Johnson addresses special teams coaching
Greetings-
Hope you’re well. Some notes, and I’m going home. I’ll have something new up in the morning.
1. After Georgia Tech’s costly special-teams mistakes in Saturday’s loss to Miami, a common gripe resurfaced among fans and media that coach Paul Johnson needs to hire a special-teams coach. The coach was evidently paying attention and called the suggestion “ridiculous.”
Johnson said that most staffs operate the same way as Tech’s, with one assistant in charge of special teams and other coaches assigned to specific units, like the field-goal team. For Tech, secondary coach Charles Kelly oversees special teams and other assistants coach different units. Johnson even did (or had a staffer do) research that found that only six teams in the ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten have coaches whose sole responsibility is coaching special teams. In the ACC, five teams have special-teams coaches who coach another position group. Four teams, including Tech, do not have a titled special teams coach. Boston College and Wake Forest have dedicated special teams coaches and N.C. State’s special teams coach is also the recruiting coordinator.
“If I was sitting there and evaluating the tape and I’m looking at the schemes and I’m looking at what we’re doing and it’s totally screwed up, then you’ve got problems,” Johnson said. “But you can look at it: We’re doing the same stuff that everybody is.”
Johnson has not been shy about voicing his displeasure with the Yellow Jackets’ special teams, last week calling the kickoff return team “abysmal.”
“Do we have to get better at it? Yeah, you bet,” Johnson said. “I mean, I’m frustrated we’re not better at it because we practice it every day and what we’re doing is sound.”
(It’s interesting to me that Johnson is pretty transparent that he is aware of what is said about his team and him and that it apparently bothers him enough to comment on it. Just about every coach says “I don’t pay attention to what’s said/written,” but I doubt most of them are being honest about it. As far as what he said, it’s a valid point, but there’s more to it. I’ll touch on this later.)
2. With two dispiriting losses after six consecutive wins to start the season, Johnson said the important thing is to keep moving forward.
“I’ve done this for a long time and we’ve played a lot of games, and once in awhile you’re going to have games like this,” he said. “The big thing is, don’t panic, try to find some things to help with the problems you’re having, and keep going. I know what we’re doing will work.”
(Johnson was pretty even keeled last week and is staying on that course this week, evidently. I think it probably stems partly because the team has been giving him effort and is pretty young.)
3. After a critical misplay by punt returner Zach Laskey against Miami, Johnson said coaches will “evaluate [the position] at the end of the week and see how it goes.” Johnson credited Laskey for taking responsibility for the mistake, which led to a Miami touchdown in the second quarter. Johnson said Laskey told him after coming to the sideline that he didn’t know why he tried to field the bouncing punt.
“Zach’s going to be a good player for us,” Johnson said. “Stuff happens.”
(Case in point. He likes Laskey and he’s a true freshman. Re-visiting the error or getting worked up over it isn’t going to help him. I will be very curious to see who returns punts on Saturday, though. I think the fumble shook up Laskey a bit.)
4. The performance of Georgia Tech’s defense on first down was key to the Jackets’ improved performance against the Hurricanes, defensive coordinator Al Groh said. On 18 first-down runs by Miami, the Hurricanes averaged .9 yards per carry, Groh said.
Miami was 5 of 14 on third-down conversions, one of the Jackets’ better rates this season.
“First down is really the controlling down,” Groh said.
(I commend Groh for being willing to comment on Saturday’s game. He chose not to do so last week.)
5. Johnson said he wouldn’t know the severity of center Jay Finch’s lower leg injury “for awhile.” Finch hurt himself on Tech’s first offensive play from scrimmage. He was replaced by Nick McRae.
(My suspicion is that Finch won’t play Saturday. I think his injury was probably overlooked as a factor in the loss. He probably would have been a little more effective neutralizing Miami linebacker Sean Spence, who finished with 10 tackles. I also wrote after the game that quarterback Synjyn Days was tended to on the field. I don’t know for certain, but I think he’ll be available.)
6. Johnson said that the team’s effort against Miami “was probably as good as we’ve had all year.” … Groh indicated that inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy’s start ahead of Daniel Drummond is not necessarily a permanent switch, that he earned it through his performance in practice last week.
(Given Nealy’s speed advantage over Drummond, it wouldn’t surprise me if he started a third consecutive game in order to try to match Clemson’s speed.)
Thanks for reading. Please follow on Facebook and Twitter.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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87 comments Add your comment
GO JACKETS
October 24th, 2011
10:25 pm
a few of the assistant coaches need to go, they just do, hopefully after this year it will be the end of it
Yellow Fan
October 24th, 2011
10:26 pm
First, . . . alone?
