I posted this on another board, but am curious to see what some of ya'll think over here...
There's been a lot of discussion about our football woes this season. This post isn't really all that new a take on it. I just think that many of the excuses are getting annoying and I am frustrated by the false sense of security these excuses bring with them...that somehow everything is just fine and this season is an aberration and we'll be back next year. Before this season began many fonts were pointing to 2016 as "the year".
Simple fact is what I see on the field is a poor football team. Not terrible, not disastrous...but certainly average *at best* and poor probably is closer to the truth.
I don't believe it's the scheme, or the coaches, and I don't believe its's the play calling (although I do believe that could be better this year, but that's for another thread and is minor compared to the real issue. We simply don't have the talent on the field to be competitive at a top level consistently.
Overall, our last 6 years have been:
2010 6-7
2011 8-5
2012 7-7
2013 7-6
2014 11-3
2015 2-5
Personally, I do NOT see that recruiting is trending upwards. Having freshmen in this class who are playing may say more about how poorly we recruited in the prior 3 seasons than it does about how well we recruited last year. Georgia Tech has firmly stablished itself as an average college football program, one that really DOES NOT successfully compete with the Florida States and Clemsons of the ACC or the Georgias of the SEC. We aren't in the lowest rung of the P-5 college world, we're not Wake Forest or Purdue. But we are Duke, UNC and Pitt. We are NOT in the top tier or (arguably) in what I would call the second tier, which to me is teams like Miami, Va. Tech and the like. We are third tier, a program that can expect to win about 20% of its games against first and second tier programs, split our games with other third tier programs, and win most of our games against everyone else.
I don't think changing coaches is the solution. I don't think changing the system is the solution. Honestly, we were pretty much the same way under Gailey. I think GT's admin has to decide if it wants to be a world class football program, or if it is satisfied being on such a low level. To change GT into a football power would require changes to majors offered, academic standards in certain parts of the program and marketing of the whole thing.
Before going 4-1 last year against top programs, we were 1-16 against them in the prior 4 seasons. This year we are 0-2 (Clemson & ND). We seem very likely to go 0-4 or (at best) 1-3 against them the rest of thus year (Va Tech, Georgia @ Miami, FSU).
We are back to what we have been the last 5 years, this is (unfortunately) the norm for GT football. One season, maybe two where we can compete with the big boys, then 4 or 5 years where we simply cannot. Recruiting is the issue, and I doubt that changes without some major changes. It would take years to build this program up to where it could successfully compete with the power programs.
The real problem is this...if GT does NOT make some real changes, this program will go the way of GT basketball, where frankly mismanagement has all but killed a once proud and distinguished program. I fear it will take at least 5 yeas of major changes to get GT to be a more consistent football program. Until then, we risk a slow slide into the kind of obscurity now occupied by the likes of Tulane (or Miami, to be honest, although Miami still is better than we are). Fan base and revenue will slowly slide down, perking up when we have a good season, but then resuming its death march downwards when we return to normal.
Will the Administration decide to do what's necessary? Will this fan base demand it do so?
Dave Braine was right. The real question is whether we all think that's OK.