Vad Lee Interview on 790 the Zone

[IronJacket7]

No worries, I just couldn't figure out how to delete this one.

Lol. I tried to delete mine too once I saw yours.

 

[IronJacket7]

Now that you mention that I do seem to recall that all of his long runs with the exception of maybe 2 IIRC were from the pistol. Nevertheless, I still hate to see the kid go but I believe it will be benificial for Tech and him.

I agree. We just need to look forward and hope that JT will flourish. What has happened is in the past as they say and it just didn't pan out. Some people want to blame the offense or Vad or CPJ. Its probably a mixture of several things.

 

[stylee]

Oh, I didn't specify: Vad's long speed option TD run was against UVA last year.

Against USC he had a nice pistol read run and several nice counter option runs from under center.

If you can run the football, you can run the football. Last year Vad ran the football well from both UC and from 3.5 yards behind it. This year he did not run well from either. Can anyone really disagree with that?

 

[Minawreck]

Here's my problem with the "if you have all the weapons it can be successful comment:"

In general, CPJ does not do a good enough job of praising his players when we do well, and avoiding blaming them. He allows all of the talk to be about the system, now some of that blame falls on the media as well. This quote by Vad reveals to me a sentiment that seems to be pervasive among former players and current players (especially considering the APU thing Vad did earlier). There is very much an "us versus them" mentality in college football right now. I feel like players like to hear that they are the reason the scheme is successful as opposed to the scheme itself. I think Vad has always felt to some extent that the players and offense succeeded in spite of the scheme rather than because of it, where the truth is somewhere in the middle. A lot of what Bebe does at the next level are smoke routes and being physical, something he picked up by playing in this system.

 

[stylee]

I agree that CPJ would probably be well-served by publicly praising more guys. I think he spends a lot of time on the defensive because so many media people ask him dumb questions about the "system." But if I were him I'd work on tying those questions back to specific players a little more.

Maybe thats not "him" - and that doesn't mean he doesn't care about his guys - but sometimes you gotta fake it

 

[Minawreck]

Additionally I should add that this whole interview was an attempted hit piece, and Vad was very kind in avoiding that for the good of the program.

Things like, "Most heralded recruit in GT History," repeatedly asking Vad's opinion on coach's statements about opening things up. Harping on the Duke-game criticism...etc.

 

[IronJacket7]

Oh, I didn't specify: Vad's long speed option TD run was against UVA last year.

Against USC he had a nice pistol read run and several nice counter option runs from under center.

If you can run the football, you can run the football. Last year Vad ran the football well from both UC and from 3.5 yards behind it. This year he did not run well from either. Can anyone really disagree with that?

I will say this. The offensive line play or blocking in general was not good in any formation. Whether a QB was under center or in the pistol.

I will also add that in 2013 we ran the sweep read option or inverted veer out of the Pistol 4 WR look spread zero times.

This was a formation that Vad had a ton of success out of in 2012.

 

[ATL1]

He didn't run hard and when a passing play would break down he would just chunk it instead of running at times.
He threw with poor mechanics.
He was criticized for "thinking too much" running the option. Which leads to hesitation.
Definitely wasn't smooth.
and he had accuracy issues. <early in the bowl game he was atrocious>
This is something Vad needed to work on and be coached up to improve upon as well, not sure what happened here.
(Maybe another year of coaching and polishing would have helped)

CPJ could have eased him into the base "triple option plays" more.
Concentrate on what Vad and offense did well together more and emphasis and groom those plays.
We didn't have a dynamic player at the BB back position so the dive play was limited
<this is where I think was a glaring problem>
Offensive line play was inconsistent making some option plays challenging and often made passing even more difficult.
Inconsistent WR play.

It's a total team cluster of errors. Vad was just apart of it.

 

[DallasBuzzFan]

I agree that CPJ would probably be well-served by publicly praising more guys. I think he spends a lot of time on the defensive because so many media people ask him dumb questions about the "system." But if I were him I'd work on tying those questions back to specific players a little more.

Maybe thats not "him" - and that doesn't mean he doesn't care about his guys - but sometimes you gotta fake it

I agree to some extent. I hate to listen to his arrogance on almost every interview. But, if he had praised and built Vad up to be something that he wasn't, how would this situation look now?

