Georgia Tech Athletics: Biggest Takeaways From Ryan Alpert's Introductory Press Conference

Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer Ryan Alpert stands in the new Lower West Club section of Neyland Stadium on University of Tennessee s campus, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. RANK 3 Neyland0830 0126 | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

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. Alpert spoke about many subjects regarding the future of college athletics and for Georgia Tech.

Let's dig into some takeaways from today's press conference.

1. He laid out his vision for the current landscape of college athletics and mentioned how much the alignment from top to bottom at GT is going to help....

Alpert mentioned how the alignment from top to bottom at Georgia Tech is very good and how it is going to help him navigate the new landscape of 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."

He not only mentioned the alignment, but how the rev share agreement would be implemented:

"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."

2. Alignment, Investment, Culture and Integrity are the four core principles that he wants to guide the athletic department...

During his opening statement, Alpert mentioned that alignment, investment, culture, and integrity were the four core principles that are his guiding force and will continue to be during his time as Georgia Tech's Athletic Director:

"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."

Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer Ryan Alpert speaks to the media in the news Upper North Social Deck section of Neyland Stadium on University of Tennessee s campus, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. Neyland0830 0148 | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

3. Alpert Says Alignment was one of the main driving forces for him choosing to leave Tennessee for Georgia Tech...

Alpert did a great job of fundraising at Tennessee and that was a huge driver for why Georgia Tech opted to choose him to replace J Batt. Why did Alpert want to take the job at Georgia Tech? He provided an answer for that and led it with, you guessed it, alignment:

""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. Alpert gave J Batt plenty of credit for the foundation that he laid for the job...

Although he ended up leaving for Michigan State, Batt left behind a good situation at Georgia Tech and did a lot from a fundraising perspective and revenue generating opportunities. Alpert did not shy away from giving Batt plenty of credit in today's press conference:

"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."