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

[Skeptic]

My problem with the football program is that Collins made a huge deal about changing the perception of GT football. Some of his comments were borderline criticisms of Paul Johnson. Right now the perceptions are going in the wrong direction. His PR heavy approach is beginning to look like that was all he ever had. I am not sure he has much more time to turn things around before its simply too late.

In fairness, some of his comments were far from borderline criticisms. They were insulting and the GT AD should have backed him into a corner.

 

[Towaliga]

This info is second hand, so take it with a grain of salt…A guy who sits on our row at BDS said he recently met the father of one of our current players, and the player had told him (the father) that several team members have expressed the opinion that CGC should spend more time coaching (and all that entails) and less time trying to be their best friend. This may or may not be true or it may be just the thoughts of a small minority of players, but this is something that several GTSwarmers (myself included) feel is a valid concern.

 

[takethepoints]

So he is supposed to put a staff together like Bama's when the entire Tech defensive staff likely doesn't make as much as Clemson's DC?
90 % of the posts in this thread are ignorance on display. Get enough dumb people together and they will convince themselves they are smart.

Tech fans just want to (female dog). If they would fund the program, like other teams' fans do, then they might have a right to complain. In the meantime, we probably are Vanderbilt, because as a private school they don't put money into athletics either.

I get it--I'm frustrated too. But the problem is twofold: 1) the lack of talent Johnson left behind; and 2) Collins hasn't been given the money to hire a top notch staff. Number 1 will be fixed in time--Collins can do that. Number 2 is up to the fans. So quit complaining and start donating.

The problem with this post is that it identifies a problem then doesn't see that the problem is an argument for doing things differently.

It is true that the Tech football program has funding problems and that this lead to a salary problems. My reaction was a simple one: so what else is new? This has been a problem at Tech approximately forever. And Tech has a solution: use a hard to defense O and hold on in the fourth. We've been doing that ever since Dodd (he complained about lack of support too). When we do we are successful. When we don't we have problems winning.

Maybe you are right and we can recruit the level of talent we need to win using the real high school offense we now deploy. As to the second: a lot of us have contributed to the program (I have), but our alumni base is too small to reach the IPTAY level. We aren't a factory program (let me repeat that: we aren't a factory program) and we won't be able to fund one, even with the additional TV money. But, shoot, Wake isn't one either and they're 8 - 0. We're Georgia Tech. We can do that. If we have a coaching staff that can make it work and an AD who will schedule so we can win more regularly. That's what's needed.

Maybe Collins is the answer to that; it's still early days. But evidence for that is sparse on the ground at present.

 

[DCSS]

They don't think it be like it is, but it do.

 

[swampsting]

My problem with the football program is that Collins made a huge deal about changing the perception of GT football. Some of his comments were borderline criticisms of Paul Johnson. Right now the perceptions are going in the wrong direction. His PR heavy approach is beginning to look like that was all he ever had. I am not sure he has much more time to turn things around before its simply too late.

He does come across, especially now, as all sizzle and no steak.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

My problem with the football program is that Collins made a huge deal about changing the perception of GT football. Some of his comments were borderline criticisms of Paul Johnson. Right now the perceptions are going in the wrong direction. His PR heavy approach is beginning to look like that was all he ever had. I am not sure he has much more time to turn things around before its simply too late.

I said upon his hire that his salesman persona reminded me too much of Butch Jones. While that's great for recruiting, it can come back to bite you if you can't get results. I'm still in the camp of wait until after next year, but a lot (most? all?) of his current bad PR is his own fault.

 

[sgreer]

I spent the bulk of my career managing large, multinational organizations. The basic rule of thumb was to establish a system and manage to the system (recruit, refine, resource, etc.). Changing the "system" was to be avoided at all costs because the cost to change is astronomically higher and the risk is also higher.

Paul was screwed because Tech would never fully commit to running his scheme. Period. And the irony is that we don't have the resources to run the scheme everyone else wants to run. So, if you don't have an edge with a unique scheme and you don't have the resources, you end up in No Man's Land. Which is where we are today.

Where we are today is same as yesterday and last 13 years-Horrible Defense!

 

[ballground jacket]

I heard so many people say that CPJ was so mean and he shouldn't have grabbed that player's facemask that time. I don't think GT fans like old-school coaches.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

The only thing Collins has actually proven to be an improvement on is recruiting. The believers keep talking about once he gets his guys in and we get “old”. That’s our stars aligning moment. My question is, how much harder is it going to get to recruit after another 3 win season? Pretty soon his slick recruiting is going to come off as empty promises. He HAS to find a way to win a few more games before all the stars align or they never will.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Sometimes I wonder if GT fans like winning?

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

This info is second hand, so take it with a grain of salt…A guy who sits on our row at BDS said he recently met the father of one of our current players, and the player had told him (the father) that several team members have expressed the opinion that CGC should spend more time coaching (and all that entails) and less time trying to be their best friend. This may or may not be true or it may be just the thoughts of a small minority of players, but this is something that several GTSwarmers (myself included) feel is a valid concern.

