HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

Josh H

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
399
yeti92 said:
How is Key the low risk hire? He has next to zero HC experience, is heavily tied to the previous coach, and the unit he was responsible for has been arguably the worst part of the whole team for 4 seasons under his watch.

I like the guy, I'm good with him as the next HC provided we can work out a favorable contract to start off with, but I just don't see how you think he is low risk.
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In fairness, it's mainly your last sentence. I expect Tech would have a favorable contract, as well as continuity. Thacker would get to continue building the defense, which outside of Keion White and our linebackers returns almost everyone. Remember, Dabo's first contract with Clemson was a prove it deal, $900k a year. He's obviously making up for that now, but I think Key is the type of guy to bet on himself.

The main concern is on O, and yes I do think we need to pony up money for a quality offensive coordinator, as well as do whatever we can to get Choice back on the flats. The unit he was responsible for did have the largest rebuilding task (outside of tight ends), and I think we are *finally* starting to see from fruits of that build. Unlike previous years, the O-line is young, and moving Jordan Williams inside and starting Leftwich at tackle appears to have made a big difference.

Chadwell (again, if he is the guy, and there's been very few leaks) is going to bring his own staff in. Defense will likely regress learning a new scheme. Offense would need to make a huge leap, immediately, to cover. It's possible, but we also may be looking at a few 3 win years again while Chadwell get's "his guys" in. And I don't think Tech football can take that (again).
 

yeti92

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,181
Josh H said:
In fairness, it's mainly your last sentence. I expect Tech would have a favorable contract, as well as continuity. Thacker would get to continue building the defense, which outside of Keion White and our linebackers returns almost everyone. Remember, Dabo's first contract with Clemson was a prove it deal, $900k a year. He's obviously making up for that now, but I think Key is the type of guy to bet on himself.

The main concern is on O, and yes I do think we need to pony up money for a quality offensive coordinator, as well as do whatever we can to get Choice back on the flats. The unit he was responsible for did have the largest rebuilding task (outside of tight ends), and I think we are *finally* starting to see from fruits of that build. Unlike previous years, the O-line is young, and moving Jordan Williams inside and starting Leftwich at tackle appears to have made a big difference.

Chadwell (again, if he is the guy, and there's been very few leaks) is going to bring his own staff in. Defense will likely regress learning a new scheme. Offense would need to make a huge leap, immediately, to cover. It's possible, but we also may be looking at a few 3 win years again while Chadwell get's "his guys" in. And I don't think Tech football can take that (again).
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I think the defense is likely to regress either way - White is clearly our best in the front 4 and will be gone, Ace and CT will both be gone and their backups have almost no game experience except for Tatum who has a little, and Walton, Sims, Allen, and King are all R-Juniors and could be done, I think at least a couple walked at Senior Day.
 
Techster

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
18,388
steebu said:
Whoa, whoa, whoa there. You just listed a modern Mt. Rushmore of offensive minds. You must really think highly of Chadwell. I admit I’ve only seen highlights of one of CC’s games so no real opinion of Chadwell’s offense, but I do wonder if he borrowed the idea of arcing the OT from CPJ (who did it for the first time against UGA in 2016).

My only concern with him and BoB is that GT has fallen so far down the ranks of CFB desirable destinations (thanks, TFG!) that both Chadwell and BoB would bolt for a bigger opportunity if they show some success here. Imagine if Chadwell goes 10-2 in his first season here. A dominoes scenario of Kiffin->Auburn, Saban retires, Dabo->Alabama, and Chadwell->Clemson (money! Slides! Back home to South Carolina!) isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. I hate for us to be a stepping stone, but Key seems the least likely to bolt - but who knows … if he does really well after a few years you could imagine him getting a few tempting calls, too.
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Coaches are hired to either be fired or for them to leave you. Rarely does a coach stay until retirement anymore. Look at every coach that's been at GT from Curry on:

Bill Curry - left after 7 seasons for 'Bama
Ross - left after 5 seasons to coach in the NFL
Lewis - Fired after 2+ seasons
O'Leary - Left after 8 seasons for Notre Dame
Gailey - Fired after 6 seasons. Also almost left earlier for an NFL job
Johnson - Retired after 11 seasons. Tried to put his hat into the ring for the Tennessee opening.
Collins - Fired after 3+ seasons.

Who's to say if Key has 3 10+ wins seasons here, and Saban retires, 'Bama doesn't come after Key? Key has history there, is from Birmingham, and 'Bama has FAR more resources than GT does. Curry, who is as die hard GT as there is left here for 'Bama.

GT needs to come to terms with who we are on the pecking order. Would it be terrible to be the UCF of Power 5? Hire up and coming coaches, or very good coaches, and win 10+ games every year...and watch them move on because they were successful. It's up to GT to find the good coaches and keep the training moving forward with a full head of steam.
 

bigrabbit

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
309
yeti92 said:
How is Key the low risk hire? He has next to zero HC experience, is heavily tied to the previous coach, and the unit he was responsible for has been arguably the worst part of the whole team for 4 seasons under his watch.

I like the guy, I'm good with him as the next HC provided we can work out a favorable contract to start off with, but I just don't see how you think he is low risk.
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Easy to explain the risk perception: Key functionally does have HC experience at GT. We’ve had the opportunity to audition him at HC - which is huge - and most observers have been favorably impressed. The team is playing on a different level.

Chadwell is unproven at P5 level and there is some uncertainty about how well he will translate his success from a lower level weak school (academically) to GT and how long will it take?

Most of us can see Key (1) quickly becoming competitive in the ACC again and (2) stabilizing things enough to work on our balance sheet.

It’s also easy to imagine Chadwell continuing his success at GT, but it’s a change, so more unknowns.
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
804
Techster said:
Who's to say if Key has 3 10+ wins seasons here, and Saban retires, 'Bama doesn't come after Key? Key has history there, is from Birmingham, and 'Bama has FAR more resources than GT does. Curry, who is as die hard GT as there is left here for 'Bama.
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Techster said:
Coaches are hired to either be fired or for them to leave you. Rarely does a coach stay until retirement anymore. Look at every coach that's been at GT from Curry on:

Bill Curry - left after 7 seasons for 'Bama
Ross - left after 5 seasons to coach in the NFL
Lewis - Fired after 2+ seasons
O'Leary - Left after 8 seasons for Notre Dame
Gailey - Fired after 6 seasons. Also almost left earlier for an NFL job
Johnson - Retired after 11 seasons. Tried to put his hat into the ring for the Tennessee opening.
Collins - Fired after 3+ seasons.

Who's to say if Key has 3 10+ wins seasons here, and Saban retires, 'Bama doesn't come after Key? Key has history there, is from Birmingham, and 'Bama has FAR more resources than GT does. Curry, who is as die hard GT as there is left here for 'Bama.

GT needs to come to terms with who we are on the pecking order. Would it be terrible to be the UCF of Power 5? Hire up and coming coaches, or very good coaches, and win 10+ games every year...and watch them move on because they were successful. It's up to GT to find the good coaches and keep the training moving forward with a full head of steam.
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If Key is hired and is successful here, I don't think he's leaving. Go back to when Key was first hired. I believe it was the interview with Key and Marco Coleman sitting next to each other. Key responded to the question about leaving bamers and coming to Tech. Basically he said Tech is in Atlanta, Bama is in the boonies. He probably wouldn't want to return to Tuscaloosa.
 
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