Is Brent Key actually coaching?

BigDanT

BigDanT

J. Batt Fan
Joined
Jul 1, 2015
Messages
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So I’ve had this thought. He’s the assistant head coach. He has his hands in a lot of recruiting and arguably is running around and flying on planes to see kids. Is he actually the one doing all of the Oline coaching?
 
When they come off the field, he’s the one coaching them on the bench. If the OL coach isn’t coaching the OL, then we have even bigger problems than we realize
 
The transfers we've taken to fill the line haven't panned out. Either we are poor at evaluating talent or can't coach them. Maybe both.
 
cbee said:
The transfers we've taken to fill the line haven't panned out. Either we are poor at evaluating talent or can't coach them. Maybe both.
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We are running what seems to be a complex run blocking’s scheme. No one has made the comparison but remember what the falcons o line looked like the year before the super bowl? These transfers may have been hindering us because they will not have gelled.
 
cbee said:
The transfers we've taken to fill the line haven't panned out. Either we are poor at evaluating talent or can't coach them. Maybe both.
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Honest question:

Do you think we are prepping our OLs incorrectly?

My guess is all P5 Level OL Coaches attend the same Seminars & Clinics in the Off-season and learn that same things and are exposed to the same Coaching Techniques, my point is , I find it hard to believe we "can't coach them" or that we are somehow "setting them up for failure" , I think our upperclassmen on the OL have lower ceilings that we expected
 
BigDanT said:
We are running what seems to be a complex run blocking’s scheme. No one has made the comparison but remember what the falcons o line looked like the year before the super bowl? These transfers may have been hindering us because they will not have gelled.
Click to expand...
If that is the case, it may be particularly relevant because Key is the "running game coordinator" or some such. Maybe we have an Al Groh-type situation where Key isn't able to teach his complex scheme very well?
 
GTLiebs said:
If that is the case, it may be particularly relevant because Key is the "running game coordinator" or some such. Maybe we have an Al Groh-type situation where Key isn't able to teach his complex scheme very well?
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Most of the time you are hitting someone 12 inches away from you, I don't see us pulling a lot of backside linemen to the playside or doing anything overly exotic, what I see is a lot of guys betting beat one on one.

We don't really need dominant Blocking -- if we could just get "stalemates" from the 5 Guys on our OLine, we would average 40 pts per Game with the skill people we have.

It confuses me that we have multiple 5th & 6th yr Seniors that have lifted our weights, ate our food, received our Coaching for 12 to 15 straight Months and can't get stalemates with the DL. across from them for 70 out of 80 snaps per Game.

Time to roll the dice with younger guys, get Athletic , stay more Athletic.
 
PressManCoverage said:
Honest question:

Do you think we are prepping our OLs incorrectly?

My guess is all P5 Level OL Coaches attend the same Seminars & Clinics in the Off-season and learn that same things and are exposed to the same Coaching Techniques, my point is , I find it hard to believe we "can't coach them" or that we are somehow "setting them up for failure" , I think our upperclassmen on the OL have lower ceilings that we expected
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I do not know if we are prepping them correctly. I do know that they are not improving. Those lineman that we have taken through the portal haven't been very good. I don't care if they are starting, they just aren't very good. That concerns me regarding our ability to coach them up and to recognize talent when players come available through the portal. We had a true freshman that started last year and seems to have regressed. Another thing that concerns me about development of players.
 
GTRules said:
We were already spread thin there from the last staff not recruiting them.
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That was true in 2019. I've been the loudest voice saying we can't judge the OL until we build depth back, because CPJ recruited 2 and 0 in his last two classes, then Braun left. It wasn't just an OL conversion that was needed - even CPJ woud have had an OL crisis. That being said, Key's first big class is now in their 2nd year on campus after many enrolled early, and we have three 6th-year superseniors starting because we hit it big on the transfer market. We should be much further ahead of where we are.

All that being said, defense has become a much bigger problem. Very slow progression is better than nightmarish regression, and the ire of the donors has been directed squarely at Thack. Key will get another year at least.
 
During the Pitt game, I watched Key gather the OL around him, and then take his marker and throw against the whiteboard.
So at least he was pissed about something. Whether that equates to coaching, eh.
 
