Peterson on Radakovich
Some notes from an interview with Georgia Tech president G.P. “Bud” Peterson regarding the resignation of athletic director Dan Radakovich
1. His reaction – “Mixed reaction. It’s a loss for us, but it’s a great opportunity for him.”
2. Peterson said shortly after the Clemson-Tech game, Clemson president James Barker called him out of courtesy to tell him the school wanted to talk to Radakovich, who called Peterson later to tell him of the interest and his intention to pursue it. Radakovich called again Sunday night to tell him that the Clemson board needed to approve the hiring Monday morning and that he was going to take the job.
3. Radakovich’s last official day is Nov. 30, but his last day on campus will be Nov. 15, after which he’ll take a two-week vacation before starting at Clemson. Until the 15th, Radakovich and senior associate athletic director Paul Griffin will be spending time together working on a transition.
Peterson: “I have a lot of confidence in Paul Griffin. He’s been around for a while and knows what he’s doing. He’s been kind of leading the effort on the construction projects we have. This’ll be an additional task for him, but I have great confidence in Paul and his ability to lead this group.”
Peterson said that “the good news is we’ve got a spectacular staff. The athletics department has some really great people. They’ve worked hard. They’ll continue to work hard and I have every confidence that they’ll be successful.”
Peterson called the job “a great position” and said he’s excited about finding a successor. “We’ll probably interview a couple of search firms, establish a search committee and get started on the process,” he said.
4. On whether he’ll be on the committee: “I haven’t thought through that yet. Certainly, whether I’ll actually be on the committee or ask the committee to make a recommendation to me, I’m not sure exactly how we’ll do that. We haven’t quite formalized the committee structure and who would be on it. It won’t be a large committee, though. It’ll be a fairly small committee. There were five or six people last time when they did the search for Dan. That’s how these things go.”
5. On priorities for the replacement: “We’ve done a lot of construction, so we’ve got some challenges in terms of funding and fundraising. Certainly looking for somebody with absolutely the highest integrity possible.”
6. On if having worked at Tech or being an alumnus is a factor: “I don’t know that it has to be somebody that has been here or is an alum. They have to understand Georgia Tech. This place is a little different than some places. It’s a great institution, but it is a little different. … Our academic requirements are pretty difficult and challenging, so it’s going to take an athletic director that understands Georgia Tech. I think I’ve tried to do that and I’m not a Tech alum, so I’ve got a high degree of confidence we can find somebody. It’d be great if we could find somebody that knew a lot about Georgia Tech, was a Tech alum, had three degrees, four degrees, four kids that went here, but we’ll see what happens.”
7. On Radakovich’s legacy: “Well again when I think you look at the facilities and what we’ve done with facilities, it’s just been a spectacular run. We’ve just had tremendous support from our alumni that has facilitated that growth of facilities. The John and Mary Brock Football Practice Facility, McCamish Pavilion – I think you’ve probably been there – just looks spectacular, the Ken Byers Tennis Center, the new softball field. A real focus on the financial aspects, fundraising. He’s done a great job fundraising. The improvement he’s made to the facilities has really raised our game and our ability to attract coaches, players, staff and will be a great asset in attracting the next athletics director.”
8. On Radakovich being linked to jobs in the past: “Dan has kept me fully apprised. He and I have a great relationship, I’ve never had to wonder. Somebody asked me if I knew he was being considered about a week ago, a week and a half ago, and I said, Yeah, he had told me because they knew somebody that knew somebody. I said yeah he had told me and he’s kept me fully apprised. It doesn’t make much sense for me to go into that.”
Thanks for reading. Offensive language and using other poster’s handles are grounds for banning.
In case you missed it…
Radakovich leaves Tech for Clemson
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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119 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
October 30th, 2012
12:43 pm
Thanks, Michael. And I agree: Ken would do a bangup job as the chief editor of the AJC.
