TheGridironGeek
Jolly Good Fellow
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- 276
Gents -- I want to posit some thoughts before the big weekend. What I think is exciting is not so much Tech having a 10-2 record, but the overall direction the program is going in.
I'm not an expert on CPJ's years at Georgia Southern, but if you look at the schools where Johnson has founded a tradition of Flexbone coaches, what stands out is how great they have all looked when playing athletically comparable teams. For Navy this doesn't happen often. They are usually up against far superior players across the board, but find a way to go to a decent bowl game every year.
When Navy plays a very weak FBS or strong FCS program, they are facing their own level of size and talent. Typical score: Navy 55, Rice 12.
Under Jeff Monken (CPJ disciple) Georgia Southern played about their level of talent in the strongest conference in the FCS. They were a perennial contender and eventually beat Florida, despite a laughable athletic disadvantage. Then, of course GaSo won their conference (and scared the pants off two ACC schools) by introducing Tony Annese concepts at the FBS level.
And of course GT has handily beat teams who are evenly matched talent-wise. GT has developed a few more standout performers but only one (Smelter) would be considered a lock high NFL draft pick. In an effective offense, players are glorified in the media who are no better on an individual level than their counterparts.
The 'Jackets struggled to win against a couple of lesser-athletic teams early this year, Wofford and GaSo. But of course, those teams also run "high school" systems, full-time 11 on 11 deception running schemes. So what you have is a small group of teams playing "high school" offense, almost always beating the schools they are evenly matched with, and often bothering or beating far physically superior opponents.
Yet despite Auburn being in this group, the core chunk of the football community ignores the story and stubbornly cling to the consensus. Coaches, media etc.
I can't help but think of the situation in the NFL, where spread-option QB's are in various stages of decline and flushing out of the league, ala Tebow, RG3, Kaepernick. By any stretch, these QBs have been the greatest to ever play their position in the college systems they played in.
Tebow brought in the Urban Meyer playbook, the Broncos sloppily use it for 2/3 of one season, on a lark. They win their division and shock everybody. Tebow is then asked to play single-wing fullback and West-Coast passer for his next two teams, fails miserably at both, gets cut.
RG3 runs the Pistol-option his first season in the league. Washington goes to the playoffs. He gets hurt on a passing play. I may not like his attitude, but it's gotten steadily worse since they asked him to run the West Coast offense. And he's been hurt running that, too.
Remember when Kaepernick was running the Pistol in San Francisco? They were a few yards away from winning the Super Bowl. Not anymore.
If you watch TV, you can hear analysts on the NFL payroll saying that the "college" influence on NFL coaches is dying out. Yet the Seahawks, a read-option, run-heavy, "college" team, just won the last Super Bowl by 100 points...beating a legendary drop-back QB in a traditional passing offense. It's willful blindness at this point. I feel sorry for the athletes themselves who pay the price, QB's being trashed and eventually cut because their coaches don't give them the opportunity to succeed.
What this boils down to is that "high school" offenses are held to an unfair double standard in the college football community, just like college concepts are held in low regard in the NFL. And yet the teams using these ideas are obviously have an edge over the competition!
In a word, the Yellow Jackets are Tim Tebow. Egads! I'm sure not everyone wants to hear that, so please take it in the completely ironic way I mean it. Talking heads are WONDERFUL at forgetting stuff they said 3 years ago. Like, "the option will never work in the NFL, the defenses are too big and fast." When big, fast offenses ran it and gobbled up yards, that changed to other anti-option slogans.
If the consensus is correct, and the Flexbone is just a high school concept that will eventually die when teams "figure it out" or "play disciplined" or whatever, then Tech should be losing. A lot more. They should not be able to blow out Pitt or NC State because those schools recruit similar players. But those stubborn final scores keep coming in, don't they?
I'm actually not as much of a CPJ worshiper as I probably seem, I think his record with defense and special teams has been mediocre at best.
But with a star sophomore QB, a solid sophomore PK and a top-20 recruiting class coming in, I think we will now see the next stage of the experiment. If Georgia Tech can develop superior talent, and is not out-manned by every ranked team they play...look out.
