CPJ Press Conference Audio

JacketFromUGA

Helluva Engineer
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4,897
Or better. I think that when Cotrell gets on the field, he'll be pretty much an instant star. A 190 lb. AB who cuts the forty in 4.32? Yikes. He could light things up every other play. Now, there's is that pesky blocking business …
I just meant it in the sense that everyone knew Smith wasn't the best blocker and straight up whiffed some times he was asked to block, but he was electric when he had the ball.

2011/2012 I remember it was basically anytime you saw Smith on the field you knew if an a-back was getting it it was him.
 

Skeptic

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6,372
I just meant it in the sense that everyone knew Smith wasn't the best blocker and straight up whiffed some times he was asked to block, but he was electric when he had the ball.

2011/2012 I remember it was basically anytime you saw Smith on the field you knew if an a-back was getting it it was him.
We've not had an Aback since who could run the rocket toss as well. The next thing to automatic on 3rd down or on the goal line. All the while, it seemed to me, with good but not dazzling top-end speed, but that short burst that got him to the edge very quickly.
 

yellojello

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
225
care to share or fwd link/transcript maybe?

This article has more info [MyAJC link]. Comments below are my paraphrasing and have some bias.

Regarding D: He said he was disappointed with the performance of the D. He said the scheme we had was clearly not working, especially as regards pass rush and sacks. Said we blitzed about 26% of the time and weren't very good at it. Said that maybe we should consider bringing 7.

Regarding QB: Hinted (without naming names) that JT didn't play as well as he expected, but that it was more a function of the players around him. Said that JeT is really hard to sack and he makes the pass protectors look better than they are. Said that the fact that we didn't get sacked much was more because of JT than the pass protection.

Regarding ST/Parting of ways with Ray Rychelski: Felt like a dedicated ST coordinator hadn't been worth the payoff. Said that kickoff return was abysmal and we must have set a record for the number of times we started inside our own 20. Said Rychelski is a very knowledgable ST guy, but it just wasn't working out for whatever reason. Said that he had done the experiment and seen enough to know that he wanted to go back to his old way of doing things with two OL coaches. Said that we will name a ST coordinator from within the staff. Said that this has the added advantage that different special teams units have their coaches' units well represented.

Regarding O: Flip flopped a bit on this one (atleast to me). Or more likely it's just a complex interplay of variables. Said that youth was the big problem. Talked about linemen run blocking instead of pass blocking, especially with the no-huddle stuff. Said that Freddie Burden was a warrior and played hurt most of the season. Plus dealt with off the field stuff that CPJ wasn't sure he himself could handle. Talked about scheme for a bit, but then flip flopped and said that the same scheme had been working prior. At one point, talked about hot reads and said that other teams may have figured out our hot reads on some protections. Then a few minutes later, turned around and said that wasn't the problem.

Interesting observation from CPJ: If you are the coach of the 2014 team and were asked if you wanted the ball on offense or defense to win the game, which one would you pick? The starting field position will either be your 30yd (if you pick offense) or opponent will start on their 30 (if you pick defense). Now what if you are the coach of the 2015 team? His point was that the O wasn't good enough to carry the team this year and the D wasn't that much better to make up for it. They were both equally mediocre.

Overall, he seemed determined to fix the problems, which I liked. Said we have to learn from our mistakes and fix things.
 
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GTRanj

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
333
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
This article has more info [MyAJC link]. Comments below are my paraphrasing and have some bias.

Regarding D: He said he was disappointed with the performance of the D. He said the scheme we had was clearly not working, especially as regards pass rush and sacks. Said we blitzed about 26% of the time and weren't very good at it. Said that maybe we should consider bringing 7.

Regarding QB: Hinted (without naming names) that JT didn't play as well as he expected, but that it was more a function of the players around him. Said that JeT is really hard to sack and he makes the pass protectors look better than they are. Said that the fact that we didn't get sacked much was more because of JT than the pass protection.

