2020 Team Talent Composite

[Augusta_Jacket]

It would be nice but that would entail repeated top ten recruiting classes, a supine administration, major attention to identifying every aspect of the program that needs improvement and throwing money at it until it is fixed, boatloads of money to pay players, pay for outrageous locker rooms, weight rooms, and various other eye candy. I can't see that happening at Tech or at 100 other college football programs. UGA is top shelf football factory now and nothing will stop it for foreseeable future.

I didn't say we'd get there, but rather that's what we are aspiring to. At least, that's what we've been led to believe by the current staff. Otherwise, "elite" loses its lustre...

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I guess I look at things differently than u do. I accept reality that GT being in the top 5 in recruiting every year is not a realistic goal for GT. Accept reality. Is 6 wins over 2 years acceptable ?- heck no. Is Uga regularly finishing outside the CFB acceptable? - shouldn't be. Reailistically, GT should be able to win enough for bowl games with an occasional exceptional year above that. UGA should be in the CFP picture almost every year and make CFP regularly. Has UGA done that? No - Has GT fallen back such that not a bowl team anymore? Yes Both GT and UGA need to improve. But expecting GT to be on a level of UGA year in and year out is a pipe dream and unrealistic for many reasons, Money being the biggest reason .

I agree. You missed the point. I was arguing that we would love to be in their shoes. I have very little expectation that we will ever get there.

 

[slugboy]

We have multiple topics going here, and it might make sense to split off the game attendance and financial discussions from the team talent composite discussion. Possibly we'll fork a new thread from this shortly.

Regarding Talent Composite

• It looks like we've increased the "blue-chip" aspect of the team over the last two seasons, and with transfers even more so.
• We're young, and we probably need to "get old/stay old" on the lines and other positions, aside from the occasional underclassman either in the rotation or starting. That may happen next season or the year after.
• We've gotten some big recruits in key positions, but we haven't hit at all key positions yet. Talent Composite doesn't show everything. If you're top 5 in talent composite, you're probably loaded everywhere. We aren't loaded everywhere yet, but we're making progress
• Scheme and coaching is still important.

Regarding attendance:

• In the NFL, NBA, MLB, and elsewhere, attendance is down, even pre-COVID. People prefer their living rooms and their big TVs.
• In places where attendance is strong, the game is an event. Think Atlanta United, and the crowd participation. Think some of the big NCAA games with trucks of free beer outside (yes, I got free beer at another stadium--it happens. I actually got several free beers from a real vendor with a beer truck).
• Todd Stansbury had plans for changing the game experience at the stadium. We'll have to, in order for people to show up. That's not a Georgia Tech problem, that's not an NCAA problem, that's a sports problem.
• The NBA is trying to amplify the game experience for fans, and attendance numbers were still sketchy pre-COVID.
• My bet is that more traditional fans will hate a lot of the game experience changes. Some of it will feel like "Money Down". People in the stands will be standing. Sitting will be for sky boxes.

 

[JacketRacket]

People in the stands will be standing. Sitting will be for sky boxes.

A man can dream.

The game experience is something that I think ADTS should be applauded for. From beer sales in stadium (plus the 404 tailgate outside the stadium is actually pretty nice) to the Russ Chandler reno, it's never been an easier sell to my wife or friends to go to a game. There's been a clear focus on building up our sidewalk fanbase from both him and CGC, that I'm hoping will lead to some long term attendance improvements.

Along the lines of the arms race of college athletics, I haven't heard much in the past year about AI2020. Googling shows we hit our goal (total, but not all categories), but I didn't see any press releases or the like. I'm guessing COVID has changed how that money will be allocated, but it'd be interesting to see how

 

[slugboy]

A man can dream.

The game experience is something that I think ADTS should be applauded for. From beer sales in stadium (plus the 404 tailgate outside the stadium is actually pretty nice) to the Russ Chandler reno, it's never been an easier sell to my wife or friends to go to a game. There's been a clear focus on building up our sidewalk fanbase from both him and CGC, that I'm hoping will lead to some long term attendance improvements.

