Quick poll on the pulse of the fanbase....

[GTpdm]

One issue that haven't see brought up, but has some relevance (I think), is what effect has the AD had on the program? How much of our current difficulties are not CPJ's fault at all, but attributable to MBob's predecessor—who wouldn't fund additional recruitment or compliance personnel? I constantly read about recruitment and compliance issues, here on GTSwarm and elsewhere. Sure, Coach Johnson is a central figure in those problems, but lets not forget that he does not simply dictate how the program operates; he has a boss, and has to operate within the guidelines laid down by that boss.

The more I look back at how our program has developed recently (or failed to do so), the more I have to ask myself how much of the problems we've faced are attributable to the guy who's now at Clemson. Before you decide to vote "no confidence" in this poll, ask yourself, is this problem CPJ, or is it legacy crap from the climber that preceded MBob?

I, for one, want to see how these two guys manage to work together—and the jury is still out on that. I've had the opportunity to talk briefly with each (on a casual and social basis, not a "what-will-you-do-for-the-program-because-I-am-am-a-paying-supporter" basis), and I'm confident that they both want to push things in the same direction. I seriously doubt that there was any comparable consensus between CPJ and MBob's predecessor.

Case in point: I've been going to the the Coach's radio show every week, for a few years. I see MBob there almost every week; I saw his predecessor once in a blue moon. We currently have an AD who pays attention to the everyday aspects of the football program, and wants it to succeed (in contrast to just wanting to establish his own revenue-raising credentials for a "vertical" employment move). I am optimistic that this collaboration between Coach and our AD, which I has been missing until recently, will start to pay off in the near future, and that's why I feel a "no confidence" vote is premature—I think that until recently, CPJ has been operating with one hand tied behind his back, in some respects.

I'm interested to see what Coach can accomplish when he can really direct (and develop) the program the way he'd like. Maybe it won't gel, and in that case I might have to rethink my support for his leadership of the program, down the line. But even then, if I ever feel it's time to part ways, I'll always respect CPJ's emphasis on character and excellence (on-field and off). Coaches in big-time football who really consider their players to be student-athletes are becoming rarer and rarer, and I'm glad we have one of those outliers as our coach.

 

[Techster]

I am really happy with the fact that he hired Sisk. The conditioning of the team was on full display at Tulane. That was brutal heat and they kept chugging along.

Noticed that Tulane's players were cramping left and right (little exaggeration). You would think it would be GT since Tulane practices in that environment daily. Bravo to the staff getting out guys prepared for the game and the conditions.

 

[daBuzz]

1. You contradict yourself....being 100% committed and not feeling like throwing the ball only a few times a game.......who do you think you are kidding. Someone 100% committed doesn't play tentative and indecisive......you only have to look at the play difference of the QB's before and after.

2. I do not think JT played poorly......though I do not think he played his best. JN put the ball on the ground many times.......Tevin did as well. 3. As I posted in another thread, I would rather have a QB that is committed and a student of the system rather than a "better athlete" that would rather be doing something else.

Point 1: Those weren't my words. To be clear. They were the words of a coach. So who do I think I'm kidding? No one.
Point 2: Again, those were words of a coach. I think he played poorly as well. If he had run for 350 yards, I still would think a player who turns the ball over 3 times didn't play well.
Point 3: Again, you're wrong. Just flat out wrong. The kid wasn't 'wanting to be doing something else' unless by 'doing something else' you mean more passing and less running plays, perhaps.

Look, I haven't posted this before and I hope doing so not isn't a breach of confidence. But Paul Johnson sat in Vad Lee's living room and told him that, if he had a passing QB, we would throw the ball more. And that's why Vad Lee came. Because he was under the impression that this was not going to be an offense that ran the ball 80 or 90% of the time. And FWIW, those words came from someone else who was in the room when Vad was told that.

At the end of the season last year, VL began to question the truth of those statements. He was getting a lot of words in his ear from people back home (family and HS coaches) who were urging him to go somewhere else where he might have a shot at throwing the ball more. Eventually, he decided to leave.

Personally, I think him leaving was the best for both parties. But let me be very clear about this. Vad Lee was NOT uncommitted to Georgia Tech nor to the team while he was the QB here. Was he the best option QB he could be? I have no idea. Did he turn "soft" running last year? It certainly appeared that way.

But this nonsense that keeps getting run out there about him not being committed during games last year is revisionist history. If you don't believe me, grow a set. Go up to Paul Johnson and ask him. Hell, call in to the coach's show on Thursday night and ask him. He will tell you that Vad busted his butt while he was here but eventually decided he wanted something different.

