No Wonder We Were So Good !

[Essobee]

He is funny with homespun syrup mouth jokes but they are funny and then in part four he starts telling folks about how Tech was successful during his tenure at the helm.....

Ha Ha... It may have been Frank Howard who first laid that description (syrup mouth) on Bobby. I recall seeing the Frank Howard show on Greenville, SC TV station a week before we played and beat (we always beat Clemson) them one year. Ole Frank (with his slow country drawl) said something to the effect of he "couldn't wait to hear what old syrup mouth would say (about whatever)." Bobby, on his show, said that he and Coach Howard loved playing against each other because Georgie Tech would always get a win and Clemson would always get some much-needed revenue. It was all just good natured ribbing between good friends.

For the youngsters: Things were much different in those days...Tech filled its stadium and Clemson didn't; furthermore, Grant Field was larger than Clemson's stadium back in the day. They played in Atlanta each time rather than rotate (same with Auburn and same with the Tech/UGA freshman game*) because Tech had a larger stadium and drew sellout crowds.

*btw: The Tech/UGA freshman game, played each Thanksgiving Day, regularly drew in excess of 40,000 fans. The revenue went as a donation to Scottish-Rite Children's Hospital. The slogan for the game was "Strong legs run so weak legs may walk."

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Ha Ha... It may have been Frank Howard who first laid that description (syrup mouth) on Bobby. I recall seeing the Frank Howard show on Greenville, SC TV station a week before we played and beat (we always beat Clemson) them one year. Ole Frank (with his slow country drawl) said something to the effect of he "couldn't wait to hear what old syrup mouth would say (about whatever)." Bobby, on his show, said that he and Coach Howard loved playing against each other because Georgie Tech would always get a win and Clemson would always get some much-needed revenue. It was all just good natured ribbing between good friends.

For the youngsters: Things were much different in those days...Tech filled its stadium and Clemson didn't; furthermore, Grant Field was larger than Clemson's stadium back in the day. They played in Atlanta each time rather than rotate (same with Auburn and same with the Tech/UGA freshman game*) because Tech had a larger stadium and drew sellout crowds.

*btw: The Tech/UGA freshman game, played each Thanksgiving Day, regularly drew in excess of 40,000 fans. The revenue went as a donation to Scottish-Rite Children's Hospital. The slogan for the game was "Strong legs run so weak legs may walk."

Yeah, the attendance for the Frosh game was always impressive.

The other day I saw the Texas HS championship game attendance was over 54,000. Crazy.

 

[Rodney Kent]

Another problem with recruiting at Tech is exposure. There is no doubt that the AJC favors UGA over Tech. Any praise from them about GT is generally a backhand stab. Players like to see their names in the papers and good things about Tech in the papers. Of course, it is hard to gather praise when you do not win; this is the first problem. The second problem of exposure could be overcome by Tech grads with money. Since most people go to the internet, we need a lot of sites that give GT sports news each day. Does Tech have a journalism degree or study? If so, the students could be used to write articles about Tech sports and then provide these articles to local papers. Supported Internet Sites could also be backed by the wealthy grads to provide sport's information and exposure with articles from Journalism students.

This might even give a head start to Tech for the future as the physical papers will soon be history; the internet and Television will be the venue for all news.

Back during the Dodd days, the AJC gave excellent write-ups for Tech, because we won big and it was to their advantage. Since Tech no longer wins consistently, they look to UGA to sell papers from the sport's section.

 

[Mack]

Ha Ha... It may have been Frank Howard who first laid that description (syrup mouth) on Bobby. I recall seeing the Frank Howard show on Greenville, SC TV station a week before we played and beat (we always beat Clemson) them one year. Ole Frank (with his slow country drawl) said something to the effect of he "couldn't wait to hear what old syrup mouth would say (about whatever)." Bobby, on his show, said that he and Coach Howard loved playing against each other because Georgie Tech would always get a win and Clemson would always get some much-needed revenue. It was all just good natured ribbing between good friends.

