From a student’s perspective

[wvGT11]

Bottom line is that we need to build a culture at gt that wants to go to games even we are having a down year. Collins wants that but it's gonna be hard and take time

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[Augusta_Jacket]

No, but I was at the last homecoming game against Duke and the crowd I saw on TV this year looked a little bigger. At least it seemed that way to me.

Thanks. I would imagine that it looked fuller on TV. For once, the seats in the club section actually had people sitting in them, and the lower west side was full as well. The upper east, west and the south end zone had absolutely no one there, and the upper north was a barren waste land. As @Supersizethatorder-mutt said, I was at last years game as well as this one, and we have been this empty ever for homecoming. Last years UVA game was close, but that game had a lot of people in the tunnels. The tunnels were absolutely empty as well for this one.

 

[Jd89]

Although impossible to institute in today's world, the old RAT system essentially required that freshman attend the game, participate in the shirt tail parade (which is nothing but marching around campus after a victory), and other relatively harmless stuff. If anything, it will get freshmen to the game and then they will attend the following years to "police" the Rats adherence. Never would be allowed in our trophy society.

Another alternative is to get Arthur Blank to sell the Falcons to a city dying for pro football. GT football was THE game to attend prior to the Falcons.

Lastly, close the library and school buildings during the games. Maybe this will get some folks into the stadium.

None of the above is happening obviously, but finding ways to create a feeling of obligation to support your school's sports and generate Atlanta engagement will help attendance.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Huh?

The attendance decline was already happening. See the UVA game last year. It probably would have been worse without a coaching change this year. They will come back when we start winning.

If we start winning quickly. If not, some will never return. There are some that have already left before this coaching staff got here to never return. It is happening all over the country, but with GT having such a SMALL base to begin with, the effect is a much more painful visual on TV and in the stadium.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

FIFY. But, I'll take you word for it. You were there for both. However, others have contradicted that so I dunno.

Others have confirmed it too, most notably @Augusta_Jacket

 

[SteamWhistle]

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/

By only 500 from last year. Good for them finding a knock on Collins.

 

[wvGT11]

I like how there are the vocal anti Collins crowd on here is nitpicking everything to justify that he's bad and the problem.
I'm sure if our win loss record was better there might have been a few more there over the weekend, but let's not kid ourselves it's been on the decline

CPJ was pretty blunt last year and prior years that Tech has a problem. The institute wasn't putting money forward for the program, they weren't promoting the program, nor the area around was. CPJ called out the attendance issue bunch . Yet now we have a coach trying to shoulder that issue , something the school should be doing.

Even in one of GTs best years under CPJ, 2014 we had issues filling the stadium
Winning isn't the only issue that's going to bring people back, you have to change the culture.and with gt being in a large city that's gonna be hard.

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[GTFLETCH]

I like how there are the vocal anti Collins crowd on here is nitpicking everything to justify that he's bad and the problem.
I'm sure if our win loss record was better there might have been a few more there over the weekend, but let's not kid ourselves it's been on the decline

CPJ was pretty blunt last year and prior years that Tech has a problem. The institute wasn't putting money forward for the program, they weren't promoting the program, nor the area around was. CPJ called out the attendance issue bunch . Yet now we have a coach trying to shoulder that issue , something the school should be doing.

Even in one of GTs best years under CPJ, 2014 we had issues filling the stadium
Winning isn't the only issue that's going to bring people back, you have to change the culture.and with gt being in a large city that's gonna be hard.

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Agree Winning solves it... He has to own the loss to the FCS 0-2 team.... He needs to Coach better, or will be out of a job.... SEE FSU!!! While we are not FSU, he does not have seven years to get to 6 wins..... If he is not winning 8 games by year three there will be hell to pay

 

[wvGT11]

Agree Winning solves it... He has to own the loss to the FCS 0-2 team.... He needs to Coach better, or will be out of a job.... SEE FSU!!! While we are not FSU, he does not have seven years to get to 6 wins..... If he is not winning 8 games by year three there will be hell to pay

So if winning solves it, why were we not filling the stadium in 2014? Winning is only part of it is all I'm saying

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[Augusta_Jacket]

By only 500 from last year. Good for them finding a knock on Collins.

I didn't read it as a knock on CGC, but rather an indication of where our program currently is.

 

[Bogey]

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.

2014 did happen but it was ever so close to being a diaster. If the lateral/pass we made was ruled a lateral, we would not have won that game against Georgia Southern, and it was really too close to call accurately. And in the UGA game, UGA took the lead with 18 seconds left in the game, Richt tried a squib kick of all things. We Thomas managed to gain 20 yards and Butler kicked a 53 yarder to tie, and we won in OT. Crazy games! If we had lost both of those games we would have been the 3rd team in the state instead of 10-2. A great effort shown by that Tech team that never quit, amazing.

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[BleedGoldNWhite21]

There you go again with the straw men. I don't know of anyone who has "conceded 36 games in a row" or are "giving up on the next three years". And literally no one said the homecoming crowd was " by far the biggest they had seen in years". No one. But don't let facts get in the way...

https://gtswarm.com/threads/from-a-student’s-perspective.20214/#post-652951

Literally, in this very thread...

No, but I was at the last homecoming game against Duke and the crowd I saw on TV this year looked a little bigger. At least it seemed that way to me.

You weren’t even at the game and you’re talking **** to me? lol

 

[tomknight]

When I was a student we had about 6500 students on campus. The student sections were full. Back then we had to get date tickets since we only had about 100 coed's on campus but we came to the games. Sat on the east side. Seniors were upper east and on the 40. Grad students one section over.

yeah, and the seniors got to dump whatever foul liquids they could muster down on the rats.

student section was always full.

Was anybody else at the rats get tail game?

 

[eastpoint]

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.

South Carolina used to sell out. South Carolina has tens of thousands of empty seats for most games now. I went to a game there this year and there were entire sections empty.

 

[GTRock]

South Carolina used to sell out. South Carolina has tens of thousands of empty seats for most games now. I went to a game there this year and there were entire sections empty.

Result of rise of expectations of the program, and ticket cost etc, followed by disappointment or lack of results over time.

They still average 70k+ in that 80k+ seat stadium though, and it's legit (been multiple times), to see a consistently mediocre football team.

 

[JacketRacket]

South Carolina used to sell out. South Carolina has tens of thousands of empty seats for most games now. I went to a game there this year and there were entire sections empty.

I went to the Florida-USC game this year in the pouring rain and the student section was going hard until the end. Other parts of the stadium were sparse in some spots or had heavy amounts of gator fans which isn't that surprising with the state fair and the weather that day.

Their student section is a little different too. You have to scan in and out when leaving, and if you leave early or don't show up, then you lose 'points' which may affect your ability to attend future games.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

South Carolina used to sell out. South Carolina has tens of thousands of empty seats for most games now. I went to a game there this year and there were entire sections empty.

They routinely get tens of thousands more into that stadium to watch mediocre football than we get. Point remains, Carolina fans are extremely loyal to their team.

 

[reckrider]

I’m sorry but I’m going to ask my question from page 1 again - I’m curious as to why students wouldn’t be excited about this year’s basketball team?

 

[Vespidae]

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

No, I think it was something else, maybe ego.

I recall one donor asking another, “Are you as tired of this sh*t as I am?” Meanwhile, we had just won the game.

 

[Vespidae]

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.

8 wins a year is 0.67 win rate. Very few teams have accomplished this.