Nick Claytor previews spring practice
Nick Claytor shakes hands with Jacksonville State players.
Nick Claytor with a special guest blog ahead of today’s spring-opener:
Loading ...There are many plot lines for the upcoming spring. Excitement surrounds installation of the 3-4 defense along with new wrinkles in the offense. The race for the number 2 QB position is wide open between Tevin Washington, David Sims, and Jordan Luallen. Position battles abound on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. One of the most important factors going into spring is the establishment of leadership. The 2010 team needs an identity and spring ball is where it begins.
There is a lot of work to do before the Spring Game on April 24. What we do now will determine how successful we are on the run for another ACC Title and bowl win. As Coach Johnson says, “Last year is over, you haven’t done anything yet!”
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Here are my 5 storylines for spring: http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/georgia-tech-spring-football-410465.html
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Mike Mayock says Falcons will take Bay-Bay: http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/2010/03/29/mike-mayock-georgia-tech-wr-thomas-headed-to-falcons/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_falcons_blog
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84 comments Add your comment
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
5:47 pm
Get real, fellow Tech fans, next year 7 wins will be a good season, 8 would be fantastic. Winning 7 games next season will represent a tremendous coaching job and lots of guys playing above their heads.
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
5:50 pm
I’m a die-hard Tech fan, but boasting now makes us sound like UGA fans and will do nothing to motivate our players to work or strive harder to achieve their offseason goals. We’ve got a tough row to hoe, so let’s stop talking and start digging. Also, it’s about time someone starts a “Fire Hewitt Campaign” so that fans can make a collective statement in addition to the emails and letters everyone is hopefully sending after last week’s fiasco.
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
5:51 pm
IN another one-to-two years CPJ should have us much stronger overall. This is only his THIRD year, despite his inaugural successes.
wiley
March 29th, 2010
6:04 pm
I think PJ will have continued success this season despite the losses. His system will work for the new players…we might not be as good offensively but with proper execution its seems hard to beat…..even if our defense couldn’t get a stop. He has won everywhere. I think Tech will win 9 or 10. Of course fans are always more optimistic.
dawgfan
March 29th, 2010
6:16 pm
Mwh6767, here are your answers:
1. Martinez isn’t covered under any UGA plan. He was fired only days after handing Tech its azz on national television. That should tell you a little bit about where your pizz ant football program fits in the grand scheme of things. “Beat Georgia Tech? Congratulations. You’re fired.”
2. Richt tans himself with the shine from all of the Governors Cups that he has won, not a tanning bed.
3. No. We play in the SEC. We don’t have to make apologozies for weak OOC opponents. Its not like the ACC where you play 8-4 teams for a championship.
4. They are fusia, not pink.
5. If we do you’ll just act like it never happened, just like you’re doing right now with the 2009 loss and all the other losses before that.
mwh6767
March 29th, 2010
7:04 pm
oh no dawgfan. I was on here the day after the ugag-tech game, and i tipped my cap to uga football team. they play a great game that day and exploited techs weakness to the max. I said then as i do now to the victors go the spoils. Post as much as u like about that game(30-24, etc. etc, etc.) What gets me is the way UGA fans continue to talk trash in general. Or more to the point how UGA fans continue to talk trash and then get mad when you get it shoved back in your face. The fact is uga and tech are very similar in program strength at the moment. The last two games have shown that. 2008 was one of your better teams and tech won in athens and likewise last season. Its is the uga fans who want to acknowledge that the facts are this:
1: Chan Gailey is gone.
2: Under current coaches this is a 1-1 series
3: For the first time these two programs are on equal footing.
4: Uga fans are a lot more worried about the direction of their program than tech fans are.
Why are you here, daugfan?
March 29th, 2010
7:18 pm
You cannot make a Tech fan angry in the spring.
