Thoughts? Could Collins turn the program around faster than expected?

Messages
13,443
Location
Augusta, GA
Here’s the top 30 recruiting classes according to 247 with the amount of majors and degrees they offer:
UGA - 100 majors, 132 degrees

Bama- 67 majors, 76 degrees

Clemson- 67 majors, 77 degree

LSU - 63 majors, 72 degrees

Ohio State - 115 majors, 160 degrees

Texas A&M - 90 majors, 108 degrees

Auburn - 76 majors, 93 degrees

Florida - 90 majors, 102 degrees

Texas - 72 majors, 92 degrees

Tennessee - 75 majors, 83 degrees

Oklahoma - 76 majors, 89 degrees

Oregon - 58 majors, 78 degrees

Miami - 82 majors, 106 degrees

Michigan - 81 majors, 121 degrees

Penn State - 116 majors, 152 degrees

Washington - 122 majors, 238 degrees

Notre Dame - 57 majors, 72 degrees

South Carolina - 66 majors, 86 degrees

North Carolina - 84 majors, 138 degrees

Nebraska - 97 majors, 143 degrees

Stanford - 46 majors, 58 degrees

Florida State - 71 majors, 98 degrees

Kentucky - 86 majors, 104 degrees

Arizona State - 70 majors, 92 degrees

Wisconsin - 96 majors, 127 degrees

Georgia Tech - 33 majors, 34 degrees

Mississippi State - 67 majors, 75 degrees

TCU - 62 majors, 102 degrees

Utah - 86 majors, 113 degrees

Arkansas - 70 majors, 76 degrees​

All of this information comes from collegefactual.com, and most of the numbers are a little off from what the schools themselves publish on their sites. Not by much, but occasionally by 5-10, almost always lower than the school’s numbers. Bolded are teams Tech directly competes against on the field, while many others on the list are direct competitors in recruiting. Tech only offers half (or less) majors than every other school on the list. Stanford is the only other school on the list that offers fewer than 50 majors, and we all know they aren’t as exclusive with athletes as they like to think they are.

The whole point of this list is to show that there are challenges that come with recruiting to Tech. I think your point, @Ibeeballin, is that the vast majority of athletes can get in to Tech, and I would agree with that. What I can’t agree with is that Tech is on an equal playing field with everyone else. It’s obvious. I’ve said it before, it’s not even about recruiting kids who don’t want to “play school”, it’s about not being able to sign kids who want a legit degree, but don’t want to go into business or engineering. Any kid that wants to be a teacher or a high school coach can automatically rule Tech out. The pool of players that Tech is attractive to academically is absolutely smaller than say, Clemson or UGA. That’s why I’ve said the ceiling for Tech recruiting is around 10 nationally. If you’re not playing with a full deck, it’s tough to win.
As I have stated in the past, I am not a big Collins fan .... YET !!! But this list makes me more aware than ever what a HELLUVA job he did recruiting for 2020. Keep that up, and he will definitely win a lot of doubters like me over, and I think the Jackets will win a ton of great games !!!
 

LibertyTurns

Banned
Messages
6,216
For us old guys please don't wish 2 years of our life away.
I hear ya man!

I’m hopeful we’ll have good seasons this year & next but the coaching horse has been bludgeoned and there will be constant bickering about winning or losing with the other guy’s guys among some people that won’t just let it go. Year 4 there’s no question.
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
9,636
As I have stated in the past, I am not a big Collins fan .... YET !!! But this list makes me more aware than ever what a HELLUVA job he did recruiting for 2020. Keep that up, and he will definitely win a lot of doubters like me over, and I think the Jackets will win a ton of great games !!!
Gtaa has a great tutorial system for players .
We graduate 80-90% of our football players. Uga with its many many paths graduates 60%.

Other factories have good tutors as well. CGC has used this to our advantage .
the portal allows good grad transfer players to get gt on academic resume while they vet more playing time in hope of nfl chance.

