Time to Bury the Asterisk?

[kalld12]

I honestly don't think opinions matter at this point. If Collins doesn't get at least 6 wins, it is highly likely he is gone. A very discontented fanbase, loss of fanbase and general apathy about GT Football in the public setting in means no more excuses can be accepted. I would think another poor year if TStan doesn't make a move, he is gone as well.

5 wins is the floor....will depend on how we win and how competitive we are in the games we lose.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

It will take some kind of turn around to salvage this season.

 

[Pointer]

8 wins or he's gone.

 

[Randy Carson]

5 wins and we look respectable in the losses. Otherwise, he's gone.

 

[JacketFan137]

8 wins or he's gone.

If he gets 6 or 7 wins he will not be fired unless it’s for non football reasons

 

[kalld12]

5+ wins this season or he's gone. 5 may not even get it done. They'll be better this year but the schedule is brutal.

for that reason alone, 5 wins will be

8 wins or he's gone.

You're just a HATER and everyone see's right through you, but carry on POINTER! LOL

 

[CEB]

for that reason alone, 5 wins will be

Good heavens, this could not be any more accurate!
6 wins or more, he’s here.
4 wins or less, he’s gone.
It will be a controversial, agonizing, perhaps cringeworthy 5....

 

[Pointer]

for that reason alone, 5 wins will be

You're just a HATER and everyone see's right through you, but carry on POINTER! LOL

If hating the dumpster fire CGC has created is what you mean, then by all means label me lol. Don't understand what there is to "see through" there lol.

Sorry I don't settle for mediocrity (below mediocrity actually) like you.

 

[alagold]

No excuses next year. It’s more than reasonable to expect a competitive team in year 3. This team needs to improve in every phase, but that means we have opportunities in every phase. Particularly on defense where the fact that we ran the triple on offense is irrelevant and with Collins having built his reputation on defense, we need results.

Buzz,
If you examine each position--- unfortunately QB is the only position that looks like it might be better this yr to begin..The loss at almost every position is staggering really and the replacements are mostly unproven "hopefuls"..It will take a small miracle to change this projectary.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

It will take some kind of turn around to salvage this season.

True, but it has been done before. Bill Curry's 1983 team went 3-8 and everyone thought that Tech was finished as a football team. First game of 1984, Tech was playing Alabama under first year coach Ray Perkins who had the misfortune of following the Bear. Alabama won the toss and elected to receive. Bad move. Tech kicked off and the Alabama return man was ripped to shreds by a half a dozen Tech players. Watching from the North Stands, I knew right then that this year would be different and so it was. All it took was players believing in themselves and competent coaches like Don Lindsay the new defensive coordinator. It can happen that fast. Will it this year? Probably not, but stranger things have happened.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

If he gets 6 or 7 wins he will not be fired unless it’s for non football reasons

It depends on how we finish the season. Getting embarrassed again rubs people the wrong way.

 

[jacketup]

The problem with this program is MONEY. That started with Dave Braine, but it's a topic for another day.

The dumbest thing we could do is fire Collins, pay his $9million, then hire a new staff that would require at least double what Collins and his staff made when he was hired in 2019 to get someone good. Yes, let's dig the money hole deeper!! That's the answer!! Maybe we will get to the football equivalent of China if we dig it deep enough!! Unless one of you who want to fire Collins intend to write a large 8 figure check, then you need to rethink your position.

Do people really believe that Collins wanted to pay his OC and DC $425K and $450K a year when he was hired in 2019, or was that the budget he was given? At that time Clemson was paying its DC and Co-OCs (so 3 coaches) around $1million each. Georgia was paying their OC and DC about double what we were, and their lowest paid coach made $400K. If Collins had been given $800K each for coordinators, would he have hired Patenaude and Thacker?

Someone at Tech finally got the message. Long is being paid at least a respectable salary. We didn't have the money to replace Thacker (DCs typically make more than OCs) but we did the next best thing: We hired David Turner, an experienced coach that Collins knows and has worked with. With Long coaching the O, Turner can coach the D and Collins can spend more time hands on coaching time than he did before (contrary to what a lot of people believe, a P5 coach in modern football isn't a hands on fundamentals coach--hell, Bobby Dodd wasn't). Forget titles, Turner and Collins are Co-DCs.

