Have you ever randomly met any GT athletes/coaches?

MountainBuzzMan

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,705
Location
South Forsyth
I was at Isle of Palms a few weeks ago and met a backup QB during the Hamilton years at a bar. Then I was at a coffee shop the next day and had a tech shirt on and this lady said high and said she was Ralph Friedgen's Wife and lives a few blocks away. I got out in 89 and other than chatting with Reggie Ball during a game about 8 year ago. That was it.
 

Sheboygan

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,094
Location
Oostburg Wis. ( It's DUTCH !)
You want old--I knew a bunch of guys in school -late 60s.
To show how things have changed-I was in a SATURDAY morning class and I think I remember our QB,Larry Good ,in there on game day at 9 am. ( vs Tenn I think).
Rick Lewis (DB and Nat DEF back of week for 2 TD ints.) was on my hall in the dorm where I was a counselor.We swapped music albums a lot and I ran across HIS Righteous Bros album last yr in a box in my basement..Great guy ,by the way.
I spoke to Chan Gailey at an alumni clubmeeting when he first came to Tech.I asked him what was his biggest surprise as new coach. He said-"Keeping up with all those recruiting rules"
At another club meeting I sat at the front table with Coach Dodd after he retired.He told a personal story ,that I can't repeat here, that I will never forget. (Not about Tech -btw)
IMO, those were the good old days...........despite 'Nam (y)
 

2ndgenjacket

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
46
Location
Upstate SC
My Freshman Chemistry lab partner in Lyman Hall was Reggie Wilkes. Always on time, so polite and serious about the class. Like a gentle giant but a fierce warrior on the field. Pretty sure he was a DE for Tech and converted to LB when drafted by the Eagles. Have never understood why he is never mentioned as one of the Tech greats when people create those lists.
 

4shotB

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
4,935
My Freshman Chemistry lab partner in Lyman Hall was Reggie Wilkes. Always on time, so polite and serious about the class. Like a gentle giant but a fierce warrior on the field. Pretty sure he was a DE for Tech and converted to LB when drafted by the Eagles. Have never understood why he is never mentioned as one of the Tech greats when people create those lists.

Pepper had many quality athletes on his teams in addition to the more renowned guys like Kent and Drew Hill, Lucious and Eddie Lee. I got acquainted with a few of them (Don Besseliu (sp?), Roy Simmons , Al richardson, Lawrence (Sweet 'n) Lowe come to mind through mutual friends and there quite a few of them who cashed checks. They were all great guys who, like most college age young men, enjoyed having a good time. I think Pepper's top 10-12 guys were probably better than anyone's, including Coach Gailey's, but there was a big time dropoff after that. I agree with you that there were some great players who are somewhat overlooked from that era...probably due to the mixed emotions around Coach Rogers.
 

Treb1982

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
471
Location
Augusta, GA
I met Ishmael Muhammad at a friend's house in Augusta, GA. He was there because he played professional basketball in Australia with a dude that married a girl from Augusta and they were in town for their first child's baptism. Craziest thing ever!
 

SJBryan

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
91
I can’t believe I passed this story for my others already posted. I live in the same town Lewis Clinch grew up. My Mom used to work at the same bank as his mom. Great Lady. I coached Rec Football and Basketball in leagues he played but he was never on my teams. Although Basketball took over later in life- he was a Hell of a Football player growing up.
 

Heisman's Ghost

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,863
Location
Albany Georgia
Cunningham was a pretty good RB from Eatonton, Harkey was from Atl , played at Westminster and had a cup of coffee with the NYJ. Brad Bourne was a 3 x legacy from North Springs HS in ATL, played DL, very highly awarded during his career. Greg Horne was in the same class as McAshan and was in a Literature class with me, Very funny and a good player also. Smylie Gebhart was a good ole boy from Miss. Didn't say much but was a very good DE in his day. Died at 51 yo. in 2001 and was an AA at Tech.
Bubba Hoats went to JC at Gordon Military. I had graduated HS from there in '68. He came to Tech in '69, so I knew he was a good player as a LB. (He came in with Rock Perdoni that year) He had 3 interceptions against the Dwags that year and we shut out VD's dwags 6-0.
I hope you enjoyed the history lesson. We had some pretty good teams during my years at Tech.
Very good. Greg Horne was a running back from Murphy High School in Atlanta. A fine player for the Jackets when he was healthy.
 

