regarding O'leary leaving GT

texstinger

Dodd-Like
Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Messages
8,816
If he was so deserving, some other school would have given him a shot
Believe he was offered at a “lower level” school.

But worked out ok for him. He coached the OL on a national championship team.
 

gespacho_the_slender

Chief Video Editor and Toolshed
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
2,513
Should have hired fridge when O’Leary left
Fridge was just getting started at UMD when O'Leary left. At the end of the tenure at UMD, Fridge (rightly so) HATED UMD even though it was his alma mater. He's said so in interviews et al. Unfortunately at that time, we weren't in the market when he was back on the market. Fridge loves him some Tech now...
 

Diseqc

Dodd-Like
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
47,788
Fridge was just getting started at UMD when O'Leary left. At the end of the tenure at UMD, Fridge (rightly so) HATED UMD even though it was his alma mater. He's said so in interviews et al. Unfortunately at that time, we weren't in the market when he was back on the market. Fridge loves him some Tech now...
That’s not what the insider rumors at the time insinuated. Maybe Ralph was just trying to get a raise from Md, but there were conversations between Tech and him
 

aeromech

Dodd-Like
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
15,945
CPJ winning percentage at GT - 0.573
GOL winning percentage at GT - 0.612
GOL + Fridge winning percentage at GT - 0.708

There was no such thing as an ACC title game when GOL was here. If there was, we would've likely played in 3 out of 6 seasons under him, as we finished 2nd overall in the conference three times. All this when FSU was a national powerhouse. We played in 3 of 11 with CPJ, only having to win one side of the conference. As for playing in an Orange bowl, the ACC wasn't always tied to it. From 1998-2005, the OB took the Big East OR ACC champion, unless it was hosting BCS national championship, or unless those teams were invited to the championship elsewhere. Only in 2006 has the ACC exclusively been tied to the bowl, as conference champion or runner up (if the champion was in the CFP). We did make it once as champion under CPJ which was a great accomplishment but got destroyed by Iowa that year. The other we made was also great and an excellent win for us but we made it as the 2nd ACC team. If that was available in the late 90's we likely would've made an OB appearance sometime then also. Not discounting anything CPJ did because he was successful here and I enjoyed watching the offense when it was working, but you can't compare his accomplishments to the accomplishments of previous staffs when the criteria are different.
GOL - Fridge winning percentage at GT - 0.529 (if you exclude the 3 games lost in 1994)

GOL left after a 7-5 season and he probably knew the NCAA was sniffing around and about the drop the hammer. O'leary benefitted from Jim Donnan being the coach at UGA for his 3 wins and that immediately changed in 2001 when UGA hired Mark Richt.

Still, it was a fun few seasons when O'leary and Friedgen were working together; but it was not going to continue since Friedgen left for the HC job at Maryland.
 

GoGATech

Big Dummy
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
11,811
GOL - Fridge winning percentage at GT - 0.529 (if you exclude the 3 games lost in 1994)

GOL left after a 7-5 season and he probably knew the NCAA was sniffing around and about the drop the hammer. O'leary benefitted from Jim Donnan being the coach at UGA for his 3 wins and that immediately changed in 2001 when UGA hired Mark Richt.

Still, it was a fun few seasons when O'leary and Friedgen were working together; but it was not going to continue since Friedgen left for the HC job at Maryland.
We were 27-9 over those 3 seasons and finished in the AP top 20 all three years. You can't say we only beat UGAg those three years because of Donnan. Also can't say how he would've fared after Fridge left because he was only there 1 more year.
 

aeromech

Dodd-Like
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
15,945
We were 27-9 over those 3 seasons and finished in the AP top 20 all three years. You can't say we only beat UGAg those three years because of Donnan. Also can't say how he would've fared after Fridge left because he was only there 1 more year.
Sure you can. Richt's first year at UGA he went 8-4, and with that 8-4 team he beat O'leary by 2 touchdowns. UGA finished in the top 10 the next four years. No way O'leary was going to be competitive with Richt after Friedgen left and he got GT put on probation.

Look at O'leary's record against FSU; at best it would have been about like that.
 

gt7282c@prism

Troll Feeder
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
10,689
Sure you can. Richt's first year at UGA he went 8-4, and with that 8-4 team he beat O'leary by 2 touchdowns. UGA finished in the top 10 the next four years. No way O'leary was going to be competitive with Richt after Friedgen left and he got GT put on probation.

Look at O'leary's record against FSU; at best it would have been about like that.
Especially when you consider that Helen was the OC at FSU all those years before heading over to UGA. That's not to say that Helen was a better coach than GOL, but he always had a deeper pool of talent to draw from.
 

cbee

Flats Noob
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
839
3 in a row against the dwags. A heisman runner up. That combination of O'Leary and Fridge was magic. I would take that over CPJ's teams any day.
Always love beating the dawgs but truthfully, those wins had as much to do with their decline than it did with us pulling even with them.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
27,277
Always love beating the dawgs but truthfully, those wins had as much to do with their decline than it did with us pulling even with them.
We’ve never beaten a worthy opponent because we were the better team. USC didn’t want to be there and it was windy. Georgia had a down year. Clemson didn’t have good assistants for Dabo. Mississippi St. just lost their DC and the Orange Bowl lost its luster. Did I miss any?
 

