Straw poll on Bond...

[GT65_UGA89]

Like some others here, I'll have to give it a wait and see attitude. One thing on my mind right now is that Nix was chosen over him for the Miami job ...probably doesn't mean that much, but it is something I have been thinking about.

 

[sidewalkfan]

That seems to be the fashionable thing that everyone says now when they don't know the first thing about who Bond is or what he's done.

 

[ncjacket]

Miami's choice doesn't mean anything. Coaches make selections for the same reason managers hire people in every walk of life. What they've done in the past, how they interview, how well the two of them seem to mesh from a personality standpoint, who wants more money, who knows who, etc. There are also comments on other boards that would suggest Bond pulled out after the interviews...maybe he didn't like what he heard from Shannon?

The bottom line is none of us has a clue about how this will turn out or whether it's a good hire or not. We don't know if he ran the offense he really prefers at NIU or what the HC wanted. I think it's hilarious that some think this is a great hire and others think it's a bad decision. We don't know anything until we see the product on the field.

BTW, I'm happy simply because it isn't Nix. He showed me enough last year to be pleased he isn't running the show anymore.

 

[midatlantech]

Miami may have hired Nix in part to be able to understand and beat Tech. It sounds to me that we got us a great OC.

 

[knoxjacket]

I'm very excited about Bond. He looks like a great hire.

And what is this "hasn't played with the big boys" crap?

Total offense against Ohio State this year:
#1 Michigan, 397 yards
#2 Florida, 370 yards
#3 Northern Illinois, 343 yards

That's more total offense than Texas, Penn State, Michigan State, etc.

In 2005, 411 yards total offense against Michigan (practically the same as Ohio State and Penn State), 539 yards against Northwestern (2nd best against them, better than Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, etc.).

In 2004, 337 yards against Maryland (better than GT and NC State), 402 yards against Iowa St. (#4 performance of the season against them).

Looks like Bond has already been successful against almost all the BCS-conference opponents he has faced, and that was with MAC-level talent.

Let's be honest here. Over 100 of those yards came in the 4th quarter when OSU was up 35-6.

 

[mm42]

Let's be honest here. Over 100 of those yards came in the 4th quarter when OSU was up 35-6.

OK, that's just an asinine response. NIU moved the ball throughout the game. They had a 69 yard drive in the 1st quarter, a 48 yard drive in the 2nd quarter (FG), a 60 yard drive in the 3rd quarter (FG), and a 71 yard drive in the 4th quarter. If you divide 343 yards by 4 quarters, you get 86 yards/quarter, so the fact they they got 105 yards in the 4th quarter is not an indictment of their performance. I swear some people just have a bleak view of the universe.

 

[knoxjacket]

They were down 28-0 5 seconds into the second quarter. You don't credit an offense for good play when they are getting their asses kicked.

I watched that game. It was a blowout. Trying to derive any meaning from their offensive output in that game is what is asinine.

 

[beej67]

They were down 28-0 5 seconds into the second quarter. You don't credit an offense for good play when they are getting their asses kicked.

Well to be fair, it wasn't the offense who allowed 28 first quarter points, was it?

 

[Techbert]

My Initial Take

Is anyone disappointed with the hire? From what I've read, it looks like most are at least cautiously optimistic which seems strange because our message board fanbase is usually divided on just about every issue.

I'll support him because he's our coach, and it is foolish to do otherwise, but we don't have that much info on him. We were not in the interview. We don't know what he plans on doing at GT, other than knowing what parameters his new boss is placing on him. We did not speak with those that know him, like Hatfield.

I think the comparative stats of what he did at his last job has ZERO relevance to what he will do here. He will have different tools going against different opponents and better DC's who will have a different level of motivation in playing us. I throw it all out, as I'm sure you could take comparatives to argue that Southwest Arkansas State Teachers College should be our national champions.

One advantage he has over Nix is he has a similar background (coach's son, etc.), plus ten more years of maturity and experience. 40's is a good age for a coordinator. He's young enough to be energetic and innovative, but old enough not to have his head handed to him when Grobe sucks him into relying on the bomb.

He's apparently a talented recruiter who says he signed five guys this year. He's been a recruiting coordinator in the past. Very significantly, he could open up the Chicago market to our recruiting. We've had some good players from their Catholic leagues and elsewhere, and there's a lot more where they came from - solid kids with good classroom skills and talent on the playing fields. Tech men, who just don't know it yet. He may also have some remaining mid-South and Texas contacts.

I wish he had been at the Edge on Wednesday to speak with the fans.

