Punishment severe, but Georgia Tech made its own mess
Georgia Tech's athletic director Dan Radakovich (right) and president G.P."Bud" Peterson were upset with NCAA's findings and language, but admitted errors. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
There are a number of disturbing words that can be found in an NCAA news release. Booster. Agent. Academic fraud. The dreaded string: Lack of institutional control.
But this one ranks as one of the most troublesome: Manipulate.
If you believe the NCAA, Georgia Tech officials not only failed to cooperate with an investigation into possible impermissible benefits, they impeded, obstructed and tossed up road blocks.
The public infractions report reads like it was crafted by a performance-enhanced novelist. Claims that Tech attempted to “manipulate the information surrounding potential violations.” Claims that the school “hindered efforts to get to the truth.” Claims that former general counsel Randy Nordin, “adopted an obstructionist approach” to the investigation and referred to an NCAA staff member as “demonstratively untruthful.”
Maybe some of that is blather. But too much of it is truth.
Tech and its athletic department were slapped Thursday. They deserved to be.
While a case certainly can be made that the punishment is excessive – the Yellow Jackets effectively were stripped of their only ACC football championship in 2009 because one player received $312 worth of merchandise more than 20 months ago – a better case can be made that they had it coming.
Sorry. But a school whose title includes the words “Institute of Technology” should know how to read a manual.
Jackets coach Paul Johnson lost his ACC title. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
In 2005, Tech went on two years’ probation because it used 17 athletes in four sports (11 in football) that it should have ruled academically ineligible. It lost scholarships and was forced to vacate rules. Now it has been hit with four years’ probation in football and basketball, fined $100,000 and must vacate records from the last three games of the 2009 football season (including the ACC title-game win over Clemson) because it acted stupidly when confronted with charges of using an ineligible player (Demaryius Thomas) and having a former basketball grad assistant involved with an on-campus AAU tournament.
Tech president G.P. “Bud” Peterson and athletic director Dan Radakovich both largely disputed the findings of the NCAA. (Tech had an official 53-page response to a 26-page infractions report.) But they were remorseful and Radakovich even apologized to the football team for the lost ACC title.
Paul Parker, the Jackets’ compliance officer at the time of the infractions, left the school in April to take a job at (ironically) Auburn. Radakovich did not publicly place any blame on Parker. But neither he nor Peterson were as kind to the school’s former counsel, Nordin, who has since retired.
“Perhaps we should’ve done some things differently,” Peterson said. “He didn’t have a great deal of experience in issues like this, and I believe if we had to do this all over again we would’ve hired an outside consultant to advise us and serve as legal counsel.”
He also cited the NCAA report saying that Nordin failed to inform the players of the consequences for lying. “Someone who had the experience working with the NCAA would know that’s their expectation,” Peterson said.
Actually, that seems more like common sense.
So is this: When the NCAA told Peterson and Radakovich not to inform anybody in the football program that an investigation was coming, that wasn’t merely a suggestion. But Radakovich told coach Paul Johnson. It trickled down from there. Radakovich said he never intended to influence the investigation, but he admitted it was a mistake.
Tech’s hearing took place at the worst possible time: the off week before the Georgia game, two weeks before the ACC championship. Thomas, a wide receiver, and safety Morgan Burnett both were the focus of the investigation into the football team. The Jackets rolled the dice. That was a mistake. (Georgia, in a similar situation last year, held out A.J. Green in the season opener before the NCAA suspended him four games for “Jerseygate.”)
Peterson was led to believe the players were innocent. He now says the school should have at least declared Thomas ineligible and then appeal for his immediate reinstatement. (Thomas denied the clothes were given to him by former Tech player Calvin Booker, whom the NCAA considers a runner for an agent. There were no findings with Burnett, but the NCAA blames Tech for letting the players know that investigators were going to ask them questions.)
It all may seem way too convoluted and the punishment too severe for what the NCAA admits ultimately could be a secondary infraction. But the mess is Tech’s doing.
“We could’ve done better,” Peterson said.
A tough lesson to learn.
By Jeff Schultz
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431 comments Add your comment
JB needs a job
July 14th, 2011
8:24 pm
JB you and you’re dumb school have no room to talk. Don’t even go there. You have been on here all day. No job?
