Thursday, August 26, 2004

Coach Gailey Call-in show

Well, I missed the first 45 minutes of the show, so my update is woefully lacking. But I'll give you what I have. Here are some more re-caps from the boards

Stingtalk
The Hive

WES: Talk about your defensive coaches.
CG: (reviewed coaches then he said this) One thing though, in those defensive coaching meetings, they are mostly one-way conversations.
WES: (laughing), with Jon Tenuta you mean
CG: yes

QUESTION: Of the 4 offensive lineman you signed last season, who is stepping up in the group?
CG: The two guys who are standing out are Andrew Gardner and Nate McManus. Andrew is a tall guy, 6'7" but he's not that thick. When he came to GT he was around 243lb now he about 260lb. He is a very good athlete with a lot of potential. Nate is about 290lb, very thick, about 6'3". He is playing either center or guard for us and has picked up things very well. He has a little mean streak in him, which is good..... The other two guys, Kieran Delaney and Jacob Lonowski are doing well so far. They are not quite ready to play, but have big potential...... You know lot really depends on the quality of the high school programs they come from to determine how ready they are to play early. The two guys stepping up came from strong high school programs, Sandy Creek GA and Mountain Brook AL, respectively.

WES: You seem to be much more comfortable recruiting on a national stage.
CG: We are. I tell you, the success of the basketball program has helped. They really helped put the Georgia Tech name on the national radar for a lot of kids. They see the "GT" and know what it means. The new ACC and the TV contract have helped also. We are getting more attention and interest from more top athletes than ever before..... What we try to do is recruit strong in the big 3 - Georgia, Florida and Texas. Those are our big 3. Then we work the rest of the country depending on specific kids we find.

WES: You worked out in the Georgia Dome due to rain. That must have been nice
CG: We have been fortunate to be able to work that out when we needed to.

WES: When do you begin preparations for Samford?
CG: Today. We will begin to introduce them to their opponent. At this point, our players are just tired of hitting each other. They are ready to play. They are tired of the scrimmages, where the offense knows what the defense is going to do, and the defense knows what the offense it going to do..... I have just tried to stress that every play is important. We have to come to play every down.

WES: Last year at this time you had a pretty good feel for what you had going into the first game, considering all the troubles before last season. Do you have the same feel for what you have in this team this year?
CG: Well, we can't really get a handle on things because of injuries. But I do have a handle on the character of this team, and I like what I see.