GTVegas
October 30th, 2012
12:45 pm
Unfortunately, I just don’t have high expectations for GT athletics right now. We must face the fact that CPJ is here for the duration of his contract. We can’t afford to replace him before that and he has ot done well enough to give us any hope that someone might hire him away. That being said, he is most likely here through the 2016 season. He is looking for a new DC abd it will probably be someone unproven due to the uncertainty of time here. His recruiting has not shown results and there really is no reason to think or expect great things going forward based on recent history.
Not a good time to be a GT fan.
old dog
October 30th, 2012
12:47 pm
Yep…the real Supersize is an old Augusta fellow who happens to be older than me! lol He does not like UGA, but thats ok…..I still want Tech to have success anyway, and right now they are on the wrong train AND on the wrong track (in football, anyway!)
5150 UOAD
October 30th, 2012
12:48 pm
Ride out the CPJ contract and see how well Goose Godsey does at New England and bring him Home to TECH in 3 years.
Tech Man
October 30th, 2012
12:52 pm
I believe if we get a GT alum he or she will be more apt to stay here than keeping an eye on other job openings. Bill Curry might would be an option but he is in his retirement years, Bring someone in with a lot of energy and not afraid to tell CPJ where to go. If all else fails get out of football altogether and go the route of St Johns just have basketball and the lower profile sports. We can’t continue the way we’re going now.
fan
October 30th, 2012
1:00 pm
Four more years of Johnson will be hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Veli a.k.a. Jim Donnan's financial advisor
October 30th, 2012
1:05 pm
Things at Tech may be chaotic right now old dog but that just means there is ALOT of opportunity for the right people to take advantage of! Change and being on the verge of change is often a prime time for success in sports, business, and life in general! I pray that we at Tech will see that and build upon a much better foundation! ALWAYS look for opportunity and good in what others see as disaster and you will set yourself apart from the norm and attain success.
Ride out the CPJ contract?????
October 30th, 2012
1:06 pm
…most coaches’ contracts are rolled over at year end so that they always have 4 years remaining, as that is for recruiting purposes since other coaches will use the old “well coach so and so at so and so U may not be there for your four years” when talking with recruits.
Now, some AD’s do “motivate” theri HC’s by not renewing automatically, thus giving the coach the chance to “jump ship” – the best example of this is Tommy Bowden at Clemson. When his contract was not rolled over “automatically” to always have 4 years remaining he “jumped ship” in the middle of the year following the non-rollover.
The worst example of the automatic rolloever ( and I know this is painful for the GT faithful) is the Paul Hewitt automatic rollover FOR LIFE contract that Dave Braine allowed…
And, Tech has a lot of Coca Cola money for academics via their endowment – and NO, GT Joe, none of the Coke money goes to the GTAA…
Merlyn Brown ISYE 1960
October 30th, 2012
1:06 pm
How about Paul Griffin for AD. He’s experienced(was AD @ University of S. Florida before coming toTech). Mr. Peterson says that he managed all the construction projects that D Rad is getting credit for. Paul Griffin came to Tech to get himself a better opportunity–so, this is it.
At least, he is probably loyal to Tech. I’ll bet that he will decide to apply for the AD position.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 30th, 2012
1:11 pm
NO NO NO to Bill Curry. He sucked as a coach, and he would suck as an AD. We went through this 6 years ago when DRAD was hired. Curry is NOT the man for the job.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 30th, 2012
1:12 pm
@ old dog…..thanks for the kind (???) words……I think. LOL
Calm down, Super...
October 30th, 2012
1:18 pm
…we all know Curry is older than even you so there is no way in hades that he is even considered, or for that matter, that he, or rather Carolyn, would even consider the job…
headley lamar
October 30th, 2012
1:19 pm
Supersize.
Truly one of the great football minds of our generation.
