Spring Practice

MidtownJacket

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Opening Statement:

Coach opens up with some comments on the Nashville school shooting and shows some real authenticity. This man is the tonic our collective fanbase needs. Dude is invested in the program but more than that has a sense of who he is, what he wants to be and accepts the responsibility of leadership.

Goes into the Leo situation, says likely is out all year (not surprising) suggested he told him it's some good news in that he can go get a masters now on GT's dime.

4 minutes in there was some noise offscreen with the guys getting louder and louder, and he screamed "Quiet Down" and you got some crickets moments.

Mentioned we had some rust to knock off, working on blocks/getting off blocks; Making tackles and making dudes miss; but that at the end of the day it's less about the scheme the guys are in and more about them taking the toughness approach of doing what you need to do when it counts. Hit your dude, make your tackle.

Pleased with the response from the guys in wanting to get better, one day at a time.

Goes into Questions:

Q1)
Confirmed we will be looking to develop who is on the roster. He is open to looking at the portal to replace WR Depth, but is pleased with what we have and who is there right now. Gave Buster some love on his ability to get guys open in practice so far.

Q2) Spoke to chemistry developing within the staff, suggested he wants conflict and tension where appropriate because it means you have alphas and type a coaches. He believes in steel sharpening steel, and guys challenging thesis points of a plan and weighing the benefits but then being lock step once the doors open and you move out to execute.

Q3) Confirmed he doesn't expect Leo to be back this season, suggested he would be here.

Q4) Said the biggest surprise for him so far as a New HC, is seeing the unexpected issues come and then fix them. He knew it would be a process where prioritizing issues would be important, but he is working on being efficient and having the staff face the issues and continue to grow and be efficient as well.

Q5) Pleased with the play from our newest HS Class.

Q6) Said he told Mike Flynn he planned to open by addressing the Nashville topic, mentions his mom, his wife and his daughter are the most important thing to him

Q7)
Most focused on the edges of plays says we need to continue to learn how to make the calls from the middle get out clearly to the edges

Q8) Said Special Teams is a major focus; first meeting everyday is special teams and they do the first walk through, said it is a HUGE focus for us this season

Q9) Said he will play the best 11 on Special Teams, he does not expect ST to be a "down off"; unless you're the starting QB he expects the starters to be on STs as well. Mentioned Bama and how studs from both sides of the ball played ST too. Explicitly said we were changing the culture there. That he expects and demands the 1s and 2s to play there.
 

bobongo

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Said he will play the best 11 on Special Teams, he does not expect ST to be a "down off"; unless you're the starting QB he expects the starters to be on STs as well. Mentioned Bama and how studs from both sides of the ball played ST too. Explicitly said we were changing the culture there. That he expects and demands the 1s and 2s to play there.
Good news. Hoping special teams will improve from being a sore point to a strong point this season.
 

stech81

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I feel good where we'll be in 3 years. This year is a bit less clear.
I think we will win 6 games this year. People need to remember this is the first year. Even Saban didn’t blow the doors off at Alabama his first year. Key is a hard nose coach and it will take time the time for him and his staff to see who is willing to work that hard. But we have a good head coach and the team will get better each game and each year
 

Augusta_Jacket

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My first thought when I heard that was, "GT picked the man for the job". We'll find out over the next few seasons if he's the right coach to win games, but as a leader, he's the right man to lead our young men.

This. He may or may not be a great head coach. (I think he will be) Time will tell. He is already a great leader, though, and that's a great position to start from.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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If you wish to discuss how CBKs stances on social issues resonate with the team, then this is the spot. Saying you like a coach standing up and speaking out is fair game. Saying you don't like him standing up is fair game as well. However,...

If you wish to agree/disagree with CBKs stances on the issues by arguing the merits of those stances, then you need to move to the thread we created for you in politics. You have to opt in to political topics for the link to work.

 
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ThatGuy

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This. He may or may not be a great head coach. (I think he will be) Time will tell. He is already a great leader, though, and that's a great position to start from.

Agreed. I know that many say that leadership can be taught - I'm not so sure I agree 100% with that. To be a truly GREAT leader, you have some combination of great factors within you that comes together to inspire, motivate, support, and drive your followers. There are intangibles there. And from everything I've seen from him so far, Coach Key has those things.

You can be a great leader and not be a great head coach...but you can't be a great head coach without being a great leader. I'm excited for the next few years to see how it all plays out on the field.
 

Sheboygan

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Coach Key is authentic. He’s human, vulnerable, clear about who he is and humble.

And the coach knows football and has a plan.

I feel really good about where we are going to be this year.
The thing I like - among several things about our HC - is that Key has learned from being with 2 different coaches on what to do , and from one coach who showed him what
NOT to do.
 

slugboy

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Which thread is that? Then one that says "oops we ran into a problem" when you click the link and is inaccessible?

Once again, maybe some comments got made that were inflammatory before I read and posted. But what I saw was far from "political." I'd still like to know why posts simply discussing the football coach's comments after football practice at a football press conference are so scary and controversial. For ****'s sake, where the hell are we as a country when dead kids that didn't have to die is "POLITICAL?"
It’s in the “Political Topics” forum. You have to opt into the forum first.
 
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