Q's Take Sponsored by Inteleca: Coaching interest a sign of progress
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Thanks to our sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.
Given that people were a little up in arms of Buster Faulkner's name being mentioned for multiple jobs this offseason I wanted to point out two things that I know to be true. One is that Brent Key doesn't want to have the Dabo Swinney staff of dudes who stay at the party too long and turn down upward movement. Eventually, if Buster does well he will be a head coach somewhere or running an offense for a top 15 program. That isn't Kentucky by the way, no offense the Wildcats, but this isn't hoops. They are overpaying for Stoops and for Liam Coen to be their OC above the market value for their program.
Buster as I've said has passed on many different opportunities and interests like Notre Dame. I spelled that out clearly, but he wants to be in this area right now while his son is finishing school and he has something cooking that can get him a better job than a mid to lower-tier SEC gig. There were plenty of other programs interested in him as well that were never mentioned and some of those talks were probably more significant than Notre Dame. That is the nature of the business. Key wants guys who other people see as being desirable. That is how you build up your program. He wants his guys to succeed, take other jobs, and move up in the coaching ranks, whether that is becoming a coordinator in the pros or at a factory or a head coaching job, or just assistants moving up to coordinator jobs.
The second thing is Key has seen how that works under GOL and Saban and throughout the industry. If you want to build a winner that is what you have to do, replace talented people with other talented people and your success will attract people driven to be successful. It is that way in a lot of successful business structures. Key isn't looking to have a staff of Alan Arkin and Jack Lemmon's characters from Glengarry Glenn Ross. You want people who are hungry, some who are starving and willing to absolutely grind. Key is extremely demanding because he expects people to work as hard as he did for GOL and Saban. That grind will lead to turnover as well for those unwilling to do the work..
The reality is I am not going to tell you about something unless there is real smoke. Pretty much every assistant coming back off the 2023 staff got offered a job elsewhere this offseason by someone aiming to poach them. When the right opportunity comes along people will leave like Jason Semore did last February to go to Marshall as the DC. Guys could still leave over the next month theoretically because jobs are going to open as people move around, especially after the second signing period and as the NFL jobs fill up.
Most coaches I know are not planning to have a fully set staff including off-the-field hires until pretty close to spring ball.
Key has a list of guys at every position ready to roll. He has analysts coming in who can step in and coach if necessary and he plans to build this thing out and so far his methodical plan is working. His track record with hires is pretty solid other than some guys he retained from the previous guy and he is keenly aware of the needs of his program and hellbent on winning in a way that even people like Paul Johnson didn't get. Like PJ liked to win, but at the end of the day, he wasn't firing his mom or Mike Sewak to win a game. Key won't fire his mom, but he will do just about anything short of that to figure this out and turn it around to be a consistent winner. He let go of people who were/are personal friends of his because it wasn't working. That is something a lot of us don't have the stomach or stones to do.
I think folks need to change their mindsets about how they view all of this and understand Key is indeed hunting big game and he still is hunting smaller game at the same time. He has a plan A, B, C, D, E and F. He didn't quite land all the big fish/fowl he wanted but he landed some quality fish/fowl.
This isn't a poverty program, but it isn't a destination job yet either. It was at one point one of the better places to coach 25 years ago and Key's goal is to get back there only to top that plateau his mentor reached on the Flats.
Change is the greatest constant in this business. Errin Joe had three jobs and three apartments in three different states the span of like nine months with the poor guy paying for all of them. That is my favorite illustration of being in that world. He was far from the only football staffer in that situation across the country.
The bottom line is the program is Key's vision and you have to let him execute that vision and expect he won't be flatfooted hiring stiffs if someone leaves.
Given that people were a little up in arms of Buster Faulkner's name being mentioned for multiple jobs this offseason I wanted to point out two things that I know to be true. One is that Brent Key doesn't want to have the Dabo Swinney staff of dudes who stay at the party too long and turn down upward movement. Eventually, if Buster does well he will be a head coach somewhere or running an offense for a top 15 program. That isn't Kentucky by the way, no offense the Wildcats, but this isn't hoops. They are overpaying for Stoops and for Liam Coen to be their OC above the market value for their program.