Along the lines of the arms race of college athletics, I haven't heard much in the past year about AI2020. Googling shows we hit our goal (total, but not all categories), but I didn't see any press releases or the like. I'm guessing COVID has changed how that money will be allocated, but it'd be interesting to see how

I think that's a combo of Stansbury doing all he can to keep the lights on this year and pay the bills, with the limitations imposed on him by state laws and regulations, plus the bad optics of bragging about fundraising in a year that you're having to furlough people to be able to pay the bills.

I'm not sure about how we really stand regarding the AI2020 initiative. I'm just saying that if we are making our numbers there, this might not be the right time to publicize it.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I think that's a combo of Stansbury doing all he can to keep the lights on this year and pay the bills, with the limitations imposed on him by state laws and regulations, plus the bad optics of bragging about fundraising in a year that you're having to furlough people to be able to pay the bills.

I'm not sure about how we really stand regarding the AI2020 initiative. I'm just saying that if we are making our numbers there, this might not be the right time to publicize it.

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. We are currently just over $5 million shy of our $125 million goal. Had it not been for COVID, we likely would have already surpassed our goal. As it stands, the money that was raised was designated (mostly) for capital expenditures, so it cannot be legally diverted to pay salaries. This is why the GTAA has been hitting up STHs and donors pretty routinely for donations in order to keep staff employed through the pandemic. Bragging about how much we raised for EDGE center renovation and new locker rooms would be pretty tone deaf.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

We have multiple topics going here, and it might make sense to split off the game attendance and financial discussions from the team talent composite discussion. Possibly we'll fork a new thread from this shortly.

Regarding Talent Composite

• It looks like we've increased the "blue-chip" aspect of the team over the last two seasons, and with transfers even more so.
• We're young, and we probably need to "get old/stay old" on the lines and other positions, aside from the occasional underclassman either in the rotation or starting. That may happen next season or the year after.
• We've gotten some big recruits in key positions, but we haven't hit at all key positions yet. Talent Composite doesn't show everything. If you're top 5 in talent composite, you're probably loaded everywhere. We aren't loaded everywhere yet, but we're making progress
• Scheme and coaching is still important.

Regarding attendance:

• In the NFL, NBA, MLB, and elsewhere, attendance is down, even pre-COVID. People prefer their living rooms and their big TVs.
• In places where attendance is strong, the game is an event. Think Atlanta United, and the crowd participation. Think some of the big NCAA games with trucks of free beer outside (yes, I got free beer at another stadium--it happens. I actually got several free beers from a real vendor with a beer truck).
• Todd Stansbury had plans for changing the game experience at the stadium. We'll have to, in order for people to show up. That's not a Georgia Tech problem, that's not an NCAA problem, that's a sports problem.
• The NBA is trying to amplify the game experience for fans, and attendance numbers were still sketchy pre-COVID.
• My bet is that more traditional fans will hate a lot of the game experience changes. Some of it will feel like "Money Down". People in the stands will be standing. Sitting will be for sky boxes.

"Scheme and coaching is still important" You bet it is. Auburn was playing Northwestern, a team that won only 3 games last year, a team that over the past 4 recruiting cycles had a best year of 47th ranking with the others in the mid 50s and below. Yet somehow they managed to beat Auburn a team loaded with talent by comparison. Guys were running free all over the place to the point that Northwestern's quarterback's main problem was picking which open receiver to throw the ball to. Gee, get embarrassed with all that SEC speed and have to pay millions to a former coach what a pity.

 

[okiemon]

It would be nice but that would entail repeated top ten recruiting classes, a supine administration, major attention to identifying every aspect of the program that needs improvement and throwing money at it until it is fixed, boatloads of money to pay players, pay for outrageous locker rooms, weight rooms, and various other eye candy. I can't see that happening at Tech or at 100 other college football programs. UGA is top shelf football factory now and nothing will stop it for foreseeable future.

I think if we did all of those things EXCEPT paying players, we’d do pretty well.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I think if we did all of those things EXCEPT paying players, we’d do pretty well.

Paying players is more important.