ESPN: Tech is the second-worst at keeping in-state talent
Jonathan Dwyer: One of the exceptions who proves the rule. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
One of the charms about ESPN is that the Worldwide Leader has enough correspondents to satisfy every viewpoint. Just yesterday, ESPN recruiting correspondent Jamie Newberg was lauding Georgia Tech for its success in finding prospects of lesser portfolio. But now comes LaRue Cook of ESPN the Magazine to serve as the bad cop.
Georgia Tech, Cook writes, is the nation’s second-worst program at attracting high-end in-state players. (Only Arizona keeps Tech from being No. 1.) Cook’s rationale: Over the past five years, the Jackets have landed only two of the 74 Georgia recruits ranked in ESPN’s top 150.
Wait. It gets worse.
Neither of the two — Jonathan Dwyer and Morgan Burnett — was landed by Paul Johnson and staff. Those two were signed by Chan Gailey, who last coached Tech in 2007. Only one Tech signee under Johnson, Cook writes, has cracked the ESPN 150, and that was Vad Lee of North Carolina.
More from Cook (link requires registration): “Over the last five years, Alabama and Auburn have combined for 10 blue-chip preps out of the Peach State, while Florida and Florida State have combined to sign nine.”
As has been noted a time or two in this space and others, Tech under Johnson hasn’t been shopping at the same ritzy store as do the big SEC programs — so we can’t say Cook’s findings are a shock. Still, there’s something about seeing the chilling number (2-for-74) that drives the point home. Thank goodness for Arizona, huh?
By Mark Bradley
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746 comments Add your comment
gt4ever
January 31st, 2012
2:01 pm
Perpetual compainer… lol… I guess my expectations are a bit higher. The only alternative is to hire until you find the right coach…. Forget all these handicaps, such as academics that are excuses. We recruit the same players everybody else recruits… At least we used to…… This coach doesn’t have a clue when it comes to recruiting, and the facts are only proving that coach is in way over his head.
Warehouse
January 31st, 2012
2:01 pm
If Richt’s so good, why does he struggle so bad against Florida?
Scottie
January 31st, 2012
2:04 pm
Lol!!! You go on living in LaLa Land warehouse. Lol! You are hilarious!
SrAzteca
January 31st, 2012
2:04 pm
Warehouse is right, considering his points, you have to conclude either Mark Richt is bad, or Paul Johnson is great.
Tech Troll 13
January 31st, 2012
2:04 pm
It all changed for Tech when college football became the minor league for the NFL. We are not a football factory like the majority of FBS schools. It takes a special kid to want to come to our school and unfortunately it is difficult to get 85 of those type kids.
The haters that blame CPJ or his offense are kidding themselves. This is a 50 year old problem. CPJ has had more success than anyone since Dodd and his offense helps our situation.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:05 pm
Yes! Fire the coach every two seasons if he doesn’t win every game. Excellent plan!
Again, gt4ever, you were presented with an opportunity to suggest a replacement and a reason why he’d be successful, and you deferred. That tells me all I need to know.
Dawglasville
January 31st, 2012
2:06 pm
New Jack – I knew the ball park answer. Miss St. and Vandy weren’t good teams. 08-09 Miss St was 4-8 and 5-7. In O9 Vandy was 2-10. I’m not sure if that makes or breaks your point.
SrAzteca
January 31st, 2012
2:07 pm
I never saw it so clearly, thank you Warehouse.
talent equal
head to head scoring margin close
Paul Johnson is great coach.
No way of disagreeing with this.
Warehouse
January 31st, 2012
2:08 pm
The genius of Paul Johnson is, like Bobby Knight, he has created an offensive system, that doesn’t require superior talent.
Dawglasville
January 31st, 2012
2:10 pm
George Stein – Don’t get me started about AAU. I think the closest thing football has is the 7 on 7 camps. Someone figured out a way to exploit these kids before the colleges could.
rockwell
January 31st, 2012
2:11 pm
warehouse I’m confused? Are games won by actually winning or does the “winner” have to win by 20 in order for it to REALLY count???
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:13 pm
Agreed, Dawglasville.