For the youngsters: Things were much different in those days...Tech filled its stadium and Clemson didn't; furthermore, Grant Field was larger than Clemson's stadium back in the day. They played in Atlanta each time rather than rotate (same with Auburn and same with the Tech/UGA freshman game*) because Tech had a larger stadium and drew sellout crowds.

*btw: The Tech/UGA freshman game, played each Thanksgiving Day, regularly drew in excess of 40,000 fans. The revenue went as a donation to Scottish-Rite Children's Hospital. The slogan for the game was "Strong legs run so weak legs may walk."

 

[Mack]

Sure miss freshman game it got the bate going early! Usually if you beat Georgie on Thursday.....you could whip them on SAturday.

 

[Stinger90]

Sure miss freshman game it got the bate going early! Usually if you beat Georgie on Thursday.....you could whip them on SAturday.

What a treat that must've been to see us beat Georgia twice in one week!

THWG

 

[Mack]

What a treat that must've been to see us beat Georgia twice in one week!

THWG

Yep it was worth a million bucks to tell fans of geoegie........."well here is the first butt whipping and Saturday you get another one". Shoot you could get a huge crowd to see this game too.

Ha Ha... It may have been Frank Howard who first laid that description (syrup mouth) on Bobby. I recall seeing the Frank Howard show on Greenville, SC TV station a week before we played and beat (we always beat Clemson) them one year. Ole Frank (with his slow country drawl) said something to the effect of he "couldn't wait to hear what old syrup mouth would say (about whatever)." Bobby, on his show, said that he and Coach Howard loved playing against each other because Georgie Tech would always get a win and Clemson would always get some much-needed revenue. It was all just good natured ribbing between good friends.

For the youngsters: Things were much different in those days...Tech filled its stadium and Clemson didn't; furthermore, Grant Field was larger than Clemson's stadium back in the day. They played in Atlanta each time rather than rotate (same with Auburn and same with the Tech/UGA freshman game*) because Tech had a larger stadium and drew sellout crowds.

*btw: The Tech/UGA freshman game, played each Thanksgiving Day, regularly drew in excess of 40,000 fans. The revenue went as a donation to Scottish-Rite Children's Hospital. The slogan for the game was "Strong legs run so weak legs may walk."

Yep the Frank Howard Show was only SHOW we could get on Augusta area tv..I remember Frank after Lenny Snow scored several times that yesterday in Atlanta it Snowed !Coach Howard got about 100000 bucks to come to Atlanta and take a whipping but after he left........things changed.

 

[Mack]

Another problem with recruiting at Tech is exposure. There is no doubt that the AJC favors UGA over Tech. Any praise from them about GT is generally a backhand stab. Players like to see their names in the papers and good things about Tech in the papers. Of course, it is hard to gather praise when you do not win; this is the first problem. The second problem of exposure could be overcome by Tech grads with money. Since most people go to the internet, we need a lot of sites that give GT sports news each day. Does Tech have a journalism degree or study? If so, the students could be used to write articles about Tech sports and then provide these articles to local papers. Supported Internet Sites could also be backed by the wealthy grads to provide sport's information and exposure with articles from Journalism students.

This might even give a head start to Tech for the future as the physical papers will soon be history; the internet and Television will be the venue for all news.

Back during the Dodd days, the AJC gave excellent write-ups for Tech, because we won big and it was to their advantage. Since Tech no longer wins consistently, they look to UGA to sell papers from the sport's section.

This is so foreign to me..When we were in our prime you got at least three stories a day from Bisher and his cohorts at the AJC.Shoot if you were second team like Zollie Sircy( who was only second team in name only) yu got a write up.Of course georgie sport writers are from..........UGA and the trend changed when Dooley had such a great break out year in 64. Man it didnt take them long to get us on page three of the mullet wrapper.

 

[Rodney Kent]

As an oldtimer, I really miss the Tech/UGA Freshman Scottish Rite Game on Thanksgiving Day.

