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

[RonJohn]

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.

Many people on here blame the Hyundai driver and say that all that is needed is a driver change.

 

[smokey_wasp]

With enough upgrades, there's no shame in bringing a Hyundai to the race track. Sorry I couldn't find one in white n' gold.

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.

 

[B Lifsey]

With enough upgrades, there's no shame in bringing a Hyundai to the race track. Sorry I couldn't find one in white n' gold.

Looks kind of Duke'ish

 

[Coloradojacket]

Look, the gap, Clemson has a darn good head coach and a darn good Defense coach. Their recruiting advantage is the same as most other schools around us, the academics. And as I have said this difference is the advantage at one position. Defensive Line. Let's just say your top level D line guys out there are not scholars. For UGA, well let's see how they fare this year losing 30 seniors. Yes they had a great recruiting class but that is nothing new. Unless we want to change Georgia Tech from being a top level academic school, we are always going to be slightly disadvantaged. Been that way since 1970.

 

[GTJoeBrew]

I am so tired of folks assigned automatic losses to our schedule. Didn't we beat uga last time we played in Athens? A lot can change between now and then. When we played both Clemson and uga last year, I felt like we were playing like the younger brother. If the team can figure out how to get past that, we can beat both of those teams. We really are not that far off from making a really good run in 2018. If the defense can become a turnover machine and the offense take a small step forward we will win a lot of games in 18.

 

[PBR549]

The other drivers know who the best drivers are regardless of horsepower. Everyone else is just guessing!

 

[grandpa jacket]

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."

When he came he did not have any concerns like this, he said he could win championships. CYA and smoke and mirrors.

 

[GSOJacket]

When he came he did not have any concerns like this, he said he could win championships. CYA and smoke and mirrors.

When Coach Johnson came, the ACC was a basketball conference and had not upgraded football facilities to anywhere near what they are today. We have not kept up, and it's beginning to show. Firing the 'driver' isn't going to be the fix that too many on this board are looking for. Getting out from under the previous regimes' financial blunders and TStan's leadership going forward looks like a real plus, but it won't be a quick fix. We could really use a big time donor or two stepping up.

 

[smokey_wasp]

When he came he did not have any concerns like this, he said he could win championships. CYA and smoke and mirrors.

I know people get tired of hearing that kind of stuff, but in fairness, he was hired by an AD who understood the importance of $ and facilities and probably made a lot of promises about investments in the program. CPJ didn't know he would be dealing with an interim and then a do-nothing Bobinski.

 

[GTJake]

It is what it is and for the most part always was and it ain't going to change a whole lot ... if this is the kind of thing you get hung-up on $$, maybe it's time to find another school.
For me this only feeds my passion for GT more ...
And IMO, CPJ is not helping matters by continuing to bring it up publically.

 

[RonJohn]

And IMO, CPJ is not helping matters by continuing to bring it up publically.

Have you heard him bring it up recently?

 

[GTJake]

Have you heard him bring it up recently?

Not going to track down specifics, but not the first time we have heard this kind of thing from him ...

 

[RonJohn]

Not going to track down specifics, but not the first time we have heard this kind of thing from him ...

In 2015 he brought it up very publicly. There was a rumor that a donor had agreed with CPJ to fund most of the locker room upgrades, but MBob turned the project down. CPJ hasn't said so publicly, but it is apparent to me that there was a huge problem between him and MBob. I believe that he took it public to call MBob out and get things changed.

In this article, he says that you don't ever get everything you want, but that TStan understands and is working on improving the situation. Doesn't sound negative to me at all.

However, I think sometimes that our fan base needs a big kick in the butt. We complain and complain, but there are only 6-8 thousand yearly ATFund donors. If you look in the football program, there are only a few hundred that donate $500 or more per year. In general GT fans complain that we don't have expensive coaches, upgraded facilities, etc. Those same fans don't donate and don't buy tickets. I won't say that if you don't donate you can't complain, but if the people who complain did donate the financial situation would be much better. It is my belief that if the financial situation was much better football would be winning much more with CPJ at the helm.

 

[bke1984]

Have you heard him bring it up recently?

It seems like he brings it up on the radio show once a year after a loss. Maybe more often than that...I'm just tired of hearing about it in that channel. If the AA wants to reach out to us and explain the situation and request money, then do it...but don't use it as an excuse when you lose or have a bad season.

 

[Lavoisier]

The money exists, both through the school and through donors, but we don't invest it in football. Take a tour of our brand new golf course, our state of the art tennis facility, our $50million basketball arena, or look at the budget line for a new $10million broadcast studio or see how much we spend on basketball coaches (some that aren't even here anymore). Donors are free to earmark their gifts for specific sports, they just don't really care about football that much.

