What would you like to see President Cabrera implement to raise our athletic excellence?

[GTpdm]

This is the one thing that we could change that would certainly change the trajectory of every single GT sport. If we could just have 1 or 2 majors that were doable for the vast majority of HS high level recruits (I typed elite and simply had to delete it and use a different word). We will never be able to recruit with the current curriculum. It is the product you sell, not the person who is selling it. If you are selling a product that a person wants, you will sell it. If you are selling a product they don’t want, You will not no matter how good of a sell’s man you are. Recruits want to go pro. They don’t want anything getting in the way of that. Hard academics get in the way of the or, at the very least, do not help in that goal and are….hard. No way to effectively, repeatable sell that product to that person. Example, I am a lawyer. NO WAY would I have gone to TECH knowing that I wanted to go to law school. It presents too many challenges to get into law school. The reason I went to Tech is because I thought I wanted to be an engineer (CE ‘02). Luckily my decent grades and very good LSAT score got me in to law school. Now, if I had the goal of law school from the beginning I would have gotten a degree in criminal justice at OM. I was an athletic tutor while in law school at OM. I tutor anything math and criminal justice. The testing in the CJ was basically 10 words on one side of the page and 10 definitions on the other side of the page and they would draw lines to the definition that matched the word. Most football players were getting a degree in criminal justice. I can remember 1 athlete that I was tutoring in calculus 2. He was a football player on scholarship who didn’t really play. He was using his scholarship to get an engineering degree. I also tutored a wide receiver who played in the NFL for over 10 years. He was taking pre-algebra and really just cared about passing it (He got an A). He, like most high level recruits, Had no interest in challenging academics.

STEM majors like Math, Physics, and Engineering score way higher on the LSAT than Pre-Law or Criminal Justice majors. Ditto for the MCAT. (Sure, the data is ten years old, but trust me—it's still valid.)

 

[GT33]

Well here's some ideas:

1. Make GT the premier engineering & sports sciences institute in the world. We should excel at:

• Research and design of protective equipment to reduce injuries- helmets, padding, etc
• Developing cutting edge materials to improve performance- lighter, more fleible, etc
• Delivering analytical tools to enhance individual & team performance- get the damn IEs to help, they've been the #1 program in the world for 3 decades or something
• Launching the latest & greatest facilities upgrades- video boards, sound systems, etc- fan experience stuff
• Pro athletes should flock here for the newest advantages in all aspects of performance improvement. It's a recruiting advantage as well.

We should be an incubator, the proving ground for the latest & greatest tech stuff.

2. Our gameday should be #1. They should be more like business tech conventions that just regular games.

• Get all the major companies on campus with display venues weekly
• Maybe give selected Fortune 500 companies prime coverage each week. Could be linked to our major schools- 1 week is Computer & Software, Space & related technologies another, etc
• Leverage local music and entertainment options either before or after games.
• Perhaps being inside Bobby Dodd for 4 quarters gives you premium lottery position to gain access to special events
• If we can design automobile and home comfort products, we sure as hell can do something with our stadium

There's limitless ideas to make the experience better. Just need some initiative and determination to get it done, win.

3. Establish the professional pipeline for our athletes

• More media regarding post-football careers. We have plenty of examples
• Expand coverage of co-op athletes & interns
• Get the companies GT has great representation at to start sponsoring athletic scholarship opportunities, particularly for the minor sports

4. Lastly, stop running off fans. The minute Johnson left we wanted to erase a decade of GT football. We had a lot of achievements to celebrate & we just belittled them, kicked them to the curb. We need every fan, donor, supporter we can get.

• Use your head & start planning fundraising initiatives. The "new staff" campaign should have been locked & loaded
• Explain why you want our money & paint the picture of what it will do
• Make game day affordable or run promos so you fill up the stands

5. Stop making excuses. We can't & won't ever recruit every athlete, but there absolutely no reason we can't attract good enough GT Men to compete in a manner we can be proud.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

When I was a young engineer, we used to call in on the old phone line modems to use Georgia Tech's structural software to analyze piping systems. Licensing that to engineering organizations was a great source of revenue for GTRI back then.

Tech is an innovation organization. I would look for opportunities to develop new materials, measurement devices, etc ... and license them to other schools and in turn, generate funds for our own. We have to find a way to generate sustainable recurring revenues without doing what everyone else is doing.

Cool! I was a co developer of that software.

 

[Oakland]

I have a question about the parking lots used for the football and basketball games. Since the GTAA does not own those parking lots, who gets the revenue from those parking lots on game days? The GTAA or the school? Please no guess answers.

 

[RonJohn]

When I was a young engineer, we used to call in on the old phone line modems to use Georgia Tech's structural software to analyze piping systems. Licensing that to engineering organizations was a great source of revenue for GTRI back then.

