Wesley Wells

[Whiskey_Clear]

Every player has met with coaches for at least 15 minutes. So hopefully these things have already been discussed face to face with clarity for all.

Whether he gets it or not his play warrants a scholarship.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Sorry, but some of these comments are short sighted. Do we not know by now how important a good kicker is? Anybody remember the Tennessee game last year? A chip shot and Tech wins. Anybody remember UVA this year? Without Wells, we likely lose! Anybody watch the Quicklane Bowl? Wells, a true freshman, hit a 40+ yarder when the rest of the team didn’t even get off the bus. The dude was 100%.

We have a chance to lock in a reliable FG kicker for the next three years, and it’s a debate whether we scholly him or not? It’s ridiculous that’s it’s even up for debate. Of course he deserves a scholarship. Should have already happened.

Just my 2 cents.

WC

I agree. And my take on all walkons is if they crack the 2-deep or are contributing on the field each week, they deserve to be on scholly. Why, because they beat out a scholarship player on the depth chart. Why should a walkon have to pay his way when he is playing infront of a scholarship player?

Also, it benefits us greatly to have a thriving walkon program. How do you get quality walkons... by guaranteeing them schollies if they earn one. How do they earn one... beat out the other players to the field.

 

[MidtownJacket]

I agree. And my take on all walkons is if they crack the 2-deep or are contributing on the field each week, they deserve to be on scholly. Why, because they beat out a scholarship player on the depth chart. Why should a walkon have to pay his way when he is playing infront of a scholarship player?

Also, it benefits us greatly to have a thriving walkon program. How do you get quality walkons... by guaranteeing them schollies if they earn one. How do they earn one... beat out the other players to the field.

I agree with this 100%; it is about WHY we have walkon spots. The kid showed up and showed out when we needed him. We should reward that, if for no other reason than selfishly wanting to continue to attract kids who think they have a shot.

 

[dtlinderman]

I agree with this 100%; it is about WHY we have walkon spots. The kid showed up and showed out when we needed him. We should reward that, if for no other reason than selfishly wanting to continue to attract kids who think they have a shot.

Where do these magical scholarships come from though? You can only have 85 at a given time. If you are full at 85, and come early signing period in December already have commitments from prospects that get you back to 85 for next year and nobody leaves early - where do the extra scholarships come from if you don't pull scholarships from an existing player?

For example (hypothetical), in 2018 GT was at 85 scholarships, 18 seniors are graduating and 18 players have committed and signed during the early signing period. If nobody leaves the team in spring 2019, there are no more open scholarships to give out to walk ons. Obviously in this situation you couldn't sign any more players in the February signing period, but just pointing out the situation that could arise

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Where do these magical scholarships come from though? You can only have 85 at a given time. If you are full at 85, and come early signing period in December already have commitments from prospects that get you back to 85 for next year and nobody leaves early - where do the extra scholarships come from if you don't pull scholarships from an existing player?

For example (hypothetical), in 2018 GT was at 85 scholarships, 18 seniors are graduating and 18 players have committed and signed during the early signing period. If nobody leaves the team in spring 2019, there are no more open scholarships to give out to walk ons. Obviously in this situation you couldn't sign any more players in the February signing period, but just pointing out the situation that could arise

Staff is still recruiting for late signing period. Thus at least on scholly is available to give unless they are only recruiting PWOs or gray shirts.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Where do these magical scholarships come from though? You can only have 85 at a given time. If you are full at 85, and come early signing period in December already have commitments from prospects that get you back to 85 for next year and nobody leaves early - where do the extra scholarships come from if you don't pull scholarships from an existing player?

For example (hypothetical), in 2018 GT was at 85 scholarships, 18 seniors are graduating and 18 players have committed and signed during the early signing period. If nobody leaves the team in spring 2019, there are no more open scholarships to give out to walk ons. Obviously in this situation you couldn't sign any more players in the February signing period, but just pointing out the situation that could arise

Agreed, if we are already at our cap then we missed the opportunity to reward him for the hard work and results he put up on the field. Hope that is not the case.

 

[smokey_wasp]

Where do these magical scholarships come from though? You can only have 85 at a given time. If you are full at 85, and come early signing period in December already have commitments from prospects that get you back to 85 for next year and nobody leaves early - where do the extra scholarships come from if you don't pull scholarships from an existing player?