Buster as I've said has passed on many different opportunities and interests like Notre Dame. I spelled that out clearly, but he wants to be in this area right now while his son is finishing school and he has something cooking that can get him a better job than a mid to lower-tier SEC gig. There were plenty of other programs interested in him as well that were never mentioned and some of those talks were probably more significant than Notre Dame. That is the nature of the business. Key wants guys who other people see as being desirable. That is how you build up your program. He wants his guys to succeed, take other jobs, and move up in the coaching ranks, whether that is becoming a coordinator in the pros or at a factory or a head coaching job, or just assistants moving up to coordinator jobs.
The second thing is Key has seen how that works under GOL and Saban and throughout the industry. If you want to build a winner that is what you have to do, replace talented people with other talented people and your success will attract people driven to be successful. It is that way in a lot of successful business structures. Key isn't looking to have a staff of Alan Arkin and Jack Lemmon's characters from Glengarry Glenn Ross. You want people who are hungry, some who are starving and willing to absolutely grind. Key is extremely demanding because he expects people to work as hard as he did for GOL and Saban. That grind will lead to turnover as well for those unwilling to do the work..
The reality is I am not going to tell you about something unless there is real smoke. Pretty much every assistant coming back off the 2023 staff got offered a job elsewhere this offseason by someone aiming to poach them. When the right opportunity comes along people will leave like Jason Semore did last February to go to Marshall as the DC. Guys could still leave over the next month theoretically because jobs are going to open as people move around, especially after the second signing period and as the NFL jobs fill up.
Most coaches I know are not planning to have a fully set staff including off-the-field hires until pretty close to spring ball.
Key has a list of guys at every position ready to roll. He has analysts coming in who can step in and coach if necessary and he plans to build this thing out and so far his methodical plan is working. His track record with hires is pretty solid other than some guys he retained from the previous guy and he is keenly aware of the needs of his program and hellbent on winning in a way that even people like Paul Johnson didn't get. Like PJ liked to win, but at the end of the day, he wasn't firing his mom or Mike Sewak to win a game. Key won't fire his mom, but he will do just about anything short of that to figure this out and turn it around to be a consistent winner. He let go of people who were/are personal friends of his because it wasn't working. That is something a lot of us don't have the stomach or stones to do.
I think folks need to change their mindsets about how they view all of this and understand Key is indeed hunting big game and he still is hunting smaller game at the same time. He has a plan A, B, C, D, E and F. He didn't quite land all the big fish/fowl he wanted but he landed some quality fish/fowl.
This isn't a poverty program, but it isn't a destination job yet either. It was at one point one of the better places to coach 25 years ago and Key's goal is to get back there only to top that plateau his mentor reached on the Flats.
Change is the greatest constant in this business. Errin Joe had three jobs and three apartments in three different states the span of like nine months with the poor guy paying for all of them. That is my favorite illustration of being in that world. He was far from the only football staffer in that situation across the country.
The bottom line is the program is Key's vision and you have to let him execute that vision and expect he won't be flatfooted hiring stiffs if someone leaves.
Faulkner and UK?
- By pransom1
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- 69 Replies
I know people always say Buster is happy here. Curious how real this is...
www.aseaofblue.com
Buster Faulkner could be a candidate for Kentucky OC opening
Seems like one name is starting to trend early.
www.aseaofblue.com
NLRB Rules that Dartmouth Men’s Basketball Players Are Employees
- By gtutk
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- 31 Replies
NLRB Rules Dartmouth Men’s Basketball Players Are Employees
NLRB rules Dartmouth men’s basketball players are considered university employees under U.S. labor law and therefore eligible to unionize.
frontofficesports.com
NLRB rules even non-scholarship athletes receive enough compensation to count as employees. Pour one out for the NCAA and shamateurism. The jig is up.
JOL Mailbag 2/5 Sponsored by Auto-Owners Insurance
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has taking so long to get Peoples hurt us in anyway or is that something that makes no impact either way?
KQ- The impact of not having that position settled only involved guys who were long off the board. The plan was to hire the defensive staff and look at the situation post-spring as things were pretty well set before Key was going to hire more defensive assistants. So no.
