Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
GT outspent UNC & UVA on ass't salaries, were within 10% of NC State. They're within 10% of Va Tech if you removed the difference in compensation for Bud Foster vs Ted Roof.
Is it discouraging that GT & UNC are bracketed by ... Kansas & Rutgers? Yeah.
Is it a do more with less scenario? Yeah.
But that's the job.
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Assistant coaches are only a part of the problem. And to be fair, CPJ is a viewed as a dead man walking coach so that limits his assistant pull. Before I move off the assistant topic one point, Frankly GT doesnt battle UVA and UNC for recruits. It matters only who you battle on the trail for your basis of comparison. GT has to recruit metro Atlanta, Jacksonville, FL panhandle, the Chattanooga area, SC and then spot recruit the rest of the country for fits. For this reason thise are the programs that matter. Not supposed conference foes who you dont cross paths for.
The bigger issue, in my opinion, is facilities. This is a two fold issue because, Atlanta. New Facilities require dirt. Dirt near the campus is prohibitively expensive. And construction costs are artificially elevated in Atlanta because of construction politics.
To illustrate. (I'm using Clemson because I know their numbers off hand and dont need to research to sides of an argument, and they are historic rivals of sorts and close in proximity) Clemson has a 17,000 acre campus and another 35,000 acres of land around the state. GT is a 370 acre campus. So when Clemson set out to build the $55 million dollar Football Complex...they literally started with a green field. A pasture that hasnt had a building on it since at least 1889. Yet it is a golf cart ride to the center of campus or a .75 mile walk if you are froggy. If GT wants to build the same in the same proximity. The dirt itself probably costs several million to acquire and that again to clear it and build on. Its just prohibitively expensive. I get that.
What I dont get is GT having a locker room thats not comparable to my son's high school. Its a newer school, to be fair - only 10 years old - but its not close. That's a ~$750 renovation that could pop or a $1.5MM renovation that could wow.
Its not all negative. GT's IPF is very nice. Although I will tell you I worry about their current facilities initiative. It seems like they are revamping mainly for the fans....not the athletes. I've heard the line "make the fans want to come and they will finance the improvements for the players" I think that's backwards.
If I am GT, I part ways with CPJ after this year. I think he's leaving either way to be honest. I then roll the dice. I want a young first time head coach with a vision. I'm swinging for the fence. I need to catch lightening in a bottle...and at a dollar figure I can afford to pay the heck out of assistants.