We have 70% new assistants. People wanted a new coach--they got one--but according to a current poll on this board over half of these fans don't realize it.
We have a team that physically looks like an BCS team-- not an FCS team like it did in 2019.
We are starting to have depth, but we aren't there yet, particularly on the O-line. People who understand OL recruting and OL play know that three recruiting years isn't enough to overcome the 280 lb OL that worked for the last staff.
We need more experience. We will probably have as many as 15 new starters this year because the talent level has improved, but those guys need experience.

If we were playing Wake Forest's schedule this year, we'd make a bowl no problem. Stansbury knows that (and the schedule is his fault). He also knows that Chip Long has a two year contract. He also knows that going into last year Collins had two real recruiting years to overcome offensive players that were recruited for the option, and to recruit for a defense that wasn't very good for many prior years-- and then lost 8 starters from the 2018 team.

tl:dr: New staff, new players, tough schedule, an OC with a 2 year contract: Collins will get one more year barring a total breakdown. The test will be how we do against Coastal foes--not how many games we win overall. UVa and VT loom large. And we can't be 117th in total defense--or anywhere near that.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Buzz,
If you examine each position--- unfortunately QB is the only position that looks like it might be better this yr to begin..The loss at almost every position is staggering really and the replacements are mostly unproven "hopefuls"..It will take a small miracle to change this projectary.

I disagree with this statement. I’ll elaborate why. This will be fun to revisit in 20 weeks to see if I’m too positive or not positive enough.

QB -> agreed.

OL -> Push for now; but if we avoid the injuries we had last year here I’d suggest we’ll be better than we were previously. My guess, and what I’ll be watching for, is if we see less QB hurries this season and more open running lanes on called run plays.

WR -> Much better with the return of BlackStrain and Blackburn I think we’ll see some more production from this unit. There were too many times last season where announcers and fans noticed the routes developing slowly. We need guys who can win 1:1 matchups or find a burst to get open. I think we’ll have more of that this year.

RB -> we lost a lot with JG but have found some nice pieces and I think we’ll see this unit perform better (read as a unit get more yards and TDs) due to the OL improving/WR room getting better/Improved play from QB. So I’d rank this a slight overall improvement.

TE -> CCL will no doubt utilize this room better. If not, I’ll eat my shorts - just let me wash them first

On D:

This was a slog to sort through so I’ve changed my point here to say a few global comments I believe to be true. Going by positions was not a lot of fun.

1) We will have less dissonance between the front end and back end of our DScheme. I’ll be looking for WAY less busted coverages with dudes running open in a seam that runs 15+ Yds

2) Our Safeties and Deep coverage guys won’t be burned as often. I hope - and believe - we learned our lesson about letting speed backs look like Tarzan/Play like Jane. Speed kills and Hitting power is a long delayed second. I think we’ll see our coverage units playing better bump coverage at the LoS and the back end guys hawking more and playing their men tight.

3) Our LB angles will improve - looking at @Ibeeballin on this because like 99% of the board I know less than him, but hopeful I’m right here. It seemed to me that last year we had guys getting out of position (I think due to lack of confidence in the front and back ends of the D Unit which lead to hero ball) hoping this gets sorted and sorted quickly this summer.

 

[alagold]

Glad to hear you are so positive but I can't be.I've seen ONE game in 3 yrs that shows GC has the capability to put together an exceptional game (Def and Off) --unc last yr. Even a blind hog finds a acorn once in a while.
So-- the Offense is built on the OL and that is AT BEST a "hope and prayer".The DEf is built on the front 4 and the best is gone from that group..Without them the LBs and DBs look much worse. Even the FG kicking is unproven. Lots of questions and few answers.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

As long as we’re in the ACC, I don’t buy the tough schedule talk. Two tough opponents doesn’t make a tough schedule. If you offered this schedule to anyone in the BIG or SEC, they would take it in an instant.

 

[RonJohn]

As long as we’re in the ACC, I don’t buy the tough schedule talk. Two tough opponents doesn’t make a tough schedule. If you offered this schedule to anyone in the BIG or SEC, they would take it in an instant.

Blah-blah. Before TA&M and Missouri joined the SEC there was a lot of talk that UT and OK would have problems winning more than 4 games a year if they played an "S..E..C.." schedule. Two "lesser" Big12 teams joined the SEC. Missouri won the East twice in two of their first three seasons. TA&M had one season with 7 wins and the rest were between 8 and 11. They had one season that was less than .500 in the conference. Both of the "lesser" Big12 transfers have done better than the majority of the rest of the SEC.