| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
| Athletic director | Ryan Alpert |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Varsity teams | 17 |
| Football stadium | Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field |
| Basketball arena | McCamish Pavilion |
| Baseball stadium | Russ Chandler Stadium |
| Other venues | George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility |
| Mascot | Buzz &Ramblin' Wreck |
| Nickname | Yellow Jackets, Ramblin' Wreck |
| Fight song | "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" and "Up with the White and Gold" |
| Colors | Tech gold and white[1] |
| Website | ramblinwreck |
 | |
TheGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent theGeorgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located inAtlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed theRamblin' Wreck, Engineers, Blacksmiths, and Golden Tornado. There are eight men's and seven women's teams that compete in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division I athletics and theFootball Bowl Subdivision. Georgia Tech is a member of the Coastal Division (divisional system not in use) in theAtlantic Coast Conference.
The officialschool colors for Georgia Tech are tech gold andwhite.[2] Navy blue is often used as a secondary color and foralternate jerseys, while black has been used on rare occasions. The traditionalrival in all sports is in-stateUniversity of Georgia. This rivalry is often referred to asClean, Old-Fashioned Hate. There are also rivalries with out-of-stateAuburn andofficial conference rivalClemson.
The athletic department is run by theGeorgia Tech Athletic Association, a private organization located on campus. The current athletic director is Ryan Alpert. The department dedicates about $53 million per year to its sports teams and facilities. From November 28, 2016 until his dismissal on September 26, 2022, theathletic director of Georgia Tech wasTodd Stansbury, who replacedMike Bobinski after the latter left for the same position at Purdue.[3] On October 14, 2022, formerAlabama executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer, and chief revenue officer J Batt was hired, with his tenure beginning 10 days later.[4] Most athletic teams have on-campus facilities for competition, includingBobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field forfootball, theMcCamish Pavilion at Cremins' Court for men's and women'sbasketball, andRuss Chandler Stadium forbaseball.
Georgia Tech was a founding member of theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1895. Georgia Tech was one of the 14 schools that split to found theSouthern Conference in 1921. Thirteen schools including Georgia Tech split in 1932 to form theSoutheastern Conference.[5] In 1956, the Yellow Jackets played in the first integrated Sugar Bowl game under civil rights advocateBlake Van Leer's tenure.[6] The Yellow Jackets left the SEC in 1964 and remained independent until becoming a founding member of theMetro-6 Conference in 1975.[7] Georgia Tech moved to theACC in 1978 and began competition within the ACC in 1979.[7]
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross country |
| Cross country | Softball |
| Football | Swimming and diving |
| Golf | Tennis |
| Swimming and diving | Track and field† |
| Tennis | Volleyball |
| Track and field† | |
| † – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor | |
The Georgia Institute of Technology sponsors teams in eight men's and seven women'sNCAA sanctioned sports.[8] Georgia Tech is the onlyPower Four school that does not sponsor women's soccer.[citation needed]
The football team is traditionally the most popular at the Institute. The games are played atBobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field or simplyThe Flats, which is the oldest on-campus stadium in Division I FBS football. The stadium was expanded in recent years, increasing the maximum capacity to 55,000.
Georgia Tech plays an Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division schedule in addition to yearly cross divisional games against Clemson[9] and two other Atlantic Division teams. In addition, the team has a yearly out-of-conference meeting with Georgia at the end of the season known asClean, Old-Fashioned Hate.
The football team is in the top 20 winningest Division I-A programs and was the first team to win all four of the historical big four bowls – the Rose (1929), Orange (1940), Sugar (1944), and Cotton (1955). Georgia Tech has won four national titles in the years 1917 going 9–0 underJohn Heisman outscoring opponents 419–17,[10] 1928 going 10–0 underWilliam Alexander outscoring opponents 221–47, 1952 going 12–0 underBobby Dodd outscoring opponents 325–59, and 1990 going 11–0–1 underBobby Ross outscoring opponents 379–186.[11]
The Yellow Jackets have won a total of 15 conference titles. They won 5 SIAA titles in 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, and 1921; 3 Southern Conference titles in 1922, 1927, and 1928; 5 SEC titles in 1939, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1952, and the 1990, 1998 and 2009 ACC championships along with the 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2014 ACC Coastal Division Championships. Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech won the 2009 ACC Championship in Tampa Florida. The team has played in 46 bowl games, posting a record of 26-20. The resulting win percentage of 0.629 is currently the second-highest among teams with over 20 bowl appearances.[11]
Three Jacket players were named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team in 2002:Marco Coleman, OLB; Joe Hamilton, QB; and Ken Swilling, DB. Some notable and more recent Georgia Tech football players are three-time All-AmericanCalvin Johnson,Keith Brooking,Joe Burns,Marco Coleman,Joe Hamilton,Tony Hollings,Dorsey Levens, andArizona Cardinals head coachKen Whisenhunt. ThreeAtlantic Coast Conference Players of the Year hailed from Georgia Tech. They were Joe Hamilton (1999), Calvin Johnson (2006), andJonathan Dwyer (2008).
