I listened to your ACC Nation podcast and it seemed like you want to be positive for the upcoming season. With the all the Negative Nancys showing themselves the last few weeks and as the season is nearer, could you list your positive reasons and why the board should not lose hope yet?
KQ- They showed progress last year and I think the offensive staff is far more capable and the defensive staff has made upgrades and put guys in a position to put a more consistent product on the field on that end. The schedule is still hard out of the gate, but each of those teams that people are circling as Ls for GT have pretty significant flaws and issues from coaching to personnel. They have made the offense more palatable for Jeff Sims to operate at and are managing his pre-snap and post-snap workload with reads so he can get the ball out of his hand or run instead of the deeper drops and slower developing plays used in the past. I also saw the progress really until the wheels came off against BC late in the year. You could see them getting better despite the shortcomings with coaching and the lack of health on the OL. Even a lot of the guys playing on the OL last year were battling significant issues and didn't practice much. I couldn't report that at the time, but they were barely able to get guys like Minihan healthy enough to play or Jordan Williams. They gutted it out.
Special teams improved slightly last year, I'll be really curious to see what it looks like in the fall and who is kicking, returning kicks and punts and how much David Shanahan has improved because that is movement on the needle.
They should've won 7 games last year with what that roster was capable of and how close they played several teams, there is no reason why they can't get over the hump and win 6-7 games.
You mentioned a couple years back that "flipping" in basketball isn't a thing for a variety of reasons. Do you think that still holds true in the age of NIL deals?
KQ- Out of the major conferences there were around 50 decommits for the entire 2022 cycle and just four so far for 2023. In that number, I would imagine at least 20-30% were academic casualties. That has held pretty steady for the last few years including during covid in the 40-50 players a year range. So no, it still holds true most of the time.
Over or under 7 four stars for 23 football class
RJ: Under. That number will fluctuate greatly over the coming months due to both ratings updates and a small class, but I don't think they get to 7 unless they win like 8 games or something.
Who would be the one (or two) almost must gets for next years class in football?
RJ- There really are no must-gets in this cycle, at least that are not already committed. If you made me say any I would say Quentin Ajiero due to the amount of time and effort that has been put into recruiting him and Durell Robinson after the decision to allow other targets on the board to pick other schools within the last 24 hours or so.
Would you say NIL has changed the impact that facilities have on recruiting efforts? If so, do you think facilities upgrades will have a reduced importance at Tech in the future? It seems that the potential recruiting impact the new Edge building would have had on recruiting might have been lessened in the past year - I would imagine most recruits would not take significantly less NIL just to attend a school with a cool athletics administration building.
KQ- They are not building the Edge Building entirely for recruiting, the old building needed to go and has some significant issues and should've been replaced probably around the time they did the North End Zone project. It is really out of place for the GT campus, stadium, and everything else. There is a difference between a new building for SAs and staff to work and a lazy river or McFlurry Machine.
With the coaching addition and promotion on the basketball staff, what offensive and defensive scheme(s) can we expect to see next season with our current roster?
KQ- Ahh the basketball scheme question, I'll be brutally honest with you. I have not had time to dive into that with recruiting going full swing. I had a lot of conversations leading out of the season and into the summer with sources, but I don't have any scoop or can say they'll run X, Y or Z.
Nick Pendley. It was said that he was assisting with the OL, just wondering if he was looking at this as a career move or more of a way to contribute to the team?
KQ- Nick and Ryan Spiers did that this spring and Ryan has been around this summer and I think Nick has as well. They would both love to play, so this is a way for them to help be around the program, help coach Key and feel like they are contributing.
I know, I know— beating a dead horse BUT: as FSU and other baseball schools continue to do what we won’t—not accept mediocrity just because a coach has been around awhile—has any pressure been turned up on ADTS about how crazy and out of touch the mid season extensions and then post season tweets deeming the season a success were?
KQ- I'm not sure ADTS actually uses his own twitter. Most of his tweets come from staff as I understand it. I don't know what Danny Hall's goals are, I don't know what ADTS expects and I don't know things like baseball budgets, where GT stands in that or many other factors that come into play with that decision. It is not my world anymore, I gave up covering baseball when my oldest son was born.
RJ: Me thinks that regardless of the moves made this off-season in terms of hits and misses within the portal, roster additions and subtractions due to the MLB Draft, etc. that the pressure to host will be rather large going into next season. Hall is a legend, and one of the best of all-time, but everyone in that locker room knows what must be done next season, it is just about getting there.
The injuries this season hurt them tremendously, as did the season-long search for reliable pitching. That cannot be the case next season, whether guys like Grissom Jr. are back or not. The freshman class of P really held their own at times during this past season, and should be seasoned enough to step right into the weekend rotation if needed next year.
Things will be much different for Hall, since he will be coaching the team without a son on the roster for the first time in a while. That added dynamic around the program is now gone.
I also think it is very easy to forget how hard it is to get to Omaha, no matter how good you were in the regular season.
How do you explain no Super Regionals since 2006 when you have hosted 4 times and every ACC school except Pitt has been up one more recently?
KQ- They were one hanging pitch away from a Super Regional just two years ago? Look no further than our friends over in Athens who actually have won a College World Series (1990), they fired my buddy David Perino and haven't been to a Super Regional or Regional since 2008. Jim Morris never won a regional either. Danny Hall literally has all the College World Series trips in program history. Let that sink in for a moment because I think there is a ton of disrespect for Danny as well from fans.
are we making many more prospects camp this year before making a committable offer? Is any position doing this (camp for offer) more this cycle?
KQ- Tech has one more pure camp for QBs Thursday and two more 7v7s and those also have an OL/DL component. I expect Wednesday and Thursday could yield some offers. As far as positions, OL could be one to watch depending on who shows up and QBs for 2024 and 2025.
Russ are there any particular Big name players tech is watching in the portal for baseball? Anyone that stands out?
RJ: No particular names yet. The portal for baseball is going significantly on a daily basis right now, and as a result it is hard to have an accurately up-to-date view of the transfer portal.
No one that stands out. That will be coming soon though, and will be passed along/reported accordingly. GT will be looking to re-load the roster as they anticipate losing several key contributors to the MLB Draft next month.
It is important to remember that GT is a destination school in baseball, meaning that there will likely be several kids who went to HS nearby that now are hoping to have the chance to come home and finish their degree/eligibility.