What's not to like.

I bet he will be firm, fair, and friendly w his coaches; but will hold them to account.
 
Last edited:

JacketOff

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,951
I'm not sure I understand.
You're saying that we are still concerned about academics, but we have offered the 8th most kids in the country. I'm all for better recruiting, but I find it hard to believe that we have found over 220 kids that can handle the academics of GT. Not to mention have the test scores to get in like normal students.
That’s not really what I’m saying. It’s actually kind of the opposite. I think the biggest academic hurdle Tech faces is its lack of majors. The rigor obviously will turn some recruits away, but the vast majority of SAs who don’t pick GT because of academic reasons is probably because GT doesn’t offer a degree in what they’re interested in. The overwhelming majority of recruits qualify to get in to Tech based on current SA requirements. Do you think most athletes at Tech are held to the same entry requirements the general student population is? I would guess no more than 1/3 of the current scholarship football players could’ve gotten admitted to Tech if they were applying as a regular student. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how collegiate sports work. With all the help that’s given to SAs at Tech, anybody with a work ethic that’s greater than zero will be able to graduate. It’s just getting them on campus that’s the biggest challenge.
 

bobongo

Helluva Engineer
Messages
7,551
Here’s the top 30 recruiting classes according to 247 with the amount of majors and degrees they offer:
UGA - 100 majors, 132 degrees

Bama- 67 majors, 76 degrees

Clemson- 67 majors, 77 degree

LSU - 63 majors, 72 degrees

Ohio State - 115 majors, 160 degrees

Texas A&M - 90 majors, 108 degrees

Auburn - 76 majors, 93 degrees

Florida - 90 majors, 102 degrees

Texas - 72 majors, 92 degrees

Tennessee - 75 majors, 83 degrees

Oklahoma - 76 majors, 89 degrees

Oregon - 58 majors, 78 degrees

Miami - 82 majors, 106 degrees

Michigan - 81 majors, 121 degrees

Penn State - 116 majors, 152 degrees

Washington - 122 majors, 238 degrees

Notre Dame - 57 majors, 72 degrees

South Carolina - 66 majors, 86 degrees

North Carolina - 84 majors, 138 degrees

Nebraska - 97 majors, 143 degrees

Stanford - 46 majors, 58 degrees

Florida State - 71 majors, 98 degrees

Kentucky - 86 majors, 104 degrees

Arizona State - 70 majors, 92 degrees

Wisconsin - 96 majors, 127 degrees

Georgia Tech - 33 majors, 34 degrees

Mississippi State - 67 majors, 75 degrees

TCU - 62 majors, 102 degrees

Utah - 86 majors, 113 degrees

Arkansas - 70 majors, 76 degrees​

All of this information comes from collegefactual.com, and most of the numbers are a little off from what the schools themselves publish on their sites. Not by much, but occasionally by 5-10, almost always lower than the school’s numbers. Bolded are teams Tech directly competes against on the field, while many others on the list are direct competitors in recruiting. Tech only offers half (or less) majors than every other school on the list. Stanford is the only other school on the list that offers fewer than 50 majors, and we all know they aren’t as exclusive with athletes as they like to think they are.

The whole point of this list is to show that there are challenges that come with recruiting to Tech. I think your point, @Ibeeballin, is that the vast majority of athletes can get in to Tech, and I would agree with that. What I can’t agree with is that Tech is on an equal playing field with everyone else. It’s obvious. I’ve said it before, it’s not even about recruiting kids who don’t want to “play school”, it’s about not being able to sign kids who want a legit degree, but don’t want to go into business or engineering. Any kid that wants to be a teacher or a high school coach can automatically rule Tech out. The pool of players that Tech is attractive to academically is absolutely smaller than say, Clemson or UGA. That’s why I’ve said the ceiling for Tech recruiting is around 10 nationally. If you’re not playing with a full deck, it’s tough to win.

