(1) I would really like to know some of the 'real' names being mentioned as assistant basketball coach candidates.
Sharman White and Mike Schrage are the only two I know that feel good about their chances right now. Lots of interesting people reaching out to CJP, he is well-liked so I think he is really trying to bide his time and focus on his recruiting shots and keeping the 2016 class intact.
(2) Football recruiting has been weak throughout the Johnson Regime. Is anything being changed to attempt to produce better results?
I mean overall he has done a better job year to year than Gaily in terms of getting guys and getting production from them. You can't hide the Joe Burns of the world anymore at GT because of APR so as long as that exists there will be caps to GT recruiting in football. The needle can move a little because of staff but the school won't pony up for better hires essentially. GT is in the bottom third of the ACC in every football metric except head coach compensation compared to GOL's time when GT was TOP TEN IN THE NATION in both HC and assistant comp. Talk to your AD, raise money, that could change it. You could see spikes from success or maybe with a "used car salesmen type" like James Franklin, but those dudes are going to make GT a destination job IMO.
R u going to come over to the RVlot after the spring game?
Yes, just text me after the spring game and I'll come over, save me some BBQ.
Any new news on recruits CJP is targeting?
Dan posted some stuff already on this, not many 2016 guys left, so it is all on 2017 guys now.
1990 and 2014 were the two best GT football years of my lifetime. Should I expect to wait another 24 years for another special season? We just really struggle to keep the momentum rolling downhill. I'm aware of all the challenges, it's just frustrating.
Good question, but I'd point to every other league aside from Bama, AU and LSU in the SEC and Clemson and FSU in the ACC, every seems to peak out periodically. GT had a great season in 1998 and 2009 for example and most ACC schools including UVA or UNC would kill for any of those seasons in 98, 09 or 14.
Just how much was true regarding the Bryce Drew rumors? Specifically, it was alluded to that he had already agreed with GT and had a couple assistant hires lined up ready to bring them on board before Vandy whiffed on their top alleged targets and swooped in at the 11th hour. Then, obviously, M-Bob came out after hiring CJP and said he and Drew agreed at the Final 4 that Vandy was a better fit (I am thinking total BS there). In your opinion based on what you heard throughout the process, how do you think it all went down?
A lot, I had coaches I know calling me telling me that Bryce was interviewing them for the GT job, everything went south late that Friday when Vandy got involved, but the search firm had basically set it up for Drew to be the guy and an offer was made and terms reached. What happened is GT didn't think they would have a shot at Drew and were going to go with a guy like Jeff Capel, they made the play for Drew, Capel pulled out and that in turn, stopped several others from taking the job when Drew turned it down. Then it was a real mess until the search firm hooked up MBob with CJP. It happens a lot like this btw. Look at the HELL UNLV just went through, they just hired their third coach essentially this offseason.
What kinda get together are you lining up for Ireland? I'm serious, I've never been able to come to a JOL lunch and we've not done a tailgate in ATL. We've gotta do SOMETHING in the Motherland.
I'm down, I don't want to organize it though, I'll speak and we can set it up on here, but Ireland is going to be part of my honeymoon so I don't want any additional stuff other than showing up somewhere at an appointed time.
With all the focus in camp on the O Line (so far). How are the skills positions players and the D line looking?
D-line has done well in camp, but obviously the OL issues cloud how that looks. Skill wise, A-back is solid, Jeune and Stewart are having a good camp at WR, Marcus Marshall and Dedrick Mills have been making noise at B-back, Mills is very tough and TaQuon at QB.
Should we be worried about JT getting back to his old sophomore form? What do you think CPJ needs in his system to win a NC? Do you ever see him getting the pieces to win a NC?
I think you can win at GT with what they had in 2014, JRs and SRs at skill spots and two NFL level WRs, but the big piece would be a home run threat guy at A-back, Snoddy looked like he had that going, Cottrell could be that guy, Searcy has the ability as well as JJ Green. Also an average OL would help.
Is Quan now the front runner to start at QB next year?
Yeah TaQuon Marshall would be the regular backup QB if they played now and has a nice leg up going into the fall in the QB battle to replace JT, Matt Jordan will have Tim Byerly's role as the goal line guy, but he struggles with the passing game and doesn't have the quickness that JT or TaQuon have and that makes a huge difference at QB.
I understand that football coaches are limited on the amount of practice time with players, and outside of spring practice and fall camp, they have very little (if any) structured practice time with the team. How is basketball practice time structured? What opportunities does CJP have to work out the team and figure out what kind of returning talent he has to work with?
Hoops gets a ton of time, they practice all spring and summer basically and get "instruction time" and then the kids play five on five on their own based on CJP's teachings. I'm not worried about him figuring out what he has.
