HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[yeti92]

This 100%! If Downs makes that catch, I agree that Key is not a serious candidate. So many prisoners of the moment here. All Key winning proves is how stunningly terrible Collins was (I was a supporter) at coaching football. Remember, Pitt literally dropped 4 ints and had 4 turnovers themselves and we barely won that one. Uva is sooooo bad and we couldn't beat them at home. I love Key and I am enjoying his run (except for Miami which I had to leave early because it was so ugly and we know how bad Miami is), but cmon, unless he wins Saturday, he should not be a serious contender. I would love for him to stay on next guy's staff.

And I didn't even mention the FSU game

Yea, this is the biggest worry with Key to me - we've won more games and been better than the last guy, but every win has been a nailbiter that required at least a bit of luck. We've still lost to two terrible teams, and at home. If we hire him, do we/he have a clear vision for how this team is going to continue to improve next year and show progress? Key doesn't have any record of doing this so its pretty hard to know or feel confident about.

 

[stech81]

Let's get real most everyone knows who our next head coach at Tech will be after the season. No. it's not Key, but someone who has not coached at a P5 school and we really have no idea if he can recruit at Tech (which is not easy). I hope he works out and I will back him 100% if he is the pick. But remember one thing no matter who is named the head coach next year could be bad, it takes time.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

Yea, this is the biggest worry with Key to me - we've won more games and been better than the last guy, but every win has been a nailbiter that required at least a bit of luck. We've still lost to two terrible teams, and at home. If we hire him, do we/he have a clear vision for how this team is going to continue to improve next year and show progress? Key doesn't have any record of doing this so its pretty hard to know or feel confident about.

5 years, $21.33MM. First 2 years are lower salary, heavier bonus. Buyout drops at year 3. Performance based, but shows the kids long term commitment. Big NIL $$$ secured. Portal bandaid + recruit $$$ + Godsey offense. We are back!

 

[stech81]

Yea, this is the biggest worry with Key to me - we've won more games and been better than the last guy, but every win has been a nailbiter that required at least a bit of luck. We've still lost to two terrible teams, and at home. If we hire him, do we/he have a clear vision for how this team is going to continue to improve next year and show progress? Key doesn't have any record of doing this so its pretty hard to know or feel confident about.

Do we really know if we hire anyone how the team will improve? We hope but no we don't know.

 

[bke1984]

Did you listen to Mack Brown's postgame presser? He wasn't blaming the dropped pass...he was frustrated by the whole offense.

And that is - in part - due to our defense playing a good game.

Sure. He’s not going to single out an all American and blame him for the loss. But it doesn’t change that point of my OP, which is that if a really good player makes a routine catch we lose - and Carolina wins despite our great defensive effort.

 

[WreckinGT]

Let's get real most everyone knows who our next head coach at Tech will be after the season. No. it's not Key, but someone who has not coached at a P5 school and we really have no idea if he can recruit at Tech (which is not easy). I hope he works out and I will back him 100% if he is the pick. But remember one thing no matter who is named the head coach next year could be bad, it takes time.

Are we certain that Key will recruit well if he is the choice? His recruiting here hasn't exactly been stellar.

 

[stech81]

Are we certain that Key will recruit well if he is the choice? His recruiting here hasn't exactly been stellar.

No but do we really know how anyone will recruit at Tech (not easy to do here)

 

[slugboy]

This 100%! If Downs makes that catch, I agree that Key is not a serious candidate. So many prisoners of the moment here. All Key winning proves is how stunningly terrible Collins was (I was a supporter) at coaching football. Remember, Pitt literally dropped 4 ints and had 4 turnovers themselves and we barely won that one. Uva is sooooo bad and we couldn't beat them at home. I love Key and I am enjoying his run (except for Miami which I had to leave early because it was so ugly and we know how bad Miami is), but cmon, unless he wins Saturday, he should not be a serious contender. I would love for him to stay on next guy's staff.

