Amazing what people simply don't see

T

techfowl

Jolly Good Fellow
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
Messages
1,745
Amazing what people simply don\'t see

First - who was the knucklehead that said Chan's teams always start slow? GT grabbed a lead and held on our first 3 games this year.

Second - some people seem to think that great QB's grow on trees.

Third - some people think that Friedgen, who has struggled with his last two QB's in a row, could turn anyone in to a QB, and that CG should do the same.

Reggie is doing the absolute best he can - and he's pretty dang good - but he's not a 'great' QB. That's all there is to it.

If you can't see the vast improvement in the OL, much less the obvious success that will be here next year with the addition of Wrotto, and the experience of the guys we are playing this year, you are missing out.

Next - we are lucky we have a guy that IS as good as Reggie and a coach who continually adjusts his own style to accommodate - usually successfully - the vast deficiencies of many of his players.

The OL is not great, which hampers Reggie, who has limited ability in the first place, which is ZERO fault of Reggie or Chan. We won't be great until we have a great QB and an OL that will take care of him.

Each of these situations is getting better.

Special teams are unacceptably horrible. Wilson is a close friend of Chan's and needs to be reassigned. I'm sure he will be, even though it's gonna be a difficult conversation between friends. That will help, also.

FSU and UGA can recruit anyone they want year in year out. Even they have had issues finding a QB. It happens. Look at every QB before Greene. A mess. Rix and Adrian whoever were idiots at the FSU QB factory also.

We have a good QB. With luck we will get a great QB at some point, but if you can't get a great one in the #3 QB (Max Emfinger) in the nation on signing day (Landry), or the best football player, Mr. Football, both QB's, in all of SC or Mississippi (Logan and Bilbo), you ought to be able to figure out by now that they don't grow on trees.

We have been a great QB away from a great team since Godsey left. We 'have' had success, but have done what EVERY great team minus a 'great' QB does without a great QB (even FSU and Miami if you want to check). We complain about a guy who is doing better than every single one of us could have done, while he is giving us his all, and we also blame that on the coach.

Nobody thought Jeff Tedford was a genius until he got Kyle Bohler at QB. Noone thought Brian Billick was a genius at offense until he got Steve McNair. Ross resigned from San Diego and went to Detroit because he refused to fire his OC, who turned out to be the great Ralph Friedgen. Ross told the owners at San Diego that Ralph had no QB to grow, but they would't accept that. They demanded better, and finally got Phillip Rivers (YEARS later) after Eli Manning refused to play for them because they had been so awful every day since.

It worked out for us pretty well. Please tell me you see some parallels. Demanding better sometimes just makes you a place nobody wants to be.

It's an insult to Reggie Ball for anyone to keep beating on him when he is doing his best, while he 'is' the best we have, at a position that makes or breaks a team. It's veen worse to keep thinking that Chan can magically turn Reggie into Little Joe, or that the next Little Joe should be waiting at our door step each signing day. If it were that easy, Little Joe and Godsey wouldn't be so special.

Appreciate what CG and RB do because they does bring their best. Don't be mad at the someone because he doesn't wear #14.

Let Reggie play, and show the guy a little more love for what he 'does' accomplish. Let Chan do some coaching and recruiting without all this negativity from his own 'fans'.

I'm tired of listening to so many that seem to think that Chan could just squat down, eat some nails, hold his hand under his butt, and just poop out a great QB. He is doing a hell of a lot with a guy who is giving him a hell of a lot, who is actually not a bad QB.

But he's not a GREAT QB. It's not Chan's fault, and it's not Reggie's. There are limitations of what we can do right now.

Yesterday was as talented a team we will play all year, with very good coaching. They were as motivated as they had been all year. We got beat by a more talented team.

We are also talented, and getting more talented, and made some great mid game adjustments - but this time wasn't enough.

Grow up.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

you know what...pretty good post techfowl.

I see the gradual improvement as well...and am surprised we are doing so well with what we have as of today. With this years schedule (and next)...it could be a lot worse. The improvement would have been shown as far more drastic if we had the schedule from 2 or 3 years ago.
 
Here is the thing.

I keep hearing the "we'll get them next year" or "we are headed in the right direction". However, we seem to end up at the same point each year. To be a great coach at Tech you either need to recruit great talent in spite of the academics or you need to accept the fact that you won't get a team full of 4-5 star talent and come up with a coaching scheme that allows you to play smarter and to coach up your talent.

My harshest criticism of Gailey is that he won't make the change that Tommy (someone you show as a great example in your other post) realized he needed to make. Our offense is killing this team and it has to with coaching and scheme. I'm not convinced that a good QB coach would not make Reggie a better player and I'm also not convinced that running a different scheme would not help him play within himself. We let a good QB in Andy Hall go because "Gailey knows best" and we have recruited QBs who were well thought of out of high school but "they just didn't have what it takes at this level" or "the light bulb never came on". At what point do the excuses go away?

What improvement has this team made over the past 4 years that gives you such hope with the current staff? I'd love to be wrong on this one because it means that Tech will have success but we keep falling victim to the same pattern every year. I'm not even convinced that it is Gailey that needs to be fired but I do believe that a change has to be made to the offensive coaching staff.

Are there those that will be against Gailey no matter what? Yes. However, there is a larger group out here who have rational concerns about where this program is at right now. What to do with an employee that produces just enough to keep his job but also fails enough to fire him is the toughest decision in management. No matter what decision is made, keeping everything status quo is almost never the right decision.

I respect your opinion and just want the same respect given to those of us who happen to have a different opinion than yours.
 
You had me at \"Amazing\"...

but you lost me at "Reggie Ball is pretty dang good.
 
