Thacker out at DC, now Safeties coach

[billga99]

I love the move. Key did what needed to be done.

I think it shows both the other coaches and players that they will be held accountable for performance. I think the desire was clearly not there for GT on Saturday. Coaches need to motivate and expect players to perform at high levels. If not they need to be replaced.

 

[bigrabbit]

Good move imo assuming Thacker agrees he was in over his head and wants to focus on his strengths. I don’t know him, but he hasn’t struck me as being a huge ego case unable to listen and defer to a new boss.

If he doesn’t settle into his new role, he’ll be fired at the end of the season, so that’s some motivation, avoid having to pull up stakes again.

Better move for Key than doing nothing.

 

[LargeFO]

I'm not sure Thacker's coaching wouldn't make Travis Hunter look like a bust.

This shoulder bump/"tackle" high and try to strip the ball philosophy is garbage. What happened to form tackling and putting your facemask into the ball?

This !!! This is the single most infuriating thing of the entire situation. What are we doing at practice???

 

[billga99]

I would expect Batt was hired to significantly improve revenue. That can't be done without consistency of success from football and basketball. I would bet his hand is heavily involved with both in terms of hires and strategy.

 

[g0lftime]

Good move imo assuming Thacker agrees he was in over his head and wants to focus on his strengths. I don’t know him, but he hasn’t struck me as being a huge ego case unable to listen and defer to a new boss.

If he doesn’t settle into his new role, he’ll be fired at the end of the season, so that’s some motivation, avoid having to pull up stakes again.

Better move for Key than doing nothing.

He seems like a good guy. He just may not have been ready for a D1 coordinator job. Maybe someday. He needed to have been exposed to other coaching staffs to learn his craft. He was taught by Collins.

 

[Eli]

He seems like a good guy. He just may not have been ready for a D1 coordinator job. Maybe someday. He needed to have been exposed to other coaching staffs to learn his craft. He was taught by Collins.

^ 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

 

[CuseJacket]

I think some are overlooking that gains Thacker has as sooner as Collins was gone. There was a night and day difference in how the defense played , which is likely why he retained the job, but on a short leash

Something really regressed with Thackers play calling and coaching this year.

Also tbh nothing against thacker, but remember coaching at this level was a big step up from Temple. Honestly I think he would be fine as a DC back down at that division. He hasn't been constant as a DC at this level.

We improved last year after we got routed by Ole Miss. Same thing happened at Ole Miss this year, fwiw.

My perspective is that we turned the corner on D during Collins last game @ UCF. The easier narrative is that it started after Collins was let go.

I just like the fact that Key took action. More evidence he is the right coach for us.

This past offseason, Key had the opportunity to reset his staff. His choice? Retain Thacker.

I'm glad he cut bait now, but we may have lost a season as a result of his decision to not take action when provided the opportunity to hire a new DC.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

While I applaud the move, most on the board saw this coming from a mile away. Should have been done last winter.

 

[kg01]

"Cagey" is a generous adjective....

Oh did yall not know that's what kg means?

Some of you mention how bad our roster currently is but we rank in the 30s on 247 for overall talent. We lost several nice pieces on D but competent coaching should get this roster 6-7 wins.

Yeah simply better tacklin' and we could be undefeated rn. 1-loss team at worst. And I don't even think that's homer talk.

 

[CuseJacket]

maybe he’d been thinking about a change, and watched the film again.

He cut loose some coaches last year. Bad coaches, bad players, toxic personalities are easy choices—you cut them loose. Coaches and players with POTENTIAL are the ones that can be coach-killers—you expend a ton of energy trying to fix them.

Thacker is probably more than capable of being a great position coach if his heart, head, and attitude are in the right places.

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.

 

[yeti92]

This !!! This is the single most infuriating thing of the entire situation. What are we doing at practice???

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.

 

[GTJake]

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.

I was taught early on to keep your feet on the ground, keep your head up, tackle the belt buckle and wrap your arms ... I'm available to be our tackling consultant if need be, and I'd be cheap (sic)

 

[roadkill]

Thacker came to Tech in 2019 along with former coach Geoff Collins. A Furman graduate and Cartersville native, Thacker is being paid $650,000 annually and will get a $50,000 raise Feb. 24. His current contract is scheduled to end Jan. 31, 2025

Yes - just saw this in the AJC at https://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-...aduate and Cartersville,2021 and 85th in 2022.

I had overlooked the fact that his contract is yet another possible factor in retaining him. We'd be on the hook for another buyout if we simply let him go. Not a huge one, but it may make sense to retain him if Key believes Thack can still add value since we are paying him anyway. So it might be a case of paying him to coach or paying him not to coach.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I look at it this way: we’re not getting any new jimmies and joes in here mid-season, so it’s either Thacker with the same jimmies and joes, or Sherrer with the same jimmies and joes. Might as well try the devil we don’t know.

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?

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I'm with you.

There just really isn't a great explanation for how the press conference was handled vs. what happened < 24 hours later. Of the options you present:

• "Cagey" is a generous adjective. Typically when someone says/implies one thing and does the the opposite, there are other adjectives. Big hit to the "straight shooter" mantra.
• The alternative theory that Batt forced Brent's hand against his will would be worse for the future of the program. Optimistically, I really don't think this is the case.

I'll grant CBK the benefit of the doubt and offer the softest landing. My opinion is that we're taking our lumps with a first-time HC. He could have offered a better, non-committal answer to the question at the presser.

Bottom line, Key is eating his decision to hire (retain) Thacker as DC. Unless Sherrer is a miracle-worker, we may have lost a shot at a bowl game due to Key's decision this past offseason.

Agreed, but if Batt did give input, I think it was more “you need to do something”, not specifically telling him what the something had to be. I hope our press guys ask Key some pointed questions about the change of heart.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Is it? forget what the the rating services say. Use your eyeballs. Is it good enough? The guys aren't new to football but it sure looks like it sometime.

It appears more and more like we could be be getting lower level results from the coaches but some of these guys seem to lack basic football instincts and/or ability to react with what could be an instinct.

Agreed. The speed of our front 7 looks low-end G5.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

Guys let's remember, we aren't asking for the world here. I'd say 90% or more of us are just asking for an average defense. Middle of the road, middle of the conference, middle of the nation. Nothing spectacular or even earth shattering, just average. The fact that we are paying a guy $650,000 and he can't get us to average is amazing. I'm sure there are a ton of coaches who are making far less than $650,000 that could get us to average and it really wouldn't take much. Stop playing the DB's 10 yards off the receivers and shore up the tackling problem by teaching guys how to make a sure tackle vs trying to strip the ball every single time would get us really close to average.

 

[Eli]

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.

 

[CuseJacket]

^ 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 agree. I really like his intensity, tone and tenor. Seems like an upstanding guy, and I really believe he gave and will continue to give his best in an effort to get the most out of the guys.

That said, I also believe it's possible that he's an ineffective communicator and therefore teacher. I won't go deep into why - more speculation than insight - but I think his intensity leads to a volume of things to say (see pressers), which may not be good stylistically for simplifying a message.

 

[slugboy]

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.

I won’t mention the DB name or number, but we did that a few times yesterday. I remember once when one of our DBs trailed a BG receiver by three yards across the middle about 7 yards deep, for a healthy first down conversion (much more than 7 yards).

I had to check to make sure it wasn’t an LB getting outrun.

We may have some of the horses to play man, but maybe not enough. Definitely not vs Miami