The Stanford information is a good bit off. According to their website, they offer 69 undergrad majors.
 
Last edited:

JacketOff

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,951
The Stanford information is a good bit off. According to their website, they offer 69 undergrad majors.
Most of the listed numbers are a bit off from what the individual schools list on their sites. Tech lists 37, but only 33 show up on the source I used. There were some others like UDub and LSU who list 200+ on their sites but show up way less on collegefactual.com . I assume they use the same methodology for counting majors for every school, so maybe certain majors not counted for one school also don’t count for any others. It was also very convenient since all the numbers were in one place. Even with some inaccurate info, it provides a very good look at how different Tech is than the places we’re competing against.
 

Heisman's Ghost

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,833
Location
Albany Georgia
I was watching Clemson/ GT from 2009. It was surreal watching that game. I remember watching that game my senior year in high school. The program had come off a stellar first year with CPJ. The Clemson game was a whiteout. Hey and guess what? TECH FANS SHOWED UP AND PACKED THE PLACE. The stands were 85% white with an orange section and a few of them sprinkled here and there. But it looked damn good. What a different time.

CPJ was a different coach. His body language was sharper. He looked more intense. More enthusiastic. Dabo was young and on his first full year as head coach of Clemson. CPJ picked on him in that game. Strange to see a young Dabo get schooled in coaching. He was frustrated but always trying to teach his players when they screwed up. They announcers made fun of and laughed at a students Yabo Dabo Doo shirt. Clemson was painted in a completely different light. Techs program was new and exciting. Coach was coaching. Players were making plays.

All this got me thinking...Often I’ve seen the comparison between Dabo and Collins. Collins is somewhat trying to emulate the thing similar to what Dabo did at clemson. But could Collins do the same thing at Tech? But FASTER?

Hear me out. And yes this is just a theory, but it’s the off-season and everyone is bored. Tech is in a hotbed breeding ground for elite high school talent. We are right here in the thick of it. With Collins’ ability to expose our brand and use social media, and his RELENTLESS and ATTACKING mentality, could we grow faster? Dabo took some years maybe because they’re Little Ole Clemson in a podunk town. It took him some time and some wins.

I think Collins wants to waste zero time. We could turn around faster than we think. Yes I realize he needs to win games. Yes I realize he made questionable coaching decisions last year. Yes I realize he has yet to coach two full years and have a winning season. This is just a theory. Just entertain me here. What do y’all think?

I don't know if he can turn it around or not. I do know from recruiting rankings from ESPN of the past four years that Miami and UNC have had the best recruiting classes (in the Coastal). Miami's lowest rated class was #30 in 2019 and their highest rated class was 8th in 2018. UNC has had only one top 20 class 16th this year but has been consistently in the top 35 or so every year. Tech has had one top 30 class which was this year. Recruiting will continue to be a challenge but the worst part is that in the past 4 years UGA and Clemson have had top 10 classes EVERY year. Such is the reality of a truly elite factory type program. It will be very difficult for Tech to overcome that in the coming years. The differences between the top 10 or so truly elite programs with legit chances of being in the playoffs and the rest of college football programs have never been more pronounced. Having to play two of them every year is both a blessing, of sorts, and a curse. IIWII. To answer the OP query about turning the program around quickly, I don't really think so until the roster truly reflects Coach Collins vision for the program and even then I am in the show me group. I expect anywhere between four and seven wins next year but would love to be surprised.
 

gtchem05

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
374
I like this thread because it hasn't appeared to degenerate into bickering (oops, probably just jinxed us). Lots of ways to define turning the program around, but I think making the CFP would be a really strong indicator. Looking through the goldest of gold-colored lenses, I predict we make the playoff sometime after it expands to 8 teams. Best chance we have of seeing this come to fruition is exercising an inordinate amount of patience and continuing to be supportive fans of the program with our words and our wallets.
 

