New Year resolutions?
KQ- To let things on here bother me less in my personal life.
RJ- Find a better mix of putting myself first, while not becoming as selfish as I was earlier in life.
Continue to nurture and grow the relationship I am attempting to build with my dad, perhaps even letting him meet my kids for the first time.
Get better at taking vacations.
Dust off the Peloton and start riding it more often.
Be a better husband.
Will we be excited after the second signing period?
RJ- I would say yes in terms of being excited after the second signing period, because by then I believe a lot more will be known regarding the transfer additions, and they are not going to take any HS prospects just to take them.
As was seen with Myles Oliver on Sunday, there are going to be some new offers sent out.
The commitment of Greg Delaine is not expected to last very much longer, but everyone here knows that.
Thoughts on the Rush pinball machine that is coming out…Are you going to purchase one?
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-pinball-machine-teaser/
KQ- I would like one, I actually have a tremendous collection of Rush merch from working for them in the early 2000s.
Did Geoff do anything salary wise to help with new hires or did GTAA just spend more?
KQ- There are some counterbalances in place to protect GT according to some sources, he is covering some of the multi-year deals via his buyout money, meaning if he gets fired and they get fired it comes off his buyout. I have not fully confirmed this, but I had two connected people tell me this.
Any actual fire to the smoke about a real DC hire or is it just a ST guy with *shudder* Relentless Team Effort Every Single Day TM of Geoff/Thacker running things?
KQ- Collins decided to ride or die with Thacker as his guy for whatever reason. The issue is that it looks bad optically after firing Pop and Burton without him getting into detail as to why he is keeping Thacker. That is what I tried to ask him about at the NSD presser.
Kelly's post on the Transfer Portal statistics are ... stunning. The conclusions drawn seem to be that these kids have no clue, and shouldn't be entering the portal unless they're confident of landing a new scholarship somewhere. However, ... is it really that easy for the kids to do that kind of "homework"?
My real question is this: Are there recruiting rules violation consequences (for ANY party) if a scholarship player from school A reaches out to a football program recruiting representative at school B during a contact period … but BEFORE entering the transfer portal?
KQ- This is sort of a new frontier sadly like NIL and kids are getting burned. As far as how you check, basically, either parents or HS coaches make connections. RJ and I even get hit up by people sometimes with questions about if school X is looking for this position from a HS coach or parent. Most coaches have deep connections so you see things like kids not going in unless they are sure they have a spot through the backchannel. That is what the smartest kids do. Some just want out and don't care or are frustrated by the coaches or the depth chart or the school being hard or their girl dumped them and they make an impulsive move. The brains of 18-22 young men don't work like a fully grown adult with life experiences. I sure as hell made terrible choices at that age.
RJ- The only way this would be a violation is if the recruiting staffer responded to the message. Kinda like the rules about underclassmen communicating with coaches like that.
When you factor in offseason attrition, projected offseason improvement of the current roster, and the additions of the freshmen and (known) transfers, do you think the team will be more or less talented than the 2021 squad? I'm really trying to get a feel for how realistic it is to get to the 6 win mark next year, given that you've stated a few times that you thought the 2021 team had the talent to win 6-7 games. If the talent is there, what are the things that we need to add or do differently to get to that 6-win mark?
KQ- If the offense is in the top 50 and the defense in the top 75 they will win 6 games with the schedule. That is sort of the only true benchmark I can give you. When they were near those marks early in the year they looked like a bowl team before things imploded later in the year.
If there was one young man in the Portal that you could get- who would it be? High School also?
KQ- Ivan Pace Jr. the linebacker from Miami (Ohio), is getting offers from everywhere and he would solve a lot of issues for GT on defense. HS, Tae Woody
RJ- Portal- This is tough for me. I really want to say Calzada, the former Texas A&M QB, but with GT adding Gibson I don’t think QB is where I should use the one bullet you are giving me.
I’d go with S Brandon Joseph from Northwestern.
High school- Guessing you want this one to be semi-realistic, so I’ll go with LB EJ Lightsey or WR RJ Maryland
Is it true that Atlanta area private school football coaches steer kids away from GT and to UGA, if so how do we fix that? Looking at you Woodward Academy
Adding Rabun Gap and GAC to the above question. Russell wanted to address it here.
KQ- There is only one recruiting coach not a HC that I know steers kids away from GT, a former UGA player. I have not really heard any stories about other schools being anti-GT. Tech has had plenty of private school kids over the years.
RJ- Thanks for asking this on here after I couldn’t go in-depth on it due to the volume of questions during the live Q&A recently.
Let’s take a look at the P5 landing spots recent signees at these schools since 2020-
North Carolina
Vanderbilt 5x
Minnesota
Auburn
Michigan
Tennessee 2x
Virginia Tech
Notre Dame
UCLA
Arkansas
Kansas State
Stanford
Pitt
In several of the recruitments, Georgia Tech was involved at one point before either cooling off, or being eliminated.
Recent names include- S Will Hardy, RB Damari Alston, DE Darren Agu, OT Addison Nichols, ATH Christian Harrison, and even DB Khari Gee if you want to go back to 2021.
The thing in common for all of the schools listed is obvious: they are all out of state schools.
Don’t see any of the schools like Louisville, Mississippi State, West Virginia, or Iowa State on this list.
There is an agenda being pushed about certain staffers at these schools “pushing” kids away from GT. I’ve talked to coaches, parents, sources, etc. and nobody feels like that is the case.
If anything, it is the culture and the messaging around the schools from what I was told. The vibe at one of the schools listed is so strongly in favor of the students leaving the state for college that it has clearly made its way to the football program.
The noteworthy stat among the signees I listed is the amount that Vanderbilt has compared to GT.
It isn’t like these kids aren’t smart enough to get into GT, and it isn’t like there are staff members actively trying to push kids out of state for college.
The mindset is different at these schools. You go to Woodward, you want to “get out” more often than a kid at Westlake or Grayson, for example.
Not everyone is going to want to stay close to home for college, and that’s not ever going to change.
The transfer portal has given numerous recruits the chance to come back “home” and play at GT, and I expect that number will grow in the coming weeks, months, even years.
I recall our previous staffs would periodically visit other schools in the off season to collaborate and share coaching best practices (e.g. Didn't we visit Alabama when Groh was DC and his son was on the staff at Bama?). Does our current staff do anything similar with other schools?
KQ- I think covid stopped a lot of that, they do some virtual stuff and I think they met with some teams back in 2019 and early 2020 pre-covid, but I'd have to ask one of the staff about it.
