Comments from Johnson, Peterson and Radakovich
Here are comments from Georgia Tech Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson, athletic director Dan Radakovich and football coach Paul Johnson from a 4:30 p.m. news conference. The NCAA announced earlier in the day that the Yellow Jackets would have to forfeit its 2009 ACC title for minor violations and failing to fully cooperate with NCAA investigators looking into those violations. It would also receive:
- Public reprimand and censure.
- Four years of probation from July 14, 2011 through July 13, 2015.
- A reduction of two men’s basketball recruiting days during the 2011 summer evaluation period (self-imposed by the university).
- A limit of 10 official visits for men’s basketball for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.
- A vacation of all contests won by the football team during the 2009 season after November 24. The ACC said Tech must return the trophy. No champion for the season will be named.
From Johnson:
On if he was surprised when he learned that Demaryius Thomas and Morgan Burnett could play late in November of 2009:
“I wasn’t aware of what was happening because I wasn’t involved in the process. I knew they had been interviewed when the NCAA came in. I had no idea what was said in the interviews or what was going on. We found out that Wednesday or Thursday that they were eligible to play. As far as we were concerned, we just went with the attitude that until somebody told us differently they were playing. Dan came in on Wednesday afternoon and said they are both cleared.”
On the results of the punishment:
“I think our guys are frustrated. I understand why our administration did what they did. It’s frustrating when you aren’t directly involved in something and it effects you in such a big way. I was proud of the way that 2009 team played on the field and for the majority of those guys to have an asterisk beside that effort, and the assistant coaches, it makes it tough. It is what it is. Life isn’t fair. You learn from things.”
On when he learned of the seriousness of the investigation:
“I didn’t really know until the hearing in April. I thought at that time ‘These guys are out for blood.’ That’s the time I realized the seriousness. I still had no idea it would be as serious as it was. This is 32 years of coahcing and I’ve never been involved in one of these.”
On what he told the team today:
“I told them that sometimes things that happen aren’t fair. The neat thing is doesn’t affect our football team moving forward: No postseason ban, no scholarship limitations, no loss of anything that way so it doesn’t affect the guys that are here. It’s disappointing that the guys that played so hard in that game doesn’t get to see the fruits of their labor. But you use it as a learning experience. It’s a valuable lesson that we talk about a lot: What you do and how you represent yourself carries over to everybody in that room and everyone on that coaching staff. You are representing a school and a coaching staff.”
On if this affects his desire to remain at Tech:
“No, not at all. As I said, I understand why our administration did what they did given the information they have. I have a lot of respect for Dan and Dr. Peterson. They made decisions based upon what was available to them at the time. I’m not going to second-guess them now.”
From Peterson:
“Georgia Tech is committed to integrity of its athletic program including full operation and support of the NCAA.”
“We could have been more aggressive in our investigation. Had we known then what he know now, we could have acted differently. At the time we took appropriate steps … we acted in good faith.”
“I don’t believe anyone did anything or took actions to hinder or impede investigation.”
“Georgia Tech has an unwavering commitment to compliance.”
“We are very concerned about having to vacate the championship title.”
From Radakovich:
“There was no intent to influence testimony. We cooperated fully during process.”
“We don’t agree with the report and its findings.”
“Not a proud day for me.”
“Georgia Tech should not be placed in a position where its integrity is challenged.”
“We disagree but we will move forward.”
– Doug Roberson, AJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
164 comments Add your comment
Milledgeville Dawg
July 14th, 2011
8:35 pm
This made my day. I love it.
GT@GT.com
July 14th, 2011
8:37 pm
With all of the collected trophies, is the NCAA going to put them on ebay? Not a bad idea to make money to play for these schools.
Southern Boy
July 14th, 2011
8:37 pm
Who cares about a trophy. They should be going to school to get an education.
Ramblin Man
July 14th, 2011
8:44 pm
DAWG fans I will admit I would give some of you a hard time if this happened to UGA, but remember this involved two players that had NFL potentiol and Athens is full of them and could easily be looking at something like this. Nobody knew about this until today outside of the NCAA and GT, so how many other schools are being investigated for the same crap. The real problem here is the NCAA and agents. GT deserves to be punished for the actions of general counsel during the course of the investigation but not to this limit. I just hate it for the 83 other players that had nothing to do with it and worked hard all season.
