Greetings from the beach which apparently has made me brutally honest in this mailbag, enjoy!
Will our defense be better this year or worst than last year?
KQ- My guess is it will be similar to last year but the playmakers will be a different without Keion White, Charlie Thomas and Ace Eley. They need to find out and define the LB roles and even the two transfers are not locked into starting spots by any stretch so there is ample playing time available for people to grab. I think the LB play will determine if it is better or worse. I think the pass rush may be better overall though. The CB play is also an area I am hopeful about, but a little concerned about as well.
2023 Baseball Post-Mortem after a few days for everything to breathe @Russell Johnson:
1) How was your “Its time for big changes” column received by sources and people close to the program? Were the majority of them disappointed it ultimately fell on deaf ears?
KQ- So I’m going to dive into this because I actually fielded a call during my ongoing vacation about Russell’s column and the reality is something I stated elsewhere on here. GT is not in a position to make a major change in any other sport right now. There is no desire from the people who are bankrolling the baseball program and other GT sports as boosters to make a change at this time either. That is as plain as it can be.
I cannot think of a major program that made changes in football, men’s basketball and baseball in the same year, and on top of that this is a crazy time to do it anyway with some of the jobs likely to be open.
2) Which of these two statements more closely resembles the truth, and can you speak a bit to the overall point of the more accurate one?
- Danny Hall, Teixeira and Batt underestimate the amount of anger/apathy that is and will continue to be directed at the baseball program as long as Hall stays.
- I, and other passionate JOL posters, overestimate the amount of anger/apathy that is and will continue to be directed at the baseball program as long as Hall stays.
KQ- When the people on this board fill up the Rusty C and fill up the baseball donation box they will get a say in what Batt or Tex or others think. That’s how this works, if you pay you get a seat at the table and input in non-rev driving sports. GT isn’t Miss State with 15.5k seating that can sellout. GT’s total capacity is 4k, it doesn’t move the needle. Danny doesn’t cost GT anything by staying and trying to let him figure it out in the short term so they are not going to do anything with him. If Josh Pastner had more support from money people, he might still be employed to put it in perspective. This is big boy business, not a fantasy. GT just laid out $12-16 million of capital to change the two biggest positions on campus and hired a new AD at the third spot who inherited major financial issues due to bad contracts and apathy. How about folks let him make some calls on this stuff instead of being so overwrought about a guy who finished 1st in the division in the two prior full seasons to this one. It’s not like they’ve been in last place for three years.
3) Does Ramsey come back for 2024?
KQ- This is a Russell question
4) Football had trouble hiring an offensive coordinator after the ‘21 season because of the tough situation they knew they’d be stepping into with only a year of job security and a history of poor performance by the current roster. Do you believe Baseball will have similar issues in finding a pitching coach to come here for 2024?
KQ- The main issue in hiring an offensive coordinator even in 2021 had more to do with Geoff Collins and money than Geoff’s hot seat. The word was out on the street there were major issues with the program. That is not where things stand with Danny. Danny actually has been successful and put guys in the pros. He hasn't been to the CWS in a minute, but he isn't Geoff Collins either.
5) Not taking into account the 2024 win-loss record - If he wants to be here still - is Danny Hall the head baseball coach in 2025?
KQ- See above
If you had one Tech F'ball game to go to this year, which one would you choose and why?
KQ- Probably the trip to Ole Miss. If you have not been it is a cool environment from everything I heard. I missed going there twice when I covered UGA due to conflicts including a funeral. So I’m looking forward to seeing something different and I wonder how chippy that game could be given the poaching.
What is the most important F'ball game on our schedule and why?
KQ- Probably either the game at Wake or at Miami, if they win one of those they have a good shot at bowling IMO.
What do you think causes the biggest issue in recruiting- academics or wins and losses? I know wins cure all evils but the GT academics has to be somewhat of a stumbling block.
KQ- Money and academics. There are kids now asking for money just to go on OVs. It is wild in the streets right now and it is a very tough road for schools not loaded up with deep NIL money and even under-the-table money it turns out. The academic piece remains a major issue because it is a limiter. You are fighting an uphill battle on multiple fronts and with NIL people are looking at this even more as a job rather than a stepping stone. GT is better positioned than some other schools in the ACC that I know, but holy smokes it is weird. I know some schools that are now going to funnel all their donation money into NIL and just live off their TV revenues because they think they have to do that to survive.
WIthout winning it is going to take time and money to get on better footing with recruiting. So much has changed from the 2020 class or 2021 class even at this point.
