If you've lost faith in CCG

Fire the entire offensive staff.

Hire an offensive staff that understands modern college football, particularly the passing game. DanR would probably need to do this.

Gailey has no input into the offense. Make him sit in the stands during games.
 
refrigeratormover said:
Clapper I didn't realize you had so much hate for Bill, Did you play for him?
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No, I didn't play for him and don't confuse my disdain for hate. And it isn't directed only at him. The 'Old Guard' (which is still hobbling around The Flats) receives much of the blame IMO. Curry was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Granted, Pepper made a bunch of people mad with his personal behavior, but like Chan, he won games he wasn't supposed to and lost games he wasn't supposed to. Then limped home somewhere at or just above/below .500. Tech had been limping along for 12 years at that point and I think the Dodd era players had finally had enough. They put the screws on the AA and basically shoved Curry down our throats.

From a student's perspective, we had a guy with virtually no experience who dressed like he should be a State Cop in a 'B' movie - the previously mentioned mirrored sunglasses, perfectly coifed hair, and clothes that always appeared to be one size too small in order to show off his muscles. He threatened to bring the cheaters to their knees. To us, he simply acted aloof. And then, came out of the gate 11-32-1. Even after that he only improved to 20-11-3 and left Bobby Ross with teams that went 5-17 (with no ACC wins!) in his first two seasons.

Maybe he's a nice guy in person, but as far as I'm concerned, he did more to destroy Tech athletics than even Dave Braine ever has.

(Aside: It was scary how much Larry Coker doing the color in last week's game sounded like Curry.)
 
clapper said:
No, I didn't play for him and don't confuse my disdain for hate. And it isn't directed only at him. The 'Old Guard' (which is still hobbling around The Flats) receives much of the blame IMO. Curry was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Granted, Pepper made a bunch of people mad with his personal behavior, but like Chan, he won games he wasn't supposed to and lost games he wasn't supposed to. Then limped home somewhere at or just above/below .500. Tech had been limping along for 12 years at that point and I think the Dodd era players had finally had enough. They put the screws on the AA and basically shoved Curry down our throats.

From a student's perspective, we had a guy with virtually no experience who dressed like he should be a State Cop in a 'B' movie - the previously mentioned mirrored sunglasses, perfectly coifed hair, and clothes that always appeared to be one size too small in order to show off his muscles. He threatened to bring the cheaters to their knees. To us, he simply acted aloof. And then, came out of the gate 11-32-1. Even after that he only improved to 20-11-3 and left Bobby Ross with teams that went 5-17 (with no ACC wins!) in his first two seasons.

Maybe he's a nice guy in person, but as far as I'm concerned, he did more to destroy Tech athletics than even Dave Braine ever has.

(Aside: It was scary how much Larry Coker doing the color in last week's game sounded like Curry.)
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Lot of finger pointing here, Clapper...hobbling Old Guard, Bill Curry, Dave Braine. You might also like to include Bobby Dodd, since he took us out of the SEC and Dr. Petit who favored academics over athletics. Anybody else you might like to include in the blame lineup?
 
You must be thinking of a different Bill Curry. His 1st 2 years were painful, but when I was in school he was respected and revered by the crowd I hung around with. There were some gripes about running between the tackles 80% of the time on 1st down (OK, maybe it was 90%), but overall he was popular.

Then his team beat UGAg in '84 and '85 and he was very popular. '86 was a disappointing season, but we were still sad to see him go to 'Bama. Curry could definitely recruit OL - his OL recruits were the anchors of our MNC in 1990 and 'Bama's in 1992.

The early 80's were an exciting time to be at Tech. We had just joined the ACC, and Curry and Cremins were rebuilding the programs in their image.
 
Essobee said:
Lot of finger pointing here, Clapper...hobbling Old Guard, Bill Curry, Dave Braine. You might also like to include Bobby Dodd, since he took us out of the SEC and Dr. Petit who favored academics over athletics. Anybody else you might like to include in the blame lineup?
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The Old Guard is in fact hobbling. The ones that are still alive anyway. Also, I didn't crap on Braine. He's got his very own thread. Can't speak about Dodd. He was before my time.

Curry? Yes. I was out of school by the time he decided to start winning (as a matter of fact, I think Fridge Mover and I figured out that he spent a summer working for my company when he first got to town). So, the fact that he was 'loved' by then means nothing to me. I hold Bill personally responsible for making my last few years at Tech miserable as hell. FWIW, I still had season tickets in the South endzone from the time I got out. It wasn't like I abandonned the team.

As far as Petit goes, he was known as Skeletor by us.

One thing I will point out that didn't help Curry is that Bobby Cremins was hired not long afterwards and was not only personable, but made the basketball games fun to attend, even the first few years when they struggled.
 
