Virginia Postgame

[bobongo]

We know that Collins is gentle with his players’ psyches. Maybe that’s the way it needs to be for players used to getting participation trophies growing up.

Or maybe he's just a civil, reasonable individual.

 

[stech81]

No kidding they wouldn’t SAY it, but actions always speak louder than words. TStan set all of this in motion during the hiring phase. Do you think he and Collins didn’t create this game plan together? Remember when we waited over a month to hire Key? Do you not believe TStan wasn’t totally on board? Do you remember when we rotated QB’s the first 4 games? You don’t think TStan was in the loop? Come on, every move this AD and staff has done from day 1 has been about the long term. From helicopters to social media to rotating players it has all been about the future. And yes, I’ve enjoyed this season because I enjoy watching the behind the scenes of how things get built. Right now, we are clearing the lot and putting in the footers.

All I can say is you are one of a kind ( that's not bad) but I hate losing. And damn sure don't want to see 4 years or more of it. I want to see +6 wins next year And +9 after that in 2021. Don't care who is on the schedule.

 

[WreckinGT]

I hear you but we don’t have the depth right now so our good players are being left out to dry by the incapable ones. I can promise you that Graham, Juanyeh, Thomas, and Swilling are also happily looking towards the future as they see the caliber of recruits Collins is going after. I would tend to believe our entire team is looking forward to getting a competent kicker.

So is next year going to be mostly scrimmages again where wins and losses don’t really matter? We will be roughly the same team with a few transfers and true freshmen thrown into the mix but the starters will still be mostly the incapables as you call them. We will also have a tougher schedule. Should we assume now that our coaching staff can’t possibly turn that kind of roster into a decent team?

 

[Technut1990]

So is next year going to be mostly scrimmages again where wins and losses don’t really matter? We will be roughly the same team with a few transfers and true freshmen thrown into the mix but the starters will still be mostly the incapables as you call them. We will also have a tougher schedule. Should we assume now that our coaching staff can’t possibly turn that kind of roster into a decent team?

Hello Wreck ! Long time since we’ve spoken. Hope all is well ! Miss your perspectives on issues

 

[Boaty1]

So is next year going to be mostly scrimmages again where wins and losses don’t really matter? We will be roughly the same team with a few transfers and true freshmen thrown into the mix but the starters will still be mostly the incapables as you call them. We will also have a tougher schedule. Should we assume now that our coaching staff can’t possibly turn that kind of roster into a decent team?

I expect improvement next year. It all depends on if we can reasonable play at qb and OL. I understand it’s difficult going from a coach whose offense could work with this type of talent to one that doesn’t. But this is a necessary step. Growing pains will have to take place because it was decided that in the long run the option was detrimental to our program. I for one concur with that assessment. Give the man time to get his players in here and then we could judge. This would be a tough transition regardless of who was coaching us.

 

[takethepoints]

No kidding they wouldn’t SAY it, but actions always speak louder than words. TStan set all of this in motion during the hiring phase. Do you think he and Collins didn’t create this game plan together? Remember when we waited over a month to hire Key? Do you not believe TStan wasn’t totally on board? Do you remember when we rotated QB’s the first 4 games? You don’t think TStan was in the loop? Come on, every move this AD and staff has done from day 1 has been about the long term. From helicopters to social media to rotating players it has all been about the future. And yes, I’ve enjoyed this season because I enjoy watching the behind the scenes of how things get built. Right now, we are clearing the lot and putting in the footers.

Gee. Does TStan know the Green Lantern oath too?

My guess is that he is actually letting Collins run the team and giving him what he says he needs to do it, while openly supporting him and slowly praying under his breath. No AD is as closely involved in daily coaching decisions for a single sport as you portray here. Or, to be more exact, no AD who wants to keep his job is. The number one thing about the position is to not let it be identified with a single coach or a single sport. This doesn't mean that different schools don't have different sports in a prominent position; Bammer has football, Haverford has cricket (they win the MNC every year). But their ADs have overall responsibility for all programs.

