oldfoggy said:
Of course they are not really trash talking, not meant to offend but to draw attention of a particular point. In your eloquent post you stated that CG had a learning curve. OK, if that's true why was he hired in the 1st place. Since he's come, recruiting has been down, play has been down. I think his loyalty is questionable at best. When I was a manager I knew what my people were doing and if CG did not know what he people were doing, then again why was he hired. This thread is not about CG but recruiting. Did Rad, yes I like the guy very much, force the changes, did Rad step up and tell them recruiting was the pitts with few exceptions, I don't know and what really happened may never be known.
Oh yes, I never spoke about the no. of wins needed by Tech this year or next.
I know you didn't speak of a number of wins and didn't meant to imply that you did. That was simply my own addition to the topic
As for why Chan Gailey was hired I suspect that the reasons are mainly that Dave Braine thought he would be a perfect fit for Georgia Tech as our head coach. Why? I believe that Dave Braine felt that winning consistently at GT is very difficult and requires not just football acumen, which I still believe Chan Gailey possesses (whether folks agree or disagree is up for debate but the assumption is that Dave Braine thought of Chan as a top football guy and that's the point I'm making), but also an even temperament, a love of the region, and also strong convictions and personal strength of character. I think that Dave wanted someone he felt could do well at GT but also would want to STAY at GT instead of leave at the first sign of a better job offer which is why he picked someone with lots of experience instead of a young gun. I also think he probably knew that Chan would have something of a learning curve but felt confident that a combination of a good college staff and help from the administration along with removing any requirements for Chan to oversee the academic side of things would make that a shorter learning curve.
I think we know now that these assumptions about shortening the learning curve did nothing of the sort and in some cases had disastrous results.
I don't think that Chan was unaware of what was happening in his program and what people were and were not doing. I do think, however, that he might not have understood that the things that were happening were causing some of the difficulties. Sometimes it is hard to see the direct cause-effect relationships, especially when one of those might be a good friend.
I don't know if D-Rad told Chan about which coaching changes needed to happen. I have been told by some who's information I've come to trust that Chan has wanted to bring in Geoff Collins for quite some time and just needed to figure out a way to do so. Right now I choose to believe that the changes made were coming with or without a new AD as I haven't seen evidence that it was a direct cause-effect between the hiring of D-Rad and the changeover to Giff Smith as the RC though I recognize it is possible.
At my company we have a "new" CEO (came in early this year). One of the things he's said time and time again is that he does honor the past history of the company but at the same time people need to understand that it is a new time now and we can move forward as one by concentrating on today and the future or we can continue to look backwards and be stuck in the mud or worse, go backwards. At GT we have a new CEO as well and as a group we can support him and all his staff (which includes the football coaches) in an effort to make today and the future as bright as it can be or we can wallow in the past.
We see that our recruiting is improving by leaps and bounds and that should have an impact on next season and beyond. We have some challenges to overcome this year and next that I think our coaches and staff and players CAN meet (scholarship restrictions and having to play at VT a second year in a row are the kinds of things I mean). But I think we have a chance to unite behind D-Rad and all his programs and coaches and try to become a more unified fan base. This will be a slow process but I hope everyone is up for it. I know I am.
FWIW, I think most GT fans are very excited and positive about D-Rad and I am suggesting that this be extended to all of the programs under his command.