Regarding ST/Parting of ways with Ray Rychelski: Felt like a dedicated ST coordinator hadn't been worth the payoff. Said that kickoff return was abysmal and we must have set a record for the number of times we started inside our own 20. Said Rychelski is a very knowledgable ST guy, but it just wasn't working out for whatever reason. Said that he had done the experiment and seen enough to know that he wanted to go back to his old way of doing things with two OL coaches. Said that we will name a ST coordinator from within the staff. Said that this has the added advantage that different special teams units have their coaches' units well represented.

Regarding O: Flip flopped a bit on this one (atleast to me). Or more likely it's just a complex interplay of variables. Said that youth was the big problem. Talked about linemen run blocking instead of pass blocking, especially with the no-huddle stuff. Said that Freddie Burden was a warrior and played hurt most of the season. Plus dealt with off the field stuff that CPJ wasn't sure he himself could handle. Talked about scheme for a bit, but then flip flopped and said that the same scheme had been working prior. At one point, talked about hot reads and said that other teams may have figured out our hot reads on some protections. Then a few minutes later, turned around and said that wasn't the problem.

Interesting observation from CPJ: If you are the coach of the 2014 team and were asked if you wanted the ball on offense or defense to win the game, which one would you pick? The starting field position will either be your 30yd (if you pick offense) or opponent will start on their 30 (if you pick defense). Now what if you are the coach of the 2015 team? His point was that the O wasn't good enough to carry the team this year and the D wasn't that much better to make up for it. They were both equally mediocre.

Overall, he seemed determined to fix the problems, which I liked. Said we have to learn from our mistakes and fix things.
Thanks for the summary
 

Sean311

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,019
How is it crazy? Cottrell hurt himself (torn ACL) last August. Those injuries typically take a year to recover, not counting freaks like Adrian Peterson. Not surprising you'd sit out practice within a year of that kind of injury.

Oh ok I though he injured it in the spring.
 

Legal Jacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
561
We've not had an Aback since who could run the rocket toss as well. The next thing to automatic on 3rd down or on the goal line. All the while, it seemed to me, with good but not dazzling top-end speed, but that short burst that got him to the edge very quickly.

I don't think it's as much someone who can't run it, as it is we haven't had guys who can block it.
 

33jacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,653
Location
Georgia
This article has more info [MyAJC link]. Comments below are my paraphrasing and have some bias.

Regarding D: He said he was disappointed with the performance of the D. He said the scheme we had was clearly not working, especially as regards pass rush and sacks. Said we blitzed about 26% of the time and weren't very good at it. Said that maybe we should consider bringing 7.

Regarding QB: Hinted (without naming names) that JT didn't play as well as he expected, but that it was more a function of the players around him. Said that JeT is really hard to sack and he makes the pass protectors look better than they are. Said that the fact that we didn't get sacked much was more because of JT than the pass protection.

Regarding ST/Parting of ways with Ray Rychelski: Felt like a dedicated ST coordinator hadn't been worth the payoff. Said that kickoff return was abysmal and we must have set a record for the number of times we started inside our own 20. Said Rychelski is a very knowledgable ST guy, but it just wasn't working out for whatever reason. Said that he had done the experiment and seen enough to know that he wanted to go back to his old way of doing things with two OL coaches. Said that we will name a ST coordinator from within the staff. Said that this has the added advantage that different special teams units have their coaches' units well represented.

Regarding O: Flip flopped a bit on this one (atleast to me). Or more likely it's just a complex interplay of variables. Said that youth was the big problem. Talked about linemen run blocking instead of pass blocking, especially with the no-huddle stuff. Said that Freddie Burden was a warrior and played hurt most of the season. Plus dealt with off the field stuff that CPJ wasn't sure he himself could handle. Talked about scheme for a bit, but then flip flopped and said that the same scheme had been working prior. At one point, talked about hot reads and said that other teams may have figured out our hot reads on some protections. Then a few minutes later, turned around and said that wasn't the problem.

