Coach Brent Key Scenario

[LongforDodd]

It’s not pessimistic, it’s a fact. I see the hope the win created. This hope is, right now, nothing more than emotion of one win. He could win out… that would be data. He could show he is a good head coach by x, y, or z and win some and be real close in other games. But we are fans of GT football.

You’re ruining my heretofore beautiful Sunday afternoon.

 

[85Escape]

You’re ruining my heretofore beautiful Sunday afternoon.

As intended

 

[RonJohn]

It’s one game. He would have to win, win and win because of his association with failure… I need to see ability to make good adjustments made during the game. Using play calling to setup play calling, if you know what I mean. I would have to see no more vibrating football table top random play calling. Improvement in penalties and time out calling. The team should look cohesive and selflessness. Mean, but controlled…

I agree that one game doesn't provide any proof that the team has turned around. I do think there are plenty of positives to take away from coaching in the game. Last year, there were issues getting player substitutions on time and getting play calls in to both the offense and defense. Those issues were apparent in the first game, and remained until the end of the season. This year, punting was an issue in the first game, and we still had the same exact issues in the fourth game. In one week under Key, the punting formation was changed, the snapper got the ball higher up in the air, and the punter got the ball off quicker. The HC should have been aware of the issues before the first game. When it caused problems in the first game, it should have been corrected before the WCU game, but it wasn't. It didn't appear that it was addressed at all until after the HC was changed. It seems to me that if you can't get a defensive play call in until after the snap that the HC would look into the system of deciding on a play and getting that play call to the team. After the NIU game, the HC should have rolled heads to get things adjusted but he didn't change anything all year long.

What I am most positive about is that it seems we have a HC now who understands what the most pressing issues are and is getting the staff and the players to work on correcting those issues. I don't know how many games GT will win this year, but I finally have hope before a game that we have a decent chance of winning. I have not had that hope for at least three years.

 

[Longestday]

@RonJohn I agree, Key appears to be an upgrade. The question is how big of an upgrade is Key and can we find a bigger upgrade over this upgrade. There were a lot of things that looked much better for the Pitt game.

Collins should teach us something. Getting excited over change may lead us to 3 years of future tears.

Full disclosure, I want the Coastal Carolina Coach very badly and will most likely be biased in my comments. He won with a back up, back up QB Saturday. I love his offense and would enjoy breaking it down.

But heck, who could argue with 7 more wins with keys?

 

[Tech93]

It’s one game, but Key handled himself and the team like a head ball coach. Considering everything that was going on this past week and being able to pull the players and coaches together to go on the road to beat Pitt is a big accomplishment. For one thing, he got us a kicker and cleared up the special teams...this is huge since we were giving up and leaving points on the field with special teams. Collins couldn’t correct that in four years (shows you how bad a coach he was). We have to improve some things, especially on offense, but I think we can. Duke will be a big game but hopefully we will be ready.

 

[RonJohn]

@RonJohn I agree, Key appears to be an upgrade. The question is how big of an upgrade is Key and can we find a bigger upgrade over this upgrade. There were a lot of things that looked much better for the Pitt game.

Collins should teach us something. Getting excited over change may lead us to 3 years of future tears.

Full disclosure, I want the Coastal Carolina Coach very badly and will most likely be biased in my comments. He won with a back up, back up QB Saturday. I love his offense and would enjoy breaking it down.

But heck, who could argue with 7 more wins with keys?

And I do agree that the results of one game are not enough to offer a full HC position to Key. However, if he is able to keep driving improvement and the team has good results, I think he at least deserves a look. He also has some intangible qualities. From what I understand some big money boosters wanted him brought in to coach. If those boosters are willing to put up more money for a better assistant coaching pool, it could help to bring in higher quality coordinators. I haven't looked at the numbers lately, but GT has been far behind the curve in assistant salaries for a while.

Getting to see your offensive breakdowns would be an extra incentive to have Chadwell as the HC in my opinion.

 

[WreckinGT]

So, I’m curious for those who are favoring Key as the permanent head coach. Do you also favor keeping the entire staff in tact and extending them?

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

So, I’m curious for those who are favoring Key as the permanent head coach. Do you also favor keeping the entire staff in tact and extending them?

I'm neither for nor against keeping Key if he gets us to at LEAST 5 wins this season preferably 6 or more. If we get to the 5-7 win level, I believe he deserves to be considered.

That being said, IF we offer him the job, it is my firm opinion that we treat it exactly as a new hire and let HIM decide who goes and stays on the new staff for next year.

 

[jojatk]

So, I’m curious for those who are favoring Key as the permanent head coach. Do you also favor keeping the entire staff in tact and extending them?

Is anyone favoring Key as the permanent head coach? I admit I didn't read every word of every post but I don't think I saw anyone saying that after one game he should be named permanent head coach. I have seen folks suggesting scenarios under which he could be named permanent head coach. But I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen in the next game much less the next few games.