Gorilla Biscuit
July 14th, 2011
8:45 pm
I guess Wofford is looking better and better to our recruits.
sasquatch
July 14th, 2011
8:50 pm
this takes the pressure off cmr.
now he can have another mediocre underachieving season and dogbois will be happy just to crow about tech’s sanctions.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
July 14th, 2011
8:50 pm
Paul Johnson thought he can get away with it. Punishment is just appropriate.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
July 14th, 2011
8:52 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
GT is a 4th rate high school team
July 14th, 2011
8:55 pm
GT thought if they call themselves classy, they can get away with anything. GOT YOU.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
July 14th, 2011
8:57 pm
You would hope for some type of uniformity by the NCAA but that will never happen. If GT gets this much for something of this nature then we can expect to see the NCAA Firing Squad show up at Ohio State and certainly for that Cow College in Alabama.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
July 14th, 2011
8:59 pm
Sasquatch: You need a bath. Go away.
Student
July 14th, 2011
9:04 pm
Radakovich once asked the student body if they wanted to be more like Emory after telling the student body that they would have to pay more to keep the football team around. The student body said that they wanted to be more like Emory and to lose these stupid programs filled with individuals who aren’t representative of the majority of the student body. But, Tech still has these programs. They say that they bring recognition, status, and money to the school. But they don’t. The students have to pay out of their pockets to keep these programs around. And I’m positive I know who will be paying these fines. It won’t be Radakovich. It will be the students at Tech taking out loans to pay for an education.
Class House Dawgs...
July 14th, 2011
9:05 pm
Be careful Dawg fans who are making fun …. He who lives in a glass house should cast no stones.
Didn’t the guy at UGA just resign recently saying “I never KNOWINGLY broke any rules” or something to the EXACT meaning????
What he was saying is yeah, after the fact I now see rules were broken, but ….. I NEVER KNOWINGLY BROKE THEM.
Hold your “stones” fellas, and ladies …. and I ain’t talkin about your Keystone Lights either.
Just like 99.9% of us on this blog had no idea GT was under investigation, you can bet your arse an investigation is, or soon will be, underway with the Dawgs.
Glass House Dawgs...
July 14th, 2011
9:06 pm
Oh, and this GT fan is okay that the present, and FUTURE teams will not be punished.
whateva!
July 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
Enter your comments here
Ross
July 14th, 2011
9:11 pm
Americans don’t torture, and Tech people don’t cheat. I’m an American, and a Tech guy. I don’t cheat, and I don’t torture.
-drl
jackets39
July 14th, 2011
9:13 pm
Vacating the ACC championship…….How is this fair to the 106 other players on 2009 team that did nothing wrong.
Stinger
July 14th, 2011
9:15 pm
We won the Game. No one can say we didn’t beat Clemson. We won the Title. Who cares what the NCAA says. It’s only on paper. Everyone knows we won the Championship. That is all that matters.
NCAA Speaking so listen up
July 14th, 2011
9:16 pm
Auburn will get their pants yanked down and suffer greatly. We can’t do much yet because the Justice Department – IRS – FBI are still putting the dots on the i’s and crossing the t’s. They have priority so we must wait. All of college football will be proud when we get our chance and we WILL get our chance.
Can't change the past
July 14th, 2011
9:19 pm
This is something that happened IN THE PAST. Like PJ said, the current and future teams are not punished for a couple guys $500 so dollars in clothing gifts. Did the clothes they received help them tackle better, catch better, block better, run faster, jump higher, etc??? Didn’t think so.
So, when GT beats UGA in 2011 are the same UGA fans that are on here NOW slinging dirt gonna accuse GT players of wearing too many clothes???? I sure hope so … now THAT will be something to HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA about!
Looking back now to the AJ Green situation …. how many of the 4 games AJ missed would the Dawgs have won (which now would be losses)?? Zero, I think that would be the right answer. Heck, I’m the guy had one of his better games in 2010 vs. Colorado (100+ yds, 2tds) and they still LOST!
Tech Fan
July 14th, 2011
9:20 pm
Johnson is lying his butt off, he knew exactly what was going on, and he knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish by talking to Burnett….. GT needs to get rid of all three of these clowns; the Institute has no credibility with these guys on campus….
freedawg
July 14th, 2011
9:21 pm
um hahahahaha, nerds
Mr. SEC
July 14th, 2011
9:31 pm
Too bad for Tech! I’m not a great Tech fan, just a fan, red and black 100%. But Tech got screwed!
89Dawg
July 14th, 2011
9:33 pm
Like most Dawg Fans, I have friends who are Tech Fans and this stinks for them and the school. The NCAA is out of control….how is this or anyting else they do (as it pertains to compliance) improving college athletics?? Its just getting old…
GTBUZZ64
July 14th, 2011
9:36 pm
Time to begin awarding athletic scholarships based on better criteria such as academics and indicators of integrity. As an alumnus and a Tech fan for more than 60 years I never thought I would see a scandal such as this. We may have a problem with administrators attention to detail. I am positive we also have a problem with the character of some of our recruits as evidenced by poor academic performance, failures to graduate and jumping to the pros. I want athletes who will stay in school and graduate regardless of won / lost records.
