O'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

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O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Here's a real good O'Leary article in the Macon Telegraph. Talks about where he is now. Just had to get Tech in there as O'L is more closely identified with GT than any other thing in his life. Says again that he wouldn't have left GT other than ND. Yeah, well he messed up, not Ga Tech.

O'Leary article
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

I was sad when O'leary left. Felt that he did a very good job at GT and I certainly liked the discpline that he instilled in the program (that seems to be lacking now). Even w/the disappointment of 2001, I was willing to give him some slack--his accomplishments of bringing the program back from the gutter outweighed the feeling of 2001 for me. Without getting involved in the "Ralph" debate, he was a good fit at the right time for GT.

That being said, he did choose to leave us and he should be starting payments on that $1.5 mil. soon or else my meager donations to the GTAA (and others I know that contribute a lot more) will soon be going toward additional fishing gear. Given his recent promotion to D-coordinator for "Mike Tice and the nutjobs," he can afford it.
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I wish him well and would like to see the $$$ paid under the terms he agreed to.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Congrats on his promotion to defensive co-ordinator in the NFL. There are many Division 1 college teams that could use his talents, and at least one that misses him.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

O'Leary does not owe GT $1.5 Million, ND does. Take it up with that crowd.

I would give $1.5 Million to have O'Leary back if I had it.

Go Jackets!
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

No, Jerry, our contract was with George O'Leary, not Notre Dame. If George's contract with ND called for ND to pay the $1.5m it's up to him to enforce that with ND. As far as GT is concerned, George is personally responsible for paying that money to GT.

I wish he had never left, but I do believe he had taken the football team about as far as he was able. I still think Chan can get us to the next level - let's see what unfolds this year.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

I hope GOL does well as the DC for Minnesota. Personally, I have my doubts though. His defenses at Tech were generally suspect against the pass and weak in the middle of the DL. We'll see how he does.

GOL did good things for Tech, including hiring an offensive assistant that could score points on anyone. He was really smart to bring back the Fridge. He also recruited some speed.

I wish him well wherever he ends up.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

The obvious solution is to bring Coach O'leary back and let it work off the 1.5 million at a discounted rate.....let's say 500k a year for 3 years.(Actually, I would be willing to give him a raise if he came back, but that is just me.)

This would be a positive solution to his problem and ours....and would end Tech's self-inflicted nightmare.... a nightmare that will continue to unravel if decisive corrective action is not taken soon.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

As much as I am displeased with Gailey, O'Leary is certainly not the answer. First, he left of his own decision, anybody who leaves Ga. Tech - Curry, O'Leary, etc. as head coach for another head coaching position instantly needs to watch the door hitting their ass as far as I'm concerned.

He was no shining example of defense either - how he got that rep off one good season continues to make me wonder. He certainly didn't tutor Roof very well, and if he was a defensive genius he should have by the 12th time seen the quarterback draw coming from Clemson.

Our 51-7 rout this year vs. UGA was preceded by O'leary's lackluster outing the year before.

His teams did instill the pride back in Ga. Tech and we always came with fight. We can find that in the next coach and get some personality to boot - there are plenty out there.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by Father WASP:

Our 51-7 rout this year vs. UGA was preceded by O'leary's lackluster outing the year before.

Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">I find it amazing that anyone can compare the ugag game of 2001 and the ugag game of 2002 and find much in common.

The only thing they have in common is we lost both games. The way we lost them is very different.

In 2001, we did not play all that well....but we were in the game. We had the ball in the 4th quarter with a chance to take the lead until Godsey threw a very unfortunate pass that was intercepted for a TD. And then Burns fumbled. Roof's defense held ugag's offense to exactly ONE!! offensive TD.

Contrast that to 2002....the most embarrassing loss by the widest margin in the HISTORY of the series. We were never in the game. The most unprepared team that TECH has ever put on the field and truly an all time disaster. And Tenuta's defense was run off the field compared to Roof's defense that gave virtually the same team and personnel only one offensive TD the year before.

Their is really no comparison of the unfortunate loss in 2001 versus the catastrophe of 2002.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Beeware, points well taken. In context my point was that a team at home, with Godsey leading it, facing a Georgia team that was nowhere near this years and very beatable, should have been a win for us. That being said, I agree that this year's dabacle takes the cake as far as embarassment to our program of an all-time nature.

