Apparently pieces of the ceiling have fallen.

What position group do you see making the biggest leap forward this year?

KQ- That is probably a tie between running backs and outside receivers. Both were extremely disappointing performance-wise last year. There just wasn't the type of production you'd expect even with uneven quarterback play. Dontae Smith didn't look like himself for 3/4 of the season, Hassan Hall was about what I thought he was and Dylan McDuffie was a bust, unfortunately. Jamie Felix was really the only bright spot toward the back end of the season and a few plays by Smith a I'm very curious to see how Felix, Smith and Tre Cooley the Louisville transfer look this spring. Those three should be an upgrade in production from a position that was disappointing for all involved last year.

At outside receiver, you saw one flash from Leo Blackburn who was coming off two significant injuries including trying to play through a major wrist injury all year that sapped his confidence and made it harder for him to catch the ball. DJ Moore spent the entire season hurt who I thought had a chance, Juju Lewis missed almost the whole year with injuries and James BlackStrain also ended up getting a serious injury. The older guys just were not consistent enough between Malachi Carter, EJ Jenkins and Ryan King (who transferred out). They added Abdul Janneh who has been productive and they have young talent with Blackburn, Moore, Lewis and freshman Zion Taylor who will be in camp. That is a pretty wide open race now. Blackburn has NFL top 4-round talent as well.

From what you know how do our basketball facilities compete with the rest of the ACC? And for one straight, albeit random, comp - how competitive are we say a Providence, much small non football school but likely recruits in same type of talent pool as GT

KQ- He posted a clip of Providence's basketball facilities. You are comparing apples and oranges, GT is a multi-sport school. Providence is a basketball school like many others in that group that don't have FBS football they are dumping their money in their big revenue sport. Hoops has always been second in revenue for GT to football during my time covering GT and I'm sure before that as well.

So the question is how do they rank in the ACC? That is harder to answer for me because I see some facilities like Pitt that are amazing or Wake and then some that are pretty meh like Boston College or even Clemson despite them pouring money into it. Miami isn't anything either especially the arena. VaTech isn't great either. GT has one of the nicest arenas and a nice practice gym and meeting rooms and stuff like that but it is not some giant palace for hoops because they don't have the land to build anything like that. The team meeting room is tucked away off the main entrance just like a closet or an office door, the locker rooms need updating and the team areas are okay. It is a little stale.

What is the vibe in the MBB locker room? The players continue to compete, but the season has to be wearing them down. Maybe not a fair question, but has Josh "lost" some of them?

KQ- I guess you haven't been watching, those dudes are playing their hearts out right now. No one has lost anything. They are frustrated at times, but Josh hasn't lost anyone.

I keep reading the NIL for basketball is "coming soon". Do you have an idea when it will finally be in place with enough dollars to attract top talent?

KQ- I do not know what the timeline or budget is at this point. I think that will start to come up as the season ends here. I've had two pretty high-level boosters tell me that Josh if he is still the coach of course, will have what he needs in NIL to compete finally. I always say that part about him still being the HC because no one I know is sure exactly how this will play out yet probably including the AD J Batt. Josh hasn't been told he is in or out and that will come down to a lot of factors that only Batt and maybe one or two other people are privy to at this point and how President Cabrera feels as well.

if you could change the ACC as far as Teams go- who would you want to see go and who does the ACC add from the teams it could or that hasn’t changed already?

KQ- So I think the question is who would I jettison from the ACC and who would I add from the non SEC/B1G teams pot.

In a perfect world if you just started over with the pot of teams available and you go to 16 let's say

Keep: Clemson, Duke, FSU, GT, Louisville, Miami, UNC, NCSt, Pitt, UVA, VT, and Wake.
Dump: BC, Cuse
Add: ND, WV (this will be controversial), Cincy, Kansas and UCF/USF.

Now that we’re down to a couple games remaining and it feels like the picture is becoming clearer on Josh continuing, do you think next year would truly be NCAA or bust (or at minimum very high on the NCAA Tournament bubble) or do you think would there be wiggle room?

