The Case for Ted Roof

[Architorture23]

"Mark it down: If he is hired at GT, Paul Johnson will never beat UGa as long as Richt is HC at UGa. Mark it down."

-jacketup

 

[InsideLB]

In Roof's 1st stint as a DC at Tech he took a defense that ranked 88th before he got here and had it playing in the 25th to 35th range the last two years before he left. The only season Tech fans remember is his first where we were ranked 100th. It takes time to turn around a bad unit or team. IMO Roof's first GT stint was actually quite successful.

Roof also turned around bad defenses at MN and Duke.

Based on his record Roof was a good hire and we should see dividends. The hire was also made with an eye towards improving recruiting and adding an energetic, positive personality to the Staff. Players like him, he communicates well and he loves and understands GT. Smart guy and IMO is HC material.

Interestingly Bryan Cook was also on staff with Roof during the O' Leary years. Glad to have him back too. He certainly did great work with JT becoming an effective option decision maker.

 

[wxl]

"Ted Roof brings to the table what Paul Johnson doesn't--BCS level coaching experience. Since he left GT years ago, the coaches he has coached with and the stops he has made is an impressive list. His many stops taught him a lot--win or lose. He knows what it takes to win at this level."

Using this logic, Al Groh was a great hire. I would rather have coaches with National Championship experience, which CPJ and CTR both have.

 

[croberts]

I don't disagree that he had to adjust to recruiting at GT, but not because of the "rigor" of the curriculum. Navy has a pretty substantial barrier there, too. It is the lack of diversity, if you will, in the curriculum. Navy has a wide range of majors and course offerings, GT not so much. Pretty narrowly technical and of little interest to those with little or no such inclinations. That, I think, was his adjustment.

Certainly the limited curriculum is 1a but you have 1b (rigor) 1c (offense) . All of these things play into the recruiting game. If I were to pick one of the above as the biggest issue it would be limited curriculum but with Tech located in Ga and surrounded by other states known for poor public education I would never try to downplay rigor.

 

[Skeptic]

Certainly the limited curriculum is 1a but you have 1b (rigor) 1c (offense) . All of these things play into the recruiting game. If I were to pick one of the above as the biggest issue it would be limited curriculum but with Tech located in Ga and surrounded by other states known for poor public education I would never try to downplay rigor.

I did not make my point very well, then. It is not to diminish GT's academic rigor, but rather to caution some restraint in making a case that Tech is tougher than the service academies and therefor Johnson had to adjust for it. He had six years at Navy to learn the recruiting difficulties of academic rigor. If any rigor was being downplayed, it was Navy, not GT.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I did not make my point very well, then. It is not to diminish GT's academic rigor, but rather to caution some restraint in making a case that Tech is tougher than the service academies and therefor Johnson had to adjust for it. He had six years at Navy to learn the recruiting difficulties of academic rigor. If any rigor was being downplayed, it was Navy, not GT.

I understood your point, too, which is why I didn't respond back again. However, Navy has natural advantages in recruiting (and disadvantages), that make the recruiting very different. I think at Tech CPJ is chasing a much higher profile athlete than at Navy. He can get kids to seriously look at Tech that wouldn't even sniff Navy. Also, everyone at Navy is on a non-athletic scholarship, so there's no 85 limit there, just the 105 limit. I don't think recruiting to Navy prepared CPJ for what he was going to face at Tech.

I'm not sure that which school would be more academically rigorous.

At Tech, the classes are (were) much more challenging to get high grades than comparable upper eschelon universities (i.e. Stanford, Berkeley, ND, etc.). Whereas these other schools are highly selective regarding admissions, once you're there, they're not trying to flush you out; historically, Tech has. I've heard that that has changed recently, which is both positive and negative. Couple that with football and it takes much self-discipline and time management to succeed.

On the other hand, the guys at Navy have even less time available. Not only do they have to handle the rigorous academic level and football, but they have all of the military-related duties, as well. They have less time to get in trouble, but the self-discipline and time management skills have to be there to survive. I'm not sure that they don't have more oversight, as well.

 

[Skeptic]

I understood your point, too, which is why I didn't respond back again. However, Navy has natural advantages in recruiting (and disadvantages), that make the recruiting very different. I think at Tech CPJ is chasing a much higher profile athlete than at Navy. He can get kids to seriously look at Tech that wouldn't even sniff Navy. Also, everyone at Navy is on a non-athletic scholarship, so there's no 85 limit there, just the 105 limit. I don't think recruiting to Navy prepared CPJ for what he was going to face at Tech.

I'm not sure that which school would be more academically rigorous.

At Tech, the classes are (were) much more challenging to get high grades than comparable upper eschelon universities (i.e. Stanford, Berkeley, ND, etc.). Whereas these other schools are highly selective regarding admissions, once you're there, they're not trying to flush you out; historically, Tech has. I've heard that that has changed recently, which is both positive and negative. Couple that with football and it takes much self-discipline and time management to succeed.

On the other hand, the guys at Navy have even less time available. Not only do they have to handle the rigorous academic level and football, but they have all of the military-related duties, as well. They have less time to get in trouble, but the self-discipline and time management skills have to be there to survive. I'm not sure that they don't have more oversight, as well.

Well then, let's just all get along as the fellow posted, and agree that there aren't a whole lot of graduates of the academies or Tech standing in unemployment lines. Though the guy who invented the tamper proof packaging ought to be.

