Random question… what made Bill Lewis so bad?

[Jim Prather]

I am thinking Geoff has risen to this status as well...

 

[okiemon]

The best thing about luginbill, he seems to almost always be the sideline reporter for Tech games

And ESPN almost invariably introduces him as “former Ga Tech quarterback Tom Luginbill.”

 

[okiemon]

I am thinking Geoff has risen to this status as well...

sunken.

 

[stinger 1957]

I remember us playing FSU in Atlanta and they started a come from behind rally if I remember correctly and BL shut down our offense trying to hang on and that was not the personality of that NC bunch at that time and we lost the game. I was watching it on TV from out of state and after the game was over and we lost you could tell it was over for BL. He had lost the players, he might have already lost them, I don't know but that was definitely the final dagger in the heart of those players. Supposedly BL had one or two assts that made him successful at ECU (was that where he came from?) and when he came to Tech they did not come and it was downhill from there. Seems I remember Homer Rice later saying it was the worst hire he had ever made.
It would be nice if we could come up with a Sam Pittman/ George O'Leary type that is a builder, probably not easy to find. I like that because they are generally hungry. Probably make a deal that if it doesn't work out for us we're not financially blown up to get out of it. I have a feeling anything GT does is going to be a crap shoot.

 

[Dress2Jacket]

The 1990 National Championship team nearly broke down right before the Citrus bowl. Fundamentally, it came down to we/they issues where the less affluent players on the team (i.e. mainly the black players) took offense at the bowl trip where their more affluent friends had family there and had more options during the stay in Orlando. The staff managed to pull the team back together in time for the game, but I think there were long term hurt feelings there.

When BL came in, he didn't have a great first year with Sean Jones, then Donnie Davis took over the next year. Like Sean, Donnie didnt' have a great first season under BL, and in the off-season Luginbill was brought in from Juco to compete for the job, which he eventually won (or was handed). That created an even bigger racial divide on a team that was already unhappy, going from a NC to a losing record in 2 years. Beyond that, when BL came in, he allegedly came in with a "new sheriff in town" kind of attitude, which was off-putting to everyone, given that the team won a NC two years earlier and had just come off a bowl win.

Add that to the previously mentioned drop in coaching skill, and the team was done with it...

 

[wrmathis]

I remember us playing FSU in Atlanta and they started a come from behind rally if I remember correctly and BL shut down our offense trying to hang on and that was not the personality of that NC bunch at that time and we lost the game. I was watching it on TV from out of state and after the game was over and we lost you could tell it was over for BL. He had lost the players, he might have already lost them, I don't know but that was definitely the final dagger in the heart of those players. Supposedly BL had one or two assts that made him successful at ECU (was that where he came from?) and when he came to Tech they did not come and it was downhill from there. Seems I remember Homer Rice later saying it was the worst hire he had ever made.
It would be nice if we could come up with a Sam Pittman/ George O'Leary type that is a builder, probably not easy to find. I like that because they are generally hungry. Probably make a deal that if it doesn't work out for us we're not financially blown up to get out of it. I have a feeling anything GT does is going to be a crap shoot.

That onside kick fsu recovered started the end for BL

 

[g0lftime]

The coach you asked about brought Luginbill in as the QB for 1994 to replace a QB that the players rallied around.

As to your question about B*** L***** There was a lot of dissention among the players. The QB situation involving Luginbill was part of that. I don't know if it is true or not, but I have heard that a large group of players went to the GT president's house and basically told him they were not going to play football for B*** L**** anymore the weekend that he resigned. The team was losing. The players didn't trust him. The fans hated him. That is why he "resigned" and why nobody wants to talk about him.

He had a good staff at ECU and I am pretty sure was national coach of the year. Most of his staff did not come with him to Tech. He recruited Luginbill to transfer in with an obvious deal that he would be the starter over existing QB Donnie Davis. Parents said communication to them was non-existent even when kids were injured. Did not visit kids that had surgery. I was very good friends at work with an uncle of one of the players. Our AD had the foresight to bring in O'Leary to be ready to take over.

 

[steebu]

When BL came in, he didn't have a great first year with Sean Jones, then Donnie Davis took over the next year. Like Sean, Donnie didnt' have a great first season under BL, and in the off-season Luginbill was brought in from Juco to compete for the job, which he eventually won (or was handed). That created an even bigger racial divide on a team that was already unhappy, going from a NC to a losing record in 2 years. Beyond that, when BL came in, he allegedly came in with a "new sheriff in town" kind of attitude, which was off-putting to everyone, given that the team won a NC two years earlier and had just come off a bowl win.

Lotta interesting memories there … I was a couple years ahead of Davis and had Luginbill in one of my econ classes. The prof loved chatting with the football players but the other players didn’t sit with Luginbill - he sat all by himself.

