AD Radakovich leaves, and a wobbly Tech takes another hit
Hat's all, folks. AD Dan Radakovich is a Georgia Tech man no longer. (AJC file photo)
In the grand scheme, this might turn out to be good for Georgia Tech. Who among us can know the future? But in the here and now of a football season gone unbelievably sour, seeing Tech’s athletic director hop in a car and motor 125 miles up I-85 to take the same job at a conference rival looks really, really bad. It looks as if Dan Radakovich is ducking out on a program in disarray.
For better or worse, most athletic programs go as football goes. The best move Radakovich made at Tech, or so it seemed, was to hire Paul Johnson to coach football. Now we’ve been given cause to wonder if Johnson’s success was but a two-year blip. Picked to finish second in the ACC Coastal Division, the Jackets dumped their defensive coordinator in mid-season and just lost to BYU – that’s three home losses this year, two against non-BCS conference schools – to fall to 3-5. And now the man who hired Johnson works at Clemson, of all places.
Those who know Radakovich always believed that when he left – and those folks were never under any illusion that Tech would be the final stop for someone so ambitious – it would be for a big-time SEC school. Given that Clemson has more fans and a much bigger stadium than Tech, this isn’t what you’d consider a lateral move. Still, it’s close enough to make Tech folks wonder where their beloved Institute ranks in the firmament of college athletics.
Only three years ago, Tech beat Clemson to win the ACC championship. That sweet victory was later vacated due largely to Radakovich’s bungling of an NCAA investigation involving $312 of clothing. The subsequent four-year probationary term was the first indication that this AD, who had been seen in this and other sectors as a deft administrator, might not have been quite so savvy.
And now, even as he heads up the road to Death Valley, we have further cause to wonder. Tech is set to open its refurbished basketball arena, the McCamish Pavilion, and that renovation was championed by Radakovich. But there’s no guarantee Brian Gregory, the coach Radakovich hired after finding the money to buy out Paul Hewitt, will win big enough to fill the new place. (Season-ticket sales for Season 1 in McCamish have been slow, as you’d expect coming off an 11-20 season.)
Facility-wise, Radakovich did well for Tech: He got a lot of stuff built. He also moved to fire Hewitt and Chan Gailey, coaches who’d won but who’d left their constituency wanting and expecting more. But the longer it takes Gregory to win and the longer it takes Johnson to correct all that has gone wrong in his program, the more it will reflect on the AD who just split for Death Valley.
A friend of Radakovich’s suggests his leaving is “a natural progression” – that Radakovich felt he’d done as much as he could do at Tech. But with football in decline and men’s basketball in rebuilding mode, the eyeball diagnosis is of an athletic program on wobbly legs. There’s no buzz, pun intended, around Tech sports, no sense that this always-difficult sell in a crowded metropolitan market is carving out a deeper niche. On the contrary, the Tech footprint keeps shrinking.
Which brings us to this: The next AD needs to be more a promoter than a money man. (Radakovich was the latter, not the former.) The next AD must find a way, assuming one exists, to make Tech more appealing to both moneyed alums and Atlantans who might never have taken a class at the Institute.
This is an awfully big city. Surely some folks out there might be willing to spend a bit of disposable income on a college football or basketball game if they felt it was worth their investment. Gregory has become an ardent and upbeat salesman for his program, but Johnson isn’t what you’d call a PR ace. (Neither were Gailey and Hewitt.) Somebody needs to take this athletic department and broaden the narrowing brand.
Which brings us to Wayne Hogan: He was Radakovich’s deputy, his eyes and ears, and he’s surely worth consideration as Radakovich’s successor. Hogan was the PR man at Florida State when the Seminoles and Bobby Bowden rose to national prominence in a famously amiable way, and he was the AD at Montana for nearly a decade. Hogan isn’t a numbers-cruncher, but surely the Institute – which is, after all, a school steeped in math — could find enough of those. What Tech needs more in its next athletic director is someone with a feel for the product and how best to market it.
Which brings us back to football: Johnson’s stylized offense wasn’t an easy sell even when his teams were winning, and it will become a massive impediment if Tech continues to lose. The Jackets’ recruiting under Johnson has been tepid at best, but it isn’t in Johnson’s nature to do things any way but his. The biggest move Radakovich made was hiring this football coach. The biggest decision the next AD could face is what to do about this football coach.
By Mark Bradley
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274 comments Add your comment
GTBob
October 29th, 2012
3:11 pm
Tech should hire Mike Hill, UF’s #2 Executive Associate AD under Jeremy Foley.
