AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 18
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
When good is not good enough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Right off the top, I’ll say that Tech had played every game with the passion shown Tuesday night, the Jackets sure wouldn’t be 4-5.
Kansas is a really, really, really good team. As good in theory as any Tech will play, in one man’s humble opinion.
This did not come down to officiating. It came down to Kansas playing more “small ball” than all season according to coach Bill Self, and still blocking nine shots to Tech’s zero, and limiting the Jackets’ big men to 6 of 22 shooting.
Sure, Tech outrebounded the Jayhawks, which was either a statististical surprise, a factor of Kansas playing small (I’m not up enough on the Jayhawks to weigh in on whether Self was poor-mouthing that one) or both.
Clinch? Solid, solid, solid. Morrow? So-so. Causey? A pain in Kansas’ butt while on offense, at least when they failed to successfully pressure him with double teams, which they did some times (while he was limited to 14 minutes by four fouls). On defense, Matt pedals real hard, and comes up with the occasional play, like his steal and bucket under the basket in the final minute.
Self credited D’Andre Bell (7 points) for forcing “help” defense as well. Those four perimeter players scored 50 of Tech’s 66 points.
No controversy in this game through my eyes. Kansas is just really good, and Tech’s last offensive possession didn’t work (I liked, and understood Hewitt’s concept, though; see game story for details).
I think the decision to redshirt Ra’Sean Dickey is a good one, too, especially since the Jackets have not yet recruited an incoming big man for next season.
Matt
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Jackson becomes collateral damage stat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hey, I’m back. Took some vacation, and then began dealing with family health issues as my mother landed in the hospital as a result of a bad fall and leg problems. That stretched my time away, and probably will be an issue in the weeks to come as well.
Surely, there aren’t many Tech fans surprised by Chris Jackson’s defection to Alabama. It’s been rumored for a while. The Henry County wide receiver wasn’t evasive this morning in the school’s library, where he “announced” his change of mind. Pretty much to the point. He said Tech’s coaching change led to this, not that it was good, bad or anything else for the Jackets. He simply didn’t perceive it to be good for him. Guy’s got to look out for himself. Others can judge (not necessarily correctly) whether he’s reading the tea leaves correctly.
Disappointment? Now, that’s another matter. Understandable, and predictable — just as the collateral damage to Tech’s recruiting has been.
It happens EVERY TIME there is a coaching change. It’s happening at West Virginia, where Rich Rodriguez jumped off to become coach at Michigan. David Cutcliffe left Tennessee to become coach at Duke, and one of the Vols’ top prospects, Pa. QB Terrelle Pryor (who a long, long time ago had Tech on his list) has said Tennessee is no longer in the running, but Michigan is because of Rodriguez. Pryor, who many consider the nation’s No. 1 prospect, was previously considering West Virginia, too. Don’t know if the Mountaineers are still in the mix.
The depth of Jackson’s loss may not be gauged simply by whether one considers it schematically important or not for new coach Paul Johnson - an avowed proponent of running the football first, foremost, second and often third — to add a wide receiver who caught 76 passes for 1,470 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior.
More notably, Jackson was a Tech touchstone of sorts for reasons beyond his skill set.
Over the past two years, he attended countless Tech practices and camps, visited campus frequently, and all but idolized former Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson. One year ago, he became the Jackets’ first 2008 commitment and began working phones and thumbs (text messaging) to recruit fellow prospects.
If he wasn’t a symbol, maybe the next incarnation of Kyle Jackson — the “ambassador” or last year’s recruiting class — he was at least not your standard run-of-the-mill recruit.
Tech has seven weeks and a day to get on beam in recruiting. That’s plenty of time for Johnson and his staff to figure out who they want to pursue in the re-targeting process. There are student-athletes who fit his profile, and he’s proven the ability to recruit to a school whose standards are beyond the norm (whatever that is).
This is not good news, but it is not disaster. Tech has every wide receiver back next year, provided none transfer. The candidate you’ve all read rumors about, D.J. Donley, did not say he wouldn’t transfer yesterday, but he sure didn’t confirm the rumors that he is going to, either. “I ain’t going anywhere any time soon,” he said.
The reality is that until the coaching staff is firmed up, there will be flux in recruiting. There’s no way around that, but it doesn’t mean that recruiting - of already committed players and new prospects — will stop. This is, however, a dead period so there’s not going to be a lot of action for the next two-plus weeks.
That dead period comes at a good time for Tech because the program (and Navy’s for that matter) is sort of stuck in a netherworld where the coaches who are going to be leaving would be pressed to recruit on those institutions’ behalf, and they can’t yet really recruit — at least not aggressively — for their new employers, either, not while preparing their current school for a bowl game. Some coaches almost certainly do not yet know their futures. I suspect some do, though.
I think the Navy assistants who are going to make the trip to Tech already know it. Those names, chiefly on the offensive side of the ball, have been reported up there. Johnson has been, as one would expect, difficult to reach since the day of his hiring save a 15-minute interview with Knobler last week.
Jackson said WR coach Buddy Geis will be gone, and he’s pretty sure DL coach/recruiting coordinator Giff Smith is staying. That’s in keeping with rampant rumors.
We’re not much for reporting rumors (I haven’t been reporting much of anything lately, personally), and a whole boatload of them (not all relating to Tech) have been proven wrong recently (Les Miles to Michigan anyone?) by the rush to be first or be damned. Which is to say be wrong.
It is an awkward time at Tech. It will end. Drawing an exact bead on Tech’s recruiting fortunes, which is an inexact science even in the most stable of environments when there is no coaching change afoot, will be near impossible for weeks or so.
All we can do is report comings and goings, commits and de-commits, and some of what the prospects have to say about matters. Chiefly, Jeff Hood handles that.
Unless, that is, Paul Johnson decides to give some insight as to the eventual makeup of his staff, when — or if — we get to talk to him. He can’t talk about specific recruits, but he can shed some light on his eventual staff. Or, you can rely on rumors; there are plenty out there.
I’ll blog again tonight after Tech’s basketball game. If I talk to Johnson, and I’ve put in a request, the story on-line will be updated to reflect it.
Matt
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For starters, it’s Bennett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech is approaching the Humanitarian Bowl as the last game of 2007 instead of as the first game of the post-Chan Gailey era. There will be some changes, such as Pat Clark at receiver, but there probably will be a lot more similarities to the schemes and plays and personnel used while the Yellow Jackets won seven games and lost five.
For instance, interim coach Jon Tenuta told me Tuesday that, as of now, Taylor Bennett is the starting quarterback.
That makes a lot of sense to me. With the old coaching staff, and limited practice opportunities (basically Monday through Friday this week, plus one workout here on Dec. 26 and then two full sessions plus a walk-through in Boise), there’s neither the time nor the people to start pushing the Jackets toward the Paul Johnson offense or the whoever-will-be-in-charge defense of 2008.
If you’re Tech, the best way to end 2007 right is with a victory, and perhaps using a deeper bench than during the regular season. The new coaches will have 44 practices to point the team in a new direction before the opening game of 2008. (That’s 15 practices in the spring and 29 in the preseason, if you’re keeping score at home.)
