Maybe I am wrong, but I thought that Tech had scholarship limits placed on them for much earlier wrongs by O'Leary, and possibly under Gailey. Those limitations would have affected 2008-2010 recruiting, if I am correct. I am fully aware of what the NCAA reported concerning Johnson, but they were FOS. First of all, as it turned out, nothing wrong was done to begin with, and, even if it had been, it paled in comparison to what UNC had been getting away with. Secondly, in reality, Johnson was never at fault to begin with. DRad pretty much threw him under the bus for his own response to the NCAA.
I agree with what you say, however, about the problem being at the top; it always has been. That's why Tech hired (and later fired) both Carson and Rodgers; rich alums got their way, and we all suffered. I agree too that Homer Rice never did us any favors, especially in the hiring of Curry. I'm not sure why you include Kim King in there though. Can you explain?
You must be young and have no knowledge of GT athletics.
First, Rice didn't hire Curry. Once again you have your facts wrong.
Secondly, even if he had, he would have done us a favor. We were about to go 1-AA. Our facilities were the worst in the nation--Bear Bryant would not let his team dress in the visitors locker room. We had no money. Our de facto head recruiter--someone I knew, but I won't post her name--was an administrator at the AA. And yes, Bobby Dodd the AD was to blame for much of this.
Curry was about all we could attract at the time. He pulled the program up from where it was in 1979. He did a good enough job that Alabama hired him--with Bobby Dodd's blessing. I have never understood why anyone is critical of a great Tech Man like Bill Curry. Ignorance of the facts is the only explanation.
Homer Rice is the most important figure in GT history. He took a program that was about to go 1-AA to a national championship in football and a final four in basketball 10 years later, while also building a baseball world series runner up 4 years later and a perennial national contender in golf. He also corrected the Lewis mistake by hiring O'Leary as DC--Rice stepped in and made that hire, not Lewis. O'Leary was the last coach to have 5 (I believe) top 25 finishes, and beat UGa 3 in a row.
So you say Homer Rice never did us any favors?
Kim King, assuming you know who he was, made a lot of money. His money and his reputation as one of Dodd's boys gave him tremendous clout. He had good judgment in business and in athletics. He had tremendous credibility with the administration and the athletic board. He and Homer were a powerful combination.
I won't even go into the combination of Clough and Braine. What a disaster. They set a decline in motion, both with regard to finances and general decision making. The athletic board is now dominated by academics and donors that either don't understand or don't care about winning at a high level.
I could go on, but that's enough.