Everything Georgia Tech AD Ryan Alpert Said at his Introductory Press Conference

It is officially a new era on The Flats.

Today, recently hired Georgia Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert had his introductory press conference with the Yellow Jackets and laid out his vision for the future of Georgia Tech Athletics. Here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement...

"Good morning. What an incredible honor it is to be appointed as your next Vice President and Director of Athletics at Georgia Tech. I want to thank President Cabrera, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board, and the search committee for the trust you've placed in me. The search process was thoughtful and transparent. It quickly became clear to me that our discussions, through our discussions, at Georgia Tech was not simply looking for somebody to manage the Athletics Department, but rather a leader to help transform and help shape something special and that's exactly rather a leader to help transform and help shape something special and that's exactly what I'm here to do. Before I get into my notes I do also want to recognize my family, my wife Rebecca and two girls Mary Margaret and Annie. Rebecca thank you for your unwavering support, your strength and your belief in this journey. I couldn't do it without you.

The experience and relationships and lessons I carry with me from my time at UT have prepared me for this next chapter and I want to show a debt of gratitude to J Batt. His leadership during his time here on the Flats and the Foundation he helped establish. His efforts have positioned Georgia Tech Athletics for what comes next, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to build and progress with our team. Grateful to have the opportunity to build and progress with our team. From my first conversations with Georgia Tech, it was clear. This school, this city is the right fit for me and my family. In many ways, it really feels like I'm coming home. I grew up surrounded by talented academics in my house, from my grandfather and a father, people who believe deeply in the power of education and how it can shape lives and communities. That shaped who I am and how I lead and exactly why Georgia Tech feels like home. This is a world-class academic institute with proud athletics tradition and a passionate and loyal fan base and a culture rooted in integrity, innovation, and excellence. It's also an institution that's fully aligned, beginning at the top of President Cabrera, and its commitment to having championship -level athletics.

That combination is rare, trust me, and it's exactly why I'm excited for this opportunity. I've had the privilege of working at some remarkable places with tremendous people, but it's become clear to me there's only one Georgia Tech. As I've experienced what works in this ever-changing landscape of one Georgia Tech. As I've experienced what works in this ever-changing landscape of alignment, investment, culture, and integrity. Those are the cornerstones of lasting success and they will guide our path forward. I want to give you a brief overview of those core principles but why we're here and most importantly and I saw a few student athletes as I came in. Thank you for being here and for those that are not that we're not able to make it. I'm here for you. You are the heart of this department. We will fight for you and we will support you, so to go through quickly our five cornerstones first, we will be relentlessly competitive. Our goal is clear to compete for championships at Georgia Tech. We're setting a new standard. That means recruiting and developing elite student athletes who come here to win hiring and retaining top -tier coaches, and fostering a culture where excellence is the expectation. And we will pursue that standard every single day. We will measure ourselves against the very best in the nation. This is Atlanta. This is Georgia Tech. We have a brand. We have a city. We have world-class academics, institutional alignment, everything it takes to be elite. Second, we're aligned with our academic mission and with our university leadership.

At Georgia Tech, excellence in the classroom is a non -negotiable. It's in our DNA. Our student athletes will leave here not just as champions on the fields and courts of play, but as engineers, scientists, business leaders, and global citizens. And we will align with President Cabrera, our senior leadership, and our board to be a part, to do our part to elevate the university and athletics. Third, we will invest strategically. Success does not happen by accident. It requires resources, intentionality, and the courage to invest in what matters. If we want Georgia Tech to compete at the highest level, we must match our ambition with action. That starts with growing our brand and making sure our stories are well known, not just in Atlanta, but across the nation. We will deepen our engagement with our alumni, our donors, our community, our supporters, all of those who believe in what Georgia Tech represents. Revenue generation will be critical and it will be a number one priority, not just as a financial necessity, but as a strategic driver of excellence. We will pursue bold investments in our programs, our facilities, and our people. We will ensure that our student athletes have everything they need to succeed. With the right resources and a strategic investment strategy, there's nothing we cannot achieve together. Fourth, we will prioritize our people. From student athletes, to staff, to coaches, to campus partners, we are nothing without our people. A lot of organizations talk about being a family. Our actions and words will reveal it and it will be visible, I will be visible, I will be accessible and I will listen. We will create a culture where people want to win, have an opportunity to grow and want to stay. And finally we will lead with integrity. Our decisions will reflect our values. We will be transparent, accountable and mission -driven. We will not take shortcuts and we will not stray from that mission. We will be a department that the entire Georgia Tech community will be proud of. Let me be honest, all I'm saying here, this is not going to be easy. We are going to raise the expectations, we're going to push the boundaries, we are going to challenge the status quo, but when we do that, and we will, the results will be remarkable.

To our athletes, student athletes, to our faculty, to our staff, to our alumni, to our community, to our donors, our fans. Georgia Tech deserves to win and win big. We need all of your energy. We need your belief. We need your investment. We can do this together. I'm ready. My family's ready. Let's write the next chapter in Georgia Tech Athletics. Thank you and go Jackets."

Ryan Alpert Georgia Tec — Tennessee deputy athletics director Ryan Alpert talks to the media in Neyland Stadium on Thursday, August 29, 2024. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

1. On approaching this new age in college athletics...

"Well, I think it starts, Dr. Cabrera has an integral role at the league level. I think we have to monitor, I think, my experience at Tennessee. We had a seat at the table of all the conversations of what was happening nationally. So I think I've got a great understanding of where the landscape sits today. But part of, as we look downfield, it's not just how we're running our operations day -to -day here, but being connected through my network, through the league, through Dr. Cabrera and his colleagues, monitoring everything that's going on, consuming a bunch of information, but then ultimately putting Georgia Tech in a position to succeed and what the world looks like next year, three years, five years, and will be positioned. And I think it goes back to the core principle of alignment. We have a goal, an institutional goal. We want to be great. And the things that we can handle, I think you'll hear me talk about this a lot, is we can only control our controllables. So if we went at the highest level and put our teams and our student athletes in position to do that, everything else normally works out."

