Keeping Santucci

[brian22]

Yep. Seems Saban always had the option of hiring an “advisory” already on staff.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Nice one.

@Northeast Stinger is in a shambles rn.

It was so well played I didn’t even feel the knife until it was back in his sheath and all my sissy-fur was in a pile on the floor.

 

[RonJohn]

Most of my concern is he was here one year, not long enough to make a lasting impact. Now we get our 4 DC in 3 years. Thats very hard on players as schemes and preparation change with each change.

Having a very good assistant for 3+ years and them moving up is fine. One year and gone is bad.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Let's take your concern to an extreme level. Suppose that Santucci is the first of four. Four years in a row an up and coming coach comes in as DC, improves the offense, and is offered a position higher on his career trajectory. The fifth guy coming in is in a position in which, if he performs well he is destined to move higher up in his career. If he craps the bed, he is likely to be the GT DC for another year or two. That fifth guy is going to be busting his butt to make sure he is one of the top guys instead of a guy starting the decline in his career.

Key's method has seemed to me as he brings in guys that breath fire and let them do their thing. We have seen positive results from that. Turnover is a negative result from that. People would be complaining the other way if we had coaches that moved slower, yet were more stable. So far, Key has been able to use his connections and hire very good assistants. Until he makes some busts, I will be happy under the assumption that he will continue to find good assistants.

 

[Root4GT]

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Let's take your concern to an extreme level. Suppose that Santucci is the first of four. Four years in a row an up and coming coach comes in as DC, improves the offense, and is offered a position higher on his career trajectory. The fifth guy coming in is in a position in which, if he performs well he is destined to move higher up in his career. If he craps the bed, he is likely to be the GT DC for another year or two. That fifth guy is going to be busting his butt to make sure he is one of the top guys instead of a guy starting the decline in his career.

Key's method has seemed to me as he brings in guys that breath fire and let them do their thing. We have seen positive results from that. Turnover is a negative result from that. People would be complaining the other way if we had coaches that moved slower, yet were more stable. So far, Key has been able to use his connections and hire very good assistants. Until he makes some busts, I will be happy under the assumption that he will continue to find good assistants.

Anything is possible. Change every year is not good for any program. Getting the HC, DC, scheme aligned with recruiting players to fit the scheme matters.

Key may promote from within limiting the change to some degree or he may go outside the current staff for a coach. That may or may not be good.

My point is yearly turnover is too often. There needs to be some level of stability. One year is not enough.

I don’t blame Santucci as if his goal is the NFL good for him. The Ravens are a good stable NFL Franchise.

The odds are this is not a good thing right now for GT.

 

[Jacket4Life]

My first call, and it would be a long shot would be Freddie Roach DL coach Alabama. I would be ok with Jess Simpson getting the chance though as well.

 

[stinger 1957]

I believe I remember CBK saying he wanted coaches that were up and coming, wanted to advance and coming to GT would help them do that in their climb. I like that, we'll never get stale doing so.
I'm guessing we'll end up liking his replacement in time.

 

[Root4GT]

IIRC, Saban had this type of thing happen often. And yet year after year the wins kept on rolling out….

Maybe it’s not as bad as you make it out to be. I’m hoping that’s the case….

Comparing Alabama football during Saban’s great run to GT football is absurd at best. But if it makes GT fans feel better so be it.

Key may find a great replacement and GT defense could be better. On the other hand Key could pick someone who isn’t up to the job and GT’s defense could regress.

We don’t know. We do know stability with good coaches is good for college football programs.

 

[GTHomer]

My first call, and it would be a long shot would be Freddie Roach DL coach Alabama. I would be ok with Jess Simpson getting the chance though as well.

Roach makes $1M/year currently as the DL coach. Though a good candidate, he may be out of our budget unless things have changed.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Let's take your concern to an extreme level. Suppose that Santucci is the first of four. Four years in a row an up and coming coach comes in as DC, improves the offense, and is offered a position higher on his career trajectory. The fifth guy coming in is in a position in which, if he performs well he is destined to move higher up in his career. If he craps the bed, he is likely to be the GT DC for another year or two. That fifth guy is going to be busting his butt to make sure he is one of the top guys instead of a guy starting the decline in his career.

Key's method has seemed to me as he brings in guys that breath fire and let them do their thing. We have seen positive results from that. Turnover is a negative result from that. People would be complaining the other way if we had coaches that moved slower, yet were more stable. So far, Key has been able to use his connections and hire very good assistants. Until he makes some busts, I will be happy under the assumption that he will continue to find good assistants.

When we have a bad coach they either stick around, destroying the brand and hurting recruiting, or we buy them out. Either way we lose a ton of money.

If we have a good coach and they get bought out from under us do we make a ton of money?

 

[jojatk]

Anything is possible. Change every year is not good for any program. Getting the HC, DC, scheme aligned with recruiting players to fit the scheme matters.

Key may promote from within limiting the change to some degree or he may go outside the current staff for a coach. That may or may not be good.

My point is yearly turnover is too often. There needs to be some level of stability. One year is not enough.

I don’t blame Santucci as if his goal is the NFL good for him. The Ravens are a good stable NFL Franchise.

The odds are this is not a good thing right now for GT.

Yearly turnover is not, generally, a good thing. I don't think that's what Key wants and I don't think that's what Santucci expected or intended. I do think Key absolutely wants to have a program that not only develops players but coaches and that's part of the attraction for young coaches who are willing to work 24/7 or close to it.

