The cold hard facts of GT Offense, Defense, Head Coaches

[UgaBlows]

2008-09 were probably the most talented Tech Teams since 2000. Maybe the most talent since 1990. Who knows what Gailey would’ve done with them.

Hand up! I know....6-6 with a bad loss to ugag and a trip to Boise to get crushed by fresno or utah st.

 

[UgaBlows]

Chan Gailey lost to a pathetic Wake Forest team because he wouldn't have Reggie throw the ball to a wide-open Calvin Johnson. Enuf said.

That team was freaking loaded on both sides of the ball too

 

[AlphaBuzz]

I'm fine with these posts that want to say that Paul Johnson isn't getting enough respect from fans, and that he's better than he's getting credit for. What I don't care for is the "we can't this", "we can't that" stuff, putting limitations on the new coach before he's coached a game. To say that a guy who's had successful defenses as a coordinator at two SEC schools and as a HC can't have a successful defense here because "Tech can't do that" is way premature. John Tenuta had success at Tech by being innovative defensively.

To address the Tenuta comment above, please know that as much grief as Gailey gets on this board, he adamantly believed that defense wins championships. I heard him say multiple times that he would recruit to replace every position on D, every year. If there was a player who could go both ways, D always got first choice. That's part of the reason why we had a good D and even then we were susceptible to being run out by a really good O.

The GT's of the world (and that's most of D1) have to pick a side of the ball on which to excel. We have not historically been able to recruit both sides of the ball with enough depth to compete at a high level consistently. APR hurts us, our limited curriculum hurts us and our academic standards/requirements hurt us.

Let's all hope that Collins can break this mold. However, if I were a betting man I would bet that our D improves, our O drops back and our recruiting improves (on paper). We will get more wins on recruiting signing day, but it won't translate to more wins on the field without something special on the offense. Running what everybody else runs ain't special.

 

[Bibb Stinger]

Alpha Buzz: Totally agree. Improved recruiting, improved defense. Plus special teams should be considerably better. Hopefully similar to Va Tech, Beamer ball days. I could never understand why CPJ did not improve special teams play during his tenure.

 

[Bibb Stinger]

2008-09 were probably the most talented Tech Teams since 2000. Maybe the most talent since 1990. Who knows what Gailey would’ve done with them.

Nesbitt was used like Justin Fields his freshman year by gailey. Not sure where you’re getting this TE crap from.

CPJ faced significantly easier uga competition for most of his tenure than CCG did. CCG was facing top 10 Ugag teams 5/6 years. CPJ lost to multiple unranked ones. He lost to an unranked one with a loaded with talent orange bowl team. He lost to one with a losing record!

CPJ had a worse record against FBS competition than either GOL or CCG. Five of eleven years he had a losing record against the FBS. How does that square with him being a better coach?

CPJ went to the Orange Bowl with a team 'loaded with talent', that's pretty funny

 

[Madison Grant]

To address the Tenuta comment above, please know that as much grief as Gailey gets on this board, he adamantly believed that defense wins championships. I heard him say multiple times that he would recruit to replace every position on D, every year. If there was a player who could go both ways, D always got first choice. That's part of the reason why we had a good D and even then we were susceptible to being run out by a really good O.

The GT's of the world (and that's most of D1) have to pick a side of the ball on which to excel. We have not historically been able to recruit both sides of the ball with enough depth to compete at a high level consistently. APR hurts us, our limited curriculum hurts us and our academic standards/requirements hurt us.

Let's all hope that Collins can break this mold. However, if I were a betting man I would bet that our D improves, our O drops back and our recruiting improves (on paper). We will get more wins on recruiting signing day, but it won't translate to more wins on the field without something special on the offense. Running what everybody else runs ain't special.

Like I said, "Can't, can't, can't" before the new coach even starts. Looking for reasons why we "can't" before a staff is named, before Spring ball, before Fall camp, before a game is played. Sad stuff.

 

[ibeattetris]

Like I said, "Can't, can't, can't" before the new coach even starts. Looking for reasons why we "can't" before a staff is named, before Spring ball, before Fall camp, before a game is played. Sad stuff.

I just hit CTRL+F and you are literally the only person in this thread who has used the word "can't" (oh now I've said the word ). Maybe chill out a bit?

All of the people who are suggesting that there is more to performance and recruiting than just the head coach are going to be the same people who would defend Collins if things don't go well as hoped, because they understand that there is context to things. No one has been negative about Collins. Everyone wants him to succeed. There are historical reasons to not get your hopes up, though.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

CPJ went to the Orange Bowl with a team 'loaded with talent', that's pretty funny

Have to agree that is funny - we have NEVER been loaded with talent, although it is true that we had a few more individuals (for GT only) that would play NFL in 2008 and 2009 than other years. BUT, GT has never been, and probably never will be, loaded with talent. I wish we could be "loaded with talent". That would be awesome.

 

[ibeattetris]

2008-09 were probably the most talented Tech Teams since 2000. Maybe the most talent since 1990. Who knows what Gailey would’ve done with them.

2006 was better than either 2008 or 2009 team. 2006 might have been one of the top Tech teams ever assembled. There is a reason that was the one team Gailey was able to almost succeed with.

