The one about where the money is going
gtbadcarma: I know the athletic fee isnt necessarily a lot, but given there is revenue/advertising/nil/endorsements, allowing for all kinds of money to flow into the sports and players, should the student body be given a break on the athletic fees?
Jack: The answers in reply to you were correct but noting it here for those that missed it. The athletic fee takes care of making tickets available for students and other student facing things that the GTAA runs, so it’s generally a good deal for students. The Institute has done a great job keeping fees at a minimum in other places over the past few years. I like where your head is that with this, but I don’t think it’s a big issue.
TkTheGoat: Ok this stat actually surprised me… In the recruiting class of 2024, Colorado ranked 95th, but in the transfer class they ranked 8th. They signed only 10 high school recruits, but 43 transfers. I mean even the “Mayor of Mayhem” Geoff Collins recruited better than him. So the question is this… Would you rather have a star studded transfer portal, or a star studded high school class?
Jeff: Colorado’s transfer class is ranked that high due to sheer numbers. Their weakest link last year was along the lines because none of the guys had played together in that system before. It’ll be the same again as new players try to figure out how everyone reacts halfway through the season. Chad Bishop of the AJC had an article on how Brent Key views building the roster and he said he preferred transfers with multiple years to help fill out solid recruiting classes. Then if you need immediate help you can search for a one year guy to get you through.
Jack: High school through and through. Build a pipeline, build relationships with your local schools and coaches. Show a real path from home to college to a career. Entrapping talent away from big name schools is going to be the path for success for many place like GT who won’t be able to outspend everyone else in the portal. We saw this in the Josh Petty commitment. We weren’t the “highest bidder” financially, but the rest of the reasons to come to GT on top of a reasonable “salary” makes places like us appealing.
Jellopacket98: Can the NCAA just capitulate, allow athletes to be classified as school employees, and make attending class optional? Meaning all athletes will just be hired by the school to compete in a particular sport and if they choose to go to class and earn a degree they can, but if they are one of those elite athletes already earning millions in NIL, they just play sports. Let them unionize, come up with a collective bargaining agreement to give athletes part of the TV contract revenue and move on. With athletes playing for 3 or 4 different schools in their careers already the norm, why bother with the “student athlete” model anymore? Nobody cares if a player is actually a “student”, so why continue to fight the inevitable?
Jack: Stuff like this takes time. The court cases still have to fully play out, and then further lawsuits that will probably arise after that will have to play out to fully solve what the structure will look like for players. Our only real rescue from a continuing legal mess is Congress passing a bill, but I think we all know that ain’t happening.
Jeff: Collective bargaining would require the conferences to have a single acting commissioner representing all schools. So you are going to need the Super League to form first.
GTSMURF: Sources indicate that part of the deal to secure Josh Petty is a $800k/yr NIL agreement. While we raised $78 million, how much more do we have to continue to pay our athletes?
Jack: Just to clarify from the replies to this comment, it is very likely Josh did not take the largest bag in front of him, and there’s no telling if that $800k/yr number is true. Josh would have to say himself what he’s getting for us to have any confidence in how much money he’ll be getting from his NIL deal. Josh, and just about anyone who comes to Tech, knows that playing at Tech is a 40 year decision that will enable his career after football. Keep in mind while $78 million is great, that money is getting spread to so many places. Putting almost 1/78th of that towards an offensive lineman ain’t happening. There’s still a massive amount of debt to pay off, construction remains to be done, potentially building a soccer stadium if they ever get around to it,