Which coach on GT staff (outside of CGC) should feel most pressure to improve?

[smokey_wasp]

I would assume that Collins would give most of the assistants he intends to move on from a chance to find something else. Nothing wrong with that at all.

No, I meant Key could leave of his own accord. South Carolina almost stole him last year and we gave him a raise and talked him into staying. He is, by far, our most highly regarded assistant in football circles. He will be the last one to get blamed, even if the OL continues to look not great

 

[BuzzStone]

Collins. The simple stuff he just can't handle. We have mis-used timeouts more every year than the rest of the ACC combined. It has cost us games. He still can't improve. At this point I think he actually believes what he says and is to arrogant to see things for what they really are. Collins has not improved on his needed skill set at all in 3 years. He has been below the line the entire time and has made no effort to improve. He should feel the most pressure, but I think he thinks he is doing a great job.

 

[GoldZ]

If we win 4 games or less this year, which seems likely, then we should pretty much clean house. Thacker, Key and Patenaude being the primary ones that need to go. None of them are getting the job done. I don't think the AD would let this happen though.

Dead heat between OC and DC.

 

[WreckinGT]

No, I meant Key could leave of his own accord. South Carolina almost stole him last year and we gave him a raise and talked him into staying. He is, by far, our most highly regarded assistant in football circles. He will be the last one to get blamed, even if the OL continues to look not great

It really just depends on whether Collins is ok with continuing to give the biggest assistant salary to a position coach who clearly isn't pulling their weight so far. If he wants to go a different route at OC, he may be better off letting Key go so he has a bigger money pool for the actual coordinator position. Who is he going to get for OC that will want to make peanuts while the OL coach makes significantly more than them?

 

[stech81]

CGC is getting ready to start practice for Kennesaw State.

 

[bobongo]

Hire two new coordinators and a new special teams coach. This will be done by Stansbury, not Collins. Let the coordinators have free reign over the position coaches. Reduce Collins' role but keep him as a figurehead, cheerleader, and recruiter (he is a good recruiter) - because it would be too expensive to fire him. Stansbury should just order him to let the coordinators and special teams coach run the show. The only things Geoff would have control over are time outs, and whether to kick a field goal, etc. (I know, these are problems too, but it can't be helped). I know it's unorthodox and maybe unheard of, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

But do this only if we lose to Kennesaw, or a few more games into the season if that's our only win.

Alternately, let Collins take over the defensive coordinating (he does have a decent record doing that) and hire somebody to run the offense.

 

[stech81]

Hire two new coordinators and a new special teams coach. This will be done by Stansbury, not Collins. Let the coordinators have free reign over the position coaches. Reduce Collins' role but keep him as a figurehead, cheerleader, and recruiter (he is a good recruiter) - because it would be too expensive to fire him. Stansbury should just order him to let the coordinators and special teams coach run the show. The only things Geoff would have control over are time outs, and whether to kick a field goal, etc. (I know, these are problems too, but it can't be helped). I know it's unorthodox and maybe unheard of, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

But do this only if we lose to Kennesaw, or a few more games into the season if that's our only win.

Alternately, let Collins take over the defensive coordinating (he does have a decent record doing that) and hire somebody to run the offense.

Think about it who could you hire during the season to take over as coordinators , you kind of have to wait till the end of the season. And then what good to not so bad coordinator would want to work for a Head coach that ain't won 30& of his games. The only way to fix this now is to clean house and that means the AD who did this He took a chance and it didn't work. Would it be pretty to clean the house no but what else are you going to do. I guess you could wait a few more years but then you still have to do it.

 

[smokey_wasp]

Think about it who could you hire during the season to take over as coordinators , you kind of have to wait till the end of the season. And then what good to not so bad coordinator would want to work for a Head coach that ain't won 30& of his games. The only way to fix this now is to clean house and that means the AD who did this He took a chance and it didn't work. Would it be pretty to clean the house no but what else are you going to do. I guess you could wait a few more years but then you still have to do it.

Certainly, you aren't going to hire new coordinators in-season. We want to bring in a whole new set of plays when we can't run the ones we've been working on? At most, for quick fixes, you can shift some responsibilities around among the assistants. Anything major is going to be an offseason change.

