Setting The Bar For Gailey's First Team

[ahsoisee]

Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

I posted an item similar to this in an earlier post, but this time I want to see a won-loss record in each response so we can take a consensus from all posts to set a bar for Gailey’s first year as head coach.

I will establish a reason for my selection of the won-lost record that would be considered as improvement over O’Leary’s season of last year. I am using last years record for O’Leary, because it is his only full year without Friegden. Many fans feel Friegden was the real linchpin in the success at GT until last year. As BeeWare has stated, Ralph won more games at Maryland with less talent than he had available at Tech.

First, it has been stated by BeeWare and some of the recruiting analysts that Techs recruiting season was a bust, so we know the material going into this season will have less talent than it had last year. We lost Burns, the only back with any measurable amount of experience, and our number one back, Hollings, has been converted from defense and has never run the ball on offense in a Tech game. Our only two backs with creditable credentials are injured and must play themselves back into the line-up. We also lost the backup to Burns, Sean Gregory.

We lost our number one receiver and all-time record holder for receiving (Kelly Campbell) at Tech. Three highly rated offensive linemen graduated, David Schmidgall, Jason Kimble, and Tight End, Russell Matvay. If that was not enough, our only experienced quarterback, George Godsey, graduated.

With no help coming from the poor recruiting class, it cannot be denied, on paper, we are less talented than last year’s squad on offense. If the offense is to be better this year, Chan Gailey will have to coach up the fill-ins for the lost starters.

The defense was not without its major losses. We graduated a starting tackle, Merrix Watson, and one-half of the best defensive end tandem (Nick Rogers) in the ACC last year. We also lost one of the top safeties (Chris Young) in the ACC last year. Again, Gailey will have to coach-up the replacements to fill in at these positions.

Gailey enters the first year with two new, unproven quarterbacks. Last year, O’Leary had a record breaking quarterback returning for his senior year. Gailey will have to build an offense with new running backs and new quarterbacks. He must replace the center, the right guard, and tight end all on the right side of the line. He must find a capable replacement for the all-time leading wide receiver at Tech. One handicap here is the loss to injuries of two of the top candidates for the offensive line. It is questionable if they will be at full strength.

Last year Tech was primed with the best schedule you could ask for with Clemson, North Carolina, NCSU, Maryland, and Georgia at BDS. We also had three of the weakest teams in the nation on our schedule, The Citadel, Navy, and Duke. Although Duke is still on the schedule, Navy and The Citadel have been replaced with Connecticut and BYU.

Last year there were new coaches at Virginia, Wake Forest, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia. This year all five of the coaches will have an additional year with their respective teams, and we will have a new coach and new staff.

All of the above items, except two, are facts and are not subject to opinions. The two opinions are Friegden as the linchpin of O’Leary’s record and the bust in recruiting for last year. All of the other items are fact that cannot be denied.

Since O’Leary did not coach the bowl game, he finished with a record of 7-5 last year. Since Gailey has more head coaching experience than O’Leary coming into his first head coaching job at a Division I school, I expect a little more out of him. He actually has better credentials than George had coming into college coaching. Gailey actually has more experience playing the game of football than O’Leary. I expect a little more out of Gailey, but realize he does not have the same advantages as O’leary had with last years team.

If Gailey can win seven games and lose five this year, I will consider his first year at Tech a success. It will equal O’Leary’s record of last year, but Gailey will be handicapped more by inexperienced players at key positions, a less talented team than O’leary's team, and a harder schedule and more critical games on the road.

Personally, I will predict Tech will win at least eight games and possibly more with a few good bounces of the old football.

Please respond with a won-loss record that you would consider a success for Gailey in his first year at Tech.

 

[JacketFanPCB]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

If you're talking about "raising the bar" then I think you've got to raise the ante. When all is said and done, the Gailey naysayers will not consider 2002 a success UNLESS he wins EIGHT games AND beats Georgia! I suppose he could get by with a loss at Sanford stadium while still getting the 8 wins or better. That would be an improvement over last year with GOL with a lesser offense and a whole new staff.

That not only is what I would consider a success, but I will be disappointed with anything less. I WOULD be happy with 7 wins IF we beat UGA, but ONLY IF we down the dogs.

