National Championships - 1
Conference Championships - 11
Overall Record - 447-116
Winning Pct - .793
Playoff Record - 32-16
Bowl Record - 5-4
Current Teams - Georgia Tech (Stagg), and Delaware State (Warner)
Other ID: Gt_Duece
National Championships - 0
Conference Championships - 0
Overall Record - 63-14
Winning Pct - .818
Playoff Record - 6-4
Bowl Record - 0
Current Team - Viginia State (Stagg)
The Man:
Scottso14: First off, whats your real name?
gt9766b: Aaron Henderson
Scottso14: Tell me a little about yourself?
gt9766b: Well, I'm a 29-year-old sports nut who spends way too much time on this website.
Scottso14: Where are you from? Where do you live now?
gt9766b: Originally, I'm from Chattanooga, TN, where I spent my entire life up to college. At that point, I came to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech, and have been here ever since.
Scottso14: Married, single, children?
gt9766b: I've never been married but I do have a girlfriend that enjoys ragging me about my "GD obsession." I think she's right about the obsession part.
Scottso14: LMAO...I'm sure many of us have that same situation going on with our wives and girlfreinds. What do you do for work?
gt9766b: I'm an Electrical Engineer for a maker of cable boxes. I work on the team that designs the chips that control our cable boxes.
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite activities?
gt9766b: Anything sports-related, but more specifically, I play a TON of slow-pitch softball. From March through November, I can usually be found on a softball diamond somewhere around Atlanta. I also play some flag football in the winter.
Scottso14: Any hobbies that keep you busy?
gt9766b: I used to be a more avid reader, but I got out of that habit in college. I'm currently trying to get back to more of it. I also like watching movies of all kinds. And, obviously, GD has become probably my biggest hobby over the past two years or so.
Scottso14: How about some of your favorite video games past or present?
gt9766b: I don't really have much time to play video games these days, but in the days before I went to college, Tecmo Bowl on the original Nintendo was (and still is) my all-time favorite. I also loved playing Contra and I STILL remember the secret code to get 30 lives. How I still remember it, I'll never know.
Scottso14: Ahh yes. I remember Techmo Bowl very well myself. It was one of the best Football games of its time. What are some of your favorite foods/snacks?
gt9766b: Anything with raspberries in/on it� and I�m sold. Chocolate is a weakness, as well.
Scottso14: What are your favorite types of food...Italian, Mexican, Chinese, etc?
gt9766b: I'd have to say Italian and seafood. Pretty much, I love any kind of seafood, including sushi. And I could eat Italian food for days and not get tired of it.
Scottso14: What kind of music are you listening to these days, and what are some of your favorite bands?
gt9766b: My musical tastes are all over the place, but I'm on a rock kick in recent years. I'll literally listen to anything from R&B to hip-hop to country to rock to classical. For all-time favorites, I'd definitely have to go with Tool on the rock side and the Wu-Tang Clan in hip-hop. In recent years, I've really gotten into a group called Breaking Benjamin (I've seen 'em three times in concert within the last two years).
Scottso14: Who are some of your favorite sports figures?
gt9766b: In baseball, my two all-time favorite players are Roger Clemens and... gulp... Mark McGwire. I know, I know. Queue the shouts of "STEROIDS". I'm also a big fan of Andruw Jones. I play the outfield in softball on all my teams and I really try to model my defensive game after him. In football, my favorite player of all-time is Barry Sanders. It was so much fun to watch him do his thing, which is why I really enjoy watching Reggie Bush play. He does some of the same things Sanders used to do, that just left me wondering how a human could do those things. Also, I really like Larry Fitzgerald, Brian Urlacher, Peyton Manning and the up-and-coming Calvin Johnson. I think CJ's going to be a beast in the NFL!
Scottso14: Which are your favorite sports teams?
gt9766b: In the college ranks, I like Georgia Tech (my alma mater), Tennessee (where I grew up) and The Air Force Academy (where I attended for a short time before transferring to GT). In the pros, I am a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan for baseball. In football, I like the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears. Before I get accused of being a bandwagon fan, I should state that I've been a fan since '84. Turns out, my Mom went to high school with a guy who played special teams for them for a few seasons, which was infinitely cool to my seven-year-old mind... and I've been a fan ever since.
