Spring Practice 2016 News & Notes

GTonTop88

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Well 2016 is do or die for CPJ, I hope he does well and keeps his job but if he doesn't we will have to suffer with changing coaches, scheme, etc.
 

slugboy

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Imo, we should run a 3-3-5 where we typically rush 4 but the rushing linebacker changes based on offensive alignment. However, we've recruited to a 4-2-5, so we got to make it work.

I don't know that we've recruited to it so much as our ACC opponents are sending a lot of eligible receivers against us. I don't think we've been able to recruit to get a pass rush with three players in my memory.

I think we're recruiting to 4 on the line (though I think we'd do well with a 52 defense with our players) and to have at least 4 in the secondary. We've got one good pass rushing DE. Last year's recruiting class looked really good, but I haven't seen much of a recruiting system on defense. (not the last class, but the ones that were freshmen last season). I'm hoping the LBs we recruited the last couple of years pan out. I think we're recruiting what we can get and then we try to fit a system to that.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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Sick of hearing they're just not very good. Well coach, you recruited them, you and your guys coach them. If they really can't play at this level, look in the mirror! Tired of hearing CPJ say, it's them and he can't do anything about it.

He said "WE'RE NOT VERY GOOD." He didn't say "THEY"RE NOT VERY GOOD." I wonder if maybe you are predisposed to look for the negative here?
 

Skeptic

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I don't know about you guys but I am excited about LG at AB. Last season, by my eye, he was the best guy (we had playing at the end of the season) at getting something out of nothing with the ball in his hands. He didn't always know what he was doing, but that is understandable. I always felt as a defender he was better coming forward, with plays in front of him. Now he gets to keep all plays in front of him playing offense. He is a physical and aggressive player who projects to block well too, once he learns what he is doing. You know he is hungry for a major contribution after being the odd man out on defense for much of his tenure.
Was not there some chatter in The Season That Time Forgot about his lack of speed to the edge?
 

33jacket

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Again paul publicly addresses how Gt is last in the league in support staff.

Once the gtaa steps up and puts us closer to competitive in asst coaches and support staff, for both major sports, we will continue to struggle in stretches.

I think this is how gt does it on the cheap. I wish we can get 4-5 more people
 

Leonard Larramore

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I don't know about you guys but I am excited about LG at AB. Last season, by my eye, he was the best guy (we had playing at the end of the season) at getting something out of nothing with the ball in his hands. He didn't always know what he was doing, but that is understandable. I always felt as a defender he was better coming forward, with plays in front of him. Now he gets to keep all plays in front of him playing offense. He is a physical and aggressive player who projects to block well too, once he learns what he is doing. You know he is hungry for a major contribution after being the odd man out on defense for much of his tenure.
Lynn is an athlete but I think dude is a big hitting safety!
 

Sideways

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Two words Mike Sewak. Tech has one year where the OL was close to dominate and that resulted in a Orange Bowl victory. How much longer is Paul going to have say I'm sick of the OL, before he makes a move. He didn't make the move that 95% of Tech fans wanted last year. The definition of insanity repeat the same process but expect different results.
I am inclined to agree with this but what if, the problem lies not with the technique or the coaching or even the coaches but with the players? It just might be that we simply do not have the talent to do better. I pray this is not the case and it would be nearly impossible to prove one way or the other but it is a possibility.
 

Skeptic

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Two words Mike Sewak. Tech has one year where the OL was close to dominate and that resulted in a Orange Bowl victory. How much longer is Paul going to have say I'm sick of the OL, before he makes a move. He didn't make the move that 95% of Tech fans wanted last year. The definition of insanity repeat the same process but expect different results.
95%? I feel badly that I wasn't even polled.
 