And I didn't even mention the FSU game

If we get a good snap and hold on the field goal earlier AND Downs catches that pass, then it's a tie game, and we move down the field to win with a FG. If Sims doesn't get injured OR we had prepped Pyron, maybe we win UVA and look good doing it. If we don't drop tons of passes against UVA (and probably some other games), we're already bowl-eligible. If we have a good punt unit, there are no blocks and no punt returns over 10-15 yards, and our record is much better. If we're going to what-if, we should what-if in both directions.

We're a 5-6 team. In Bill Parcell terms "you are what your record says you are". We won some games and lost some blowouts. It's not all about having a hard schedule, either--it's not like we lost to Ole Miss by 10.

I put a lot of weight on the UVA, FSU, and Miami games. We didn't look good in those games. We're an uneven team. We're better than we were.

If JBatt goes with Chadwell, then he's "found his guy" like Stansbury found TFG.

If successful, then we are very happy. If not...well, wash, rinse, repeat. (But I don't think it's going to come to that.)

I think BOTH of these candidates can be successful...better than what we had for sure...so we're splitting hairs to some degree.

The shocker will be if we hire a third candidate. Imagine that Chadwell said "no", Key hadn't yet beaten UNC, and an offer was accepted by the unknown.

Now, THAT would piss off practically everyone.

We keep comparing people to other people and our hiring situation to other hiring situations. That's OK within reason, but let's not stretch it too far. J Batt is not Stansbury. If J Batt hires Leipold or Jim Mora Jr or some coach we've never discussed, he hasn't "found his guy", he's hopefully done his due diligence and found the coach that makes sense for the next several years. Key is not somebody else--he's Key. Chadwell isn't CPJ, and his offense isn't CPJ's offense. To respond to another poster, we aren't Georgia Southern 15-20 years ago. We have our own problems and strengths. We need a plan for where we want to go and how to get there, and we need to follow that plan within reason.

 

[wrmathis]

Think this applies pretty well here.

 

[jgtengineer]

Let's get real most everyone knows who our next head coach at Tech will be after the season. No. it's not Key, but someone who has not coached at a P5 school and we really have no idea if he can recruit at Tech (which is not easy). I hope he works out and I will back him 100% if he is the pick. But remember one thing no matter who is named the head coach next year could be bad, it takes time.

Rememebr johnson was expected to win 3 games in 2008.

It doesn't have to take that much time.

 

[jojatk]

Yea, this is the biggest worry with Key to me - we've won more games and been better than the last guy, but every win has been a nailbiter that required at least a bit of luck. We've still lost to two terrible teams, and at home. If we hire him, do we/he have a clear vision for how this team is going to continue to improve next year and show progress? Key doesn't have any record of doing this so it’s pretty hard to know or feel confident about.

If you looked at our team after the first few games and felt we would have an easy time with anyone else on our schedule then, in my opinion, that was an extraordinary overestimation of what the program has become.

What you see as nailbiters I see as games we would have lost had Collins still be the head coach. The loss to UVA is, to me, the one that got away. We should have won that game and threw away an opportunity. I didn’t feel good about Miami in general but expected us to struggle (though not as badly as we did) and I was under no illusions about FSU. The UNC game is an example of a coaching staff and players getting it right and beating a clearly better team and it’s just astonishing that people want to diminish that accomplishment by ascribing the win to a single poor play by an opposing player.

Having said all of that I am not sold that Key has to be our next HC. Neither am I sold that Chadwell has to be our next head coach. They both, along with lots of others, have risks associated with them. That’s just the nature of change. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I can get behind Chadwell. I can get behind Key. I can get behind Houston. I can get behind Sanders. I can get behind Clark. Etc… (not so much for Bill O’Brien, though).

 

[leatherneckjacket]

2 of Keys 3 losses this year comes after losing the starting QB in game. I definitely think he deserves a shot at the HC job.

Wait.

We were losing to UVA before Sims got knocked out of the game. In fact, Sims was not moving the ball (81 totals yards in five drives with four punts and an INT) and scored no points prior to his departure. Our backup in that game was the same guy who just beat UNC, but also decided to walk out of bounds to end the game. We knew Sims was injured, but Gibson was not ready to effectively run the offense despite being the backup all spring and football season.

