Three notes from a presser

Reality.

Stansbury gave Collins a seven-year contract, an unusually long deal, but one that Stansbury wanted to give his new coach in recognition for the transition that he’ll face in changing offensive personnel in a scheme that thrived for 11 years with undersized linemen, no tight ends and quarterbacks valued more for their ability as runners than passers.

Pushback ($$).

And while there are many who think differently, Paul Johnson himself said that no matter who was hired, that person would be inheriting a football team, not an option team.

“These kids are football players, and very few of them, if any, ran this offense in high school,” Johnson said after he announced his plans to step down last week. “People act like it’s going to have to be a total transition. None of these kids grew up in the fifth grade lining up in a double-slot and that’s all they’ve ever played their whole life. They’re all football players. It’s not like someone is going to have to come in and start over and that there are no good players here.”

Somewhere on the border between puffery and delusion.

There is something very specific in what Stansbury wants to see in the years to come. He wants to see Georgia Tech and Collins face off with Clemson and Dabo Swinney and Georgia and Kirby Smart.

“I want to make sure that when we line up against whoever we line up against, that the guy standing on my sideline can go toe-to-toe with the guy standing on the other sideline,” Stansbury said.

Initial fan base pandering aside, I do think Collins is about as good a hire as Tech could have made here.  If the program is realistic, there is plenty of headway to be made, simply because Johnson left so much money on the recruiting table, so to speak.

Did you know Georgia Tech has signed only 1 of Georgia's Top-50 recruits in each of the last four seasons? https://t.co/VMCLCmZb9H

— SB Nation Recruiting (@SBNRecruiting) December 7, 2018

A Tech coach could make a pretty good living just taking Georgia’s leftovers.

But if Georgia Tech’s athletic administration is really going to make this about playing on an even level with Clemson and Georgia, there’s no way Collins will live up to that standard.  Which is why I hope they try to hold him to that…

Advertisement

Today, in good for me, bad for thee

Mike Gundy is full of worry and sorrow about kids skipping bowl games to prepare for the NFL draft.

“It’s become very popular now,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “I hate to see that happen, but as I’ve said before, we live in a society today where things are considerably different than they ever have been before, and (if) young people feel that there’s a better opportunity for them somewhere else, then they’re gonna make that decision to move on, and so we do the same.

“The one thing that I am concerned about is the longevity of the bowls and the fact that I would hate for it to become so popular that bowls aren’t important anymore, because I think that’s a great reward for a team.”

Gundy thinks the trend will get worse, not better. Could a player whose team made the College Football Playoff skip the postseason to protect his future?

“You could have a team that’s in a championship and a guy not play, if somebody told him, ‘You could be worth this amount of money,’ and I’m guessing that players do it if they’re concerned about their durability to stay healthy for the spring, for the draft,” Gundy said.

“Like with Justice, we protected him as much as we could early in the season, and he got hurt in the latter part of the season and I would guess that he wants to make sure that he stays healthy so he can test and run and do all the different things for the draft.”

Let’s see…

• Georgia Tech just hired a head coach who’s skipping his old team’s bowl game.
• The remaining kids on Oklahoma State’s roster will still get their reward of playing in a bowl game.
• Playoff expansion is a far bigger threat to bowl longevity than players skipping bowl games.
• It’s okay for a coach to worry about a player’s health during the season, but not so much for that same player to worry about his health in preparation for the draft.

Coaches really can’t stand losing control over kids a second earlier than they have to.

“I’d be OK with scheduling them in the right situation.”

How obnoxious is UCF getting?  This obnoxious:

Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin would welcome a two-for-one series against in-state opponent UCF, which has college football’s longest winning streak at 25…

White, after seeing Stricklin’s comments Friday, issued a statement saying he looked forward to trying to schedule a game with the Gators.

“I’m encouraged to hear that UF is open to the idea of playing us in football,” White said in the statement, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Since I’ve been here, it had been made clear to me there wasn’t much hope of that. Our scheduling philosophy has been transparent since I arrived at UCF — that we’re open to a home-and-home series with any nonconference Power 6 opponent.

“Top-10 programs don’t schedule two-for-one series where the balance is not in their favor. Our growing fan base and our student-athletes deserve better than that.”

Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it, son.  Ask Bobby Bowden how that works.

***********************************************************************

UPDATE:  When you’ve lost Mr. Conventional Wisdom…

Here's how negotiation will go:
UCF: We want to play home and home
Florida: Nope. We can do 2 for 1
UCF: What about 1 home, 1 away, 1 neutral
Florida: Nope. We can do 2 for 1
UCF: We've won a lot of games and shouldn't have to do that
Florida: I have USF on the other line. Thanks

— Tony Barnhart (@MrCFB) December 8, 2018