“Branding” and “Marketing” ...

RonJohn

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4,470
RonJohn, I just re-read your reply, and you mention that money was raised (separately from the current $125 million fund-raising effort) for additional recruiting staff from 4 to 8, for only two years.

How much money was raised in total for this two-year expansion of the recruiting staff?

It wasn't part of the $125 million, it was an effort that started in December of 2017 and ended (I believe) in early Feb. 2018. There was a separate drive that was based off of a donor that was willing to match on a 50% basis the first $400,000 raised. https://gtswarm.com/threads/message-from-gtaa.14067/ The large donor actually posted about this initiative on this site: https://gtswarm.com/threads/update-on-gt-fb-recruiting-initiative.14151/#post-390109

As of the late signing day in Feb. 2018, they had raised over $300,000 before the match. I believe they hit the $400,000 but I'm not sure when. They hired the people in Spring of 2018.
 

GTRambler

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1,557
It wasn't part of the $125 million, it was an effort that started in December of 2017 and ended (I believe) in early Feb. 2018. There was a separate drive that was based off of a donor that was willing to match on a 50% basis the first $400,000 raised. https://gtswarm.com/threads/message-from-gtaa.14067/ The large donor actually posted about this initiative on this site: https://gtswarm.com/threads/update-on-gt-fb-recruiting-initiative.14151/#post-390109

As of the late signing day in Feb. 2018, they had raised over $300,000 before the match. I believe they hit the $400,000 but I'm not sure when. They hired the people in Spring of 2018.

Thank you! I was not aware of it! I just missed reading all about it.

Clearly, there is a great need, in my opinion, to expand this recruiting staff from 8 to at least 10, and fully fund it on an annual basis thereafter.
 

GTRambler

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1,557
Not sure if this was mentioned, but my lame twitter account was just followed by two new tech accounts @_goldblooded20 and @BlackWatch which appear to be new GT football or CGCaccounts. I think coach is taking a lesson from the 2016 election and flooding social media with GT propaganda... if it works... good for him

That’s interesting. Could you please provide some links to these new social media accounts so we can read them here?
 

RonJohn

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4,470
Thank you! I was not aware of it! I just missed reading all about it.

Clearly, there is a great need, in my opinion, to expand this recruiting staff from 8 to at least 10, and fully fund it on an annual basis thereafter.

To put that in context, my understanding is that Duke's recruiting staff has 16 people. GT doubling their staff this year only put us at half of Duke's. DRad put a lot of money into facilities. MBob just let everything flounder. During that time everyone in the ACC except for GT and WF was pouring money into their football programs. I am excited that TStan has started the process of getting GT out of the cellar of ACC sports from a support standpoint. I think people really don't understand that from a funding and a support standpoint, the GT sports programs(most of them) should have been at the very bottom of the ACC.
 

GTRambler

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1,557
To put that in context, my understanding is that Duke's recruiting staff has 16 people. GT doubling their staff this year only put us at half of Duke's. DRad put a lot of money into facilities. MBob just let everything flounder. During that time everyone in the ACC except for GT and WF was pouring money into their football programs. I am excited that TStan has started the process of getting GT out of the cellar of ACC sports from a support standpoint. I think people really don't understand that from a funding and a support standpoint, the GT sports programs(most of them) should have been at the very bottom of the ACC.

Wow! I had no knowledge about this. Now I believe we need to expand the recruiting staff to 20! Or more...
 

jojatk

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1,348
1) You need a D1 level player
2) You need that player to be academically eligible to get admitted
3) They have to desire a major offered by Tech
4) They have to have the drive to stay academically eligible at Tech.
If you think those candidates are plentiful, you are delusional.

You post like you are the only one that took calculus...been there done that. I also attended another University after escaping Tech with a degree, and know first hand how vastly different the academic requirements are at Tech vs elsewhere.

