Keeping Santucci

[stech81]

Promote Jess Simpson to DC and hire the best assistant coach to coach the LB’s

 

[jojatk]

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.

I disagree with your conclusion on why the odds are worse now. It's the beginning of February. There's plenty of time to look for a new coach. Do you think there are some DCs at schools similar to us or below us that actually have buyouts for their coordinators and/or position coaches? I kinda doubt it. I mean it's possible but unless they are highly paid I don't see there being buyouts. And a new coach probably doesn't have a lot of say in his new assistants. That might deter some but probably not that many. I suspect Brent is going to look for someone who fits the mold of what he wants in a coach.

Some reasons why the odds are better:
- we just had one of the better recruiting classes in the ACC including some tremendous defensive players like Dalen Penson, Tae Harris, Christian Garrett, Derry Norris, Jayden Barr, Fenix Felton, Andre Fuller, and Carrington Coombs. We return Kyle Efford who most people feel is a pretty good LB. We're bringing in some fairly solid depth players from the portal. We've got guys like Tah'j Butler and EJ Lightsey along with Jordan Van Den Bergh. So there's some reason to look at our roster and see some good possibilities. I will say, however, that we did lose some guys on defense and to graduation so that's a bit of a negative but I think overall the roster looks pretty decent for the moment... of course it could be augmented or decremented by the portal after spring practice, as well all know

- we've shown that we're willing to pay pretty decent money if not as high as some other schools. But if you're worth it we're shelling out some bucks for coordinators.

- it's been shown that a new DC can make a pretty immediate difference and, given that we haven't been constructed for long for any particular system we may have some flexibility for a guy coming in who sees our roster and thinks he can do a few different things with it.

- I also will not be surprised if Key makes an internal hire and also have zero insight.

- nothing wrong with being skeptical. I just think Brent has shown he's pretty good at this particular aspect of being a head coach so I'm going to be optimistic that he'll find a guy that fits GT. BTW, it seems like we survived a number of other programs looking into trying to steal Tooch. If I was Brent that would have signaled to me that I should have a list prepared sooner rather than later of potential replacements. Don't you think he would have thought that, too?

 

[Root4GT]

I disagree with your conclusion on why the odds are worse now. It's the beginning of February. There's plenty of time to look for a new coach. Do you think there are some DCs at schools similar to us or below us that actually have buyouts for their coordinators and/or position coaches? I kinda doubt it. I mean it's possible but unless they are highly paid I don't see there being buyouts. And a new coach probably doesn't have a lot of say in his new assistants. That might deter some but probably not that many. I suspect Brent is going to look for someone who fits the mold of what he wants in a coach.

Some reasons why the odds are better:
- we just had one of the better recruiting classes in the ACC including some tremendous defensive players like Dalen Penson, Tae Harris, Christian Garrett, Derry Norris, Jayden Barr, Fenix Felton, Andre Fuller, and Carrington Coombs. We return Kyle Efford who most people feel is a pretty good LB. We're bringing in some fairly solid depth players from the portal. We've got guys like Tah'j Butler and EJ Lightsey along with Jordan Van Den Bergh. So there's some reason to look at our roster and see some good possibilities. I will say, however, that we did lose some guys on defense and to graduation so that's a bit of a negative but I think overall the roster looks pretty decent for the moment... of course it could be augmented or decremented by the portal after spring practice, as well all know

- we've shown that we're willing to pay pretty decent money if not as high as some other schools. But if you're worth it we're shelling out some bucks for coordinators.

- it's been shown that a new DC can make a pretty immediate difference and, given that we haven't been constructed for long for any particular system we may have some flexibility for a guy coming in who sees our roster and thinks he can do a few different things with it.

- I also will not be surprised if Key makes an internal hire and also have zero insight.

- nothing wrong with being skeptical. I just think Brent has shown he's pretty good at this particular aspect of being a head coach so I'm going to be optimistic that he'll find a guy that fits GT. BTW, it seems like we survived a number of other programs looking into trying to steal Tooch. If I was Brent that would have signaled to me that I should have a list prepared sooner rather than later of potential replacements. Don't you think he would have thought that, too?

He likely has a list. That dose not mean everyone on the list will break their current contract to come to GT.

No way to know. I just don’t see how change from a known good coordinator in February is either good or a reason to believe it won’t be at least a mild setback with the possibility of a major setback based on GT’s defensive history.