KQ- I think the time for wiggle room is over after this year if they give Josh another year. He has to start winning. The floor needs to be what Clemson has done under Brownell, but in order to get there the program at least needs the level of support Brownell or even Capel or Forbes are getting with NIL, staff and facilities. Batt knows this as he was able to help get Nate Oats a lot of what he needed at Bama apparently except for a new arena (the current Bama one is terrible). Batt has worked at several basketball schools as well at UNC and Maryland, so he gets it. That is why everyone was so frustrated when the team came into ACC play and just shot like crap and was so banged up.

I don't know what is going to happen yet, but I know Josh wants a shot at a do-or-die year with the NCAAT with enough NIL to pick up some decent pieces. Will he get that? That will be Batt and Cabrera's decision. All these people saying boosters will do X, Y or Z are kidding themselves right now. Batt has a lot of momentum and people want to buy into his vision so if they need to raise $300-500k for NIL that should be a doable goal even with Josh back. It is Josh's job though to also work that out with Batt and the boosters and then execute. The guy didn't forget how to recruit coming here from Memphis. He was following his marching orders to run a clean program recruiting wise just like BG and that has led to the lack of talent on the roster more than anything else that has changed since Paul Hewitt walked out the door.

You obviously work with members of the broadcast media here in Atlanta. Do you have any insight on why many if them (not all) seem to relish making Tech a punchline?
I turned on 680 this week for the first time in months and within 10 minutes, Chuck Oliver was making a snide comment about Tech football. 92.9 is the same way, if not worse.
CPJ obviously had some issues with them, but we are several years past that. I would say it is a "kick em when they're down" thing, but I honestly don't know. With rare occasions, it has been this way for 25 plus years in Atlanta media. Any insights?

KQ- Playing to their audience. It is what you do in that medium. I used to have to co-host some sports talk radio shows in Athens when I was coming up. Do you think I was busy talking up the Texas Longhorns? Hell we had limits on how much we could talk about the Braves or the Falcons back then because it was all UGA and then like 10-15% anything else. They have an audience and the buik of their audience are at least SEC fans mostly UGA fans per their research. I've always thought Atlanta sports talk radio was one of the worst of any area of the country I've ever been in. I stopped listening to it when I got Sirius in 2005 so I wouldn't have to listen to it and that was when I was still working in it. It sucks. There are guys like Chuck who are super knowledgeable but he makes snide comments about every team not just GT. It would be like me sliding in a Geoff Collins line in something unrelated, it gets a reaction from this audience. It is a cheap laugh and you are filling 15 hours a week or whatever their show is.

I hated 790, I dislike most of 680 and I never listen to 92.9. That is why you also never hear me on a lot of those stations either because I have like zero interest in jumping on unless someone asks me because I know I'm not likely to reach anyone I can't reach through my normal platforms these days. It is like putting an ad in a newspaper at this point. I do Chuck's CFB show because that is actually good and he is a friend, but other than that you'll see I'm pretty uninterested in jumping on shows unless I know the people running them.

Josh Pastner spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the Jackets' strip to Boston. The team will remain on the road until the season ends (assuming they lose in the ACCT) at this point as they will go to Greensboro from Boston.

Pastner said the Syracuse game was a near perfect performance and he wishes they could bottle that, the school game record for threes, the career-high games for Miles Kelly and Kyle Sturdivant scoring, the triple-double for Ja'von Franklin and a career-high 8 assists for Deebo Coleman

"We were at the depths of the ocean at one point this year and we resurfaced for air. That is not easy to do," Pastner said of his team breaking out of the swoon post-Miami to the Duke game. "It is hard when you've hit the depths of it and you are trying to swim up to get some air. I'm really proud of our guys."

