Does anyone want to send some food my way while I’m in quarantine?
KQ- Uber Eats leave at your door is your friend.
Kinda new here. I love GT alot and believe it will take a special kinda coach to win at GT. As writers who cover GT and do it professionally do yall believe the current staff has what it takes to turn the football program around? Or if not what will be their downfall?
KQ- Clearly winning is going to be what makes or breaks Collins’ era. I think and I have liked their plan outside of game days. I think they have some of the pieces required to win. What they’ve lacked is elite coordinators on either side of the ball. Many people I respect via Chip Long as a potential elite guy, how quick can he turn it around? Collins was highly regarded as a DC but has yet to fully engage on that side of the ball either, so will he do that now? Can he fix the issues there? The other X-factor has been heath and injuries and they’ve had bad luck with multiple top guys out extensively. This year it was OL and losing two of your top 8 talents, Leo Blackburn and Keion White. If they can stay healthy and coach them up I think they have many of the other aspects in place to be successful, but the proof will come on the field and they burned up so much goodwill they have to deliver early next year against a hard schedule on paper.
Is Chip looking for a QB who can run or one who’s more stationary? Or will he adjust his scheme based on which QB is better?
KQ- So he has always recruited guys who can move around in the pocket, but not necessarily runners. Phil Jurkovec the QB at BC was one of his recruits and signees at ND for example or Brendon Clark who is more of a pocket QB. It is about the ability to run the offense and he adjusts the system to the needs of the QB. That is what he did at ND.
Also, any news on the last coaching spot?
KQ- Nope, I was not expecting them to announce the final spot until either this week or next week.
At what point is CJP willing to speak publicly to the embarrassment that has been officiating during our games this season?
KQ- Josh like many other coaches this season has clearly been frustrated at times with the officiating visibly and he nearly got T’d up the other night, the ref was luckily a cooler headed one and he didn’t give him the T. The officiating has been bad in every game I’ve been to this year and that is very strange. I know many coaches who are extremely frustrated at the moment.
- In Geoff’s interview with Mark Packer and Tom Luginbill last week instead of answering their questions, he gave the same talking points almost word for word that he gave at the Signing Day presser. Can you provide more context on how he is to deal with privately when the cameras are off? Do you believe in him more as a head coach in those moments?
KQ- Sure, my take on Geoff’s messaging and approach on any national media is that he views it as an opportunity to sell his program and he has talking points like a politician doing a stump speech or debate. You have to view it through that prism. When we speak privately about something it is very different and he is extremely clear in what he is thinking and what he is talking about.
- Also can you walk us through the BigTen invite in 2012? Was it an official offer and GT declined? Travel would’ve sucked, but attendance would be good with so many alums of those schools in town, and I feel like the BigTen would have valued Tech and Atlanta in so many ways that the ACC clearly doesn’t. Not to mention the extra money involved which GT doesn’t have and sorely needs to compete.
KQ- That was almost 10 years ago so my memory is a little foggy but I my recollection is it did not get very far off the ground because the school president Bud at the time had zero interest in joining the Big 10. D-Rad was interested in doing it because of the windfall financially because the debt truly bothered him and was an albatross that led to many bad decisions with being cheap on staffing he made like hiring Brian Gregory or not funding PJ’s staff in a more comparable manner to the rest of the ACC relative to Atlanta’s cost of living. I sat in PJ’s office and talked to D-Rad about the pros and cons of the B1G at the time AFTER it was a dead issue. PJ was also against it though his opinion was not really important, he viewed inviting the B1G into Atlanta would just further dilute GT’s recruiting abilities (he isn’t/wasn’t wrong on that point).
Is there still a possibility of Tech (and maybe Notre Dame) joining the Big Ten? Acc is terrible now and will NEVER recover. Will the big10/pac/acc alliance actually do something?
KQ- Anything is possible. I disagree that the ACC is terrible and will never recover. You’ve seen major investments from the two programs that can be a leader moving forward in FSU and Miami who have prestige nationally. If GT and/or VT get their shit together then it will be on par with everyone except the SEC.