As for Miami, again, we behind when ZP was injured and left the game. Again, we struggled to move the ball and score points with our starter. The backup, again, was the same guy who just beat UNC, but also decided to walk out of bounds to end the game against UVA. Again, we knew ZP was injured, but Gibson was not ready to effectively run the offense despite previously starting and being the backup all spring and football season.

I do not see why Key gets credit for UNC but no blame for his loss to UVA when he had ten days to prepare for one of the worst P5 teams and then lost. Further, he gets no blame for losing another game to a really bad Miami team. If you want to say the injuries are a driver, then fine. But it is on Key to make sure the backup is ready. Especially when it is known that the starter is hurt and may not be able to play, as was the case against both UVA and Miami. That does not even take into account the abysmal OL play for which Key is solely responsible that led to all these injuries and poor play by the QB.

 

[yeti92]

5 years, $21.33MM. First 2 years are lower salary, heavier bonus. Buyout drops at year 3. Performance based, but shows the kids long term commitment. Big NIL $$$ secured. Portal bandaid + recruit $$$ + Godsey offense. We are back!

Good with all of that except the Godsey offense.

 

[yeti92]

Do we really know if we hire anyone how the team will improve? We hope but no we don't know.

No, but other options having significantly larger records to assess them on.

 

[yeti92]

If you looked at our team after the first few games and felt we would have an easy time with anyone else on our schedule then, in my opinion, that was an extraordinary overestimation of what the program has become.

What you see as nailbiters I see as games we would have lost had Collins still be the head coach. The loss to UVA is, to me, the one that got away. We should have won that game and threw away an opportunity. I didn’t feel good about Miami in general but expected us to struggle (though not as badly as we did) and I was under no illusions about FSU. The UNC game is an example of a coaching staff and players getting it right and beating a clearly better team and it’s just astonishing that people want to diminish that accomplishment by ascribing the win to a single poor play by an opposing player.

Having said all of that I am not sold that Key has to be our next HC. Neither am I sold that Chadwell has to be our next head coach. They both, along with lots of others, have risks associated with them. That’s just the nature of change. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I can get behind Chadwell. I can get behind Key. I can get behind Houston. I can get behind Sanders. I can get behind Clark. Etc… (not so much for Bill O’Brien, though).

I agree with most of what you are saying, but I think too much is being compared to Collins and how Key is better than Collins, vs the other actual head coach candidates.

It seems as if everyone is falling into one of two camps - either you believe CGC was the sole issue, and we actually have most everything we need to be very successfull already, or CGC was a big issue, but there are still other issues that won't be resolved by maintaining most or all of this staff.

 

[Techster]

Anyone trying to equate Jamey Chadwell to the flexbone/Veer/Wing T/triple option/etc is REALLY missing the point. Yes, Chadwell uses option concepts within his offense, but his offense is SO MUCH more.

Coastal Carolina is one of the most efficient passing teams in the history of college football. Grayson McCall had a season that ranked #1 ALL TIME in passing efficiency. Read that statement again. Right now, Coastal Carolina ranks #39 is total passing, #3 in passing efficiency. They've passed for MORE yards than teams like FSU, Penn State, LSU. Teams like TCU (with the great Garrett Riley) and 'Bama are less than 500 yards more passing than Coastal.

If the "option" part of Chadwell's offense is scaring off other teams, GOOD! They're doing us a favor. There is a LOT of genius in Chadwell's offense. GT needs to decide if we want to win on the field, or win the fan perception battle. IF GT does pull the trigger on Chadwell, fans will find out REAL fast that the passing game for Chadwell is as much of threat to defenses as his running game. This is as complete of an offense as you'll find on any level of football...and it's why teams have a difficult time defending it. You can't load the box to defend the run, and you can't bring dime packages to defend the pass. You're stuck in no man's land hoping your players make the right decisions defending the run or defending the pass...and more often than not, they're going to be wrong.