1eyedJack
July 14th, 2011
8:25 pm
By my calculations, our 1st round receiver is ahead of ya’lls 1st round receiver by about 685 bucks. Now who’s smarter?
St Simons Island Yellow Jacket
July 14th, 2011
8:25 pm
My mirror is unattractive and now everyone knows…ouch!
GaDawg
July 14th, 2011
8:25 pm
To the Lady who use to write all that dribble on the UGA blogs about the Integraty of Tech and it’s program, well all that’s left to say is WHOOP THERE IT IS
Where was the AJC for the Last 6 Months?
July 14th, 2011
8:25 pm
Jeff,
You and your AJC colleagues should also be embarrassed. Where was the AJC’s reporting of the NCAA investigation? Tech’s case was heard back in April. No open records request of the “saintly” Yellow Jackets program. The hometown paper who claims “to cover Dixie like the dew” got scooped. Pathetic reporting, but more the norm than the exception. Two NCAA probations in 6 years for the North Avenue Trade School. You boys better be looking under every rock on the Flats in the future.
Pinball34
July 14th, 2011
8:27 pm
Hey Mr. AD,
You can’t blame this one on Mike Stamus. Try looking in the mirror…
GT70
July 14th, 2011
8:27 pm
If memory serves me Jeff, Tech was ACC football champs also in 1990 and co-champs in 1998. Tech will survive this.
JacketFan
July 14th, 2011
8:27 pm
Shultz you are such a jerk. $312 is worth vacating an ACC title? Really? That’s your stance? The NCAA rules on something of this (light) magnitude are asinine at best. It will be appealed and you will eat your stupid words. Jerk.
NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!!
July 14th, 2011
8:30 pm
NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!! NERDS!!! 9-1!!!! $312!!!
ATLER (ramblin wreck )
July 14th, 2011
8:30 pm
If you read the actual report the NCAA released, their description of the cover up is a pathetic reach. The NCAA has realized that they have very little power and in an attempt to get it back they are dropping the hammer on every little thing.
Eddie from acworth
July 14th, 2011
8:31 pm
Maybe Paul Johnson should just punch everyone in the face.
Arrogant tech idiots. Uga still runs this state.
BDK
July 14th, 2011
8:32 pm
For all you tech fans that get ecstatic every time a 18 yr old uga player forgets to pay a parking ticket…there is no comparison. Go Dogs!
jeff you showed your a dick
July 14th, 2011
8:33 pm
as recently as last week you had an article on the dawgs rb that flunked out and did not open it to comments.
and here you are with an open comments section.
your a DICK!
ATLER (ramblin wreck )
July 14th, 2011
8:33 pm
I heard Caleb King is An 2011 SEC academic all-American scholar!!!!!
with all these dawg comments you would think
July 14th, 2011
8:35 pm
that there are more of you who dont know your abc’s.
GT93
July 14th, 2011
8:35 pm
Jeff … I recommend closing the Comments Section.
I am a stupid ginger and my name is Jeff
July 14th, 2011
8:36 pm
Screw you Jeff…No one likes you and you can’t write a good article to save your life. I am not worried at all though..You will lose your job one day because someone can and will do it better.
You are a biased piece of you know what and I hope you read the articles written recently about you and other AJC articles…
To hell with the AJC
here is some real reporting....
July 14th, 2011
8:37 pm
http://georgiatech.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1240453
1eyedJack
July 14th, 2011
8:38 pm
“I heard Caleb King is An 2011 SEC academic all-American scholar!!!!!”
He was just awarded the Reggie Ball Academic scholarship.
Newnan GT
July 14th, 2011
8:38 pm
The NCAA is a joke or crooked one. Seems like they attack the smallest infractions yet overlook the big money schools that have illiterate atheletes. Someone should investigate the NCAA. Wonder how much money is passed under their table.
MC
July 14th, 2011
8:39 pm
It’s the coverup jacketfan. Get it, moron.
Glenn
July 14th, 2011
8:40 pm
Delbert D. hit the nail on the head. A friend/former teammate of the players was hanginging withe the guys in Atlanta (this is his home town) after he had already graduated and left the program, and as far as they knew, he was giving them a couple of gifts from himself; no knowledge of any affiation with an agent.
