Jackets pickup Wyoming DL Solomon. Byrd transfer portal

g0lftime

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Lots of discussion about this at the ACC meeting. The NCAA is trying to do something but has let this get totally out of control. Supposedly they released some sort of document to define what is acceptable for NIL. Lots of luck with that. May be time for complete overhaul of team associations and break up the NCAA into pro versus amateur models.
How long will alums pony up big bucks to entice a top athlete and the kid gets injured and never sees the field. The system may self correct at some point just like the stock market is doing.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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I get it... and I don’t really disagree. No need for fantastical fictional hypotheticals... I’m not saying it wasn’t happening 10, 20 or 40 years ago. I’m not saying the NCAA or the colleges did a good job policing it. I’m not even saying that they didn’t know about it... but the fact that it is happening in plain sight for all to see with the “blessing” of all those who claimed to have the integrity of education and amateur athletics at the forefront of all they do IS a new level of ridiculous. They say sunlight is the best disinfectant. I can only hope that everyone involved is completely exposed for the fraud they’ve been perpetrating. I hope it’s ultimately good for college athletics but for a lot of programs, I suspect its going to implode before it improves.
I know we are on the same page and I‘m not meaning to come across like I’m mad at you or anyone. It’s just 40 years of frustration over corruption. My entire college football fandom has been one of total frustration and for every year except this year most fans didn’t see what was really going on. I guess it’s my own fault for paying attention and knowing enough high school football coaches to have heard the stories of how the commodities are bought and sold. You remember the secret Rush Probst recording from last year? That conversation is the norm and occurs with every high end player other than the few exceptions with strong parents. I’ve heard and seen enough with my own ears and eyes to know how the hot dog is made. I love that it’s now in the open so more people can see how corrupt it is and has been but I laugh at the notion that folks believe this is the end because they NOW see it. The corrupt champ will be crowned this year no different than previous corrupt champs like ND, Bama, OU, etc.

And having just gone thru the baseball process with my own son this same model of back door shenanigans are being played out in every sport. It’s all big money or other inducements whether it’s football, hoops, baseball, volleyball, softball, etc. Spend a week at Lakepoint and you’ll see the vultures. Baseball isn’t super bad yet but it’s getting there. Now, go to the hoops building at Lakepoint and hang out in the parking lot. They could do a documentary on that parking lot alone and you could see future Final Fours bought and paid for.
 

YJMD

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We see decommits in CFB all the time. I don't know how things are suddenly different because it happens with a transfer. It sucks because we need someone like Solomon, but that's the source of the nihilism that I see.
 

takethepoints

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This has been happening the past several decades but it was done thru bagmen and in Wal-Mart parking lots in every small town in the south because the UGA’s, Bama‘s of the world know how to launder without getting caught. Now, that the players don’t have to hide it’s all done on Instagram and suddenly it’s infuriating. What GT should have done is had the guy register for classes the day he committed so he’d be tied to us. Right now there are no such things as a commitment so no use losing sleep over any of it.
Reminds me of what Bob Devaney said. Quoth Bob, "I don't want to win so much that I get sanctioned by the NCAA. I just want to win enough to be investigated."

The interesting thing about this is that we have had a pretty clean program down through the years, largely because of a) the value of Tech degrees, something parents especially pay attention to, and b) unique offenses - and, occasionally, defenses - that allowed us to recruit players other people weren't interested in and win with them. With that combo and the occasional spurt of good players, Tech has been successful. The present outfit gets a, but falters badly on b. I don't think this basic situation has changed much. As I keep saying, if WAKE can do it, so can Tech. What we need to do is get our minds right and plan to do what Tech has always done best. We can deal with the rest as well as we can.
 

yeti92

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We see decommits in CFB all the time. I don't know how things are suddenly different because it happens with a transfer. It sucks because we need someone like Solomon, but that's the source of the nihilism that I see.
I think the difference is that with high school players there are the two signing periods, so you know you have to compete to keep them up to that date. With the portal, there is no limited signing period, so you would expect someone who committed to be done looking and enroll pretty much immediately. I think people are just surprised that isn't the case, and that the word commitment is being given even less meaning than it had already been eroded to.
 

