Athlon Preview of Georgia TECH and their 2022 Schedule

FightOn!Jacket said:
Simply not true. GT like Stanford, NW and even ND cannot target the same players as tOSU, Bama, LSU, UGA, etc.

The schools academic requirements limit that pool from the start.
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I know that, and you know that; but the juice crew don't know that. "No more small ball"
 
If we can’t get out of the ACC to the B1G this will be the report every year regardless of the coach.
 
My forecast is that the final ranking of teams will be significantly different from what the experts predict now, and there will be some teams that end up 40-50 places different than expected. There will probably be some top 25 teams that no one anticipated. Preseason rankings are fine for killing time waiting for the season to start, but they always end up meaningless.
 
swampsting said:
Yeah, that quote makes me shake my head.
Four games in three years where the offense failed to score a single point. (Granted, UGa and ND were good last year, but still ....)
No more small ball indeed.
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Maybe my expectations were different than seemingly everyone else on this board but I fully expected years of pain as we transitioned away from the triple option all-in program commitment. I just dont believe there was any miracle man out there who could have taken over suddenly turned over the roster into a winning one within three years. I think it's much harder than that. It just takes time to regain momentum and its why *nobody* would hire Paul Johnson at the FBS level other than the service academies. He was the worst triple option coach we could have hired since he was 100% into running it the way it was run 40 years ago. Even modern triple option coaches have modified the offense to more RPO type standard college offense including the service academies.

Add in the extra challenges to recruiting that NIL has suddenly created and I think GT is in trouble and none of it is related to coach Collins. The only lifeboat out there is the B1G. The SEC would bring us maybe slightly more $$$ but then we wouldn't win more than 2-3 games a year with that schedule. Not fun.
 
GTFLETCH said:
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.
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Holy crap. Our opponents are going to be mocking us before we even play. We need to punch Clemson in the mouth
 
TampaBayJacket said:
Maybe my expectations were different than seemingly everyone else on this board but I fully expected years of pain as we transitioned away from the triple option all-in program commitment. I just dont believe there was any miracle man out there who could have taken over suddenly turned over the roster into a winning one within three years. I think it's much harder than that. It just takes time to regain momentum and its why *nobody* would hire Paul Johnson at the FBS level other than the service academies. He was the worst triple option coach we could have hired since he was 100% into running it the way it was run 40 years ago. Even modern triple option coaches have modified the offense to more RPO type standard college offense including the service academies.

Add in the extra challenges to recruiting that NIL has suddenly created and I think GT is in trouble and none of it is related to coach Collins. The only lifeboat out there is the B1G. The SEC would bring us maybe slightly more $$$ but then we wouldn't win more than 2-3 games a year with that schedule. Not fun.
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I think we knew there would be some struggles.
But there really isn't any excuse for losing 45-0 at home to a mediocre Va Tech, regardless of any transition. Or scoring nothing on offense against a Temple team that wound up canning its coach after three years.

You know the other troubling thing?
Collins said he was spending more time on the offense last year, right? And we got bageled in the last two games.
Maybe he shouldn't have spent so much with the O.
And now he turns more of his attention to the D. Which has been 13th or worse in the ACC in each of the last three seasons. That's as scary as being behind the wheel of a car with no brakes and blindfolded on 400 at rush hour.
 
swampsting said:
I think we knew there would be some struggles.
But there really isn't any excuse for losing 45-0 at home to a mediocre Va Tech, regardless of any transition. Or scoring nothing on offense against a Temple team that wound up canning its coach after three years.

You know the other troubling thing?
Collins said he was spending more time on the offense last year, right? And we got bageled in the last two games.
Maybe he shouldn't have spent so much with the O.
And now he turns more of his attention to the D. Which has been 13th or worse in the ACC in each of the last three seasons. That's as scary as being behind the wheel of a car with no brakes and blindfolded on 400 at rush hour.
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He sucks dude. It's that simple.
 
MACHETE said:
He sucks dude. It's that simple.
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No one is defending CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years. So with that said, I’ll ask again.

Where is the $$$ going to come from to buyout CGC, and hire a better HC, staff, etc? From all accounts, the GTAA is broke. The 1/X millionaire alums GT loves to tell everyone about sure aren’t investing in the athletics programs, or else GT wouldn’t be in the position they are currently in.

I’ll include hoops in this same question. GT doesn’t have a true funding from fans like Clemson.
 
FightOn!Jacket said:
No one is defending CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years. So with that said, I’ll ask again.

Where is the $$$ going to come from to buyout CGC, and hire a better HC, staff, etc? From all accounts, the GTAA is broke. The 1/X millionaire alums GT loves to tell everyone about sure aren’t investing in the athletics programs, or else GT wouldn’t be in the position they are currently in.

