OK I know it's early, but....

J

JacketFanPCB

Damn Good Rat
Joined
Nov 25, 2001
Messages
1,179
OK I know it\'s early, but....

How many victories NEXT year would make you think Gailey deserves our vote of confidence??

I mean barring any more significant academic casualties, we SHOULD be pretty competitive. Obviously we'll take hits in certain positions (most notably linebacker) but we should be a good bit better next season.

Of course we'll face a MUCH tougher conference schedule with Miami and VT coming to BDS. UVA should be stronger and the conference as a whole should be VERY tough.

SO given all that and your insights as well, how many wins will deem next season a success and give SO many that are on the fence a good feeling about our head coach?? (Of course I realize even if we get 11 or 12 wins, some will still feel it was all the players and maybe the assistant coaches who should get the credit, but then that's their problem).

I say eight wins ought to do the trick.

What say you??
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

It is way too early. We do not even know who we are playing yet. Personally, I will not even think about it until the schedule comes out.

Father Time
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

I agree with Ahso - it's a bit early. What intrigues me is the question-does Tech have the guts/desire/fortitude/mis-placed priorities/call it what you will/ to make the same decision that UGA did with Donnan IF we were to lose 3 in a row to our in-state rival (remember his overall record was not that bad). While many Dawg fans and others outside the program ripped that decision,it has since faded due to their SEC championship and winning streak against us.

IMHO,we will not do the same even IF we lose to Ga. but the program will suffer so much controversy and in-house turmoil that Coach Gailey will not be able to overcome that.

Having said that, Ohio State kept coach John Cooper even though his record was,IIRC, something like 2-8 against Michigan and that is a much more bitter rivalry than GT-UGa.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

I want Chan to have a fair chance, and by that I mainly am saying a chance without clough stabbing him and our S/A's in the back. BUT, in the last 2 years we have suffered perhaps the 3 most embarrassing losses in our history (ugag, Cu, & puke). This can not continue, especially when our biggest wins have been against vastly overrated NCSU. This bowl and next year will determine it all.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Maybe put Maryland & AU in there to, but those can not compare to the big losses.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

It's a hard call~I believe we all want another 10+win season. What else can be the problem? Good gracious, Nebraska wanted to make coaching change with a coach that was doing well, but just could not win the big games against his rival teams(Texas,Oklahoma)
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

B,

Are you trying to say that UGA made a bad decision when they got rid of Donnan?

The guy was a jackass with all kinds character issues and was bad at x's & o's and player development. He was a very good, slick recruiter that coasted by on the pure atheletic abilities of his recruits kind of like Mack Brown, but not as bright.

Everybody (GT & UGA fans) knew he was a bad coach. Have you noticed that Donnan still has not been offerred a HC job? If he was such a good coach and did such a good job, there would be tons of schools lining up to offer him a job.

Getting rid of Donnan and replacing him with good young enthusiastic coach was probably the smartest thing UGA has ever done.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Also, we're not sure who all our recruits will be. Brown could be a factor much like Ball was this year. If we get Calvin...who knows what could happen. I think we'll more competive than this year, however.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

C'mon guys, please don't misdirect this thread with stuff about Donnan or anything else.

It's a simple question. REGARDLESS of WHO we have or any other variables (again notwithstanding any HUGE casualties, academic or otherwise).....HOW MANY WINS WOULD IT TAKE for Gailey to get the support from the fanbase at large that he needs to build a winner???

Simple question. Let's have a little fun.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

JTS - I am not saying it was a bad decision.Obviously it has proven to be a good decision. However, many peple at the time including some Uga fans felt that you could not fire a coach with Donnan's overall W-L record. Even their own AD opposed the move on this basis. That call took some cajones to make and would have backfired big-time if the replacement coach had fallen on his face. On the other hand, this same decision-maker has also made some very bad decisions that will add no value to this thread/discussion.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Well, if we're just going to throw numbers out there, then I say Gailey will need eight wins.

I agree that it is a bit early to tell at this point. To me, what's more important than the win total itself is how the team reacts and evolves over the course of the season. These guys have to show improvement week in and week out. The offense should be more mature. I think the linebacker corps may be a little unpolished to start the season, but they also should get better as the season progresses. This team won't be able to carry that "young" label anymore because there should be a lot of experience to pass around on both sides of the ball.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

If I have to pick a number, I think 8 wins is a good target.

I'm more concerned about some nuts and bolts issues than an absolute win figure, though.

I'll be looking for:

1. Does OL play better and most importantly get better over the season? I think the OL was the weakest link on this team when it was expected to be the strength, and also I saw little improvement over the course of the season. If Coach Gailey doesn't improve us in this area I will definitely be concerned for our future. More than any other part of the team, OL performance comes from coaching, so I hope Coach D'Alessandris is getting some scrutiny from the top.