Pastner said that BC has come on and Earl Grant has done a great job. He said that Quinten Post (16 ppg, 6 rpg) their center was one of the guys he tried to recruit out of HS and he left his family on vacation in Florida to be in Atlanta for his official visit and it didn't help and he went to Miss State instead. He said he is really good and they really wanted him and it showed in recruiting you never know because he is played very little at Miss State, but their evaluation was correct that he could play at a high level it just didn't happen until the last two years at BC. BC has good guards and they've won big games. They will have to be very good to beat them.

Pastner said coming out the half he has had the S&C coach Eddie Dimas work with foam rollers, stretching and theraguns to get guys loose faster out of the half because they struggled out of the half in January, they talked about adjusting time at the half and trying everything to start faster, so this has worked to this point to keep guys warm to keep momentum up.

Pastner said they've done more 5v5 practices in practice lately, they did a lot of examining and they did more halfcourt drill breakdowns in practice, less about the opponent and more 5v5 and getting up and down.

Pastner on Deebo Coleman's value, Deebo is an integral part of what they doing. If you told him they scored 96 points and he had just 8 points and was 2-11 from three, he wouldn't believe it. He took a huge charge in transition and played great defense and he has been very unselfish. He said even when guys struggle they've had shots to win games like Deebo and Lance Terry combining for just 3 points in the Pitt game, they had a chance to win despite that. It shows the team has gotten better even when one of the best guys is off shooting or scoring and it shows Deebo's value making winning plays that maybe don't show in the box score. It doesn't always have to be about points, he will score at times, but he is making winning plays and that has helped change who GT is.

Pastner said he was tough on Deebo to be a tough hard-nosed guy who has to win 50/50 plays.

Pastner said that Kyle is playing the best he has in his life and he has been one of the better guards in college basketball the last few weeks. Some of it is about getting older and they've developed him and Coach Anthony Wilkins has done a lot with his development and that has been a staple of their program. Kyle is a testament of that. What he is doing now wouldn't happen last year and part of their success is their guard play.

Pastner would love to have Kyle back for his covid year.

Pastner said he really shortened the rotation, but guys know they will be able to play long stretches on the floor. He said they are not worried about Saturday, they'll have two days before they play FSU or VT in Greensboro. You can't get to Saturday if you don't win Tuesday and you can't keep going if you don't win Wednesday after that so they will sort it out. He likes where they are with cardio. If they keep winning they'll adjust.

Pastner said no update on Deivon Smith yet, he is day-to-day they wanted to see how he felt on Thursday. Deivon is really good and he will fit in where he left off before his injury, but he has been out for a while and he has to also get his cardio back up too when he comes back.

Pastner said on Franklin, he has been playing at a high level over the last month, he has been outstanding. It took him time to adjust and he didn't play at Auburn and he was injured at his JUCO and he played at South Alabama then he had the groin injury and then the flu after that so it took him longer to adjust and he has just taken off. He deserves to be first-team All-ACC Defense and the way he has played the last month he might be first team All-ACC, where GT is in the standing and the slow start he won't get there, but the last month of the season he has been first-team All-ACC overall, he deserves to be first-team All-Defense either way.

Pastner said that Tristan Maxwell is really talented and he has improved, he didn't get the opportunity the covid summer and that set him back, he is really talented and was the POY in NC, but sometimes things take longer for some guys and he thinks his best basketball is ahead of him. His ability to feel the game and score is tremendous and he has made real strides. He had a foot injury post-covid and that set him back and that summer is so important for incoming guys and he missed that time. Tristan is a really good player, he will be a good player and will improve, but in college you get 4-5 years and sometimes things happen later, he is a believer in him and he has helped GT win games before, there have been things outside his control, but they've shortened the rotation and it is working and they've found something that is working, but he has to stay ready.

3/3 - now just ONE WEEK (and a day) until the event!

THIS is what your support has helped accomplish for me and TSM since 2008!:


But between the NEW donations still coming in AND those employer matches on many of them, I am STILL hoping to hit $10K for 2023!! (it would be a PR! )

Any support is appreciated!! THANKS!!
https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/Buzzfan2023
#WTGW

*****

2/26 - now under 2 weeks left!! THANK YOU to the JOLers who've donated so far!....and TIA to those about to!! As I always say, MY part is easy...free haircut and a cold beverage or two ....it's the generous DONORS who are doing the heavy 🏋️‍♀️!!

