Tech in the SEC

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buffydores

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Can anyone enlighten me on the reasons why Georgia Tech left the SEC way back when? I can't seem to remember any details on it.
 
From ahsoisee's summary of the book "Dodd's Luck":

Bobby Dodd insisted there was no other reason he left the SEC, other than the 140 Rule. The 140 Rule stated a college program could only have 140 football and basketball players on scholarship at any one time. The teams were allowed to sign up to 45 players a year, but could not exceed the 140 Rule.

Dodd would not allow any of the football players choosing Tech to be dismissed from Tech, because they were not good players. Dodd said, “it is not the recruits fault for not making the squad, it was the coaches fault for misjudging their talents”. If a recruit came to Tech, he would stay on a football scholarship until he graduated.

Dodd would sign about 30-32 players a year to meet the guidelines, but the other schools in the SEC were offering 45 scholarships a year. Those players, not good enough to fall under the 140 Rule, had their scholarships withdrawn and sent packing before the end of each year. Dodd insisted, the recruiting of athletes by this method amounted to nothing more than a tryout for a scholarship.

Dodd thought it unfair and would not withdraw scholarships from his players. He wanted the SEC to limit the amount of scholarships to about 32 per year. This would keep the other schools from offering 45 scholarships, picking the best, and send the rest packing.

A vote was to be taken by the presidents of the colleges on the issue, and Dodd made it clear, Tech would have to leave the SEC unless the rule was changed. Dodd said he would live with 10, 20, 30, 40, or even 50 recruits per year as long as he did not have to chase any of his players off.

The presidents were split six for Dodd’s position and six against. Bear had promised Dodd he would get his president to vote for Dodd’s position, which would have changed the rule. When the meeting was held, Bryant did not show up and the Alabama president voted against Dodd’s position and the 140 Rule was upheld. Tech’s president immediately walked to the podium and announced Tech was withdrawing from the SEC. Bryant never told Dodd why he reneged on his promise.
 
that's really too bad, it would have been nice to keep y'all, so that there would be two schools that had good academic reps. I hate to see any rivalry broken up, especially one that involves Vandy. Do you think it was a better move for you guys in the long run?
 
I am glad we wound up in the ACC-that's the long run. But the short run was awful, IMO.

You guys seem like a natural ACC school.
 
Academically yes. Athletically we suffered for a while but now our sports programs are very healthy, we make a ton of money being part of the ACC and we don't have to deal with a lot of the scandals that are plaguing the SEC.
 
We are very much like an ACC school. Academically, we are tied with UVa at 21st in the nation, our most successful sports are the two genders of basketball, and we are small and private (We are a lot like Wake). The big problem is that we aren't technically on the Atlantic coach, and being in the SEC is both fun and profitable (revenue sharing).
 
Don't look for Tech to ever rejoin the SEC. We tried to rejoin in the 70's, but we were rebuffed by UGA, Auburn and Ole Miss (from what I remember). Now that we're in the ACC, we're doing just fine.

Looking forward to a tough game with Vandy. I think they'll be a challenge for the first game of the season.
 
Tech has nothing to gain and everything to lose by going to the SEC. ACC member schools made more money per school last year than any other conference in the nation. Tech's an academic school in a high-class academic conference. And no sport can compare to ACC basketball. The schools are all close together, and conference news is never about scandals. Tech would never want to go back to the SEC.
 
The biggest blunder in the history of GT Football was leaving the SEC in 1967. The second biggest blunder was dropping Auburn and Tennessee from the schedule in 1988. As a member of the ACC, GT has recovered, but the program suffered for 15 plus years as an independent, and almost went extinct. Tech would probably have more fan interest and be playing in an even larger stadium if it had stayed in the SEC, but we will never know for sure. GT is healthy now in the ACC, and that's what matters.
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I've mentioned this before, and I expect others remember the details better than I, but the real turning point for Tech football was Sputnik. The country panicked when the Russians beat us to space. We had NO idea that the USSR was even competitive with us in science and technology: we thought they just stole from us (the "A"-bomb, the"H"-bomb). so when the first satellite went up, the nation was galvanized. Tech IMMEDIATELY began to talk "de-emphasizing" football, and it was downhill from there. (Our last gasp, the '65 team starring the young left-hander, was known to real Tech fans to be winning almost sheerly on will, we had no business going undefeated nearly all year.)

Everybody panicked, particularly about math, and how US school kids did not know any, after Sputnik, and schools like GT really had no choice but to push football back and focus on academics. meanwhile Ole Miss and bama,etc, were spending huge amounts of energy on cultural "conservatism" (read: segregation), and football fit that attitude.

