We are losing players and recruits left and right.
From the AJC:
"Donley is one of several players who either left Tech or chose not to sign after the coaching change. Starting quarterback Taylor Bennett has said he will transfer after he graduates in May. Scottsdale, Ariz., high school quarterback Sean Renfree and Henry County wide receiver Chris Jackson opted out of their agreements after Johnson was hired. Jacksonville wide receiver A.J. Jenkins backed out of his commitment before coach Chan Gailey was fired and Buford linebacker T.J. Pridemore changed his mind after Gailey was fired."
And that doesn't include Collin Peek transferring and James Johnson just hanging it up.
I am worried. At this point I don't know that our roster will be much better than what Johnson had a Navy. And he lost to Delaware with that team.
I'm not worried. If a kid doesn't want to play for Johnson/GT/whatever, then I don't want him on the field. Give me someone with a little less talent and more desire.
Also, Coach Johnson doesn't need/want the same athletes. I'm not talking about quality so much as playing style.
I'm not worried, but this first season should be interesting. I think all the negative publicity is good for the guys. Hopefully they'll go out and prove everyone wrong.
Well, lets take a closer look at what they have lost, or failed to retain.
- Taylor Bennett - Stunk this past fall. I actually wished Reggie Ball had been granted a 5th year, Bennett was that bad, fluttering passes and almost no leadership when crunch time came. Bennett seems like a nice young man, but has NO business starting at QB in division 1-A. No big loss there, and I guess frees up a scholarship.
- Peek, TE - They have no position for Peek now, and he was solid, but no all-america or even all-ACC for that matter. No big loss and frees up a scholarship.
- Donley, WR/DB - He has talent, though no star yet, so losing him is the most interesting of all. It would have been nice to see him remain at Tech, but I suppose we have lots of slotback depth on O. I feel having him on D would have been better. Another free up scholarship.
- Sean Renfree, QB - Drop back passer and would have no chance starting at Tech because he would have no position. We have QB depth too, so really, his loss will not be felt at all.
- Chris Jackson, WR - Highly touted WR and had we stayed with a pro-style offense, I would be mad as heck he slipped away, but had we stayed with pro-style, he would have stayed. The Flexbone needs a good WR or two, but we don't need six or seven, so again, I am sure we can find two or three very talented players to fill in at WR and another one or two for depth.
- James Johnson, WR - Very good player, but hey, he just didn't like football anymore. I am sure alot of kids feel that way as their high-school and college career progress, but the pressure of keeping that scholarship is too great, so they press on with little inner fire. Kudos to J.J. for recognizing the loss of football love and even more power to him for not being concerned about the scholarship. He plans to complete his degree on his own. A loss on the field, but at least he won't be dragging around practice, weight lifting, conditioning and setting a bad example (assuming he would have loafed or shown indifference, maybe he wouldn't have).
Pridemore, LB - A nice signing, but he is just an average recruit and the only reason he garners a bit more notice than other two or three star recruits is his dad played professionally and for the hometown Falcons. Otherwise, just a yawn. We always seem to have very good LB recruits and I doubt this will change with Giff Smith and Paul Johnson having been around Georgia alot the past 20 years.
Overall, I am not at all worried. This was going to happen for sure. Tech has not been through such an overall on both sides of the ball in my lifetime. I like that we are recruiting a bit more speed and size. I hope that continues. P.J. will be a more detailed and diligent coach than Gailey was and P.J. is a perfectionist. Tech will be better, but the offense needs lots of repetitions in July/August if it is to run like clockwork. The first game might be a bit sloppy, but P.J. will get it fixed quick.
Can't wait for fall. I missed Georgia Southern Flexbone football (went there in early 90s and transferred to Tech in 92). We won two I-AA National Championships in my freshman and sophmore years at GSC (we weren't a university yet).
The offense should be alright. Dwyer is a more than capable replacement for Choice. It really doesnt matter what WR's we have cause they arent a major part of the system other than being used to block. The defense scares me though. Especially at LB. This could end up being a rough year.
Our roster is very strong and should never be compared to Navy. We are bigger, faster, stronger at every position, period. That said, the reason Johnson won at Navy is the fact he could have the best THINKING team on the field. The team who could stay disciplined the entire game, make their assignments, not have penalties, and be mentally stronger than the opponent.
Tech has not had a hard-nosed disciplined team in 6 years, so yes, there will be weaker players who cannot handle Johnson's no-nonsense style. Trust me, you do not want those players in the fold.