Concerned Old Techie
March 29th, 2010
7:48 pm
50 ways is correct. We could very well struggle to win 7 next year. My concern – several ACC teams are getting better players than we are. That does not bode well for the Jackets. Miami and FSU are loading up and will soon take their place atop the ACC. Throw in Carolina VT and we could easily be the 4th or 5th best team in the ACC.
mwh6767
March 29th, 2010
8:08 pm
Concerned, FSU, Miami and UGA have consistently brought in talent yr after yr. That doesnt always translate to wins. What tech has going for it is, it has a system in place, one person in charge of it who runs it very well and brings in the right people to run it. 7 wins is not out of the question but I think that 8-4 or 9-3 is more like it. I believe Groh can get our guys on the 3-4 learning curve quickly because he is used to dealing with college kids. I think we may have a lull this year on offense with the lose of the guys on the o-line. Not worried about the running backs we have depth. Losing Bay-Bay hurts in the fact that one more yr. took the pressure off of s. hill. I think VT and Miami will be strong. Clemson is in the some area as tech so a win there is not unthinkable. UGA at the end of the year will be tough but like clemson is winnable. UNC is tough on the defense but is awful on offense. My take, if tech stays healthy 9-3.
rainman
March 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
Tech should actually be as good or better than last year provided Groh can draw from a pretty strong talent base to assemble a cohesive front seven.
The worst news on offense, so far, is the loss of Drummond. I think he would have been valueable as a back-up at B back.
I can only hope…that each year the passing game, while not predominant, will at least become more sophisticated.
Gary
March 29th, 2010
8:22 pm
Regarding the UGA v GT game last year, the pups were one dropped pass from getting beat for the second year in a row. If Thomas had only caught that ball on the sideline, we would have scored the winning TD with time running out. Just like we did against Clemson in the ACC CG. That is the game plan…score with time running out to prevent the other team from having time to score.
Who are they kidding? Everyone ran all over GT last year. That is why GT hired a new Defensive Coordinator. That is why the DC was fired after winning the ACC Championship. We had to score on every play, and dominate time of possession in order to win most of the games.
Concerned Old Techie
March 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
Gary coulda woulda shoulda doesn’t get it in my book. The farmers from Athens have owned us for the better part of 10 years. Fact is they have better players and with the coaching changes they made I expect that talent to finally produce.
Looking deep into the ACC and factoring in the players we lost – I dunno 7 wins stills seem more likely than 9. Some delusional guy in the beginning of this thread actually predicted a N.C. – the moon is made of blue cheese too.
I’m still not completely sold on our offensive approach. Teams that have a few extra days to prepare for us seem to shut us down. Without a real passing game we are very predictable. Maybe Josh can work on his accuracy over the summer – it is abysmal at best. Our passing numbers are very misleading as Thomas made Nesbit look good and most teams gave us the pass to stop the run.
BOBDN
March 29th, 2010
8:59 pm
DID GT EVER REIMBURSE MRS CLAYTOR FOR SIGNING DAY PARTY
messin with sasquatch
March 29th, 2010
9:12 pm
love the gators – always keepin the doggs on a short leash – same as UK and UT. sec irrelevance must hurt, doggs.
GT Fan
March 29th, 2010
11:05 pm
Love Coach Johnson but Fire Paul Hewitt. Drads wake up!
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
11:37 pm
7 wins is a good year next year, with 8 very possible if we stay healthy. That said, with no proven backup to Nesbitt, one of our toughest yet most vulnerable players, things could go south real fast if he gets injured, or even worn down during the season (didn’t happen last year, at least). When Josh got winged in the UGA game it noticeably affected his play for several subsequent series. CPJ is hopefully better than his predecessor at giving the backups more playing time, though we didn ‘t see it last year. (It is hard to put less than your best in there when the D can’t make a stop.) We need to spell Josh more, we need a lot of luck, and we’ll need the defense to make tremendous improvement. Everyone knows the Option is coming, and they know how to attack a 3-4, so we’ll have to do a lot by better execution and talent. We really don’t have size and speed on the top 5 teams in the conference, nor on UGA.
