HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[FightWinDrink]

Y'all still stuck on the Fritz rumor? Gene Chizik is the new jam. We're hiring a guy who's won a NC y'all. We're legit.

Heard our super rich and super cool donors are buying out Jimbo

 

[jgtengineer]

Uh, our Geoff Collins was that DC from UGA...Brian VanGorder. He nearly destroyed the football program and he was more effective than Geoff Collins, it only took one season. At least GSU AA was smart enough to jettison...post haste.

I say our, I am not GSC alum (was college at the time), but I did RETP from GSC to GT. I was freshman during that glorious 15-0 season. What fun that was. Lost my voice at a couple of games. Nuts. First team to ever go 15-0. I love the I-AA playoffs too...this CFP crap is lame. cut a game from regular season and get a 16 team playoff already.

Man, this is insane, I knew Erk Russell did a fast job, but this is nuts (source wikipedia)
"The Eagles fielded a club team in 1982 and 1983 and began official NCAA Division I-AA play in 1984. The next year, the Eagles would win their first Division I-AA national championship in Tacoma, Washington, defeating Furman, in only the team's fourth year in existence, second as a varsity team. "

This is why I discount all the "difficulties" GT has being truly competitive. There are hurdles, to be sure, but they can be overcome if we at least TRY. Settling for .500 isn't trying...at all.

No vangorder was absolutely horrible. Tyson summers was the "grew up in south georgia watching Georgia Southern play growing up, ra ra ra guy who talked up alot of big game stuff, then put together a staff of people who were hear with hatcher to make some weird air raid option hybrid that could do none of it (reminded me of hatchers pitch it forward year before he went to a gun spread option (auburn) with foster the next year and then summers just absolutely sucked.

Then we fire summers elevate Lundsford who was a southern through and through guy who does a half decent job wins the gig we have a few good seasons then the rails start falling off, in that time we have i think 3 different AD. Lundsford tries to run the fritzkrieg again bringing in bob debasse to be the OC but it just doesn't work after debasse retires again.

And actually they weren't smart enough to jettison van gorder he left to take a job coaching LB for the falcons. Otherwise he'd have had ihis chance to really collins it.

Oh and summers brings bryan cook down from georgia tech then doesn't let him run the flexbone.

 

[bke1984]

Knowing what we know now, I think we could have had six, possibly 7, this year. I might even say eight.

Losses being Clemson, Ole Miss, UGA and one from the field. But weren't all the others winnable if we had been coached well beginning last December?

Maybe. But this assumes we played some games above our potential and none below. It’s easy to get caught up in the argument that we could have won 7 if we’d just won two more games.

Well…ok. I mean LSU would be undefeated if they’d won three more games. They were so close…

Point I’m making is it’s not like those two games were lost on fluke stuff…and that assumes that we play with the same level of energy in our unexpected wins if we’d win some of those easier games.

We were not a very good team the first half of the year. Even after Key took over. Then we got better. In large part because Key took over, but also because the competition got easier and the young players got older.

Lots of variables, so I’m not sure it’s a given we get to 7-8 with Key all year this year. So then let’s look ahead - our defense is about to lose its best three playmakers. Will they be able to repeat next year? If not, will the offense take enough of a step forward to offset the drop in production?

I’d be ok with Key, but devils advocate…Is it feasible that we hire Key and win 4 games and then go - crap, we still have many of the same glaring holes we had before?

 

[bke1984]

nm

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I think I’ve read the naysayers for each candidate enough in this thread that I’m convinced all these hires would be bad.

Truth. I’m all for getting behind the new hire and hope for the best. May be our new Nick Saban.

 

[Randy Carson]

Maybe. But this assumes we played some games above our potential and none below. It’s easy to get caught up in the argument that we could have won 7 if we’d just won two more games.

Well…ok. I mean LSU would be undefeated if they’d won three more games. They were so close…

Point I’m making is it’s not like those two games were lost on fluke stuff…and that assumes that we play with the same level of energy in our unexpected wins if we’d win some of those easier games.

We were not a very good team the first half of the year. Even after Key took over. Then we got better. In large part because Key took over, but also because the competition got easier and the young players got older.

Lots of variables, so I’m not sure it’s a given we get to 7-8 with Key all year this year. So then let’s look ahead - our defense is about to lose its best three playmakers. Will they be able to repeat next year? If not, will the offense take enough of a step forward to offset the drop in production?

I’d be ok with Key, but devils advocate…Is it feasible that we hire Key and win 4 games and then go - crap, we still have many of the same glaring holes we had before?

Sure. But that would be true of anyone we hire, right?

