Some of the forums used to be on the home page, but that looks to have gone away this week. Is that by design or just me?

KQ- They are retooling the FP look at the moment. Some of the modules like the forum topics and other things are not on there at the moment. I'll have to go back and find out what they are doing. I missed our last tech session while I was in NJ with my in-laws with the Rivals engineers.

How is an official basketball visit similar or different from an official football visit?

KQ- Still have the hotels and dinners and stuff, but a lot of it is bonding with the players and they'll go down and sometimes shoot around with a kid or play a little HORSE or whatever at some places. I'm not sure if that is legal or not, but it happens at places. It is similar that they have presentations on various things like academics or life after hoops and meetings with the coaches, tours, films and dinners and stuff. Things are just tailored more to the personality of the kid because unlike football you typically have one or two OVs at a time and not like 5-15 kids like football all on an OV.

Do they have official visits in other sports?

KQ- Yes and I sometimes see the kids in other sports on their OVs and they all have their own subset of rules. I've bumped into one for a non-rev sport at the airport randomly as well.

In light of the Mega Millions thread, let's say your Batt and you're offered a ~100M lump sum blank check. What would you put that money towards? For instance, you could pay off a large part of the stadium expansion debt to get some of that off the books. Or you could tell that donor to redirect ~50M to NIL so we get some top 5 classes.

What would you do?

KQ- I'd figure out the way to give myself the most breathing room with my budget, if that means endowing scholarships or paying off a chunk of debt or whatever that is, that would be my move because I can allocate more money down the road to pay staff by doing that versus some grand gesture. Maybe you give $5 million in cash to each B1G president for a vote if it ever comes up J/k.

Anything in practice that you seen so far worth noting? Anyone surprised you from a physical standpoint? Anything else stood out?

KQ- Not really and we are pretty limited on what we are allowed to talk about and what we actually see and they haven't been in pads yet either. I'd say that Eric Singleton Jr. has clearly lived up to the hype that I kept mentioning and hearing about over the summer as you've seen now multiple players and coaches call him out. Everyone usually looks good before the pads go on, so I tend to not get too worked up about anything I see or hear until the start playing real football. As I said elsewhere, I was a helluva flag football receiver, in pads getting hit was a different story.

Are Oregon Washington and FSU are playing in a different conference next year?

KQ- Yes, yes and no, but I kind of hope FSU tries to buy themselves out just to see if it really kills their program or not. It is kind of like wanting to see a crash when you watch a car race.

How do you feel about the team after watching a few practices in comparison to previous years?

KQ- I think Key runs a really solid football program and the attention to detail and actual coaching is what I would want to see. I can't really get into the weeds on this for a multitude of reasons as stated above.

Any surprise standouts we haven’t talked a lot about yet?

KQ- Nothing yet, I've got my ear to the ground. The stuff that will be impressive will not be in the parts of practice I get to watch anyway. I am going to lean on my sources to get that information.

I'm guessing that CBK will go at it alone with his gut on making a call to go for it on 4th down, but do you think he might rely on someone like Buster to help him with clock management/calling time outs?

KQ- Generally most coaches lean on their coordinators as well as the book (aka the tendencies chart that most coaches use) . What typically happens is a coach pings his coordinator and asks him how he feels about what the call would be and how confident he is they have something dialed up. The effectiveness of the blocking in the game will also factor into that. On timeouts, the coordinators definitely are involved with that to a point as well because they will ask for time if it is needed on any side of the ball or if they think they need to regroup and Key and usually someone else non-coordinator on the staff will be doing the math on the timeout situation and when to burn them. Being organized was a major issue under Collins and that led to some shitty timeouts. Key being a new head coach will probably have a few growing pains getting the feel for it as well.

Will Leo Blackburn play this year? I know he is out on rehab for now, but thought I read somewhere that he might return during the season.

KQ- You read that on here. I have heard the optimistic timetable would be sometime in October or November. He is dying to play so if there is no risk of additional injury or anything and he is cleared I think he will play if he can. With rehab, you just never know though. I'm sure the staff is proceeding with the expectation he won't play and if you get him back then that's great.

Will Avery Boyd finally see the field and contribute?

KQ- He will have to be consistent and healthy. The health think has always held him back more than the even consistency. He is a great kid and has a lot of talent, but he has struggled to stay healthy throughout his time here with injuries. I think he would be the third X WR right now behind Janneh and Blaylock. I'd say that on the other side, it is probably DJ Moore/Chase Lane and Eric Singleton in some order as well on the outside. Boyd will get his shot to earn that PT though. They'll get him plenty of work in camp.

We have multiple GT alumni as members of our football staff. Some of these have significant pro experience.