As soon as everyone discovered Calvin had actually become employed by an agent and made contact with the Tech players, the items were immediately returned and no further contact was made with Calivn…no direct contact was ever made with any agent.
Again, the value of the items was approximately $350.00; less than the cost of a nice wristwatch.
Jeff is garbage
July 14th, 2011
8:40 pm
You are an idiot Jeff!
Mark (another one)
July 14th, 2011
8:41 pm
The NCAA needs to pass a rule that when a student violates NCAA rules, the institution must sue the athlete for actual and consequential damages. Same rule for coaches.
Tech Boss
July 14th, 2011
8:41 pm
Laughing Dawg. Turn in your broom and apron. You’re fired.
Boobie Bowden
July 14th, 2011
8:43 pm
Dang NCAA guys really had their red panties in a wad, didn’t they?
MC
July 14th, 2011
8:44 pm
Newnan GT 11 academically ineligible football players pretty much says “illiterate”. And then there’s Reggie I can’t count to 4 Ball. GT…….LMAO!!!
whocares
July 14th, 2011
8:44 pm
To those of you who are questioning the Engineering program at GA TECH, you’re just as stupid as any of these atheletes who accepted gifts or sold their jerseys. But, since you brought it up, why don’t you ignorant tools go look up the stats for the placement rate of the grads from GT’s engineering program into NASA…? I’m sure the tractors that will come out of UGA’s “engineering school” will be nice, too. But why argue with you brilliant minds who can’t even use the correct form of “their/there/they’re”…?
dawg in exile
July 14th, 2011
8:44 pm
How typical of Techies! The comments by the North Ave. Nerds about UGA when the A.J. Green incident hit the news last year was soooooo smug. But when they get caught it is dismissed as a minor infraction, and columnists writing anything negative about the GT Geeks are castigated. Admit it for ONCE, Techies – your athletes are the same as at any other major college – kids who sometimes screw up. And your AD/program do the same as any other – put the best spin on things after they get busted. Lose the smug arrogance.
Student Athlete
July 14th, 2011
8:46 pm
These three (Peterson, Rad, and Johnson) clearly conspired to tamper with an NCAA investigation, they should be fined and fired, the only ones damaged by this sanction are the players and fans…. These three conspirators are still banking all the money, if Johnson is such a character guy he should give back all the bonuses and the salary bump, Drad should pay the $100k out of his own pocket, Peterson should take a 50% pay cut and clean the restrooms at BD after every game for the next four years, better yet all three should clean’em!!!!!
Paul in RDU
July 14th, 2011
8:46 pm
1eyedJack
July 14th, 2011
8:25 pm
By my calculations, our 1st round receiver is ahead of ya’lls 1st round receiver by about 685 bucks. Now who’s smarter?
———-
Great post – I am still laughing.
Get It Right
July 14th, 2011
8:47 pm
In the NCAA news conference the NCAA kept referring to Tech as the University. Was he confusing Tech with the other University with the name of Georgia in it or like the report they failed to get there facts straight. Army, Navy and Air Force, Tech and Boston College are the schools in the NCAA without the word UNIVERSITY in the name.
Paul's Johnson says hey wait a minute
July 14th, 2011
8:48 pm
Let me explain. GT has sucked for decades. We finally had a chance to win a title. The ACC was as weak as it has ever been. We were as strong as we have ever been = we rolled the dice and got snake eyes. So now we vacate 3 games (two of which we lost anyway) and my fans are up in arms. You guys better straighten up and follow me over the cliff or I’ll punch you in the face.
boots
July 14th, 2011
8:48 pm
Say what you will about my Dawgs, but when AJ Green was being investigated for something similar, we sat him for four games, and it cost us – a lot. When Caleb King was unable to play due to grades, we let him go. Tech played their players and tried to cover up the problems. Techies, don’t lecture us about honor for a while until you clean up your own problems and stay clean. Cheating is wrong – whether you are playing football, D&D or World of Warcraft.
AustinJacket
July 14th, 2011
8:48 pm
I’m upset that Tech doesn’t know how to handle these situations, but then we dont have as much practice as some other schools, and we probably don’t have an ex-NCAA lawyer on staff. If this went down the way it’s reported, Tech should take it’s punishment and figure out how to respond to the NCAA.
