Key promises to make city proud of Georgia Tech

[Root4GT]

Yes, our talent level has been well below that of Clemson and Georgia for years now, but I don’t expect Key to close that gap quickly.

On the other hand, I think many give us too little credit for our talent level, based on underperformance over the last four years.

For example, our 2022 team ranked 5th in the conference in overall talent, only behind the obvious Clemson/FSU/Miami/UNC. According to 247, our overall talent rank of 30 was ahead of everyone else in the former Coastal as well as Louisville. We have the talent to be competitive with most teams, as seen last year in the surprise wins at Pitt and UNC. We've also had bad losses which made our talent look worse than it really is.

Just looking at our 2023 schedule which does us no favors, we should have a higher talent composite than seven of our opponents, and close enough to have competitive talent in 3 others. Obviously, we need to get and stay healthy at QB and on the line, but lack of talent will not be an excuse if Key doesn’t get us to a bowl, in my opinion.

It has been clear for years we lacked talent on both lines of scrimmage to compete with the better teams in our conference. White showed what a high level college player can do for a defense.

Our WR and TE positions have been below average in conference and our depth has been an issue at those 3 positions. We need several WRs to become reliable targets who create separation and easy throws. Got TEs just being below average would be a big step forward.

How the OL preforms this year is critical. They must make a solid step up in performance for the offense to be better than the poor level it has been.

Hoping for the best. Staying healthy will be important.

 

[jojatk]

It has been clear for years we lacked talent on both lines of scrimmage to compete with the better teams in our conference. White showed what a high level college player can do for a defense.

Our WR and TE positions have been below average in conference and our depth has been an issue at those 3 positions. We need several WRs to become reliable targets who create separation and easy throws. Got TEs just being below average would be a big step forward.

How the OL preforms this year is critical. They must make a solid step up in performance for the offense to be better than the poor level it has been.

Hoping for the best. Staying healthy will be important.

This ^.

I would also add that something we have been missing is SKILL. There have been many arguments over the years over how much talent we have on the roster. I would submit that SKILL is where coaches/teachers make the biggest difference. I am using the definition of skill as an ability derived from practice, meaning it can be learned and improved upon, whereas I'm defining talent as natural ability. We may not have had as many kids that are as naturally talented as other programs. But I think we've had kids who DO have enough talent to play better than they have and we haven't done a good job of developing their skills. So even when we had kids with talent we just didn't do a good job of cultivating it. Plus we didn't have enough of those high talent kids.

Looking at the staff that Coach Key has assembled I do feel like we've got a better overall set of teachers than we've had in a while. My expectation is that we become much more fundamentally sound and when we get beat it's because the other team beats us and not because we beat ourselves by not doing a good enough job developing the skills of the players we have. When kids see guys coming into a program and leaving BETTER they take notice. It would make me proud to see the kids leaving GT better than when they arrived both on and off the field. I think we've done a very good job of helping them mature off the field over the years and now I want to see us do that on the field as well.

 

[4shotB]

This ^.

I would also add that something we have been missing is SKILL. There have been many arguments over the years over how much talent we have on the roster. I would submit that SKILL is where coaches/teachers make the biggest difference. I am using the definition of skill as an ability derived from practice, meaning it can be learned and improved upon, whereas I'm defining talent as natural ability. We may not have had as many kids that are as naturally talented as other programs. But I think we've had kids who DO have enough talent to play better than they have and we haven't done a good job of developing their skills. So even when we had kids with talent we just didn't do a good job of cultivating it. Plus we didn't have enough of those high talent kids.

Looking at the staff that Coach Key has assembled I do feel like we've got a better overall set of teachers than we've had in a while. My expectation is that we become much more fundamentally sound and when we get beat it's because the other team beats us and not because we beat ourselves by not doing a good enough job developing the skills of the players we have. When kids see guys coming into a program and leaving BETTER they take notice. It would make me proud to see the kids leaving GT better than when they arrived both on and off the field. I think we've done a very good job of helping them mature off the field over the years and now I want to see us do that on the field as well.