Now, that's behind us. Let's all move on and celebrate another talented QB named Justin Thomas. But let's also quit trashing a young man who I can guarantee you put more heart, blood, sweat and tears into his effort on the field for Georgia Tech than probably 99% of us on this board.

 

[RamblinCharger]

Sold on Paul being a good coach. Not sold on roof. I'm all in for now. If we end up 6-6 this year I probably won't be.

 

[thwgjacket]

You probably didn't check their schedule. In addition to Duke, other likely Tulane losses: UCF, Rutgers, ECU, Cincy

They already have 2 losses.

If you want to bet that they beat Duke and/or they go to a bowl, I am game.

Rutgers? Squeaked by Wazu and struggled with a horrendous Howard team. How about UCONN who barely got by Stony Brook? Houston who got run by UTSA? Memphis? ECU? Who looked bad along with a bad USCe team. Temple? Whose win came against a terrible looking Vandy. SE Louisiana? Cincy hasn't played a game and UCF has only lost to a very average Penn State. I'll take both bets. Duke and the bowl game. What do you want to bet? Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread.

 

[Papa Doc]

A technical complaint on word usage but I never put "faith" in humans, that is reserved for someone higher. So I will read this poll as asking if I have lost "confidence" or "trust" in CPJ.

Short answer is "no."

Long answer is that the biggest factor in continuing to run the GT football program is winning games against the top yearly opponents faced as well as in conference and postseason games. He has not won enough of those overall. But, he has been very competitive and close to winning in almost all of them. Close may only count in horseshoes and hand grenades but in reality it does make decisions to fire coaches more difficult. This is because gut wrenching OT losses and letting teams come from behind hurt more than getting blown out and not being competitive to begin with but only the latter kind of loss make a decision to fire a head coach easy.

My preference is to never have that day come so it is still as easy as ever to root for Tech to win every game!

I affirm the coach. Lest we forget, only 3 coaches have more total wins at GT than CPJ. He just passed O'Leary which leaves him only behind Heisman, Alexander and Dodd, albeit at a distance. Their win totals are double to triple his, but really only due to length of time on the watch. Alexander averaged 5 W's (26 yrs), the vaunted Heisman (16 yrs) and Dodd (22 yrs) averaged a little over 7, the very same as CPJ averages. I've watched games and coaches come and go since the Rogers era. Spread or no spread, pro-style or wishbone, SEC or independent or ACC, GT is competitive to a point and enjoys intermittent highs and suffers equal numbers of lows. Remember how the crowds murmured about the lack of scoring (19 pts per gm) produced by Chan's pro style offense? There are unique challenges to the head job at GT that make it a tough gig, always have been. I think CPJ is doing as well as can be expected all factors considered.

 

[Mack]

I'm old and I am completely behind him. I'm sick and tired of changing coaches every 5 or 6 years.

See your point but tired of so seven and five every year.

 

[GTpdm]

Hell, call in to the coach's show on Thursday night and ask him.

You don't listen to the coach's show do you? How many years as it been since you did? I'm there in person every week—on Monday.

 

[daBuzz]

You don't listen to the coach's show do you? How many years as it been since you did? I'm there in person every week—on Monday.

LOL, you're correct. I don't call in and I don't listen either.

 

[cyptomcat]

Rutgers? Squeaked by Wazu and struggled with a horrendous Howard team. How about UCONN who barely got by Stony Brook? Houston who got run by UTSA? Memphis? ECU? Who looked bad along with a bad USCe team. Temple? Whose win came against a terrible looking Vandy. SE Louisiana? Cincy hasn't played a game and UCF has only lost to a very average Penn State. I'll take both bets. Duke and the bowl game. What do you want to bet? Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread.

This is ridiculous. You will see soon in the following weeks.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Fwiw, I never intended or thought this thread would go anywhere much less over 100 replies. Yes, I expected a lot of poll clicks, but not all the dialogue. Wow. This is off season banter, I just wanted to get a snapshot of where the majority of the board sits, behind the coach or not, because it was questioned in another thread.

How 'bout them Jackets?

 

[iceeater1969]

Was getting down during the offseason! Still upset we were not aware of JDH having academic issues - losing Custis hurt too - too great athletes . Guys dragging up and transferring initially bothered me. Then In interviews saw coach carrying himself like the coach I talked to after he first came on campus - no whining in winning. I am convinced - He is focused on building the team to be at it's very best on thanksgiving weekend.

When we -he never bobbled on scholarship commitment to Ratliffe 2015 , I became a solid yes till end of 2015 no mater what.
Before Ratliffe, I was conditional to the way we play against ND and FSU in 2015 . Now let's move on.
LETS SWARM!