For example (hypothetical), in 2018 GT was at 85 scholarships, 18 seniors are graduating and 18 players have committed and signed during the early signing period. If nobody leaves the team in spring 2019, there are no more open scholarships to give out to walk ons. Obviously in this situation you couldn't sign any more players in the February signing period, but just pointing out the situation that could arise

Never happens that nobody leaves, much less in the midst of a coaching change and scheme transition on both sides of the ball. We are going to sign several players in February. I wouldn't worry about hypotheticals that have zero chance of happening. Coach Collins knows how to manage a roster and I believe he will do right by our players, too.

 

[Animal02]

I agree. And my take on all walkons is if they crack the 2-deep or are contributing on the field each week, they deserve to be on scholly. Why, because they beat out a scholarship player on the depth chart. Why should a walkon have to pay his way when he is playing infront of a scholarship player?

Also, it benefits us greatly to have a thriving walkon program. How do you get quality walkons... by guaranteeing them schollies if they earn one. How do they earn one... beat out the other players to the field.

My only point is...who knows if he is paying his own way already? Though it would be nice if they would make it public if the had made the offer.....though some people do like to keep things private. Unless Wells makes an issue out of it, no one else should.

 

[laoh]

My only point is...who knows if he is paying his own way already? Though it would be nice if they would make it public if the had made the offer.....though some people do like to keep things private. Unless Wells makes an issue out of it, no one else should.

Wells should keep this private. We don't want a stupid Rodrigo fiasco here do we?

 

[dtlinderman]

Never happens that nobody leaves, much less in the midst of a coaching change and scheme transition on both sides of the ball. We are going to sign several players in February. I wouldn't worry about hypotheticals that have zero chance of happening. Coach Collins knows how to manage a roster and I believe he will do right by our players, too.

I completely agree that CGC has a plan for optimal roster construction. My point was more along the lines of, it's not as simple as just giving good walk ons scholarships right away. You need to take scholarship limits, class balancing and position balancing into account. To put it frankly, it's hard to justify more than 1 scholarship kicker on the roster and I agree it's a tough spot to be in when a walk on out performs a scholarship player for a period of time.

There's going to be interesting decisions made over the next year because it's obvious CGC's ideal roster construction is very different from what we've had the past few years.

 

[smokey_wasp]

I completely agree that CGC has a plan for optimal roster construction. My point was more along the lines of, it's not as simple as just giving good walk ons scholarships right away. You need to take scholarship limits, class balancing and position balancing into account. To put it frankly, it's hard to justify more than 1 scholarship kicker on the roster and I agree it's a tough spot to be in when a walk on out performs a scholarship player for a period of time.

There's going to be interesting decisions made over the next year because it's obvious CGC's ideal roster construction is very different from what we've had the past few years.

Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, I agree.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

My point was that what other team has not one, but multiple kickers on scholarship, one of which isn’t kicking for us since he isn’t kicking FGs or kickoffs.

Clemson. They just won a national championship and have 4 K/P and 2 LS on scholarship this year. I'm sure there are others, but this one I knew off the top of my head...

https://www.tigernet.com/view/scholarships/football.do

 

[TheTechGuy]

You’re entitled to your feelings. I’m sorry that it ruffles your feathers so much to get that upset. I guess your the only person who played college athletics correct? I also played college athletics and played D1 baseball and still only got a partial scholarship because I was in a non-revenue sport. I was appreciative of any help I was given but didn’t feel entitled to it. But I know you being a “former athlete” only you would know about this stuff right? I committed to a school and the school also very apparent to us every year that scholarships were not 4 year guaranteed.

My point was that what other team has not one, but multiple kickers on scholarship, one of which isn’t kicking for us since he isn’t kicking FGs or kickoffs. A positional player is different because Even if they aren’t in the 2-deep they are grinding on the scout team getting busted by the starts on a daily basis. Kickers know that scholarships are not given out easily to that position, which is why most of them are a walk on before getting awarded a scholarship. I think it’s a fair question why we would have multiple kickers on scholarship when 1 isn’t even playing. But again, you are entitled to your feelings.

You are on an anonymous message board openly questioning why a 19 year old has a scholarship. I would hope anyone would understand how bad that is; as a former athlete, you should fully understand.

