I'll Speak Heresy (to many)....

Lexjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
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Are you suggesting we shouldn't curb-stomp Southern tomorrow? :)

No! no! I think we should stomp a mud puddle in Georgia Southern and walk it dry, after all they're a bunch of uncircumcised Phillistines. I'm just saying that Coach Dodd had the right perspective, Always win if you can, but the student athlete is most important.:angelic:
 

GTRX7

Helluva Engineer
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Atlanta
Okay, I am young, but not that young anymore (ChE '02). Somehow, I have never actually heard Bobby Dodd speak, just read quotes. That guy was awesome! Holy cow. Extremely entertaining. I want to go play for him : )
 

alaguy

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I had the opportunity to sit with him at a Tech alumni meeting yrs ago.What a fine and interesting gentleman.
 

SolicitorJacket

Jolly Good Fellow
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McDonough, GA
I will say this...and it might be true heresy. Dodd said basically the same thing in this video (from 1986) that Dave Braine got crucified for 20 years later. I have read Dodd books, watched interviews and even spoken to the man himself when I was a youngster. He always had the utmost confidence in Tech and his teams when he was coaching, but his comments from '67 on indicate he didn't think anyone else could ever have that level of success at Tech. He may have been right in some aspects, but it is my belief that his negative outlook on the program (in terms of potential for W-L) had a bad result for the program. It was under his watch as AD that the facilities declined severely. It took Homer Rice coming in several years after Dodd retired to really turn things around. For many reasons, I wish Coach Dodd had been around to see the 1990 MNC.
 

GTJackets

Ramblin' Wreck
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770
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Moncks Corner, South Carolina
I will say this...and it might be true heresy. Dodd said basically the same thing in this video (from 1986) that Dave Braine got crucified for 20 years later. I have read Dodd books, watched interviews and even spoken to the man himself when I was a youngster. He always had the utmost confidence in Tech and his teams when he was coaching, but his comments from '67 on indicate he didn't think anyone else could ever have that level of success at Tech. He may have been right in some aspects, but it is my belief that his negative outlook on the program (in terms of potential for W-L) had a bad result for the program. It was under his watch as AD that the facilities declined severely. It took Homer Rice coming in several years after Dodd retired to really turn things around. For many reasons, I wish Coach Dodd had been around to see the 1990 MNC.

Get off my porch!
 

daBuzz

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
965
I will say this...and it might be true heresy. Dodd said basically the same thing in this video (from 1986) that Dave Braine got crucified for 20 years later. I have read Dodd books, watched interviews and even spoken to the man himself when I was a youngster. He always had the utmost confidence in Tech and his teams when he was coaching, but his comments from '67 on indicate he didn't think anyone else could ever have that level of success at Tech. He may have been right in some aspects, but it is my belief that his negative outlook on the program (in terms of potential for W-L) had a bad result for the program. It was under his watch as AD that the facilities declined severely. It took Homer Rice coming in several years after Dodd retired to really turn things around. For many reasons, I wish Coach Dodd had been around to see the 1990 MNC.

FWIW, I agree with you. Dodd was an outstanding man, an even better coach, and one of the finest Tech men who has ever lived.
But as an administrator, he made some key decisions that were questionable and his decision to pull us out of the SEC was quite probably the worst decision ever made by a Tech AD.
 

jacketup

Helluva Engineer
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1,529
I will say this...and it might be true heresy. Dodd said basically the same thing in this video (from 1986) that Dave Braine got crucified for 20 years later. I have read Dodd books, watched interviews and even spoken to the man himself when I was a youngster. He always had the utmost confidence in Tech and his teams when he was coaching, but his comments from '67 on indicate he didn't think anyone else could ever have that level of success at Tech. He may have been right in some aspects, but it is my belief that his negative outlook on the program (in terms of potential for W-L) had a bad result for the program. It was under his watch as AD that the facilities declined severely. It took Homer Rice coming in several years after Dodd retired to really turn things around. For many reasons, I wish Coach Dodd had been around to see the 1990 MNC.

Well said. Dodd's record as a head coach after Broyles and Graves left was Johnson/Gailey like. He was a poor AD.

He was a charismatic man. The Atlanta media loved him. He could have used his charisma and influence to keep GT on top, but he refused to do it because he didn't want to ask his friends for money. His status with his buddies was more important to him than GT.

Homer Rice was more important in GT history than Dodd, and gets less credit.
 

iceeater1969

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FWIW, I agree with you. Dodd was an outstanding man, an even better coach, and one of the finest Tech men who has ever lived.
But as an administrator, he made some key decisions that were questionable and his decision to pull us out of the SEC was quite probably the worst decision ever made by a Tech AD.

I agree - leaving acc was a disaster. Sure it would be a stacked deck that would be an impact.
I wish we had tried it for a lot longer. I think it was a bear Bryant thing.
Maybe it would have forced the uga stacked board of regents to relent and allow us some flexibility in circulumn. With his ability to politic in Atlanta, and the option of tech replacing the uga game with auburn ( ala engineering school) would keep uga out of Atlanta. I think he and present ad underestimated the draw of playing in atl.
 

orientalnc

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Retired Staff
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In Dodd's era you won with defense. One of the most exciting games I ever saw was the Tech -Tennessee game in 1956. I was a little kid tagging along with my dad, but I still remember that game. Final score was 6-0.
 
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