I hold Bill personally responsible for making my last few years at Tech miserable as hell.
quote]
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Clapper: So thermodynamics didn't have anything to do with your miserable last few years?

Please read mm42's post:

The early 80's were an exciting time to be at Tech. We had just joined the ACC, and Curry and Cremins were rebuilding the programs in their image.
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That's the way I see it as well. You should have watched us fall from our lofty perch when Bobby Dodd pulled us from the SEC just as the pros came to town. We went from top cat to bottom rat in a decade. Bill came into a disaster; so did Homer; so did Bobby. They saved us. You had it good during your tenure. You're having it good now if only you could see it.

Old Guard? Bad news, my friend. You're the Old Guard now.
 
I liked Pepper but I was nowhere near the Flats at that time. I liked his flamboyant personality and his teams did perform better than his predecessor or his successor.

However, several of the anti-Pepper crowd who were a bit older at the time pointed out that he achieved those 7-4 and 6-5 records with top ten talent (11-0 or 9-2 talent.) And he did manage to land us with a team that had no (not even a bad one) QB within shouting distance.

So I can understand the Pepper critics, but then again he didn't do anything or act any differently than he did at UCLA. So I don't know why the "old guard" would be surprised. And I am NOT convinced that Pepper could not eventually have won nine or ten games in a special season. Heck, we had Spurrier on staff at the end.

Anytime you change coaches there is a risk things will get worse rather than better. If and when I believe that Chan can ever do better than eight wins with the top talent we can get, then I am back onboard. But if we are condemned to six or seven wins forever, then I will risk the possibility of 1-10 seasons for a chance at something better.
 
When you've gotten your ass kicked by Thermo all week, you don't need your football team to lose every game for two years running (yes, I know there was a season opening away win at 'Bama mixed in, but we hadn't even made it back to campus for the Fall quarter yet).

Essobee said:
You should have watched us fall from our lofty perch when Bobby Dodd pulled us from the SEC just as the pros came to town. We went from top cat to bottom rat in a decade. Bill came into a disaster; so did Homer; so did Bobby. They saved us. You had it good during your tenure. You're having it good now if only you could see it.
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I can't disagree with your last statement. I'm not part of the anti-Gailey faction. And from my point of view, I think you are right that Homer and Bobby saved us. Curry on the other hand was the last vestiges of the disaster. The savior (and Homer's hire) was Ross, not Curry.

And I agree things weren't in Bill's favor. The facilities absolutely sucked. Lonestar is correct - he was left with no QBs. But no matter the circumstances you inherit, there is no coach that should take a middle of the pack team and go 2-19-1 over the next two seasons (and 3-8 the following).

How about the rest of lonestar's post? He's describing the late 70's, but damn if it doesn't sound like right now when you listen to the complaints(except Chan has had even more success than Carson, Fulcher, Rodgers). He says he'd be okay with a couple 1-10 seasons. I wonder how many others would be. I know I don't ever want to live through that again.
 
Someone who played will probably chime in here, but I was in school while Pepper was coaching and it was a total circus. It was all about him, from his TV Show (where he did all the interviews and commercials) his celebrity guests at practice, etc. He was all about offense and flair, the defensive players I knew hated his guts. People complain about Chan's 7-5 records, well in Pepper's best year we went 7-5 with a team that included ELI, Kent and Drew Hill and Mike Kelley. I for one wasn't sad to see him go.
 
Well, if you blame Curry for his start (not defending him I don't think he was ready to be HC) then you also have to blame Ross for his first two years. People love to talk about Curry leaving the cupboad bare but I defy you to prove it. Go to the lineups section of the media guide and look at who Curry left. Ross simply couldn't adjust what he wanted to do to the players on hand. Those guys were at least middle of the road, in your words, and Ross broke them down to the basement. No excuse for those first 2 seasons other than Ross's stubbornness.
 
ncjacket said:
People complain about Chan's 7-5 records, well in Pepper's best year we went 7-5 with a team that included ELI, Kent and Drew Hill and Mike Kelley. I for one wasn't sad to see him go.
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You left off Lucius Sanford, Reggie Wilkes, Al Richardson, Don Besilieu... Of course, it was a circus. He not only had Spurrier on his staff. Glanville was there too!

And personalities aside, my original point was that we went from a team slightly less record-wise than what Chan is putting on the field today to a team that won 5 games in three years. I'm just not convinced the fan base would put up with that again. It's like folks don't remember.
 
