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More than a few coins needed to make change

By Furman Bisher | Sunday, November 25, 2007, 06:01 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Furman Bisher

He has never had a losing season. Last year his team even played for the conference championship. But lost to Wake Forest. Then was invited to one of the old socially prominent bowl games. But lost to West Virginia. Just when it seems that one of Chan Gailey’s Georgia Tech teams is poised to make a breakthrough, it seems to find a way to blow a fuse, as of the recent Saturday at home.

For a half, Gailey’s team stared down Georgia eyeball to eyeball. You look for excuses, you begin with this: He lost his quarterback. Taylor Bennett went down at the end of the first half. When he came back he was wilder than a left-hander they call “Rube” or “Boots” in baseball. Along the sideline, Gailey was more vigorously involved than usual carrying his case to the stripe-shirted officials. This, he had come to recognize, was a critical time in his pursuit of coaching football at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

When the man for whom the game site is named was coach, Georgia Tech teams were going to bowl games year after year. Not some nuts and bolts game, like the Emerald or Meineke Car Care. Real bowls, like Sugar, Orange, Cotton or Gator. His teams weren’t losing five or six games a season. That would have closed down shop after Thanksgiving.

Look at Georgia. When Knowshon Moreno was shut down, Thomas Brown broke loose and picked up the slack. Georgia Tech has Tashard Choice, and when Choice was shut down, so was Tech’s offense. Nobody steps forward. Call it recruiting, call it coaching, call it what you will, but I will say this: The hard-line old guard at Georgia Tech is tired of having to address it in any term. The natives are not getting restless, they are restless and weary of subsisting on seasons of five or six losses.

You may recall a previous story in which Dan Radakovich, the athletics director who inherited this situation, was asked about Gailey’s future at Georgia Tech. His answer went something like this: “That’s something we don’t address until after the season.”

Was that sending a message? That after the season Gailey’s status would be reviewed? If not, there is an army of Tech alumni out there who are going to fire up a rebellion. They’re steaming. They’re tired of being fed out the back door. They want to move up front and dine in the drawing room on white tablecloths. They have seen their team lose to Georgia seven years in a row, and that is more than enough to fuel a rebellion. That still isn’t the record for this bitter series. In Bobby Dodd’s heyday, Georgia Tech beat Georgia eight times in a row, and the Bulldogs’ depression reached such depths that it seemed they might never beat Tech again. Vince Dooley came along and began to find a cure for that situation.

Firing a high-paid football coach is not easy, nor is it inexpensive. Whoever would have thought that in virtually the same week you have seen Nebraska, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and even Baylor all cleaning house. At Georgia Tech, it involves far more than simply sweeping out a coach and his staff. It means digging deep into the financial well.

Gailey has four years left on his contract. A buyout would probably cost Georgia Tech around $4 million at the least. We dig back further into Tech’s athletics finances, to the era of Dave Braine as athletics director and George O’Leary as coach. They envisioned a new and expansive stadium, not only that, but luxurious new offices, suites and special seating for alums willing to pay the price. Both Braine and O’Leary are long gone, but not the debt they built up. Some estimates are that Tech still has a debt of $90 million hanging over from that outlandish expansion project. Not verified, but estimated.

There are Tech alumni out there willing to step up and stand for a Gailey buyout, but it can’t be done that way. Then what about the expansion debt? And what about the president, Wayne Clough? He is a campus dictator. Nothing bypasses his desk.

So, as you see, this is not the mere process of firing one football coach and hiring another. Coaches don’t come cheap these days, in case you hadn’t noticed.

Permalink | Comments (93) | Post your comment | Categories: Furman Bisher, Tech / ACC

Comments

By gtne80

November 25, 2007 6:14 PM | Link to this

Thanks, Mr. Bisher, you are the first to mention Dr. Clough in this morass. If, as you report, he is a campus dictator, then the mess that Tech faces with Chan’s white elephant contract extension should land squarely on his desk and on his shoulders. Dave Braine and George O’Leary may be gone, and they were certainly complicit in the crime, but the “mastermind” is on “the hill.”

