When will we be able to afford....

[Stinger90]

Just hope Bobinski doesn't try to manage anything in the baseball area in the meantime.

MBob was a pitcher at Notre Dame. In an interview on the WREK, he stated we was pleased with our baseball program and didn't see anything to change it. Thank Goodness !

 

[awbuzz]

I'm trying to remember, when were we last in the tourney?

2010?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

He only donated $15MM with the balance coming from debt & other donations. Also, he's since passed away. The commentator didn't know wtf he was talking about.

After this season is over, we would owe about $1.3MM to BG in buyout & about $2.7MM to Hewitt in buyout. We don't have the $4MM to do that and then pay a competitive rate for a competitive coach.

I have heard on various sites that we have boosters ready to support a revamp of the program, but not until the buyouts are done because MBob effed up.

DRad is the one who effed up when he gave Blewitt such an outrageous contract. MBob, probably shouldn't have given Gregory an extension, but it's DRad who got us into the mess we are in today.

 

[RyanS12]

2010?

Yup. The biggest waste of talent I have ever seen at Tech. 2 long career in the NBA players in Shump and Favors. A borderline NBA player in Lawal "should've never left early" A decent forward in Peacock. Mo Miller and DeAndre Bell were solid roll players as well. No excuse to finish 7-9 in the league with that team. If we had lost that first game to UNC in the ACC tournament we would've been an NIT team.

 

[dtm1997]

DRad is the one who effed up when he gave Blewitt such an outrageous contract. MBob, probably shouldn't have given Gregory an extension, but it's DRad who got us into the mess we are in today.

The strategic & tactical AD blunders that got us to where we are today are as follows:

1. Dave Braine gave Hewitt what was essentially a lifetime contract coming off our national championship appearance, because we didn't have enough funds to stave off future high bids in the future and Braine was afraid he could lose a top flight coach in the future.
2. LazyAD primarily focused on facilities upgrades with no effort in to fundraising for supporting the underlying programs.
3. LazyAD, because of his lack of vision & his extreme willingness to treat hoops like a second hand citizen, let Hewitt off the hook following the massive underachievement of the Derrick Favors year, giving him another year to underperform.
4. LazyAD used a magic spreadsheet to justify the finances of firing Hewitt, something we didn't have the funds to do back then, made feasible by extending the buyout to where it is today.
5. LazyAD lazily used a consultant to make a hire because he didn't really give a crap about hoops and didn't really know about how to hire a hoops coach.
6. LazyAD made a cheap hire of BG because he put effort to land the big gifts for McCamish Pavilion, but none to keep the operations of the program stable.
7. MBob extended BG for what seemed to be the beginning of our turnaround, which in & of itself wasn't a bad thing given recruiting dynamics, while resetting BG's buyout schedule, which was a move of colossal idiocy as a business decision, given BG had no leverage to receive, and contributed to today's position.
8. After yet another season of underperformance, MBob, by multiple accounts on premium boards & insiders, made the decision to remove BG and began the process of requisitioning funds to do so. The GTAA Board of Trustees told him to pound sand, go raise the money. He went out to raise the money, supposedly received commitments, and then the boosters found out the buyout terms, told him to pound sand, and that they'd support new funds once MBob cleaned up that mess.
9. MBob came out with his public statement of BG returning, stating he had the money (technically true given balance sheets, not literally true given no authorization) and outlining BG's requirements to succeed. BG has actually recruited better & improved the offense, but the defense has been so shaky, it's no biting us on the *** in close ACC games, returning us to the doldrums of same old same old, despite the progress seen in the OOC schedule.

That's where we are today. The collective efforts of 3 ADs have left us with a snake bitten, floundering basketball program that leaves both GT fans & the outside world shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering how this could have all happened and if it will ever recover. That's how it all happened. It may be years before we determine if we recover.