 

[IronJacket7]

I agree to some extent. I hate to listen to his arrogance on almost every interview. But, if he had praised and built Vad up to be something that he wasn't, how would this situation look now?

I personally like the way CPJ talks about players to the media. He gives credit where it is due. He doesn't puff players up like they are superman.

 

[GTrob21]

I don't understand why people keep defending our base offense. Great coaches Adapt the offense to fit the skill set of their players period.

Look at what John Fox did at Denver when Tebow was the quarterback and now with Peyton Manning. His offensive scheme changed. how much more should a college coach do this when HE is the one who recruited them???

My question is why is the fact that Vad Lee couldn't run the offense not an indictment on the coaches? I have many people underneath me at my job and if I have one that can't function in the work place after three year, its my fault as their leader. It should be and its a huge indication how the leadership is conducting itself.

Also why is the fact that the leadership wouldn't change the offense to suit his skills set of its players not being held up. Great leaders always adapt to their strengths.

To me this looks like we had a square peg and we continually tried to put him in a circle hole and Vad to his credit took the high road.

Vad Lee just went up tremendously in my book, and honestly the leadership slid even more.

 

[DallasBuzzFan]

I personally like the way CPJ talks about players to the media. He gives credit where it is due. He doesn't puff players up like they are superman.

That's how I feel about how he speaks of his players. Always even keel. The issue I have is that it's like it pains him to do interviews. He sounds like he had rather be doing anything in the world than doing any interview. I almost feel sorry for Brandon on the Paul Johnson Coaches Show. Sometimes Brandon has to feel like a complete idiot. I just think if CPJ was more upbeat on all interviews it would look more positive for the program. It's like the local media has an agenda to try to bury Georgia Tech right now. I actually thanked Sandra Golden for her positive Twitter compliment after the Notre Dame win. shm

 

[Animal02]

I don't understand why people keep defending our base offense. Great coaches Adapt the offense to fit the skill set of their players period.

Look at what John Fox did at Denver when Tebow was the quarterback and now with Peyton Manning. His offensive scheme changed. how much more should a college coach do this when HE is the one who recruited them???

My question is why is the fact that Vad Lee couldn't run the offense not an indictment on the coaches? I have many people underneath me at my job and if I have one that can't function in the work place after three year, its my fault as their leader. It should be and its a huge indication how the leadership is conducting itself.

Also why is the fact that the leadership wouldn't change the offense to suit his skills set of its players not being held up. Great leaders always adapt to their strengths.

To me this looks like we had a square peg and we continually tried to put him in a circle hole and Vad to his credit took the high road.

Vad Lee just went up tremendously in my book, and honestly the leadership slid even more.

First off, comparing NFL teams changing their offense to that of colleges just doesn't fly.
Second, you can only "coach" someone so much if their head is not in the game, and if you have no one else capable of putting you in a position to win, you are pretty much stuck.

 

[DallasBuzzFan]

I don't understand why people keep defending our base offense. Great coaches Adapt the offense to fit the skill set of their players period.

Look at what John Fox did at Denver when Tebow was the quarterback and now with Peyton Manning. His offensive scheme changed. how much more should a college coach do this when HE is the one who recruited them???

My question is why is the fact that Vad Lee couldn't run the offense not an indictment on the coaches? I have many people underneath me at my job and if I have one that can't function in the work place after three year, its my fault as their leader. It should be and its a huge indication how the leadership is conducting itself.

Also why is the fact that the leadership wouldn't change the offense to suit his skills set of its players not being held up. Great leaders always adapt to their strengths.

To me this looks like we had a square peg and we continually tried to put him in a circle hole and Vad to his credit took the high road.

Vad Lee just went up tremendously in my book, and honestly the leadership slid even more.

So.... if you have a company and have ran it a certain way for 20-30 years and all of your people that YOU hired operate the company the way you recruited them to do it, and then you hired a superstar in your field of work and he just couldn't grasp how your company operated, you would change your whole company to compromise the ONE SUPERSTAR? I don't think so.

 

[Squints]

I don't understand why people keep defending our base offense. Great coaches Adapt the offense to fit the skill set of their players period.