Scottso14: If you had the chance to change a few things in todays sports, which sport would you like to change, and what changes would you like to make?
gt9766b: I�d really like to see a hard salary cap in baseball. Even with the �luxury tax� in place, there are too many teams who choose to pay any price for these superstars. As a result, the salaries keep escalating, which drives the ticket prices out of reach for many people. A family of four almost has to take out a personal loan to spend a day at a Braves game and get the full experience (tickets, meals/drinks, souvenirs, etc). It�s a shame that we continue to fuel the greed of these owners and players.
Scottso14: Not to get into a heated politics conversation, but what are your views on President Bush and how he has handled the war in Iraq?
gt9766b: In short, I'm getting a little annoyed at his recent defiant stance on the war. It makes me wonder about his true motives for us being over there.
Scottso14: How do you think you would have handled the situation if you were in his shoes?
gt9766b: I really don't know, to tell you the truth. I cannot fathom that kind of responsibility. I have a hard time making a decision on where to take my girlfriend to eat for her birthday, much less how to lead a country! In all seriousness, I do not envy President Bush's position of being the post-9/11 President of the US.
Scottso14: Obviously 9/11 is at the top of almost everyones list of memorable moments in recent history, but what other events in recent history stand out the most in your mind?
gt9766b: I think that Hurricane Katrina was powerfully eye-opening event for many Americans, myself included. We all like to think that our government is prepared to rush to the aid of any disaster that could ever befall our country, especially on our own soil, but Katrina really brought about questions of their preparedness.
Scottso14: If given the opportunity to sit down and chat with some of the greatest people of all time, who would you pick and why? What kind of questions do you think you'd ask them? What would you like to talk about with them?
gt9766b: I know this is going to come off as really corny, but I�d really rather sit down with my grandparents and great-grandparents, to find out more about them and where I come from. None of them are around anymore and I regret not having taking more advantage of having them around while they were here. To me, that would hold FAR more value than talking to any historical figure I could ever think of.
Now on to a few GD questions:
The Coach:
Scottso14: Many of the coaches around here know you for the rankings you post on the forums. What make yours so different from Paranoids rankings?
gt9766b: Well, the team and conference rankings that I do cover one area that paranoid doesn't cover, since his are only done for recruiting classes. With regards to the recruiting class materials, they completely take a back-seat to his. Unfortunately, I still have yet to put together a system that includes AC signings. That key difference is probably the most important, because that leaves my recruiting class rankings somewhat incomplete. A smaller difference would just be how we rate players at each position. I think they are similar, but not quite the same.
Scottso14: How much work is involved for you to be able to put them all together?
gt9766b: The upfront work was the greatest time-consumer by far. I took some materials that gaheel84 had worked on, then began to expand on it with various macros to manipulate the data into formats that I could easily use for generating the rankings and tables that I do. I couldn�t begin to tell you how much time has gone into all of that... and I'm still making small changes and enhancements to this day. Even with the lion's share of the work being done for me by the macros, there's still a good amount of manual work that I do to get the rankings, then post them into the forums. It can take the better part of a morning, working on-and-off, to get everything done.
Scottso14: I always wondered how you guys get into the system and grab all that information. Being able to easily get that type of information, is there ever a chance someone can get in deep enough to actually get into our accounts and be able to see things like our settings or personal info?
gt9766b: I really hope not! Honestly, I'm only an amateur at things like this and I couldn't begin to comment on the effectiveness of WIS's security on their site.
Scottso14: I love the things you and guys like Paranoid add to the forums. What do you think of the forums as a whole?
gt9766b: I'm disappointed in recent events in the forums, but I can overlook all of that. To me, more troubling is the lack of activity in the forums. I always look forward to paranoid�s materials and to the times when I post my information, but in between, things are just really slow. It�d be nice to see a revitalization of activity in the world forums.
Scottso14: Do you spend a lot of time on the forums other than when you are posting your rankings?
gt9766b: I browse a little. Every once in a while, something will catch my attention that makes me want to post.
