GT hires Chip Long as new OC/QBs Coach

jacket_fan

jacket_fan

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
759
Location
Milton, Georgia
Tech ended up next to last in both total offense and defense last year.


Hard not to improve on the results if you are a new OC coming in.

Does Long have the chops to develop players, especially the QBs? Can he install an offense that makes use of the talent here? He is supposed to be a great recruiter, can he bring in talent (someone like #19 for uGag)? Does he have the temperament to bring discipline to the offense?

I hope we look back and find this was the change that changed the program.
 
AlabamaBuzz

AlabamaBuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,051
Location
Hartselle, AL (originally Rome, GA)
BleedGoldNWhite21 said:
I hope I can eat a whole lot of crow in the future, but this being the “big hire” to save our coach from being fired shows just how bad our program is right now. Yawn.
Click to expand...
It really does, BGW. I was thinking about how we are hiring guys because we are desperate, and that is never a good place to be in a negotiation or when a purchase is required.

Let's face it - GT is a hard sell. That is why I wish we could try to get someone who has proven to run an innovative and successful O at the division 2 level. I think we try to hard to get guys with proven experience at divsion 1, but that is not going to work, because we cannot pull attractive candidates from other teams. Even CGC looked to me like a desperate hire, but maybe I am wrong.
 

Tech93

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,243
AlabamaBuzz said:
It really does, BGW. I was thinking about how we are hiring guys because we are desperate, and that is never a good place to be in a negotiation or when a purchase is required.

Let's face it - GT is a hard sell. That is why I wish we could try to get someone who has proven to run an innovative and successful O at the division 2 level. I think we try to hard to get guys with proven experience at divsion 1, but that is not going to work, because we cannot pull attractive candidates from other teams. Even CGC looked to me like a desperate hire, but maybe I am wrong.
Click to expand...
I was hoping from the Division 2 level also. Just look at the offense on a team like Valdosta State.
 
BleedGoldNWhite21

BleedGoldNWhite21

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,516
AlabamaBuzz said:
It really does, BGW. I was thinking about how we are hiring guys because we are desperate, and that is never a good place to be in a negotiation or when a purchase is required.

Let's face it - GT is a hard sell. That is why I wish we could try to get someone who has proven to run an innovative and successful O at the division 2 level. I think we try to hard to get guys with proven experience at divsion 1, but that is not going to work, because we cannot pull attractive candidates from other teams. Even CGC looked to me like a desperate hire, but maybe I am wrong.
Click to expand...

I don’t even necessarily think Long is a bad hire, but he’s the best you can get to make a big splash to save your coach’s job? Yikes.
 
Jmonty71

Jmonty71

Banned
Messages
2,156
I can't say I know enough about Long to make a judgment. Stats aren't great, but what I would call them terrible either. So, lets say average.. I really like keeping the base offense. I think the #1 problem was a misuse of talent. Hopefully, Long can get better results. I will hold judgemental, until I see how the plays are called. If I see 10 runs up the middle that nets 0 yards, I will know my answer.
 
Techster

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
18,388
I would focus on the ND years. He spent one year as OC with Memphis (good), and one year with Tulane (below average). At both Memphis and Tulane, he inherited players that he didn't help recruit, or were recruited for another offense (mainly Tulane).

At Notre Dame, the offense immediately improved from good to close to elite (from 37 to 12), then settled into the 20's after having his hand on the offense for 3 years. Long has only been an OC for 5 years. His track record was not bad, outside of Tulane. Personally, I would not pin Tulane in 2021 all on Long. Fritz seems to be transitioning away from an option heavy spread where he had a lot of success to a more "traditional" spread with RPO and vertical passing. That takes the right QB and WRs...which Tulane really didn't have this season. It was going to be a 2-3 year transition for Tulane. Long only had one season at Tulane.

He'll have the personnel here. We are in on some big pieces along the OL, and rumored to have some nice offensive skill players as well. He'll have 2 Elite 11 QBs in Sims and Pyron, a good passer in Peery, and possibly a third Elite 11 to work. He'll have two 4 star RBs, and a VERY good RB in Smith. WRs are better than some on here think, and there are multiple 4 stars. OL could have two 4 stars join us, along with a group of OLs with the size and length Key covets. They will be Sophomores and JRs, plus a couple of 4 star OL recruits.

I think Sims will be on a short leash next season. CGC will be fighting for his job, and and Long will be fighting for his job and reputation as well. Is Long the ideal OC that I wanted? No...but he's much better than some on here think. If he can improve our FEI to the 30-40 range, we could be playing for a bowl. If not, CGC will be gone anyow and this Long experiment will follow him out.
 
Pointer

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
Augusta_Jacket said:
The main reason for this is that you and many of our fans don't have the patience to endure at least one season of growing pains while we completely retool an offensive system. He knows his job depends on hiring someone that can coach to the talent he has on the team, and we are now built for the RPO, not the air raid. He'd be three kinds of an idiot to drastically change that when his job is on the line.

I do agree with you that I'd be interested in seeing the air raid here, but that will either be down the road with a new coach or after CGC earns enough credit to change something up.
Click to expand...
Do you think 3 years at 3 wins per year is acceptable? Are we unreasonable to ask for more progress up to this point? Genuine questions, not trying to be a smart a**.

Also if we were trying to stick with the same system to avoid retooling, then were those reports of offering the air raid OC false?

Again based on the same point you've made, since we are not starting with a brand new offense, what is the timeline for the results necessary to keep CGC? Is one year acceptable since we are maintaining the same offense? Is it two, three?
 

Tech93

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,243
Pointer said:
Do you think 3 years at 3 wins per year is acceptable? Are we unreasonable to ask for more progress up to this point? Genuine questions, not trying to be a smart a**.

