CGC on 680 this AM

[buzzed]

Pretty vanilla interview. Not much in the way of new information. I’m just glad he’s stopped saying everything we do is “elite” when it clearly is not. I actually like that he has made such a strong effort to sell the program using our location in the ATL and all the things our location offers that are not available at most of the factories. He just loses credibility when his words have no basis in reality.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yeah, his shtick got old after the first year. “Spending every single day working to make this team better, focus from day one..” etc.

Just keep hoping it’s a bug and not a feature.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

OK, I finally heard confirmation that Collins is indeed going to be focused on the defense. There’s always a lot of gloss in his speech to wade through but he spoke of his new offensive coaches being of a philosophy and mindset that he was comfortable with and, as a result, he has spent the last two months in the defense room. He said that was exciting for him.

Trust me when I say I am not offering false hope but this could be productive. Collins seemed lost on game days trying to call plays and manage the game. Having people do that who know what they are doing could make the team a lot more efficient. And if Collins is as good a defensive coach as he claims then that side of the ball could improve also. Think what last year would have looked like if the defense had given up one less touchdown per game and the offense had scored one more touchdown per game.

But why did it take him 3 years to see this? That’s the head scratcher to me.

 

[bobongo]

KS with an article referencing the interview.

Reemphasizing a comment after the firings/not renewing contracts after the season ended.

“All I’m focused on is our team every single day and getting to work, not worrying about those (branding) things,”

Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins ready to begin fourth spring

After the first three months of the offseason, a period rife with turnover, Georgia Tech returns to the practice field Thursday to begin coach Geoff Collins’ fourth spring practice.

www.ajc.com

It's good to hear. Hope he focuses on improving the team, but I think the new assistant coaches will help in that regard.
And I hope another focus is on improving his game day coaching, especially the clock management.

 

[gt69hjcollins]

At least he made the statement that some of the things he has done in the past might not work now. Hopefully he is really aware of that. We will see if the defense improves to a tolerable level. I am concerned that Thacker is still "in charge" of the defense. Hopefully, the newly hired coaches believe in coaching and applying consequences.

I guess BS is just part of his DNA.

Go Jackets!!!!

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

KS with an article referencing the interview.

Reemphasizing a comment after the firings/not renewing contracts after the season ended.

“All I’m focused on is our team every single day and getting to work, not worrying about those (branding) things,”

Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins ready to begin fourth spring

After the first three months of the offseason, a period rife with turnover, Georgia Tech returns to the practice field Thursday to begin coach Geoff Collins’ fourth spring practice.

www.ajc.com

Well, he says the right things and I am encouraged that he is working exclusively with the defense. I was shocked at the sheer number of players who had started at least six games that were either graduating or left via the portal. Coach Collins has his work cut out for him as do all the assistants. It almost seems as though this team is starting over from day one instead of entering the fourth year.

 

[gtrower]

This could happen or we might win 6 games or so. It really comes down to whether Sims is able to put this team on his back and carry them. The defense can't get any worse than the 34 ppg. it gave up last year...or can it?

I expect a worse defense. We return the DC who orchestrated that abomination. We lost a ton of depth/experience. We lost a lot of the young talent we could be optimistic about replacing them. Our offense will likely be worse without Gibbs and the OL departures so the defense will likely be on the field more. And our non-permanent games are a gauntlet of scary offenses.

I see a couple teams who could pick their score. 6ish that I think will hang 40+ on us. Don’t see a single team I think we’ll hold under 24. Maybe Duke? Maybe?

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I expect a worse defense. We return the DC who orchestrated that abomination. We lost a ton of depth/experience. We lost a lot of the young talent we could be optimistic about replacing them. Our offense will likely be worse without Gibbs and the OL departures so the defense will likely be on the field more. And our non-permanent games are a gauntlet of scary offenses.

I see a couple teams who could pick their score. 6ish that I think will hang 40+ on us. Don’t see a single team I think we’ll hold under 24. Maybe Duke? Maybe?

Totally disagree. On defense we lost no one who can help us win. Sure, we lost some guys who look good taking selfies in a mirror but not winning games. I’ll take the young guys over proven non performers any day. Our offense will be much improved. Sims should be better, the receivers will definitely be upgrade with the young guys. Losing Gibbs does hurt but that room had depth. But the entire key is the OLine. If they continue to stink we’ll win 3. If they gel we can win more. And our schedule is not hard. Outside of UGA it’s not bad.

 

[tmhunter52]

Collins is the poster child for the Peter Principle, no offense intended.

 

[bobongo]

I expect a worse defense. We return the DC who orchestrated that abomination. We lost a ton of depth/experience. We lost a lot of the young talent we could be optimistic about replacing them. Our offense will likely be worse without Gibbs and the OL departures so the defense will likely be on the field more. And our non-permanent games are a gauntlet of scary offenses.

I see a couple teams who could pick their score. 6ish that I think will hang 40+ on us. Don’t see a single team I think we’ll hold under 24. Maybe Duke? Maybe?

I expect something in between these two takes. We lost contributors who would have been a year older and more experienced, and losing Gibbs hurts a lot.
On the other hand, more tidbits have leaked out indicating that Thacker isn't going to be in charge of this defense, which can only be good news.

Totally disagree. On defense we lost no one who can help us win. Sure, we lost some guys who look good taking selfies in a mirror but not winning games. I’ll take the young guys over proven non performers any day. Our offense will be much improved. Sims should be better, the receivers will definitely be upgrade with the young guys. Losing Gibbs does hurt but that room had depth. But the entire key is the OLine. If they continue to stink we’ll win 3. If they gel we can win more. And our schedule is not hard. Outside of UGA it’s not bad.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I expect a worse defense. We return the DC who orchestrated that abomination. We lost a ton of depth/experience. We lost a lot of the young talent we could be optimistic about replacing them. Our offense will likely be worse without Gibbs and the OL departures so the defense will likely be on the field more. And our non-permanent games are a gauntlet of scary offenses.

