Who are the most likely candidates for being our second commitment?
Ronnie Blackmon at Westlake or Brittain Brown at Cherokee
Which prospects may be most influenced by Gantt's commitment?
Brittain Brown, only one RB type spot left right now.
Kelly, I am very concerned about this stipend thing opening Pandora's Box to a new wave of cheating. There seems to be a wide variance in the size of the stipend between schools. I once saw GT would pay $12k and Ugag would pay $28k. The excuse was that the cost of attendance varied between schools. That is an open gap in the whole system with setting faked cost of attendance numbers. Watch the rich get richer than ever before.
It is about showing the whole cost of attendance and it is set by the academic side not the athletic side. I think it will be okay.
You identified three likely candidates as a new bball HC in the War Room. Miller, Mooney, and Mack. Marshall also frequently mentioned. Could you expand on the pedigree and strengths of all four and the plausibility of coming?
Archie Miller is an up and coming coach who knows the ACC and can coach offense and shooting. Has a great pedigree his brother is Sean Miller the Arizona coach.
Chris Mooney runs the Princeton offense (sort of the wishbone of CBB) and would be able to work with what GT has already talent wise.
Chris Mack kind of reminds me of BG, underachieving a little bit at Xavier the last few years compared to his predecessors. Decent to above average coach.
I don't see Greg Marshall being an option, I don't see him leaving for GT, he has turned down better situations.
Ben Howland is the other one, he has some Hewitt style recruiting credentials including the one and dones in his history and some trainwreck issues from UCLA, but that may have been the school more than him.
Playing the "IF" game. IF Jabari does not make it back and IF the "DT transfer" disappears. and IF the true freshman are not ready. ( all of which are very possible ) What is Plan D or Plan E for the interior D-Line?
You play Pat Gamble at DT, that's it, not a big deal.
Do you have any info regarding Willie Clay's son Chad ? He looks like he's SEC Bound ...
Hard to say, getting a ton of big time offers. UF offered him today and he has most of the SEC schools offered or close to it.
- Who's your money on, on each side of the ball, to make a statement in Spring?
On defense, Jabari Hunt-Days and Jalen Johnson are the two names I'd look out for. On offense, C.J. Leggett at B-back and Ricky Jeune at WR.
- After one of our NFL WR guys got drafted, the following season the WR group threw a dud (S Hill / T Melton in 2010, J Greene / J Moore in 2012). So naturally I am pessimistic about our production from that group next year. Summers does not seem like a dynamic YAC guy and we've seen little from Jeune and just a garbage TD from Messick. What's your take on WRs for next year?
Jeune and Messick can physically do the job. Summers is probably on par with Jeff Greene talent wise which is fine. I still think one of true freshmen will step up.
- Butker and Rodwell are slated to graduate in 2016. The difference between a schollie/PWO punter hasn't seemed that noticeable. The difference between a schollie/PWO kicker, however, seems to be very important. How do you see them recruiting the specialists over the next couple years and does it matter if they're not class-separated?
Harrison Butker just had a mental block for some reason, he should be fine. Ryan Rodwell was not liked at all by Walkosky and wouldn't have been signed if GT had a SPT coach when he was recruited. They are trying to improve the preferred walk-on program and promote those guys to scholarships.
What are your thoughts on Ekreb? Is his other handle IAmSatan?
LOL, given him enough rope to hang themselves.
Do you expect Gantt to blow up this year?
What do you mean by blow up? He had plenty of high profile offers.
In your mind what should Gantt be rated? Is 5.7 3 star correct or is he a a bit better as many have suggested?
He is pretty damn good.
I know he says no offer could pull him away from GT....do you buy it?
I tend to believe his word at this point, he is pretty big time GT fan.
Any Tech legacies in this class? I know we have previously had a lot curious if we have any this year.
GT typically signs one per year.
As a follow up to the above question Parker Braun seems to be blowing up. Miami and Auburn have offered as have Duke and some smaller programs....will GT get on that train?
Parker is coming to the JR Day on the 28th, I bet they offer him then.
Anyway we can get a baseball preview/your thoughts on the program
To be honest I don't follow it the way I used to, so maybe someone could chime in here.
Who do the coaches prefer between Brittan Brown and Cade Carney? Would they take both?
Brown over Carney very clearly and Malik Staples ahead of Carney as well.
Do you have any concrete information on how CPJ will meet the 85 number or just assuming the usual attrition?
There is no concrete answer just 20 years of statistical data that backs up the fact they always have space. Don't worry about it, they are not going to screw anyone over.
Is Shaq still slimming down? Is he projected to be able to play a full game next season?
I think you mean Shamire DeVine and yeah, if he can get to 355, he will be good to go.
How does the staff feel about Errin Joe's performance? Are they working with Sisk to slim him down any more or are they comfortable that he can do everything they want, the way they want at his current size?
If he plays at the size he ended the season at he will be fine. He trimmed down during the season.
What is Gary Brown's current size/weight?
Not sure, I'll ask.
Projection for you: Next season we don't have Shaq, but we have everyone else back with a year more maturity, does the Oline dominate the line of scrimmage next season like they did this year and who becomes that go to Olineman on key 3rd and shorts or 4th and shorts?
DeVine or Gary Brown should plug the gap left by Mason along with the development of the OTs.
If there isn't one, does this mean CPJ will put more on JT's plate as far as running the 3O and making the correct reads?
Probably
Backing up Leggett long term: Quaid, Marshall, Benson, MLD, Who's your guy and why?
I think Quaide will be the short yardage guy to me in the short term, I'm not sure who wins out between Marshall and MLD in the interim to backup Leggett. I think it is Leggett's job to lose.
What's going on with Tech Players Shaq, Nealy and Johnson... Good luck to them all... I see a lot of guys invited to the combine without anything close to their draft potential/ career production. Is this something their agents didn't get done or was it something Tech's staff didn't do or just if you can explain to me the rationale behind three guys all projected to being draftable not getting an invite?
The Tech staff has nothing to do with who gets invited. Sometimes players are stashed or invited specifically because of something the scouts want to see in a combine.
How is Broderick recovering from his injury? I would think he will see very limited action in spring practice if any at all.
He will be limited in terms of contact and running.
Do we know if LB Jonathan Smith, Jaylend's old teammate, is a guy who might commit early? Would love for him to be #2.
I don't think he is number two. I think his recruitment will take some time.
