HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[Techster]

Seriously? Dude's hired to do a difficult job (clean house at the AA, get us out of debt, oh and hire a new FB coach).

Apparently, everyone who knows anything says he's a great hire and will be successful. And you want to run him off after less than 60 days?

Hiring a coach may the highest visibility part of his job, but it's also easier than coming up with $200 million from our fan base!

I think once the HFC hiring is completed, Batt and Cabrera are going to do some MAJOR house cleaning/restructuring inside the GTAA. It sounds like the GTAA is going to look and operate differently in a couple of years. Look towards 'Bama's "professional" model for reference...but with a GT spin. If anyone hasn't noticed, Cabrera has a very business centric approach to everything...and that has been sorely lacking in GTAA's old buddy system of operations. Naturally, those that feel threatened by this coming sea change are making the biggest waves.

Cabrera is serious about fixing the GTAA and making it operate like a successful machine. He's serious about his vision for the GTAA, and when Batt interviewed his answers were almost exactly what Cabrera was thinking for his vision of the GTAA. If you heard Cabrera talk during the AD search, he pretty much communicated that the GTAA is the poorest performing unit of the school...and he was serious about changing that. Look at his background. Cabrera is no stranger to building highly successful units within an organization. Much like Batt, Cabrera has a history of raising funds and finding money...large sums of it. He's adamant about getting away from the donor model of raising capital...and the HFC search is a good example of why he wants to get away from it, and mostly, it's just not sustainable for long term success of any organization, especially one with a small alumni base like GT.

I have zero clue what Batt and Cabrera have in store over the next few years, but I'm very positive about the outcome. If anyone hasn't noticed yet, GTAA is in the midst of turning away from an old era and trying to transition to a new era. It won't be an easy process as GTAA and certain groups have become too set in their ways. There will be some donors who feel alienated, but I think once everyone sees the final product GT will have gained multiple times what we lost.

Batt and Cabrera certainly have their work cut out for them as the dysfunction and old boys club way of doing things runs deep. I think those that are fighting this will deeply regret it in the next few years.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Preach it brother!

 

[DvilleJacket]

I woke up thinking Fritz probably wants to coach his team in the AAC championship before leaving. Probably didn't want that distraction leaking out before it.

 

[Randy Carson]

I woke up thinking Fritz probably wants to coach his team in the AAC championship before leaving. Probably didn't want that distraction leaking out before it.

Same with Chadwell, correct?

So, if either of these two coaches have come to an agreement with Tech, we won't know anything until after this coming weekend.

Like I posted previously, unless we whiff on all our other options, I think what we can assume that BKey is not the next HC at Georgia Tech.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

If only a few people know, where are the leaks coming from? Or are they like us and simply guessing?

 

[85Escape]

If only a few people know, where are the leaks coming from? Or are they like us and simply guessing?

Or could they be feeding different stories around quietly to see who they can trust.

Unlikely, but possible. If so it would mean JBatt isn't as innocent as he appears. It could cause some trust issues with the media. Also, Hanlan's Razor.

 

[RonJohn]

I think it is strange that: The GTAA is not releasing information at all. The media is "finding" some information from somewhere and posting it. Fans get upset about the information. The media retracts the information. Then fans get upset at the GTAA for screwing up the entire thing.

It appears to me that the issue is more that fans want to know every detail of what is happening, and that the news media is reporting anything whether it is accurate or not. It is possible that Batt is screwing the search, but we have zero actual information. If we as fans tune out all of the internet "information", and the news media kindof-sortof-maybe "information", it will seem a lot less like things are being mishandled.

 

[85Escape]

My kid at Tech reports that the students love Key and want him as the HC. Does that factor into the decision at all? I mean, getting students to care about GT Football again has to be a top priority as theoretically this game is played as them as the real audience (not us alums and side-walk fans.) If they are as much in love with Key as I hear, then it might be a big mistake to bring in someone else...particularly someone likely quite a bit older than their parents.

I'll support whoever we hire, and don't think that Fritz is a bad hire by any means...the guy wins games. I was just musing over the other factors that have to be considered like student buy-in.

 

[kg01]

If we win, the students won't GAF who the coach is.

 

[RonJohn]

If we win, the students won't GAF who the coach is.

Probably true. They were all in with Collins and money down in 2019. Then three years later they were yelling FGC at him at the end of the game.

 

[4shotB]

My kid at Tech reports that the students love Key and want him as the HC. Does that factor into the decision at all? I mean, getting students to care about GT Football again has to be a top priority as theoretically this game is played as them as the real audience (not us alums and side-walk fans.) If they are as much in love with Key as I hear, then it might be a big mistake to bring in someone else...particularly someone likely quite a bit older than their parents.

I'll support whoever we hire, and don't think that Fritz is a bad hire by any means...the guy wins games. I was just musing over the other factors that have to be considered like student buy-in.