I see a couple teams who could pick their score. 6ish that I think will hang 40+ on us. Don’t see a single team I think we’ll hold under 24. Maybe Duke? Maybe?

That is disturbing. How can this defense possibly get any worse? We got outscored 100-0 the last two games.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Totally disagree. On defense we lost no one who can help us win. Sure, we lost some guys who look good taking selfies in a mirror but not winning games. I’ll take the young guys over proven non performers any day. Our offense will be much improved. Sims should be better, the receivers will definitely be upgrade with the young guys. Losing Gibbs does hurt but that room had depth. But the entire key is the OLine. If they continue to stink we’ll win 3. If they gel we can win more. And our schedule is not hard. Outside of UGA it’s not bad.

We lost three players from the offensive line Mikey Minihan, (spelling?) and two others, whose names, mercifully perhaps, I cannot recall. My question for those more knowledgeable is were these three the best performers last year or are they more like the ones in the secondary who struggled so much last season?

 

[davesbrain]

Wow, I listened to Coach this morning on 680... I was a supporter of him at first, and I cheerleaded him through year 2 to other Gt fans who were down on him. He lost me last year, with the apathy of the team that I saw, and after that interview IMO, he is a dead coaching walking.

He never addressed the issues with the team, that were soft-balled to him by 680... He constantly deflected back onto self praise, and never took a stance that would require that our young men become accountable.

He isn't a leader and developer of men. He is self promoting ring-master, who hopes if you stay positive enough, good things will happen. That is self-delusional. I'm not even sure the man knows what real Hard work looks like. Its not get oiled up in front of a mirror and taking selfie shots.

I am rooting for GT, I really am, but everything I see tells me that this team and coaching staff is incredible fragile. If/When we lose a couple of games at the start of year, it is going to implode.

This coaching staff is looking like it will set us back a decade.

I agree about the softballs. Interestingly , Joe Ham was the only one who really seemed to challenge him with pointed questions.

 

[85Escape]

Collins is the poster child for the Peter Principle, no offense intended.

And proof that "Fake it till you make it" is a bad strategy.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

And proof that "Fake it till you make it" is a bad strategy.

Just to fine tune this, “Fake it till you make it” works if you keep learning and grow into the role. But continually selling yourself if nothing else changes is a disaster.

 

[kalld12]

I expect a worse defense. We return the DC who orchestrated that abomination. We lost a ton of depth/experience. We lost a lot of the young talent we could be optimistic about replacing them. Our offense will likely be worse without Gibbs and the OL departures so the defense will likely be on the field more. And our non-permanent games are a gauntlet of scary offenses.

I see a couple teams who could pick their score. 6ish that I think will hang 40+ on us. Don’t see a single team I think we’ll hold under 24. Maybe Duke? Maybe?

I disagree, I think the D last year in the secondary were more "I" guys than "Team" guys. The lack of communication and assignment execution led to WAY too many deep balls behind the safety. I'm glad I dont have to watch Yeh and Riq miss tackle after tackle, take poor angles, and then celebrating when were down 30+ points. Time for fresh new faces, doubt the D gets much worse.

 

[tsrich]

I expect something in between these two takes. We lost contributors who would have been a year older and more experienced, and losing Gibbs hurts a lot.
On the other hand, more tidbits have leaked out indicating that Thacker isn't going to be in charge of this defense, which can only be good news.

I tend to agree. With the staff changes, I do expect us to be better this year, but probably not enough to save his job. At least I hope a 4 or 5 win season doesn't save his job.

 

[RamblinRed]

We lost three players from the offensive line Mikey Minihan, (spelling?) and two others, whose names, mercifully perhaps, I cannot recall. My question for those more knowledgeable is were these three the best performers last year or are they more like the ones in the secondary who struggled so much last season?

They were largely our best OL we had last year. Minihan, Cochran and Johnson all started every game they played last year (34 starts in total)
Minihan started 28 and appeared in 34 games over the last 3 seasons.
Johnson started all 21 games he played the last 2 years after starting 19 games and 36 total appearances at TN.
Cochran started all 11 games he played in last season after starting 32 games over 3 seasons at Vandy.
We also lose Kenny Cooper who was injured much of the time but started 4 of 7 games he played in.

So overall GT lost 63% of its starts on the OL. Now our OL was bad, but we are now relying on guys who have alot less experience. Jordan Williams started 8 of 9 games at tackle. Vaipulu started 5 of 8 games at guard. Weston Franklin played in 5 games as a backup. Pendley started the season opener, but only played in 3 games as a backup after that due to injury. No one else played in a game this past season. Our 2 transfers include one player who has played only a handful of snaps in 3 years and the other had 1 start and 5 appearances (mostly 2 snaps here, 3 snaps there) in his second year at Clemson.
The young guys are arguably more talented, though Johnson was more highly rated than any player GT has signed on the OL under CGC, that is due partly to rated in the same general area overall. They have to step up this year though and play well as a unit with limited prior experience.

 

[LargeFO]

We lost three players from the offensive line Mikey Minihan, (spelling?) and two others, whose names, mercifully perhaps, I cannot recall. My question for those more knowledgeable is were these three the best performers last year or are they more like the ones in the secondary who struggled so much last season?

I think Mikey is still there and the starting center.

 

[LargeFO]

I think Mikey is still there and the starting center.

He's still on the roster. But I could be wrong.