More than $185,000 has been pledged by fans and alumni, money that will be matched on a 50 percent basis by an anonymous donor. Tech has a goal of reaching $300,000 (donations plus match) by next Wednesday (national signing day), which would be enough to fund four recruiting staff positions for the coming year.

Athletic director Todd Stansbury and coach Paul Johnson made public the department’s fundraising challenge on January 6. It’s a two-year program – another $300,000 will need to be raised for 2019 – after which Stansbury anticipates that the athletic department will be able to fund the positions through its annual budget.