GT Nuke
October 24th, 2011
10:29 pm
Thanks for the info, Ken. I still feel insecure about the special teams. If we are doing what everyone else is doing, why are we getting a distinctly different result than everyone else? It just doesn’t pass the smell test IMO. I’ll be at the Clempson game, cringing in my seat the whole time.
GO JACKETS! THWG!
walker
October 24th, 2011
10:30 pm
first
gtfanfrom1951
October 24th, 2011
10:31 pm
special teams and offense coach that’s what we need!
Biff Pocoroba
October 24th, 2011
10:48 pm
Why do we keep the same QB coach when we can’t get a guy to complete 40% of his passes and they don’t ever improve? Hire someone that can teach the forward pass.
GT Joe
October 24th, 2011
10:49 pm
Ken: why is no one asking CPJ about Days starting instead of Washington? No one asked that in the post-game interview, and I’ve seen nothing online that brings up the possibility.
Also, no one has asked CPJ WHY he put in Days. Was it just a change of pace or to find a spark, or was he making a statement that Tevin is done? Also, would days have completed the game had he not gotten hurt?
Days was put into the game when we still had a shot (it wasn’t mop up time yet). If the defenses are forcing the QB to keep, then perhaps we need a QB that will make them pay for that strategy. That would be Days, not Washington.,
St. Simons Old Timer
October 24th, 2011
10:50 pm
I believe we are overreacting to the Miami loss more than we should. It was bad but not the end of the world. Tech is better than we showed on the road in south Florida. We never play well there. But we do play well against Clemson whether it is on the road or at home.
I, for one, believe Georgia Tech will give a good accounting of itself on Saturday. It is a big-stage game. A break or turnover early can make a big difference in confidence and allow the crowd to get into the game. A clock-consuming drive early will keep their offense off the field. Clemson is not invincible and is due for a struggle on the road. I see a close game and feel it will be because our team believes in itself. Our bloggers have given up and turned vindictive, but our team will come to play.
fan of shorter passes (as short as necessary!)
October 24th, 2011
10:53 pm
glad Johnson is not “mad” at Laskey. Hopefully he can “shake it off” soon.
Conspicuous by its absence was the new secret plan for the aerial attack featuring the not yet named “super passer”! lol
GTFan478
October 24th, 2011
10:53 pm
I said after the Thursday night season opener; special teams will cost us big at least once this year. On another note, gotta tip your hat to the d. Had you told me going into any game this year we would an opponent to 24 points I would have said it would be a win. But sadly no it wasn’t two weeks in a row. Just go ahead and start Synjin already. He can’t hurt us as bad as Tevin has so far the past three weeks.
fan of shorter passes (as short as necessary!)
October 24th, 2011
10:55 pm
evidently the filters are hungry again…even with cuss words.
fan of shorter passes (as short as necessary!)
October 24th, 2011
10:56 pm
withOUT
CPJ offensive guru?
October 24th, 2011
11:05 pm
When do we start questioning whether we need a new Offensive coordinator? The past 5 weeks have been horrid to say the least. Every ACC game has progressively gotten worse against average at best defenses??? How do you explain that? Maybe it is simply that the ACC defenses (The Triple Option has now been seen a lot by ACC teams by scheduling Army, Navy and obviously by playing GT) have just gotten much better at defending this offense. If that is the case CPJ likely will only have the remainder of this year and next year before being forced off the flats. Watching Washington keeper left and Washington keeper right for little to no gains is just ridiculous to watch when the team loses. He’d better get it figured out pretty quick. Losses can be dealt with providing the team looks competent. But that hasn’t been the case the past 5 weeks on the side of the ball where the head coach is a supposed expert.
CPJ offensive guru?
October 24th, 2011
11:07 pm
Where’s the offensive genius been the past 5 weeks? Looks like the ACC DC’s have pretty much pegged how to stop this offense. He may only have the remainder of this year and next year on the flats.
The Bamboo Shaft
October 24th, 2011
11:23 pm
Thanks as always for the great info, Ken. I agree, losing Finch on the first play was probably a significant factor in the offensive struggles since C is usually considered the most important position on the OL. And IMO the root cause of our offensive woes is the OL (as it usually is for any team). Once we started playing better defenses, the plays that worked so well earlier in the season no longer work. It shows how 180 degrees our fortunes have turned… we scored a TD on the first play in our first 3 games, but now we throw an INT and lose our starting center on the first play vs. Miami.