2. Do we see development of skills at WR? I felt like Fred Smith played great this year and Nate Curry was good but dropped a few too many balls. Other than that I didn't see much development of other targets. (Ignoring TE, where Foschi had a great year and Williams showed promise.) With a young QB you need some WR he can count on.

3. Do we fill the 3 holes at LB? Very concerned about this spot because the backups hardly saw the field this season. Hopefully Gerris can move back here if we have the bodies for DE.

4. Do we play better special teams? Our punting was erratic, we had one blocked against UGA (big turning point), the kick coverage was suspect all season. There were some bright spots, but one of them is graduating. PK was solid, Scott shows promise at KR, we blocked several kicks.

I also want to see more RB involved in the offense. PJ is developing well, but we would benefit from different styles of back for a change of pace against the opposing LBs. Hopefully, Grant or Woods fills this role.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

I'm also concerned about the receivers next year. Curry will be the leader of that group and I expect him to have a fine year. I'm not sure what to expect from the others though. It's still a shame that we lost LeKeldrick Bridges to academic problems. He was a barn burner and I thought he would have been big this season. He was a deep threat that could scatter the opponent's secondary. Levon Thomas showed some promise last season, but he's still inconsistent with running his routes and catching the ball. Maybe Bilbo and McGuire will step up.

On special teams, the place kicking was fairly solid, but I agree that the punting needs work. I think we will be okay at PK next season. On returning kicks, I'm happy with the job that Scott has done. We will need someone to take the punts though. Whatever the heck happened to I-Perfection? Haven't heard much about his development over the past year and I'd think he would have a chance to run back some of these kicks.

I'm pretty impressed with how PJ has developed over the last season. We really didn't see him become such a significant back in all areas until recently. He hits pretty hard when blocking. Last season, he seemed to be more of a finesse back -- certainly more so than Eziemefe -- but now we've witnessed PJ's ability to gain extra yards with defensive linemen clinging to his legs.

For a change of pace, I think Woods does a good job and he seems to have sure hands. I'm sure Grant will give them some competition too, but overall, we are in good shape at RB.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

JacketPcb...

you the man!!!!

It is WAY too early..But i will answer you...IF and that is a BIG IF...We dont have a whole lot of injuries at key positions i would say 8-4....But staying healthy will be a BIG key for GT the next 2 years especially...Next year we will still be very young....Who do we replace those 10 Scholarships with from Flunkgate? That is right....TRUE FRESMEN....Im looking toward 2005 as a break out year......
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Reuben Houston is the next guy in line to return punts. I think he should do a fairly good job. I really don't know about a punter though. Thomson has been wildly inconsistent with the punting. He's had a few good ones, but also a few that didn't clear 35 yards. Is there someone else who can get onto the depth chart after Higgins leaves?

The defensive line should be fine next season. We've got Parker and Wrotto at DT and Brezina in there as well. Anoai has looked decent in the time he has played and of course Eric Henderson will be key, but we don't have much depth at the ends, especially if Wilkerson moves to LB. The LB corps will be inexperienced in terms of actual minutes played in games. I believe McNair is one of the players returning from the academic casualties for next season, but this area is one big question mark at this point.

The secondary looks strong. I think Dennis Davis will really get a chance to shine and our safeties are known commodities.

With the returning talent, I think this team can get eight wins. I am concerned a bit about the depth at DE and the development of the LBs. The OL will have to step up. There's a lot of experience there, but we've yet to see them play to potential on a weekly basis.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

I not as concerned about the wins as I want the following:
1. The Defense needs to continue to play at the level they played at this year. They need to avoid the occasional let down.

2. I want the offense to put points on the board virtually evey time they are in the red zone. We should average around 20-25 points a game as a minimum.

We do this and the wins will take care of themselves
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Thanks guys!

I kinda figured a discussion of the number of wins needed for Gailey next year would engender some good football talk. Good constructive football talk.

I like it!

Happy Holidaze!

grin.gif
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Well...I want to see us maintain the level of
effort from this past season and add a good bit
more consistency.

With more experience at QB, addition of depth and
talent at RB (Grant and Sampson(?)), a deeper and
more experienced defensive line, more experience
on special teams, and another year under Gailey's
belt...we should be able to improve on the effort
and gameplans that led to losses this past season.

7 or 8 wins and bowl eligibility would be the bare
minimum for me this coming season. With a few breaks
and upsets we should be in the 9-10 win range IMHO.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

6-5 woud be the minimum. Less than that and there would have to be circumstances beyond Gailey's control. We are too good, and have too much talent (young or not), to accept less than 500.

8-3 would be impressive considering VT, Miami, UVA, UGA etc are on the schedule.
 
Re: OK I know it\'s early, but....

Unless we get a REAL difference maker at WR the offense will continue to struggle.Too little talent and speed.
The Def loses its heart if not soul.Good talent overall but the LB link weakness will be tough to overcome.
Probably little change in record overall.
Is that good enough for folks?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top