General News about Key and his Staff

[takethepoints]

i have certainly heard a few different things from different coaches particularly in the metro atlanta area. i’m just a guy on the internet, not kelly q or ken suguira and my sources could be bs, but what i’ve heard is basically that paul johnson was reluctant to recruit some of the metro football factory high schools and didn’t have fantastic relationships with all of them. many of these coaches weren’t exactly thrilled about the option either and wanted their guys going to play for SEC schools/clemson/whoever running spreads.

none of the coaches were gonna turn down a kid that wanted to go to tech but they didn’t feel like paul johnson and the tech staff during that era really went out of their way to get some of their athletes that they felt like could have been good players at tech.

now my sources are also pretty biased cause their families are major supporters of some big southeastern schools so they always talk down about tech, so maybe it’s not quite as bad as they described. that being said i know for a fact paul johnson did not show face at all at my former high school for years at a time, and we were a powerhouse school always in the hunt for state (would say who but some of the users here worry me). it really lead to me personally having a lot of questions about whether his heart was really in recruiting the last few years.

I think what we have here is decisions about how to spend limited recruiting resources. Paul was always working with a a limited recruiting budget and limited staff. So the algorithm is: find players with the grades to make it into Tech –> determine if players want to come to Tech -> determine if players from that program who come to Tech stick at Tech for the requisite time to figure out what they are doing -> go after players who fit and hope for the best. There's a reason, for instance, why Tech recruited - and probably still does - at parochial schools: the players there were more likely to be successful candidates for a degree to Tech and would be more likely to stick until they were useful on the field. This does not mean that Paul and his assistants wouldn't go after players at programs like you describe and go after them hard. It's that those scare resources could probably be used more efficiently to get players who fit the algorithm. So you give face time to schools - and parents - where you are more likely to have success.

And, btw, I don't expect this scheme to change remarkably, even with the greater recruiting resources Key now has. But we'll have to see how that works out.

 

[stinger 1957]

Why woukd we not want players like Calvin Johnson, Darryl Richard, Michael Johnson, and many others who have aspirations of making the NFL, but also value a great education?

I think we do want them, did not know I said that, I think we want kids that want both, I probably made a mistake adding the "main interest" sorry 'bout that.

 

[JacketFan137]

I think what we have here is decisions about how to spend limited recruiting resources. Paul was always working with a a limited recruiting budget and limited staff. So the algorithm is: find players with the grades to make it into Tech –> determine if players want to come to Tech -> determine if players from that program who come to Tech stick at Tech for the requisite time to figure out what they are doing -> go after players who fit and hope for the best. There's a reason, for instance, why Tech recruited - and probably still does - at parochial schools: the players there were more likely to be successful candidates for a degree to Tech and would be more likely to stick until they were useful on the field. This does not mean that Paul and his assistants wouldn't go after players at programs like you describe and go after them hard. It's that those scare resources could probably be used more efficiently to get players who fit the algorithm. So you give face time to schools - and parents - where you are more likely to have success.

And, btw, I don't expect this scheme to change remarkably, even with the greater recruiting resources Key now has. But we'll have to see how that works out.

yeah i’m sure a lot more went into it than just he didn’t want to visit my high school. maybe our recruits were seen as too big of fish as many of them were headed to clemson, bama, auburn etc and paul thought he would just be wasting his time but it just got kinda depressing when i saw just about every major sec coach, urban meyer, dabo/clemson staff all the time and aside from guys who walked on there was rarely any interest from tech towards the school.

then you look in the weight room where they have pictures of everyone who played college football and there were a few tech players in there from before paul, so ultimately i’m not sure where the disconnect was. i know for a fact there was a qb in the nfl today that wanted to be an engineer and tech never reached out and made a real effort.

so idk where i stand. this place of all the prominent tech football forums has the highest affinity for paul and the option BY FAR so i think people are reluctant to admit where he was inadequate, but at the same time some people like myself probably blame him too much. reality is usually in the middle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Buzzbomb]

 

[HurricaneJacket]

Do we know when spring ball will start?

 

[Buzzbomb]

Do we know when spring ball will start?

