May 23, 2014
THE FLATS – Rick Strom, the former Georgia Tech quarterback who has served as a radio color analyst for Yellow Jacket football games the last nine years, is stepping away from the microphone in order to spend time this fall watching his children participate in sports.
“When I was a student-athlete at Georgia Tech,” Strom said, “my parents would drive 1,400 miles round-trip every fall weekend to watch me play in person. At that time, I’m sure that I did not understand nor appreciate why they would go to so much trouble.
“Now, with a family of my own and with my oldest son in the mix for playing time at his college, I have a much better idea of why my parents did what they did. With that in mind, I have decided to step away from the role as color analyst for the radio broadcasts of Georgia Tech football games.”
Strom’s oldest son, Jimmy, is following in dad’s footsteps, playing quarterback on the college level as a potential starter at Northwood (Mich.) University. Strom also hopes to watch his daughter, Lizzy, participate in high school cheerleading on Friday nights and his youngest son, Jack, potentially playing in youth football on Saturday mornings.
Strom worked eight years alongside of Wes Durham, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Yellow Jackets. Last season Strom was paired with Brandon Gaudin, who replaced Durham.
“I’m sure everyone will appreciate Rick’s desire to spend his Saturdays this fall watching his son play the same position he played so well at Georgia Tech,” athletic director Mike Bobinski said. “On behalf of all Yellow Jacket fans I’d like to thank Rick for nine years of informative and entertaining contributions to our radio broadcasts.”
Strom, a two-time Academic All-Atlantic Coast Conference quarterback in 1986 and 1987, helped bridge the transition in head coaches from Bill Curry to Bobby Ross.
For his career, Strom completed 178 of 356 passes for 2,199 yards and 11 touchdowns. He remains ranked in the top 15 all-time at Georgia Tech in career passing yards, career pass completions and attempts.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of the radio broadcast team for the past nine years, initially as a sideline reporter and then as the color analyst,” Strom said. “With no experience and no rehearsals, I will always appreciate the way I was welcomed onto the broadcast team by Wes Durham and encouraged to interject my comments by Jeff Van Note.
“Engineer Miller Pope and spotters Al Ciraldo, Jr., and Tommy Barber were great to work with and always provided me valuable insights and advice before, during and after the game broadcasts. Without the help of the Tech sports information staff I may have been woefully unprepared for each broadcast.
“Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed and will miss calling games with the new “Voice of the Yellow Jackets,” Brandon Gaudin, who stepped into the large void created by Wes’ departure, and he continued to deliver a professional, insightful and entertaining broadcast. I look forward to listening to Brandon and the team next season.”