Interesting observation from CPJ: If you are the coach of the 2014 team and were asked if you wanted the ball on offense or defense to win the game, which one would you pick? The starting field position will either be your 30yd (if you pick offense) or opponent will start on their 30 (if you pick defense). Now what if you are the coach of the 2015 team? His point was that the O wasn't good enough to carry the team this year and the D wasn't that much better to make up for it. They were both equally mediocre.

Overall, he seemed determined to fix the problems, which I liked. Said we have to learn from our mistakes and fix things.

wait the scheme is not working on D LOL?

i thought there was no way fans midyear can possibly know that and not be a major D1 coordinator. How can anyone possibly tell the scheme doesn't work if they don't work at GT? haha. Gosh some of the qoutes on this board are great from the past. Anyway. Yes the scheme is a complete issue and I am glad paul acknowledges' it and will force a change.

ok my sarcasm off. I and many others have only been complaining about this scheme for 3 years now. Yet we are year 3 talking about now addressing?

Why hasn't roof addressed on his own since then? It seems like it takes the head man to wake em up.

Reading between the lines...if D isn't better next year I think its bye bye....

thanks for more info.
 

Oldgoldandwhite

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What does this mean?
Do we go back to huddling on every play?
Do we change defenses?
Do we change blocking assignments?

It seemed that the opposing teams knew what was coming on offense and defense this year. Or we were so bad, it looked that way.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
What does this mean?
Do we go back to huddling on every play?
Do we change defenses?
Do we change blocking assignments?

It seemed that the opposing teams knew what was coming on offense and defense this year. Or we were so bad, it looked that way.
It never seemed to me that the no-huddle was very well conceived and resulted in everybody kind of standing around and shuffling about while Thomas waited for the play. Would have been much more efficient just to keep running the WRs and backs in. I never got it, because other than being "different" than what we had been doing, it had nothing to offer. Kind of like the diamond formation for a spell. But then we were so bad maybe everything looked that way.
 

JacketFromUGA

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Messages
4,897
It never seemed to me that the no-huddle was very well conceived and resulted in everybody kind of standing around and shuffling about while Thomas waited for the play. Would have been much more efficient just to keep running the WRs and backs in. I never got it, because other than being "different" than what we had been doing, it had nothing to offer. Kind of like the diamond formation for a spell. But then we were so bad maybe everything looked that way.
I think it was put in to prevent defenses from late substitutions using the rationale that Tech substituted so we get to too.
 

65Jacket

GT Athlete
Messages
1,168
He's referring to a recruit. You can't talk about them until they sign.
He was talking about the Bback who is supposed to enroll this quarter. I'm not suer what day school starts anymore, but he may be in school now, and if so, CPJ can now talk openly about him.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
I don't mean to throw marbles on the dance floor, but am I the only one who thinks that Johnson sounded decidedly disheartened throughout the tape? He just seemed -- to me --to lack verve, or combativeness, that he normally displays. Not just the three legs of the stool, but the play of Thomas regardless of blocking help, drew pessimism. He does acknowledge that Burden was troubled throughout the year, and I inferred that this together with the unacknowledged elephant in the room -- losing Mason on the O line, a loss that could not be replaced -- haunted the line even more than we thought. Maybe that had to do with his run blocking for a pass, pass blocking for a run, comment came from. And I am betting we have seen the last of the no huddle offense. In 2015 by golly they are going to huddle up, listen up, get the play call right, and block.
 

awbuzz

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Staff member
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Marietta, GA
didn't get the impression that CPJ was 'down".

What stood out to me -
JT banged up mosty due to pass pro, not running game... blamed line AND backs.

Doubts that Ratliff will be cleared for Spring...

Burden and Cottrell not available for Spring...

Oline blocking ain't rocket science... have to get it -blocking- fixed.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
didn't get the impression that CPJ was 'down".

What stood out to me -
JT banged up mosty due to pass pro, not running game... blamed line AND backs.

Doubts that Ratliff will be cleared for Spring...

Burden and Cottrell not available for Spring...

Oline blocking ain't rocket science... have to get it -blocking- fixed.
I'm glad you mentioned Ratliff, though my impression was Johnson doubted he would ever be cleared.
 
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