GO COACH CHAN! We're rootin' for ya!!

 

[beeware]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

ahso,
Another fantastic post!! You have even outdone yourself....although I think your post should have come with a disclaimer that we wear hipboots so as not to step in the bullsh*t.
What I said was that Ralph Friedgen went 10-1 at Maryland with less talent than 'Buck' Gailey has at TECH this year. This is by far the most talent TECH has ever had on a football team...thanks to Coach O'leary. You can make all the excuses you want but if old 'Buck' wins less than 10 games this year he is even more mediocre than first thought.
But keep posting...and thanks for the laughs.

 

[JacketFanPCB]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

Beeware,

Sometimes I think your posts are just bait. I guess I'm an idiot to bite, but here goes:

You think Gailey will be a disappointment (probably a failure you'll say) if he can't win 10 games??!! Are you nuts or just a big Georgia fan?? Did you forget that we'll play AT Maryland, AT North Carolina, AT NC State, AT Clemson, and AT UGA??!! Not to mention at home against FSU (which could end up in the top 5 or better) and BYU (always tough). All this with a brand new QB and RB and practically all new staff? Are you nuts???!

No I guess not. Not at all. You're just setting the bar so high that Gailey or ANYBODY ELSE for that matter couldn't POSSIBLY succeed. I wonder if you'd give your beloved Mac that same standard. I don't think so.

C'mon. The air is fine down here. You can come down off your high horse. Or are you high from something you got from underneath a horse?

 

[beeware]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

PCB.
with the talent that O'leary left this year I would expect more than 10 wins if we had hired Mac. I figure 'Buck' Gailey will probably underachieve and I do expect this to be his best year.
Like I said before, you don't have to buy into all this bullsh*t hype about 'Buck' to be a TECH fan.

 

[JacketFanPCB]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

So if we had hired Mac, you thought we'd win at least 11 games?? That means we'd win ALL ACC road games, beat BYU and EITHER FSU or UGA?? The last time that happened (or something LIKE that) was the NC season of 1990. You think THIS year's team is as good or better than that?? Maybe, but so was last year's and we saw what O'Leary did with them.

Either you are TOTALLY unrealistic or YOU'RE the one with the gold colored glasses.

 

[beeware]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

PCB,
Yeah, this should be THE year. Last year was an anomaly...could have been better .... should have been better...but a lot of things happened very unfortunately that wouldn't have been repeated this year. And a lot of it was not O'leary's fault.
But the turmoil of a very unnecessary and mediocre coaching change is going to cost us some this year, and then big time down the road.

As the Grateful dead sang "All a friend can say is ain't it a shame."

 

[GT Adamni]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

Well, I'd have to say I disagree with your thinking that this year's team is less talented than last year's team. Actually, I would say it is more "talented", although less experienced on offense. Though they were quality players, I would say that our starters at QB, RB, and WR this year will be more talented than last year. Godsey was a great player, but in terms of pure "talent", I would definitely say that both Suggs and Bilbo have more. Burns was a fantastic back, but he lacked size and, especially, speed. Either Hollings or Dixon, the likely 2 frontrunners, both have better size and speed than Burns. Even though Campbell probably has more speed, I would say that Jonathan Smith has more "talent" and playmaking ability. This can be evidenced by Campbell not even being drafted by the NFL. I know some of that had to do with his failing the drug test, but if teams thought he had that much talent they would have drafted him higher.

Not only those positions, but you mentioned others such as tight end. I would contend that Foschi has more "talent" than Matvay did, even though he has less experience. The same goes for the Offensive line. Reilly at center has more "talent" than former walk-on Schmidgall. I think Right Tackle will depend on whether or not Bennett and/or Phillips can come back from their injuries.

On defense, in terms of pure "talent", I don't know that Rogers was more talented than Hargrove or Holiday. Young will be missed in the defensive backfield, but he was playing out of position at cornerback, not at safety. As far as cornerbacks go, I think that Jonathan Cox, Albert Poree, and Reuben Houston all probably have more "talent" than Young.

You'll notice that I put the word "talent" in parenthesis because it is very subjective, and others may have a different opinion than me. But, I'm basing my observations on things like size, speed, etc.

