What would've happened...

ncjacket79

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,237
Techster said:
DJ Donley remains one of the biggest "what ifs" for me. From all reports, he was legendary in practice. I believe one of the famous practice stories was of Donley just gutting Tenuta's defense to the point that Tenuta stopped practice and chewed out the defense for letting one guy.

Donley was actually considered the better WR prospect over Demaryius Thomas at one point. Man, if there was an offense tailor made for DJ it was CPJ's. Big physical WR that could destroy DBs in the run game, and then blow the top off the defense with his speed. Such a shame he let the wrong people get in his ear.

One of my biggest "what ifs" has always been if Gailey was given another year or two. You would have had Sean Renfree at QB, BayBay and Donley at WR, Dwyer at RB. Wasn't WR AJ Jenkins who ended going to Illinois and getting drafted in the 2nd round committed to us at one point? Nesbitt would have been moved to safety or remained as the "wildcat" QB.
Click to expand...
Don't get the fascination with Donley. He had academic issues IIRC and never amounted to anything at Purdue. Just because he was a good HS player doesn't mean anything.
 
Jacket4Life9

Jacket4Life9

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
210
ncjacket79 said:
Don't get the fascination with Donley. He had academic issues IIRC and never amounted to anything at Purdue. Just because he was a good HS player doesn't mean anything.
Click to expand...

Not just high school. The kid was a beast on special teams and showed promise at receiver his freshman season. He was 6'4, 215 with all the ability in the world. We don't currently have a receiver on the roster that would hold a candle to Donley from a pure talent/ability standpoint. His ceiling was high, but as you stated, he never really amounted to anything, thus he remains the "what if."
 
Techster

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
18,392
ncjacket79 said:
Don't get the fascination with Donley. He had academic issues IIRC and never amounted to anything at Purdue. Just because he was a good HS player doesn't mean anything.
Click to expand...

I don't think he ever made it to Purdue if I remember correctly. I believe he let his grades slide after deciding he was going to transfer and it prevented him from transferring there.

But I disagree on the talent portion. He was VERY talented, but from what I've read, he didn't have the drive or work ethic of Demarius Thomas who busted his tail to become what he has.
 

65Jacket

GT Athlete
Messages
1,168
What if Tennessee's Doug Dickey had replaced Bobby Dodd? Dodd had already hired Dickey, a very successful Coach at UT, to replace him. At the last minute, Pres.Ed Harrison vetoed it and hired Bud Carson. The rest is history, Bud lasted 5 up and down years.
 
Jacketman1

Jacketman1

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
601
Techster said:
I don't think he ever made it to Purdue if I remember correctly. I believe he let his grades slide after deciding he was going to transfer and it prevented him from transferring there.

But I disagree on the talent portion. He was VERY talented, but from what I've read, he didn't have the drive or work ethic of Demarius Thomas who busted his tail to become what he has.
Click to expand...
I talked to a guy who was on the Tech staff during the CCG years. He told me that the talent gap between Demaryius Thomas and DJ Donley was very close, if there was any gap.
 

MikeJackets

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,049
Location
Maryville,Tennessee
65Jacket said:
What if Tennessee's Doug Dickey had replaced Bobby Dodd? Dodd had already hired Dickey, a very successful Coach at UT, to replace him. At the last minute, Pres.Ed Harrison vetoed it and hired Bud Carson. The rest is history, Bud lasted 5 up and down years.
Click to expand...
Doug Dickey wouldn't have left UT for GT. The only school he considered leaving Tennessee for(and did leave)was Florida and that was because his family lived in Florida and he graduated from there. I'm surprised Marvin Bass didn't get an interview from GT after Bobby Dodd retired because he was the GT defensive coordinator before Bud Carson. He left GT to coach South Carolina.
 
Boomergump

Boomergump

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
3,284
I seem to remember DJ Donley making crazy catches for us in that last bowl game before CPJ. While I certainly appreciate all of JFN's contributions, I don't think he had much influence on the long term future of our coach. As someone said before, CPJ knows how to win. Had the cupboard been bare when he arrived, I think the AA would have given him some time to get the ship righted anyway. As it is, I am very glad JFN WAS here and I got to watch him play.
 