@ Headless…..that was actually a fairly intelligent post for you. I don’t agree with your results, but that’s beside the point; it’s still a decent assessment. This, however, is my rundown on the season —
Va Tech (toss-up, but very likely GT win)
Blue Hose (Win)
UVA (Win)
Miami (DEFINITE WIN)
MTSU (Win)
Clemson (probable loss, but Tech does have their number)
BC (Win)
BYU (Win)
Maryland (Win)
UNC (Probably win by Tech, but I will never forget 1990)
Duke (Win)
UGA (WIN, but close)
Bowl (Depends on the opponent—hopefully a win)
When Supersize posts something. You can pretty much bet reality is going to be the exact opposite.
Do you like UGA to cover the 13.5 vs Ole Miss.
Id like to know so I can bet the other way.
Actually I think GT Joe...
October 30th, 2012
1:20 pm
…would be a great choice for AD – I mean, after his demonstration yesterday of his understanding of the GTAA all things financial at Tech he could do a bang up job, and he could then tell CPJ to play Vad or be fired…
headley lamar
October 30th, 2012
1:21 pm
NO NO NO to Bill Curry. He sucked as a coach, and he would suck as an AD. We went through this 6 years ago when DRAD was hired. Curry is NOT the man for the job.
I read this as a ringing endorsement for Bill Curry.
If supersize is against it then it is almost assuredly the right choice.
Nativebird
October 30th, 2012
1:29 pm
oh yea,the ol we’ve got great facilities smokescreen. college athletics is football. baseball, softball, basketball, womens synchronized swimming, doesnt add up to a hill of beans combined. and this guy and his completely inadequate football coach has ran our program into the ground. a joke of a program.
PLAYMAKER
October 30th, 2012
2:51 pm
I beginning to think that Peterson is part of the problem at GT, part of the problem with recruiting. D Rad didn’t leave for money. There are many issues. The decisions made in the next 8 years will define GT FB for the next 10 years. It is a given that CPJ will be around and probably should but he is a strong personality and I hope GT will hire someone who is strong enough to deal with CPJ, look him in the eye and tell him the truth. I hope GT hires someone who will improve the total program from attendance to perception and raise $$$$
Reggie's Balls
October 30th, 2012
2:53 pm
Nativebird-
You forgot about the completely inadequate hoops coach that is taking that program further in to the ground.
old dog
October 30th, 2012
3:00 pm
OK Teckies….here is the deal……
1. Ya’ll can do better than what you are doing now.
2. We can go back and forth on these blogs as friends, enemies, or whatever.
3. Right now, ya’ll are terrible….that is the main inarguable point.
4. Ya’lll have too long and proud of a tradition to be happy with the cluster that is now Georgia-Tech football.
5. Quit carrying on and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Tech Forever
October 30th, 2012
3:37 pm
old dog,
Please, by all means, give us YOUR suggestions of what should be “done about it”.
sidewalk fan
October 30th, 2012
3:38 pm
GT needs me more than i need GT,so you better get this football thing right,Gt football just looks cheap now days.Good luck with the CPJ thing and the roller derby uniforms every year.Talk about self destruction.GT football used to be classy but not so much anymore.My family loves GT,hope it works out.Go Jackets.
Buzzter
October 30th, 2012
3:44 pm
I googled the proposed in-house candidates (Wayne Hogan, former Montana AD and Paul Griffin former USF AD). I guess they have done ok in their positions at Tech, but both of them basically had to resign when they were the AD at those other schools. I think Tech can find someone new who would do just as well — and presumably better — than either of those gentlemen.
Tech Forever
October 30th, 2012
3:46 pm
Hardest Job In College Athletics – Georgia Tech Athletic Director
2nd Hardest Job In College Athletics – Georgia Tech Head Football Coach
Ken Sugiura
October 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
i don’t think either has any interest.
JasperJacket
October 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Does anyone else on this blog other than myself see that the similarities between what is going on with this football team resembles earily a repeat of the Bill Lewis teams? It looks to me like this bunch of players are fed up with CPJ and that is being reflected on the playing field on Saturdays. I hope I am wrong on this but I don’t think so.
