If TStan is fired/resigns… what AD do we hire?

[GTLorenzo]

I still think TStan is a good hire. I know CGC was his hire at the end of the day but I feel like he had a lot of pressure to get a recruiter instead of a coach.

I would want to keep him through the next coaching hire

No way he can be allowed to hire the next coach after this result. No way.

 

[wvGT11]

Hopefully he's looking at his resume in this

 

[GTLorenzo]

Stansbury is so all in on Collins, he has stopped wearing socks like Collins in a show of support!!

 

[Thwg777]

I still think TStan is a good hire. I know CGC was his hire at the end of the day but I feel like he had a lot of pressure to get a recruiter instead of a coach.

I would want to keep him through the next coaching hire

Todd had a chance to admit he was wrong and let Geoff go after last season but doubled down instead. Todd won’t survive.

 

[Techwood Relict]

It would not surprise me to see ADTS continue in his role. His statements from last year could have been PR after long talks with the funders about the cost of the coaching change. After the $$ realized moving on and replacing the entire staff was too expensive a proposition at the time, ADTS' job would have been to break out the lipstick and kiss the pig, which he did in publicly backing CGC. By all appearances, ADTS has performed well in other areas.

Football fans are justifiably angry right now, we have a bad coach and need to make a change, but I would guess ADTS' future will be defined by his ability to unite the $$ behind a good replacement plan for the football program. If he doesn't produce one, then he also likely is shown the door.

 

[Vespidae]

It would not surprise me to see ADTS continue in his role.

It is not easy to find an AD who wants to come to a school with a limited fanbase, breakeven finances and massive debt. What can they really hope to achieve that will position them for their next role?

I don't think Cabrera wants to go down that route. TStan may very well argue that the strategy of NFL-Lite was right, but that Geoff was the wrong horse. Replacing the AD and the coach as the same time just sends a signal that the whole program is in trouble. I think we may have to hold our nose, replace Geoff and then ... two years from now, make a change at AD.

If you scream instability now, with all the uncertainty in college sports, it could spiral out of control even worse.

 

[MWBATL]

Hopefully he's looking at his resume in this

Tough spot...of his own making.

 

[MWBATL]

Problem with ADTS is that either:

1. he made a horrible hire and then chose to "stand by his man" last year, which exhibits terrible personnel decision-making; OR
2. he gave said coach a ridiculous long erm contract which was NOT required and which will cost GTAA $$ now to rectify the original poor decision

I could forgive one of those. It's very hard for me to forgive them both and allow TS to make decisions about the NEXT head coaching selection and contract.

 

[slugboy]

Problem with ADTS is that either:

1. he made a horrible hire and then chose to "stand by his man" last year, which exhibits terrible personnel decision-making; OR
2. he gave said coach a ridiculous long erm contract which was NOT required and which will cost GTAA $$ now to rectify the original poor decision

I could forgive one of those. It's very hard for me to forgive them both and allow TS to make decisions about the NEXT head coaching selection and contract.

ADTS

1. has to look at the AA finances every day, and we don’t
2. had our major boosters in his ear saying “we have to transition away from the 3O” when we hired Collins
3. had coaches telling him “it’s going to be hard to move away from the 3O and it’s going to take a long time”. If you doubt this, look back at the time and search—the opinions aren’t hard to find. Or, look at Ga Southern’s attempts to move away from the 3O.
4. made decisions based on those factors that blew up in his face.

If you’re going to complain about the bets a player made, look at the cards they were dealt first. There are ways that he misplayed his hand(s), but it’s understandable why he bet the way that he did.

You can’t just look at the results, you should look at the knowledge that they had at the time and whether they made the smart bet based on the information they had.

 

[MWBATL]

ADTS

1. has to look at the AA finances every day, and we don’t
2. had our major boosters in his ear saying “we have to transition away from the 3O” when we hired Collins
3. had coaches telling him “it’s going to be hard to move away from the 3O and it’s going to take a long time”. If you doubt this, look back at the time and search—the opinions aren’t hard to find. Or, look at Ga Southern’s attempts to move away from the 3O.
4. made decisions based on those factors that blew up in his face.

