Here is the letter from Mr Braine

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GT Ace

Jolly Good Fellow
Joined
Dec 3, 2001
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It is posted by GTwedge on the Hive. W/o further ado:

I'm going to quote the letter for those who haven't received it (or won't receive it)....

"Dear Yellow Jacket Fan:

Please allow me to extend my sincere appreciation to the many loyal Georgia Tech alumni and fans who have supported Yellow Jacket athletics, and Tech football in articular, through the years. The successes of Georgia Tech student-athletes on the field, in the classroom and in the community are made possible by your support.

Some of you have expressed concern over the football team's performance in its final two games. Let me assure you that everyone within the Athletic Association --- student-athletes, coaches, administrators-- lives with those losses everyday, and we fully understand your frustrations with the ups and downs of the 2002 season and the final two games in particular.

While everyone is disappointed with the way the football season ended, there were positives that point the way to the future. Despite many injuries and obstacles, we posted a winning record and earned a sixth straight bowl berth. That mark of consistency is noteworthy, not only because it had not been done at Georgia Tech since the 1950's, but also because we are one of just 13 schools in the nation to play in a bowl each of the last six years.

President Clough and I are steadfast in our conviction that Chan Gailey is the right man to lead our football program. Coach Gailey and his staff and players, as well as everyone within the Athletic Association, are hard at work at all the things necessary to build the consistently successful program that Georgia Tech expects and deserves, while maintaining the integrity that is synonymous with Georgia Tech. Those efforts are beginning to bear fruit in the form of a strong recruiting class for 2003. This class not only contains young men of considerable athletic talent, but they are also well-rounded students.

Next year's home schedule is Georgia Tech's most attractive in recent memory, including dates with Auburn, Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State and Maryland. We are excited about the prospect of having 55,000 Tech fans in the house when we christen the new and improved Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant field against Auburn on Sept. 6. Your support is vital as we tackle this challenging and very exciting slate.

Thank you again for all that you do for Georgia Tech athletics.

Sincerely

Dave"
 
Usually, a public endorsement from the AD is the kiss of death. This has been around since the inception of the Athletic Director job. It is joked about in media all the time as 'an endorsement from the coaches' boss is the kiss of death'.
When an athletic director feels the pressure so bad that he thinks he must issue a statement supporting the coach to keep the fan base from total insurrection, then he knows someone's job is on the line & doesn't want it to be his.
I stated down below that I believe Gailey can do this, but Braine states he has heard from a large # of Tech fans (not me yet) that are not happy with the way the season ended. Here's hoping Gailey has a 10-2 reg season in '03.
 
Originally posted by GT Ace:
Usually, a public endorsement from the AD is the kiss of death. This has been around since the inception of the Athletic Director job. It is joked about in media all the time as 'an endorsement from the coaches' boss is the kiss of death'.
When an athletic director feels the pressure so bad that he thinks he must issue a statement supporting the coach to keep the fan base from total insurrection, then he knows someone's job is on the line & doesn't want it to be his.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Care to give us some examples of what you are asserting, GTAce, or shall we just take it on faith? For instance, how about an example of a head coach being fired-having his job on the line- after his first season is a winning one?

"Media Jokes" do not count as evidence in this experiment to determine the depth of your B.S.
grin.gif
 
Belly-I truly believe it is more about next season than this one. Braine is now trying to placate fans by asserting he steadfastly believes Gailey to be the right hire, which I already endorse in my post below. If the record goes well next yr, there is not much of a problem. If the record starts bad the pressure will mount on Braine to do something.
Gailey gets '03 no matter what, unless he just leaves.
 
Give me a break. The list Ace references is endless. THWG
 
This is hilarious. Some folks on this board complain that Braine does not communicate with the "fans". When he communicates they still complain. What do you want him say??
 
I am encouraged to get anything out of the GTAA regarding the football program.

I don't understand why Coach Gailey can not speak on his own behalf. To me this is an admission that Braine senses there is a problem and is at least taking some sort of action to acknowledge it and begin to address it.

Go Jackets!
 
Ace, Amazing thing to me is how much I've heard on this board over and over and over about not hearing from the GTAA or "Brain Camp". It has been like nashing of teeth around here. Now we've heard from the GTAA, and you call it the "kiss of death."
pat.gif


I personally appreciate the letter from Brain. I hear what you're saying, but I don't feel as you do.

GO JACKETS!
 
I think it is very telling that Braine felt the need to write such a letter. He has obviously recieved considerable 'feedback' from the fan base.

