Though I'd been a Tech fan for a few years already, I was still too young to really understand how bad off the program was at the end of the Pepper Rodgers era. I remember my parents saying he'd lost the big alumni backers, not just because of his middling record, but because of his personal style as well. When you don't have the big alumni or administration in your corner, it's really difficult to coach effectively. The odd thing about the Pepper years, looking back on it, was that the Tech administration was apparently considering scrapping the football program altogether. Yet if you looked at the people in the stands, there was a very strong Tech contingent -- I'm talking sidewalk fans, not just alumni and their close relatives. Even at Sanford Stadium in '78, the place must have been half white & gold, many of them sidewalk fans. Though UGA won the game, the highlights they played in the local news were of Drew Hill's kickoff return for a touchdown. I think there was still a lot of goodwill left over from the Dodd years, and that might have been what saved Tech football -- that, and joining the ACC.
I didn't know what to make of the Curry hire at the time. Surely didn't expect his first few seasons to be as bad as they were, especially after beating Alabama. The only reason I felt bad about Coach Ross was because of all the turmoil on the team. A lot of Curry's players were practically in open revolt against the new coaching regime. This was well known on campus at the time and may have been reported in the AJC as well. Hard to win when a significant chunk of the players weren't on board. Both coaches managed to turn things around before they left, Ross being the more successful.
With CGC, I didn't expect this bad of a drop-off. Some, but not this bad. I thought for sure our only loss at this point in the season would be Clemson, or maybe have a tough loss to South Florida. But not this. Going forward, my main concerns in terms of coaching judgement are (a) the lack of a depth chart, which is necessary for players to get comfortable in their positions and improve, and also for them to gel with their coaches, (b) a decent kicker sitting on the bench and (c) doing things like running short-yardage plays out of the shotgun -- which you can do only if you've got a guy like Ehrlinger at Texas. I don't know if CGC has the coaching acumen.