 

[lv20gt]

edit - wrong thread

 

[takethepoints]

The elephant in the living room hasn't been mentioned yet: Tech's contractual obligations.

As was pointed out above, Tech doesn't support as many sports as most of our rivals. So why only $100K in "profit"? Easy answer = Paul Hewitt. When we finally get that stone (and Gregory's smaller one) off of our neck, we'll be in a much improved financial situation. Then we'll see about even more cash for the football program. (I won't even touch on how I think this model is unsustainable going forward.)

True, we could – and probably will, directly – pony up more donor support. I'm ready to give more every year right now. But we'll suddenly find ourselves in much better shape – is it next year? – when Hewitt is paid off.

 

[jgtengineer]

Looks kind of Duke'ish

Tech's schedule if it were cars

Alcorn State - Go Kart
USF - camry
Pitt- Hot rodded pickup truck, something that looks dependable is just as likely to not start as it is to win a drag race
Clemosn - orange lambo - fast, sleek, costs a hell of a lot but you get what you pay for.
Bowling Green - old camaro, requires a lot of work, when it works its fun, but most of the time it doesn't crank
Lousiville - Harley Davidson Fast back, likes to live dangerously and play fast and loose with good taste dangerous when it works, but likely to throw a chain.
Duke - Despite the post duke is a Buick Lacrosse, an updated model that attempts to punch into a market that would not even think about buying it yet can be surprising.
Virginia Tech - New Corvette, updated model that looks cool but still leaves some looking back for the previous classic one from the 80s that you drove throughout your glory years. This one has the potential to be faster and more aggressive but hasn't seem to find a driver who can take advantage.
UNC - Volkswagen jetta, should be a dependable car from a good lineage that gets decent gas milage, but after you buy it you learn it cheated on its emissions test and the company thinks it did nothing wrong.
Miami- a freshly restored 1980s ferarri f40. She's almost back to running just like new, she's gaudy, she's crass, she's loud, and if you look to hard under the seat you might find a used gold chain wrapped around a brick of cocaine.
Virginia - An Old Ford Bronco. Just as likely to outrun the police as it is to flip over and send you careening off a cliff.
Georgia - Ford Mustang, traditional power, had a good run over 30 years ago and has been chasing former glory ever sense, the newest model has a completely different design to try to appeal to a new market but in the end its still the same old disappointing waste of power.

GT - what do you think

 

[GTJoeBrew]

Tech's schedule if it were cars

Alcorn State - Go Kart
USF - camry
Pitt- Hot rodded pickup truck, something that looks dependable is just as likely to not start as it is to win a drag race
Clemosn - orange lambo - fast, sleek, costs a hell of a lot but you get what you pay for.
Bowling Green - old camaro, requires a lot of work, when it works its fun, but most of the time it doesn't crank
Lousiville - Harley Davidson Fast back, likes to live dangerously and play fast and loose with good taste dangerous when it works, but likely to throw a chain.
Duke - Despite the post duke is a Buick Lacrosse, an updated model that attempts to punch into a market that would not even think about buying it yet can be surprising.
Virginia Tech - New Corvette, updated model that looks cool but still leaves some looking back for the previous classic one from the 80s that you drove throughout your glory years. This one has the potential to be faster and more aggressive but hasn't seem to find a driver who can take advantage.
UNC - Volkswagen jetta, should be a dependable car from a good lineage that gets decent gas milage, but after you buy it you learn it cheated on its emissions test and the company thinks it did nothing wrong.
Miami- a freshly restored 1980s ferarri f40. She's almost back to running just like new, she's gaudy, she's crass, she's loud, and if you look to hard under the seat you might find a used gold chain wrapped around a brick of cocaine.
Virginia - An Old Ford Bronco. Just as likely to outrun the police as it is to flip over and send you careening off a cliff.
Georgia - Ford Mustang, traditional power, had a good run over 30 years ago and has been chasing former glory ever sense, the newest model has a completely different design to try to appeal to a new market but in the end its still the same old disappointing waste of power.

GT - what do you think

Gold! What would you say Tech is?

 

[Gold1]

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.

EXACTLY. I've never understood GT fans and especially ones on this board that always say " we can't compete." As a fan, coach, or player you should never say that. The best word to express our fans is EXCUSES. It perfectly sums up a lot of our fans. Even to this post you will have people telling me I'm wrong because they just want the same old excuses.