And another thing for those of you thinking that we need a coaching change, either now or when GTAA gets back in the black, how many of you have stopped making your AT fund donations? Are you sitting around saying, "Oh cool, I don't have to give all that money anymore. I just have to pay $125/$250/$500." Because if you want a coach that will get us to that next level and you don't think Chan is capable, we'll have to put up major dollars. Now isn't exactly the time to be directing your funds elsewhere.
 
clapper said:
You left off Lucius Sanford, Reggie Wilkes, Al Richardson, Don Besilieu... Of course, it was a circus. He not only had Spurrier on his staff. Glanville was there too!

And personalities aside, my original point was that we went from a team slightly less record-wise than what Chan is putting on the field today to a team that won 5 games in three years. I'm just not convinced the fan base would put up with that again. It's like folks don't remember.
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The difference is that I felt like Pepper could somehow take us to the next level. He had the top talent but it was underperforming. I liken him a bit to Mack Brown who seemed to regularly get Texas to underperform while it had top talent. But Texas came around.

In hindsight, Pepper's staff was pretty stocked as was the team. I would say that says a lot about his nose for talent. And that's why I think he would have broken out of the middle eventually if he hadn't ticked off the wrong people with his personality.

I just do NOT have the same feeling about Chan Gailey in seeing a long term upside potential. This is his year and he can still save it. The sad thing is even a win tomorrow won't convince me he isn't still in the old pattern.

There have been multiple arguments over the years about just how important the UGA game might be. Well, that's another difference between Pepper and Chan. Pepper beat UGA. If Chan had the identical record he has now but with a couple of wins over UGA, I guarantee he would not be under the same scrutiny. There will always be malcontents for any program unless you are USC or OK, but you gotta beat your rival once in five years or so or you will lose the majority of your fans.

P.S.
I think Chan is a good guy. I know he knows football or he would not have risen to the level of the NFL, even briefly. And I know he wants to win. But I am not convinced he knows how to coach college kids to win. I am STILL hoping he proves me wrong with the rest of the season.
 
Funny how different folk see things. Pepper fell out of grace w/me due to his tv programs etc. and his general antics. He seemed to me to want the whole ball game to be about him instead of the team.
On the other hand, Bill Curry appeared to me to be a breath of fresh air, a person with class and integrity and pride in GT Football, with a desire to see GT football succeed.

Whether or not a player likes his coach(s) does not matter to me not even a little bit. Whether or not a player respects his coach(s) matters a whole heap of a lot. Curry appeared to me to have the respect of his team that I can't see Rogers ever having.
 
romegajacket said:
On the other hand, Bill Curry appeared to me to be a breath of fresh air, a person with class and integrity and pride in GT Football, with a desire to see GT football succeed.

Whether or not a player likes his coach(s) does not matter to me not even a little bit. Whether or not a player respects his coach(s) matters a whole heap of a lot.
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Now, compare that to today's situation.

Other than the 'breath of fresh air' part, Chan exhibits all of the qualities you say Curry had. Class, integrity, player respect. It appears they even like him and he genuinely wants to succeed for GT. Except Curry's record was (mostly) crap. In seven seasons, he won more than 6 games only once and went to one bowl. Meanwhile, in five seasons, Chan hasn't won fewer than 7 yet and has made it to a bowl every year.

I'm not even trying to defend Gailey, but I'm catching crap for 'bashing' Curry by the same folks that are trying to run Chan out of town.:rolleyes:
 
clapper said:
I'm not even trying to defend Gailey, but I'm catching crap for 'bashing' Curry by the same folks that are trying to run Chan out of town.:rolleyes:
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Time for a disclaimer. I'll defend Gailey. I don't want to see Chan run out of town! I want him to win 8 games or more, including UGA, and consequently continue as Tech's head football coach. I like Chan and believe he brings many great qualities to the flats. I believe his pluses far outweigh his minuses. I also believe he has to beat UGA and have a respectable 8-win record to survive. Should have happened last year or the year before or....
 
I met Curry when he was on Peppers' staff and I worked for the Technique. Probably the most impressive man I've ever met. That said, he wasn't ready to be a HC when he got the job. I will say though that if he had stayed at Tech instead of moving on I think he would have established a very solid foundation. Don't know if he would have won a MNC (that's lightning in a bottle really) but we would have been a good program IMO.

FWIW I don't think Pepper was ever going to get Tech any further than he did. From what I remember, his recruiting was starting to suffer as well as his Hollywood personality just wasn't cutting it at Ga high schools.
 
Essobee said:
I also believe he has to beat UGA and have a respectable 8-win record to survive.
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It really has come down to that. It isn't so much beating Georgia just for the sake of beating them. We need to do that every year anyway. It's what that loss has done to each season. We go into the postseason on a major downer with a record that would have gotten them over the hump to that level we are expecting had they won. That just isn't good for the program.
 
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