By Andrew

November 25, 2007 6:22 PM | Link to this

For all the heat that Dave Brainless caught for giving Gailey an unwarranted contract extension, Clough has gotten a free pass. Wasn’t Clough’s approval needed for a multi-million dollar extension to Gailey’s contract? If so, then Clough also bought into Braine’s philosophy of “7-5 is good enough and Tech shouldn’t expect better than that”. The Tech nation has gotten screwed not only by a former AD, but by a Tech alum who now is working hard to make Tech a liberal arts school. And they wonder why I won’t donate money.

Hiring a new coach who can win in the Tech tradition (i.e. with class, and students who can graduate) will do a lot to fill seats and sky-boxes. It worked in the 90’s, and it can work again.

By BC

November 25, 2007 6:30 PM | Link to this

Agreed GTNE80. Clough needs to be accountable. Its plain economics. If Tech wants to get out of debt, it needs to increase donations from boosters and alumni. It needs to increase ticket sales and enthusiasm. And the only way you’ll get any of those things is w/ a new coach. Take a risk. A business risk. Otherwise, rest on your laurels and we’ll all be 100 yrs old and still 7-5 and under 100 million in debt.

By StingerSplash

November 25, 2007 6:35 PM | Link to this

Isn’t it more costly still to completely alienate your fan base and season ticket holders who are being subjected to increasingly higher prices to watch continued mediocrity and underachievement, and likely will not return in droves next season, thereby eliminating a key source of revenue?

By Johnson is a Johnson

November 25, 2007 6:40 PM | Link to this

I really really think that we are turning this thing around. We pretty much won the first half yesterday and the refs won the second half for the Dogs. So as far as I’m concerned, we won. And Chan’s the man! I will personally put up the money to keep him around for another 10 years. We are actually doing much better than we use to do back when we didn’t do as well as we’re doing now. Think about it.

By Bee Sting

November 25, 2007 6:45 PM | Link to this

Get June Jones before someone else snags him. He’s a QB and WR magnet. He also wins and puts hind ends in seats. He is in the final year of his contract.

By Lee

November 25, 2007 6:47 PM | Link to this

How come Terence (I can’t think of anything else to write about except race) Moore gets to publish another race bait peice of sh1t but AJC doesn’t allow anyone to comment on it.

You’re pathetic Terence Moore. I hear Ga Tech might have a coaching position open in a few days. Pays pretty good to boot. How about you apply for that job, what, with your superior sports knowledge, you’d be a shoe-in.

(I can say “shoe-in” can’t I. That doesn’t have any negative racial connotations about black shoe shine boys does it?)

Terence Moore, what a waste of ink and paper.

By Bob Leftwich

November 25, 2007 6:48 PM | Link to this

Chan Gailey is a good coach and an even better person. My question to anyone who wants to fire him is; “Whom will you get who is better?” Chan has dealt with the stringent curriculum at Tech and the David Braine caused mass academic ineligibility issues and hasnt complained. I believe there are a few better coaches in the country but I doubt if any of them would want to coach Tech and if they were willing and were successful, how long would they stay? Tech grads seem to be under the illusion that Tech is a great place to coach but that really isnt true because of institutes rigid curriculum and small alumnae base. I believe Coach Dodd always regreted not taking the Texas job because support for the state university is much greater than for any other state institution of higher learning. I see a lot of people wearing Bulldog clothing and many of them have no idea where UGA is located. Still, they cheer for the dogs and even know how to bark. Tech fans need to realize that in athletics, UGA has almost all the advantages.

By Jimmy Etheridge

November 25, 2007 6:50 PM | Link to this

Kind of like Bear Bryant, isn’t Bobby Dodd dead by now?

By billgt

November 25, 2007 6:50 PM | Link to this

Mr. Bisher, thank you for the professional analysis of the situation. Please go teach Bradley, Moore and Schutlz how to report without injecting their personal vendettas and preferences. I do not understand Bradley trying to postion Choice against Gailey. Please have Bradley fired. Thanks.

By Jimmy Etheridge

November 25, 2007 6:51 PM | Link to this

Kind of like Bear Bryant, isn’t Bobby Dodd dead by now?

By TBaker39

November 25, 2007 6:52 PM | Link to this

Well Mr. Bisher, if a change is not made, I know of about $1,000 in tickets, parking, game-day merchandise that GT will CERTAINLY be losing for next season.

