What is Winning?

[ChristoGT]

Over on the recruiting general discussion, there is a sub-topic on winning. Thought it might be good to start it's own thread.

So, what is "winning" to you in terms of GT football and its coaching staff? Is it consistency, recruiting rankings, graduation rates, beating UGA, Coastal/ACC champs, national champs, top-20 finishes?

I think if we can put a quality team out each year and average 8-9 wins (that's a number of 7-8 win seasons and throw in a 10-11 win season every couple of years), take as many as we give against UGA, make it every other year to the ACC championship, and a New Year's Bowl every 2-3 years, I'd be very happy.

We had this under O'Leary (while the Fridge was our OC) and sometimes under Johnson especially in the first half of his tenure. Ross made the big splash but wasn't here long enough.
What say you?

Please no Charlie Sheen themed posts.

 

[Josh H]

The goal for this staff should be a consistent presence in the Top 25. That would have us hovering around the 9 win a year mark, and competing for conference championships more often than not.

 

[BCJacket]

To me, historically, I've felt like Tech was 'winning' when we won 8+ games (most years), were ranked regularly, and competitive with UGA. Went back and looked to refresh my memory:

• CPJs first 4 years, 9, 11, 6, 8 wins, regularly being ranked, and a win over UGA felt like winning. 2014 obviously did. The other years, of 6-7 wins in between and after didn't.
• Chan never felt like he was 'winning'. 7,7,7,7 wins. Rarely being ranked. No wins over UGA. Even '06 where he managed 9 wins and an ACCCG appearance ended with three disappointing losses.
• O'Leary's last few years 10, 8, 9 wins, a win streak over UGA and consistently being ranked, definitely felt like winning.
• CGC, so far, definitely DOES NOT feel like winning.

The rankings are surprisingly meaningful as I think back. Being in that top 25 makes a big difference for coverage and perception in the media.

Eg 2016 never really felt like 'winning' to me. Beating UGA is always nice. But until we went on a win streak in the last 4 games, that year felt mediocre: on pace for 6-7 wins. 9 wins and beating UGA was nice, but there was no national recognition. We weren't ranked a single week.

 

[Coloradojacket]

Well, there is hope and then there is reality.
Under O'leary, Chan, and CPJ we were a 7 win team.
Now 7 wins can be established different ways. O'leary and CPJ did it with good seasons and big seasons. Chan just did it with season after season the same.
Not beating FSU or Georgia hurt Chan.
Actually O'leary never beat FSU but did get us that 3 straight over UGA
CPJ beat FSU and Georgia, the latter not as much as we would want.

Winning is getting back to 7 wins with maybe 6 win season and some special years with 10 and 11 wins. Beating Clemson and UGA every now and then. I am realistic with the latter.
But doing it while maintaining what CPJ did by graduating over 80% of the players. We need to stay Georgia Tech.

 

[takethepoints]

Well, there is hope and then there is reality.
Under O'leary, Chan, and CPJ we were a 7 win team.
Now 7 wins can be established different ways. O'leary and CPJ did it with good seasons and big seasons. Chan just did it with season after season the same.
Not beating FSU or Georgia hurt Chan.
Actually O'leary never beat FSU but did get us that 3 straight over UGA
CPJ beat FSU and Georgia, the latter not as much as we would want.

Winning is getting back to 7 wins with maybe 6 win season and some special years with 10 and 11 wins. Beating Clemson and UGA every now and then. I am realistic with the latter.
But doing it while maintaining what CPJ did by graduating over 80% of the players. We need to stay Georgia Tech.

Ditto. My sentiments exactly.

I would only add that anybody who thinks that the administration or faculty at Tech will go along with a UNC-style athletic program for the sake of winning doesn't know them very well. The state has a strong interest in maintaining Tech's institutional rep as well. As the above suggests, the athletic program has to fit the institution, not the other way around. I think Collins knows this - how could he not? - and is determined to work with it. I also think we can have this kind of success under his staff. Every other Tech coach in recent history has done it; no reason why he can't.

 

[BuzzStone]

Winning to me looks a lot different this year. 4-5 wins this year and we are winning. Next year will be 6-7. After that I expect to go bowling every year. No exceptions. And we need to be in the ACC title game in the next 2-4 years. We also have to beat UGA or Clempson in the next 4 years one time.

 

[dhbartlett12]

Winning is a 9 win season beating key rivals or 10 win season (or more, duh).

 

[FlatsLander]

Short term (next 1.5 seasons): "Winning" would be competing in games deep into the 4th quarter. Trading scores, forcing punts, looking overall competent is more relevant than getting the W. 6 wins and a bowl trip this year would be "winning" to me.

Long term (end of '22 and on): "Winning" would be top 2 in the coastal every year, scaring Clemson and u[sic]ga every game with a good amount of wins thrown in, finishing ranked more often than not, probably 9 wins with at least one against Clemson or the dwags each year.

 

[wesgt123]

Winning to me is winning the games we are supposed to. Winning is showing up for the big games and finishing with a higher score than our opponent at the end of regulation. Winning is removing doubt from our fan base and supporting our team regardless of the coach or scheme. Winning is feeling pride in our favorite team.
All of these I hope we can achieve in this season and for those yet to come.

and also winning is pissing on them dawgs.

