I caugt alotta grief on this board...

A

ALlives

Guest
...back in early October for posting my thoughts about the coaching staff and the state of the football program. I have one thing to say...........................any questions???

I can sit here and toot my own horn about how right I was. I can post here and remind many of you about the personal slander I took for telling what I thought was the truth. That will get us nowhere! I take NO PRIDE in posting my true feelings about the program. But I am not going to look the other way either. We have major problems and something needs to be done, or we will continue to be a sports afterthought in this state.

What I'm concerned with is what we "DO ABOUT IT!" I think it is every TECH fans responsibility to let the AD know what our feelings are about the money we sink into the program and what the results are. LORD knows what I've e-mailed to DB. To say that I am very displeased is an understatement.

The worst that can happen is GA TECH supporters not say/e-mail anything. That means "APATHY"....NOT CARING"....and that is the worst of all.

It is up to the rest of us to decide what to do about the embarrassment we have become. We can let our feelings known and give suggestions/recommendations to the AD or we can stick our collective heads in the sand, and look the other way, which is the normal TECH response.

I am not an expert and I do not have the answers. At the same time I can recognize trouble and right now GA TECH has invented the word.

We cannot afford to sit back or we will pay an even greater price. My suggestions will come later, but for the sake of the program let the AD know your feelings about what has transpired and let him know your disgust. If we look the other way we will never crawl out of this abyss!
 
AL, I read your posts about our football and basketball coaching staffs. In Hewitt's case, our freshman and sophomores haven't grown up like we thought.

In Gailey's case, we can't tell much in just one season.
 
AL, I remember your posts and know how you feel. Unfortunately, this will get worse before it gets better. Bill Fulcher, a fine man who was one of my favorite Tech coaches, did the honorable thing and simply resigned since he did not want to coach anymore. I was there at the Peach Bowl and watched Ole Miss kill us (and I thought 41 points was bad). It is my prediction we will go through another Lewis type situation before we cut our losses.

I believe this because most programs actually start their turnaround or their collapse a year or so before the regime change. Lewis took over a disintegrating Ross team. A few years later the character issue really showed when we blew the one to Charlie Ward and FSU - we never recovered - and the QB controversy just kept things brewed up. This tiime, Gailey inherited a far better team than was O'Leary's case, where it took him several years just to get some fight back in us and get competitive again. Gaily, after this type of record, cannot leave on his own (Curry and Ross), will not resign honorably (Fulcher), but has a real mess on his hands (Lewis).

The chances for a turnaround are slim. We face the 03 season without the necessary components for a winning season: (1) experience and ability at the QB position (2) A schedule that includes some of the top rated and most confident programs in the nation - Georgia, Auburn, NC State, Maryland. Games that used to be a tossup at worst such as Wake and Virginia hardly seem winnable the way the season ended. (3) Lack of esprit de corps. Lets face it - this staff and team don't have a real philosophy nor any chemistry.

Many of us have raised legitimate questions about our program, only to be swiped at with the negative charge. You were indeed right. As to what will be done? Nothing. We will just have to wait it out, maybe go on a long fishing trip where there are no Sportscenter hightlights of the other team against us, limited access to the taunting, until a change is made.

In a dream world AL, CG would retire honorably, and we would bring in Hawkins from Boise State or someone similar who has an established track record of coaching a winning team with limited resources, runs a tight ship from the discipline standpoint, and would view Tech as a step up. I remember Ohio State had some idiots who wondered why they were hiring Tressle from Youngstown, and look at them now.
 
I read your posts back then and was in agreement. NO ONE should be slandered for being a dedicated fan who cares about the program and the team. A coach is an employee of the school. When things are good, fans are positive. When things are bad, fans show their displeasure. Unfortunately, there was more displeasure this season and we as fans need to be able to present our case as we always have. I've sent my concerns to the AD and the Associate ADs.
 