Do you think Memphis fans are happy to rid themselves of CJP only to hire an old Tubby? Outside of a title his first year at Kentucky with Pitino's players, his track record is no better than Pastner's. I have to imagine they are underwhelmed. A far cry from a Greg Marshall type. Edit: I did Tubby a disservice - he also made a few Elite 8s at Kentucky and several Sweet 16s. Also made it there at Tulsa and UGA. But that was a long time ago. Was fired from Kentucky and fired from Minnesota and he is a 64yo coach they are paying $3MM yr. Color me skeptical.
I think it is funny that's how it went down and it shows how tough the market was for hiring a coach this time. Hell Pitt hiring Stallings was a HUGE warning shot to GT and other jobs that were coming open. Last year was a better time to hire a coach.
Any knowledge of the prognosis on Chris Griffin's knee recovery? Often the ACL is a full year recovery, but is medical staff concerned about an eventual full recovery?
Ehhh, he probably needs at least a scope, he is 14 months or so off his surgery now. I wonder if there is nerve damage or something else going on in there. I'm sure they will open it up soon.
Same question regarding the full recovery of Freddie Burden?
Freddie is fine, he will be cleared soon.
Is Andrew Marshall one of our top 5 OL? Is his skill set limited to playing center?
My top five guys if all are healthy, Burden, Griffin, Bryan, Klock and I guess Marshall edges out a fat Shamire, a sub-360 Shamire is number two on that list. Marshall can play all three spots, wouldn't be shocked to see him at LT in the fall.
predictions on how many "4 star" recruits this football recruiting cycle
I have no idea, our rankings will fluctuate significantly in June after camps end so guys I think might end up at GT could be 4-stars then or are now and won't be.
Has Weimerskirch recovered well from his foot injury? I know that many players struggle to make a full recovery.
Not sure to be honest, he isn't getting a whole lot of mentions yet, but he hasn't had a ton of reps since last spring when he was just a HS frosh.
* It was mentioned weeks ago that we should expect to see some initial commitment(s) during Spring Practice. With one week left, is there anyone close to popping?
Yeah there are one or two guys I'm keeping an eye on, I think the May evaluation period is always a huge time leading up to GT camp the first week in June.
Can many of our fans afford $5 for parking at T-Day?
Hopefully more than can afford to pay for JOL.... RED WINE
Sharman White and Mike Schrage are the only two I know that feel good about their chances right now. Lots of interesting people reaching out to CJP, he is well-liked so I think he is really trying to bide his time and focus on his recruiting shots and keeping the 2016 class intact.
(2) Football recruiting has been weak throughout the Johnson Regime. Is anything being changed to attempt to produce better results?
I mean overall he has done a better job year to year than Gaily in terms of getting guys and getting production from them. You can't hide the Joe Burns of the world anymore at GT because of APR so as long as that exists there will be caps to GT recruiting in football. The needle can move a little because of staff but the school won't pony up for better hires essentially. GT is in the bottom third of the ACC in every football metric except head coach compensation compared to GOL's time when GT was TOP TEN IN THE NATION in both HC and assistant comp. Talk to your AD, raise money, that could change it. You could see spikes from success or maybe with a "used car salesmen type" like James Franklin, but those dudes are going to make GT a destination job IMO.
R u going to come over to the RVlot after the spring game?
Yes, just text me after the spring game and I'll come over, save me some BBQ.
Any new news on recruits CJP is targeting?
Dan posted some stuff already on this, not many 2016 guys left, so it is all on 2017 guys now.
1990 and 2014 were the two best GT football years of my lifetime. Should I expect to wait another 24 years for another special season? We just really struggle to keep the momentum rolling downhill. I'm aware of all the challenges, it's just frustrating.
Good question, but I'd point to every other league aside from Bama, AU and LSU in the SEC and Clemson and FSU in the ACC, every seems to peak out periodically. GT had a great season in 1998 and 2009 for example and most ACC schools including UVA or UNC would kill for any of those seasons in 98, 09 or 14.
Just how much was true regarding the Bryce Drew rumors? Specifically, it was alluded to that he had already agreed with GT and had a couple assistant hires lined up ready to bring them on board before Vandy whiffed on their top alleged targets and swooped in at the 11th hour. Then, obviously, M-Bob came out after hiring CJP and said he and Drew agreed at the Final 4 that Vandy was a better fit (I am thinking total BS there). In your opinion based on what you heard throughout the process, how do you think it all went down?
