UPDATE: KYRGYZSTAN GETS NEW AD

GT’s recruiting has absolutely sucked. Why they didnt recruit kids like like Ryan Ellis, WR from Nease HS, is beyond me. Esp with academics being such a concern. Not only is/was he qualified, but he’s a state champion. Spurrier loved to get kids that had won state championships because they had big game experience and didnt feel the pressure as much. You have to have experience like that on your team, for the attitude as much as anything else.

As for this new AD – only time will tell. LSU has been mediocre forever and a day(sans Saban’s brief visit), so Im not sure what this guy brings to the table.

Ellis wasn’t recruited heavily for two reasons.

1. - GT is stocked at WR already, the one position that Gailey recruits well for some reason. GT has one of the better young WR corps in the country, even if you take Calvin Johnson out of the equation.

1. - We had Correy Earls and Demaryius Thomas both coming in in the same class, and the staff (along with most everyone else) felt they were better players than Ellis.

I don’t know what a new AD will do for recruiting other than firing Gailey or loosening up some of the GT enforced academic requirements. You also have to remember that both baseball and basketball are huge sports in the GT scope of the world (especially basketball) and we needed an AD that wasn’t entirely football centric. LSU has a very strong baseball and women’s sports programs, I’m sure that was a contributing factor.

Orson, you’re wrong. Chan Gailey can put his feet up and relax. It would take major heuvos to for a rookie AD to shitcan Gailey after we go 6-6 this fall. It means buying out Gailey’s deal (thanks, Dave), and paying the new guy as much or more. Not sure Tech can swing paying two guys’ salaries unless the AA is more flush with cash than we think.

From a new AD’s standpoint, the downside risks of letting Gailey go are of greater magnitude than the upside risks. If you blow it, and hire a guy who wins the same or fewer games as Gailey, then you’re really screwed. Tech’s being on probation won’t make finding a new coach any easier.

I’m not sure if Curry has the experience to run an athletic program like Tech’s, but I think he would have been more likely to take a bold move with Gailey if he thought it was the right thing to do.

We’ll all just have to keep being happy about 6-7 win seasons, losses to UGa, and bowl losses to the likes of Fresno State and Utah.