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Below is Athlon's take on Georgia Tech and then the first six games on the schedule will have the last six posted tomorrow!
Athlon on Georgia Tech: Collins who came into Atlanta as a relentless marketer with constant social media presence, has taken a lower profile this offseason. He knows talking is useless: It’s time to win. Even if there is some improvement, it may be difficult to break out of the jackets' run of three-win season due to a brutal schedule.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Georgia Tech: Coach 1: Honestly, it's almost impossible to see a way in which Geoff Collins survives this season. Every good player on defense is gone or in the portal. The best player they've recruited is going to be starting at Alabama. They have a conference schedule that’s tough on its own and a nonconference slate that looks like it was designed to get this guy fired. Coach 2: Three years in, coaches are beginning to question what the plan was on offense. The transfer QB will be a better fit for the new scheme. Chip Long knows what he's doing, but it's a really bare cupboard. The problem is, you can still see the transition out of the triple option on their tape from the end of last year. Coach 3: They've recruited a bunch of guys that other staffs think are overrated. That’s fine, you have a difference in evaluations, but they aren't a development program either. Coach 4: They had one of the worst secondaries I've ever seen last year., and all those guys are gone, so maybe so maybe that is a positive move? The bigger problem is that the guys up front who could help are gone, too, so they're going to need multiple unknowns to step up if they're going to do anything. Coach 5: The failure here has been recruiting. It's been the exact thing he made such a big deal about in the first place, recruiting Atlanta talent to stay in Atlanta. They're as much of a non-factor on legit talent now as they were under Paul Johnson.
GAME 1
Athlon on Clemson: This defense is good enough to win a national title. It comes down to the offense. The running game should be dependable, but if Uiagalelei is going to have to make some players in the passing game for Clemson to have the year it wants to have.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Clemson: Coach 1: I think losing Brent Venables is going to be really interesting. He was such a force there; it's more that losing a coordinator. He drove the whole thing on defense. The good thing for them is they have really good players on defense right now, and I think Wes Goodwin did a good job in the bowl game running the same scheme. He is really smart, but there are huge shoes to fill. Coach 2: The three defensive linemen are back, the linebackers Coach 3: They've recruited a bunch of guys that other staffs think are overrated. That’s fine, you have a difference in evaluate, and the freshman safety is tremendous. There's a core there where they can keep going and it'll look about the same this year. Coach 4: The WR have fallen off; when they were rolling and winning nattys, that position flat-out scared you. Now they're league average, same at RB. Coach 5: They're not recruiting like they have. There's also a giant difference between NIL in the ACC, BIG10, and SEC. Are they beating Bama and those guys from here on out? They're still the best program in this league, but they've never had so many questions moving fwd. This is the start of the next era for them, and it's possible they're not a national title winner anymore.
GAME 2
Athlon on WCU: No coverage.
GAME 3
Athlon on Ole Miss: They lost 11 starters from last year's team but reloaded as well as anyone through the transfer portal. QB Corral had a lot on his plate last season and the winner of the QB derby will go a long way in determining whether or not the Rebels take a step back in 2022.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Ole Miss: Coach 1: You can reduce them down to QB. If Jaxson Dart is a dude, they're going to be lethal on ofense and can win as many games as last year. If he's not it's going to be a really long, bad season. This program is going to live and die with the QBs as long as Lane Kiffin is there, low floor, high ceiling. Coach 2: OC Lebby leaving is going to be a bigger hit behind the scenes of the program than the play calling or development. He was de facto head coach for a lot of stuff Lane wasn't around for and put out a lot of fires. Coach 3: They're relying on transfers for both starting roles and quantity depth at almost every skill position on offense. That's a big gamble. The TCU RB is good, the transfers at WR are good, but that risky Coach 4: They had one of the worst secondary. Culture is a real thing, and with a new OC, there's so much uncertainty. Coach 5: The defense still looks like it is shaking off the probation years, but they are not as bad as they were. Dj Durkin got them turned around in the bigger areas, but he's gone, and they're not really deep. With all the changes on offense, they'll need to be at least as good as they were last year. Coach 6: Let's see how Lane is maturing. Almost all they piece he had on staff and on the roster that made last season special are gone. He's starting almost from scratch, and it’s going to take a different kind of head coach than he's been in Oxford to continue the momentum they had in '21.