RWill is a PJ Lickspittle
October 30th, 2012
4:07 pm
Hire O’Leary to be Athletic Director. The Georgia Tech crowd still loves him, he can raise money, and he can help the Jackets get the kind of athletes they need to be more successful. Plus he could help the school find the right coach to replace putrid Paul.
He’d take the position in a heartbeat. Do it!
5150 UOAD
October 30th, 2012
4:10 pm
The FRIDGE………………………….
5150 UOAD
October 30th, 2012
4:12 pm
A 3 headed monster…..The Fridge(football) Mark Price(basketball) & Roddy Jones( the YOUNG BLOOD learning the job).
RWill is a PJ Lickspittle
October 30th, 2012
4:18 pm
Bringing O’Leary and Friedgen back in some capacity (HC/OC or AD/OC) would be a great thing for Georgia Tech.
mtraininjax
October 30th, 2012
4:28 pm
Maybe we can find a new AD with an easier last name to pronounce? Raddy did a nice job with the facilities, but if he is not happy at Tech, let him leave and let’s find the next Homer Rice. Time for Tech and its fans to move on with someone else.
The guy for the job is...
October 30th, 2012
4:48 pm
…Jim Murphey, a former GT assistant AD and the current AD at Davidson College, and he is a Davidson grad – he left Tech for that job about 15 – 20 years ago and has been there ever since. He knows what it takes to bring money into an “academic” institution, and is familiar with Tech, too. He is approx. 56 years old, so this would be a no-brainer – now we see if the search committee does its job correctly…
But, he may not want the job, as living in suburban Charlotte is a nice gig…
Jim 70
October 30th, 2012
4:49 pm
If curry was bad as a coach, bam a would not have hired him. But, the fact he left his alma mater to go to bam a, and the way he did it, no way should he be ad.
Lots of good candidates out there, please take as much time as needed to get a good one.
The guy for the job is...
October 30th, 2012
4:49 pm
…and Jim is a CPA, too…
South GA Jacket
October 30th, 2012
5:07 pm
Bobby Cremins? Ken Whisenhunt? Roddy Jones as an assistant and put him on the recruiting trail?
Flak Jacket
October 30th, 2012
5:21 pm
If CPJ would hire an OC and get off the triple option he might be able to pull this off.Nah,makes too much sense.
Like I said, a no brainer...
October 30th, 2012
5:30 pm
Jim Murphy was introduced as Davidson College’s Director of Athletics in November of 1995, returning to his alma mater to lead the Wildcats on the eve of their 100th anniversary of intercollegiate athletics and into the next century.
Prior to his appointment at Davidson, Murphy, 55, spent 10 years as executive associate athletic director and chief financial officer for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association.
An Atlanta native, Murphy played football and baseball during his freshman year at Davidson. His experience has been invaluable as he guides a program which is unique in its desire for excellence in both athletics and academics and has one of the smallest enrollments among NCAA Division I schools.
Reflecting his support of academics, Davidson’s NCAA graduation rate of 91 percent was the highest in Division I in 2001-02, second in 2002-03 with a rate of 97 percent and continues to be above 90 percent each year.
Davidson has claimed the Southern Conference Graduation Rate Award for the last 10 years, sharing the honor with Wofford in 1999-2000. In addition, Davidson has won the SoCon’s Barrett-Bonner Award, given to the school that places the highest percentage of its student-athletes on the league’s academic honor roll, 17 times in the award’s 19-year history.
“I firmly believe Davidson represents the ideal in college athletics and think the success of Davidson’s students, both in competition and after graduation proves that,” said Murphy. “It’s true that Davidson needs intercollegiate athletics, but intercollegiate athletics need Davidson even more.”
Since Murphy’s return to Davidson, the Wildcats have pursued several major capital projects, including the creation of the highly-innovative $10 million Davidson Scholars Program, and major improvements have been completed in Belk Arena and at Smith Field at Richardson Stadium.
