Biggest screwup in Tech history?

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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It wasn't a "screwup". Dodd did the RIGHT THING.

Speculating about what-if does no good. We're in the ACC, and it's a better fit for Tech now than the dirty SEC would be.
 
GTLiebs said:
Biggest screw up in Tech history begins with a B and ends with a Lewis.
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This is the correct answer.

Dodd's leaving the SEC wasn't a screw-up. Sorry you younger fanbase are in such darkness. Do more research before you start asking ignorant questions.
 
cajunjacket said:
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.
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Well said!
 
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?
Click to expand...

I dissagree/ He did it on principle. He believed all students should graduate and the Bear and others were abusing student athletes because of the system in place at the time. They would not change the system so we left.
 
Bill Lewis, he wins the Peach Pit Bowl and gets a job at GT, I miss him like a case of Hemmorids.

Did I make my point?
 
gtcu17 said:
I think we would have ended up like Virginia Tech. In other words, our academics would have taken a side-seat to athletics. I think it's very possible that we could have gotten out of our big slump and stayed big.

But you know what? Leaving the SEC, whether it was a good decision or not, is a part of our history and we should embrace it. Heck, we have the chance every year to go up against one of that conference's most vaunted teams and beat them. Whether or not we start doing it is another issue. But we're in the ACC, and lets not try to be like SEC teams and dwell on "woulda-shoulda-coulda" and do like CPJ and face the facts:

We're in the ACC and one of the frontrunners in it.

To Hell with Georgia!
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Good post.

I don't really understand the obsession some folks have over something that happened 45 years ago.
 
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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Believe it or not. I read a biography about the Bear where he worked night and day to try and get Tech back in the SEC along with whoever was the Florida coach at the time but Georgia absolutely refused to budge. Seems like Shug Jordan was helping him also.
 
I read some blog from a guy who talked to Dodd's biographer, and he said that Dodd would say some mean things about the state of Mississippi and he thought he wouldn't make much money playing there, so he never did. Probably why the Mississippi schools didn't want us back.
 
There is no question leaving the SEC was the biggest blunder.

It damn near killed our athletic program when one understands how pro sports was moving in, the impact on season ticket sales and things like that.

Some are still too arrogant to admit it. Was Ray Graves at UF dirty? If Doug Dickey at UT was dirty why was Dodd on his way up there to hire him?

And if given the chance to get back in somehow, we would be idiots for not moving heaven and earth to make it happen.

But for now anyway, we are linked with the wuss swofford,

and it is time to wax fsu.
 
gtcu17 said:
I think we would have ended up like Virginia Tech. In other words, our academics would have taken a side-seat to athletics. I think it's very possible that we could have gotten out of our big slump and stayed big.
To Hell with Georgia!
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Why?

Staying in the SEC didn't seem to affect Vandy in relation to academics.
 
coldbeer said:
Why Georgia Tech never played in Mississippi till last Saturday night:
http://tinyurl.com/yfukb7s

Hint: It has to do with money and arrogance.
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Yep. We don't like to admit it, but we were far too arrogant in those days. We are located in the largest and most vibrant city in the south and before the pros came to town Tech football had it all to themselves...well, Tech and the Atlanta Crackers. We not only wouldn't play in Mississippi, we required Auburn and Clemson to play us in Atlanta...we wouldn't travel there either.

Our own arrogance did us in. What goes around comes around.
 
gnats67 said:
This is the correct answer.

Dodd's leaving the SEC wasn't a screw-up. Sorry you younger fanbase are in such darkness. Do more research before you start asking ignorant questions.
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Gee...sorry for asking such ignorant questions. I thought this was a damn chat board for discussions...but sounds like if it's not something you're wanting to hear or something you already know from being around in 1962 than someone else is ignorant. Very classy....thanks.
 
The thing that surprises me is that younger GT fans think is was good that we good got out of the SEC. They have no idea how it decimated our athletic programs. We begged to get back in the SEC twice in the 70's and they wouldn't take us. Things got so bad we almost pulled an Ivy League and got out of Division I.

Getting in the ACC saved us.

The other thing that I don't understand is how some GT fans think we'd be like Vandy (a bottom feeder) if we got back in the SEC. It's clear that we'd be in the top half of the conference in every sport if we were in the SEC. And with PJ at the helm we have a good shot at going much higher in football. Georgia's recruiting base is so strong.

Finally, I don't understand what having higher ranked academic schools in the ACC has to do with it. NCAA Division I is about athletics. Pure and simple. Who we line up against on the playing field. If that weren't the case then we should join the Ivy League or start a new league called 'Brainiacs League'. And I played 4 years of sport for GT in the ACC.
 
Ray Graves at Florida. Thirteen years a Tech assistant, coached Bobby Dodd, jr.
 
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