Anyway, Tech grew in various very positive ways, and by the mid-60's simply was no longer an SEC fit. When we went indie, the program really suffered. UGAg had the highly organized, highly professional young Dooley for a coach, and they just took over state football. The fact that Dooley had the only decent program in GA, SC, and Fla, and still couldn't dominate like Bear was doing, or like Dodd did in the early to mid-50's, shows that he had much bigger limitations than the doggies will admit, but he beat us.

That's my rant, and the end of my two-fingered typing patience. Maybe it adds a little perspective to why we left the SEC.
 
Had never heard the "Sputnik" theory before, but it's a good one. Makes alot of sense concerning Tech's "BIG BLINK" of the mid 60's. Tech, and Bobby Dodd, gambled and lost, when they withdrew from the SEC. It should have never happened. As great as Coach Dodd was at coaching, he was apparantly equally as bad at being the AD. I feel that Dodd left the SEC in hopes of gaining marketing leverage and money as a new independent. The "Notre Dame" of the South. However, Dodd the AD, was never able to produce the market, or the money. The factors that played into this are too many to list, but most of you know them anyway.
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I know I am in a small minority of Tech fans who would jump at a chance to get back in the SEC. Bottom line, the SEC is,was, and always will be the best football conference, and Tech sold its birthright to leave it. It has haunted us ever since.
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bobby dodd's ghost, disagree about the "best" football conference--top to bottom it is the BIG 12. They passed the SEC a few years ago.

Dodd (or anybody else at the time) could not have foreseen prosports coming into Atlanta or the effects of desegeration on the college football landscape. And of course, to make matters worse, the community college up I-85 went through their best period ever during the late 70's to early 80's while GT was worse than doo-doo, grabbing lots and lots of "sidewalk alum" in the process. Nonetheless, it has taken some time, but GT is now in a very good position within the ACC from both a competitive and financial standpoint.

I would not want GT associated w/the SEC again largely due to the fact that it is a rogue conference. With the exception of Vandy, the other colleges dropped any pretense of academics and will do absolutely anything; especially unethical and illegal activities in order to field a competitive team. I like GT's unique position and don't wish to join the ranks of large state schools that have sold their souls for football success.
 
I had the pleasure of meeting BDodd some years back after he was no longer coaching and he told me personally that the reason he left the SEC was that he felt that Tech could become the ND of the south and that the revenues from such a move would benefit Tech much more that staying in the SEC. He also said that he did not forsee the fact that Tech in scheduling national teams like USC (California) ND and others would not produce the players who wanted to come to a great school with good academics and a national reputation. But, the worst move he made (my thoughts) was in promoting Bud Carson to head coach. Carson almost by himself destroyed Tech football. Go back in your minds and look at the slide that began with Carson and you find the beginning of the end of great football once he took over.
 
I had the pleasure of meeting BDodd some years back after he was no longer coaching and he told me personally that the reason he left the SEC was that he felt that Tech could become the ND of the south and that the revenues from such a move would benefit Tech much more that staying in the SEC. He also said that he did not forsee the fact that Tech in scheduling national teams like USC (California) ND and others would not produce the players who wanted to come to a great school with good academics and a national reputation. But, the worst move he made (my thoughts) was in promoting Bud Carson to head coach. Carson almost by himself destroyed Tech football. Go back in your minds and look at the slide that began with Carson and you find the beginning of the end of great football once he took over.

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oldfoggy, I always felt like Carson was an excellent football coach with zero, and i mean zero, charisma or PR skills. He had us in the top twenty.He just could not overcome a new, non-football committed, attitude in the administration. And as others have noted Dodd himself was not willing to make a "commitment" to football which hurt student-athletes in favor of a coach's glory.

As a citizen of the US, I'm GLAD Tech focussed on academics, though as a kid i was really pissed to hear the word "de-emphasis" applied to Tech football.
 
As an outsider looking in, it appears very advantageous for GT to be a member of the ACC.

IMO, the biggest benefit is that it helps set you apart. I feel like the Florida schools benefit greatly from this "separation effect." If they were all three in the SEC or ACC or whatever, then they'd all be essentially selling the same product.
 
while Bud Carson was not a very dynamic/charismatic figure and undoubtedly that affected his recruiting, it is clear that the shelves were pretty empty by the time he took over. I think that Dodd knew he had a few bad recruiting years and decided to let someone else give it a try.

Dodd wasn't god and Carson wasn't the devil.
 
I saw almost all home games and many aways games during the Carson era and the things that I noticed was that the teams were under coached. They made mistakes that I did not even see in a well coached Hi school. During that same time there were here in H'ville many outstanding players who did not even consider Tech and the one that did never played under Carson even though he was considered the best kicker in the state of Ala. I know that the bear sure wanted him. No he (Carson) wasn't the devil but also look at his record when he was head coach in the NFL.

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