Key is getting the recruits he wants, whether he is the lead recruiter or not (a lot of that is geographical). He's not settling, so far, for many 2nd and 3rd choices on the board. The '20,'21, and '22 OL recruits will be So,Jr, and Sr OL for the '23 season. These guys plus whoever comes from the portal will be our OL for the most part. Then, at the latest, come October '23, this experiment will be over, and absolute full accountability with zero excuses will be available for everyone to see. Another 2 years will unlikely change whatever the situation is, good or bad.
 
Flywheel said:
That was true in 2019. I've been the loudest voice saying we can't judge the OL until we build depth back, because CPJ recruited 2 and 0 in his last two classes, then Braun left.
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PJ had two commits in the class when he stepped down. There's no telling who else he and the staff had targeted as potential commits.
Collins didn't keep them. And didn't recruit any other linemen with that 2019 class.
PJ had an OL to end 2018 of Lee, Braun, Cooper, Hansen, Marshall and Quinney. Marshall was a redshirt senior, so 18 was going to be his last year anyway. There was also DeFoor, the Ole Miss transfer. Braun didn't stick around after the coaching change. But that still would have left Lee, Cooper (who's still here), Quinney (who just left), Hansen (who left) and Minihan. In other words, he had a young O line but would have had one with plenty of experience had he returned for 2019.
The 17 class had Quinney, Minihan, Hansen and Clark (plus Tufele, who eventually took a medical). Guys perfect for PJ's offense.
The 18 class had three signees - Maye, Jump and McKeehan - plus DeFoor as a transfer. Maye is still around but Jump and McKeehan left.
And let's not forget last year — the big run Gibbs had at the start of the game against Duke? That was Clark at LT, not Williams. Because I think they wanted to run counter trey and knew Williams, especially with his foot or lower leg injury, wasn't going to make that pull. But Clark could.
Clark has since departed as well.
We all knew the toughest transition was going to be on the O line, since PJ wanted linemen, especially tackles, who could get to the linebacker level quickly. He didn't want 6-7, 330 out there. He wanted mobility. Unless 6-7, 330 could do that. But that doesn't happen very often.
But there were plenty of O linemen in the stable. Many of them, however, bolted. So that's not really on PJ.
Still, like PJ said, don't confuse numbers with depth.
 
swampsting said:
PJ had two commits in the class when he stepped down. There's no telling who else he and the staff had targeted as potential commits.
Collins didn't keep them. And didn't recruit any other linemen with that 2019 class.
PJ had an OL to end 2018 of Lee, Braun, Cooper, Hansen, Marshall and Quinney. Marshall was a redshirt senior, so 18 was going to be his last year anyway. There was also DeFoor, the Ole Miss transfer. Braun didn't stick around after the coaching change. But that still would have left Lee, Cooper (who's still here), Quinney (who just left), Hansen (who left) and Minihan. In other words, he had a young O line but would have had one with plenty of experience had he returned for 2019.
The 17 class had Quinney, Minihan, Hansen and Clark (plus Tufele, who eventually took a medical). Guys perfect for PJ's offense.
The 18 class had three signees - Maye, Jump and McKeehan - plus DeFoor as a transfer. Maye is still around but Jump and McKeehan left.
And let's not forget last year — the big run Gibbs had at the start of the game against Duke? That was Clark at LT, not Williams. Because I think they wanted to run counter trey and knew Williams, especially with his foot or lower leg injury, wasn't going to make that pull. But Clark could.
Clark has since departed as well.
We all knew the toughest transition was going to be on the O line, since PJ wanted linemen, especially tackles, who could get to the linebacker level quickly. He didn't want 6-7, 330 out there. He wanted mobility. Unless 6-7, 330 could do that. But that doesn't happen very often.
But there were plenty of O linemen in the stable. Many of them, however, bolted. So that's not really on PJ.
Still, like PJ said, don't confuse numbers with depth.
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Damn we sure did Recruit a lot of quitters in recent Years.

Geez, based on your excellent breakdown, we're lucky to be 3-5.

We might want to start Targeting OLs that want to major in Communications, maybe we can find some non quitters that have more of a "competitive edge"

Where are the Mike Mooneys, and the Billy Chubbs,Lavin & Siffri, Daryl Jenkins?
 
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