Mostly “Fire Geoff Collins”, some reminiscing, maybe bourbon or other distractions

[Sheboygan]

The first four games may tell the tale...Clemson, Western Carolina, Ole Miss, UCF. Coach Collins really needs to bat .500 on those first four games. A daunting task but he can do it. An awful lot riding on Jeff Simms. He has to play better. Between him and Yates, there were 10 interceptions thrown last year. Jeff will have to be near perfect for us to win along with much better line play. No, I don't think the defense will be much improved though it is hard to imagine it being any worse. They gave up almost 34 points a game last year and over 450 yards total offense per game. IIWII

Totally agree with that. Play Clempsun close, beat WC, lose to Ole Miss, beat UCF, lose to Pitt, beat Duke. 3-3 at the bye week would be a step forward, IMO.

 

[CEB]

I think what @Randy Carson is alluding to is if you look at college sports strategically, the ACC looks like a prototypical business takeover target. Another conference is going to swallow up the ACC because they can get it cheap, take the teams that give them market reach & discard the table scraps to the AAC or some other 3rd rate conference. The only question remaining is if GT is a table scrap or actually brings something to the table. We’re a wounded brand in a wounded conference.

There is a lot of speculation there, but ok, I can go along with that. There is a very real chance that college football will drive massive change in (and perhaps cannibalize) the college sports landscape. The large state schools will likely concentrate together for football and of course they will remain competitive in other sports such as basketball. The part I take issue with is the rise of Auburn as the harbinger of basketball demise for the ACC (or any school not in the SEC).

 

[Sheboygan]

No. All goodwill (and then some) has been used up.

I'm a "glass half full" kind of person, but I also consider myself to be a realist. Here's my week by week break-down of next season (forgive the formatting problem; apparently the forum doesn't like tabs or spaces):

Week # Record
1 0-1
2 1-1
3 1-2 (While other schools play multiple tune-ups against Wofford, and Middle Tennessee State, etc., we scheduled Ole Miss two weeks after Clemson. Who do we fire for that?)
4 1-3 (Whether CGC is retained after this game is anybody's guess.)
5 1-4
6 2-4
7 3-4 (Annual quota met. It's a home game, so fans can tear down the goal posts.)
8 3-5
9 3-6
10 3-7
11 3-8
12 3-9 (Forfeiting now would be less embarrassing.)

Concerning our annual game against UGA, may I ask, "What is the point?" In the last 20 years, we've won this game three times by a combined total of 10 points. One of those wins was in OT. It's not any better going back 30, 40 or even 50 years. That's right, in the last 50 YEARS, we've won this game 12 times. Does the word "parity" come to mind? No?

Then, WTH? Drop this game.

Yeah, I went there. We used to play Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, etc. Now, we don't. Big whoop. It's time to get real about where we are and where we WILL be in an era of NIL, the transfer portal, and big television $$$. Tech is simply too small and too academically challenging to compete with the big state universities. We're becoming the team that other schools want to schedule for THEIR homecoming games.

Unfortunately, I'm no longer convinced that the ACC as a whole can compete with the other P5 conferences - even in basketball. I grew up in North Carolina watching State (yep, State), Carolina and Duke cutting down the nets fairly regularly. Who's ranked #1 right now in basketball? Auburn - with three other SEC teams following. How many ACC teams are ranked? One. And Coach K is singing his swan song this year.

I graduated from Tech. My dad graduated from Tech. I have more cousins and family friends who graduated from Tech than I can count, okay? So, it pains me to say it, but it's probably time to re-think Tech's place in the collegiate sports universe. Why put off the inevitable?

FWIW, I noticed that Harvard went 8-2 last year while Army was 9-4. Do you think that either of those fan bases was disappointed with their record? Or were their post-game, tail-gating parties a bit more fun than yours?

I am at the same place as you at times.........and then I get a rush of optimism and then it seems we lose another coach or player. The SEC is cleaning everyone's clocks on recruiting and therefore results in the respective sports. The reason is simple. The SEC gets the most exposure and players, especially the really good ones, benefit with the NIL. The rich ALWAYS get richer it seems.

 

[Vespidae]

The part I take issue with is the rise of Auburn as the harbinger of basketball demise for the ACC (or any school not in the SEC).

I am a season ticket holder at Auburn and follow the games. What Pearl has done is make excellent use of the transfer portal to build a team. I think any school can do this, but he recruited a number of unhappy recruits and gelled them into a team. Is AU suddenly a basketball school? No. It will have an impact, but I give him credit for playing the portal to his advantage.