I heard how the offense was skewed to Luginbill’s skillset. Think of it as Rich Kotite coming in and taking one of the most talented QBs in NFL history (Randall Cunningham) and saying, “Don’t ever scramble, stay in the pocket, and let’s do this west coast offense thing.” Basically, the QB competition was more or less predetermined.

Al Luginbill and Lewis went back a ways, so it’s not surprising that Tommy ended up at GT. He may have been a pretty nice guy - I never spoke to him - and just a victim of the situation. Who knows. My one regret from those days is not talking to Michael Cheever, the starting center, who was in my biology class.

So as others have stated, Lewis basically wrecked the locker room (and the program) in the interest of fulfilling a promise to an old buddy.

I’ve heard stories about the interviews for Ross’ job - supposedly O’Leary was interviewed right after practice so he was sweaty, hoarse, and wearing dirty shorts. The next week Lewis comes in wearing a snazzy suit and starts flashing a Powerpoint presentation with all kinds of pretty charts and bullet points focusing on “relentless effort” and “elite” (OK, just kidding - just piling on) … so who do you think snagged Homer Rice hook, line, and sinker?

I was at that FSU game. That was definitely the beginning of the end. I remember we were up 24-14 with some 11 minutes to play and we went into a shell. Not surprised that the players began to turn on Lewis at that point. I guess on the flip side we saw the first flashes of the shotgun, up-tempo spread we now see today, pioneered by Bowden and Charlie Ward. I think Bowden’s WR coach was Mark Richt, fwiw.

 

[iopjacket]

I’m younger than most tech fans and while Collins is likely the worst coach we’ve had, people still refer to Bill Lewis as B*** L****. When I google his career at tech I only see that he was fired for simply losing a lot. He seemed like a decent coach, at least at Georgia as an assistant and as head man at ECU. Is it just he just couldn’t win or was he like Collins and had some extra antics or personality issues? I’m not trying to back him up I just wanna know why he was bad out of curiosity.

He lost the locker room. He replaced Donnie Davis with a transfer named Luginbill.

 

[awbuzz]

I am thinking Geoff has risen to this status as well...

... Did you mean G****?

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Luginbill has always had high praise for GT, and his time at GT. He was just a player caught between a rock and a hard place. He said multiple times on TV that the team he was on was ultra talented, it was off the field problems that it didn't work. GT fans understand what "off the fied problems" meant.

The player Luginbill started over, Donnie Davis, was recruited to play under Ralph Friedgen and Bobby Ross...he was the DeShaun Watson of that era. #1 Dual Threat QB for his class, and an outstanding talent. Bobby Ross commented many times that Davis was more talented than Shawn Jones. Unfortunately for Davis, Ross went to the NFL and took Friedgen with him. Bill Lewis had no clue how to use Davis, and moved him to WR. Davis got to play one season under Friedgen when O'Leary fully took over, and we got a glimpse of what Davis could have been. Davis went on to have an outstanding Arena Football League career.

Honestly, had GT been smart enough to promote O'Leary or Friedgen when Ross left, GT history could have been dramatically different.

I heard bits and pieces that certain folks wanted O’Leary or Friedgen, but the consensus was they were both too brash. Take it for what it is worth.

 

[Dress2Jacket]

I heard bits and pieces that certain folks wanted O’Leary or Friedgen, but the consensus was they were both too brash. Take it for what it is worth.

I'd say "less polished" would be more accurate. At that point, BL looked and sounded more like the guy you want out front representing your school and team.

 

[GTLorenzo]

BL, and many of his staff, did not have the trust of the players. that became evident well before the 94 season. it just took a couple seasons to unravel. players quickly figured out most of the staff didn’t have the Xs and Os knowledge that the Ross staff had. At least some of his assistants were coaching HS before they landed at ECU. Just lack of legit college FB coaching experience. If you looked back at many of the losses, GT was in it thru 2 quarters but would inevitably be out-coached at halftime and qtrs 3 and 4.

FSU game in 1992. Win that one and maybe things are different. That was the beginning of the end of Bill Lewis at Tech.

 

[Gray Fox]

FSU game in 1992. Win that one and maybe things are different. That was the beginning of the end of Bill Lewis at Tech.

Yep, what might have been. going into FSU, GT was 4-1, ranked, and had beaten ranked Clemson at home in a big win 2 weeks prior. Should have been 7-4 that year. Went 0-3 to end the season and the slide was on

 

[GTL]

One tidbit I didn’t see mentioned was Davis had gotten injured and was still recovering when Luginbill came in. The disconnect was when Davis was cleared to play, Lewis moved him to receiver Instead of giving his old job back.

Later that season, a play was run where Luginbill was about to be sacked and he pitched it to Davis…but there was a defender covering Davis who put a vicious hit on him leading with his helme, breaking Davis‘ arm.