If you were AD, what changes would you make to improve fan engagement/attendance/etc? Excluding winning which is the obvious answer!
KQ- That is an interesting question and something I have to wrestle with in my own realm. I think there are two things that really hamper Georgia Tech from talking to fans beyond success or failure on the field. The first one is being downtown and the traffic/parking and drama around that, especially for parents with kids. The other one is the lack of quality amenities for the average fan in large parts of the stadium like the pee troughs and the meh food options. It is why I don't go to Hawks games or some venues in Atlanta with my family, but will go to Truist or the Benz for soccer but not Falcons games.
To GT's credit, they have tried different food vendors and some things to perk that up and the food truck alley and whatever else they've tried. I'm not sure what the answer is there because of infrastructure in the stadium and the same deal with the bathrooms. You'd have to spend some serious coin and it seems like they are doing that.
The parking thing is tough because Cabrera seems to be pushing for more green spaces and they've reduced parking capacity around the stadium a good bit in the last 15 years due to new buildings going up like the frats on the corner of Yellow Jacket alley or street spaces that are gone on Techwood. The Peters Deck not being expandable is a big problem. That deck should be like 5-6 floors deep and they need at least one more close to the stadium that is that size as well.
I'd also try to create something akin to the Grove at Ole Miss for tailgating. That is a conversation I actually had with J Batt and he said that is something they've had in mind as well, but like everything, they have to prioritize where they spend limited funds.
How did we somehow entice @GTDGN04 away from the portal?
KQ- Hookers and blow of course, went old school.
Status of OL Will Reed (In portal from Princeton and now from WVU). Thought he was he coming to Tech. NEVERMIND!
KQ- Sometimes you just have to have some Patience...
When are we gonna get that CPJ After Dark show with all the stories! He’s been gone almost a decade.
KQ- I'll try to come up with something this summer. He won't be able to play golf in the summer in Arizona.
Is there anyone in either the winter or spring portal that we whiffed on that makes you think if only Tech gotten so and so the people on this site would be absolutely thrilled
KQ- Someone like Beau Atkinson would've moved the needle, but even the Army guy that UGA got that was an edge commanded a stupid amount of NIL money. Someone like that would've moved the needle for GT fans probably but they should be happy with how GT has backfilled needs.
So in the landscape of College Recruiting- what do you feel is more important for High School Recruits, Good Camps or Good Stats?
KQ- Camping as an underclassmen at a school and doing well moves the needle more than anything else you can do. It is the one piece of advice I always give kids. Also, go somewhere you know you can beat the competition to get the offer ball rolling. If that is Samford or Mercer, go there, camp and earn an offer. It gets you on the radar and makes coaches pay more attention to your film. Too many kids with no offers go to camp at Bama or UGA and ignore places like that and they stall out their own recruitment. @GTEwalt I think would agree with me on this.
1) Seems like we are picking up pieces for next season in basketball, but I am wondering how/if you think our philosophies on O and D might change this season? We were regularly hearing CDS wanted a longer rotation but was forced into a shorter one due to injury.. Do you think we will go tighter in the rotation? Any changes on D philosophy or moving away from the Nait PnR special?
KQ- I think it will be a little more wide open. All the PNR stuff came about because GT didn't have enough drive threats on the outside that could shoot to compliment the few shooters they had. Lance Terry wasn't putting fear into guys going to the rim. Kowacie was a big missing piece there and defensively. They have better rim protection now as well so they can play a little more man-to-man IMO with help against certain teams with the shot blocking they've added.
I think CDS will play with the rotation early to figure out guys like Peyton Marshall or how the newbies fit in and which freshmen are ready to go.
2) With the raises for ADJB and HCBK, coupled with our ability to hold off teams from poaching major components in the lineup, are we feeling better about our ability to sell those price hikes across the Season Ticket commitments?
KQ- I think it shows a commitment from the administration to compete with the best of the best. Fans have to do their part now and support the program by buying tickets. I hope it goes well.
With our success on the field, off-season moves, and our current schedule, I am optimistic. I could see us going 10-2 (or better) with Climpson and UGAh the most likely losses (but not necessarily). We usually stub our toes somewhere we don't expect. What are those potential traps?
KQ- I think week one is a big question because Colorado will be so different and how will Deion coach without his kids there (I think they hampered his coaching a little bit IMO). VT, Cuse and NC State are all big question marks to me especially the Wolfpack. That dude pulls 8 to 9-win seasons out of his ass every time they have a down year.
Going back in time it looks like the month of June is a big month for commitments? Do you expect us to have a big month and/or do you feel like the spring portal affects who we take in high school recruiting which then in turn can determine June (or Summer) commitments than maybe we used to see in history?
KQ- It will be the same as last summer. The bulk of the class is coming in June/July/August. We will be busy. The same conversations are going on at UGA/Bama/etc right now as a lot of these programs are going to pick it up this summer.
When will we get a projected class/in depth war room for football recruiting?
KQ- So everything kind of got thrown into flux this week with the Rivals/On3 merger. I've been on calls and all kinds of stuff as On3 tries to lock us up long-term in the merger, to be brutally honest. We are a priority for the new company and they were trying to get me to move our site there and there was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes in the last six months with the future of the site. It all came to a head with the deal going through, so now I have to put on my admin hat. We are in a good position as the network site market leadership so that is a big thank you to everyone on here for putting us in that position!
When I can breathe a little bit I'll get those out there. Hopefully, next week to be really honest.