NO donation too small! (or too LARGE! 🤪)



2/22 - Just a reminder that MANY employers will MATCH your charitable donations....some will even match DOUBLE! Just in the last 24 hours, TWO of my generous St. B's supporters have let me know THEIR employer WILL match their donations!!

Double Your Donation,Double the Impact — It’s Easy! ←click​

https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/buzzfan2023






*****
... DJ Jay "Stoneman" Stone (longtime St B shavee!) has created a team and joined "Downtown Greenville Shaves" and is vowing to be the TOP $-raiser at the event!...and he's off to a good start with a $2K donation from Charlotte Motor Speedway!

I've got my work cut out for me!! Hope I can count on JOL to not only support me (as you always do!) but spread the word far & wide! (I actually may have a better radio voice anyway! )

Click HERE and share the link!!

THANKS!!




...TEAM SPIDER MONKEY ROAD TRIP!!!
actual (maybe) image of TSM at Anderson Rest Area on I-85N


OK, so on Saturday MARCH 11, we will be taking part in Downtown Greenville Shaves for The St. Baldrick's Foundation and the fight to Conquer Childhood Cancers!, in conjunction with 2023 Greenville St. Patrick's Parade & Festival, a tradition going back 100+ years!!
Since 2005, St. Baldrick's has provided research grants and fellowships of over $325 MILLION!! Yours truly and Team Spider Monkey (with YOUR generous donations!) have accounted for over $350 THOUSAND of that total!

Please consider supporting us again this year as we venture into the desolated wilderness that is The Upstate to show the indigenous inhabitants how it's done!

THANKS!! John...aka Buzzfan! → click HERE!!

Passed at 54. If you’ve listened to music in the past 30yrs this man’s fingerprints are all over the place from ground breaking hip hop in De La Soul to transitioning into the Gorillaz to finding talents like Little Dragon and helping expose them.

THE FLATS – Charles Nieves, who began his career in collegiate athletics at Georgia Tech before successful stints as a revenue generator at Georgia, Penn State and Miami (Fla.), will return to The Flats as executive associate athletics director/chief revenue officer, director of athletics J Batt announced on Thursday.



Nieves, who was a ticket sales consultant at Georgia Tech in 2009-10 while attaining a master’s degree in sport administration from Georgia State, will oversee non-fundraising revenue generation initiatives in his new role at Tech. Areas under his supervision will include Tech’s partnership with Legends (multimedia rights and ticket sales), ticket operations, external operations (marketing and fan experience; brand and ideation), communications/public relations and video operations/broadcast services.



“I’m thrilled that Charles Nieves is returning to The Flats as our new executive associate A.D. and chief revenue officer,” Batt said. “Charles has a long track record of successful revenue generation at some of college athletics premier programs. I am excited for him to bring his experience and expertise to Georgia Tech as we strive to provide our coaches and student-athletes with the resources to compete for championships and excel athletically, academically and socially.”



Beginning with his time at Georgia Tech in 2009, Nieves has spent 10 of the past 14-and-a-half years in revenue generation roles at Power Five institutions. Following his initial stint working with the Aspire Group at Tech, he was hired by ISP (now Learfield) to serve as an account executive for corporate partnerships at Georgia, a position that he held for nearly two-and-a-half years from Feb. 2010 until June 2012. At UGA, he attained 1,100% of his personal new business revenue target for the 2011 fiscal year.



After a two-and-a-half year stint in marketing and corporate partnerships at the Boys & Girls Club of America, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Nieves moved to Learfield, where he was named manager of business development at Penn State in Nov. 2015, then was promoted to director of business development for the Nittany Lions in Feb. 2017. With Nieves at the helm, Penn State’s corporate partnership team was honored as Learfield’s National Property of the Year in 2017 and 2018, becoming the first back-to-back Property of the Year recipient in company history.



