2019 4* RB Jamious Griffin (Georgia Tech)

[abw0004 10,110]

14 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Why would running the triple option help them get top flight rbs? What NFL system is running the triple option? That is not going to help them attract top tier talent. It is a detractor if anything. Also just because there is a lot of talent in the area does not mean GA Tech is going to get them. Georgia, Clemson, Us and Bama will all always recruit the Atlanta area better than them. So at best they would be fifth in the pecking order. People will point to Stanford. I do not see them landing a Jim Harbaugh level of coach who can turn this thing around for them. A guy who totally changes the culture at a dormant program. Tech will continue to be who they are and have been for some time and that is a solid program. I do not think they will get below that but I also do not think they can become better either.

I think you are missing the point I was trying to get to.  I agree a triple-option will not attract anyone.  I was saying that if he were to get anyone, it would be a RB.  But Johnson was disillusioned that the triple option would work.  Georgia Tech used to be pretty decent in football, heck the last time Auburn played Tech they beat us.  I know, because that was the first Auburn game I attended.    I could actually see Tech getting some of this top talent here.  People are actually fans of Tech sports here, but there just hasn't been anything to cheer for in the last decade or two.  One selling point Tech has over every one of those schools you mentioned is their academics, which can be a great selling point.  It will take time, sure.  But I do think it can be done with what surrounds Tech and what is going for them.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

I know what you mean. I’m just struggling to think of a year we’ve ever had three guys. Even in our best years, we had two. 

2009 - Tate; Fannin was your second guy, but he wasn’t an every down back

2010 - Dyer/Newton (if we’re including QBs); Fannin was your third bigger back

2011 - Dyer was alone

2013 - Mason/CAP; Marshall if we’re including QBs; next guy was Grant, a niche player 

2014 - CAP/Marshall; next was Grant and Thomas

2015 - Barber/Robinson; freshman Kerryon Johnson - does he count?

2016 - Pettway/Johnson; next was JF3/Kam Martin so they don’t count

2017 - Johnson; Pettway for about five minutes; no other “big back”

2018 - Whitlow; no others

It seems to me the issues come in the seasons where we don’t have two true “every down” or bigger backs. When we’re splitting carries between two “main” guys and mixing in a change of pace back or two, I don’t see the history of hitting the brick wall at season’s end. Whether that split is between a QB/RB battery with an extra guy in relief (like in 2010, 2013, 2014) or between two every down backs with an extra guy, I don’t see the difference. 

I’d rather have MAR. Gus locks on too much for my taste, but in this case, if we land MAR, I’d say the consistency and persistence were deciding factors. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

Georgia Tech is a sleeping-kind-of-taller-man-not-really-a-giant-just-a-little-taller-than-average-maybe-6-foot-and-a-half-inch.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Georgia Tech used to be pretty decent in football, heck the last time Auburn played Tech they beat us.  I know, because that was the first Auburn game I attended.    I could actually see Tech getting some of this top talent here.  People are actually fans of Tech sports here, but there just hasn't been anything to cheer for in the last decade or two.  One selling point Tech has over every one of those schools you mentioned is their academics, which can be a great selling point.

1. They were 7-5 the last time we played them, in 2005. They were 7-6 the previous time, in 2003. Duke beat them 41-17 that season. 

2. Tech has 11 players in the NFL. uga has 3x that many. Auburn has 30. I'm not counting bama's or Clemson's or Florida's. Tech will get the occasional Calvin Johnson or Morgan Burnett but they are never going to compete with uga or Clemson or Florida State in terms of talent. They will occasionally beat those teams with a weird scheme like the triple option when those teams are having down years. 

3. You and I have a severely different impression of how much people in Atlanta care about Tech. In addition to being the far inferior program, Tech students tend to go all over the world when they graduate. 

4. The academic standards are more of a hindrance than a selling point for the vast majority of top athletes. 

Tech has 3 conference championships since 1952, and only 1 in the last 20 years. 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Georgia Tech is a sleeping-kind-of-taller-man-not-really-a-giant-just-a-little-taller-than-average-maybe-6-foot-and-a-half-inch.