StingerSplash
October 24th, 2011
11:34 pm
This is where I think PJ’s closing of practice hurts him. If he opened it, even for a little while, that would enable folks to see just how much work is being put in on special teams. He could adopt the NFL strategy – open it for a while, then close it after a few periods, if that’s not what he’s doing now.
I saw plenty of PJ’s practices in Statesboro, and he had some great kicking game units there. They worked on it hard at Southern but I don’t know why it’s not translating at Tech.
Marietta Buzz
October 25th, 2011
12:01 am
Georgia Tech has the most remarkable offense known to college football, but BCS schools have figured out a way to short circuit it. So a modification is needed: Always Play Two Quarterbacks!
“Heresy!!” you shout.
I would agree except this offense requires the QB to carry the ball up to 30 times a game or more. The QB is tackled/blocked another twenty. Then you expect the QB to make split second decisions to hand off, pitch, or throw the ball. FATIGUE makes cowards of us all. Mistakes are made.
Look at the facts:
1) There is no other skilled position in the field that the same player plays every down EXCEPT the quarterback.
2) Tech has the best offense in the land. It’s different. Its remarkable.
3) BCS quality teams have a scheme that will work against this offense. BCS defenses are locking down every position except the Quarterback. That requires the Quarterback to run the ball 15 to 30 times a game. He gets hit another twenty times. And then he’s supposed to make split second decisions and/or throw the ball at the right time to the right place.
4) At this level of play, the quarterback becomes fatigued and begins to make bad decisions.
Coach Paul Johnson should activate Vad Lee, giving him three quarterbacks. Play all three until two surface as the best. Develop packages for the two. Never go back to playing just one QB, even when you have another Joshua Nesbit.
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
12:13 am
I have come to the conclusion Georgia Tech football is what it has been for 45 years; a bunch of smart marginally athletic players who sometimes put it together and do great things, sometimes lay n egg, but more times than not walk the fence and finish somewhere around .500. Why should this year be any different than the culmination of the last 45? Tech finishes 6-6 this year. Wanna bet?
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
12:33 am
GTFan478, actually the defense only gave up 17 points in each loss. Special team touchdown against Miami and a pick 6 against UVA. I think the defense has played up to it’s potential. Hope they have an outstanding game against Clemson.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
12:36 am
Tech Forever, you’re in a funk, snap out of it. We’re ok and will be back, we just need to reload.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
12:38 am
Marietta, I suggested three,Tevin, Days and Sims. Fresh legs the whole game.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
12:46 am
Only a coach with an 8-0 record should say that suggestions aimed at improving are ridiculuos.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
12:52 am
lous
yeller bug
October 25th, 2011
12:58 am
This was to be a somewhat rebuilding year—-we’ve already achieved the number of wins that the experts predicted (they still might be right). We’ve played better competition (UVA emotion, UM talent), didn’t play well and have been snakebit too. Our best 3 plays in the last two games were called back on penalties—the stupid facemask on Roddy Jones was that he got his finger stuck in the facmask while giving a stiffarm—he didn’t grab it—the odds of that are extreme. Two really bad plays—redo the punt fumble and bad kick-off and the game would have been 7 – 7 at the half or maybe 7 – 10. TW needs to get his head straight on passing—coach needs to help—he’s dancing with the stars in the pocket and not setting his feet—-thus his first pass was 20 yds overthrown which was an INT. The quick out to Hill is open every series as on 1st down the CB is 10 yds back. We need to pass more to set up the run. M. Buzz has a good point especially if TW is having problems. Put in Days for a series or two. He has a different skill set. Try a hurry up offense for a series or two. We seem a bit predictable lately. Shake it up—play loose—no need to be tight now. We still have sufficient talent the win the rest of our games, but we’ll have to bring our A game in 3 of the next 4. Special teams has special needs—a punt of 52 and another of 13 yds? Bad decisions trying to run the ball out on KO returns. Trying to pick a bouncing ball inside your own 10? Didn’t we learn anything against WCU? We shouldn’t have mental errors. A tough place to be—need to forget the past, put on our cup, and come out on fire—-we need our best game on Sat.
GT4Life (the original)
October 25th, 2011
12:59 am
I told y’all at the start of the season that Drummond is a “practice warrior”. Nealy is making impactful tackles and is much better in coverage while Drummond appears to be a pile-jumper. Keep Nealy in the game coach and play your best players. Laskey will be okay – just made a dumb freshman mistake. Hopefully he starts to return a few punts instead of fair catching them all…we need threat of a return back there. Roll with the QB’s you have, coach. Don’t play Vad now. He’s a big boy but next year he’s going to be a beast with a year of weight training and playbook studying under his belt. Tevin’s confidence is shook so bad that I don’t think it can be recovered.
