Biggest screwup in Tech history?

GeorgiaTechFan

GeorgiaTechFan

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Was Dodd's decision to leave the SEC the biggest screwup in Georgia Tech history? I'm not old enough to be completely knowledgable on the subject, but it certainly seems like that was the downfall of the program for many years.

I know in the mid 60's Tech had fallen off a bit from the success of previous years...if they would have stayed in the SEC would they have gotten back on track and not had the average years that were to come?

Would Tech be a powerhouse in the conference? Or would they have been doomed anyway with the stringent requirements to get into Tech that later came?


When exactly was it Tech tried to get back into the SEC? Was it right when they ended up getting into the ACC?

Why were they declined by the SEC? I'm gonna assume Georgia voted No....but who else?
 
Biggest screw up in Tech history begins with a B and ends with a Lewis.
 
GeorgiaTechFan said:
Was Dodd's decision to leave the SEC the biggest screwup in Georgia Tech history? I'm not old enough to be completely knowledgable on the subject, but it certainly seems like that was the downfall of the program for many years.

I know in the mid 60's Tech had fallen off a bit from the success of previous years...if they would have stayed in the SEC would they have gotten back on track and not had the average years that were to come?

Would Tech be a powerhouse in the conference? Or would they have been doomed anyway with the stringent requirements to get into Tech that later came?


When exactly was it Tech tried to get back into the SEC? Was it right when they ended up getting into the ACC?

Why were they declined by the SEC? I'm gonna assume Georgia voted No....but who else?
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Yes. And Dodd knew it was a huge mistake by the 80's. I heard him talk about it and you could tell (he thought) things had not gone the way he had planned when he got us out of the SEC in '63.
 
No. It was a success for the Institute. A major reason Dodd left was because of the over-recruiting of players and he didn't want to be a part of it. I support the decision. I'm proud to be in the ACC because most of the schools in our conference are schools first. The way it should be. I would rather be proud of my school for our academic accomplishments than for our sports accomplishments.

I support his decision even if what gtyellowjackets said was true.
 
GT's academic restrictions for football would fit in the SEC right along with a fart in church.
 
It was the right call at the time (from the things Ive read/heard), but things definitely did not pan out the way they were expected to.
 
Without a doubt, and I have been around since the 60's, was B-- L---s hire. National Championship team to three (3) straight loosers. Homer did a lot, but that was bad.
 
RamblinPeck said:
It was the right call at the time (from the things Ive read/heard), but things definitely did not pan out the way they were expected to.
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That was proved by the fact that we tried to get back into the SEC twice in the 70's and only went with the ACC when it was our only option...
 
Ole Miss, Miss State, and Georgia blocked GT when they reapplied to the SEC in the mid 70's. The Mississippi schools remember how Dodd treated them over the years and UGA didn't want the SEC competition in state.

The ACC gave us a shot when we had one of the worst athletics programs (and facilities) in Division 1. For that we should be grateful.

Remember that up until the last year when the SEC signed the mega ESPN deal, the ACC paid out the most $$ per conference member. NCAA money, football TV money, basketball TV money. The ACC paid out more then every other conference out there including the SEC and Big 10 due to all our combined revenues.

It's easy to look backward, but what's done is done. We aren't about to leave the ACC and probably couldn't afford to leave (if we wanted to look elsewhere).

Collectively we need to improve things on our campus, before we worry about any one else (or the conference). We need to be more passioniate about Georgia Tech, 365 days a year - then we are about our opponents.

We need to continue to build out our own fan base and get our season football ticket base up over 30K. If we ever got it to ~35K, we would be selling out BDS, game in and game out. (Talk about keeping the red and orange out!)

We need to rebuild out basketball season ticket sales too. A Georgia Tech basketball ticket used to be one of the toughest in town to get in the late 80's/early 90's. These days, we are forced to advertise GT hoops ticket sales on AJC.com.

