Mailbag 2/17

Do you think the new baseballs are responsible for the amount of offense this weekend, or do you think these teams are just that talented?

I would say it's a little bit of both. Take Kel Johnson for example. Everybody would agree that Kel is a very good hitter, regardless of the ball he uses. His pre-college stats (I'd say high school, but he was homeschooled) speak for themselves, not to mention his time with the East Cobb Yankees.

Now, he was already a good player. But these newly designed baseballs with lower seams definitely pop off the bat a lot easier.

Another example you can look at is Brandon Gold. Last season, Gold was able to get a good hit on some of the balls he hit, but he never could get quite enough. Then in the game against St. John's, he's able to slam an opposite field shot.

Was that solely dependent on the new baseballs? Or did he get a little better, a little stronger, over the summer?

Again, I'd say it's a little of both.

Your thoughts on non-NLI recruits; to wit Roquan Smith. Would CPJ risk not having a guy who hadn't signed an NLI?

Honestly, I think they should sign them when they're supposed to. At the same time, that whole situation isn't on Smith. He was informed that the coach (Jeff Ulbrich) was certain to return.

Soon after, news broke out that he had agreed to a deal with the Falcons to become the new linebackers coach. So Ulbrich lied to Smith in order to get him to commit. I understand backing out of the commitment, but he still could have made the decision prior to National Signing Day.

What is your favorite Georgia Tech radio call?

I normally watched the games on TV, so I don't have a whole lot to pick from. Now from the ones from which I can pick, it's not a hard choice at all. It would be this one right here:

Is it really dangerous to play football at Alabama or is there something fishy about these numbers?

Probably a little bit of both. A lot of what I have to say regarding the matter was already stated in the replies to this post, but I just want to mention those again.

Really it's a combination of players leaving early for the draft or transferring out, players being forced out (whether due to academics or athletics is debatable) or just the number of redshirts given to players.

(From @MattTheWolf94 on Twitter): If Harrison Butker played basketball, how many game-winning three-point scores would he make?

Every time he played georgia.

You're the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and have been told that decision is entirely yours on what to do with the #1 overall pick. What do you do?
A) Heisman-winning QB Marcus Mariota
B) Heisman-winning QB Jameis Winston
C) Other (and who would that be?)
D) Trade down a few spots in the first round and acquire another few picks to boot

Oh boy, I love multiple choice questions! Looking through Tampa Bay's roster, their offense could be legitimately dangerous if you get a good signal-caller in there. Even though the defense still has some holes in it, I feel like the Bucs have to go QB at No. 1 because after Winston and Mariota, there's quite the dropoff.

Honestly, I think both QBs will be good, and both could be the pick. I think that Winston fits with what they want to do as a team; however, I think Mariota is a better player (note that I didn't say QB). It's really a tough decision that I don't envy a bit.

If forced to choose, I'd say Mariota. He is the best player in the draft. He may not be the QB that Winston is, but he can make all the throws he needs to. He can use his feet to get out of trouble a lot better than Winston can, not to mention, his ability to throw on the run is unmatched. He's already got some big, young targets in Mike Evans and Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

The only way they trade the pick is if they get a good QB through free agency and then are able to bring in a haul like the one St. Louis brought in for the RGIII pick.

You're the head basketball coach at a successful mid-major program (VCU, Wichita State, Northern Iowa, etc.). You're offered the job as head basketball coach at Georgia Tech, effective the day after your team's season is complete. What do you do?
A) Accept, obviously! It’s ACC basketball in the heart of Atlanta with world-class facilities and education. What’s not to love?
B) Consider a while, and then accept. It’s going to be a challenge given the current state of the program, but how often do opportunities like this come along?
C) Consider a while, and then decline. It’s a great opportunity, but maybe not the right one — and we’ve got a good thing going here at the moment, right?
D) A big ole’ HELL NO! That program is a dumpster fire and one I wouldn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, especially with the success I’m having here.

It depends on if I have any better offers or not. I'm going to answer this with a parallel situation. When I play NCAA Football 14, I like to start off at small schools as a coordinator and work my way up, because that's the most realistic. Now let's say I work my way up and I'm a head coach at some school like Marshall. The season has ended and we won our conference championship while also crashing the BCS (because that still existed in this game) and losing that game to some P5 team.

Now, there's going to be a lot of teams after me. My bias would say go to Tech. But there might be some school out there that has more resources or more money offered or whatever different circumstances you want. Usually how I decide in the game is by taking a look at their roster and seeing with what exactly I have to work. I try to go to a team that has a solid foundation.

So the question is does Georgia Tech have a solid enough foundation on which a successful mid-major coach can build? I'd say we're getting there.

I've seen you say a lot this offseason that you expect Mikell Lands-Davis to redshirt, while you think Quaide may get playing time. Why is this? Do you think Quaide is a better player/more ready, or would you rather just save Lands-Davis' eligibility because you think he'll be the better player in the long run and deserves four years of starting?

My reasoning for Quaide getting playing time while MLD redshirts is really for one reason: Quaide enrolled early and will thus get practice reps with the QB-BB mesh, which is much different than a normal mesh between a QB and an RB.

MLD may very well be the better back down the road, but as of right now, I think we go into the season with CJ Leggett as the starter with Quaide as his backup. I believe we also have a walk-on or two that have experience in the system that could serve in emergency situations, so MLD and Marcus Marshall are not really needed this season. That's the nice thing about having so much depth.

Thanks for the questions!