Georgia Tech donors see positives, but it’s time to ‘put up or shut up’

“I just think offensively we’ve made a big step forward,” Garrett said. “That’s going to translate into success on the field in the next few weeks.”

That said, Garrett is well aware of the circumstances that surround this team as it seeks a turnaround season after three consecutive three-win seasons.

“We’re in Year 4, it’s ‘Put up or shut up’ time,’” Garrett said. “There’s no (being satisfied with) great effort, there’s no almost. We get to the end of the season, we’ve got to have taken a step forward.”

A well-connected supporter, Garrett set two measuring sticks that he believes that Tech will need to achieve for Collins to be granted a fifth season.

“I think it’s really important that we don’t start off 1-4 or worse,” Garrett said. “And I think it’s going to be critically important that this football team is playing in December.”

That is to say, get to six wins and qualify for a bowl game.

“I think those are the two tipping points,” he said.

Another donor with a record of longtime and significant financial support, Steve Zelnak, gives Tech and Collins more latitude. For him, given the difficulty of the schedule, getting to .500 might be too high a bar.

“But if they win four or five games and they play better, which they certainly did against Clemson, even though the score didn’t indicate it, I think that would likely show progress in the minds of some people,” Zelnak said. “At least it would me.”

That the two supporters have different standards for Collins this season is indicative of the fact that progress is in the eye of the beholder. In an interview with the AJC in May, athletic director Todd Stansbury acknowledged that “we’ve got to win more games” but did not attach a specific win total to his expectations, instead saying that “we definitely need to be making progress.”

But both supporters also touched on a particular aspect of the season and the decision that Stansbury and Tech president Angel Cabrera may have to face. If the season goes south, the heat will increase for both to act, regardless of what their own standards are.

“I’m thinking if I’m sitting in Dr. Cabrera’s office, fielding all the calls and texts and emails, that I might want to show people that I’m trying to do something about it,” said Zelnak, who, among other donations, made the lead gift with his wife, Judy, on the basketball practice facility and endowed the dean’s chair position in the business school.

Zelnak acknowledged his statement as conjecture, “but I know how it works,” he said. “Tech has an alumni base that is not bashful.”

Likewise, Garrett’s forecast that Tech cannot start slowly – after Clemson and Western Carolina, Tech then will be at home against No. 22 Ole Miss, then plays at Central Florida before another road game against No. 17 Pittsburgh – suggests the role that external response to the season could play.

Particularly given the rigor of many of those games, it’s conceivable that Tech could be playing well and demonstrating progress but still not have much of a record to show for it. Even if the season could still be salvaged after the fifth game, when the schedule appears to ease up, the noise could grow so loud as to necessitate action.

“Where we are as a program, the first five games of the season are mission critical, and I don’t think anybody would argue that at any level of the program,” Garrett said.

It is possible that a substandard season following three consecutive three-win seasons and Stansbury’s affirmation of Collins as “my guy” near the end of the 2021 season, along with declining interest and ticket sales, could be problematic for Stansbury’s continued employment, too.

“One thing people at Tech can do is count,” Zelnak said. “I’d just put it in that context.”

The assessments from Garrett and Zelnak, who both have earned “Golden Jacket” status for contributing $1 million to the athletic department, frame this season in stark terms and offer another reminder that college football, while decorated with the festivity of marching bands and tailgates and infused with the spirit of young men chasing their dreams, ultimately is a bottom-line venture.

“I think everything’s on the table,” Garrett said.

That said, both hold out hope for the Jackets to make their turnaround. Bookmakers have set Tech’s over/under win total at 3.5. A media survey conducted by the ACC forecast the Jackets to finish sixth in the seven-team Coastal Division. ESPN metrics assess Tech’s probability of a six-win season at 7.5%.

Garrett has been particularly impressed with Long and other changes to the offensive staff, including quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke, wide receivers coach Del Alexander and running backs coach Mike Daniels. With a successful three-year stint as coordinator at Notre Dame to his credit, Long was hired by Collins to replace Dave Patenaude at double his salary (Long has a two-year deal worth $800,000 annually).

“I think he is a big-time, legitimate power-five offensive coordinator,” Garrett said of Long. “I think he has a system. I think he’s efficient at it. I think he can recognize our talent and translate that into a game plan, which I’m not sure we have been able to do the past few years.”

Against Clemson, Zelnak said, “Chip Long’s play-calling was really good against a defense that’s probably the second best, if not the best, in the country.”

Collins’ decision to invest more of his time supporting Thacker also met their approval. Garrett said that he had seen a heightened sense of purpose from the team in the preseason and also in Monday’s loss. He predicted that Tech will win six or seven games.

“Nobody’s going to be dancing on the streets at Techwood and Bobby Dodd if you’re 6-6,” said Garrett, referencing the intersection at the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium. “But you feel like, ‘OK, we’ve taken this step forward. Let’s see where we can get in Year 5.’”