Vespidae,
Depends on what you mean by "compete"... Is it the goal of every program to win national championships? Lets look at this logically for a second... What gives Georgia Tech, specifically, the best chance to win?
To me, its a smothering defense and the triple option offense. Woody was flat out a bad hire. He had good stats at App State, but going with the 3-4 at Georgia Tech is a tall order. Georgia Tech needs to play a 3-3-5 or 4-2-5.. In fact, Navy is #1 in total defense right now with a new defensive coordinator, Brian Newberry.. They hired him from Kennesaw State, and he runs a 4-2-5. His Kennesaw State defenses were really good. Thacker is now running a 4-2-5 scheme at Georgia Tech and the results are much better. It's the proper defense to run unless you have elite talent. I would establish a tradition as a defensive powerhouse and get the best players in the country for running the triple option. Those are achievable goals at Georgia Tech, no doubt about it.
If I were the Athletic Director, I would spend a lot of money on a great defensive coordinator that runs a scheme suitable for the program... Meaning, the best 4-2-5 coach I can possibly hire. Then I go out and hire Jeff Monken to be the head coach and run the offense. Then I adjust the schedule to start off with 4 straight wins every single year. Blow up the scoreboard with rushing stats, put up some video game numbers, etc. This brings attention to the program. Doesn't mean you have to schedule Citadel... but I'd bring in Georgia State, East Carolina, Florida International, Bowling Green, UTEP, Rice, every year and put on a clinic. Some good Monken examples from the past 2-3 years:
Army beat UTEP 66-14
Army beat Houston 70-14 (an 8 win Houston team)
Army beat Rice 50-12
Army beat San Jose State 52-3
How many years will it be before Georgia Tech can beat someone like that?
I'd start every season off like that... No shame in it. They aren't FCS teams... Generate some enthusiasm... Schedule up every now and then and play Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and other teams in your recruiting area.
In other words, I would get more deliberate about planning to win. Guarantee bowl games every season.. And not the 6 win variety unless you are having a really bad year... You start off 4-0 every year and you are likely winning 7-8 games even in a down year.. And every now and then you get hot and make a run like in 2014. Oklahoma, with all its ability, money, top 5 recruiting classes, Heisman winners, etc has not won a national championship in nearly 20 years. Think about that for a second. 20 years is a REALLY long time. They may finally do it this year, but that shows how insanely difficult it is to compete at that level with everything being favorable to you. USC has everything going for it as well, and has been dark for awhile. It's really difficult at the P5 level. There are many examples of this...
Just my two cents...