BarrelORum
Mediocre Poster
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- Jul 24, 2002
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My notes on the evening:
It started off good as I got to meet a lot of area Techsters. We ended up raising a modest $1200.00 for the GTAA through a silent auction, and also introduced three (I think it was 3) area students who received scholarships to GT funded by the club. All seemed like very bright kids who will make this area proud.
Anyway... onto the stuff I know you guys want to hear. Gary Lanier, a Savannah native who as QB of the Rambling Wreck led us to victory over Notre Dame in 1976 without ever throwing a pass, introduced Coach Gailey.
This was the first time for me to hear Gailey speak and I was impressed. Some of the things he said in no particular order....
1.) He talked about how he sells Tech to Recruits. Talked about how when it comes to Academics AND Athletics, there isn't a school that compares to GT. Said that GT ranks in the top 5 public universities, and competes on a national level in every sport. Combining that with the fact that we also have gone to 7 straight bowl games, no other University can make that claim. Said if you go into Alabama or Florida to recruit their kids and they want to go to a local university, "hey that's great", but if you want to go to Tech, then when you get out, for the rest of your life, anytime you walk into a door, people will take notice. Talked about Tech being on a National Level and opening Doors on the National Scene that other universities, especially in the South just cannot do. It was obvious to me our coach knows how to sell Tech.
2.) Talked about Leon Robinson, a local product from Garden City, had major hand surgery and didn't seem hopeful that Leon would play this year. Was unsure of Leon's future. They are obviously preparing for the season as if he is NOT coming back. I wish Leon well, he has done a great job for us.
3.) Talked about how int he 2nd game of last year Reggie was carried off the field and it went to his head. Thought he could "do anything". Since the end of last season, they have had to put Reggie through a self humbling program. Said Pat Carter is a solid back-up but needs to learn to "compete". Taylor Bennett could be a "great one" for Tech.
4.) Talked about the conference expansion. Said that the ACC Champ will be playing for the National Championship a lot and he likes it that way. Said if you can manage to win the ACC, you'll be playing for the NC. Talked about the conference championship game will hopefully be played in Jacksonville, and he wants it in Jacksonville. Miami and VT are tough opponets, looking forward to playing them. Said this years schedule is tough.
5.)Running game looks good. PJ is a great up and down runner. PJ is a great "wear 'em down" back. Won't break one open early, but will wear them down and then break one later in the game. Grant is a side to side runner, still needs to learn the blocking game and the running between the tackles game. Chris Woods is coming on to. Didn't talk all that much aboutt he FB position.
6.) Lots of reshuffling on the Offensive Line. Not much depth. Gailey seemed concerned about this area of the offense. Was asked later if the OLine stays healthy was he "confident" in them, said that he was confident but not convinced. Probably shouldn;t elaborate anymore, but it looks as if Gailey is concerned here.
7.) Said at the end of Spring Practice Curry was smiling and happy, when asked why he said "Coach, this is the first Spring I made it through healthy." Thinks that will do a lot for Nate's game this Fall. Said the other receivers haven't stepped up to take the other position. Talked about Debo still needing a lot of work. Said he is looking forward to Calvin Johnson coming in. Said that unlike Jonathan Smith, Calvin cannot catch the ball short and then make a big play. What Calvin can do is run down the field and catch the ball and make a big play. Two different types of receivers.
8.) Said we've always been spoiled with good TE's at Tech. Said that hopefully betwen Matthews and Williams, somebody will step up. No one has yet.
9.) Secondary is tough. Said Butler is a a great player, preseason top 10 player in country. When asked about who is a game breaker, Kenny Scott was the first guy mentioned. Said that between Reuben, Kenny, James Butler, and Dawan, we'll have a great secondary. D Line is tough but not deep. Looking forward to the incoming recruits to shore up depth. Talked a lot about Anaoi being moved to DT. Said his uncle is that big Somoan wrestler who weighs 380 lbs. Hopes Joe has some of that blood in him. Did say that Joe was a great player to look out for in the fall. Was obviously pumped and raved about Richards at DT and Brown at DE to come in and provide immediate support. Said that Robertson, the DE from Jonesboro could help too, said that he will be used purely as a pass rusher.
