HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[Augusta_Jacket]

The under at 300 was a winner!!!

But over 290, so @stech81 still has to pay up

 

[Yoda]

Now go get a spread option OC and heads will explode.

 

[Thwg777]

Good for Key.

Sounds like the firm of mutts we had working on this worked really hard. This will save us money so we can bring back Goof as DC.

 

[TooTall]

nm

 

[Techster]

I'm not certain this is entirely true. I've heard some chatter that BOB was pushed by a healthy amount of donors.

I don't know about that, but I do know there are different group of donors that want different things. The group that wanted Key are getting their guy. Batt has a big job ahead of him uniting the donor base. LOTS of donors have been turned off by the way GTAA was run and all the favoritism by previous regimes.

 

[RonJohn]

I think it will be interesting if we get to hear how this played out. Did we offer Fritz and Chadwell and they would not accept the money we hope Key and his agent are OK with? Or was it the contract length or incentives? Also, were these two the prime candidates? Who else did we seriously consider/offer? Maybe we will get a version of the real story at some point.

As closely held as everything has been to this point, I seriously doubt we will hear what actually happened. It doesn't do any good for GT to release information, and it doesn't do any good for current HCs to admit they were interested. It doesn't do either side any good to announce what offers were made back and forth if any.

I am typically very skeptical, but I will be even more skeptical of any information that is portrayed as facts about how the search went down.

 

[stech81]

I'm not certain this is entirely true. I've heard some chatter that BOB was pushed by a healthy amount of donors.

But I thought BoB wanted to go to the NFL

 

[ramblin_man]

Why it is assumed on this board that Key was the only candidate left standing is a puzzle to me. The 300 pages of rumor and innuendo all proved false yet somehow the whole process is being reconstructed on the assumption that the speculation of this thread was mostly true. Maybe the AD did consider 10 to 12 candidates and thoughtfully tried to decide who was the best person at this time for this job. I prefer to believe this is how this happened than a dozen others turned down GT and ole Brent was all that was left.

His character was revealed when he was faced with adversity. The other name and leverage the NRL money in the promise of the donors money to garner the necessary funds in order for Key to be able to hire who needs for his support staff.

 

[WreckinGT]

But I thought BoB wanted to go to the NFL

There are rumors that we weren't really close to the numbers BoB was looking for to coach here. Therefore that conversation ended pretty quickly. He does likely end up back in the NFL unless one of the other open jobs jumps at him with real money.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

But I thought BoB wanted to go to the NFL

He might want to. Doesn't mean that some big time donors weren't pushing for him to get an "offer he couldn't refuse."

 

[stech81]

But over 290, so @stech81 still has to pay up

Ok here is my credit card number 111 2345 111

 

[GTRambler]

Making poor decisions in this world sucks.

Giving a coach no one wanted a 7 year contract without offsets (Collins), turning down the B1G and all the money that comes with it, resetting buyouts of coaches like HBC Gregory, staying with Russell Athletic all those years because of their GT ties, massive capital debts....I've lost count because there have been so many. Eventually all those poor decisions leaves the war chest empty.

Moving on to Key. I'm fine with it. He was stuck in the middle of a power struggle. The old boys club got the guy they wanted, so now it's time to put up or shut up. Honestly, and I touched on this earlier, this could be the best thing for GT in the long run. Give Key a contract that's mutually beneficial, and fair to Key. Make sure the buyout isn't crazy and guaranteed money is minimal. If Key takes this program to the next level and stabilizes our program, reward him with a better contract. Take the money we saved on buyouts and put that towards high level assistants (see: Good offensive coordinator), and give Thacker a raise.

I think Key will be a good to very good coach. Give him the tools (and it seems he will most likely get them), and give him room to grow. I think we will look back on this saga and say that GT got a lucky break not stretching our resources to hire guys like Chadwell and O'Brien.

Hopefully taking the interim tag off Key will help unite everyone now. There are obviously some hurt feelings...but something tells me the adults got into a room and hashed things out. At the end of the day the health and wellness of GT is bigger than a bunch of egos.

Onward and upward...GO JACKETS!

I agree.

I have full confidence in Brent Key, because he did a good job righting the ship as interim coach, he has the desire for the job, and he is a true Georgia Tech man.

 

[MWBATL]

Given that USF is paying (reportedly) $5 million per year for Deion, and Nebraska paid over $8 million a year for MattRuhle, and Wisconsin paid Luke Fickell $7.8 million per year (and both of the last two are 7year deals), my guess is that Batt was more financially responsible in his search, and this turned off some agents or coaches.

But that is Batt’s job. Good on him.

 

[RamblinCharger]

The biggest struggle regardless of who we hired is getting out of debt. Even if we start winning, i dont see butts filling seats. Not on key, more just our terrible alumni base.

More degrees would help. Winning would help though, but you are partially correct, don't think tech will ever have a large enough fan base to get a packed house every week. Realistically tech needs more donors, degree offerings, larger enrollment, and need to get into the BIG10. It'll be a combination of things to get out of the hole.

 

[85Escape]

Why it is assumed on this board that Key was the only candidate left standing is a puzzle to me. The 300 pages of rumor and innuendo all proved false yet somehow the whole process is being reconstructed on the assumption that the speculation of this thread was mostly true. Maybe the AD did consider 10 to 12 candidates and thoughtfully tried to decide who was the best person at this time for this job. I prefer to believe this is how this happened than a dozen others turned down GT and ole Brent was all that was left.

I agree. I think the more likely scenario is that we interviewed a metric buttload of candidates and had a process we'd agreed to long before Key became a serious consideration. We stuck to the process, which causes all kinds of stupid rumors.

We might have been in 'pre-talks' with other options to see if there was a potential deal match. It became clear that there wasn't so both sides said "maybe next time", although there was never an offer and the talks were just to see where each side stood.

That's not getting turned down, that's identifying mismatches to eliminate them from the pool before the final decision analysis meeting.

 

[kg01]

Hey @kg01 were our contracts guaranteed? Asking for a friend..

Yeah but, instead of buyout language, I negotiated 'nunna' clauses. So, if'n we get fired, the assistants don't get 'nunna' the money. It all goes to me.

 

[Jacket Bracket]

This is a really safe hire for our new AD. An alum and former player.
A coach that wants the job.
A coach with an existing staff in Atlanta. A coach with no big buyout.
A coach known by our current recruits.
A coach that may keep some players from transferring.
A coach well liked by the team.
A coach that was picked after due diligence by the AD.

This is awesome!!

After reading this board I have learned:

Key will prevent transfers of all players (Nate M will be back because he was only transferring because Key was leaving)

We will instantly be bowl eligible next year. No rebuild at ALL!

The seats will be FULL with excited fans

Key will take an extremely low contract just to save us money.

We are about to get what we deserve with this hire!

 

[4shotB]

I'm really mad about this. Key was the guy I wanted, so now I can't ***** and moan for the next 9-10 months about how my judgement and advice was not followed. Damn!!!

You are going to have to get creative like the rest of us. If you look hard enough, there is always something to ***** about. Like uniforms and noon kickoffs. Don't give up hope too soon. I am certain that sometime next fumble someone will fumble. A run play will be called when you felt like a pass was the certain decision. I promise all is not lost my friend. Hang in there!

 

[kg01]

But over 290, so @stech81 still has to pay up

This is all that matters.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

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!

Bumpity bump bump