Any news?? (stage 3: press coverage)

[Js-showman]

I'm doing my part, I'm not longer going to be an enabler. I flushed the crack down the toilet & am not giving Stansbury money to go buy more. Pease join me.

Already have. Throwing your money into this dumpster fire isn’t productive. Withdrawing is. If GT is putting 50,000 in the stands with these results, what’s the incentive to fix it?

 

[Jacket4Life]

I have a good friend who played on the OLine for the 1990 team. He is the biggest die hard Tech fan I know. He is so disgusted with the program that he refuses to watch. That's just sad.

 

[Jazzchaz]

Before the season? Talk about being unsure in himself

I think he bought a bigger one!

This isn't meant to be a comparison to Johnson: We were VERY close to making the CFP in 2014 while the AD at the time was actively working against the football team. (likely at the request of some of the boosters) There were three games on conference championship Saturday that if they went a certain way GT could have been in the playoffs. Alabama and Ohio State couldn't have just lost, they would have had to have been blown out. That Saturday morning it was extremely unlikely that every game would turnout just right to get Tech into the playoffs, but we were on the edge the day before the selections.

In the Duke game, after a targeting call and a very bad interference call got Tech down early, they totally dominated the rest of the game. Tech 'only' scored 25 points, our LOWEST total for the year! During the 4th quarter of the N.C. game, both teams were trading TD's. Tech ran to the left and scored, only to have it brought back because a lineman on the right moved early. So Tech settled for a field goal and Carolina took the last drive down the field to score and win.
So you're right. We were a lot closer to the playoffs than a lot of folks realize. So hard to believe that was less than 10 years ago......

 

[GoldZ]

This isn't meant to be a comparison to Johnson: We were VERY close to making the CFP in 2014 while the AD at the time was actively working against the football team. (likely at the request of some of the boosters) There were three games on conference championship Saturday that if they went a certain way GT could have been in the playoffs. Alabama and Ohio State couldn't have just lost, they would have had to have been blown out. That Saturday morning it was extremely unlikely that every game would turnout just right to get Tech into the playoffs, but we were on the edge the day before the selections.
outaBIGpartof
I am convinced that the actions of that AD have a lot to do with the decline after 2014 and have led to the current state of the program. We were very close only eight years ago. It is possible to get to that level again. It takes more than a very good coach. It takes more than very good players. It takes more than a supportive athletic association. It takes more than high level boosters who donate and stay out of the way. It takes more than fans who buy tickets, support the team financially, and cheer for the team in the stands. It takes all of those thing together. While we are complaining about some of those pieces, let's not forget our part in that equation.

Good post RonJohn! You left out a key part of what it takes......Cabrerra.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

You know what if we jsut fired him.... and took it to court argueing he was a major fraud?

We'd lose. Contract law is fairly well established.

 

[Vespidae]

To those that talk about fixing GT football.
It's been broken for years, was broken under CPJ and Galey. CPJ often talked a lot about the funding , facilities and the general lack of fanbase.
But a lot can be cured by bringing excitement back to the program as well as winning.
If you take collins excitement and vision and apply that to another coach that actually knows how to deliver on his promises , the program can rebound.
Whats frustrating now is that you have both GSUs in the state that could probably beat tech , and probably draw more fans

The issues facing GT Athletics is way beyond simply getting a new coach.

 

[85Escape]

We'd lose. Contract law is fairly well established.

Yeah. Unlike tort law, which is the wild west if you can get a jury trial. I say GT sues him for something in civil court...maybe Civil Theft or Fraud and get it to a jury in a very GT friendly court! Or at the very least a Fashion Court!

 

[CEB]

Yeah. Unlike tort law, which is the wild west if you can get a jury trial. I say GT sues him for something in civil court...maybe Civil Theft or Fraud and get it to a jury in a very GT friendly court! Or at the very least a Fashion Court!

Good luck getting a jury of our peers in THIS state!

 

[90sJacketsFan]

The issues facing GT Athletics is way beyond simply getting a new coach.

I agree and I can really only point to Tennessee athletics for reference. Things seem to be progressing since they replaced the president, chancellor and AD.

 

[85Escape]

I agree and I can really only point to Tennessee athletics for reference. Things seem to be progressing since they replaced the president, chancellor and AD.

Unfortunately that's not our situation....the BOR in Tennessee wants Tennessee to do well in sports as well as academically...

 

[tomknight]

Actually, I think that’s the lions share of the discussion. Its not about enrichment, it’s about exception.

My daughter played college sports. Her teammates called the non-athletes "normies", because they had normal college lives. The athletes were totally separated from the normal students, other than during some interactions in class.

They ate separate, had other athletes as roommates (not necessarily from their own team, but most roomed with teammates), they hung out socially (in the very little time they had for that), they trained constantly together, either organized or on their own.

And, this was a non-revenue sport. Imagine how that must be in the semi-pro sports.

 

[Vespidae]

My daughter played college sports. Her teammates called the non-athletes "normies", because they had normal college lives. The athletes were totally separated from the normal students, other than during some interactions in class.

They ate separate, had other athletes as roommates (not necessarily from their own team, but most roomed with teammates), they hung out socially (in the very little time they had for that), they trained constantly together, either organized or on their own.

