HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

yeti92

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Why? I will admit, I was swayed by a crowded booth video following collins' firing. The video summarized McGee's pros as follows:

1. Very successful as a coach with UGA has an eye for talent and has gotten the most out of it.
2. Supposedly more dogs would be upset more at losing McGee than losing Monken.
3. Rebuilt Carver-Columbus from abysmal to winning state championships over 4 years.
4. Has a winning record as a college head coach (Georgia Southern as an interim)
5. Supposedly he'll open doors that Tech has never had access to before.
6. His current salary is $800k so we can give us a reasonably priced coach.
7. I have a decent feeling about the guy

What is your reasoning for so vehemently disliking him?
1. Success at UGA does not mean success at Tech. We are vastly different programs with vastly different resources. The biggest selling point I've heard on McGee is he can recruit, but how well does he recruit when he's not got the backing of UGA? Anybody can pull 4 star recruits there. How has he done at other stops?

2. I don't want Todd Monken either, so that's not a selling point to me. And if you don't think UGA can replace a RB coach and keep recruiting at their current level you are delusional.

3. What he did with a high school football team matters not one bit.

4. He was IHC for one game. Using that as a data point in his favor is ridiculous.

5. Yea, "supposedly". Not a selling point. Refer to point #1, what will he do when he's not at UGA? I just looked at his recruit list on 247, and from what I can tell he only pulled very low 3 star or 2 star players at Southern.

6. Ok, no problem there.

7. Mmm gut feelings, clearly the best way to choose a HC.

Ultimately, if you want to go the "recruiter" route, he is perhaps a step up from Geoff, but Deion is the better recruiter, so go for Deion. No one is going to recruit better than Deion, so if you want to go that route, let's answer the question once and for all - can Tech recruit at a high enough level to do what everyone else is and have success with it? Deion will tell us the answer for sure. McGee won't.
 

gte447f

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
925
Collins had a good strategy. He just couldn’t execute
I don’t think Collins had a strategy… maybe more of a vision of what he thought GT could be or what he wanted GT to be. I don’t think he had any concrete steps or plan of action to getting there, and that’s why it wasn’t a strategy, and why he failed. All he had was a vision of what he wanted, but you can’t just hype a vision into reality.
 

Techwood Relict

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I don’t think Collins had a strategy… maybe more of a vision of what he thought GT could be or what he wanted GT to be. I don’t think he had any concrete steps or plan of action to getting there, and that’s why it wasn’t a strategy, and why he failed. All he had was a vision of what he wanted, but you can’t just hype a vision into reality.
I'm thinking when one coaches at an engineering school, maybe your process ought to squared away. We pay attention to that sort of thing as an employed fan base.
 

4shotB

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Retired Staff
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I don’t think Collins had a strategy… maybe more of a vision of what he thought GT could be or what he wanted GT to be. I don’t think he had any concrete steps or plan of action to getting there, and that’s why it wasn’t a strategy, and why he failed. All he had was a vision of what he wanted, but you can’t just hype a vision into reality.
As they say, vision without action is just a dream. I think not only him but ALL coaches know what end product they want. It's the getting there that is the hard part and what seperates the fly **** from the pepper.
 

leatherneckjacket

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Why? I will admit, I was swayed by a crowded booth video following collins' firing. The video summarized McGee's pros as follows:

1. Very successful as a coach with UGA has an eye for talent and has gotten the most out of it.
2. Supposedly more dogs would be upset more at losing McGee than losing Monken.
3. Rebuilt Carver-Columbus from abysmal to winning state championships over 4 years.
4. Has a winning record as a college head coach (Georgia Southern as an interim)
5. Supposedly he'll open doors that Tech has never had access to before.
6. His current salary is $800k so we can give us a reasonably priced coach.
7. I have a decent feeling about the guy

What is your reasoning for so vehemently disliking him?
Eye for talent? He recruits 5 star players and they pay them to go there. Also, how is rebuilding a HS even remotely similar? We are not a HS. We are also not ugag. We do not recruit 5 stars and then claim success when they come when we pay them and they play well enough to make the NFL. I will not even bother with absurdity of his experience as a winning college head coach where he won a single game. I have no desire to test another person who has never coached a full season at any college.
 