A lot, I had coaches I know calling me telling me that Bryce was interviewing them for the GT job, everything went south late that Friday when Vandy got involved, but the search firm had basically set it up for Drew to be the guy and an offer was made and terms reached. What happened is GT didn't think they would have a shot at Drew and were going to go with a guy like Jeff Capel, they made the play for Drew, Capel pulled out and that in turn, stopped several others from taking the job when Drew turned it down. Then it was a real mess until the search firm hooked up MBob with CJP. It happens a lot like this btw. Look at the HELL UNLV just went through, they just hired their third coach essentially this offseason.
What kinda get together are you lining up for Ireland? I'm serious, I've never been able to come to a JOL lunch and we've not done a tailgate in ATL. We've gotta do SOMETHING in the Motherland.
I'm down, I don't want to organize it though, I'll speak and we can set it up on here, but Ireland is going to be part of my honeymoon so I don't want any additional stuff other than showing up somewhere at an appointed time.
With all the focus in camp on the O Line (so far). How are the skills positions players and the D line looking?
D-line has done well in camp, but obviously the OL issues cloud how that looks. Skill wise, A-back is solid, Jeune and Stewart are having a good camp at WR, Marcus Marshall and Dedrick Mills have been making noise at B-back, Mills is very tough and TaQuon at QB.
Should we be worried about JT getting back to his old sophomore form? What do you think CPJ needs in his system to win a NC? Do you ever see him getting the pieces to win a NC?
I think you can win at GT with what they had in 2014, JRs and SRs at skill spots and two NFL level WRs, but the big piece would be a home run threat guy at A-back, Snoddy looked like he had that going, Cottrell could be that guy, Searcy has the ability as well as JJ Green. Also an average OL would help.
Is Quan now the front runner to start at QB next year?
Yeah TaQuon Marshall would be the regular backup QB if they played now and has a nice leg up going into the fall in the QB battle to replace JT, Matt Jordan will have Tim Byerly's role as the goal line guy, but he struggles with the passing game and doesn't have the quickness that JT or TaQuon have and that makes a huge difference at QB.
I understand that football coaches are limited on the amount of practice time with players, and outside of spring practice and fall camp, they have very little (if any) structured practice time with the team. How is basketball practice time structured? What opportunities does CJP have to work out the team and figure out what kind of returning talent he has to work with?
Hoops gets a ton of time, they practice all spring and summer basically and get "instruction time" and then the kids play five on five on their own based on CJP's teachings. I'm not worried about him figuring out what he has.
Do you think Memphis fans are happy to rid themselves of CJP only to hire an old Tubby? Outside of a title his first year at Kentucky with Pitino's players, his track record is no better than Pastner's. I have to imagine they are underwhelmed. A far cry from a Greg Marshall type. Edit: I did Tubby a disservice - he also made a few Elite 8s at Kentucky and several Sweet 16s. Also made it there at Tulsa and UGA. But that was a long time ago. Was fired from Kentucky and fired from Minnesota and he is a 64yo coach they are paying $3MM yr. Color me skeptical.
I think it is funny that's how it went down and it shows how tough the market was for hiring a coach this time. Hell Pitt hiring Stallings was a HUGE warning shot to GT and other jobs that were coming open. Last year was a better time to hire a coach.
Any knowledge of the prognosis on Chris Griffin's knee recovery? Often the ACL is a full year recovery, but is medical staff concerned about an eventual full recovery?
Ehhh, he probably needs at least a scope, he is 14 months or so off his surgery now. I wonder if there is nerve damage or something else going on in there. I'm sure they will open it up soon.
Same question regarding the full recovery of Freddie Burden?
Freddie is fine, he will be cleared soon.
Is Andrew Marshall one of our top 5 OL? Is his skill set limited to playing center?
My top five guys if all are healthy, Burden, Griffin, Bryan, Klock and I guess Marshall edges out a fat Shamire, a sub-360 Shamire is number two on that list. Marshall can play all three spots, wouldn't be shocked to see him at LT in the fall.
predictions on how many "4 star" recruits this football recruiting cycle
I have no idea, our rankings will fluctuate significantly in June after camps end so guys I think might end up at GT could be 4-stars then or are now and won't be.
Has Weimerskirch recovered well from his foot injury? I know that many players struggle to make a full recovery.
Not sure to be honest, he isn't getting a whole lot of mentions yet, but he hasn't had a ton of reps since last spring when he was just a HS frosh.
* It was mentioned weeks ago that we should expect to see some initial commitment(s) during Spring Practice. With one week left, is there anyone close to popping?
Yeah there are one or two guys I'm keeping an eye on, I think the May evaluation period is always a huge time leading up to GT camp the first week in June.
Can many of our fans afford $5 for parking at T-Day?
Hopefully more than can afford to pay for JOL.... RED WINE
