Braine retiring from position

ATLANTA - Dave Braine feared the worst.

Healthy 62-year-old men don't lose 28 pounds in six weeks when they don't want to.

They don't lose their appetite to the point where they can go four days without food.

They don't become so fatigued they nod off in the middle of the afternoon after a lifetime of a late-to-bed, early-to-rise regimen.

They don't develop gastrointestinal problems so severe they dare not stray far from the nearest bathroom.

It had to be cancer, Georgia Tech's athletic director thought, the scariest six-letter word there is.

He went for tests and took his usual summer fly-fishing trip in the Montana wilderness anyway. He'd just returned to his cabin when the telephone rang.

You don't have cancer, Braine's doctor told him, you have Crohn's Disease.

"It was good news to me," Braine said. "It was a relief."

The diagnosis was better than the alternative. Crohn's, an intestinal disorder, is effectively treated with drugs and not chemotherapy, radiation or surgery like cancer.

Stress is the one thing that can prevent the medicines from working, however, and fly-fishing is just one way Braine releases pressure. The past three years have been particularly burdensome, with the recently-completed NCAA investigation into Georgia Tech's athletic programs.

Braine wants his quality of life back. That's why he decided to retire, a move he announced in a Wednesday afternoon news conference at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

"The only relief I get is when I'm away from the job," Braine said in a private interview before the news conference.

"Some people think stress is the cause of (Crohn's). It's not the cause of it, but it's obviously something you do not need with the disease itself."

Braine will remain on the job at least until Georgia Tech's appeal of the NCAA sanctions is completed in the next two months.

The search for his successor began Wednesday. Wayne Clough, Georgia Tech's president, will lead the search committee. The group is comprised of four others, including Joe Irwin, the president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

"(Braine) will leave big shoes to be filled," Clough said, "and we will miss his good service and friendship."

Braine said he will not play an active role in the search. He did ask Clough to consider his senior staffers, including associate athletic directors Paul Griffin, Bobby Robinson, Larry New, Mollie Simmons Mayfield and Jack Thompson, for the position.

"Obviously, I'd like for somebody on my staff to get the job," said Braine, whose contract pays him approximately $560,000 annually. "This is a very good program now. It is a good job. All the programs are in good shape. But it is a tough job also."

Success has marked Braine's nine years as athletic director. Yellow Jackets teams have won 12 Atlantic Coast Conference titles during his tenure, and the football team has gone to a bowl game every year since he arrived.

He hired men's basketball coach Paul Hewitt, who led the Jackets to the 2004 Final Four, and football coach Chan Gailey, who's posted four consecutive winning seasons.

Braine also oversaw the expansion of Bobby Dodd Stadium and the reconstruction of the Russ Chandler baseball stadium.

He's come under heavy criticism in recent months, however.

The mistakes that prompted the NCAA investigation and landed the school on probation happened under his watch.

And his comments after the announcement of a new five-year contract for Gailey in December - "Georgia Tech can win nine or 10 games (in a season), but they will never do it consistently" - angered many supporters.

Reach Adam Van Brimmer at (404) 589-8424 or adam.vanbrimmer@morris.com.