CPJ interview - Nov 11

[Techster]

Other than hiring Pastner, what did Bobo do here?

Exactly.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I'd say if Bobinski never came to GT, CPJ would still be here.

That man literally tried everything he could to make CPJ's job impossible, and on top of that, turned some donors off on CPJ which lasted even after Bobinski left. He literally wanted CPJ gone, and what he did to try to get rid of CPJ adversely affected the programs to this day. What Bobinski did took a lot out of CPJ's passion for this profession, and his love for GT. Had 2014 not happened, CPJ probably would have been fired.

Bobinski will go down as one of the worst hires GT has ever made.

I don't think enough people realize this.

 

[WrongShadeOfGold]

I'd say if Bobinski never came to GT, CPJ would still be here.

That man literally tried everything he could to make CPJ's job impossible, and on top of that, turned some donors off on CPJ which lasted even after Bobinski left. He literally wanted CPJ gone, and what he did to try to get rid of CPJ adversely affected the programs to this day. What Bobinski did took a lot out of CPJ's passion for this profession, and his love for GT. Had 2014 not happened, CPJ probably would have been fired.

Bobinski will go down as one of the worst hires GT has ever made.

If he wanted him gone so badly, why didnt he just fire him after the debacle of a 2015 season? He was his boss after all.

 

[Techster]

If he wanted him gone so badly, why didnt he just fire him after the debacle of a 2015 season? He was his boss after all.

https://www.si.com/college-football...on-georgia-tech-contract-extension-four-years

Hindsight being 20/20, but it's pretty telling who CPJ DID NOT mention when thanking everyone!

 

[wrmathis]

If he wanted him gone so badly, why didnt he just fire him after the debacle of a 2015 season? He was his boss after all.

seriously? Things called a buyout and Tech being in a crap storm of financial issues. Ain’t hard to figure that out.

 

[WrongShadeOfGold]

seriously? Things called a buyout and Tech being in a crap storm of financial issues. Ain’t hard to figure that out.

I get all of that. I just can't buy the conspiracy theory that he wanted CPJ gone sooooo badly that he was willing to sabotage him (and indirectly sabotage himself in the process) rather than just firing him.

 

[Techster]

I get all of that. I just can't buy the conspiracy theory that he wanted CPJ gone sooooo badly that he was willing to sabotage him (and indirectly sabotage himself in the process) rather than just firing him.

Bobinski was technically CPJ's boss, but CPJ was fresh off an very big extension (for GT at least). An extension Bobinski did NOT want to give CPJ but was forced to due to the 2014 season. When you buy out someone's contract, it goes above the AD's head as they have to get approval to spend that kind of money and donors are involved in chipping in.

You think Bobinski would have gotten the approval for a $10 million+ buyout a year after CPJ just got an extension and won an Orange Bowl and top 10 ranking? If Bobinski had that kind of power while we're cash strapped, then you must not understand the dynamics of business and what kind of financial position GT is in.

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

There was also the in-game feature several years ago during a UGA game (believe the game was on CBS) regarding one of their star receivers (think it was Malcolm Mitchell) more or less admitted he couldn’t read upon entering UGA. The feature was on this inability and how he was into book clubs/reading clubs toward the end of his college career. How does someone get into college (or through high school) without solid reading ability? I was watching the game with several UGA fans (about all there is as close to Athens as I live), and even they lowered their heads when I looked around the room during the feature.

That is just sad. Im sure its more common than we might anticipate.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I get all of that. I just can't buy the conspiracy theory that he wanted CPJ gone sooooo badly that he was willing to sabotage him (and indirectly sabotage himself in the process) rather than just firing him.

I would say that the "sabotage" was more by omission than commission. While MBob wasn't actively slashing all budget for the program, he also wasn't working to get CPJ the resources needed to stay competitive in the NCAAF P5 arms race either. His hope was that CPJ would fall flat and the donors would rise up against him. this almost happened after 2015 but a couple of key donors stood firm on CPJ and the buyout was way too much otherwise. Then 2016 happened and put that to bed, After that, he moved on to Purdue and we hired TStan, who immediately started working to get football funded appropriately again.

The single biggest issue with MBob at GT was that he was a predominantly basketball guy. He was chair of the Men's Division I Basketball Committee when he was hired. He had spent 15 years prior to GT as AD at Xavier, and had no real experience with NCAAF in the BCS era.

In an effort to be fair, he did replace DRad, who was a free spender and left a rather large debt load in his wake...

 

[GTRambler]

Bobinski was a beancounter.

 

[lv20gt]

Bobinski was hired in January of 2013.

At the point that he was hired, Johnson had been here 5 years. First two years were great, but we were on a 3 year streak of 6-7, 8-5, 7-7. Solid, but unspectacular. We'd continue that with a 7-6 year in 2014, one that was highlighted by a weird short lived experiment with the diamond. Until 2014 happened, Johnson was very Gailey-esque in the performance after the initial burst of excitement. The truth is Johnson hadn't been able to capitalize on the early success and push the program forward and instead it fell back into the 7 wins a year mire that we had been in.

But the hard truth is Bobinski was brought in to make a basketball coaching hire. It was obvious from the start that gregory wasn't going to last and Bobinski's track record with making basketball hires was almost certainly at the forefront of why he was hired here to begin with. But there was a money issue there. Rumor at the time was that he wanted to fire Gregory in 2015 but couldn't get the funds together and so we got an extra year of gregrory. As it stands, even with the extra year we got outbid for our "first" choice and ended up getting a coach who's previous school was footing part of the bill. IMO he made a good hire in the circumstance but that's a different topic.

The main point is that he likely wasn't stingy with supporting Johnson because he had some personal vendetta. He was likely stingy because he knew he needed those funds for something else in the near future and up until 2014 Johnson hadn't done much to warrant an increased investment.

