McCollum

[TechnicalPossum]

I don’t know that it’s a mistake or not re: AMac. I think that’s TBD. I understand the thought process that consistency is helpful while at the same time supporting wholesale change with a new coach.

A question comes to mind: Can you be a believer in both of the following?

1) We should expect GT recruiting to stay the same without transformative change to funding, academics, BOR, etc.

2) Andy McCollum is a loss because he was by far our best recruiter.

Said another way, is it possible CGC could hire a team of recruiters as good as McCollum? If so, you’d think we will achieve better recruiting results without transformative change.

TBD.

Insufficient data. Ask in 3 years.

If I had to say now, no. Because CAM has proven he can do it. He can finish with the Hill as is. And it’s worth it to have him stay and hold all the recruits he closed.

 

[33jacket]

Insufficient data. Ask in 3 years.

If I had to say now, no. Because CAM has proven he can do it. He can finish with the Hill as is. And it’s worth it to have him stay and hold all the recruits he closed.

Proven he can help land 60s ranked classes yes. Beyond that?

I think we will be more than fine. He was a great guy but the biggest midget on a staff of avg at best recruiters.

Collins is one of the top 20 in all the land. And will permiate that through his staff. Will we be top 20 every year. No. Its tech. We all know that. But can we and will we hit a 24 ranked then 35th. Then 40th. Then 20th. Yup. Thats how i think we can be now.

 

[g0lftime]

The AD should have some say in this. Coach MAC is one guy that should have been protected. Great recruiter and kids like him. Any new organization needs some continuity with the old. The new staff will not know the personalities of the kids in the program if all of prior staff is gone. Let's see where GC ends up in recruiting rankings in the next 4 years. Then I will be a believer. At Temple he was lower ranked than PJ. It takes time to develop relationships with HS programs. I wish him luck.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

This is a mistake. No continuity in coaching s6aff will mean loses in December and transfers before the spring. No telling how many, but this team has a core of really good football players and this put them at risk needlessly.

Coach had better hope that he has some decent assistants in place to come in right after the bowl. And that they make contact as early as possible.

Those not willing to 100% commit to GT being better, becoming all that it should be, need to leave. Coaches or players.

The days of whine & roses are over.

Those fostering opinions about everything GT Can Not accomplish need to step off.

We have been exposed to this crap for 17 years and it needs to stop. And we have to do our part ($) I know.

MAC, imo only, is the only one that should have remotely been given the slightest consideration to stay here. But he has been here quite a while and a change may be best for GT AND him.

Recruiting? He may be great, but I have no doubt at all we will hire someone just as good if not better.

Best of luck to them all and CPJ. But it is time to reflect on what probably would have happened in 19 if a change was not made. If people were concerned about crowd sizes this year, I truly believe the same old across the board iiwii would have been devastating.

 

[swampsting]

I don't disagree with anything you said, but I also don't think this is the appropriate thread to discuss this.

I will say that CGC having a roster sheet from Nick Saban that he follows and then uses to justify us having "roster issues" would be one.

You opened the door on the fundamentally different. Someone was bound to walk through it.
Also, PJ has talked for years, especially on signing days, about roster balance, by position and by year. He may not use Saban's roster management algorithm, but there was a formula and equation in use for years, before CGC got back here. No matter what program you take over, you're more than likely going to want to have more guys at one position and fewer at another than your predecessor.

 

[swampsting]

Best of luck to them all and CPJ. But it is time to reflect on what probably would have happened in 19 if a change was not made. If people were concerned about crowd sizes this year, I truly believe the same old across the board iiwii would have been devastating.

Should we beat Minnesota in the bowl game, that would mean an 8 win team, with a bowl win over another P5 team, and getting Georgia and Va Tech - and South Florida - for the home schedule. Plus, all the folks from the nearby old age homes to see their friend Mack Brown and UNC come to town.
Probably wouldn't have been as bad as you project.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I would like to know what fundamentally CGC might have a problem with. PJ was upfront and honest with recruits and players - which they all have said throughout his 11 years - he got the grad rate up, guys did what they were supposed to do on and off the field and if they didn't, there were consequences. Other than offensive scheme and how they approached recruiting, seems to me that how PJ ran the program is how you would want Tech's program run.
PJ has run an amazingly clean program and managed to get grad rates up. I thought fundamentally that's what he was supposed to do.

