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ilovetheoption

ilovetheoption

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Lavoisier said:
I don't see a Quayshawn Nealy, Jamea Thomas, Julian Burnett, Brandon Watts, DJ White, Jeremiah Attouchu, Jamal Golden, or Adam Gotsis on our roster. Under Groh we brought in a ton of under the radar talent. We will have to see how the 2017 class shakes out (they were all very highly rated) so that might change, but Groh >> Roof as far as gauging talent on that side of the ball. He did the same at UVA. The only real special guy Roof brought in would be PJ Davis. AJ Gray is almost there and maybe Anree will be to. It's too early to tell with any of the 2017 guys imo.
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Al Groh has a HELL of an eye for talent. It's probably the single best attribute he has as a college football coach. The number of random like canadians and dudes from like cleveland and Podunk new jersey and 6'5, 190 dudes that some how ended up as left tackles he brought through UVA was obscene. He has a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run, and he's not particular about position. Every year, he would bring in 5 or 6 guys between 6'4 and 6'7 and anywhere from like 220-260 lbs and say "put them in the weight room for a year, and let mother nature decide what position they would end up in". And we usually had big, athletic, good lines under him, along with good TE's and OLB's.

I'm not an al groh fan, but I respect his eye for projectability.
 
Milwaukee

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ilovetheoption said:
Al Groh has a HELL of an eye for talent. It's probably the single best attribute he has as a college football coach. The number of random like canadians and dudes from like cleveland and Podunk new jersey and 6'5, 190 dudes that some how ended up as left tackles he brought through UVA was obscene. He has a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run, and he's not particular about position. Every year, he would bring in 5 or 6 guys between 6'4 and 6'7 and anywhere from like 220-260 lbs and say "put them in the weight room for a year, and let mother nature decide what position they would end up in". And we usually had big, athletic, good lines under him, along with good TE's and OLB's.

I'm not an al groh fan, but I respect his eye for projectability.
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Those tight ends were always very tall as well iirc Phillips, Santi, Stupar

Carry on.
 
Techster

Techster

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ilovetheoption said:
Al Groh has a HELL of an eye for talent. It's probably the single best attribute he has as a college football coach. The number of random like canadians and dudes from like cleveland and Podunk new jersey and 6'5, 190 dudes that some how ended up as left tackles he brought through UVA was obscene. He has a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run, and he's not particular about position. Every year, he would bring in 5 or 6 guys between 6'4 and 6'7 and anywhere from like 220-260 lbs and say "put them in the weight room for a year, and let mother nature decide what position they would end up in". And we usually had big, athletic, good lines under him, along with good TE's and OLB's.

I'm not an al groh fan, but I respect his eye for projectability.
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Chan Gailey had the same ability. Could possibly be years spent evaluating college talent at the pro level with all those pro scouts and applying the same theories of evalution on HS kids.
 
tech_wreck47

tech_wreck47

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MikeJackets1967 said:
The App State on the Yosefs Cabin Message Board fans think the GT defense in year one under Coach Woody will be better than any of the defenses that CPJ has had since 2008
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You might be reading my comment. I really do think we will break the 60’s in FEI. If I had to guess I’d say atleast 50ish
 
jacketup

jacketup

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ilovetheoption said:
Al Groh has a HELL of an eye for talent. It's probably the single best attribute he has as a college football coach. The number of random like canadians and dudes from like cleveland and Podunk new jersey and 6'5, 190 dudes that some how ended up as left tackles he brought through UVA was obscene. He has a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run, and he's not particular about position. Every year, he would bring in 5 or 6 guys between 6'4 and 6'7 and anywhere from like 220-260 lbs and say "put them in the weight room for a year, and let mother nature decide what position they would end up in". And we usually had big, athletic, good lines under him, along with good TE's and OLB's.

I'm not an al groh fan, but I respect his eye for projectability.
Click to expand...

Not really. I agree that he had "a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run." That doesn't take a great eye for talent. In fact, it was a disadvantage while he was at GT. He passed on a lot of kids who we could have signed, but went to other schools (and did very well) because they weren't big enough to suit Groh. And actually, I am a Groh fan when it comes to knowing defensive strategy--if he has the players to suit his strategy, which he did not at GT.

Gailey was better than Groh at talent evaluation, which is surprising for a guy from the NFL. Many of his assistants were former lower level head coaches (like Div II). He reasoned that to be successful at that level, you have to be able to evaluate talent. He also won a national championship at a lower level. Gailey was a good head coach, except that he would not hire a quality offensive coordinator because he overestimated his offensive coaching ability at the college level. That was his downfall.
 
slugboy

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Techster said:
Chan Gailey had the same ability. Could possibly be years spent evaluating college talent at the pro level with all those pro scouts and applying the same theories of evalution on HS kids.
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Chan's staff had Giff Smith and Charles Kelley. I think there were others who were strong recruiters. Have no idea where some of them are now.
For a QB-guru, he couldn't land a QB or develop one.
 
jacketup

jacketup

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Lavoisier said:
I don't see a Quayshawn Nealy, Jamea Thomas, Julian Burnett, Brandon Watts, DJ White, Jeremiah Attouchu, Jamal Golden, or Adam Gotsis on our roster. Under Groh we brought in a ton of under the radar talent. We will have to see how the 2017 class shakes out (they were all very highly rated) so that might change, but Groh >> Roof as far as gauging talent on that side of the ball. He did the same at UVA. The only real special guy Roof brought in would be PJ Davis. AJ Gray is almost there and maybe Anree will be to. It's too early to tell with any of the 2017 guys imo.
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What under the radar talent did Groh bring in? Attaochu and Young were highly thought of. I can't think of anyone he brought in that turned out to be good and was "under the radar." A lot of the kids you mention were here when Groh arrived, or like Gotsis, he didn't recruit them. In general, the level of talent as Roof leaves is better than the level of talent when Groh left.

And as far as gauging talent, read my response to ilovetheoption.
 
AlabamaBuzz

AlabamaBuzz

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tech_wreck47 said:
Being physical doesn’t mean effort. I don’t doubt effort. Also wouldn’t coaching up mean the D would have exceeded what their talent level would indicate? Yet we were constantly playing below our talent level imo. That’s because of scheme though imo. Also being physical isn’t something that’s really coached, for the most part you have it or you don’t, but this is a different discussion for a different thread.
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You and I will continue to disagree, but still root for the same team. I believe our D, most of the time under Roof, overachieved. Again, my opinion.

It is extremely hard to SCHEME a defense into being great. Offense, yes, but D, not so much. But, again, I respect, but disagree, with your opinion.
 
UgaBlows

UgaBlows

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ilovetheoption said:
Al Groh has a HELL of an eye for talent. It's probably the single best attribute he has as a college football coach. The number of random like canadians and dudes from like cleveland and Podunk new jersey and 6'5, 190 dudes that some how ended up as left tackles he brought through UVA was obscene. He has a fetish for tall, big framed, coordinated dudes who can run, and he's not particular about position. Every year, he would bring in 5 or 6 guys between 6'4 and 6'7 and anywhere from like 220-260 lbs and say "put them in the weight room for a year, and let mother nature decide what position they would end up in". And we usually had big, athletic, good lines under him, along with good TE's and OLB's.

I'm not an al groh fan, but I respect his eye for projectability.
Click to expand...

I remember going to a couple of Gt vs. Uva games during Groh's tenure and being shocked at how much bigger than our team they were while watching warmups.
 
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