The Gap... Johnson on 2017 and the Clemson/UGA gap

awbuzz

awbuzz

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Good write up.

"... Clemson and Georgia, two of Tech’s annual rivals. According to a USA Today report, Georgia’s athletic department earned $124.7 million in revenues in 2015-16, clearing $9.1 million. Clemson’s revenues were $104.8 million with about $1.7 million in profit. Tech’s revenues were $76.4 million with a profit of about $100,000. While Clemson and Georgia’s athletic departments support more sports than does Tech, the gap is not immaterial."

https://www.myajc.com/sports/colleg...ap-and-making-the-cfp/AxKZB06GxLvhu53VtBnLgK/

And more... "according to a USA Today report, Clemson allotted $14.2 million for salaries for coach Dabo Swinney and his staff, and Georgia paid coach Kirby Smart and his staff $8.4 million, with big raises coming for 2018. Johnson and his staff earned $5.9 million."
 

bke1984

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So before I go on my rant I will say that in general I do think we will fare better with more donations...and I'm doing my part as best as possible in that regard, so I'm not saying we shouldn't push for that...

...but holy crap, can we just stop using this as a crutch!?!?

Can someone find me some data on what the gap looked like between Tech and Clemson in the years from 1998 - 2009 when we went 9-4 against them? I'd be willing to be it wasn't all that immaterial then either. Or what about the gap between us and Georgia since...oh, I don't know...FOREVER?

Is it a problem...sure. But it has always been a problem, hasn't it? Has there ever been a time where we had the same level of resources as Georgia? What about Alabama? Funny thing...only Tennessee (38), Auburn (36), LSU (25), and Georgia (25) have more victories against the Crimson Tide than Georgia Tech...and only Auburn has a higher winning percentage against them out of that group. We are 21-28-3 against those guys all-time...and I'm pretty sure we we've never been on par with their resources, either.

Yeah, I get it...things have changed since the Dodd days when the scholarship limits were increased, etc. etc. But that's just more excuses...and seriously, we need to stop using all of this as an excuse for poor performance.

The lack of extra recruiting staff and facilities didn't cause the various mishaps against TN, Miami, and Virginia last year that caused us to blow double-digit second-half leads in those games...that was on the team and the coaches. Will more money and better facilities help the program overall? Sure it will, and we should head in that direction...and they should try to raise more money...but for God's sake, let's stop with the "we can't compete" narrative.
 

bke1984

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Also, here's some evidence that this doesn't necessarily translate to a better program. Look at who is right there with Clemson.

Some of the other names above them on the list are just as interesting.

upload_2018-3-26_22-53-5.png
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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bke1984 said:
So before I go on my rant I will say that in general I do think we will fare better with more donations...and I'm doing my part as best as possible in that regard, so I'm not saying we shouldn't push for that...

...but holy crap, can we just stop using this as a crutch!?!?

Can someone find me some data on what the gap looked like between Tech and Clemson in the years from 1998 - 2009 when we went 9-4 against them? I'd be willing to be it wasn't all that immaterial then either. Or what about the gap between us and Georgia since...oh, I don't know...FOREVER?

Is it a problem...sure. But it has always been a problem, hasn't it? Has there ever been a time where we had the same level of resources as Georgia? What about Alabama? Funny thing...only Tennessee (38), Auburn (36), LSU (25), and Georgia (25) have more victories against the Crimson Tide than Georgia Tech...and only Auburn has a higher winning percentage against them out of that group. We are 21-28-3 against those guys all-time...and I'm pretty sure we we've never been on par with their resources, either.

Yeah, I get it...things have changed since the Dodd days when the scholarship limits were increased, etc. etc. But that's just more excuses...and seriously, we need to stop using all of this as an excuse for poor performance.

The lack of extra recruiting staff and facilities didn't cause the various mishaps against TN, Miami, and Virginia last year that caused us to blow double-digit second-half leads in those games...that was on the team and the coaches. Will more money and better facilities help the program overall? Sure it will, and we should head in that direction...and they should try to raise more money...but for God's sake, let's stop with the "we can't compete" narrative.
Click to expand...
There’s a very big difference between making excuses and acknowledging hurdles. You’ll never get over the hurdle you can’t see in front of you. You’ll just keep banging into it.
 

bke1984

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dressedcheeseside said:
There’s a very big difference between making excuses and acknowledging hurdles. You’ll never get over the hurdle you can’t see in front of you. You’ll just keep banging into it.
Click to expand...
Agreed. But I feel like we’ve done that. At some point it sounds like excuses and it’s starting to feel more and more like that.
 
Whiskey_Clear

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bke1984 said:
Agreed. But I feel like we’ve done that. At some point it sounds like excuses and it’s starting to feel more and more like that.
Click to expand...