I’ll include hoops in this same question. GT doesn’t have a true funding from fans like Clemson.
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The $$ argument is a red herring.
Stansbury raised over $150 mil in one year and won some fundraiser award.
He also said that he had the buyout money available last year.
The Hewitt contract,the CGC contract and bringing him back for a 4th season may very well be
the three worst AD decisions in the history of the NCAA!
 
BuzzinWreck78 said:
The $$ argument is a red herring.
Stansbury raised over $150 mil in one year and won some fundraiser award.
He also said that he had the buyout money available last year.
The Hewitt contract,the CGC contract and bringing him back for a 4th season may very well be
the three worst AD decisions in the history of the NCAA!
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CPJ bailed GT out by retiring last time. And TS still went on the cheap and hired someone based on a pitch who at the time had limited experience as an HC, but was known for his recruiting. So far that’s shown to be a fail.

Buyout $$$ doesn’t mean they have the $$$ to lure a proven HC from another school. With all the uncertainty around conferences not named the B1G / SEC you would think someone would be interested if GT or the ACC can hold firm and secure themselves for the future. Problem is, as Football Scoop has reported in the past, GT is attractive to a lot of coaches initially due to the city and state of Georgia, but they are turned off by the lack of commitment by the school / academics.

If $$$ is not there and the 2022 season ends with 3 wins, it seems like GT would be in position to go after a MAC level HC or the “hot” coordinator name of the year. Is this OK with you at this point? Because it seems like the same process GT just went through 3 years ago. Another overhaul / rebuild. Unlike Michigan State, GT can’t bring in 20 players from the portal.

The Hewitt contract blunder is long in the rear view mirror at this point. And it’s funny to think now that CGC was fired for never having a losing season. Wow have things changed.
 
FightOn!Jacket said:
No one is defending CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years. So with that said, I’ll ask again.

Where is the $$$ going to come from to buyout CGC, and hire a better HC, staff, etc? From all accounts, the GTAA is broke. The 1/X millionaire alums GT loves to tell everyone about sure aren’t investing in the athletics programs, or else GT wouldn’t be in the position they are currently in.

I’ll include hoops in this same question. GT doesn’t have a true funding from fans like Clemson.
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Anyone that either brings up CGC’s way was inevitable in a post CPJ world or limitations in getting an adequate replacement is stuck on Bargaining and needs to start seeking help.

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swampsting said:
Athlon ranked all 131 FBS teams.

Here's their Tech ranking and their take on Tech:

88. Georgia Tech
With a 9-25 mark over the last three years, it’s no secret coach Geoff Collins enters the ’22 season squarely on the hot seat. In addition to a roster that returns only four starters, an unforgiving schedule is on tap featuring non-conference matchups against Georgia, Ole Miss and UCF, along with ACC crossover games versus Clemson and Florida State. For the Yellow Jackets to take a step forward, more consistency is needed at quarterback from Jeff Sims (12 TDs, 7 INTs last season). And if Sims struggles, two transfers in Zach Gibson (Akron) and Taisun Phommachanh (Clemson) are waiting to push for snaps. Although Jahmyr Gibbs transferred to Alabama, the running back room is still in good shape with Dontae Smith, Hassan Hall and Buffalo transfer Dylan McDuffie. However, just one starter returns up front, and the receiving corps brings back a single player that caught more than 15 passes (Malachi Carter) last fall. Major improvement is needed on a defense that has ranked 13th or worse in the ACC in points allowed in each of Collins’ three years at the helm. Linebacker Charlie Thomas is the unit’s top player, but he will be playing with a lot of new faces as just one other starter returns and major turnover was experienced up front and in the secondary.
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This shows how stupid Athlon is. Had they only asked some other coaches, they would know Gef is considered one of the elite defensive minds in all football, including the pros. He’s just been working on the culture, but now he’s taking a deep dive into everything.
 
TampaBayJacket said:
Maybe my expectations were different than seemingly everyone else on this board but I fully expected years of pain as we transitioned away from the triple option all-in program commitment. I just dont believe there was any miracle man out there who could have taken over suddenly turned over the roster into a winning one within three years. I think it's much harder than that. It just takes time to regain momentum and its why *nobody* would hire Paul Johnson at the FBS level other than the service academies. He was the worst triple option coach we could have hired since he was 100% into running it the way it was run 40 years ago. Even modern triple option coaches have modified the offense to more RPO type standard college offense including the service academies.

Add in the extra challenges to recruiting that NIL has suddenly created and I think GT is in trouble and none of it is related to coach Collins. The only lifeboat out there is the B1G. The SEC would bring us maybe slightly more $$$ but then we wouldn't win more than 2-3 games a year with that schedule. Not fun.
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Maybe we should’ve put the same amount of money behind PJ. We’ve given Gef more money, more coaches and more support, and we haven’t even reached double digit wins in 3 years combined.
 