croberts

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
869
That’s not really what I’m saying. It’s actually kind of the opposite. I think the biggest academic hurdle Tech faces is its lack of majors. The rigor obviously will turn some recruits away, but the vast majority of SAs who don’t pick GT because of academic reasons is probably because GT doesn’t offer a degree in what they’re interested in. The overwhelming majority of recruits qualify to get in to Tech based on current SA requirements. Do you think most athletes at Tech are held to the same entry requirements the general student population is? I would guess no more than 1/3 of the current scholarship football players could’ve gotten admitted to Tech if they were applying as a regular student. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how collegiate sports work. With all the help that’s given to SAs at Tech, anybody with a work ethic that’s greater than zero will be able to graduate. It’s just getting them on campus that’s the biggest challenge.
I agree with every thing you are saying except the % of athletes that would qualify with out sports. That number is probably under 20%.
 

Jmonty71

Banned
Messages
2,156
I was watching Clemson/ GT from 2009. It was surreal watching that game. I remember watching that game my senior year in high school. The program had come off a stellar first year with CPJ. The Clemson game was a whiteout. Hey and guess what? TECH FANS SHOWED UP AND PACKED THE PLACE. The stands were 85% white with an orange section and a few of them sprinkled here and there. But it looked damn good. What a different time.

CPJ was a different coach. His body language was sharper. He looked more intense. More enthusiastic. Dabo was young and on his first full year as head coach of Clemson. CPJ picked on him in that game. Strange to see a young Dabo get schooled in coaching. He was frustrated but always trying to teach his players when they screwed up. They announcers made fun of and laughed at a students Yabo Dabo Doo shirt. Clemson was painted in a completely different light. Techs program was new and exciting. Coach was coaching. Players were making plays.

All this got me thinking...Often I’ve seen the comparison between Dabo and Collins. Collins is somewhat trying to emulate the thing similar to what Dabo did at clemson. But could Collins do the same thing at Tech? But FASTER?

Hear me out. And yes this is just a theory, but it’s the off-season and everyone is bored. Tech is in a hotbed breeding ground for elite high school talent. We are right here in the thick of it. With Collins’ ability to expose our brand and use social media, and his RELENTLESS and ATTACKING mentality, could we grow faster? Dabo took some years maybe because they’re Little Ole Clemson in a podunk town. It took him some time and some wins.

I think Collins wants to waste zero time. We could turn around faster than we think. Yes I realize he needs to win games. Yes I realize he made questionable coaching decisions last year. Yes I realize he has yet to coach two full years and have a winning season. This is just a theory. Just entertain me here. What do y’all think?
I think in Collins' mind, he wants to turn this faster. However; we aren't Clemson. Last I looked, GT didn't offer bogus programs to study. Basket Weaving, Bowling, Basketball studies and such don't exist at GT, right? I think we still will scare off those that want to use NCAA football, as nothing more than a 3 year audition for the NFL. I think we'll get better and hit a ceiling in about 3-4 years. Will we every compete with the UGA's and Clemson's? Maybe... We will have that team heavy with seniors time to time... But, I don't think Dabo and Geoff have the same tools to use.... Apples and oranges, as they say.

But, I think CGC has 2-3 years to go, before we start competing with any big boys. Have another 2 years before we reach a bowl...
 

GoldZ

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
912
I'm not sure I understand.
You're saying that we are still concerned about academics, but we have offered the 8th most kids in the country. I'm all for better recruiting, but I find it hard to believe that we have found over 220 kids that can handle the academics of GT. Not to mention have the test scores to get in like normal students.
Because we haven't. "Offers" is a misunderstood word in this context.
 