10.) @ LB, you can't replace a 2nd rd and a 3rd rd pick in Smith and Fox. Likes the starting 3, but they need to convince him. Lots of players on 2nd and 3rd string that could step up, so far no one has.
11.) Looking forward to seeing what the kicking game will do. Wasn't sold on it yet. Looking for help in the kid from Albany.
12.) Was asked specifically about kids that are coming in that he thinks can provide immediate help. Mentioned Calvin, Richards, Brown, Chambers, Djay Jones, and I think Bennett. Said out of all the recruits 3 will probably never live up to the hype and 3 will surpass the hype. Happens every year. Which 3 is anyones guess. Said if someone told him last year if Reggie would come in a start, he would have laughed.
13.) Talked about Debo. Said Debo is one of these guys who can do a lot for you. Debo isn;t a QB. Was asked if Debo could be used a a "Slash" player like Kordell, Gailey responded by saying "Very good question, he's not there yet." Said Debo can draw it for you, run it in practice, but when you got 20 seconds left and the clocks ticking, it just isn;t there for him. Said that's ok.. many players are like that. Debo has talent and they are trying to maximize his talents at receiver. He's a big physical guy. Needs to work on the position. I got the picture that they desperately are looking for Debo for help, but he just isnt there yet.
14.) Said in pros you get spoiled. Somebody cannot do the job, and you can fire them and find somebody that can. In college you have to coach the kids up. Depth is an issue at some critical positions and these areas are being focused on to coach these kids up.
15.) Some moron kept harping on the "supposed concussion" that Ball had at the UGA game. Caoch said just because Ball is on the sidelines, doesn't mean he didn;t have a concussion. He knows a lot of people that were yelling and screaming after concussions. Said it was the Dr.s advice, and he was not about to go against a Dr.s evaluation of Reggie just so he can play. Also said that in the Bowl game, Reggie wasn;t playing good and also got a hip pointer to end the half, so he played Suggs in the second half. The idiot who asked the question kept trying to get up and ask it like 3 more times because I guess he wasn;t satisfied with the answer. You could tell Gailey was bit annoyed, as was most of the crowd. I was about to walk over there and hit him if he didn't sit down. Anyways...
16.) Said the schedule was tough and that he feels like if we can make it through this year, then we should start to have some young depth that we haven;t had in awhile. Said he is happy with the kids he has recruited. They are unique in that they are athletes and are great students. He even said "we don;t have any or want any thugs at GT". He got rave applause for that one. Said that after this year we should resolve the majority of our depth issues. I didn't get the feeling from Coach that he thinks we'll be competing for the ACC championship, but he definately likes what he is building. I think he has a lot of concerns, mainly on the OLine.
Last, one guy asked a great question that I will end this piece with. He asked how do you motivate these guys to play as hard against the Dukes, and the Vandy's as they do against the FSU's and the Auburns. Coach even commented that that is a great question, and he commented that it has been a struggle. Said they learned a lot last year. Said that at Tech one thing we have is Really smart players. Said that they Would show film on FSU and kids say "Gosh this is a great team, we better practice hard." would show film on Duke, and the team could tell this isn't a great team, we don;t have to practice as hard. This was obvious a little tongue in cheek humor by Coach. Needless to say he has been pounding in the teams head since Duke game last year that they need to play dominating football every game. Thought team finally got the concept by the Tulsa game. Said he continually works with the kids to take each opponet as serious as the last.
Anyways, Coach seemed upbeat and very classy guy. Is obviously a great guy to be our coach. He even got a standing Ovation when introduced. Got another one at the end too. He even made a joke that Paul Hewitt was not in the building so you don't have to stand up. I met with him afterwards and he seemed very personable.
Anyways, the food was great. Hal Kraft the president of the Sav. Area GT club did a great job with the meeting. There were roughly 130 people there. I didn;t realize Savannah had 130 Tech fans. This is massive Bulldog country. I sat across from a coupld of Tech fans that were invited by a friend that didn;t go to Tech. One commented that he did not go to Tech and I made him feel welcomed by saying that I respect any guy who in the heart of Bulldog Country chose to be a Tech supporter. A lot of others made the same comments to him. If you ever meet people like this, let them know they are greatly appreciated. I think if Tech alumns were more open to people who didn;t go to Tech, we would have more fans.
Anyway, that is all. I know this was long, so sorry.
Oh yeah, one more thing... the beer was very cold. Kudos to the bartender.
