My 0.05
1) Recruiting is very difficult to do at GT, for reasons that have been discussed here to death. In short, it is hard to get in (limited pool of applicants), we don't have a lot of majors (a turn off to some), we are a difficult school (a turn off to others), and our fan base sucks compared to many other schools (in terms of number of fans who show up to the games). We also have stiff regional competition from a number of schools within a 2-3 hour drive away.
2) In light of #1, I would say that nobody who comes to coach at GT has any feel for what recruiting here is like. I'm sure there are some universal tenants of recruiting, but Chan's experiences in the NFL and at Samford/Birmingham probably didn't translate, nor did O'Leary's experience at San Diego (his experience as our DC obviously helped). CPJ's experience at Navy, which has a similarly limited pool of players to recruit from, is actually probably more relevant than most of our previous coaches.
3) I don't think we are anywhere close to firing CPJ. Some negative "fans" may be vocal about what they think, but they are in the minority. There is also the financial reality that, even if we wanted to fire CPJ, we probably couldn't until 2015.
4) Gailey's 2007 class was more of an outlier than an indication that he had flipped a switch and became a great recruiter. Our 2008 class wasn't shaping up to be much at the time that Gailey was canned. In fact, not a single four star was committed at the time Gailey was canned. Uzzi was a solid recruit, but he wasn't ours until after CPJ got here. Just like you can't compare any of CPJ's classes to the 2007 class, you can't compare any of Gailey's classes to that class, either.
5) In response to Texas Stinger's post - nobody is saying CPJ had no idea how to recruit when he got here. That's just dumb. You'd also be an idiot to think that being HC at GT does not require a good deal of learning on the job. See No. 1. I'd rather have someone who knows how to coach football, but needs to learn the nuances of recruiting at a school like GT, as opposed to someone who is intimately familiar with our school but can't coach a lick.
6) As to QuadF's statement that CPJ is "too stubborn to even bother recruiting." I hope you are kidding. That's the most idiotic thing I've ever read on here. You really thing CPJ doesn't bother recruiting? As an initial matter, head coaches do significantly less recruiting than what most uninformed fans think. The head coaches simply don't have time to talk to all of our recruits every week (hopefully they are coaching football). A lot of that falls on position coaches. The recruiting coordinators job is to make sure those responsibilities are delegated appropriately.
Moreover, the thought that CPJ doesn't want to recruit makes no sense. If it were solely up to him, I'm sure that he would bring in only 5 star guys. But the realities of #1 make that impossible. Most recruits prioritize the stage they want to play on over all other considerations. Thus, playing in front of 90k at an SEC school is infinitely more appealing than playing in front of 45k with us. Even if CPJ plays every card GT has right, we simply aren't going to land that many elite recruits. For those of you who disagree, answer me this: if you were an elite recruit, why would you go to GT?
7) In response to jacketup - how much would you pay to have Bill Belichick or Bill Cowher coach at GT? Neither of them has ever coached a college team. I care more about football knowledge than prior experience at BCS schools, although I'm sure that experience doesn't hurt. My guess is there wasn't a better candidate who had experience at that level.