Ok, now that I've addressed the talent issue, let me say that our team, at least on offense, is not as experienced as last year. Expecially losing an experienced starting QB is a major hurdle to overcome.

Our schedule is tougher this year, but since I think we greatly underacheived last year (not to mention we lost 3 games by 3 or less points), I think we should have a better overall record.

I honestly expect our defense to be close to dominant this year. At least one of the top 2 in the ACC. Plus, our offense will have 2 "easier" games to get warmed up and get some game experience for the new starters.

In conclusion, I'm setting the bar at 9-4 (including bowl game). And of course, a victory over UGAg.

 

[Culb]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

I don't think there is a bar to be set, and if there was it can't be set this year. Time has to be given to allow chemistry to develop between the coaching staff, between the players, and between the coaches and players. While true we only lost a few players, they happened to be the most important ones.

Any QB change has bumps, but combine that with a RB change, a WR change, and a coaching change, and it's a recipe for disaster for many teams. That won't happen here, at least I don't think so, but I don't want to set my expectations too high too soon. I do think we'll manage to notch 7 or 8 wins at least, and make a decent bowl game.

 

[FearDaBee]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

It has become obvious that 'beeware' is a UGAG fan on this board simply to stir the pot and to bait. No real Tech fan would write the BS that he writes, and Tech students are better trained to state facts (or at least opinions with supporting facts), and beeware does not.

Ignore this poster.

 

[bellyseries]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

For whatever reasons-a number have been mentioned-the 2001 season under GOL was a serious disappointment. A better record this year would be a demonstration of the new staff's ability to use the resources that GOL didn't use. So I think a reasonable bar is one more victory than last year, though I wouldn't be surprised if we were significantly better.

 

[GT98]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

ahso,

I disagree w/your assessment that we had the best DE tandem in the league. Other teams discovered Nick's weaknesses and he was effectively neutralized for most of the year. Gathers, who is now up to 275 lbs. is a future NFL 1st rounder provided he stays healthy.

As far as wins, what makes it difficult to predict is due to the fact that almost all of our "swing games" are on the road. The Clemson game will be very telling as far as how our season will go early on. If we get by Clemson, the Maryland and NCSU games will be huge.

We are due for some intangibles to go our way this year--i.e. fumbles. The team is more relaxed and loose under the new coaching staff which is a plus--players can play without fear of entering a doghouse from which they cannot return. All in all, I am cautiously optimistic for the season. However, I cannot pinpoint a win-loss record for the year--in the past when I have done this, I found myself not enjoying the season at all, but worried about the outcome of the next game. '98 and '00 were a lot of fun--'01 and to a lesser extent '99 were not (although watching one of the best QB's over the last 15 years in college football was entertaining).

I can make a case for 6-6 to 9-3. There, I have hedged enough.

 

[bugboy]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

I'm gonna agree with Culb on this. No bar for this year. In spite of what some people on this board think, I don't think we should hold Gailey to any standard for his first season. The same would go for any new coach. There is a transition and it takes time before the proper chemistry is established among coaches and players.

However, that doesn't mean that we can't make predictions. First, I'll note a few areas of concern:

A) QB - You never know how a new QB will do. Between Suggs and Bilbo, we have 2 guys that are probably more athletic than Goose, but that doesn't mean they'll drive the team down the field any better. How will they react when 80,000 screaming Clemson fans are in their face? Will they be as cool under pressure as Godsey? Hopefully, one of these guys will establish himself the way Goose did in 2000.

B) RB - We have no proven RBs on the roster. We have a few guys that have contributed here or there and have been injured. We have a converted safety that has emerged as the best, which concerns me. The question you always ask yourself about RB's is "can they take the pounding?" I hope Hollings and the rest of these guys are durable. Maybe a running back by committee approach will work best. We were spoiled by Joe Burns. He wasn't fast, but he could run 30 to 40 times a game and not get hurt. Don't expect that from the new guy.

C) OL - Our biggest loss was Schmidgall. Hugh Reilly is replacing him. Whenever you lose a center, that affects OL chemistry, as the center must call the blocking schemes during the game. Being strong at the center position provides your line with a strong anchor and bodes well for overall ability to handle blitzing and defensive formations. I think Reilly will do well, but just wanted to raise that flag. FWIW, the left side of our line will be awesome.

