From a student’s perspective

[JacketOff]

If those are the official numbers, then those are the numbers. But I believe there were more actual butts in the seats this year by at least 5,000 (FWIW).

I can say there were definitely more people out tailgating and around campus for Saturday’s game, than every game all last season except for maybe Miami and Clemson. It would have been a huge win for fan base momentum, but it didn’t happen. Of course that doesn’t mean the actual attendance would be higher, but having people on campus is always good.

 

[stech81]

First off, I want to thank all of you guys for posting so much in my thread. You’ve been my entertainment all afternoon haha. I think it’s awesome that y’all are so passionate about Tech football and want to know how y’all as alumni can help. As a student, the way I see it, I think the two biggest things are 1) social media presence and 2) being supportive of the CGC and TStan.

Social media has become HUGE in recruiting, as most of y’all already know. I follow all of the recruiting very closely. We have Tech supporters that are pretty active when it comes to liking and commenting on recruit’s posts, but there’s fierce competition in this arena with other schools. Recruits and just kids in general pay attention to this stuff. They want to feel as if they’re wanted and accepted by the fan base and the school that is offering them a scholarship. My advice would be to create a Twitter account and follow all the recruits in the 2020/21 class that we’re going for, and like/comment on their posts. Make them know that Tech is their home and they have our support.

I know not all of you approve of the job CGC and TStan have done, but I promise you I’ve seen a tangible difference since I’ve been on campus compared to the old guys. They’re gonna get this done. They will. Give em your support, be willing to accept uniform changes, loud rap music in the stadium, all the talk/hype on social media, and whatever else that seems like all talk and no walk. They have a plan. They’re gonna stick to the plan. I have full faith as a student and so should you as alumni.

Y’all are awesome, keep posting/arguing in here. I love it

You seem like a great guy and I know the team hopes all the students feel the same way you do. But being old 67 tweeting is not for me and I'm sure a few others. I hope you are right and I like CGC not crazy about P'nut and being 121 out of 130 colleges in offensive scoring. Best of luck to you.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I’m a contrarian. I get it.

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.

They were unhappy we were winning, or because we were winning with a "system"?

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

First off, I want to thank all of you guys for posting so much in my thread. You’ve been my entertainment all afternoon haha. I think it’s awesome that y’all are so passionate about Tech football and want to know how y’all as alumni can help. As a student, the way I see it, I think the two biggest things are 1) social media presence and 2) being supportive of the CGC and TStan.

Social media has become HUGE in recruiting, as most of y’all already know. I follow all of the recruiting very closely. We have Tech supporters that are pretty active when it comes to liking and commenting on recruit’s posts, but there’s fierce competition in this arena with other schools. Recruits and just kids in general pay attention to this stuff. They want to feel as if they’re wanted and accepted by the fan base and the school that is offering them a scholarship. My advice would be to create a Twitter account and follow all the recruits in the 2020/21 class that we’re going for, and like/comment on their posts. Make them know that Tech is their home and they have our support.

I know not all of you approve of the job CGC and TStan have done, but I promise you I’ve seen a tangible difference since I’ve been on campus compared to the old guys. They’re gonna get this done. They will. Give em your support, be willing to accept uniform changes, loud rap music in the stadium, all the talk/hype on social media, and whatever else that seems like all talk and no walk. They have a plan. They’re gonna stick to the plan. I have full faith as a student and so should you as alumni.

Y’all are awesome, keep posting/arguing in here. I love it

Let me tell you, not that I am any kind of expert, but nobody and I mean nobody has this social media stuff down like Coach Collins and his crew. They are on top of those recruits like white on rice. I have never seen anything like it.

 

[Ramblin Wreckt]

I disagree that it is a myth about attendance. South Carolina sells out that damn Williams Brice Stadium no matter what. That program is the very definition of consistent mediocrity and yet the fans pile in. Kentucky is the same way. On the other hand you have Duke and Vanderbilt that can't get fans into their stadium if they were giving away tickets. If we are getting 40,000 or so in a losing season with as bad an offense as we have that is not too shabby. The question is whether or not the fans will stay loyal though another losing season next year which is entirely possible.