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
1:04 am
GIVE ME A BREAK
Back to what? One hit wonder status?
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
1:07 am
My…..how good does Jaybo look now? Also, I’ve watched the Eagles on TV a couple of times already and they are now running most of their sets out of the pistol formation. We’ll never do that though b/c CPJ would view it as an insult….even though there is nothing to show it wouldn’t work better at this level.
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
1:10 am
GT4Life (the original)
I agree about Tevin. I think Synhyn should be getting the starter’s snaps from here on out. Bottom line, if CPJ can’t find a Ricky Dobbs every three years and 4 to 5 Sean Bedford’s every year this thing ain’t never gonna work at this level consistently.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
1:11 am
CPJ needs to wake up and realize that college football doesn’t revolve around him. Hopefully before it’s too late.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
1:13 am
TF, it’s still hard to believe that Tech let Jaybo leave.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
1:18 am
CPJ makes these athletes fit his system rather than design a system that better fits the athletes that Tech can recruit.
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
1:29 am
Power is power and speed is speed. I don’t care what kind of system is being run when the other team has more of it then more times than not they win. Right now Tech has very little of either, and more seasons than not we don’t have too much more than we have right now. CPJ doesn’t believe in the recruiting ranking??? Well right now the recruiting rankings are making him look stupid. Every coach before him believed in them and tried to get the best Tech could get no matter how futile the attempt because those type athletes are not going to go to Georgia Tech….ever.
Tech Forever
October 25th, 2011
1:30 am
O.k. not “ever”. I mean Calvin proved that even Stevie Wonder could drive a bus one time out of a 1000.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 25th, 2011
1:34 am
I want to see this team mature for next year and add Vad, Broderick and Hallon Then we’ll see what CPJ is made of.
Old Gold
October 25th, 2011
6:06 am
I agree with the poster above (”Bamboo Shaft”) regarding the offensive line. Fact is, it’s very young – the two deep depth chart reads 3 redshirt juniors; 5 redshirt sophomores; 1 redshirt freshman; and 1 true freshman. Against tougher competition, they’ve struggled. The good news is that as they get more seasoned and stronger, we will have quality depth on the field in the seasons to come. I haven’t given up on this season, just saying that our best days are ahead of us (assuming special teams cease being an enormous liability as they continue to be).
btgt69
October 25th, 2011
6:07 am
thanks for the Finch update. Hope he is back for klempsun
Donnie Davis - Arena Football Legend
October 25th, 2011
6:26 am
CPJ’s arrogance knows no ends…..that was a good point Ken to note how he apparently pays attention to what is wirtten and said in the AJC….he’s quite a sensitive fellow.
Crazy Robert
October 25th, 2011
6:55 am
The only positive I have seen when it comes to Special Teams is they have come close to blocking several punts and field goal tries. Other than that, they leave much to be desired. Come on guys, Clemson is not going to make it easy for ya. GO TECH!!!!
Jacket Man
October 25th, 2011
7:16 am
I think everyone should be expecting to see Synjyn Days playing a lot sooner, and a lot more snaps, if the offense isn’t playing better than it has lately. His fumble against Miami was mostly due to the nature of the vicious hit he took rather than ball security, so I doubt Paul Johnson is holding that one against him, like his one against NC State.
Synjyn has a ton of confidence and capability, and I believe, given the chance, could help give the team that spark they seem to have lost here recently, if necessary. He’s a much better runner than Tevin, and no one should question, at this point of the year, anyway, that Synjyn should be considered more of a passing liability than Tevin. The only potential concerns would be his abilities to make the reads for hand-offs, keeps, and pitches, and then successfully executing them without fumbling.
Last year, when Tevin stepped in for an injured Joshua Nesbitt, he was forced to do so under the most extreme situation the team could face. This year, Synjyn could be given the chance to step in with the umbrella/luxury of knowing if he fell flt on his feet, we still had Tevin we could fall back on later.
juvenal
October 25th, 2011
7:26 am
any word on the nzaa?
bobby ross
October 25th, 2011
7:31 am
we need to continue to stack the line on d, we looked pretty good against a very good running team. We shoul have done the same against va.Plain and simple……WE NEED A SHAWN JONES ,, JOE HAMILTON TYPE OF QB,one who can use his talents to simply win games.
TechLB
October 25th, 2011
7:36 am
Ken, I would like to know why we are so much worse than others on special teams if we are doing the same things the same way? This is not a new issue either but a common problem year after year.
