I haven’t seen anything posted anywhere but this… assuming this is true?

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Other than winning how do we grow the fan base and start filling the stands in football and also basketball in your opinion?

KQ- You have to aim to get young people in the stands and students. Marketing, giveaways and things like that work. I remember basketball gave away some TVs and stuff and that works pretty well. But winning really cures all for the most part. I thought the attendance was kind of soft in 2010 for example despite the Nesbitt Heisman hype out of the gate and having a preseason top-25 team. However that was likely not helped by the Kansas debacle in week two on the road. They still were drawing pretty strong much of that season and would kill for those numbers now.

Are there more support staff hires to come?

KQ- I think it is a constantly evolving process and there could be more hires. I do not have any stories in my drafts like I did with the last few hires except for the North Gwinnett coach because I simply forgot to write that one and then was in travel hell the day it came out.

Follow on question to the support staff one. At some point can we get a comparison of the numbers/positions of the current support staff to the previous one? There’s so much movement, it’s difficult to tell if we’ve added numbers, added or eliminated positions, just done a title change.. I’d like to try and understand how this support staff differs from the prior one both in approach and headcount. Realize there are probably still some moving pieces and this isn’t a completely straightforward exercise.

KQ- I will be happy to ask that question after NSD and try to get an answer. Just ask me again in two weeks and I'll pass it up the flagpole.

Ultimately winning is what really converts higher-rated prospects into signees. My question is a two-parter:

a) How much of the current recruiting targets and strategy are centered around a successful winning season / bowl game?

KQ- So I'll give you my answer on this, Russell may have a different one. Key and his staff are trying to trust their own evals and not waste time recruiting kids they have no shot at or would be tough rebound takes. I think Collins spent a lot of energy on guys they just were not getting at times and not enough time on guys who their own evals had near even footing. I think Collins was caught up in some star chasing at times.

What winning does is it allows to convert on some borderline high-level targets who might be on the fence about your program and jumping in. They've been on the wrong side of most of these for about six or seven years at least. So for example you don't get Justin Thomas to pass up playing CB at Alabama to play QB at GT if the program wasn't winning and didn't have something special to offer all-around. They got Jahmyr Gibbs through a perfect storm and he would be the exception or a guy like LaMiles Brooks in recent years. You should be able to get one or two, to be really good they need to be getting 3 maybe 4 of those a year instead of like one now or sometimes none. I think Key can do that.

b) How much of the above is more focused on under-the-radar prospects that we feel we can convert if the record this upcoming season doesn't pan out with a bowl bid?

KQ- A bowl bid or a strong season all-around and player development are two things that can fuel converting "some" of those guys, but the reality is most of the 2024 class will be committed somewhere prior to GT kicking off against UGA at the end of the season. So it will be the battles leading up to that and probably starting fast that will convert guys on the fence plus coaching changes at other spots and things outside of GT's control as well. Right now you lay that groundwork though. Again that is how they got Gibbs. It took certain kids committing certain places and Florida bungling his OV to make it happen along with the work the staff did led by Choice.

1) Around the time of Key’s hire, you indicated that you think a hard nosed, blue collar head coach is a better fit at GT. I wholeheartedly agree. Can you elaborate on why you feel that way, and do you consider that to be true for basketball as well?

KQ- I think GT is not a place where you are going to roll your helmet out and just beat teams with superior talent. It hasn't been that way since leather helmets went away in the time of like Coach Heisman if at all. GT is a hard place to go to school and play sports. The education piece is fierce. Some colleges are like the 13th grade or worse in some cases when it comes to the places they hide athletes so you have to have someone willing to roll up their sleeves and fight an uphill battle on day one. That is actually what I like about it to be honest with you. I think it makes the successes here seem harder earned.

The kids have to believe in themselves and play at the top end of their abilities to get there. Guys like CPJ or Ralph could get that out of them or coach Ross for example.

I think hoops can be different IF you have a high-level NIL structure that embraces what you have here in Atlanta and all the things that the culture brings in Atlanta. Honestly, Geoff Collins' shtick would probably work better in basketball here with the 404 and the culture stuff, but you'd need a coach like Jonas or CY to do that. A guy who doesn't drink soft drinks isn't probably going to appeal as much to those type of kids. You could turn it into what Auburn has as well with that NIL funding and a fun coach as well.