HurricaneJacket

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1,461
1. Success at UGA does not mean success at Tech. We are vastly different programs with vastly different resources. The biggest selling point I've heard on McGee is he can recruit, but how well does he recruit when he's not got the backing of UGA? Anybody can pull 4 star recruits there. How has he done at other stops?

2. I don't want Todd Monken either, so that's not a selling point to me. And if you don't think UGA can replace a RB coach and keep recruiting at their current level you are delusional.

3. What he did with a high school football team matters not one bit.

4. He was IHC for one game. Using that as a data point in his favor is ridiculous.

5. Yea, "supposedly". Not a selling point. Refer to point #1, what will he do when he's not at UGA? I just looked at his recruit list on 247, and from what I can tell he only pulled very low 3 star or 2 star players at Southern.

6. Ok, no problem there.

7. Mmm gut feelings, clearly the best way to choose a HC.

Ultimately, if you want to go the "recruiter" route, he is perhaps a step up from Geoff, but Deion is the better recruiter, so go for Deion. No one is going to recruit better than Deion, so if you want to go that route, let's answer the question once and for all - can Tech recruit at a high enough level to do what everyone else is and have success with it? Deion will tell us the answer for sure. McGee won't.
I don't think that Deion is the "ultimate recruiter" he comes across more as a Collins part 2 than McGee to me. I'd love to be proven wrong though, and I'm going to trust ADJB's hire unless they come across as a used car salesman in their introductory press conference
 

HurricaneJacket

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Eye for talent? He recruits 5 star players and they pay them to go there. Also, how is rebuilding a HS even remotely similar? We are not a HS. We are also not ugag. We do not recruit 5 stars and then claim success when they come when we pay them and they play well enough to make the NFL. I will not even bother with absurdity of his experience as a winning college head coach where he won a single game. I have no desire to test another person who has never coached a full season at any college.
He has led a program, no matter what level, and has done so for years. That is why the HS program is important. Yes we are not UGA, but we aren't Alabama either, yet we just hired an AD from there. Not hiring talented people because they work for a company different than yours is the same fallacy as not hiring a top tier assistant from a factory.

For your last comment, we are likely going to have to hire someone who hasn't led a P5 program, or perhaps an FBS program for a full year, so I would recommend preparing yourself to be disappointed if that is your main criteria.
 

NorthAvenueNation

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
169
I like Chadwell for a few reasons (all IMHO of course):

1. Offensive Scheme; not as unique as the option, but brings an updated option set that would benefit Tech.

2. Affordability & Splash; he is currently making $900k per which we could offer more and also get a coach that has had success everywhere he has gone. Is P5 different? Of course! However, Chadwell has been able to hire well and build around his scheme. Part of being a good coach is who you hire around you.

3. Long Term Commitment; I don’t believe in another 67 year contract like we gave CGC, but Chadwell, to me, is a guy that could have success eventually at Tech and would continue to remain. That was the idea (IMO) behind Collins, but it just didn’t pan out, at all. If Dion comes and is successful within a couple of years, he will go to FSU or somewhere else when it opens.

4. The South; I love the fact that Chadwell has built his resume in the South. He will be able to find recruiters and coaches that understand the dynamic and build the program through the portal and recruiting.

5. Pyron Stays; I believe Pyron stays if Chadwell comes. Why? The offense.

In conclusion, I think we all could make an argument for many different coaches. For me, if it isn’t Chadwell, that’s totally fine. I just want a coach that wants Tech and wants to win and has a game plan to do so (which all of us could agree on!) I trust ADJB in making the right hire and announcing the day after the Ugag game.

Go Jackets!
 

leatherneckjacket

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Atlanta, GA
He has led a program, no matter what level, and has done so for years. That is why the HS program is important. Yes we are not UGA, but we aren't Alabama either, yet we just hired an AD from there. Not hiring talented people because they work for a company different than yours is the same fallacy as not hiring a top tier assistant from a factory.

For your last comment, we are likely going to have to hire someone who hasn't led a P5 program, or perhaps an FBS program for a full year, so I would recommend preparing yourself to be disappointed if that is your main criteria.
Huh? Are you suggesting that hiring an AAD from Bama is equivalent to hiring an assistant coach at ugag. Um, OK. Go with that.

Also, his experience as a HS head coach is important? I am glad you are not leading this search.