I would also add: We aren't going to start taking responsibilities away from the head coach, either. We got what we got and we just have to hope we improve, and that whatever we worked on in the offseason starts to sink in for these guys.

 

[bobongo]

Think about it who could you hire during the season to take over as coordinators , you kind of have to wait till the end of the season. And then what good to not so bad coordinator would want to work for a Head coach that ain't won 30& of his games. The only way to fix this now is to clean house and that means the AD who did this He took a chance and it didn't work. Would it be pretty to clean the house no but what else are you going to do. I guess you could wait a few more years but then you still have to do it.

What a mess. Tech owes Geoff Collins about 13 million dollars for 2022 - 2025. That doesn't include the 3+ million he's getting for this season.

The best thing we can hope for is that he and his assistants get a clue. I know he isn't much on offense, but why isn't he able to fix the mess on defense? He has a really good track record there. At least, he did before he came here.

 

[tsrich]

What a mess. Tech owes Geoff Collins about 13 million dollars for 2022 - 2025. That doesn't include the 3+ million he's getting for this season.

The best thing we can hope for is that he and his assistants get a clue. I know he isn't much on offense, but why isn't he able to fix the mess on defense? He has a really good track record there. At least, he did before he came here.

I hated Collins contract when it was signed and I hate it now. We weren't bidding against other schools for Collins.

 

[tomknight]

What a mess. Tech owes Geoff Collins about 13 million dollars for 2022 - 2025. That doesn't include the 3+ million he's getting for this season.

The best thing we can hope for is that he and his assistants get a clue. I know he isn't much on offense, but why isn't he able to fix the mess on defense? He has a really good track record there. At least, he did before he came here

I would think, as a defense guy, he would be doing some butt chewing with Thacker. The amount of confusion on our defense is indefensible. If a team goes hurry up, we're screwed.

We have some athletes, not sure why we can't seem to get them set.

Before last week, I would've said Pnut too. But, we had plenty of chances, but couldn't connect. If he is the QB coach, then that needs to improve. I'd like to see him be a little more flexible as the game goes along to adapt to the other team's defense too.

 

[Fatmike91]

The only things Geoff would have control over are time outs, and whether to kick a field goal, etc. (I know, these are problems too, but it can't be helped). I know it's unorthodox and maybe unheard of, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Coach Key can make those game day decisions. Would be an easy change to make.

Coach Bobby Bowden had a pretty successful career and he was increasingly hands off on game day.

/

 

[Scubapro]

Dead heat between OC and DC.

I loath Patenaude but Thacker is gaining in the race to the bottom. I think Thacker can improve. Pat has been coaching for 25+ years....he isn't changing.

 

[LongforDodd]

Just curious what the opinions were out there as to which position coach(Ed) or OC/DC should really be getting the sense of urgency for the need of immediate improvement or start job searching?
I thought the OL would make a bigger difference than they did. I expected to see huge holes and great amounts of pressing the NIU defensive line off the ball. I also expected to see more from Sims considering the preseason hype related to his improvement and time spent getting into rhythm with the WRs. I also expected to see more from our DL getting pressure, sacks, and chaos in the backfield but not too much of that either. Expected to see quicker adjustments on D to what NIU was doing with another year of Thacker working in his system and communication improvement in the backfield plus that being CGC signature area expected more. Special teams is still let’s say “especially unpredictable/reliable”. We didn’t make it through the first game with getting none blocked and second guessing a FG attempt due to lack of confidence in the process as a whole.” All of this has to be especially frustrating for Coach Choice. He has a room full of great RB especially Gibbs and he can’t really showcase his full repertoire of gifts because his QB missed him on a wide open TD opportunity and then the line let him down. We will be very fortunate if Gibbs shows the patience to continue to play at GT after this season. His future and draft stock rests in his resume of runs on the field. Hope he stays and stays healthy and injury free. In summary I was just surprised is all. I expected:had hoped for more! I honestly hope CGC figures this out and quickly! We’ve got a incredibly tough schedule and it can/could get really ugly out there and make it extremely difficult/frustrating for the players/fans/donors if the results don’t make a 180 and show better execution all the way around. Personally I hope they figure it out quickly and we get things rolling in the right direction.