I do agree with those like @Augusta_Jacket who suggest there's a threshold of wins at which Key deserves an interview. And I think that 5-7 range is about right, too. And I mean the team gets 5-7 wins with him as interim head coach. So he'd need 4 more to hit the minimum for me to get any real consideration.

 

[Billygoat91]

I'm neither for nor against keeping Key if he gets us to at LEAST 5 wins this season preferably 6 or more. If we get to the 5-7 win level, I believe he deserves to be considered.

That being said, IF we offer him the job, it is my firm opinion that we treat it exactly as a new hire and let HIM decide who goes and stays on the new staff for next year.

This is far too reasonable and logical to be posted on here!

 

[WreckinGT]

I'm neither for nor against keeping Key if he gets us to at LEAST 5 wins this season preferably 6 or more. If we get to the 5-7 win level, I believe he deserves to be considered.

That being said, IF we offer him the job, it is my firm opinion that we treat it exactly as a new hire and let HIM decide who goes and stays on the new staff for next year.

If Collins was single handedly holding everyone back and the team continues to improve then what sense would it make to shake up the staff? Wouldn’t Keys success be their success as well?

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

If Collins was single handedly holding everyone back and the team continues to improve then what sense would it make to shake up the staff? Wouldn’t Keys success be their success as well?

Maybe? I'm of the opinion that the HC gets to pick his staff. Period. He would probably know best what staff needed to stay or go, and I'd be inclined to trust him.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I'm neither for nor against keeping Key if he gets us to at LEAST 5 wins this season preferably 6 or more. If we get to the 5-7 win level, I believe he deserves to be considered.

That being said, IF we offer him the job, it is my firm opinion that we treat it exactly as a new hire and let HIM decide who goes and stays on the new staff for next year.

I agree. But the question is could we do better? I think we could do a lot worse.

 

[slugboy]

If Collins was single handedly holding everyone back and the team continues to improve then what sense would it make to shake up the staff? Wouldn’t Keys success be their success as well?

Am I going to over-emphasize one game after three 1/4 years? no
Do I think that some of the assistants may have been unfairly tainted while coaching a no-win situation? yes
Do I think Collins got in the way of the assistants doing their job? it seems likely
Do I know which coaches are really good and which aren't? no
Am I happy with a return to somewhat sane special teams play? yes
Do I know which coaches I'd hire from this staff? no

We learned some things about the assistants against Pitt. We'll learn more against Duke, and then even more after the bye. I think it's a long shot that Key gets the job. If he doesn't, it's a longer shot that any of our current assistant coaches keep their jobs, but maybe some of the staff do. If he does, there will be some changes on the staff--some will have found other jobs, and some won't be who Key wants to keep.

 

[bobongo]

Do I think Collins got in the way of the assistants doing their job? it seems likely
Do I know which coaches are really good and which aren't? no

These are some very important points to keep in mind. Before this past week, I regarded Brent Key as useless as OL coach because of their performance. In light of the way he's handled the HC job so far, that judgement is called into question. How could the engineer of that upset be the same one who led that underperforming offensive line? The only conclusion I can draw is that it goes back to Collins. I had hopes that replacing some of the assistants would get us out of this mess. Now it's obvious how misplaced that hope was.

 

[yeti92]

If Collins was single handedly holding everyone back and the team continues to improve then what sense would it make to shake up the staff? Wouldn’t Keys success be their success as well?

Because a HC should be allowed to replace guys he thinks aren't cutting it, regardless of record. CPJ did the same thing with Dave Wommack after the 2009 season.

 

[bke1984]

I still don't understand not taking the FG late to put us up by 15 late in the fourth quarter and play calls were questionable in my mind

I would have been OK with us taking the field goal, but I understand the rationale to go for it. Our defense had played lights out to that point and pinning them at the one had a high chance of getting a safety or at least a stop.

Now our execution down there was awful. The lack of push on 3rd down was bad…then the fourth down play call was just a head scratcher. We should have been able to punch it in from the half yard line.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I agree. But the question is could we do better? I think we could do a lot worse.

That wasn't the question I was answering, but sure, we could do better. It would be far easier to do worse though. At the end of the season, the new AD will roll the dice on a new HC. We won't know for a couple of seasons just how successful or not that hire was.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

hen the fourth down play call was just a head scratcher.

As much as I disliked that play call, I understand the logic behind it. EJ Jenkins is a size mismatch (6'7") that we need to exploit in these situations. That play, if thrown well, should be a TD 9 times out of 10 against most CBs, and certainly against Pitt's. As with a lot of our play, it's the execution that's killing us.

 

[lv20gt]

Is anyone favoring Key as the permanent head coach?

I wouldn't see much sense in it. Key has been here the entire time Collins was here. I think it's naïve to believe that Collins was simultaneously so incompetent that we looked the way we did as often as we did under him, but that he was also competent enough to prevent an otherwise good enough staff from correcting anything. For coaches who are new this year that is different but for guys like Key and Thacker, to me they are auditioning for other jobs. I see no way after we got embarassed to the point of making a mid year coaching change and firing the AD, that we just promote the #2 from within.