OaklandB's
January 31st, 2012
2:14 pm
Mark,
While Coach Johnson’s philosophy of cutting declared recruits who visit other schools has been critisized, I think it means he gets a more committed team overall.
Thoughts?
RedandBlackDAWG
January 31st, 2012
2:16 pm
Gt4ever,
You say that UGA beat nobody last year. Then by your thinking, our 7 wins in the nobody league of the SEC and 10 wins over all, couldn’t possibly compete with your how many wins against the ACC, and the 4 division II teams you beat. I can’t believe you even think you have a valid point to spout off about there my friend.
However, given your propensity for for pulling the wool over your own eyes, I have come to expect from you. Question for you. How well would Tech. have done in the SEC east last year? You know the answer if you are being honest, but I think that is a trait you don’t value all that highly in your hate for UGA rants.
OaklandB's
January 31st, 2012
2:18 pm
I further believe Johnson’s philosophy of cutting guys who visit other schools, has led to his recruits getting less “stars”. Stars come form how many schools offer you often, and if you’re not visiting or talking with other schools, you arn’t going to be popular with recruiting services because there’s no news.
big gt fan
January 31st, 2012
2:18 pm
bottom line he need to recruit better players some of the players wont pan out but some will and its great players who win championships not hand full of good ones
Izzy
January 31st, 2012
2:19 pm
donkey dooh
Walker, Texas Ranger
January 31st, 2012
2:19 pm
Maybe it is tied to SAT scores because Tech doesn’t sign a lot out of Mississippi either
DieHardJacket
January 31st, 2012
2:19 pm
Everyone knows the ACC is better than the SEC. From top to bottom the ACC is stronger than the SEC, aka ESPN’s cashcow.
SBinF
January 31st, 2012
2:20 pm
If I’m a top football recruit would I rather go to a school where even the “easy” majors require me to take courses like calculus and chemistry, or would I choose the route that let’s me major in leisure studies.
Nothing against leisure studies of course….but when weighing the relative course load on top of 20 hours a week of practice….it’s not a tough call. GT seems to not have a huge football tradition unless you are an alum or know someone who is. Kids that grow up with the GT brand do so because their parents did.
gt4ever
January 31st, 2012
2:22 pm
Good grief George,
Are you really female pretending to be male….. Who said fire the coach every two years, who said he had to win every game…. I’m OK with being competitive…. Just beat somebody that is good… Good Grief man/women get a grip…
Dostoveyskiy
January 31st, 2012
2:22 pm
Those who have class belong to a restricted set. IOW, more ain’t better.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:23 pm
If we’re being honest, RedandBlackDAWG, we have no idea how Tech would have done against y’all’s schedule.
Tech Know-it-all
January 31st, 2012
2:23 pm
I just wanted to respond to some of the UGA posts ive seen on here, in no particular order:
First, some of the things UGA fans constantly bash GT over; stadium; campus; crime…As far as Bobby Dodd stadium goes, I agree that it’s not the nicest stadium, and ill admit that Sanford is better, but it’s over 100 years old, jesus christ, what do you expect…BDS is the oldest stadium in FBS. It obviously has it’s shortcomings, but it’s history and location give it more character than any bushes will ever acheive.
I can instantly tell that someone has never actually been on Tech’s campus (at least no further than BDS) when they start talking about it being ugly and crime ridden. Ugly, is just not true…I know for some reason you rednecks love this place, but the varsity is not Tech Campus. That whole area is a dump, i will agree, but you are talking about the very edge to off campus. Actual campus is very pretty, especially the east side…the baseball field, the 40 or so greek houses we have on campus, you just cant say without being biased that Tech’s campus is “an eye sore”. The areas surrounding campus are ugly, but let’s not pretend that Athen’s is Savannah or anything…it has a few nice areas and the rest is pretty much a dump. The Athen’s bars are cool, but living in Atlanta i have 10 equally cool areas like that to choose from every night and 10x the women. Crime is the same thing. I know you hear of students getting mugged, but 9/10 time they are in homepark, a dumpy area of cheap houses off of campus…they are stupid for living there and walking around at night. GTPD does a very good job of keeping undesirables off of campus and in the 5 years i lived on campus, i never felt unsafe walking around alone and at night. Do I recommend girls walk around at 2am alone? No. but I wouldnt recommend that anywhere…Tech does a very good job of establishing an actual campus in the middle of the city, unlike the sprawl that is UGA throughout Athens.