Love the People's hire, good times are coming. Any insight on prospects he has been pursuing.
KQ- Different fishing in different holes but @Russell Johnson might have a few names.
Anymore news on Kevin Sherrer? I know they typically don’t announce coaches leaving but figured we’d hear of him moving to another place if he’s not taking an off the field role.
KQ- I would be surprised if he comes back in an off-the-field role. He has been trying to get on an NFL staff of late. He is not super interested in recruiting these days due to all of the changes and how things have changed.
What the over/under on the number of people who regularly post on the board while under the influence of something?
And is it just me, or has this number gone up in the last year.
KQ- There are more characters than we used to have. I'd be curious to see who is lit posting as well.
How many basketball players are we taking this year? We have Mustaf in the boat, a line set with Sutton. Who are the remaining prospect(s) we are most likely to get? Who are the remaining top ranked, elite prospects we are trying to get but are longshots?
KQ- They are not recruiting very man HS kids. They are over on spots at the moment, but that will change after the season as guys transfer or go pro or whatever. So there is no way to actually know the true number right now. There are only a two seniors without additional eligibility, Kyle Sturdivant and Ty Claude and they used all 13 spots this year. They have three committed out of HS and could take one more HS kid. I expect they will add a big and shooter out of the portal as well. I'd expect them to take 3-4 HS kids and two transfers as a jumping off point.
We are very athletic but only have Ndongo to count on every game for shooting. Some games Kelly and Deebo are on, some games not. Next year Kelly, Deebo and Kyle move on. Leaving Reeves and Ndongo for shooting. Of the two firm recruits and the one or two more we might recruit, are any shooters, players who will score 15-16 with consistency?
KQ- Ndongo isn't very consistent either, he is as inconsistent as Deebo and Miles when you look at his splits by half in a lot of games so I'd say you are off. The whole team is inconsistent scoring it is not a Miles problem or a Deebo or Nait or Baye problem, it is an issue overall. Guys like Amaree Abram are struggling too. They are going to go after some shooters, but he wants guys who can beat people off the dribble as well, that is the biggest hole on the entire team. Kyle is the best at that and that is really bad.
Kelly, How many scholarship players do we
have on the current football roster.
KQ- They are at 75 right now counting everyone who is currently in school. There are additional players who are not enrolled yet. That puts them at 84 or 85, however there will be some attrition post-spring.
How’s Bobby Crimons doing? I feel like he hasn’t been to a game in a while.
KQ- Bobby Cremins and I answered this question in a mailbag two or three weeks ago. He has been to one college game this year and that was back in November at CoC.
It’s Feb. Are Coleman and Tillman on the payroll?
KQ- Their contracts expired on 1/31 as I understand it. I can ask around, but I'll probably not get a straight answer but I can ask.
Can you ask when the Edge demolition will start?
KQ- The last date I heard was sometime in March. It is a ghost town and I think everyone is out of there by now. I don't know anyone still in the building. The last few people moved out to Wardlaw several weeks ago.
What happened with the feedback from the OTE players who attended the NC game Tuesday.
KQ- @Russell Johnson
Russell, what does your projected lineup and weekend rotation look like for GT Baseball?
@Russell Johnson
What does Haynes King need to do in 2024 to improve upon his 2023 results?
KQ- His evolution is reading his progressions and making better decisions with the ball. I would say 1/4 of his interceptions came on plays where he forced a ball and should've run it. Another 1/4 or more came on pre-determined throws, meaning he read coverage pre-snap and tried to force the ball sometimes in the wrong coverage or even threw balls on option routes where the receiver broke it off and went under instead of deep or something like that. If he can improve in those two areas the offensive efficiency will improve dramatically. The ability to fix those things will also determine whether he has pro potential or not.
In the grand scheme of survival- does the NCAA need these rebel conferences more than the conferences need the NCAA? Can the SEC/Big 10 move out from under the NCAA shield and survive? I realize the TV Deal’s are substantial but is their things behind the scenes that would be big issues that the NCAA make easy for the Conference?