GoldZ

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
912
Here’s the top 30 recruiting classes according to 247 with the amount of majors and degrees they offer:
UGA - 100 majors, 132 degrees

Bama- 67 majors, 76 degrees

Clemson- 67 majors, 77 degree

LSU - 63 majors, 72 degrees

Ohio State - 115 majors, 160 degrees

Texas A&M - 90 majors, 108 degrees

Auburn - 76 majors, 93 degrees

Florida - 90 majors, 102 degrees

Texas - 72 majors, 92 degrees

Tennessee - 75 majors, 83 degrees

Oklahoma - 76 majors, 89 degrees

Oregon - 58 majors, 78 degrees

Miami - 82 majors, 106 degrees

Michigan - 81 majors, 121 degrees

Penn State - 116 majors, 152 degrees

Washington - 122 majors, 238 degrees

Notre Dame - 57 majors, 72 degrees

South Carolina - 66 majors, 86 degrees

North Carolina - 84 majors, 138 degrees

Nebraska - 97 majors, 143 degrees

Stanford - 46 majors, 58 degrees

Florida State - 71 majors, 98 degrees

Kentucky - 86 majors, 104 degrees

Arizona State - 70 majors, 92 degrees

Wisconsin - 96 majors, 127 degrees

Georgia Tech - 33 majors, 34 degrees

Mississippi State - 67 majors, 75 degrees

TCU - 62 majors, 102 degrees

Utah - 86 majors, 113 degrees

Arkansas - 70 majors, 76 degrees​

All of this information comes from collegefactual.com, and most of the numbers are a little off from what the schools themselves publish on their sites. Not by much, but occasionally by 5-10, almost always lower than the school’s numbers. Bolded are teams Tech directly competes against on the field, while many others on the list are direct competitors in recruiting. Tech only offers half (or less) majors than every other school on the list. Stanford is the only other school on the list that offers fewer than 50 majors, and we all know they aren’t as exclusive with athletes as they like to think they are
The whole point of this list is to show that there are challenges that come with recruiting to Tech. I think your point, @Ibeeballin, is that the vast majority of athletes can get in to Tech, and I would agree with that. What I can’t agree with is that Tech is on an equal playing field with everyone else. It’s obvious. I’ve said it before, it’s not even about recruiting kids who don’t want to “play school”, it’s about not being able to sign kids who want a legit degree, but don’t want to go into business or engineering. Any kid that wants to be a teacher or a high school coach can automatically rule Tech out. The pool of players that Tech is attractive to academically is absolutely smaller than say, Clemson or UGA. That’s why I’ve said the ceiling for Tech recruiting is around 10 nationally. If you’re not playing with a full deck, it’s tough to win.
Good post JO. As for most athletes being able to get into Tech, the documented academic situation of the dominate demographic of the better players, begs to differ. I believe we should take more chances on kids, and we apparently are, but the playing field is far from level. There's a reason the NCAA minimums are so low and that we some time ago had the highest football player SATs in D-1 public schools.
 

GoldZ

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
912
That’s not really what I’m saying. It’s actually kind of the opposite. I think the biggest academic hurdle Tech faces is its lack of majors. The rigor obviously will turn some recruits away, but the vast majority of SAs who don’t pick GT because of academic reasons is probably because GT doesn’t offer a degree in what they’re interested in. The overwhelming majority of recruits qualify to get in to Tech based on current SA requirements. Do you think most athletes at Tech are held to the same entry requirements the general student population is? I would guess no more than 1/3 of the current scholarship football players could’ve gotten admitted to Tech if they were applying as a regular student. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how collegiate sports work. With all the help that’s given to SAs at Tech, anybody with a work ethic that’s greater than zero will be able to graduate. It’s just getting them on campus that’s the biggest challenge.
JO, one third is more than a bit high, but the work ethic point is right on.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
Okay. I can get behind that. It is a challenge, no doubt. Finding kids who are real athletes and also real students is a challenge. Our coaches see it as an advantage though. That’s why they’re coaching and I’m not lol
At the risk of being called, literally, a skeptic: would anyone expect a football coach hired at a university with high academic standards to look about and say, well, this really sucks, and we got to change this because there is no way I can recruit 82 young men who can both study and play? So of course they shout advantage. It is not like they have a choice, and maybe they will get lucky with a few. I don't recall a Georgia Tech football coach ever not saying the academic regimen was an advantage. That includes Paul Johnson and his Navy experience. He found a massive difference, in everything from the level of competition to the sudden limits on scholarships. For right brained people, calculus and physics are not an advantage. But I'll believe it if you will.
 

