Georgia Tech is currently 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the ACC, which is good enough for fourth place in the Coastal Division. As the Jackets finish the year at Notre Dame and against Georgia on Mark Richt Field, it’s a pretty safe bet that they’re going to have to win three of their next four games to become bowl eligible.
With that in mind, take a walk back down memory lane with prominent boosters who had their goals in mind for Tech’s season back in September.
“My view of the world is that we ought to win six or seven,” said Steve Zelnak, a Tech grad and prominent donor to the athletic department and institute. “If things go really well, maybe we win eight. Three or four (wins) doesn’t cut it. Even though we’ve got a tough schedule, it’s time to step up and get it done. I’m pretty optimistic.”
Another major athletics donor, Gregg Garrett, said that he talks to as many as two dozen Tech fans daily as the season approaches.
“And to the man or woman, they all say the same things,” he said. “It’s time to win. It’s time to move forward with this program. And this is the year we’ve got to do it. It’s universal. And that’s rare to get a universal opinion about anything.”
Garrett feels an urgency for the Jackets to reach .500 and qualify for a bowl. He praised the work Collins and his staff have done in recruiting and player development, calling it a “miraculous job.” But he called this a “critical season” for Collins and his staff.
“I would put ‘critical’ in capital letters because if we don’t move the program forward this year, then I think that gives a lot of people – whether it’s the fan base, whether it’s recruits, whether it’s opponents – it gives them pause about where we are in this process, and is this process going to work?” Garrett said.
Of course, being a Tech fan, Garrett was already willing to hedge on CRITICAL.
Garrett offered the caveat that he can accept a lesser record if the Jackets play well but accumulate tough breaks against them.
“But I think it’s important – really important – that they’re somewhere in that five, six or higher range,” he said. “It’s time to move forward, and I think Geoff would tell you the same thing.”
Of course Coach 404 would. He can’t produce a winning season, but he can sure talk about it.
“(Collins) said the word ‘win’ more times than he has since he’s been here,” Zelnak said. “He feels like he’s got a team that can win and has the tools to do it with. He’s in a different place. I can certainly sense it and hear it.”
See you folks November 27th.
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