For those who think PJ is some fuddy duddy who doesn't listen to the players, I've got two instances from his days at Southern. When he got there, the players asked if they could have their names on the backs of the jerseys. Southern had gone the first 12-13 years of the program without names on the jerseys. PJ said, sure, no problem. It's y'all's team.
Then they asked for blue pants. He said we'll do it and we'll break em out for special occasions, like revenge games or big games.
He also takes time to meet with every player one on one on the roster once the season is done.
I have absolutely no problem with how PJ has run the program as a whole the last 11 years. Sure, I would have loved for us to have won more. But as far as the program itself, getting guys into school and through school and out with degrees, and not having guys get busted like some schools just east of us, what else fundamentally could he have done?

Fundamentally?...the scheme on O. Nothing more nothing less imo.

 

[ibeattetris]

You opened the door on the fundamentally different. Someone was bound to walk through it.
Also, PJ has talked for years, especially on signing days, about roster balance, by position and by year. He may not use Saban's roster management algorithm, but there was a formula and equation in use for years, before CGC got back here. No matter what program you take over, you're more than likely going to want to have more guys at one position and fewer at another than your predecessor.

I am sure he had ideal number but I don’t remember him talking about it so much (he has brought it up in three separate interviews at least). I can’t imagine cpj hiring a DJ for practice either. I wasn’t trying to imply one coach was right or wrong, but the things they seem to think are important when addressing the media at least seems pretty different.

 

[Skeptic]

I like Coach Mac too, but you've got to figure that all the guys CGC brings in are going to be good recruiters. The position groups he coached over the years didn't really excel, either. With a limited number of spots, Collins is going to go with one of his guys.

Best of luck to all of those guys, though. I hope they find good gigs.

 

[Skeptic]

I like Coach Mac too, but you've got to figure that all the guys CGC brings in are going to be good recruiters. ....

Welcome to Lake Woebegone, where all our coaches are above average recruiters. I don't argue for or against the firings. It is the nature of the beast and we need to move on. The onus is on Collins to win and to that end, he wields the hatchet. But don't assume that every coach on the roster is a good recruiter. If it were that easy the head ball coach would not have to be the closer. Probably for most of them the maxim will be that first, do no harm. It would have been true with Johnson as well as with Collins.

 

[ATL1]

I just don’t get all the crying abou this.

 

[ncjacket79]

The AD should have some say in this. Coach MAC is one guy that should have been protected. Great recruiter and kids like him. Any new organization needs some continuity with the old. The new staff will not know the personalities of the kids in the program if all of prior staff is gone. Let's see where GC ends up in recruiting rankings in the next 4 years. Then I will be a believer. At Temple he was lower ranked than PJ. It takes time to develop relationships with HS programs. I wish him luck.

100% disagree. No coach worth the title should take a job where the AD dictates his staff. Coach MAC was probably our best recruiter but that doesn't mean he's all that. And since our defense has sucked for years, I'm not sure what that says about his coaching ability. Collins deserves the chance to set up his own staff as he sees fit as he's going to take the fall if it doesn't pan out.

 

[Ibeeballin]

CPJ also retained coach BJ Mary off of CCG staff.

Let me put it this way: to retain nobody off of a staff that wasn’t fired is a slap in the face and not a good way to curry favor with the current players. Look at Juanyeh’s mom’s to KQ.

I’m not sure i follow this logic at all.

 

[heyhellowhatsup]

I’m not sure i follow this logic at all.

I made a typo:

To be clear...

