Tech’s lost title might seem unfair but it’s not unexpected
This moment following the ACC title game officially never happened, according to the NCAA. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
Eight months ago, the NCAA issued a report that suggested Georgia Tech had all the morals and scruples of SMU’s checkbook football program of the 1980s, or Barry Switzer’s outlaws at Oklahoma, and maybe just a dash of Snidely Whiplash.
NCAA investigators labeled Tech’s general counsel an “obstructionist.” They said officials “hindered efforts to get at the truth” and tried to “manipulate” information. They suggested players were tipped off to the investigation and therefore had time to orchestrate phony responses.
The report read like a Grisham novel. Of course, it was about that close to reality – which is to say, it wasn’t. Tech isn’t devious or corrupt. It just screwed up — bad enough to lose a conference championship.
When the Yellow Jackets reached closure with the NCAA on Friday, losing an appeal of their sanctions and therefore the 2009 ACC championship, it wasn’t a surprise. To conclude it’s unfair doesn’t mean it’s not deserved. It doesn’t mean school president G.P. “Bud” Peterson, athletic director Dan Radakovich or coach Paul Johnson are felons or Ponzi schemers. It doesn’t mean Tech isn’t trying to do things the right way. But this could’ve been avoided. They screwed up.
Tech’s since-retired general counsel, Randy Nordin, and since-departed compliance director, Paul Parker, gave poor advice. If you believe the NCAA, they also treated the investigator like a slop-covered pig walking on new white carpeting.
Did the NCAA’s punishment (forfeiture of the ACC title) fit the crime (one actually never was proved)? No. There never was a paper trail, a thumb print or a public statement from anybody that said former players Morgan Burnett or Demaryius Thomas had received improper benefits. So Tech felt comfortable playing them in the final three games of the 2009 season (Georgia, Clemson for the ACC title, Iowa in the Orange Bowl).
G.P. "Bud" Peterson has disputed NCAA's findings but admitted he and Dan Radakovich probably should've responded differently.
But NCAA investigators believed Tech impeded the process, preventing them from getting to the truth. Whether that’s accurate or not — and Tech officials vehemently deny it, debating with the Committee on Infractions for 12 hours in April — this much seems certain: The Jackets would still be 2009 conference champs had they not played Thomas and possibly Burnett against Georgia. Thomas had received $312 worth of new clothes from a party the NCAA suspected was an agent (Thomas said they came from his cousin’s roommate. He never wore the clothes, and when he brought them to school in a bag to show officials, the sales tags were still on.)
Here’s where hindsight leaves the Jackets doubled over.
Had Tech followed the logical process – declared Thomas and Burnett ineligible, then filed for reinstatement – the NCAA probably would’ve suspended them for one game (Georgia) and forced Thomas to supply $312 payment for the clothes. The infractions would’ve been viewed as minor. Both players probably would’ve been reinstated for the ACC title game against Clemson. Instead, the NCAA ruled that Tech violated policy by playing an ineligible player in three games.
Two of those games (Georgia, Iowa) were losses, but the other was the biggest win of Johnson’s tenure.
Back in July, the Georgia Tech coach ripped the NCAA for their actions. He said probably what every player and fan thought: “The NCAA can’t take away the memories or what happened on the field.” Later, he added, “I’ve been in this business a long time. You see all the things that are going on in college sports today, and you get slammed for this? I mean, come on now.”
He was right, of course. This wasn’t a case of academic fraud or a sports program run amok. It’s all kind of weird. Tech realized overturning the sanctions on appeal was a long shot, but as Peterson said in a statement, he felt he had to “defend the integrity of Georgia Tech.”
Integrity is intact. But Peterson has admitted that, in retrospect, Tech should’ve brought in more experienced advisers from the outset and responded differently. A few bad decisions cost them, and as a result there’s one less trophy in the case in the Edge Athletics Center.
Some lessons are more painful than others.
By Jeff Schultz
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174 comments Add your comment
GeoffDawg
March 9th, 2012
4:07 pm
I don’t think whether or not he truly deserved to know is pertinent to his accountabilities as a football coach. Coaches lose players all the time for various reasons and their responsibility as the leader of the team is to figure out how to win without them. It would likely be frustrating not to be told, but that wouldn’t affect his approach to game preparation anymore than if they were lost to injury. Giving him reasonable notice that they’re not going to be available would only be fair but part of the job is to avoid distractions and focus on the task at hand.
