Ceiling of the Program

True2GT

Georgia Tech Fan
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54
Gtswifty81 said:
I think we can be a perennial top 25 team with an occasional top 10. We had a stretch under O’Leary where we were ranked AP top 25 for 5 years in a row. There is no reason we can’t get back to that point with the local high school football talent and good recruiting.
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That would get us into playoff contention every once in a while. Kind of Wisconsin level.
 

684Bee

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Vespidae said:
We are basically a break even program, with a small fanbase and limited resources.
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Doesn’t have to stay that way. The school has a $1.5B endowment. GT alums are successful and generous. The GTAA has just been terrible about going after it.

Time for all of us to stop sitting back and waiting on them. Take the initiative and sign up for a multi-year pledge. Whatever amount. This way, the GTAA can know what they’ve got coming in, not just this year, but a few years out, and they’ll be able to pull the trigger on actually doing some things.
 
Vespidae

Vespidae

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684Bee said:
Doesn’t have to stay that way. The school has a $1.5B endowment. GT alums are successful and generous. The GTAA has just been terrible about going after it.

Time for all of us to stop sitting back and waiting on them. Take the initiative and sign up for a multi-year pledge. Whatever amount. This way, the GTAA can know what they’ve got coming in, not just this year, but a few years out, and they’ll be able to pull the trigger on actually doing some things.
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The school has an endowment, the GTAA does not.

Did it change after we won a Natty? No. Why do we expect it suddenly will?
 

gtcrew

Jolly Good Fellow
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The ceiling is Miami, which means there is no ceiling. We have every bit the resources, local fanbase, and nearby recruits that Miami has.
 

gtcrew

Jolly Good Fellow
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Vespidae said:
There’s really no reason Tech can’t go 12-0 every year. If we can get in the Top 5 recruiting, get lucky on injuries and schedule, and put in winning schemes with a $300 million football budget ... we should be in the CFB playoffs every year.

Delusional. We will be fortunate to go 8-4 and a decent bowl. We are basically a break even program, with a small fanbase and limited resources. To increase our spend even 10% would Herculean.

8-4 is Top 30. If we can be consistent at that level, that’s an accomplishment.
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Miami was a juggernaut without a factory budget. All we have to do is leverage the hometown and distinguish our brand and culture like they did. We are doing that.
 

MountainBuzzMan

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gtcrew said:
The ceiling is Miami, which means there is no ceiling. We have every bit the resources, local fanbase, and nearby recruits that Miami has.
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Miami has majors to put their athletes. We dont. This alone is a huge difference. That Calc book will always be dropped on the recruits table by our opponents. Also, dont underestimate the newish rule of progress toward graduation. A significant new barrier that Oleary did not have to deal with.

We are currently in one of the toughest spots since the late 80's athletically. I do feel like it is time for the school to step up and offer a few more majors. We need a liberal arts degree
 

HouseDivided

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201
Gtswifty81 said:
I think we can be a perennial top 25 team with an occasional top 10. We had a stretch under O’Leary where we were ranked AP top 25 for 5 years in a row. There is no reason we can’t get back to that point with the local high school football talent and good recruiting.
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Agreed. I'd say if we can get our recruiting where it needs to be, no reason we shouldn't be a top 15 program. The TO under CPJ hurt us on both sides. Now we have something to sell the better recruits.
 

gtcrew

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None of that scary academics crap from the 90s is true anymore. GT is no longer the flunkout sink/swim school we all went through. Almost anyone who has the motivation to develop themselves into an elite high school football player while staying eligible while taking college prep classes can survive our MTrain.
 

gtcrew

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LibertyTurns said:
We’re about as different as Miami as a hen is to a rooster.
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DNA wise those are as close to eachother as two animals can get.