Or you can go the route they are with Josh where you build brick by brick. The issue for Josh is he has some bad bricks and didn't have the NIL money to fix it so they took guys like Lance Terry and Ja'von Franklin that are probably not good enough because of a lack of NIL money instead of guys who could make an immediate impact replacing misses like Rev's terrible big men commits and the PG situation.

Either way, they need to get the money that used to roll around back in the program IF you want to win again and be a player, but I think with hoops there are 4 or 5 paths to winning, GT has take the hardest one in the age of the portal.

2) At a certain point, I became convinced that Scooter was not making any meaningful contributions in any area to our football team, especially in the area of coaching. That’s when I knew he had to go. People say Pastner “knows basketball”, yet a lot of what we’ve seen on the court this season is maddening. You’ve said why he has failed to make major changes is “the million dollar question”. Even if newly discovered NIL money helps him attract better players for next season, from a strictly coaching standpoint, what meaningful contributions is Pastner making to the team that can make us feel good about our HC and not just money we’ve raised?

KQ- They ran completely different actions and sets against Cuse that worked with the high-low action, the issue in that game was Jalon Moore got three fouls like a 3-minute span of the game and that ended it and then he struggled to play when he came back in.

They've been making adjustments but they don't have a guy who can drive and score consistently or back down a defender. Miles Kelly was supposed to be that guy and he can't do it. Deivon Smith should be able to do it but he can't finish consistently and gets hit with charging calls because he telegraphs his moves IMO.

Pastner is a good defensive coach and not a very good offensive coach. They don't even run the system he ran at Memphis here offensively. He is basically like hiring a defensive coordinator who is a good recruiter as a HC. Where he has slipped up is with his staff setup IMO and the offense. They needed to junk the offense, it was very clear last year it wasn't going to ever work well with Rodney and they waited too long to adapt. I do not know why. That is my biggest question.

Aaron Philo of Prince Avenue Christian School
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This is the one I was attempting to hint at when Marco left.
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Rara Thomas arrested for family violence and false imprisonment:

Jeremiah Smith who had a medical DQ way back in 2020 entered the transfer portal today.


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Obviously, the roster is not 100% set, but GT updated jersey numbers giving them to every incoming player regardless of whether they are on scholarship or not. With this roster there would be 90 players on scholarship. The 85 cap hits when school starts in the fall. So clearly there will be more attrition and Zamari is clearly leaving.

Per my sources, Pierce Quick is not with the program and has returned to Alabama as he is unlikely to play football again. I've hinted at this for a good while. Physically he just can't do it anymore.

New Numbers:
0- Trey Cooley
2- Andre White
4- Braelen Oliver
6- Christian Leary
6- Etinosa Reuben
7- Eric Singleton Jr.
10- Steven Jones Jr.
10- Haynes King
12- Nico Dowdell
12- Zion Taylor
13- Chase Lane
18- Abdul Janneh
25- Taye Seymore
26- Evan Dickens Jr.
35- Jacob Cruz
41- Malcolm Pugh
45- Ashton Heflin
48- Ezra Odinjor
51- Nacari Ashley
60- Gabe Fortson
66- Benjamin Galloway
71- Jordan Brown
73- Patrick Screws Jr.
77- Elias Cloy
78- Ethan Mackenny
80- Brett Seither
82- Jackson Long
86- Bryce Dopson
96- Shymeik Jones
98- Bryston Dixon

bold=currently enrolled at GT

Number Changes: Old number in ()
1- LaMiles Brooks (20)
3- D.J. Moore (13)
5- Zach Pyron (14)
5- Clayton Powell-Lee (29)
8- Malik Rutherford (12)
11- Jamal Haynes (31)
17- Rodney Shelley (26)

Missing:
Pierce Quick, Khari Gee

Guys on the roster who may not be come spring ball or may not still be on the team or are not on the team:
Christian Burkhalter, Khatavian Franks, Zamari Walton, Cade Koots, Mike Maye

Just damn.


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Had a blank corner in the office so I gave it a shot. Yea or Nay

Holy smokes the Jags were down 27-7 at half to the Chargers. And Trevor Lawrence had 4 picks. The Jags came back to win. Unreal! Chargers just Falconed.

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fire away

Four-star Rivals250 Ga. ATH Jalewis Solomon will be on the Georgia Tech campus today, per source.
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Lots of Orange folk here making the trek to McCamish. I saw President Cabrera and his crew walking in. J Batt is in the house as well.