Will Tillman and Geoffrey actually commit to finally playing press coverage with the cbs?
KQ- If they have a pass rush they will. I think the soft coverage has more to do with the lack of consistent pressure up front.
Based on who we have returning and committed right now, who would Coach Kelly have 2 deep on our offensive and defensive line?
KQ- Assuming a 4-2-5 D
FE- White/Ivey
DT- Chimedza/Biggers
DT- Lockhart/Stone or Scott
RE- Domineck/Kennard
OL wise
LT- Leftwich/Vaipulu
LG- Tchio/Vaipulu
C- Minihan/Franklin
RG- Quick/Maye
RT- Williams/Green
My guess is they’ll add an OT to the mix via the portal and I could see some other movement. I’m unsure on Nick Pendley’s status at the moment as well since he got shutdown during the season and did not return and I have not heard anything positive on that front lately.
Football. What do you believe to be the top priorities to fill the remaining open slots from a recruiting and transfer perspective? Second related question - which recruits or transfers do you believe have a good chance to start or get significant playing time in 2022?
RJ- I feel like a question similar to this one is asked on almost a weekly basis right now, which shows just how important it is for these “gaps’ to be covered if GT is going to have a successful 2022 season and continue to progress as a program.
The number one and two positions in terms of need are offensive line and cornerback. GT has added two very talented players on the OL already in Paul Tchio and Pierce Quick, but in a perfect world both of those guys will stay inside and play G once arriving to Atlanta. Landing an impact player that Key is able to plug and play at LT or RT next season is a HUGE priority for them right now. The bad thing about that is the demand for talented OT outweighs the supply currently available in the portal. As bowl games conclude and seasons end, kids realize how homesick they may be after being home for Christmas break, etc. the supply could definitely go up.
The same could be said about the cornerback position, where GT is rather thin going into next season in terms of having experienced guys out there that have been in the situations that they will be in next year. Zamari Walton and Myles Sims are both capable of starting and show flashes of high-level success, but adding a CB with experience and the ability to push them in practice is another big need.
As the deadline to enroll at GT looms closer, look for things to really heat up at these two positions, as I am sure they would like if possible to add players at these positions in time to get them enrolled in school and eligible for spring football.
Other positions that I would consider a need are LB, WR, K (depending on confidence of those in room), and possibly even a veteran running back.
That third wave of transfer activity after spring ball figures to be a big one across the country, especially with the 2021 recruits who will have nearly a year of college complete at that point, and have a feel for where they are in terms of the depth chart and such as well.
It is still mind-blowing that a kid like Khari Gee signed with Notre Dame before ever stepping on campus there.
I’d be interested in a couple of years to see a study done for what percentage of kids that committed to schools sight-unseen end up entering the transfer portal. I would expect it to be somewhere close to 40% if not more.
Do you think Meka will ultimately be the starting (or at least take the lion's share of minutes) center, or do you think it will be matchup based?
KQ- I think it will still be based on matchups, he will have a harder time guarding a true big like Bacot at UNC, but he can hang with guys who are not on that level. He needs to figure out how to get a little second chance offense and show he can be a bit of a weapon finishing inside. If he does that it will be harder to keep him off the court if Rodney Howard and Saba Gigiberia keep struggling with their hands on offense and rebounding.
KQ - can you give us a "best of" starting lineup and first 3 off the bench for GT in basketball since you've been covering the team?
KQ- Oooh interesting, so I started in 2009-10 as a reference point.
PF- Derrick Favors
SF- Marcus Georges-Hunt
C- Ben Lammers
PG- Jose Alvarado
SG- Josh Okogie
Bench
F/C- Moses Wright
G- Mike Devoe
G- Iman Shumpert
That would be a formidable lineup and I had to leave Gani Lawal and Glen Rice Jr. (with his head on correctly) on the sideline.
considering you’ve listened to all Geoff press conferences in full how many IQ points do you think you’ve lost in the process? 20? 50? 100?
KQ- No comment.