My best guess is that I’m certainly not alone in my stance. I’m also ‘guessing’ that there won’t be a line of fans overly anxious to become ‘new’ season ticket holders either!

Finally, nobody seems to be mentioning the situation with next year’s schedule. Obviously, we’re less than 9 months away from kicking off 2008 and still we have only 11 games. Shouldn’t we have found a replacement for Army by now?

By jimmy Etheridge

November 25, 2007 6:53 PM | Link to this

Kind of like Bear Bryant, isn’t Bobby Dodd dead by now? Georgia sure hasn’t seen much problem getting over Vince Dooley.

By Uga V

November 25, 2007 6:54 PM | Link to this

Kind of like Bear Bryant, isn’t Bobby Dodd dead by now? Georgia sure hasn’t had much of a problem getting over Vince Dooley.

By m

November 25, 2007 6:55 PM | Link to this

The cost of firing CHAN is virtually NOTHING compared to the cost of keeping him. If Chan is not fired, season tickets sales WILL plummet. The Tech Fund will suffer immensely. If Clough and Drad are STUPID enough to keep Chan, they are being penny wise and pound foolish. Mark it down.

By Reggie Ball

November 25, 2007 6:57 PM | Link to this

Johnson is a Johnson, you are my hero. You, my friend, are the consummate Tech Man.

By falcon

November 25, 2007 7:11 PM | Link to this

Terence…..think the NFL and NBA should have a meeting regarding the racial mix in those leagues also? They are certainly not indicative of the population of the US.

As far as Coach Gailey goes, I think he’s a pretty good coach. Tech could do alot worse.

By gtne80

November 25, 2007 7:11 PM | Link to this

I grew up in Atlanta. I was going to Georgia Tech games as a kid. I went to games while I was in school there. I’ve seen the best of times and the worst of times. Throughout all of those years, NEVER was there LESS energy or enthusiasm for the program than there has been under Chan Gailey. It was more exciting in Bill Curry’s first couple of years when we averaged one win per year. It was MUCH more exciting under O’Leary, with and without Friedgen as an OC. It was fun to attend those games. With Chan as a coach, going to a game is a labor. Mark Richt evidently had an epiphany before the UF game. This is COLLEGE FOOTBALL IN THE SOUTH. It is supposed to be FUN!!! This stoic professional demeanor may cut it in the NFL, but it is DEATH to a college program. The last Tech game that I watched when there was ANY fire or enthusiasm on the field was the one bowl game coached by Mac McWhorter.

Business people will tell you that there is an old axiom that has stood the test of time, “Nothing succeeds like success.” You want full stadiums and surging revenues? Give the fans an exciting and successful product.

Where Tech trails UGA is that we do not relate to the unaffiliated fan. UGA does not pack Sanford Stadium with alumni and family. Atlanta has a HUGE population from which to draw an audience.

The Falcons have no “alumni.” For years the old stadium was half-populated because the ownership was satisfied with mediocrity. Arthur Blank came in as an owner and stirred enthusiasm by putting an exciting product on the field. The Dome started selling out and was a “rocking” environment for a while. The Vick situation has dashed that success for the moment, but you can bet that Blank won’t keep things the way they are. He will either sell out and wash his hands of it, or he will reinvest and reenergize the franchise and have the Dome rocking again very soon.

The examples are too numerous to list. Remember the Braves’ worst to first transformation? Before that, the pundits were saying that “Atlanta is not a sports town.” and “Atlanta is not a baseball town.”

It starts with ownership. In the case of college athletics, the analogy is the administration. They have to be committed to putting a quality product on the field (not pizzas and rap stars). Tech is in competition for the Metro Atlant sports entertainment dollars. They have the advantage of a huge base to draw from. It’s time for this administration to step up (like Joe Petit did many years ago when he brought in Homer Rice). Will they have the stones to do it?

By WarD@mnEagle

November 25, 2007 7:15 PM | Link to this

Tech fans do not be delusional. Gailey is a good coach, he has put together a great staff and his last 3 recruiting classes have been top 20. Considering the academic challenges facing Tech, Gailey’s done a great job attracting and coaching talent.
Now you have Saban, Jr. as an athletic director thinking he can turn Tech (a top tier university) into a mini-LSU. Does Tech really want to emulate the cultural and intellectual capital of all that is wrong with college athletics?