 

[knoxjacket]

Well to be fair, it wasn't the offense who allowed 28 first quarter points, was it?

No, but you can't seriously believe OSU's defense was playing with the same kind of intensity it played with against Texas or Penn State after being up by four TDs that early in the game.

I'm not passing any judgement on John Bond as an OC. I'm just pointing out a stupid post.

 

[Clito Jacket]

I'm very enthused from what I've read

He's experienced at running both a predominantly passing offense and a predominantly running offense. He has a wide range of football experience and sounds like he can recruit. Has connections in some fertile areas.

Like Techfowl, I hope to goodness he can make in-game adjustments. I agee wholeheartedly that that has been a weakness. We start with great game plans on both sides of the ball but they make adjustments and we don't. I'd even go further and say that it applies to defense too. Don't get me wrong; I love Tenuta's defensive plans and would say they are usually successful. But when they aren't he seems to just keep doing what isn't working.

 

[beej67]

Like Techfowl, I hope to goodness he can make in-game adjustments. I agee wholeheartedly that that has been a weakness. We start with great game plans on both sides of the ball but they make adjustments and we don't.

For the record, we made great adjustments vs Miami. So great, in fact, that the D coordinator that Nix outcoached just hired him at Miami, and cited Nix's ability to make ingame adjustments as one of the selling points of the hire.

Maybe that was a fluke, maybe not. I definitely think Nix would have looked like a much better coordinator with a real QB.

 

[ncjacket]

Probably beej, but part of what an OC has to do is adjust to his personnel. He knew Reggie's limitations but he didn't adjust to them imo.

 

[techfowl]

Take it for what it's worth, but I have been told by TWO Miami fans that Bond WAS offered the Miami job and turned it down.

May or may not be true, but these are two guys that don't know each other and both have season tickets. One lives in Coral Gables, which is pretty close, and the other one is die hard enough to fly from Atlanta to wherever they are playing any given weekend.

They seemed dismayed that we could get Bond when they could not.

I don't know the complete scoop, because I wasn't there when it happened. What I do know is that Nix didn't leave on his own. Chan likely did what he could to help Nix find a place to land, which could have also been a factor.

Nix was going away whether or not him or Chan liked it. Chan loved the guy, so I'm sure Shannon recieved an overwhelming reference from our program - as long as Shannon didn't talk to Tenuta.

Regardless - I wouldn't put too much stock in the "Why didn't Bond get the Miami job" question.

 

[beej67]

That's wild, Techfowl, if it's true, because you know the guy woulda rather gone to UM than stayed at NI. If that's true, we might have had our eye on this Bond character for a while, and had something in the works which was sweeter in his eyes than Miami.

 

[wilmoo]

Is anyone disappointed with the hire? From what I've read, it looks like most are at least cautiously optimistic which seems strange because our message board fanbase is usually divided on just about every issue.

No division here, young coach -will have all of spring training to acclimate to our players and current schemes.I would expect his real input to begin in the summer practices.Happy with the choice, give him a chance to succeed.

 

[Clito Jacket]

I don't know a dang thing about this....

...so I probably should shut up. But my thought is this guy is originally from Arkansas. He has connections with Ken Hatfield who is a good friend of Chan and who no doubt said great things about Chan to him. So maybe this southern boy would just rather work for Chan Gailey and Tech and live in Atlanta than to work for the 'Canes in South Florida.

 

[mm42]

I'm not passing any judgement on John Bond as an OC. I'm just pointing out a stupid post.

What's stupid is to assume you know what level of effort OSU's defenders put up based on the score. They blew out almost every team they played last season, and none of the other teams that were blown out put up numbers like NIU. Does that prove the Bond is an offensive genius? No, but it shows that the earlier comment amount competing with the Big Boys was simply uninformed.

 

[knoxjacket]

What's stupid is to assume you know what level of effort OSU's defenders put up based on the score. They blew out almost every team they played last season, and none of the other teams that were blown out put up numbers like NIU. Does that prove the Bond is an offensive genius? No, but it shows that the earlier comment amount competing with the Big Boys was simply uninformed.

You're right. Good thing I watched the game.

 

[mm42]

You're right. Good thing I watched the game.

So what, are you saying that as you watched the game you saw objective evidence OSU's players were actually dogging it? Before, your story was you were merely inferring it from the score being 28-0. Did you watch OSU-Indiana, OSU-Minnesota, OSU-Michigan State, and OSU-Northwestern, too? Maybe you can use your brilliant insights to tell us the level of effort OSU defenders were putting out quarter-by-quarter in those games also.