What impact is this having on recruiting?

Key
Coleman
Tillman
Joe
Others?

KQ- @Russell Johnson can weigh in

Has been chosen by the AJC as one of the top 11 seniors in the state of Georgia. He caught me off-guard this morning when I saw he was at the luncheon, this makes it make a lot more sense.

Impressive feat for the Georgia Tech commit.
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ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football entered the padded practice phase of spring ball on Monday with a full pads practice ahead of bad weather in the Atlanta area on Monday night. Following a two-plus hour session on the field head coach Brent Key spoke to the media giving updates on some injuries and how the team looks through the first six practices.

Veteran tight end Brett Seither who transferred from Georgia in the winter has been limited to non-contact through camp so far and freshman receiver Bailey Stockton both were back in action on Monday per Key.

"We've got a couple of guys making their way back, Bailey Stockton and Brett Seither are still limited right now, but are able to get in some 7-on-7 reps and individuals so it was good to see those guys back out there and see some more weapons on the offensive side," Key said.

Overall, the injury bug has been kind to the Jackets according to the first-year head coach.

"We are staying healthy, just you know normal bumps and bruises and a guys missing a few days here and there that are going to happen," he said. "That has allowed us to put in other guys and see where they are going to fit and create some depth and see who is ready to step up with a group, but so far nothing out of the ordinary for camp."

Staying off the ground is one of the mottos Key is preaching to his players in non-live drills throughout camp and he credits the focus on that for helping keep them healthy even with pads on.

"Today was the first day in full pads and we were so excited to get out there. Not a lot changes when you go full pads as opposed to just having shoulder pads on. You are constantly teaching guys to thud up in the front and tag off in the backend in good positions and stay off the ground. We are coaching a lot staying off the ground. To the kids and the coaches' credit they've done a good job of that because that is where guys end up getting hurt and losing time and player availability," he said. "

The Jackets will continue amping up this week ahead of Saturday's first scrimmage in Bobby Dodd Stadium. Key said the team will scrimmage twice in fall camp both on Saturdays before they break for the start of school and move into Louisville prep for the season opener in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sept. 1.

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Key said they've adjusted some of the line drills to being split lines, basically three OLs and two DLs on a side to avoid injuries as bodies get tangled up and that is something he is a big believer in.

Key said the big thing in pads right now is seeing who can tackle, who can sustain blocks, catch in traffic and gain extra yards after contact, stuff like that.

Key said nothing has changed with the QBs yet, they are all doing a good job and they are moving toward more situational football work ahead of the scrimmage this weekend. He said that situational work and the scrimmage will help determine or separate the QBs some for the first time as they put them in adverse situations to see how they handle it like short yardage, Red Area and two-minute offense.

They plan to have the whole offense in for the scrimmage on Saturday.

Key has been very pleased with how the team is practicing right now.

I asked Key how he came up with his approach to running camp and he said it is pretty simple on one level block, tackle, catch and run basically simulating what you do in the game in activities in practice, but ultimately it is about building great habits and being consistent every day. You can't have one good day then a bad day then a good day. You can have a bad play, but a bad day is a mental issue and not what they are looking for. They want consistent sustained performance and stacking days.

Key was asked about tempo and he said that they aren't looking to just snap the ball at 35 on the play clock every play, they want to throttle up and down as needed to win games and there will be games where they'll need to milk the clock and maintain possession and they have to be able to execute. It is a trained habit like blowing up a balloon over and over. Getting your cardio up and they worked on that all summer building the guys up so they could push their natural limits to the edge and push each other and have the coaches push them as well.

Key said they moved Jamal Haynes to RB to help find a way to get him on the field. They liked how he was running jet sweeps in practice and he was a RB in HS and stuck in a deep receiver room so they wanted to find a way to allow him to get on the field. He has a lot of ball skills and he has been a very pleasant surprise in camp so far.

On the QB battle, he is looking for who can lead the team to the end zone and cross the line and get up and down the field with the offense. You want a QB with good self-awareness that can take coaching and be efficient with the ball.

Key said toughness is about creating the standard of play on the field and the identity of the team an establishing that standard every week. How you practice is how you play and how you prepare and can you take hard coaching and can you look someone in the eye when they are testing you and do your job. Overcoming adversity and keep grinding to help your teammates and that is how they will measure that toughness.

I asked Key about how they decide on the padded days vs shells or shorts days in practice, he said he works with Pat Boyle (analytics) and A.J. Artis (S&C) and their staff to figure out how to balance things now that they are out of the acclimation period. They get eight padded practices in fall camp and how the scrimmages work and what they need to do each day. He said they had double-digit guys "heat out" on the first day and that was down to one single digits today despite going in full pads showing the progress they are making in maintaining guys' bodies.