If you’re going to complain about the bets a player made, look at the cards they were dealt first. There are ways that he misplayed his hand(s), but it’s understandable why he bet the way that he did.

You can’t just look at the results, you should look at the knowledge that they had at the time and whether they made the smart bet based on the information they had.

I hear you. but I also have heard (repeatedly) that an unproven HC at this level could have been had on a 5 or 6 year deal. A contract with performance levels at stages would have been a smart idea....you know, demonstrated progress in order to continue the contract terms...but that didn't happen. A proven HC would never agree to that, but someone like Collins should have been 'gettable' under such terms if they really wanted the 7 year deal.

As AD, it's YOUR job to make thes decisions, and not necessarily to buy what everyone else is saying hook, line and sinker. I speak as a former CEO....

 

[Vespidae]

I hear you. but I also have heard (repeatedly) that an unproven HC at this level could have been had on a 5 or 6 year deal. A contract with performance levels at stages would have been a smart idea....you know, demonstrated progress in order to continue the contract terms...but that didn't happen. A proven HC would never agree to that, but someone like Collins should have been 'gettable' under such terms if they really wanted the 7 year deal.

As AD, it's YOUR job to make thes decisions, and not necessarily to buy what everyone else is saying hook, line and sinker. I speak as a former CEO....

The problem with TStan is that I have been told repeatedly by people in the know at the AA that he is "laser-focused" on fixing football. The results just don't suggest that. I will give him some slack for some things (raising money, performance of other sports, etc), but the cash cow of it all is just not delivering. I'd hate to see what happens if he stops being "laser-focused".

 

[slugboy]

I hear you. but I also have heard (repeatedly) that an unproven HC at this level could have been had on a 5 or 6 year deal. A contract with performance levels at stages would have been a smart idea....you know, demonstrated progress in order to continue the contract terms...but that didn't happen. A proven HC would never agree to that, but someone like Collins should have been 'gettable' under such terms if they really wanted the 7 year deal.

As AD, it's YOUR job to make thes decisions, and not necessarily to buy what everyone else is saying hook, line and sinker. I speak as a former CEO....

Performance levels at each stage would have been a great idea, especially tied to the buyout numbers. I can’t say I’d have had the foresight to put in “at least 10 wins by the end of year 3”. I expected about 3 wins in year 1, but that it continued was stunning. I might have put in “top 60 in either offense or defense by year 3” or something along those lines.

 

[Gold1]

Hot take: firing Stansbury would be even more stupid than firing Collins. Stansbury has done a lot for historically underfunded sports like Volleyball and Swimming. We’ve risen over two dozen spots in the Presidents cup in the past decade. Easily his biggest sin was the length of Pastner’s extension, not anything to do with Collins or the football program

Stansbury SUCKS.

 

[Gold1]

I still think TStan has done amazing outside of football. Give him a chance to remedy football (provided it’s not keep Collins) and he’s doing great.

Our football and basketball programs SUCK. What are you talking about?

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I hear you. but I also have heard (repeatedly) that an unproven HC at this level could have been had on a 5 or 6 year deal. A contract with performance levels at stages would have been a smart idea....you know, demonstrated progress in order to continue the contract terms...but that didn't happen. A proven HC would never agree to that, but someone like Collins should have been 'gettable' under such terms if they really wanted the 7 year deal.

As AD, it's YOUR job to make thes decisions, and not necessarily to buy what everyone else is saying hook, line and sinker. I speak as a former CEO....

This.

 

[inGTwetrust]

Is everyone sure that a 7 year contract wasn’t a requirement from every candidate we interviewed when we hired CGC?

What better qualified candidates had any interest in joining a downward trending team that had to transition from the 3O? An argument could be made we never should have transitioned.

Knowing the buyout was unaffordable in the off-season, what did you all expect him to say in the off-season? “I really wish I could fire him, but we can’t afford it. So even tho I’m checked out on him - please be sure to continuing to buy tickets!” He pulled every string within financial capabilities in the off-season with the addition of experienced coaches to try and right the ship. It clearly hasn’t worked. Colllins has to go. Period.