Belly - there are numerouse examples of the endorsement shortly preceding the firing of a coach. Jim Donnan and Ron Jirsa are 2 examples that I can think of off the top of my head. Both of these were given weeks, if not days, before the coach was fired. The reason being that public 'endorsements' are not usually given unless there is unrest amongst the fan base. I am not saying that Gailey is gone but I do think this is a sign that he is on a short leash. I personally hope he succeeds but he will need to show improvement in a number of areas to do so.
 
Dave Braine gave his endorsement publicly several times for Coach O'leary as well. I'm sure there have been many endorements given to Coaches that did well after the fact.

GO JACKETS!
 
The letter is very lame coming from someone who should know better. This bowl game justification is becoming a joke, now that we have teams with 500 records going to them. When Dodd started there were 4 or 5, so going to a bowl game meant you were in the elite, akin to our BCS scenario today.

The other point is invalid is direction. New coach starts off a season and makes some errors but catches fire and heads into the offseason on a high is completely different than getting worse as time goes on, getting pasted by our arch rival and then embarassed in a half-ass bowl game. If you dont think expectations and direction are important ask Solich at Nebraska. Yet we are bragging about our ability to get on a plane and travel somewhere to get beat by Fresno State. Are we really proud of that?

The recruiting line is plain old stuff that can be said by anybody, anywhere. Truth is that this class is heading toward a bust, but give him an A for continued effort to whitewash.

An attractive schedule means nothing if we are fodder for others. An attractive schedule is only attractive if we are chomping at the bit to prove how good we are and want to kick somebody's __ . This sounds almost like, well, let me convince you Gailey is our man, but even if he's not come and watch some good teams against us.

I would suggest Braine start accumulating a short list, so we don't go through another stealth search that produced such a state ever again.
 
Originally posted by 83jacket:
This is hilarious. Some folks on this board complain that Braine does not communicate with the "fans". When he communicates they still complain. What do you want him say??
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">.
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As an AT contributor for over 15 years. I have written several letters to different employees of GTAA covering a wide range of matters from coach performance to the placement of tail-gating porta-potties. I have only had one person never contact me by phone or personal mail with a timely response. You guessed it....Dave Braine.
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I wrote Braine after the UGA massacre, like I'm sure 100's did, and only got this form letter reply yesterday. Now, I know I can get pretty raw on StinGTalk, but I can be a gentleman when it comes to writting about my beloved school and its sports programs, and my personal concerns in the direction things are going in.
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This is the 3rd time Braine has chosen to not respond to me. The other letters concerned O'Leary's 1.5 "problem", and my support for Mac after the Seattle Bowl victory. Now, I'm not staying up nights worrying about why lover-boy Braine won't write or call
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, but I'm sure I'm not the only Tech fan being treated the same way. So...I hope this answers your question.
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BOO
 
Originally posted by goldmember:
Belly - there are numerouse examples of the endorsement shortly preceding the firing of a coach. Jim Donnan and Ron Jirsa are 2 examples that I can think of off the top of my head. Both of these were given weeks, if not days, before the coach was fired. The reason being that public 'endorsements' are not usually given unless there is unrest amongst the fan base. I am not saying that Gailey is gone but I do think this is a sign that he is on a short leash. I personally hope he succeeds but he will need to show improvement in a number of areas to do so.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">You are of course right, goldmember. I stated my objection poorly. What I want from GTAce is an example of a coach fired after his first season when it was a winning one. I'd even like examples of coaches being fired afterb one season of any kind. The way people are talking around here, instantly firing coaches is the only way to build a program.

Now, he (and a legion of others) are saying they know what will happen AFTER, or a few games into next season. Well, I say that after the first 3 games of the 2003 season, space aliens will take over the White House. After the 4th game, Japan will be destroyed by an earthquake. After the 5th game, even if Tech has won all 5 by an average score of 50-6, it will be even clearer that Chan Gailey can't coach up quarterbacks.
 
BDG,

Personally, I don't think Braine owes you a personal explanation on Mac or the $1.5m buyout and I have been an AT contributor for over 15 years. If you think he owes you a personal explanation then I that is a personal problem between you and him.

Father Wasp,

To call the recruiting class a "bust" is very presumptous on your part. If you are that good at predicting future events why don't you give the board some iron clad stock tips.
 
Jerry, I feel as you do that it is good to hear from the AA. Anything, just let us know that they are sensitive to our pain. I hope this isn't a kiss of death but I'm afraid it is. Nothing would please me more than to see chan succeed.
 
This board carries the following theme:

Positive - WE won
Neutral - THE team, coaches, or whatever
didn't play to MY expections.
Negative - THEY(coaches, team, mascot or whatever)
lost the game.

This board carries more spectulation than a futures market. Sit back and take a deep breath. It will be proven next year who or what is the correct path and how to solve, improve, or expand it.
I've followed GT sports since the 50s. It'll work itself out - win or lose. Keep the faith and always pull for GT.
 
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