HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[Gt2019]

We keep hearing this but there is zero proof, where is the rumor coming from?

I know people at tech due to going to the school and meeting people through clubs and events. I hear things from time to time and post them to give a sense of where things are.

 

[JacketFan137]

I know people at tech due to going to the school and meeting people through clubs and events. I hear things from time to time and post them to give a sense of where things are.

i remember hearing this for south carolina as well

 

[takethepoints]

I agree but winning cures all. Tech doesn’t have many fans interested right now any way so winning is about the only way to fix that. Only a Deion Sanders type name would generate fans before winning started.

Main reason not to hire him, imho.

If I could double like a post, I'd double like this.

 

[Techster]

Lots of these "rumors" are at odds.

1. J Batt keeping things close to the vest and not letting anyone know which coach is on his list.

2. List of likely candidates, coaches preference if they're hired, etc.

Both can not be true. Reminds me a LOT of the AD rumors before we hired Batt...none of which turned out to be true. My sense is a lot of these rumors stem from certain fans preferences, certain donors likes/dislikes of certain candidates, and just pure speculation based on internet sites.

Truth is we'll know in a few weeks.

EDIT: One thing I'll share from what I've been told, there's some frustration from certain donors because they're not getting access to information that they're accustomed to with past administrations.

 

[00Burdell]

EDIT: One thing I'll share from what I've been told, there's some frustration from certain donors because they're not getting access to information that they're accustomed to with past administrations.

Excellent.

 

[slugboy]

Not to throw fuel on the speculation fire, but to put oneself in Batt's position

• He's coming over from the heart of SEC country, working as the Executive Deputy Director of Athletics at Alabama
• One would hope that he was enmeshed in how to run a successful program
• He should be aware of the recruiting differences between Georgia Tech and Alabama or UNC, or most SEC schools
• If, as @Vespidae says, we're not in the minds of the recruits that go to surrounding schools as a serious path to the league, either Batt sees the opportunity to hire a Deion Sanders or Dell McGee with a lot of SEC coaches that have been taken seriously as a path to get back to relevance or he sees issues with it. He should have an idea what these guys can do and if he thinks it can work here.
• Short version: if he thinks that Deion Sanders (or Dell McGee or another hot name) would put us on top and Deion would take the job, he'd pull the trigger. He'd at least get them in for an interview and research it.
• He should be clearly aware that we just fired our Football HC and the AD that hired him. He was hired to fix a problem and get the AA and the football program back on track. Stansbury may be completely retired now, and Collins did massive damage to his career. If you're in a platoon and the last guy on point gets fragged, you're going to be extra careful when Sarge puts you on point right after that. Batt should be taking this hiring process more seriously than even most high-profile coaching hires, because the stakes are very high. He's looking for the best bet possible

For Batt, it's his tail on the line if this goes badly, and I'm sure he knows it. The last guy got fired over getting it wrong. Batt will be dotting i's and crossing t's and triple-checking everything. I'm also sure that he's phoning smart friends who keep their mouths shut to get good advice.

Also, (Vespidae) my friends who are Bama fans hope that Cadillac Williams doesn't get the Auburn job because they think he's the greatest guy on earth and they don't want to hate him.

 

[UgaBlows]

My sense is a lot of these rumors stem from certain fans preferences, certain donors likes/dislikes of certain candidates, and just pure speculation based on internet sites.

bingo.

 

[UgaBlows]

Not to throw fuel on the speculation fire, but to put oneself in Batt's position

• He's coming over from the heart of SEC country, working as the Executive Deputy Director of Athletics at Alabama
• One would hope that he was enmeshed in how to run a successful program
• He should be aware of the recruiting differences between Georgia Tech and Alabama or UNC, or most SEC schools
• If, as @Vespidae says, we're not in the minds of the recruits that go to surrounding schools as a serious path to the league, either Batt sees the opportunity to hire a Deion Sanders or Dell McGee with a lot of SEC coaches that have been taken seriously as a path to get back to relevance or he sees issues with it. He should have an idea what these guys can do and if he thinks it can work here.
• Short version: if he thinks that Deion Sanders (or Dell McGee or another hot name) would put us on top and Deion would take the job, he'd pull the trigger. He'd at least get them in for an interview and research it.
• He should be clearly aware that we just fired our Football HC and the AD that hired him. He was hired to fix a problem and get the AA and the football program back on track. Stansbury may be completely retired now, and Collins did massive damage to his career. Batt should be taking this hiring process more seriously than even most high-profile coaching hires, because the stakes are very high. He's looking for the best bet possible

For Batt, it's his tail on the line if this goes badly, and I'm sure he knows it. The last guy got fired over getting it wrong. Batt will be dotting i's and crossing t's and triple-checking everything. I'm also sure that he's phoning smart friends who keep their mouths shut to get good advice.

