When GOL left the program, he said he left it...

A

Axe

Flats Noob
Joined
Dec 31, 2001
Messages
539
...a lot more half-full, than half-empty, which was a pretty good line I must say. With the conclusion of the first post-GOL season nearly upon us, I was curious to see if what GOL had said was accurate. There is no doubt that GOL had a great run at GT, but did he really reload the program talent wise? I haven't made any judgements, I just wanted to see some discussion. Let's take a look athe the 2-deep rosters from '95 and the beginning of '02. This is just off the top of my head, so please feel free to correct me.

QB
'95 Donnie Davis, Brandon Shaw
'02 AJ Suggs, Damarious Bilbo
WR
'95 Derrick Stegall, Cedric Zachery, Harvey Middleton, Omar Cassidy
'02 Will Glover, Kerry Watkins, LaKeldrick Bridges, Jon Smith
TE
'95 Grant Baynham, Rich Frost
'02 J.P. Foschi, Will Heller
OT
'95 Jason Dukes, Curtis McGee, Scott Jackson, ???
'02 Kyle Wallace, Nat Dorsey, Jeremy Phillips, Brad Honeycutt
OG
'95 Mike Minter, Ken Celaj, Rob Garner, Pete Maiello
'02 Leon Robinson, Ray Blake, Clay Hartley, Beau Cleland
C
'95 Mike Cheever, ??
'02 Reilly, Tidwell-Neal
FB
'95 Wiley, Gubba
'02 Jackson, Dixon
TB
'95 CJ Williams, Wiley
'02 Hollings, Ford

DE
'95 Miles, Hughes, Balgona(sp?), Tarplin
'02 Gathers, Hargrove, Henderson, Wright
DT
'95 Jackson, Shepherd, Bradford, Witherspoon
'02 Malone, Parker, Johnson, Koon
OLB
'95 Clements, Cameron
'02 Fox, Brown
ILB
'95 Rogers, Strickland
'02 Smith, Etheridge
OLB
'95 Brooking, Ferguson?
'02 Wimbush, Wilkinson
CB
'95 Perryman, Bostic, Ferguson, Caldwell
'02 Hester, Cox, Houston, Rhino
FS
'95 Dee, Wilkins
'02 Muyres, Landry
SS
'95 Stewart, Sheridan
'02 Collins, Butler

As I look over the list I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing how the talent level has increased that much over the last 7 years. The '95 team didn't have as much speed or overall depth but it had much better interior d-line and secondary play IMHO. The '95 squad had our last true defensive tackle, in Al Jackson and 4 defensive backs that played mulitple years in the NFL.

I'm not trying to form any conclusions from this info but as we look back at 2002, it seems to me that myself and others may have overrated the overall talent level of our program. We all talk about the state that Lewis left the program but look at his last class in '94, DTs Bradford, Witherspoon, and Zach Piller all came in one class. AL Jackson transferred in that year and Shepard came in '93. I'm not sure we've seen a DT as good as any of those guys enter the program since '95.

Just a little food for thought.
 
Originally posted by Axe:

As I look over the list I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing how the talent level has increased that much over the last 7 years. The '95 team didn't have as much speed or overall depth but it had much better interior d-line and secondary play IMHO. The '95 squad had our last true defensive tackle, in Al Jackson and 4 defensive backs that played mulitple years in the NFL.

I'm not trying to form any conclusions from this info but as we look back at 2002, it seems to me that myself and others may have overrated the overall talent level of our program. We all talk about the state that Lewis left the program but look at his last class in '94, DTs Bradford, Witherspoon, and Zach Piller all came in one class. AL Jackson transferred in that year and Shepard came in '93. I'm not sure we've seen a DT as good as any of those guys enter the program since '95.

Just a little food for thought.[/QB]
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">I would have to agree totally. After looking at the tape of thehorrible ugag game it is evident among other things that our tallent level speed,size quickness ect. is not to their level and it was duely exposed on several plays. Just my opinion.
 
Sadly the '95 defense was by far the best of the entire O'Leary era. There is no doubt in my mind that defense was better/more talented than this years D. O'Leary's rebuilding job is overated in terms of talent. There was talent when BL got here and there was talent when he left. O'Leary brought discipline and Ralph to the program which is why he has his run, it wasn't because he significantly upgraded in talent.
 
why do I get the feeling that beeware is gonna be posting on this thread soon?
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Interesting looking at the comparison.

I thought we recruited rather well prior to O'L getting here. From a pure talent stand point, I'd say our roster is faster now. Have more skilled players. More team spead. There were probably more strengh and size back in mid 90 GT teams.
 
Axe

Thats very interesting. Two additional comments

1. It does appear that huge differences in "talent" don't exist in comparison...Thus, I would have to agree with the premise that GOL et al really DID coach the guys up, as has been discussed before. what other explanation is there between the eras.

