NCJacket:
Believe it or not, the academic changes were about "money" and "control" - all initiated by David Braine. (Think about the stupid money raising efforts that Dave is allowing out of the GTAA - money, monet, money ,and screw the reputation of the school). It was one of those brilliant concepts, one in a series of poorly planned, brilliant concepts, "I gotta' idea - we can cut some costs out the program, and do away with those ties to the previous coaches", kind of thought process. And hey Wayne, by the way, this is what we need to do, 'cause we've been spending too much money over here! And remember, Wayne follows Braine's lead when it comes to GTAA matters - it's a flaw in his management style.
I understand your position on the University process, and GT has not violated that process in any way - because Wayne Clough "has allowed" Braine to misguide the academic portion of the program.
For the record - you and I, and the rest of the Tech community, "would not believe" the amount of money that "has just been allotted" to academics inside the GTAA!!!! It is phenominal, it's a complete realignment of study structure, Student Athlete monitoring, study facilities, and staffing.
Wayne Clough is covering his mistake, (that would be David Braine), while David Braine his covering his mistake, (ignoring the intensity of academics at Tech).
The good thing out of all of this - Jim Stevens, good 'ol #11 in your program guide, the Academic Director for the GTAA, is strong arming reform and improvement for Student Athletes in the entire program.
David Braine's stupidity has caused a huge expense, but the irony of the situation is - our own people, our Alumni, Jim Stevens and Wayne Clough, are forcing Braine to make things right for the school, for the athletes, and for the reputation of the Institution. I like the outcome - we fix it with our intelligence, no matter how dumb Dave gets.
What you just read is true - and you will not be hearing about these changes in the press until the grade eligiblity issue is noticeably improved - then it will be aggressively pushed into the public.
The second floor of the Edge Center is being converted to a complete and well staffed "Study Lab for Student Athletes". Big bucks, coaches being moved out to other locations in the athletic complex - the image and the outcome will be dynamic for Georgia Tech's Athletic program. Smiling now?? I am - and I have to laugh when I think of how this all came about - you have to love our tenacity as a collection of well educated Tech People.