Tech’s goals in football should be make the top 25, contend for the ACC title every 3 years and raise graduation rates to the top of the ACC.
Georgia Tech don’t become something you are not…

By Dixbram

November 25, 2007 7:15 PM | Link to this

Thanks, Furman, for your usual cogent analysis! I look forward to your words each week! As for the amateur bloggists who are looking for a new coach, what about Lou Holtz, Terry Bowden, Gary Barnett, and a host of other proven winners who could be had for what Gailey makes? C’mon, Clough and Radakovich, Tech has stature and tradition deserving of a great name who can recruit AND coach! Go Jackets!

By WTH

November 25, 2007 7:15 PM | Link to this

Isn�t it more costly still to completely alienate your fan base and season ticket holders who are being subjected to increasingly higher prices to watch continued mediocrity and underachievement, and likely will not return in droves next season, thereby eliminating a key source of revenue?

Hell, yes, and I hope DRad realizes it, because the GTAA’s measly $300K surplus this year will turn into a multi-million dollar deficit next year.

Tech fans are royally p**d right now (when they’re not being bored to death by Chan Gailey’s pathetic coaching, that is). Any long-time season ticket holder with half a brain knows it. Abandoning the point system for the PSL system was just the latest blunder by the GTAA, and it’s gonna backfire big time next season. DRad tossed a system that rewarded loyalty in favor of a system that allows you to walk away from your season tickets as long as you want, and simply buy your way back into good seats when you feel like it. Even if Tech gets a new coach, a lot of alumni are probably going to sit out the next season or two because they know they can.

On top of that, I don’t think DRad has a clue how many alumni continued their AT Fund donations this past season, either out of confusion or some vague hope that those points might still mean something. (So now they’ll get seating priority for the Humanitarian Bowl - what a laugh! The only way Tech is going to sell tickets to that game is if they include free plane tickets and hotel rooms with them.) Next year AT donations will drop through the floor, and the red ink will flow at the GTAA.

One final comment: Did everyone notice how UGA fans had banners at the game Saturday? Do you know why Tech fans never show banners at games? Because BDS security confiscates them! I guess they were afraid to cross UGA fans, but they don’t mind treating Tech fans like dirt - just another example of what’s gone horribly wrong with the Tech football program.

By Michael

November 25, 2007 7:20 PM | Link to this

Tech has only 11 games scheduled for next year? Could the Dawgs volunteer to play them twice?

By Tech Fan

November 25, 2007 7:28 PM | Link to this

I’ll take our 2007 winning football season. Yes, Chan needs to make some adjustments with his coaching staff for quarterbacks and recruiting if we expect a championship team, but I think he is the right man for the job. Unless Georgia Tech is willing to change its curriculum to include majors in physical education (PE), history, or underwater basket weaving, don�t expect to have a dominant football team year after year due to recruiting issues.

By Glenn

November 25, 2007 7:29 PM | Link to this

Guys, give it a rest. The nucleus is there for a great team in the future. Freshmen were on the field (true freshmen and red-shirt freshmen), sometimes making great plays, sometimes making mistakes.

The SEC refs were giving UGA, the 4th best team in the land, every break they could, yet GA Tech was in the game better than the mighty Florida Gators and better than the Auburn Tigers, in spite of all the injuries.

Personally, I am very proud of the team for their effort.

By Rex Garrett

November 25, 2007 7:32 PM | Link to this

Why was Chan shown the way out of Dallas? The same reason he should be lead out of Atlanta. A good man but a very average man. Georgia has a strong head coach and a strong AD, we have an average coach and a ego driven AD. I am so sick of it all!

By Gwen

November 25, 2007 7:53 PM | Link to this

Clough’s and Braine’s ties to each other are beyond the realm of friendship and respect. That they would do this to Tech’s athletic program and cover for each other is only the first sign. Clough actually went out of his way to call in Dave Braine from Virginia Tech after Clough became president. Braine was responsible for the irresponsible debt of rebuilding the stadium as well as the sheer arrogance of extending Gailey’s contract without letting the incoming AD have a say. Through it all Clough has solidly stayed with Dave Braine without questioning anything. It’s one thing to be loyal, but this sounds a lot more like standing up for someone you love to me.

