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
phil
March 9th, 2012
10:14 pm
Blah, blah, blah…..you Tech whiners and apologists make me want to wretch in a plastic CPJ cup….
What a bunch of pathetic losers you guys are, on multiple fronts.
Keep up those lying, cheating, stealing, stinking ways!
Sean
March 9th, 2012
10:20 pm
Wait yellow belly I forgot who won in ball this year even though we had possibly the worst bball season in tech history? You lose the bball argument, move on to something else.
GeorgiaBoner
March 9th, 2012
10:43 pm
Even I can see that “taking” away the title was an overreaction.
The only idiots on here taunting are the idiot UGA sidewalk/no HS Diploma fans.
gtkenz
March 9th, 2012
11:11 pm
Paper money, who cares. Georgia Tech was clearly the best team in the ACC in 2009………….proved it on the field. Beat Clemson twice fair and square. Piss on the NCAA. GT is the Champ and will always be the 2009 ACC Conference Champions in Football. AND BY THE WAY…….PISS ON UGAG AS WELL. THWG!!!!
Delbert D.
March 9th, 2012
11:24 pm
In case you don’t follow Joe Nocera’s editorials on the abuses by the NCAA, here is a quote from a parent, in his Jan. 12th article, “Living in Fear of the N.C.A.A” , on the Ryan Boatright (UConn basketball) case.
““The N.C.A.A. is like the Gestapo,” wrote one parent in an e-mail. “It’s out there, we all fear it, and it is all-powerful and follows its own rules and makes them up as they go along. Who are they protecting? The same thing the Gestapo protected: themselves.”
1 4 GT
March 9th, 2012
11:45 pm
It’s so gratifying to come to the AJC blogs and read the articles and blog comments. There are more Georgie nad kissers here than there are GT buzzers. A couple of them are pretty sane. The rest of them are overwrought with their sick hatred of GT. Otherwise, they wouldn’t spend so much time on the GT blogs. And all this time I thought the AJC had blogs for Georgie too. I see headlines for them, but they must be empty window dressing, just like the leg humpers heads.
GT Grad
March 10th, 2012
12:00 am
Tough news. NCAA is a joke.
fishfrypaul
March 10th, 2012
1:27 am
No. We are a joke.
a reasonable person
March 10th, 2012
2:49 am
I’m
flying a Georgia Tech flag
RIGHT NOW !
bartender
March 10th, 2012
5:48 am
Seems like the mutt lovers would worry more about their own business,like getting their own house in order,,,…..you got Otis charles running around drunk and his B**** ugaqb had to make bail….hahahahahahahah
gtfanfrom1951
March 10th, 2012
6:04 am
fishfrypaul No. We are a joke.
You must be a Dam Yankee because if your were from the south you would know that’s there nothing better southern fried fish just caugh out of the river. True UGA fans know this. NCAA is the joke you lie to them like Ohio State and get a slap on the hand..
furmanuga
March 10th, 2012
6:15 am
Without getting into the blowhard comments. This is a real shame not only for Georgia Tech but for collegiate football in the state of Georgia. Perhaps this was a situation where Tech should have reached out to UGA for advice on how to deal with the NCAA. We have lots of secondary violations that we have found it’s just best to admit it ahead of time and let the NCAA piddle around and give a slap on the wrist. trying to obstruct was just silly and really led to the hammer in the end when it could have been just a very light hand slap. Aside from all the fans who probably never attended either school who run their mouths the loudest. These two institutions should work together off the field.
Gordon
March 10th, 2012
7:02 am
Everyone can pretend that Tech didn’t win the 2009 ACC Championship, but everyone knows they did, and did so without cheating. Tech people know it, Clemson people know it, UGA people know it, Jeff Schultz knows it, and the NCAA knows it. If it makes some people happy to pretend otherwise, be my guest. If Tech had actually cheated, they wouldn’t have a claim (see USC 2005). But they didn’t and they do.
furmanuga
March 10th, 2012
7:08 am
1 4 GT, I would argue that very few of them graduated from UGA. Trust me, I can’t stand the majority of fans of any college team. Yet, I love collegiate sports. Puts me in a tough spot. The NCAA is corrupt as heck. Auburn can buy players, Bama and LSU can greyshirt, of course the rules only apply to schools who don’t bring in the lions share of football revenue.
