Who has final authority on accepting commitments, Kenyatta or Geoff? Flip a coin if they disagree?
RJ- Lolol, flipping a coin is now a successful tiebreaker. Geoff has final authority on all things recruiting.
Have they ever considered playing Charlie Thomas at safety or nickel rather than LB? He's a great playmaker but he's just so undersized. I hate the thought of having 6 guys in the box and one is 208 lbs.
KQ- They did back in 2020 and that was the season where he played S, NB, LB and started or played a ton in the NC State at DE because of guys behind because of covid. Charlie's coverage skills and playmaking are highlighted more at LB. He was really not comfortable at safety and nickel and they've tried him there multiple times. I think he can do some things like a nickel or safety in packages or in a scheme situation, but I think he is much more effective as a LB.
We know that there are subs who have multiple accounts... and you are not going to name names.... but what is the highest number of accounts a single sub has? 2? 4? 10?
KQ- You would have to ask Ekreb. He has quite a few different monikers. I bet over my years here he is approaching 30+.
What are your thoughts on the basketball players Josh has brought in for this year?
Cyril Martynov
Freds Bagatskis
Javon Franklin
Lance Terry
KQ- Cyril is a skilled big but is still young and needs time to develop. He reminds me some of Moses with that versatile NBA-big skillset. Freds is a skilled shooter and is a bigger guard very much in the Euro-guard model that you see some in the NBA as well. Still needs to refine his defense. Javon Franklin is a high-energy dunker and low-post scorer gets on the boards and can defend. Lance Terry is a volume scorer who shoots a very good percentage from the field and three and is a tough Atlanta kid.
Who of this group will be the biggest contributor this year?
KQ- Probably Franklin and Terry because they fill specific holes, Franklin replaces some of what Usher did plus more around-the-rim play and Terry is somewhere between Bubba and Mike Devoe.
Will they be enough to help Tech have a winning season? Will they be enough to make it to the tournament?
KQ- Depends on the schedule, still waiting to see it and really the big thing will be how much Deivon Smith, Miles Kelly, Deebo Coleman and Jalon Moore develop.
Is Pastner turning the corner in recruiting? Seems like he is starting to get better players to visit and two players (Mike Nwoko and Al Amadou) announced this week that Tech was in their list of top schools. My impression is that Pastner and his staff are starting to gather some momentum. Do you agree or is it just my perception based on Twitter posts?
KQ- I think they had a lot of momentum in recruiting two years ago when they landed an elite class with Deebo, Miles, Jalon and getting Smith in the portal. I think this class took a little longer to piece together but it is fitting holes and the 2023 class is off to a great start and will be very small so they might two take more at most IMO. I think they've recruited a lot better recently. I think the 2022 class probably got caught up in NIL bullscrap working against them.
If Josh is starting to get some traction with better recruits then what do you think has swung things finally in his favor? The on court successes (ACC and players in NBA), new coach, new strategy, NIL, or a likely a combination of them all?
KQ- I'm not really sure, some of the guys have been here longer now like Julian and Anthony both on the court at GT so that helps build relationships as well. Coach Eski seems to be a very solid recruiter as well so I think the net has been an upgrade in that area.
Have there been any talks about lowering concession prices? Idk if doing MBS prices are sustainable but was curious if there have been any talks about it.
KQ- Yes, that has been something that has come up many times. I do not know how the vendor deals work and how much control GT has over the price of a hot dog or whatever at BDS. That is sort of beyond my scope of reporting. lol
Also, they talked about doing some type of mobile order thing? I remember for the UGA game I literally stood in line with a friend for the ENTIRE 3rd quarter. I feel like GT would do much better numbers wise if they had mobile ordering.
Just have 2 people at each concession stand designated to get mobile orders together, notification gets sent to customer when their order is ready so they can just come by and pick it up without waiting in a long line. Have a designated area on the side.
MBS tried to do it but you had to go up, scan your QR code that had your order on it, then they would go gather the food and drinks. Didn’t save too much time cause there would still be a line.