As far as football goes, no , Tech will NEVER recruit like the big football schools…Tech is VERY challenging and that will scare away many recruits every year. Yes, we have management, but even they have to take calculus. Dont forget that our management program is pretty highly ranked itself. All that being said, we should still be able to perform at a higher level than we have been recently. I am not ready to blame PJ, yet. If you look back on the last decade you will see that the majority of the blame for poor play, especially in big games, falls on our QBs. Ball, Bennett, and Washington all had/have a terrible habbit of falling apart in big games. I believe that to be a top teir team you must have either an elite QB or an elite defense and must be no worse than average at the other.
‘08 and ‘09 we had above average offenses and solid defenses. In ‘10 our offense was very good untill nesbitt went down and im convinced we would have won at least 2 more games with him playing, but our defense was poor (new DC and new system) and coulndt cover the deficit he left. Last year we relied on Tevin to carry the team, and he just doesnt have what it takes to win tough games; again our defense was lacking due to inexperience. I think the next 2 years will be very telling for PJ…he finally has his system fully installed, and he should have a better qb to manage the game. Our D should be much improved as well
Playing UGA will be a battle every year with the talent they always have, and while PJ is 1-3, it’s not like he has been blown out…2 very close games, and last year we just werent very good. Unfortunately UGA should be the easy favorites next year, but i expect at least a close game.
If PJ doesnt have another ACC champ by ‘13, then yes I am all in favor of trying something more traditional, but I dont think he has really had a fair chance to show what he can do with a complete team yet. He has picked up some guys that have the potential to be big playmakers…not necesarrily the most stereotypical 5* type guys, but guys that I can see growing into our system and making some noise.
Rambling and incoherent, I know, but im at work (another benefit of being a Tech guy over a UGA fan
)
coller
January 31st, 2012
2:24 pm
When your coach is well known and reported accurately as a recruiting bully and hypocrite you are never going to win over top talent. Threatening kids into an a early nonbinding verbal commitment is straight up thuggery.
LL
January 31st, 2012
2:24 pm
Watching Leg Humpers fight Tech fans is like watching a featherweight bout where you’re swinging and missing. The Mutts have fallen to #21 in rankings but the pro-puppy dawg staff at ajc will never mention that stat.
Ted M
January 31st, 2012
2:24 pm
I don’t think CPJ even tries to get the 4 & 5 star recruits which btw is stupid.
Vinings1
January 31st, 2012
2:25 pm
Does this shock anybody? I’m surprised ANYbody would want to go to Tech. That stupid offensive scheme, a jerk for a head coach and that lame excuse for a stadium.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:25 pm
We are competitive, gt4ever! Who do you think Tech should hire? It should be a simple question for someone of your advanced football intellect.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:26 pm
Can we get coller a dictionary?
uptown
January 31st, 2012
2:28 pm
SBinF —
Ever since Morris Brown and Clark Atlanta lost their accreditation and GT could no longer have their players taking classes there as a transient student their recruiting talent has drastically decreased. That was a major selling point to their potential recruits worried about the course load at Tech.
QB/DB
January 31st, 2012
2:29 pm
Thanks for the TRUTH and we know sometimes the truth hurts! Some GT Fans will not look at their program objectively and you will see them tommorow with their GOLD COLORED limited vision. But this is a State that is full of talent. This makes this news even more stunning. If CPJ and the Gold Glasses crowd would just admit, there is a problem with the program and go about solving the problem the best they can then this can be corrected. But instead they will make excuse after excuse. I’m really surprised at CPJ. He impresed me as a FIGHTER when he was first hired. He was given a great salary but now he is an ole too stubborn full of excuses guy to change and has blown smoke under some GT fans nose. THERE IS A PROBLEM Fns. It starts with CPJ, he has to fix this!
Stinger2
January 31st, 2012
2:31 pm
I won`t loose any sleep over what ESPN writers think about GT instate recruiting. We will line up 11 players on offfense and defense on every down regardless of who they are or how many “stars” the expert assigns to them.