O & C coordinators and QB coach

 

[danny daniel]

Exactly. We always seem confused and never set in time before the snap

A lot of this confusion is coming from the Thacker scheme to adjust to down and distance, field position, time on clock, and opponents personnel and formations on each down. The result is a constant wave of "package" substitutions. The who goes in and when and for who gets out of control as the game progresses with injuries and other changes. It is too complex for a young coach and a young team in transition.

The other issue about not being ready for the snap is three-fold: excessive individual celebration after the play, dragbutting around after the play and not immediately returning to their position on the field, and too much time identifying/deciding and getting the D call signaled into the game....coaching. Maybe a system where all 11 players are not looking (and standing out of position) at the sideline when the play starts would be a better plan.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

What a mess. Tech owes Geoff Collins about 13 million dollars for 2022 - 2025. That doesn't include the 3+ million he's getting for this season.

The best thing we can hope for is that he and his assistants get a clue. I know he isn't much on offense, but why isn't he able to fix the mess on defense? He has a really good track record there. At least, he did before he came here.

He is not going anywhere because of the money. He has the AD by the throat and he knows it. Nothing will be done other than cosmetic changes to tamp down the unwashed who expect miracles like winning records and competent coaching.

 

[FrytownJacket]

I think Thacker is in way over his head.. Its pitiful to watch actually.. I don't have a problem with Patenaude really.. He has tried to make chicken salad out of chicken $h## for the last two years. I don't think we ran the ball enough Saturday night but the pass plays were there, just didn't execute.... You can cherry pick a series here and there and complain but you can do that with any OC. ...... Thacker's job is nowhere near as hard as Key and Patenaudes... In year 3 we're still late with the defensive calls, guys not knowing were to be, still late with substitutions, etc.... And since Collins is a "defensive guy" he has to shoulder a big part of that blame as well. We don't remotely resemble a Power 5 football program and I didn't see anything Saturday night to make me feel any better about the direction we're heading. If we lose to ksu this week (I don't think that will happen) I would hate to be TStan..

 

[WreckinGT]

I think Thacker is in way over his head.. Its pitiful to watch actually.. I don't have a problem with Patenaude really.. He has tried to make chicken salad out of chicken $h## for the last two years. I don't think we ran the ball enough Saturday night but the pass plays were there, just didn't execute.... You can cherry pick a series here and there and complain but you can do that with any OC. ...... Thacker's job is nowhere near as hard as Key and Patenaudes... In year 3 we're still late with the defensive calls, guys not knowing were to be, still late with substitutions, etc.... And since Collins is a "defensive guy" he has to shoulder a big part of that blame as well. We don't remotely resemble a Power 5 football program and I didn't see anything Saturday night to make me feel any better about the direction we're heading. If we lose to ksu this week (I don't think that will happen) I would hate to be TStan..

I'm actually somewhat the opposite, mainly because of your point about Collins being a defensive guy. One has to assume with his background that he is heavily involved with molding this defense the way he wants it, is heavily involved in picking who plays, and should be able to help adjust the defense during the game if he sees fit to do so. This is the way it usually is for any head coach. They are normally stronger on one side of the ball and contribute more in that area while giving more freedom to the coordinator on the other side. Therefore blaming all of the defenses woes on Thacker seems a bit shallow to me when Collins should be able to prevent it from being as bad as it is. This doesn't mean we shouldn't look elsewhere for our DC, we probably should, but our defensive minded head coach needs to play a bigger part here.

 

[stech81]

, our defensive minded head coach needs to play a bigger part here.

I'll give you a few minutes to think about that you want the man who don't know when to use timeouts ? I would be willing to bet part of the problem with the defense getting the players called could have something to do with the DC waiting to see what CGC wants.

 

[FrytownJacket]

I'm actually somewhat the opposite, mainly because of your point about Collins being a defensive guy. One has to assume with his background that he is heavily involved with molding this defense the way he wants it, is heavily involved in picking who plays, and should be able to help adjust the defense during the game if he sees fit to do so. This is the way it usually is for any head coach. They are normally stronger on one side of the ball and contribute more in that area while giving more freedom to the coordinator on the other side. Therefore blaming all of the defenses woes on Thacker seems a bit shallow to me when Collins should be able to prevent it from being as bad as it is. This doesn't mean we shouldn't look elsewhere for our DC, we probably should, but our defensive minded head coach needs to play a bigger part here.

Did you skip the part where I said Collins has to shoulder a big part of the blame?