Got a close buddy with Miami ties

DeepSnap said:
He was also a former GT assistant, very well liked by GT players of that era - including me - on both sides of the ball.

Things certainly went south in a lot of ways after the "Charlie Ward wins the Heisman/OnsideKickNonRecoveryThatReallyWasARecovery" FSU game, and that's all that matters. I get it.

But as the 1991 National Coach of the Year, he was considered by many the best available when Boss Ross bolted for the NFL after the 1991 GT season.

Bottom line: It's always a crapshoot.
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Seriously, its not bad enough we have to relitigate CCG around here, now we've reached a point of relitigating Bill Lewis? The dude had three losing seasons at Wyoming, then eventually two losing seasons (OK, one 5-5-1, one 5-6) at ECU. That was followed by one season of 11-1. He had one winning season in six years of being a head coach. And suddenly he's taking over a historically significant P5 program ONE YEAR after winning a NC. It was a blunder of colossal proportions by GT.
 
In what universe does a failed coach at Miami come to GT and find success?
 
18in32 said:
Seriously, its not bad enough we have to relitigate CCG around here, now we've reached a point of relitigating Bill Lewis? The dude had three losing seasons at Wyoming, then eventually two losing seasons (OK, one 5-5-1, one 5-6) at ECU. That was followed by one season of 11-1. He had one winning season in six years of being a head coach. And suddenly he's taking over a historically significant P5 program ONE YEAR after winning a NC. It was a blunder of colossal proportions by GT.
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Exactly. The smartest thing would have been to promote either Ralph or GOL. Both would have probably stayed if the other had gotten the job and who knows how the early 90's would have turned out.
 
If he wants out of Miami, UNC is about to be looking also. They will let him build a curriculum for his athletes, and don't mind cheating at all.
 
georgiatech22 said:
Exactly. The smartest thing would have been to promote either Ralph or GOL. Both would have probably stayed if the other had gotten the job and who knows how the early 90's would have turned out.
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I don't think either would have kept a coordinator job at GT over going to the pros with Ross.
 
georgiatech22 said:
Exactly. The smartest thing would have been to promote either Ralph or GOL. Both would have probably stayed if the other had gotten the job and who knows how the early 90's would have turned out.
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Everything has turned out exactly as it should. Every step along the way has brought us to where we are today, the best of all possible existences. Enjoy it.
 
aeromech said:
I don't think either would have kept a coordinator job at GT over going to the pros with Ross.
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That seems unlikely to me. Both O'Leary and Friedgen were position coaches under Ross in San Diego. O'Leary left the pros to come back to be GT's DC, and Friedgen left the pros to come back to be GT's OC. I think either of them would've seriously considered staying and serving as coordinator for the other.
 
18in32 said:
Seriously, its not bad enough we have to relitigate CCG around here, now we've reached a point of relitigating Bill Lewis? The dude had three losing seasons at Wyoming, then eventually two losing seasons (OK, one 5-5-1, one 5-6) at ECU. That was followed by one season of 11-1. He had one winning season in six years of being a head coach. And suddenly he's taking over a historically significant P5 program ONE YEAR after winning a NC. It was a blunder of colossal proportions by GT.
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It was a bad hire in 20-20 hindsight, but at the time, hiring the National Coach of the Year in D-1 football when we'd just been dumped for the NFL seemed like a good idea to AD Homer Rice & a lot of other people at the time. Everything else is eyewash.

My post was in response to him being a former GT & UGA assistant coach, not to any of the venom you're spewing. No one, repeat, no one, is relitigating any thing or any one. He was a good guy & a good assistant coach who couldn't handle the HC position he was handed. But neither could Carson, Fulcher, Rodgers, or Curry, all of whom seemed liked good choices at the time. I knew Bill from my time as a player at GT, which BTW, you most certainly were not or else you'd have a very different perspective.
 
DeepSnap said:
It was a bad hire in 20-20 hindsight, but at the time, hiring the National Coach of the Year in D-1 football when we'd just been dumped for the NFL seemed like a good idea to AD Homer Rice & a lot of other people at the time. Everything else is eyewash.

My post was in response to him being a former GT & UGA assistant coach, not to any of the venom you're spewing. No one, repeat, no one, is relitigating any thing or any one. He was a good guy & a good assistant coach who couldn't handle the HC position he was handed. But neither could Carson, Fulcher, Rodgers, or Curry, all of whom seemed liked good choices at the time. I knew Bill from my time as a player at GT, which BTW, you most certainly were not or else you'd have a very different perspective.
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Sounds like you're trying to stand up for a friend, which I respect. That said, you seem to be under the impression that my exasperation is some kind of attack on Lewis' character. I have no opinions on his character, but I know he did a horrible job as our coach. I watched that happen with my own two eyes. Unlike a lot of people on this board, I remember the excitement of the Ross years and the shocking crashing horror of the Bill Lewis era.

I remember them well enough, for example, to know no one thought we were suddenly Alabama. 1990 was a special year when a lot of things came together. 1991 was a reversion to the mean. But that's how you build programs... slowly, gradually raising the mean over time. And Lewis lowered the mean back to where it had been 15 years prior, after a lot of work by Curry and Ross to raise it.

I do, however, strongly disagree that his resume was sufficient in 1992, and I also disagree that his failure is anything like Carson's, Fulcher's or Rodgers'. (And I don't even understand why you would lump Curry in that category, as I'm sure you remember he left on his own terms and bitterly disappointed many Tech fans (including me) when he did so.)
 
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