I wasn't there, so anything I say is either conjecture or hearsay. It just seems to me that if the new guy has dialed up the intensity of practices, improved some schemes (or allowed his coordinators to work unhindered), played kids based on merit, ingrained a mentally-tough work ethic...well, that all pays dividends in the win column.

Another factor for next year...with TFG gone, might there be some players who will join us via the portal that would NOT have come otherwise? Now, you can (and others have) said that we're gonna lose a bunch of players. Really? Just when a real football coach is taking charge?

I'm unconvinced that TFG had "his players" that were so loyal to him personally that they're gonna pack up now that he has been shown the exit. If anything, I suspect that there is a lot of relief in the lockeroom that the adults have taken charge.

 

[ThatGuy]

Shocking.

Well, remember, it was The Greatest Rebuild in the History of Collegiate Sports™. How else would we have gotten CGC to take the job?

(/s, if no one gets that off the bat. Also, FML. Can't believe we will actually have to pay this guy off, AND he'll make more money as DC from my wife's school. Insult, meet injury.)

 

[4shotB]

I kinda feel the same about Fritz. Guess we both woke up and chose chaos this mornin'..

I been dying to see some-a these dudes go on the Fritz. Yep, thats gonna be a thing.

At the end of the day, i think the saddest thing is that the new regime is going to do the same as the previous regimes. Insteaad of getting a guy that WOULD rally the troops as we all hoped a few months ago, we are getting something less than that (assuming we are shopping amongst the names listed here.) It was the same in the corporate world for the most part, the new CEO would come in with trumpets and fan fare. After enduring the speeches and learning the new set of buzzwords, in a few months things settled down and life went on for the most part. Sure there would be some ceremonial bloodletting to let you know the new guy was marking his territory but if you survived that it was pretty much back to work as usual.

I have said this before, but the Who were wise beyond their years when they wrote this...."meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

 

[Bleedwhiteandgold]

Where did Gt2019 go with all his insider info lol??

LOL i was thinking the same thing

 

[ThatGuy]

Just out of curiosity, I looked up what VanGorder is doing now. Talk about an interesting career that's gone full circle. That guy doesn't stick around anywhere for long.

Brian VanGorder - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah - IIRC, he was a "special consultant" then DC at Notre Dame in 2015, when we were projected to do well and they beat the snot out of us early in the season. I watched that game from Rome, Italy in a bar at an odd hour, and knew that season would be crummy (which CPJ had alluded to in comments about fall practice).

That bummed me out, because I knew CPJ would have enjoyed running the ball down the throat of the person who dismantled the option machine he had built at Georgia Southern. There were always the rumors of CPJ trying to get VanGorder/Georgia Southern on Navy's schedule when he was there. I suppose he did get the last laugh - the last time GT went against a VanGorder defense was Louisville in 2018, where we beat them 66-31.

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

Fritz is the wrong move. He was at Ga. Southern and had a couple of fairly successful seasons, then bolted to Tulane. He had 6 sub 500 seasons there and fortunately had a good season this year. Sounds a little like Collins resume. Key is your man.

Let’s stick with the facts people

 

[85Escape]

Let’s stick with the facts people

Wow. Looks like Tulane has been way more successful the past seven years than GT has. They've been to twice as many bowls as we have since 2016... And 41 wins to our 34 over seven years

Rk	Year	Conf	W	L	T	Pct	W	L	T	Pct	SRS	SOS	Coach(es)	Bowl
1	2022	ACC	5	7	0	.417	4	4	0	.500	-2.97	4.86	Geoff Collins (1-3), Brent Key (4-4)
2	2021	ACC	3	9	0	.250	2	6	0	.250	-1.91	3.68	Geoff Collins (3-9)
3	2020	ACC	3	7	0	.300	3	6	0	.333	-7.85	0.05	Geoff Collins (3-7)
4	2019	ACC	3	9	0	.250	2	6	0	.250	-8.49	2.42	Geoff Collins (3-9)
5	2018	ACC	7	6	0	.538	5	3	0	.625	2.76	1.76	Paul Johnson (7-6)	Quick Lane Bowl-L
6	2017	ACC	5	6	0	.455	4	4	0	.500	6.38	5.93	Paul Johnson (5-6)
7	2016	ACC	9	4	0	.692	4	4	0	.500	7.13	2.90	Paul Johnson (9-4)	TaxSlayer Bowl-W

 

[SidewalkJacket]

At the end of the day, i think the saddest thing is that the new regime is going to do the same as the previous regimes. Insteaad of getting a guy that WOULD rally the troops as we all hoped a few months ago, we are getting something less than that (assuming we are shopping amongst the names listed here.) It was the same in the corporate world for the most part, the new CEO would come in with trumpets and fan fare. After enduring the speeches and learning the new set of buzzwords, in a few months things settled down and life went on for the most part. Sure there would be some ceremonial bloodletting to let you know the new guy was marking his territory but if you survived that it was pretty much back to work as usual.

