At 10:45 a.m. on a not-yet-hot Saturday morning, a Georgia Tech tradition received a tweak.
Led by the Ramblin’ Wreck, Tech’s football team marched east down North Avenue, through Gate 1, and into Bobby Dodd Stadium ahead of its home-opening game against S.C. State. While the march down “Yellow Jacket Alley” has preceded every home game for years, this was the first time that it started on the south end of the stadium. It typically has started and finished on the north end of the stadium.
Fans of the Jackets began lining up at 10:15 a.m. to sing and dance and were 2-3 deep and across a pedestrian bridge that crosses overhead North Avenue by the time the school’s marching band led the team into the stadium. With the Tech Tower looming overhead, athletic director J Batt and President Angel Cabrera were among those who watched the team’s fans form Yellow Jacket Alley, a tradition that has been in place since at least the tenure of former coach George O’Leary (1994-2001).
The change of location was part of a pregame change envisioned by Batt when he was hired in October 2022. Because of ongoing construction to Callaway Plaza, the party was moved from the north to the south end of the stadium, the “front door” to the institute, as it was described by many, and dubbed “Helluva Block Party.”
“Over a series of months, we were having conversations around, how do we really take advantage of the front door of the institute, which is North Avenue?” Batt said Thursday. “How do we create a really cool experience at that front door under what is, I think, one of the most picturesque settings in college athletics which is (Tech Tower Lawn) and how fortunate are we that our institute’s most picturesque spot is right next to the football stadium? That doesn’t happen very often. So we said, ‘How do we take advantage of that?’”
The fans, even those still unhappy about some discontinued traditions, embraced Saturday’s inaugural event.
“I’m old-fashioned, conservative, and I like traditions,” said Harmon Davis II, a 1972 grad who was wearing a T-shirt with “Grant Field Forever” on it, so he likely won’t be buying a Hyundai anytime soon. “This, I can understand because I know that over there was getting kind of lame, especially for the new kids and social media and new music and all. This is really better than when it was on the other side.”
Throwing the party wasn’t easy.
It took nine months of working on permits for everything from street closures to selling alcohol. The joke of the day was it must have helped that Mayor Andre Dickens is a Tech grad. More police officers were required than for past home games because of the street closures and the need to keep traffic flowing.
“We’ve got great partnerships with everyone in city, state, of course, mayor’s an alum, it helps a little,” Tech Police Chief Robert Connelly said. “All around great cooperation.”
The party was held on North Avenue in the blocks between Techwood Drive and Tech Parkway. There were food booths, booths and spaces for sponsors and other businesses, ladderball, cornhole and other pregame staples. More space for turnkey tailgating was held on the Tech Tower Lawn. At the West end was a stage where D.J. Envy was the day’s featured artist. There will be concerts before home games.
Everything opened at 9 a.m. Some parents for former Tech players were the first to unload their tailgating under a large white tent on the Tech Tower Lawn, which is large enough to hold several thousand people. They previously gathered near the parking deck across from the north end of the stadium, where they could bring their own grill. The tradeoff in the move was they no longer can bring a grill, but they also can leave their stuff to watch the game and come back. Someone else will clean up any trash left behind, too.
“This is overall, I think, a more upscale experience,” said Nick Kootsouradis, whose son, Cade, played for Tech and graduated in May.
