#23 Emmanuel Johnson

Deke

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Kind of like.....Paul Johnson, when he began coaching at Tech after having coached at Georgia Southern and Navy?
Maybe I'm missing your point, but...yes? I know I was skeptical of him. It's amazing what ending a drought against your in-state rival your first year as coach will do to quell widespread skepticism though.
 

daBuzz

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Maybe I'm missing your point, but...yes? I know I was skeptical of him. It's amazing what ending a drought against your in-state rival your first year as coach will do to quell widespread skepticism though.
No, you got my point. Not as many on this board but there are a bunch of idiots in the GT Football Facebook group who are way past skeptical of Collins and downright hate the man and want him gone. The overwhelming consensus among them is that he hasn't proven he can coach at this level. I was merely pointing out that neither had Johnson when he took over.

Unfortunately for Collins, he didn't inherit a team that had just signed the 2007 recruiting class like Johnson did.
 

savbandjacket

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No, you got my point. Not as many on this board but there are a bunch of idiots in the GT Football Facebook group who are way past skeptical of Collins and downright hate the man and want him gone. The overwhelming consensus among them is that he hasn't proven he can coach at this level. I was merely pointing out that neither had Johnson when he took over.

Unfortunately for Collins, he didn't inherit a team that had just signed the 2007 recruiting class like Johnson did.
The GT Football Facebook page is full of morons and casual Tech fans. A substantial number of those idiots admitted to openly rooting for Rodrigo.
 

Deke

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No, you got my point. Not as many on this board but there are a bunch of idiots in the GT Football Facebook group who are way past skeptical of Collins and downright hate the man and want him gone. The overwhelming consensus among them is that he hasn't proven he can coach at this level. I was merely pointing out that neither had Johnson when he took over.

Unfortunately for Collins, he didn't inherit a team that had just signed the 2007 recruiting class like Johnson did.
All fair. I think once this recruiting class gets inked it should help eliminate a bit of skepticism, and then when we start getting some more Ws it should take care of a lot of the rest. Unfortunately, I'm sure there will always be a small, vocal minority that have made up their minds that they don't like CGC, but I think that's the case anywhere (until the dynasty begins).
 

GoGATech

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With the way this class is coming together, I feel confident in saying this is a kid the staff rated a lot higher than the recruiting services. His frame gives him a lot of upside, and we don’t have the room to take guys unless we really want them.
There are some guys that ended up jumping way up in rankings that we just missed on but were in on before many of the bigger fish. This gives me extreme confidence that our guys are great at evaluating talent and I don't mind the few guys that seem to be reaches because there is something the staff sees in them.
 

Deke

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Curious of examples of guys who recruited well only to flop not at football factories.

Sure its common at factories but Im genuinely curious about top recruiting at non-factory schools not translating to wins.
Flop is a little too strong, but UNC often comes to mind as a team that has recruited pretty well over the last decade or so with only mediocre success. Mike London had 2 or 3 top 25 classes at UVA without much to show for it. Is Nebraska still considered a factory?

Don't misinterpret those as me saying we won't have success (I accept the juice), just some examples.

I'm not nearly as familiar with their timelines/recruiting of the first two, but I'd imagine Baylor, Oregon, and (of course) Clemson are decent counter examples (although the latter two are factories these days).
 
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gtrower

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Kind of like.....Paul Johnson, when he began coaching at Tech after having coached at Georgia Southern and Navy?
What does Paul have to do with any of this? But if you want to force him into this conversation, yeah I was skeptical about him too. As anybody would be. Skepticism and support aren’t mutually exclusive.
 

gtrower

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Curious of examples of guys who recruited well only to flop not at football factories.

Sure its common at factories but Im genuinely curious about top recruiting at non-factory schools not translating to wins.
Not sure what the non-factory has to do with anything other than limiting examples to a contrary point. The fact that Miami may or may not fall into the category of factory has no bearing on the fact that they’ve produced Top 10/15 classes for nearly a decade and failed to do anything with it in a middling division.

But for the sake of it, Mike London put together classes ranked #25, #26, #28 in his first 3 cycles at UVA. And was fired after going 27-46.