1) Brian Jean-Mary was retained off of Chan Gailey’s staff when PJ took over in 2008. He later left for Louisville and has rode the Charlie Strong train for better or worse since then.
2) MOST coaches (even when they’re taking over for a coach who was fired) retain at least one coach off the previous staff. Yes, it occasionally happens where the whole staff gets wiped out. But not typically. Find me the last coach that took over a bowl eligible squad and retained NOBODY. For example, Kirby kept Rocker on staff after Richt was let go. Fuentes kept several of Beamer’s assistants, etc... To me, I’d keep at least one from the point of maintaining player relationships in the transition period. Maybe if Collins is retaining Sisk, he thinks he has that covered.
3) When Kelly Quinlan tweeted the news about the entire staff not being retained, Juanyeh Thomas’ mom replied something to the effect of “her heart being broken.” She has since removed the tweet.

 

[Ibeeballin]

I made a typo:

To be clear...

1) Brian Jean-Mary was retained off of Chan Gailey’s staff when PJ took over in 2008. He later left for Louisville and has rode the Charlie Strong train for better or worse since then.
2) MOST coaches (even when they’re taking over for a coach who was fired) retain at least one coach off the previous staff. Yes, it occasionally happens where the whole staff gets wiped out. But not typically. Find me the last coach that took over a bowl eligible squad and retained NOBODY. For example, Kirby kept Rocker on staff after Richt was let go. Fuentes kept several of Beamer’s assistants, etc... To me, I’d keep at least one from the point of maintaining player relationships in the transition period. Maybe if Collins is retaining Sisk, he thinks he has that covered.
3) When Kelly Quinlan tweeted the news about the entire staff not being retained, Juanyeh Thomas’ mom replied something to the effect of “her heart being broken.” She has since removed the tweet.

1) Coach BJ, Giff, Coach Kelly were retained. A little inside info. We you mix regimes, you get too many voices and it become toxic. When you are making a culture change, a complete overhaul is necessary

2) not sure if this is true. Teams very seldom keep anyone from the previous regime. Who has the UNC or Louisville staff kept?

3) “It’s always business, never personal” for Mrs. Thomas. Coach Mac will be ok and probably make more money at his next stop

 

[SteamWhistle]

Sucks to hear that about Andy, pretty sure Derrick Moore will be back though...

 

[heyhellowhatsup]

1) Coach BJ, Giff, Coach Kelly were retained. A little inside info. We you mix regimes, you get too many voices and it become toxic. When you are making a culture change, a complete overhaul is necessary

2) not sure if this is true. Teams very seldom keep anyone from the previous regime. Who has the UNC or Louisville staff kept?

3) “It’s always business, never personal” for Mrs. Thomas. Coach Mac will be ok and probably make more money at his next stop

Tommy Thigpen was retained at UNC.

Three assistants are being retained at CU by Mel Tucker.

Nobody was retained at Louisville.

But if you’re comparing the situation at GT to that at Louisville, well, I guess we see things differently.

 

[heyhellowhatsup]

1) Coach BJ, Giff, Coach Kelly were retained. A little inside info. We you mix regimes, you get too many voices and it become toxic. When you are making a culture change, a complete overhaul is necessary

2) not sure if this is true. Teams very seldom keep anyone from the previous regime. Who has the UNC or Louisville staff kept?

3) “It’s always business, never personal” for Mrs. Thomas. Coach Mac will be ok and probably make more money at his next stop

Just to be clear, I never thought Coach Collins would retain Woody, Sewak, West, Buzz, Candeto, etc...

The two I thought who had a chance were Coach Mac, Lamar, and maybe Riase.

 

[Buzzbomb]

CAM was a HC @MTSU. He didn’t forget how to coach football, after all these years just because CPJ is retiring. Yes, he would bridge the gap between Staffs(was he not our Associate HC?). Can’t blame one coach for an 11 year period, with multiple DC’s. He didn’t hire them. They never fired him.

The relationships fostered are important to these players and parents/families. Shaq Mason, told me this very same thing.

I’m a little surprised with Lamar Owens, too! Good ST Coach, that players want to play for.

 

[Vespidae]

The AD should have some say in this.

The only time in my career I had problems was when the CEO asked to keep a manager on staff during a leadership change. The manager never bought into the new program and in fact, created a "test of wills" environment by comparing the new management with the old. Having been through it five times, I can only say that I prefer a completely clean slate with my own team. THEN ... I'm responsible.