The three critical similarities:
1. Smaller school with graduates spread nationally. (So smaller attendance and correspondingly smaller budget floor)
2. Located in a major city that has a top tier density of high school football talent. (Thats extremely rare for a P5 school)
3. A focus on having a unique culture and brand. (thats new and its why we can do what Miami did)

Our school brand is very different than Miami, but our team brand is not as different as one might think. Miami was certainly about competition and development. It appeared they were also focused on family and fun, although they seemed to have a gangbanger vibe we dont have whatsoever.

We overemphasize school size. Most of the biggest bulldog fans I know did not go to Georgia. Everyone knows Miami was a bandwagon of fans that had a high percentage that did not go to school there. If you accept a status quo where we are limited in our fan reach largely to graduates then we might have a ceiling below Bama and Clemson as some are arguing here. I dont accept that status quo. I do not see any reason we cannot achieve, fairly rapidly, a huge casual/sidewalk fanbase, plenty big enough to compete at the top, if we successfully claim the ATL/404.
 

JacketOff

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gtcrew said:
DNA wise those are as close to eachother as two animals can get.

The three critical similarities:
1. Smaller school with graduates spread nationally. (So smaller attendance and correspondingly smaller budget floor)
2. Located in a major city that has a top tier density of high school football talent. (Thats extremely rare for a P5 school)
3. A focus on having a unique culture and brand. (thats new and its why we can do what Miami did)

Our school brand is very different than Miami, but our team brand is not as different as one might think. Miami was certainly about competition and development. It appeared they were also focused on family and fun, although they seemed to have a gangbanger vibe we dont have whatsoever.

We overemphasize school size. Most of the biggest bulldog fans I know did not go to Georgia. Everyone knows Miami was a bandwagon of fans that had a high percentage that did not go to school there. If you accept a status quo where we are limited in our fan reach largely to graduates then we might have a ceiling below Bama and Clemson as some are arguing here. I dont accept that status quo. I do not see any reason we cannot achieve, fairly rapidly, a huge casual/sidewalk fanbase, plenty big enough to compete at the top, if we successfully claim the ATL/404.
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In order for Tech to gain any substantial amount of fans, we’ll have to start winning 8-9 consistently, playing in the ACCCG consistently, and most of all UGAg will have to fall from their pedestal. Nobody wants to cheer for the 8-4 team when there’s an 11-1 team right down the road that consistently beats the 8-4 team. It’s also important to start beating Clemson and Georgia relatively consistently. Going 1-2 against both of them every 3 years would be huge to get Tech recognition both regionally and nationally. It sounds simple on paper, but there’s such a large gap between those 2 programs and Tech it would be a massive accomplishment. A team like Iowa who almost always wins 8-9 games is pretty universally recognized as a solid program, mostly because they beat at least one of the B1G’s best every year (Mich, OSU, PSU, Wisc).
 

684Bee

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Vespidae said:
Why is it going to change? Is the Hill going to suddenly embrace athletics? Is the alumni base going to suddenly start attending games? Are merchandising sales going to take off?

Why?
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Because many of us are going to decide to start funding football more. It’s already happening.
 

swarmer

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There is no ceiling with the talent that is within 50 miles of campus. Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields all came out of our backyard; keep a guy like that home and we can win it all with the right mix around him.

Recruit well and we can be a 7-10 win team every year in our conference. Add in an elite QB and we can do anything.
 

gtcrew

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WreckinGT said:
7-9 wins consistently is probably our ceiling with some really good years sprinkled in. Finish in the top 25 every other year. I don’t think we have the fan base or money to do much more than that.
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7 wins? WTF? **** man, 7 wins is our floor. Gailey could do that.
 
Vespidae

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swarmer said:
There is no ceiling with the talent that is within 50 miles of campus. Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields all came out of our backyard; keep a guy like that home and we can win it all with the right mix around him.

Recruit well and we can be a 7-10 win team every year in our conference. Add in an elite QB and we can do anything.
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Tech ranks 77th in NFL talent. These players are going to suddenly begin picking Tech over Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and LSU because .... ?
 
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