Question for the group: how much of a premium would you pay for your desired coach? Given the institutes financial situation and that all coaching hires are hugely uncertain, what we pay the guy is just as important as who it is.
I love Deion, but if we have to outbid Auburn and Nebraska for him (IF, not saying that’s for sure how it would go down) and he gets a deal that makes the Collins deal look GT friendly, then we would be hamstrung hiring assistants and if he doesn’t work out, that’s several more years and a huge buyout down the drain. It truly becomes GT footballs last chance.
On the flip side, if you could get Key on a discounted deal (again that’s IF, but Kelly has said he thinks he’d open to that and it’s not like he will have other opportunities) it could be a low risk high reward bet. Hire a better staff around him and see if he gets the shop righted in a year or two while J Batt gets the money flowing, if he can’t move on in a year or two relatively painlessly. Two swings of the bat instead of one. This may apply to other guys not just Key, he’s just an obvious example of the type of coach who might go for it.
This is the part that’s harder to speculate about since none of us are in the room, but I think it’s just as important and something I will consider just as much as the name when the deal comes out.
I love Deion, but if we have to outbid Auburn and Nebraska for him (IF, not saying that’s for sure how it would go down) and he gets a deal that makes the Collins deal look GT friendly, then we would be hamstrung hiring assistants and if he doesn’t work out, that’s several more years and a huge buyout down the drain. It truly becomes GT footballs last chance.
On the flip side, if you could get Key on a discounted deal (again that’s IF, but Kelly has said he thinks he’d open to that and it’s not like he will have other opportunities) it could be a low risk high reward bet. Hire a better staff around him and see if he gets the shop righted in a year or two while J Batt gets the money flowing, if he can’t move on in a year or two relatively painlessly. Two swings of the bat instead of one. This may apply to other guys not just Key, he’s just an obvious example of the type of coach who might go for it.
This is the part that’s harder to speculate about since none of us are in the room, but I think it’s just as important and something I will consider just as much as the name when the deal comes out.