PS. I am amazed at the number of starters from Georgia! Newnan, Fayetteville, Augusta, etc. Excellent players, and all in our backyard.

 

[CEB]

I am a season ticket holder at Auburn and follow the games. What Pearl has done is make excellent use of the transfer portal to build a team. I think any school can do this, but he recruited a number of unhappy recruits and gelled them into a team. Is AU suddenly a basketball school? No. It will have an impact, but I give him credit for playing the portal to his advantage.

PS. I am amazed at the number of starters from Georgia! Newnan, Fayetteville, Augusta, etc. Excellent players, and all in our backyard.

Completely agree. He was pretty successful at Tennessee too. He’s a good coach. I’m not knocking Auburn and I am not saying that other large state schools don’t have the ability to achieve similar results. I’m just saying the rise of Auburn is the rise of Auburn. I don’t see it as another shoe dropping in the “SEC Hostile Takeover” of the ACC and college athletics. Basketball is somewhat insulated... for now

 

[iceeater1969]

I have a different perspective. After corporate life, I taught in the University System of Georgia and currently teach at Auburn. So, let's start there.

Tech, like many mechanical schools, was founded in the late 19th century in response to the rapid industrialization of the South. (Did you know that Tech's original location was to be Macon?) Schools like Auburn, Texas A&M, VA Tech, etc ... were the "mechanical" schools in each state, as compared to the land grant universities that usually bore the name of the state (e.g., Georgia, Alabama, UNC, etc.)

Tech, like Auburn, had a primary mission to educate and train skilled employees to meet the demand, especially in the textile mills. Auburn, even today, has a state mission to address the needs of citizens of Alabama and has operations in every county of the state. The University of Alabama is seen as the flagship brand and professional school (law, medicine, etc) but ... does NOT have a majority of students coming from the state ... they come from out of state. Also, Auburn is viewed by the state government as THE university of Alabama ... the workhorse. Alabama by contrast, is the brand.

This was similar in Georgia. However, unlike Auburn ... Georgia Tech took its Experiment Station under Petit and retooled it to be the Georgia Tech Research Institute and focus on delivering research. The state of Georgia makes about $1 Billion a year from Tech and THAT ... is the mission for Tech today. It is NOT to educate future technologists for the state (KSU, UGA and others now teach engineering) ... Tech's role is to deliver the money. Global reach, global students, global mission. Operations in every county of Georgia? Forget it.

That's why "students don't care". The demographics have evolved along with the mission. On game day, Auburn has multiple generations show up en masse for tailgating because the experience, the education, the environment ... are largely the same. That's not the case at Tech anymore.

I graduated 40 years ago. The school today bears little resemblance to the same GT I knew. Yes, many of the buildings are the same (although repurposed) but ... many of the traditions have been changed or dropped, the faculty is much less supportive of athletics (Auburn, by contrast, values athletics as part of a healthy lifestyle and actively encourages students to involve themselves in Auburn Athletics or enjoy the athletic facilities ... much more so that Tech did when I was there.)

Do we have bad fans? No. We have different fans. And that is reflective of the changing demographics, brand and mission of the Institute. I remain proud of the school but ... I also recognize that football is not a priority and probably hasn't been from about 25 years. Realistically, I don't expect that to change. I hope (and we probably will) remain D1, but our best shot at future championships is probably in baseball, basketball, golf and similar sports.

At least, that's the view from my perch.

The billions of espn money went to sec for years before the acc woke up. Its over as the sec has added the giant TAM , OU, UT in expectation of next big change. If NCAA does not act there will only be the 10 top teams and whomever is churning ones below them .

If we keep scratching and ncaa reigns the madness in we could be ok.

KEY POINT
If we just match the organizations of the big state schools we will fail.