George Stein
March 9th, 2012
4:14 pm
If it was for a failed drug test (which member schools aren’t even required to have) or an incident of academic fraud, I can think of no reason for Radakovich not to tell Johnson.
The report stated that Johnson wasn’t aware of the non-disclosure part of the NCAA directive (p. 9 of the NCAA report). I think a reasonable person would have, under those circumstances, asked the player what happened.
lanier
March 9th, 2012
4:17 pm
I’m impressed. Herschel can spell compass. Way to go dawg
GeoffDawg
March 9th, 2012
4:21 pm
For sure, I wouldn’t place the blame on Johnson. If not directed otherwise, any reasonable person would’ve inquired further with their players when apprised of the situation. The failure was with Radakovich for not explicitly making the NCAA compliance requirements clear for his coach. If he did tell Johnson to not discuss it with his players and he did so anyway, that would constitute blatant insubordination and would be a firable offense with cause.
ncaa knuckleheads
March 9th, 2012
4:21 pm
A reasonable person is very rare in today’s word.
ncaa knuckleheads
March 9th, 2012
4:22 pm
WORLD.
George Stein
March 9th, 2012
4:22 pm
Agreed, GeoffDawg.
Unamerican Activities Committee
March 9th, 2012
4:25 pm
The nc double a needs to be investigated.
George Stein
March 9th, 2012
4:28 pm
The players need to form a union, Unamerican Activities, and get paid.
I mean, who the hell cares whether a player got $312 worth of clothes (Tech) or a bunch of strippers, hookers, and booze (Miami). Would it bother anyone if Aaron Murray started doing ads for Athens Chevrolet?
deuce coupe
March 9th, 2012
4:28 pm
We can give the 2009 team
an even bigger trophy for going 11-3 on the field.
It had been a damn long time coming.
a reasonable person
March 9th, 2012
4:30 pm
On the field is all that really counts.
bulldogbubba
March 9th, 2012
4:43 pm
Its all about who has the money and power.The NCAA has both right or wrong.They seek and destroy. At the same time don’t get caught!!!!GO DOGS
BUZZ 2011
March 9th, 2012
4:44 pm
Might seem unfair? There is no might to it Schultz and you are aware of same!!!
wes
March 9th, 2012
4:45 pm
What a great use of the NCAA’s resources.
Geeze.
Tech Fan Since 1950
March 9th, 2012
4:54 pm
Tech messed up. It hurts. Schultz is on target and presents a good article of bad news. I hate it for the guys who did everything right on the field and off and for the fans. I hope the Tech administration has really (I mean REALLY) learned from this episode. It is always better to be open, transparent and to follow the rules….no matter what. Tech is a great school (more than the general public will ever know) with generally great integrity, but this case is now closed and it is time to move on. Go Jackets!
wolfman
March 9th, 2012
4:58 pm
The NCAA is a joke. Let’s see what happens to Miami!
GT
March 9th, 2012
5:06 pm
The other side of that is what have you stopped here. The NCAA has endorsed what? You don’t act a certain way and we will ignore your violations, which apparently is the pro quo in major college football. I think it is so overwhelmingly obvious that Tech does not take advantage of the rules and other colleges do, to the pleasure of their fans and local press. I venture here to say if the NCAA had an entire roster of schools named Ga. Tech they wouldn’t really need a NCAA. Maybe that is why they came down on them so hard, they are scared this academic athletic program might catch on other places. Hell Harvard is already started to make some noise. Can you put a team on probation that doesn’t even give scholarships. Could you imagine these idiots showing up in Cambridge and trying to investigate something like this?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
5:11 pm
To those of you saying that DRad could have suspended the players without telling Johnson, imagine this scenario —
UGA AD to CMR — Coach, I have suspended A J Green for the Tech game
CMR to UGA AD — OK, boss, whatever you say.
Now do any of you dawgs really think something like that could have EVER played out like that? If you say you do, then you’re either fools or liars.