It has nothing to do with the company for which they work. It has to do with whether they can do the job. Dell McGee is high risk, high reward candidate because he has never recruited at a school like Tech, he has never coached at a school like Tech, and he has no real college head coaching experience. What he has done at ugag does not translate to Tech at all. We do not recruit 5 stars and let them shine. We have to recruit 3 stars that require a lot of development.

Also, just because he was a good head coach in HS does not mean he will be a good head coach in college or at Tech. If that were the case, there would be more universities hiring HS coaches. They do not for a reason, because they would fail.

Finally, I never said the person must have " led a P5 program". So, I am not sure where you got that.
 
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slugboy

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10,812
I don’t know if we’ll announce a hire tomorrow or a month from tomorrow, so it makes sense that we’ll pick our candidates and argue to our tastes. I like that some of y’all are going a little deeper on this.

There’s only so much room we can fit in a post, so I can’t reply to every post I thought was worth a reply.

Chadwell's a really good coach, IMO. I wish we had him at UVa. But for you guys, who CAN'T get it wrong, I think maybe Leipold's a little safer choice. Like, you've aleady missed badly once. The margin's a little slimmer for you than it was for us.

There are a few coaches from outside the South who have done well down here. I think Leipold is as close to a can’t-miss as I can see, but I think he’d have an easier fit in the midwest.

On the other hand, Saban is not a native southern guy at all, and he did great at LSU and Alabama. He’s never tried to fit in—he’s just been himself and it’s worked. So, maybe I’m overrating cultural aspects.

Why? I will admit, I was swayed by a crowded booth video following collins' firing. The video summarized McGee's pros as follows:

1. Very successful as a coach with UGA has an eye for talent and has gotten the most out of it.
2. Supposedly more dogs would be upset more at losing McGee than losing Monken.
3. Rebuilt Carver-Columbus from abysmal to winning state championships over 4 years.
4. Has a winning record as a college head coach (Georgia Southern as an interim)
5. Supposedly he'll open doors that Tech has never had access to before.
6. His current salary is $800k so we can give us a reasonably priced coach.
7. I have a decent feeling about the guy

What is your reasoning for so vehemently disliking him?

Number 5 is a lot to hope for. And we have to do more than open the doors—we gotta get players to come through.

It’s still a question mark to me whether being a solid position coach and a great recruiter would result in being a solid HC. I think it’s usually a mistake to say someone is just like Collins because they are a recruiter, but I’d like to know that someone can manage a team of assistants and shows the skills to run a major program. I don’t think the high school record is enough.

I also am looking for someone who builds systems that work after they’re gone. If we’re relying on his personality, we lose that when he moves on or retires.

I'll answer number 3
First he was a head coach at Carver in 2004 first year he was 4-6 then the next year 2-8 the follow year and not sure why but Donald Mack Jones was the head coach went 12-2 the follow year MeGee was head coach again ( not sure what happen) If you know much about Columbus that is a very weak area for football.
Also he only won the State Championship 1 year Lost the other 3 times.

This is good info that I didn’t have. Usually, when I see this in high school teams, it means that there were a group of players who grew up their junior and senior years. Teams like Buford that built ongoing success are the ones that I look at for building a program.

I like Chadwell for a few reasons (all IMHO of course):

1. Offensive Scheme; not as unique as the option, but brings an updated option set that would benefit Tech.

2. Affordability & Splash; he is currently making $900k per which we could offer more and also get a coach that has had success everywhere he has gone. Is P5 different? Of course! However, Chadwell has been able to hire well and build around his scheme. Part of being a good coach is who you hire around you.

3. Long Term Commitment; I don’t believe in another 67 year contract like we gave CGC, but Chadwell, to me, is a guy that could have success eventually at Tech and would continue to remain. That was the idea (IMO) behind Collins, but it just didn’t pan out, at all. If Dion comes and is successful within a couple of years, he will go to FSU or somewhere else when it opens.

4. The South; I love the fact that Chadwell has built his resume in the South. He will be able to find recruiters and coaches that understand the dynamic and build the program through the portal and recruiting.

5. Pyron Stays; I believe Pyron stays if Chadwell comes. Why? The offense.

In conclusion, I think we all could make an argument for many different coaches. For me, if it isn’t Chadwell, that’s totally fine. I just want a coach that wants Tech and wants to win and has a game plan to do so (which all of us could agree on!) I trust ADJB in making the right hire and announcing the day after the Ugag game.

