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Originally Posted by bob
Im past the point of anger at this point. I keep hearing that Tech has fundamental issues that make things more difficult and I’ll have to believe that (while realizing how important is, I don’t have the time to pay attention to recruiting). And I guess I just have to accept it. I don’t like CPJ but I’d be lying if I thought anyone worth a damn would take this job. Overall the admin just doesn’t care and at this point the fanbase isn’t far behind. Losing 4 out of 5 to Duke should tell you where we sit in the ACC these days.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by digamma
It's tough because in the last 15 years when its neighbors have made a serious commitment to football, the GT administration has done the opposite of that. Consider that until a targeted fundraise this past summer, which led to filling specific support staff positions for two years, Duke's non-coaching football support staff (recruiting, football operations, etc.) was twice the size of Georgia Tech's. It's tough to be too upset with the current staff (and I'm as frustrated as anyone), when they're consistently being asked to do more with additional limbs tied behind their backs.
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Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
The fundamental issue is much as it has been during the CPJ era: he's a lousy identifier of talent and his consistently poor selection of staff members means that not only do players arrive underskilled for major D1 competition, they don't improve much during their time there either.
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I dont think its this easy, Jon.
Is CPJ a bad evaluator of coaching hires, or does he have to settle for fall back candidates because the admin wont pay to attract his top choices?
Is he a bad evaluator of talent, or has he grown disenfranchised because he cant land the top talent because of the lack of commitment from his administration.
Le's be honest. GT is a tough school. That isnt a check in the pro column for a whole lot of high school prospects. They shouldnt change that, imho. That's who they are. Follow the Duke and Stanford model and recruit a smaller more select pool who fit your academic profile and then sprinkle in complimentary pieces who are SLIGHT outliers.
The challenge is, if you as a high school kid tour GTs football facilities and then tour their competition. (To be fair I am not even including UGA, Clemson and Auburn - who they HAVE to beat for some Atlanta talent if they are going to be nationally competitive)...Compared to Wake Forest, Duke, UNC, NC St, even Georgia State....tour those schools. Its clear who has a commitment to football and Id say GT is at the bottom of the list - today.
And this is a bad time to be at the bottom of the list. Money is cheap (borrowing rate) cash in flows are high and there is an arms race going on. But in Atlanta they arent spending it.
If GT committed to being a football power house they could/should be a force. They have a HUGE living alumni base. (5.5x that of Clemson for example - and growing larger per year with a 2:1 enrollment disparity) They have a great education to sell. They have ATLANTA to sell...which again is a detriment for certain recruits but a major plus for others. They have tradition.
CPJ is a great, not a good but a great coach. I think as a
play caller he is rivaled only by Spurrier among his contemporaries. He is so darn good at knowing what to call when.
But he's burned out. He's done. He's tired of fighting the good fight with that administration.
I have a good friend who is a GT die hard booster/season ticket holder...big time donor. When Clemson hired Radakovich away from GT I asked him what we were getting. He said, "he'll build lots of nice stuff. He will fund raise fantastically. His coach contracts will have stupid buyouts and he will leave you broke"....3 of the 4 have been spot on. In contrast GT has zipped up the purse strings. You have to spend to win in today's NCAA.
If you had an administration committed to spending some money, building some facilities and a young, aggressive recruiting, defensive minded coach GT is a sleeping giant. Charlie Strong at GT scares the shit out of me as a Clemson fan. (The Atlanta metro produces more DB talent than anywhere in the country. That's why I say defensive coach. And their DE/LB talent is pretty close)