Dan
July 14th, 2011
9:44 pm
Tech Lies and Cheats!
Big L
July 14th, 2011
9:45 pm
Pease, fellow Dawg fans, act like grown ups.
Choke Hall
July 14th, 2011
9:45 pm
If you read Tech’s administrations comments of how they handled this and then read the NCAA you would swear they were not talking about the same investigation. All a bunch of BS politics out of a terrible AD.
law dawg
July 14th, 2011
9:47 pm
It looks like someone at the NCAA feels that Tech didn’t properly kiss ass in the investigation. I hate Tech, but I hate the NCAA more. I could write a history about the the consequeces of creating unchecked organizations like the NCAA and it’s soon to come demise, but most Techies only understand algorithms and no body else wants to be bored to death. Tech is an insect, but I think the big boys are close to being fed up and will soon squash this ego crazed bunch.
PMT
July 14th, 2011
9:59 pm
Tech gets hammered but Ohio State is getting off easy. The NCAA leaders are a disgrace.
ClemsonFan
July 14th, 2011
10:04 pm
Think taking away the 2009 ACC football title is a bit harsh…and I’m a die-hard Clemson fan that drove down to Tampa for that game.
Wes Durham's Gigantic Bottom
July 14th, 2011
10:05 pm
Comments from CPJ: “I have bigger fish to fry”…..”punch an NCAA investigator in the mouth”…..”I have moobs”.
Mama Says
July 14th, 2011
10:10 pm
Good grief, are you kidding me ? I have read the report and I say this with all respect to the investigators, how on Gods green earth is anyone being paid to investigate “incidents” of this nature ? Look at the basis of all this–a student at an NCAA institution which makes hundreds of millions of dollars, some of which it passes along to the NCAA itself, is being questioned like he is a criminal. He “was not informed of his obligation to be truthful” under paragraph x of section y !
really ? over $312 of clothing ? his was suppose to be read the NCAA’s version of his Miranda Rights ? what ?
I could understand all this if the NCAA and member universities were not all about the money but we all know they are. Therefore this amounts to the fox questioning the chicken as to how much feed it ate !
ridiculious !!!!
Wes Durham's Gigantic Bottom
July 14th, 2011
10:10 pm
Class House…..the point of UGA fans’ delight is that most of you GT fans think your program is different than other major college programs….all schools have players who take gifts and money from fans, drink and smoke pot, and who get help to stay in school……there may well be investigations under way at UGA which lead to punishment by the NCAA, but it goes on everywhere…..GT athletes are not choir boys from the 1950s…..this nation’s culture has changed and young people have different morals….wake up and accept reality….
Billyboy
July 14th, 2011
10:38 pm
Another dumb mistake results in a stupid fine and taking back a trophy. In all this stupidity, the NCAA looks bad again, GT looks bad, and the stupid rules of not providing some small amounts of cash support lurks it’s ugly head again.
The only thing of beauty that most people miss is, integrity is important and if you don’t keep your integrity then it doesn’t matter if you have the trophy or not.
Ramblin Man
July 14th, 2011
10:58 pm
I just need some help understanding one thing. How was Burnett exonerated and Thomas was not? the interview from what I read never proved either player knew for certian the gift MAY have come from an agent, and even if it was how is one cleared and the other not? Not saying what they did was smart and they should have questioned it and reported it to the coaches. I also fail to see how DRAD telling CPJ about the investigation impeded the investigation at all. GT deserved to be punished, just not to this extent. Also still wondering if cause can now be argued against Blewitt and some of his buyout can be forfieted?
sports
July 14th, 2011
10:59 pm
$7,300,000.00…unvelievable and now this, what a sordid program.
The death penalty is approiate here.
uga_alum_93
July 14th, 2011
11:56 pm
Hey Georgia Tech fan…with your multiple probations from the NCAA in recent years you now have the “street cred” to get back in the SEC…WELCOME BACK BROTHER
JMAC
July 15th, 2011
12:03 am
1) At least one football violation may have occurred, but it was very minor.
2) The NCAA likely uses aggressive interviewing techniques (not a surprise here) and it probably scares the heck out of student athletes.
3) Our general counsel gave us terrible advice on dealing with the NCAA, and not only was he inexperienced in these matters but he was so uneducated about how to deal with the NCAA there may be grounds for legal malpractice.
4) Our compliance officer did a terrible job, and did not competently discharge the duties of his office. And that statement is being very kind.