 

[Techster]

The strategic & tactical AD blunders that got us to where we are today are as follows:

1. Dave Braine gave Hewitt what was essentially a lifetime contract coming off our national championship appearance, because we didn't have enough funds to stave off future high bids in the future and Braine was afraid he could lose a top flight coach in the future.
2. LazyAD primarily focused on facilities upgrades with no effort in to fundraising for supporting the underlying programs.
3. LazyAD, because of his lack of vision & his extreme willingness to treat hoops like a second hand citizen, let Hewitt off the hook following the massive underachievement of the Derrick Favors year, giving him another year to underperform.
4. LazyAD used a magic spreadsheet to justify the finances of firing Hewitt, something we didn't have the funds to do back then, made feasible by extending the buyout to where it is today.
5. LazyAD lazily used a consultant to make a hire because he didn't really give a crap about hoops and didn't really know about how to hire a hoops coach.
6. LazyAD made a cheap hire of BG because he put effort to land the big gifts for McCamish Pavilion, but none to keep the operations of the program stable.
7. MBob extended BG for what seemed to be the beginning of our turnaround, which in & of itself wasn't a bad thing given recruiting dynamics, while resetting BG's buyout schedule, which was a move of colossal idiocy as a business decision, given BG had no leverage to receive, and contributed to today's position.
8. After yet another season of underperformance, MBob, by multiple accounts on premium boards & insiders, made the decision to remove BG and began the process of requisitioning funds to do so. The GTAA Board of Trustees told him to pound sand, go raise the money. He went out to raise the money, supposedly received commitments, and then the boosters found out the buyout terms, told him to pound sand, and that they'd support new funds once MBob cleaned up that mess.
9. MBob came out with his public statement of BG returning, stating he had the money (technically true given balance sheets, not literally true given no authorization) and outlining BG's requirements to succeed. BG has actually recruited better & improved the offense, but the defense has been so shaky, it's no biting us on the *** in close ACC games, returning us to the doldrums of same old same old, despite the progress seen in the OOC schedule.

That's where we are today. The collective efforts of 3 ADs have left us with a snake bitten, floundering basketball program that leaves both GT fans & the outside world shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering how this could have all happened and if it will ever recover. That's how it all happened. It may be years before we determine if we recover.

May want to pin this somewhere. I have a feeling fans will want to return to it pretty often before the end of CBG's tenure...

 

[dtm1997]

May want to pin this somewhere. I have a feeling fans will want to return to it pretty often before the end of CBG's tenure...

I appreciate the compliment. Funny enough, I thought the same thing because on other message boards, I keep seeing people asking the same questions about how we got here, what are the buyouts, over & over again after every game practically.

 

[RamblinRed]

DTM,

That was a great, succinct summary of what has put us in this mess and when we can get back out. Wish my various treatise's on it had been so simple and on point.
I"ll add that I started sending letters to the AD after the 2008 season suggesting Hewitt should be replaced. That would have been the spring before Iman arrived. He was actually our only recruit at that time, it just felt like if you needed to make a change, make it when you don't have much to lose on the trail.
it was already obvious at that point that things were not going to end well - but DRad imo was hoping beyond hope that Hewitt was going to show some return to his earlier magic so he wouldn't have to deal with the buyout during his tenure.

2 decisions by DRad were absolutely devastating. First was changing the terms of the Hewitt buyout from 5 yr, 1.42M per year to 8 yr, 900K per year. I suspect he did it for some form of short term cash flow reason, but it effectively extended the purgatory from 5 yrs to 8 yrs (not that he would be around long enough to have to deal with that). Second, hiring Gregory - on the advice of Eddie Folger was a huge mistep - nothing against CBG who is an upstanding man but simply overmatched at this level.

I'm not even looking at coaches to replace CBG after last year because i have no reason to believe a change is likely.

 

[Peacone36]

One of the most egregious displays of foolishness was last year when Fogler did a GTech game and praised BG. I almost vomitted.

 

[kg01]

One of the most egregious displays of foolishness was last year when Fogler did a GTech game and praised BG. I almost vomitted.

IIRC, that happened more than once too. What a bit of self-serving drivel that was. Look, I expect former coaches to look out for each other but that was just ridiculous.