KQ- I think the structure of everything will end up forcing the teams to still stay somehow tied to the NCAA. Once they break away there will be enough pissed-off politicians that they will go after non-profit status and the connections with the schools as well and then the whole thing gets blown up. No one wants to watch minor league football. The market has been clear on that for a long time. People like seeing Bama-Shitball State or Nebraska-Cornball State in addition to the traditional games because the chance for another Michigan-App State makes it watchable. Also, the fans of Ohio State or Bama or UGA are not going to be super excited in a super league going 8-5 or 7-6 to limp into some playoff. That shit won't fly. None of them want to be on an even playing field either. The entire history of the sport has cheating to get an advantage as a core thing everyone does. Like who hasn't been caught cheating over the last 30 years in NCAA FB?
From @TheAnalogBee -
Has GT tweaked the NIL philosophy re allocating more funds to high school? Or maybe a better way to ask, has the increased interest from higher profile players necessitated a tweak?
KQ- No, Key like Kirby or Saban or any other coach has a way they allocate money and Key believes in allocating most of it to proven assets and not potential. Once you give player X money and you aren't giving the guy playing next to him as much money despite that dude being a multi-year contributor your locker room is absolute toast. So no that is a dumb way to deploy NIL money for GT for football. Hoops is a completely different story as we are seeing. You can spend on freshmen there.
And is GTs NIL budget competitive in our weight class?
KQ- Yes it is okay. They need more and J Batt is pushing everyone to donate there because he sees how it will raise the other income streams if the sports are successful.
Given the last few weeks and some of CDS answers to questions about in week prep it sounds like he indexes heavier on film and mental preparation than physical practice at this point in the season. Two weeks ago he talked about not trying to “win practice” and doing the work needed to set plays or new tweaks on defense but not going hard good on good to protect the bodies.
Is that a fair interpretation of his practice philosophy at this point in the season or am I reading too much into it? He specifically said STTE of guys aren’t going to improve their shooting mechanics at this point to go from 70%-> 85% from the stripe for example so he wants them focused on huddle clips, the scouting report and self scout dependencies.
KQ- I think that is the approach every coach has at this point in the season whether it was Pastner or BG or Hewitt or Cremins. You are not going to grind basketball players in the middle of the season in practice because that is how guy get injured. All it takes is one play to shut down a key guy. Look at what happened with Ndongo or Lance Terry at the beginning of the season. Both were injured in practice. The cardio of playing in the games and those reps are enough for a lot of the guys to stay sharp.
Thoughts on Bill O’Brien (likely) to Boston College? Hell of a hire for them IMO, especially with the timing of Hafley leaving. Much bigger name than I thought would go there.
KQ- I guess. He really hates recruiting. That is why he left Penn State and then didn't go after a college job the last few years he was at Bama as an OC. He doesn't want to kiss asses, but he was so bad as an OC with the Pats that he is left with no choice. It is to become a HC in college again or take a non-coordinator job in the NFL and that dude has too much pride to be the Cowboys TE coach or something.
HOOPS RECRUITING Confirmed a pretty big visitor for tomorrow night..
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING In-state RB blown away by weekend Georgia Tech visit
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Bearwith me these next few days, have a ton of content in the works as I get caught up from what has been a rough week.
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In-state RB target JP Powell blown away by Georgia Tech visit
Georgia Tech became the first Power Four school to offer Miller County RB JP Powell late last month. Following a visit
FOOTBALL RECRUITING GT set to host another group as dead period looms
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BASEBALL Updated 2024 roster, depth chart
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-Bold indicates returning player
-Gold indicates incoming transfer
-Italics indicates MLB-bound
Stephen Reid is enrolled in classes as a student, but is no longer with the team per the GT student directory. I am unsure if Cody Carwile ended up anywhere.
-Gold indicates incoming transfer
-Italics indicates MLB-bound
Stephen Reid is enrolled in classes as a student, but is no longer with the team per the GT student directory. I am unsure if Cody Carwile ended up anywhere.
HOOPS My story: Second half swoon sinks GT at NC State 82-76
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JacketsOnline - Second half swoon sinks Georgia Tech at NC State 82-76
RALEIGH- Georgia Tech battled but a 24-4 run in the second half by NC State erased a Yellow Jacket lead and the
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