AL,

I did not read your old posts (or if I did, I don't remember them). But your post above clarifies your position enough for me. I think you bring up alot of good points. However, the difference is that I don't think 1 year is enough time to judge a coach. You have come to a definite conclusion about Gailey...but I don't think you're being fair. IMO, any coach (not just CG, but any coach) deserves a 3 year period before he is fired. That's just my view. If we fired Gailey, or if he was pressured into resigning, then no coach worth his salt would want this job.

Your mention of Bill Lewis inheriting a disintegrating Ross squad is a good analogy. But Lewis' record in his first year was 5-6 (worse than Ross' 7-5 in 1991). Gailey, OTOH, kept us at 7-5. I think he at least deserves credit for not making our record worse than what he inherited.

IMO, Gailey inherited a program where a malaise kind of set in after Fridge left. You could see it develop in 2001. To me, that's the root of alot of our problems. We lost the best OC we've ever had, and we're having trouble severing the umbilical cord. We kept an understudy of Fridge to run our Offense. He's got the same playbook, but he can't run the offense with the same efficiency of Fridge. He also can't coach the QB the way Fridge could coach. This year, for the first time since 1996, we didn't have a Fridge-tutored QB in the system...and the bottom fell out.

IMO, Gailey might have been just as stunned as the rest of us that our offense did so bad this year. He probably hired BOB thinking "hey, those 2001 numbers looked good, let's keep the leader of that unit". What he didn't realize is that the 2001 numbers on offense were deceptive and that the real genius behind the offense departed right before the 2000 Peach Bowl. The fans could see some subtle differences between 2000 and 2001 on offense, but held our breath, hoping that BOB could keep the ship afloat. This year, that did not happen.

All of that is just background noise though. Gailey is now the head coach...and it's time for him to assert himself. If we can't run a Fridge type offense efficiently and can't coach the QB's up to be able to run a Fridge offense, then let's just snap the umbilical cord and go to something else. Let's simplify things and try to play some smashmouth and pass off play-action.

Whatever it takes, let's just move on and give Gailey a chance to fix this mess he inherited. If he can't fix it, then I'll be there with you in a couple of years screaming for his head as much as the next guy.

Interestingly, it seems that Gailey's defensive hires have worked out well. Our defense played well all year outside of the UGA game and the 3rd quarter of MD. It's time for Gailey to fix the offense, either with his own offense or a new coordinator (if he thinks that's needed).
 
Thank you, Bug. My thoughts exactly.

After the fact, this season takes on a focus that allows all of us to see where we've come from and what we need to do to get to where we want to be. We need to give Gailey&Co. the chance to take that next step.
 
Originally posted by ALlives:
...back in early October for posting my thoughts about the coaching staff and the state of the football program. I have one thing to say...........................any questions???

I can sit here and toot my own horn about how right I was. I can post here and remind many of you about the personal slander I took for telling what I thought was the truth. That will get us nowhere! I take NO PRIDE in posting my true feelings about the program. But I am not going to look the other way either. We have major problems and something needs to be done, or we will continue to be a sports afterthought in this state.

What I'm concerned with is what we "DO ABOUT IT!" I think it is every TECH fans responsibility to let the AD know what our feelings are about the money we sink into the program and what the results are. LORD knows what I've e-mailed to DB. To say that I am very displeased is an understatement.

The worst that can happen is GA TECH supporters not say/e-mail anything. That means "APATHY"....NOT CARING"....and that is the worst of all.

It is up to the rest of us to decide what to do about the embarrassment we have become. We can let our feelings known and give suggestions/recommendations to the AD or we can stick our collective heads in the sand, and look the other way, which is the normal TECH response.

I am not an expert and I do not have the answers. At the same time I can recognize trouble and right now GA TECH has invented the word.

We cannot afford to sit back or we will pay an even greater price. My suggestions will come later, but for the sake of the program let the AD know your feelings about what has transpired and let him know your disgust. If we look the other way we will never crawl out of this abyss!
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