Has his 'firm' placed anyone who's actually doing well?

 

[BeeRBee]

The strategic & tactical AD blunders that got us to where we are today are as follows:

1. Dave Braine gave Hewitt what was essentially a lifetime contract coming off our national championship appearance, because we didn't have enough funds to stave off future high bids in the future and Braine was afraid he could lose a top flight coach in the future.
2. LazyAD primarily focused on facilities upgrades with no effort in to fundraising for supporting the underlying programs.
3. LazyAD, because of his lack of vision & his extreme willingness to treat hoops like a second hand citizen, let Hewitt off the hook following the massive underachievement of the Derrick Favors year, giving him another year to underperform.
4. LazyAD used a magic spreadsheet to justify the finances of firing Hewitt, something we didn't have the funds to do back then, made feasible by extending the buyout to where it is today.
5. LazyAD lazily used a consultant to make a hire because he didn't really give a crap about hoops and didn't really know about how to hire a hoops coach.
6. LazyAD made a cheap hire of BG because he put effort to land the big gifts for McCamish Pavilion, but none to keep the operations of the program stable.
7. MBob extended BG for what seemed to be the beginning of our turnaround, which in & of itself wasn't a bad thing given recruiting dynamics, while resetting BG's buyout schedule, which was a move of colossal idiocy as a business decision, given BG had no leverage to receive, and contributed to today's position.
8. After yet another season of underperformance, MBob, by multiple accounts on premium boards & insiders, made the decision to remove BG and began the process of requisitioning funds to do so. The GTAA Board of Trustees told him to pound sand, go raise the money. He went out to raise the money, supposedly received commitments, and then the boosters found out the buyout terms, told him to pound sand, and that they'd support new funds once MBob cleaned up that mess.
9. MBob came out with his public statement of BG returning, stating he had the money (technically true given balance sheets, not literally true given no authorization) and outlining BG's requirements to succeed. BG has actually recruited better & improved the offense, but the defense has been so shaky, it's no biting us on the *** in close ACC games, returning us to the doldrums of same old same old, despite the progress seen in the OOC schedule.

That's where we are today. The collective efforts of 3 ADs have left us with a snake bitten, floundering basketball program that leaves both GT fans & the outside world shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering how this could have all happened and if it will ever recover. That's how it all happened. It may be years before we determine if we recover.

Excellent summary. I'd add a few points which may not interest anyone but me:

6a. Gregory was hired March 28, 2011. The AJC printed the memorandum of understanding. It called for "Annual base compensation of $1,000,000, with no escalating value for at least the first two years". It also stipulated that the contract would include: "Provisions in which the ASSOCIATION agrees to review the contract with Coach Gregory within 90 days of the end of the 2012-2013 season."
6b. October 29, 2012, GT confirms that Radakovich has resigned to take the job at Clemson. Paul Griffin will serve as interim.
6c. January 16, 2013, GT announces Bobinski as the new AD, but he will not officially begin work at GT until April 1. Subsequent interviews make it clear that he is involved to some extent in GT matters during the interim.
6d. March 14, 2013. GT MBB loses to Boston College in the ACC tournament, ending their season (since there was no post-season invitation) and presumably starting the clock on the 90 day window to review the contract.
6e. April 1, 2013, Bobinski officially begins as GT AD.
6f. November 12, 2013, a one-year extension is announced for Gregory. The buyout schedule, as covered by dtm, isn't mentioned in the press release.​

Without seeing the contract itself, I have no idea how the idea of fixing the salary for the first two years and then having a "review" was covered. It seems odd to me, but I'm not a lawyer and have no knowledge of coaching contracts in general. I guess I always assumed that a coach would have a defined salary, and if they out-performed this they had the leverage to get a raise. Would there have been a definitive obligation on the GTAA to take some action beyond just a review?

​

 

[orientalnc]

DTM and Red and others. These are excellent summaries of how we got to this point, and none of the arguments to fire CBG change the fact that we are not likely to change coaches after this season. CBG already has a pretty decent recruiting class coming in and has 2/3 more slots to fill. This is a dead issue in my mind. Oh, we will hear "hot seat" talk if Tech is mired in another 4-14 type season with no post season play, but I doubt anyone wants to pony up the money to speed up that change process.

