Is Sims gone?

[GoGATech]

And this have a clear understanding of what's emergency. Down 7 with qb down is an emergency in my book, but was it clear for them all...

FWIW, I've always understood "emergency" QB to be when there is nobody else that can play. Just because the backup we have sucks doesn't present an "emergency." Winning or losing the game isn't when the "emergency" presents itself, it's when you have nobody left on the roster than can take a snap. We very well may have seen Brody Rhodes or Taisun before Jeff. If he was told or asked to be the emergency QB, I would find it odd to be asked if I could go in as 2nd string also. Or at least it wouldn't be blown up like it has if I indicated that I wasn't able to when all along my role has been described as "emergency only."

 

[gt2690b]

His answer doesn't really say that at all... if anything it shines more light that "medically cleared" doesn't mean "capable of performing well." He said you "Just because on paper you medically can... I mean, there's every day you wake up and feel a little bit different, so, the ability for him to go out there and be the person that he wants to be on the field didn't present itself at the time." Still sounds to me like they were letting him dictate whether or not he could play and he didn't feel like he could.

Im not dressing out if i dont think i can play unless coach is telling me im a decoy.. clearly not the case here

 

[gtrower]

Sounds like exactly what a coach should do. If he doesn’t want to be part of the team, he should be out. You don’t pull the guy’s rehab or housing, but he should have zero access to pretty much anything football related.

***hypothetical as I’m not confident on the actual details***

I kind of disagree. He’s on scholarship to play football. If he refuses to play football anymore then he shouldn’t be on scholarship anymore. I’d pull everything the football scholarship provides on a pro-rated basis from the last date that he was medically cleared. I assume that includes housing. He can pay his own way like the regular student that he is at that point.

Same goes for players sitting out for the draft and/or portal. It doesn’t have to be vindictive either. That’s a business choice that the player is making and here are the consequences that factor into that choice.

 

[ElCidBUZZingFAN]

FWIW, I've always understood "emergency" QB to be when there is nobody else that can play. Just because the backup we have sucks doesn't present an "emergency." Winning or losing the game isn't when the "emergency" presents itself, it's when you have nobody left on the roster than can take a snap. We very well may have seen Brody Rhodes or Taisun before Jeff. If he was told or asked to be the emergency QB, I would find it odd to be asked if I could go in as 2nd string also. Or at least it wouldn't be blown up like it has if I indicated that I wasn't able to when all along my role has been described as "emergency only."

If he told them before the game he couldn't go, he wouldn't be in pads.

If it was left to Jeff in-game and he was day to day and needed to be in meetings, then Key wouldn't have booted him.

 

[andrew]

And this have a clear understanding of what's emergency. Down 7 with qb down is an emergency in my book, but was it clear for them all...

I really don't like the whole "emergency" label. If he doesn't feel safe playing, then there is no situation in which he should go in. If he does feel safe playing, then it's the coach's judgment as to whether he goes in.

Certainly the player could give input on how effective he thinks he will be, but ultimately at that point it's on the coach to decide who gives the team the best chance to win.

 

[andrew]

Why would he be in pads if he told them on Tuesday through running out after the Wreck that he couldn't play?

There is a long history of players being pressured or forced into disregarding their health for the team. There's nuance involved but it's not hard for me to imagine a situation where a player communicates that he doesn't feel healthy enough to play but ends up dressed out anyway.

 

[Walton]

I'm 99.99% sure of the source who posted it. He is someone who has some inside knowledge of the program but he sits right near Jeff's family and heard/saw it with his own ears/eyes during the game from the lower west.

Well he is lying to you.

 

[gtleviathan]

Winning or losing the game isn't when the "emergency" presents itself,

This is "404 the Culture" to a T, I'd say.

 

[ThomsonJacket]

Sims got hurt, hope the young man fully heals, it gave him the opportunity to sit out and get fully well for the portal while getting in rehab and drills.

He got 3 years of playing time and a great education. Best luck to him moving forward.

That's really all there is to it.

 

[ElCidBUZZingFAN]

There is a long history of players being pressured or forced into disregarding their health for the team. There's nuance involved but it's not hard for me to imagine a situation where a player communicates that he doesn't feel healthy enough to play but ends up dressed out anyway.

So, we're going with Brent Key pressured Sims to dress and double downed on that booting him from the remainder of the team's activities after Jeff stood up for himself? That's how we're choosing to frame this...???

That's a rather large rock we're tossing around that lands right on Key's forehead.