D) WR - No worries here. I do hope Curry can be productive in his comeback year. We could have used him some last year.

E) DL - Who will replace Nick Rogers? Will they be as good as Nick? Is Hobie ready? Also, how will our DT's look this year? Last year, I really felt like we missed the presence of Felipe Claybrooks. We never had anyone really step up and be the team leader in critical situations. Also, I think we were hampered by scheme. Too much 3 man rush and prevent D. Maybe a change in scheme will help our defensive front 4.

F) Linebackers - Last year, these guys got banged up. We lost so much when Daryl Smith went down. When losing 1 player affects your defense that much, it points to a depth problem. I hope that Smith/Fox/Wimbush can stay healthy this year. I think that, when healthy, they are the strength of the team and the leaders. Hopefully, the depth is such that losing a Smith or a Fox for a few games won't kill us like it did when Smith went down against Clemson.

G) DB- I think we'll be OK here. These guys now have a proven coach in Tenuta that can coach them up. Once again, I think scheme hurt us last year in critical situations. Rushing 3 guys and laying in a prevent put too much pressure on our defensive backs. I do hope that Poree can get his confidence up this year. We also need Muyres to assert himself as a leader with Chris Young gone.

H) Coaching - Always a concern with a new staff. I have very little doubt that we have upgraded our defensive staff. However, I think this year we'll finally see how good of an OC that O'Brien really is. This will be the first year that he will operate without a Fridge-taught QB. O'Brien was our running backs coach before the promotion. I think he will be a great OC and one day a great HC, but without Fridge and without GOL looking over his shoulder, I think we'll really get a better read on his true offense this year. I do think that CG will give him more latitude to try things...unlike GOL. OTOH, can O'Brien really coach a quarterback? Let's wait and see.

I) Schedule - We have 5 VERY TOUGH games on the road...Clemson, UGA, UNC, NC State and MD. That's a hard schedule folks. Throw in UVa, FSU and BYU at home...along with an improving Wake Forest. Our schedule is harder this year than last year.

It's hard to predict a record without knowledge on your opponents. Outside of Clemson, UGa and FSU, I don't know much about other team's personnel. Anyway, here's my prediction...8-4. 9-3 is not a stretch, but I think that a new coaching staff and a tough schedule will make this a tough year for us. But 8-4 will be an improvement over last year.

 

[GTTerrific]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

Comparing last season to this one with a new staff is tough. Last year was not a typical year for most GO teams. The games against Clemson, Maryland, and Virginia were not the norm since 95. Those were games we should have won. Last year was a tough season for us and the players. With a talented and vet QB last year we were a good team. Godsey was the man, the best for two years ever productionwise at GT.

This years team has got some growing pains to go through.

Maryland beat us last year with a less talented team, but they played a heck of a game against us. That team was an extremely vet team Fridge had to work with. They were close to being a good team before Fridge got there. Fridge did an awesome job coaching like most people felt he would because of his history last year, but his honnymoon isn't over.

All this talk saying that anyone could win with what O L left here just doesn't know much about college football. They might have watched a lot of ball, but people with that mind set just don't understand how close of a line there is between winning and losing. Anyone in this league can line up and beat you on any given day. Yes, even Duke. Just ask Joe Hamilton about that. We escaped them here at the Flats just a few years back and probably should have lost the game.

G O did a great job as our head coach. He got us straighted out and heading in the right direction in a lot of was. He's gone. That's the past. Our new coach is Gailey. Like if or not bashing him, Braine, and GT with every breath just doesn't help out GT. These are real people that Coach Gailey and his staff mentor every day. Yes, there are real young men with families on the other sides of those helmits with real situations. There is more at stake than playing football games. All this about why so and so should have been coach over so and so is just not a good conversation. It's ok to talk about sure, but this has been hashed and rehashed to the point were you can't even recongnize the dead horse.

 

[JacketFanPCB]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

First of all, GREAT thread! And to think just a few days ago, I was moaning about how nobody was talking much football. Let's keep it up guys/and gals!!