[abw0004 10,110]

If I may respectfully rebutt:

36 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

1. They were 7-5 the last time we played them, in 2005. They were 7-6 the previous time, in 2003. Duke beat them 41-17 that season.  I am not saying Georgia Tech was or needs to be elite, just relevant.  A threat to beat UGA, not a cupcake.

2. Tech has 11 players in the NFL. uga has 3x that many. Auburn has 30. I'm not counting bama's or Clemson's or Florida's. Tech will get the occasional Calvin Johnson or Morgan Burnett but they are never going to compete with uga or Clemson or Florida State in terms of talent. They will occasionally beat those teams with a weird scheme like the triple option when those teams are having down years.  This really just chalks down to GT not being relevant in football.  No good players go there currently because it is not built to win.  Over time they can change their narrative.  Clemson did it.  Houston did it under Herman.  Baylor.  In time, I do believe that can change.

3. You and I have a severely different impression of how much people in Atlanta care about Tech. In addition to being the far inferior program, Tech students tend to go all over the world when they graduate.  A lot of them stay in the state or neighboring states due to the job opportunities (business and engineering).  The two biggest employers of Tech grads are Home Depot and Disney.  And of course you have the financial hub in Atlanta which is the sector I am in.  AT&T is also up there for first time jobs.  My brother just went through this after his graduation.

4. The academic standards are more of a hindrance than a selling point for the vast majority of top athletes.  I agree most top athletes do not care about academics, but it is a factor if they have a strong family where their mother is a deciding factor.  Stanford is a good reference.  We lost Fox and one other guy to Stanford because of it.

Tech has 3 conference championships since 1952, and only 1 in the last 20 years. 

Georgia Tech has a lot of good selling points.  1.  Their academics for those that actually care.  2.  They are downtown where all of the action is (Falcons, Hawks, Underground Atlanta, etc.).  3.  They are in the ACC which isn't the SEC, but isn't the PAC-12.  I just simply see the potential for them.  That doesn't mean the potential can be realized, but it is there for the taking.  Anything to give UGA a harder time is gold in my eyes.

 

[gravejd 3,270]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

I think the right coach can do well there given all the talent close by. Is the academic standards higher at Stanford? They have competed with the right coaches.

Its also about what classes/degrees are offered by the college. I work in the tech industry in Atl so have a lot of GT friends. They claim its actually the lack of liberal art degree and class options that is the biggest problem. Stanford has just as high if not higher admission restriction but more options for "easier" degrees once the player gets in school. This is all second had info that i have not took the time to dig into but thought it was an interesting take when i made the same argument you did about schools with high academic standards still being successful in college sports.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Anything to give UGA a harder time is gold in my eyes.

Oh, I'd be all for Tech giving them trouble. But it is always going to take them being unusually good and uga being unusually bad at the same time. And Paul Johnson's record is about what Tech can expect to actually happen while they wait for a James Franklin to come along and make them relevant for a minute before moving on to a serious job. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, gravejd said:

Its also about what classes/degrees are offered by the college. I work in the tech industry in Atl so have a lot of GT friends. They claim its actually the lack of liberal art degree and class options that is the biggest problem. Stanford has just as high if not higher admission restriction but more options for "easier" degrees once the player gets in school. This is all second had info that i have not took the time to dig into but thought it was an interesting take when i made the same argument you did about schools with high academic standards still being successful in college sports.  

Excellent points.

I was actually surprised to see that Stanford is the 21st-best team in the country in terms of recruiting over the last 5 years. That's still not playoff-level talent but it's pretty good. They are a national name and, like you said, offer prestigious degrees in more than just the tech-related fields. And there's the small matter of this being their campus:

[Wpn324 1]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Exactly. And 3 of those schools are within 90 minutes of downtown Atlanta, with Athens and even Clemson being a much easier drive for people in the northern burbs where most of the talent is. Now you've got Pruitt at UT, Gainesville isn't terribly far away, Tallahassee not much further than that, numerous other schools in the region with more stroke than Tech.