2. On the new Rev Share Agreement...

"Well, the best part is we're fulfilling all of revenue share, which gives you a competitive advantage. But now we're going into the fall season, so most of that stuff is-- those decisions have been made. I'm going to spend my first 30, 60, 90 days listening, learning, understanding that the foundation that's been established. So the best part of Revenue Share is we're fulfilling the full amount, and we want to be competitive. But as we get to the next recruiting cycles and begin to have those conversations with our coaches out, recruiting 26, 27s, 28s, we'll certainly have an opportunity to put my fingerprint on that moving forward."

3. On what stood out about Georgia Tech and why he decided to make the move from Tennessee...

"Well, it starts with alignment. You'll hear that a lot. I think you cannot be successful in college athletics as a part of a greater Institute or university, you know as you evaluate opportunities and and so alignment was first leadership we've got unbelievable athletes and a program, Atlanta is a big driver for me as you look towards, you know revenue share and where the cap is and then opportunities to go seek real NIL deals and be able to attract top athletes. I mean, there's never been a time in college sports where revenue, growth, and winning have been tied together as it is today. And so I think we have a tremendous institute on the academic side. We have a value -based decision making that comes in and then the opportunity with our fantastic donor pool and the opportunity to engage the business community. Dr. Cabrera and I, last night, were at the (MLB) All -Star Game. I mean, in 30 minutes and going to several pre -game parties, you meet titans of industry. If we can tap into that, it can be a differentiator for us, and our ability to invest in our success will come through that marketplace."

4. On the state of the athletics programs...

"The success, I believe 14 of our 17 programs were in postseason last year, That tells me that we're competing at the highest level, we're recruiting great student athletes. I've had an opportunity, I had a head coaches meeting, I've begun to meet with them one -on -one. Coach Key told me the thing he likes most about his team is the locker room. And what that means to me is we have great culture and you can't win at any sport, at any level, if you don't have great culture. And so that's what I saw from afar, but you don't really know until you can get in. And obviously, I'm speaking at a very high level because I still have a lot to learn. You know, as I look through it, you know, not a ton of transfers out. And that shows me people want to be here. They value the degree. They value what the city and the program brings. And that's what I think really attracts our alumni back and investing in college sports and Georgia Tech Athletics. So a lot of different pieces, but I think it gets culture. Really excited about the culture we have here."

5. On how he can make the biggest impact in his first season as Athletic Director...

"Yeah, I mean, I got I got to think that I lean on my core principles of who I am and that's a revenue generator I'm a, I'm a grow the pie guy I know you, you know, there's all sorts of pressures going on in college sports and and so I'm always going to attack a problem with how do we how do we fund it? How do we grow the revenue? So that that'll be you know a lot of my focus. I want to keep keep culture move moving in the right direction internally both with our coaching staffs but our our staff as well but I'll focus on you know what I know best and that's getting to know our community getting to know our donors getting to know our student athletes but, but attacking our issues through revenue generation."

6. On where he can build on what J Batt started at Georgia Tech...

" Well, I mean we have some of the best alums of any institute or university in the country. So I've got to deepen my relationships with them. I've got to build a vision, so we'll build a strategic plan that talks about everything we want to do on the internal side, from a culture, student -athlete investments, but then also externally, you know, talking about season tickets and growing our sponsorship business, growing every facet of our revenue, and it's important to me, you know, we have very sophisticated people in Atlanta and our donors that we build a plan that They can speak to and have buy -in, and then we'll measure ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to where we go. And so I think yet you mentioned it, J did a great job. He and I, we crossed paths early in our career. He was at East Carolina, I was at the University of Memphis, then he was Alabama and Tennessee. So we believe in a lot of the same core principles related to revenue growth, and I think he started building something, but now we've got to take it to the next level and continue to improve and invest in our programs."

7. On how to Build Georgia Tech's Brand:

"Again, I've had great mentors and Danny brought me into every conversation we had about that, but it starts for me when it comes to coaches of how we invest in their program needs to be accessible to how we're going to evaluate them. We're always, we bring a blue collar mentality. I'm gonna bring that to work every day. We're gonna work really hard. Our coaches have heard me say, I expect our staff, myself, our coaches, our student athletes to punch above their weight class. We can achieve a lot here, but at the same time, investment level and evaluation have to have some correlation. And then from a staffing standpoint, accountability. I think that's, at the end of the day, as we put our plan together, there's going to be metrics in there. And I'm big on metrics and data and being able to follow them. And ultimately, we're going to provide the resources for our coaches to be successful, but our staff to be successful. And then there's a scoreboard for our coaches and administrations a little bit different, but there are some scoreboards that we'll be able to track and measure and hold people accountable."

8. On Georgia Tech and the relationship with the ACC...

"Yeah, I think it all comes down to, we're proud members of the ACC. Obviously I wasn't in the league a year or two ago and all that was going on, but it seems we're in a really stable position. I talked to Jimmy Phillips, you know, after I took the job and so excited to join that ADs room. I think actually my first AD call started at 10:30, so I missed this one today. But I'm big on controlling who we are and if we do what we think we can but what we can accomplish will end up and be in the best part of the ACC. And whatever happens in the future, I think if you went at the highest level, that gets recognized. And so extremely excited to be a part of the ACC. And I mean, you're talking to one of the most historic tradition -rich conferences in the country. And we've got a great pathway to all the postseason championships. So we can accomplish what we want to accomplish here."