BOR /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
It started off good as I got to meet a lot of area Techsters. We ended up raising a modest $1200.00 for the GTAA through a silent auction, and also introduced three (I think it was 3) area students who received scholarships to GT funded by the club. All seemed like very bright kids who will make this area proud.
Anyway... onto the stuff I know you guys want to hear. Gary Lanier, a Savannah native who as QB of the Rambling Wreck led us to victory over Notre Dame in 1976 without ever throwing a pass, introduced Coach Gailey.
This was the first time for me to hear Gailey speak and I was impressed. Some of the things he said in no particular order....
1.) He talked about how he sells Tech to Recruits. Talked about how when it comes to Academics AND Athletics, there isn't a school that compares to GT. Said that GT ranks in the top 5 public universities, and competes on a national level in every sport. Combining that with the fact that we also have gone to 7 straight bowl games, no other University can make that claim. Said if you go into Alabama or Florida to recruit their kids and they want to go to a local university, "hey that's great", but if you want to go to Tech, then when you get out, for the rest of your life, anytime you walk into a door, people will take notice. Talked about Tech being on a National Level and opening Doors on the National Scene that other universities, especially in the South just cannot do. It was obvious to me our coach knows how to sell Tech.
2.) Talked about Leon Robinson, a local product from Garden City, had major hand surgery and didn't seem hopeful that Leon would play this year. Was unsure of Leon's future. They are obviously preparing for the season as if he is NOT coming back. I wish Leon well, he has done a great job for us.
3.) Talked about how int he 2nd game of last year Reggie was carried off the field and it went to his head. Thought he could "do anything". Since the end of last season, they have had to put Reggie through a self humbling program. Said Pat Carter is a solid back-up but needs to learn to "compete". Taylor Bennett could be a "great one" for Tech.
4.) Talked about the conference expansion. Said that the ACC Champ will be playing for the National Championship a lot and he likes it that way. Said if you can manage to win the ACC, you'll be playing for the NC. Talked about the conference championship game will hopefully be played in Jacksonville, and he wants it in Jacksonville. Miami and VT are tough opponets, looking forward to playing them. Said this years schedule is tough.
5.)Running game looks good. PJ is a great up and down runner. PJ is a great "wear 'em down" back. Won't break one open early, but will wear them down and then break one later in the game. Grant is a side to side runner, still needs to learn the blocking game and the running between the tackles game. Chris Woods is coming on to. Didn't talk all that much aboutt he FB position.
6.) Lots of reshuffling on the Offensive Line. Not much depth. Gailey seemed concerned about this area of the offense. Was asked later if the OLine stays healthy was he "confident" in them, said that he was confident but not convinced. Probably shouldn;t elaborate anymore, but it looks as if Gailey is concerned here.
7.) Said at the end of Spring Practice Curry was smiling and happy, when asked why he said "Coach, this is the first Spring I made it through healthy." Thinks that will do a lot for Nate's game this Fall. Said the other receivers haven't stepped up to take the other position. Talked about Debo still needing a lot of work. Said he is looking forward to Calvin Johnson coming in. Said that unlike Jonathan Smith, Calvin cannot catch the ball short and then make a big play. What Calvin can do is run down the field and catch the ball and make a big play. Two different types of receivers.
8.) Said we've always been spoiled with good TE's at Tech. Said that hopefully betwen Matthews and Williams, somebody will step up. No one has yet.
9.) Secondary is tough. Said Butler is a a great player, preseason top 10 player in country. When asked about who is a game breaker, Kenny Scott was the first guy mentioned. Said that between Reuben, Kenny, James Butler, and Dawan, we'll have a great secondary. D Line is tough but not deep. Looking forward to the incoming recruits to shore up depth. Talked a lot about Anaoi being moved to DT. Said his uncle is that big Somoan wrestler who weighs 380 lbs. Hopes Joe has some of that blood in him. Did say that Joe was a great player to look out for in the fall. Was obviously pumped and raved about Richards at DT and Brown at DE to come in and provide immediate support. Said that Robertson, the DE from Jonesboro could help too, said that he will be used purely as a pass rusher.
10.) @ LB, you can't replace a 2nd rd and a 3rd rd pick in Smith and Fox. Likes the starting 3, but they need to convince him. Lots of players on 2nd and 3rd string that could step up, so far no one has.
