New Era of Tech Football.
January 2nd, 2008 | by john |I am very excited about the new era of Georgia Tech football that became official yesterday and started today. Before I continue, I wanted to add that Chan Gailey was a good coach and deserves a lot of respect for having upheld a program that has been seriously lacking the fuel that it needed from the administration, fans, students, boosters, alumni, and the staff. From the outside looking in, Chan looks like the guys whose job is to hold the chains wearing a GT cap; he looked bored to death and waiting for something better. Maybe he was but when most of the Tech players stood up for him after he was fired, I knew that what everyone sees in the sidelines was not the same Chan Gailey that his players and staff saw in the locker room. I did see some fire from him when a ref blew a call in our loss to U(sic)GA (yes, we would have lost regardless of that call) but it was too little and too late.
Ultimately, Coach Gailey wasn’t fired because he was a bad coach; I think he was fired because he rarely showed passion for his team. If he were being interviewed right after our 6th straight loss to our rival, he probably would have said something stoic like “our passes were being dropped, I did see some good things happening that we can expand on but no team is ever perfect”. Personally, if I were Dan Radakovich, 50% of me probably would have told him that he had next season to see improvement… not even significant improvement, just noticeable improvement… something more than what the fans have been enduring for so long because year after year we can’t help but have higher hopes for the next season. The other 50% wouldn’t have turned out any different than it turned out now.
Head Coaches get paid a lot for the chance of being criticized as the scapegoat when teams don’t progress and also paid for the chance to get shoved aside by interviewers chasing after an individual playmaker after winning a Championship game. Either way, Chan is now the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and I think it’s a good fit for him as an offensive-minded football coach. While, I won’t be as big a fan to the Chiefs as I am to the Panthers, I know I will be tempted to check up on him just as I do with Calvin Johnson, Jarret Jack, and so many other former Tech atheletes that I have followed during and after my time in Atlanta.
With Paul Johnson coming in after turning around the football program at Navy, I am a very excited Tech fan looking forward to September to see what our new offense (and defense) will look like. One thing that I was impressed about our new Coach was the fact that he was disappointed with the players’ performance at the Humanitarian Bowl. Primarily because I was disappointed too and it’s great he didn’t play the disappointment off with just a hope of doing better next time. I feel like this will put the needed fire in our players, students, and fans.
Tags: football, georgia tech
