Question for y"all

[JacketFan137]

Translated: I don't like that scheme and I don't like CPJ.

think what you want. best tech coach of my life time and loved him but i also recognize when it’s time to move on.

enduring the painful rebuild (attempt) of collins to tuck tail and turn back into an option team would have been a waste of a lot of time and resources and likely would have seen any good talent gained during that time on the way out towards the portal.

i think we’re in a much better spot with key to take the next step than we would have been with an option offense.

if you would like to discuss tech football of today that would probably be more appropriate in this thread. there’s plenty of others to talk about option football. weird how that’s all you want to bring up :/

 

[CEB]

i was always a scheme guy but was never a fan of people using “scheme” as coded language instead of admitting they wanted a coach with a gimmick offense at the helm.

this weekend is make or break because 1. going 0/3 in real games is a very bad sign. 2. wake’s o line got picked apart by old dominion, and if our d line is unable to do the same i’m not sure when we will just magically put it all together. 3. even though we have looked worse each week this is not just a 4 week thing. these problems have been going on for years now and thacker has been a part of it the whole time.

idk i get the delusional optimism as i was in the same boat hoping and wishing for collins to turn it around the whole time but i don’t see how this gets better this season when we are objectively one of the worst defenses in college football by most metrics. but i’m sure we’ll hear “it’s only 4 weeks” “it’s only 5 weeks” “it’s only week 7”….

So I’ll give you that this week could establish how bad we really are, but I disagree with the notion that it imposes a ceiling on who we might be.
If we don’t improve, we certainly have to look at Thacker. If we do improve, this marks the second season in a row that our defense has looked inept for the first 3-4 games of the season, and I may still look at Thack wondering why we aren’t prepared. Last year the Collins fiasco might have masked a “trend.” Who knows.
As for the week 3 argument; it’s valid. Not an excuse, but valid. It’ll be about week 6 before everyone will have 2-3 P5 opponents under their belt. We’ve already had two, and they are pretty good ones to boot. I have no illusion that our D will vault into the top 30, but there will be a lot of added perspective in a few weeks.
WF and BGSU should provide an opportunity to improve our stock, to your point

 

[MACHETE]

Y'all should not assume that we have little NIL money. Also, if you are that concerned about it, do something: thetechway.com

 

[JacketFan137]

So I’ll give you that this week could establish how bad we really are, but I disagree with the notion that it imposes a ceiling on who we might be.
If we don’t improve, we certainly have to look at Thacker. If we do improve, this marks the second season in a row that our defense has looked inept for the first 3-4 games of the season, and I may still look at Thack wondering why we aren’t prepared. Last year the Collins fiasco might have masked a “trend.” Who knows.
As for the week 3 argument; it’s valid. Not an excuse, but valid. It’ll be about week 6 before everyone will have 2-3 P5 opponents under their belt. We’ve already had two, and they are pretty good ones to boot. I have no illusion that our D will vault into the top 30, but there will be a lot of added perspective in a few weeks.
WF and BGSU should provide an opportunity to improve our stock, to your point

yeah i don’t think we need to be top 30 to salvage the season, but idk we need to show some significant signs of improvement for me to really believe something will happen.

the stuff we are struggling with concerns me. the tackling against ole miss was bad, and that was against some of their backup WRs. their limited scoring had more to do with our offense being slow and conservative rather than the defense playing well

 

[cpf2001]

I’m not in favor of a mid season firing but I think there’s more room for improvement there than some. Even if you keep the scheme the same, some coaches are better than others at teaching/training better execution.

But I doubt that a midseason internal replacement would be a significant change there since those coaches are already there anyway. It doesn’t seem like a Collins-style nobody-seems-focused-on-anything issue.

 

[Squints]

i was always a scheme guy but was never a fan of people using “scheme” as coded language instead of admitting they wanted a coach with a gimmick offense at the helm.

This is you making up people to be mad at.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

the stuff we are struggling with concerns me. the tackling against ole miss was bad, and that was against some of their backup WRs

Of their 251 receiving yards, 205 was between two starters, and 27 was to the starting RB. The backup TE had one catch for 0 yards. Only one other receiver had a catch, and he did get 15 yards after the catch for a total of 19 yards. Overall, we allowed 102 YAC, 87 of it to starters and 15 to a backup.

Edit: Trigg was targeted but had no catches.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

For those who wish to question a fonts motives, take it to DMs. For those who wish to comment on option football, find an appropriate thread.

 

[Squints]

I wish I was absolutely convinced that Key is the guy the way some of you are. Not predicting failure or anything like that because it's way too early to be talking like that. But to this point I haven't seen much that fills me with the kind of optimism I'm seeing from some here.

