johncu
Dodd-Like
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,560
Groh was a big name hire when the program needed a big name. His defenses were pretty consistently good at UVA.
I don't think at the time it was a bad hire. I just think there was a major personality clash and Groh was stubborn to change what obviously wasn't working here. It was definitely time to go our separate ways.
He was a big name hire but it is not good that
CPJ did not recognize we did not have
The needed personnel for Groh's scheme and
That our recruiting challenges would make
It difficult to get those guys, to me another
indication that CPJ badly underestimated
the special recruiting challenges at GT
It's not like UVA is a homerun recruiter. They have comparable or worse talent levels than we do and his defenses there weren't as bad as they were here.
exactly, but I think a key difference is that the state of VA produces more students who value education.
which is why CPJ made the move to more Catholic schools in recruiting, if nothing else, Groh taught us where to look for kids who value academics and football, and gave us some decent relationships in the DC Area.
He was a big name hire but it is not good that
CPJ did not recognize we did not have
The needed personnel for Groh's scheme and
That our recruiting challenges would make
It difficult to get those guys, to me another
indication that CPJ badly underestimated
the special recruiting challenges at GT
he may get it now but we have suffered with
that learning curve
And I DO want CPJ to succeed and stay
At GT but Dayum
True, but I think a key difference is that the state of VA produces more students who value education. The comparison was there from a school standpoint (good academics, good football) but not from a recruiting pool standpoint.
Which is why CPJ made the move to more Catholic and Prep schools in recruiting, if nothing else, Groh taught us where to look for kids who value academics and football, and gave us some decent relationships in the DC Area.
Maybe he just didn't want to throw Groh under the bus?
True, but I think a key difference is that the state of VA produces more students who value education. The comparison was there from a school standpoint (good academics, good football) but not from a recruiting pool standpoint.
Which is why CPJ made the move to more Catholic and Prep schools in recruiting, if nothing else, Groh taught us where to look for kids who value academics and football, and gave us some decent relationships in the DC Area.
Maybe he just didn't want to throw Groh under the bus?
Dude, it has nothing to do with high schoolers in virginia wanting an education. Virginia is the flagship school of the state, i.e. uva is that states version of uga. Anyone wanting a generally good education goes to uva.
Dude, it has nothing to do with high schoolers in virginia wanting an education. Virginia is the flagship school of the state, i.e. uva is that states version of uga. Anyone wanting a generally good education goes to uva.
This. 2 reasons.
1) Groh was married to scheme that needed NFL caliber players on the DL.
2) Groh was a dick. Dicks are ok if successful, but there is nothing worse than an unproductive dick.
Exactly. At the time of firing, it came out that a main reason that Groh's system did not work is that Groh had the players only for a few hours a day, guys missing practices because of afternoon labs, and the kids having to study for courses and not defense formations, all causing confusion on the field. Unlike the pros. But I think he has realized that to keep telling that the academics and labs at Tech was the main reason for failure was not good for recruiting so he has backed off.He didn't say "If I knew, I'd have fixed it." He said "If I knew, I'd know."
Furthermore, CPJ really does know. There has to be a solid and concrete reason that Groh didn't work out.
It was something like "he didn't trust his assistants" or "had too complicated a scheme and we didn't have enough practice time to teach it" or "didn't recruit good enough players to his defense" or "his scheme simply doesn't work" or some combination of all of those.
But there is a reason and rest assured, CPJ knows what the reason is. I don't expect him to actually tell us, and I'm fine with that. But by firing Groh, it says to me that he knew what was wrong and he didn;t feel like it could be fixed with Groh. Like, if it was the fact that our players aren't good enough to run a scheme, then we have to run a different scheme because we're not going to be getting better players.
But to say "If I knew, I'd know" is just a way of side-stepping the question.
Either way, it was not an attack on Groh.