 

[daBuzz]

Whether you like CPJ or not, you have to admit that some of the things he has implemented during his regime haven't exactly helped the fan experience.
Two cases in point:
1) He originally held open practices during spring and the beginning of fall. Now, we get to see the spring game and a practice/scrimmage or two on Saturday mornings. I know there were people who video'ed portions of the practice and that was the reason given for shutting down access to practices. Still, I'm not sure what we were worried they would see. Perhaps they might catch us practicing passing? Hell, that would be a good thing. Then, they might waste time practicing to stop the pass.
2) Signing day. Even during Gailey, this was a bigger affair. Coaches would come up and talk about the players they recruited and fans were allowed to ask questions about the recruit, as well as other players. It was always fun to hear about who the scout team standouts were, etc. Now the coaches aren't allowed to answer questions; they come to the front and read out stats about the recruit...tell you an anecdotal story or two, then step away from the podium and the only one allowed to answer any questions is Johnson.

We used to fill up the room on signing day. Last year, we barely had 1/2 the room filled. Personally, I don't plan to go down there this year because it has become boring. I can get the same information by waiting until the end of the day and reading it on Scout, Rivals, here or other sites.

 

[Mack]

Whether you like CPJ or not, you have to admit that some of the things he has implemented during his regime haven't exactly helped the fan experience.
Two cases in point:
1) He originally held open practices during spring and the beginning of fall. Now, we get to see the spring game and a practice/scrimmage or two on Saturday mornings. I know there were people who video'ed portions of the practice and that was the reason given for shutting down access to practices. Still, I'm not sure what we were worried they would see. Perhaps they might catch us practicing passing? Hell, that would be a good thing. Then, they might waste time practicing to stop the pass.
2) Signing day. Even during Gailey, this was a bigger affair. Coaches would come up and talk about the players they recruited and fans were allowed to ask questions about the recruit, as well as other players. It was always fun to hear about who the scout team standouts were, etc. Now the coaches aren't allowed to answer questions; they come to the front and read out stats about the recruit...tell you an anecdotal story or two, then step away from the podium and the only one allowed to answer any questions is Johnson.

We used to fill up the room on signing day. Last year, we barely had 1/2 the room filled. Personally, I don't plan to go down there this year because it has become boring. I can get the same information by waiting until the end of the day and reading it on Scout, Rivals, here or other sites.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

Thanks Mack and others. I really enjoyed seeing Coach Dodd speak on those videos. I loved the part where he told the Georgia people, "hell anybody could get into Georgia". He was a great man and we were fortunate that the fates brought him our way. Great stories, especially the last one about his grand daddy going to his first football game in Knoxville.

Go Jackets!

 

[Mack]

Will do same thing. I do think Lamar Co guys will help out but see nobody from our 20 county area going to tech.we need some good ones to run this offense properly.....hope we get them.

 

[Mack]

Thanks Mack and others. I really enjoyed seeing Coach Dodd speak on those videos. I loved the part where he told the Georgia people, "hell anybody could get into Georgia". He was a great man and we were fortunate that the fates brought him our way. Great stories, especially the last one about his grand daddy going to his first football game in Knoxville.

Go Jackets!

What struck me was his comments on Georgie.he said a state Univ with good coaching will win......He knew that way back then and he still won.

 

[Tech First]

This is so foreign to me..When we were in our prime you got at least three stories a day from Bisher and his cohorts at the AJC.Shoot if you were second team like Zollie Sircy( who was only second team in name only) yu got a write up.Of course georgie sport writers are from..........UGA and the trend changed when Dooley had such a great break out year in 64. Man it didnt take them long to get us on page three of the mullet wrapper.

It was a different day. WE were wining but we were the only team in town and the state to a great degree. Our stadium was the largest in the southeast and everybody wanted to play here (except the Miss. schools) ( that is another story). Clemson and Auburn came every year without a return trip and it was not unusual for ugag to play double headers at Bobby Dodd. Also you could not find a ugag fan who admitted it.