 

[UgaBlows]

He likely has a list. That dose not mean everyone on the list will break their current contract to come to GT.

No way to know. I just don’t see how change from a known good coordinator in February is either good or a reason to believe it won’t be at least a mild setback with the possibility of a major setback based on GT’s defensive history.

Ted Roof is out there waiting yall, maybe the third time is a charm?

 

[iceeater1969]

Promote Jess Simpson to DC and hire the best assistant coach to coach the LB’s

Hire anyone that will not go 3 dl with soft zone under cover when we are ahead 2 tds with 5 minutes to go in Athens.

Key has screenshot of scoreboard on his phone so thats not likely to happen. I ll take anybody the team likes. It woukd be best if we spent some coin.

Sure is wiered that dc who improved run defense from 123 to 23 left. Hope we can be competitive

 

[Randy Carson]

Maybe I'm just getting older, but it is getting increasingly hard to give a rip about this stuff.

You sign a kid, and he's gone in a year. You hire a coach, and he uses you to get to the next level.

If you're young and one-night stands are sill your thing, whatever. I'm so over it and have been for a long time.

 

[jojatk]

He likely has a list. That dose not mean everyone on the list will break their current contract to come to GT.

No way to know. I just don’t see how change from a known good coordinator in February is either good or a reason to believe it won’t be at least a mild setback with the possibility of a major setback based on GT’s defensive history.

I’m not trying to convince you of anything. You’re afraid that we can’t have two good things in a row and are finding reasons to feel that way. That’s fine with me. Maybe you end up being right. Though I’m sure both of us hope you’re not.

My position is that the guy leading the charge has been successful in finding good coordinators in 2 out of 2 opportunities. Not a bad hit rate. I’m going to go with most recent history that that guy has a decent chance, though not 100%, of hitting again because I’ve seen him do it. I know you hope I’m right that he will hit again.

 

[slugboy]

I’m not trying to convince you of anything. You’re afraid that we can’t have two good things in a row and are finding reasons to feel that way. That’s fine with me. Maybe you end up being right. Though I’m sure both of us hope you’re not.

My position is that the guy leading the charge has been successful in finding good coordinators in 2 out of 2 opportunities. Not a bad hit rate. I’m going to go with most recent history that that guy has a decent chance, though not 100%, of hitting again because I’ve seen him do it. I know you hope I’m right that he will hit again.

If the reports are correct, Santucci had multiple other DC offers that he turned down for this NFL job. He held out for his path to his dream job.

Also, Key will let you coach and not micromanage you.

If you’re an up and coming defensive coach, we are a place you could spend your entire career, and we are also a place where you can grow your career. We are a good opportunity.

 

[MWBATL]

Ted Roof is out there waiting yall, maybe the third time is a charm?

Now that’s funny, I don’t care who you are...

 

[Root4GT]

I’m not trying to convince you of anything. You’re afraid that we can’t have two good things in a row and are finding reasons to feel that way. That’s fine with me. Maybe you end up being right. Though I’m sure both of us hope you’re not.

My position is that the guy leading the charge has been successful in finding good coordinators in 2 out of 2 opportunities. Not a bad hit rate. I’m going to go with most recent history that that guy has a decent chance, though not 100%, of hitting again because I’ve seen him do it. I know you hope I’m right that he will hit again.

BK could find a good coordinator for sure. You miss my points. That is harder when the opening comes in February vice December.

Second, changing coaches 4 times in 3 years is never good for players

In the long run this might be great. It will have near term negative impact. How much is TBD. Could be very little or it could be significant. Players fit smoe schemes better than others. There are techniques coaches teach. New coaches will have stuff unique to them that can make it challenging for players their first year in the system.

Our defense was better last year than it has been in a number of years. The new coach will have the challenge to at minimum maintain that level of play. That is a challenge for sure based on returning players. The new coach gets no grace period. We saw what a good coach could do in one year.

 

[apatriot1776]

BK could find a good coordinator for sure. You miss my points. That is harder when the opening comes in February vice December.

There are pros and cons to the timing. The biggest con, as you said, is that this is very late in the hiring cycle so many guys are already off the board. You're already close to spring practice and deep in the recruiting cycle. Bad time for a wholesale change.

The biggest pro is that Santucci helped close a really good recruiting class who are officially signed/enrolled. We'll have to re-recruit those guys to keep them out of the portal, but that's a lot easier than having to re-recruit those guys to get them to sign.