Chiming back in to agree with this. Quick background on myself: grew up in FL, but my father's alma mater was South Carolina, so as a kid from like age 5 thru the end of high school I was a Gamecock fan. They were mostly mediocre or worse, but I could care less because it was fun. Went to at least 1 game per year, either in Cola or Gainesville. Occasionally Athens or Knoxville, but not quite as often... If I recall correctly, and I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but USC-e was in the midst of an 0-21 streak, and still we went to Gamecocks vs Gators to watch them get their butts kicked. Still packed with fans. Yea, we would leave early after going down by 30+ points, but still, many fond memories from the tailgates and games.

Further background on myself, I wanted to do engineering in the southeast, so boom GT was (and still obviously is) the place to be. Did not care about GT football until I came to Tech, neither did any of my family or friends. But we all do now, I force it on them, haha.

Anyway, I know I'm now rambling. GT has our problems, it's unique, I get all of that. I'll still be there for every game, even if I don't stay the whole time. I realize that we have to look "cool" on instagram/twitter/internet hype vids and such, not really my style, but I don't have a problem with it. I do have my qualms with this season, but trying to avoid being pessimistic, because yes we are not good at football in 2019. Hope that changes going forward. I doubt we'll be top10-15 perennially as the OP mentioned hoping for, I think we'll probably end up topping out 3 years from now as like a top25ish program and competing for #coastalChaos mostly because the ACC-C is weak as per usual. Would love to be wrong, obviously. But I'd be fine with that anyway.

Cheers

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Chiming back in to agree with this. Quick background on myself: grew up in FL, but my father's alma mater was South Carolina, so as a kid from like age 5 thru the end of high school I was a Gamecock fan. They were mostly mediocre or worse, but I could care less because it was fun. Went to at least 1 game per year, either in Cola or Gainesville. Occasionally Athens or Knoxville, but not quite as often... If I recall correctly, and I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but USC-e was in the midst of an 0-21 streak, and still we went to Gamecocks vs Gators to watch them get their butts kicked. Still packed with fans. Yea, we would leave early after going down by 30+ points, but still, many fond memories from the tailgates and games.

Further background on myself, I wanted to do engineering in the southeast, so boom GT was (and still obviously is) the place to be. Did not care about GT football until I came to Tech, neither did any of my family or friends. But we all do now, I force it on them, haha.

Anyway, I know I'm now rambling. GT has our problems, it's unique, I get all of that. I'll still be there for every game, even if I don't stay the whole time. I realize that we have to look "cool" on instagram/twitter/internet hype vids and such, not really my style, but I don't have a problem with it. I do have my qualms with this season, but trying to avoid being pessimistic, because yes we are not good at football in 2019. Hope that changes going forward. I doubt we'll be top10-15 perennially as the OP mentioned hoping for, I think we'll probably end up topping out 3 years from now as like a top25ish program and competing for #coastalChaos mostly because the ACC-C is weak as per usual. Would love to be wrong, obviously. But I'd be fine with that anyway.

Cheers

My daughter went to South Carolina for graduate school that was completed in 2011. She said she could hear the roar of Williams Brice from the INSIDE of her apartment a good mile and a half or so away. She said that place was just about as wild as it gets on football Saturday. My wife and I were impressed with the school when we went to visit. Nice people and a different sort of atmosphere being spread out all over Columbia like it was.

 

[Boaty1]

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....

7 wins is not a good season for us.

what the hell? You are saying Vandy is a better program than we are.

I became a Tech fan in the late 80’s and my perspective of the program is just nothing like what some of you guys see.

Didn’t we fire Gailey for 7 win seasons?

Didn’t we make a bowl game for 18 straight years? With that fact wouldn’t that make 7 wins average at best during that time?

And we won a national championship shortly before that streak started as well. This woe is me crap is far too rampant among this fanbase.

 

[Ramblin Wreckt]

My daughter went to South Carolina for graduate school that was completed in 2011. She said she could hear the roar of Williams Brice from the INSIDE of her apartment a good mile and a half or so away. She said that place was just about as wild as it gets on football Saturday. My wife and I were impressed with the school when we went to visit. Nice people and a different sort of atmosphere being spread out all over Columbia like it was.