GAME 4
Athlon on UCF Malzahn overcame a rash of injuries to put together a solid 9-4 season. With 14 returning starters and a host of plug-n-play transfers additions, there is strong optimism that the knights can leap back into the conference championship contention.
GAME 5
Athlon on Pitt Narduzzi put to rest questions about job security in leading Pitt to its first top 25 finish in 12 years and its most wins since the Dan Marino Era. The key is sustaining this success. It’s no secret that Pickett was the most impactful player in decades. His former teammates, along with Slovis are tasked with creating their own identity, while proving that 2021 was a harbinger of future success.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Pitt: Coach 1: The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of QB you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under the radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing OC Mark Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat, but that not a bad thing all of the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to go in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked they had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well. Coach 2: The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He is a different style player than Kenny. I think new OC Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring the BC offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better. Coach 3: The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants, they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat for better or worse, maul you or get too aggressive and go zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high end talent. Coach 4: The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows the expectations for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year.
GAME 6
Athlon on Duke Elko and his new staff take over a program that been the ACC's worst on the field over the last two seasons, so there is plenty of work to be done. The Blue Devils have to prove they can play at this level, something they didn't do over the last two seasons.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Duke: Coach 1: Check back in with these guys down the road. It’s going to be bad for a bit, but mike Elko is really smart hire for this program. He hired a really sharp staff, picked off a guy from Wake, and they're going to over haul the talent evaluation and strip everything down. Coach 2: The way things ended for Cutcliffe was really tough, but when the problem is your signature area, the QB play the offense, you can't really explain that away. It got to a point where a lot of us thought he was tired. Defenses were able to call out plays before the snap because they were so tendency heavy that they ran only one or two things out of a formation Coach 3: This compares a little like Hafley at BC coming from Ohio State: Don't think about Elko as the A&M guy coming to DUKE; think of him as the guy who can sign , develop, and scheme. Duke is a lot closer to ND than A7M in that way. He is going to build a system, and he doesn't have to take any shortcuts because of the deal they gave him. Coach 4: This year will be bad, and they have space to figure out what works and what doesn't. Kevin johsn is a really good OC; it's possible they'll look better at the end of this season that they did at the end of last year.
Athlon on Georgia Tech: Collins who came into Atlanta as a relentless marketer with constant social media presence, has taken a lower profile this offseason. He knows talking is useless: It’s time to win. Even if there is some improvement, it may be difficult to break out of the jackets' run of three-win season due to a brutal schedule.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Georgia Tech: Coach 1: Honestly, it's almost impossible to see a way in which Geoff Collins survives this season. Every good player on defense is gone or in the portal. The best player they've recruited is going to be starting at Alabama. They have a conference schedule that’s tough on its own and a nonconference slate that looks like it was designed to get this guy fired. Coach 2: Three years in, coaches are beginning to question what the plan was on offense. The transfer QB will be a better fit for the new scheme. Chip Long knows what he's doing, but it's a really bare cupboard. The problem is, you can still see the transition out of the triple option on their tape from the end of last year. Coach 3: They've recruited a bunch of guys that other staffs think are overrated. That’s fine, you have a difference in evaluations, but they aren't a development program either. Coach 4: They had one of the worst secondaries I've ever seen last year., and all those guys are gone, so maybe so maybe that is a positive move? The bigger problem is that the guys up front who could help are gone, too, so they're going to need multiple unknowns to step up if they're going to do anything. Coach 5: The failure here has been recruiting. It's been the exact thing he made such a big deal about in the first place, recruiting Atlanta talent to stay in Atlanta. They're as much of a non-factor on legit talent now as they were under Paul Johnson.
GAME 1
Athlon on Clemson: This defense is good enough to win a national title. It comes down to the offense. The running game should be dependable, but if Uiagalelei is going to have to make some players in the passing game for Clemson to have the year it wants to have.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Clemson: Coach 1: I think losing Brent Venables is going to be really interesting. He was such a force there; it's more that losing a coordinator. He drove the whole thing on defense. The good thing for them is they have really good players on defense right now, and I think Wes Goodwin did a good job in the bowl game running the same scheme. He is really smart, but there are huge shoes to fill. Coach 2: The three defensive linemen are back, the linebackers Coach 3: They've recruited a bunch of guys that other staffs think are overrated. That’s fine, you have a difference in evaluate, and the freshman safety is tremendous. There's a core there where they can keep going and it'll look about the same this year. Coach 4: The WR have fallen off; when they were rolling and winning nattys, that position flat-out scared you. Now they're league average, same at RB. Coach 5: They're not recruiting like they have. There's also a giant difference between NIL in the ACC, BIG10, and SEC. Are they beating Bama and those guys from here on out? They're still the best program in this league, but they've never had so many questions moving fwd. This is the start of the next era for them, and it's possible they're not a national title winner anymore.