The Georgia Tech men's basketball team plays its home games in the newMcCamish Pavilion The program saw its most sustained success under the tenure ofBobby Cremins. Bobby Cremins led his team to the first ACC tournament victory in school history in 1985, and in 1990 he took Georgia Tech to the school's firstFinal Four appearance ever. Cremins retired from Georgia Tech in 2000 with the school's best coaching win percentage.
The current head coach of Georgia Tech isDamon Stoudamire, who took over fromJosh Pastner in 2022. Up until March 2011,Paul Hewitt was the head coach Georgia Tech. Helping revitalize a stagnant program in 2004, he led Georgia Tech to aCinderella season as the school earned its second berth in an NCAA national title game in any sport. That team won thePre-Season NIT, ended Duke's 41 game home winning streak, and finished its season losing by 9 points in the national title game toConnecticut. Hewitt was fired on March 12, 2011 after having three losing seasons over the previous four years.[12]
Some notable and more recent Georgia Tech basketball players areJosh Okogie,Iman Shumpert,Derrick Favors,Anthony Morrow,Javaris Crittenton,Thaddeus Young,Stephon Marbury,Matt Harpring,Dennis Scott,Kenny Anderson,Travis Best,Chris Bosh,Jarrett Jack,Mark Price, andJohn Salley.
Like the men's team, thewomen's basketball team plays its home games inMcCamish Pavilion. The current women's coach isNell Fortner, former US Women's National Team coach from 1997-2000.[13]
Baseball is a very successful sport at Georgia Tech. The baseball team makes its home atRuss Chandler Stadium, and is one of the premier baseball teams in theNCAA. Georgia Tech baseball is notable for its high-scoring offenses, and stout defenses.
The team's success is guided by head coachDanny Hall. Hall has coached Tech for 13 seasons and has posted 579 wins over that span. He has led Georgia Tech to 12 years of NCAA regional play, and its only threeCollege World Series appearances in 1994, 2002, and 2006. The baseball team, under Hall, has become an annual contender for the ACC regular season and tournament titles winning each four and three times respectively.
Some notable Georgia Tech baseball players areErskine Mayer,Kevin Brown,Nomar Garciaparra,Matt Murton,Kevin Cameron,Charlie Blackmon,Matt Wieters,Eric Patterson,Brandon Boggs,Jay Payton,Mark Teixeira, andJason Varitek.[14] Jason Varitek's number 33 is one of two numbers retired, Coach Jim Luck's number 44 is the other.
Georgia Tech fields a softball team under coach Aileen Morales.[15] In 2011, the team won their third straight ACC Regular Season title. Also in 2011, Sharon Perkins was named the ACC Coach of the Year; this is her third consecutive year winning that award, the first ACC coach win it in three consecutive years.[16][17] In 2009, the team moved fromGlenn Field toShirley Clements Mewborn Field. The Yellow Jackets softball team began play in 1987. The team has made eleven NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The current head coach isAileen Morales.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golf team is one of the most consistent Yellow Jacket teams. They have won 19 conference championships:[18]
They have produced fourNCAA individual champions:Watts Gunn in 1927,Charlie Yates in 1934,Troy Matteson in 2002, and Hiroshi Tai in 2024.[18] Their best team finish is second place in 1993, 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2023.
The men's golf team made the NCAA Championship round ten straight years (1998–2007) underBruce Heppler [d], head coach since 1996. In 2005, the program was rated byGolf Magazine as the #1 collegiate golf program in the country.
Some notable Georgia Tech golfers areDavid Duval,Stewart Cink,Troy Matteson,Larry Mize,Bryce Molder,Cameron Tringale andMatt Kuchar. The most famous alumnus of the golf program however remains legendary amateurBobby Jones, winner of theGrand Slam in 1930 and the founder ofAugusta National Golf Club and theMasters Tournament, amajor championship hosted annually by Augusta National.
Georgia Tech has both men's and women'stennis teams. The teams play their home matches at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex, which opened in 2013. The facility houses six indoor courts, six outdoor competition courts, and four outdoor practice courts.
The women's tennis team became the firstNCAA National Champion in Georgia Tech team sports history by winning 4–2 overUCLA in Athens, Georgia on May 22, 2007.[19][20] The 2007National Championship team was coached byBryan Shelton. As a player in his freshman season (1985), Shelton won Georgia Tech's first individual ACC title.[21] The women's tennis team is currently coached by Rodney Harmon, and assisted by Christy Lynch.
The men's team has won six conference titles since 1918 (one in theSIAA, two in theSoConn, and three in theSEC). They have made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances. The men's tennis team is currently coached by former Georgia Tech playerKenny Thorne, and assisted by Jeremy Efferding.[22] In 2011, Thorne was named ITA National Coach of the Year.
