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Jaylend Ratliffe Article
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Damn, brings tears to your eyes doesn't. And now he steps into the job market soon which has higher unemployment than the peak of the great depression. But he will survive and thrive because he's seen and been through worse.
This seems like a really smart, down to earth, just really good guy. The kind of guy you'd want as a neighbor. Look at his family background and where he's from - he probably lacked for role models. He likely wouldn't have known that 'the sky was the limit' for him, and that he could live anywhere and do anything he wanted. Georgia Tech gives you that opportunity, that should you seize it, there is no telling how the arc of your life can change.
Thank you Jaylend for keeping your commitment to come to Tech, for fighting it out, and being a great representative of the Institute.
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I love how the staff looked after him even though he wasn't playing football.
"The two developed a close relationship in the process. Johnson stayed after Ratliffe to keep up his schoolwork. Over the course of his time at Tech, Ratliffe sometimes skirted trouble, like missing a class, Ratliffe said.
“Coach Johnson was the first to pull me in his office and tell me, ‘Hey, I didn’t bring you here for you to B.S. around,’ ” Ratliffe said. “I brought you here for you to do something with yourself, not go back to Laurinburg and be a nobody.”"
It would have been so easy to just let him figure it out on his own, to simply say we honored our commitment and brought you in, but they also kept on him just as if he was playing. Kudo to the GTAA.
"The two developed a close relationship in the process. Johnson stayed after Ratliffe to keep up his schoolwork. Over the course of his time at Tech, Ratliffe sometimes skirted trouble, like missing a class, Ratliffe said.
“Coach Johnson was the first to pull me in his office and tell me, ‘Hey, I didn’t bring you here for you to B.S. around,’ ” Ratliffe said. “I brought you here for you to do something with yourself, not go back to Laurinburg and be a nobody.”"
It would have been so easy to just let him figure it out on his own, to simply say we honored our commitment and brought you in, but they also kept on him just as if he was playing. Kudo to the GTAA.
CTJacket
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That was my takeaway too. I'm glad CGC also kept it going, keeping him around. Best of luck to the young man.
Jim Prather
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No. Medical scholarships like Jaylend has don't count against the 85. That is part of the way Alabama processes players...
TheFlyest
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great story. I’m glad he was allowed to stay on schollie even after the coaching change.
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This is just the kind of thing we need right now. A reminder of challenges met and overcome through persistence and hard work.
I am proud of GT for doing right by Jaylend and appreciate him taking the responsibility to better himself in a real way by sticking with it. I hope he finishes strong and can call himself a graduate of this institution that has given so many of us so much.
I am proud of GT for doing right by Jaylend and appreciate him taking the responsibility to better himself in a real way by sticking with it. I hope he finishes strong and can call himself a graduate of this institution that has given so many of us so much.
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I don't really think CGC had much of a choice. Since it's a medical scholarship it doesn't count towards the 85 cap and (IIUC) the GTAA determines eligibility for it. As HC, he could recommend removal for violations of rules, but short of that, I don't think it was really his call. Similarly, while CPJ advocated for the medical scholarship for JR in the beginning, it was the GTAA that had to buy off on it and find funding for it.
Plus, CGC would have looked REALLY bad if he comes in as a new coach and cuts a guy off a medical scholarship.
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Don't disagree with you Augusta that it was a GTAA decision, but the investment of time and attention that both the coaches and support staff has shown goes beyond the normal expected position of modern era NCAA Div 1 football programs. I am not surprised by the academic support he has received, but that the GTAA and our people chose to be involved with and commit to his success is worth celebrating.
forensicbuzz
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Was this comment necessary? Sometimes I wonder at our own fans. What purpose does it serve to negatively qualify someone's positive comment?
AlabamaBuzz
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Great story, but why would he wait to take calculus his last semester? I know. That is a pretty dumb question - probably the same reason I waited to take drownproofing my last quarter. 
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Technically, no comment on these boards are necessary. It's a clarification to a point. If you don't like the comment that's on you. I was spelling out what goes on to make these things happen, because it's beyond either coaches ability to make it happen. In hindsight, I should have included the last sentence that I originally added to it, which stated something to the effect of: "Kudos should go to the GTAA for doing something absolutely right when we are so used to seeing them screw up in major ways."
Techster
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What CGC allowed Jaylend to do was leave his team responsibilities on the football team to focus on academics and still keep him on scholarship. CGC could have easily leveraged the medical scholarship as extra help from Jaylend, and GT as we all know is shorthanded versus other school's staffs, but he did what was best for Jaylend.
Bottomline, GT is very lucky to have had 2 coaches who saw the bigger picture for Jaylend. For all of those who say CPJ didn't really care about his players, or CGC is bringing a factory mentality to GT and getting rid of "dead weight", here's a little ammunition that says BOTH coaches really believe in the "family" concept of teams.
On another note, a part of me really wishes he could have seen Jaylend QB'ing our team. He was a good passer in HS, AND a good runner. He had Nesbitt's size and arm, was pretty fast and agile, and had JeT's passing ability. Almost the perfect blend of all of CPJ's QBs. Whatever he pursues in life, I hope he'll find peace with not being able to play football. A GT degree is a HUGE accomplishment!
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Agree all around, especially the last paragraph. IMO, JR was the planned replacement for JT and his injury snake bit us pretty hard. I shudder to think what we could have done with JR running the O under CPJ.
swampsting
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agree that Ken does a very good job on features and other takeout pieces. He manages to get into details without bogging the story down.
He had PJ butted heads a few times but I think there is still a great deal of trust and respect on both sides if Ken can call up PJ after he's been out of the picture for nearly a year and a half and get him to talk for a story.
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I think PJ was frustrated by a couple of things with Ken: 1) That he published a story PJ didn’t want published and 2) PJ doesn’t think Ken knows football
I think Ken knows how much *work* football is, and the grind the players and coaches go through, though.
Ratliffe knows football, though.
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Ken is a good writer. How much he "knows" football is a legitimate question, but I have always enjoyed his work. What makes me like Ken's articles are their honesty. He never goes full homer but still manages to paint GT in as positive a light as possible in most of his work. That's a hard balance for a beat writer to strike. He might not be the world most knowledgeable football writer, but he's a heck of a journalist.