 

[IEEEWreck]

yeah i’m sure a lot more went into it than just he didn’t want to visit my high school. maybe our recruits were seen as too big of fish as many of them were headed to clemson, bama, auburn etc and paul thought he would just be wasting his time but it just got kinda depressing when i saw just about every major sec coach, urban meyer, dabo/clemson staff all the time and aside from guys who walked on there was rarely any interest from tech towards the school.

then you look in the weight room where they have pictures of everyone who played college football and there were a few tech players in there from before paul, so ultimately i’m not sure where the disconnect was. i know for a fact there was a qb in the nfl today that wanted to be an engineer and tech never reached out and made a real effort.

so idk where i stand. this place of all the prominent tech football forums has the highest affinity for paul and the option BY FAR so i think people are reluctant to admit where he was inadequate, but at the same time some people like myself probably blame him too much. reality is usually in the middle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Buddy, you're this close to working it out for yourself. What's the difference between the programs you just named and Georgia Tech in the timeframe you're talking about?

Hint: its a number that can be demonstrated by means of public evidence, not third hand psychological tea leaf reading of personalities.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

yeah i’m sure a lot more went into it than just he didn’t want to visit my high school. maybe our recruits were seen as too big of fish as many of them were headed to clemson, bama, auburn etc and paul thought he would just be wasting his time but it just got kinda depressing when i saw just about every major sec coach, urban meyer, dabo/clemson staff all the time and aside from guys who walked on there was rarely any interest from tech towards the school.

then you look in the weight room where they have pictures of everyone who played college football and there were a few tech players in there from before paul, so ultimately i’m not sure where the disconnect was. i know for a fact there was a qb in the nfl today that wanted to be an engineer and tech never reached out and made a real effort.

so idk where i stand. this place of all the prominent tech football forums has the highest affinity for paul and the option BY FAR so i think people are reluctant to admit where he was inadequate, but at the same time some people like myself probably blame him too much. reality is usually in the middle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Paul's been more forthright in admitting his shortcomings and regrets than most of the posters who come running to defense. It's the past, though, and not much sense in dwelling in it.

 

[JacketFan137]

Buddy, you're this close to working it out for yourself. What's the difference between the programs you just named and Georgia Tech in the timeframe you're talking about?

Hint: it’s a number that can be demonstrated by means of public evidence, not third hand psychological tea leaf reading of personalities.

the difference is they emphasized recruiting and paul didn’t. the school was less than an hour away from techs campus. budget was not an issue holding us back. i mentioned the big schools but there was no reason for our high school to be sending kids to schools like west virginia, kentucky, virginia tech, unc and plenty more sec/acc schools over tech.

it is what it is at this point. we could have had more talent in that era if paul could recruit but he couldn’t. no amount of mental gymnastics can correct that

 

[BurdellJacket]

the difference is they emphasized recruiting and paul didn’t. the school was less than an hour away from techs campus. budget was not an issue holding us back. i mentioned the big schools but there was no reason for our high school to be sending kids to schools like west virginia, kentucky, virginia tech, unc and plenty more sec/acc schools over tech.

it is what it is at this point. we could have had more talent in that era if paul could recruit but he couldn’t. no amount of mental gymnastics can correct that

Still beating the dead horse, eh?

 

[orientalnc]

the difference is they emphasized recruiting and paul didn’t. the school was less than an hour away from techs campus. budget was not an issue holding us back. i mentioned the big schools but there was no reason for our high school to be sending kids to schools like west virginia, kentucky, virginia tech, unc and plenty more sec/acc schools over tech.

it is what it is at this point. we could have had more talent in that era if paul could recruit but he couldn’t. no amount of mental gymnastics can correct that

Paul did a pretty decent job with all those walk-on players. Boy, if he could only recruit just a little...

Hasn't that meme aged out yet?

 

[Jim Prather]

JF137 has lost the war - he just insists on continuing to re-fight the battles

 

[jacketup]

Some people don't understand that we are still digging out of a talent hole that Johnson's system created (with an assist from the administration), but those people don't understand college football and no facts will ever convince them. So even though it still impacts us, we can't change it. Give it up, hope the new administration is better than the ones we had for the last 25 years, do better in the future, and move on.

