Mailbag 6/29

My question is a hypothetical one. Please understand that my expectations are tampered and that I will not be causing myself any emotional damage during the season.

Let’s say, again hypothetically, that the team defies all odds and is just firing on all cylinders every game. They woke up early and sacrificed a few All-Star Specials to Bobby Dodd before the game. At what point do you get the opinion of “This is actually a good team”?

For myself, I think I would ONLY say that if we were sitting at 4-2 after the Duke game. Maybe losing to Clemson and Ole Miss, but winning against everyone else. I don’t care if they’re pretty games, at this point a win is a win.

This is stemming from last year’s freak games against Clemson and UNC, where, if only for a moment, I thought Georgia Tech was actually going to contend for the ACC title game. Only to promptly have my dreams crushed by Kenny Pickett. - Frodo Swagginz

Chris: 4-1 with Clemson and Ole Miss being close losses. A good team would not lose to WC, Pitt, or Duke, and a good team should be favored against UCF.

Jake: Chris, that is only one loss? I think I need to see a Clemson or Ole Miss win to truly believe that corners have been turned. Or, at the very least, a convincing loss in both. No blowouts!

Carter: Haha, no, no, I’m not going to entertain thoughts of this team being good until they actually get there.

Logan: If we only lose to Clemson after the first 6 games I would be willing to be like “Hey, we look pretty good right now”. Being a good team is about consistency though. I can’t say we’re a good team after 6 games. I need at least 1 whole season, if not 2 to decide whether we are on the right track now.

Ben: I would need to see Tech either get close to or beat one of Clemson or Ole Miss (and not be embarrassed by either one). If that happens, I will start to have some hope, assuming Clemson and Ole Miss are moderately impressive outside of playing Tech.

Given the generally accepted recruiting and talent difficulties, which do you think would be more successful for the GT offense to target; a consistent, if never explosive, offense (mostly low-to-mid EPA plays, but majority positive), or an explosive, if inconsistent, offense (a few high EPA plays with more 0 or negative plays)? - Pkaltman1

Chris: Maybe biased because I’m tired of watching an inconsistent offense, but I would greatly prefer the consistent option. Give me an offense that can consistently march down the field and score 30ish per game. This is the whole thing with the option - you don’t need 5 star talent to have a consistent offense.

Jake: I miss consistency. I didn’t appreciate it enough when we had it.

Carter: Hey, we have consistency. We’re consistently bad! [waits for applause]

Logan: A lot of that is also contingent on a defense. A consistent offense is preferable if the coaching can manage the clock and coach defense into consistently making stops. An inconsistent offense (in my opinion) is one which will win big games out of nowhere but then fall apart the next week. I’ll play devil’s advocate in this case, I would take an inconsistent offense that could win some big memorable upsets instead of a consistent offense which would not help us win games given how the rest of the team is playing.

Ben: Explosive offenses work best when you still have a solid baseline. If you’re going pure boom or bust, it will just be an infuriating offense to watch.

Do the transfer rules help prevent a lame duck recruiting year for a coach that is on the hot seat?

I seem to recall recruits were already given a free transfer, if the head coach leaves a program. But maybe the mindset of recruits being more likely to transfer has shifted.

Your thoughts? - GTalbatross

Chris: Eh, I think it goes both ways. Maybe more transfers available to get, but we’ve also seen a TON of outgoing transfers ourselves.

Jake: Agreed with Chris, great point.

Carter: I think there may be a slight net positive given players can enter the transfer portal at any time, but as Chris said, that also means players can leave a new regime at any time.

Logan: If you pair this transfer window with a good NIL program at our school, its possible we get some talented players from other programs and are able to hold onto our own. Right now though the locker room of GT is one of the most depressing in the NCAA, so if we aren’t seeing success or money for our guys I expect to see more outgoing players than incoming ones.

Ben: Like others have said, it’s a net equal. Some players will want to come check out the new coach, while some will be upset (either with the new coach or that the old coach is gone). For example, let’s look at when Geoff was hired at Tech. Georgia Tech lost a notable offensive lineman in Parker Braun because he didn’t mesh well with Collins. He was replaced by another guy who transferred in (Ryan Johnson). That example in particular might not be a net equal, but you catch my drift.

So how does the rest of the staff, besides Ben, feel about scheduling? - Partywaggin

Chris: Meh. I am just not excited by Wake and Louisville. Sure they should be consistently wins if we can get our act together, but they’re just not interesting matchups. It feels like we went into the meetings without a plan, stayed silent, and got left with the scraps.

Jake: I would have been okay with Clemson plus one filler and one of Florida State, Miami, Duke, or Virginia Tech. Someone with some sort of history or connection to Tech. And as much as I have a personal stake in a Louisville game, given my family connection to the school, there’s two games of history there, and Wake isn’t much better. Getting two games that essentially are irrelevant to fan interest and history is essentially really is quite poor. Worse than I expected, for sure. There had to have been some sort of discussion here that involved the schools, and clearly tossing aside Tech’s longest played series (Duke), the only good Tech series to come out of modern realignment (Virginia Tech), and two schools with geographic proximity and history (Florida State and Miami) really makes this feel like a big loss for us.

Carter: I basically feel like that trade offer meme, where we lose the Techmo Bowl and our longest continually played opponent, and we keep Clemson. Like, I shouldn’t be surprised Georgia Tech got the absolute shaft from the ACC, because it always does, but here I am, falling for the banana in the tailpipe again. It could have been worse. But not by much.

Logan: First off, I don’t think the games against Wake or Louisville are guaranteed wins as we stand currently, so I’m not super pumped with the idea that we have more winnable games. Second, don’t like that we are losing playing the rivalry against VT (I don’t really care about Duke, Miami, or FSU). Third, If those other rivalries are getting written off then why do we still have to play Clemson each year? Yeah... I don’t like it very much.

Jack: I might be the only person at FTRS that actually likes this. I don’t want conferences to matter eventually and this is a step. Give me a national scheduling system where we’ve got Arizona State, Michigan, and LSU all on the schedule. Now, we did certainly get a bad draw in terms of winning % of our yearly opponents, but anyone that got Clemson was getting that, and we knew we were likely getting Clemson if this happened. Complaining about that seems a waste of time. As long as we have our end of November game always scheduled, I couldn’t care less who we play. Just win baby.

How in the world will Tech follow the consecutive trio of Joey Bart, Kyle McCann, and Kevin Parada behind the plate? It’s a couple of freshmen and/or a potential transfer for 2023. - Bill Brockman

Ben: I will say that I don’t follow baseball super closely, but I’m sure they either have someone coming in via recruit or transfer that will be able to step in. Danny Hall and Co. aren’t stupid. I’m sure they expected to be replacing Parada soon, so I’m sure they have something cooked up.

Jake: I have to learn to let my expectations reset here. Those three guys were so superlatively good that, no matter who fills their shoes, it will likely be somewhat of a step down. That is just the nature of the game. That said, the fact that the product at that position has been that consistently successful is a great attraction point for the next wave - transfer or high school - to see as a launching point for their success at the college level and beyond.

Logan: we’ve restocked on hitters before, no reason to expect we won’t do so again.

Hi,

Favorite dad Joke? That’s the question. Later,

Joe (submitted via email)

Jake: “C’est la vie” ... (response) ... “La vie.”

Carter: Hi hungry, I’m Dad.

Logan: I’m not a dad... am I allowed to answer this? I guess my favorite is “I only seem to get sick on weekdays. I must have a weekend immune system.”

Ben: I’ll go with one I just heard:

Dad - Do you know what kind of animal would play golf?

Son - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dad - A Tiger Wood