Before I wrap things up here and claim the treasures I have stored up elsewhere, I have just two asks of the GT FB program. Granted, they are huge but (unabashedly) here they are:

1. Beat Uga in Atlanta
2. Trot out a team that looks they they have been coached and prepared in all 3 phases of the damn game. Not just offense. Not just defense. But all 3.

Go ahead naysayers - skoff if you must but it will not deter me from these things. I have no priority on the two items listed above and it seems like it has been damn near a lifetime since I have seen either one but my wife will tell you I have always had champagne tastes on a beer budget.Time has not diminished this.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall part, the center cannot hold. Yeates said this. We have been wandering in the desert since Ross. Is Key the one headed to BDS to start the next cycle of light (with all due apologies to Yeats of course). Only poem I ever read in high school or college that ever made any sort of sense to me.

Go Jackets! It (kickoff) is slowly slouching towards us all brothers and sisters.

 

[bobongo]

Before I wrap things up here and claim the treasures I have stored up elsewhere, I have just two asks of the GT FB program. Granted, they are huge but (unabashedly) here they are:

1. Beat Uga in Atlanta
2. Trot out a team that looks they they have been coached and prepared in all 3 phases of the damn game. Not just offense. Not just defense. But all 3.

Go ahead naysayers - skoff if you must but it will not deter me from these things. I have no priority on the two items listed above and it seems like it has been damn near a lifetime since I have seen either one but my wife will tell you I have always had champagne tastes on a beer budget.Time has not diminished this.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall part, the center cannot hold. Yeates said this. We have been wandering in the desert since Ross. Is Key the one headed to BDS to start the next cycle of light (with all due apologies to Yeats of course). Only poem I ever read in high school or college that ever made any sort of sense to me.

Go Jackets! It (kickoff) is slowly slouching towards us all brothers and sisters.

The Second Coming​

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

This will be a very interesting year to see how much progress we have actually made. The coaching staff appears solid, however, we won't know until the games are played. Our talent level has been below many of our opponents for years now. That really hasn't change greatly this offseason. Can this staff get less talented players to perform consistently above their level is the real question. If yes then great, if no then we still have a few years yet to improve our talent level. Our opponents are not standing still either.

Sometimes we forget that football is a team sport. With good coaching the total effect can be much greater than the sum of the parts. Key has already proven to me that he gets a total team effort from his players.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

The Second Coming​

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Sloughing always appealed to me.

Thanks for the cultural interlude.

 

[bobongo]

Sloughing always appealed to me.

Thanks for the cultural interlude.

Hoping Brent is the second coming of Bobby Dodd, or at least O'Leary, though in his own way.

Had an old drinking buddy who would recite from memory "The Second Coming" every time he got soused.
Now to run this thread completely off the track, this is my personal favorite Yates poem, which reminded me of someone every time I got soused:

When You Are Old​

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

 

[Root4GT]

Sometimes we forget that football is a team sport. With good coaching the total effect can be much greater than the sum of the parts. Key has already proven to me that he gets a total team effort from his players.

Signs have been encouraging but we were not really good at anything last year. It will take a lot of improvement in every aspect of every game to get to 6+ wins. Absolutely possibly but by no means a sure thing.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

A

Signs have been encouraging but we were not really good at anything last year. It will take a lot of improvement in every aspect of every game to get to 6+ wins. Absolutely possibly but by no means a sure thing.

Agree that it’s not a sure thing. Nothing is. But winning 6+ games seems far more likely to me than winning 3 games. I’m not arguing just saying I’m feeling optimistic, irrationally so or not.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

The story goe

Hoping Brent is the second coming of Bobby Dodd, or at least O'Leary, though in his own way.

Had an old drinking buddy who would recite from memory "The Second Coming" every time he got soused.
Now to run this thread completely off the track, this is my personal favorite Yates poem, which reminded me of someone every time I got soused:

When You Are Old​

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

The story goes that Yates would go to his favorite pub, drink a pint, go for a walk, and come back with a poem fully written in his head.