Tampa Bay is going to offer Monken whatever he wants as an OC. If that happens UGA will make the call to Buster as OC. Just what I have heard from a couple of people in the know in Athens.

Must be recruiting for his punting and kicking positions in this video as Prime Dogg shows off the facilities:

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This UGA-UT is really interesting from a gambling perspective. Unfortunately, it looks like a good sign for UGA.

The books are all taking a position on UGA -8. Money has been pouring in on UT since it opened up. Limits went up yesterday and still 78% of the wagers and 90% of the money is on UT but the line hasn't budged off of 8. The books aren't looking for two way action here, they're looking to have a position on UGA.

It might not *just* be because of this game though. They could have liability on Hooker Heisman and UT season futures whether that be SEC/playoff/natty. Just spitballing here. Either way, it's interesting to watch.

I got some UT +8.5 at open and was hoping for it to come down to +7. No dice

Maybe @xenoabe can shed some light

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech legend Demaryius Thomas has been added to the upcoming induction class for the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.



Thomas, a two-time National Football League All-Pro whose 2,135 receiving yards in three collegiate seasons rank sixth in Georgia Tech football history, is one of four individuals that were added to the class as part of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s annual “legends” honorees. They join eight inductees that were announced in October, a group that includes Georgia Tech national championship quarterback Shawn Jones. The full 12-person class will be enshrined during the Hall’s 67th annual induction ceremony on Feb. 25 in Macon.



After redshirting as a true freshman out of Dexter, Ga. in 2006, Thomas played three seasons at Georgia Tech (2007-09). He officially recorded 113 receptions (10th in school history) for 2,135 yards (sixth) and 13 touchdowns (t-seventh) in his three campaigns as a Yellow Jacket, and his whopping 25.1 yards per reception as a junior in 2009 remains the second-highest single-season receiving average in Tech’s all-time annals. After helping lead Tech to consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division championships in 2008 and 2009 and earning All-America (third team) and all-ACC (first team) recognition in ‘09, he declared for the 2010 NFL Draft.



Thomas became only the 12th first-round draft pick in Georgia Tech history when the Denver Broncos selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2010 Draft. He went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL, highlighted by eight-and-a-half campaigns with the Broncos. He caught 724 passes for 9,763 yards and 63 touchdowns as a pro, including 665 receptions for 9,055 yards and 60 touchdowns in 125 games with the Broncos (figures that rank third, second and second in team history, respectively). He owns 16 Broncos franchise records, including single-season receiving yards (1,619 – 2014) and career 100-yard receiving games (33). He earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2013 and 2014 and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection (2012-14, 2016).



As a pro, he is perhaps best remembered for being one of the most prolific postseason performers in the Broncos’ illustrious history. Making his NFL playoff debut in the divisional round of the 2011 playoffs versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, he caught four passes for a Denver postseason-record 204 yards, including the game-winning 80-yard touchdown reception on the first play of overtime that lifted the Broncos to a legendary 29-23 win. Two seasons later (2013), he made his first of two Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII and set a then-Super Bowl record with 13 receptions in Denver’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Two more seasons later (2015), he won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos (a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers). After his eight-and-a-half seasons with the Broncos, he closed his NFL career with the Houston Texans (2018) and New York Jets (2019). He officially announced his retirement in June 2021.



Affectionately nicknamed “Bay Bay,” Thomas was born on Christmas Day, 1987, and died on Dec. 9, 2021 at the age of 33. He was known at Georgia Tech and in the NFL for his work in the community, particularly with youth initiatives.



In 2022, the PeyBack Foundation, the charitable organization founded and led by Thomas’ NFL teammate and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley Manning, established the Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship Endowment at Georgia Tech. The endowment provides academic scholarships to attend Georgia Tech for incoming freshmen from Laurens County, Ga., where Thomas was born and raised, or surrounding areas, who demonstrate significant financial need.

Insanity.

Side note: In all ACC games for the other 30 minutes of the game (combined) GT is +13

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Had the pleasure of talking quite a bit with QB Jakhari Williams this week about where he's at with everything. If you'll remember, he committed at a time in which GT had no official plan at head coach, and many thought his commitment was a sign that Jamey Chadwell had agreed to take the job (lol)

Anyways, enjoy- https://georgiatech.rivals.com/news...hari-williams-details-role-as-recruiter-visit

Are we recruiting Barry Walker OT from Cordele class of 2024?