In March 2018, Nieves became Learfield’s general manager at Miami (Fla.). As the leader of Miami’s partnership group, he managed more than 85 corporate partnerships, which included several major national brands.



After more than three years with the Hurricanes, Nieves transitioned brand-side as vice president of marketing and team partnerships at GameDay Vodka in April 2021. Until October 2022, he led a team that was tasked with supporting the brand’s launch in 15 U.S. markets and negotiated and fulfilled partnerships with nearly 20 NCAA and NFL teams.



“Georgia Tech has a tradition of excellence and I’m excited to build upon such a strong foundation of success,” Nieves said. “I’m eager to reconnect with the metro Atlanta business community and Yellow Jacket fans in support of our student-athletes. I look forward to following J’s lead into this new era of Georgia Tech athletics.”



Nieves was a three-year football letterwinner at Fayetteville (N.C.) State and earned a bachelor’s degree from the UNC Pembroke. He earned two master’s degrees from Georgia State – an M.S. in sport administration (2010) and an MBA (2015). He officially begins at Georgia Tech on March 27.



A Chapel Hill, N.C. native, Nieves and his wife, Amy, have two daughters, Elle and Ivy, and a Yorkie named MoJo.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech cut it to three points with less than a minute to play, but couldn’t hold on as Boston College escaped with a 62-57 win in the first round of the 2023 ACC Tournament on Wednesday night in the Greensboro Coliseum. Bianca Jackson and Tonie Morgan combined for 37 points in the game.

After holding a nine-point halftime lead, Boston College pushed its advantage out to double-figures, scoring the first two buckets of the third quarter. But the Jackets would post a 6-2 run on four points from Kayla Blackshear to cut the score to 33-24 with 5:38 to play. The Eagles would lead by as many as 17 in the third period before Tech began attacking its deficit, putting together a 9-0 run extending into the final period, trimming the score to 43-35 with 7:35 on the clock.

Boston College regained a 13-point lead by the 6:17 mark, but the Yellow Jackets rallied over the final minutes, climbing back to within one possession. Over the final 6:17, Jackson scored 11 points and Morgan added seven, putting Tech within reach. Trailing by 10, 53-43, at 5:21, Jackson scored seven unanswered to setup a 53-50 ballgame at 3:22 as the Jackets would come within three points twice more, but Boston College went 5-for-6 at the free throw line to hold for the win.

Jackson fueled Georgia Tech in the first half with eight points as the Jackets held the lead the entire first quarter, opening with a 10-3 advantage off Jackson’s second three-pointer in five minutes. Tech led 12-9 after the first before Boston College held the Jackets to three field goals in the second quarter, and took the frame, 18-6, to gain the lead at halftime, 27-18.

Jackson led all scorers with 19 points for her 12th game scoring in double-figures this season. Morgan added 18 points to the scoreboard and led Tech with six rebounds and four assists.

Boston College was led by Dontavia Waggoner with 16 points and Maria Gakdeng with 14 points. Taina Mair secured 10 rebounds to lead the Eagles on the glass.

I've been traveling the last two days. I'm up in New England visiting close family so I will not be around much on Friday and early on Saturday pre-BC game. After that things will return to normal and I'll be back in my normal groove. Just trying to fit in some important family time on the back end of these last two basketball games. I'll be back in Atlanta late Saturday night after the GT/BC game.

Russell should be able to handle anything that pops up

Does anyone here watch Survivor? New season starts tonight and there is a current Georgia Tech student (Carson Garrett) participating this season.

I've been compiling this data in my free time for months, and a recent ice storm finally gave me the time to finish it and put it all in an easily digestible form. This info comes from multiple sources; media guides, news clippings, wikipedia. Some of the data from the 1930's and '40s includes some estimates, but everything from 1950 or so forward is as accurate as the record keepers wanted it to be.

The light gold area in the chart shows Grant Field's capacity for the given year, and the dark gold area shows the per game average attendance for that same year.