Lee

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
841
I’ve said it before, it’s not even about recruiting kids who don’t want to “play school”, it’s about not being able to sign kids who want a legit degree, but don’t want to go into business or engineering. Any kid that wants to be a teacher or a high school coach can automatically rule Tech out.

Didn't want to quote the whole thing, but I just want to point out again how wrong this line of thinking is for 90%+ of SAs coming in. At least the SAs that are highly rated and feel they have a legit shot at the next level. Almost none of them are thinking about what they want to do when their sport is over. And if they are it's at such a high level that it doesn't really matter. I played baseball at GT, grew up a Tech fan, knew the value of the GT degree and still tell people that I majored in baseball when I was originally there. My only goal was to keep HOPE because that was a significant portion of my scholarship (baseball on got 12.5 for 30+ guys). Now when I went back to finish, that's another story. The education piece was very important.

All this to say, the guys we want to bring on to build our program aren't thinking about being a HS teacher or coach in 4 or 5 years. They are thinking about playing in the NFL. This is where Collin's is brilliantly selling the GT education. Having more people like Derrick Morgan only helps sell it. "Come to GT, play 3/4 years of elite football, graduate with an elite degree, go have a great NFL career, and then use your degree and your NFL resources to build whatever you want to build." We can sell Marco Coleman who is on the staff, Calvin Johnson, Michael Johnson (who might still be playing). All these guys had great NFL careers but have either done or are doing great things after the NFL. GT sets you up better than anywhere else to be elite before, during and after your NFL career!

I'm sure there are some kids that are lazy and don't really care, they won't fit into this culture anyways and we don't want them. There are many kids out there that are great athletes that know how to put in work. That's all it takes to be successful at GT. If they put in effort, there is no way they will not do well in class.

I agree with every thing you are saying except the % of athletes that would qualify with out sports. That number is probably under 20%.

20% is way high. I would guess that number is under 5% maybe under 2%. At least for the big 3 sports. In my 3 years, I can think of 2, maybe 3 guys that would have possibly been able to get in without baseball. And we were supposed to be the "smart ones..."
 

Ibeeballin

Im a 3*
Messages
6,080
Here’s the top 30 recruiting classes according to 247 with the amount of majors and degrees they offer:
UGA - 100 majors, 132 degrees

Bama- 67 majors, 76 degrees

Clemson- 67 majors, 77 degree

LSU - 63 majors, 72 degrees

Ohio State - 115 majors, 160 degrees

Texas A&M - 90 majors, 108 degrees

Auburn - 76 majors, 93 degrees

Florida - 90 majors, 102 degrees

Texas - 72 majors, 92 degrees

Tennessee - 75 majors, 83 degrees

Oklahoma - 76 majors, 89 degrees

Oregon - 58 majors, 78 degrees

Miami - 82 majors, 106 degrees

Michigan - 81 majors, 121 degrees

Penn State - 116 majors, 152 degrees

Washington - 122 majors, 238 degrees

Notre Dame - 57 majors, 72 degrees

South Carolina - 66 majors, 86 degrees

North Carolina - 84 majors, 138 degrees

Nebraska - 97 majors, 143 degrees

Stanford - 46 majors, 58 degrees

Florida State - 71 majors, 98 degrees

Kentucky - 86 majors, 104 degrees

Arizona State - 70 majors, 92 degrees

Wisconsin - 96 majors, 127 degrees

Georgia Tech - 33 majors, 34 degrees

Mississippi State - 67 majors, 75 degrees

TCU - 62 majors, 102 degrees

Utah - 86 majors, 113 degrees

Arkansas - 70 majors, 76 degrees​

All of this information comes from collegefactual.com, and most of the numbers are a little off from what the schools themselves publish on their sites. Not by much, but occasionally by 5-10, almost always lower than the school’s numbers. Bolded are teams Tech directly competes against on the field, while many others on the list are direct competitors in recruiting. Tech only offers half (or less) majors than every other school on the list. Stanford is the only other school on the list that offers fewer than 50 majors, and we all know they aren’t as exclusive with athletes as they like to think they are.

