So..How Has Duke Turned It Around?

[KrazieJacket]

I'm not sure it's the sole cause, but it's true and other schools do the same. At most schools, if you have a recruit you really want but who can't make the grades, admit him to a low-effort major, whether that's Communications at Stanford; African, African-American, and Diaspora Studies at UNC; Family Studies at Florida, etc. GT doesn't have a low-effort major. Then private schools have an additional advantage because they do not have public oversight of their admissions processes, so they can further bend the admissions guidelines (waive required HS classes, waive SAT requirements, etc). Though the fact that 60% of UNC players have a 3rd grade or below reading level tells you public schools can do it, as well.

Frankly, GT could do this as well if it got creative. We could dual-admit with Kennesaw State / Southern Poly, which would allow football players to take KSU courses but play football for GT. Tech already does this but defers the Tech admission until completion of the REPP transfer courses. Just change that to dual admission for athletes in a non-engineering major. Take 2 years of general education at KSU, then 2 years of digital communications at Tech (Tech really needs to look at expanding majors, not just because of sports) and get 2 degrees. Meanwhile, play for Tech the entire time.

We just need a president who sees the marketing value of sports and makes it a priority.

Why are people not emailing the AD and President they wish to have a new football coach and this? I think if ye Alumni were posting to the presidents email account instead of stingtalk he might be more willing to consider.

 

[KrazieJacket]

It Cuttclife improved the recruiting at OL and DL by a lot. He also is a very intelligent OC who does well teaching QB's. I think a lot of this thread is because of his success against us. That is because his ol can push us around and they are better on both lines.

 

[GTCrew4b]

So, you’d be happy with Duke’s record over the past few years?

Not sure where you are reading that in my comments. I’m just pointing out that the competition level in the ACC is higher hence why we have missed bowl games under CPJ.

 

[daBuzz]

I think he's a pretty solid coach, but let's not act like Duke has reached some level we need to aspire to.

They've won what...3 in a row against us? Are we allowed to aspire to be at that level then?

 

[Longestdays]

Have you seen who Duke plays out of conference and thier cross over game?

 

[GoldenIsle]

Agreed, I wouldn't trade our past 10 years for Duke's. Cutcliffe has brought them from total dogshit to mediocre, that's it.

Exactly....I would not trade our last 10 years for Duke's, but right now it seems like we are in free fall while they have gone from cellar dweller to respectability. Do I just want a respectable program? No! I want a winning program but it seems like our fan base has bought into this idea that GT has too many obstacles and we can't have that kind of program. I've been a GT fan for 50+ years and it seems like I started hearing all the reasons GT can't be be a continuous winner the last 10-15 years. Even during some of the horrible years of the early 80's we always thought with the right coach we would turn it around.

 

[GEETEELEE]

Not sure where you are reading that in my comments. I’m just pointing out that the competition level in the ACC is higher hence why we have missed bowl games under CPJ.

Sorry, I meant to reply to AJ.

 

[Akinji07]

We are not the cool school in our state or region. Duke has some appeal in that respect. We are not even beloved in the community in which we reside. In fact upon learning I attended Georgia Tech a woman from Atlanta called me a rich white bastard.

You should have said Thanks, poor [insert race] bitch.

 

[DressCheeseSideSeaboard]

You should have said Thanks, I’ll give you a quarter if you will [insert sexual act].

See my previous note about the laundromat.

 

[RussianOffense]

Comparing our football program with Duke's is shameful

I am ashamed of this thread and of our team so far this year

 

[00Burdell]

Comparing our football program with Duke's is shameful

I am ashamed of this thread and of our team so far this year

I agree with your first statement. However, I am not ashamed of the players who, I know, are putting in the work and the effort. It is the staff that I hold accountable for the results we are seeing on the field. If there is any shame to be had, it should be in CPJ's court for failing to prepare our players for the game. They were clearly not prepared for the game.

 

[johncu]

They've won what...3 in a row against us? Are we allowed to aspire to be at that level then?

No, we beat them in 2016.

Paul Johnson is 7-3 against David Cutcliffe, including 4 blowouts. Let's not get carried away.

 

[H-town]

No, we beat them in 2016.

Paul Johnson is 7-3 against David Cutcliffe, including 4 blowouts. Let's not get carried away.

So when they beat us again this year, are you going to continue to defend Johnson's record against them? Why is it so hard for you to be honest with our program?

 

[CornerBlitz]

We are not the cool school in our state or region. Duke has some appeal in that respect. We are not even beloved in the community in which we reside. In fact upon learning I attended Georgia Tech a woman from Atlanta called me a rich white bastard.

Then she’s an ignorant idiot. Don’t waste any more time on it.

 

[BuckNasty]

I think some of you old farts who have been fans of GT since Christ wore short pants need to understand that the realities of college football are very different from decades ago.

We are not in the same ACC from the 90's and into the early 2000's where it was FSU and then maybe two other good ACC teams. There is good reason to believe we are not in the same ACC as a decade ago.

The recruiting obstacles are very real but the academic side seems the bigger problem. Scheme likely factors into it to some degree as well. However, I just can't help to remember the Gailey years where we couldn't find a very good QB to save our lives and we had one great class. There is absolutely no reason a Taylor Bennett should have started for GT. Our offense was never that impressive considering the backs and receivers we had, either.