Also, (Vespidae) my friends who are Bama fans hope that Cadillac Williams doesn't get the Auburn job because they think he's the greatest guy on earth and they don't want to hate him.

I’m still amazed at times that he took this job, I imagine there are quite a few people if they had been in his situation at Bama would have just stayed there and maybe held on for an easier gig. It gives me hope that he IS the right man for the job, that he took this task on and that he sees the great potential here at Tech and believes that he can bring it out.

I really want Chadwell but have a feeling that we’re going to get someone with that we aren’t expecting at all, i’m dying to find out who And ready to get behind them 100%

 

[takethepoints]

Ask Bill Belichick what he looks for in a draft pick. "Who did he play against?" They don't look at W-L records ... they look to see what the level of competition was.

If you want to fix Tech football, you have to fix scheduling. It's a complete system. Winning against better quality opponents leads to more press [awareness], leads to more people following the outcomes [interest], leads to more folks including Tech in their plans [consideration}, leads to more people trying the product [selection].

That's the Consumer Journey. It works.

1. Otis Sistrunk and about 15% of all NFL players say hi. Belichek notwithstanding.

2. FIFY above. I agree, but I don't think losing to factory programs is going to up Tech's recruiting presence. Imho, the first thing you need to do to attract recruits is win. A good example is Justin Thomas. Bama wanted him bad, but he chose Tech because he a) could play QB and b) Tech had a winning program. And, while playing an easier schedule might ace Tech out of some top recruits, we had a winning program without them before and our chances of getting a major share fo the Georgia top kids would, again imho, be limited anyway. Tech is not going to change the institution to fit the football program. Sooooo … I'm for an easier schedule.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

This speaks to my own view that to be relevant, you have to be present. Notre Dame is Notre Dame because they went anywhere in the country to play the best teams they could. That was their brand.

Tech, in my view, needs to be the best SEC team NOT in the SEC. Stop playing Alcorn State, Austin Peay, and Lousiiana School of the Blind. We play UGA, fine ... but fill in the rest of the schedule with local, relevant teams that DEEPEN our penetration into our backyard. I would far rather play Auburn and other SEC schools because we become relevant to the recruiting base as a legit alternative.

Ask Bill Belichick what he looks for in a draft pick. "Who did he play against?" They don't look at W-L records ... they look to see what the level of competition was.

If you want to fix Tech football, you have to fix scheduling. It's a complete system. Better quality opponents leads to more press [awareness], leads to more people following the outcomes [interest], leads to more folks including Tech in their plans [consideration}, leads to more people trying the product [selection].

That's the Consumer Journey. It works.

Belichick drafted Shaq Mason

 

[Vespidae]

Not to throw fuel on the speculation fire, but to put oneself in Batt's position

• He's coming over from the heart of SEC country, working as the Executive Deputy Director of Athletics at Alabama
• One would hope that he was enmeshed in how to run a successful program
• He should be aware of the recruiting differences between Georgia Tech and Alabama or UNC, or most SEC schools
• If, as @Vespidae says, we're not in the minds of the recruits that go to surrounding schools as a serious path to the league, either Batt sees the opportunity to hire a Deion Sanders or Dell McGee with a lot of SEC coaches that have been taken seriously as a path to get back to relevance or he sees issues with it. He should have an idea what these guys can do and if he thinks it can work here.
• Short version: if he thinks that Deion Sanders (or Dell McGee or another hot name) would put us on top and Deion would take the job, he'd pull the trigger. He'd at least get them in for an interview and research it.
• He should be clearly aware that we just fired our Football HC and the AD that hired him. He was hired to fix a problem and get the AA and the football program back on track. Stansbury may be completely retired now, and Collins did massive damage to his career. If you're in a platoon and the last guy on point gets fragged, you're going to be extra careful when Sarge puts you on point right after that. Batt should be taking this hiring process more seriously than even most high-profile coaching hires, because the stakes are very high. He's looking for the best bet possible

For Batt, it's his tail on the line if this goes badly, and I'm sure he knows it. The last guy got fired over getting it wrong. Batt will be dotting i's and crossing t's and triple-checking everything. I'm also sure that he's phoning smart friends who keep their mouths shut to get good advice.

Also, (Vespidae) my friends who are Bama fans hope that Cadillac Williams doesn't get the Auburn job because they think he's the greatest guy on earth and they don't want to hate him.

Good post. A few thoughts.

The perennial decision at Tech is ... a) We are unable to compete with the factories and therefore, must hire for scheme; or b) we can compete with a Tech version of NFL-lite and if that's the case, we have to not only hire for that, but also recruit for that and schedule for that.