Also, one thing to keep in mind about Tech is that you can listen to Atlanta sports radio for a week straight and not hear a single thing said about them other than scores and recruiting news. Tech doesn't actually get discussed in their own city at all. Nobody cares. 

The first Atlanta United games were at Bobby Dodd because the Benz wasn't finished in time. I went to a game with a Tech fan. It was a sellout. I asked if he'd ever seen that many people at a Tech game. He said not even close unless uga's in town, and even then everybody's wearing red. I saw Calvin Johnson play there against UVA in a night game and even then the stadium was only about 2/3 full. 

I think you will be surprised. It’s been said that the worst two recruiting coaches in GT history have been Chan Gailey and Paul Johnson. That’s the last 17 years....

Atlanta sports radio will talk about you when you’re relevant...GT was getting talked about in 08/09 but it died down because GT never was consistent. And then they never pulled in a class higher than 39 in 10 years. No buzz.

Geoff Collins was the recruiting coordinator for GT for 1 year back on 06-07. GT ended up landing a top 15 class in 2007 best ever in the Rivals era by far...GT will start annually pulling in top 25 classes imo with the staff. Watch. 

[Wpn324 1]

34 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Oh, I'd be all for Tech giving them trouble. But it is always going to take them being unusually good and uga being unusually bad at the same time. And Paul Johnson's record is about what Tech can expect to actually happen while they wait for a James Franklin to come along and make them relevant for a minute before moving on to a serious job. 

With GT pulling in way more talent with Geoff Collins, he can easily be better than Paul Johnson. 

Vandy has no fan support, no history and has no shot in the SEC. They’re also not located in Atlanta, Ga. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, Wpn324 said:

GT will start annually pulling in top 25 classes imo with the staff. Watch. 

If that happens, Geoff Collins won't be at Tech long. IMO.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, Wpn324 said:

With GT pulling in way more talent with Geoff Collins, he can easily be better than Paul Johnson. 

Yes. Any coach will be better than Paul Johnson if they pull in way more talent. 

[Wpn324 1]

11 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

If that happens, Geoff Collins won't be at Tech long. IMO.

Not sure he’s from the Atlanta area and called GT his dream job (a while ago). I think you may be severely underestimating them.

I feel like though that GT is one of those jobs that everyone looks at differently. 

[ellitor 33,091]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Excellent points.

I was actually surprised to see that Stanford is the 21st-best team in the country in terms of recruiting over the last 5 years. That's still not playoff-level talent but it's pretty good. They are a national name and, like you said, offer prestigious degrees in more than just the tech-related fields. And there's the small matter of this being their campus:

And the reason I brought Stanford up is under Harbaugh they were a playoff threat. They finished the regular season iun the top 4 a year or 2 before playoffs expanded to 4 teams.

[Sizzle 3,912]

2 hours ago, mcgufcm said:

I know what you mean. I’m just struggling to think of a year we’ve ever had three guys. Even in our best years, we had two. 

2009 - Tate; Fannin was your second guy, but he wasn’t an every down back

2010 - Dyer/Newton (if we’re including QBs); Fannin was your third bigger back

2011 - Dyer was alone

2013 - Mason/CAP; Marshall if we’re including QBs; next guy was Grant, a niche player 

2014 - CAP/Marshall; next was Grant and Thomas

2015 - Barber/Robinson; freshman Kerryon Johnson - does he count?

2016 - Pettway/Johnson; next was JF3/Kam Martin so they don’t count

2017 - Johnson; Pettway for about five minutes; no other “big back”

2018 - Whitlow; no others

It seems to me the issues come in the seasons where we don’t have two true “every down” or bigger backs. When we’re splitting carries between two “main” guys and mixing in a change of pace back or two, I don’t see the history of hitting the brick wall at season’s end. Whether that split is between a QB/RB battery with an extra guy in relief (like in 2010, 2013, 2014) or between two every down backs with an extra guy, I don’t see the difference. 

I’d rather have MAR. Gus locks on too much for my taste, but in this case, if we land MAR, I’d say the consistency and persistence were deciding factors. 