I disagree that the odds are not good for GT right now for the simple fact that Key has made two big decisions on hiring coordinators and they both worked out for the betterment of GT football. Why would the odds suggest he will not do the same this year now that he has to replace Tooch? I should say that I don't consider his keeping Thacker originally as one of his coaching decisions. I believe, though I have no evidence to suggest this is true, that he had to make choices about what he could spend and/or how much change he thought he could make all at once and chose to focus more on the offensive side of the ball so that's why I am not considering that one a true hiring decision. I honestly don't believe he really wanted to keep Thacker but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

If we have to go through hiring a new coordinator every year because they are one and done then absolutely I agree the odds would eventually go against us and I 100% agree that's not really something we want to have happen very often.

 

[wvGT11]

Damnit, just when we were actually making progress on D ...

 

[UgaBlows]

IIRC, Saban had this type of thing happen often. And yet year after year the wins kept on rolling out….

Maybe it’s not as bad as you make it out to be. I’m hoping that’s the case….

Kirby Smart was their DC a long time wasn’t he?

I’m happy for Santucci but wish he would’ve stayed for 2-3 years at least

 

[apatriot1776]

FWIW

 

[forensicbuzz]

It was so well played I didn’t even feel the knife until it was back in his sheath and all my sissy-fur was in a pile on the floor.

The bourbon made me do it! All in fun.

 

[stinger78]

The bourbon made me do it! All in fun.

 

[takethepoints]

What worries me most about this is our DL recruiting this year. We took a load of "edge" players. Obviously (to me at least), the plan was to move some of these players inside long term. Or, maybe, convert some of them into inside LBs. I don't know what Santucci had in mind here when the targeting was done and Tech did recruit some right good DT material as well. Problem = what if the incoming staff has different ideas about what to do with the D? That could mean some serious portal (if it still exists) losses in the spring. And, of course, yet another adjustment to yet another set of DC expectations.

None of this is good for the program, imho. Oth, good luck in Baltimore, coach. I enjoyed watching your work last year.

 

[Yaller Jacket]

I wonder if there is a Santucci acolyte who is ready for DC? If there is, we could keep the defensive staff as is. I would guess only insiders would know how big a part the other defensive coaches had to do with the turnaround. A new coordinator often means a totally new defensive staff.

 

[MWBATL]

I wonder if there is a Santucci acolyte who is ready for DC? If there is, we could keep the defensive staff as is. I would guess only insiders would know how big a part the other defensive coaches had to do with the turnaround. A new coordinator often means a totally new defensive staff.

Hire from within? Keep same scheme, players know the coach already??

I have NO IDEA what I’m talking about and whether we have anyone on staff we’d consider…but….

 

[apatriot1776]

I wonder if there is a Santucci acolyte who is ready for DC? If there is, we could keep the defensive staff as is. I would guess only insiders would know how big a part the other defensive coaches had to do with the turnaround. A new coordinator often means a totally new defensive staff.

Sticking to the Elko tree for continuity in that 4-2-5 multiple-look defense, and assuming P5 DC experience is a prerequisite as several have said on Twitter, here are the options:

Lyle Hemphill - Co-DC under Elko at Duke in 2023 (Santucci was his co-DC, he was also Santucci's boss in 2019 at Wake), former James Madison and Wake Forest DC, currently a senior assistant at Texas A&M
^ This is who I'd like to hire personally. JMU was #1 in turnovers last year and #21 in defense. He was just hired a couple weeks ago by A&M. Bateman is a great recruiter and according to A&M folks he will be the de facto pass game coordinator.

Robb Smith - DC under Elko at Duke in 2022, former Rutgers, Minnesota, Arkansas DC, currently an analyst at Penn State (unlikely as he quit his DC job to spend time with family)
Elijah Robinson - Current Syracuse DC, former A&M co-DC (may be unaffordable, reportedly he's making 500k+ more than Santucci)
DJ Durkin - Current Auburn DC, former Maryland HC (co-DC with Santucci in 2022, this name was thrown around a lot last year)

And some others that do not have P5 DC experience but worth considering:
Brandon Bailey - Current Ga Southern DC
Bradley Dale Peveto - Current Texas St DC, former UTEP DC

 

[Root4GT]

Yearly turnover is not, generally, a good thing. I don't think that's what Key wants and I don't think that's what Santucci expected or intended. I do think Key absolutely wants to have a program that not only develops players but coaches and that's part of the attraction for young coaches who are willing to work 24/7 or close to it.

I disagree that the odds are not good for GT right now for the simple fact that Key has made two big decisions on hiring coordinators and they both worked out for the betterment of GT football. Why would the odds suggest he will not do the same this year now that he has to replace Tooch? I should say that I don't consider his keeping Thacker originally as one of his coaching decisions. I believe, though I have no evidence to suggest this is true, that he had to make choices about what he could spend and/or how much change he thought he could make all at once and chose to focus more on the offensive side of the ball so that's why I am not considering that one a true hiring decision. I honestly don't believe he really wanted to keep Thacker but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

If we have to go through hiring a new coordinator every year because they are one and done then absolutely I agree the odds would eventually go against us and I 100% agree that's not really something we want to have happen very often.

Odds are worse now because it is February and most college coaches are under contract this year for the 2025 season.

There is no guarantee other schools will allow interviews for coaches under contract or that there isn’t a buyout associated with said coach.

We are 2 months from Spring practice. If the coach comes in from elsewhere does he have no say in who his assistants are?

Is the search going to look for candadites who run a similar scheme? If so is that limiting? If not do we have a roster constructed for a different scheme? In fact what scheme best fits our defensive players as we have changed DCs every year for our current players.

That all has an impact. Sure we could hit a home run and be improved on defense. We could also be a mess on defense with players and coaches not on the same page very easily.

I will not be surprised if CBK makes an internal hire. But I have zero insight.

Hope it all works out for the betterment of GT football. Color me a bit skeptical right now.