure we are going to get everything they've got. Hopefully our boys stay focused and come out with a chip on there shoulder and realize how big of a game this is for them and the program.

 

[Nook Su Kow]

As we get closer to Saturday I'm getting a little more uneasy about this game. Everybody is writing ND off. They're hurt, they're no longer in the playoff hunt without Zaire and there a 2.5 underdog at home. This team has Nfl talent all over on D and they were embarresed at UVA last week. This has all the markings of a circle the wagons game with nothing to lose. They have experience with the option "Navy" so I'm sure we are going to get everything they've got. Hopefully our boys stay focused and come out with a chip on there shoulder and realize how big of a game this is for them and the program.

I'm getting nervous because I think we win this game by double digits. My confidence in the offense is crazy high, where I get pissed when we don't score a touchdown on a drive. Smoove running point has got me spoiled.

 

[deeeznutz]

I'm getting nervous because I think we win this game by double digits. My confidence in the offense is crazy high, where I get pissed when we don't score a touchdown on a drive. Smoove running point has got me spoiled.

I'm with you here...feeling very confident in our offense. I don't think there will be many teams that even slow us down, let alone stop us.

 

[takethepoints]

I'm with the Cheeseman. Playing ND up there is not a sure scenario, even if we play well. If we win by any margin at all, I'll be thrilled. If we lose, I won't be too upset.

I also agree that this is the D's game. If we play well on D we should win. The O will be the O. What we have to do is stop them at least 5 times. That's all Coach ever asks of his DC and that's all we usually need.

 

[deeeznutz]

How big is Notre Dame's home field advantage? They don't seem like the most intimidating fan base and the stadium doesn't seem like it would get particularly loud by design.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Oh, Notre Dame fans can be loud. Count on it Saturday.

This popped into my head today, so have not thought it through to test my impression in any way, but here it goes.

The last time I felt like Tech got beaten was against Iowa in the Orange Bowl. Bear with me.

In subsequent losses Tech may not have been the best team but I often felt like Tech did not play the best game they were capable of playing. To put it simply, most of the time the last few years I felt like Tech beat themselves more than I felt like the other team was beating them. Some years Tech would have had to have played a perfect game to have a chance of winning but in those games Tech fell far short of perfection.

What seemed to change last year was that Tech rarely beat themselves and was capable of winning every game they played. The Notre Dame game will be an interesting test to me because it will indicate whether or not Tech has moved permanently to that next level of play in which they rarely beat themselves and they put pressure on the other team through the entire game to not let up or make a mistake.

If these musings make sense to anyone give me your take on it.

 

[JacketintheBend]

O.K., that was actually kind of amazing.

Brian Kelly spent the first 4 minutes 39 seconds talking about how great Tech is, how great certain Tech players are and what a great job CPJ has done throughout his career. Frankly, that was the biggest love letter I have ever heard an opposing coach give to a CPJ team. The opposite of what he said would be the Frank Beamer approach or the David Cutcliffe approach, who both seem to want to demean the system. That is not the way Kelly played it at all. Still amazed.

Kelly has class.

 

[JacketintheBend]

Does anyone follow ND closely enough to know if this is just his style? He seemed exceedingly complimentary of all phases of the GT game.

CBK give significant praise where due. Damns some by giving only 'faint praise'.

 

[Skeptic]

As we get closer to Saturday I'm getting a little more uneasy about this game. Everybody is writing ND off. They're hurt, they're no longer in the playoff hunt without Zaire and there a 2.5 underdog at home. This team has Nfl talent all over on D and they were embarresed at UVA last week. This has all the markings of a circle the wagons game with nothing to lose. They have experience with the option "Navy" so I'm sure we are going to get everything they've got. Hopefully our boys stay focused and come out with a chip on there shoulder and realize how big of a game this is for them and the program.

I really was not aware anybody was writing ND off. Certainly not this board, whose views generally have gone the other way in my opinion. As games go it is a big one for sure, though. With about 40 guys who have never been on the road before, knowing of ND's reputation, in that stadium, on national TV ... Thomas will really have to show leadership.

 

[GTBandit22]

My confidence in the offense is crazy high, where I get pissed when we don't score a touchdown on a drive. Smoove running point has got me spoiled.

This is me. The good news is, the last season I felt this way was '99 and that turned out to be a pretty great offense.

 

[DawgCatcher]

http://www.watchnd.tv/#!/shows/Brian_Kelly_Press_Conference/1930388

Interesting choice of words in opening statement - "We know exactly what to expect from them"

My takeaway is that they will be under pressure to score every time they get the ball. They are keenly aware of how much points per game we are capable of. This is a statistic that sticks out in this coach's mind prominently. I do not think this coach will allow his team to play too conservatively. Expect Ted to put all kinds of pressure on this new QB to throw him off his game. Our defense will need to put him in 3rd and long situations to compel him to pass. This new QB is a big tall dude and quite athletic at around 6'4" and 240 lbs. If he's anything like the former Virginia Tech QB battering ram we faced, who gave us tackling fits, it could be a slog. This kid knows it's "showtime" for him to make a splash on the College scene. If he's as talented as the Ohio State QB sensation, it could be a shocker. Everybody will have adrenaline butterflies. I expect a good game.

 

[Boomergump]

The adrenaline butterflies are what it is all about, don't you think? I used to tell myself when I got nervous, that if I didn't feel this way, then it wasn't really any fun.

 

[Legal Jacket]

ND plays Navy so there is not doubt they have a plan on how to defend it. They also have learned some things by playing Navy. If we go back to the Navy game we will probably see the same defense on Saturday. They know what we will do, and we know how they will defend it. The difference will be that we have better players than Navy, and we aren't going to be easy to push around.

This is the bigger thing to me. We've got years of how ND will defend Navy, though not sure how long BVG will be there. I'm sure CPJ will have an answer for everything they throw at us. The question is execution, not scheme