Key got asked about conference realignment and he stared off in the distance for a minute and then said he didn't know much about it and didn't know about the Big 10 expansion (Oregon/Washington) until the SID told him at lunch today. He said he is only worried about GT and the ACC.

Key worked with the OL during individual drills today and he said he was Geep Wade's GA today. The OL GA from last year Nate Brock is now working with TEs for Buster so Key helped when they split the OL in half and he did what Geep wanted him to do and he likes to give an extra hand to different groups each day and today was the OL group, but typically he is in observe and watch mode.

I asked Key about adding guys like Tim McFarlin and Bill Stewart legendary HS coaches and Brian Baker a longtime NFL and college assistant as off the field personnel and what they bring and he said that he took a look like at himself after he got the job and his shortcomings and wanted to bring in people the help both in leadership and individual roles that could help improve Georgia Tech as a football program and good leaders do that at every level and he brought in guys with a wealth of experience. Tim has really helped with HS relations and Stewart is big helping with the defense as a great defensive mind. Donald Hill-Eley is doing big things as the Chief of Staff overall for the program and all those guys serve as an extra pair of eyes for him on the field especially when they are on split fields and he really trusts them. The on the field coaches get a lot of the praise and people talk about them for good reason but the off the field staff are just as important.

We (The ACC) are seriously thinking of adding Cal and Stanford. Really?

David Hale & Andrea Adelson have been doing a pre-season live pod on Twitter, happened to catch it this morning. They were doing hits w/ local beat media guys on each team, heard David Teel on UVA & VT and then they went to Roddy on GT.

Roddy didn’t pull any punches.
- He set the ceiling at 5 wins, predicted 4.
- Very transparent on Collins “overselling” transfer ins & the lack of development of recruits. Loss of Gibbs significant in that he was his top recruit, along with “top DEs” Ivey & Domminick left. On the transfers, he went all the way to say the guys they’ve picked up weren’t on the field at the previous school.
- Embarrassing losses to Citadel/NIU/Cuse, along with the 100-0 ND/UGA.
- Without a early upset against CU/OleMiss/UCF/Pitt, things could get really bad with fans, attendance etc….
- And without being asked, he threw in fan discontentment with ADTS, saying both are on the hot seat.

Said he’s hoping for better but that was his honest assessment.

Wonder if he’ll be at the next “Legend of The Flats” picnic?

The Mega Millions jackpot is $1.2 billion which is roughly $600 million for the cash option. Assume 40% fed and state taxes, and you have $360 million in the bank. How much do you donate to the GTAA and how? Large one time donation? Put your name on something? Annual commitment? Set aside for a specific sport?

Looking to upgrade from my 2018 Nissan Rogue in the next month or so… wanted to come here and get some feedback on a couple of things-

What, in your opinion, is the best option for a vehicle with three rows? Looking for a combination of more room (three kids) and somewhat good on gas without breaking the bank.

With that being said, anyone have any recommendations on specific dealerships in the Woodstock area? Or other areas nearby?

I’ll hang up and listen. DM’s are open as well

Thanks if do

I'm lying awake last night and madness strikes. A 3-pod coastal conference, 7 teams per pod, with end-of-season tournament to determine the champion. Designed to get ND in as full member, taking advantage of the current situation with Cal and Stanford.

Help me workshop this and work out the bugs - it's still the offseason right?

• Regular season:
  • Play 6 in-pod games. Compete for pod title and tournament seeding.
• Postseason:
  • 8 team tournament with full losers bracket for conference championship: 3 pod champs + next 5 highest ranked are entered.
    • Winners and higher ranked teams play at home. More home games and revenue for winners = meritocracy.
    • Each team guaranteed 3 additional games for a 9 game schedule, and somehow guaranteed at least 4 home conference games.
    • Seeding takes into account avoiding rematch and getting inter-pod play.
  • Next 8 teams play in the "bowl tournament", again with full losers bracket.
  • Bottom 5 play a modified round robin with the goal of producing 6 win bowl eligible team(s). Better teams get seeded against weaker teams.