Thomas Brown
March 10th, 2012
8:16 am
If we had not beat you in 2009, you would’ve had to Vacate it anyway.
NCAA PROBATION
back-to-back
REPEAT OFFENDERS Major NCAA Infractions database
FOOTBALL
again.
You were SPECIFICALLY TOLD by the NCAA to not discuss the NCAA Investigation WITH ANYONE.
Paul Johnson knows the NCAA rules.
Paul Johnson KNEW he could not talk to the players.
Paul Johnson TALKED to the players ANYWAY.
You think you are above the NCAA.
You think you can do whatever you want to do.
It’s just like Reuben Houston when Georgia tek LAST was on
NCAA PROBATION in FOOTBALL.
You played him against Georgia then too, and you played him the whole entire game against us. This after he had already had his interview with the AJ-C admitting with his daughter on his lap that he was taking 93 lbs of drugs in the van to a drug dealer for the purpose of selling the drugs. He jumped out of the van, he reported to the AJ-C on Georgia tek’s CAMPUS, his child on his lap trying to get away from the FBI, GBI, City of Atlanta, Georgia tek Campus, Fulton County, and DEA. 1,500 bags of drugs.
10 March 2012 update : Convicted FELON on the lam MOST WANTED CRIMINALS.
But, boy you played him against us – every minute of the game.
Nativebird
March 10th, 2012
8:36 am
It appears that the entire program leadership has taken on the personilty of its head coach since this @&$)!?()& was hired: an egoistical blinders-wearing cant-see-the-forest-for-the-trees, ability-doesn’t-match-the-mouth, jerk. Been watching football for over 40 years…I’ve never seen a larger gap between self worth arrogance and actual ability in my life. Chan Gaily is looking like a genius.
Gordon
March 10th, 2012
9:10 am
Perhaps Thomas Brown would like to enlighten us on who has more NCAA infractions, Tech or UGA, in both football and basketball? Perhaps he could enlighten us on the nature of the infractions in Tech’s 2 cases vs. UGA’s 4. Or perhaps he could discuss which program was successfully sued for warehousing student athletes, including some from its only national championship team. There is no comparison between the two schools on NCAA violations.
GT09
March 10th, 2012
9:17 am
Got out my ACC 2009 Championship ring this morning. Looks as good today as it did yesterday. Thanks NCAA. Punish 113 players for the action of a couple of administrators.
Dave from GT
March 10th, 2012
9:18 am
Sounds like a lot of you have not recovered from sniffin those red panties !!! Woof Woof !
Tech76
March 10th, 2012
9:40 am
@Thomas Brown…You need to do more research before you mouth off. Rueben Houston was allowed back on the team, because of a court order. Before that he was suspended by the Athletic Dept.
DJ
March 10th, 2012
9:53 am
Come on people…everybody knows that God told Orson Charles to drive drunk the other night. Remember Orson sites God as the reason for all his decisions. Afterall, that’s why he picked Georgia a few years ago.
Oh well, the puppies keep saying that this punishment is perfect considering the arrogance and “little brother syndrome” of Tech fans. Reading all of that makes me wonder who’s obsessed with who? So the team you root for is a middle-of-the-road SEC program…makes you so much more successful in life, doesn’t it? This ACC ttile didn’t improve my lot in life, although I had a blast attending it and celebrating it, but shockingly today I feel no different about things than I did before. OH THE ARROGANCE.
Old Gold Britches
March 10th, 2012
9:57 am
It is hard to believe Peterson and Radakovich made this big of a mistake. It is just as unbelieveable that legel advisers let them go down the path they took. Apparently the blind leading the blind.
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
10:05 am
“If you believe the NCAA, they also treated the investigator like a slop-covered pig walking on new white carpeting.”
Great line, Jeff. But I don’t think that was slop covering the pig.
Back when the story first broke, I remember reading about the investigator possibly having an ax to grind or some sort of conflict of interest. Does anyone remember the details on that?
