I ask all my players "When making your decision, did you ever seriously consider GT?" No, no and ... no. Why?
The number one answer, by far, is "I want to play against my friends." A lot of these kids (not the superstars who have million dollar careers ahead of them), played football against their buddies in county, region, and state ... LONG ... before getting to college. Ask them about Player X at Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, etc .... and they will recount all the games they played against each other for the last ten years.
There used to a huge Wreck Tech Parade at Auburn for years. Tech was relevant as a recruiter and as an alternative to Auburn for years until ... Tech decided not to schedule them. OK, fine. Please close the door on ALL of West Georgia and East Alabama as a recruiting base. Today? Nobody gives a thought to Tech.
Yes, Tech is in the ACC but playing Syracuse or Boston College means zero to these kids. The easiest way to improve recruiting is to improve scheduling. As long as we have Gardner, Alcorn State and any other filler, it's a missed opportunity. IMO.