This is really arguing a moot point - who is worse. Reality is that there very likely will be a new coach in 04. If there is not, Braine risks losing his own job trying to squeeze a third year out of this.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

FW,
As usual, you make good points. A couple of factors that made the 2001 ugag game difficult was Godsey's total lack of mobility compared to the year before when he ran a 30+ yard TD. Also, we had beaten ugag 3 years in a row and they were literally foaming at the mouth to make sure they would not lose the 4th in a row to us.

One other point....if Braine does not go, either before Gailey or along with Gailey,...then changing coaches will accomplish little or nothing. Same mistake will likely be made again.

Along this topic...a question of the day, since many on this board are engineers.

Speaking of beating ugag 3 in a row....If we keep coach Gailey.....how many light years will it be before we beat ugag one in a row?????
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by beeware:
There are many Division 1 college teams that could use his talents, and at least one that misses him.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Which team would that be?
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Clemson. I really think if Bowden stinks up this year at Clemson and O'Leary can produce an average defense with the Vikings, he will be considered for that job. He knows the conference, the area in recruiting and he is a good college coach. And man what would that do to the Clemson-Tech rivalry.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by GMC 68:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Originally posted by beeware:
There are many Division 1 college teams that could use his talents, and at least one that misses him.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Which team would that be?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Whoever was playing Tech?
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Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by Wrecked:
Clemson. I really think if Bowden stinks up this year at Clemson and O'Leary can produce an average defense with the Vikings, he will be considered for that job. He knows the conference, the area in recruiting and he is a good college coach. And man what would that do to the Clemson-Tech rivalry.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">And what would that do to the intertigy of college football?
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by Wrecked:
Clemson. I really think if Bowden stinks up this year at Clemson and O'Leary can produce an average defense with the Vikings, he will be considered for that job. He knows the conference, the area in recruiting and he is a good college coach. And man what would that do to the Clemson-Tech rivalry.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">wrecked,
That is all we need. Now that the league is getting real strong in coaching with the Fridge, Amato, Grobe, Groh, daddy Bowden still around, even Bunting at NC if he gets his talent level back up.
And now you bring up if klimpsum were to hire O'leary. Can you imagine how much talent O'leary could bring in over there??
And we are stuck in the mud, and sinking at warp speed, with Gailey?

How the helle did we allow this happen to us???
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

O'Leary at Clemson would be bad for Tech. He knows our weaknesses and will exploit them fully in recruiting and coaching. I hope this never happens.

I don't think that bunch at Clemson is smart enough to latch on to O'Leary.

Go Jackets!
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by Jerry the Jacket:

I don't think that bunch at Clemson is smart enough to latch on to O'Leary.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">JtJ,
You may be right; but klimpsum used to hate Bobby Ross (because he always beat them at Maryland, and then built TECH up to beat them also).
After Ross left TECH his name got mentioned at klimpsum on a couple of occasions for a coaching vacancy, but he showed no interest at those times.

Klimpsum doesn't necessarily like O'leary, mainly because he routinely kicked their arse; but they do respect him as a football coach. And some minor fudging on a resume over 20 years ago will not stop them from hiring a good coach if the need arises.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

hey Beeware : A question..

If you had your choice at this point, would you prefer GOL or Mac ?
Just curious...I could see arguments either way on this one.
 
Re: O\'Leary only got token support from GT, post firing.

Originally posted by Gold Rush:
hey Beeware : A question..

If you had your choice at this point, would you prefer GOL or Mac ?
Just curious...I could see arguments either way on this one.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">GR,
Since you asked:

It was an absolutely perfect opportunity after the Seattle Bowl to promote Coach Mac. I think his leadership, his ability to motivate players, his recruiting ability, and also the fact that he is a dang fine coach made him the nearly perfect coach at the perfect time. And he had the fire in the belly to be successful.
We would have maintained most of a good staff with some improvements. We would have had outstanding recruiting. We would have used spring practice to build on the momentum of the Seattle Bowl and not to start over and try to learn each others names. I think Coach Mac would have been very successful.

But since this golden opportunity was blown, and since the damage to the program is already becoming obvious, and since your question asked "at this point", it will require a strong and disciplined coach to try to put the pieces back together; so it probably would be better to have Coach O'leary back at this time.

Of course, we will probably never have either of them back; but whoever we get will have to be top notch, because he will have his hands full unraveling the mess that is being created.
 
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