I have said this before, but the Who were wise beyond their years when they wrote this...."meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

The assumption here is the sad thing, to me, about so many of these posts. What exactly is ADJB supposed to do? What name would "rally the troops as we all hoped?" I mean, CBK appears to have done that as interim, but absent him getting the permanent job, who was GT supposed to lure from the HC coaching ranks that would fire everybody up and wow the masses? GT is a tough job, open at a time when there are more attractive openings, and it doesn't have the bottomless pit of money to just get whoever they choose. And furthermore, no good HC who is still coaching at the moment is going to publicly accept the job anyway! For all we know, it's already done. Or they may screw it up. But.... patience.

 

[RonJohn]

Let’s stick with the facts people

Well...... If you consider 50% as sub .500, and then you consider slightly over 50% as sub .500 (simply rounding), then you get six sub .500 seasons.

 

[4shotB]

The assumption here is the sad thing, to me, about so many of these posts. What exactly is ADJB supposed to do? What name would "rally the troops as we all hoped?" I mean, CBK appears to have done that as interim, but absent him getting the permanent job,

I think you answered your own questions in this post,

 

[Longestday]

[
Not even close to Collins. Tulane did not decrease in performance. They doubled their yearly wins. I agree that it’s hard to be excited about the record even though Fritz doubled their win percentage.

You could say Fritz decreased GSU performance, but not including their jump up in conference the year he arrived would be less than telling the whole story.

I don’t like that he hired Long as OC though.

Fritz is a good proven coach, just not a flashy record on till this year.

 

[85Escape]

Fritz is a good proven coach, just not a flashy record on till this year.

Four out of the last five years in a bowl. Frankly, I'd take that right now. I hope we hire Key, but I'm not going to be pouty if we hire Fritz.

 

[BCJacket]

Wow. Looks like Tulane has been way more successful the past seven years than GT has. They've been to twice as many bowls as we have since 2016... And 41 wins to our 34 over seven years

Is Fritz better than C****? Absolutely. But he's averaging only 5.8 wins a year at a school with a much easier schedule than Tech's. The idea that this will somehow translate into better results at Tech is very suspect, IMHO. No other P5 or even G5 school with an open job has been reported to have even looked at Fritz.

If we're going to hire a coach that might only be marginally better than we had, why not stick with Key? He's [probably] more affordable, we'll have less 'growing pains', the players and boosters are behind him. Feels like Batt is just being stubborn and scraping the bottom of the barrel for anyone but Key.

 

[kg01]

I think you answered your own questions in this post,

I still remember the days when McWorter(sp?) "rallied the troops as the interim" tho, so I'm not sold that Key is the 'move'.

I keep asking - and keep getting the same silence - what's Key actually done other than just being better than Collins?

Has there been a time when we felt we had a coaching advantage at any point?

I'm underwhelmed with all the names that have been bandied about, honestly. Just so I'm clear.

 

[stech81]

Wow. Looks like Tulane has been way more successful the past seven years than GT has. They've been to twice as many bowls as we have since 2016... And 41 wins to our 34 over seven years

Rk	Year	Conf	W	L	T	Pct	W	L	T	Pct	SRS	SOS	Coach(es)	Bowl
1	2022	ACC	5	7	0	.417	4	4	0	.500	-2.97	4.86	Geoff Collins (1-3), Brent Key (4-4)
2	2021	ACC	3	9	0	.250	2	6	0	.250	-1.91	3.68	Geoff Collins (3-9)
3	2020	ACC	3	7	0	.300	3	6	0	.333	-7.85	0.05	Geoff Collins (3-7)
4	2019	ACC	3	9	0	.250	2	6	0	.250	-8.49	2.42	Geoff Collins (3-9)
5	2018	ACC	7	6	0	.538	5	3	0	.625	2.76	1.76	Paul Johnson (7-6)	Quick Lane Bowl-L
6	2017	ACC	5	6	0	.455	4	4	0	.500	6.38	5.93	Paul Johnson (5-6)
7	2016	ACC	9	4	0	.692	4	4	0	.500	7.13	2.90	Paul Johnson (9-4)	TaxSlayer Bowl-W

you know the sad part I remember being one the wanted to fire Gailey cause 7 wins was not enough. 44-32 just seem bad and now look where we are at. I want a coach Key that is 4-4 and others want a coach that is 41-45 at the school he coaches and build him up cause he won 6 games and 7 games twice cause they went to a bowl game. We are sad bunch and I'm one on them. ( damn I need to go get some bud light)