And no, I wouldn't change my mind if FSU wins big tomorrow. The long-term landscape may have finally shifted in Tech's favor.
I'm not an expert on CPJ's years at Georgia Southern, but if you look at the schools where Johnson has founded a tradition of Flexbone coaches, what stands out is how great they have all looked when playing athletically comparable teams. For Navy this doesn't happen often. They are usually up against far superior players across the board, but find a way to go to a decent bowl game every year.
When Navy plays a very weak FBS or strong FCS program, they are facing their own level of size and talent. Typical score: Navy 55, Rice 12.
Under Jeff Monken (CPJ disciple) Georgia Southern played about their level of talent in the strongest conference in the FCS. They were a perennial contender and eventually beat Florida, despite a laughable athletic disadvantage. Then, of course GaSo won their conference (and scared the pants off two ACC schools) by introducing Tony Annese concepts at the FBS level.
And of course GT has handily beat teams who are evenly matched talent-wise. GT has developed a few more standout performers but only one (Smelter) would be considered a lock high NFL draft pick. In an effective offense, players are glorified in the media who are no better on an individual level than their counterparts.
The 'Jackets struggled to win against a couple of lesser-athletic teams early this year, Wofford and GaSo. But of course, those teams also run "high school" systems, full-time 11 on 11 deception running schemes. So what you have is a small group of teams playing "high school" offense, almost always beating the schools they are evenly matched with, and often bothering or beating far physically superior opponents.
Yet despite Auburn being in this group, the core chunk of the football community ignores the story and stubbornly cling to the consensus. Coaches, media etc.
I can't help but think of the situation in the NFL, where spread-option QB's are in various stages of decline and flushing out of the league, ala Tebow, RG3, Kaepernick. By any stretch, these QBs have been the greatest to ever play their position in the college systems they played in.
Tebow brought in the Urban Meyer playbook, the Broncos sloppily use it for 2/3 of one season, on a lark. They win their division and shock everybody. Tebow is then asked to play single-wing fullback and West-Coast passer for his next two teams, fails miserably at both, gets cut.
RG3 runs the Pistol-option his first season in the league. Washington goes to the playoffs. He gets hurt on a passing play. I may not like his attitude, but it's gotten steadily worse since they asked him to run the West Coast offense. And he's been hurt running that, too.
Remember when Kaepernick was running the Pistol in San Francisco? They were a few yards away from winning the Super Bowl. Not anymore.
If you watch TV, you can hear analysts on the NFL payroll saying that the "college" influence on NFL coaches is dying out. Yet the Seahawks, a read-option, run-heavy, "college" team, just won the last Super Bowl by 100 points...beating a legendary drop-back QB in a traditional passing offense. It's willful blindness at this point. I feel sorry for the athletes themselves who pay the price, QB's being trashed and eventually cut because their coaches don't give them the opportunity to succeed.
What this boils down to is that "high school" offenses are held to an unfair double standard in the college football community, just like college concepts are held in low regard in the NFL. And yet the teams using these ideas are obviously have an edge over the competition!
In a word, the Yellow Jackets are Tim Tebow. Egads! I'm sure not everyone wants to hear that, so please take it in the completely ironic way I mean it. Talking heads are WONDERFUL at forgetting stuff they said 3 years ago. Like, "the option will never work in the NFL, the defenses are too big and fast." When big, fast offenses ran it and gobbled up yards, that changed to other anti-option slogans.
If the consensus is correct, and the Flexbone is just a high school concept that will eventually die when teams "figure it out" or "play disciplined" or whatever, then Tech should be losing. A lot more. They should not be able to blow out Pitt or NC State because those schools recruit similar players. But those stubborn final scores keep coming in, don't they?
I'm actually not as much of a CPJ worshiper as I probably seem, I think his record with defense and special teams has been mediocre at best.
But with a star sophomore QB, a solid sophomore PK and a top-20 recruiting class coming in, I think we will now see the next stage of the experiment. If Georgia Tech can develop superior talent, and is not out-manned by every ranked team they play...look out.
And no, I wouldn't change my mind if FSU wins big tomorrow. The long-term landscape may have finally shifted in Tech's favor.
