Quotes from Paul Johnson

Because there’s not much else going on at Georgia Tech today (sarcasm people), here is a transcript from Paul Johnson’s pre-spring press conference today, courtesy of Georgia Tech’s sports information department:

Opening Statement

“We are excited about getting started today in spring practice. Last

season was certainly a disappointment to the fans, the people around the

program and us as well. I have been encouraged this offseason by the

work ethic and the way that the guys have approached everything. We have

a lot of young guys and that is always an opportunity to get them out

there and see what happens and I am looking forward to getting started.

I wish the weather was a little better, but it is what it is. The first

couple of days we will be in shorts and helmets so hopefully we can go

out and lay the foundation we will build on this spring and get the

program back to where we want it to be. “

On working harder in the offseason

“I think that the whole attitude is better. A lot of the little

things, from breakfast checks to class checks, extra lifting, extra

workouts that they are putting in on their own. I can see out my window

and there are always people out there working.”

On players missing the spring due to injury.

“Ben Keith and Denzel McCoy are both out for the spring. Hopefully we

will get a final update on Denzel in June and we can turn him loose

then. Morgan Bailey is going to miss today, but it is because he is

day-to-day after spraining an ankle. Everyone else is ready and

available. “

On what he is looking for in the spring

“I am keeping an eye on all the positions. I think that there is

going to be competition at most every position. We have some young guys

that we have redshirted the last couple of years that this is their

opportunity to step in and show people what they can do. The marquee

position, no matter what you do is quarterback and that is what

everybody wants to watch. We have Tevin [Washington] coming back and

Synjyn [Days] and there will be some competition there. David Sims will

play a little bit but mostly he will be at other positions.”

On the B-Back position

“We will see what goes on with that position. I am comfortable with

it. We have more guys there than anywhere else. We have some good

players — Preston Lyons is very capable, Richard Watson is there. We

are going to give David Sims a look there, we have Charles Perkins, who

has a chance to be special. I am not worried about that position at

all.”

On the offensive line

“We will play them in two to three spots each and get the best

starting five out there. Jay Finch will most likely be the starting

center, to start with. J.C. [Lanier] is working on snapping, but if he

is one of the five best offensive lineman we will get him in there. Some

of those guys were kind of stuck and weren’t very high up on the depth

chart and I believe that there are certain positions that fit them

better and give them a better chance to get out on the field.”

On switching positions

“There will be guys that will slide but it won’t be big. Brandon

Watts is moving from inside to outside linebacker. We might have a

corner play safety and a safety play corner. We may throw David (Sims)

out there at wide receiver, things like that. But nothing etched in

stone.”

On his expectations between the quarterback and the offensive line

“The expectations are the same that they always have been, keep the

ball off the ground. Tevin and Jay (Finch) have been working together

for a year. Jay was the backup center last year, so he and Tevin have

spent a lot of time together and in bowl preparation Synjyn worked with

that group too. I expect that group to be pretty good. If you have J.C.

in there, it probably won’t be as smooth as those other guys but that

will work itself out. I am excited about those positions. I think we

will be fine up the middle if what I think what is going to happen,

happens.

On special teams

“We are going to work on the return game in spring practice. We are

going to look at different schemes and do some things an

d I am going to

get more involved in special teams.”

On the defensive line

“Most of those guys have played now. There is a lot of experience

there and hopefully they will be more comfortable in what they are asked

to do. Hopefully we will see some improvement defensively, certainly we

need to, just like everywhere else.”

On getting started this spring

“I don’t know if we are getting a late start, it is about the same

time that we started practice every year. I don’t like to break it up

with spring break so once we’ve started we go pretty good. This is

about normal for us. “

On goals for the season

“I am not a big guy to write stuff down. I know what I want to get

done, but I don’t keep a list in my desk drawer or anything. You want

to get better every day you go out there, and there are some areas that

we have to clean up — ball security on offense is certainly is one.

Return game and special teams is one and we have to tackle better and

get better on defense. Since I got here I said we need to throw the ball

more efficiently. There is a lot we can improve on.”

On the wide receiver corps

“You still have the guys that started the season at wide receiver.

Stephen Hill and Tyler Melton were the starters at the start of the

season. They are back. We are finally going to get a chance to take a

look at Jeremy Moore. He is a guy that we recruited and redshirted and

then had a knee injury and missed all of last season. He will be back

out there. Most of those guys are back. We will see how that unfolds. I

would like to see a couple of guys step up and distance themselves from

the others. We also recruited a couple of guys who can start when they

come in the fall. We have some people in there, someone just needs to

step up and be the guy.”

On Tevin Washington

“He is the starter coming in, and I think that he has earned that. It

is very similar to a lot of the positions, the depth chart is always

fluid. He has been taking snaps. This is why I try not to get too hyped

up on the freshmen. We are excited about a group of them, but until they

do it on the field consistently, I don’t know that you hype them all

that much. Synjyn (Days) has a lot of ability, but he has to beat Tevin

out. It’s Tevins’ job.”

On the importance of spring practice

“Spring practice is important. I don’t think that our program ever

lost that winning feeling. We were disappointed in the outcome,

especially the half of the year. But I think we had a chance to win

every game that we played in last year, but we just self destructed. If

we didn’t turn the ball over we would have won three or four more

games. I think we have to understand the urgency of taking care of the

ball and getting some turnovers on the flip side and cleaning up what we

can clean up. I have been encouraged so far in the off season about the

work ethic and the way they have approached it.”

On the schedule

“I like playing the non-conference games first and getting them out

of the way and then when you start into the league, you just focus on

that. I don’t know who is going to be the preseason pick (in the ACC)

this year, especially on our side, a lot of teams lost good players. We

have got North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia Tech at home, three of the

top teams. We have to go on the road to NC State, Miami, Virginia and

Duke. It balances out.”

On the progress of the defense

“I would hope that we would be more efficient and play better. If you

look at the stats from two years ago to last year, there really wasn’t

a lot of difference. We probably had a few less turnovers last year and

gave up a few less big plays. But the total yardage, points per game,

all that was pretty much right in line with where we had been. You hope

that in the second year (of the 3-4) there is a little more familiarity.

The bottom line is winning and losing the game is determined on how many

points you give up. That is the bottom line.”