Look at what John Fox did at Denver when Tebow was the quarterback and now with Peyton Manning. His offensive scheme changed. how much more should a college coach do this when HE is the one who recruited them???

My question is why is the fact that Vad Lee couldn't run the offense not an indictment on the coaches? I have many people underneath me at my job and if I have one that can't function in the work place after three year, its my fault as their leader. It should be and its a huge indication how the leadership is conducting itself.

Also why is the fact that the leadership wouldn't change the offense to suit his skills set of its players not being held up. Great leaders always adapt to their strengths.

To me this looks like we had a square peg and we continually tried to put him in a circle hole and Vad to his credit took the high road.

Vad Lee just went up tremendously in my book, and honestly the leadership slid even more.

Well if you remember that offensive scheme for Tebow was TERRIBLE. They never scored any points.

I don't get this criticism that the coach didn't overhaul his entire offensive scheme for a single player. I don't think a coach in the world would do that. Attempt to tailor the scheme to the player? That's more reasonable. CPJ tried and it was obvious Vad couldn't run it. He couldn't run the base and he couldn't run the packages that were arguably put in just for his abilities. Did we start implementing pistol last year for Tevin? I don't think so. He was just bad at pretty much everything this year. So I'm not exactly sure what you wanted to see.

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

First off, comparing NFL teams changing their offense to that of colleges just doesn't fly.
Second, you can only "coach" someone so much if their head is not in the game, and if you have no one else capable of putting you in a position to win, you are pretty much stuck.

After this interview, my concern is that Vad Lee never bought in to the base offense and that's on him.

I'm just aggravated because I feel like we pissed away a season with a QB who had one foot out the door most of the season.

 

[Techster]

Not sure why people are mad at the Radio guys asking Vad certain questions. It's their job.

Vad was the starting QB of a high major program, of a winning team that went to a bowl, who had decent numbers...and transferred. That begs a lot of questions. On top of that, Vad made it known that "the triple option just wasn't for me". It's the hosts' job to delve into the whys.

IMHO, Vad answered the questions honestly as he could without putting GT into a bad light.

For those who keep saying, "Well, if Vad would have ran the offense better" at what point does the coaching staff have responsibility to "coach up" a QB to run their offense better? If Vad didn't run it well, why not put in JT who everyone keeps saying "fits" the offense more? It's like Tevin in 2012, people kept clammoring for Vad, but we don't know the whole story because we're not the ones in practice day after day like the coaches and players. If you're accusing the QB of not running the offense better, you're also indicting the coaches of doing a poor job.

 

[stylee]

What exactly was Vad's skillset that demanded that we change the offense for him?

Not throwing the ball, right? Kid was a 45% passer.
Running the ball? 2.8 yards per carry this year.

Re: the inverted veer/sweep read from the spread formation: correct, we ran that play from the diamond this year instead of from the spread look. Results were about the same - Vad didn't rack up a ton of yards doing either. His long on this play this year was, I believe, 17 yards v Duke. I think in 2012 it was 21(?) v USC.

 

[IronJacket7]

Can we all agree that JT is more suited for the Flexbone than Vad? If so, then if another implosion occurs this time with JT at the helm what to do say at that point? Just asking the question not picking a side here.

 

[stylee]

I 100% agree that the coaches bear the responsibility of teaching the kids what to do and how to do it.

Vad improved his triple option reads a lot. He didn't improve his footwork or "attack" on the keys that much. That's on Bohannon, Johnson, and Cook. It's also on Vad to some degree.

Vad's tentativeness this year in the run game is probably mostly on Vad. The O-line didn't play lights out but a lot of it is still on Vad.

In the end, Vad was a kid with a live arm but an inconsistent passer who didn't consistently diagnose secondaries very well. He was a fast runner who tiptoed a lot in 2013. He was a guy capable of making quick triple option reads (see UNC last year, Miami this year, etc) who struggled to run on his track when pulling the ball. He was a guy who did okay with reads from the pistol but who had a tendency to run backwards and/or sideways when he was supposed to attack on pistol reads.

Lots of upside, but didn't do some things he needs to do in ANY system.