Things like consecutive losing seasons will take care of themselves but we need to see how this season plays out first.

Comparing ourselves to Duke is pretty ööööing stupid, we are nothing like that program despite our recent W/L record.

 

[johncu]

So when they beat us again this year, are you going to continue to defend Johnson's record against them? Why is it so hard for you to be honest with our program?

All I've done is post facts. This thread seemed to indicate that Duke has passed us as a program, and that's absurd. Call me when Duke wins the Orange Bowl or beats a team the caliber of Clemson, UGA, or FSU (when they're good). He took a terrible program and made it mediocre, but that's as far as they're going.

And yes, I will continue to defend Johnson's record when people are posting stupid shit that doesn't make sense. He needs to go at the end of this season, but that doesn't change the fact that he did some really good things while he was here. It's just time for a change.

 

[daBuzz]

I think some of you old farts who have been fans of GT since Christ wore short pants need to understand that the realities of college football are very different from decades ago.

We are not in the same ACC from the 90's and into the early 2000's where it was FSU and then maybe two other good ACC teams. There is good reason to believe we are not in the same ACC as a decade ago.

The recruiting obstacles are very real but the academic side seems the bigger problem. Scheme likely factors into it to some degree as well. However, I just can't help to remember the Gailey years where we couldn't find a very good QB to save our lives and we had one great class. There is absolutely no reason a Taylor Bennett should have started for GT. Our offense was never that impressive considering the backs and receivers we had, either.

Things like consecutive losing seasons will take care of themselves but we need to see how this season plays out first.

Comparing ourselves to Duke is pretty ööööing stupid, we are nothing like that program despite our recent W/L record.

This is a silly post. Of course the ACC is nothing like the 90's. Not even Clemson of today is as dominant as FSU was in the 90's. And then, you only played 11 games and there was no ACCCG to give you an extra game. There were likewise only about 2/3 of the bowls that are present today. Back then if you had a 10 win season, you were at worse 10-2. You can now lose 4 games and end up 10-4...that's like comparing apples and refrigerators.

The recruiting restrictions are not significantly different than Gailey faced and he brought us a plethora of players who played in the NFL. Johnson has been here 10 years and some of Gailey's players are STILL playing in the NFL. At the very least, Morgan Burnett and Michael Johnson come to mind. And this other player you might remember named Johnson with a first name of Calvin was also a Gailey product. The dude absolutely sucked as a college coach and even he was able to recruit effectively, even if he never had a decent QB. Although I'll remind you that Sean Renfree was committed to come to Tech when Gailey was fired and Johnson was coach. Given the success he had at Duke, it's not a stretch to imagine him being successful at Tech.

As for comparing us to Duke, it's an apt comparison. They beat us 43-20 last year. We beat them 38-35 in 2016 and they beat us 34-20 in 2015. So yeah, they've beaten us 2 out of the past 3 years. I know you youngsters want to think 'the world has changed' but I heard the same argument during Gailey's tenure about how 'it's not the same as when Ross was here'. And when he was here, it was 'it's not the same as it was back when Bobby Dodd was coach'. Football and leagues change. You either change with it or you wither into insignificance.

 

[rghoae]

I completely agree that GT academics are slightly harder than other schools (the engineering majors is a red herring since the majority of our players do not major in engineering. However, the math requirements are almost certainly tougher).

What I don’t understand is why our recruiting has dropped from the times of Chan Gailey (for example, last 2 drafts the only player we had drafted was Butker. Players drafted after 2014 would have been eligible to these drafts). Have our academic standards increased? Is our player development not up to mark?

Also, a lot of people forget, but Gailey was recruiting with a reduced scholarship count in 2006 and 2007 and while under probation. Those may have been our best classes in over a decade.

Another thing I don’t get is that our recruiting rankings are fairly consistent with what we had under Gailey (excluding the excellent 2007 class). Yet we don’t have as many players drafted. This seems to indicate a development problem more than a skill problem.

 

[GEETEELEE]

I heard the same argument during Gailey's tenure about how 'it's not the same as when Ross was here

It’s not. Yes, mostly the same for Gailey and Johnson, but a big difference from Ross’s time.

 

[Milledgeville]

I completely agree that GT academics are slightly harder than other schools (the engineering majors is a red herring since the majority of our players do not major in engineering. However, the math requirements are almost certainly tougher).

What I don’t understand is why our recruiting has dropped from the times of Chan Gailey (for example, last 2 drafts the only player we had drafted was Butker. Players drafted after 2014 would have been eligible to these drafts). Have our academic standards increased? Is our player development not up to mark?

Also, a lot of people forget, but Gailey was recruiting with a reduced scholarship count in 2006 and 2007 and while under probation. Those may have been our best classes in over a decade.

Another thing I don’t get is that our recruiting rankings are fairly consistent with what we had under Gailey (excluding the excellent 2007 class). Yet we don’t have as many players drafted. This seems to indicate a development problem more than a skill problem.

Not sure if academic standards have increased. However, my wife taught two recently signed players on GT's roster that both failed her AP class as Juniors and obtained the obligatory '70' after attending Summer school. She said they were great young men and, obviously, good athletes. Academically, they were C-level students at best. So, exceptions are made.