I don’t think hiring an SEC guy is a good move. Its what got us in our situation today.
Full Metal Jacket
October 29th, 2012
3:12 pm
Sure, Saban is a jerk, but he’s also a winner.When Johnson wins several NC, I will find his curmudgeon personna charming. We’re never going to be a perennial NC contender (no top-tier academic program will be in the current age), but we should at least have a good representative for the program. Contrasting Al Groh’s class with CPJ’s disdain and sour demeanor illustrates the latter’s shortcomings. No, I don’t want Groh as HC, but I do want someone who represents the Institute well. UGA fans may have a love/hate with CMR, but it’s clear that CMR loves the school and represents it well.
Buzz 2011
October 29th, 2012
3:14 pm
Galling!! Your input is so so important to GT!!!
You should be working instead on your article
preping your Dawgs as National Champs, right?
Tech will be just fine and your favorite continues
to amaze, right?
Ptc dawg
October 29th, 2012
3:18 pm
I always liked Pepper Rodgers.
Give him a shot.
Free Dr. Pepper is a side benefit for the dozens of fans.
Stinger 2
October 29th, 2012
3:19 pm
Very surprising the way this happened. The people who made it happen worked like magic. It will be interesting to hear DRad`s public statement if he makes one.Likewise waiting to hear from Petersen. Based on how it happened so fast, it may be good for GT that it did. Something about this does not seem normal.
GFY
October 29th, 2012
3:20 pm
I think Nebraska also sells out their stadium and they have no where near the population in Lincoln as here in Atlanta. Once again……put winning team on field and the fans will come. Have been offered tickets past two weekends but with other things going on and lack of decent team, I passed them up. Guess I am not a true sidewalk fan.
Young, dumb and full of rum
October 29th, 2012
3:21 pm
Tech is such a joke
Bumblers
October 29th, 2012
3:21 pm
When it rains, it pours!! Eh, Nerds?
markie mark
October 29th, 2012
3:24 pm
GT BOB…..your blog needs you…..you must still be over at the GA blog….now we know why….
GTBob
October 29th, 2012
3:24 pm
Based on how it happened so fast, it may be good for GT that it did. Something about this does not seem normal.
I think the best guess is that Peterson and DRad weren’t really seeing eye to eye anymore. If DRad really wanted a step up then he could have moved on already. He has had opportunities. The timing is a little strange.
markie mark
October 29th, 2012
3:24 pm
aha….you were on the 2nd page….
Typical Redneck
October 29th, 2012
3:27 pm
GT should go out and hire a local high school coach, oh wait…..
DEP
October 29th, 2012
3:27 pm
Hayseed Dixie….cute, now try growing up. Tech has so many problems and UGA is the least of them. But then again maybe Rad was tired of the same grips and excuses of why he couldn’t fillup Grunt Field or the old Gold Dump.
trueblueeagle
October 29th, 2012
3:29 pm
Where is all that money that tech grads make? Tell them to put up or shut up! They all talk about how much more a tech grad makes than a UGA grad so show us the money an fire Paul Johnson!
Independent Observer
October 29th, 2012
3:29 pm
Aren’t Tech and Georgia State both part of the University of Georgia Educational system? Have CPJ move to the vacancy at State and hire a new coach at Tech – takes care of the extended contract obligation.
GTBob
October 29th, 2012
3:30 pm
I think Nebraska also sells out their stadium and they have no where near the population in Lincoln as here in Atlanta.
Have you spent any time in Lincoln? That city is obsessed with Nebraska football. You can’t walk around a grocery store during football season without half of the people in Nebraska gear. There are banners an billboards everywhere promoting Nebraska football. It is at a pretty insane level. GT can’t compete with that if they added 50 million more people to Atlanta. That is a cultural thing that you can’t just force.
Dumbo
October 29th, 2012
3:32 pm
Independent Observer…GA St won’t go for that, they’ve already got a loser from Tech in Curry…Johnson wouldn’t be much of a upgrade
NC Guy
October 29th, 2012
3:34 pm
Mark, You have written better articles. You sound alot like Romney in this one, cant make up your mind which way you want to go.
Tech will be fine, they have been for well over 100 years. Tech will be fine after you and I have left this Earth!
Yankee
October 29th, 2012
3:35 pm
Tech is snob-based entity. They will never be big-time, so they should be satisfied with filling the niche that Northwestern does in the Big 10 and Vanderbilt does in the SEC.
