For Russell Johnson - What do you know about Tech's position with OTE's Bryson Tiller (6'10", 240, class of 2025)? Just heard in a hallway conversation that his dad is saying that he's going to GT.
KQ- @Russell Johnson
How many players do you see us getting before the National Signing Day? What position will we hunt for the most?
KQ- Not much, 0-2 at max. The focus is more on the spring portal than HS kids for the remaining spots. They have nine additional freshmen coming in this June plus 23 current Fr or R-Fr for the upcoming year. They are not going to add significantly to that number.
Would you say that Brent Key is more involved and hands on with recruiting than most other head coaches in college football? He recruited very well during his OL coach tenure at Alabama right?
KQ- Not really. Every coach handles it differently. Most are pretty into the weeds on the recruitment of kids and Key is big on the culture piece as well. I've covered like 10-12 different head coaches and he is similar to some and different from others, but everyone has a different way of handling it. There are some that are even more involved than Key is.
How is the strength and condition program now since it been a year since the change(Better, Same or worse) and what needs to be improved on?
KQ- So the players always love the current strength coach unless it is a total bum. AJ has done a good job. My measuring stick for S&C is injuries and frequency of injuries particularly things like soft tissue injuries and not stuff like guys blowing out a knee on a fluke play like Leo Blackburn or Sylvain Yondjouen did. GT missed probably the last games due to injury last year of any season since CPJ retired. So that is a mark in the right direction for AJ.
I don't recall seeing Bobby Cremins at a game this year or interacting with CDS. Has that happened? I believe Bobby has outwardly supported all the Tech coaches since he left.
KQ- I think he has been pretty low profile lately. He has been at like one game all year and that was at College of Charleston back in November. That is unusual for Coach Cremins so I hope he is okay health wise. I don't believe I have seen him at GT this year.
Do you plan on coming out here to Nor Cal when Tech plays Stanford and Cal?
KQ- Of course, I go to every GT football game. I'll be in Ireland so going to California is easy in comparision.
Prime talked in a recent interview about his reasoning for taking less high school kids. I don’t agree with most of his take but one part does make me curious. Why take a high school kid, when you can take a guy with 3-4 years left, who already used his one time transfer? Feels like an easier way to get back to “building a program” when you know guys “can’t” leave.
KQ- Well if the one-time transfer rule is done as well which it is for the moment, you might as well take a mix. I think it may hurt out of state kids the most when it comes to HS kids. I think coaches are going to lean more on local kids out of HS as this progresses without changes coming. I agree if they revert back to the old rules with just one transfer then you are better off taking a younger kid who didn't pan out at Bama or UGA in the portal than 50% of the HS targets.
Assume we add no one else, how do you feel about the defensive front 6/7 right now?
KQ- I would not assume they will add no one else. They are missing like 3-5 defensive roster spots so that is not realistic IMO. What I can say is they are okay at linebacker with Tatum back, that gave them three guys I feel good about today in Efford, Tatum and Lightsey playing in a game and then Jackson Hamilton who is okay and a wild card who I think could play a lot in Tah'j Butler. On the DL, I think the DT rotation looks pretty good to me with Lockett, Biggers, Scott and the FSU transfer Tifase plus Shymeik Jones who they love. The rush end/OLB spot is the big question mark to me outside of Kevin Harris. I think they are fine at the other end spot with Sylvain, Josh and Eddie.
In your opinion, do you think that there is less loyalty in sports for players and coaches?
KQ- I think coach loyalty is the same as it has ever been. That was always up for debate depending on the situation and connections. For players, the owners or even college coaches are always recruiting or signing guys on top of them and there isn't much loyalty so it is hard to be critical of that. I think if GT fielded a team of GT fans growing up they'd be 0-12 every season in football or close to it so it is hard to use that as a barometer. I think things are roughly the same as always with the uncontrollable portal making it more difficult.
What’s the point of starting Ebe? Played 7 min tonight and recorded no stats.
KQ- I really don't get it. I said from the jump I thought he would not be good and I was shouted down on here by some posters. He is an end-of-the-bench big man. I think Damon keeps hoping the
will come on like you've seen from some other guys, but it isn't. I'd call him five fouls Ebe and treat him that way. Maybe that is what Damon is trying to do, avoid some fouls on Baye early.As a fan I’m very excited for the new ncaa game to come out and play this team. Do the players talk about it at all? It’s my understanding that this game will have actual representations of the players instead of just the numbers on the jersey so I’d think the players would be more interested in their ratings
KQ- I haven't heard a peep about it, but my oldest child and I split the cost of an X-box to prepare for it. It is a subject that just hasn't come up yet.
What's the technical reason we click on a story in The Buzz only to have to click on a second link to get to the story.
KQ- Because I cannot just post a direct link to the board as a post title and if it did that where would you comment on the story? The idea is for you all to discuss the story mentioned not to necessarily click the link but not everyone visits the front page every day. The majority of the traffic is on the message boards not the front page for the site.
Also what’s going on with Sackos playing time? Seems like he could be helpful on defense at times especially rebounding.
KQ- Damon is trying to matchup and Gapare is playing better offensively so he is taking Sacko's minutes. Sacko is pretty ineffective offensively.
How much better will GT pitching be this season? If it won't be noticeably better, how easy is it to get established pitchers from G5 or lower conferences?
KQ- @Russell Johnson
What is the timeframe for a pinner thread for 2025 FB offers?
KQ- Probably post-NSD 2.0. We usually regroup and start focusing more on 2025 at that point.
What should be realistic expectations for baseball this season? Too ambitious to expect a winning conference record and a regional appearance?
KQ- @Russell Johnson
