Charles Kelly new FSU DC

vamosjackets

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WOW! That's pretty amazing. In a span of about 5 years he went from GT special teams coordinator to FSU defensive coordinator.

We obviously could've had him as DC too at one time.
 

jchens_GT

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Why didn't we hire him as DC? I would have rather had him than roof, but I guess we'll never know what could have been.

Yeah, I would say we will never know. For all we know, CPJ may have offered the job to Kelly, but he could turned it down because he had been at Tech for so long and needed a change. He had potential to be a good DC here for sure.

I am glad for Kelly. From the outside looking in, he seemed like a great guy. I hope he doesn't go after McCollum. Maybe he needs an offensive line coach on his defensive staff......
 

kg01

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Doubt McCollum would leave for a position coach post. He's been a head coach. Figure he'd only leave for that or a DC job.

Really happy for Kelly too. Always seemed like a good guy. He'll do well there if they allow him to.
 

daBuzz

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Yeah, I would say we will never know. For all we know, CPJ may have offered the job to Kelly, but he could turned it down because he had been at Tech for so long and needed a change. He had potential to be a good DC here for sure.

I am glad for Kelly. From the outside looking in, he seemed like a great guy. I hope he doesn't go after McCollum. Maybe he needs an offensive line coach on his defensive staff......

Our DC job wasn't offered to Coach Kelly. He used to sit right in front of me in church most weekends (when they didn't have away games, etc) and I had a chance to speak with him after the defensive coordinator job went to Roof.

Coach Kelly was a great guy and said he didn't hold any hard feelings...said he had nothing but great things to say about Ga Tech and it's fans/administration/players and that it would always be a special place to him. But he had a chance to go closer to his hometown and a chance to go to another school and work in a different environment. Plus, he also got a pay raise of over $100,000 but he didn't mention that to me.

I told him we'd miss him and wished him the best of luck. Looks like he made the right decision...first he's part of a National Championship coaching staff and now he gets the DC job there.
 

yjack

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WOW! That's pretty amazing. In a span of about 5 years he went from GT special teams coordinator to FSU defensive coordinator.

We obviously could've had him as DC too at one time.

If my memory is even partly accurate, the story at the time was that Johnson intended to interview candidates and Kelly was supposedly going to be one of them. But, he decided to take the position at FSU before the process played out. It was also an opportunity for him to move closer to family.
 

vamosjackets

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Wish we could get him back.

One BIG advantage to what Clemson has done with Dabo is that they spent little on a HC and could thus spend more on their assistants. And, that move has paid off for them. In the hypothetical world, I wouldn't mind hiring someone like a Roof as HC as a bargain and then spending high dollar amounts to get the best assistants (get a dream team of assistants back at GT - like Giff, Kelly, Godsey, Tenuta maybe). That would certainly be an alternative approach to successful coaching.

In the real world, I think what we have gives us the best chance at success. CPJ has an advantage like this built in to himself as well since he's really his own OC. So, we don't have to go out and spend big money on an OC as well as a HC, which gives us more to spend on the other guys.
 
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Yeah, I would say we will never know. For all we know, CPJ may have offered the job to Kelly, but he could turned it down because he had been at Tech for so long and needed a change. He had potential to be a good DC here for sure.

I am glad for Kelly. From the outside looking in, he seemed like a great guy. I hope he doesn't go after McCollum. Maybe he needs an offensive line coach on his defensive staff......
Paul Johnson has very little appreciation in viewing asst coaches and judging their value. His track record speaks for itself. It's just not one of his strengths, and could be his most glaring weakness.
 

techman78

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Very happy for coach Kelly. Seemed he really loved Tech but im glad he got the DC job at FSU. I know he is happy about being closer to home which I heard was a big thing. Also heard he was kinda tired of the hill at Tech and it made his decision a little easier as well. Im sure that 100k raise didnt hurt the process.. Best of luck to CCK!!
 

daBuzz

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If my memory is even partly accurate, the story at the time was that Johnson intended to interview candidates and Kelly was supposedly going to be one of them. But, he decided to take the position at FSU before the process played out. It was also an opportunity for him to move closer to family.

No, he said that he had indeed interviewed for the job but just didn't get it. The offer from FSU was already on the table and when he didn't get our DC job, he decided to take the FSU job.
 

decatur jacket

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Paul Johnson has very little appreciation in viewing asst coaches and judging their value. His track record speaks for itself. It's just not one of his strengths, and could be his most glaring weakness.

What? You mean the track record of coaches who have gone on to become head coaches somewhere else (Navy, GSU, KSU). How dare he for not offering them a head coaching position before they left! Kelly may have left for personal reasons, or he may have known that Roof was interviewing and would be the most likely candidate, we don't know for sure. All we know is that he left for a similar position at another school and a significant raise.

Also, I have a hard time believing that Kelly would have done better with this group in 2013 than Roof.
 

yjack

Jolly Good Fellow
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102
No, he said that he had indeed interviewed for the job but just didn't get it. The offer from FSU was already on the table and when he didn't get our DC job, he decided to take the FSU job.
Told ya I wasn't trusting my memory. :banghead:
 

Techster

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What? You mean the track record of coaches who have gone on to become head coaches somewhere else (Navy, GSU, KSU). How dare he for not offering them a head coaching position before they left! Kelly may have left for personal reasons, or he may have known that Roof was interviewing and would be the most likely candidate, we don't know for sure. All we know is that he left for a similar position at another school and a significant raise.

Also, I have a hard time believing that Kelly would have done better with this group in 2013 than Roof.

I thought Coach Kelly did a bang up job considering he took over our defense over a bye week. He had some really good games where he made great adjustments in the 2nd half (FSU comes to mind), but he also had some games where he was just outmanned (UGA). It's happend to Coach Roof this year as well.

I think Kelly was just put in a really hard spot with the firing of Groh who he thought highly of, then the DC situation for us. I think it all worked out in he end for both parties. Good luck to Kelly...unless GT plays his team!
 
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