Thoughts on Chan Gailey(Long)

Beeware,

I have had my differences with you on this board, but I must say I can almost understand something in your last post. You say, "...we probably cannot win in spite of him and this mediocre staff forever." I'd like to know why you think the staff is mediocre. I myself pointed out in another post that most of these guys come from down programs (Duke, Baylor, Navy, Oklahoma State) and I must say that concerns me a little. OTOH, that does not necessarily mean they are bad coaches. It's possible to be a very good assistant coach on a bad team. I'd like to know why you think they are so bad. Also why do you think Gailey is so bad? And I don't want to hear factors that have no real bearing on the question, such as:

1. He's never coached a Div 1 game.
2. He kisses Braine's arse.

You may be right. Gailey might take us right down the toilet. But he might not.
 
get,

I don't think our assistants coming from "down" programs is going to be a big deal. Let's look at what they've done:

D'A--May have been best coach on Duke's staff even better than Franks. He put several of his guys in the NFL. It's not an easy task to put someone in the pros from Duke.

Raye--He hasn't coached a game in a couple of years. He was part of Paul Johnson's new staff at Navy, and he's been long known for his special teams work at Navy, Auburn, and TCU.

Robinson--He's come from a program on the rise at Oklahoma State. 2001 was the first year for Les Miles and the new staff at OSU, and OSU fans seem to think that Miles has this team on the right track. This is a program on the way up. In fact, the OSU board believes that TR might have been their best recruiter.

Brick--I've started following Baylor football with some interest lately. As I've read their board, I've become leary of coaches associated with Kevin Steele. One afternoon I asked them about Brick, their comments were interesting. Baylor fans seemed to believe that Brick was an excellent LB coach, but he was in over his head as the DC. Many of them also felt that Brick was one of the better recruiters on staff.

One thing that we should all remember is not all of O'Leary's staff came from top programs.

David Kelly coached for DiNardo at LSU. DiNardo's not very popular in the Bayou as those were some dark days for the LSU program.

Geoff Collins came from Albright College (D3).

Danny Crossman came from UCF. Pretty decent program, but not among the best in the NCAA.

Peter McCarty came from Illinois (before they won the Big 10.)

Mac McWhorter came from Memphis after ONE season as OC. Was he fired?

Ted Roof came from Western Carolina.

O'Leary's last staff didn't exactly come from FSU, Nebraska, Miami. They came from programs that were "down" too. If you look at this staff's past, we can see a staff that has the POTENTIAL to be one of the better staffs at Tech in a long time. Where the guy came from isn't the big deal, it's what did he do while he was there. George O'Leary had very good staffs, and now Chan Gailey has a very good staff.
 
Indian Buzz,

Thanks for the thoughtful and lengthy reply. You have helped confirm my initial thoughts that just because an assistant comes from a down program, does not necessarily mean that he is a bad coach.

And I had forgotten that many of O'Leary's assitants did not have the best pedigree either.

Good post.
 
Coming in his first year after replacing a successful former coach, Gailey would kind of have to be an idiot not to be careful about managing expectations. College game or not, I don't think any of us can argue with Gailey's pedigree. Not only did he coach at some of the NFL's greatest franchises in Denver, Pittsburgh and Dallas, but he was successful at all 3 either as a HC or coordinator.

With that said, I hope he is patient and sticks with it because I figure it will take him 5-6 years to put us back where we were poised to be the last 3, but never quite made it. Why do I say that? Some on here have talked about last year's bad coaching, which I agree with somewhat, but nobody seems to be addressing that the ACC was more competitive because of better coaching on other teams. Maryland, NC State, UNC, Wake and Clemson have all upgraded their coaching with their most recent HC hires. The jury's still out on Virginia, but it looks like they've boosted their recruiting anyway. I know Tommy Bowden has his faults too, but he's outrecruited us two years straight, and he beats the two coaches before him at Clemson. The ACC will be more competitive in the future. I believe once Gailey gets established recruiting and gets his own players in, we'll see the results. I see him as a kind of steady builder guy like Beamer, not an instant shot in the arm guy like Fridge. He is too experienced and down to earth of a person to do a Bill Lewis for goodness sake. To compare him to 'that' is just stupid. However, the recent flunkouts of Bennett and Kuale worry me that there will be an adjustment period to the academic issues at Tech which don't exist at the pro ranks. I'm not sure if he realizes how much 'daddying' and chaperoning he's going to have to do. Still, my overall impression is positive, especially because I believe the door is open still to winning the in-state war. Richt is just another in a long line of mutt coaches with the recruiter's personality, but lackluster coaching abilities.
 
Technician, your reply reminded me of another thought I had posted a couple of months ago. Not only were the expectations great last year from a manpower aspect and from a scheduling advantage with most key games at BDS last year, but there were also quite a few new coaches that had to adjust to the ACC and their teams.

This year, those coaches have a year under their belt, and Tech is the team with the new coaches. Not only did last year's team have the advantage of a deeper roster and a great home schedule, but last year's team had the advantage because of all the new coaches in the league.

This year's team is at a disadvantage, on paper, because of the additional year for the new coaches on the opposing ACC teams plus our disadvantage of a whole new staff.

On paper, last year's team had many more advantages than this year's team. It is reflected in the preseason rankings between last year and this year's teams.

Even with the disadvantages, I believe we will better last year's record.

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Okay enough of this! You know the pup fans were questioning the CMR hire last year and now they couldn't be happier. They are more fickle than any fans I have ever met. CMR kisses Dooley's arse every day too I am sure. His staff is mediocre if you use the same qualifications that beeware imposed on this staff.

Why do you think good assistant coaches with good programs stay? Well for one they get more money. They also might be afforded the opportunity for a HC job if they continually prove themselves.

Why do good assistant coaches leave bad programs? See answer above... mo' money and better opportunity.

I loved having GOL as our coach but his time is done. He left for greener pastures. I don't think Braine hired someone to kiss his arse but rather hired someone with the following: Pro Connections, local connections, demonstrated coaching ability, and integrity.

I think Tenuta was a good hire. I have heard from a lot of UNC fans saying that he cost them the Tech game. ROFL! There defensive line got totally whipped that night and nobodies DB's can contain a WR forever if there is no pressure from the line! Tenuta was wise to play a deep cushion that night to keep the yardage to a minimum. Of course with no help from his defensive line Burns ate em up.

O'Brien speaks for himself... great offensive mind. We are in good hands.

So relax! Chan should be afforded the opportunity to prove himself. Richt cost the Dawgs three games last year but they didn't crucify him for it.

And since we are on the subject who would of been a better hire in your opinion beeware? We had already approached several candidates who turned us down.
 
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