Looks that way. Unfortunately, I was one of those who bought into the hype that Geoff brought with him but I am a fan prone to such things. Stanbury should have known better, after all, it is his job. Will this team of AD Batt and Coach Key prove to be a winning one for Tech much as Homer Rice era proved to be? Remains to be seen but the improvement is obvious to my untrained eye with still a long way to go especially in recruiting linemen and building depth in all areas except maybe in smallish wide receivers God knows we have an abundance of them.
In your defense, I think a lot of GT fans just wanted to just support GT. "Buying" into the Collins hype was just fans trying to be positive about Collins and GT. He was trash as a coach, but he did raise awareness for GT. For a time, he did have national media talking about GT. The problem is, the way he did it was a double edge sword. If he didn't win (and he didn't) the way he promoted GT turned us into a joke, and also alienated some GT fans.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well you market something, if you don't have the substance to back it up, it all crumbles into a heaping pile.
Let's move on and enjoy what Key is building. Let's not forget, Key is still reckoning with cleanup as well as trying to build a team. I like where Key has this team, and I like the foundation that's being built. Mea culpa here, but I was not a big fan of Key when Collins brought him back to GT due to some recruiting rumors when Key left GT decades ago. However, I think Key had a job to do, and he had to separate his personal feelings for GT with his professional responsibilities for his employer. I advocated for Key as a candidate due to what he was able to do with the rubble Collins left behind. I had other candidates ahead of Key, but I felt Key would do well for us if he was the ultimate hire. We are fun to watch again...and that's something I haven't felt in a long time.