My takeaways from this data: 1) The 1988 stadium renovation/reduction was needed, as was the 2003 stadium expansion. In our entire history, we have averaged over 50,000 per game only nine times, but SIX of those years have come since the '03 expansion. I've said here repeatedly that the recent expansion was needed, but poorly executed. I think this data backs up that opinion.

2) The fan base *really* did not like Pepper Rodgers. I've always heard this and look at these numbers!

3) Yes, the arrival of the Braves & Falcons hurt, but it can be overcome.

I have lots of detail info that explains some the data, and I'll post that as well in time. This chart is a good place to start.

Georgia Tech will throw Dalton Smith, but look for a ton of guys to get innings today no matter what the score ends up being.

Biggest name to know on Kennesaw State's team is Donovan Cash, their leader with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 7 BB.

The Owls are known to steal a lot of bases, and this season has been no different; they've got 12 so far, but have also been thrown out 4 times.

LINEUP-

CF DeLeo
LF Dispigna
RF Reid
C Rubenstein
DH FInley
2B Romano
1B Giesler
3B Senese
SS Diamant

I’m finally in Syracuse only two hours late. I’ll fill you in on the details in a bit. Third flight of the day. Shit show. Snow on the ground here though so that’s kind of nice.

Georgia Tech and Clemson are fighting it out for North Cobb running back David Eziomume, a four-star recruit and member of the Rivals250.

Eziomume visited Clemson just before the dead period started, opting to also visit Georgia Tech after, giving the Yellow Jackets the last face-to-face time before what many thought would be a time period in which he made a decision.

Rumors have been SWIRLING the last few days, and I have been digging to separate the truth from the rest of it. Here's what I have gathered-

• Clemson feels very confident that they are poised to land Eziomume, possibly as soon as this week
• Clemson media are under the impression that he has silently committed to the staff there
• GT sources are being told consistently that no decision has been made, and that despite rumors about a silent commitment to Clemson, that is not the case
• Sources unaffiliated with either school believe that Clemson is leading the way as of Monday morning, but GT is far from out of the mix.
• GT (McKenzie) as the strongest relationship with Eziomume, going well beyond football. The two talk on a daily basis.
• Members of his family also would prefer he stay close to home, but Clemson has made assurances that have minimized the advantage GT has held on this

To summarize:

• Clemson leads currently, feels confident and is telling anyone that will listen that they are confident
• Eziomume is teasing an upcoming decision on social media, including edit creator Hayes Fawcett in it as well
• GT is maintaining a "business as usual" mentality thru it all, and likely pushing to get him on campus as soon as possible
• GT sources admit that due to the overwhelming amount of confidence on the side of Clemson, that it is possible he is afraid to give the staff on The Flats the bad news

No FutureCast from me yet, but I am closely monitoring the situation here and am leaning towards believing that Clemson has this one just about wrapped up.

More on the RB position and top targets in this week's war room, but I wanted to get this out there because there has been a TON of questions about him lately. The plan remains to take at least two at the position in this class.

680 IG uploaded a video. Looks like they will be at stadium doing drills before spring ball starts? lol.

Sentencing coming and the FBI is still involved.

THE FLATS – After qualifying in the women’s high jump, Shanty Papakosta is set to represent the Georgia Tech track and field teams at the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., as announced by the NCAA Committee. The championship will be hosted by the University of New Mexico from March 10-11 at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Papakosta earned her qualifying mark in the women’s high jump last week at the 2023 ACC Championships where she took first place in the event. The junior recorded three new personal-best marks on her way to claiming the gold medal in the event.

Papakosta had already won the event after successfully clearing the 1.83m height (6-0), but she was keen on continuing the challenge. Only competing with herself, Papakosta passed the 1.86m (6-1.25) height and concluded the event after clearing the 1.89m (6-2.25) mark. After this performance, Papakosta found herself tied for the fifth-best mark in the nation. For reference, her previous personal best was 1.80 meters (5-10.75).

Papakosta is the first member of Tech’s track and field team to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the women’s high jump since the school record holder in the event, Chaunte Howard, in 2005.

