Techster
Helluva Engineer
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By now, we’ve all heard it: Car salesman. Constant promoter. Too much hype.
But how much is hype and how much is fact? Let’s take a closer look, especially with the 3 points he loves to sell when he talks to the media.
1. GT is a top 25 program, and he was here when GT was ranked in the top 25 every year.
2. GT is an elite program…GT IS elite!
3. GT is at the center of college football.
GT should be ranked in the top 25, and he was here when GT was ranked in the top 25 every year.
CGC was here from 1999-2001 under George O’Leary. GOL had GT ranked in the top 25 from 1999 – 2001 when CGC was on the staff. In fact, from 1997-2001 GOL had GT ranked in the top 25, and from 1998-2000 GT was ranked in the top 20…with a top 10 finish in 1998.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_O'Leary
Indeed GT was an annual top 25 football program during CGC’s time on the Flats.
Fact or Hype: FACT
GT is an elite program…GT IS elite!
GT has 4 national championships.
There are 2 national awards named for the work that coaches did at GT (Bobby Dodd Award, the Heisman Award). You can argue that the Broyles Award is a credit to Frank Broyle’s time as an assistant under Bobby Dodd when Broyles was an OC.
If you look at the lists of national championships awarded in one form or another, GT would rank 17, and higher if you took out schools who no longer play FBS football:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS
A lot of GT’s success has been historical, and even our last national championship was in 1990.
In the last decade, GT has gone to 2 Orange Bowls, and competed in 3 ACC Championship Games with 1 ACC Championship win.
GT was recently placed at #25 in college football's best programs all time.
https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/01/ap-college-football-rankings-greatest-programs-of-all-time
Now here’s the other part and it depends on your definition of “program”. Does program include just sports, or do you take into account the total experience with academics and graduation?
If you take into account the entirety of what a SA has to contend with, then you have to consider GT’s academics.
GT is EASILY one of the elite schools not only in the US, but in the world. GT’s reputation in academics is mainly credited to our Engineering/Science/Computing programs, but GT’s business school is also a top program (#8 nationwide for public universities according to US News). GT also has a very high graduation rate for our football players.
Very few schools out there offer GT’s combination of elite academics and football credentials.
Fact or Hype: mostly FACT, but some hype considering our biggest football achievements happened almost 30 years ago and in the past.
GT is at the center of college football.
Where exactly is the center of college football? Is there a center of college football? CGC likes to point to the College Football Hall of Fame and its location in Atlanta.
If you want to look at what Atlanta means to college football, then you have to look at Atlanta’s impact on the college football scene.
SEC Championship game is located here.
Atlanta and Mercedes Benz Stadium is now part of the college football playoff and National Championship game rotation.
Atlanta, and GT, was at one time the epicenter of college football in the South because BDS was the biggest stadium and Atlanta was home to the most college football fans in the South…and still is.
You could argue that before GT left the SEC, the GT and Alabama were the two most prestigious programs in the SEC and hence the two of the more prestigious programs in college football. Of course, a LOT has changed since then.
Depending on your POV, you’d have to do a lot of connecting dots and have loose interpretations to say GT is at the center of college football…simply for the fact that it’s hard to say what exactly the “center” of college football is.
Fact or Hype: Mostly Hype, but some historical and anecdotal fact.
- - - - - -
For the most part, I think CGC can make the case to backup what he often repeats in pressers to sell GT. Nothing he has said has been flat out made up. A lot of what he says is true, particularly pertaining to GT’s success on the football field. Like a lot of things, what you choose to buy into will be influenced by what you choose to believe.
But how much is hype and how much is fact? Let’s take a closer look, especially with the 3 points he loves to sell when he talks to the media.
1. GT is a top 25 program, and he was here when GT was ranked in the top 25 every year.
2. GT is an elite program…GT IS elite!
3. GT is at the center of college football.
GT should be ranked in the top 25, and he was here when GT was ranked in the top 25 every year.
CGC was here from 1999-2001 under George O’Leary. GOL had GT ranked in the top 25 from 1999 – 2001 when CGC was on the staff. In fact, from 1997-2001 GOL had GT ranked in the top 25, and from 1998-2000 GT was ranked in the top 20…with a top 10 finish in 1998.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_O'Leary
Indeed GT was an annual top 25 football program during CGC’s time on the Flats.
Fact or Hype: FACT
GT is an elite program…GT IS elite!
GT has 4 national championships.
There are 2 national awards named for the work that coaches did at GT (Bobby Dodd Award, the Heisman Award). You can argue that the Broyles Award is a credit to Frank Broyle’s time as an assistant under Bobby Dodd when Broyles was an OC.
If you look at the lists of national championships awarded in one form or another, GT would rank 17, and higher if you took out schools who no longer play FBS football:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS
A lot of GT’s success has been historical, and even our last national championship was in 1990.
In the last decade, GT has gone to 2 Orange Bowls, and competed in 3 ACC Championship Games with 1 ACC Championship win.
GT was recently placed at #25 in college football's best programs all time.
https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/01/ap-college-football-rankings-greatest-programs-of-all-time
Now here’s the other part and it depends on your definition of “program”. Does program include just sports, or do you take into account the total experience with academics and graduation?
If you take into account the entirety of what a SA has to contend with, then you have to consider GT’s academics.
GT is EASILY one of the elite schools not only in the US, but in the world. GT’s reputation in academics is mainly credited to our Engineering/Science/Computing programs, but GT’s business school is also a top program (#8 nationwide for public universities according to US News). GT also has a very high graduation rate for our football players.
Very few schools out there offer GT’s combination of elite academics and football credentials.
Fact or Hype: mostly FACT, but some hype considering our biggest football achievements happened almost 30 years ago and in the past.
GT is at the center of college football.
Where exactly is the center of college football? Is there a center of college football? CGC likes to point to the College Football Hall of Fame and its location in Atlanta.
If you want to look at what Atlanta means to college football, then you have to look at Atlanta’s impact on the college football scene.
SEC Championship game is located here.
Atlanta and Mercedes Benz Stadium is now part of the college football playoff and National Championship game rotation.
Atlanta, and GT, was at one time the epicenter of college football in the South because BDS was the biggest stadium and Atlanta was home to the most college football fans in the South…and still is.
You could argue that before GT left the SEC, the GT and Alabama were the two most prestigious programs in the SEC and hence the two of the more prestigious programs in college football. Of course, a LOT has changed since then.
Depending on your POV, you’d have to do a lot of connecting dots and have loose interpretations to say GT is at the center of college football…simply for the fact that it’s hard to say what exactly the “center” of college football is.
Fact or Hype: Mostly Hype, but some historical and anecdotal fact.
- - - - - -
For the most part, I think CGC can make the case to backup what he often repeats in pressers to sell GT. Nothing he has said has been flat out made up. A lot of what he says is true, particularly pertaining to GT’s success on the football field. Like a lot of things, what you choose to buy into will be influenced by what you choose to believe.
