FACTS!Define “a lot”.
When I was in school, we had flash cards. Drunk students, but high attendance. I would say student attendance today is embarrassingly bad.
This needs to be the posture no matter what year and who is the current Coach!I believe in the current staff and players. While some 'fans' have quit, I see a bright future ahead. Just need to keep building.
The problem is defining a down year for programs.... For Example a 7 win season is good at Georgia Tech.... but a down year at Georgia & Alabama..... 7 wins for Arkansas & Vandy is a solid season....Winning fixes attendance. That scene is typical with any program including Auburn and UGAG.
This myth that those programs show up full force even in down years is BS.
This needs to be the posture no matter what year and who is the current Coach!
This needs to be the posture no matter what year and who is the current Coach!
But I was in the AD suite when Tech was rolling. And some influential donors asked how long Tech was going to have to put up with the sh&t? Being ... winning!
I truly believe at the highest levels ... GTAA doesn’t know what it wants. A ship without a rudder.
Agree with your second point. We haven't had good leadership in that position since Rice left. I think TStan understands this and we all hope he has the horsepower to fix it.
Declining student attendance is not an issue unique to Tech. Look at places like Alabama, Auburn, FSU, Arkansas, Baylor, Wisconsin, etc. Places that have as great traditions and teams in the national picture, but the student sections still aren’t full. Illinois students piled out of the stadium before they went on to beat #6 Wisconsin. Live attendance in sports is declining across the board, in college and pro sports. I suggest some of you look at the twitter page @emptyseatspics and you’ll probably be surprised that Tech’s attendance matches up pretty well to teams you would never expect them to. By the way. Here’s a picture of Arkansas’ homecoming crowd. Maybe it will put it in perspective to you
I sit in the upper east and for the past several homecomings, tons of students were sitting up there with us because of date tickets. There were none up there this year, and the south stands student section was virtually empty. Also parts of the frat section in the lower north were empty. First time I have even seen that for homecoming.I was in 102 and i could the the student section was packed.
I sit in the upper east and for the past several homecomings, tons of students were sitting up there with us because of date tickets. There were none up there this year, and the south stands student section was virtually empty. Also parts of the frat section in the lower north were empty. First time I have even seen that for homecoming.
An example of the @emptyseatspics page content. This is Auburn. A team who was praised earlier in this very thread for having incredible atmosphere around the team involving students, faculty, and fans. And a team that’s 6-2 and will end up affecting the national picture and probably playing in a NY6 bowl. Not a shot at that particular poster, but just acknowledging what’s true everywhere. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that’s attendance is trending upward anything more than marginally. Well, maybe Kansas, but that’s probably it.WOW. An SEC team at that.
I want to hear it: what can we be doing better as alumni?So we’re 2-6, our offense is anemic, our play calling is questionable, we have no reliable kicking game, and luck doesn’t ever seem to bounce our way this year (with the exception of Miami). There’s plenty of reasons to be upset with the way the season is going, but being upset with the current state of our program and coming on this site to disparage Collins is not the correct mindset to have during this rebuild.
I’m a 3rd year student and diehard follow of the program. I’ve seen firsthand the buzz on campus about this team on a day-to-day basis that doesn’t even come close to what it was like my first two years with CPJ at the helm (no disrespect to him, CPJ was great in his own way). But from strictly an excitement point of view, Collins has done what I thought was impossible: excite current GT students about football. Last year, we were a win away from playing in the ACC championship, and students here couldn’t have cared less. Collins has done an outstanding job of jumpstarting a program that was on life support with its own students.
Everything I’ve said so far should be apparent to most people, but now let’s talk about results on the field. It sucks that we suck this year. But if we make 3-4 more plays in that Pitt game, our acc championship hopes would be alive going into the 10th week of the season. Collins and co have proven to make some questionable decisions when it comes to play calling, game management, and personnel on the field, but we have to keep in mind that the coaching staff is working with players that are simply not going to compete at an elite level this year. The missed passes, dropped catches, and blown assignments hurt to watch, but once Collins’ recruits come in and fill those holes, this program is going to take off. The staff is trying to be as creative as possible to squeak out wins with the current talent they have, and i think if you look at it like that, Collins has done at outstanding job.
As a student here, I couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made this year. Earlier on, I was one of those ignorant fools who thought we’d win 6+ games in 2019, and even though I was way off, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how hard the players fight every game, and how supportive most students have been during the rebuild. Hopefully during my 5th (maybe 6th) year at GT, Collins will be fielding a team that can go out there and be a top 10-15 program, and continue that success into the future. My message to all of you is this: stay positive, continue to give your support, and know that Collins is instilling real change at this Institute.
An example of the @emptyseatspics page content. This is Auburn. A team who was praised earlier in this very thread for having incredible atmosphere around the team involving students, faculty, and fans. And a team that’s 6-2 and will end up affecting the national picture and probably playing in a NY6 bowl. Not a shot at that particular poster, but just acknowledging what’s true everywhere. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that’s attendance is trending upward anything more than marginally. Well, maybe Kansas, but that’s probably it.
Define “a lot”.
When I was in school, we had flash cards. Drunk students, but high attendance. I would say student attendance today is embarrassingly bad.
I want to hear it: what can we be doing better as alumni?
As a suggestion to the mods: I want to hear what the students think about alumni engagement. Mute all the old crabby people that are supporting this program no matter what.
I want to hear about what we could be doing more to improve the collegiate experience. Both in terms of funding and donation, but also in terms of activity / effort.
He already said there are more foreign and out-of-state students now and acknowledged that there are thus fewer students in attendance than in days of old. But still a "lot" of in-state students who care.
He already said there are more foreign and out-of-state students now and acknowledged that there are thus fewer students in attendance than in days of old. But still a "lot" of in-state students who care.