TurkeyNeck
October 29th, 2012
3:37 pm
But…but…but I whipped UGA 45-42 and even got rings for our players. Why would DRad leave after all I’ve done? Why????
GT1990
October 29th, 2012
3:38 pm
It’s time to clean house and start over.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 29th, 2012
3:38 pm
We need a GT man.
Doubled up
October 29th, 2012
3:38 pm
@George Stein – Tech’s endowment (like UGA’s) is restricted to academic use, and has nothing to do with how athletics are funded. Tech is not electing to “spend it differently.”
GT71
October 29th, 2012
3:39 pm
HOORAY! 2 down (Hewitt and Radical-vich) and 1 to go (Johnson).
I said 3 days ago to CLEAN HOUSE and it’s being done.
And may Clempson choke on him!
Couldn’t have happened to a more self-serving person.
Dumbo
October 29th, 2012
3:41 pm
GIVE ME A BREAK – you mean someone with a slide ruler, a bow tie and a beanie right?
GT71
October 29th, 2012
3:43 pm
GTBob – In Nebraska, that’s all they have. The University is it for sports and entertainment. You can drive west to Denver or East to St Louis.
But it’s all corn in between.
Bobby "Pig-Sooey" Patrino
October 29th, 2012
3:45 pm
Psst…..Tech leadership….
…I am tan, and rested, and ready.
northeast alumn
October 29th, 2012
3:47 pm
Here’s an idea, ditch Russell Athletics and go Nike/Adidas/Under Armor. That should sell enough merchandises to buy out CPJ’s contract.
jay h
October 29th, 2012
3:52 pm
@GTracy 1:55 – Sorry, but Clemson is not your biggest conference rival. Clemson is looking at more than $31 million a year in football revenue alone, vs. GT’s $22 million, a nearly 30% difference. In football revenue; You’re closer to Duke or Vandy (About $22 million each in 2010) than to actual ACC football schools such as VT ($35 million) or FSU (also about $35 million).
In short, he left for a school with deeper football pockets. Nothing wrong with de-emphazing football, as GT has apparently done, but just don’t kid yourself about Tech’s place in the football heirarchy. It’s not 1956 (or even 1990) anymore.
Doubled up
October 29th, 2012
3:57 pm
@George Stein – Athletic associations are not funded by endowments. This is the comparison you are looking for:
UGAA budget – $92 million
GTAA budget – $59 million
Highly Respected Southern Troll
October 29th, 2012
3:59 pm
George O’Leary would make a fine AD for Georgia Tech.
John Ford
October 29th, 2012
4:06 pm
We really need to consider getting out of the ACC and joining the Big East. They’d love to have us and we’d be able to win conference championships quite often.
New Idea
October 29th, 2012
4:06 pm
DRad should have been fired for the NCAA fiasco, so I say GOOD Riddance. As for GT football, I have no hope. Peterson should have fired DRad and has tried to make GT like MIT, a international private institute. GT is public funded and in my opinion must support the State-Georgia that supports it. Football has been forgotten and Georgia students have been forgotten.
Apples and
October 29th, 2012
4:08 pm
Enter your comments here
Weyman C. Wannamaker Jr. (A Great American)
October 29th, 2012
4:08 pm
Something tells me that this isn’t going to help Ga Tech’s “Heat Check” score!
DawginLex
October 29th, 2012
4:09 pm
Would think this move would only cause shouts of joy over on the Flats.
Auburn is 1-7, about to be 1-8
October 29th, 2012
4:10 pm
Would think the folks on the Flats would be happy about this move
Ted Striker
October 29th, 2012
4:12 pm
This train has left and is never coming back however…I thought Curry would have been a better hire than D-Rad. Instead Curry and Tech both look a little tarnished.
John Ford
October 29th, 2012
4:15 pm
We need to wake up and recognize what’s happening. Georgia State is very soon going to be competing with us for recruits. We need to consider moving into a somewhat easier conference or we’re going to be at the bottom of the ACC year-in and year-out.
Jee S. You
October 29th, 2012
4:19 pm
George Stein: “If we come across as elitist, Jee S. You, it is only the natural result of comparing ourselves to people like you.”……aaaaaand thank you for making my point.
