Here's a thought

[UgaBlows]

I think this is the most accurate representation of our fan base.

GT is in the bottom quintile in terms of undergraduate population compared to the other P5 schools and ND. So right off the bat you are starting at a disadvantage in terms of numbers of potential alumni you have.

Then you have an academic profile that puts you in the top half of those schools and frankly has a large percentage of alums who don't really care about the athletics side that much.

Finally, you have a school that is not the 'state school', so you don't have a large non-alumni fanbase. How much of this money for NIL, etc do you think is coming from not alumni, but just fans of the football program at the factory schools?

All those factors put GT at a disadvantage in a game where it is about really rich fans who are willing to throw alot of that money at 18-21 yr olds and/or a very large fanbase with alot of fans willing to contribute a smaller amount to paying players. There is an economies of scale as well here when you consider every year most universities are putting out more alumni than GT. It's very possible for GT to have a higher percentage of millionaires, but have fewer millionaires in its fanbase as a whole due to the difference in # alumni and sidewalk fans.

People who attend and graduate GT are a different breed, they are way too smart to risk blowing money on some kid that might not even pan out, or get hurt or transfer away. The whole nil deal is idiocy and the prototype GT man is not falling for that.

 

[WreckinGT]

We now have posters on the Swarm calling for TStan to fire our football coach, basketball coach, and baseball coach. All have multiple years remaining on their contracts. I wonder how many of these fonts are willing to contribute significant cash toward any one of those dismissals?

It looks like our female coaches are safe from these calls for now. At least until they lose a game to uga.

If we are going to be a P5 athletics program then the cost of firing coaches should be something we can absorb. If we can't then we should reassess our desire and ability to compete at this level.

 

[4shotB]

If we can't then we should reassess our desire and ability to compete at this level.

I believe many of us are suggesting or even advocating this. I have said it before, the payout of millions of $ for people to "go away" has decreased my enthusiasm for sports at this level. If I had a vote (I don't) I would be fine dropping down a level or two with like minded schools.

 

[orientalnc]

If we are going to be a P5 athletics program then the cost of firing coaches should be something we can absorb. If we can't then we should reassess our desire and ability to compete at this level.

Maybe you are correct, but this "someone should be willing/able to pay to please me" attitude is wearisome.

 

[gt02]

What you are describing isn't option vs. non-option then. We haven't had all that since CBR. We have had major deficiencies on one or two of the 3 units ever since his departure.

I agree. And that’s kind of my point (that it is not an option vs non option issue).

We may not find someone that hits all of these issues, but right now we don’t hit on any. Me saying that doesn’t mean I am obsessed with the option.

 

[Vespidae]

I believe many of us are suggesting or even advocating this. I have said it before, the payout of millions of $ for people to "go away" has decreased my enthusiasm for sports at this level. If I had a vote (I don't) I would be fine dropping down a level or two with like minded schools.

I’m not there. Dropping down to D3 would be catastrophic. Eeking out 5-6 wins a year in football makes it possible to get ACCN payouts and fund non revenue sports.

 

[Tennessee GT Fan]

I could see someone like Brian Bohannon,Jeff Monken or Ken Niumatalolo guiding the football team in 2023.

 

[4shotB]

I’m not there. Dropping down to D3 would be catastrophic. Eeking out 5-6 wins a year in football makes it possible to get ACCN payouts and fund non revenue sports.

Personally, in the non-revenue sports category it doesn't matter to me if the athletes are on scholarship or playing at the club level of competition. I think most people feel likewise, hence the non-revenue status.

 

[Tennessee GT Fan]

Personally, in the non-revenue sports category it doesn't matter to me if the athletes are on scholarship or playing at the club level of competition. I think most people feel likewise, hence the non-revenue staus.

I don't think GT would drop down to FCS however nothing would really shock me.

 

[RamblinRed]

You'll need to stop thinking in terms of dropping down to FCS, or Div II or anything like that. I don't believe that is what is going to happen at all. Nor do I think it is what is being proposed by most on this board who talk about moving down.

Think of it more as a splitting of FBS for college football purposes. The OSU AD has even mentioned separating college football from the other college sports in terms of how it is run and funded.
I think of it in terms of there being a tier 1 in FBS that is going to be the 24-32 teams that are basically going to stop even pretending to use a college model and will basically be funded to be the NFL lite. The young men may not even go to college at all. Or if they do they are getting more life skill classes than anything else.
Then I think of a second tier of other like minded schools who don't want to follow that model but instead still have a model that is based on a student-athlete. This second tier itself may actually be 2 tiers that are divided by finances and resources.

If this type of break eventually happens I think GT would be in the second tier (and I doubt many GT fans would expect GT to be in that first tier).

The conferences don't go away in this scenario either. They remain largely as is for all sports except college football.

If you assume that the tier 1 schools are mostly playing each other - 12-16 games a week isn't even close to the content needed by the sports networks.
You would see different TV contracts based on which tier you are in. I would actually expect most schools to basically have 2 contracts. One contract would be for college football content based on what tier you are in. So teams in tier 1 would get a certain contract (the same one for all schools in that tier). Same thing for tier 2 and for tier 3 if there are 3 tiers. You then have a separate contract for the conferences for all sports except football.