I don't hide the fact that Chadwell is my #1 choice, but I am not going to be upset if we don't hire him. If we don't hire him because we have a better candidate with more upside, I'll be just as happy. However, if we don't hire him because some donors can't bare the perception with their drinking buddies that GT "runs the option", well then we've lost the plot.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

If you looked at our team after the first few games and felt we would have an easy time with anyone else on our schedule then, in my opinion, that was an extraordinary overestimation of what the program has become.

What you see as nailbiters I see as games we would have lost had Collins still be the head coach. The loss to UVA is, to me, the one that got away. We should have won that game and threw away an opportunity. I didn’t feel good about Miami in general but expected us to struggle (though not as badly as we did) and I was under no illusions about FSU. The UNC game is an example of a coaching staff and players getting it right and beating a clearly better team and it’s just astonishing that people want to diminish that accomplishment by ascribing the win to a single poor play by an opposing player.

Having said all of that I am not sold that Key has to be our next HC. Neither am I sold that Chadwell has to be our next head coach. They both, along with lots of others, have risks associated with them. That’s just the nature of change. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I can get behind Chadwell. I can get behind Key. I can get behind Houston. I can get behind Sanders. I can get behind Clark. Etc… (not so much for Bill O’Brien, though).

I do not think any one has the ability to say with any degree of certainty that we would have won or lost specific games with Collins instead of Key. Maybe he loses to UNC and Pitt but beats UVA and Miami and we are exactly where we are today. Maybe the results are exactly the same. Maybe he wins all four and wins the division. Who knows. The exercise is useless.

I do know for certain that this year is the worst that the Coastal division has ever been. The division was there for the taking. We beat the three best teams in our division, but lost to three of the four worst teams in the division and beat the worst one by a single point. I give credit to Key for beating the better teams but also give him equal credit for losing to the bad teams. It nets to zero in my books. If you focus only on the wins, which are the outliers, and ignore the losses, then Key looks pretty good. If you look at it holistically it is a mixed bag and not worth the risk.

 

[WreckinGT]

If you looked at our team after the first few games and felt we would have an easy time with anyone else on our schedule then, in my opinion, that was an extraordinary overestimation of what the program has become.

What you see as nailbiters I see as games we would have lost had Collins still be the head coach. The loss to UVA is, to me, the one that got away. We should have won that game and threw away an opportunity. I didn’t feel good about Miami in general but expected us to struggle (though not as badly as we did) and I was under no illusions about FSU. The UNC game is an example of a coaching staff and players getting it right and beating a clearly better team and it’s just astonishing that people want to diminish that accomplishment by ascribing the win to a single poor play by an opposing player.

Having said all of that I am not sold that Key has to be our next HC. Neither am I sold that Chadwell has to be our next head coach. They both, along with lots of others, have risks associated with them. That’s just the nature of change. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I can get behind Chadwell. I can get behind Key. I can get behind Houston. I can get behind Sanders. I can get behind Clark. Etc… (not so much for Bill O’Brien, though).

Im not so sure about the games we would have lost had Collins been the head coach. He beat a ranked UNC team last year soundly. He beat Duke in a close game. Im not so sure the results would have been drastically different with him in there. He was probably good for 2-3 more wins based on history. It may not have been the same teams but I doubt he was going winless the rest of the year.

 

[slugboy]

Some people don’t want Key and some do. I think one way to grade Key fairly is to grade the games he head coached. Then, you can average the grades

Pitt 26-21 W. I give this an A
Duke 24-20 W. I give this a B. (Punting was awful and let Duke back in the game)
UVA 9-16 L. This was at best a D.
FSU 41-16 L. We weren’t ready. This is a D
VT 28-27 W. Showed a lot of heart. I give this a B
Miami 14-35 L. We looked horrible, C-
UNC 21-17 W. I give this an A

It’s hard to be an interim coach. In our bad losses, we looked bad. In our good wins, we looked good.

Overall, is this a B or a C?

 

[Gt2019]

Just my opinion but I really really believe Brent Key can fix the program. I believe he would do absolutely anything to win at Tech. You’re already seeing that. This isn’t just a “Tech Man” hire if he was to be the hire, he’s a different type of Tech man unlike our previous Tech man hires.