And, this was a non-revenue sport. Imagine how that must be in the semi-pro sports.

My golf instructor has several students on the Texas team. The golf course is about 40 min from campus and apparently, there is classroom building there. He said a lot of those students (and Texas has an awesome golf program) have never set foot on the main campus. They play golf and instruction comes to them.

Auburn is pretty much what you describe. There are the athletic dorms, athletic dining, athletic training facilities ... the only interaction athletes have with the standard population is during class.

 

[RamblinRed]

IMO this year is already a sunk cost. So while I want a coaching change, i'm willing to wait until the season concludes for that to happen (I don't feel like it is worth $3.3MM for a cash strapped AA to remove the coach with 66 days left).

GT AA's issues run much deeper - basically going back to DRad's building explosion.
GT is currently paying $14MM per year on debt servicing - that is more than the AA spends each year on scholarships.
After 2022 GT AA still has over $300MM in debt to pay off, with a huge payoff coming in 2023 ($33MM principal payment - must have a note coming due).

I'm afraid having to pay his full contract will simply further cause issues in trying to hire a replacement, as you are basically taking more than a $1MM off the table for the next 3 years that could be used for the new staff.

I'm worried that if we pay that extra $3.3MM it will be like the MBB program where we had to make inexpensive hires because that is all we could afford.

 

[g0lftime]

Burrow said he took all his senior year classes at LSU on-line. Never set foot on campus other than FB practice.

 

[85Escape]

My golf instructor has several students on the Texas team. The golf course is about 40 min from campus and apparently, there is classroom building there. He said a lot of those students (and Texas has an awesome golf program) have never set foot on the main campus. They play golf and instruction comes to them.

Auburn is pretty much what you describe. There are the athletic dorms, athletic dining, athletic training facilities ... the only interaction athletes have with the standard population is during class.

That's so sad to hear. I didn't realize. Wow. What a state of affairs. Maybe we should outlaw college non-club sports and get back to focusing on education in our, you know, educational institutions.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

GT AA's issues run much deeper - basically going back to DRad's building explosion GOLs stadium expansion.

FIFY.

 

[Vespidae]

IMO this year is already a sunk cost. So while I want a coaching change, i'm willing to wait until the season concludes for that to happen (I don't feel like it is worth $3.3MM for a cash strapped AA to remove the coach with 66 days left).

GT AA's issues run much deeper - basically going back to DRad's building explosion.
GT is currently paying $14MM per year on debt servicing - that is more than the AA spends each year on scholarships.
After 2022 GT AA still has over $300MM in debt to pay off, with a huge payoff coming in 2023 ($33MM principal payment - must have a note coming due).

I'm afraid having to pay his full contract will simply further cause issues in trying to hire a replacement, as you are basically taking more than a $1MM off the table for the next 3 years that could be used for the new staff.

I'm worried that if we pay that extra $3.3MM it will be like the MBB program where we had to make inexpensive hires because that is all we could afford.

In a way, it's good that we are so heavily in debt. If the BoT had any interest in ending sports, the GTAA would have to declare bankruptcy. The only way to pay the debt off is to maintain athletics as a going concern.

I have a relationship with a small-ish college with a religious affiliation. In the old days, many of the faculty representatives on say, the athletic committee, had not only played sports themselves, but also coached them. It was not uncommon to take Physics and then go to batting practice where the professor is coaching the baseball team.

That is long gone.

They installed a more recent BoT who went down the path of expanding their social justice initiatives, climate change initiatives, etc etc. This left less money for academics so the business office began raising tuition ... to really absurd levels. Incoming freshman plummeted and they had to cut expenses in facilities, faculty, etc.

I asked them, "Hey, you are supposed to be teaching kids. Why not use your cash flow for that?" No. They had a new community mission. Creating social justice warriors was more important.

Today, that school (150 years old) is in dire straights and will likely close. Several board members resigned and said, "Don't call me. You guys cannot run a school. You've run this one into the ground."

That's how I feel about the GTAA and it's oversight of the GT athletics. They want to use $$$ to create "future service leaders" instead of creating winning and financially responsible sports programs.

I'm looking ahead and pessimistic. We are in an age where the lack of subject matter expertise is going to seriously weigh on Tech. Replacing Collins isn't going to fix much of anything. We need a massive restructuring.

 

[Vespidae]

That's so sad to hear. I didn't realize. Wow. What a state of affairs. Maybe we should outlaw college non-club sports and get back to focusing on education in our, you know, educational institutions.

No. College athletics is a multi-billion dollar industry and it's getting bigger every year. Everyone wants their cut.

I can envision a day when UGA is generating so much cash from athletics that .... <insert nightmare scenario here>.

 

[Jim Prather]

You're probably a youngster. He coached when men didn't wear face masks, like before them cellphone thingys and imagine this- before people listened to games on the radio & they hadn't even gotten a black & white tv yet either. There were no remote controls and no cable tv, laundry got washed on a rock by the river.

Does this bring back fond memories.

 

[Vespidae]

Does this bring back fond memories.

I remember listening to Leonard's Losers on the radio before catching the radio broadcast of the game. We used to walk down to the Post Office (not the Postal Service) because they had little wallet sized cards with the team schedule, radio affiliation/frequency and broadcast time.