I was a Tech fan even after I went to GSU (and yes, I was accepted to Tech as well), but knowing that I would never be accepted as a true Tech fan, I became a GSU fan when they started football. If I’m going to root for a perennial underdog, it might as well be one that appreciates my support. I went to the MTSU game and still love the Tech atmosphere, but that game was a harbinger of things to come. Funny thing is that Tech elitists with their 63K alumni living in state and 13K undergraduates still don’t see GSU as a threat . Yeah, GSU’s 100K+ Alumni in state and 31K undergraduates are nothing to worry about – just keep focusing on “Tech men”, we’ll focus on Atlanta.
Apples and Oranges
October 29th, 2012
4:21 pm
Those of you who insist on comparing GT and UGA never get it right. Two totally different situations and schools. Number 1 GT is not and will never be a “football factory”. Number 2 what the homers fail to realize is that GT is an academic school and will NEVER EVER recruit the type, low academic level, of student, that UGA recruits. Period. This is not the 1950’s again. This is the 21st century where today’s athletes have me, me, me on their mind. I would say that 98% of the UGA football players being recruited have nothing but the NFL on their agenda. They think nothing and care nothing of what type of education they are supposed to receive. If it weren’t for football again 98% would never be in a university. GT is destined to a 7, 8, 9 win season with may be once in a 30 year period of having an outside, at the most, chance of winning a national championship. We as TRUE GT fans have to realize that and live with that. I don’t care if Saban was the GT coach wouldn’t change that. Knowing that Saban would never in a million years coach at a school such as GT anyway. GT WILL NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RECRUIT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER ATHLETES. REALIZE THAT AND ENJOY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT GRANT FIELD (NOT BOBBY DODD STADIUM EITHER).
John Ford
October 29th, 2012
4:22 pm
Why not move to the Big East and become the premier program in the conference?
Vince
October 29th, 2012
4:22 pm
Radakovich perfectly mirrors the typical tech “fan”. He’s like the “fan” who moves to Atlanta from Rochester and decides to root for the “home team” while he lives in the area, then when moved to another locale becomes a “Tiger” or “Bear” or “Dingleberry” fan It’s a “stay on the teat as long as there’s something there mentality”. No wonder you folks can’t half fill up a 50,000 seat stadium !!
John Ford
October 29th, 2012
4:24 pm
I was one of the many proud alumni at the game Saturday and will continue to go for many years. I don’t care if there are only 50 people in the stadium.
fbGuy
October 29th, 2012
4:26 pm
As others have said, the timing of this is very odd. Mid season in a losing season? Hard to figure bu i see little positive about this right now
George Stein
October 29th, 2012
4:28 pm
Never indicated otherwise, Doubled up. The point is that our graduates – in general – are more concerned with the school than the football program. The numbers bear that out. We could give money to the GTAA if we chose to do so. I buy season tickets to football and basketball but make no donations beyond those expenditures. On the contrary, I write a check every year to the college of engineering.
John Ford
October 29th, 2012
4:32 pm
Our administration needs to be concerned about 2 things that are going to seriously affect the health of the university:
- Georgia State continuing to grow as a university and compete with us for student/athletes (as well as students in general)
- UGA putting in a more comprehensive engineering school and competing with us for students who want to major in engineering
I see these 2 areas as big problems and I don’t really know what we can do about them.
GT Joe
October 29th, 2012
4:38 pm
Seriously, who cares about DRad. This move won’t help or hurt our sports programs.
Dawg Bite
October 29th, 2012
4:40 pm
GTBOB, you are correct. It is not only Lincoln, but the whole state is obsessed with Cornhusker football. Heck, many in western Iowa are huge Nebraska fans as well. I have friends in Iowa that go to every home game, and even though they are not alums of Nebraska, they are passionate about Nebraska football. As someone said, go East to St. Louis, or west to Denver, and there isn’t much in between but corn! If GT would start winning more on a regular basis, Bpbby Dodd Stadium would certainly have a better chance of selling out. As far as the costs per seat goes, that too can have a definite impact in an economy such as we are experiencing. My wife and I are on fixed income, and when UGA said we had to pay a couple grand more for the privilege of keeping our 2 seats, we bailed out. But, over in Athens they have somebody waiting in the wings for those seats, so they just plug ‘em in. I guess Tech may not have that luxury. Also, look at the grads of UGA that are in the area as opposed to Tech grads. I would think that Tech alums are scattered all over the USA, and not able to get to home games, particularly when the product on the field is struggling. Apparently Tech does need to do a better job in the marketing dept.to sell more tickets.
pike
October 29th, 2012
4:45 pm
Mark you said tech needs a promotor not a money man…then I have two words for this opening at Tech…BOBBY CREMINS…he has the kind of energy to get the Tech folks enthused again.