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
11:42 pm
I’m an optimist, I predicted 10 wins for last year, but I can see there is too much work to be done on O-line, D-line, and building depth. UNC, FSU, Miami, VT, and UGA have been getting better, and they’ve been getting deeper. Each of these teams have a coach who can keep up with CPJ, with the exception of maybe Miami (who Tech should’ve beat last year and will beat this year). NC State is coming on and due to break out with O’Brien coaching and having his players in place, and Clemson is invgorated at least and greatly improved at best. The schedule is not a good one for Tech, so 7-8 wins would be a heckuva coaching feat.
FittyWaystoFireHewitt
March 29th, 2010
11:45 pm
IF we make it to the ACC Champ Game again, it will be because everyone in the mix has several conference losses, I think. Haven’t really studied the other conference teams’ schedules, so I don’t know if anyone has a demonstrably easier road ahead.
FullMetalJacket
March 29th, 2010
11:48 pm
I agree with 50/fitty whoever that next year will be a winning year but a more challenging year. Hopefully the defense will get a few more stops because the offense will not likely be quite as prolific as last year’s model. Hoping for 8-9 but expecting about 7, without major injuries or unseen developments.
super17
March 29th, 2010
11:48 pm
I was more impressed with watching Demaryius block than I was watching him chew up yards after the catch. He and Calvin Johnson manhandled CB’s on running plays like no other receivers I’ve seen. As a previous poster said, most every long run broken on the outside was the result of a Thomas pancake. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone other than Hill starting at WR to begin the season.
FullMetalJacket
March 29th, 2010
11:53 pm
If Coach Johnson can prove me (and others) wrong then I’ll be the first to congratulate him. I know he is capable of great things, I just think that our best years are still a year away. Two things to consider, Tech fans: First, the same sources that are/were touting Tech as a preseason Top 10 team are the ones who picked UGA as a preseason #1 just the year before last (and we know how that turned out
). Finally, on the other hand, Tech looked so bad with turnover and missteps that first Spring Game under CPJ no one could believe how well they would play in Year One. CPJ can do wonders and exceed expectations, but we can help him by having reasonable expectations.
FullMetalJacket
March 29th, 2010
11:57 pm
super, yeah, Thomas can block and that will help him in the NFL draft and in play. I saw some pretty weak blocks by several RB and WR last year so I agree we may seem some younger, newer faces get time at WR especially. I still think Hill will start out as the #1 WR but if he misses some big blocks we can be sure CPJ will yank him fast.
Conyers Yellow Jacket
March 30th, 2010
4:58 am
I have been a GT fan since 1952. I will always be a fan regardless of who coaches the football team.
However, I am concerned that everyone thinks GT is going to continue to be competitive with its
current offense. The ACC teams will have devised defenses to contain this one dimensional offense
before the 2010 season is over. The quarterbacks (whoever they are) in this scheme take a real
beating almost every time the ball is snapped. If this is such a great offense why do other
division 1 teams not use it anymore. It served some teams well in the 1970/1980 eras but ran its course.
Concerned Old Techie
March 30th, 2010
7:49 am
Well said Conyers………..
techie
March 30th, 2010
4:34 pm
How is spring practice at Tech like a regular GT game in the fall? The stands will not be full for either.
GT Fan
March 30th, 2010
8:16 pm
Fire that DA Paul Hewitt.
Stinger
March 30th, 2010
10:01 pm
Don’t worry Tech Fans, no one will stop this offense. Paul Johnson is brilliant and will have us in the top 10 again competing for a National title. Then we will have a 5-2 advantage over that team that last did something in 1980 and won’t do anything for another 20 yrs.