Yup. It's changed over the years, like all live sports have, but still lot of fans at Billy Brice. & I mean this as a compliment, it isn't exactly located in the best area but they still show out for a mediocre team. (Nor is it a pretty stadium, but it does have its charm)

I love HGF@BDS, I just wish I knew the magic solution to get more people to appreciate it as well!

 

[WreckinGT]

I appreciate the enthusiasm, I just can’t get there yet. I do like what we are doing in recruiting and most of what we are doing in social media and branding, but the on the field product has been a train wreck this year and the notion that he has done an outstanding job with the talent he has is ridiculous. I’m not entirely sure that top 30 recruiting classes with the same coaching staff that produced what we are currently watching is going to work out well in the long run. I sincerely hope that once he has his guys, the coaching will improve as well or maybe he replaces some assistants who aren’t getting the job done. I’m just skeptical at this point.

 

[gtpi]

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.

tosu !!!

 

[armeck]

They were unhappy we were winning, or because we were winning with a "system"?

Probably because CPJ averaged .580 seasons. Perhaps they wanted more than just an ok season.

 

[LibertyTurns]

7 wins is not a good season for us

We’ve averaged 7-7.5 wins for something like 30 years now. You have to go back another 25 years before that to get something different, ie Dodd. I’d say we’re pretty consistent and if 8 wins or greater is your bar, well I’d have to count but there probably less years than I can count on my 2 hands post-Dodd.

I’m sure someone out there can chime in with the precise numbers.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

We’ve averaged 7-7.5 wins for something like 30 years now. You have to go back another 25 years before that to get something different, ie Dodd. I’d say we’re pretty consistent and if 8 wins or greater is your bar, well I’d have to count but there probably less years than I can count on my 2 hands post-Dodd.

I’m sure someone out there can chime in with the precise numbers.

Ask and ye shall receive: If the bar is strictly 8 wins or better seasons:

Dodd 9 (when 10 game seasons were the norm) Dodd, of course had his inflated by being the acclaimed bowl master and going to so many bowls

Post Dodd 13 (when 11 game seasons and later 12 game seasons were the norm) PJ was responsible for 5 of those which even accounting for 12 game seasons becoming the norm is a remarkable achievement given he was hampered by hostile ADs and deep pocket boosters. It may be a while before we are back to having an 8 game winning season but its coming... I think.

Personally, even given the 12 game season with FCS and G5 teams winning 8 games is a very good season for most teams outside the factories.

 

[stech81]

Probably because CPJ averaged .580 seasons. Perhaps they wanted more than just an ok season.

Wish we could be OK this season or even next season.

 

[armeck]

Wish we could be OK this season or even next season.

Understandable, but people are acting like GT has gone from great to awful when it's gone from mediocre to awful.

 

[smokey_wasp]

Probably because CPJ averaged .580 seasons. Perhaps they wanted more than just an ok season.

Yes, it drives me nuts . We have some people who want to act like 2014 didn't happen, but we have other folks who want to act like it was more than a flash in the pan, lightning in a bottle season when it wasn't. It's okay to want more and people need to understand there is a process for getting there.

I think people have been a bit spoiled by the relative coaching stability and consistency in the Tech program over the past 20 years or so. All across college football, rebuilding seasons happen. Transitional seasons happen. AD's make decisions that sacrifice the short term in hopes of bigger success down the road. We just aren't used to it.

 

[flygtfly]

Harsh.

but true...

 

[yeti92]

Understandable, but people are acting like GT has gone from great to awful when it's gone from mediocre to awful.

Its gone from the possibility of very high highs or very low lows, to so far even lower lows, with hope based on marketing for higher, more consistent highs.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

We had more fans for homecoming this year when we were 2-5 then last year when we were on a multiple game winning streak.

Per the AJC, our homecoming attendance was the lowest in 25 years.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/notes-from-georgia-tech-loss-pittsburgh/Dl8wWdOpwJFW8sP8U8b79I/

 

[dubjacket]

So my question to the ones who are so mad is what do you want? Complain about the last coach. Now this one sucks in your mind. What will make you happy? Students are saying the energy is better than ever for the team on campus and you tell them they are idiots and don’t know what they are talking about. So what would make you happy?