Where Do College Football Players Come From

[OldJacketFan]

I disagree with the notion that outside of academia it is just considered a good regional school.

Perhaps I should have said outside of academia and employers looking of for excellent engineers. Believe it or not from a sports perspective Tech is much better regarded outside of GA than it is in GA. But the point remains, Tech does a horrible job marketing itself.

 

[4shotB]

uga's reputation hasn't improved all that much.

So far the enhanced academic reputation over there is a fraud, mostly. It sounds the same since I spent 2 years there in the 70's.

here is part of GT's problem: a poster who works with students in Gwinnett says the kids there says that students believe that the gap between GT and Uga has narrowed. We say "no it hasn't " and trot out our reasons why. Look, the issue is - it doesn't matter what you or I or any old grad thinks, it what does the prospective student, or student-athlete, think? Perception is reality and we don't understand that. We are failures at marketing and promotion. maybe, as a technical school, it's not in our DNA.

You go on to say however that there is an "enhanced academic reputation". Even if that is fraudulent, it doesn't matter. You cannot recruit using negative tactics - i.e. by explaining to students why it is fraudulent. we sit around and tell ourselves how great things are rather than working on changing our image/culture/branding. Our "stand pat and do nothing" approach is not working. Our customer base/market share IS not growing no matter how great we tell ourselves dear ol' Ma Tech is.

 

[GTrob21]

I disagree with the notion that outside of academia it is just considered a good regional school.

do you work with students, because I do, with the students in Gwinnett, which is what this thread was about. I can say with absolute certainly this is true and was shocking to me when I moved here from out of state. The reputation of TEch is far superior outside the boarders of Georgia than within.

If you disagree with this, then by all means tell us why and why my experiences over the last 10 years are wrong.

 

[GTrob21]

here is part of GT's problem: a poster who works with students in Gwinnett says the kids there says that students believe that the gap between GT and Uga has narrowed. We say "no it hasn't " and trot out our reasons why. Look, the issue is - it doesn't matter what you or I or any old grad thinks, it what does the prospective student, or student-athlete, think? Perception is reality and we don't understand that. We are failures at marketing and promotion. maybe, as a technical school, it's not in our DNA.

You go on to say however that there is an "enhanced academic reputation". Even if that is fraudulent, it doesn't matter. You cannot recruit using negative tactics - i.e. by explaining to students why it is fraudulent. we sit around and tell ourselves how great things are rather than working on changing our image/culture/branding. Our "stand pat and do nothing" approach is not working. Our customer base/market share IS not growing no matter how great we tell ourselves dear ol' Ma Tech is.

Couldn't agree with this more. The problem is fixable, but for some reason, there is a segment of Tech fans that simply want to disagree, trot out reasons to do nothing and sit back and stare at their degree.

Tech is a great, internationally renowned school, which has done a horrible job at marketing itself in Georgia. This thread was about why aren't we getting more students in the greater atlanta area, which is one of the most talent rich areas of the nation and it has some of the best public schools in the nation.

We are giving you the answers but some people don't want to hear it or recognize the problems.

 

[Animal02]

Perhaps I should have said outside of academia and employers looking of for excellent engineers. Believe it or not from a sports perspective Tech is much better regarded outside of GA than it is in GA. But the point remains, Tech does a horrible job marketing itself.[/quote

do you work with students, because I do, with the students in Gwinnett, which is what this thread was about. I can say with absolute certainly this is true and was shocking to me when I moved here from out of state. The reputation of TEch is far superior outside the boarders of Georgia than within.

If you disagree with this, then by all means tell us why and why my experiences over the last 10 years are wrong.

I would agree completely that the reputation of Tech outside of the state of Ga. is far superior to that within its boarders.......just another reason why Tech should do more to recruit nationally. I would say the same about most schools wrt in/out of state reputation......... I am sure that U Mich grads are probably more respected out of state than they are here.

 

[Rodney Kent]

I am not discussing any issues with the debates regarding present reasons for not selecting GT. I am really trying to see the reasons board members would select as their 1 through 5 top reasons for attending any college. 4shotB, thanks for your reply.

My real reason was for football first and academics secondarily, however, I know academics is one of the criteria.

 

[LongforDodd]

here is part of GT's problem: a poster who works with students in Gwinnett says the kids there says that students believe that the gap between GT and Uga has narrowed. We say "no it hasn't " and trot out our reasons why. Look, the issue is - it doesn't matter what you or I or any old grad thinks, it what does the prospective student, or student-athlete, think? Perception is reality and we don't understand that. We are failures at marketing and promotion. maybe, as a technical school, it's not in our DNA.

You go on to say however that there is an "enhanced academic reputation". Even if that is fraudulent, it doesn't matter. You cannot recruit using negative tactics - i.e. by explaining to students why it is fraudulent. we sit around and tell ourselves how great things are rather than working on changing our image/culture/branding. Our "stand pat and do nothing" approach is not working. Our customer base/market share IS not growing no matter how great we tell ourselves dear ol' Ma Tech is.