Darindawg
March 31st, 2010
9:19 am
“Concerned ole Techie”…..Yeah, for starter’s I’m a Dawg fan…but a good sport, and a genuinely nice guy…lol. I think your concerns are some of the same one’s I’ve had with other Tech friends of mine. They all seem to be worried about Tech’s showing in the bowl games more than anything. LSU and Iowa thumped you guys pretty good and like you, they all seem to think maybe the extra prep time has something to do with that. Iowa had a talented defense, so that could be forgiven I suppose, but LSU was a mediocre team at best that season. My personal opinion (and I’ll get stoned probably for saying this) is that PJ is going to have to just get some more size, strength and speed on the lines. Any coach can get a 300 pounder these days, but that’s not really good enough anymore. You got to get a 300 that is not only strong, but fast and conditioned. This stings Tech fans to say this, but all we (UGA) really done in our game was line up behind our OL and let our RBs go. Nothing fancy, I think we just overpowered your DL….just my opinion. But look at our OL…Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn (340) and Clint Boling…their average bench press is 495. They can squat the team bus and Boling ran a 4.8 according to a friend of mine who is a DT on the team. I’m not saying Tech doesn’t have talent, but I think to win over the long haul against, not just UGA, but the likes of VT and an improving FSU, I think PJ is going to have to strengthen the lines, even if he has to go to Alaska to find linemen…Morgan and the Johnson kid a few seasons ago were great players, but he needs about 2 or 3 like that in every recruiting class, and the OLmen are going to have to be big and strong right out of the gate. You can’t just get a 260 pound kid and take 2 or 3 seasons to try and beef him and strengthen him up. Florida will get a 300 pounder who can already bench press 450 and in 2 or 3 seasons he will be the Kraken off of Clash of the Titans….you see my point?
GT65
March 31st, 2010
9:49 am
Darindawg, thanks for the info. I’m sure Coach Johnson will take that under consideration. I really believe you need to worry about your be-luved dawgs. Really hope both teams have great years.
Drads get some balls and fire Paul Hewitt.
Darindawg
March 31st, 2010
10:21 am
“GT65″…Gees man, just making friendly conversation dude and throwing out some observations…feel free to critic my “be-luved” Dawgs all you want….I’ll listen.
UGAisyesterdaysnews
March 31st, 2010
10:33 am
2000-01 through 2009-10 seasons (10 seasons), Hewitt’s Conference Away record is a staggering 19-61 !!! That is a 0.2375 winning percentage. Even more terrible, is that 4 out of his last 5 years have resulted in Conference Away records of 0-8 or 1-7 !
gtforever
March 31st, 2010
10:54 am
darin dawg
100 percent correct! If we can’t recruit the big, ugly, fast guys on both sides of the ball, then we are fast becoming the Navy of the south…. respectable, but never in the mix for anything special…. Time will tell, but with the incoming recruiting classes, it’s niot looking good…. IMHO….
BigTimeTechFan
March 31st, 2010
12:03 pm
From Rivals:
Tech rising senior Correy Earls. After playing receiver for his first two active seasons in Atlanta, he made the switch to safety for the 2009 season playing sparingly. This spring he moved back to wide receiver and he is trying to end his Yellow Jacket career with a bang.
Nice
Zach
March 31st, 2010
1:45 pm
I hear some of the older Tech fans saying that our offense is ineffective, particularly if opposing teams have extra time, or that it’s boring, but at least it’s exciting every game BUT the bowl game. The predecessor’s offense was ALWAYS boring and usually ineffective. I think that Paul Johnson and his one-off offense is a perfect fit for Tech. We are not LSU, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, USC(west), or Miami. You can critique the recruiting classes that Coach Johnson has been bringing in, but if you look at the ranks of those classes and compare them to the ranks of the other classes Tech has been bringing in for the last several decades, they are comparable or better. There is this impression that people here seem to hold that Johnson’s predecessors hauled in incredible classes year in and year out, but Tech simply can’t touch some of the kids for academic reasons, and others have no interest in Tech due to the narrow set of majors Tech offers. However, Johnson is more than holding his own in the recruiting rankings, and he is getting guys that fit his system better, so I only see improvement in the long term running this offense. Football is football and it does not change drastically just because the teams you’re playing are a little better. The difference between Navy talent and GT talent is MUCH greater than the difference between Navy’s opponents talent and GT’s opponent’s talent. In other words, Navy played and succeeded against a slightly easier schedule with significantly lesser talent, so it stands to reason that with the significant improvement in talent he will continue to succeed with only a slight increase in schedule difficulty.