By Andy in Warner Robins

November 25, 2007 7:56 PM | Link to this

Get over the referees for crying out loud. The replays shown ad nausium by the ABC cres showed that (1) the UGA player recovered the ball in the end zone; (2) your guy couldn’t get it in the end zone without Knowshon Moreno punching the ball out and it went out the back of the end zone—touchback UGA; (3) As the guys in the booth kept saying, the UGA players had good coaching in knowing how to get to the ball.

From one who had to put up with Tech boys destroying the hedges in the 90’s—GET OVER IT; YOU HAVE LOST 7 IN A ROW! You only scored 3 pts in the second half as the better team took over and beat you down.

By Mark

November 25, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this

Y’all destroyed your own hedges a few years back against Tennessee. Civilized. lol

By cooper

November 25, 2007 8:22 PM | Link to this

Tech has never finished a season in the top 25 under Chan and some of you want him to stay! Are you kidding me?

By Happy to be a Jacket

November 25, 2007 8:34 PM | Link to this

To Andy in Warner Robbins - Good ole Rocky Top - Rocky Top Tennessee! The better team beat you down, didn’t it? Take your thoughts to your own blog - redneck!

By gadawg

November 25, 2007 8:37 PM | Link to this

f-tech

By Love my Jackets

November 25, 2007 8:38 PM | Link to this

To Andy in Warner Robbins Good ole Rocky Top - Rocky Top Tennessee! The better team beat you down this year didn’t they? Get over it! Now, take your silly posts to your own blog - redneck!

By ihateblueturf

November 25, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this

Who do you ask could coach us better? I imagine a lot. All Chan did was coach us to 1 win against a team with a winning record, Clemson. Our other 6 wins were against doormats with a combined 20-50 record. When we had a chance to prove something against a ranked team(45-15 record), we blew it. We are in danger of becoming irrelevant in big time college football. Chan may be a nice guy, but he’s not getting the job done. Boise is a great place to visit, in July.

By Earvin Henderson

November 25, 2007 8:56 PM | Link to this

Yes. Chan is taking some well-deserved heat. This year’s lop-sided losses to Boston College and Va Tech were embarrassments. The last second win against NC was an omen for the upcoming Georgia game. Tech has taken some if its worst beatings under Gailey.

But what about Tech alumni and supporters? Where were you on Saturday afternoon? I was amazed at how Dawg supporters took over the campus and BDS. I saw many dawgs looking for tickets, but not one dressed in white and gold. Pitiful, just pitiful. I must say, however, the dawg people in front of me, on both sides, and behind me…all in season ticket holder seats were the best behaved and pleasant folks to be around…unlike the tipsy Tech supporter that keep yelling, “Chan-tastic play.”

Over here in South Carolina, Gamecock supporters stick with their team through thin and thinner, as evidenced by the many cars flying the Gamecock banner even after dropping five straight. I�m no fan of DRaz.for his cleverness to suck money out of supporters, and I�m sick of Gailey�s excuse of �We didn�t have them prepared to play.” How can anyone making $1,000,000 say such. But both DRaz and Chan have to contend with fair-weathered Tech alumni and supporters. Saturday was the sad low point. Tech not only lost on the field, but in the stands too.

By Bleeds Old Gold

November 25, 2007 9:01 PM | Link to this

Since the articles about the cost of replacing a coach, let’s get back to that subject. If no one has said it yet, and in all my reading I’ve not found anyone that has, buying out Chan’s contract WOULD and SHOULD be paid for in full by his replacement getting the Jackets to a REAL bowl game. The additional payout of a bowl for a top 20 team alone would net more than $4 million. If we assume a good replacement WOULD and SHOULD get us to such a bowl within 3 years, then it’s a 3 year payback…….that’s an excellent ROI in anybody’s book. How about it DRAD?

By yellowblood

November 25, 2007 9:02 PM | Link to this

One solution to our problem would be to hold Tickle Piles and charge admission. If there’s one thing the Tech family will support it’s a Tickle Pile.