Advantages I see:

1. Looks incredible for Notre Dame. Does it move the needle enough?
2. Most traditional rivals accounted for. Great traditional early season scheduling. (UVA and VT may need to schedule an out-of-conference matchup if they want to keep playing).
3. Meritocracy - can earn more money by playing well. Clemson/FSU whoever can earn better money shares on the field. The conference champ gets 6(!) lucrative home conference games.
4. Positioning for the 12 team playoff against SEC/B1G/Big12:
   1. Your champ is on a minimum 3 game win streak against the best conference competition in that year.
   2. End-of-season tournament against good teams naturally improves strength of schedule and national interest for each game.
5. Everyone has something to play for.
   1. Base conference payouts could be based on which tier you achieve on the field. Best payout for top 8. Mid payout for next 8. Lowest payout for bottom 5. Again, meritocracy.
   2. Mid-level champ will also be on a minimum 3 game winning streak and can earn preference/access to a strong bowl. Mid-level champ also gets 6 home conference games!!
   3. Even the dregs get favorable late season scheduling for reaching a bowl game.
6. In-season interest boost.
   1. While other conferences are playing out the string, we have our best matchups the last 3 weeks of the season, and every games means something. The complexity and unicorn factor guarantees it will talked about, explained and explained, and will get serious airtime.
7. Inter-pod play randomized based on play results instead of unjust "permanent crossover" rivals. This guarantees great late season matchups, but does not guarantee any particular marquis inter-pod matchup.

Disadvantages:

1. Not sure if the math works to guarantee 9 conference games for everyone.
2. "Rivalry week" not supported. Might need to move traditional rivals to the front of schedule.
3. Early season chaos like cancellations due to hurricanes/lightning need to be dealt with, complicate seeding.
4. Fans don't know the whole season ticket package and schedule ahead of time. Last minute travel could get expensive for these late season road games that you can't plan for.
5. Teams don't know where they are headed during late-season, complicating travel/hotels/etc planning.
6. "The National" may be a little too stacked. Can be solved by putting FSU or Miami in "The Beast" and a new, lighterweight program in "The National". Possibilities: Cincy, USF, SMU, Wash St, Oregon St.

WR Donavon Greene Out 3-5 Months Following Knee Injury

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a knee injury sustained on the Demon Deacons first day of fall camp, redshirt junior wide receiver Donavon Greene will be out three-to-five months, head coach Dave Clawson said Monday.

"Donavon Greene is a great player and an even better person,” Clawson said. “He will play a key role off the field this season as he works towards a speedy and safe recovery in the coming months.”

Greene, who was named to the 2023 Maxwell Award Watch List in July, is coming off his best season in 2022, finishing second on the team in receiving yards with a career-high 642 yards while also leading the team in yards per reception with a 17.4 yard average and a career-high six touchdown receptions.

Greene holds the career Wake Forest record with 18.6 yards per reception. Specifically, the Mount Airy, N.C. native also averaged 20.1 yards per reception in 2020 the highest single-season mark in program lore (min. 25 receptions).

He has also been a consistent presence since stepping on campus in 2019, hauling in at least one pass in all 25 career games he has played.

When returning kickoffs, he has also been one of the better players in program history, averaging 32.40 yards per kick return over his career. In 2020 against Campbell, Greene registered a 96-yard kick return touchdown, the program's first since Kevin Marion in 2007. The 96-yard return tied for sixth longest in program history.

Prior to the 2023 season, he was named a Phil Steele Preseason First Team All-ACC member while landing a spot on Athlon Sports Second Team All-ACC team.

Wake Forest opens its season Aug. 31 against Elon.

Coaching softball at the moment, will have more from either myself or Kelly later tonight.
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Today was just OC Buster Faulkner post-practice

Click here to listen

More to come.
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This dude is just a nightmare. He is the tamper king for mediocre players.

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Rumor that Fox Bros catered the cookout this past weekend. And………go.

For the Mets series August 23rd. I actually need seven tickets that don't suck and are all together. I'm happy to pay for them, I just don't want to go broke doing it. My BIL and his family are coming to town from New Jersey and his kids are huge baseball fans and haven't been to Truist yet. My wife has tasked me with this, but I have zero free time and didn't love the tickets I saw so I was reaching out to see if anyone had a better hook up or tickets.

Any help would be great

Thanks,

KQ

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Do we a need a certain someone to verify this one?

I don’t think there’s ever been a sub-59 in PGA Tour play, and this is certainly a first for LIV. The only caveat he used a longer long-drive shaft Krank driver.

GT golfers are doing well at Utah Championships this week. Christopher Petefish (turned pro in 2018) is currently tied for the lead at 14 under. Ross Steelman is off to good start in his pro career and is one shot back at 13 under. Ollie Schniederjans is trying to come back from surgery on both hips—he is currently in 12th place at 10 under. Lots of golfers still on course, so positions will change. Still it’s a promising start for our guys trying to make it to the PGA tour. THWG

Has there been a full schedule of camp? Seems like yesterday was an off day since I didn’t see any reports.
I guess it’s also possible that we will soon get to the closed portion where we will not get daily updates or media availability.