We can't really opine on ANY potential head coach until we know the answer to that question. Option B will require a ton of money and since Batt's background is fundraising, I think he will lean this way. So we can probably rule out Chadwell and anyone with a specialized approach to the game. I think it is more likely we get someone who can at least spell NFL and has some street credibility.

We aren't getting Deion. Just give it up. Auburn is not pursuing Auburn either (to my knowledge). Apparently, FSU did vet Deion for that opening but determined that he is unqualified for a P5 job. I see Deion as a Hail Mary hire and I doubt very much Batt is going to make this the hill he dies on. No, this will be a very thoughtful, very professional search and hire.

If Kiffin takes the Auburn job, it opens a whole slew of moves in the SEC. And also closes the door to Alabama for Kiffin. And that will create a new series of moves there. I'm sure Batt knows that.

This has been the most interesting search at GT since Curry was hired. I hope we will see white smoke soon.

 

[JacketFan137]

This speaks to my own view that to be relevant, you have to be present. Notre Dame is Notre Dame because they went anywhere in the country to play the best teams they could. That was their brand.

Tech, in my view, needs to be the best SEC team NOT in the SEC. Stop playing Alcorn State, Austin Peay, and Lousiiana School of the Blind. We play UGA, fine ... but fill in the rest of the schedule with local, relevant teams that DEEPEN our penetration into our backyard. I would far rather play Auburn and other SEC schools because we become relevant to the recruiting base as a legit alternative.

Ask Bill Belichick what he looks for in a draft pick. "Who did he play against?" They don't look at W-L records ... they look to see what the level of competition was.

If you want to fix Tech football, you have to fix scheduling. It's a complete system. Better quality opponents leads to more press [awareness], leads to more people following the outcomes [interest], leads to more folks including Tech in their plans [consideration}, leads to more people trying the product [selection].

That's the Consumer Journey. It works.

to be fair we are playing more sec schools. in recent history we played ole miss and again next year, we played tennessee and vanderbilt pretty recently. ucf isn’t sec but it is a bigger name and proximal enough to benefit recruiting

 

[Vespidae]

1. Otis Sistrunk and about 15% of all NFL players say hi. Belichek notwithstanding.

2. FIFY above. I agree, but I don't think losing to factory programs is going to up Tech's recruiting presence. Imho, the first thing you need to do to attract recruits is win. A good example is Justin Thomas. Bama wanted him bad, but he chose Tech because he a) could play QB and b) Tech had a winning program. And, while playing an easier schedule might ace Tech out of some top recruits, we had a winning program without them before and our chances of getting a major share fo the Georgia top kids would, again imho, be limited anyway. Tech is not going to change the institution to fit the football program. Sooooo … I'm for an easier schedule.

Obviously, I disagree. NCAA research on attendance confirms this ... teams that play better opponents get more attendance (and tv viewership) than those that don't.

If you want to increase recruiting quality, you have to increase awareness, and you increase awareness by improving opponent quality. You don't have to play Alabama, but playing the downside of SEC opponents certainly makes sense.

 

[roadkill]

1. Otis Sistrunk and about 15% of all NFL players say hi. Belichek notwithstanding.

2. FIFY above. I agree, but I don't think losing to factory programs is going to up Tech's recruiting presence. Imho, the first thing you need to do to attract recruits is win. A good example is Justin Thomas. Bama wanted him bad, but he chose Tech because he a) could play QB and b) Tech had a winning program. And, while playing an easier schedule might ace Tech out of some top recruits, we had a winning program without them before and our chances of getting a major share fo the Georgia top kids would, again imho, be limited anyway. Tech is not going to change the institution to fit the football program. Sooooo … I'm for an easier schedule.

100% agree, especially when we are rebuilding. How about a plan that involves this sequence: 1, Getting to a bowl game, 2. Winning our bowl game, 3. Getting ranked, 4. Getting to the playoffs. That’s a manageable progression. National exposure to massive beatdowns against the likes of UGA and Ole Miss may move the needle, but in the wrong direction.

 

[takethepoints]

Not to throw fuel on the speculation fire, but to put oneself in Batt's position

• He's coming over from the heart of SEC country, working as the Executive Deputy Director of Athletics at Alabama
• One would hope that he was enmeshed in how to run a successful program
• He should be aware of the recruiting differences between Georgia Tech and Alabama or UNC, or most SEC schools
• If, as @Vespidae says, we're not in the minds of the recruits that go to surrounding schools as a serious path to the league, either Batt sees the opportunity to hire a Deion Sanders or Dell McGee with a lot of SEC coaches that have been taken seriously as a path to get back to relevance or he sees issues with it. He should have an idea what these guys can do and if he thinks it can work here.
• Short version: if he thinks that Deion Sanders (or Dell McGee or another hot name) would put us on top and Deion would take the job, he'd pull the trigger. He'd at least get them in for an interview and research it.
• He should be clearly aware that we just fired our Football HC and the AD that hired him. He was hired to fix a problem and get the AA and the football program back on track. Stansbury may be completely retired now, and Collins did massive damage to his career. If you're in a platoon and the last guy on point gets fragged, you're going to be extra careful when Sarge puts you on point right after that. Batt should be taking this hiring process more seriously than even most high-profile coaching hires, because the stakes are very high. He's looking for the best bet possible

For Batt, it's his tail on the line if this goes badly, and I'm sure he knows it. The last guy got fired over getting it wrong. Batt will be dotting i's and crossing t's and triple-checking everything. I'm also sure that he's phoning smart friends who keep their mouths shut to get good advice.