By Keith

November 25, 2007 9:13 PM | Link to this

Hire Bobby Johnson. He can coach. He can recruit in Georgia. He can beat UGA.

By GW

November 25, 2007 9:14 PM | Link to this

I saw Love My Jackets at the game yesterday with orange and white pom poms. She’s very confused but quite cute.

By GTFANTRUENTRUE

November 25, 2007 9:20 PM | Link to this

I can’t believe that Alumni and season ticket holders would give up their tickets in spite of Chan Gailey!!!! How about supporting our kids that are playing on the field?

Some of you so called GT supporters are a joke!

By Barking Dawg

November 25, 2007 9:24 PM | Link to this

You guys are in an interesting pickle!! Kind of like when we had Jim Donnan. You have a good coach - and a great man - but still waiting on getting over that hump. What GT has is a great coach in a good program that has just missed making it big.

If I’m Tech - I go after Paul Johnson at the Naval Academy. He has deep recruiting roots in the south - as well as the country. Naval Academy - not too many dummies there.

As a Georgia native - I am very proud of the flag ship university in Athens…but I am very proud of the Georgia Institute of Technology…where I have family members that have received excellent educations there.

I would love to see both UGA and GT undefeated each year coming into our game…..the only thing sweeter would be to see GT back in the SEC battling Bama, Auburn and TN again.

By Ramblin Gamblin Wreck

November 25, 2007 9:44 PM | Link to this

Jacket Supporters like GTNE80 have it nailed. Furman, as a follower of your writing for more years than I care to remember (from when Jim Mentor was a kid); you have correctly analyzed the current circumstance. With that in mind, unless we are prepared to throw in the towel as a major college football competitor, we need to cut our losses now.

Coach Gailey seems to be a very good man, but has reached his absolute limit of fan base tolerance. He should move on with pride and land his next challenge elsewhere. We are in the same circumstance coming off the Bill Curry era where we felt locked in mediocrity until our school realized that Bobby Ross was available. We need to look around and see the potential of a Paul Johnson or a June Jones, or, even, the familiarity of George O’Leary. Coaches Johnson�s and Jones� records speak for themselves. Certainly, Coach O’Leary had his errors and has paid dearly. We will not tolerate policies which lead to probation and institutional embarrassment. However he knew how to find an offensive coordinator. Unquestionably, his no nonsense approach was successful at Tech and against Georgia.

While facing many recruiting challenges with the academic requirements at Tech, so do institutions like Notre Dame, without the numerous professional and social attractions of metro Atlanta. Like other distinctly challenging schools, we need someone young enough to embrace the positive aspects of Tech enthusiastically and win both the alumni and the recruits.

Thanks, Furman, for keeping reality in the equation.

By JAMES STEWART

November 25, 2007 9:45 PM | Link to this

TOO TECHIES CRY BABIES YOU PEOPLE MIGHT NOT BEAT GEORGIA AGAIN THE NEXT TEN YEARS. TECH NEVER LOSES THE REFS. ALWAY CALL EVERY THING WRONG EVERY YEAR. LAST YEAR THEY CAUSED BALL TO THROW THE FOOTBALL OUT OF BOUNDS ON FOURTH DOWN AND TIME RUNNING OUT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT COME TO HIM AND TELL HIM IT WAS FOURTH DOWN.

By Todd

November 25, 2007 10:03 PM | Link to this

Alright Ward@mneagle I am not trying to start anything with you but I cannot let your defense of Gailey stand. Gailey has vastly improved recruiting but the problem I have with him is that he cannot turn that into wins. I believe it’s because he refuses to put his best players on the field. Why was Corey Earls the deep threat when Thompson is the tallest and fastest on the team ? Why is Donley the 4th WR when he is already better than Smith and Earls ? Why is Bennett the starter when Booker (in one game) showed better pocket presence and Nesbit runs 6 yards each play ? Gailey showed you the problem he has. When Bennett got hurt and Booker and Nesbit came in Georgia could not stop the offense yet Gailey put Bennett right backin there and watched as we went right back to floundering. Gailey proved his inability at getting the best out of his all stars in the sevral games that Calvin Johnson went with 2 or 3 catches and at least one where he didn’t get any. It took Gailey 10 games before he figured out Morgan Burnett should be a starting corner over the likes of Word-Daniels and DJ Jones ( who BOTH get beat by the deep ball at least 3 times a game) Gailey has proven he can only win one or two big games a year. In today’s world where Miami, Georgia, Boston College, Virginia Tech and many others are on your slate winning a couple is not enough !