During this time The NFL went to a different level in visibility, money etc. and high school players changed from wanting a good education to wanting the best school to get them to the next level. This enabled kids to be able to go to the highest bidder (so to say) and we are now no more the big boy in town as we once were. About this time the NFL as well as Major league base ball and basketball came to town. Another problem that came about is with our inability to compete with the factory schools caused us to become an also ran when it came to winning because we can't get the better players.

I have been a side walk fan for over 60 yrs. and that is trhe way I see things.

 

[jacketup]

So why has GT gone away from that model? You know, a head coach who is a PR guy and a salesman, while the coordinators do the coaching? You know, like Broyles and Graves. Instead, we repeatedly hire the X and O guy as the head coach--- the Bear Bryant model---and it hasn't worked for us--because we aren't the University of Alabama, or anything close to it.

Interestingly enough, Clemson adopted that model with Dabo, and they are a team on the rise. Dabo was a real estate salesman in 2002. He was a position coach when he was elevated to HC. But he is a salesman, and he can recruit. His coordinators are the Broyles and Graves of CU.

Bobby Cremins fit the model as well. Recruiter and good guy, but no X and O expert. That one worked out OK too.

Seems simple to me, but apparently not to the GTAA.

 

[Essobee]

What struck me was his comments on Georgie.he said a state Univ with good coaching will win......He knew that way back then and he still won.

Bobby won, but he did so without having his hands tied behind his back by the hill. When he saw that starting to happen, Bobby hung it up.

Also, Georgie didn't have really good coaching until Dooley, IMHO. One could also say that now, even with the plethora of advantages that Georgie has, the Dwags still manage to come up short a whole lot of the time.

 

[Essobee]

So why has GT gone away from that model? You know, a head coach who is a PR guy and a salesman, while the coordinators do the coaching? You know, like Broyles and Graves. Instead, we repeatedly hire the X and O guy as the head coach--- the Bear Bryant model---and it hasn't worked for us--because we aren't the University of Alabama, or anything close to it.

Interestingly enough, Clemson adopted that model with Dabo, and they are a team on the rise. Dabo was a real estate salesman in 2002. He was a position coach when he was elevated to HC. But he is a salesman, and he can recruit. His coordinators are the Broyles and Graves of CU.

Bobby Cremins fit the model as well. Recruiter and good guy, but no X and O expert. That one worked out OK too.

Seems simple to me, but apparently not to the GTAA.

IMHO, the past AD and the Hill are responsible for GT going away from that model. First, Tech needed to recruit student athletes that can and will graduate while competing in the classroom with high IQ regular students, so recruiting was more a matter of finding interested student athletes instead of opening the doors to any athlete that has four and five stars by his name. The strategy seems to be that Tech should work within its constraints by developing good players over five years instead of employing great players for three years (or less if they flunk out). Second, the GTAA needed to cut costs, which impacted the number and quality of our coaching manpower for several years. Hopefully, we are over that hump by now.

 

[Mack]

It was a different day. WE were wining but we were the only team in town and the state to a great degree. Our stadium was the largest in the southeast and everybody wanted to play here (except the Miss. schools) ( that is another story). Clemson and Auburn came every year without a return trip and it was not unusual for ugag to play double headers at Bobby Dodd. Also you could not find a ugag fan who admitted it.

During this time The NFL went to a different level in visibility, money etc. and high school players changed from wanting a good education to wanting the best school to get them to the next level. This enabled kids to be able to go to the highest bidder (so to say) and we are now no more the big boy in town as we once were. About this time the NFL as well as Major league base ball and basketball came to town. Another problem that came about is with our inability to compete with the factory schools caused us to become an also ran when it came to winning because we can't get the better players.

I have been a side walk fan for over 60 yrs. and that is trhe way I see things.

 

[Mack]

No doubt Johnny V and his team were not favorites of Tech and for good reason. But my point is we need to start winning and the writers will come back.Like you sidewalk guy for over 60 yrs but I think we either compete with what we have now or we will go backwards.time to get it going like you say its different but we still can succeed if we plan well.