 

[GoGATech]

Im not dressing out if i dont think i can play unless coach is telling me im a decoy.. clearly not the case here

Ok well let's try it like this.... say you are the one hurt and don't feel comfortable starting, or playing a huge role but you are medically cleared, so you take it day to day (Key said for both of the last 2 weeks that Jeff was practicing and was day to day) and you dress because if the game is out of hand in either direction and the coach just needs you to take snaps late in the game and hand the ball off, you can do that... as an "emergency situation." Then when starter goes down and coach immediately comes straight to you and asks, "Can you go in?" wanting you to finish half of a game that you will need to rely on your foot to keep us in or win. That wouldn't seem odd to you?

 

[GoGATech]

This is "404 the Culture" to a T, I'd say.

That is not what an "emergency" QB is. Sure winning is always the ultimate goal but if you are labeled as the emergency qb then that means you are the last person that can play QB if needed, not 2nd or 3rd.

 

[77GTFan]

Glad we finally got this figured out. I wish him well with healing and moving on with his football career and education, I seriously doubt his future is at Tech.

Can we please improve our sports information and public relations in the AA? This was handled pitifully. Do not announce an athlete is cleared to play if he is not ready, fit and willing to play. If he can play and is choosing to opt out, do not let him dress. Keep the matter internally. We made ourselves look bad, Jeff Sims look bad, and have angered his family. That is a big fat F in public relations.

 

[andrew]

So, we're going with Brent Key pressured Sims to dress and double downed on that booting him from the remainder of team's the activities after Jeff stood up for himself? That's how we're choosing to frame this...???

That's a rather large rock we're tossing around that lands right on Key's forehead.

No, I am absolutely not choosing to frame it like that. I am framing it as, "We do not have enough information to judge this situation", and I gave reasons why the information we're missing is critical to evaluating the situation.

I know we're on a message board, and people are going to draw conclusions based on the information we do have. I understand that, and gun to my head I certainly have an opinion on it as well. But without a gun to my head I really don't feel we have enough information to confidently draw a conclusion, which sucks but that's the way it goes sometimes.

 

[gtleviathan]

That is not what an "emergency" QB is. Sure winning is always the ultimate goal but if you are labeled as the emergency qb then that means you are the last person that can play QB if needed, not 2nd or 3rd.

So you're willing to go in and hand off the ball if the 2nd and 3rd guys get hurt but not if the coach asks you first? Still doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[gt2690b]

Glad we finally got this figured out. I wish him well with healing and moving on with his football career and education, I seriously doubt his future is at Tech.

Can we please improve our sports information and public relations in the AA? This was handled pitifully. Do not announce an athlete is cleared to play if he is not ready, fit and willing to play. If he can play and is choosing to opt out, do not let him dress. Keep the matter internally. We made ourselves look bad, Jeff Sims look bad, and have angered his family. That is a big fat F in public relations.

what if he was "willing" to play but then changed his mind in the middle of the game? what else can the coach do if he was lied to? only thing i can think of is kick him off the team sooner

 

[vapspwi]

The rehab thing doesn’t seem particularly vindictive to me. It’s like, if you can play you need to be playing and if you can’t play you need to be rehabbing rather than practicing, dressing out, and hoping for the best.

If there was any confusion during the Miami game about readiness/willingness/ability to play (and it could be just a misunderstanding/game time decision rather than some big conspiracy), then this seems like a way to remove any doubt and avoid a repeat of the confusion. Everybody’s roles are clear - Gibson is the #1, Clemson guy is #2, and we’ll put an infielder on the mound if it gets worse than that.

JRjr

 

[daBuzz]

Glad we finally got this figured out. I wish him well with healing and moving on with his football career and education, I seriously doubt his future is at Tech.

Can we please improve our sports information and public relations in the AA? This was handled pitifully. Do not announce an athlete is cleared to play if he is not ready, fit and willing to play. If he can play and is choosing to opt out, do not let him dress. Keep the matter internally. We made ourselves look bad, Jeff Sims look bad, and have angered his family. That is a big fat F in public relations.

I disagree. It wasn't us who made Jeff Sims look bad. He did that all by his self.

And, with all due respect, if you think the family is angry, think about the people who pulled together the 6-figure NIL deal for Sims only to see him be medically cleared and go, "No thanks" when his team needed him.

 

[JoeCakeEater]

Sad. Sounds like he's taken after Gibbs and quit on his brothers. I fully expect a transfer at season's end.

 

[ElCidBUZZingFAN]

No, I am absolutely not choosing to frame it like that. I am framing it as, "We do not have enough information to judge this situation", and I gave reasons why the information we're missing is critical to evaluating the situation.

I know we're on a message board, and people are going to draw conclusions based on the information we do have. I understand that, and gun to my head I certainly have an opinion on it as well. But without a gun to my head I really don't feel we have enough information to confidently draw a conclusion, which sucks but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Why would Key take all that experience from a starting QB and banish him from team/position meetings? Even with a bum foot and while in rehab, he's still a service to all the other QBs in the room or O players in general.

It's not just smoke we're discussing here.