Expectations for GT Football

[Augusta_Jacket]

Agree with this. He has been able to attract and pay for whatever assistants he wants. He doesn’t coach in the sense that he’s some genius when it comes to strategy, but he can close in recruiting and can pay for assistants.

Sounds like that guy coaching in Clemson...

 

[Sheboygan]

If Duke gets a good QB, they'll be aiming for us and Pitt and so forth. My estimate for them is that they don't have one, and their defense still needs work.

We might win one against Notre Dame, UNC, or Miami--it'd be a huge upset, and we'd need to be healthy, but things like that happen.

5-6 wins would be pretty impressive progress for us--even 5 would, as far as winning percentage. Like I said, their is still the possibility that several teams just sleepwalk against us and we luck out without getting much better. That's why I'm more interested, with a young team like we have, that we start playing a lot better as a team--especially on defense.

Exactly !

 

[Sheboygan]

I‘m a Collins supporter, but next season there are no excuses. Period. No more talking about youth, no more talking about transfers learning the culture, etc. We will have had the current head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, OLine coach, DB’s coach, RB coach, and WR coach in their 3rd season together. I don’t care about win totals for next year. But we need to look like we actually have coaches. I know that’s a salty statement, but sitting in Bobby Dodd for 4 plus hours watching that Pittsburgh game led many of us to reality. That game was putrid. We lost 34-20 at home on National TV and that score wasn’t indicative of how bad we looked.

I posted almost exactly the same thing and was described as having confirmation bias or not knowing what I was looking at. I was also told that the poster hated "fans like
me", apparently because I would dare to observe that the rebuild wasn't going as wonderfully as he had proclaimed.
I completely agree with your assessment.......no more excuses.

 

[Tech93]

At this point, I’m just praying we can win our first 2 games with NIU and Kennesaw State.

 

[WreckinGT]

My point is that Mack is a superior recruiter but other than his 1 NC he has underperformed over the course of his career. I would love to have him too, but for his recruiting.

You don't get a NC, 19 top 25 finishes, 7 top 10 finishes, and 6 top 5 finishes just by recruiting well. There are plenty of great recruiters out there not sniffing that level of success.

 

[ncjacket79]

You don't get a NC, 19 top 25 finishes, 7 top 10 finishes, and 6 top 5 finishes just by recruiting well. There are plenty of great recruiters out there not sniffing that level of success.

Look at his rosters and where he finished. I’m not saying he’s terrible but he is no genius. Talent and assistant coaches is a successful formula. People here are obsessed with this idea that a coach has to be some kind of savant. It doesn’t need to be that way. Plus name someone who recruits like Mack who hasn’t had his level of success.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I’ll just say this. You can be athletically challenged and still look like a well coached team.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Look at his rosters and where he finished. I’m not saying he’s terrible but he is no genius. Talent and assistant coaches is a successful formula. People here are obsessed with this idea that a coach has to be some kind of savant. It doesn’t need to be that way. Plus name someone who recruits like Mack who hasn’t had his level of success.

Tennessee coaches since Philip Fulmer. Any Miami coach the last two decades.

 

[WreckinGT]

Look at his rosters and where he finished. I’m not saying he’s terrible but he is no genius. Talent and assistant coaches is a successful formula. People here are obsessed with this idea that a coach has to be some kind of savant. It doesn’t need to be that way. Plus name someone who recruits like Mack who hasn’t had his level of success.

No one is calling him a genius but to write off his success as well he had good players so he won by default is pretty insulting to his record. The guy who followed him at Texas didn't even have a winning season with his super recruits. The guy who followed him at UNC had 16 wins in three years with his super recruits. 4 less than Mack had in the previous two years.

 

[Techster]

Bowl game. That's been my 3 year marker from Day 1. As I keep pointing out, in the last 30 years, ever GT coach has qualified for a bowl game in year 3 except one coach...and he got fired for imploding the team.

I keep seeing posters saying "Well, School X and School Y have gotten better, School A and School B are just too elite...yada, yada..."

Wasn't the point of hiring CGC to get to the point where we would beat the Pitts, Dukes, NC States, VTs, etc on a regular basis, and become more competitive with the Clemsons and UGAs? I mean, CGC literally says "GT is an elite" program so many times that some of your eyes have rolled out of your heads. You're not an elite program if you don't can't beat teams like Pitt, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, BC, etc. Sure, Clemson and UGA are now the elite in college football, but GT should at least be competitive with them with real chances to beat them...those teams have lost regular season games to teams within their conferences you know.

CGC has been able to remake his roster faster than any coach in the past because of the transfer portal. In fact, because of Covid, he can actually cherry pick certain kids to stay an extra year past their eligibility if they want to stay as well. CGC probably has the most talented roster since maybe the 2014 and 2009 teams...this is a team that has the talent to make a bowl game at the very least.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I posted almost exactly the same thing and was described as having confirmation bias or not knowing what I was looking at. I was also told that the poster hated "fans like
me", apparently because I would dare to observe that the rebuild wasn't going as wonderfully as he had proclaimed.
I completely agree with your assessment.......no more excuses.