Scottso14: How much time a day do you get to spend on doing WIS stuff...rankings, game planning, forum surfing?
gt9766b: WAAAAAAY more than I should be. I will say that much. Haha.
Scottso14: How many teams are you comfortable running at one time?
gt9766b: During softball season, I would not try to do more than the three I am currently running. At times, I've had as many as five solo teams and two co-coached teams, but that was just too much for my schedule, between work, sports, a relationship and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life.
Scottso14: How did you find out about the WIS website?
gt9766b: gaheel84. We work together and spend time each day discussing things. He told me to check it out and here I am.
Scottso14: How did you come up with your user name?
gt9766b: I really should've done something different, but I'm lazy. It was my student login at Georgia Tech and it just stuck.
Scottso14: Do you play any other WIS games? If yes, which ones?
gt9766b: The only other game I've ever had any interest in at all was HBD. I played one season of it with a bunch of GD guys like plague, gaheel84, jeffkahleb, et al, but I didn't have the time to really get into the game. It requires (and deserves) a bigger time commitment than I was able to invest.
Scottso14: Have you played any games at other sites before coming to WIS?
gt9766b: The extent of my online gaming was Yahoo! Fantasy sports, where I was commissioner for various baseball, football, basketball and hockey leagues. But I'd never played simulation games before WIS.
Scottso14: Do you have any other WIS IDs that you use?
gt9766b: I do have one active alias that I'm using to coach my beloved Virginia State (D-II) team in Stagg, where I also have Georgia Tech (D-IA). Oh... the alias is "gt_deuce." I have, at various times, had other accounts -- lombirdie (co-coach with birdieparma), asics (co-coach with gaheel84) and az4lifenotr (co-coach with birdie, borrowed from the real az) -- but I just divested myself of all of those and now only coach under gt9766b (Stagg D-IA and Warner D-IAA) and gt_deuce (Stagg D-II).
Scottso14: What are some of your favorite GD moments?
gt9766b: Well, my very first NC with birdie at Virginia State was so sweet, but it was my first solo NC in Bryant D-II with Elizabeth City that had me giddy for about a week. Of course, all my �firsts� were great � first playoff appearance and first Conf. Aside from those rather obvious ones, getting to my alma mater of Georgia Tech in Stagg was really nice. It's a lot of fun being there.
Scottso14: Whats your best bit of advice for new coaches?
gt9766b: Read dukelegend's "GD Compass" thread in the main forum. It's packed with a lot of good insights and useful information. That would be a great start. After that, I'd say to ask lots of questions! Don't be afraid to sitemail some coaches that have had a lot of success. The worst they can do is tell you that can't/won't help... but I suspect most, if not all, will be more than happy to help a new coach. And finally, don't be afraid to experiment (even if it means losing) early. You're going to lose some games while you get the hang of it and sometimes finding out what doesn't work is just as valuable as finding out what does work.
Scottso14: What do you look for most when applying for new teams?
gt9766b: It depends on what I'm in that world for. In most cases, I would be looking at three things:
1) Existing talent - I use my rankings to give me this information
2) Recent success
3) Geographical location
If I'm trying to win early and often, I want a good group of SRs and JRs on the team, that can help me win the games in my first few seasons. I want some recent success (hopefully CCs and/or playoff wins) to give me the recruit visibility I need to stock the incoming classes with good talent. And finally, I want to be in a location where good recruits are plentiful. I don't want to be in a barren area and have to go long-distance for 95% of my recruits... that's just no fun.
Scottso14: Do you look to run all your teams the same way, or do you try to run each one differently?
gt9766b: I think it's no secret, to anyone who has coached against me, that I try to win by pounding the ball on the ground and playing a stingy defense. Just about all the teams I�ve ever coached have had that same theme. Recently, I've been experimenting in Warner with a more balanced set of formations and run/pass mixtures.
