Mailbag 2/23

It appears the floodgates have opened on the defense side through the transfer portal. How can Collins restore confidence in the team and bring new players?. It appears everyone thinks the team will be dismantled next year. - Rbissman

Ben: I think you already saw a little bit of that this last year with the smaller recruiting class. Sure, there are some decent players in the class, but it is by far the weakest class he’s pulled in at Tech. The easiest way to restore confidence is to win. Though, that seems pretty difficult to accomplish at this point.

Logan: Win big games. Also if he helped build a giant mecha suit it wouldn’t hurt. I rewatched a lot of Gundam recently, and I believe mech suits make everything better.

O/U on how many games we win next year? - Borojacket2

Ben: I don’t know how Tech is going to be able to even match its previous seasons, but I hope Tech can at least win two games. Honestly, I’m not even sure Tech can get there.

Logan: 3.5 for gambling. either we win 3 games like the past 3 years or we get better. I’m not putting a bet on us getting worse, that’s more guaranteed.

There are absolutely 0 basketball recruits signed. We lose Devoe and Usher and as much as I like Deebo Coleman, next year is gonna be rough. If next season is anything like this season I don’t see Pastner coming back, thoughts? - Nononsense92

Ben: It sure is difficult to get old and stay old if you aren’t bringing in players consistently, huh? Yeah, things are not looking great right now.

Logan: It might be too early to panic, but there needs to be some movement on the recruiting front. I don’t know if the current trends will lead to getting rid of Pastner at the end of the year (I mean Collins is still here after 3 years and Collins doesn’t even win), but his seat will certainly heat up significantly.

O/U on how many scholarship players the football team starts with next year? - Narembeil

Ben: They will find a way to get to 85 scholarship players, but this trend is certainly concerning. I worry that this is not the end. I would not be surprised to see more people head out after Spring.

Logan: I don’t see why we wouldn’t get 85... I mean you can just go out and pick up a soccer player to fill out the roster if need be... I dunno, maybe I’m too optimistic.

I dislike poor sportsmanship more than I dislike losing and I feel in game fighting is getting out of control. I especially dislike poor behavior from people who are supposed to hold themselves to the highest standards and are supposed to be setting the example. I believe violent actions from coaching staff is the worst most inexcusable case, like Juwan Howard’s throwing a punch. Should the NCAA start handing out stiffer penalties like multi year coaching bans up to life time bans (depending on severity and if it’s a repeat) to staff for participating in fights or do you feel university’s doing nothing or a “rest of the season” (5 games) suspension by Michigan is enough? - gtbadcarma

Ben: I would agree that punishments should be more severe. If you are a grown-[ARS] person coaching a team of kids, you should act like it. Can you imagine if someone in an office job got mad at their boss and started throwing punches? That person would be fired immediately for cause.

Logan: I’m not sure what the best actual punishment for the problem should be, but there should be some kind of larger punishment dealt out. Player on player violence isn’t great, but it happens; a coach on the other hand is supposed to set a positive example for their players. If coaches start getting in fights and getting violent in general how can you say that is a safe and positive environment for those students to be present in. Something needs to be done to make sure coaches know there are real ramifications to violent actions.

Have you heard of schools letting their players profit from jersey sales? Is this something Tech & everyone else will be doing? - Bill Brockman

Ben: I don’t follow the rest of college football super closely, but I would assume that is a thing that is happening.

Logan: It’s definitely happening at bigger name programs such as Ohio State and Alabama. I expect GT players to try something eventually, but to make a profit you need to expect sales to outpace production. My thought is once the team starts getting back to bowl games you will see more influential player names on Georgia Tech Jerseys for you to buy.

Are you #MLBOwner or #MLBPlayer? O/U on season start date? - DressHerInWhiteAndGold

Ben: #MLBPlayer for sure. At this point, I don’t see the season starting before May at the earliest.

Logan: I’m a mixed bag. I think both parties have things they need to improve on. The cause of the players is the most important thing which needs to be addressed, particularly low minimum pay wages and arbitration for pay wages are ridiculous and need to be looked at. That said the players have gone out of their way to be confrontational and provoke the owners into trying to make a snap decision which isn’t going to happen. I’d like to see both parties actually make and effort to negotiate instead of doing this dance where both groups come to the table with extreme (arguably unreasonable) demands and then immediately walk out when the other side doesn’t cave to their demands (both sides have done this). “Negotiating” requires you to find a middle ground and not expect the other side to just do what you want.

For O/U... I say about a month after the scheduled opening day. If the lockout drags on past that date I don’t know if we’ll have a season this year.

Hey Y’all

I want you to know you are appreciated. Been busy but I wanted to ask, how was your valentines day? and what is your ideal valentines day gift?

Cupid (submitted via email)

Ben: My Valentine’s Day was really good! I cooked dinner for my fiancée, and she gave me the challenge to incorporate pineapple in everything. It was not the most amazing thing in the world, but it was a lot of fun. As far as ideal gifts, I would say something that is personal. Like this year, my fiancée gave me a hand-painted sign with my last name and “Est. 2022” to hang in our apartment.

Logan: It was a fun day. It was mostly exchanging gifts but I got to spend time with my favorite person so I really enjoyed it. Favorite gift... probably pictures and memory based stuff. I like all kinds of gifts but on valentines I like remembering all the fun times I’ve spent with my significant other and celebrating those times.