 

[Root4GT]

A

Agree that it’s not a sure thing. Nothing is. But winning 6+ games seems far more likely to me than winning 3 games. I’m not arguing just saying I’m feeling optimistic, irrationally so or not.

4 seems worst case and 8 seems best case to me. Likely somewhere between 5-7 in my view. Improvement from what we have been but we still have a ways to go to get to where we want to be regularly.

 

[TooTall]

From Phil Steele CFB Preview:
"I was impressed with the way CBK guided the team down the stretch and even more impressed talking to him in the Spring. He is the right man for this job and is now a veteran coach with a winning record in ACC play." "They are a true wild card as talent is in the bottom level but Key gets the most out of it and that makes them dangerous again."
Not too shabby coming from a publication that most national pundits digest.

 

[yeti92]

From Phil Steele CFB Preview:
"I was impressed with the way CBK guided the team down the stretch and even more impressed talking to him in the Spring. He is the right man for this job and is now a veteran coach with a winning record in ACC play." "They are a true wild card as talent is in the bottom level but Key gets the most out of it and that makes them dangerous again."
Not too shabby coming from a publication that most national pundits digest.

Talent is in the bottom level? 247 says we are 30th in talent composite. Who do we trust more?

I guess that's pseudoscience for ya.

 

[LargeFO]

Talent is in the bottom level? 247 says we are 30th in talent composite. Who do we trust more?

I guess that's pseudoscience for ya.

Yea I don't see bottom level. Maybe 8th/9th area?

 

[4shotB]

Talent is in the bottom level? 247 says we are 30th in talent composite. Who do we trust more?

I guess that's pseudoscience for ya.

I am leery of any composite rankings, whether for rosters or recruiting classes, as I think they can have a very myopic view. For instance a roster with 85 Calvin Johnson, Jamyr Gibbs, and Joe Hamiltons might show up as a very loaded team (and rightly so) using composite ratings. However, this team would fail to win many football games due to "imbalance" of skillsets. IMO.

 

[bobongo]

I am leery of any composite rankings, whether for rosters or recruiting classes, as I think they can have a very myopic view. For instance a roster with 85 Calvin Johnson, Jamyr Gibbs, and Joe Hamiltons might show up as a very loaded team (and rightly so) using composite ratings. However, this team would fail to win many football games due to "imbalance" of skillsets. IMO.

It's like if you had an offense that had everything except an OL, how many points would you score?

 

[yeti92]

Yea I don't see bottom level. Maybe 8th/9th area?

If you are referring to in the ACC, we are 5th according to 247.

I am leery of any composite rankings, whether for rosters or recruiting classes, as I think they can have a very myopic view. For instance a roster with 85 Calvin Johnson, Jamyr Gibbs, and Joe Hamiltons might show up as a very loaded team (and rightly so) using composite ratings. However, this team would fail to win many football games due to "imbalance" of skillsets. IMO.

I don't know, I'd bet Calvin, Joe, and Jahmyr would be stud athletes at multiple positions. Lines would be the biggest concern, but with Calvin's frame I'm sure we could bulk a few of him up and put together a decent d-line

I do agree it's better to go after the guys you need than chasing ratings.

 

[yeti92]

It's like if you had an offense that had everything except an OL, how many points would you score?

Depends if the offense is designed to minimize the need for a superior line.

 

[4shotB]

I don't know, I'd bet Calvin, Joe, and Jahmyr would be stud athletes at multiple positions. Lines would be the biggest concern, but with Calvin's frame I'm sure we could bulk a few of him up and put together a decent d-line

I do agree it's better to go after the guys you need than chasing ratings.

I can definitely see CJ as a Michael Johnson type DE!

 

[TooTall]

Talent is in the bottom level? 247 says we are 30th in talent composite. Who do we trust more?

I guess that's pseudoscience for ya.

He uses last years statistical numbers for his talent ratings. We were not a good team, we did improve however.
But way to be a true GT and fine the one, small negative in a positive article.