The construction of the Belk Artificial Surface Field for field hockey, the new Alumni Stadium for soccer, Wilson Baseball Park and practice facility and the football stadium expansion project, which included a state-of-the-art weight room, a new press box and additional permanent seating, all have come during Murphy’s tenure. Davidson also replaced Richardson Stadium’s natural grass with FieldTurf, which allows the Wildcats to practice in their home stadium on a daily basis and frees up space for intramural use.
The 2004 NACDA Division I-AA/I-AAA Southeast Region Athletic Director of the Year, Murphy served two terms on the prestigious NCAA Division I Management Council, a policy-making body within the NCAA governance structure. He chaired the Division I-AA Governance Committee and formerly served on the NCAA Division I Business and Finance Cabinet, the Division I Governance Committee and the Division I Finance Committee.
From 2002-04, Murphy chaired the Athletic Directors Association of the Southern Conference. He was part of Charlotte’s successful bid to host the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championships in 1999 and 2000 and also served as Tournament Director of the first and second-round games of the 2005 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in Charlotte.
Murphy is a past member of the Division I Football Issues Committee and Past-President of the Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association. He was also a member of the NCAA Task Force on Recruiting, an 18-member panel charged with changing the culture of recruiting in intercollegiate athletics, and currently serves on the NCAA’s Fiscal Responsibility Oversight Group.
A licensed Certified Public Accountant and 1978 graduate of Davidson with a degree in economics, he earned a Master of Science degree in management from Georgia Tech in 1979. He worked from 1979-85 as an audit manager with the international public accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick in Atlanta with responsibility for financial statement audits of public and private companies with up to $1 billion in assets.
Murphy has been active in the community since his return to Davidson. He is involved with Social Venture Partners – Charlotte, chairs the Board of Managers of the Lake Norman YMCA, the Board of Directors of the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission, served three years on the Board of the Charlotte Council for Children and three years on the Board of Directors of the Town of Davidson Youth Baseball League.
hey, this Jim Murphy guy...
October 30th, 2012
5:42 pm
…might even be better than GT Joe…
Buzzman
October 30th, 2012
6:58 pm
If you remember my comment on Sat. after the game, I told you that the Director would be gone this year and Paul Johnson to. One down, one to go. Not at liberty to discuss my sources………
Old Dog
October 30th, 2012
7:07 pm
To Hell with Tek, today,tomorrow and every other day!
Buzz Kill
October 30th, 2012
7:12 pm
It will not matter who Tech hires as football coach, Tech’s academic standards are too high for most great players. Players just do not have time to do both. Keepin it real jackets fans
TECHIE
October 30th, 2012
7:38 pm
FullMetal and GTColors——c’mon men, traditional White and Gold rules. Not right tunin in a game and can’t tell who’s playing by the uni. Chasin kids with color changes is panderin to 17 yr old prima-donas who’ll be gone in a couple of yrs while offending those of us who have been here FOREVER and ain’t goin nowhere and paid our dues.! Agreed, a black or navy shirt occasionaly is cool, we used to play in navy shirts before 95% of you were born but went o whites to liven up the place as Dodd said. We even used gold shirts once in awhile(see Clint Castleberry #19). I say gold hats, white shirts and gold pants are staple. Use a diff mix once a yr maybe but that’s it. Try changin Bama’s unis or ND (they did and look what happened) or LSU’s or Michigan or OSU’s. Too much change and you lose sense of who you are and your roots. I DON’T BELIEVE ALL THE PLAYERS LIKE THAT STUFF THEY’RE TRYING TO USE NOW. The honcho from Russell even referred to the new Tech gold, sc**w him. Sorry FullMetal, I like winning but not even I could go for pink plaid lol lol
.
Overall DR did some good work for us but what is Dewberry doin now.? Is Curry too tired for job.? Great guy.!
Clyde
October 30th, 2012
7:47 pm
GT doesn’t have a lot of public fans because of so many ‘alums’ that talk down on the public fans. Countless times I’ve read comments insulting people that didn’t go to college, people that aren’t white collar. A degree doesn’t make a person better than anyone else, a degree only gives you knowledge in a specific field. I’m a Tech fan but I’m not a rich punk, which is what a lot of people think of Tech folks.