From my perch.
Left gt in 69 and was for first 7 years at exxon.
Found it stiffiling - old processes and set lanes.
Then went to large pipeline engineer, procure, survey, construction man better because I got a great education at gt and moved up. Then I realized I am the top guy that gets the work, hires and supervises the workers, and collects the $$. Left and w partner started up a small epcm . We split and I merged w 3 other guys doing the same thing. We each kept our silo of workers and shared the work and profits. We grew rapidly by using computers and adding other partners. We were not doing anything different than our competition until we found a new way to get projects done better faster cheaper .
We formed client dedicated project teams. The team was headed by a promoted people oriented engr to run his own project (w big bonus pay raise) , firing non people engr, hiring community college techs that knew how to use pc, bringing in seasoned field construction managers to work w tech (good pay year round while in design and then great pay to build what was designed).
Key point
Teams were paid ok salaries, but got major project based bonus, and company based bonus.
Key point
With wild ups and downs we kept adding great people. They had ( warning corporate word follows) great corp comptancey. When project manager quit the Techs stayed.
Imo, we need to build top staff (oc and dc) by paying well but having big bonuses. For position coaches we need build an organization where
young smart football guys will beg to be mentored even at low salary. They will learn and work under top quality position coaches These young studly guys will take a lot of work off of the position coaches and since young they will help in recruiting. attract good football players The position coaches will be well paid w base salary, bonsed w performance of athletes (improvement and accomplishment) , and an team overall performance.
KEY POINT - we need to be a great place for a position coaches. Their core competency will attract and train the players and ga. Anyone watching will see quality at a player level. If oc or dc needs replacing the new guy will be glad to come.

KEY POINT HC is the least important position.
He will be paid less than oc dc and best position coach. Mainly an old football guy who can see the field.

To be competitive over long term we need to start at position coaches and work up from there.

 

[bobongo]

Totally agree with that. Play Clempsun close, beat WC, lose to Ole Miss, beat UCF, lose to Pitt, beat Duke. 3-3 at the bye week would be a step forward, IMO.

That was what I thought after the Jackets went 3-3 in the first six 6 games last year.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I think fans should be positive and encouraging rather than negative and pessimistic.
OP, how Does your post contribute anything positive to GT football?
**Your post is all about Collins…all about Collins. It is nothing about the players or team.
That type of prevailing attitude may make you feel better, might make all the Collins haters feel entertained, but it does nothing to support the program. Look, I get 3-9, 3-9 and 3-9 sucks, sucks and more sucks. I go to a lot of games.
I get disgusted too. But to sit on these boards and blast the head coach time after time after time after time …
does not help. I get OP is just expressing frustration with Collins but fall brings a new season and new opportunities.
My beef is OP assumes defeat and surrenders success before the first game. Maybe we go 0-12 but between now and the first game is it asking too much to at least attempt to not be so darn negative?

Winning three games a year with a historically bad loss to Clemson as well as losses to the likes of The Citadel, Northern Illinois and being hammered 100-0 in the last two games will result in message board vitriol. Coach Collins would have already been shown the door at programs serious about football. Harsh? Yes, but that is the way it goes. Bill Battle woke up one morning as coach of Tennessee to find a moving van parked in his front yard after another loss to Alabama. Did it matter that he always won more than he lost? Nope. Auburn is awash with rumors of getting rid of their first year coach. It is the nature of the beast.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

No. All goodwill (and then some) has been used up.

I'm a "glass half full" kind of person, but I also consider myself to be a realist. Here's my week by week break-down of next season (forgive the formatting problem; apparently the forum doesn't like tabs or spaces):

Week # Record
1 0-1
2 1-1
3 1-2 (While other schools play multiple tune-ups against Wofford, and Middle Tennessee State, etc., we scheduled Ole Miss two weeks after Clemson. Who do we fire for that?)
4 1-3 (Whether CGC is retained after this game is anybody's guess.)
5 1-4
6 2-4
7 3-4 (Annual quota met. It's a home game, so fans can tear down the goal posts.)
8 3-5
9 3-6
10 3-7
11 3-8
12 3-9 (Forfeiting now would be less embarrassing.)

Concerning our annual game against UGA, may I ask, "What is the point?" In the last 20 years, we've won this game three times by a combined total of 10 points. One of those wins was in OT. It's not any better going back 30, 40 or even 50 years. That's right, in the last 50 YEARS, we've won this game 12 times. Does the word "parity" come to mind? No?

Then, WTH? Drop this game.

Yeah, I went there. We used to play Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, etc. Now, we don't. Big whoop. It's time to get real about where we are and where we WILL be in an era of NIL, the transfer portal, and big television $$$. Tech is simply too small and too academically challenging to compete with the big state universities. We're becoming the team that other schools want to schedule for THEIR homecoming games.

Unfortunately, I'm no longer convinced that the ACC as a whole can compete with the other P5 conferences - even in basketball. I grew up in North Carolina watching State (yep, State), Carolina and Duke cutting down the nets fairly regularly. Who's ranked #1 right now in basketball? Auburn - with three other SEC teams following. How many ACC teams are ranked? One. And Coach K is singing his swan song this year.