You have chosen to single out a kid and publicly question why his school is being paid for without any knowledge of that kid’s financial stability. You have chosen to do that while hiding behind the veil of anonymity that this board provides you. You are a sad individual, and I feel sorry for you.

 

[jacket_fan]

Let me get this straight. There are those on this board that believe someones financial status has some sort of bearing on whether a kid gets a scholarship?

If that is correct, please explain why that has anything to do with football?

 

[Animal02]

Let me get this straight. There are those on this board that believe someones financial status has some sort of bearing on whether a kid gets a scholarship?

If that is correct, please explain why that has anything to do with football?

Multiple issues crossing paths....
Current scholly kicker that is 2nd string.....some have hinted that his scholly get pulled.
1st string walk on kicker.....many are demanding he receive a scholly, apparently he is a hope scholar, and who knows what other assistance he may have, so in fact, may not need a football scholly.
Lots of speculations, assumptions and conclusions being made without any real facts.

 

[gthxxxx]

Let me get this straight. There are those on this board that believe someones financial status has some sort of bearing on whether a kid gets a scholarship?

If that is correct, please explain why that has anything to do with football?

It's a school-sponsered athletic scholarship. It's also an interesting question that can be expanded beyond the qualifier. Does and/or should one's financial status play an important role in determining whether or not one is qualified for scholarship(s)? In my opinion, that should be up to the entity giving them (albeit with some potential caveats/implications, such as if it qualifies for a tax write-off).

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I’ve never understood why coaches don’t consider recruiting a kicker as a top need. Just look at one school - without Sisson against UVA no one remembers 1990. The Kick and Pick? UGA with the shaking camera. Tennessee. The list goes on like this for every team yet coaches still treat kickers as an afterthought. They give lip service to the “3 phases” then forget the most important piece of the 3rd phase.

As for Wells my concern isn’t that he transfers but that he graduates with eligibility left and walks away to get a job. I know I would if I was one of the best performers on the team yet 3rd stringers have ‘ships and I didn’t. I wouldn’t stick around once eligible to get out. I want a senior kicker for 2021. From everything I’ve heard from Collins I’m sure Wells will have a scholarship soon.

 

[jacket_fan]

Multiple issues crossing paths....
Current scholly kicker that is 2nd string.....some have hinted that his scholly get pulled.
1st string walk on kicker.....many are demanding he receive a scholly, apparently he is a hope scholar, and who knows what other assistance he may have, so in fact, may not need a football scholly.
Lots of speculations, assumptions and conclusions being made without any real facts.

Again I ask, what difference does one's financial status make towards giving a player a scholarship?

Every freshman coming into Tech has the hope scholarship his freshman year. Otherwise he would not be at Tech. And many (my son included) loses the hope after the first year. So again, that should make no difference whether a kid "earns" his scholarship on the field.

Your implication of "many are demanding he receive a scholly" are those like me that believe he "earned" a scholarship. Not demanding.

It's a school-sponsered athletic scholarship. It's also an interesting question that can be expanded beyond the qualifier. Does and/or should one's financial status play an important role in determining whether or not one is qualified for scholarship(s)? In my opinion, that should be up to the entity giving them (albeit with some potential caveats/implications, such as if it qualifies for a tax write-off).

Exactly... It is an athletic scholarship. Not some sort of means based political mamby pamby crap. Not qualified by anything. A kid earns it or he doesn't.

I'm going to have another beer and get over this nonsense.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Multiple issues crossing paths....
Current scholly kicker that is 2nd string.....some have hinted that his scholly get pulled.
1st string walk on kicker.....many are demanding he receive a scholly, apparently he is a hope scholar, and who knows what other assistance he may have, so in fact, may not need a football scholly.
Lots of speculations, assumptions and conclusions being made without any real facts.

How hard is it to stay on the Hope at Tech nowadays? How much harder for a SA? How many average players would not appreciate the security of an athletic scholarship? Other than wild speculation how likely is it Wells would not?

 

[bobongo]

How hard is it to stay on the Hope at Tech nowadays? How much harder for a SA? How many average players would not appreciate the security of an athletic scholarship? Other than wild speculation how likely is it Wells would not?

Answers: Hard, from what this sidewalk fan can gather. Even harder. Uh, none of them, I would wager. Quite unlikely, I would imagine.