Scottso14: What kind of tips can you give our readers when it comes to recruiting?
gt9766b: Do. Your. Homework. (Ahead of time). At all levels, I fill my watch list with many, many recruits at each position of need. It's so much easier to search for them before it starts than it is during recruiting. Have a plan and stick to it. Don't overextend yourself, trying to get the best recruits you can see at every position -- determine a few "must-have" recruits and pursue them vigorously. Then, gradually fill in the remaining slots with players who may not be the best, but are still viable. Most importantly, try to remain very adaptable. The landscape changes each cycle and you have to allow for this. Stubborn recruiters are not going to succeed on a consistent basis.
Scottso14: What about advanced settings tips?
gt9766b: I don't really think I do anything terribly ground-breaking there. If I have a lot of depth, I play my levels pretty high (85-90); if I'm lacking depth, I bring them down somewhat lower (70-80). If it's a big game, against a human, I go high in the first half and lower them a bit for the second half (just like cravedogg has talked about).
Scottso14: Any special tips on how you like to spread out your practice minutes?
gt9766b: This is a subject of much debate in my own head. I've got a new theory that Team Practice gains importance as you get higher up within the divisions of the game. I typically practice two offenses, two defenses and special teams. If I'm particularly weak at a certain attribute within a given position, I'll concentrate my Individual Practice minutes such that it helps boost this weak area more than the other areas.
Scottso14: Anything you care to share on how you use your aggressiveness settings?
gt9766b: I spend a lot of time fretting over the aggressiveness settings. Basically, I've found that certain teams of mine play better under certain settings. I'm not sure of the reason why, to be honest. If I find a "sweet spot," I try not to stray from it too much until I absolutely need to.
I still don�t understand why certain things work, most of the time. I�ve played games where I was certain I nailed the defensive gameplan, only to have someone shred my team through the air. Then I flip it at the half and they can�t do anything. Why did this work? I have no clue. It�s all a little bit nebulous to me.
Scottso14: What teams in your opinion are the most successful on offense...All pass, all run, or balanced. Why?
gt9766b: I think it depends on which level you're at. At D-IA and D-IAA, run-heavy teams seem to be the most successful. I don't mean to say passing teams can't win, but it just seems to me that the RBs are so much more difficult to stop at those levels. At D-II and D-III, even the great running attacks can be slowed (if not stopped). At those levels, I think it's important to be able to pass the ball, so balanced teams seem to do better.
Scottso14: Which type do you fear playing against the most?
gt9766b: I fear the balanced teams the most. At least, they are the biggest headache to gameplan for. I still haven't figure out the perfect way to defend a team that can run and pass effectively out of one set, but I�m getting better at it.
Scottso14: Who are some of your favorite GD coaches?
gt9766b: I owe a great deal of my success to gaheel84. He got me started and shared tons of vital information with me in my early days and, having already been a very successful coach, this was a huge advantage to me. birdieparma is another one who I have to mention. He's a great coach and is always there to listen to my frustrations and vents. We've bounced lots of gameplanning ideas off of each other for a while now and it's helped me see things from a new perspective. Other coaches who have been a big help are plague, andynomore, jeffkahleb, and showrunner. I'm sorry if I'm forgetting anyone... there have been others, I'm sure.
Scottso14: Can you name a few coaches that you fear playing against the most?
gt9766b: Right now, I least want to play jeffkahleb/34jayhawk. Unfortunately for me, I just got done playing him three times in a single season, against his storied Princeton team in Stagg (three losses, of course). For my money, there isn't a better coach in GD today. gaheel84 and I have played more times than I can count and I think that all but two or three games (ever) were larger than a TD margin, with many going to OT. He knows all my tricks and it's so hard to gameplan. Others include plague, ddingo, and deandg (was that guy a nightmare to gameplan for, or what!?)
Scottso14: Do you have any long term GD goals?
gt9766b: Really, my only unachieved goal is to win a NC in D-IA with my Georgia Tech team. At that point, I would have achieved all my goals and the rest would just be the icing on the cake.
Scottso14: Is there anything else you'd like to add before we finish up?
gt9766b: I�d just like to thank you and the other guys for doing this interview series. It�s a lot of fun to read about all these other coaches and find out about the person behind the username. These types of �extras� are what help keep me interested in GD as a whole.
Thanks for the props Aaron, and thank you for taking the time to sit and chat with us. The pleasure was all mine.
Scott