I graduated from Tech. My dad graduated from Tech. I have more cousins and family friends who graduated from Tech than I can count, okay? So, it pains me to say it, but it's probably time to re-think Tech's place in the collegiate sports universe. Why put off the inevitable?

FWIW, I noticed that Harvard went 8-2 last year while Army was 9-4. Do you think that either of those fan bases was disappointed with their record? Or were their post-game, tail-gating parties a bit more fun than yours?

I agree Randy. I am not a Tech graduate but have been a fan for over a half century. It is time to give serious thought to getting rid of UGA and scaling expectations down to a more reasonable level. There is a good chance that we will have a losing record for the fourth year in a row on the way to a "lost decade" such as has been endured by Tennessee, Nebraska or even worse complete irrelevance on the order of Duke, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I am a season ticket holder at Auburn and follow the games. What Pearl has done is make excellent use of the transfer portal to build a team. I think any school can do this, but he recruited a number of unhappy recruits and gelled them into a team. Is AU suddenly a basketball school? No. It will have an impact, but I give him credit for playing the portal to his advantage.

PS. I am amazed at the number of starters from Georgia! Newnan, Fayetteville, Augusta, etc. Excellent players, and all in our backyard.

I was at a Florida vs Auburn basketball game a few years ago with a Gator fan in Gainesville. You can imagine how the "Rowdy Reptiles" as they styled themselves then felt about Bruce. During a timeout, the band was quiet and the place was relatively calm but I could hear Coach Pearl screaming at a player all the way across the court. Amazing.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

That was what I thought after the Jackets went 3-3 in the first six 6 games last year.

That is true but it seems like we were never the same team after that beatdown administered by Pitt.

 

[Pointer]

I say we send a GT Swarm rep into the program to help lead the change from within. Go from armchair coach to the real deal

Asst Coach-Football - Atlanta, GA 30332 - Indeed.com

Georgia Tech

www.indeed.com

Not to bump my own post, but since they seem like they will consider just about anybody, how about one of the few people on here with coaching experience... @kg01 he's been a Get Back coach for quite some time.

 

[Deleted member 4873]

And the negativism continues. Hope you feel better cause you not helping anything except maybe making yourself fe3l better. If we beat Clemson every one of you will come on these boards just like after the NC game saying how great GC is.

 

[kg01]

Not to bump my own post, but since they seem like they will consider just about anybody, how about one of the few people on here with coaching experience... @kg01 he's been a Get Back coach for quite some time.

School these boys, sun.

 

[GTLorenzo]

And the negativism continues. Hope you feel better cause you not helping anything except maybe making yourself fe3l better. If we beat Clemson every one of you will come on these boards just like after the NC game saying how great GC is.

Uh, no.

 

[tmhunter52]

And the negativism continues. Hope you feel better cause you not helping anything except maybe making yourself fe3l better. If we beat Clemson every one of you will come on these boards just like after the NC game saying how great GC is.

More than likely a large number of detractors would say that even a blind hog can find an acorn every now and then.

 

[bobongo]

And the negativism continues. Hope you feel better cause you not helping anything except maybe making yourself fe3l better. If we beat Clemson every one of you will come on these boards just like after the NC game saying how great GC is.

Geoff's high point. I was hoping we'd turned the corner. Didn't happen.
Beat Clemson and yeah, we'll all get excited again.

 

[TooTall]

I am a season ticket holder at Auburn and follow the games. What Pearl has done is make excellent use of the transfer portal to build a team. I think any school can do this, but he recruited a number of unhappy recruits and gelled them into a team. Is AU suddenly a basketball school? No. It will have an impact, but I give him credit for playing the portal to his advantage.

PS. I am amazed at the number of starters from Georgia! Newnan, Fayetteville, Augusta, etc. Excellent players, and all in our backyard.

Left off getting caught cheating (again) and only had a 2 game suspension. I used to be a Bruce "hypocrite" Pearl fan, but the winning has changed him to where he HAS to cheat to keep the wins up, even though he is a really good coach. Its a shame to see.

 

[g0lftime]

Left off getting caught cheating (again) and only had a 2 game suspension. I used to be a Bruce "hypocrite" Pearl fan, but the winning has changed him to where he HAS to cheat to keep the wins up, even though he is a really good coach. Its a shame to see.

He got run out of UT for violations. Must be a decent coach but without ethics.

 

[TooTall]

He got run out of UT for violations. Must be a decent coach but without ethics.

Been a long slow fall for a guy who secretly recorded others breaking the rules.