Frankly you will never see a Georgia team with their best talent on the bench. It’s because a tradition of excellence is there, waiting on which ever coach comes in. A 7 win season at Georgia is unacceptable much less 6 of them. It’s not a matter of LSU mentality it’s a matter of instilling a winning mindset and Gailey isn’t or hasn’t done that !

Thats why he should go. It hurts to say this but when Tech gets the mindset that Georgia has or for that matter Auburn, Tennessee or Ohio State, one in which only the best is tolerated, then and only then will the program exceed expectations, which at this point would not be hard to accomplish. I know Tech hasn’t got the resources those big schools do but then again I am far from rich but I expect my son to dress in clean clothing and study in school. It’s just the way it is.

By JAMES STEWART

November 25, 2007 10:08 PM | Link to this

CAN SOMEONE ESPLAIN TOO ME HOWS TO KEEP FROMS GETTING ALL TALL LEETERS WHEN I’S TIPEING? ALSOS HOW DOES I GETS BACK TO THE UGAY PLACE THAT I BELONGS?

By JAMES STEWART

November 25, 2007 10:13 PM | Link to this

I TELLS YOU TECHIES ONE MOTHING TWO YOU NEEDS TO HAVE MORE TV SCREENS FOR US UGAY FANS SO WE CAN WATCH OTHER TEAMS PLAY THAT WILL HELP US SENSE WE CUDNT BEET THAT ORANG TEEM FROM UPS NORTH. DID YOU SEA IT WHEN ABC SHOWED OUR FANS TURNED WITH THERE BACKS TO THE FEELD TRYING TO FIND OUT IF KUNTUCKY WAS A WHINING? I FOR ON WAS EMBEARASSED

By TimeForChange

November 25, 2007 10:19 PM | Link to this

Actually, I think we are in a pretty good spot for a new coach:
1) Good young talent/infrastructure 2) An opportunity to make a quick imprint at the skill postions, like recruiting a REAL QB to run a new system. Seems most new coaches get stuck with someone elses QB and system for a couple years. 3) A good chance to keep some good assistants 4) Atlanta as a major selling point (both for kids and for coaches - not many programs located in a real city).

Actually, thank goodness for #4 or we’d pretty much be Duke…

Oh, and I forgot, not having to deal with nimrod fans who manage to bark and brawl after every game with their so called non-rival. Actually I’m pretty proud how Tech stood up and chastised our fans after the BC game - and all that happend there was fans threw cups on the field. If our fans traveled to Athens and acted the same way as theirs do, I’d certainly hope our adiminstration would have something to say. I counted 5 fights in the short time I was at the game (missed most of the pregame). The kicker was the one between 10 UGA fans in the middle of West Peachtree just before the game - I kid you not. I feel sorry for the true UGA fans who get painted with that brush - but then if they really cared they’d do something about it. But all they will do is fire off some dumb reponses to this post….

By Techguy

November 25, 2007 10:30 PM | Link to this

Bleeds of Gold - I hope you know more about football than you do about the financial benefit of us going to a better bowl. The ACC has 8 bowl tie ins and after expenses all bowl revenue is split evenly among all 12 teams. So the benefit of us going to a better bowl is nothing financially. I would certainly enjoy it more, but please comment on something you know something about.

By Techguy

November 25, 2007 10:37 PM | Link to this

Hey Todd, when you are going to call out a fellow Techer don’t show your ignorance. I don’t think GT even has a WR named Thompson; maybe you meant Thomas the one who keeps dropping passes. Yow, you pick the QB based one 2 or 3 passes in a game. The coaches pick the QB based on all of the practices. It does make a difference. Were you one of the guys who last year said put in Bennett when all he did was drop snaps and miss throws. It has been the same with Booker this year.

By buzzdon