A season squandered

B

beeware

Jolly Good Fellow
Joined
Feb 5, 2002
Messages
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Blinded by the 'lites' (sic) of the resume, Dave Braine immediately stopped the momentum of the Seattle Bowl and the promise of a coaching staff and team that was ready to hit the ground running in both recruiting and spring practice.

Instead we hired a coach with no Division 1 coaching experience, who did not have a clue what it takes to be successful in Divison 1, and then stumbled through hiring a new staff, and instead of hitting the ground running in spring practice, we had a staff that was still trying to find their way around campus.

Apparently Coach Gailey made a snap decision that Suggs was the QB on the first or second day of spring practice, prompting heir apparent and our only QB with experience in the system, Andy Hall, to transfer. Keep in mind that Hall had never been afraid of fair competition and had battled Godsey very well. Do you really think he would have transferred if he thought he was getting fair treatment? Do you really think he was afraid of competition from Suggs? hmmmmmmmm....

Then we go into fall practice with no sense of urgency or preparedness. We totally waste the first two games against a couple of patsies, and then look totally unprepared to play klimpsum. The season gradually gets worse until the booing begins and Coach Chan finally comes out of his semi-retirement coma. Too little too late.

The bottom line is we have a mediocre head coach and a mediocre staff and we have squandered a very promising season. Recruiting has looked fairly pathetic so far and will only get worse as the losses mount.

We are going to reap what Dave Braine has sewn for many years to come. It was not necessary.
 
Typical post from you.

1) If Andy Hall was so ready why did he not get any significant minutes last year. He did not push Godsey, that is figment of your sizable imagination

2) Andy Hall did not transfer because he was afraid of competition. He transferred becasue he was in thrird place in a three man race and wanted to play football. Andy Hall would not have started even if the "Seatle Bowl" staff was in place. Andy was a lot like Chrsi Rix in terms of lokking at one receiver and if not open running
 
Beeware,

Same song second verse, a little bit louder, a little bit worse. Your record is broken as well as your whine.

Your observations about the challenge of a coaching change are accurate. It is not easy.

Your observations about McWhorter and crew are so far off the mark. Look at Ray Goff following Dooley. Look at Bobby Williamson following Saban. Look at Solich following Osborne. An assistant coach following a winning coach because the players and fans want it are NOOOOOOOO reliable basis for hiring a coach. Mac is a wonderful person. The players would have felt good for a while.

With equal injuries, there is no way you can predict that that staff would have won any more games or lost less than this staff.

This program needed pruning. O'Gone had developed some rather sorry methods of leading players and coaches. Screaming at your coaches on national TV is not the actions of a secure leader. Great trees and great programs benefit long term from pruning. The immediate hurts but the fruit will be awesome. I can understand your personal hurts and feelings for Mac and staff. If you were close to them or the program, then cry, show concern, but let's get on about winning and supporting the team. You complain about Gailey taking all year to adjust to the coaching change. It's almost December and you haven't adjusted yet. C'mon man, we need your support.
 
Can't blame this loss on the coaches beeware. Nice game plan that worked dispite injury after injury this team as faced. We just didn't make the plays. As always, we give up a "big" one to these guys and can't overcome it. We also didn't get help from the officials.

Extremely disapponting loss, but you can't throw this one on the coaches!!
GO JACKETS!!!!!

Win or lose, we drink the booze!
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BeeWare, No Braine did not make a mistake. We had no head coach, he quit Tech and BOB had planned to quit Tech and go with O'Leary.

Braine then did his job and hired a replacement when O'Leary quit.

Gailey then made a huge mistake by agreeing to keep BOB. But don't fret, your wish will come true, and the program will be back in order next year. BOB will be gone and Gailey will promote from within just as you said a coach should do. Nix will be the new OC, and next year will be a better year.

 
Originally posted by GT Ace:
Beeware makes good pts & a good case. To see what bw is trying to get across, you have to look no farther than Coach Coker @ Miami. That's all he's trying to say; look at how Miami handled theirs & how we handled ours.
Bw may be as right as a FOC. We just don't know right now & the losses are excruciating.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">GTAce, I'm not sure what your point is. Larry Coker took over a MNC club; whoever got GT would get a 5-loss team, without an experienced QB.
 