11.) Looking forward to seeing what the kicking game will do. Wasn't sold on it yet. Looking for help in the kid from Albany.
12.) Was asked specifically about kids that are coming in that he thinks can provide immediate help. Mentioned Calvin, Richards, Brown, Chambers, Djay Jones, and I think Bennett. Said out of all the recruits 3 will probably never live up to the hype and 3 will surpass the hype. Happens every year. Which 3 is anyones guess. Said if someone told him last year if Reggie would come in a start, he would have laughed.
13.) Talked about Debo. Said Debo is one of these guys who can do a lot for you. Debo isn;t a QB. Was asked if Debo could be used a a "Slash" player like Kordell, Gailey responded by saying "Very good question, he's not there yet." Said Debo can draw it for you, run it in practice, but when you got 20 seconds left and the clocks ticking, it just isn;t there for him. Said that's ok.. many players are like that. Debo has talent and they are trying to maximize his talents at receiver. He's a big physical guy. Needs to work on the position. I got the picture that they desperately are looking for Debo for help, but he just isnt there yet.
14.) Said in pros you get spoiled. Somebody cannot do the job, and you can fire them and find somebody that can. In college you have to coach the kids up. Depth is an issue at some critical positions and these areas are being focused on to coach these kids up.
15.) Some moron kept harping on the "supposed concussion" that Ball had at the UGA game. Caoch said just because Ball is on the sidelines, doesn't mean he didn;t have a concussion. He knows a lot of people that were yelling and screaming after concussions. Said it was the Dr.s advice, and he was not about to go against a Dr.s evaluation of Reggie just so he can play. Also said that in the Bowl game, Reggie wasn;t playing good and also got a hip pointer to end the half, so he played Suggs in the second half. The idiot who asked the question kept trying to get up and ask it like 3 more times because I guess he wasn;t satisfied with the answer. You could tell Gailey was bit annoyed, as was most of the crowd. I was about to walk over there and hit him if he didn't sit down. Anyways...
16.) Said the schedule was tough and that he feels like if we can make it through this year, then we should start to have some young depth that we haven;t had in awhile. Said he is happy with the kids he has recruited. They are unique in that they are athletes and are great students. He even said "we don;t have any or want any thugs at GT". He got rave applause for that one. Said that after this year we should resolve the majority of our depth issues. I didn't get the feeling from Coach that he thinks we'll be competing for the ACC championship, but he definately likes what he is building. I think he has a lot of concerns, mainly on the OLine.
Last, one guy asked a great question that I will end this piece with. He asked how do you motivate these guys to play as hard against the Dukes, and the Vandy's as they do against the FSU's and the Auburns. Coach even commented that that is a great question, and he commented that it has been a struggle. Said they learned a lot last year. Said that at Tech one thing we have is Really smart players. Said that they Would show film on FSU and kids say "Gosh this is a great team, we better practice hard." would show film on Duke, and the team could tell this isn't a great team, we don;t have to practice as hard. This was obvious a little tongue in cheek humor by Coach. Needless to say he has been pounding in the teams head since Duke game last year that they need to play dominating football every game. Thought team finally got the concept by the Tulsa game. Said he continually works with the kids to take each opponet as serious as the last.
Anyways, Coach seemed upbeat and very classy guy. Is obviously a great guy to be our coach. He even got a standing Ovation when introduced. Got another one at the end too. He even made a joke that Paul Hewitt was not in the building so you don't have to stand up. I met with him afterwards and he seemed very personable.
Anyways, the food was great. Hal Kraft the president of the Sav. Area GT club did a great job with the meeting. There were roughly 130 people there. I didn;t realize Savannah had 130 Tech fans. This is massive Bulldog country. I sat across from a coupld of Tech fans that were invited by a friend that didn;t go to Tech. One commented that he did not go to Tech and I made him feel welcomed by saying that I respect any guy who in the heart of Bulldog Country chose to be a Tech supporter. A lot of others made the same comments to him. If you ever meet people like this, let them know they are greatly appreciated. I think if Tech alumns were more open to people who didn;t go to Tech, we would have more fans.
Anyway, that is all. I know this was long, so sorry.
Oh yeah, one more thing... the beer was very cold. Kudos to the bartender.
BOR /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