If we win or lose the game the sun will come up in the east the next day. Football is a game that is to be enjoyed if you like it not a way of life.
Truth_to_powerless
January 31st, 2012
2:32 pm
LL … Yeah… AJC never mentions that UGA is 21 in some recruiting rankings… it is a pro-Dawg conspiracy… except apparently last week … when Chip Towers noted the rankings in his article…
http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2012/01/26/recruiting-dogs-have-work-to-do-but-have-addressed-needs-for-2012/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog
Definitely pays to be loud and stupid these days, and ignore the truth.
treat
January 31st, 2012
2:33 pm
As usual, Georgie cannot dispute the facts and is reduced to playing blog spelling cop yet again like an angry 10 year old I see. What a sad, sad existence a shut-in must led. I pity Georgie
GT fan
January 31st, 2012
2:35 pm
Redandblack ……. UGA played 3 quality/consistent teams (BSU, LSU, MSU), and 1 quality/inconsistent (SC) team in 2011. The Dawgs were 0-4 vs. those teams.
GA got a 5th ranked D from their 10 Ws, plain & simple. I know it’s hard for you to admit, but that’s what the truth does to people…it hurts.
Of GA’s 10 Ws GT is probably the best team they beat. Arguably Auburn, but more than likely it was GT. GA benefitted from probably the weakest SEC schedule in the history of the league.
NONE, I repeat….N-O-N-E, of GA’s SEC opponents finished over .500 in the league. And only ONE (Auburn) finished .500. UF, Miss St, and AU did however finish with better than .500 overall records….7-6, 7-6, & 8-5, respectively.
That “crap” that spews from your mouth/brain does nothing but “fertilize” your stupidity.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:36 pm
For example, treat?
avery
January 31st, 2012
2:36 pm
I remember about 5 years ago or so GT had a 5th year senior punter that was still “undecided” on his major. Only at the trade school.
georgiadawg70
January 31st, 2012
2:36 pm
The recruiting problem is worse under Johnson because his offense is no ticket to the NFL and big time players know this.
Nobis
January 31st, 2012
2:40 pm
Avery………..PROOF show PROOF about an undecided 5th yr punter.
Nobis
January 31st, 2012
2:42 pm
The ONLY position at TECH that doesn’t get the look in the NFL could be the QB, but Tech hasn’t had a good passing QB yet.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:42 pm
He recruits roughly as well as his predecessors, georgiadawg70.
ackels
January 31st, 2012
2:44 pm
Pretty sure Gailey put more players in the league than Johnson. And no, you cannot count Gailey’s recruits for Johnson.
George Stein
January 31st, 2012
2:45 pm
The league is not the measure of successful recruiting and, besides, Johnson just finished his fourth season, which would mean he’d have only one class of seniors (assuming they started as true freshman).
GT fan
January 31st, 2012
2:46 pm
As far as MR & PJ go, It’s a wash folks.
MR = better talent/depth, in better conf = 34 Ws in last 4 seasons (10, 8, 6, 10) played in 1 conf CG
played in 1 conf CG
PJ = lesser talent/depth, in lesser conf = 34 Ws in last 4 seasons (9, 11, 6,
That kinda defines a “wash”
@ GT fan
January 31st, 2012
2:47 pm
You should probably be more concern with the fact you have to consider your own team a scrub opponent now
GT Lee
January 31st, 2012
2:48 pm
dawg70, that is possibly the dumbest thing I’ve read today. So just playing for a certain offense will get you to the NFL? Here I was thinking TALENT gets you to the NFL
GT Lee
January 31st, 2012
2:51 pm
So whose offense IS a “ticket to the NFL”?
PANSYTECHIESCHEDUAL
January 31st, 2012
2:52 pm
Techie fans are ate up with the DA mentality and you can see it when you read thier comments. we know they never walk thru a door at techie. As they are ate up with the DA’s
JM
January 31st, 2012
2:52 pm
I wish ESPN would dig into the numbers more and find out the reasons behind GT’s lack of success. I bet its much more complicate than most believe.