Some notable recent Georgia Tech Tennis players areChristopher Eubanks,Irina Falconi,Kevin King, andJuan Carlos Spir.
Georgia Tech Women's Volleyball is one of the newer additions to Georgia Tech's athletic department, having only been started in the past twenty years. Despite the program's youth, it has been a dominant force in the ACC.[citation needed] O'Keefe Gymnasium has served as the home of the Georgia Tech volleyball team since 1995.[23]
Georgia Tech volleyball has become a powerful, perennial ACC title contender and NCAA tournament qualifier. Tech has been in the NCAA tournament three times in recent years and has set several school records for victories in a season, consecutive ACC victories, and consecutive victories.
Georgia Tech also fields men and women'strack and field,[24] men and women'sswimming anddiving,[24] men and women'scross country, and assorted club sports.
Georgia Tech'sAngelo Taylor won gold medals in 400 m hurdles at the2000 and2008 Summer Olympics.
Buddy Fowlkes was one of Tech's most successful track coaches.
The non-NCAA sanctioned club sports include but are not limited tocrew,cricket,cycling,equestrian,esports,fencing,field hockey,gymnastics,ice hockey,kayaking,lacrosse,paintball,roller hockey,rugby,sailing,skydiving,soccer,swimming,triathlon,ultimate,water polo, andwrestling.
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Costumed inplush to look like ayellow jacket, the officialmascot of Georgia Tech isBuzz. Buzz enters the football games at the sound of swarming yellow jackets and proceeds to do a flip on the fifty-yard line GT logo. He then bull rushes the goal post and has been known to knock it out of alignment before football games. Buzz is also notorious forcrowd surfing and general light-hearted trickery amongst Tech and rival fans.
TheRamblin' Wreck was the first official mascot of Georgia Tech. It is a 1930Ford Model A Sports Coupe. The Wreck has led the football team onto the field every home game since 1961. The Wreck features a gold and white paint job, two gold flags emblazoned with the words "To Hell With Georgia" and "Give 'Em Hell Tech", and a white soft top. The Wreck is maintained by the Ramblin' Reck Club, a selective student leadership organization on campus.[25]
The Ramblin' Reck Club is charged with upholding all school traditions and creating new traditions such as the SWARM. The SWARM is a 900-member spirit group seated along the north end zone or on the court at basketball games. This is the group that typically featuresbody painting, organizedchants, and generalfanaticism.
The marching band that performs at halftime and after big plays during the football season is clad in all white and sits next to SWARM at football games providing a dichotomy of white and gold in the North End Zone. The band is also the primary student organization on campus that upholds the tradition of RAT caps, wherein band freshman wear the traditional yellow cap at all band events.
The band plays the fight songsRamblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech andUp With the White and Gold after every football score and between every basketball period. At the end of a rendition of either fight song, there is a series of drum beats followed by the cheer "Go Jackets" three times (each time followed by a second cheer of "bust their ass"), then a different drum beat and the cheer "Fight, Win, Drink, Get Naked!" The official cheer only includes "Fight, Win" but most present other than the band and cheerleaders will yell the extended version.
It is also tradition for the band to play the"When You Say Budweiser" after the third quarter of football and during the second-to-last official timeout of every basketball game. During the"Budweiser Song", all of the fans in the stadium alternate bending their knees and standing up straight. Other notable band songs areMichael Jackson'sThriller for half-time at theThrillerdome,Ludacris'Move Bitch for large gains in football. Another popular chant is called the Good Word and it begins with asking, "What's the Good Word?" The response from all Tech faithful is, "To Hell With Georgia." The same question is asked three times and then the followup is asked, "How 'bout them dogs?" And everyone yells, "Piss on 'em."
Georgia Tech has won 1 NCAA team national championship.[26]
Below are 4 national team titles that were not bestowed by the NCAA:
Approximately 150 Tech students have gone into theNFL, with many others going into theNBA orMLB.American football athletes include former studentsCalvin Johnson,Daryl Smith, andKeith Brooking, former Tech head football coachesJohn Heisman,Pepper Rodgers, andBill Fulcher, and all-time greats such asJoe Hamilton,Pat Swilling,Billy Shaw,Joe Guyon, andDemaryius Thomas.
Tech's recent entrants into the NBA include Jose Alvardo,Iman Shumpert,Derrick Favors,Javaris Crittenton,Thaddeus Young,Jarrett Jack,Luke Schenscher,Stephon Marbury, andChris Bosh. Award-winning baseball stars includeKevin Brown,Mark Teixeira,Nomar Garciaparra,Jason Varitek, andJay Payton. In golf, the legendaryBobby Jones foundedThe Masters,David Duval was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2001,Stewart Cink the2009 Open Championship winner, was ranked in the top ten, andMatt Kuchar won the U.S. Amateur.
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