Mailbag 7/20

Bill Brockman: Any thoughts on Paul Hewitt selected for the GT hall of fame? I have mixed thoughts concerning him, especially how he left.

Ben: I know he had his successes at Georgia Tech, but he also had a lot of failures in the back half of his time there. I’m puzzled for sure, but I guess those decisions also aren’t up to me.

Jake: I don’t have any personal connection to the Hewitt era, but he did give Tech its best tournament run ever — the 2004 national championship — and came darn close to winning the whole thing. His teams were pretty consistent, too. That said, I hear enough hard feelings about him to have doubts, too.

Carter: You have to work really hard to squander the goodwill you get from making a national championship game, and Hewitt sure did that. All his teams post 2005 were a combination of bad and underachieving, and the only NCAA tournament win he notched in that span was one that had the #2 overall recruit of its class and two other high school all-Americans. Hewitt’s contract remains the gold standard of bad coaching contracts, and his inclusion in Georgia Tech’s hall of fame certainly will not help its already not great reputation.

Logan: I guess it’s fine. He was one of our most successful coaches as far as the high points he achieved. Personally I’m not a fan of the idea given how things ended with him. At the end of the day I’m not totally opposed to the idea, but it seems like Tech might be forcing this decision a bit.

jabsterjacket: Top 5 coaches on the hot seat this fall, not counting GC.

Ben: Scott Frost is my first thought. If I have to pick four others, I’ll go with Harsin, Herm, Sark (because Texas pressure), and Norvell.

Jake: Harsin, Harsin, Harsin, Harsin, Harsin

Carter: Keeping it P5: Harsin. Edwards. Frost. Norvell. Wilcox.

holvey1234: With the moves of Texas, OU, UCLA, and USC, do you think conferences will ever try to cut teams that don’t pull in the same cash as the bigger schools?

Examples are Vandy and Missouri in the SEC, and Purdue and Northwestern in the Big Ten.

I know schools like Rutgers and Maryland were brought in to pull in TV markets, but eventually smaller schools in smaller markets might be squeezed out for not pulling the same weight.

Ben: I don’t think we have gotten to that point yet, but I could definitely see some teams (like Vandy, Purdue, Northwestern) get voted out (or leave “voluntarily”) if there is a split in FBS.

Jake: I can’t say I see a world - at least not yet - where schools are cut from conferences. There’s already a lot of litigation to be had in expanding conferences, let alone contracting them, and every school is going to bring some sort of value add to the table, especially considering how few “big options” are left on the table.

Carter: Temple was voted out of the Big East after 2004. Down in D-III St. Thomas was voted out of its conference for apparently being too good. So there’s precedence for this, and it’ll absolutely happen in the superleague.

Logan: I think it will happen eventually… not sure when eventually will end up being though. I would like to see some conference relegation and promotion in college football. That isn’t related to your question, but I want to see it.

DressHerInWhiteAndGold: Favorite “Blazing Saddles” quote?

Carter: “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know......... morons.”

Logan: “where the white women at?”

gtbadcarma I was thinking about the the GOR holding teams in the conference. This may preserve the conference as it is but how does the conference go about creating an invitation for additional schools? Does each school get a vote? is it a simple majority? (I havent been able to find any easy info on this)This only applies if schools get a vote, could you see 7 or so schools that could gain from leaving the ACC strong arm the conference by not allowing new members to join unless the reduced/changed the GOR?

Jake: Hmmmm, that is an interesting question. I honestly don’t know the answer, but the fact that I haven’t heard much about ACC additions + the seemingly high complexity behind even changing the GOR leads me down the path of mostly being uncertain if that is possible.

Carter: I am going to respond to any questions about grant of rights with “GOR! GOR! GOR! GOR!” from this point forward.

Logan: what you’re implying is that there are teams out there who want to join the ACC. The ACC ain’t exactly raking in the funds, so I don’t see many teams lining up to join. I feel like there are plenty of conditionals to this question, so I’m just gonna leave this question unanswered.

YankeeJacket: How did Ted Rood fail his way upward to becoming the defensive coordinator for Oklahoma? What tremendous defenses has he coached between Georgia Tech and taking the job at Oklahoma? What did I miss?

Ben: Well he was a special assistant at Clemson, so when Brent Venables took the OU job, he probably thought it would be a good idea to bring in a figurehead DC with some experience to oversee his defense.

Carter: Very few careers exemplify the “it’s not what you know but who you know” mantra better than coaching.

Submitted via email:

Hey Guys,

Sorry I’ve been busy as of late. Hope all is well in your world. Question this week. Most of my friends are starting to become parents and the question came up recently about whether it would be a good idea to let your child play football given what we know now about concussions and other serious injury problems. My question is, if you had/have a child would you let them play football and what is your opinion on the current risk level of the sport. obviously things have gotten better with time but I wanted to know your take on the matter. Later,

Helmet Manufacturer LLC

Ben: The wife and I have already talked about it, and we do not want our kids to play football when we have them. I’m iffy on the idea of them playing sports in general, but the lasting effects of football are just too much for me to risk my kids’ future health.

Jake: I don’t know that I would vehemently oppose it, but I definitely think it would give me pause, and I certainly wouldn’t actively promote it. I was the marching band guy in my family growing up, after all, while my brother was a lineman.

Carter: Not having kids, but I’ve seen more than a couple stories over the years indicating more and more parents are saying no. Football (as a whole) is dying a slow death as we learn more about CTE and the other effects it has on its players long after they’re done, and while there’s no such thing as a sport with zero risk, that needs to be addressed by the powers that be if they want their sport to still be played a hundred years from now.

Logan: if my kid loves football I’m not going to tell him not to play. I am darn sure going to make sure he is aware of the risks though. I wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but I’ve done things my parents weren’t thrilled about because of potential risks like joining a fraternity and I’ve benefitted from those decisions. If my kid understands the risks I’ll still be worried but I won’t stand in his way.