KQ- I thought they had mobile ordering, but is that only for McCamish? Again I have probably bought 5 things ever from the concessions at BDS so it is not on my radar. a pickup express lane would be something that could work. I think staffing issues probably are not helping some of that stuff at the moment.
Zamari Walton and you mention that the level of buy in and leadership have improved this year. Based on that comment and seeing some experienced players leave (particularly in the secondary) it suggests there was issues with some of the players Paul Johnson recruited buying into Collins. You often expect to see those buy-in issues in the first year or two of a coaching change. Usually by the third you would hope that would be worked out especially now with players transferring a lot.
Was there an issue with some PJ recruits buying into Collins? Was it there in the beginning or did losing start to tear away at the buy in with those players?
If there wasn't an issue getting the players to buy-in then was it other problems such as maybe the players were too focused more on their own play and going to the next level. Or maybe the older players were not the best leaders.
KQ- I would not square it between being a PJ vs Collins thing at all. The guys who were team leaders and played a lot were very pro-Collins despite being recruited by other people. The ones who didn't really click all left. I don't think is at all a plausible explanation for what happened. My take is some coaches no longer here struggled to handle some personalities and to develop their guys and that is why they are no longer employed at GT.
DId getting an extra Covid year to play potentially hurt Collin's ability to get his guys into leadership positions and maximize the culture he wanted to get in place?
KQ- Maybe, that is hard to say. Even as plugged in as anyone might be it is still hard to comment on the state of the locker room and the culture and what the issues were/are overall unless they are really obvious.
Why do you feel it is still necessary to play the UGA game? What benefit does GT get out of playing it?
KQ- Tradition and it is very entertaining when GT wins the game. Everything ebbs and flows over time. UGA is riding a wave right now, will that be for 10+ years, history says no. Playing Clemson and UGA right now sucks, but it didn't when Jim Donnan or Tommie West were on the whistle.
A few questions framed from the angle and the assumption that this is the most pivotal year for GT Athletics in a while and likely paves the road for the remainder of the decade:
1) As the off-season begins to wind down, how would you assess (if you’ve heard anything noteworthy) the sense of urgency and internal course corrections made by Cabrera and Stansbury? Obviously football is on the front burner but the commitment to winning bigger and more consistently hopefully starts extending beyond from an institutional support angle.
KQ- I think you've seen a lot of things brought to the table to help Collins turn it around and they've invested very heavily in that from support staff to NIL (which is mostly out of the schools hands but has been made a priority in the eyes of people who matter) to many other things. Is this the most important year for GT historically, we have no idea and won't know for a long time IMO.
2) It’s my belief that this football season needs to be deemed either a solid success with stamp of approval or a failure with the bandaid getting ripped totally off. If GT lands in some 5-7 middle ground and admin tries to talk itself into a Collins Year 5, I think you risk Brian Gregory ‘stay of execution’ territory with what it would say to recruits and fans and total apathy would set in in place of anger. Do you agree with this assessment if that were to happen?
KQ- I think it will be very clear where things stand. If you are 5-6 and lose 50-0 to UGA that is a pill I can't imagine anyone being cool swallowing so context is everything. I still will add that while the schedule looks killer on paper, so did the one last year and Clemson and UNC turned out to be not what anyone expected and Pitt was better than expected. The first five or six games are all sort of wild cards to see how those teams look because every one of them has major questions or coaching things that lead me to think GT has a chance.
3) Some much needed momentum for Josh Pastner recently. A sign that GT NIL is finally getting somewhere? Do you think he can ever get to a point ever where GT goes 3 straight years again or 3 times in 4 years like 2004-2007 or is that too lofty to hope for in this era?
KQ- Zero to do with NIL, the foreign kids as I understand it can't even get NIL right now in the same way that others do. As I recall there are a lot of roadblocks to it by the NCAA. Maybe someone can clear that up, but that is how I understand the rules.
