Thacker out at DC, now Safeties coach

[CEB]

Just play press man and bring 5-6 guys every play. That’s all I ask if we get beat 50-10 at least they earned it instead of playing 15 yards off the ball and giving up 3rd and 5’s all day.

Unfortunately I think we did exactly that coming out of the half. First play from scrimmage we were locked up in man and they motioned TE across the formation and NO ONE went anywhere near him. 50 yard catch and run on a little swing pass when we absolutely HAD to have a stop and regroup.
D is just bad…

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

That's possible. My two cents is there were many more eloquent ways of responding to the question if he wanted to hedge than by beginning with "I've got the same confidence in [the defensive staff] as I do everybody else" and then closing with "There's no lack of confidence in staff".

In between all that he mentioned "watching film". Sure. But it's hard for that caveat alone to allow for a complete reversal from the absolute statements at the bookends of the answer that demonstrated nothing of concern.

Sometimes we as fans put way too much emphasis on the words said in the moment at a post game press conference. Humans have a tendency to speak in absolutes without really understanding what they are doing. I generally don't listen to the post game pressers because they rarely tell me anything I didn't already see in the game and frankly, when they speak later in the week after reviewing everything you'll get a far better feel for the issues.

 

[stech81]

^ This I’ve always had a soft spot for Thacker seems to really love his job and the videos I see of him at practice shows he has intensity. I hope he does well as the day he was demoted he retweeted a current commit that will play Safety at Tech. I think this speaks to his character as he is embracing his new role

I have to stop agreeing with you so much or people will think you are my wife.
I like Thacker but just maybe he needed a few more years before being made DC. After all he is only 38, I was one that said we need to do something, and I was also one at the end of last year that we should keep him and more worried about the offense last year. I hope it works out for him he seems to be a good person.

 

[stech81]

I would think tackling sleds are still a thing, but idk it doesn't seem like our guys have used one any time recently. You would have looked like a total scrub in HS trying to hit one of those the way our guys try to tackle.

Damn I agree with you on something . Sometimes I wonder if that teach form tackling in college anymore.

Note here I saw where my old Defensive coach is Going back to LSU after their last game. And he is 82 ( Pete Jenkins) and I know if I would tackle like some of our player I would still but running wind sprints.

 

[Thwg777]

The absurd part on the GT fans part was thinking the roster we have is good enough to have gone from terrible to good during one off season. We were one of the worst teams in college football on offense, defense and ST for 4 years.

The roster us still very weak overall. There are some bright spots for sure and the offense did upgrade talent during the off-season. The OL still isn’t strong in run blocking but they are improve. QB and receiver play is massively better. The offense is at least average now.

The defense is still lacking playmakers across the board. I am doubtful any coach could get this collection of defenders to be good. Getting them to not be terrible is step one.

I agree with you. The sad part is that the current system does allow for full-scale team changes through the transfer portal.

I was optimistic after last season’s firings and the commitment from the top to stop being a laughing stock. But those have all been words with no substance. Rearranging deck chairs on the titanic was done between last season and now, this latest move is just rinsing off the chairs…

 

[Jacket05]

That's possible. My two cents is there were many more eloquent ways of responding to the question if he wanted to hedge than by beginning with "I've got the same confidence in [the defensive staff] as I do everybody else" and then closing with "There's no lack of confidence in staff".

In between all that he mentioned "watching film". Sure. But it's hard for that caveat alone to allow for a complete reversal from the absolute statements at the bookends of the answer that demonstrated nothing of concern.

He likely didn't lie. He probably still has confidence in Thacker and the rest of the staff just not with Thacker at DC.

 

[CuseJacket]

Sometimes we as fans put way too much emphasis on the words said in the moment at a post game press conference. Humans have a tendency to speak in absolutes without really understanding what they are doing. I generally don't listen to the post game pressers because they rarely tell me anything I didn't already see in the game and frankly, when they speak later in the week after reviewing everything you'll get a far better feel for the issues.

I understand the point, to a point.

He's responsible for what he says. He could have just stuck with the “need to review film” route and classic coach speak. That is coaching 101 to avoid saying anything you may regret in a postgame presser.

Really I think the error was due to his lack of reps as a HC. In that sense I understand why we should take what he says in the moment with a grain of salt.

 

[CuseJacket]

He likely didn't lie. He probably still has confidence in Thacker and the rest of the staff just not with Thacker at DC.

While I strongly believe that interpretation is a reach, you present an argument I cannot refute.

