Under Stokan, the Peach Has Reached Elite Bowl, Playoff Status
Atlanta--Everything you need to know about Gary Stokan, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30, can be found in this story:
The year was 2000 and Nick Saban, in his first season as head coach at LSU, is working the phone and trying to find a bowl game for his 7-4 Tigers, who were coming off a 14-3 loss to Arkansas in the regular-season finale. Saban wanted a bowl destination that would help him in recruiting and, at the time, he was recruiting a number of players from the state of Georgia.
So Saban called Stokan, who was in his second year as the executive director of the Peach Bowl, and made his case.
“It was the first time I had ever gotten a call from a Coach,” said Stokan, when we recently met at the Capital City Club in downtown Atanta. “Nick said ‘we’re trying to build a program at LSU and the Peach Bowl is the best bowl we can get to. If you take us we’d love to come and we’ll perform.”
Translation: LSU would buy a lot of tickets and bring a lot of fans to fill up the hotels and restaurants of Atlanta…...
Stokan, who was in charge of team selection that year, met with his board and recommended LSU.
The board was less than enthused.
“The board didn’t want LSU because they did not bring a lot of people when they were last here in 1996,” said Stokan.
So Stokan flew to Baton Rouge to meet with Saban, LSU president Mark Emmert, and the chairman of the athletic board
“They all said that LSU would do whatever it had to do to get their team in Atlanta,” Stokan said. Convinced that the future at LSU football looked bright under Saban, Stokan flew back to Atlanta and informed his board that, despite their objections, the Peach Bowl was going to take LSU.
He also put his job on the line.
“I told the board that if LSU didn’t deliver then they could get rid of me,” he said. “It was only my second year on the job.”
Stokan called Saban at home to deliver the news. Saban’s wife, Terry, answered the phone.
“She said ‘please me tell we’re coming to Atlanta,’” Stokan recalled. “I told her “Sister pack your bags. You’re coming to Atlanta.
On Jan. 1, 2001 LSU delivered.
Big time.
LSU beat No. 15 Georgia Tech, coached by George O’Leary, 28-14 before 73,614 at the Geogia Dome, the largest crowd in Peach Bowl history at the time. Nick Saban’s building job at LSU was off and running.
In 2003, LSU beat Georgia 34-13 for the SEC championship (in Atlanta) and then beat Oklahoma 21-14 for the BCS national championship in New Orleans.
Fast forward to 2008 and Stokan was in the process of creating the first Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic game to open the season. He had No. 9 Clemson on one side of the game and believed he needed Alabama, in its second season under Saban, to guarantee a sellout.
Stokan called Saban, who remembered what Stokan had done for him in 2000.
“He said ‘You helped me and now I’ll help you,’” Stokan said. “They (Alabama) came in and beat Clemson (34-10) and on the next cover of Sports Illustrated it said “Alabama’s Back!”
That game became the launching pad for Saban’s incredible 17-year run at Alabama that includes a record of 201-28 with 11 SEC championships and six national championships.
“If Nick were here he would tell you that that the (Alabama-Clemson) game started his Alabama dynasty,” said Stokan.
In his 25 years as President and CEO, Stokan has elevated the Peach Bowl into the prestigious New Year’s Six. In the new 12-team college football playoff that starts next season, the Peach will host either the quarterfinal round or the semifinal round each year.
The numbers and accomplishments speak for themselves. Under Stokan:
**--Twenty-two of 25 Peach Bowls have been sellouts.
**--Stokan played a crucial role in bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta and then labeled the city "the college football capital of the world."
**--The Peach Bowl has generated an economic impact of $1.299 billion to Atlanta and the state of Geogia.
**--Generated $79.34 million in direct government tax revenue for Atlanta and the state.
**--Generated more than $281 million in team payouts.
**--Has become the top bowl when it comes to charitable giving, which now exceeds over $62 million in donations.
Stokan played for and then coached for Norm Sloan, the Hall of Fame basketball coach at North Carolina State. He started his own sports marketing business and was a rep for Addias. In 1998 he was hired to replace Robert Dale Morgan as the bowl’s executive director. Stokan was also hired to run the Atlanta Sports Council, an organization charged with bringing world-class sporting events to Atlanta. When Stokan took over Atlanta had just hosted the 1996 Olympics.
Stokan has accomplished every major goal he has set for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Last season it hosted the College Football Playoff semifinal between Georgia and Ohio State. The game averaged a record 21.7 million viewers.
And this year the Chick-fli-A Peach has another high-quality matchup in No. 10 Penn State (10-2) and No. 11 Ole Miss (10-2).
But Stokan is also known as a visionary who takes a serious interest in the big picture of college football. And right now he doesn’t like what he sees. The transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness have turned college football players into de-facto free agents without any guidelines. The sport, he said, needs leadership dedicated exclusively to college football.
“You need a commissioner of college football and a board of directors whose total focus is on football,” Stokan said.
“The NCAA has Dan Gavitt (VP of men’s basketball tournament) working on basketball 24 hours and day. Who is that person in football?”
“That’s what we need but we don’t have it. So we have chaos.”
But that conversation will have to take place on another day. For now the native of Pittsburgh remains grateful for the past 25 years at the Peach and all the blessings that have come with it.”
He always signs his correspondence “With an attitude of gratitude.”
“If you don’t bring a great attitude every day you are not going to get to where you want to go,” he said. "And if you love what you do you will never work a day of your life. And I love what I do."
Stokan has been married to Tia, his high school sweetheart, for 43 years. They have two adult daughters and four grandsons.
“I am one lucky guy,” said Stokan.