It will be an interesting hire for sure. As I said, I'm hoping for Lyle Hemphill or Robb Smith. Getting one of those guys with DC experience, from the same coaching tree with the same style and system, would be an incremental instead of wholesale change and ease those growing pains.

 

[jojatk]

BK could find a good coordinator for sure. You miss my points. That is harder when the opening comes in February vice December.

Second, changing coaches 4 times in 3 years is never good for players

In the long run this might be great. It will have near term negative impact. How much is TBD. Could be very little or it could be significant. Players fit smoe schemes better than others. There are techniques coaches teach. New coaches will have stuff unique to them that can make it challenging for players their first year in the system.

Our defense was better last year than it has been in a number of years. The new coach will have the challenge to at minimum maintain that level of play. That is a challenge for sure based on returning players. The new coach gets no grace period. We saw what a good coach could do in one year.

No my friend. I didn't miss your points. I disagree with your conclusion that this is most likely to end up bad for us. That's OK. We can disagree amicably. I'm choosing to look at all the same facts and see how they turn out positive for us. You're looking at those facts and pointing out how they can all turn out bad for us. I know we both hope my interpretation is right. I don't know which is more likely so I'm not predicting anything except that I think it is more likely right now that Brent finds a good coach than that he finds a bad one based on his, admittedly limited, experience of finding coordinators.

First: I don't think it's necessarily harder to find a coordinator now than in December. Might cost us a little more if someone does have a buyout which, I kind of doubt will be the case but it's not out of the realm of possibility. I just don't feel the timing is as dire an issue. It's not ideal, though.

Second: the assertion that changing coaches is never good is not necessarily true. If you have a crappy coach, which they did a couple of years ago, changing coaches is a very GOOD thing. Of course we all feel like we had a really good one in Tooch so it's not ideal. But this point is completely irrelevant to the question I'm addressing which is whether I think we can come up with a good coach to replace Tooch. It doesn't matter whether changing is good or bad. We are changing. Period. We don't have a choice. The players will adapt. They did last year. And we have reason to believe that our offense will be pretty decent so hopefully they will be able to carry us through any period of on-field adjustment at the start of the season.

Third: If we get a really good coach to take over for Tooch then the near term impact could just as easily be positive. How much is TBD. Could be very little or it could be significant. Players fit some schemes better than other. There are techniques coaches teach. New coaches will have stuff unique to them that can make players even more effective in their first year in the system than last. For example, our pass rush was not that good last season. LOTS of room for improvement. Our run defense was really good with Kyle Efford on the field, not so much without him. Room for improvement. I'm not trying to mock you by repeating what you said. But every word you said can apply to positive change.

Fourth: if any coach comes here and sees how our defense played last year and thinks he can't do any better then I don't want him and I'm pretty sure Brent doesn't, either. Anybody worth having will see this as a challenge worth taking on, not something to fear.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

He likely has a list. That dose not mean everyone on the list will break their current contract to come to GT.

No way to know. I just don’t see how change from a known good coordinator in February is either good or a reason to believe it won’t be at least a mild setback with the possibility of a major setback based on GT’s defensive history.

My Guess is these are not surprises to Key and he has been putting feelers out for a while

 

[Sheboygan]

Maybe I'm just getting older, but it is getting increasingly hard to give a rip about this stuff.

You sign a kid, and he's gone in a year. You hire a coach, and he uses you to get to the next level.

If you're young and one-night stands are sill your thing, whatever. I'm so over it and have been for a long time.

Amen brutha!!

 

[Techster]

Key knew Santucci was talking to the Ravens, and Santucci let Key know beforehand. None of this is a surprise. Key has said he wants all of his coaches to go on to better opportunities if it helps their careers. Right now, coaching the college game isn't the best situation for stability. There's a reason why college head coaches step down to be coordinators, and good coaches take position jobs in the NFL. Also, Santucci will be coaching under one of the best HCs in the NFL, for a franchise that's considered one of the most well run in the NFL. Honestly, it was a no brainer opportunity for Santucci.

Key already had candidates in mind to replace Santucci if he was offered the job with the Ravens. I wouldn't worry too much about attracting a quality DC. Key knows what he's doing.