Given that, 2014 was a better team than 2009 despite the fact that 2014 had less talent. I attribute that to CPJ still not having the full offense installed in 2009 which is certainly a product of the talent leftover, but 2009 GT gets boatraced by 2014 GT.

 

[Techster]

2006 was better than either 2008 or 2009 team. 2006 might have been one of the top Tech teams ever assembled. There is a reason that was the one team Gailey was able to almost succeed with.

Given that, 2014 was a better team than 2009 despite the fact that 2014 had less talent. I attribute that to CPJ still not having the full offense installed. That is certainly a product of the talent leftover, but 2009 GT gets boatraced by 2014 GT.

2008 would have been interesting with Gailey.

Sean Renfree would have been a true freshmen, but as physically talented as any QB in our program since the Friedgen years. There's a reason why he played int he NFL for 3 years. Probably would have been the missing QB Gailey could never find all those years.

We had BayBay at WR1, and DJ Donley at WR2...many said Donley was just as good as BayBay and was a reason Tenuta use to chew out our defenses during practice. Unfortunately, Donley listened to the wrong people and transferred out.

Of course we had Diesel Dwyer at RB1. Collin Peek, who went on to have a VERY good career at 'Bama would have been TE1.

One of the interesting "what ifs" in GT football history.

In the end CPJ won the ACC Championship with that group, so really not a reason to look back and wonder if we could have done better with CCG.

 

[Madison Grant]

All of the people who are suggesting that there is more to performance and recruiting than just the head coach are going to be the same people who would defend Collins if things don't go well as hoped, because they understand that there is context to things.

While that reasoning makes logical sense, I somehow don't think that will be the case. Either way, it's Georgia Tech. There will be ups and downs. Agreed.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I'm fine with these posts that want to say that Paul Johnson isn't getting enough respect from fans, and that he's better than he's getting credit for. What I don't care for is the "we can't this", "we can't that" stuff, putting limitations on the new coach before he's coached a game. To say that a guy who's had successful defenses as a coordinator at two SEC schools and as a HC can't have a successful defense here because "Tech can't do that" is way premature. John Tenuta had success at Tech by being innovative defensively.

If Tech doesn’t give him “near peer” support....he can’t be successful here. Not more successful than we have been and probably less.

 

[knoxjacket]

Chan Gailey lost to a pathetic Wake Forest team because he wouldn't have Reggie throw the ball to a wide-open Calvin Johnson. Enuf said.

CPJ got boat-raced by MTSU at home. He lost to a Kansas team that was coming off a loss to an FCS. He lost to the worst Tennessee team of all-time. One of his best teams cam within a whisker of losing to G-W. That wake forest team was way better than any of those.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

No I’m saying that’s silly to say a coach is lesser because he makes great hires. That is literally the coach’s job. CPJs inability to hire a good DC is an indictment of his coaching ability. Johnson never attracted anywhere near the coaching. Staff that GOL did.

So why didn’t CPJ just write bigger checks to get better coaches?

 

[knoxjacket]

Hand up! I know....6-6 with a bad loss to ugag and a trip to Boise to get crushed by fresno or utah st.

Losing records are CPJ’s domain. Gailey was 7-5 with a bowl loss like clockwork.

 

[LibertyTurns]

@Bibb Stinger Thanks for the Fridge info. I’ve liked a lot of GT coaches, admittedly even had a soft spot in my heart for Gomer, but Fridge’s offensive prowess was absolutely fascinating and he remains my favorite of all time.

 

[stech81]

Losing records are CPJ’s domain. Gailey was 7-5 with a bowl loss like clockwork.

CPJ is gone everyone on here know you don't like him just let it go.

 

[Techster]

@Bibb Stinger Thanks for the Fridge info. I’ve liked a lot of GT coaches, admittedly even had a soft spot in my heart for Gomer, but Fridge’s offensive prowess was absolutely fascinating and he remains my favorite of all time.

I really wish they took OFEI ranking back to Friedgen's years on the Flats. Would be interesting to see where his offenses ranked.

 

[ibeattetris]

I really wish they took OFEI ranking back to Friedgen's years on the Flats. Would be interesting to see where his offenses ranked.

One of the things I wanted to do over winter break is try to calculate some of the drive stats in FEI in years not currently tracked. The problem is the earliest play by play data I can find is only 2001. Not sure if there is any source or any way I can get anything earlier. I thought it would be interesting to compare things like TD% and or % of drives with points over time, but it looks like the data won't go back far enough to really make it worth it.

 

[Bibb Stinger]

CPJ got boat-raced by MTSU at home. He lost to a Kansas team that was coming off a loss to an FCS. He lost to the worst Tennessee team of all-time. One of his best teams cam within a whisker of losing to G-W. That wake forest team was way better than any of those.

Yes, we remember things the way we want. CPJ lost to the worst TN team of all time, Tech fumbles the ball on the way to game winning TD. But CPJ was the coach, so it's a loss under his watch.
The loss to Wake in ACC Champ. was a final straw game for me. Tech with HOF wide receiver and NFL running back, was clearly the better team and in a position to take over the game in the third quarter.
Poor coaching kept Wake in it, until they won it.

Realization Gailey will never beat UGA: 2004 Athens muck game, David Green goes out with injury. Tech gets the ball inside the 50, 5 -7 times in the second half. Still can't pull it out. In the context of all losses fall on the coach, Gailey forgot to tell his QB it was 4th down.