 

[dtm1997]

Until somebody steps up to cut the check, the justifiable complaints will be fruitless.

 

[lv20gt]

Until somebody steps up to cut the check, the justifiable complaints will be fruitless.

I agree. Our AD needs to cut a check and send grgory packing.

Oh you mean someone outside the program? Why would anyone invest money into a program that has shown nothing but incompetence, a lack of wanting to be a competitive program, and penny pinching? It was a mistake, and an obvious one at the time, to hire gregory. It was an even bigger mistake and show of incompetence to extend him and rest the buyout. Those mistakes need to be fixed by firing the guy who should never have been here to begin with, before our AD dares go to the donors and tries to get money from them.

 

[kg01]

I agree. Our AD needs to cut a check and send grgory packing.

Oh you mean someone outside the program? Why would anyone invest money into a program that has shown nothing but incompetence, a lack of wanting to be a competitive program, and penny pinching? It was a mistake, and an obvious one at the time, to hire gregory. It was an even bigger mistake and show of incompetence to extend him and rest the buyout. Those mistakes need to be fixed by firing the guy who should never have been here to begin with, before our AD dares go to the donors and tries to get money from them.

You, and others, raise a good point. Why would a donor hand MBob a blank slate after he's not really demonstrated he can be trusted to not put us right back behind the 8-ball?

I think we all got blinded by the coaches he hired at XU and the fact that he headed up the NCAA tourney committee. He just hasn't been all that great here.

 

[dtm1997]

You, and others, raise a good point. Why would a donor hand MBob a blank slate after he's not really demonstrated he can be trusted to not put us right back behind the 8-ball?

I think we all got blinded by the coaches he hired at XU and the fact that he headed up the NCAA tourney committee. He just hasn't been all that great here.

I make a small monthly donation to A/T Fund. It was historically unrestricted, then half went to a memorial scholarship named after a friend, now all of it goes to that scholarship fund. Why? Because I don't trust MBob with even my small donation.

 

[Stinger90]

I make a small monthly donation to A/T Fund. It was historically unrestricted, then half went to a memorial scholarship named after a friend, now all of it goes to that scholarship fund. Why? Because I don't trust MBob with even my small donation.

Have a friend that does the same (with his company matching the same amount) which he told me for that reason.

 

[Papa Doc]

I remember contacting Mbob when they gave CBG that stupid extension. He had the asst AD call me and say that it was an act of good faith and that they fully expected to be a tourney team the following year. I asked when you looked at our roster, how did they expect that and implied thru transfers. Well, that was about 2 to 3 years ago and we see how that has worked...very frustrating.

Mbob spoke at my Rotary Club last Monday. Summary sees progress (?) in all sports despite the year to year W/L records, even big three he identified as football, basketball, and baseball. He's focused on recruiting with an eye to academic excellence at the point of admission, individual personal development and growth of players over time, player directed team chemistry through individual leadership skills, increasing academic progress numbers among all athletes, and increasing the number of players on the dean's list each semester. He doesn't think JUCO transfers are a good fit for football team because of the academic problems most have. I guess he's good with one year grad transfers for BBall, but he didn't mention it.

 

[Connell62]

Thanks for the summary Papa Doc.

Unfortunately, that seems almost like a repeat of the notes posted last year.

 

[orientalnc]

Mbob spoke at my Rotary Club last Monday. Summary sees progress (?) in all sports despite the year to year W/L records, even big three he identified as football, basketball, and baseball. He's focused on recruiting with an eye to academic excellence at the point of admission, individual personal development and growth of players over time, player directed team chemistry through individual leadership skills, increasing academic progress numbers among all athletes, and increasing the number of players on the dean's list each semester. He doesn't think JUCO transfers are a good fit for football team because of the academic problems most have. I guess he's good with one year grad transfers for BBall, but he didn't mention it.

Yawn...