Last edited:

augustabuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,412
MikeJackets said:
Doug Dickey wouldn't have left UT for GT. The only school he considered leaving Tennessee for(and did leave)was Florida and that was because his family lived in Florida and he graduated from there. I'm surprised Marvin Bass didn't get an interview from GT after Bobby Dodd retired because he was the GT defensive coordinator before Bud Carson. He left GT to coach South Carolina.
Click to expand...
Doug Dickey was a done deal for Tech.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
Jacket4Life9 said:
A) if Josh Nesbitt had never set foot on Georgia Tech's campus. Did his existence factor in on CPJ's hire? I doubt it, but looking back, I believe that without Josh, CPJ would've maybe won 4-6 games in his first season. I think 2008's success was more crucial to his GT career than anyone realizes. Without Josh, that machine likely wouldn't have run. It took a few years for the system to be fully implemented at Tech. It says a great deal about the 2008 teams' athleticism (Josh's especially) to just adapt and rattle off 9 wins. Our defense was better in '08, but our offense did surprisingly well. My point is, Josh Nesbitt being 6'0, 215, on campus with a year of good experience was crucial for CPJ and the program as a whole. Not to knock the kid, but if we had to start Jaybo Shaw as a true freshman in 08, we wouldn't be where we are today.

B) if Demaryius Thomas followed many of his teammates and transferred due to the new offense coming in. DT was an invaluable piece of the team in 08 and especially 09. His presence and contributions literally made the difference in several games. Without the jump balls and deep TD's, which we have not had the luxury of seeing on the Flats since, we would not have had the 2009 season that we did.

C) DJ Donley stayed on campus. This kid was a beast. I understand his decision to leave after CPJ's hiring. It was not as evident at the time that a 6'4 200+ receiver is an absolute perfect fit for the spread option offense (Yes, 6'4 200 works in about all offenses). Picture him playing on the other side of DT. Good luck covering those two.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
Okay I suppose. On the other hand what if nobody had left when Johnson came, and nobody left early after he came -- think Dwyer and Thomas just for starters -- and Nesbitt did not break his arm that year and Lee actually could have run the option for a FCS team and we hadn't had all those injuries in '15 and all our perimeter players were too raw to know diddly about cut blocking and if Justin Thomas actually had been 5-11 ... why, by now Johnswon would have joined Dodd in bronze.
 
IronJacket7

IronJacket7

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,558
Jacket4Life9 said:
A) if Josh Nesbitt had never set foot on Georgia Tech's campus. Did his existence factor in on CPJ's hire? I doubt it, but looking back, I believe that without Josh, CPJ would've maybe won 4-6 games in his first season. I think 2008's success was more crucial to his GT career than anyone realizes. Without Josh, that machine likely wouldn't have run. It took a few years for the system to be fully implemented at Tech. It says a great deal about the 2008 teams' athleticism (Josh's especially) to just adapt and rattle off 9 wins. Our defense was better in '08, but our offense did surprisingly well. My point is, Josh Nesbitt being 6'0, 215, on campus with a year of good experience was crucial for CPJ and the program as a whole. Not to knock the kid, but if we had to start Jaybo Shaw as a true freshman in 08, we wouldn't be where we are today.

B) if Demaryius Thomas followed many of his teammates and transferred due to the new offense coming in. DT was an invaluable piece of the team in 08 and especially 09. His presence and contributions literally made the difference in several games. Without the jump balls and deep TD's, which we have not had the luxury of seeing on the Flats since, we would not have had the 2009 season that we did.

C) DJ Donley stayed on campus. This kid was a beast. I understand his decision to leave after CPJ's hiring. It was not as evident at the time that a 6'4 200+ receiver is an absolute perfect fit for the spread option offense (Yes, 6'4 200 works in about all offenses). Picture him playing on the other side of DT. Good luck covering those two.
Click to expand...
What would've happened if you never posted this?
 
Top