JOL Mailbag 4/29 Sponsored by Auto-Owners Insurance
- The Buzz - Members Only
- 6 Replies
In your opinion, what was worse for CFB; Portal or NIL?
KQ- It is the portal. NIL is controllable eventually and there will be some pushback over time as results don't meet the lofty expectations of boosters who are funding some of this. There are limits to how much people are willing to give especially if the results are not what they expect.
The portal sort of defeats everything that college sports is about and I think they need to switch to a model where you have to sit a year if you transfer before completing your junior year or third year in a program unless there is a definite and specific hardship (family death/medical thing/etc.). I think that would force teams to improve their scouting and develop kids and give them a far shot at actually graduating which is supposed to be the PRIMARY goal of college athletics.
How many sacks does GT need from the rush end spot to get 8 wins?
KQ- I think the number you quote is what I would think would be a successful floor at that position. Around eight sacks and at least two to three pressures a game from the primary duo playing that spot is my floor there. I think if you are below that you are in trouble.
Now that we have less than five days left, how do you grade our portal efforts now and how do expect that to change once all is said and done?
KQ- I explained this elsewhere but you are talking about the deadline for kids to go into the portal not the deadline to take kids from the portal. Two different things. The deadline to take kids out of the portal as commits is the last day of drop/add in AUGUST.
Any chance to land Christen Miller?
KQ- Congrats to him for holding Kirby hostage.
Is it crazy to ask if coaches make NIL deals for 2-3rd year? This is illegal, but I’ll ask anyway.
For example: Daquan Davis chose FSU as they gave him the most. Do you think coaches will approach players like him now and say hey I’ll give you 250k but only after you hit these metrics first year.
KQ- I think it would be crazy for a school to agree to do that and crazy for the SA not knowing how their value will go up or down. Would a school promise that? Absolutely I'm sure it happens.
Any hints of upcoming football verbal commits? Timing?
KQ- RJ referenced this last night on our YouTube show, but I expect we will start seeing more commits in May as the evaluation period heats up. Coaches are going out to see kids and as Russell put it, it is red light, yellow light or green light. That is not only GT but other schools. I can tell you from talking to kids even this weekend in Texas many are expecting offers from new schools and those offers don't always happen or schools fill up and that also forces some decisions to be expedited and schools and start squeezing as well as numbers tighten up. Right now with the portal, the schools are in the driver's seat in most recruitments because of space limitations due to the option of the portal. That has changed the dynamic all over including at GT.
Do you (or Russell) have a funny story or something that has made you laugh recently? GT/Sports related or not.
KQ- I think the thing that made me laugh the hardest in the last few days is this tweet.
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Chances on Wesley Walker coming back?
KQ- I don't see it being in the cards at the moment.
With Santucci taking over as DC, what scheme or philosophical changes do you see? What positions (or players) are most impacted by these changes? What positions or players does this help most?
KQ- So they are going to be more physical at the LOS and more attacking on the second level and aggressive. That is the best way I can describe it. Expect the DL to get bigger and bigger, they had DEs under Elko/Santucci that were the size of some of GT's DTs of years past. Key wants to get bigger and more physical upfront and the three pure DLs the DE, DT and NT/DT will control the LOS and the LBs and the edge/rush clean up the rest of it and set edges at times as well. That is a huge difference. The LB run fits a constant sore spot for @ibeeballin and many of us watching the game are now a heavy focus and Santucci doesn't play around with guys screwing those up. If you screw it up he is going to blow you up and sit you as well. They want the CBs to be more aggressive in coverage and a little less of the sitting back and letting it happen type coverage as well. Just overall more aggressive play. They are scheming also to the personnel at some spots so they will call coverages differently if Kyle Efford is at the MLB spot versus E.J. Lightsey as an example of Tren Tatum/Jackson Hamilton/Tah'j Butler all get things tweaked more toward their skillsets.
When gauging player development under the new defensive scheme and staff, what are you looking for? Beyond stats, what are you looking for that signals that this is coming together effectively?
KQ- Every play they are running the same play from 1-11 on the field. That seems like a low bar but that was like 50% of the issues GT had defensively post-2018. Communciation, guys not trusting each other, not covering their assignments and dudes having to play hero ball getting wildly out of position. DLs not squeezing the pocket and getting too far upfield or too leveraged outside. All of that stuff.
I'll come at this from a different angle: You have seen a lot of defensive coaching / scheme changes thru your time covering uga / gt / other teams, what early signals told you that a defensive change was on the right or wrong path?
KQ- I think the attention to detail with Santucci has impressed me. I remember the first Collins practice and he told me "we just go fast and we will clean up the mistakes in the film room." I was ****ing shocked. That is not how everyone learns. People have different learning styles especially in spots and you need to adjust teach on multiple levels to make sure you are reaching everyone in the room. Instead they ran around like idiots for a year and a half at every practice running multiple huddles, playing music with a DJ and doing everything other than coaching with the exception of the OL/DL groups.
You have more perspective than many on here. Do you feel like we’re on track for a great ‘25 recruiting class?
KQ- Hoops absolutely, if we are talking football, yes. I think I explained this well in the video last night. I talked to probably my favorite player in the 2026 class who has no interest in GT really, but I asked and this time he didn't laugh and has been impressed with the changes at GT. He will end up at Texas, LSU or A&M because he is a Louisiana kid, but they are picking up on GT's improvement and it the school isn't an afterthought for top kids.
