1/27 Mailbag

What time is the Brian Gregory doomsday clock?

I'd say it's probably close to the supposed "Doomsday Clock," which is currently at like 11:57 p.m. Then again, at the rate Tech is going, it may be closer to midnight.

I think the question now is will it run out before the season?

Who would be on the short list to replace Gregory?

I don't really know who the Athletic Association will be considering, but here are some up-and-coming guys that I really like.

Billy Donlon (Wright St): He's young (37), but still has experience. He's been at Wright State now for four years after replacing Brad Brownell who left for Clemson.

In those four years, Donlon has led his team to three winning seasons and has led his team to back-to-back third place finishes in the Horizon Leauge.

Andrew Toole (Robert Morris): Again, he's young (34). He's also got winning experience. He's won the Northeast Conference each of the last two years. Not to mention he also beat Kentucky in the NIT a couple of years ago.

Michael White (Louisiana Tech): Probably one of the hotter names in coaching rumors, White is also pretty young (37). He's had lots of success at La. Tech.

I think all of those guys would at the very least have the potential to do well at Tech. We shall see though.

Is Kenderius Whitehead still on track to join the Wreck next fall? Haven't heard much about him as of late. Freeman, JHD, Gotsis, Whitehead just sounds menacing.

Yes, Whitehead is still on track to join the team for the fall. The only reason he didn't play this year is because he didn't complete the required course work at Georgia Military (which from reports is more than anyone should be stuck with) to complete his degree, so Whitehead was treated as a normal transfer instead of a JUCO transfer.

As for your predicted lineup, I don't see that happening except for on third downs or other passing situations. I think the starting lineup will be that, but Rook-Chungong or Pat Gamble in place of Whitehead.

The ACC Championship Yellow Jackets are picked by the ACC Coaches to finish fourth in the Coastal. Do they over or under achieve this year?

Based off of the prediction, I would say they overachieve. I'm pretty sure they won't win the regular season ACC Championship, but they could definitely make a run in the tournament like they did last year.

As for where they finish this season, this is still a young team that is returning a lot of talent from last season. I think they only get better. They could easily finish second or third in the coastal.

Is Francis Kallon any closer to being a notable player next season?

I sure hope so. He'll be a redshirt-junior next season, so he'll have two season left on the Flats to prove himself. I think another offseason continuing to learn the game and the position and he'll definitely be a serviceable player at defensive tackle. Hopefully the light clicks for him and he turns into a very good player.

That would put us in a great position with him, Gotsis and JHD all playing DT next season.

Name the players who are going to be the biggest surprise this season at A-back, B-back, Wide Receiver and Defensive Tackle.

At A-back, I don't really see this as too much of a surprise considering how well he played toward the end of the season, but I'll say Dennis Andrews. He and Broderick Snoddy should be our two starters there and I don't see Snoddy surprising people there like he did this year.

At B-back, I'll say Quaide Weimerskirch. I think he'll probably start as the backup behind CJ Leggett, but he'll definitely have an upper hand on Mikell Lands-Davis who is not an early enrollee like Quaide. He's a good strong runner, and I hear he'll also be wearing No. 21 which has been pretty kind to Tech players in recent history.

At wide receiver, I'll go with another early enrollee: Harland Howell. No real reason here, it's just a gut feeling. This was actually the hardest position for me to choose. We have a lot of talent here and really, any of our guys here could step up and be Justin Thomas' next go-to guy.

And finally, at defensive tackle, I'll go with Jabari Hunt-Days. This isn't really a surprise per se, but I think he'll be really good this year. Assuming he get everything figured out academically, which Paul Johnson is pretty sure of since he's holding a scholarship for him, he'll be the starter alongside Adam Gotsis. How do I know he'll be so good? I'll let Shaq Mason answer that: "Jabari is, to this day, the best 'D' Lineman I played in the year 2014. I can confidently say that." Pretty bold words right there.

Do you find that fans, unlike last year, do not want to move on to other sports, and only want to keep talking about this wonderful football program?

Totally. This was easily the best Georgia Tech team I have ever followed (dating back circa the beginning of the CPJ era). It was just so much fun to watch. And since basketball isn't exactly Tech's forte, I'm left clinging onto what was a very successful football season for a few more weeks until Beesball arrives.

Will it be Summers/Jeune and Messick, or Philpott and Howell starting at WR opening day?

It will be some combination of those five guys. At this point, it's way too early to know who it will be. I think Summers will be one of the guys if for nothing else, he's got experience and playing time.

The other four will definitely give it their best shot.

How long until we fire CBG?

Probably won't happen until the end of the season, but his seat will only get hotter as the season progresses. I think it'll be interesting to see if Bobinski jumps the gun and fires him midseason.

I just don't think it'll happen.

"Tech" vs. "Jackets" branding?

I don't know if there's something going on on like a deeper level, but I pretty much use them interchangeably. I also agree with Buddy Smiggins in that I'd like to see us use "The Institute" to really set us apart. I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this too.

How in the hell are we, the fans, supposed to get through basketball season?

Hibernation? Football recruiting news should hold you over until National Signing Day. We'll probably do some sort of "Meet the Recruits" stuff after NSD. Beesball starts Feb. 13, so we'll start previewing the season in a couple weeks. You also got the Super Bowl on Sunday.

It's definitely a slow part of the year. Football is virtually over. Baseball doesn't start for a while. At least we have the Hawks. And man, I never thought I'd say those words.

Your preference in Nike, Adidas and Under Armour as options to replace Russell?

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed Russell's uniforms for us this year, especially the blue jerseys we wore in the Orange Bowl. Those things were sick.

After that, I'd probably go with Under Armour. No real reason why, just enjoy being different.