No, I don't act like I'm the only one who took calculus. You act like nobody else can pass calculus. There's a very big difference. And guess what? I also attended other universities. And I understand extremely well what the differences are. I was also a tutor of football players while I was at GT AND I was a teaching assistant in which a football player or two (starters on a very good team) took part. You have incredibly low opinions of athletes. That's the problem. It's not that I'm delusional. You've bought the story that GT is too different, too limited, too small, too hard to be attractive to good athletes. But there are lots of good athletes out there and they play for lots of schools. And the can meet and exceed all the points you have made.

The difference between us is that I see opportunities to shoot for success. You see unassailable and unclimbable walls. You've been programmed to believe that there aren't many kids who want to be here. And in the last 11 years you've certainly had evidence that suggests that may be true. We didn't spend much money on recruiting and we didn't have much in the way of charisma coming from our head coach. He's a brilliant football man but he isn't the best salesman in the world. Not a knock on him. He just isn't. And when you combine that with the fact that our AA didn't give him the kind of support he needed to get to enough players who may be interested you have a recipe for declining talent levels. And that's what we saw. Had CPJ gotten for all the last 11 years the kind of infusion of funds that we are starting to see then he might have even been able to recruit better.

Yes, we have limitations. But the kids are out there who want the Ferrari of degrees, not the Chevy. And we need to do a better job of selling our program as the Ferrari. And we need to do a better job of finding those kids who want the Ferrari, can handle the Ferrari, and are willing to work hard enough to get it. They are out there.
 

GTRambler

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Messages
1,557
No, I don't act like I'm the only one who took calculus. You act like nobody else can pass calculus. There's a very big difference. And guess what? I also attended other universities. And I understand extremely well what the differences are. I was also a tutor of football players while I was at GT AND I was a teaching assistant in which a football player or two (starters on a very good team) took part. You have incredibly low opinions of athletes. That's the problem. It's not that I'm delusional. You've bought the story that GT is too different, too limited, too small, too hard to be attractive to good athletes. But there are lots of good athletes out there and they play for lots of schools. And the can meet and exceed all the points you have made.

The difference between us is that I see opportunities to shoot for success. You see unassailable and unclimbable walls. You've been programmed to believe that there aren't many kids who want to be here. And in the last 11 years you've certainly had evidence that suggests that may be true. We didn't spend much money on recruiting and we didn't have much in the way of charisma coming from our head coach. He's a brilliant football man but he isn't the best salesman in the world. Not a knock on him. He just isn't. And when you combine that with the fact that our AA didn't give him the kind of support he needed to get to enough players who may be interested you have a recipe for declining talent levels. And that's what we saw. Had CPJ gotten for all the last 11 years the kind of infusion of funds that we are starting to see then he might have even been able to recruit better.

Yes, we have limitations. But the kids are out there who want the Ferrari of degrees, not the Chevy. And we need to do a better job of selling our program as the Ferrari. And we need to do a better job of finding those kids who want the Ferrari, can handle the Ferrari, and are willing to work hard enough to get it. They are out there.

Yes.

And certainly, a much greater and expanded recruiting staff can find—and offer, and land—a greater number of top-notch high school football recruits to Georgia Tech. Yes, they are out there.
 

Animal02

Banned
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6,269
Location
Southeastern Michigan
No, I don't act like I'm the only one who took calculus. You act like nobody else can pass calculus. There's a very big difference. And guess what? I also attended other universities. And I understand extremely well what the differences are. I was also a tutor of football players while I was at GT AND I was a teaching assistant in which a football player or two (starters on a very good team) took part. You have incredibly low opinions of athletes. That's the problem. It's not that I'm delusional. You've bought the story that GT is too different, too limited, too small, too hard to be attractive to good athletes. But there are lots of good athletes out there and they play for lots of schools. And the can meet and exceed all the points you have made.

The difference between us is that I see opportunities to shoot for success. You see unassailable and unclimbable walls. You've been programmed to believe that there aren't many kids who want to be here. And in the last 11 years you've certainly had evidence that suggests that may be true. We didn't spend much money on recruiting and we didn't have much in the way of charisma coming from our head coach. He's a brilliant football man but he isn't the best salesman in the world. Not a knock on him. He just isn't. And when you combine that with the fact that our AA didn't give him the kind of support he needed to get to enough players who may be interested you have a recipe for declining talent levels. And that's what we saw. Had CPJ gotten for all the last 11 years the kind of infusion of funds that we are starting to see then he might have even been able to recruit better.