 

[GTpdm]

LOL, you're correct. I don't call in and I don't listen either.

Too bad. Contrary to what the nay-sayers say, he's pretty straight-up, and accepts responsibility for everything that doesn't go right, every game. To be honest, he does so by throwing players and assistant coaches under the bus left and right—if, by "throwing under the bus", you mean his regular admissions that "we [i.e. the whole coaching staff, obviously including himself] didn't prepare the team as well as we could have". But, hey—why listen to (or believe) anything CPJ has to say, when there's an axe-grinder you agree with who is ready to crap on the coach with the particular scent of feces you personally know and love...

Also: you said, "But Paul Johnson sat in Vad Lee's living room and told him that..." Guess what? That's hearsay--and what's more, given that it came straight from Vad's living room, odds are it came from his own family, or someone partisan to Vad's cause. Doesn't mean any of us have to accept it as gospel. You yourself said that he was "getting a lot of words in his ear from people back home": if the people giving you the inside scoop about what was said in VL's living room are the people putting words in his ears, how can you ascribe selfless impartiality to them and imply that CPJ is the liar?

"Oooh—they don't have an agenda!" Rubbish. We don't get any opportunity to cross-examine your witness's motives to determine whether they are being impartial, or grinding an axe on behalf of their "favored son". Even if your source is being honest about his/her impressions, it doesn't mean that their recollection of the conversation is accurate, or that their understanding of what CPJ seemed to mean was, in fact, what he really meant: "opening up the offense" might have honestly meant very different things to both parties involved. CPJ might have done what he promised—as he saw it—and Vad may have just expected something else. I'm not blaming Vad, here; just saying they both might have interpreted the same "agreement" to mean a different thing. (But damn that CPJ—it's obviously all his fault!)

Please spare us the hearsay arguments that CPJ knowingly sold Vad a false bill of goods. Everything I know about the man says he would never do that—he cares far more for his players than most of us will ever realize. Given that you have apparently never spoken to the man in person, I'll stack my impression of Coach up against yours, any day.

 

[GTonTop88]

If we beat VT, that'll be a huge step in the right direction. Need to embarrass GSU first though.

 

[Animal02]

Point 1: Those weren't my words. To be clear. They were the words of a coach. So who do I think I'm kidding? No one.
Point 2: Again, those were words of a coach. I think he played poorly as well. If he had run for 350 yards, I still would think a player who turns the ball over 3 times didn't play well.
Point 3: Again, you're wrong. Just flat out wrong. The kid wasn't 'wanting to be doing something else' unless by 'doing something else' you mean more passing and less running plays, perhaps.

Look, I haven't posted this before and I hope doing so not isn't a breach of confidence. But Paul Johnson sat in Vad Lee's living room and told him that, if he had a passing QB, we would throw the ball more. And that's why Vad Lee came. Because he was under the impression that this was not going to be an offense that ran the ball 80 or 90% of the time. And FWIW, those words came from someone else who was in the room when Vad was told that.

At the end of the season last year, VL began to question the truth of those statements. He was getting a lot of words in his ear from people back home (family and HS coaches) who were urging him to go somewhere else where he might have a shot at throwing the ball more. Eventually, he decided to leave.

Personally, I think him leaving was the best for both parties. But let me be very clear about this. Vad Lee was NOT uncommitted to Georgia Tech nor to the team while he was the QB here. Was he the best option QB he could be? I have no idea. Did he turn "soft" running last year? It certainly appeared that way.

But this nonsense that keeps getting run out there about him not being committed during games last year is revisionist history. If you don't believe me, grow a set. Go up to Paul Johnson and ask him. Hell, call in to the coach's show on Thursday night and ask him. He will tell you that Vad busted his butt while he was here but eventually decided he wanted something different.

Now, that's behind us. Let's all move on and celebrate another talented QB named Justin Thomas. But let's also quit trashing a young man who I can guarantee you put more heart, blood, sweat and tears into his effort on the field for Georgia Tech than probably 99% of us on this board.

A how bunch of hearsay, not being able to tell the difference between "being committed on the field" and "buying into the system", + an axe to grind.....and the above is what you get.
We have seen 5 QB's run this offense.......only one was consistently timid and indecisive........THAT is not buying into the system. It is funny that you sit here and trash are HC based on hearsay, much demand everyone else disbelieve what they saw on the field week in and week out.

 

[Dave.S]

I voted Yes, although I'm a fence sitter because I don't think changing coaches is an automatic good thing and stability is good for a program.
On the positive side, I see signs of improvement in recruiting, staff and attitude.
On the negative side, I would like to see less stubborness and a more diversified offensive scheme.
Also, I wonder what kind of lockeroom presence CPJ has, I personally don't think sarcasm is a good motivator and I think motivation for 18-20 year old players is important.

