After getting hit with NCAA sanctions last week that included the vacation of its 2009 ACC football title, Georgia Tech almost certainly will file an appeal. Tech wide receiver Tyler Melton said it’s an unspoken sentiment among players to offer their own response to the ruling.
“Everyone knows, the best way to kind of get to the man, to stick it to the man, would be to win the 2011 ACC championship,” Melton said in a tone more light than menacing.
The Yellow Jackets, who already have spoken at length about training and playing with more dedication to redeem themselves from the school’s first losing season since 1996, have one more incentive to succeed.
“I do believe that it does give us another chip on our shoulder to play with,” defensive end Jason Peters said.
Jackets players said they were stunned when coach Paul Johnson told them in a team meeting last Thursday that the NCAA had found the school guilty of major violations and had taken away the 2009 title, fined the school $100,000 and placed it on four years’ probation. Most of the penalties stemmed from an NCAA investigation that found that former wide receiver Demaryius Thomas had accepted $312 worth of clothing from his cousin’s roommate.
“You could see eyes get bigger,” A-back Orwin Smith said. “It shocked a lot of us.”
At the roughly 15-minute meeting, attended by players, Johnson and athletic director Dan Radakovich, Johnson also brought up using the ruling as fuel.
According to Smith, Johnson said, “We’re going to use it to show them wrong and prove we can do it again.”
Since that day, Melton, Smith and Peters said players have come to grips with the vacated title, however much they might disagree with the ruling, and moved on. Melton half-jokingly said his teammates have experienced all five stages of the Kubler-Ross grief cycle.
“I tried to bargain,” he said with a laugh, a reference to the cycle’s third step. “Can I pay the $312? Can I do that? I’ll put it all on my account right now. I might not eat this month, but it’ll be worth it.”
Peters was upset initially, but doesn’t want to live in the past. He has his memories and his championship ring. Peters said he cherishes playing in the Orange Bowl, which to him was proof that he could play well at the highest level of college football. He remembers the hard work that he and his teammates put in. That’s enough for him.
“It’s out of our control,” he said. “The biggest thing is to focus on the next season and not look back.”
Said Melton: “They took the championship away, but we still know what happened.”
The comments were among the first made publicly by Tech players since the NCAA ruled last Thursday. Tech players Roddy Jones and Logan Walls likely will be questioned further Sunday at the ACC Football Kickoff media event in Pinehurst, N.C.
Johnson and other coaches will speak there Monday.
Smith said he was a little disappointed in Thomas, whose electric play throughout the 2009 season was a fond memory for him.
“We all know what’s right and wrong,” Smith said. “They always give us a talk on not to take anything. Coach Johnson always says, ‘Do the right thing.’”
In this instance, that apparently means finding inspiration wherever it exists.
“This is something we can use to motivate us to achieve bigger and better goals,” Peters said. “We know what we’ve been, and we know what we can get to again.”
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