As I often do, my posts veer off direct topic. I was just spewing my venom towards the ugagers that get all uppity about their rising academic reputation.

Now back to the topic. Yes we lack marketing and promotional skills and you're probably correct that it is not in our DNA.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

There are enough elite and high major level talent in metro Atlanta alone that are academically qualified for GT fill two recruiting classes every year and STILL have recruits leftover.

The challenge isn't the number qualified (both on and off the field) recruits in metro Atlanta, the challenge is making GT attractive enough for them. Sorry, but that's the reality of GT football right now.

Hence the need to beat UGa more often. In this part of the country, beating BC, UVA, and other teams in ACC does not have the impact of beating big time programs. This fact must be embraced and built upon.

A lot of GT people may not like the truth, but that does not make it any less true.

 

[alaguy]

I would like to be a fly on wall of EXACTLY how Tech goes about recruiting SAs and what is said and told to them.We probably have some of the TOP mgt consultants in US from Tech and I wonder if we have done a complete mktng analysis of our product approach.
for ex- someone said UT had 20+ folks in their recruiting dept-I wonder if we could use volunteers (or low paid guys)if we can't pay as much? If nothing else they can track the top STUDENT As in each region of country maybe through an alumni chain.Intiate contact when in 10th grade-maybe might find a few nuggets.

 

[Atomic Jacket]

Found this and thought it was pretty cool. The first link is the best and has an interactive map. The second one has more statistical data. Tech would be wise to make more inroads into Gwinnett County. Roof should know that. The schools are very good in general so blaming it on non qualifiers is no excuse. South Florida and Southern California are ridiculous but we knew this anyway.

http://blog.modeanalytics.com/where-football-players-call-home/

http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/11/4718442/college-football-state-texas-california-florida

I saw this article earlier and thought about posting it. The thing I thought was interesting is that Tech has recruited the state of Georgia to a degree that seems pretty comparable to the way UGA has. The thing we've heard for as long as I can remember is that Tech doesn't recruit Georgia; Tech recruits the nation. Not so fast, my friends. Tech is recruiting the state. The question always comes up whenever there are discussions about why Georgia and Georgia Tech do not go head-to-head that often in recruiting. The answer from the party-line is that it's because Georgia recruits the state and Tech recruits the nation outside the state, where people have a good impression of Tech and are not as influenced by Georgia high school coaches who are biased toward the SEC and having been lifelong Bulldog fans. Not to mention that Georgia public schools aren't that great, and Tech needs smart athletes who can handle the academics. I maintain that the reason they don't go head-to-head is that Tech is recruiting a lower caliber of athlete (within Georgia) that Georgia is not interested in. This is not a popular opinion because it forces Tech fans to acknowledge that we don't go for the best. We shoot for something lower. Incidentally, this helps explain Georgia's success against Tech in the series.

 

[Techster]

Speaking of which, you know who almost came here?

I saw this article earlier and thought about posting it. The thing I thought was interesting is that Tech has recruited the state of Georgia to a degree that seems pretty comparable to the way UGA has. The thing we've heard for as long as I can remember is that Tech doesn't recruit Georgia; Tech recruits the nation. Not so fast, my friends. Tech is recruiting the state. The question always comes up whenever there are discussions about why Georgia and Georgia Tech do not go head-to-head that often in recruiting. The answer from the party-line is that it's because Georgia recruits the state and Tech recruits the nation outside the state, where people have a good impression of Tech and are not as influenced by Georgia high school coaches who are biased toward the SEC and having been lifelong Bulldog fans. Not to mention that Georgia public schools aren't that great, and Tech needs smart athletes who can handle the academics. I maintain that the reason they don't go head-to-head is that Tech is recruiting a lower caliber of athlete (within Georgia) that Georgia is not interested in. This is not a popular opinion because it forces Tech fans to acknowledge that we don't go for the best. We shoot for something lower. Incidentally, this helps explain Georgia's success against Tech in the series.

Our coaches do target the best of the best early, it's just that they make it known quite early that GT is out of the equation. If you look at some of the top kids in GA, more often than not if they have the academic credentials GT has made an offer.

Just look at the #1 Overall recruit in GA (DE Lorenzo Carter) and #1 Dual Threat QB in the Nation (Deshaun Watson). In Carter's case, we were the first that offered him (at our camp no less), yet we were pretty much out of the race during his JR year even though it's known he's interested (wink wink) in engineering. Watson we offered during his sophomore year, he just flat out said he's not interested in our triple option offense.

