RickStromFan
Ramblin' Wreck
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I have a different take on this recruiting stuff, especially as it relates to the old regime.
Recruiting - Current
Recruiting - Option Regime
- When you run the same system that everyone else runs, you have to have equal players to be as good, or better players to be better. Not that complicated.
- How many players equal to the players in the area can Georgia Tech? That would be against Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Central Florida, Miami, South Florida, North Carolina, NC State, etc. Those are the main competition in the region for top recruits.
- How many elite players in the area can Georgia Tech get? That would be against Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Central Florida, Miami, South Florida, North Carolina, NC State, etc. Those are the main competition in the region for top recruits.
History tells me that is easier to recruit to the Option Regime than the Current Regime... There is always a Justin Thomas, a Tobias Oliver, a Josh Nesbitt, a Tevin Washington, etc who wants to play quarterback....
- When you run a system that is designed to make up for size and talent disparities... you don't have to have equal players to be as good. You don't have to have better players to be better than the competition. You just have to run the scheme efficiently and it is proven to work. That is why Army, without a single player who could play for Oklahoma or Michigan, took those schools to overtime in the past year.
- How many great athletes are out there that Georgia Tech can get that Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, etc want to convert to safety or wide receiver, but want to play quarterback?
- How many power backs are out there that want to play BB?
- How many great athletes are out there that don't fit in traditional offenses, but would make excellent AB's?
- How many under recruited wide receivers are out there that make excellent blockers or deep ball threats?
Paul Johnson was head coach at Georgia Tech for 11 years... 9 of those 11 years were Josh Nesbitt, Tevin Washington, and Justin Thomas... Who all did pretty extraordinary things. Nesbitt broke NCAA records... Tevin Washington is 1st or 2nd in 11 different stat categories at Georgia, set a school and ACC record with 20 rushing touchdowns and career rushing touchdowns with 38... Justin Thomas won a BCS Bowl and was MVP of the Orange Bowl, and is considered one of the better QB's to ever play at Georgia Tech..
Next up, and I truly believe this, was Tobias Oliver... TaQuon Marshall was a great athlete, but I wouldn't consider him a great option quarterback. But Oliver was going to be the next big thing at Georgia Tech. I think he was going to be a 1,000 yard rusher for the next 3 years.
Look at BB.... In the 11 years Paul Johnson was coach... you had Zach Laskey, Synjyn Days, Kirvonte Benson, Jordan Mason, Roddy Jones, etc. These guys aren't terribly difficult to find. That's why Georgia Tech always had them.
Just my two cents on recruiting... Will be interesting to see how the current staff does against the regional powers in recruiting "traditional" players. Can they get players that are just as good? Can they get players that are better?
Good post with interesting points.
I'll counter with this: Our best (re:rated) recruiting class in school history was by a non-Option coach in 2007. So we've shown it possible to attract elite talent on both sides of the ball (It's notable your post only dealt with the Offensive side of the ball). It may be easier to recruit to the Option scheme but I don't agree that we end up any better as a result of it.
There's a bit we could go into there but it ends up comparing and discussing current and former players and their abilities, which I don't think is appropriate but I do think is against the site's Rules!