NO!!!! BW does not make a good point. GOL sold us out as did the other assistants to go to ND period. We did not have a coach. When the bottom fell out of the ND fiasco some of the coaches came crawling back to try and cover their respective arses. We hired the best man available and he will right the ship. Maybe not this year and possibly next but the job will get done. I too respect GOL for his bringing the team back to national prominance but thats over now, get over it and lets help CG get on with the program and lead Tech to national prominance again by talking up the progam and not down.
 
I'm sorry Beeware... are you referring to this years team or last years team ??

If its last years.. I totally agree, last season was squandered by our coaches.

To have that coaching staff let down our kids the way they did last year was a disgrace... to continue running Burns against Maryland when we had a plethera of backs on the bench was a disgrace... to quit on the team the way they did last year, was a disgrace... I will gladly take the effort we put forth yesterday any day as opposed to the effort we gave against FSU last year... we were in the game until the end..

Given the trials that this team has faced this year.. I am proud of the way they have fought... the glass is not "half empty" for me in terms of this staff nor this program... I think it was clear to everyone who watched yesterday that FSU just has more playmakers than we do.. PERIOD.. but I will take yesterdays game anytime as opposed to what I watched last year...
 
Anyone who has watched this season objectively would HAVE to see that we are making VAST improvements in our game. The last two games are a HUGE indication on where this program is heading....UPWARDS!! We are playing with fire, our 4th and 5th string RBS are racking up the yardage, the defense is MANHANDLING some VERY good offenses, and special teams have been VERY improved. Our QB play while not stellar, is pretty good and WILL be better given perspective in the offseason.

Gailey is ALREADY righting the ship and you WILL see a BIG improvement next year. MARK MY WORDS!!
 
Beeware.. you are the first to throw mud after a loss... but I cant recall you being the first to congratulate after a win... based on your garbage above, I too am having dreams of you in a dark alley !!
 
BW, why all the love for Andy Hall? Guess what, he quit. You can sugar coat it or make it sound the way you want but the fact is he got beat out and quit. I wish the kid well but his numbers really aren't that impressive at Del. and it's against pretty poor competition. If he was the second coming that BW thinks he'd be leading them to some kind of championship, but they are likr 6-5 adn 4-4 in the A-10. BTW he's what he always was, a run first pass second QB. He's only completing 52%. That definitely wouldn't cut it in our offense.

Face it BW, you don't want this team to succeed, you won't give credit to these coaches for anything that happens and you are clearly intent on blaming Braine for everything that takes place in a negative light. Funny how you never mention any of the positives in your posts.

You may actually be a Tech fan, I still can't decide what I think. But you are definitely a fan I don't want anything to do with. As my dad used to say (he's a Duke grad), if you aren't with them when they are struggling, you don't deserve to be with them when they win.
 
I'm not going to get into the Beware comments but I will tell you Tech fans some facts. About 4 or 5
weeks ago CG spoke at the Macon TD club and he addressed the AJ and Bilbo controversy by saying
that he was playing AJ because he knew the playbook
but had trouble executing the game plan and he contrasted that by saying Bilbo could execute the plays but only knew about 20% of the playbook and
he went on to say he had a plan to develop DeBo by
repping him on the practice field and then taking
it to the playing field . Since he made those
remarks DeBo has been on the field for two series
andDeBo led Tech to a TD on his last game. Yet he hasn't seen the playing field since leading that TD drive.Somewhere in that equation he has lost me. On the one hand he has a QB that understands
the playbook but can't execute but he is getting
ALL the PLAYING TIME over a QB that can execute
the play book but has limited understanding of the playbook. These are his word and are not taken
out of context. This seems to be some twisted or convoluted reasoning. At least play the guy some of the time who can make the plays and develop him
so he can take on a larger role in our offense. It has become obvious that AJ is not productive in the red zone evidenced by the number of field goals that we have kicked as opposed to so few TD's. Why not play DeBo in the redzone, we can't do any worse.DeBo is to talented to spend his career on the sidelines. If this kid doesn't play I expect him to leave. I have no information other
than observing that most high profile athletes
want and demands PT.
 
