On his YouTube channel, Carrie said his goal for this year was a freshman all American. Is that reasonable? Also, I heard he had a bum shoulder, did I get that wrong?
KQ- I have no idea about his shoulder, I have not heard anything about an injury, but if the kid is telling you he thinks he can be a freshman AA, then I'm going to guess his shoulder is fine. I'm not sure where they hell you dug that up from. Carrie is a smart kid who wouldn't be talking himself up if he had some serious problem.
On whether or not he can be a freshman AA, I think it really depends on how he performs when he gets his shot on the field. The role is there for the taking for someone as the Dontae Smith to Jamal Haynes speed/space guy. Carrie has the size and speed combo to be a 800/400 type guy depending on how many games GT plays meaning 800 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving over the course of a 13 game season.
Noob question. You mentioned focusing on pass pro — RB’s.
What does that mean? Is it a physical thing as in technique or like learning offense/defense and understanding in how to pick up the rush and understanding where the pressure is coming from? Or both? Or something else.
I have always thought it was an effort issue. Thanks for any insight. I’ll hang up and listen.
KQ- Well it is not entirely an effort issue. Understanding who you are blocking, why you are blocking them and how to just get a piece of a guy is a huge part of it. They don't need the RBs to stand up a DT, it is about slowing down an extra blitzer or someone breaking free on the edge and being able to see before the snap where that is coming from and being able to react and protect the QB on your side. Some of that is also on the QB to make sure he has the back lined up on the correct side of him and is reading his pre-snap look as well. A guy like Carrie or even Jamal Haynes had the ball in their hand 95% of the time in HS or were in a pattern running routes so that is just something they have less experience at most places. They are not concerned that they can't do it, it is more of what happens if you whiff, usually a sack, strip sack or worse if the QB gets blindsided. So it is something that impacts personnel choices with certain calls. There are also plays where the back has to leak out of the backfield and pretends to be a blocker or has a free release if there is not an extra blitzer. So that is where learning the playbook, learning the various pieces of the call really becomes a factor.
How much do you expect to see Blackburn play week 1? Will they ease him in or do you think he’ll play 50%+ of the snaps?
KQ- He is 100% cleared as of now. Why would they ease him in? He went through the full spring doing everything with full contact. There is no upside to "resting him" or whatever. If you think he is your second best outside WR they he could play every snap on offense. I think he will be in the rotation and possibly start, but he isn't Calvin Johnson and this isn't a preseason NFL game, they are playing FSU. You will put out your best pieces and let it roll.
Great War Room, KQ. Got me as fired up for the season as anything since the bowl win has. @Russell Johnson will you be doing one for Baseball when all the portal dust settles, and any major thoughts so far on the comings and goings? I saw you post the other day that GT had the most portal exits of any major program with a returning coaching staff. Obviously the season just officially ended on Monday, but what do you make of everything so far?
KQ- We can look at the baseball roster when things settle down. We all know what is going on here there is no reason to keep hammering on it.
May we please get an update on key 2025 hoops recruiting targets, particularly where we stand with Bryson Tiller and Caleb Wilson?
Tiller, in particular.
KQ- I'll see what I can do on that front. I tend to let the summer play out a little bit with hoops recruiting because these kids are so busy and they are not on campus for visits but just playing in tournaments so there usually isn't a lot going on until school starts back up.
I know we are still around 8 weeks out but are there any formal JOL meeting plans in place for Dublin? Please share, if so, or if there is anything in the works.
KQ- My take has been the same on this from day one. I don't have the bandwidth to set something up, but if you all want to pick a pub or whatever and take it over and have me come out I am very happy to do that. I'll be in Ireland from Thursday until Sunday morning and without my wife in tow. We are going over for a few days on a trip to Italy and Switzerland and then she is flying back to be with my toddler so after that I'm free to do whatever in Dublin except for when the game is going on.
Looking at the 2025 hoops recruiting and specifically Darius Acuff. Also want to confirm that Damon has offered him. Would be an incredible point guard to have. Wondering if Rutgers is here to stay when regarding the top basketball recruits or was this year just a big splash? Obviously they’ve made some recruiting noise this year with Rivals having Rutgers as the #2 class in the country behind Duke with two 5 star commits in Dylan Harper & Ace Bailey, as well as paying Omoruyi a big bag. I noticed that Acuff’s cousin, Tyson Acuff, is a graduate transfer headed to Rutgers this year from Eastern Michigan. Do you think they are the front runners to land Darius Acuff in 2025 despite all the blue blood attention he has been receiving? Do we have any chance at him coming to Atlanta to play for Damon? I just don’t know why players would want to play for Rutgers..or maybe I do ($$$)
KQ- They were/are recruiting Acuff but Tech did not make his top 4 (Arkansas, UConn, Kansas and Michigan). Damon did offer him or renewed the offer or whatever. Pershin and Damon were recruiting him to GT. As far as Rutgers goes, we shall see if they can actual win with what they have or not.