FightOn!Jacket said:
No one is defending CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years. So with that said, I’ll ask again.

Where is the $$$ going to come from to buyout CGC, and hire a better HC, staff, etc? From all accounts, the GTAA is broke. The 1/X millionaire alums GT loves to tell everyone about sure aren’t investing in the athletics programs, or else GT wouldn’t be in the position they are currently in.

I’ll include hoops in this same question. GT doesn’t have a true funding from fans like Clemson.
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How is this NOT a defense of "CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years".

TampaBayJacket said:
Maybe my expectations were different than seemingly everyone else on this board but I fully expected years of pain as we transitioned away from the triple option all-in program commitment. I just dont believe there was any miracle man out there who could have taken over suddenly turned over the roster into a winning one within three years. I think it's much harder than that. It just takes time to regain momentum and its why *nobody* would hire Paul Johnson at the FBS level other than the service academies. He was the worst triple option coach we could have hired since he was 100% into running it the way it was run 40 years ago. Even modern triple option coaches have modified the offense to more RPO type standard college offense including the service academies.

Add in the extra challenges to recruiting that NIL has suddenly created and I think GT is in trouble and none of it is related to coach Collins. The only lifeboat out there is the B1G. The SEC would bring us maybe slightly more $$$ but then we wouldn't win more than 2-3 games a year with that schedule. Not fun.
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aeromech said:
How is this NOT a defense of "CGC for the results and lack of progress after 3 years".
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You’re kidding, right? I didn’t like the CGC hire from day 1, add in the other stuff via marketing, etc and it was obvious this experiment wasn’t going to end well. He got a pass for year 1 and the COVID year, but last year was supposed to show improvement based on recruiting, etc. I watched 1 GT game. The inexplicable loss to Northern Illinois. There are too many other games on against teams who are in it to win on Saturday’s than to waste my time watching what GT has become aka Vanderbilt lite right now.

Fact is, he’s the clear #3 in HC’s in the state of Georgia. Clay Helton who was in over his head at USC, already eclipsed CGC when he signed with Georgia Southern. Helton on paper was a HR hire for GSU.

Do you expect GT to make a HR type hire in the next year or 2?
 
FightOn!Jacket said:
You’re kidding, right? I didn’t like the CGC hire from day 1, add in the other stuff via marketing, etc and it was obvious this experiment wasn’t going to end well. He got a pass for year 1 and the COVID year, but last year was supposed to show improvement based on recruiting, etc. I watched 1 GT game. The inexplicable loss to Northern Illinois. There are too many other games on against teams who are in it to win on Saturday’s than to waste my time watching what GT has become aka Vanderbilt lite right now.

Fact is, he’s the clear #3 in HC’s in the state of Georgia. Clay Helton who was in over his head at USC, already eclipsed CGC when he signed with Georgia Southern. Helton on paper was a HR hire for GSU.

Do you expect GT to make a HR type hire in the next year or 2?
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I don't know how your response addresses in any way TampaBay's post; but ok.
 
swampsting said:
I think we knew there would be some struggles.
But there really isn't any excuse for losing 45-0 at home to a mediocre Va Tech, regardless of any transition. Or scoring nothing on offense against a Temple team that wound up canning its coach after three years.

You know the other troubling thing?
Collins said he was spending more time on the offense last year, right? And we got bageled in the last two games.
Maybe he shouldn't have spent so much with the O.
And now he turns more of his attention to the D. Which has been 13th or worse in the ACC in each of the last three seasons. That's as scary as being behind the wheel of a car with no brakes and blindfolded on 400 at rush hour.
Click to expand...
I don't really know if CGC is a bad coach or not. Perhaps an offensive genius could've avoided getting shut out in those games but who cares if we lose 51-14 instead of 51-0? I'm sure there are better coaches maybe we could have brought in but the results wouldn't have been too dissimilar. PJ really cratered this roster to the point you might even had taken Navy's roster over ours his last couple of years.
 
I have purchased a few cars over the years. I absolutely hate dealing with car salesman. I had one try to get me to finance a car at 5.5% because I would get $1000 cash back. He must have thought that I was an idiot since he already knew I qualified for the no Interest loan.

Anyway when Tech hired Collins and I first heard him speak, he talked just like a used car salesman; using catchphrases, trying to pull the wool over your eyes, the greatest rebuild ever known to man, etc. So from day one I've always equated Collins to a used car salesman and it looks like it is working out that way so far.

Then at the first spring game he has the team line up in a triple option formation and then splits them out to a spread, shotgun formation and all I could think was, what a dickhead move.

So yeah, I've never really been warm on the slick talking used car salesman. But I do like Georgia Tech so hopefully the school can sever ties soon and we can move on to someone else that can coach football at an "elite" level.
 
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