Beeware,
I don't agree with everything you've said but overall what is upseting is that watching that game yesterday makes me really feel bad for the team.
1. I was at BD stadium 4 years ago when it was still tied in the 4th until FSU hurt Joe then ran up the score and Warrick danced on the field to rub it in.
2. I was in Tallahassee 3 years ago when that game was much like the season...if we had 1/2 a defence Joe would have ran away with the Heisman.
3. I was at BD 2 years ago where once again Bowden resorted to cheating to pull out a win. There must have been over 250 yards in penelties against FSU in that game. And they still continued on to the no call to end the game.
4. Last year I didnt make the game but watched and ...no real excuses ..we just got beat.. but im sure a little had to do with the high hopes set at the begining of the season and going into that game with 4 losses.
5. This year at the game again and unlike 4 years ago ..the tables are turned ..we are now the dominate team..we controlled all aspects of the game in the first 1/2...BUT we are not winning because of a 10 to 14 point interception by Suggs.

Don't blame coaching.. the coaching wasn't bad at all.

I hate to sound like an idiot blaming 1 guy but...

1.If you don't remember in the Vandy game..we couldn't score a point in the first quarter when the plays were designed for passes. Then Hollings took over.
2.In the Clemson game his pick to end the game was no different from the one yesterday. Straight to an open defender....
3.The BYU game...no comment..i could make an arguement he was throwing some of those passes to me in the upper stands.

and without getting too carried away I'll just leave it at that.

And those of you who like to bring up stats and say that he's not all that bad well then watch the game tape again...at LEAST 100 yards a game passing are designed swing passes straight up the sidelines with 2 recievers blocking down field. These plays are just in essence handoffs..but AJ gets praise for them.

I'll just finish up by saying what REALLY upsets me is that most years even if we went 1-10 I would look forward to next year and a fresh start, but I already know what going to happen.......AJ WILL NOT be benched this year and next year with Hollings back he ALONE will carry us to at least 6 or 7 wins. So no matter how bad AJ is next year Hollings will cover it up enough so that AJ can cost us about 3-4 games when the entire team played their hearts out. In the mean time Bilbo who could have worked out kinks this year and developed over the next 3 years will be very rusty to start the 05' campaign. And for those of you who don't like the Bilbo idea keep in mind he hasn't been given a fair chance. with the playing hes got this year he hasn't taken one snap from under center!! and even in practice ...i've seen a couple at BD from the student success center, Bilbo is never allowed to even throw one pass to Watkins and Glover ...they only run routes for suggs.

But not to be all negative..if some of you are wondering about next years kicking game no need to worry. WE have 2 guys with equal the leg stregnth of Manget and they are close to as accurate too

I'll get off my soap box now
 
Since my last post, I have been pondering the QB situation. I have not been able to come up with valid reason, that seems logical, as to why some of the other QBs have not been given a shot at the job.

I have suddenly had a frightening thought, I hope it is only a thought and there is no substance behind it.

I had not considered this before, because the best year ever for Gailey was at a Division 1AA school where he ran the wish-bone and won the national championship. He had stated during or after the hiring process that he still liked the wish-bone. I felt relatively confident we would have the right mix of running and passing of the ball under Gailey from the quarterback.

Now, I have just had horrorible images that BeeWare may be partially right. This is only a thought, so don't take it as an opinion of mine, just a maybe.

What if Gailey has completely changed since he entered the pros and is now completely changed his view of the perfect quarterback. What if he now thinks the quarterback should be a drop-back QB, and does not need to run.

This could explain the reason he is willing to go with Suggs instead of the other talented QBs we have recruited. We have on hand and have had some tremendous QB prospects as both runners and passers for the College option game.

We have Bilbo, Logan, Camp (strong body), and several QBs presently playing other positions (cannot recall their names at present). We have lost Landry and Hall to the transfer route. All of these QBs were of the option type and were suddenly placed in other positions.