I think you're mostly right with that statement though. I think a large part of it is that our coaches understand it's a numbers game and they'd rather move on than spend time fighting off bigger "name" schools. The thinking is probably they'd rather put more time in kids they have a better shot at than spread themselves thin over guys who they'll have to spend an inordinate amount of time on who will probably be high maintenance. Let's face it, UGA is in the running for the best of the best in the NATION, we have to recruit the Nation because the top tier and even some second tiers guys in our own state do not find GT attractive. Hard to accept, but the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

[LongforDodd]

I saw this article earlier and thought about posting it. The thing I thought was interesting is that Tech has recruited the state of Georgia to a degree that seems pretty comparable to the way UGA has. The thing we've heard for as long as I can remember is that Tech doesn't recruit Georgia; Tech recruits the nation. Not so fast, my friends. Tech is recruiting the state. The question always comes up whenever there are discussions about why Georgia and Georgia Tech do not go head-to-head that often in recruiting. The answer from the party-line is that it's because Georgia recruits the state and Tech recruits the nation outside the state, where people have a good impression of Tech and are not as influenced by Georgia high school coaches who are biased toward the SEC and having been lifelong Bulldog fans. Not to mention that Georgia public schools aren't that great, and Tech needs smart athletes who can handle the academics. I maintain that the reason they don't go head-to-head is that Tech is recruiting a lower caliber of athlete (within Georgia) that Georgia is not interested in. This is not a popular opinion because it forces Tech fans to acknowledge that we don't go for the best. We shoot for something lower. Incidentally, this helps explain Georgia's success against Tech in the series.

In today's AJC there was an article following up on recruiting. GT has commits from 6 of the Top 75 for the 2014 class. UGa has 7. Of those 75 that haven't committed yet to anyone 2 are considering UGa, none for us. The rest of the 75 are leaving the state, mostly.

 

[Animal02]

I saw this article earlier and thought about posting it. The thing I thought was interesting is that Tech has recruited the state of Georgia to a degree that seems pretty comparable to the way UGA has. The thing we've heard for as long as I can remember is that Tech doesn't recruit Georgia; Tech recruits the nation. Not so fast, my friends. Tech is recruiting the state. The question always comes up whenever there are discussions about why Georgia and Georgia Tech do not go head-to-head that often in recruiting. The answer from the party-line is that it's because Georgia recruits the state and Tech recruits the nation outside the state, where people have a good impression of Tech and are not as influenced by Georgia high school coaches who are biased toward the SEC and having been lifelong Bulldog fans. Not to mention that Georgia public schools aren't that great, and Tech needs smart athletes who can handle the academics. I maintain that the reason they don't go head-to-head is that Tech is recruiting a lower caliber of athlete (within Georgia) that Georgia is not interested in. This is not a popular opinion because it forces Tech fans to acknowledge that we don't go for the best. We shoot for something lower. Incidentally, this helps explain Georgia's success against Tech in the series.

I believe when CPJ was first hired, he said he was going to concentrate on the State of Ga. and the Southeast.......I thought it was a mistake then, and I do now.

 

[techdad]

How schools recruit can always be mystery. A good friend has a son that is a 4 star recruit as a junior and plays at Alpharetta High School has NEVER gotten a letter from GT and he would more than qualify. He has committed to Tennessee, but it really makes you wonder why GT never was interested. There is way too much talent in this area to be ignored.

 

[Animal02]

How schools recruit can always be mystery. A good friend has a son that is a 4 star recruit as a junior and plays at Alpharetta High School has NEVER gotten a letter from GT and he would more than qualify. He has committed to Tennessee, but it really makes you wonder why GT never was interested. There is way too much talent in this area to be ignored.

Was he a tight end?

 

[techdad]

No, he is a defensive end.

 

[collegeballfan]

I believe when CPJ was first hired, he said he was going to concentrate on the State of Ga. and the Southeast.......I thought it was a mistake then, and I do now.

I believe every coach that comes to Tech makes the same statement. Never has made much sense. Georgia Tech offers degrees in 34 undergraduate majors. (UGA, for example, in 200 undergraduate majors.) That is way to restrictive for a recruiting concentration in one state or one region. The recruiting effort must be national with a recruiting budget to match. IMHO.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Our reputation in Georgia high schools is abysmal amongst athletes. Tech isn't even consistently popular among the nerds.

High school coaches generally are education majors or physical education majors. Where do you get those degrees in Georgia? State legislators are frequently lawyers. Where do you go in Georgia to get a pre-law degree? It's actually amazing we get any high school kids or any funding at all. It really is an uphill fight on many, many fronts.

 

[Boomergump]

High school coaches generally are education majors or physical education majors. Where do you get those degrees in Georgia? State legislators are frequently lawyers. Where do you go in Georgia to get a pre-law degree? It's actually amazing we get any high school kids or any funding at all. It really is an uphill fight on many, many fronts.

This.

 

[Boomergump]

AND, if you are reading or watching newscasts about GA sports, where do the journalism majors come from?