I don't know how you can read into that because we've never had a felony charge before. How it could be uneven, I don't know.

I appreciate the people here at Georgia Tech very much, especially my staff, the coaches and student-athletes and the people I work with every day because they have known about this, they have helped me through it, and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them.

Georgia Tech can win nine or 10 games. They will never do that consistently. That's my feeling ... because of the type of program this is.

If it follows the course it's on right now it's almost dead certain we'll have to move it one way or the other. The safety of the fans and the players is the most important thing so we're going to do whatever is necessary to take care of those things first.

I feel compelled to say that this decision will send shock waves through college athletics programs around the country. Playing college football, especially at a school like Georgia Tech, is a privilege, not a right. We must be able to set standards of conduct for our student-athletes, and we must be able to enforce and maintain discipline.

My decision, upheld by the athletic board, is Reuben had violated a student-athlete code of conduct by being charged with the felony and in so doing he should not be able to play.

It will hurt more because of the 79. We're usually at 81 or 82. You can figure it will hurt with two or three less scholarships.

It's much easier on a younger person than an older person. I have tried unsuccessfully to battle it and to get control over it. My doctor told me if I continue working much longer I'm going to make myself sick. So basically I am going to retire and try to get my health back in order and try to live as normal a life a person can who has this disease.

We're not going to make any comments [before the hearing]. I don't want to in any way prejudice the committee. We'll go out there; we're prepared; we'll see what happens.