 

[stinger 1957]

The young Tech fans do not realize we can and will compete for players that they think only other schools are able to obtain, only time and success will show them we can compete very well for those type players. They will begin to understand in a few years IMO. Jacketup I believe is exactly right about the "still digging out" statement and I agree we need to move on because I think the worst is over with the digging out but there is definitely a lot of work left to do. I've watched several schools dig out of a TO era and it always takes them a while. Probably because of our commitment to a GT degree, a little longer for us. But frankly I'm optimistic watching what is going on and how they are going about it all. Jacketup has watched this many times and he knows what he's watching much more than I do.

 

[a5ehren]

The young Tech fans do not realize we can and will compete for players that that they think only other schools are able to obtain, only time and success will show them we can compete very well for those type players. They will begin to understand in a few years IMO.

Last one of those we got was Gibbs, and he left to Bama for a free Charger and some NIL money. We're broke and no one cares about us, it ain't 1960 anymore.

 

[bobongo]

Last one of those we got was Gibbs, and he left to Bama for a free Charger and some NIL money. We're broke and no one cares about us, it ain't 1960 anymore.

True, that.
But you watch - Brent Key is going to pull us up by our bootstraps.

 

[tmhunter52]

True, that.
But you watch - Brent Key is going to pull us up by our bootstraps.

Interesting that Athlon Sports is reporting Dylan Raiola will be making a visit to The Flats on the same weekend he visits the Dwags. Not that we have a real chance of signing a 5-star QB recruit like that yet, but it is good to get a little positive “ink” after the dismal TFG experiment. Who knows? It might make some other high-profile recruits, wonder what’s happening at Tech and prompt some interest.

 

[GT33]

Some people don't understand that we are still digging out of a talent hole that Johnson's system created (with an assist from the administration), but those people don't understand college football and no facts will ever convince them. So even though it still impacts us, we can't change it. Give it up, hope the new administration is better than the ones we had for the last 25 years, do better in the future, and move on.

Take a gander where "that guy" ranks all time in this history of GT football. He can't take your'n and win with them and he can't take his'n and win with them either. He just couldn't win period. He couldn't win at anything, nothing- coaching, recruiting, etc. There's a word for this that's been removed from modern lexicons because it's a harsh, unpleasant word that them makes face the reality of their being: Loser.

He should have spent more time working on winning & less time acting the fool. That's not any of our fault, it's his.

 

[yeti92]

Some of y'all really are addicted to spouting nonsense. All of CPJ's recruits would be 5th or 6th year seniors at this point.

The only CPJ players still on the roster are Dontae Smith, Jaylon King, and Michael Maye, all 6th year seniors. You really want to act like you don't want Dontae or Jaylon?

Here are the other CPJ players I see still playing in college elsewhere.

From 2018: Jordan Domineck (Arkansas, Colorado), Zamari Walton (Ole Miss)

From 2019: Chico Bennett (UVA), Wesley Walker (Tennessee)

Oh man what a terrible group. Would hate to have any of those guys still on our roster. Definitely CPJ's fault they left too, yep no question about it.


There's some holes alright. Holes in some of your brains.

 

[cpf2001]

A high caliber coach - of the sort GT used to be able to attract - could’ve built up the talent level by now especially with the portal. That excuse is dead now.

But the program was left behind in the money race - from various bad decisions many of which happened before Johnson - plus made a catastrophic hire. Blah blah blah not a lot of top tier people wanted to come - not that we could’ve afforded them anyway - but getting someone who could’ve rebuild to 6-7 wins by year three or four shouldn’t have been an insurmountable bar in a weak league. Talent was out there, Collins found some of it at first, but as the BS act wore thin so did his recruiting ability.

No, Johnson wasn’t perfect, but he was Bobby Dodd compared to everyone else running things football-related on the hill over the past decade. Why some folks insist on focusing the blame on the overall-successful coach who took the program to its highest high in 24 years primarily instead of the admin + power brokers + Collins?God only knows.