Between FlunkGate and ProbationGate, he has helped Georgia Tech lose 34 scholarship athletes over the past 4 years. Of which I think 24 of them were in football. How can I not like the guy?
However, for all my ball busting, extending Gailey's contract was a brilliant strategic move by Braine. He couldn't fire Gailey. Tech can't fire a guy with a winning record, who will take them to 4 bowls and has beaten Auburn twice. That was never an option.
And frankly, he wouldn't have wanted to give Gailey a contract extension after the Miami and Georgia games. The risk of two losses -- or worse blowout losses -- would make the politics of an extension very difficult. He had a 1 week window to get the deal done. And he did.
BUT just when I thought Braine was going to go an entire press conference without giving me something to bust balls about on the blog, he drops this all-time classic gem.
“Georgia Tech can win nine or 10 games [in a season],” Braine said, “but they will never do it consistently. That’s my belief.”
Interestingly, that's my belief as well. lol.
Mark Bradley has a great take on the article in the link above. He basically compares Braine's comments to throwing in the towel when it comes to the pursuit of excellence. It's the single dumbest quote that I've seen from an Athletic Director not working at the University of Colorado. Even if it is true.
I also loved this response from a fake Dave Braine poster on the AJC.com blog.
All of you need to bee reasonable and listen to what I actually said. I never said that GT should quit playing football. I never said that GT should stop trying to be successful. I just said that we should set our goals lower so that we’re not disappointed as often.
With a more clear view of success as 6-5 or better, we will be happier and more comfortable with the work our coaches are doing in maintaining our tier two status.
It’s not like we’re Temple. - Sincerely, Dave Braine
Gailey is a good guy and he doesn't "suck" as a coach. He's just the zenith of mediocrity. He's consistently average. He also owns Tuberville's ass. So how bad a guy can he be?
So raise a glass Dawg fans. Here's to 5 more years like Gailey's last four.
[Photo: Braine explains why Tech blows and will always blow.]
3 comments:
Braine is just . . . bizarre. He comes from Virginia Tech, where Frank Beamer had only two winning seasons (both of the 6-5/7-4 variety) in his first six years as coach. Since then VT has kicked ass on a fairly consistent basis, first in the Big East, now in the ACC.
But at Georgia Tech, which hasn't had a losing season since 1996, which is in one of the biggest cities in the Southeast, which sits in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country, Braine is already throwing up his hands and saying GT can't consistently win 9 or 10 games a season?
Maybe he actually believes that and maybe he doesn't, but only a complete buffoon would actually say it out loud to the media. How much you wanna bet UGA and Rodney Garner are going to be dropping that on blue-chip in-state recruits for the next 10 years? "Here at Georgia, we consistently win 9-10 games a season and always shoot for more. Over at Tech the AD has come out and said they can't even do that. Now, which program do you want to join?"
It takes a lot to make me feel sorry for the Jackets . . . but now I'm seriously tempted.
This guy also hired Paul Hewitt who has single handedly turned around the Georgia Tech B-Ball program from Laughing stock to National Power.
Hell, they went to a Final Four and made it to some Super Regionals in baseball. Guy clearly knows what he is doing...
Braine has done a very good job as AD overall (Basketball, Baseball, Golf & building the previously non-existent women's sports programs into good teams).
That being said, he's killing the football team (which is the only one that matters to the majority of GT fans). I have no idea why he said what he said yesterday, but that is a guarenteed way to piss off the big donors you just hit up for a stadium expansion a couple of years ago. Ugh.
As for Gailey's extension ... eh, I'm not sure what I think. I do think we need QB other than Reggie Ball though, as much as it pains me to say that. He is what he is, and that's mediocre.
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