 

[gtrower]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned here, but we are in an incredibly unique situation for a P5 program to be in. We have a HC, OC, and DC that are both performing well and unlikely to leave. Outside of us, VT might be the only other team I can think of. CPJ is happy here and is also our OC. And Roof is a guy that has been around the HC/DC circuit and is likely happy back home here at Tech. Think about that - even the elite schools have OCs and DCs getting snatched up all the time. If Roof continues to perform suddenly we have momentum from wins, coaching continuity, and recruiting. And all 3 feeding off of each other. We got the ball rolling last season and we're on the cusp of something really special. This is a very important season for the direction of the program and the CPJ legacy.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Here is a question I have that likely has no answer. Are we focusing recruiting equally between offense and defense?

I personally suspect we tilt more toward o focus on offense. Outside of recruiting classes I have no evidence to back up that suspicion. And the players we have, and their talent level, will have a lot to do with what kind of a coach we think CTR is. No doubt in my mind CTR will will make an elite D if given elite caliber recruits. That ain't easily done but I certainly think we saw great strides made toward D recruiting in our last class.

 

[AE 87]

Here is a question I have that likely has no answer. Are we focusing recruiting equally between offense and defense?

I personally suspect we tilt more toward o focus on offense. Outside of recruiting classes I have no evidence to back up that suspicion. And the players we have, and their talent level, will have a lot to do with what kind of a coach we think CTR is. No doubt in my mind CTR will will make an elite D if given elite caliber recruits. That ain't easily done but I certainly think we saw great strides made toward D recruiting in our last class.

I'm not sure what you're asking, but we recruit for balanced depth, basically the same # on O and on D plus some specialists. Also, iirc, I think we've signed more 4* on D than o.

 

[GTHOSCHTON]

Ted Roof is a damn good football coach, and I am glad he is here at Tech but make no mistakes, he understands that college football is a business and if someone else 0ffers him 1.25 million or more per year 3 year contract I would think (and as would anyone) he would be gone. Remember Tech didn't treat him so well when they hired Gailey.

 

[cuttysark]

Roof reached out to CPJ about the DC position so could move back and raise his sons in the Atlanta area. I don't anticipate that he is looking to chase the money until they graduate from HS. He'll be here for quite some time.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Chasing money and turning offered money down are two different things. I think you make a good point about family though cutty.

 

[GTL]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned here, but we are in an incredibly unique situation for a P5 program to be in. We have a HC, OC, and DC that are both performing well and unlikely to leave. Outside of us, VT might be the only other team I can think of. CPJ is happy here and is also our OC. And Roof is a guy that has been around the HC/DC circuit and is likely happy back home here at Tech. Think about that - even the elite schools have OCs and DCs getting snatched up all the time. If Roof continues to perform suddenly we have momentum from wins, coaching continuity, and recruiting. And all 3 feeding off of each other. We got the ball rolling last season and we're on the cusp of something really special. This is a very important season for the direction of the program and the CPJ legacy.

I don't disagree, but should we make the playoffs and especially the championship game, it'll be all but impossible to keep this staff intact.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I don't disagree, but should we make the playoffs and especially the championship game, it'll be all but impossible to keep this staff intact.

Why would any P5 school want to poach a coach from a school that plays a high school offense and which can't place anyone in the pros?

 

[TechPhi97]

In Roof's 1st stint as a DC at Tech he took a defense that ranked 88th before he got here and had it playing in the 25th to 35th range the last two years before he left. The only season Tech fans remember is his first where we were ranked 100th. It takes time to turn around a bad unit or team. IMO Roof's first GT stint was actually quite successful.

Roof also turned around bad defenses at MN and Duke.

Based on his record Roof was a good hire and we should see dividends. The hire was also made with an eye towards improving recruiting and adding an energetic, positive personality to the Staff. Players like him, he communicates well and he loves and understands GT. Smart guy and IMO is HC material.

Interestingly Bryan Cook was also on staff with Roof during the O' Leary years. Glad to have him back too. He certainly did great work with JT becoming an effective option decision maker.

I've made the argument for Roof every so often for the past 6 or 7 years. I agree with you 100%. If people go back and look at the performance of Roof's teams objectively it seems obvious.

 

[UgaBlows]

Roof reached out to CPJ about the DC position so could move back and raise his sons in the Atlanta area. I don't anticipate that he is looking to chase the money until they graduate from HS. He'll be here for quite some time.

And thats why we need his son's at GT

 

[Skeptic]

Has this "case for Roof" thread about run its course, as interesting as it was early on? Pretty sure that anybody who could be persuaded has been persuaded.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Has this "case for Roof" thread about run its course, as interesting as it was early on? Pretty sure that anybody who could be persuaded has been persuaded.

No, no, no! There may be some anti-Roof fifth columnist hiding out somewhere, a lone sniper in the weeds, some unconverted hoi polloi lurking somewhere like a snake in the grass. No, we've got to pound this again and again until every last quivering member of the rabble has every last bit of their gelatinous muscle memory reprogrammed into correct doctrine!

 

[Skeptic]

No, no, no! There may be some anti-Roof fifth columnist hiding out somewhere, a lone sniper in the weeds, some unconverted hoi polloi lurking somewhere like a snake in the grass. No, we've got to pound this again and again until every last quivering member of the rabble has every last bit of their gelatinous muscle memory reprogrammed into correct doctrine!

I don't know what you just said but I like the way you said it.