Onterrio McCalebb had damn near 1000 yards in 2010. Don't discredit what he did 

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Onterrio McCalebb had damn near 1000 yards in 2010. Don't discredit what he did 

Which says more about that offense than anything, that a guy could get that many yards running mostly sweeps. He was almost never lined up as a tailback in 2010. Same with Grant in 2013. I think McGuf just forgot to add OMac in as a niche back as he did with Grant. 

[ellitor 33,091]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

Which says more about that offense than anything, that a guy could get that many yards running mostly sweeps. He was almost never lined up as a tailback in 2010. Same with Grant in 2013. I think McGuf just forgot to add OMac in as a niche back as he did with Grant. 

While his work in looking all that stuff up is appreciated posting the stats for QBs & specialty backs is pointless to what WDE, I, & others are saying. What we are saying is we need to have at minimum 3 feature backs on roster at all times in case of injuries. The 16, 17, & 18 seasons not having a 3rd feature back to rely on makes that point clear.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

5 minutes ago, ellitor said:

While his work in looking all that stuff up is appreciated posting the stats for QBs & specialty backs is pointless to what WDE, I, & others are saying. What we are saying is we need to have at minimum 3 feature backs on roster at all times in case of injuries. The 16, 17, & 18 seasons not having a 3rd feature back to rely on makes that point clear.

exactly.....Every small Niche BAck isnt going to pull a Tre Smith Circe 02 Alabama game when the two beastmode backs are injured

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

While his work in looking all that stuff up is appreciated posting the stats for QBs & specialty backs is pointless to what WDE, I, & others are saying. What we are saying is we need to have at minimum 3 feature backs on roster at all times in case of injuries. The 16, 17, & 18 seasons not having a 3rd feature back to rely on makes that point clear.

You're preaching to the choir, my friend. I've been very vocal about wanting 2 in this cycle and being totally okay with 3. 

 

[Zeek 16,649]

SIAP

https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/1/22/18192439/auburn-football-recruiting-ira-henry-names-auburn-leader

Quote

Jamious Griffin Decommits

Some pretty big news came out late last night. Auburn RB target 4* Jamious Griffin announced he was no longer committed to North Carolina State.

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｣ᗑ⋔ｴꑙ꒤꒚ ﻯℜｴ￡￡ｴℕ@JamiousGriffin

 

 

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Griffin visited the Plains last weekend and has recently become a major target for the Tigers. However, this change in his recruitment came after his visit to Georgia Tech where one of his older brothers already plays. The new Yellow Jacket staff has made him a top priority and my guess is they are probably the team to beat at the moment. However, Auburn is in this race and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him pick the Tigers come February 6th. It will be interesting to see if he takes any other official visits over these last two weeks.

So no words coming directly from him until February 6th 

[AU64 10,122]

Guess what bothers me is that we seem to target three or four ..or maybe only two ...top rated RBs that the entire world is after..... and then go down to the very end of the recruiting process hoping against hope that we can get one of them and.... then have to make a last minute offer to beat out some  group of five school and fill the slot. . . 

I'm kind of a "bird in the hand..."  type guy and from what we see every Saturday, there are dozens of good running backs who could play at AU....and yet wind up at lesser schools.   Hoping we will do a better analysis of the available talent...skill and interest.... and improve our  hit rate.  

[ellitor 33,091]

26 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You're preaching to the choir, my friend

I know. My post was for the general audience.

[ellitor 33,091]

6 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Guess what bothers me is that we seem to target three or four ..or maybe only two ...top rated RBs that the entire world is after..... and then go down to the very end of the recruiting process hoping against hope that we can get one of them and.... then have to make a last minute offer to beat out some  group of five school and fill the slot. . . 

I'm kind of a "bird in the hand..."  type guy and from what we see every Saturday, there are dozens of good running backs who could play at AU....and yet wind up at lesser schools.   Hoping we will do a better analysis of the available talent...skill and interest.... and improve our  hit rate.  

Yup! Bothers most of us 64.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

28 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Yup! Bothers most of us 64.

I agree.  I hope it does not happen but this board will be in meltdown mode if MAR goes to UGA with Kenny McIntosh and GA Tech pulls Griffin because we slow played him.