UGADawg83
March 9th, 2012
5:11 pm
Resumegate
Poor acdemic oversight leads to mass ineligibilities
Lost championships
How does on say “lack of institutional control.”
Before my Tech counterparts mention Damon Evans, jerseys, arrests, or hash browns the issues at Georgia are basically failures of individuals. The issues at Tech are a failure of the insitution.
UGADawg83
March 9th, 2012
5:12 pm
Excuse me, How does ONE say “lack of institutional control.”
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
5:16 pm
UGADawg83, that is about as stupid a comment as I have read. The individuals ARE the institution; they are part of the whole. And what they do is symptomatic of the atmosphere propagated by the leaders of the institution. If the institution, whatever it is (and I am not just limiting this to UGA) does not DEMAND excellence in EVERYTHING, then they will end up having an institution composed of inividuals who think they can do things their way, and the institution be damned. What happened at Tech, as ridiculous as it is, paints Tech as a whole in a bad light. The individuals at UGA who have screwed up paints UGA as a whole in a bad light too.
RecentWreck
March 9th, 2012
5:20 pm
At the end of the day, regardless of how you feel about Coach Johnson’s or Director Radakovich’s personalities/competencies, the NCAA should not be in the business of sanctioning hubris. The fact that they would take something away from the student athletes (the very people they are SUPPOSED to advocate for) that earned it on an otherwise meager and feeble charge because they were unable to find what they’re looking for is ridiculous…albeit what we’ve come to expect from the NCAA.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
5:21 pm
UGADawg83, that post was absurd. The institution, no matter what institution it is, is the sum of all who are a part of it. Unless the institution DEMANDS excellence in EVERYTHING, then the individuals have the opportunity to do what they want, regardless of whom it may affect. Tech is suffering AS AN INSTITUTION because of the mistakes made at the top, UGA is suffering AS AN INSTITUTION because of the behavior (often illegal) of a few individuals. If you lie down with dogs (no puns intended here), you wake up with fleas, and UGA has a lot of fleas now because they are willing to accept individuals who couldn’t care less about the institution and whose behavior proves it.
GT
March 9th, 2012
5:29 pm
Excuse me, UGADawg83, I think it is said something like “I don’t know who those red pansies belong to officer” and if that was a Tech AD he would be telling the truth.
YellowJacket
March 9th, 2012
5:38 pm
Screw the NCAA and the Dawgs. It’ll make a nice threesome.
Really though, nobody from Tech gives a crap about the NCAA wannabes.
Jacket Man
March 9th, 2012
5:40 pm
DRad and GA Tech’s Coaches were following the advice of their attorneys, therefore they were not abusing their authority or intentionally interfering with the investigation. Anyone saying otherwise doesn’t understand the legal system and the NCAA is abusing their authority and needs policing in their own right. Without having any authority monitoring the NCAA to enforce that they are acting even-handedly with all members and students within those members.
It’s high time either the Congress or the Court system intervene and put a leash on this out of control “organization”.
GT
March 9th, 2012
5:45 pm
Red panties, chain gangs, smacking women, cheating on examines,selling stuff, stealing stuff, snoring stuff, but when it comes to violating the NCAA rules that is one line those Dawgs just won’t cross.
Alabama Jack
March 9th, 2012
5:46 pm
Dawgs suck and so do their fans who post on Tech blogs.
GT
March 9th, 2012
5:47 pm
Tell it Tide!
Mayor Reed
March 9th, 2012
5:52 pm
I’m saddened deeply today. Tech really helps our economy here in Atlanta. Not near as much as a Hip Hop concert, but helps.
Atlantan
March 9th, 2012
5:55 pm
NCAA is a joke and an embarrassment to college sports. They state they are all about the amateur athlete, but aren’t willing to share a dollar with the ones making all the revenue.
Their arbitrary decisions of punishment are ridiculous.
Albert
March 9th, 2012
6:16 pm
It could not have happened to a more deserving bunch.