Tech is an innovation organization. I would look for opportunities to develop new materials, measurement devices, etc ... and license them to other schools and in turn, generate funds for our own. We have to find a way to generate sustainable recurring revenues without doing what everyone else is doing.

They had an innovation competition a couple of years ago. I kind of thought that was the idea: To get students involved in coming up with product ideas (sports science, sports analytics, gameday environment, etc). For the athletic association to fund the development of those ideas. Then to use them for GT and license them to other organizations.

That would not only potentially raise revenue for the association, but could get the die-hard STEM students at games and interested in sports because of the business and science opportunities afforded by the athletic association. As far as I remember, they had a contest one time, and I didn't hear anything else about it.

 

[GTLorenzo]

Also ironically, Neville directly referenced UT as an AA that has had success with a quick turnaround that we should try to emulate.

White is doing a lot of really good things for that program and it's not just football. UT hit a homerun with that hire.

Parker Executive Search did both the AD and Coach search at Tennessee.

 

[iceeater1969]

Correct - list is not shared. But the roll call requests sure do make great use of football game day pictures don’t they?

I’ve met alumni that believe their roll call donations benefit sports.

Money from the GT Foundation is not money from GT (Hill). So, your snark is ill-targeted.

That being said, the GTAA is not getting Foundation money. The roll-call list that the GTAA (Alumni) has never shared with the GTAA (Athletic) will still never be shared.

However, the GTAA (Athletic) has access to the rolls of GT grads and could do the footwork to boost the giving. They currently don’t put that effort in.

Is this how our competition are organized?
Is it impossible to organize so we can share lists.

At homecoming the AA has a booth gt conference and they will take your picture in front of the ramblin wrek.

Seems like the school , aa, gtaa are closely linked.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Is this how our competition are organized?
Is it impossible to organize so we can share lists.

At homecoming the AA has a booth gt conference and they will take your picture in front of the ramblin wrek.

Seems like the school , aa, gtaa are closely linked.

They are linked. However, the athletic association will NEVER get the Roll Call list. They’ve been trying to do that for decades. GTF and GTAA maintain their independence and are separate entities.

 

[Techastrophe]

1. Expand the HSrecruit&transfer base. There are different possible dimensions:
1a. Relax academic standards. I personally don't like this route at all. I think it is unnecessary and probably hurts the brand more than it helps anything.
1b. Help HS athletic programs develop student athletes who can and want to excel in athletics and academics. Get bright students with big legs into football...
1c. Help elevate the visibility and profile of GT for student athletes who want to excel in both athletics and academics. Suppose there are N HS graduates and portal entrants each year across the USA who can do the academic work and would raise the athletic bar. N minus E of them want a clapper to stir it around? E's the gap. How big is E? Lots of people have assumptions. I want Angel Cabrera to know it and track it.

2. Back up the student athlete development.
Keep the good ones making the music and dreaming the dreams.

3. Stay engaged.
If you want GT to be excellent in the football as well as the academics and innovation then the president to be regularly reaffirming that value.

 

[ebb1]

They are linked. However, the athletic association will NEVER get the Roll Call list. They’ve been trying to do that for decades. GTF and GTAA maintain their independence and are separate entities.

I can say with 100% certainty, that there is one central database of alumni and/or donors and GTF, AT and the AA have access to the full list of names with the ability to see who has donated and to what purpose. This might not have been the case in the past

 

[forensicbuzz]

I can say with 100% certainty, that there is one central database of alumni and/or donors and GTF, AT and the AA have access to the full list of names with the ability to see who has donated and to what purpose. This might not have been the case in the past

It's been a couple of years since I've been involved with the GTF and Alumni Assoc, but Roll Call was verboten forever. If that has changed, I am thrilled. It's been a bone of contention for as long as I remember.

 

[stinger 1957]

1. Immediate help to get us on a sound financial footing with a plan that will let us go forward being able to afford what the FB program needs to compete at a high level Nationally. This has to be done IMO just because it is THE main source of income for everything. No skimping.
2.Adjust, remove some of the blockage for recruiting in FB. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know what all that entails, but there are folks that do know.
3.Put in place a system that lets us get NIL sponsor money just as it is needed. Appears to me we have a better shot at that than many schools because we're in ATL. We need to really capture that advantage. No half way stuff.

I would rather see us pick out a few sports and be at the top with excellence in those few sports rather than do so many sports.
That's my 2 cents worth.

 

[A Love Supreme]

Well here's some ideas:

1. Make GT the premier engineering & sports sciences institute in the world. We should excel at:

• Research and design of protective equipment to reduce injuries- helmets, padding, etc
• Developing cutting edge materials to improve performance- lighter, more fleible, etc
• Delivering analytical tools to enhance individual & team performance- get the damn IEs to help, they've been the #1 program in the world for 3 decades or something
• Launching the latest & greatest facilities upgrades- video boards, sound systems, etc- fan experience stuff
• Pro athletes should flock here for the newest advantages in all aspects of performance improvement. It's a recruiting advantage as well.

