As Fair as I Can Be

[gambler]

I don't think we have ever paid this much for a coaching staff, and I don't think we have ever gotten so little from one. It is incumbent for a man getting paid three million dollars a year to do his job very well.

I dunno man, I've seen plenty of CEOs run companies directly into the ground for much larger payouts than this.

 

[veerbone]

For better or worse, this is our coaching staff. We cannot really afford to pay them. We certainly cannot afford to fire them and replace them. They should, therefore, feel more secure in their jobs than any coaching staff in the country.

I will grant that we have weaker talent than a number of the teams we play. It is not realistic to expect us to beat Clemson, Notre Dame and perhaps a few others. Furthermore, there are no teams on our schedule that we have a decided talent edge over. I would even say it is amazing we have already beaten two teams this season.

Furthermore, our coaches do have important strengths. They are young, energetic, and dedicated to Tech. They seem like good people. Most of all, they are excellent recruiters, which is very important.

The problem is that they are not even average coaches. I wouldn't be discouraged if we lost all our games, if we looked well coached, improved from game to game, and were as competitive in games as the talent would allow, because under those circumstances I think we could continue to upgrade recruiting. However, we do not look well coached, we don't improve from week to week, and we are not as competitive as we should be.

This seems like it will make it hard for us to continue to upgrade recruiting. I hope I am wrong.

I don't think we have ever paid this much for a coaching staff, and I don't think we have ever gotten so little from one. It is incumbent for a man getting paid three million dollars a year to do his job very well.

Collins said he was going to change the culture. I'm willing to accept all his changes, if we are sacrificing everything I liked about our traditions, from school colors on uniforms on down, if we get a well coached team in return. But, we're not getting a well coached team.

I don't know what the solution is, or even if there is a solution. I would suggest that Collins try taking the wishes of the people who pay his salary into much more consideration. Frankly, as Rhett Butler said during another disagreeable time in Atlanta, I just don't give a damn if the players want to wear various colors of uniforms or want modern music blared through the loud speakers. And I wish the coach would dress more like a football coach and less like a clown.

My biggest worry is that these abysmal and historically humiliating losses, during which we show no sign of decent coaching, will kill recruiting. My second biggest worry is that many of our relatively few remaining fans will lose interest in identifying with a team that gets thrashed by the likes of Boston College, decisively beaten by Syracuse and Central Florida, and humiliated by Clemson by an historical margin.

It doesn't matter that the past regime had weaknesses, because this current group was highly paid to do a lot better. And they're certainly failing to do so. I don't want to hear the same worthless excuses anymore, either. Great coaches take responsibility.

I will always be a Tech fan. But, our losses used to be painful to me. Now, they're just funny. I used to yell at the TV. Now, I laugh out loud at play after play. My wife even complimented me today on how well I took the beating. I think that's a dangerous sign.

You're transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach to a flash in the pan "recruiter".

Collins is like Mike Locksley, Trooper Taylor, Tom Herman, etc. He can get a kid in the building, but once he's there he's out of his element.

Look at Alabama. They've lost as much talent as anyone and they keep rolling. Why? Because for all Saban is, he knows how to coach and how to hire people who know how to coach. Georgia Tech, LSU, Texas, and several other programs are learning that rah rah speeches don't build sustainable winning programs.