We will not be a great team in 2008 -- only returning 8 starters total, plus losing NFL caliber punter and kicker. So, you are correct to worry about that.
R@mblin you bring up a good point, "plus losing NFL caliber punter and kicker. So, you are correct to worry about that". Having a good punter and kicker are sometimes the deciding factors of games especially close ones.
We need to give Coach Johnson a chance. I for one am not expecting miracles for the upcoming season. However, in a couple of years when the learning curve is reduced and Coach Johnson has a chance to build the program with his style of players, I believe we will be strong.
On a side note, the football coach where I teach is a huge Johnson fan. He believes that Johnson is the best college coach out there and wanted to see him at Nebraska.
sure we lost some recruits, but we still have 3 adn four star players. I am worried about losing Durant Brooks, averaging ovre 45 a punt and having so many inside the 20. Field position is a major part of football.
As for the linebackers, Gt usually has a good defense even when people think its going ot be bad. We have 3 3star LBs coming in and still have bowen, and some others. Plus, if we have goo dpressure coming off the edge we wont need to worry as much about LB mismatches.
I am with ready4football, we really have not lost any key contributors:
Trey Dunmon a 2 star recruit who had yet to really show anything on the field. He had numerous opportunities with all of the injuries suffered to our O Line to step in and plug the whole up front and failed mightily.
DJ Donley is a shaky situation he was unhappy with the school as a whole he stated in an interview he never felt comfortable at GT. His grades were not anything to write home to mom about. But one thing was for sure he was and still is a "Baller" and out of all the guys he will be the biggest lose. He will fit in well as a Boilermaker a few guys from his hometown go to Purdue so that may be beneficial for him. I wish him well, and I hold no animosity towards him or his family they're just doing what they think is best for him.
Sean Renfree the QB from Az is a good-looking prospect but he does not fit the system so therefore we don't need him (GOOD LUCK AT PUKE). You can say the same about Collin Peek we don't use the TE in this offense so it freed up another scholarship. James Johnson was just not mentally tough enough he was always hurt and from what I have heard he and Johnson never saw eye-to-eye so good riddance
A.J. Jenkins this kids father never like GT even with Chan as our Coach. His father openly stated this to many of the GT staff so he was never really solid with his commitment anyways.
T.J. Pridemore he was just blinded by flash down in the swamp and can you really blame the kid. T.J. will be kicking himself for this decision because he will be lucky to ever even see the field as a Gator. If he had stayed home and played for TECH he probably would have been a starter by year 2 and also playing a t his natural position LB.
Chris Jackson he was sucked in by Nick Satan's (sorry Saban's) flash or forked tongue. Saban was even able to have him make a position change to DB not WR. He was probably our biggest lose of that signing period, he is a great character kid and a solid athlete and would have been able to contribute as freshmen. Oh and let me just add I saw CJ at the spring game and there has been some speculation that he is unhappy at the University of Alabama. So maybe their is a chance he transfers to GT.
My point is we have not really lost anything, we have freed up some scholarships and this years class will be loaded with talent we officially have 5 recruits but in all actuality we have 9 guys who have already committed it is just not known publicly. But my point is before this team can succeed it must be torn apart and built back up to have success and that is exactly what Paul Johnson is doing. He is weeding these guys who don't have what it takes to play for him ala James Johnson, Trey Dunmon and DJ Donley. CPJ is looking for guys who want to play for GT and lay it all on the line. This mentality is much different from his previous predecessor who was soft and his players embod ied his attitudes. Chan played not to win but keep the game close PJ wants to win and that is the bottom line. You guys give him 2 years and he will have people respecting our football program and not disrespecting it.
Also let me add that we are not the only School who have lost players to a coach change lets look at Michigan and Rich Rodriguez QB Ryan Mallet a highly touted QB out of Texas who was rated as one of the best QB's coming out of high school in 2007 transferred to Tennessee. OL Justin Boren another big time recruit rated as the top OL man of the Class of 2007 by rivals who also recently left the program and decided to transfer to hated rival OSU. I mean at least none of our guys have decided to transfer to U[sic]GA. WR Marrio Mannigham left early decided to test the waters of the NFL draft because of the coaching change. What I am saying is this is normal when there are coaching changes; new regimes like to run different styles, which requires a different type of player. Someone who fits the system and has the mental makeup needed to succeed on the field.