It takes mega bucks to play big boy college sports. We need more fans that vote with "fannies in the seats each game" and donations. I hope everyone is trying their best to do their part.
 
I can't recall....was there any talk of Tech getting back in the SEC when South Carolina and Arkansas were brought in?
 
If memory serves me correctly, one of the reasons Tech left the SEC was over recruiting. It seems that the SEC, at that time, wanted to place some restrictions, maybe numbers wise, on recruiting, and Coach Dodd did not agree.
Also, while it probably did not work out, as planned, I have no regrets on Tech joining the ACC, probably should have happened sooner, but the climate in ACC was not favorable.
When Tech did float some trial balloons re: possible return to SEC, I believe UGA was in favor, it was primarily Ole Miss and MSU that opposed. When Tech was in SEC, if they played MSU, it was always in Atlanta, and I believed was same for Ole Miss. One of announcers on last week's game in Starkville, said it was first time Tech had played a game in Mississippi(???).
 
panhandlebuzz said:
If memory serves me correctly, one of the reasons Tech left the SEC was over recruiting. It seems that the SEC, at that time, wanted to place some restrictions, maybe numbers wise, on recruiting, and Coach Dodd did not agree.
Also, while it probably did not work out, as planned, I have no regrets on Tech joining the ACC, probably should have happened sooner, but the climate in ACC was not favorable.
When Tech did float some trial balloons re: possible return to SEC, I believe UGA was in favor, it was primarily Ole Miss and MSU that opposed. When Tech was in SEC, if they played MSU, it was always in Atlanta, and I believed was same for Ole Miss. One of announcers on last week's game in Starkville, said it was first time Tech had played a game in Mississippi(???).
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Without getting into too many details there were a bunch of reasons why GT left the SEC. Bad blood was primary reason (between Dodd & Bear, between Miss schools & Dodd, between UGAy & GT). UGAy said they would leave the conference if we were to rejoin in '78.
 
My biggest problem with the ACC isn't the level of play right now....that's hard to control, and I think every conference is going to have years they are up and down. The ACC will be back.

The problem I've always had with the conference is it's always seemed like a goold ol' boy conference.....if you weren't one of the school in North Carolina you were an outsider. Maybe that's changed lately though.
 
GeorgiaTechFan said:
The problem I've always had with the conference is it's always seemed like a goold ol' boy conference.....if you weren't one of the school in North Carolina you were an outsider. Maybe that's changed lately though.
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And you think that would change if we left the ACC and were invited back into the SEC some how?

There is a reason the SEC office is in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
GeorgiaTechFan said:
The problem I've always had with the conference is it's always seemed like a goold ol' boy conference.....if you weren't one of the school in North Carolina you were an outsider. Maybe that's changed lately though.
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I agree, but this seems to be changing. The ACC is still young. The older it gets the better it will be run ... hopefully.
 
coldbeer said:
And you think that would change if we left the ACC and were invited back into the SEC some how?

There is a reason the SEC office is in Birmingham, Alabama.
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No..I don't think that would change. And no, I don't see any point in the future that Tech would leave the ACC either. Now if for some reason five years or ten years from now a Virginia Tech or a Miami were to leave....I'm not sure at that point a couple more might not jump out...but, again, nothing in the near future.

I still think this conference has the ability year in and year out to have football teams with just as good of success as the SEC (hell there's only four or five in the SEC with continual success).
 
It would cost way too much money for VT and/or Miami to leave the ACC now. They are in bed with us, for better or for worse.

It's up to all twelve conference members and their fans to build up the rivalries. If we continue to improve our product, the ACC will be much more attractive to bowl games & Television.
 
The first thing the ACC should do....is get out of Jacksonville for a championship game. Get the game somewhere easier for most the conference to get to...(back to the North Carolina bandwagon) but Charlotte would probably be the best place for the game. Get out of this joke of nobody being at the game. This is one area that the SEC just has total domination.


*** I don't know when the contract with Jacksonville ends
 
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