Now, I've said here that if Collins turns out to fail, TStan could go down with him. But that's only if he gets as involved as you have him here. I don't want that to happen. I think TStan is a good choice for Tech AD, but he will, if the program needs it, see the writing on the wall and behave accordingly. But let's hope we don't have to cross that bridge.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

You cannot always be "civil" with boneheaded kids. They need tough love, and I am hoping CGC gives that out when necessary. I am o.k. with him not doing it so much in public, but if he doesn't do it in private sometimes, then he will not be successful with coaching kids. You cannot "baby" all of them - some require negative discipline more than positive "attaboys", although I hope he does both.

 

[GTJake]

Didn't go through the whole thread, but I'll reiterate the positives on Grahams play and improvement overall ... sometimes you have to just tip your hat to the opponent, Bryce Perkins is a good football player !
I'm also optimistic on our chances for wins in the next two games and being competitive in the last one.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Didn't go through the whole thread, but I'll reiterate the positives on Grahams play and improvement overall ... sometimes you have to just tip your hat to the opponent, Bryce Perkins is a good football player !
I'm also optimistic on our chances for wins in the next two games and being competitive in the last one.

Damn Perkins was too slippery for us. If not, we would have notched the win.

Thought Graham did well until he got excited. Some experience and he’ll calm under pressure. A sign of light in the darkness.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

All I can say is you are one of a kind ( that's not bad) but I hate losing. And damn sure don't want to see 4 years or more of it. I want to see +6 wins next year And +9 after that in 2021. Don't care who is on the schedule.

I hate losing too but I hate wasting years ad naseum with little hope. I’d much be in GT’s position with a Coach and AD with a plan to build success than to be teams like UVA, UNC, Pitt, etc. who year after year are average. That’s what I liked about Coach Johnson. We always had a chance and he threw in some wonderful seasons and he’s a legend in my mind. But, he also got in his own way and was past his prime at the end. I’ll go to my grave lamenting Johnson’s lack of finding QB’s for his system here at GT. He inherited Nesbitt and outside of Thomas he never had his Tracy Ham so we ended up with only the running portion of the option. He is a smart man and knew the fire was gone which is why he retired. I respect him for that. Any coach needs at least 3 recruiting cycles to get his stamp on the team especially with system changes. Johnson didn’t because he’s a hall of farmer and Gailey gave him a big OLine, Nesbitt, Dwyer, and an able defense. Unfortunately, Collins wasn’t left that. But the good news is that Collins has a proven track record of getting players. But, yeah, next year will be better but until the bigger linemen are ready it’s going to be tough. By 2021, we’ll be a tough out with depth.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

So is next year going to be mostly scrimmages again where wins and losses don’t really matter? We will be roughly the same team with a few transfers and true freshmen thrown into the mix but the starters will still be mostly the incapables as you call them. We will also have a tougher schedule. Should we assume now that our coaching staff can’t possibly turn that kind of roster into a decent team?

Do you want the truth? The truth is YES! Next year we will still be rebuilding due to the reasons you stated.

As for the incapable, I never said they were starters, but our depth is close to zero and we do have many starters who should be playing in backup roles. Collins is addressing this thru recruiting but it takes more than one recruiting cycle to fix depth.

As for the “decent team” comment, we are a decent team right now. We just took the Coastal Champs to the wire with a depleted roster. I’m not talking about GT being a decent team. I’m talking about GT becoming a team that can year in and year out win the Coastal. We will be that by 2021 but there is no EASY button. If Johnson would have left us with the same caliber player that Gailey left him then we’d be in a much better position today, but he didn’t. And then we lose our only all ACC caliber player in Adams and then injuries have piled up.

 

[GTJake]

Do you want the truth? The truth is YES! Next year we will still be rebuilding due to the reasons you stated.

As for the incapable, I never said they were starters, but our depth is close to zero and we do have many starters who should be playing in backup roles. Collins is addressing this thru recruiting but it takes more than one recruiting cycle to fix depth.

As for the “decent team” comment, we are a decent team right now. We just took the Coastal Champs to the wire with a depleted roster. I’m not talking about GT being a decent team. I’m talking about GT becoming a team that can year in and year out win the Coastal. We will be that by 2021 but there is no EASY button. If Johnson would have left us with the same caliber player that Gailey left him then we’d be in a much better position today, but he didn’t. And then we lose our only all ACC caliber player in Adams and then injuries have piled up.

As a testament to our lack of depth, according to the AJC, we took 72 players to Virginia and 14 of them were walk-ons ...

 

[jackets55]

I hope you are right.

He isn't even close to being right.