Also if we were trying to stick with the same system to avoid retooling, then were those reports of offering the air raid OC false?

Again based on the same point you've made, since we are not starting with a brand new offense, what is the timeline for the results necessary to keep CGC? Is one year acceptable since we are maintaining the same offense? Is it two, three?
Click to expand...
I’ll answer these-
1. We aren’t unreasonable
2. Not sure
3. 1 year, bowl game, if not Collins needs to go
 
Techster

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
18,388
bobongo said:
He was fired at Notre Dame after turning in the #14 scoring offense in 2019, 36.8 ppg.
Click to expand...

His Notre Dame offenses were good, and was close to elite his first season there. Another note, at the time he was let go:

irish.nbcsports.com

Notre Dame's offense excelled under Chip Long, except when it mattered

Chip Long authored the two highest-scoring seasons of Brian Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, along with two of the four best-gaining offenses.
irish.nbcsports.com irish.nbcsports.com

Chip Long authored the two highest-scoring seasons of Brian Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, along with two of the four best-gaining offenses.

That's saying something. Long did a good job for Kelly. Long was fired TWO DAYS after finishing 2nd for the Broyles award. There's a lot of smoke about philosophical differences with Kelly. Long is known as a hard@ss, but the offensive leaders on the teams respected him...especially his QBs. Ian Book has high praise for Long...Long fought for Book to retain the starting position.

He'll be a change for our players that's for sure. I don't think our guys will get away with some of the things they've been used to...and that may be a good thing.
 
Pointer

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
Techster said:
His Notre Dame offenses were good, and was close to elite his first season there. Another note, at the time he was let go:

irish.nbcsports.com

Notre Dame's offense excelled under Chip Long, except when it mattered

Chip Long authored the two highest-scoring seasons of Brian Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, along with two of the four best-gaining offenses.
irish.nbcsports.com irish.nbcsports.com

Chip Long authored the two highest-scoring seasons of Brian Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, along with two of the four best-gaining offenses.

That's saying something. Long did a good job for Kelly. Long was fired TWO DAYS after finishing 2nd for the Broyles award. There's a lot of smoke about philosophical differences with Kelly. Long is known as a hard@ss, but the offensive leaders on the teams respected him...especially his QBs. Ian Book has high praise for Long...Long fought for Book to retain the starting position.

He'll be a change for our players that's for sure. I don't think our guys will get away with some of the things they've been used to...and that may be a good thing.
Click to expand...
All we can do is hope this was a good hire.
 
Augusta_Jacket

Augusta_Jacket

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,121
Location
Augusta, Georgia
Pointer said:
Do you think 3 years at 3 wins per year is acceptable? Are we unreasonable to ask for more progress up to this point? Genuine questions, not trying to be a smart a**.

Also if we were trying to stick with the same system to avoid retooling, then were those reports of offering the air raid OC false?

Again based on the same point you've made, since we are not starting with a brand new offense, what is the timeline for the results necessary to keep CGC? Is one year acceptable since we are maintaining the same offense? Is it two, three?
Click to expand...

What part of my answer to your question drove you to this?

My answer is simple. The fanbase is not satisfied with a slow rebuild, therefore switching to a completely different offense with a coach on the hotseat would be stupid. Your reply just proved the point I was trying to make. Our fanbase is not willing to be patient for a rebuild, so there is absolutely no sense in attempting even a minor one at this point.

As for Kittley, I have two sources that give somewhat conflicting data. We were outbid on him, per one source, and since the best of the available air raid OCs was off the table, we went with another RPO OC. The other, more reliable source said we settled on Long early with the idea we were gonna chase a splashier hire. The splashier fell through so here we are. WHile I think Long was the safer hire for CGC, he has not given me enough confidence that he made the sound decision intentionally.

As for your last question, I have said all along that year 4 would be the year to see improvement. I think we should see minimum 6 wins this year, and most likely 7-8 if OL development is on schedule.
 

WreckinGT

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,193
Not sure how I feel about this hire. Even ignoring the job he did at Tulane, there are alot of weird red flags. He did seemingly pretty well at ND and got fired for it. That usually has a story behind it and the story here seems to be that he had a pretty poor relationship with many players and many coaches. He apparently is over the top abrasive to players pretty frequently and there are rumors that him and the OL coach hated each other so much that one of them pretty much had to go. It will be interesting to see how well he works with Key. Aside from his apparently abrasive personality though, everyone seems to respect his coaching ability. If he has learned to dial it down a notch he could be a great hire. Just seems like a weird direction to go for Collins who is usually love the players over all else.
 
Pointer

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
Augusta_Jacket said:
What part of my answer to your question drove you to this?

My answer is simple. The fanbase is not satisfied with a slow rebuild, therefore switching to a completely different offense with a coach on the hotseat would be stupid. Your reply just proved the point I was trying to make. Our fanbase is not willing to be patient for a rebuild, so there is absolutely no sense in attempting even a minor one at this point.

As for Kittley, I have two sources that give somewhat conflicting data. We were outbid on him, per one source, and since the best of the available air raid OCs was off the table, we went with another RPO OC. The other, more reliable source said we settled on Long early with the idea we were gonna chase a splashier hire. The splashier fell through so here we are. WHile I think Long was the safer hire for CGC, he has not given me enough confidence that he made the sound decision intentionally.

As for your last question, I have said all along that year 4 would be the year to see improvement. I think we should see minimum 6 wins this year, and most likely 7-8 if OL development is on schedule.
Click to expand...
It seemed like you implied that 3 years isn't enough time to implement a new offense and that we fans (other than yourself) are to impatient to wait long enough to install a new offense.
 
Top