Go Jackets!

I don’t think the affordability is the big hurdle. I think we’re willing to spend for a big coach. Chadwell recruits Atlanta already, so that’s a plus.

We’ve talked a lot about recruiting vs scheme, but you can have recruiting AND scheme.

If we just focus on recruiting, then we do need to look at the last four years. We’ve been using the transfer portal to bring players to our OL and it hasn’t worked. Some of them were on NFL draft scouting lists before they came here. For four years, multiple people here have been saying you can’t build an offensive line in one year. I also think we’ve put our OL athletes in a bad position, because if you keep changing out all the parts of your OL and keep getting the same results, I have to wonder if it’s the parts.

BUT, if you do think it’s the parts, how many years of recruiting is it going to take? The first year, we usually don’t expect a good class because of the “transition”. The second year, you get some honeymoon effect where you can recruit based on newness. If you haven’t had a good season by the third year, players are wondering if they want to go to your school and lose. We saw that here.

If that’s right, we need a coach to come here and have a pretty good first year, and a really good second year.

We have people arguing that we have talent, and we have people arguing that we don’t have talent. If we’re going to fix that on a recruiting-first strategy, please let me know how that works when it hasn’t worked for the last 4 years.

If it’s Deion, and he brings in 6 OL and a couple of good TEs through the transfer portal, how do they all gel after just one Spring practice? If they can, that seems like a coaching achievement that we haven’t pulled off for the last four years (which means we’re back to development and coaching discipline)
 

grandpa jacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
610
Ok, I’m probably going to h*** for this, but


More realistically
  • Bill O’Brien
  • Jamey Chadwell
  • Chip Long
  • Brian Harsin
  • Tyson Helton
Feel free to append spelling corrections and other coaches to the thread

I still see good things with Gus Malzahn, whipped Cincys but yesterday after they had won 19 in a row in conference. Been to a bowl every hear he has been a HC. Auburn made a big mistake. Sure he only won a time or 2 against Saban but he did have wins over them.
 

Jacket Bracket

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
208
It's not a good strategy if you can't execute it.
In my opinion, he did it backwards. He was promoting a poor (on field) product. Get results…THEN start the promotional. First focus on a quality product!

My analogy…If you open a burger restaurant and start telling everyone how elite your burgers are, then people try it and realize they taste really bad your restaurant will fail. Do it the opposite, actually have quality burgers then promote it and you have a good shot at success.
 

bobongo

Helluva Engineer
Messages
7,066
There are a few coaches from outside the South who have done well down here. I think Leipold is as close to a can’t-miss as I can see, but I think he’d have an easier fit in the midwest.
We could afford to give Leipold a nice raise from his current salary, but the buyout would be substantial:


"If while under contract Leipold wanted to leave KU for a job at any other college football program or in the NFL, it would cost him $6 million in 2021, $5 million in 2022, $4 million in 2023, $3 million in 2024, $2 million in 2025 and $1 million in 2026."

Looks like Tech would owe Kansas $10,000,000.
 

slugboy

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Staff member
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10,812
We could afford to give Leipold a nice raise from his current salary, but the buyout would be substantial:


"If while under contract Leipold wanted to leave KU for a job at any other college football program or in the NFL, it would cost him $6 million in 2021, $5 million in 2022, $4 million in 2023, $3 million in 2024, $2 million in 2025 and $1 million in 2026."

Looks like Tech would owe Kansas $10,000,000.
It’s a $5 million buyout in 2022. I think you’re adding up every buyout per year.
 

bigrabbit

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
249
Re: Chadwell at $900K, his contract includes an extraordinarily rich bonus structure.

“Chadwell and his staff can make a lot more through incentives, however. They can supplement their pay with performance bonuses totaling up to $2.6 million annually.” [per local SC newspaper]

Chadwell gets half, staff gets half. So if he wins conference, bowl game, hits academic incentives etc etc (according to the article) he ends up at $2.2M.
 

slugboy

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10,812
i just get the feeling he’s going to nebraska
There are two B1G programs pursuing him. Nebraska has already asked to interview him (I don’t know if they have).

The argument is that we should shoot our shot. Nebraska has a lot of financial resources and fans. We might be an easier place to win these days (yes, hard to believe, but a good coach can turn this place around)
 
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