 

[GoGATech]

Defense took a step back today.

We had some missed tackles early on, but we held Virginia to almost exactly their yearly average in both passing and rushing statistics, and Perkins is probably the 2nd best QB we see this year. Not sure exactly how that is taking a step back.

 

[danny daniel]

We had some missed tackles early on, but we held Virginia to almost exactly their yearly average in both passing and rushing statistics, and Perkins is probably the 2nd best QB we see this year. Not sure exactly how that is taking a step back.

I think that horrible D just before halftime cost us the game and qualifies as a step back. If you want to win games that is a performance you have to eliminate. (I concede that STs overall cost us the game as well and was a bigger step back)

 

[GoGATech]

I think that horrible D just before halftime cost us the game and qualifies as a step back. If you want to win games that is a performance you have to eliminate. (I concede that STs overall cost us the game as well and was a bigger step back)

I do agree there. As I stated to some of my friends, if we are able to kick that ball out of the back of the endzone and they are starting at the 25, they are extremely less likely to score before half, and probably just content to run the ball a couple times and take it to half knowing they get the ball to start the 3rd. That's not an excuse for our defense not being able to hold them for 44 seconds, but it would be a major help if we don't help folks out every game with field position because of kicking.

 

[slugboy]

I can understand looking at the overall defensive performance, but some of this is harsh.
I watched some of the LSU-Alabama game. If our defense is horrible because UVA scored before the half, how about LSU letting Alabama score in 1 play covering 85 yards in 16 seconds, when all they had to do was “keep the play in front of them”?
I saw the Wisconsin-Iowa game. Same kind of “defensive breakdown” in that game where Iowa started to come back.
I’m willing to bet that there were more drives like that in a lot of the games between top 25 teams, and drives like that against top 25 defenses just last Saturday.
I bet we can find drives like that against good teams from the NFL on Sunday. The Saints are #6 in defensive efficiency—how did they look against the Falcons?
Drives like that happen to good defenses. And bad defenses too.
Our defense is average right now—it’s #68 in FEI Defense for 2019. Last year, it was #107.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[takethepoints]

I hate losing too but I hate wasting years ad naseum with little hope. I’d much be in GT’s position with a Coach and AD with a plan to build success than to be teams like UVA, UNC, Pitt, etc. who year after year are average. That’s what I liked about Coach Johnson. We always had a chance and he threw in some wonderful seasons and he’s a legend in my mind. But, he also got in his own way and was past his prime at the end. I’ll go to my grave lamenting Johnson’s lack of finding QB’s for his system here at GT. He inherited Nesbitt and outside of Thomas he never had his Tracy Ham so we ended up with only the running portion of the option. He is a smart man and knew the fire was gone which is why he retired. I respect him for that. Any coach needs at least 3 recruiting cycles to get his stamp on the team especially with system changes. Johnson didn’t because he’s a hall of farmer and Gailey gave him a big OLine, Nesbitt, Dwyer, and an able defense. Unfortunately, Collins wasn’t left that. But the good news is that Collins has a proven track record of getting players. But, yeah, next year will be better but until the bigger linemen are ready it’s going to be tough. By 2021, we’ll be a tough out with depth.

Just a couple of things. Paul did get the QBs we needed: Jordon and Ratliff. And both of them had their careers ended by injury. Then he went out and got the other QB we needed: Jordan Yates, aka Ricky Dobbs, mark 2. The main reason I think Paul retired was a combo of that and Mills being dismissed. With Mills, 2017 and 2018 would have been, at minimum, 8 win years. (Yes, he really was that important.) But to have Dedrick gone, then losing Benson one game into 2018 was, no doubt, discouraging. A run of bad luck like this is unusual and hard to come back on. Further, he knew as well as many of us here that there was no slack being cut for our injury problems. (Seeing all the moaning and groaning here about injuries this year has been - shall we say - revealing.)

But there it is. I hope you are right about our "re-build", but I remain skeptical.

ps: If you want the story about the youth and the raft of injuries on the 2008 team, look in this:

https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/08-bowlguide.pdf

at p. 19. 16 of the 22 starters on the 2008 team were freshmen or sophomores and there were a raft of injuries (both OTs within three games, for instance) as well. The idea that Paul inherited the Moon from Gailey is nonsense. Except for Dwyer and Johnson, that is. Again, too bad about Dedrick; he'd be handy this year.