But there’s a part of me that’s more and more pissed about the direction of college football, and the actions of the NCAA. Void a championship? $100K? At a school like Tech that doesn’t have that many championships to its name and to whom $100K is a big deal? All over poor judgment and $318 in clothes? Give me an f%&*ing break. NCAA can afford to hammer Tech because it’s fans don’t pay the bills. Hammering Tech doesn’t damage the brand. No way this happens to half the SEC or Big10, or TX OU, USC… The NCAA is gutless and inconsistent. They have egg on their face for being slow to discipline Tenn, USC, OSU, so they butch up going after a school that doesn’t have attention of 99% of college football fans. The fans for the big schools pay the bills…the other 100 teams don’t matter
Way to go NCAA…you really handed it to the crooks this time.
Farnsworthy
July 14th, 2011
8:48 pm
When University Presidents and Athletic Directors (i.e., not just the coach) start getting fired when this stuff happens, then it will end..
Paul Hewitt
July 14th, 2011
8:50 pm
I see things have really fallen apart since I left.
theriddler
July 14th, 2011
8:51 pm
DRAD’s a bum. Two terrible hires and now this. Yikes…
Old Blind D
July 14th, 2011
8:52 pm
Enter your comments here
JB
July 14th, 2011
8:53 pm
There are two or three classy Tech folk on here. Judge for yourself the rest.
1962 DAWG
July 14th, 2011
8:53 pm
Jeff
Does this give UGA 10 wins in a row against Ga. Tech?
Yes
The Real Story
July 14th, 2011
8:53 pm
Maybe Tech Alumni will wake up and realize that their push to hire Dan Radakovich was a mistake. Dan will use Tech as a stepping stone to a bigger job. He doesn’t really care about Tech. Much of this is his doing… he blabbed when he should have had the integrity and discipline to keep his mouth shut. The penalty is actually more bark than bite, but it is embarrassing for anybody who graduated for Tech. We stand for much more than this. Dan’s legacy will be the following:
- a plan to improve athletic facilities that called for the Athletic Department to borrow enough money to choke a donkey.
- poor treatment of Danny Hall (the only perennial winning coach at Tech) and Wes Durham (an institution in his profession).
- letting Paul Hewitt hang around too long.
- hiring Paul Johnson (the jury is still out on this one).
If you have poor judgment on the NCAA issue, you will have poor judgment on other things. Many of these poor decisions are starting to smell….
Old Blind Dawg
July 14th, 2011
8:55 pm
As I was going to say @Farnsworthy when players lose ALL eligibility for breaking rules it will stop. But I doubt it will ever get better.
Roddy Jones
July 14th, 2011
8:55 pm
If that makes you feel good 1962 Dawg….
Lakedawg
July 14th, 2011
8:56 pm
Austin Jacket. seldom do I agree with a Tech fan, but does seem Tech and Carolins got hammered quickly while a couple situations in SEC is sliding by.
1eyedJack
July 14th, 2011
8:56 pm
We’re also claiming a moral victory for 2008.
JB
July 14th, 2011
8:56 pm
Austin Jacket………..Did you say Tech doesn’t have enough practice to handle these situations? Are you new to Tech. 2005 and 2006 ring a Bell. Probation. 17 ineligible athletes in four sports, 11 in football allowed to play…………….It’s getting better as the evening goes on.
TheAntiMe
July 14th, 2011
8:57 pm
The NCAA’s War on Student Athletetes has much in common with the federal government’s War on Drugs. Neither has any reasonable expectation of ever being successful and are just a way of artificially providing unnecessary job security for worthless legislators and enforcement officials. A total joke.
Bulldog Fan
July 14th, 2011
8:58 pm
Tech fans: Ha, ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha! Yuk, yuk, yuk! Har, har, har, har!!…………………………what a riot!! Tech has been exposed as a bunch of cheaters, and stupid cheaters at that. I’m loving this! This is cause for a weekend of celebration.
P.S. Tech gets stripped of an ACC title—(as we SEC fans all know, the ACC is the minor league of college football).
Roddy Jones
July 14th, 2011
8:58 pm
JB sleeps with a man every night!