Notes and Quotes from Alpert's interview on 680 The Fan's "The Locker Room"

Georgia Tech’s flagship station, 680 The Fan, was on campus on Tuesday morning for the Jackets’ practice as the station’s morning show, “The Locker Room,” got a chance to talk to several people on air, including new Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert.

Alpert spent some time with the show’s hosts Brandon Leak, Brian Finneran and John Michaels to discuss several different subjects as college football season and the 2025-2026 athletic calendar year is about to start, which will be Alpert’s first on The Flats since taking the job in early July.

Here’s a sampling of what Alpert had to say:

-When asked about how he got into the college athletics business, Alpert said his dad had some connections as a college professor at the University of Miami, and one of those was Dan Radakovich, who later became Georgia Tech’s athletic director. Alpert said a meeting with Radakovich while he was late in high school or early in college really opened his eyes to pursuing a career in college sports because of his interest in athletics and business.

“I don’t know anything else. Got in the business really early and met great people,” said Alpert. “I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the great people I’ve worked with and worked for and put me in a position to lead.”

-Alpert was asked about what an athletic director does now with the changing college athletics landscape with NIL, transfer portal, etc., and he first answered by saying “you’re running a major business.” He said with 17 sports like at Georgia Tech and two or three being profitable, it comes down to how they are investing their resources and growing their resource base.

“How are we analyzing the national landscape both to put Georgia Tech in a position to help our coaches be competitive and then also The Institute to put us in a position to be most competitive moving forward,” said Alpert. “But at the end of the day, you’ve got to generate resources. You have to have fan engagement. You’ve got to be engaged with the institute. And that’s what I loved about this opportunity.”

He went on to talk about GT president Dr. Angel Cabrera and what his leadership and commitment to athletics has meant to Tech being an elite academic destination as well as an elite athletic department.

-Alpert was asked what areas does he see that can have the biggest improvements at Tech, and his first answer was financially because there has never been a time in college athletics when “resources is tied to winning.” He said that involves revenue sharing, NIL and player acquisition where you have to be “dynamic” to have success in college sports. He said another big factor of him taking the job was the potential in Atlanta, and that GT needs to be better in corporate sponsorships and engaging local companies. He added that GT is scheduling competitively also in order to continue being one of, if not the, top program when it comes to TV viewership.

Alpert mentioned ticket sales and donations as two big things he’s paying attention to as well.

-Alpert was asked if he has gotten in a routine yet since he’s started the job, and he said his family is slowly getting there, including getting his daughter in school, renting a house and looking to buy a house. He said his first job in the morning is getting his daughter to school when he doesn’t have meetings to take up that time.

-Alpert was next asked to follow up on the TV viewership subject and how that is measured and what it means. He said with the new revenue sharing, two of the biggest buckets are TV viewership and competitive success, and the ACC distributes based on those things. He said that goes into scheduling to have success but also playing great teams to increase that TV viewership.

“What is that balance? What’s the financial gain?” said Alpert. “So we’re modeling all that out, coming in as No. 1 and it’s a five-year average, being able to stack great years in viewership is going to help us be successful.”

-Alpert was asked about coming from Tennessee and the SEC and if he took any ideas from that experience that he thinks could be helpful at Georgia Tech. He first joked that when he left Tennessee he “took a couple of the Brinks trucks.” He went on to say that he’s trying to grow Georgia Tech to make more money like some of the bigger programs, but he’s a huge proponent of a salary cap being enforced and abided by.

“If we can implement a true salary cap in college football and all of college sports, I think it creates a dynamic that raises all the profile of all the teams playing, and I think that would be healthy for the game,” said Alpert. “I think it is something that we have desired and we need.”

-Alpert was asked if he’s anticipating calling former Tech legends such as Calvin Johnson and Keith Brooking to ask for help in the NIL space. He said he’s willing to call “everybody and anybody to gain support.” He said they will be maxed out at the $20 million mark from revenue sharing and then after that it gets into sponsorships and deals with other local companies that could include athletes being spokespersons or making public appearances. He said if they can max out everything with revenue sharing and leveraging sponsorships in Atlanta, that’s how they can have success at the highest level.

-Alpert was asked about elevating the Georgia Tech brand and if winning on the field will take care of that. He said that of course winning cures a lot, but they need to build a strategic plan to build that brand and have brand advancement as one of the major topics.

“We need to be Atlanta’s hometown college team,” said Alpert. “I think that’s critically important.”

He said you can see people in the area that are fans of different colleges, but on Saturdays they can be Georgia Tech fans too. He said there is such a huge population in Atlanta and the surrounding area, and they want to do a great job like the Braves do of bringing everyone together.

“Things that we can do to engage more broadly than just our alums is going to be critically important,” said Alpert.

He went on to add that it’s a lot about how you market and communicate to engage more fans as well as what premiums you offer your fans as far as tickets and access for games.

“We’ve got to market better. We’ve got to be in the community. We’ve got to build a brand, and then we need to build a diversity of product that brings people in,” said Alpert.

-Alpert was asked about finding a routine that allows him to stay in shape. He said he hasn’t really gotten into that routine yet with the move, but he does like to run and also lift a little bit.

He was also asked about finding any good restaurants so far in Atlanta. He said he knows Atlanta is a great food city and he has explored some while living out of the Georgia Tech hotel before his family got down here. Since then, he said he’s enjoyed taking the kids to the OK Cafe, but he’s looking for recommendations for great restaurants for a date night with his wife.

-Alpert was asked about what his expectations are for his first year at Georgia Tech, specifically with football. He said he just wants to see the team come out and compete. He said from watching practice and listening to coaches, players, donors and fans that have seen the team, he has heard that the team is “bigger, deeper, stronger and faster.”

“Those are the things you want to hear, but when Brent (Key) and I talk about the team, I think what I’m most excited about is he thinks we have great leadership, the locker room is in a really good place,” said Alpert. “I’ve talked to the team a couple times. I’ve been around them, and you guys know when you’re around a team that cares about each other, they want to play for each other, they’ll fight through adversity. Those are the characteristics for me that make me really excited about this season.”

He said even in the NIL era, the things that make teams great are “great culture, discipline, working together.” He said that’s what he’s hearing about this team along with Key building a great roster and coaching staff to go out and have a special season.

-Alpert was asked about the process of getting in front of all the different people that are part of the equation in GT Athletics, and he said he has tried to listen and learn first and then make some small tweaks here and there to improve things first.

-Alpert was asked about how he acts during games, and he joked that he goes in with the “business-like approach” but if the official makes a bad call then someone has to tell him about it. He added that he grew up playing football and soccer as his main sports.

-Alpert was asked about his greatest athletic accomplishment as a player, and he said as a sophomore, he made a penalty kick after double-overtime against a team that has five or six players go on to play Division-I soccer to send his high school team to the state championship.