Boomergump

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Was not there some chatter in The Season That Time Forgot about his lack of speed to the edge?
Not that I remember. We had a lack of speed in general at the AB spot after the injuries last year, but I don't remember anybody expressing concerns over LG's speed. He is not a burner. He won't run 4.3 or 4.4, but he is not slow either. I remember him putting together some pretty good runs against Miami, beating guys with foot speed and some moves.
 

takethepoints

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Look, the main thing to remember here is that the O is hard to learn. Allow me to repeat that: the O is hard to learn. It's hard on the QBs who regularly misread plays after running the thing for years. It's hard on the ABs and BBs who regularly block the wrong people and misread their lanes. And, God knows, it's hard on the OLs. In fact, it's harder on the OLs then anyone else. Their lot has been described here before and it takes awhile to get to where you are on it even 70% of the time. When Coach chews on them he's on good ground; it's hard to be right and way easy to be wrong.

In 2014 we had a lot of really good skill players at AB and BB: fast (sorry, fast), strong, experienced, and suited for their positions. We ran the ball up the middle well and we got to the corner regularly. And the OL missed blocks and it didn't matter much. Last year, we didn't have these kinds of people going into the season and we lost most of our speed after 4 weeks. Result = when the OL missed blocks it hurt.

I think Coach and everyone else on the team knows this. I also think that he, like every football coach extant, wants to see everyone on the same page and getting their assignments right. I also think he knows that they won't and he's determined to cut down on the screwups. That's what spring ball is for.
 

Bruce Wayne

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How many more practices before an actual game? And CPJ is chewing out the OL as a unit this weekend? In the same conversation in which he talks about how few starts or starts at their current positions this OL has? I see no call for despair.

OLines more than any other position group seem to me to work as a unit and are as strong as their weakest link. Treating them harshly as a unit seems like a reasonable possible approach for coaches to encourage they push themselves.
 

vamosjackets

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I don't know how we're going to be better on the OL when we don't have anyone to play RG. Seriously, who's going to play RG? Seems to me like we were kind of throwing a lot of our chips in with Griffin being the answer, but there's a good chance his health isn't going to allow that to be the case, so then what? We simply don't have the guards to be a good OL right now in my mind. Would've been a huge deal for our program to have gotten the big guy who told our coaches he was coming and then changed his mind on NSD. Those kinds of recruiting coin flips make the difference in our program's record. We've had some stud guards and now we don't. Is Marshall an answer there? Don't really know. I guess we can just dismiss Shamire from the roster from the sound of it - that's a huge blow to our program as well; a guy who truly could've been the next stud guard is now not even a starter.

Might have to start Burden at OG ... might even have to start Muns at C to have somewhat competent guard play from Burden and Marshall. We're in trouble on the interior OL, it seems to me. I kind of see the interior OL of this year being last year's BB situation. Might have to rely on some freshman talent, but it's gonna cost some bad play.
 

iceeater1969

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Its spring training.
No one looks good in spring .
However, AFTER 15 coach has said he will FIX IT - he is just setting the tone for urgency so we are ready for the aggressive defenses. He is lookung for leaders to step up now.
Hope to hear words like solid, crisp, getting after it in fall.

I hope I can get to see spring game.
 

33jacket

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How many more practices before an actual game? And CPJ is chewing out the OL as a unit this weekend? In the same conversation in which he talks about how few starts or starts at their current positions this OL has? I see no call for despair.

OLines more than any other position group seem to me to work as a unit and are as strong as their weakest link. Treating them harshly as a unit seems like a reasonable possible approach for coaches to encourage they push themselves.

i find it alarming its the same narrative EVERY year with the OL no matter how experienced they are. Its unreal. Every year we read they don't know where to go. Why is that Give me a S, and E, a W....yet it goes unfixed.

At some point, with 8 years and 8 different OLs under paul...its obvious there is only one common link. Sewak, and coach Johnson not doing a thing about it. Its astounding to me. You can't blame players for a decade. There is more to it than the players IMO. And if its the system, and its hard to learn, then like Paul said about groh you have to translate it to the field...he then needs to also look in the mirror.

but this inept OL play has to be fixed. Its been too long; regardless of the reasons. Sewak or not, system or not. Something needs to be fixed.
 
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