Parental Concerns

[statelinejacket]

Parents of athletes we are recruiting will be having serious doubts about Tech doing everything within the rules to graduate their son. How can Gailey speak with parents and promise to watch out for their boy when he is allowing himself to be distanced from the academics? For all the George O'leary bashing about his false resume he ran a tight ship when it came to his players. Maybe that is why so many have spoken in his behalf since the resume fiasco. The same with Bobby Knight also. His attention to the academics is as well thought of as his temper is damned. I have mentioned Gaileys failures in the discipline department many times before on and off the field. This is the type of mess that can not be swept under a rug. New leadership is in need at this point. Let me put it this way...Your son is being recruited. Could you in all honesty trust Gailey and Company with your son? To do everything possible within the rules to ensure your son is in class and progessing and eventually earning his degree? If you can you are a more trusting soul than I am.

 

[gnats67]

Good point. I'm a little concerned with the whole "babysitting" of college students thing at TECH.

On the surface I'd think college students of all stripes should be expected to be responsible for their grades and doing the elementary things like attending class, doing their homework, being serious about their studies without having to be monitored. Inmates and delinquents need to be monitored. College students should reasonably be expected to supervise themselves and ask for help when needed.

There should ideally be programs and methods available to assist the students that need help, which there are, but it's up to the students, especially at a school that is known for academic rigors, to watch out for themselves.

If Johnny can't read, or is not ready for a REAL academic challenge, he shouldn't be considering going to Georgia Tech of all places. DeKalb College it ain't.

 

[GoldZ]

ahsoisee, many thousands of "good students" have struggled and/or failed at GT that needed support, and this is WITHOUT the tremendous load athletes face on top of the academic load.

As for finding the athletes that can compete (at a high level) and pass, this will be uncharted territory considering the recent NCAA & Ma Tech changes. It's not a given this can be done (please no ref's to '90...diff rules). I remember on 60 minutes the declaration by Stanford's track coach that he could go out and find 25 white guys just as good as Carl lewis. The challenge was then, no just find ONE please. He's still looking after a decade plus.

It's obviously unrealistic and hypothetical, but IF every GT football supporter could somehow magically spend just 1 or 2 semesters in a football player's shoes at GT, the posts on this board would change in an exponetial fashion. THWG

 

[ahsoisee]

GoldZ, there are few panaceas. Most likely the answer is somewhere between my simplistic view and the need for a good tutoring system.

With the attempt to expand recruiting to find Division I players more qualified to attend Tech, that should help alleviate the problem. Okay, that takes care of my simplistic approach.

If the administration can tweak the present tutoring system to better monitor the SAs progress and assist the SA more, then that should help alleviate that situation.

I really did not intend to omit the need for a tutoring system. From the most recent rumors and the failure of the eight SAs,it is obvious the present system needs some some tweaking or possibly a major overhaul.

My main point in the post was to insinuate there may have been too many marginal students in the program when Gailey was hired, the standards were raised at the same time, and the coach was taken out of the chain.

The original post under this thread was about the parents worrying about their son passing. Parents of students that are more academically qualified would tend to worry less about that matter.

Since Braine admitted the problem with the present tutoring system is his fault, I assume he intends to have it fixed. If there is a positive overhaul of the tutoring system along with expanded recruiting, we should be all right for the long haul.

 

[General Wood]

Braine has also stated that incoming freshman football players have had higher entrance scores with each year. Don't fool yourself into thinking something changed this drastic on campus. There have never been ten guys get dropped before summer, and I would venture to say that 10 guys did not flunk out during all the years that GOL, BL, BR and BC. These guys "Flunked Out", they didn't leave because of playing time, they didn't leave for injury, they didn't leave from warning, probation, review, or lack of satisfactory progress. They freaking flunked out!!!! Braine and Moore are the culprits. They both wanted more power and control after O'Leary left, and they got it. Gailey was told to coach football, they would take care of the rest.

Neither has ever graduated from TECH, nor do they understand how it works.

 

[techrod]

Thank you General Wood!! The truth hurts!!

 

[Dr. B]

Stateline, why don't you ask Gailey yourself? He's going to be in Chattanooga on Monday night.

 

[ahsoisee]

If Gailey and his recruiters begin to find the athletes that can compete with the academics as well as on the field, this will not be a problem.

If you go into a home where the recruit is a good student, it becomes a moot point.

 

[ShadyJacket]

no parent will want to send their son to a school where the coach cannot make sure the kids graduate and they will not want to send their kids to a school where you have a coach who will not improve their sons football skills either