Southern psu fan

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
398
Location
Temple ga
I played high school football with Giff Smith for 3 years he graduated a year before I did. We weren’t weekend buddies but I did consider him a friend in school. He was very good in football the best to come out of Pebblebrook. He had a very nice family and he was always nice to people.
 

MaverickGT

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
133
I was at Isle of Palms a few weeks ago and met a backup QB during the Hamilton years at a bar. Then I was at a coffee shop the next day and had a tech shirt on and this lady said high and said she was Ralph Friedgen's Wife and lives a few blocks away. I got out in 89 and other than chatting with Reggie Ball during a game about 8 year ago. That was it.
I met that guy in Mount Pleasant too, lol. Still can't remember his name
 

JacketGirl

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
353
I’ve run into quite a few but all are more recent. BJ Bostic after the Mercedes Benz unc game was one of my favorites. He seemed thrilled to be recognized and just bear-hugged us! So if any of you ever see BJ, say hi! Also ran into Roddy, Sean Bedford, Charles Perkins, and Synjyn tailgating. Got to wear Sean’s “rip it off my cold dead hand” acc championship ring for a few minutes. Ran into Calvin before the combine in Orlando and got his autograph. It was funny because nobody knew who he was at that point - at least nobody that wasn’t a Tech fan. Ran into Adam Gotsis outside of Bobby Dodd once. Ran into Dedrick Mills at a basketball game. And also ran into Simit Shah in the student center before a home game. Saying hi to him earned us passes onto the field to watch warmups where we got to meet Pressley Harvin. Great memories!
 
Last edited:

TooTall

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,282
Location
Vidalia
Meet Ish Muhammad at a basketball camp one year...on the baseline...in the air...as he dunked on me.

Fast forward a few years, watching a GT game at a bar when he dunked OVER the NC State player. Buddy asked what would I do if someone did that me. I replied with, "sit in a bar a few years later and cheer for him when he did it against NC State."
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
9,657
Met Coach Johnson outside the edge the day he was hired. ( I was on business trip from texas and was goofing off between meetings ). Walked over and thanked him for coming to coach gt. He was gracious and we shook hands. I said THWG. He looked me right in the eye , never said a word, gave me a big smile that said "he got it" .

Not a blah blah type = he lived THWG.
 

Ramble1885

proud sidewalk fan
Messages
1,903
Location
Atlanta
Met Coach Johnson outside the edge the day he was hired. ( I was on business trip from texas and was goofing off between meetings ). Walked over and thanked him for coming to coach gt. He was gracious and we shook hands. I said THWG. He looked me right in the eye , never said a word, gave me a big smile that said "he got it" .

Not a blah blah type = he lived THWG.
I wish I can meet coach Johnson. He’s the coach of my childhood. That 08-09 group with Dwyer, Nesbitt, Bay Bay, D-Mo, Burnett, etc was awesome. 2014 was magical as well. People hate on him too much, and I’m happy he’s in the hall.
 

AKABuzz

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
23
Location
Forsyth county
I have met a few GT athletes over the years. My favorite two encounters were:

The first girl I ever dated, when we were in high school, introduced me to Charlie Dudish. He was a great guy and went to the church my date went to. Later, I found out that they married and had a family. My daughter later played softball against their daughters team.

I met RonnyCone when his son Kevin Cone played on the same T ball team as my son. I got to talk GT football as well as Ronny’s recruitment stories on several occasions. The whole family was very friendly and a pleasure to talk with.
 
Top