Edit - looks like i wasn’t even the first one to think of him.

Edit again - I recognize this is not the right thread for this discussion and will continue it elsewhere.
 

JoeCakeEater

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True...but Mike London broke Virginia Tech by killing their recruiting stranglehold on the state of Virginia. If CGC breaks Georgia then he should get a statue. #404TheCulture bitches!!
 

Vespidie

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This recruiting class should silence the Collins doubters. The guy is about to bring in the best class we’ve had since O’Leary was here. So much for not being able to recruit at GT because of academics, stadium size and budget problems.

Now you've done it.
 

Legal Jacket

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No, you got my point. Not as many on this board but there are a bunch of idiots in the GT Football Facebook group who are way past skeptical of Collins and downright hate the man and want him gone. The overwhelming consensus among them is that he hasn't proven he can coach at this level. I was merely pointing out that neither had Johnson when he took over.

Unfortunately for Collins, he didn't inherit a team that had just signed the 2007 recruiting class like Johnson did.
Let's be honest though, the resume of the two isn't close. Collins may be legit, but his experience is underwhelming compared to Johnson's (at the time when both were hired).

Paul had coached for 11 years - 5 at Southern (62-10 with 2 I-AA championships) and 6 at Navy (45-29 record, making 5 bowls, and one ranked team end of season). His overall record was 107-39 as a HC. And before then he had coached for 17 years, all but 2 of that as a coordinator.

Collins was 15-10 in 2 seasons as HC, made 2 bowls. He'd been in the business for 13 years before then, but only about half of that was as a DC.

We brought in Collins because we think he can recruit on an elite level, not because we think he can coach on one. I'm sure he's a fine coach, but the primary reason he's here is to rebrand us. And he appears to be doing that by bringing in recruits like Johnson.
 

daBuzz

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What does Paul have to do with any of this? But if you want to force him into this conversation, yeah I was skeptical about him too. As anybody would be. Skepticism and support aren’t mutually exclusive.
Perhaps you could do yourself a favor before you post and read the entire thread because this was already asked and I already answered it.
 

BackstreetBuzz

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I think Gailey was an average recruiter, but a great evaluator. I think Johnson was a below average recruiter and average evaluator, but a great coach. It appears that Collins is an above average recruiter and also a good evaluator. As far as his coaching, I would read very little into his first year considering the talent level, injuries and drastic scheme change. I am fairly confident he can coach defense, less confident about offense.
 

gtchief

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Looks like he got a composite bump today to .83, was .82 before
 

Tampa Jacket

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I think Gailey was an average recruiter, but a great evaluator. I think Johnson was a below average recruiter and average evaluator, but a great coach. It appears that Collins is an above average recruiter and also a good evaluator. As far as his coaching, I would read very little into his first year considering the talent level, injuries and drastic scheme change. I am fairly confident he can coach defense, less confident about offense.
I think it’s harder to find good recruiters than good coaches. Youngsters these days speak a completely different language than they did 25 yrs ago. They are generally more egocentric. And it takes a special kind of coach to make them feel special. The X’s and O’s are experience and intelligence. But those coaches are easier to come by.

It’s the Jimmys and the Joes more than the X’s and O’s.
 

OptionJacket

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I agree. The days of out coaching those who can recruit are over. Collins is here to build the talent level. Collins controls his own destiny. He and Thacker along with recruiting will bring the defense up to an extremely competitive level. Collins will have to make the tough decision after 2020 regarding the offense. If CDP doesn’t appear to be the guy then Collins future will depend on if he’s willing to make the move and turn the offense over to an offensive version of Thacker. But it wouldn5 surprise me to see CDP turn a corner next season with a healthy OLine, better QB play and the WR’s we will have. We’ll have 3 guys like Brown next year. I’m can’t wait for 2021.
 

THWG247

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I really like Tyson Meiguez because of his speed. His sideline-to-sideline range is something we've missed. I love David Curry's instincts. I'm just not a fan of his ability to get off blocks or his speed to run down plays before they're 6 - 8 yards down field.
He has a great motor but His instincts or nose for the ball are almost nonexistent
 
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