Pretty obvious observation. I feel the same.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

In fairness, some of his comments were far from borderline criticisms. They were insulting and the GT AD should have backed him into a corner.

Agree, but I think the AD made his own bed and had to lie in it. Everyone had to be all in on this grand new experiment for it to work and that included jumping in on every aspect of the hype train.

Many on this site were skeptical but wanted to at least give this experiment a chance so they tolerated an unseemly and unprofessional amount of CPJ bashing.

The problem is where do we go from here. The new car smell has worn off and we have discovered we have over paid for a vehicle that didn’t have all the features we were promised. A new paint job won’t do it but how much of the engine needs changing? Or do we go back to the factory for a new model off the line that isn’t a lemon?

Sunk cost/loss is also a challenge for some of us. I STILL want CGC to succeed. But does my very yearning for this success put me in denial about what I am seeing on the field?

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

All I see are teams like Cincinnati , Wake Forest, Baylor and the like in the polls. And the I wonder, do they have anything on us?

 

[orientalnc]

Rant warning:

A few years ago our former AD inferred that we should not expect to be uga or Bama or Clemson. That we should be content with 6-7 win seasons. Some of you were indignant. Right now we have a bunch of people longing for 7 win seasons to return. Those of you who shouted to the wind that we replace Chan Gailey, and then Paul Johnson, got your wish. Now you are wanting GT to eat another contract and hire someone else that you are likely to hate in 3-4 years. At some point it gets tiresome to hear. I am very disappointed with what I see on the field, but I have to live with the results or go elsewhere. To some extent it is easy for me. I am primarily a basketball guy. And I have fallen in love with a bunch of tall women on our volleyball team.

End (for now) of rant.

 

[stech81]

All I see are teams like Cincinnati , Wake Forest, Baylor and the like in the polls. And the I wonder, do they have anything on us?

coaches

 

[Oakland]

Anyone heard from Todd Stansbury? Collins is his hire and the football program is going backwards record and attendance wise.

 

[4shotB]

I said upon his hire that his salesman persona reminded me too much of Butch Jones. While that's great for recruiting, it can come back to bite you if you can't get results.

It's never about the personalities That's a smokescreen. It's about the bottom line. If you look at our past 3 coaches, there has been a large % of the fanbase who have turned on them. Gailey? Too bland. Johnson? Too surly. Collins? Too gimmicky. I am sure that you remember the vast amount of energy wasted on those debates when CCG and CPJ were here.

Johnson when he was winning and beating the Dawgs? Straight shooter, tell it like it is kind of guy. Cremins when he was an annual top 10-15 program? "Silver Haired Whacko". At the end of his career people were ssaying he lost focus, was distracted, wasn't keeping up with the game.

Collins could come out this week and do his best Saban/Bellicik (sp?) impersonation at his presser. It wouldn't matter if we get beat at Miami.

I can understand criticisms pertaining to strategies or X's and O's. But when people start going off the rails about what is said/not said, clothing, mannerisms, etc. I don't really care for that. Why? It is superficial and does nothing to move things forward. Coaches should be judged on their bottom line solely. Right now, I (and most everyone else) have serious concerns based on what I see. But i don't care what he chooses to wear or what he says in his pressers. Just win or at least convince me that things are moving forward at an adequate rate. Actually I see improvement from years 1 to 3. However the trend line slope is not very steep. Or at least not steep enough now to make us all feel good about the future.

 

[4shotB]

Anyone heard from Todd Stansbury? Collins is his hire and the football program is going backwards record and attendance wise.

I haven't seen nor heard anything myself but I donate at a level where I wouldn't expect that. There is a search feature here that may help (but to be honest, I have not tried it). If you come across anything that you feel has value would you mind posting a link?

 

[CuseJacket]

All I see are teams like Cincinnati , Wake Forest, Baylor and the like in the polls. And the I wonder, do they have anything on us?

They certainly don't have unique offenses as some suggest is required.

The answer depends on the narrative you want to craft

• Cincinnati - Senior, first round NFL QB
• Baylor - is it sustainable? They won 2 last year.
• Wake - 5 of 6 years going to a bowl. Though Clawson is 8 years in and this year will be his first with a winning record in the ACC. OOC scheduling helps.

coaches

Without being an expert on any of their rosters, I think this is probably the best answer, albeit oversimplified.

 

[RamblinRed]

When it comes down to it this is the only thing that matters in terms of how long CGC has.

"If he were to be fired within the first four years, Collins would receive 100 percent of the remaining value of the deal. After that, he would receive $2.4 million for each remaining season. For example, if he were dismissed at the end of the fifth season with two years left, he would receive $4.8 million."

He will 100% be here through 4 years. My belief is that if things don't improve he would be removed early into the fifth season.

He was given a long and guaranteed contract because the feeling was it would take longer than normal to create the program he wanted due to the switch from the 3O to a 'modern' offense. The biggest issue with that so far is that the offense has actually been the lesser of the problems. The offense, while not very good has actually gotten better over the last few seasons (from dreadful to below average). The defense has actually been worse under Collins than it was under Johnson. That was not the expectation.