To be clear, I don't think he intentionally lied. I think he is immature as a HC - brand new - and probably said what he thinks coaches are supposed to say in that moment. I bet in hindsight he wishes he didn't say what he said.

It's all good, the deed is done. He's generally been good at pressers and it's near the bottom of my concerns.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

This is just silliness. Now, we are complaining about Key "lying" when he gave a vote of confidence to Thacker and the staff but makes a decision to reshuffle the staff the next day. Really? This is worthy of criticism?

 

[CEB]

This is just silliness. Now, we are complaining about Key "lying" when he gave a vote of confidence to Thacker and the staff but makes a decision to reshuffle the staff the next day. Really? This is worthy of criticism?

Absolutely!
After a performance like Saturday, you close ranks, evaluate and react accordingly. Nobody should be talking about staff changes in public until the changes have been made. Besides, what coach hasn’t gotten the “vote of confidence” before the axe man comes?

 

[okiemon]

Real question for business owners/ Managers here.

Have you ever demoted anyone and they stuck around and did a good job at their new position?


I personally just don't see how you can take a demotion and still be 100% into your job.

The one and only time I demoted someone it didn’t work, and he poisoned colleagues with his bad attitude. I had to terminate anyway, so in the future I just skipped over the demotion part.

 

[okiemon]

Yeah, better than nothing, but since he was already co-DC, did he not already have a major say-so in defensive game plan & playcalling?

Maybe. I just don’t know what “Co-“ means on our team. It mat be just an honorary title given to a coach to justify paying him more than a typical position coach would be paid. ?

 

[roadkill]

Maybe. I just don’t know what “Co-“ means on our team. It mat be just an honorary title given to a coach to justify paying him more than a typical position coach would be paid. ?

This. We give out Director titles like candy.

 

[Jacket05]

Maybe. I just don’t know what “Co-“ means on our team. It mat be just an honorary title given to a coach to justify paying him more than a typical position coach would be paid. ?

I'm pretty sure you are right that the co- title was more honorary. From what I recall, Scherer was more an assistant DC that tried to help Thacker but Thacker was ultimately responsible for the final say in everything. I do know that Key explicitly stated that Thacker would be the one calling plays on game days.

 

[slugboy]

Maybe. I just don’t know what “Co-“ means on our team. It mat be just an honorary title given to a coach to justify paying him more than a typical position coach would be paid. ?

I don’t have the answer. In “co-“ situations, very few fans do

In theory, the co-coordinator takes on some of the coordinator duties.

In practice, some coordinators split some duties, some don’t, but the coordinator (not the co-coordinator) is in charge and makes the calls.

Unless someone tells you what we did (and I haven’t heard anything) it’s more than nothing, but not what you’d consider “coordinating”.

I don’t know what extra Sherrer might have done.

 

[FlatsLander]

I understand the point, to a point.

He's responsible for what he says. He could have just stuck with the “need to review film” route and classic coach speak. That is coaching 101 to avoid saying anything you may regret in a postgame presser.

Really I think the error was due to his lack of reps as a HC. In that sense I understand why we should take what he says in the moment with a grain of salt.

Would you want him to say he's not confident in him? Then the followup question would be, "Well then why did you retain him?"

 

[inknerd]

It wasn't technically a demotion, but we had to significantly reduce the involvement of one of our founders. That lasted for about four months before we had to remove him from the business completely. I don't mind letting people learn on the job, but you gotta have that self motivation gene. Not everyone is interested in growth and development.

 

[CuseJacket]

At GT, the "Co-" titles also mean that the second in command (Sherrer, Weinke) call plays for split scrimmages and when groups are split in practice.

 

[CuseJacket]

Would you want him to say he's not confident in him? Then the followup question would be, "Well then why did you retain him?"

You are responding to the post where I suggest what he should have said. There are better ways to deflect.

I don't follow your second sentence. I believe he should be asked that question regardless of what he said in the presser.

To be fair, I don't think this is a big deal. I think my position has been laid out earlier in the thread. This is an easy thing to learn from and correct. Hopefully he's not in a similar situation ever again.

 

[roadkill]

Yeah, better than nothing, but since he was already co-DC, did he not already have a major say-so in defensive game plan & playcalling?

I'm spitballing again here, but it occurred to me that having two managers with the same title in the same department generally requires their duties to be extremely well-delineated in order to be successful. Otherwise, you run the risk of two managers making conflicting decisions. It also requires very good supervision at the top. So bringing in a co-dc could have made things worse. I don't know this for a fact, but it's certainly a risky situation for a new head coach.