With the publicly available info we do have, I think a new coach is needed, but TStan should stay for now.

Maybe one of you insiders know more than I and can dispute it, but given what we know for a fact + not playing the hindsight games, there isn’t a lot I can bash TStan for overall for how he has handled things.

 

[Vespidae]

there isn’t a lot I can bash TStan for overall for how he has handled things.

Here is what I can bash TStan for ...

• In 2013, the GTAA wanted to get rid of CPJ. Powerful figures were tired of the TO then, CPJ was not particularly well-liked within the AA (true) and they were all set to get rid of him until ... 2014 happened. So it wasn't news that a change wasn't foreseen.
• When CPJ did retire, TStan was surprised and unprepared for a replacement. Add to that the fast search and interview of a preselected set of 2-3 candidates suggests he didn't give WHAT he was doing as much importance as the WHO.
• So what led us to this point is an AD who has not thought strategically about what he is building/managing but much more tactical, checklist style management. "A coaching opening? Call Sexton. Check." ... is not much of a deep thinker.

I give him kudos for some things. But his management of the number one revenue sport has been not very good. It's especially egregious because he IS a Tech Guy and should know better.

 

[Towaliga]

yesterday the most discouraging thing about the sacks was it wasn’t even a product of sims holding onto the ball too long. several of them the guy was on top of him the second the ball hit his hands on the snap. plays had literally zero chance

True. During one sack yesterday Sims had 4 rebels on him. During the replay on the board, I watched the linemen. One of the 5 was still holding his block at the time of the sack. The other 4 had whiffed so badly they didn’t even have time to turn around and were still facing downfield or had only partially turned. I blame a lot (not all) of the offense’s problems on Key’s inability to develop a solid line 4 years in. Even CPJs flop around on the ground blocking scheme (note: sarcasm intended) cleared more holes and protected the QB better.

 

[Vespidae]

True. During one sack yesterday Sims had 4 rebels on him. During the replay on the board, I watched the linemen. One of the 5 was still holding his block at the time of the sack. The other 4 had whiffed so badly they didn’t even have time to turn around and were still facing downfield or had only partially turned. I blame a lot (not all) of the offense’s problems on Key’s inability to develop a solid line 4 years in. Even CPJs flop around on the ground blocking scheme (note: sarcasm intended) cleared more holes and protected the QB better.

One thing I remember about the Bobby Ross years (especially the later years) was how well coached the players were. Fundamentals. We need to get back to that.

 

[inGTwetrust]

Here is what I can bash TStan for ...

• In 2013, the GTAA wanted to get rid of CPJ. Powerful figures were tired of the TO then, CPJ was not particularly well-liked within the AA (true) and they were all set to get rid of him until ... 2014 happened. So it wasn't news that a change wasn't foreseen.
• When CPJ did retire, TStan was surprised and unprepared for a replacement. Add to that the fast search and interview of a preselected set of 2-3 candidates suggests he didn't give WHAT he was doing as much importance as the WHO.
• So what led us to this point is an AD who has not thought strategically about what he is building/managing but much more tactical, checklist style management. "A coaching opening? Call Sexton. Check." ... is not much of a deep thinker.

I give him kudos for some things. But his management of the number one revenue sport has been not very good. It's especially egregious because he IS a Tech Guy and should know better.

He’s not perfect by any means - so I agree with you there are issues - which is why I said there is not A LOT for me to gripe about.

2) do you think Notre Dame anticipated Brian Kelly was leaving? Coaches leave out of the blue sometimes, but TStan was able to secure enough $ for a coaching staff that was well above what CPJ had to work with. It does seem like there was a preset list. But are we sure that was by our choice or because nobody was beating down the door for the job? Didn’t 1 of the few decline the job? This comes back to my thought of what we do know for a fact comment. If it played out the way you understood it to have - fully agree with you.

3) knowing what is going on behind closed doors vs what we know publicly it’s hard for me to agree or disagree. He’s not perfect. All I do know to be a fact is I would never want to be AD at Tech.