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Rice, longtime coach and Ga. Tech AD, dies at 97

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Rice, longtime coach and Ga. Tech AD, dies at 97


ATLANTA — Homer Rice, who as athletic director hired some of Georgia Tech’s most successful coaches and implemented the school’s Total Person Program, has died. He was 97.

Rice died Monday, according to the school.

Rice was Georgia Tech’s athletic director from 1980-97. Among his notable hires were basketball coach Bobby Cremins, football coaches Bobby Ross and George O’Leary and baseball coaches Jim Morris and Danny Hall. Georgia Tech won a share of the 1990 national football championship and its first Atlantic Coast Conference basketball championship in 1985 while advancing to the Final Four in 1990.

The Yellow Jackets won 16 ACC championships in five sports during Rice’s time leading the athletic department.

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Rice was a high school, college and NFL football coach before beginning his career as an administrator. He coached the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals in 1979-79 before beginning his time at Georgia Tech.

Rice was a college assistant at Kentucky (1962-65) and Oklahoma (1966) and was the coach at Cincinnati (1967-68) before leaving to serve six years as North Carolina’s athletic director. He was hired in 1976 as athletic director and football coach at Rice in Texas and held those positions for two years.

Rice’s Total Person Program is regarded as the model for the NCAA’s Life Skills Program. The Homer Rice Award is presented annually to a FBS athletic director in recognition for significant contributions to college athletics.

“Homer has reminded us throughout his career that the ultimate goal of intercollegiate athletics is to help student-athletes grow fully as people,” Georgia Tech president Ángel Cabrera said in a statement released by the school. “At a time of profound changes in athletics, Homer’s message and legacy of excellence is more important than ever.”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement Rice’s Total Person Program “was ahead of its time and paved the way for NCAA programming by preparing student-athletes for life beyond collegiate athletics. Each of the seven pillars of the Total Person program continue to resonate with not only myself, but every one of Dr. Rice’s peers, colleagues, and former student-athletes.”

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Phillips said Rice, a native of Bellevue, Kentucky, “was incredibly influential in the development of student-athletes, not only at North Carolina and Georgia Tech, but throughout college athletics.”

Former ACC commissioner and UNC athletic director John Swofford said Rice, AD at UNC when he graduated in 1971, was his inspiration to pursue a career in athletic administration.

“He was my mentor then, and has been throughout my adult life,” Swofford said in a statement. “I had the privilege of serving for 17 years as an A.D. with him in the ACC while he was at Georgia Tech and I was at UNC. Simply put, he was the best Athletic Director that I ever observed during my half century in college sports. He was the best leader, the most organized, the best motivator, the best innovator. He was full of integrity, decency and class.”

Rice taught a leadership class at Georgia Tech until recent years and wrote a number of books on leadership success.

Georgia Tech dedicated a statue of Rice outside of Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2021. Dodd and John Heisman are the only other in Georgia Tech athletics to be commemorated with a statue.

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Rice’s wife of 64 years, Phyllis, died in 2013. He married his second wife, Karen, in 2015.



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Georgia House Special Runoff Election 2026 Live Results

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Georgia House Special Runoff Election 2026 Live Results


The expected vote is the total number of votes that are expected in a given race once all votes are counted. This number is an estimate and is based on several different factors, including information on the number of votes cast early as well as information provided to our vote reporters on Election Day from county election officials. The figure can change as NBC News gathers new information.

Source: Vote data via the Associated Press. Projections by the NBC News Decision Desk.



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New Safe Haven Law: Georgia ‘baby box’ bill heads to Gov. Kemp

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New Safe Haven Law: Georgia ‘baby box’ bill heads to Gov. Kemp


A new bill headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk aims to provide Georgians with a safe way to surrender an infant through the installation of “baby safe haven boxes.” The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate last week, serves as an extension of Georgia’s current Safe Haven law.

What we know:

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Under existing state law, a mother can surrender a child up to 30 days after birth at a fire department, police station, or hospital without facing prosecution. The new bill would expand these options by allowing for the installation of medical-grade safety boxes at these locations.

The boxes are designed to be installed on the exterior of hospitals, fire stations, or police stations. According to the legislation, these units will be equipped with security cameras to record anyone accessing the box. Once a child is placed inside, an automated system will trigger a 911 call to alert emergency responders. The infant is then transported to a hospital before being placed into the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

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Local governments will not be responsible for the cost of the units. Instead, individual communities must fundraise if they wish to install a safety box in their area.

What they’re saying:

Advocates like Brittany Almon, who worked with legislators to support the bill, say the mission is deeply personal. Almon became an adoptive mother in 2022 to a boy who was surrendered under the state’s current Safe Haven Law.

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“In 2022, I became an adoptive mom to a little boy who was surrendered under our current safe haven law. His biological mother did a face-to-face surrender,” Almon said. “He was a healthy baby boy and whatever her circumstances were, she knew that she couldn’t give him the life he deserved, and she knew there was somebody out there that could.”

Almon explained that the boxes provide a specialized environment for the infant while offering support to the parent.

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“Inside the box, there’s a medical-grade bassinet that she will place her baby in. There’s actually also some resources that will fall out to her in an orange bag,” Almon said. “Once that door is shut, there’s a 30-second delay let her, the person, walk away. And from there, an alarm goes off, and that alarm will alert fire station or hospital staff that a newborn is in the box.”

Once the alarm sounds and the child is recovered, Almon noted that “then from there that baby is placed into the Department of Family and Children Services’ custody.”

While the use of surrender boxes has sparked debate, Almon argued that increasing available options is the priority.

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“The more resources offer someone, the better it can be to help someone navigate the situation they’re in,” Almon said. “We can always judge people for what they do, and why do it, because we don’t know their circumstances.”

You can read more about Almon’s efforts here.

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The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the text of the Georgia legislation, an interview with advocate Brittany Almon, and official records from the Georgia General Assembly. 

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Falcons address biggest hole with Georgia prospect in new mock draft

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Falcons address biggest hole with Georgia prospect in new mock draft


For a long time it seemed the Atlanta Falcons were purposefully avoiding drafting prospects from Georgia for some reason. There are signs that’s changing with the new front office regime, though. Last month Kirby Smart commented on how his program is developing a relationship with the Falcons.

That’s a good sign for Atlanta’s defensive front-seven, because that group needs all the help they can get and it’s where the Bulldogs have thrived the most in recent years. Jalon Walker is helping to reinvigorate their pass rush, and more help could be on the way soon.

In a new five-round mock draft from NFL.com, the Falcons hit up that local resource again and take Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller at No. 48 overall.

At the combine Miller checked in at 6-foot-4, 321 pounds with 33″ arms and 10″ hands. Here’s the highlight reel.

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Like most nose tackle prospects, Miller’s college production (four sacks, 11.5 TFL) doesn’t exactly jump off the page.

However, the scouting report on Miller mentions both upper and lower body power in addition to good balance. Those traits should make him a solid nose tackle at the next level.

If the Falcons do end up drafting Miller, he should project to be starting up front in Week 1.



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