K
October 30th, 2012
7:56 pm
Bill Curry was a traitor to GT.
He was not a good coach.
Left Tech saying Bama was his “dream job”. Not Tech, but Bama!
What an insult! At the time he left, Tech fans were glad to see him go.
Then when he got to Bama, they hated his guts and couldn’t get rid of him fast enough.
So, “No” to Bill Curry for anything at Tech.
TECHIE
October 30th, 2012
8:01 pm
I’ve never bee one to call for a coaches dismissal. I like PJ’s offense mostly, it can be very exciting, pitch out around end for 50 70 yard TD looks great. His D has always allowed us to get killed if we didn’t score 50+. Watch his sideline and you see a problem. From player attentiveness to spirit to enthusiasm to happiness or something. I can’t put my finger on it but there is some problem within this team. They really don’t even hug, hi 5 and congratulate each other much at all. He has a terrible bedside manner which I know is jus his style but still it’d be nice to see him pat a boy on the back ONCE in a while. The only time I see him talking to a boy is when he’s CHEWING his butt out and having coached a little myself I came to realize quicker than he has that kids get tired of that sooner than later. Look at how other coaches TALK to or TEACH their boys between plays. Also look at how players on other teams gravitate to their coach but not PJ. Not that I see. Morale can win some games. He presented a very ugly scene late against BYU (not the first time I’ve seen it)by screamin like a maniac at a player coming off the field ( I believe Godhigh) for some transgreesion, OK, but if I was a parent seeing that I’d say “son think hard before you sign with him” and I’m not asking for a lovefest just a little more respect. I know he’s paying their bills but still they are human. Love the Jackets forever. Old Gold, really Old Gold.
TECHIE
October 30th, 2012
8:06 pm
@K———–I dig ‘ya. Possibly right, just a thot.
Clyde
October 30th, 2012
8:15 pm
To be fair, if Tech was consistently good on the football field, people would naturally migrate toward the Flats. People inherently want to be part of a winning atmosphere so, maybe a new AD and possibly DC will bring this about. I agree with those that say that CPJ won’t be kept around long if he’s losing. Expectations are too high with UGA having success, gotta try and keep up.
Tech1986
October 30th, 2012
9:02 pm
O’Leary left for his dream job at ND and was dumped because his resume was lacking, he and Braine wanted the expansion, but he left. Curry left us for Bama, and then got pissed when he didn’t get the AD job in 06, don’t need him. I agree hire someone to train Roddy Jones, would be really great if we had “the Homer Rice School of Sports Management” to train future Athletic directors, but BOR won’t let us have this. THWG
OkieDawg
October 30th, 2012
9:02 pm
With GT it is the chicken or the egg syndrome…
We get 2-3 star recruits because our academic standards are too high…
or
We get 2-3 star recruits because we run the triple option…
Well, think about it, only the service acadamies and GT run the triple option. The Big 10 (North Western), The SEC (Vanderbilt), The Pac 10 (Standford) and the Big 12 (Iowa State) all have superior academic standards and they can recruit without running the triple option. Sure, these schools are not National Powerhouses, but they do not stoop to the gimmicky triple option. You run the triple option and your program suffers.
C’Mon Man, Groh was not the problem. It is CPJ!! Really, wake up and smell the coffee.
Ken Sugiura
October 30th, 2012
9:31 pm
Bill Curry isn’t interested in the job.
billyBobjacket
October 30th, 2012
9:35 pm
What good are the great facilities going to do if we have crappy teams and crappy coaches? Having a great indoor practice facility will not convince a highly rated prospect to come here if we are losing 5-6 games per year on a pretty regular basis. These kids don’t even remember Joe Hamilton, much less Bobby Ross or Dodd, but they do remember seeing us get beat in the crappy bowl games every year.