 

[chewybaka]

You'll need to stop thinking in terms of dropping down to FCS, or Div II or anything like that. I don't believe that is what is going to happen at all. Nor do I think it is what is being proposed by most on this board who talk about moving down.

Think of it more as a splitting of FBS for college football purposes. The OSU AD has even mentioned separating college football from the other college sports in terms of how it is run and funded.
I think of it in terms of there being a tier 1 in FBS that is going to be the 24-32 teams that are basically going to stop even pretending to use a college model and will basically be funded to be the NFL lite. The young men may not even go to college at all. Or if they do they are getting more life skill classes than anything else.
Then I think of a second tier of other like minded schools who don't want to follow that model but instead still have a model that is based on a student-athlete. This second tier itself may actually be 2 tiers that are divided by finances and resources.

If this type of break eventually happens I think GT would be in the second tier (and I doubt many GT fans would expect GT to be in that first tier).

The conferences don't go away in this scenario either. They remain largely as is for all sports except college football.

If you assume that the tier 1 schools are mostly playing each other - 12-16 games a week isn't even close to the content needed by the sports networks.
You would see different TV contracts based on which tier you are in. I would actually expect most schools to basically have 2 contracts. One contract would be for college football content based on what tier you are in. So teams in tier 1 would get a certain contract (the same one for all schools in that tier). Same thing for tier 2 and for tier 3 if there are 3 tiers. You then have a separate contract for the conferences for all sports except football.

Interesting...a change is needed, it's helpful to pose various scenarios to speculate what's best for Tech and the now fading student athlete model.

 

[Vespidae]

Interesting...a change is needed, it's helpful to pose various scenarios to speculate what's best for Tech and the now fading student athlete model.

Let's start by changing the term "student athlete" to "wannabe professional".

 

[orientalnc]

I’m not there. Dropping down to D3 would be catastrophic. Eeking out 5-6 wins a year in football makes it possible to get ACCN payouts and fund non revenue sports.

How are Villanova and Gonzaga doing it without P5 football?

 

[Vespidae]

How are Villanova and Gonzaga doing it without P5 football?

Here's a newsflash. Neither have legacy costs. Give up P5 revenue and guess what? You still have BDS to pay for and all of the debt the GTAA has created as well. Come up with a plan to get rid of the debt and you might have an argument. If you don't, it's weak at best.

 

[orientalnc]

When you realize your hand is a loser do you keep betting? Someone said, " You have know when to fold 'em" and that's hard to argue against.

Are we there now? Maybe.

 

[cthenrys]

Let's be honest, we could go 15-0, allow no points to be scored on us, have a larger crowd than the mutts in their stadium, beat bama by 75 in the natty and there will be thoes who want CGC canned.

Nope.

 

[Eli]

Muh pants don’t look like a coach

I personally like the tapered pants look. I don’t like. Calling a timeout then a delay of game out of the timeout followed by a false start and then fumbling the snap. Name this game lol

 

[GT33]

People who attend and graduate GT are a different breed, they are way too smart to risk blowing money on some kid that might not even pan out, or get hurt or transfer away. The whole nil deal is idiocy and the prototype GT man is not falling for that.

Most Engineers lack strategic agility. It's a major weakness in executive roles & we see it every day in the leadership of our sports programs. We can conceive good ideas and correctly assess alternatives, however the inability to react instinctively and with the level of urgency required ages most of them to the point where they're ineffective, no longer appropriate, lack impact, etc.

It's about this complicated & the success ahead will require major widespread organizational changes starting at the top. GT needs to start with finding a leader. We found Homer. There's another one out there somewhere.

 

[ibeattetris]

When you realize your hand is a loser do you keep betting? Someone said, " You have know when to fold 'em" and that's hard to argue against.

Are we there now? Maybe.

Yes….when you have no showdown value, your only equity is making the other player fold. So you MUST bet. The key is balancing times you have nothing, with times you have it. Sorry, I love poker theory

 

[billga99]

Most Engineers lack strategic agility. It's a major weakness in executive roles & we see it every day in the leadership of our sports programs. We can conceive good ideas and correctly assess alternatives, however the inability to react instinctively and with the level of urgency required ages most of them to the point where they're ineffective, no longer appropriate, lack impact, etc.

It's about this complicated & the success ahead will require major widespread organizational changes starting at the top. GT needs to start with finding a leader. We found Homer. There's another one out there somewhere.

I really admire Homer Rice but this is a completely different world currently. Major revenue discrepancy between SEC/Big Ten and other conferences. Silly money being spent on coaches and facilities. And of course NIL requires very active alumni and business base support (ie money) to recruit top talent. Yes do I think he would hire better coaches...yes. But do I think we could compete on a National Level for Football Championships, doubtful. Basketball a slightly better chance since you need fewer players and coaches. But the point I am trying to make is money is so much more crucial today than 30 years ago. And of course, we weren't 200 million in debt at that point.