Yeah, that's exactly what I said. [sarcasm] I also followed that up with an explanation, but go ahead and ignore all of that.

I never proclaimed anything was going wonderfully. What I said, and I've said it over and over, is that it's ridiculous and a sign of ignorance to expect a complete turn-around from the system we were in into the system we're in now in 3 years. This isn't a knock on the previous system or a pass to the current system. I like both coaches and am happy with both systems. However, there are several pieces that have to be retooled and expecting significant improvement two classes in (and a bunch of good transfers) is unreasonable and a reflection of an ignorant segment of the fan base.

Just because you found another fan to regurgitate the same ignorant opinions (my opinion) doesn't make either of you right, but it does help to confirm your bias. Why don't you listen to the fonts here that actually understand and know what they're talking about? You can find most of them by looking for the blue checkmark next to their name confirming they're former GT athletes. I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but you should weigh their opinions as a little more informed than your observations. Everything I've seen from them leans towards Year 4 and Year 5.

What I hate is when fans start tearing down their school and the program. No, I don't think your statements necessarily rose to that level, and I stated that in the follow-up post. But, yours was not the only post I was addressing, just the one I responded to.

 

[jgtengineer]

Bowl game. That's been my 3 year marker from Day 1. As I keep pointing out, in the last 30 years, ever GT coach has qualified for a bowl game in year 3 except one coach...and he got fired for imploding the team.

I keep seeing posters saying "Well, School X and School Y have gotten better, School A and School B are just too elite...yada, yada..."

Wasn't the point of hiring CGC to get to the point where we would beat the Pitts, Dukes, NC States, VTs, etc on a regular basis, and become more competitive with the Clemsons and UGAs? I mean, CGC literally says "GT is an elite" program so many times that some of your eyes have rolled out of your heads. You're not an elite program if you don't can't beat teams like Pitt, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, BC, etc. Sure, Clemson and UGA are now the elite in college football, but GT should at least be competitive with them with real chances to beat them...those teams have lost regular season games to teams within their conferences you know.

CGC has been able to remake his roster faster than any coach in the past because of the transfer portal. In fact, because of Covid, he can actually cherry pick certain kids to stay an extra year past their eligibility if they want to stay as well. CGC probably has the most talented roster since maybe the 2014 and 2009 teams...this is a team that has the talent to make a bowl game at the very least.

Truthfully 2014 was only talented by general measure in 4 positions. QB WR Guard and Defensive Tackle. The Cynical person can assume that most of our B-Back success was because of shaq mason and they wouldn't be wrong (wasn't all of it but that's why i said cynical.) Thomas was special and he had two NFL caliber recievers keeping defenses honest.

From a flex perspective, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better roster for that offense ever constructed. Every single a-back 3 deep at both positions was capable of hurting an opponent we had 3 good b-backs (conners was even usable just fine slotting in) our line was built well for what we needed around a stud mobile guard. And we had 2 NFL WR's and a hell of a blocking reciever in Corey Dennis. All of the senior leadership allowed a talented sophmore QB to slot in and excel. And that is even with a year of offensive scheme change from 2012 and 2013 where we attempted to expand the playbook at the expense of the base playbook.

In truth if collins can't do at least a 2011 7-5 or 6-6 and get to a bowl next year we need to be worried that use to be our floor when running pro style schemes.

2014 defense was peak ted roof, bend don't break relying on turnovers as well.

 

[forensicbuzz]

My minimum expectation is 6 wins and a bowl game. But, if we fall short, I want to see steady progress and growth in each segment of the game, including coaching. I'm not sugar-coating anything for this staff, as I have high expectations for the future. I just don't think Season 3 is the make or break season. That's either Season 4 or 5.

 

[Techster]

Truthfully 2014 was only talented by general measure in 4 positions. QB WR Guard and Defensive Tackle. The Cynical person can assume that most of our B-Back success was because of shaq mason and they wouldn't be wrong (wasn't all of it but that's why i said cynical.) Thomas was special and he had two NFL caliber recievers keeping defenses honest.

From a flex perspective, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better roster for that offense ever constructed. Every single a-back 3 deep at both positions was capable of hurting an opponent we had 3 good b-backs (conners was even usable just fine slotting in) our line was built well for what we needed around a stud mobile guard. And we had 2 NFL WR's and a hell of a blocking reciever in Corey Dennis. All of the senior leadership allowed a talented sophmore QB to slot in and excel. And that is even with a year of offensive scheme change from 2012 and 2013 where we attempted to expand the playbook at the expense of the base playbook.

In truth if collins can't do at least a 2011 7-5 or 6-6 and get to a bowl next year we need to be worried that use to be our floor when running pro style schemes.

2014 defense was peak ted roof, bend don't break relying on turnovers as well.

2014 team was a joy to watch. That back half of the season was as dominant of an offensive team as I can remember watching in my time as a GT fan. If that team had an average defense, we would have rolled teams even worse than we did...think about that.