 

[stech81]

Scoring more points than your opponent is winning anything thing else is a loss. ( that is what winning is )

But what you are looking for is want it takes for you to be happy or content . not really the same question. I would love to go 15 -0 every year but that ain't going to happen every team has ups and downs. I would love to see us if we have a 7 win season that would be our down year and 15 wins our up season. with the others coming in with 8-9-10 wins . Do I really think we can get to this , I not going to answer this cause I don't want to piss y'all off. But right now I think we can get to like we were from 1988 -2014.

 

[WreckinGT]

Consistently winning 6-8 games with an occasional 9+ win season is basically our sweet spot. I'm not sure we are really capable of much more than that.

 

[GT33]

Consistently winning 6-8 games with an occasional 9+ win season is basically our sweet spot. I'm not sure we are really capable of much more than that.

Why is it we have so many fans that refuse to have an sort of optimistic outlook on our football program? Do you all think so little of the staff & all the highly rated recruits we have been getting? We hated Chan, then we hated Johnson, now Collins?

C'mon, we've got the transfer portal plus a bevy of highly rated players on the team. Gibbs is probably a 1st round draft choice. Sims will be draftable by the time he gets done on The Flats. I have not looked at GT's ratings but I have to think we've got one of the highest rated rosters since 2007 & we saw what those guys did. We're going to win 5 games this year against a fairly brutal schedule with a number of players with youth, not experience. This year people are going to be put on notice. Next year we're going to kick some ***. The GT pipeline is filling up with 4 star athletes (many said it couldn't be done). Our roster rating next year is going to be higher than any class ever because the ratings don't go back that far, but it's probably going to be nearing 1990 in overall talent. 2 years from now, maybe 3 we're going to have sustainable strength on our roster more than 2 deep. What's GT going to look like when the talent gap is not as wide as the Grand Canyon? Well it sure as hell is not going to be 6 win seasons. We're going to chew up and spit out everyone except for the imbeciles up the road & their step brothers in orange across the state line, oh yeah and the occasional Notre Dame. That's 9-3 territory every year, not 6-6. It's going to be mostly 9 or 10 win seasons with an occasional 11, once in a blue moon 12.

Drink the gold koolaid (clear whiskey)! Dress your daughter in white & gold. Teach your son the good word at a young age. Sound the whistle! Get them Rats on the Field!

 

[jacketup]

Time to post this again:

"Do I think that Tech can compete for a national championship under the current setup. No, not really. So I was a shocked as anybody at what happened in 1990. Do I think that Tech has a chance to be a really good team and finish in the Top 10, Yes I do. Maybe not year in and year out, But I do think they could be a regular Top 25 team and compete for the ACC on a regular basis. And I still think that's the case at Tech."

Kim King

 

[SteamWhistle]

8 should be the bar every season. Success should be based on being above or below that number. Clemson and UGA should be the only games that we don’t have a good chance of winning consistently.

 

[WreckinGT]

Why is it we have so many fans that refuse to have an sort of optimistic outlook on our football program? Do you all think so little of the staff & all the highly rated recruits we have been getting? We hated Chan, then we hated Johnson, now Collins?

C'mon, we've got the transfer portal plus a bevy of highly rated players on the team. Gibbs is probably a 1st round draft choice. Sims will be draftable by the time he gets done on The Flats. I have not looked at GT's ratings but I have to think we've got one of the highest rated rosters since 2007 & we saw what those guys did. We're going to win 5 games this year against a fairly brutal schedule with a number of players with youth, not experience. This year people are going to be put on notice. Next year we're going to kick some ***. The GT pipeline is filling up with 4 star athletes (many said it couldn't be done). Our roster rating next year is going to be higher than any class ever because the ratings don't go back that far, but it's probably going to be nearing 1990 in overall talent. 2 years from now, maybe 3 we're going to have sustainable strength on our roster more than 2 deep. What's GT going to look like when the talent gap is not as wide as the Grand Canyon? Well it sure as hell is not going to be 6 win seasons. We're going to chew up and spit out everyone except for the imbeciles up the road & their step brothers in orange across the state line, oh yeah and the occasional Notre Dame. That's 9-3 territory every year, not 6-6. It's going to be mostly 9 or 10 win seasons with an occasional 11, once in a blue moon 12.

Drink the gold koolaid (clear whiskey)! Dress your daughter in white & gold. Teach your son the good word at a young age. Sound the whistle! Get them Rats on the Field!

I agree with a great deal of this, im just trying to be somewhat realistic. There are 4 teams (UGA, UNC, Miami, Clemson) on our yearly schedule that recruit better than us even after the improved recruiting. There are two others (ND, FSU) that we play semi regularly that also recruit better than us. Easy schedules are a thing of the past. Next year we drop ND but add UCF, FSU and Ole Miss. If we win 9 against that gauntlet, we don't have a winning team, we have a great team.