4shotB

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I’ve heard and seen enough with my own ears and eyes to know how the hot dog is made. I love that it’s now in the open so more people can see how corrupt it is and has been but I laugh at the notion that folks believe this is the end because they NOW see it. The corrupt champ will be crowned this year no different than previous corrupt champs like ND, Bama, OU, etc.

I don't think anyone at all doubts that it WILL go on as you say. Capitalism prevails in the end. What many are saying is that it may have to go on without THEM. I am in that group. But I (and most of the rest in my situation) am not naive enough to think that just because I get off the merry go round that the circus is going to stop.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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I don't think anyone at all doubts that it WILL go on as you say. Capitalism prevails in the end. What many are saying is that it may have to go on without THEM. I am in that group. But I (and most of the rest in my situation) am not naive enough to think that just because I get off the merry go round that the circus is going to stop.
This is where I’m confused. If you are getting off now, why didn’t you get off when Switzer and Johnson bought Nattys? In other words, why now? Just because its posted on Instagram?

I actually got off the merry go round when I was 10 years old after hearing about how Herschel was bought. That was the seed and then every year I’d watch the top tier get bought. Then when I was a GT student and how saw up close how college athletes were faux students, yes, even at GT. But by then I knew the entire system was a farce so I decided to root for the players in the GT uniform. And I was very happy that Cremins and Ross brought in players who could play ball rather than those who were Rhodes scholars. Watching Kenny, Dennis, Marbury, etc was awesome and I appreciate those coaches for pulling every string to get them and keep them eligible.

I still watch the football games because it’s an awesome sport but I always root for the underdog in any non-GT or non-UGA game. In those cases I always root for GT and against UGA. But I’m never not going to watch because it’s a fun sport.

I just don’t understand why life long fans are just now calling it quits. If you know your wife has been cheating on you for 50 years yet in year 51 it becomes an issue I just don’t get that. For GT fans nothing has changed. Our school stopped trying to compete decades ago when we took our ball and went home. Sure, like any statistical anomaly we’ve had some good years when things fell in place (1990 and a couple under Johnson) but for the most part we stopped program building a long time ago so the NIL era is just another era GT won’t compete in. Nothing new for us.
 

4shotB

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This is where I’m confused. If you are getting off now, why didn’t you get off when Switzer and Johnson bought Nattys? In other words, why now? Just because its posted on Instagram?
Maybe it's (for me) finally the straw that broke the camel's back. Or finally having so many paper cuts that you eventually bleed to death. I's the cumulative effect of so may changes to the structure of the game, none of which are positive. Not knowing the start time of the game until just a week or few days before the actual game was (maybe?) the first wound. It's not about the cheating although you seem to be emphasizing that issue. The transfer portal isn't all about the money...it's the constant roster churn and not seeing guys come in as unknowns (Laskey, Mason, Keith Brooking and leave in 4 or 5 years as pro prospects. If the roster is turned over every year it seems like diluted professional football.
 

CEB

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This is where I’m confused. If you are getting off now, why didn’t you get off when Switzer and Johnson bought Nattys? In other words, why now? Just because its posted on Instagram?

I actually got off the merry go round when I was 10 years old after hearing about how Herschel was bought. That was the seed and then every year I’d watch the top tier get bought. Then when I was a GT student and how saw up close how college athletes were faux students, yes, even at GT. But by then I knew the entire system was a farce so I decided to root for the players in the GT uniform. And I was very happy that Cremins and Ross brought in players who could play ball rather than those who were Rhodes scholars. Watching Kenny, Dennis, Marbury, etc was awesome and I appreciate those coaches for pulling every string to get them and keep them eligible.

I still watch the football games because it’s an awesome sport but I always root for the underdog in any non-GT or non-UGA game. In those cases I always root for GT and against UGA. But I’m never not going to watch because it’s a fun sport.