I voted yes for many of your same points, I fear that we have become a perpetual 6-7 win program under CPJ, we can do better. I am a season ticket holder and will continue to show up and support the kids but I'm personally ready for a change.

 

[Animal02]

One issue that haven't see brought up, but has some relevance (I think), is what effect has the AD had on the program? How much of our current difficulties are not CPJ's fault at all, but attributable to MBob's predecessor—who wouldn't fund additional recruitment or compliance personnel? I constantly read about recruitment and compliance issues, here on GTSwarm and elsewhere. Sure, Coach Johnson is a central figure in those problems, but lets not forget that he does not simply dictate how the program operates; he has a boss, and has to operate within the guidelines laid down by that boss.

The more I look back at how our program has developed recently (or failed to do so), the more I have to ask myself how much of the problems we've faced are attributable to the guy who's now at Clemson. Before you decide to vote "no confidence" in this poll, ask yourself, is this problem CPJ, or is it legacy crap from the climber that preceded MBob?

I think the one big mistake CPJ made coming to Tech was thinking he could recruit regionally and compete with the SEC. I am sure that is partly on the AD as well.

Interesting looking at this map.......the B10 pull more from the south than the ACC from the midwest.
http://mode.github.io/blog/2014-01-16-football-hometowns/index.html#

It is not like we have to recruit in every nook and cranny in the country.......just hitting the hotbeds would help.
If Wisconsin can get kids from Miami to play in the cold, we should me able to get east coast kids and Pa/Oh ones to play where it is warmer.

 

[AE 87]

Point 1: Those weren't my words. To be clear. They were the words of a coach. So who do I think I'm kidding? No one.
Point 2: Again, those were words of a coach. I think he played poorly as well. If he had run for 350 yards, I still would think a player who turns the ball over 3 times didn't play well.
Point 3: Again, you're wrong. Just flat out wrong. The kid wasn't 'wanting to be doing something else' unless by 'doing something else' you mean more passing and less running plays, perhaps.

Look, I haven't posted this before and I hope doing so not isn't a breach of confidence. But Paul Johnson sat in Vad Lee's living room and told him that, if he had a passing QB, we would throw the ball more. And that's why Vad Lee came. Because he was under the impression that this was not going to be an offense that ran the ball 80 or 90% of the time. And FWIW, those words came from someone else who was in the room when Vad was told that.

At the end of the season last year, VL began to question the truth of those statements. He was getting a lot of words in his ear from people back home (family and HS coaches) who were urging him to go somewhere else where he might have a shot at throwing the ball more. Eventually, he decided to leave.

Personally, I think him leaving was the best for both parties. But let me be very clear about this. Vad Lee was NOT uncommitted to Georgia Tech nor to the team while he was the QB here. Was he the best option QB he could be? I have no idea. Did he turn "soft" running last year? It certainly appeared that way.

But this nonsense that keeps getting run out there about him not being committed during games last year is revisionist history. If you don't believe me, grow a set. Go up to Paul Johnson and ask him. Hell, call in to the coach's show on Thursday night and ask him. He will tell you that Vad busted his butt while he was here but eventually decided he wanted something different.

Now, that's behind us. Let's all move on and celebrate another talented QB named Justin Thomas. But let's also quit trashing a young man who I can guarantee you put more heart, blood, sweat and tears into his effort on the field for Georgia Tech than probably 99% of us on this board.

I believe that everything your source is telling you is true, and I believe VL's play reflected a lack of buy-in. What I was seeing was a kid who was giving his all, but when push came to shove (eg OL breakdown etc) relied on worked for him in the past rather than trusting the system.

I also think CPJ was sincere about wanting to pass more if he had a QB who could pass. But, that means hitting open receivers when you have time to throw. Vad didn't reliably.

 

[GTech63]

Until someone can show me a coach, that can overcome the obstacles of the Institute and do better than CPJ and staff are doing, I am behind him (them) all the way. He came here to win a national championship. Will he be able to do it? I don't know, but as long as he thinks he can, I am behind him. This maybe a 6 or 7 win season but I sense a corner has been turned in building a program, to be a winning program, in spite of the uneven playing field we compete upon.

I think CPJ underestimated the obstacles in recruiting to the Institute. The actual signing of the present 2015 class will tell a lot if we have moved forward recently or not.

 

[thwgjacket]

This is ridiculous. You will see soon in the following weeks.

Well thought out and succinct response.