My comment was mostly overall though. We are ranked somewhere in the 40's in revenue, and our head coaches salary is in the 40's as well. Our assistant coaches are paid peanuts compared to most major programs. With NIL, conference realignment, etc. This is quickly turning into a serious arms race and I question if we will have the ammo to be an 8+ win team with any consistency going forward.

 

[Coloradojacket]

Why is it we have so many fans that refuse to have an sort of optimistic outlook on our football program? Do you all think so little of the staff & all the highly rated recruits we have been getting? We hated Chan, then we hated Johnson, now Collins?

C'mon, we've got the transfer portal plus a bevy of highly rated players on the team. Gibbs is probably a 1st round draft choice. Sims will be draftable by the time he gets done on The Flats. I have not looked at GT's ratings but I have to think we've got one of the highest rated rosters since 2007 & we saw what those guys did. We're going to win 5 games this year against a fairly brutal schedule with a number of players with youth, not experience. This year people are going to be put on notice. Next year we're going to kick some ***. The GT pipeline is filling up with 4 star athletes (many said it couldn't be done). Our roster rating next year is going to be higher than any class ever because the ratings don't go back that far, but it's probably going to be nearing 1990 in overall talent. 2 years from now, maybe 3 we're going to have sustainable strength on our roster more than 2 deep. What's GT going to look like when the talent gap is not as wide as the Grand Canyon? Well it sure as hell is not going to be 6 win seasons. We're going to chew up and spit out everyone except for the imbeciles up the road & their step brothers in orange across the state line, oh yeah and the occasional Notre Dame. That's 9-3 territory every year, not 6-6. It's going to be mostly 9 or 10 win seasons with an occasional 11, once in a blue moon 12.

Drink the gold koolaid (clear whiskey)! Dress your daughter in white & gold. Teach your son the good word at a young age. Sound the whistle! Get them Rats on the Field!

The thing that has us wondering is Collins and this staff. They don't have much of a history and what there is of a history, at least for Collins is not exactly stellar. He ran a defense at UF, where you can get great players. He ran a defense at MSU, that we shredded. He was a head coach at Temple, taking over a good team. Two years at Tech and the coaching has not been good. Is he recruiting, yep, but you don't just win with recruits. That is why this year is so important. If he can get to six wins then he is showing something. But that being said the following year would need to be 8. Let's just see what this year brings. Can he get the team disciplined.

 

[croberts]

Expectations always cloud the definition of winning and success.
Winning is about wanting more. The goal post changes year by year. None of us were satisfied with Chan and 7 wins but would be tickled pink (gold) to have 7 this year. Yet, If Collins wins 7 each for 3 years , it won’t be winning.

 

[LibertyTurns]

The thing that has us wondering is Collins and this staff. They don't have much of a history and what there is of a history, at least for Collins is not exactly stellar.

I hear you and @WreckinGT are stating but he appears to have moved our recruiting up 10-15 spots & seems to have the capability to ratchet it up another 5 putting us in the 20-25 range. Outside of 1 disaster coach here & I’m not sure what talent he had, GT coaches have excelled with comparable talent to what middling teams like Miss St, Tenn, etc get. CGC will have proved himself to be a very poor coach indeed if he underwhelms. I’m ready to put ‘19 & ‘20 behind me. I’m hoping he’s getting help with his coaching/ decisionmaking, he must have realized da U model does not work at GT & it’s not hard to believe the green Asst coaches have gotten better. If not, I’m betting CGC is smart enough to shed the dead wood & move along. We’ll have a talented roster, perhaps a fanbase behind the team & the conditions will be ripe for recruiting a capable Asst coach to come here.

Would you rather hope he fails, limps along miserably until we fire him? No me.

 

[TooTall]

We ask (and expect) our students day in and day out to change the world. Why can't we translate that same mentality to the football field or basketball court? If we don't expect to compete and win then why even show up to play or us as fans to cheer?

You can't ask "what is winning" to a fan base with a majority losing mentality and get a respectable answer.

I expect to win 10+ plus games a year. I expect to beat our rivals more often than not. Am I disappointed when we don't? Of course, but that shouldn't make me doubt my team the next year. If yall think 8 wins is good enough, go cheer for south carolina. Yall really do tick me off sometimes and make it hard to be a Tech Fan (short for fanatic) in a land full of leg humpers. If we don't expect our team to win every game, then why are you on a fan site? Yea uga fans are annoying with "this is our year" crap every year, but if you haven't noticed, since their fan base expects them to win, the team does an awful lot of it. If we expect more, we will get more. Back our team 100% or stop posting on a fan site.

And I really couldn't care less how much money you've given, or how many consecutive home games you've been at or how many jerseys you have (love ya @Coloradojacket) if you're not behind our team 100%, none of it matters. And unless you are going to donate the money to buy out CGC and ADTS contracts, then get behind them too. I can't wait to see BDS@HGF lit up on Sept 4th with 55,000 fans cheering their heads off for the White & Gold!

 

[TooTall]

We’ll have a talented roster, perhaps a fanbase behind the team & the conditions will be ripe for recruiting a capable Asst coach to come here.

This! Find me in section 121 top row and I'll buy you a beer on Sept 4th!