 

[IronJacket7]

I wish I was absolutely convinced that Key is the guy the way some of you are. Not predicting failure or anything like that because it's way too early to be talking like that. But to this point I haven't seen much that fills me with the kind of optimism I'm seeing from some here.

Our offense gives me optimism.

Defense, not so much.

 

[bucknellbison31]

I fully support Coach Key and will continue to buy season tickets and support the program financially to give him the best chance to succeed. Keep in mind that he faces a landscape than previous Tech coaches have not had to deal with given how the NIL and portal have changed everything. Just look at the three players we lost to Ole Miss., the one to Colorado, and the one to NC Tar Heels just since last year. We are in danger of becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates of college football with coaches who find diamonds in the rough, develop them into good players, and then watch helplessly as the big schools come along and poach them as free agents in the new system because we cannot afford to keep them.

If you love Tech and want the team to be good, I ask that you support them in whatever way you can now until we get good. We have good coaches but the best way to help them recruit is for recruits visiting the campus to see a full stadium. I was at Ole Miss yesterday and it was a great environ,ent. Also, I am glad to report that Tech fans turned out in force. I just wish our home crowds were bigger. Let’s not wait until the team gets good to support them. Let’s use our support to help make them successful. Go Tech!

As a diehard Pirates fan and PGH native, my heart is telling me to be offended by your comparison... but my head is telling me that you're right

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I wish I was absolutely convinced that Key is the guy the way some of you are. Not predicting failure or anything like that because it's way too early to be talking like that. But to this point I haven't seen much that fills me with the kind of optimism I'm seeing from some here.

This is a fair take. What gives me optimism is the turnaround on the offense and the fact that we are the least penalized football team in all of college football.

 

[CEB]

This is a fair take. What gives me optimism is the turnaround on the offense and the fact that we are the least penalized football team in all of college football.

I couldn’t agree more. Tough and smart seem to be two qualities Key holds dear and I can’t find much fault in building around that.
As long as we aren’t beating ourselves, we have a chance to be really successful…. And I think we will be.
I have no idea how long the road is, but we’re going the right direction.

 

[yeti92]

think what you want. best tech coach of my life time and loved him but i also recognize when it’s time to move on.

enduring the painful rebuild (attempt) of collins to tuck tail and turn back into an option team would have been a waste of a lot of time and resources and likely would have seen any good talent gained during that time on the way out towards the portal.

i think we’re in a much better spot with key to take the next step than we would have been with an option offense.

if you would like to discuss tech football of today that would probably be more appropriate in this thread. there’s plenty of others to talk about option football. weird how that’s all you want to bring up :/

You were discussing option football before I said anything, that's on you.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

This is a fair take. What gives me optimism is the turnaround on the offense and the fact that we are the least penalized football team in all of college football.

The lack of penalties is huge! The silly penalties over the last few years highlight just how little discipline we had. Key has fixed that and fixed it in a hurry.

The offensive turnaround also gives me some confidence that Key knows good coaches. Hiring Buster was a great move and makes me feel really good about Key as HC. It also highlights how quickly a unit can be turned around. New coaches, a few transfers, and a liability can become a strength.

 

[LargeFO]

Does anyone really actually know that Marco teaches drastically different tech from Larry Knight??

 

[JacketFan137]

You were discussing option football before I said anything, that's on you.

 

[ibeattetris]

and the fact that we are the least penalized football team in all of college football

I have found this recent stat to be interesting. I think obviously a team wants less penalties in critical moments, so by reducing penalties, you should be reducing important penalties. I do question the impact though, so I am looking back and comparing various penalty stats with final rankings. This is only using 2022 data. Based on the limited sample, I don't really think penalties are a good predictor of team success.

 

[cpf2001]

I have found this recent stat to be interesting. I think obviously a team wants less penalties in critical moments, so by reducing penalties, you should be reducing important penalties. I do question the impact though, so I am looking back and comparing various penalty stats with final rankings. This is only using 2022 data. Based on the limited sample, I don't really think penalties are a good predictor of team success.

Do you have the bottom 25 worst-penalized teams handy? I'm curious what that looks like (and where GT landed).

 

[AugustaSwarm]

I have found this recent stat to be interesting. I think obviously a team wants less penalties in critical moments, so by reducing penalties, you should be reducing important penalties. I do question the impact though, so I am looking back and comparing various penalty stats with final rankings. This is only using 2022 data. Based on the limited sample, I don't really think penalties are a good predictor of team success.
View attachment 14761

It's just the raw number of penalties - it's the type of penalties and the timing of them. A 2nd and 8 false start was a drive killer in the past few years.
The facemasks and targeting were killers too. I love Charlie Thomas, but those penalties hurt.