Short summary: it’s not easy to fire your way to success
I’ve been watching Georgia Tech a long time; not as long as some of you, but I started following at the end of the Pepper era (and that was hard, because there wasn’t a lot of Tech on TV at the time).
As fans, we want to win, and we want to win right now, and that’s what a fan should want. Here’s some of what I’ve seen over the past 25 years that shows why we need to fix up our house
- Towards the end of O’Leary’s tenure, the offense wasn’t quite as good under Bill O’Brien as it was under Fridge, and O’Leary never got the defense in gear. In some ways, we were looking for a new coach the last few years of his coaching stand here. When his resume fiasco blew up his hire at Notre Dame, there didn’t seem to be any thought of bringing him back. O’Leary could have used a stronger AA to help his team go in the right direction. Also, as fans, many of us didn’t realize how hard it was for his staff to put a consistent winner on the field like he did. When outside coaches saw the GT situation, they probably thought “that’s not as good as a factory situation, but it’s pretty good”. We still had recruits who could remember a national title. Every outside coach understood why he’d “step up” to the Notre Dame job, though.
- We followed up with Gailey, who a lot of fans called “Gomer”. Most people were cautiously optimistic about the hire, but I don’t think a lot of coaches threw their hats into the ring to replace O’Leary. We had a great defense under Gailey, and a mostly boring offense with an all-time hall-of-fame receiver and great running backs. I’m not sure how much help Gailey was willing to take, but he could have used a lot more help adjusting from the Pros to college and managing academic progress. He had very good Hewitt years with star basketball players to shield him from the harsh glare of fans and the press. From the viewpoint of outside coaches, they saw the AA let him down when they said advisors were handling academic progress. He fought through recruiting sanctions and finally his staff brought in full recruiting classes, and some of the best we’d seen. Outside coaches saw fans get sick of him, and an AA that didn’t get the job done.
- We followed that up with Johnson. I see him going into the college football hall of fame as a coach. He turned us around quickly, then tailed off over the last few years. Other coaches might not like him, but he’s seen as an innovator, and I see him that way. In his time here, he had boosters and his own AD undercut him. Some of the problems he had here were related to actions he took, but as a coach you want to know that the AA and the AD have your back, and that they’re competent. That wasn’t the case until his last couple of years. Many fans and coaches feel like he wasn’t fired, but he wasn’t made to feel welcome in the job for about half of his tenure here.
- The least a good coach is going to expect is for the AA and the AD to have their back and support them (unless they go full Bobby Petrino, and dang if he didn’t expect the Arkansas AA to support him with guns blazing).
- In the same time that Johnson was here, Swinney was at a point that he could get fired, and the big donors at Clemson surely wouldn’t have minded at the time. Their AD called a meeting, and Swinney thought he was getting fired. The AD hosted a discussion about what they could do to support him and help turn around the program. Every coach in the country saw that happen, and saw that as the sign of a successful athletic program.
- Over on the other side of the country, Stanford had never been a strong athletic program before Harbaugh showed up there, but the AA has made that a consistent program from Harbaugh to Shaw.
- Closer to home, Clemson (mentioned earlier) and Alabama have shown what building a good AA can do for you. FSU has shown what an aimless and weak AA can do TO you, even if you’re flush with cash.
- When we hired Collins, coaches and sports journalists voiced the idea that there were very few coaching openings, and Tech had a shot at making a great and special hire just based on timing. However, most coaches did not see us as a desirable landing spot, and we didn’t have as many candidates as we’d have wanted. When Ross went to the NFL, there was huge buzz about our HC position. This time around, it wasn’t as popular to compete for.
- Whether or not other coaches respect Collins or not, they’re looking at this situation and seeing what the environment looks like and how good of a situation this is. They’re looking at “can you recruit”—and you can, even if it’s not as easy as Miami. They’re looking at “is the AA going to shelter you from the pesky annoyances that keep you from coaching or recruiting, or are they going to be a source of trouble”. They’ll look at “does the AA keep the NCAA out of my hair or do they make things worse?”. They’ll look at “do I have all the tools I have to succeed at that place?”.
- While most coaches are mostly focused on prepping for their next game and recruiting, they are looking around for a cozy home to work from, because most HC jobs are temporary, and you’re lucky to coach for more that 4 years anywhere.
- So, if Stansbury goes to donors, and amasses a big pile of cash that not only covers a buyout but also has enough cash to pay for a HC and strong assistants, we’re just resetting the clock—we won’t have a race of coaches running through our open door. Mullen isn’t leaving Florida for us, and Leach isn’t leaving Miss State for us, and we’re probably not getting Coastal Carolina’s coach either. We’re not even getting Hugh Freeze from Liberty.
- Any coach worth his salt who might consider GT is looking at what the AA and AD do right now. I would. I’d want to see the AD come in and do what’s needed to support Collins and put him on the right track for success—even if it’s bringing in the right assistants (or getting them on the right track and doing their jobs better) and taking responsibilities off of his plate so he can focus on what needs fixing. Bring in a coach whisperer to mentor him in the right direction (not saying I believe in “coach whisperers, but $hrug”).
- Basically, this is a “show some grit and make a smart and concerted effort to fix things” moment for the AA and for Collins. It’s a time for the AD to come in and help turn this around. It’s a time for every coach and athlete around the country to see that you did everything possible to help the situation before you gave up, so that they know you’re serious, and so they know that you’re not just calling in a new coach and saying “your problem, fix this on your own”.
Summary:
- If you fire Collins, you need to attract a good or great coach.
- To attract a good or great coach, you have to make them think this is a place where they can and will succeed and would want to be.
- You have to make any prospective coaches think this is a good place to be before you fire Collins. Doing that after you fire Collins is too late to get them to come here.
- We haven’t done #2 yet.
- One of the ways to accomplish point 2 is to make a concerted effort to fix what’s wrong with our program right now.
- This is a c*** situation, but you have to deal with the situation you’re in as it is and not as you’d like it to be.
- The buyout is a financial issue, but job desirability is a bigger one, so we have to fix our environment here.