5) DRad relied too much on both of these gentlemen, and was left holding the wrong end of the roman candle when it went off…so to speak.
6) (There is no number 6. Never.)
7) It sounds like more of a good ol boy network in way over their heads in the GTAA from the way the report reads. Two key people without enough knowledge or experience to handle this, and an AD that trusted them explicitly and did not do his due diligence prior to acting on his buddies “advice”. Guess that’s par for the course in the SEC where DRad cut his teeth though.
9) One has to wonder: A) How this came to light, (football violations). It almost seems like a set up by someone that does NOT have GT’s interests at heart….B) Why the NCAA is wasting time with such trivial stuff when there is so many more serious matters (violations) going on in college football. Huge issues with schools with BCS title implications.
I don’t think they have an unlimited staff…did GT just tick off the wrong caseworker here?
10) The Basketball violations in truth, although minor, were more serious in my opinion because they appear to have been done with by the basketball staff with if not the the actual direct consent at least the knowledge of the head coach, and involve rules he should have been familiar with.
11) The NCAA appears to want to make an example of GT, no matter what their official position is. Their insistence in making GT out to be a bid bad repeat offender is laughable in the context of GT’s actual violations and against the background of what has gone in at least 50% of the top 25 schools in the last 2 to years.
Also, the NCAA’s exact wording is ludicrous AND a enormous untruth.
“Fortunately, instances in which member institutions do not cooperate with the NCAA enforcement program are rare.”
Rare if you choose to completely redefine the words “rare” and put such a narrow interpretation on the phrase “do not cooperate” as to render it virtually meaningless.
It is obvious in just looking at the real major scandals going on in college football right now that they primarily stem from deeply ingrained and institutionalized behavior in these schools AD’s, and the only cooperation the NCAA EVER gets is when it has hard proof.
The NCAA appears to feel GT disrespected it in some manner (possibly just the case worker, as they seem to have a lot of individual power in these matters, and like the bully that gets beaten up for lunch money all the time wants to take out their frustrations on an easier opponent.
12) GT should do an internal housecleaning, because the PRIMARY thing they are guilty of is not being prepared, and being incompetent. But the NCAA would not generate any headlines from THAT finding….
Roy Wood
July 15th, 2011
12:25 am
you see how stupid the NCAA is.Of course Tech thinks its different when it concerns them,not as funny as A J GREENs jersey.I wish they woulg disband the NCAA and come up with something that has a little common sense.It makes me sick every time I hear NCAA Texas Dawg
TechDan
July 15th, 2011
12:37 am
The NCAA can pry my ACC Championship swag from my cold, dead fingers.
priorities
July 15th, 2011
1:28 am
I just returned from a mission trip to Costa Rica, and I can tell you that most people in the world couldn’t care less about this. Yeah, it may be news to us GT alums, but it’s a minor issue in the whole scheme of things.
Wes Durham's Gigantic Bottom
July 15th, 2011
2:00 am
Fire Radakovich and Johnson for the sake of the Institute……
pcb mike
July 15th, 2011
2:05 am
old bird – classy comments from a UGA fan. Nice too see. I get tired of both sides ripping each other.
Bobito the Payaso
July 15th, 2011
4:14 am
They don’t know half of what goes on. When I was teaching at GA Tech, I failed a women’s basketball starter in 2004. The assistant assigned to make sure the b-ball players go to class (I had Jarret Jack, who was actually a decent student, and a lot of others) came to my office to offer me tickets to (men’s) games to change the grade. I reported it. Nothing was done. Not even a minor follow up. They get what they have coming.
Bobito the Payaso
July 15th, 2011
4:15 am
JMAC: You’ve got it wrong. The NCAA knows more is going on that it can prove. So it puts the hammer down on the basis of some minor, unimportant nonsense.
Floyd
July 15th, 2011
7:24 am
Don’t worry cpj has bigger fish to fry. Or maybe ncaa fried his big fish.
I M Yellowjacket
July 15th, 2011
7:45 am
WE are GEORGIA TECH……That’s all that matters.
General Sherman Jacket
July 15th, 2011
8:48 am
Ford and GM need us to buy a new car from them?
No longer my problem.
Get even, fellow Jackets by deferring spending or buying a foreign car or both.
They don’t care about me then I don’t care about them.
Make the nation howl with a double dip.
And I hope you bought your gold when I did.
General Sherman Jacket
July 15th, 2011
8:51 am
The Friday MJD just arrived with its huge foreclosure section of Dawgs fans about to lose their homes because I no longer buy anything from them.
No new teachers hired means Uga teaching degrees now worthless.
Works for me.