GAME 2
Athlon on WCU: No coverage.
GAME 3
Athlon on Ole Miss: They lost 11 starters from last year's team but reloaded as well as anyone through the transfer portal. QB Corral had a lot on his plate last season and the winner of the QB derby will go a long way in determining whether or not the Rebels take a step back in 2022.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Ole Miss: Coach 1: You can reduce them down to QB. If Jaxson Dart is a dude, they're going to be lethal on ofense and can win as many games as last year. If he's not it's going to be a really long, bad season. This program is going to live and die with the QBs as long as Lane Kiffin is there, low floor, high ceiling. Coach 2: OC Lebby leaving is going to be a bigger hit behind the scenes of the program than the play calling or development. He was de facto head coach for a lot of stuff Lane wasn't around for and put out a lot of fires. Coach 3: They're relying on transfers for both starting roles and quantity depth at almost every skill position on offense. That's a big gamble. The TCU RB is good, the transfers at WR are good, but that risky Coach 4: They had one of the worst secondary. Culture is a real thing, and with a new OC, there's so much uncertainty. Coach 5: The defense still looks like it is shaking off the probation years, but they are not as bad as they were. Dj Durkin got them turned around in the bigger areas, but he's gone, and they're not really deep. With all the changes on offense, they'll need to be at least as good as they were last year. Coach 6: Let's see how Lane is maturing. Almost all they piece he had on staff and on the roster that made last season special are gone. He's starting almost from scratch, and it’s going to take a different kind of head coach than he's been in Oxford to continue the momentum they had in '21.
GAME 4
Athlon on UCF Malzahn overcame a rash of injuries to put together a solid 9-4 season. With 14 returning starters and a host of plug-n-play transfers additions, there is strong optimism that the knights can leap back into the conference championship contention.
GAME 5
Athlon on Pitt Narduzzi put to rest questions about job security in leading Pitt to its first top 25 finish in 12 years and its most wins since the Dan Marino Era. The key is sustaining this success. It’s no secret that Pickett was the most impactful player in decades. His former teammates, along with Slovis are tasked with creating their own identity, while proving that 2021 was a harbinger of future success.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Pitt: Coach 1: The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of QB you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under the radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing OC Mark Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat, but that not a bad thing all of the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to go in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked they had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well. Coach 2: The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He is a different style player than Kenny. I think new OC Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring the BC offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better. Coach 3: The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants, they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat for better or worse, maul you or get too aggressive and go zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high end talent. Coach 4: The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows the expectations for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year.
GAME 6
Athlon on Duke Elko and his new staff take over a program that been the ACC's worst on the field over the last two seasons, so there is plenty of work to be done. The Blue Devils have to prove they can play at this level, something they didn't do over the last two seasons.
Opposing Coaches Size Up Duke: Coach 1: Check back in with these guys down the road. It’s going to be bad for a bit, but mike Elko is really smart hire for this program. He hired a really sharp staff, picked off a guy from Wake, and they're going to over haul the talent evaluation and strip everything down. Coach 2: The way things ended for Cutcliffe was really tough, but when the problem is your signature area, the QB play the offense, you can't really explain that away. It got to a point where a lot of us thought he was tired. Defenses were able to call out plays before the snap because they were so tendency heavy that they ran only one or two things out of a formation Coach 3: This compares a little like Hafley at BC coming from Ohio State: Don't think about Elko as the A&M guy coming to DUKE; think of him as the guy who can sign , develop, and scheme. Duke is a lot closer to ND than A7M in that way. He is going to build a system, and he doesn't have to take any shortcuts because of the deal they gave him. Coach 4: This year will be bad, and they have space to figure out what works and what doesn't. Kevin johsn is a really good OC; it's possible they'll look better at the end of this season that they did at the end of last year.