The whole point of this list is to show that there are challenges that come with recruiting to Tech. I think your point, @Ibeeballin, is that the vast majority of athletes can get in to Tech, and I would agree with that. What I can’t agree with is that Tech is on an equal playing field with everyone else. It’s obvious. I’ve said it before, it’s not even about recruiting kids who don’t want to “play school”, it’s about not being able to sign kids who want a legit degree, but don’t want to go into business or engineering. Any kid that wants to be a teacher or a high school coach can automatically rule Tech out. The pool of players that Tech is attractive to academically is absolutely smaller than say, Clemson or UGA. That’s why I’ve said the ceiling for Tech recruiting is around 10 nationally. If you’re not playing with a full deck, it’s tough to win.

Who said we are equal with factories? I never said that. What i did say going back, even back to last season, 35-40 of the Top 50 GA could get into Tech without being an exception and that pool we choose from may not be Olympic regulation size but it’s big enough for elite athletes to compete in.
 

gthxxxx

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
150
I would guess no more than 1/3 of the current scholarship football players could’ve gotten admitted to Tech if they were applying as a regular student. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how collegiate sports work.
With the number of prospective students getting deferred and/or rejected with mixtures of 10+ APs, 4+ WGPAs, 1400+ SATs, multiple extracurricular activities, leadership positions, etc., I'd say "bad thing" and "just how collegiate sports work" are not exclusive.
I agree with every thing you are saying except the % of athletes that would qualify with out sports. That number is probably under 20%.
20% is way high. I would guess that number is under 5% maybe under 2%. At least for the big 3 sports. In my 3 years, I can think of 2, maybe 3 guys that would have possibly been able to get in without baseball. And we were supposed to be the "smart ones..."
Without sports, that % would be a rounding error of 0. Of course, that isn't realistic nor fair, because without playing sports, those students would have a lot more time to potentially apply towards other pursuits which could get them into Tech, but if you were to take their existing resumes and strike off sports, 99+% are not getting in.
 

bobongo

Helluva Engineer
Messages
7,551
At the risk of being called, literally, a skeptic: would anyone expect a football coach hired at a university with high academic standards to look about and say, well, this really sucks, and we got to change this because there is no way I can recruit 82 young men who can both study and play? So of course they shout advantage. It is not like they have a choice, and maybe they will get lucky with a few. I don't recall a Georgia Tech football coach ever not saying the academic regimen was an advantage. That includes Paul Johnson and his Navy experience. He found a massive difference, in everything from the level of competition to the sudden limits on scholarships. For right brained people, calculus and physics are not an advantage. But I'll believe it if you will.

Didn't O'Leary say Tech tries to be Harvard Monday through Friday and Notre Dame on Saturday, or something along those lines?

Other coaches might have mumbled something about making academics an advantage, but Collins is the only one I can recall who said it with conviction and made a strong effort to try to turn it into a selling point. I think it is still a net disadvantage, but Collins is doing his best to turn that around to some degree.
 

GoldZ

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
912
Who said we are equal with factories? I never said that. What i did say going back, even back to last season, 35-40 of the Top 50 GA could get into Tech without being an exception and that pool we choose from may not be Olympic regulation size but it’s big enough for elite athletes to compete in.
40 of the Top 50 couldn't have gotten into Kennesaw State without exceptions. Good grief. 40 of the Top 50 regular students, period, in public South Georgia schools probably couldn't!
 
Top