Re: Here is the thing.

Good post GP.

I also wish Chan would let an OC coach come in, although it would have to be a great one. I think Chan is already a good OC.

The biggest improvement over the last 4 years I see is in our recruitment of our defensive personnel, particularly on the DL, combined with allowing JT to run his own show on that side of the ball.

I'd love it if we could get an OC that is similarly qualified, but part of JT's success is that he gets very first choice in all new talent, which we can only do for one coordinator.

No qualms at all with you wanting an OC. When I defend CG, it's like my defense of any person. Chan is my first choice of who should be here, but that includes the total package, and all the surrounding circumstances - neither of which are completely perfect.

I do think Hall is an uncertain example. He did not give Chan enough time to give him enough time, and quit at the first sign of competition. He also absoloutely refused to throw or use his pitch man the only time I ever saw him play.

Andy might have done very well here, but his choice to leave was his own, and the success he did have was against talent nowhere near the level he would have faced here. When faced with next level talent, he did not do well, but neither did Joe or George, so I can't hold that against him. Still - we don't know what he could have done at GT.
 
I completely agree with you on recruiting.

We've never gotten the quality and quantity of DL prospects that Gailey has gotten in the modern era of Tech football.

I also understand your perspective on Hall and, as you said, we'll never know how he would have performed at this level.
 
Re: You had me at \"Amazing\"...

[ QUOTE ]
but you lost me at "Reggie Ball is pretty dang good.

[/ QUOTE ]
Couldn't have said it better myself.
 
Re: You had me at \"Amazing\"...

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
but you lost me at "Reggie Ball is pretty dang good.

[/ QUOTE ]
Couldn't have said it better myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems like an accident whenever Reggie Ball completes a pass. I think we would be alot more productive on offense handing the ball off to PJ more. I think PJ only got ten carries.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bash.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bash.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bash.gif
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

All the QB talk is good, but you need to remember one thing: Andy Hall made an NFL roster last year. The fact that he sat on the sidelines sickens me.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

[ QUOTE ]
Third - some people think that Friedgen, who has struggled with his last two QB's in a row, could turn anyone in to a QB, and that CG should do the same.


[/ QUOTE ]

Hollenbach is #28 in the country in passing efficiency - how is that "struggling"?

Granted, Joel Statham stunk, he was so awful he lost his starting job. He was tied with another QB at #90 in the country with a 109.4 QB rating. Guess who it was?

[ QUOTE ]
Reggie is doing the absolute best he can ...

[/ QUOTE ]

If that is true, if there is no upside to bottom 5 in the country, then there is no sane reason he should be appointed QB for life. At a minimum he should be platooned - surely our next best option can't be worse than bottom 5 in the country.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

Hall sat on the sidelines behind Goose. He cut and ran when he didn't light it up in Chan's first spring practice. IIRC he left after about 10 days. I hated to see him leave but it's all on him as far as I'm concerned. He evidently never impressed O'Brien and gave up. Oh, and BTW, he never made an NFL roster. He was on the practice squad and was NEVER active for a game.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

Hollenbach is QB #3 or 4. Friedgen has struggled with more than one QB at UMD.

As previoulsy posted - Hall was on a roster long enough to get cut, and well before the final one at that.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

Didn't realize he was only on the practice squad, I thought he was activated at 3rd string for a while. Anyway, just sucks that we had a real weapon who never got to show his talent on the flats.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

You could be right that he could have been a great weapon. The shame is that he quit on us, and not vice versa. When competition came, he went the other way fast.

I won't deny any fact that he 'might' have been successful - only that 'he' is the one, not someone at GT, who caused him to leave GT. Al Pena is doing very well also, but he also left on his own.

If a guy had shown that much promise, I've got to think he would be on the field.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

[ QUOTE ]
Hollenbach is QB #3 or 4. Friedgen has struggled with more than one QB at UMD.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hollenbach is the starter this year, Statham was the starter in 2004, before that it was McBrien. The only one without sterling ratings as a QB is Statham, who is now on the bench. What are you talking about?

Do you think Ralph made a bad decision benching Statham?
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

Their are two others too. Uh, one is Steffy or something like that, who was a 4 or 5 star recruit.

Hollenbach has the same number of TD's that he has INT's and is a whopping .500 as a starter. WOW!
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

[ QUOTE ]
Their are two others too. Uh, one is Steffy or something like that, who was a 4 or 5 star recruit.

[/ QUOTE ]

According to Rivals, Jordan Steffy was a 3-star recruit:
http://maryland.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=17789

Yeah, he got thrown into a few games as a true freshman and looked weak. I guess that's why Ralph is using a different QB now.

[ QUOTE ]
Hollenbach has the same number of TD's that he has INT's ...

[/ QUOTE ]

... and he completes 62.5% of his passes and averages almost 9 yards per passing attempt, which is why he is rated #28 in the country in passing efficiency. Just think what kind of stats he could amass if he had Calvin Johnson to throw to.

[ QUOTE ]
... and is a whopping .500 as a starter. WOW!

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see how Maryland's lousy rushing defense is Hollenbach's fault. I suppose you think Nolan Ryan was a lousy pitcher because of his lifetime .526 winning percentage?
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

Eh, Ryan wasn't a "great" pitcher, he was just a pretty good one who kept at it for a LONG time, but true, he seldom had much of a supporting cast.
 
Re: Amazing what people simply don\'t see

agree on the point...on a sidenote:

ryan was a great pitcher, not sure how you dispute that

his career ERA was only 0.07 higher than Clemens's career mark (unless you want to aruge that Clemens isn't great either)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top