We should be an incubator, the proving ground for the latest & greatest tech stuff.

2. Our gameday should be #1. They should be more like business tech conventions that just regular games.

• Get all the major companies on campus with display venues weekly
• Maybe give selected Fortune 500 companies prime coverage each week. Could be linked to our major schools- 1 week is Computer & Software, Space & related technologies another, etc
• Leverage local music and entertainment options either before or after games.
• Perhaps being inside Bobby Dodd for 4 quarters gives you premium lottery position to gain access to special events
• If we can design automobile and home comfort products, we sure as hell can do something with our stadium

There's limitless ideas to make the experience better. Just need some initiative and determination to get it done, win.

3. Establish the professional pipeline for our athletes

• More media regarding post-football careers. We have plenty of examples
• Expand coverage of co-op athletes & interns
• Get the companies GT has great representation at to start sponsoring athletic scholarship opportunities, particularly for the minor sports

4. Lastly, stop running off fans. The minute Johnson left we wanted to erase a decade of GT football. We had a lot of achievements to celebrate & we just belittled them, kicked them to the curb. We need every fan, donor, supporter we can get.

• Use your head & start planning fundraising initiatives. The "new staff" campaign should have been locked & loaded
• Explain why you want our money & paint the picture of what it will do
• Make game day affordable or run promos so you fill up the stands

5. Stop making excuses. We can't & won't ever recruit every athlete, but there absolutely no reason we can't attract good enough GT Men to compete in a manner we can be proud.

I like your ideas. I know we have the Ramblin Wreck. I think the car is great but what if we had a new car to go along side it? The students can design and make a supercar. Or maybe someone or Ford company could donate a Ford GT the students can redesign and make a 21st century version Ramblin Wreck. I think this could generate a lot of interest.

 

[GT33]

I like your ideas. I know we have the Ramblin Wreck. I think the car is great but what if we had a new car to go along side it? The students can design and make a supercar. Or maybe someone or Ford company could donate a Ford GT the students can redesign and make a 21st century version Ramblin Wreck. I think this could generate a lot of interest.

Exactly. We need ideas like that.

 

[AUFC]

I still want to see us Honeycomb Bobby Dodd.

Want to be a part of Honeycombing Bobby Dodd? Buy a ticket and come out this Saturday. It’s an ingenious enough idea that I think it could draw even the casual football fan out to be a part of it. You’d just have to divide Bobby Dodd section/rows/seats into a bunch of equilateral triangles and assign a color of white or gold to each seat.

Some freshman in CS1371 can get an automatic A if they pull off the design with MATLAB. We should do this every home game.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Well here's some ideas:

1. Make GT the premier engineering & sports sciences institute in the world. We should excel at:

• Research and design of protective equipment to reduce injuries- helmets, padding, etc
• Developing cutting edge materials to improve performance- lighter, more fleible, etc
• Delivering analytical tools to enhance individual & team performance- get the damn IEs to help, they've been the #1 program in the world for 3 decades or something
• Launching the latest & greatest facilities upgrades- video boards, sound systems, etc- fan experience stuff
• Pro athletes should flock here for the newest advantages in all aspects of performance improvement. It's a recruiting advantage as well.

We should be an incubator, the proving ground for the latest & greatest tech stuff.

2. Our gameday should be #1. They should be more like business tech conventions that just regular games.

• Get all the major companies on campus with display venues weekly
• Maybe give selected Fortune 500 companies prime coverage each week. Could be linked to our major schools- 1 week is Computer & Software, Space & related technologies another, etc
• Leverage local music and entertainment options either before or after games.
• Perhaps being inside Bobby Dodd for 4 quarters gives you premium lottery position to gain access to special events
• If we can design automobile and home comfort products, we sure as hell can do something with our stadium

There's limitless ideas to make the experience better. Just need some initiative and determination to get it done, win.

3. Establish the professional pipeline for our athletes

• More media regarding post-football careers. We have plenty of examples
• Expand coverage of co-op athletes & interns
• Get the companies GT has great representation at to start sponsoring athletic scholarship opportunities, particularly for the minor sports

4. Lastly, stop running off fans. The minute Johnson left we wanted to erase a decade of GT football. We had a lot of achievements to celebrate & we just belittled them, kicked them to the curb. We need every fan, donor, supporter we can get.

• Use your head & start planning fundraising initiatives. The "new staff" campaign should have been locked & loaded
• Explain why you want our money & paint the picture of what it will do
• Make game day affordable or run promos so you fill up the stands

5. Stop making excuses. We can't & won't ever recruit every athlete, but there absolutely no reason we can't attract good enough GT Men to compete in a manner we can be proud.

Great post.