Syracuse is good basketball team and we need to play well. We really need a win. In order to get the win you have to play really well and play well on both sides of the ball to put yourself in that position. We have to keep grinding and be ready at noon.

On Zone vs Man, we change defenses and play a lot of them. Defense has not been our issue this year and we’ve been good on the offensive glass and defensive glass. We’ve got to get to 70

On Cuse, tomorrow they will zone, it is hard to not have our guys shoot open threes. Pitt game we shot well from three, but the perimeter guys missed shots around the rim. We need to score more points around the paint and whatever option is needed we will try to get to 70. We’ve got to make some and we’ve got to make a couple and if we did and went 5 for 20 instead of 2 for 20 we win the game.

On playing hard for 40 minutes, effort is not the issue, guys are playing hard. Offensive rebounding and effort, we don’t have issues. Guys are giving their all, we’ve got to score more. We’ve got to get to 70, it is not fun when you miss those opportunities. We need to win the points in the paint battle, whether that is high/low or tweaking or adjusting, we are putting everything on the table. It is hard to tell guys not to shoot it when they are that open.

On breaking down dribble drives and getting to the hoop, in my time here teams have gotten better around this time, I’m hoping this time before we leave January tomorrow, Tuesday and next Saturday our team gets better and we get some wins. I’m going to tinker and tweak, but players have to produce and guys have to do that, I believe they will and I hope based on our past years we get better, most years you get a tad bit better, but time is running out and we need to turn the page. I think we are close, we’ve blown a lot of games. Other than Clemson and that segment against Virginia we haven’t put together that 40 minutes.

On not losing confidence for his shooters, it is a confidence game, you have to remain positive and that is big time basketball and guys know when they are not making it, a lot of it is a confidence thing, my mentality when things are not working is to work harder, we have a lot of opportunities to work on things. We’ve spent extra time on shooting.

On how the team is playing compared to preseason expectations, I thought we would have a different record than I thought, we’ve blown some games. There is still a lot of time, there is a month and a half to turn it around and get hot. Sports are crazy, everyone here has covered sports, wins turn into seven or eight when it looks bleak, I don’t think we are that far off, we just need to get over that hump. I think there is every reason to think coming into this season, there was a possibility of taking a step back. The biggest issue was last year, we should’ve won more last year and if we had more wins, then we are looking at this year as a natural progression. We didn’t have enough wins last year to say that. I thought we would have a better record than last year. We have the same team but taking off a couple of guys.

On pushing the ball in transition, I think teams are trying to get back in transition to defend us, Miles had a couple of great looks, Deebo did. Lance is doubtful with a hamstring and Tristan is out with a hip pointer. I asked Tristan if he can go in and he didn’t look healthy. We will shut him down to get him healthy.

On dealing with the under performance, I am a big believer that you push punch, eye gouge, we are not going into the fetal position. We’ve had great practices, we are having chances to win, we are just letting things get away from us in segments of the games. I understand the frustration of fans, we are losing and that is not acceptable and I want to win every game and every possession and they have every right to be frustrated when we don’t win.

Now we have back-to-back bad years, we did beat Georgia, but we haven’t continued that afterward into the season. If we had more wins last year, it would not be as frustrating as it is now. The good news there are a lot of games left and it is amazing about sports you never know what can happen. There are stories like that out there. We have to get through the barrier.

DEEBO COLEMAN

On the offensive struggles,
We’ve got to complete a whole 40 minutes and when we don’t we get in trouble. When other teams make a run we never seem to bounce back from it.

On Joseph Girard III, he is definitely someone we have to keep an eye on. He is a good player and we have to key on him defensively.

On the cold shooting getting in the heads of the players, I feel like if you miss some shots and that gets in your head you are not a real shooter.

On the improved defensive rebounding, I think that is part of our plan to get in transition because we are a fast team and when we get stops and get on the defensive glass that gives us more possessions as well.

On the lack of cutting buckets around the hoop, different teams have been playing different styles some sag off and some play us tight, but regardless of that we have to make tighter cuts and use our screens to get open.

On working on shooting, the last couple of days I’ve been in the gym heavily. The last two days I shot until my fingertips started bleeding so I wouldn’t be surprised if the next game I make like five threes in a row.

On expecting things to start falling, you’ve got to keep a positive mindset and it is more frustrating when I’m not hitting shots and we lose, but you have to keep a positive mindset.

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clean thread focused just on this and discussion of it.