How have we addressed the issues? We put a bandaid on it. I still expect to compete with everyone but do you honestly think uga or Clem would swap scenarios with us? Hell no. Because those things are difference makers.
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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bke1984 said:
Agreed. But I feel like we’ve done that. At some point it sounds like excuses and it’s starting to feel more and more like that.
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We fans, for the most part, are merely of the process. I think we tend to assign much more significance to our role and our ability to affect change than we actually have. Yes we donate and attend games, some more than others, but our individual influence on decision making is pretty small. What would you have us do? We can’t even agree on what needs to be done.
 
RonJohn

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bke1984 said:
Agreed. But I feel like we’ve done that. At some point it sounds like excuses and it’s starting to feel more and more like that.
Click to expand...

We maybe have acknowledged the gap, but what have we done about it? Duke has more football staff than GT. Even with the addition of four recruiting staff, Duke will still have more recruiting staff than GT. GT has the next to lowest football budget in the ACC. We can recognize that is a problem, but the issue still hasn't been resolved. As Cheese said "Racing against Ferrari’s on a Hyundai budget.". The Hyundai driver can "acknowledge" that the Ferrari has more horsepower, but until he gets a car with more horsepower he still isn't going to win a drag race.
 

Skeptic

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awbuzz said:
Good write up.

"... Clemson and Georgia, two of Tech’s annual rivals. According to a USA Today report, Georgia’s athletic department earned $124.7 million in revenues in 2015-16, clearing $9.1 million. Clemson’s revenues were $104.8 million with about $1.7 million in profit. Tech’s revenues were $76.4 million with a profit of about $100,000. While Clemson and Georgia’s athletic departments support more sports than does Tech, the gap is not immaterial."

https://www.myajc.com/sports/colleg...ap-and-making-the-cfp/AxKZB06GxLvhu53VtBnLgK/

And more... "according to a USA Today report, Clemson allotted $14.2 million for salaries for coach Dabo Swinney and his staff, and Georgia paid coach Kirby Smart and his staff $8.4 million, with big raises coming for 2018. Johnson and his staff earned $5.9 million."
Click to expand...
Most of us probably -- you learn there are no absolutes on a message board, even what I just said -- know that coaching salaries are obscene, even on the low end. (Position coaches contribute more than tenured professors?) But look at it this way (and fair's fair, I contribute nothing at all to GT in any form except a lifetime loyalty to football): five head coaches will make more in 2018 than the entire Tech coaching staff. Another three will make as much, give or take. But having vented all that, it was re-energizing to see Marsh Paul still has the fight in him: he wants a NC before he will go quietly.

https://thebestschools.org/magazine/highest-paid-college-coaches/
 

tmhunter52

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Tech’s emphasis is on Roll Call (read, academic) giving. Does the Hill “frown upon” the AA doing anything that might cannibalize Roll Call contributions? I wonder how alumni giving is apportioned between academic and athletic avenues among other P5 institutions?
 
smokey_wasp

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RonJohn said:
We maybe have acknowledged the gap, but what have we done about it? Duke has more football staff than GT. Even with the addition of four recruiting staff, Duke will still have more recruiting staff than GT. GT has the next to lowest football budget in the ACC. We can recognize that is a problem, but the issue still hasn't been resolved. As Cheese said "Racing against Ferrari’s on a Hyundai budget.". The Hyundai driver can "acknowledge" that the Ferrari has more horsepower, but until he gets a car with more horsepower he still isn't going to win a drag race.
Click to expand...

Fact is we can't afford to buy the Ferrari, so what we're doing is putting new tires on the Hyundai, tinkering with the engine, and hoping we have a good enough driver to overcome some of the disadvantages. I'd argue this is more like a road course race than a drag race. We can make up time in the turns even if we can't keep up on the straightaways. :) At least we are doing something, finally, thanks to an AD that gets it, but it is a long term plan.
 
RonJohn

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tmhunter52 said:
Tech’s emphasis is on Roll Call (read, academic) giving. Does the Hill “frown upon” the AA doing anything that might cannibalize Roll Call contributions? I wonder how alumni giving is apportioned between academic and athletic avenues among other P5 institutions?
Click to expand...

Roll Call is run by the Alumni Association, not the school. If you aren't happy with how they run it don't blame it on an anonymous "Hill". Join the Alumni Association and try to change it. I'm personally fine with how the Alumni Association runs it. I think taking part of the Roll Call money for sports would probably lower the contributions instead of raising them. For sports, the GTAA needs to develop better ways of raising money. I think TStan has started doing that and hopefully will be able to expand contributions and the contribution base.
 
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