J Batt Thread

How could you be underwhelmed by Batt after having had to suffer through Stansbury, Bobinski, and Braine? Batt and D-Rad are far and away the best ADs of the last 25+ years.
Agreed. He did a fine job for GT,. As far as effectiveness, he's tied with DRad as our best AD since Rice, IMHO. Maybe by underwhelmed, I meant I didn't walk away from the conversations with a warm n fuzzy for the future. He just didn't seem genuinely happy to be here, so I could just sense his tenure here would be short. Make sense? I'm not glad he moved on at all, but I expected it.
 
Agreed. He did a fine job for GT,. As far as effectiveness, he's tied with DRad as our best AD since Rice, IMHO. Maybe by underwhelmed, I meant I didn't walk away from the conversations with a warm n fuzzy for the future. He just didn't seem genuinely happy to be here, so I could just sense his tenure here would be short. Make sense? I'm not glad he moved on at all, but I expected it.
The job was too big for him. Just too many challenges here and this job is only a match for someone wanting a very long term gig. He needed something easier like Sparty. If he does ok there, he can move on to NFL, MLB, etc as some mid-level exec or maybe to a USC, sec blueblood, etc type job as AD. GT is not for everybody. You have to really love what we are and who we are to want to stick around very long.
 
If J had gotten his way with Willie Fritz, I'd have been on the "fire him" train years ago. Glad the alumni won out on that one (yes, the same alumni who wouldn't piss on CPJ if he was on fire while winning the Orange Bowl, I appreciate the irony).

Cabrera will find the right leader.
 
If J had gotten his way with Willie Fritz, I'd have been on the "fire him" train years ago. Glad the alumni won out on that one (yes, the same alumni who wouldn't piss on CPJ if he was on fire while winning the Orange Bowl, I appreciate the irony).

Cabrera will find the right leader.
What was your issue with Fritz?
 
Agreed. He did a fine job for GT,. As far as effectiveness, he's tied with DRad as our best AD since Rice, IMHO. Maybe by underwhelmed, I meant I didn't walk away from the conversations with a warm n fuzzy for the future. He just didn't seem genuinely happy to be here, so I could just sense his tenure here would be short. Make sense? I'm not glad he moved on at all, but I expected it.
Why do you think he was unhappy being here?
 
Agreed. He did a fine job for GT,. As far as effectiveness, he's tied with DRad as our best AD since Rice, IMHO. Maybe by underwhelmed, I meant I didn't walk away from the conversations with a warm n fuzzy for the future. He just didn't seem genuinely happy to be here, so I could just sense his tenure here would be short. Make sense? I'm not glad he moved on at all, but I expected it.
Rice was the last AD we've had that really embraced being here and he retired almost 30 years ago.
 
Why do you think he was unhappy being here?
I don't think he was unhappy, just not happy, kind of in the middle, lukewarm. I'm sure he was happy on payday, and he held up his end for that compensation, IMHO. I have zero quarrel with job he did or the effort he put forth. He's talented and will do well wherever he goes. I just felt he didn't embrace GT and all that we are about. See Liberty's post above, think he nailed it.
 
The job was too big for him. Just too many challenges here and this job is only a match for someone wanting a very long term gig. He needed something easier like Sparty. If he does ok there, he can move on to NFL, MLB, etc as some mid-level exec or maybe to a USC, sec blueblood, etc type job as AD. GT is not for everybody. You have to really love what we are and who we are to want to stick around very long.
The job wasn't too big for him. It was a stepping stone. Not long after he was hired I asked him whether he planned to stay here or move on when he had the chance. He told me that if he moved it was because he had done a great job here, someone recognized it, and GT would be in a better place. I can't argue with any of that, but a lot of it was the easy stuff that we all could accept. He was just hitting the wall now though at the point of finally getting push back inside and outside the AA walls. He was beginning to burn bridges with his decisions that were becoming harder to accept by donors and the key staff he couldn't replace with guys that looked and sounded like him.

It will be interesting to see how many of his polo shirt, khaki-wearing, close haircut guys follow him to MSU. If as many go as I expect, the new AD will have his hands full replacing a gutted staff.
 
The job wasn't too big for him. It was a stepping stone. Not long after he was hired I asked him whether he planned to stay here or move on when he had the chance. He told me that if he moved it was because he had done a great job here, someone recognized it, and GT would be in a better place. I can't argue with any of that, but a lot of it was the easy stuff that we all could accept. He was just hitting the wall now though at the point of finally getting push back inside and outside the AA walls. He was beginning to burn bridges with his decisions that were becoming harder to accept by donors and the key staff he couldn't replace with guys that looked and sounded like him.

It will be interesting to see how many of his polo shirt, khaki-wearing, close haircut guys follow him to MSU. If as many go as I expect, the new AD will have his hands full replacing a gutted staff.

Any staff from his new employer we might be interested in?
 
I like real grass as much as anybody, but in the current state of things, it's a bad financial choice. Staying competitive in college football now requires prioritizing NIL spending and TV revenue.

The only way we get real grass back is if a mega donor both fully funds it (including a specified period of maintenance) and makes additional gifts for other stuff contingent on it happening.

Unfortunately I don't think we have any billionaires on stingtalk. Maybe gtphd, but his money is all tied up in watches.
 
It will be interesting to see how many of his polo shirt, khaki-wearing, close haircut guys follow him to MSU. If as many go as I expect, the new AD will have his hands full replacing a gutted staff.
You forgot sockless loafer wearer.
 
If we can keep getting J Batts as ADs for a few more years we'll be ok. The problem is when you're giving someone their first shot you're going to have some misses. The $2MM buyout (if true) should allow us to take someone with both pedigree and experience now.

But the "all-in on Tech" thing is an awful take. You get the best guy. You can't make inferior hiring decisions by prioritizing someone's love for Georgia Tech, and expect to build a strong athletic program in 2025. Thankfully Cabrera has shown he's too sharp for that.
 
J Batt. You guys can poo all you want but it's the correct answer.
I don't think you understood what GoGATech was trying to say.

I'd be pretty surprised if anyone here didn't agree that J left things in better shape than what he inherited from his idiot predecessor.
 
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