What If

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That's pretty good but is it better than the "OUST FAUST" banner at the Notre Dame games when Gerry Faust was coaching the Irish?
That whole episode was crazy. One of the premier programs in the country for decades decides to hire a high school football coach, primarily because he was a devout Catholic. What could go wrong?
 

MikeJackets1967

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That whole episode was crazy. One of the premier programs in the country for decades decides to hire a high school football coach, primarily because he was a devout Catholic. What could go wrong?
That hire ranks right up there with Tennessee hiring Derek Dooley who hadn't had a winning season at Louisiana Tech before Tennessee hired him.
 
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It is sometimes the things that happen that can change everything. What if, in 2007 Calvin Johnson does not declare for the draft and comes back his senior year. We would have him Bey Bey, Tashard, Dwyer, a pretty good defense and probably Nesbitt. then let's say we win the Coastal. Well, Gailey would not have been fired and we would not have CPJ as our coach. We would continue on to languish After 2008 and would not have the success. we have.

I happen to think CPJ is one of the best coaches we have ever had. Of course I did not see Heisman, Alexander, or Dodd, but I have seen all the rest.

What if Franklin Brooks had not contracted cancer. One of "Dodd's Boys" who was first on the list for head coach.
 

MikeJackets1967

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What if Franklin Brooks had not contracted cancer. One of "Dodd's Boys" who was first on the list for head coach.
What if Doug Dickey or Ray Graves had taken the Georgia Tech head football coaching job in 1967? I think Doug Dickey would have done better at GT than he did at Florida. Doug said he had his troubles at Florida because he couldn't seem to recruit the big linemen like he did at Tennessee to run the T formation he ran as head coach of Tennessee. That's why he ran the Wishbone most of the time at Florida. Ray Graves would have done a very good job at GT also and he would have pretty much kept things about the same offensively as what Bobby Dodd had done.
 

InsideLB

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IMO two things did CCG in. First, his style of offense was boring to watch. Second, it took him a long time to get the recruiting rolling.

Johnson was able to average 10 wins in his first two seasons and beat UGA with Gailey's players. This bought him more time than was afforded Gailey to figure out recruiting and get recruiting staff hired. Now we look a lot deeper and more consistent in our recruiting, and it's translating into better competition and depth. QB & BB are prime examples, and the front 7 is looking deeper than it has with some emerging playmakers.

What if Gailey hadn't been fired? Who knows. If he had kept recruiting on the same level he might have done well. I like where we are now though, especially that we graduate our guys, have almost no off-the-field issues, and that our roster looks deeper and more competitive than I can recall in a long time. D still needs some work but I like the direction and more competition on that side of the ball.
 

vamosjackets

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I appreciate you and the thoroughness of your answer. However, I'm confused by your logic.
You seem to be saying that Nix was OC in name only from 2003-2005, given "full control" in 2006. That seems to make the case against ccg stronger. Nix not having more time.
My logic is not an argument for CCG's success or deserved credit up to the time of his dismissal, but rather that at the time of his dismissal the future looked brighter than what had been accomplished up to that point. Nix not having more time would be data applicable to the past, but CCG giving him the offense with good results the year before his dismissal would be data applicable to the future. CCG's tenure, imo, was good-not-great, could've been MUCH worse but also left a lot to be desired. I think most reasonable people would agree with that. So, again, my point is more about what he could've done had he been able to see it through rather than what he had done up to that point.

We see somewhat of a similar trend with CPJ. He did reap the benefits of very good recruiting by the previous staff early in his tenure here (obviously with very good coaching of his own to help it reach its potential). He then had a major drop off because of a significant talent gap/downgrade for a few years. There were many who wanted him gone, but his early success had bought him more leeway than CCG enjoyed. If we had dismissed CPJ after the '13 season, then we never would've seen the benefits of what he was building come to fruition. Now that he's got recruiting at a higher level and has a better overall coaching staff than he did, we're seeing the opportunity for sustained success with some very good seasons sprinkled in. My opinion is that CCG could've realized a situation similar to what we're seeing now with CPJ.