What are the details on the investigator? Is he some young enforcement officer who is trying to “make his bones” on Georgia Tech like a young mafia hit man?
Maybe Nebraska deserves the death penalty for buying books for athletes. No wait, they generate alot of revenue and are just so gosh darn friendly and helpful. Nevermind.
Gorilla Biscuit
March 10th, 2012
10:12 am
Bet ya’ll are wondering what that nasty taste in your mouth is about now.
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
10:14 am
Coffee?
student athlete
March 10th, 2012
10:20 am
The players should seek council on possibly suing Rad, Johnson, Peterson, and the GTAA, its very clear they were negligent in managing the initial situation, they then responded with the same arrogance to the NCAA that has been exhibited numerous time to GT fans and Atlanta media.
The Student Athletes lost a trophy earned with Blood, Sweat, Pain, Dedication, Loyalty, Commitment; a badge of honor for life to be recognized and appreciated by the alumni for generations.
The hired hands (Johnson and Rad) ride off with the money, the players get dicked!!!!!
Tech Faithful
March 10th, 2012
10:31 am
No, DRad is the main culprit here. He was told what to do by the NCAA and he didn’t do it. He impeded the investigation, as did CPJ by passing on the information to players, DUH! DRad has overstayed his welcome, and it is time for him to go, Bud. As for CPJ – probation at best.
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
10:33 am
Maybe we need a Gold Standard for dealing with the NCAA.
gt4ever
March 10th, 2012
10:35 am
One again we find out how incompetent the NCAA has become…. We also find out how political the NCAA has become… There is such a double standard when administering punishment, it makes me want to puke!
gt4ever
March 10th, 2012
10:37 am
and our noodle neck administration doesn’t help! Peterson needs to grow a pair…..
Jenkins
March 10th, 2012
11:11 am
Arrogance gets you nowhere. The administrators took the same mentality the fan base does. “We are a better academic instution that all the other big athletic programs around us. They wouldn’t dare touch us”. You got what you deserved. It could have just been a hand slap but turned into so much more.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
11:31 am
I don’t see where any of you ignoramuses are coming up with the idea that Johnson is at fault in this case. It was DRAD who did what he was supposedly not allowed to do. Johnson wasn’t even involved at that point and was not until DRAD told him what was going on.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
11:34 am
Jenkins, I hate to tell you, bubba, but the most arrogant fan base in the south belongs to UGA. You think every year you are the best in the country, but you haven’t even been the best in the SEC in more than 5 years.
captguitarman
March 10th, 2012
11:36 am
Since the Puppies and the “bumble” Bees have decided to use this news and this blog to have an always entertaining skirmish (who are the true southerners because they know about about fresh fried cat fish straight out of the river, and who is not because they don’t, and other such nonsense) the bigger issue is kind of getting lost here. Did Tech screw up? Sounds like it. Did they deserve to lose the ACC title because of it — absolutely not. This is all about NCAA arrogance and control, and an all powerful organization carrying out as many executions as it can before the enemy (the indentured servants who play the games) finally breech the gates. They hear the foot steps, the court cases in progress, and it makes them edgy and irritable. And no better way to demonstrate your power in a big showy way than using an elephant gun to kill a fly. The NCAA did this for the same reason a dog licks his own private parts –because they could. Happily that day may be coming to an end.
This problem stems from the same old problem that the NCAA deals with that effects all major, big time college sports — and if you look at the current state of things in the big picture — you begin to undersand how ineffective the NCAA is becoming. Taking a title for something like this (because Tech complained publicly, didn’t properly genuflect and kiss the investigator’s ring, and did not engage in the acceptable (wink, wink) charade of sitting the players down, so they could be ceremoniously and magnanimously forgiven and reinstated by the omnipotent NCAA) is silly and ridiculous and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows it.