 

[stinger78]

IKWT, at least, for GT football stuff.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

Key knew Santucci was talking to the Ravens, and Santucci let Key know beforehand. None of this is a surprise. Key has said he wants all of his coaches to go on to better opportunities if it helps their careers. Right now, coaching the college game isn't the best situation for stability. There's a reason why college head coaches step down to be coordinators, and good coaches take position jobs in the NFL. Also, Santucci will be coaching under one of the best HCs in the NFL, for a franchise that's considered one of the most well run in the NFL. Honestly, it was a no brainer opportunity for Santucci.

Key already had candidates in mind to replace Santucci if he was offered the job with the Ravens. I wouldn't worry too much about attracting a quality DC. Key knows what he's doing.

The lack of continuity is the thing that worries me - but that's inherently true in college football with the advent of the transfer portal. It's a shame, but it's the new reality.

Key is likely going to take his time making a hire. Whether it's an internal hire (i.e. Jess Simpson) or an outside hire, I have a lot of confidence that Key will make another solid hire. Key has already made a few great hires - including Simpson and Santucci.

 

[GTBandit22]

I realize it’s not great timing and we will have to pony up. Only reason I think Arnett is an option when he just got hired by Mullen:
It’s unlv and we are a step up. Would probably have to pay a buyout and give him a pay bump, but he hasn’t established any roots there as he was hired just 2 months ago.

I’m a big fan of the attacking 3-3-5 and he’s the best guy that we could hope to pull that runs that type of D. Cuse made people crazy with their version of it.

 

[UgaBlows]

I realize it’s not great timing and we will have to pony up. Only reason I think Arnett is an option when he just got hired by Mullen:
It’s unlv and we are a step up. Would probably have to pay a buyout and give him a pay bump, but he hasn’t established any roots there as he was hired just 2 months ago.

I’m a big fan of the attacking 3-3-5 and he’s the best guy that we could hope to pull that runs that type of D. Cuse made people crazy with their version of it.

I actually love the idea of the 3-3-5, but worry about our personnel fitting it (although the spring portal could certainly cure that issue) Would Van Der Berg fit as a nose tackle in this scheme?

 

[Root4GT]

No my friend. I didn't miss your points. I disagree with your conclusion that this is most likely to end up bad for us. That's OK. We can disagree amicably. I'm choosing to look at all the same facts and see how they turn out positive for us. You're looking at those facts and pointing out how they can all turn out bad for us. I know we both hope my interpretation is right. I don't know which is more likely so I'm not predicting anything except that I think it is more likely right now that Brent finds a good coach than that he finds a bad one based on his, admittedly limited, experience of finding coordinators.

First: I don't think it's necessarily harder to find a coordinator now than in December. Might cost us a little more if someone does have a buyout which, I kind of doubt will be the case but it's not out of the realm of possibility. I just don't feel the timing is as dire an issue. It's not ideal, though.

Second: the assertion that changing coaches is never good is not necessarily true. If you have a crappy coach, which they did a couple of years ago, changing coaches is a very GOOD thing. Of course we all feel like we had a really good one in Tooch so it's not ideal. But this point is completely irrelevant to the question I'm addressing which is whether I think we can come up with a good coach to replace Tooch. It doesn't matter whether changing is good or bad. We are changing. Period. We don't have a choice. The players will adapt. They did last year. And we have reason to believe that our offense will be pretty decent so hopefully they will be able to carry us through any period of on-field adjustment at the start of the season.

Third: If we get a really good coach to take over for Tooch then the near term impact could just as easily be positive. How much is TBD. Could be very little or it could be significant. Players fit some schemes better than other. There are techniques coaches teach. New coaches will have stuff unique to them that can make players even more effective in their first year in the system than last. For example, our pass rush was not that good last season. LOTS of room for improvement. Our run defense was really good with Kyle Efford on the field, not so much without him. Room for improvement. I'm not trying to mock you by repeating what you said. But every word you said can apply to positive change.

Fourth: if any coach comes here and sees how our defense played last year and thinks he can't do any better then I don't want him and I'm pretty sure Brent doesn't, either. Anybody worth having will see this as a challenge worth taking on, not something to fear.

Drink that coolaide. You enjoy having 4 different bosses in 3 years on any of your jobs?

That, regardless of how hopeful we are on the hire is a real challenge that so many simply dismiss. It is real.

I am hopeful. This seems like a near term problem or challenge if you want to be positive.