GTCrew4b

NIL Supporter Strictly On Capitalist Grounds
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Messages
31,166
Losing to Duke on the regular...Losing to VT & Miami more often then not....
Of those 3 only Miami was the statement true. 5-6 against VPI with the Punch game thrown in there, and 7-4 against Duke.

CPJ winning percentage at GT - 0.573
GOL winning percentage at GT - 0.612
GOL + Fridge winning percentage at GT - 0.708

There was no such thing as an ACC title game when GOL was here. If there was, we would've likely played in 3 out of 6 seasons under him, as we finished 2nd overall in the conference three times. All this when FSU was a national powerhouse. We played in 3 of 11 with CPJ, only having to win one side of the conference. As for playing in an Orange bowl, the ACC wasn't always tied to it. From 1998-2005, the OB took the Big East OR ACC champion, unless it was hosting BCS national championship, or unless those teams were invited to the championship elsewhere. Only in 2006 has the ACC exclusively been tied to the bowl, as conference champion or runner up (if the champion was in the CFP). We did make it once as champion under CPJ which was a great accomplishment but got destroyed by Iowa that year. The other we made was also great and an excellent win for us but we made it as the 2nd ACC team. If that was available in the late 90's we likely would've made an OB appearance sometime then also. Not discounting anything CPJ did because he was successful here and I enjoyed watching the offense when it was working, but you can't compare his accomplishments to the accomplishments of previous staffs when the criteria are different.
Are you honestly suggesting the ACC was better during the O'Leary years than CPJ's?
 

RamblinWreck92

Dodd-Like
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Messages
12,949
We’ve never beaten a worthy opponent because we were the better team. USC didn’t want to be there and it was windy. Georgia had a down year. Clemson didn’t have good assistants for Dabo. Mississippi St. just lost their DC and the Orange Bowl lost its luster. Did I miss any?
KY was better than us in 2016 but didn't want to be there because Gator Bowl sux?
 

yellowjacket15

Varsity Lurker
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
91
I'll take the excitement of '89 and Natty of '90, the rise of & Heisman year of JoeHam and the Friedge O and 3 IAR over PJ's regime though the 3 PJ mutt beatings were awesome. Obvious bias since I was a student during all of Boss Ross years.

Problem with PJ is that he was always Mr. "Almost" - he never had that perfect season. Plus, he let a few very-winnable games vs the mutts turn into losses (2009,10,13,15) that would've really turned plenty of fans into PJ Fanboys.

2008 - awesome but blown out by LSU in Peach Bowl
2009 - worst loss of the PJ Era at home to a bad mutt team + boring loss in OB + ACC Champ that was forfeited. Great ACC Champ but the team ultimately lost 2 of its last 3 games.
2014 - losses to Duke and UNC had no one excited about 2014 until the last few games. But couldn't close the deal and lost to FSU in ACC-CG. OB victory was nice but we ultimately watched the CFP when we could've been playing in it instead.

The other ACC-CG appearance only happened because of Miami and UNC not being eligible. I think we had a losing record that year or close to it.
Duke was the defending coastal champ and undefeated in 2014 entering our game so that's not as bad as a loss as you make it seem. Without JT spraining his ankle vs Duke on cheap shot twist we may have won that game and then show up ready to play vs UNC the next week.

I'm a firm believer we win 2014 FSU game if that UGA asshole doesn't cheap shot Smelter after play was blown dead and tear his ACL). Thomas and Waller had no chemistry vs FSU.

2011 would have been listed on your great years if Jeremiah Attaochu doesnt lose his temper and punch Logan Thomas in head. I was a student for that game and that's one of the most frustrating losses I witnessed at Tech (2013 UGA and 2012 Miami up there). Without the punch, we win the coastal and potentially beat Clemson again in ACCCG. Then play West Virginia in the Orange Bowl instead of choking away 2 TD lead to Utah in Sun Bowl.
 

cbee

Flats Noob
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
839
c in cbee stands for cuck
Can’t face the truth? Check the records. UGA then was nothing like they are now. Loved OLeary and Friedgen together and wish they had stayed but am still able to see the truth.
 

GoGATech

Big Dummy
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
11,811
Are you honestly suggesting the ACC was better during the O'Leary years than CPJ's?
Nowhere in that post did I allude to the ACC being better then. Not sure where you pulled that from. I was simply stating that you can't compare the recent ACC championship game appearances to none back then because there wasn't a championship game. I stated that we were runner up to FSU back when they were a national power, and that is the only reason we never won the conference outright.
 
Top