You're probably tired of me asking questions like this but I'll shoot my shot...how are JOL sub numbers compared to August 2022?
KQ- We've grown about 5-6% from last year, but I also haven't done my big subscription push yet for the fall. That is coming this weekend. I need all of you to help with that.
I think at some time you mentioned you had engagements with both MSU and Alabama. How does JOL compare with those two sites? Which takes more of your time or mental anguish?
KQ- Most of my work time is spent here. Our MSU site has a really talented young writer who runs that site as a solo gig. My Bama site is in a rebuild situation similar to this site when I took it over in 2009. That site is staffed up so I am not writing or doing much other than some posts and oversight with my staff there. I'm trying to teach them how to do what I do and make their own careers similar to how I've done it, but in a way that the market will find interesting. That's been a challenge. It takes a while to find your legs in these types of things.
There certainly are a lot of business questions upfront today.
For the first time in a while, there seem to be upwardly promotable coaches on the football staff. I had asked you a few years back what Marco Coleman's end game was as a coach. Given his ability to recruit nationally, his contacts with the NFL and former players, and his coaching ability...what kind of future do you see for him in the coaching business?
KQ- I'm not really sure. I don't know Marco like that though he has been considerably more friendly on his return to GT to me. I think he had his guard up when he joined the staff in January of 2019. I've noticed that sometimes with guys who played in the NFL not named Tashard Choice and they can be a little harder to get to know. He has been great since he came back, but again I don't really know what his end game is. He did tell me he wanted to coach here because that is his passion (GT) and if not for that he would be in the NFL coaching. That's a big reason why he came back along with his relationship with Key. He has been open about that in our media stuff too.
At the spring game, the TE who caught my eye was Billy Ward. He looked bigger than the rest and actually made some nice catches, but he is almost never mentioned. The names we always hear are Leonard, Seither, and of course, JOL favorite, Luke Benson. Is my guy Billy going to surprise some folks this season?
KQ- I still don't hear much about Billy. I think he just hasn't really turned it on consistently or it hasn't clicked for some reason. He very much looks the part, but he is probably the 4th TE overall and could even be behind Jackson Long in the five hole. It just hasn't come together for him yet. He reminds me of Avery Boyd at WR who is another guy who looks the part but it just isn't happening yet.
Best guess… who starts at QB?
KQ- I've been very clear on here how I expect it to play out.
I know you have touched on this before but please hop in the Time Machine and remind us about the behind the scenes stuff with Nick Marshall before UGA and Auburn. Was he a silent here? How did we miss on him? Get out bagged?
KQ- So I was in Las Vegas where my oldest son was born via adoption with my first wife. I heard from a GT source that Nick had committed to GT. Nick did not have a phone and his momma's phone was turned off or something like that at the time. A HS coach of his would not respond to me or the coach recruiting him to GT and was basically the only way to get in touch with the kid unless you drove down to Wilcox County. I was in Vegas for part of May and a huge chunk of June and wasn't able to return home until after UGA had flipped him. So I never got the story out, but I had been able to confirm the commitment prior to the flip to UGA and run something. CPJ and Charles Kelly were very pissed about that played out.
With Todd out of the picture has there been any movement towards a plan yet to bring Paul back to honor the 15th anniversary of the ACC Champions, the 10-year anniversary of the Orange Bowl champions or both next year? Getting Wes and Brandon Gaudin back for that would be a lot of fun too.
KQ- PJ is scheduled to come back for the CFB HOF thing at some point this year to be honored on Hyundai Field
as I understand it. He has been back several times and has toured the facilities with Key and given his blessing to something Key had made to honor him and the other legendary coaches in the FB facility. I would hope for Braves fans Brandon's dance card would be too full for him to do anything. Wes couldn't do it, there is no way even if he was calling the GT game that week logistically. It takes too long to go down to the field from the press box IMO to have him do something even if it was halftime.
This may be a dumb question but is there anyway the SEC would consider absorbing the ACC? Then they could divide up the teams how they see fit and get Clemson and FSU in the process. It would be a true super conference and they are gonna need some teams like most of the ACC has to offer, it would be decent matchups and help pad the records of some of their other programs. If they just keep adding nothing but big time programs eventually some of those teams will be considered second tier just due to the fact that there is just too many tier 1 teams in the same conference. Teams like Oklahoma, Florida, A&M, Miss St, and even Ole Miss after a decade of consistent sub .500 seasons they will not be considered good programs anymore. Adding the ACC could help those teams with weaker schedules
KQ- I've thought of this as a possible outcome. What will likely determine that happening or not will be how much more expansion the Big 1G tries. If they go to 24, then I think the SEC absorbing who they can would make sense to defend their turf and keep the Big 1G out of the Southeast. It will be interesting to see what UNC does because they are the one team that both conferences would love to have in that scenario.
Shot in the dark. Have you had any opportunities to talk to some of the transfers one on one and discuss any differences in Team workouts from previous schools compared to what our Coaches are doing? Example would be Haynes King- does he feel better about his progress with our Coaches compared to Texas A&M?
KQ- I'm not going into my one-on-one conversations with anyone, that is private information if they happened at all and would not be something I would talk about on here. Here is what I can tell you, the workouts are pretty intense and the camp is more like what Nick Saban would do. The kids who played for Saban guys' like Kirby or Jimbo totally understand how the camp is done for example and like the S&C is similar to that as AJ Artis indirectly comes from that same coaching tree via Tennessee.
How do you see the RB burn playing out with 5 guys seemingly in the mix to get carries?
KQ- I think that is going to be week to week and game plan to game plan. I think Dontae Smith and Jamie Felix are the two guys I feel really confident will consistently be in the rotation and I think Jamal Haynes is creating a role for himself right now, but other than that it is pretty open. Trey Cooley, Evan Dickens or even the walk-ons like Daylon Gordon or Englan Williams could see some PT.
Forgive me if I missed this but did something happen trevion Cooley?
KQ- As I said elsewhere I really have no idea. If I knew it would depend on how I knew if I could tell you what I know.
In your opinion who has been the best position coach since you been covering Georgia Tech?
KQ- It was probably Charles Kelly because he was just a great all-around coach and he produced a lot of NFL guys with a mix of high-profile talent like Morgan Burnett or found ways to make guys really max out with their ability. He was really good at that. I thought Jeff Monken on the offensive side of the ball was a real strong coach and they took a huge hit with the slot guys when he left to become a head coach. It just depends on the criteria, but Kelly was probably the biggest loss on the defensive side during CPJ's tenure and he really was a killer recruiter too.