Further, Camp, basically was pulled back to QB from the fullback position. He is more of a drop-back passer than an option QB, although he is strong enough to be effective with the option.

With all this in mind, it is a possibility Gailey wants a pure drop-back passer as is used in the pros. The reason these QBs are better for the pros is the defensive players in the pros are stronger, bigger, faster, quicker, etc. than the colleges, so the option game is not as effective as it is in college.

However, the college game is more suited for a combination quarterback than a pure drop-back passer. If Gailey has decided we are going to be a team led by drop-back passers, we are dead in the water. It will not work as effectively in college as a combination quarterback.

If this happens to be true. it means we will be stuck with the same drop-back quarterback at Tech for the remainder of this year and next year. Bilbo will not be able to adapt to the new role and will wind up at another school where he will gain stardom as a combination QB.

Gailey will have to recruit some pure drop-back passers, and it could be years before Tech becomes respectable again. Man, I hope I am wrong about this. Someone give me some good reasons this could not be a possibility, so I want wake up in the middle of then night screaming.

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I think CG is a "traditional" coach, and in the Bible of Traditional Coaching, you pick a guy and stick with him. CG has pinned the year on A.J. and his instincts tell him not to risk that by playing DBo and starting up a quarterback controversy. I don't particularly agree that DBo should be kept out of games because I think he's the future and a great player and needs some game-time experience, but I also respect CG sticking to his guns and coaching the same way he's always coached.

One quote after the NCState game stuck in my head, and that was A.J.'s comment that it helps the team just knowing that CG is on the sidelines. I've probably mixed up the words, but not the intent: CG is a straight-shooter and treats his players with respect. I think they respect him back. Given enough time, I think CG can be a very good coach here. I just hope that his integrity comes across in a 30 minute recruiting visit as much as during a 12 game season.
 
Bilbo will have plenty of chance to play. He will have his shot in Spring Practice and worse case the job is his when he is junior....that is if he works hard, learns the playbook, and improves his consistency
 
Beezoner,
Thats a great point
"A.J.'s comment that it helps the team just knowing that CG is on the sidelines"

Is this a shot a GOL....OR is he just glad that he knows he will never be benched as long as CG is there.

But like I said earlier..I am overall pleased with the coaching job
 
Not a shot at GOL, who, it should be noted, has a coaching style just about as opposite from GC as you can get, at least in terms of his attitude towards players (Read: his instructions to have players "attack" other players as punishment for missing blocks or to see if Godsey was in game shape, as happened last year).

I'm sure that A.J. likes the fact that he knows he's the starter, rain or shine. If he was having a monster year, then all would be well in Techland. Unfortunately, he's had some bad games and the second-guessing starts. But if the players know that they're coach is going to stay behind them through the ups and downs of an ENTIRE season, then I think that can only be to the benefit of the whole team, not just one player.
 
I think you guys are reading too much into things. It seems to me that CG has explained a number of times that Bilbo doesn't have the offense down. While he might be effective as a change of pace, there is no way we can win with only 20% of our playbook for an entire game. The reason he hasn't gotten any time the last few games is that AJ has been more effective than he was earlier in the year (still problems IMO in making reads and the speed of his play) and the games have been tight. The coaches haven't wanted to screw with the team's rythm.

I don't see any evidence that CG is looking for a "pro" style QB over any other kind. We ran the option a fair amount yesterday and the kids we are recruiting are more of the college type QB. I think what is happening is that we are tailoring our offense to what AJ can do because he is more capable of making the reads, etc., right now. If Bilbo is the man next year, the offense will be structured to take better advantage of what he can do.

The issues that concerns me most looking ahead is that Bilbo will need to learn not only the offense but how to make the correct reads at game speed. I'm an AJ fan in that he is playing hard and doing what he can for the Jackets. However I have concerns about what I see in his game and hope we see vast improvement next year either from him or somebody else.

In the meantime, we still should beat Duke if we take care of business (and have at least 5 OL who can play) and have a shot at Ugag. Let's help the team pull together and get over the disappointment of yesterday's game and focus on what's left this year.
 
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