I will say, for as much complaining as Johnson did, I found it odd that he got a raise instead of more staff after 2014.

 

[herb]

I would say that the "sabotage" was more by omission than commission. While MBob wasn't actively slashing all budget for the program, he also wasn't working to get CPJ the resources needed to stay competitive in the NCAAF P5 arms race either. His hope was that CPJ would fall flat and the donors would rise up against him. this almost happened after 2015 but a couple of key donors stood firm on CPJ and the buyout was way too much otherwise. Then 2016 happened and put that to bed, After that, he moved on to Purdue and we hired TStan, who immediately started working to get football funded appropriately again.

The single biggest issue with MBob at GT was that he was a predominantly basketball guy. He was chair of the Men's Division I Basketball Committee when he was hired. He had spent 15 years prior to GT as AD at Xavier, and had no real experience with NCAAF in the BCS era.

In an effort to be fair, he did replace DRad, who was a free spender and left a rather large debt load in his wake...

It was a very questionable hire when made for exactly the reasons you mention.

 

[takethepoints]

I'd say if Bobinski never came to GT, CPJ would still be here.

That man literally tried everything he could to make CPJ's job impossible, and on top of that, turned some donors off on CPJ which lasted even after Bobinski left. He literally wanted CPJ gone, and what he did to try to get rid of CPJ adversely affected the programs to this day. What Bobinski did took a lot out of CPJ's passion for this profession, and his love for GT. Had 2014 not happened, CPJ probably would have been fired.

Bobinski will go down as one of the worst hires GT has ever made.

Eggsackley. I never understood the motivations behind this either. I suspected at the time that MBob thought that Tech was never going to be tops in football, but had a chance in basketball. He understood bball and wanted to push it and other sports.

Your analysis makes more sense by bringing in wanting to get Paul gone. I didn't know about that, but it makes more sense then what I was thinking. And, as you say, too bad for Tech all around.

 

[RickStromFan]

I'd say if Bobinski never came to GT, CPJ would still be here.

That man literally tried everything he could to make CPJ's job impossible, and on top of that, turned some donors off on CPJ which lasted even after Bobinski left. He literally wanted CPJ gone, and what he did to try to get rid of CPJ adversely affected the programs to this day. What Bobinski did took a lot out of CPJ's passion for this profession, and his love for GT. Had 2014 not happened, CPJ probably would have been fired.

Bobinski will go down as one of the worst hires GT has ever made.

Had PJ's 2009 and 2013 teams beat the mutts, PJ might still be here. That definitely would've generated more income into the program. Imagine that - 2008,09,13,14,16 all being wins over the mutts. Throw in winnable games in 2010 and 2015 and there might be a bronze statue of PJ right now outside of BDS.

Alas...

 

[steebu]

Had PJ's 2009 and 2013 teams beat the mutts, PJ might still be here. That definitely would've generated more income into the program.

I seriously doubt that.

We won the national championship in 1990.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

And we did not sell out season tickets in '91. Bobby Ross groused about it publicly, but that's just who we are as a fanbase.

 

[1979jacket]

Our academics are elite. Our academic reputation and brand are global. We don’t really need help there. I’ve read before something like 35% of GT alumni give back to the school and 8% to sports. I encourage people to give more to the GTAA, and I’d even go so far to say at the expense of your donations to the regular school if that’s what it takes to give more. One side doesn’t really need a lot of help and the other does.

Reply
I hear you. Some of us receive matching on Foundation side but not on Athletic which complicates but I hear you.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

I hear you. Some of us receive matching on Foundation side but not on Athletic which complicates but I hear you.

That’s a good point.

 

[RickStromFan]

I seriously doubt that.

We won the national championship in 1990.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

And we did not sell out season tickets in '91. Bobby Ross groused about it publicly, but that's just who we are as a fanbase.

I disagree. We had increases in both 2010 and 2015, both of which were momentum-killing seasons.

PJ going 6 of 11 vs mutts would've had a greater effect on his tenure here than any AD hire would have.

 

[JacketOff]

Had PJ's 2009 and 2013 teams beat the mutts, PJ might still be here. That definitely would've generated more income into the program. Imagine that - 2008,09,13,14,16 all being wins over the mutts. Throw in winnable games in 2010 and 2015 and there might be a bronze statue of PJ right now outside of BDS.

Alas...

I believe that if Tech would’ve won that 2009 game, the outlooks for both programs would be drastically different. Richt’s seat would’ve been hotter than it already was at the time, and if they would’ve had the same 2010 season and lost to GT to miss a bowl game he would’ve been gone. Maybe they would’ve hired somebody like Bill Lewis. Also the losing streak in Atlanta would’ve ended, and Tech would’ve won 2 in a row for the first time in a decade. I’d like to think there’s an alternate universe somewhere where Tech hangs on to that ‘09 game and takes control over the state, at least for a while.

But I really wish they would’ve won one of those home games, because I don’t see the home losing streak ending until at least 2023. Hopeful for competitive games again in 2021-2022.

 

[RonJohn]

The main point is that he likely wasn't stingy with supporting Johnson because he had some personal vendetta. He was likely stingy because he knew he needed those funds for something else in the near future and up until 2014 Johnson hadn't done much to warrant an increased investment.

I will say, for as much complaining as Johnson did, I found it odd that he got a raise instead of more staff after 2014.

MBob supposedly rejected a $4 million donation to upgrade the locker room after CPJ had gotten a donor to sponsor it. There was something more there than just wanting funds for other things.

If I remember correctly, the majority of CPJ's new contract wasn't a big pay raise for him, it was pay raises for the assistant coaches and two year contracts for assistants. He could have pushed for a larger personal raise, but he pushed things to help his assistants and to put the program in better condition to recruit assistants.