Yes, we have limitations. But the kids are out there who want the Ferrari of degrees, not the Chevy. And we need to do a better job of selling our program as the Ferrari. And we need to do a better job of finding those kids who want the Ferrari, can handle the Ferrari, and are willing to work hard enough to get it. They are out there.
What is comical with all your ranting is that you come around to what many of us have been saying for a long time.
No one has said that Tech cannot be attractive to good athletes.......they simply have to be good students as well AND WANT TO MAJOR IN ONE OF OUR LIMITED DEGREE OFFERINGS.
This makes finding those athletes like finding the needles in the haystacks. Anyone with a clue has been saying the recruiting budget is vastly underfunded.
HC's are typically the closers, there needs to be boots on the ground in the first place. Another post cited Duke as having 16 recruiting staff compared to our 2. You really think that a new HC will make a difference with that disparity?

BTW, no one has said athletes cannot pass calculus.......it is a matter of them WANTING to take it in the first place.
Next time, try to build a better straw man.
 

takethepoints

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5,872
I don’t disagree with your main point, but ... I worked with Apple and all I can say is ... don’t believe everything you hear. Several products that become blockbusters were total accidents. The iPod was conceived in Steve’s office and was a copy of a competitor product.

Still, Apple hires the best copywriters in the business. Their promotion and attention to detail is without equal.

GTAA could learn a lot from Apple. But probably won’t.
This is not unusual for any tech company. The reason the accidents became blockbusters for Apple is that Steve decided that, even if they didn't know it yet, people wanted them and put the resources of the company behind them. That's what we probably can't replicate for the football program. The whole of college football is so basically conservative and hidebound that doing something like Steve did regularly for his products is very unusual; see the last 11 years at Tech and the fanatical resistance to the spread option in major college ranks. It's a lot like the way players in the NBA have steadfastly refused to shoot foul shots underhanded, despite Rick Berry hitting on 96% of his free throws in his career and being willing to teach anyone how to do it. They don't deny that the underhand style works, but they don't want to "look funny" to other players and teams.

Well, now we'll see if going along with the consensus on offensive styles and, literally, becoming like everyone else is going to work. I hope for our sakes that it does and that we'll be willing to pony up to make the effort.
 

okiemon

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Messages
1,746
Gold1, thanks for sharing the Bookstore email response. Glad you have let them know your preference for more gold gear. The part of their response that says they have many gold items from other brands besides Adidas is BS. There is literally almost none by any brand. I would put it at about 10%. I could care less if the gear is from Adidas. Personally, I think that Adidas is crap. Champion is just fine by me, since they are one of the few brands that will actually still make a shirt of freaking cotton (GASP!!!).

I agree with that last statement. I prefer plain old cotton to all of the synthetics, blends, and wicking materials.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

GTpdm

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,855
Location
Atlanta GA
Thank you! I was not aware of it! I just missed reading all about it.

Clearly, there is a great need, in my opinion, to expand this recruiting staff from 8 to at least 10, and fully fund it on an annual basis thereafter.
My prior understanding about the two-year funding basis for the recruiting drive was that it was intended to tide us over until P*** H•••••’s contract (finally) expired, later this year. Starting in our next FY we’ll be able to continue/expand those recruiting positions via the funds freed up by no longer having to pay PH not to coach.
 

GTpdm

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Messages
1,855
Location
Atlanta GA
Yes, we have limitations. But the kids are out there who want the Ferrari of degrees, not the Chevy. And we need to do a better job of selling our program as the Ferrari. And we need to do a better job of finding those kids who want the Ferrari, can handle the Ferrari, and are willing to work hard enough to get it. They are out there.
Actually, comparing our academic program to those that the factories foist on their players (lookin at you, Athens GA and Chapel Hill NC), it’s more like comparing a Ferrari to a Huffy:

150FEBEF-BDEA-44A0-BE18-070DE7A63945.jpeg
 

GTRambler

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Messages
1,557
My prior understanding about the two-year funding basis for the recruiting drive was that it was intended to tide us over until P*** H•••••’s contract (finally) expired, later this year. Starting in our next FY we’ll be able to continue/expand those recruiting positions via the funds freed up by no longer having to pay PH not to coach.