 

[ibeattetris]

I can understand looking at the overall defensive performance, but some of this is harsh.
I watched some of the LSU-Alabama game. If our defense is horrible because UVA scored before the half, how about LSU letting Alabama score in 1 play covering 85 yards in 16 seconds, when all they had to do was “keep the play in front of them”?
I saw the Wisconsin-Iowa game. Same kind of “defensive breakdown” in that game where Iowa started to come back.
I’m willing to bet that there were more drives like that in a lot of the games between top 25 teams, and drives like that against top 25 defenses just last Saturday.
I bet we can find drives like that against good teams from the NFL on Sunday. The Saints are #6 in defensive efficiency—how did they look against the Falcons?
Drives like that happen to good defenses. And bad defenses too.
Our defense is average right now—it’s #68 in FEI Defense for 2019. Last year, it was #107.


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I mentioned why I put the blame on the defense in an earlier post, but special teams certainly contributed to that as well. Our special teams has not been doing a good job of forcing opposing offenses to face long drives. Our defense has also been abysmal at keeping short drives out of the endzone. 23 points in 4 drives for 60 yards and less is very, very poor and is the reason we lost the game.

As to FEI being 68, I assume it'll be getting worse after giving up 3.3 PPD to the 62 ranked offense. As for last year being 107, I have been specifically not comparing this year's FEI numbers to last year because it's pretty unfair, in my opinion, in any direction.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Just a couple of things. Paul did get the QBs we needed: Jordon and Ratliff. And both of them had their careers ended by injury. Then he went out and got the other QB we needed: Jordan Yates, aka Ricky Dobbs, mark 2. The main reason I think Paul retired was a combo of that and Mills being dismissed. With Mills, 2017 and 2018 would have been, at minimum, 8 win years. (Yes, he really was that important.) But to have Dedrick gone, then losing Benson one game into 2018 was, no doubt, discouraging. A run of bad luck like this is unusual and hard to come back on. Further, he knew as well as many of us here that there was no slack being cut for our injury problems. (Seeing all the moaning and groaning here about injuries this year has been - shall we say - revealing.)

But there it is. I hope you are right about our "re-build", but I remain skeptical.

ps: If you want the story about the youth and the raft of injuries on the 2008 team, look in this:

https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/08-bowlguide.pdf

at p. 19. 16 of the 22 starters on the 2008 team were freshmen or sophomores and there were a raft of injuries (both OTs within three games, for instance) as well. The idea that Paul inherited the Moon from Gailey is nonsense. Except for Dwyer and Johnson, that is. Again, too bad about Dedrick; he'd be handy this year.

I agree with you. But the bottom line is those guys never helped GT win a game for whatever reason. Losing guys like Marshall and Mills also hurt. I loved Johnson because I’ve followed him since Southern and I saw the explosiveness of his system. But in 11 years, it never reached the level it did at Southern. Outside of Thomas, the QB’s we had never threatened the defense thru the air, thus we never ran the true triple option because without the passing game defenses learned to stop it. We’ll never know about those injured players and probably Yates. I would love to see Johnson run his system in the NFL where the talent is more even. I think he’d do well.

I totally disagree about the talent Gailey left us with. He left us great talent. On the defensive line alone he left Johnson four players better than any d lineman we have now - Derrick Morgan, Michael Johnson, Darryl Richard, Vance Walker. These four guys were studs. Dwyer is the best GT RB in the past 20 years if not 30. We have no one like Bebe although Browns speed makes him special. We do not have 1 offensive lineman better than what Johnson inherited- Andrew Gardner, Cord Howard, David Brown, Joseph Gilbert, Dan Voss, Austin Barrick, and Nick Claytor. All those guys are better than anyone but Lee. Scott Blair is waaaay better than any kicker we have right now. As for linebackers, I love Charlie Thomas and Knight, but that’s about all we have right now. Johnson was left with Sed Griffin, Kyle Jackson, Brad Jefferson, and Anthony Barnes. DB’s, I would agree that Collins was given solid players just like Johnson inherited Morgan Burnett and Mario Butler. The biggest problem Gailey had was he never found a true P5 quarterback. If he had found one we would have been top 10 several seasons. Collins was here during that time so he’s going to find a QB.