The root of this problem is the legal indentured servitude and the myth of the student athlete in big time college sports, which the NCAA is determined to defend until its dying breath – and it may get its wish. All of this controversy, titles taken away, schools ineleigible to compete for titles, players being sat down based on gossip and conjecture (Cam Newton, for example), decisions being made that effect games, titles, bowl games, player’s careers — over what? Peanuts in the big picture. Peanuts! Less than peanuts, if you get down to it. $312 worth of clothes that were never worn? Are you kidding me? It costs twice that or more for one ticket to a big rivalry game. Unfortunately, all of the silliness on these pages just doesn’t get to the point.
These players bring in millions/billions of dollars for the schools they play for, and they get a free college education for their efforts. Is that a valuable thing? Of course it is, for the few who actually graduate. But these kids are brought in not because they are great students, they are brought in to play football and basketball, and once they do that successfully, whether they graduate or not is in most cases not a concern. This system brings in untold wealth for schools, college adminstratiors, coaches, TV networks, athletic equipment suppliers, journalists, businesses of all types and yes, the NCAA executives and enforcers. There is a federal case pending now that may ultimately change the system and require that the indentured servants get paid for the real value they are creating. Meanwhile the NCAA will do whatever it can do to keep this golden goose alive and laying golden eggs for the schools, adminsitrators, coaches, etc. that it truly serves.
GTSteve
March 10th, 2012
11:43 am
YOU had a soccer player steal hash browns….from that point forward, your argument is invalid!!
GO AWAY
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
11:45 am
GTSteve, and now they have the might Orson Charles arrested for DUI. The cesspool of the south is a black hole of garbage
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
11:46 am
While S Hill is working his butt off trying to prove his worth to the NFL, Charles is out carousing and getting drunk. Which one would you rather have on your team?
GTSteve
March 10th, 2012
11:47 am
What is funny to me is that…their AD was caught with a prostitute, and they still think they run a class program……and they think CPJ is arrogant…..they are blind and ignorant
GTSteve
March 10th, 2012
11:48 am
I might change my screen name to “Would you like hash browns with that”
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
11:53 am
GTSteve, that would imply that you are the server, so that won’t do. How about “Give me hash browns with that” instead. However, since the hashbrowns might have been down the server’s pants, I don’t think you want any. LOL
GTSteve
March 10th, 2012
12:00 pm
Good point buddy
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
12:04 pm
always here to help, Steve. lol
Fred
March 10th, 2012
12:13 pm
The NCAA has LOST control. The colleges, the college presidents, and the NCAA have all lost control of college athletics. With no control over the important things, the NCAA is reduced to enforcing technical violations–or “almost violations.”
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
12:36 pm
How about Thomas “Hash” Brown? He’s as bad a WnE if they are not the same person.
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
12:36 pm
bad as. my bad.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 10th, 2012
12:59 pm
HT, there is no doubt that Thomas Brown is a damn fool
Gt fan
March 10th, 2012
1:03 pm
To George Stein & Geoffdawg from earlier on this blog ….
Could it be possible that the NCAA investigator in 2009, who we all know was a former UNC player, knew that $312 in clothes was not going to get GT in trouble so he had to find a way to make something stick?
Could it be that maybe he has a personal vendetta against GT or that he wanted to move the microscope from UNC to GT?
So he comes up with “Don’t tell your HC, but we (NCAA) are going need 2 of his best players to sit out some games while we conduct an investigation” all the while knowing the AD is going to inform the HC. THUS, the NCAA is now armed with a “they didn’t obey our order to NOT say a word to anyone, especially the HC” defense.
Now, let’s put this same logic to work for UGA and the AJ Green jersey thing. The NCAA comes in and tells the AD sit one of the team’s best players while they investigate/interview, and he [AD] cannot tell anyone, especially the HC, why. Really?
Buttsmehre
March 10th, 2012
2:55 pm
It’s just an ACC title. Does it really matter?
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
3:09 pm
Sounds like a trap, Gt fan.
HighTech
March 10th, 2012
3:23 pm
Herschel Talker
March 9th, 2012
3:01 pm
Schultzie:
Who cares? Tech is irrelevant except if you want to learn how to best use a compass and protractor or if you want to perfect your technique with a samurai sword or if you want to learn how to make moo goo gai pan.
HT
———————————————
It’s funny the amount of interest Dawg fans have in GT’s football program. You know, with our being irrelevant and all.