That is interesting! It makes sense to me. Thank you for posting.
 

GTRambler

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Messages
1,557
Actually, comparing our academic program to those that the factories foist on their players (lookin at you, Athens GA and Chapel Hill NC), it’s more like comparing a Ferrari to a Huffy:

View attachment 4901

Hahahahaha

Boy. That is true. And it’s all the more amazing that CPJ won the number of games he did over the past 11 years while riding this damn GT Huffy.

Amazing. Just amazing. What a coach, and what a man.
 

bobongo

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7,029
I googled it and found it: the AJC published an article about it last January. It was $300,000.

Here it is:

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/...ting-staff-nearly-met/gqy0S1hsX6vjVEKAJIQJrK/

A pittance compared to the $125,000,000 raised for facilities, but at least we've moving in the right direction, if at glacial speed. We need the facilities, but $ spent on recruiting will provide a greater return faster and be far more effective and much more immediately effective than facilities. Couldn't we spend $124,000,000 instead of $125.000.000 on facilities and put the other million into recruiting? A lot of hurry-up in recruiting expenditures would only result in a tiny slow-down in facilities, or so it would seem.
 

jojatk

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1,348
Go talk to 50 random high school football players and discuss our degrees with them. Then get back to us on how many feel the same as you about those degrees and classes.

I think your eyes will be opened.

Actually for the last 4 years my kids have both been in high school and not a single one of the football players I’ve ever met has even mentioned our degree programs (one of them played for Minnesota). They have mentioned our offense quite a bit. But I’m sure people don’t want to hear that.

My expectation isn’t that we will be raking in the 4 and 5 star players. My expectation is that we can recruit incrementally better to bring in a few more solid players per year so that we can have a lineup that doesn’t drop off precipitously when one of our starters leaves the game. I also expect to be able to bring in a couple of more difference makers. We are never going to outrecruit or even come close to recruiting on the same level as the factories. I just feel we are able to do better and do ourselves a TREMENDOUS disservice by treating what we have to offer as second class.
 

jojatk

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Messages
1,348
What is comical with all your ranting is that you come around to what many of us have been saying for a long time.
No one has said that Tech cannot be attractive to good athletes.......they simply have to be good students as well AND WANT TO MAJOR IN ONE OF OUR LIMITED DEGREE OFFERINGS.
This makes finding those athletes like finding the needles in the haystacks. Anyone with a clue has been saying the recruiting budget is vastly underfunded.
HC's are typically the closers, there needs to be boots on the ground in the first place. Another post cited Duke as having 16 recruiting staff compared to our 2. You really think that a new HC will make a difference with that disparity?

BTW, no one has said athletes cannot pass calculus.......it is a matter of them WANTING to take it in the first place.
Next time, try to build a better straw man.

I’m pretty sure that nothing I’ve said even remotely qualifies as “ranting.” You’re the one doing all the insulting and that’s much closer to ranting. Plenty of people have said we can’t attract good athletes and we have always agreed that kids need to want to major in one of our degree offerings. I believe that many people here don’t really give what we have the credit for what it is.

We also have agreed from day 1 that we need more resources. Had you read what I have said you would have known that I already mentioned that CGC will benefit from the increased resources that CPJ was just starting to get. So I’ve always recognized we need more resources. I personally believe CPJ isn’t as good a closer as some others. That’s my belief.

All I keep seeing is why we CAN’T succeed. I choose to try and find the ways we can succeed and if all we need is one or two better players per year then that’s not a HUGE number. With the increased resources I think CGC WILL do a better job recruiting than CPJ and his staff. And maybe if CPJ had gotten them sooner and in greater quantity (better and more resources) maybe he would have done better, too.
 
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