Watch & Live Stream Info: ESPN+ will stream the championships live starting at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday, March 10 and starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 11. There will be two re-airs of the meet via ESPNU; 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 12 and 7 p.m. ET on Monday, March 13.

Figured this would be easier to see here than buried several pages into the schedule release thread. Here you go If interested.

Louisville
South Carolina State at Charlotte Sat 9/2
Ole Miss at Tulane Sat 9/9
Wake Forest at Old Dominion Sat 9/16
Bowling Green vs Ohio Sat 9/23
Miami BYE Sat 9/30
Boston College BYE Sat 10/14
North Carolina vs Virginia Sat 10/21
Virginia at Miami Sat 10/28
Clemson vs Notre Dame Sat 11/4
Syracuse vs Pitt Sat 11/11
Georgia at Tennessee Sat 11/18

Not a lot of bad luck there outside of Miami getting the BYE. BC and GT get the mutual BYE. And of course stop scheduling games like Ole Miss altogether.

Targeting 2024.

Very few things hit better after a late night out drinking than a Wawa italian hoagie. One of the few northeastern exports that I'll happily allow.

Let's do this.

I'll go until 11

I've had people asking about offseason/winter workouts. Brent Key is still in the process of replacing social media team members so that is why you've not seen a lot of content on that side of things as was explained in the mailbag a week or two ago. Key wanted to focus on all the football coaching hires and support staff that immediately impact the players and then pivot to filling other roles per my sources. Obviously losing Jason Semore also probably didn't help speed those searches up either for social media types.

Back to the topic at hand, I'll break it down by position who has done well per my sources. Of note, the two QBs most likely batting for QB1 Zach Pyron and Haynes King are both coming off significant injuries going into spring ball.
Offense:
RBs- Tre Cooley, Evan Dickens, Dontae Smith
WRs- Leo Blackburn, Abdul Janneh, Christian Leary, DJ Moore
TEs- Dylan Leonard
OL- Weston Franklin, Jakiah Leftwich, Jordan Williams
Defense:
DEs- Noah Collins, Kevin Harris
DTs- D'Quan Douse
LBs- Braelen Oliver, Andre White
S- LaMiles Brooks, Myles Sims, really the whole DB room apparently has been getting after it.

The guys in bold are new additions, Dickens is a mid-year early enrollee so that is a huge plus that he is turning heads in the weight room and in conditioning already.

The excitement level around the program is very high right now. There has been a lot of internal amusement at the bitter sad sack shit Geoff Collins is doing on social media to troll GT. It further points out the differences between Key and Collins as to what is important. Key has been busy engaging with boosters and fans during the offseason as well and season ticket sales have bounced back nicely per my GTAA sources, the AA is very pleased with the progress they've been making up ground after losing so many during the Collins era.

Spring Practice starts on March 13 for that M/W/F, they bounce after the 17th for spring break and then come back on March 27th going to an M/W/F/S schedule after coming back culminating with the spring game on April 15th at 1 pm in BDS.

Every position is a wide-open competition right now from QB to water person.

The staff have been busy working on installs and the plans for spring ball and the mood is one of great excitement around the football program at the moment. Ultimately as I've said from the beginning when Key took over the focus has been completely on building a sustainable football program that can win consistently and compete with everyone on the schedule. It will take time to reach those goals completely, but there is no denim line, and no social media for his shoes, and Key has made it a point to make the program about what it is supposed to be about, the players and building a product that fans and alums will be proud of.

Batt and Key have been in lockstep on the approach to get there and Key has been working to raise money for the program and has put in his own money as well as President Cabrera noted. Key is fully invested in trying to make this work.

Starting lineup-
CF Jake DeLeo
LF Angelo Dispigna
RF Stephen Reid
DH Jack Rubenstein
1B Jackson Finley
3B John Giesler
2B Nicholas Romano
C Tyler Minnick
SS Demitri Diamant

Change of plans, as Luke Schmolke will be pitching.