I just don’t understand why life long fans are just now calling it quits. If you know your wife has been cheating on you for 50 years yet in year 51 it becomes an issue I just don’t get that. For GT fans nothing has changed. Our school stopped trying to compete decades ago when we took our ball and went home. Sure, like any statistical anomaly we’ve had some good years when things fell in place (1990 and a couple under Johnson) but for the most part we stopped program building a long time ago so the NIL era is just another era GT won’t compete in. Nothing new for us.
I’ll play along with the analogy since it’s kind of funny... and really not a bad analogy!
if for 50 years she’s been sneaking around behind my back but keeping it quiet, treating me fine otherwise, taking care of the kids and the family and generally respecting our family and our feelings even if we all know something is amiss... we live with it, work through it, hope for the best, even share good moments together despite our issues.... but then in year 51 she decides what the heck, I’ve already been cheating!!! She’s spread eagle on the front porch doing the mailman and the landscaper, soliciting the neighbors, posting videos of her escapades on the neighborhood web page... I’m probably going to take issue with year 51. I’m still a poor schmuck with a cheating wife of 50 years but damnit man, I have a little pride! :ROFLMAO:
 

WreckinGT

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This is where I’m confused. If you are getting off now, why didn’t you get off when Switzer and Johnson bought Nattys? In other words, why now? Just because its posted on Instagram?

I actually got off the merry go round when I was 10 years old after hearing about how Herschel was bought. That was the seed and then every year I’d watch the top tier get bought. Then when I was a GT student and how saw up close how college athletes were faux students, yes, even at GT. But by then I knew the entire system was a farce so I decided to root for the players in the GT uniform. And I was very happy that Cremins and Ross brought in players who could play ball rather than those who were Rhodes scholars. Watching Kenny, Dennis, Marbury, etc was awesome and I appreciate those coaches for pulling every string to get them and keep them eligible.

I still watch the football games because it’s an awesome sport but I always root for the underdog in any non-GT or non-UGA game. In those cases I always root for GT and against UGA. But I’m never not going to watch because it’s a fun sport.

I just don’t understand why life long fans are just now calling it quits. If you know your wife has been cheating on you for 50 years yet in year 51 it becomes an issue I just don’t get that. For GT fans nothing has changed. Our school stopped trying to compete decades ago when we took our ball and went home. Sure, like any statistical anomaly we’ve had some good years when things fell in place (1990 and a couple under Johnson) but for the most part we stopped program building a long time ago so the NIL era is just another era GT won’t compete in. Nothing new for us.
What changed is a combination of more money money via NIL and the new transfer rule. It used to be that we were worried we couldn't get enough good players because of the money being given by other schools during recruitment. We always had hope of getting some diamonds in the rough though that they missed. Now they can just come back and take the players they missed with relative ease after a year or two. Having to recruit and pay the players on your own team to compete is a change, that im not sure we are well equipped to handle.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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I’ll play along with the analogy since it’s kind of funny... and really not a bad analogy!
if for 50 years she’s been sneaking around behind my back but keeping it quiet, treating me fine otherwise, taking care of the kids and the family and generally respecting our family and our feelings even if we all know something is amiss... we live with it, work through it, hope for the best, even share good moments together despite our issues.... but then in year 51 she decides what the heck, I’ve already been cheating!!! She’s spread eagle on the front porch doing the mailman and the landscaper, soliciting the neighbors, posting videos of her escapades on the neighborhood web page... I’m probably going to take issue with year 51. I’m still a poor schmuck with a cheating wife of 50 years but damnit man, I have a little pride! :ROFLMAO:
Well played!! That is an awesome post. I guess I’m just different because for 50 years I’ve been seeing her spread eagle in my mind anyway so year 51 didn’t shock me. I guess my pride was gone long ago on this subject when my school basically stopped playing the game. When you get punched in the face with one hand tied behind your back for 50 years the pride is gone by year 5.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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What changed is a combination of more money money via NIL and the new transfer rule. It used to be that we were worried we couldn't get enough good players because of the money being given by other schools during recruitment. We always had hope of getting some diamonds in the rough though that they missed. Now they can just come back and take the players they missed with relative ease after a year or two. Having to recruit and pay the players on your own team to compete is a change, that im not sure we are well equipped to handle.
But you aren’t calculating the players we are picking up. As someone posted, the numbers show the portal has been a net gain for GT. And I’m not buying the “we are losing all our diamonds in the rough”. We lost one impact player in Gibbs. We didn’t lose our best defender in Thomas, or our young/talented WR’s. Maybe in the future your comment will be true and we’ll lose a lot of quality players. But so far we’ve lost 1. The rest are just organizational fodder who at some point next season when they are standing on the sideline thinking that perhaps they should have stayed. Look at the WR Brown who left for South Carolina. Dude had 11 catches and zero TD’s. You don’t think he’s regretting his decision to leave GT to sit on the bench in Columbia?
 