Vulture
March 9th, 2012
6:23 pm
DWAG fans sure are having a good time.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
6:35 pm
I love the little swipe Shultz took at UGA in mentioning the Ponzi scheme. Of course, it probably went right over the heads of the dwags who read it.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
March 9th, 2012
6:47 pm
supersize, i would argue with you when it comes to UGA & CMR. Richt is strict, suspends players left & right, including a whole backfield of RBs, Commings Jr for next year and AJ Green. While I think the NCAA is a bunch of BS with their rulings all over the map, Richt has never tried to outmaneuver them. Oh by the fan GT Fan, its panties, not pansies…makes me wonder.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
7:04 pm
@ Dr. Kenneth, I don’t disagree with what you said, but the fact is that some of those players were problem children before they signed on at UGA, and yet you went after them anyway. And others who might have been ok prior to coming to UGA are quite possibly not receiving enough pre-infraction disciplinary “training” to prevent them from causing CMR to discipline them later. Regardless, the point I was trying to make is that the entire institution is held accountable for the actions of individual members of the institution. I posted that in response to the ignorant post made by UGADawg83, that at the very least implied that UGA can not and should not be held accountable for the actions of the miscreants. As I said, the ENTIRE institution comes out looking bad when even a few commit indiscretions or crimes.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
7:06 pm
@ Dr Kenneth, GT Fan used the word pansies, because on the Tech blogs, the word panties is filtered. Apparently the Tech blogs are held to different standards than Shultz’s blogs. I generally type pan ties, because of that ridiculous act of censorship
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
7:08 pm
@ Dr Kenneth, GT Fan typed the word pansies because the word panties is blocked on the Tech blogs. In fact, I just tried to type this response and it was blocked here too. We’ll see if it goes through this time. I usually type pan ties; GT Fan chose pansies.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
7:09 pm
It got through that time. Maybe I had another objectionable word in my original post. At any rate, it is apparent than the Tech blogs are held to different standards than Schultz’s blogs are. Interesting form of censorship, don’t you think?
LowCountry XPlant
March 9th, 2012
7:39 pm
GT loses their trophy, yet Cam Newton’s dad gets paid for him to play at Auburn and they don’t even get their hand slapped. Something is wrong with the system….
GeoffDawg
March 9th, 2012
7:55 pm
Supersize, if you can’t understand how a reporting structure works in a multi-million dollar organization, it’s safe to say that you’ll never have to worry about being employed by one.
Try going in on your next night shift and letting the fry cook manager know that you think he should shove it. We’ll see how fast you’re back scouring the want ads at the dept. of labor.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
8:11 pm
GeoffDawg, your post made absolutely no sense at all. What reporting structure in what multi-million dollar organization are you talking about? And, BTW, bubba, I am comfortably retired from 30+ years in the engineering profession, thank you very much. And it may interest you to know that you paid my salary and are now paying for my pension, since I was employed by a government contractor. Thanks for your contribution. I can assure you that UGA doesn’t get any of it.
steverino
March 9th, 2012
8:30 pm
Re-writing history doen’t change what happened. It’s a meaningless technicality. GT won the game. I saw it. ACC Champions. That is all.
With A Rebel Yell, She Cried:
March 9th, 2012
8:33 pm
NERDS!!! NERDS!!! NERDS!!!
repeat offenders
March 9th, 2012
8:38 pm
Stevirino you are right Tech won , but it doesn’t count because tech cheated, vacating isn’t forfeiting, its as if it never was. Cheating while they were still on probation from the previous infractions, probably didn’t sit very well with NCAA. So now what happens with the cheating that went on with the recently fired coach? More NCAA problems for the repeat offenders?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 9th, 2012
9:20 pm
@ repeat, call it whatever you want to in your petty little mind, but nothing was ever said in the NCAA report or in the appeal denial about cheating. There was NO cheating involved by anyone. Read the reports and clear your muddled little mind
Buzz
March 9th, 2012
9:21 pm
Got DUI? LMAO Nice job Orson, you drunk stupid punk
true
March 9th, 2012
9:25 pm
if in the sec in bball tech goes to the finals against uk
factO
March 9th, 2012
9:27 pm
i know alot of uga grads and none and I mean none of them have what it takes to really create and make it in the business world. Atlanta business is run by Tech Men
simple
March 9th, 2012
10:11 pm
Tech did not say “May I?”