Good points Bugboy and GTTerrific. You guys sure know your football. Better than me anyway. Excellent points about intangibles like BOB coaching QB's. For all the talent coming in at QB, will they be as smart and poised as Goose?? BIG question. How will BOB do as QB coach?? BIG question. How durable will our RB's be?? BIG question. Will the right side of our line hold up against some of the better DL's we face?? BIG question. How big a factor will injuries play?? And how will the new coaches and players come together in crucial situations?? I'm praying as often as possible for the good here folks. Keep good thoughts and prayers and perhaps we won't be as disappointed this season as last. I gotta feel like we're headed in the right direction with the right man!

And lastly, Beewho?

 

[pjjacket]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

Welcome back Ahso.

I am not going to set a bar for "Buck" Gailey

but I do have hope which is defined as a wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.

My hope is for 12-0 but realism says that as GT98 stated "this team can go 6-6, 9-3" etc.

There are many questions which all posts in this thread have mentioned, ie, new staff, running backs and running game., new qb, O-line, D-line etc.

IMHO, to set a bar is setting yourself up for disappointment similar to 2001. I have made myself a promise, especially after the 2001 CU debacle when I could not sleep for 2 nights, that what happens will happen but I do have HOPE.

 

[jacketguy]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

Ahso.. good topic post...

My thoughts...

I think there is a bar to set every year, and it should be high... if Maryland hadnt set the bar high (with average athletes) they would not have won the championship last year... I expect us to win every game every year.. there is no reason why our football program cant harbor those expectations. Although I expect us to win all, realistically I think we will be in the 9-10 range...

In terms of talent this year, I do believe we will have a more talented 22 on the field.. but will be lacking in experience in some areas... I dont see depth being a problem, and feel that our Top 44 could be as good as most in the country...

I do not regard our recruiting class a "bust" as most do... I think we got some good kids.. maybe not the quantities we wanted, but we did better than most want to believe... my opinion is based on what I have read on each individual, and not only from the recruiting "gurus"... but the articles found on the net concerning these kids... there will be a couple of stars come out of this bunch... I cant wait to see Cooper, Bridges, McGuire, and McHargue come of age... and Jordan is going to be a good kicker for us... This is not a bad class...

Friedgen was to O'Leary what Erk was to Dooley... After Erk and Herschel left Athens, Georgia was your average run of the mill team feeding on Vandy, Kentucky, etc... We were an average team last year.. O'Leary is not a motivator, or I should say, a positive motivator... for some reason I think the mixture of Gailey, Tenuta, o'Brien and Nix will be good ...

Beeware will always dislike Gailey... even if we win the next 5 ACC championships and win a NC.. somehow it will be related to Mac and Gailey... I heard on the news last night that the reason we have been getting so much rain in Atlanta lately was due in part to Gailey... Beeware may be on to something here... I do agree with Beeware in that I too have said that this should be our year... and it should be... I have felt that for two years.. we are going to surprise some people this year...

I dont think you can compare last year teams to the 2002 team... if any of you have ever played football .. you know that each year the team is different, even with the same people... each team has their own identity, chemistry, etc... I just hope that our team this year is more physical, more confident... we didnt play physically last year... and our confidence was shot after Maryland, and really tanked after Virginia...

 

[beeware]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

bug,
You are correct that the recruiting class was not a bust. It was decent... but it was mediocre compared to what it was shaping up to be before Coach O'leary left and then all our best recruiters were fired for no good reason.
Just like hiring 'Buck' Gailey was not terrible....just terribly mediocre and very unnecessary .
For Braine to choose to start over instead of building on what Coach O'leary had built up will go down as big a folly as hiring Bill Lewis over Ralph Friedgen or George O'leary in 1992. It was plain ridiculous then and now .
I am not second guessing Braine.....I am first guessing him. Y'all can kiss up to this outrageous mediocrity if you like....but you can't be surprised with the eventual outcome....because you have been forewarned. And the fact that O'leary left the talent cupboard so full will only help delay the inevitable and make it feel that much worse in 2 to 3 years. The shame of it is that it didn't have to happen.

"In 'Buck' We Trust"

 

[FearDaBee]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

beeware

 

[Culb]

Re: Setting The Bar For Gailey\'s First Team

You know...I'm starting to think that beeware might just be coach McWhorter. Sorry you didn't get the job, coach. Shouldn't you be helping that O-Line in Texas now instead of complaining on here?