What I think about some things I saw over the weekend …
J Batt‘s good work as a moneymaking executive in Alabama’s athletic department meant he was going places. He ended up at Georgia Tech. President Ángel Cabrera needed an athletic director who could boost revenue, hire a better football coach and enhance NIL.
Batt accomplished all of that over two-plus years at The Flats. Now, he’s moving on.
Michigan State agreed on a six-year contract, for him to become the school AD, which was announced Monday. Batt hadn’t commented on the report as of late Sunday. Cabrera hired Batt in October 2022.
It’s easy to understand why Batt would be interested in the Michigan State job, no matter how much he likes his current one. He’d have many more financial resources to work with in East Lansing.
Per the Sportico database, Michigan State had $182 million in operating expenses for athletics, compared with $132 million for Georgia Tech in fiscal year 2022-23, the most recent year with figures available for both schools. Tech can offer Batt a lot of good things, but it’s never going to rank top 20 nationally in spending on sports programs like Michigan State has for the past three years.
Football is revenue king in college sports, and the Big Ten earns a lot more than the ACC. That’s the primary reason for the big gap in revenues between the two leagues: $928 million for the Big Ten in fiscal year 2024, $711 million for the ACC. That gap will widen as the Big Ten and SEC continue leveraging their brands to get bigger portions of the College Football Playoff revenue.
Cabrera hired Batt to replace Todd Stansbury with the expectation he would help generate revenue. According to Batt’s Tech bio, he oversaw a record $78.2 million in contributions during his first year, 43% more than the previous high. Batt launched a $500 million fundraising initiative for infrastructure, with nearly $300 million already pledged, according to Tech.
Batt also got his biggest hire right. He took a chance on Brent Key after he did good work as interim football coach. Key quickly made the Yellow Jackets competitive again after they’d bottomed out with Geoff Collins. Key also is a perfect cultural fit at his alma mater.
Tech signed Batt to a contract extension in December. He’s reportedly gone five months later. That’s business. Michigan State’s advantage in resources means more compensation for Batt. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Michigan State is expected to “significantly raise” Batt’s Tech yearly salary of about $1 million.
Thamel reports Batt’s fundraising skills made him an appealing candidate for Michigan State. He’ll leave Tech’s football program and athletics fundraising in better shape than before his arrival.
‘Rah-rah’ (probably) wouldn’t help Braves
The Braves lost two of three games against the Red Sox over the weekend. By now, you know the script. The starting pitching was great twice and good enough once. The bullpen was mostly bad. The lineup wasn’t reliable: five runs scored in the win, one in each of the losses.
I’ve heard from Braves fans who say they want to see more leadership from this team. Views differ on what that means. For some, it seems to mean a veteran player (or players) saying something to motivate their teammates. Would that help? I know team chemistry matters, but I admittedly don’t have a good feel for it.
Braves first baseman Matt Olson knows a lot about it. He’s got seven years in the majors, split almost evenly between two franchises. Asked after Friday’s loss if he believes a “pep talk” would help the Braves, Olson said:
“They are professional athletes. Grown men with kids. In my time, I don’t think guys need special motivation from one of their teammates. Obviously, everybody’s around and pumping each other up, and we’ve got good chemistry and a good team. But I’ve never been the biggest ‘rah-rah’ guy. I think everybody is out there busting their (rear) trying to win a game.”
The Braves need some kind of inspiration. After getting their record above break-even on May 18, they’ve lost nine of the next 12 games. The Phillies, Cardinals and Cubs are the only NL teams to surge in May. The Braves couldn’t take advantage of the opening because not enough of their good hitters are producing.
Could the right words from the right players help with that? You may recall the Braves had a closed-door, players-only meeting last July. They lost their next three games. Then they won six of the next seven. Then they lost six games in a row.
Based on those results, it’s hard to say the meeting for sure helped. Would a team meeting help the Braves now? I confess that I have no idea. I suppose it’s worth a try.
June has usually been a good month for the Braves. The AJC’s Gabriel Burns notes they lead the majors with 103 victories in June since 2018. The Braves desperately need another June surge now. Success always is the best source of inspiration.
Good times end for Atlanta United
The Five Stripes had something going with their first winning streak of the season. They were shaky defensively in victories against Cincinnati and Orlando last week but scored seven goals. Atlanta United was magnificent for the final 20-plus minutes against Orlando.
Following that dramatic comeback victory, I saw coach Ronny Deila celebrate with fans outside the locker room. It was a genuine, jubilant moment. A cool thing about soccer is the unique bond that can form between clubs and their supporters.
That’s what makes Atlanta United’s dud at the New York Red Bulls such a bummer for their fans. The good vibes evaporated with the 2-0 loss Saturday. Fundamental mistakes by United contributed to deflating goals allowed, as usual.
This time, it was a careless back pass by Miguel Almirón in the third minute and a long ball behind Atlanta United’s back line in the 29th minute (Orlando scored in that fashion, too). The visitors had no response. Atlanta United finished with just three shots on goal.
Deila said he’d know more about the character of his players by how they perform away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They weren’t good in the first of six consecutive road matches. Atlanta United has never won at the Red Bulls. It will have six starters called up before playing at New York FC on June 12.
That’s when we’ll find out if Atlanta United just had a bad performance in a tough venue or is back to poor form.
Georgia Tech, Georgia baseball both go fishin’
Georgia Tech’s season — and coach Danny Hall’s tenure — ended Sunday with a loss to Ole Miss in the NCAA tournament’s Oxford Regional. It was a bitter end for the Yellow Jackets. They were snubbed on hosting a regional after winning the ACC regular-season title. Hall retires with a record of 1,452-793-1 (1,244-676-1 at Tech).
“More about the team (right now),” Hall said, per AJC Tech beat writer Chad Bishop. “My deal is what it is. But I feel for these guys. I know how hard they worked; I know how hard my staff works. A lot gets poured into a season. I just told ‘em how proud I am.”
Oklahoma State eliminated Georgia from the Athens Regional by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Brock Thompson won it with a two-out, two-run homer.
The Bulldogs made it within one victory of the College World Series in coach Wes Johnson’s first season. They lost their home regional less than two weeks after Johnson signed a contract extension.
“I’ve told people for years, winning is really, really hard, and we didn’t get it today, but there’s so many positives to build on with this team,” Johnson said, as reported by Mike Griffith of DawgNation.
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