WreckinGT

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But you aren’t calculating the players we are picking up. As someone posted, the numbers show the portal has been a net gain for GT. And I’m not buying the “we are losing all our diamonds in the rough”. We lost one impact player in Gibbs. We didn’t lose our best defender in Thomas, or our young/talented WR’s. Maybe in the future your comment will be true and we’ll lose a lot of quality players. But so far we’ve lost 1. The rest are just organizational fodder who at some point next season when they are standing on the sideline thinking that perhaps they should have stayed. Look at the WR Brown who left for South Carolina. Dude had 11 catches and zero TD’s. You don’t think he’s regretting his decision to leave GT to sit on the bench in Columbia?
So if one of young talented wide receivers has a breakout year, you personally expect them to be a Yellow Jacket the year after? The reason we only lost one quality player is because we only had one quality player. Although I would personally put Ivey in that category as well for his potential. I do expect to have some quality players in the future and yes, im not feeling too good about keeping them when USC or an SEC program throws a million dollars at them. We are going to get our share of the underperformers at SEC schools and overperformers at G5 schools as well, but we are going to have trouble keeping star players going forward.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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So if one of young talented wide receivers has a breakout year, you personally expect them to be a Yellow Jacket the year after? The reason we only lost one quality player is because we only had one quality player. Although I would personally put Ivey in that category as well for his potential. I do expect to have some quality players in the future and yes, im not feeling too good about keeping them when USC or an SEC program throws a million dollars at them. We are going to get our share of the underperformers at SEC schools and overperformers at G5 schools as well, but we are going to have trouble keeping star players going forward.
Not if we pay. In other words we have to play the game like everyone else. It’s GT’s problem not “the system”. No different than the reason we didn’t get Cam, Watson, Tuitt, or any other high end player from the ATL area long before NIL and the portal. We didn’t play the game of the day. GT stopped building a program a long time ago.

It is our AD and Head Coach’s jobs to build this program. It’s on them to play the game of the day whether it’s buying players under the table or over the table. We know they haven’t done their job because the lack of wins speak for themselves. And it appears our remaining fanbase is fine with it by reading the comments here. Our fanbase is blaming everything except the mirror which is where the problem lies. We are mad at USC and their coach for some odd reason because they are doing what it takes to move their program from mediocre to above average. And we say it in a way to insinuate that they are doing something wrong. USC is doing nothing wrong. They are using their resources to better their program. Right now, UGA has more stud QB’s from the state of Georgia than ever. Several of them will enter the portal within a year. Is our AD or coach doing anything to get them here or are we gonna just sit here and complain when Gunner or Vandagriff portals to Clemson?
 

jacketup

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It is our AD and Head Coach’s jobs to build this program.

Our fanbase is blaming everything except the mirror which is where the problem lies.

I've loved your posts in this thread, but these comments are in opposition to each other. In my opinion, the problem is the latter much more so than the former. The GTAA can only work with the resources they have.

A GT board like demonstrates where the problem for Tech lies. It's really not worth posting here anymore because of the lack of understanding by the majority of people about college football generally, and the challenges Tech has faced and continues to face. While some of the problems are of GTAA's own making and some are due to circumstances, the constant blame of every issue on the head coach is just absurd and tiring. If you want improvement, get out your wallet. Money is, and has been, the name of the game. Complaining about the head coach won't move the needle.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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I hear you but GT has the money. They just pretend they can’t use it. In other words GT hides behind academics to defend their mediocrity. If we were UGA and had decades of mediocrity or 3 straight 3 win seasons you can guarantee they’d be tapping the money like GT has to jump start the program. But, everyone will tell me how GT can’t tap their deep pockets because of “rules” or whatever. It’s all excuses.

Google “Georgia Tech”. Look at the news tab. Of the first 10 news articles the world sees about Georgia Tech - 9 are about athletics and the other is about triplets who just graduated. The point is the only time large masses of people and alum come back to campus is for athletics. No matter what the faculty and admin believe athletics are the face of the school. What’s the first building you see when you follow the signs to Georgia Tech? Use any search engine or look in any newspaper and all you’ll see are athletics. GT just doesn’t get it.
 
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