The AD is in a tough spot. When CBK took over, I don't think anyone of us foresaw how the next 8 games would play out. I think the universal feeling was we will play out the streak and then clean house. I think it is in everyone's best interest to announce that Key has been removed from consideration if that is the case. Create some distance from the announcement of the new HC (if there is one other than Key) and this event. I certainly hope tht he is not being strung along as a second or even third choice candidate in the event that others turn us down. That's not a good start to things.

 

[85Escape]

If we win, the students won't GAF who the coach is.

I'm not so sure. This generation is different (aren't they all...) I think we've got to win and have a coach that the students can believe in. Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but I don't think they'd get behind the team if it was led by someone they don't identify with at some level. Just musing in idleness as we await the results of 'The Process.'

 

[kg01]

I'm not so sure. This generation is different (aren't they all...) I think we've got to win and have a coach that the students can believe in. Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but I don't think they'd get behind the team if it was led by someone they don't identify with at some level. Just musing in idleness as we await the results of 'The Process.'

I mean, they're different but they're not idiots.....

(pause for effect)

At worst I think, like us, they'd support the wins but overreact to the losses for a guy they don't 'connect' with. Nobody's gonna ride for a guy thats losin'.

 

[stech81]

not sure I understand why some think Fritz would be a good coach at Tech, some saying he could rebuild Tech because he did it at Tulane. He has been at Tulane 7 years and overall has a losing record. Other than this year he and Tulane have been bad they are in the AAC not the SEC or Big10 or any conference that has good teams. Think about that 1 good year in 7 and that is what we want. I didn't want Chadwell but I couldn't say anything bad about his record I just didn't want his defense staff.Is Key the best we can get. the players like him they play hard for him people say what about recruiting looking I see that he can do fine. My only question would be who he wants as OC.

 

[Randy Carson]

Y'all have this all wrong. Tech gets your tuition money. Your kid gets an education. You get a football team.

Quid pro quo.

 

[Vespidae]

I woke up thinking Fritz probably wants to coach his team in the AAC championship before leaving. Probably didn't want that distraction leaking out before it.

I checked this am, and there's no deal. Reportedly, Tech set a deadline to reach a deal for last night because there is concern about mass defections in the portal if they don't get a hire in place asap.

O'Brien is reportedly out as well as a possibility. Not completely, but he's not a focused candidate anymore. It could be the push to get Fritz.

Has to happen this week, if not in the next day or so or it's going to be a PR problem.

 

[g0lftime]

If it is Fritz let's see how Tulane reacts to losing their coach. I suspect they want him to stay. I often wonder if coaches make their "next move" after a very good season and know who they are losing for next year and where the grass looks greener.

 

[SidewalkJacket]

not sure I understand why some think Fritz would be a good coach at Tech, some saying he could rebuild Tech because he did it at Tulane. He has been at Tulane 7 years and overall has a losing record. Other than this year he and Tulane have been bad they are in the AAC not the SEC or Big10 or any conference that has good teams. Think about that 1 good year in 7 and that is what we want. I didn't want Chadwell but I couldn't say anything bad about his record I just didn't want his defense staff.Is Key the best we can get. the players like him they play hard for him people say what about recruiting looking I see that he can do fine. My only question would be who he wants as OC.

Just do some research. He comes into tough situations and wins. Period. Tulane was a total dump. Has had excellent assistants who have gone on to big jobs. Again, he wasn’t my first choice, and he may not even be in contention. But if he is, it won’t be a bad hire, at all.

 

[Randy Carson]

I checked this am, and there's no deal. Reportedly, Tech set a deadline to reach a deal for last night because there is concern about mass defections in the portal if they don't get a hire in place asap.

O'Brien is reportedly out as well as a possibility. Not completely, but he's not a focused candidate anymore. It could be the push to get Fritz.

Has to happen this week, if not in the next day or so or it's going to be a PR problem.

GOING to be?!?

I'm standing by my view that if it's Chadwell after all, NO ONE* is going to say boo until after the Chanticleers championship game. Same with Fritz (and BOB). In which case, the radio silence is understandable and laudable.

But if we're stringing Key along and end up whiffing on all three (four? five?) alternates and hiring BK, he's gotta feel like either the red-headed stepchild or the luckiest man alive.

And we've treated him very shabbily.

*One "tell" is the QB who just committed after visiting us and Coastal. Seems like odd timing and more than a coinky-dink to me.

 

[Vespidae]

It is possible that Batt is screwing the search, but we have zero actual information.

I don't think he's screwing the search as much as he's screwing the actual hiring. The conversations and agreements on paper should have been made weeks ago, not days ago. If Fritz is his candidate, he is going to be very busy this week. Batt may very well lose Fritz if only because of that.

(Of course, this could be the plan. You want to hire Key but you don't want to give the donors a win. So you pursue someone you can't close a deal with, hire the guy you wanted, but tell the donors, "This is on you, not me." Fourth-dimensional chess.)

What I find amazing is that after a national search using Parker Executive Search, we ended up with the same three candidates virtually this entire board identified back in September. That's NOT a good sign.