2. Strength and conditioning methods may also explain the differences...From the general descriptions of what we're doing now (as far as Technique in S&C), sounds a LOT like what we did under B.L. - which is more emphasis on repetetion vs heavy weight (poor mans description for the sake of argument)...
 
Fwiw, lots of repetitions helps endurance, lots of weight helps strength;sounds like what we need is lots of reps of heavy weight!

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Good post Axe... thanks for taking the time to put the information together...

I probably need to think about this one a while... but on the surface, I probably agree with others in this thread... I think we have made great improvement in terms of speed and athleticism, but I have wondered most of this year if we were as "stocked" as everyone wanted to believe... it seems everyone but Tech fans didnt think so... and apparently, they were right.
 
I would certainly agree that GOL made better use of the talent than the coach prior to his arrival. I think GOL did a good job with the program. However, I'm beginning to come around to the idea that the overall talent level in the program did not change much from '92 to '02. The quality of the coaching is what determined GT's football fortunes. Lewis was a poor coach in the early 90's, O'Leary was better, and the Fridge made him very good.

'92 5-6
'93 5-6
'94 1-10
O'Leary arrives
'95 6-5
'96 5-6
Fridge arrives
'97 7-5
'98 10-2
'99 8-4
'00 9-3
Fridge Departs
'01 8-5
Gailey Arrives
'02 7-5

I don't think the talent was 1-10 in '94 we just had a ton of injuries and a lot of bad chemistry problems. The team probably had 5-6/6-5 talent. In '98 and '02 we had great QB play. Otherwise it appears our talent level has been pretty steady. IMHO, Fridge deserves the credit for delivering exceptional QB play.
 
Hi Goldeagle, I will add one thing to your perspective on weight lifting. Some positions need more strength, and other positions need some strenth, but more flexibility.

Weight training should be tailored for specific positions.

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I think it should be noted that '95 was the most talented team of the early O'Leary years. Definately more talented than '96 and'97. If you compare this years team to those then you will see a greater increase in talent.
 
For a bit of perspective, the outside "experts" I have read stated we had good talent in the starting 11 on both sides but not a lot of depth. I didn't see any who thought we had the talent level of FSU for instance and that we were middle to upper middle of the ACC for most years. That would dovetail with your analysis and point to OLeary getting more out of his talent than dramatically increasing the talent.

That would also be my perspective - better coaching of good but not great talent.
 
Originally posted by Axe:
I would certainly agree that GOL made better use of the talent than the coach prior to his arrival. I think GOL did a good job with the program. However, I'm beginning to come around to the idea that the overall talent level in the program did not change much from '92 to '02. The quality of the coaching is what determined GT's football fortunes. Lewis was a poor coach in the early 90's, O'Leary was better, and the Fridge made him very good.

'92 5-6
'93 5-6
'94 1-10
O'Leary arrives
'95 6-5
'96 5-6
Fridge arrives
'97 7-5
'98 10-2
'99 8-4
'00 9-3
Fridge Departs
'01 8-5
Gailey Arrives
'02 7-5

I don't think the talent was 1-10 in '94 we just had a ton of injuries and a lot of bad chemistry problems. The team probably had 5-6/6-5 talent. In '98 and '02 we had great QB play. Otherwise it appears our talent level has been pretty steady. IMHO, Fridge deserves the credit for delivering exceptional QB play.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Very well done!! Your stats and comments tell a lot.

GO JACKETS!
 
George O'leary left this program in a very good state. It was not his fault that after he left a terrible mistake was made to start over; instead of continuing to build on the foundation he had worked so hard on. I am sure he was sad to see this as many of us are.
 
Oh yeah Beeware.
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O'leary is so sad at the season we've had.
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I'm sure.
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Not that O'leary doesn't care about the young men in the GT program, but gosh.
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I love Coach O'leary. The man left for another job. He left the building dude! He's not here any more!!
 
I had a dawg friend of mine ask me in all seriousness over the weekend "what's O'leary up to?" Pretty serious sports fan. Hadn't even heard GOL had a job!
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GTTerrific, you are exactly correct. Most importantly this points out how important coaching is and how we should settle for nothing less than stellar football teams.

Fridge proved we can win on the Flats.

You could even go back to the Bobby Ross years - when Fridge again was here.
 
Originally posted by beeware:
George O'leary left this program in a very good state. It was not his fault that after he left a terrible mistake was made to start over; instead of continuing to build on the foundation he had worked so hard on. I am sure he was sad to see this as many of us are.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">LOL.. Beeware, are you serving us up with some Pre-Christmas jokes.... It was not his fault ?? if memory serves.. HE is the one that CHOSE to leave... HE is the one who put everything into action... so, ultimately, you could say.. .it was indeed his fault... he could have stayed... but I am sure glad he didnt... and he still owes us $$$.. maybe he can work a little overtime in Minnesota and pay what he owes !!
 
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