Also, (Vespidae) my friends who are Bama fans hope that Cadillac Williams doesn't get the Auburn job because they think he's the greatest guy on earth and they don't want to hate him.

I see the reasoning here, but I hope you are wrong. If Batt is looking over his shoulder, he will make as conservative and defensible a choice as he can to stop his seat from heating up. And that, imho, will lead inevitably to his seat heating up. What I'm hoping is that he will realize that he isn't in Kansas anymore and act accordingly after doing his research on what wins at Tech and who can best deliver on that. This decision will require some hard thinking and consultation to bring off successfully. And I'm also hoping that Cabrera realizes that all upper level hires are a crap shoot and won't fire Batt if his best decision turns out not to work. But, of course, that isn't likely to happen.

 

[Vespidae]

to be fair we are playing more sec schools. in recent history we played ole miss and again next year, we played tennessee and vanderbilt pretty recently. ucf isn’t sec but it is a bigger name and proximal enough to benefit recruiting

I don't disagree but rather than open against Alcorn State, open against Vandy. Sprinkle in an Ole Miss, a Kentucky (or better yet, Auburn) and recruit where you are seen. Recruits from Georgia don't care if we play Boston College.

It's anecdotal but, I was not an Auburn fan when I arrived here. I'm a lifelong Alabama fan as are most of my family. But living here, teaching here, interacting with players, fans and alumni, I have become a fan. Awareness leads to familiarity leads to consideration, leads to conversion. Basic marketing theory.

 

[Vespidae]

100% agree, especially when we are rebuilding. How about a plan that involves this sequence: 1, Getting to a bowl game, 2. Winning our bowl game, 3. Getting ranked, 4. Getting to the playoffs. That’s a manageable progression. National exposure to massive beatdowns against the likes of UGA and Ole Miss may move the needle, but in the wrong direction.

We tried that. Tech is tied for the nation's second-longest active bowl streak, at 18 consecutive seasons. Did it translate into long-term success? No. Beating Lower Slobodia and going to the Preparation H Hemmorhoid Relief Bowl doesn't move the needle either.

 

[JacketFan137]

I don't disagree but rather than open against Alcorn State, open against Vandy. Sprinkle in an Ole Miss, a Kentucky (or better yet, Auburn) and recruit where you are seen. Recruits from Georgia don't care if we play Boston College.

It's anecdotal but, I was not an Auburn fan when I arrived here. I'm a lifelong Alabama fan as are most of my family. But living here, teaching here, interacting with players, fans and alumni, I have become a fan. Awareness leads to familiarity leads to consideration, leads to conversion. Basic marketing theory.

yeah that’s fair. we don’t really have a whole lot on the schedule 2026 and beyond so i’m sure we will start announcing something. it’s not something we will change overnight or likely even for the next coaching regime.

hopefully batt is seen as a long term ad and we can get the scheduling aspect right for the future

 

[roadkill]

We tried that. Tech is tied for the nation's second-longest active bowl streak, at 18 consecutive seasons. Did it translate into long-term success? No. Beating Lower Slobodia and going to the Preparation H Hemmorhoid Relief Bowl doesn't move the needle either.

In 2016 we beat all 3 SEC teams that we played. We opened 2017 with a very competitive game against Tennessee with national exposure. We play UGA and Clemson every year. Did it translate into long-term success? 2017 recruiting ranking was 48, 2018 was 44 on 247. Show me some concrete evidence (not anecdotal) that your proposal works.

 

[Vespidae]

In 2016 we beat all 3 SEC teams that we played. We opened 2017 with a very competitive game against Tennessee with national exposure. We play UGA and Clemson every year. Did it translate into long-term success? 2017 recruiting ranking was 48, 2018 was 44 on 247. Show me some concrete evidence (not anecdotal) that your proposal works.

You cite one year? Doesn't exactly meet the statistical definition of a proven trend.

There's an analytical technique that if you can't prove something, you can establish it by proving the converse doesn't work. I just did.

That's ok. Keep doing what we are doing. Playing average teams that aren't relevant to our recruiting base and let's hope things change. I guess 18 years of experience doing this isn't enough.