Don't forget, we also had a dominant Shamire Devine. What he did to UGA and FSU DLineman (multiple future NFL guys) during that run was incredible. I thought for sure he was headed to the NFL if he followed the same trajectory.

That team was definitely the sum of its parts. Guys knew their role, and did it very well.

 

[jgtengineer]

2014 team was a joy to watch. That back half of the season was as dominant of an offensive team as I can remember watching in my time as a GT fan. If that team had an average defense, we would have rolled teams even worse than we did...think about that.

Don't forget, we also had a dominant Shamire Devine. What he did to UGA and FSU DLineman (multiple future NFL guys) during that run was incredible. I thought for sure he was headed to the NFL if he followed the same trajectory.

That team was definitely the sum of its parts. Guys knew their role, and did it very well.

I wasn't the reason i said general was that Mason Smelter Waller and Gotsis would have starrted on any team, Thomas would have to but probably as a slot reciever. Devine didn't really have a motor that year.

We have a defense that doesn't rely on turnovers we likely go undefeated until the ACC championship then no idea.

 

[Buzztheirazz]

I expect GT to go bowling this year. If that doesn’t happen, my guess is that it will be the Defense that isn’t performing and therefore Thacker may need to go. We hopefully filled the holes(heyoooo) at NT and LB and our DE room is stacked. Is CGC actually a DB whisperer????

I agree that there should be no excuses for ****ty play this year. We HAVE TO beat the pay to play also rans, show the Pitts, Duke, BCs, Virginia we are above them and 3 of those 4 if not all. The improvement will be to sneak one out of UNC, Miami or VT. And then hopefully not get embarassed by UGA, Clemson and ND. If we can pick one of those up we are def on track. I think that we played pretty well the first half against ND and them losing Book gives us a chance this year.

We also Need some guys to step up at WR and hopefully we can avoid the injury bug.

 

[Sheboygan]

Yeah, that's exactly what I said. [sarcasm] I also followed that up with an explanation, but go ahead and ignore all of that.

I never proclaimed anything was going wonderfully. What I said, and I've said it over and over, is that it's ridiculous and a sign of ignorance to expect a complete turn-around from the system we were in into the system we're in now in 3 years. This isn't a knock on the previous system or a pass to the current system. I like both coaches and am happy with both systems. However, there are several pieces that have to be retooled and expecting significant improvement two classes in (and a bunch of good transfers) is unreasonable and a reflection of an ignorant segment of the fan base.

Just because you found another fan to regurgitate the same ignorant opinions (my opinion) doesn't make either of you right, but it does help to confirm your bias. Why don't you listen to the fonts here that actually understand and know what they're talking about? You can find most of them by looking for the blue checkmark next to their name confirming they're former GT athletes. I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but you should weigh their opinions as a little more informed than your observations. Everything I've seen from them leans towards Year 4 and Year 5.

What I hate is when fans start tearing down their school and the program. No, I don't think your statements necessarily rose to that level, and I stated that in the follow-up post. But, yours was not the only post I was addressing, just the one I responded to.

 

[Buzztheirazz]

I just scrolled through our entire roster and we are still way too young to expect anything. If we make a bowl this year is def not a guarantee and I am going to temper my expectations a bit.

 

[Sheboygan]

If you read my post, then you know I am NOT expecting a COMPLETE turnaround. What I expect in year three of this process is IMPROVEMENT, measured in wins. Who really cares if the offense is better and the defense is the same after 2 years? Maybe a few of us die-hard fans. But not many others.
You seem to have several posters who confirm what you want to believe and consider them "experts". Is that confirmation bias ? Darn right it is.
What I personally don't like , are the "experts" on this board ( measured by number of posts ?? )who put in writing that someone like me ( Tech grad 1973 , lifelong fan and more than casual observer, BTW) is tearing down their school and program. When I observe that IMO, the coaches are not meeting MY expectations because of lack of preparation , etc.. it gives me no pleasure in writing that. But I thought this board was about airing our grievances among TECH SUPPORTERS and would be treated with respect as a difference of opinion. This is not a board that I expect to get schooled ( hate fans like you, exaggerations are preposterous , My GOD ) by the self appointed experts on said board.
Did I imply that if someone does not agree with me that they are " drinking the kool aid" or have "blinders on "? I could have, but I know and RESPECT that others have different opinions.
The very LAST thing this program needs is to begin "eating our young". Does that mean we should all celebrate and sing kumbaya all the time ? Of course not !
But when we begin measuring fans to see if their opinions are "worthy " enough to be appreciated on a board that is specifically set up to encourage opinions, then I am afraid we are missing the mark. We cannot afford to put down or disrespect any TRUE Tech fan and make them feel as if they don't quite measure up. There are way too few of us as there is. THWG.

 

[Coloradojacket]

Lol....reading all this I scratch my head...so we are in a rebuild from a staff and system that went to 9 bowls in 11 years and won 7 games its last season that save a fumble against USF could have been 8. And we are hoping to win 4 games this year. With a young team because we choose to play few upper classman.