I also admit this: My personal experience with CCG gives me both more insight and more bias than the average GT fan.
 

vamosjackets

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IMO two things did CCG in. First, his style of offense was boring to watch. Second, it took him a long time to get the recruiting rolling.

Johnson was able to average 10 wins in his first two seasons and beat UGA with Gailey's players. This bought him more time than was afforded Gailey to figure out recruiting and get recruiting staff hired. Now we look a lot deeper and more consistent in our recruiting, and it's translating into better competition and depth. QB & BB are prime examples, and the front 7 is looking deeper than it has with some emerging playmakers.

What if Gailey hadn't been fired? Who knows. If he had kept recruiting on the same level he might have done well. I like where we are now though, especially that we graduate our guys, have almost no off-the-field issues, and that our roster looks deeper and more competitive than I can recall in a long time. D still needs some work but I like the direction and more competition on that side of the ball.
Mostly agreed. Also, the bad juju against Ugag.
 
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2,077
IMO two things did CCG in. First, his style of offense was boring to watch. Second, it took him a long time to get the recruiting rolling.

Johnson was able to average 10 wins in his first two seasons and beat UGA with Gailey's players. This bought him more time than was afforded Gailey to figure out recruiting and get recruiting staff hired. Now we look a lot deeper and more consistent in our recruiting, and it's translating into better competition and depth. QB & BB are prime examples, and the front 7 is looking deeper than it has with some emerging playmakers.

What if Gailey hadn't been fired? Who knows. If he had kept recruiting on the same level he might have done well. I like where we are now though, especially that we graduate our guys, have almost no off-the-field issues, and that our roster looks deeper and more competitive than I can recall in a long time. D still needs some work but I like the direction and more competition on that side of the ball.
The loss to Wake Forest in the ACCCG was the whole ball of wax. Had Gailey won that game and the championship, gone to a premier bowl game and won that he probably would have turned the corner. It would have helped recruiting, maybe he finally beats Georgia and stays many more years.
 
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2,077
My logic is not an argument for CCG's success or deserved credit up to the time of his dismissal, but rather that at the time of his dismissal the future looked brighter than what had been accomplished up to that point. Nix not having more time would be data applicable to the past, but CCG giving him the offense with good results the year before his dismissal would be data applicable to the future. CCG's tenure, imo, was good-not-great, could've been MUCH worse but also left a lot to be desired. I think most reasonable people would agree with that. So, again, my point is more about what he could've done had he been able to see it through rather than what he had done up to that point.

We see somewhat of a similar trend with CPJ. He did reap the benefits of very good recruiting by the previous staff early in his tenure here (obviously with very good coaching of his own to help it reach its potential). He then had a major drop off because of a significant talent gap/downgrade for a few years. There were many who wanted him gone, but his early success had bought him more leeway than CCG enjoyed. If we had dismissed CPJ after the '13 season, then we never would've seen the benefits of what he was building come to fruition. Now that he's got recruiting at a higher level and has a better overall coaching staff than he did, we're seeing the opportunity for sustained success with some very good seasons sprinkled in. My opinion is that CCG could've realized a situation similar to what we're seeing now with CPJ.

I also admit this: My personal experience with CCG gives me both more insight and more bias than the average GT fan.
When Gailey was hired, it was somewhat of a big surprise. I know I had no clue who was going to be the next coach. We could have done a lot worse. Chan didn't run the program into the abyss.
 

northgajacket

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If:
Bobby Dodd had retired instead of becoming AD.
If we had hired a young Steve Spurrier.
If we had hired a young Bobby Bowden.
If Bill Curry had never left.
If BL had beaten FSU.
If the Fridge had never left.
If we had hired Neuhiesel, or the coach of the moment instead of CPJ.

I'm glad Neuheisel wasn't hired. That guy is a clown.
 
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