Maybe we are over reacting BUT we were plain bad last year, we looked bad and sloppy winning against inferior competition and we’ve looked totally inept losing two very winnable games.
Bamboo Shaft – agree to a point, the problems on offense and defense come down to a lack of talent on the lines.
Knocking the offense is old and ridiculous, no one can stop it when we execute it. DC’s work to “figure out” every dang offensive scheme out there all the time so it’s no better or worse in that regard. When you can’t make the blocks at the point of attack and you miss the blocks on the edge you’re not going anywhere I don’t care what the scheme is.
I’m alarmed by the drop off in athletes from year one to year four…what’s the plan to acknowledge and correct this? Who’s our Recruiting Coordinator? How can we get Giff Smith or the same results back?
GT
October 25th, 2011
8:02 am
We lost that Air Force game because of special teams. One of the main ingredient of CPJ’s coaching is ball control. I think he thinks he can take the ball from any position and score. For that reason it takes longer from the 2 than from the 20. The defense gets to rest longer. All that is great until your special teams get so bad they allow cheap points and your offense all of a sudden can’t move the ball. That said I like that he sticks to his convictions and certainly doesn’t need the AJC telling him how to coach. Football is not a democracy. The players start seeing the press has an affect on their coach and they start playing the press to control the situation themselves instead of playing football. It is happening in Athens everyday.
nate
October 25th, 2011
8:08 am
Ken,
You are doing an outstanding job keeping us updated. I sincerely appreciate it.
Nate
Tokyo jacket
October 25th, 2011
8:11 am
Ken, one of your colleagues recently wrote about how playing for Johnson might be tough, indicating that CPJ might have a tendency to throw players under the bus. Your article here seems pretty contrary to that with him praising effort and saying “stuff happens” referring to Laskey. What’s your read on how the players like playing for Johnson?
TechLB
October 25th, 2011
8:16 am
Ken, thanks for the fine work.
Those calling for Davis at QB – he turns the ball over too much, he has to get better at running the offense that’s why CPJ doesn’t start him. If the D knows he’s going to run every play that won’t gain us anything. We do need a solid QB and Jaybo would be better than TW. However, he wanted to leave, CPJ didn’t “let” him he chose to.
@Biff was right about QB player development. Did Josh improve as a passer that anyone could see? TW is still fundamentally making the same mistakes.
@CPJ Offensive Guru and others still knocking the offense – you cannot stop this system when it’s executed. If you don’t block at the point of attack and you don’t block on the edge, NO SYSTEM will work! As for DC’s “Figuring out” how to stop our offense, they do that for every system, every week, every team. The triple option gives you more ways to read and react dynamically to what the defense does than any other scheme…you MUST execute and make the blocks. Our key issue is we are losing the one on one battles on the line.
@Bamboo Shaft and Old Gold have it right. We need better players on the line. Our recruiting is sub-par and I wish we could get back to Giff and his results.
@Tech Forever – I agreee with your comments that we need better recruiting but…One hit wonder, never get those kinds of players, Stevie Wonder, etc.? Starting to smell a little trolly there…
Technically Correct
October 25th, 2011
8:22 am
If the poor special teams play is not due to coaching and is not do to scheming, that only leaves the…players? And, if it is the players, doesn’t that mean that the coaches don’t have the right personnel on th field? And, doesn’t that go back to…coaching? Unless, of course, the team lacks the personnel to properly play on special teams, which means we don’t have the talent, which goes back to recruiting, which goes back to…coaching? Either Tech has the quality players to field units that can cover kickoffs, punt the ball more than 13 yards, kick field goals with enough loft to clear the line of scrimmage, return kickoffs more than a few yards, and fair catch punts or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, then it needs to get some players who can do these important tasks or simply be resigned to the same results year after year.
VA's and Miami's Love Bug
October 25th, 2011
8:31 am
Our offense is unstoppable!
Big Ol Stinger
October 25th, 2011
8:41 am
You’re right Technically Correct. I like CPJ but he’s just putting his head in the sand on the special teams SNAFU’s.
If he’s too stubborn to change some things up at Division 1, he won’t be around for a long time. I was at the LSU debacle, and watched the Iowa, Virginia and Miami debacles. I think he’s too good of a coach to go down in flames doing the same old same old. At least I hope he is. We’ll see, but I will say I’m concerned at this point that he shows no ability to change anything up.
Thanks, Ken...
October 25th, 2011
8:42 am
From a realistic perspective, I appreciate this column more than just about any of the others I’ve read lately. I keep reading comments that say ‘the youth factor is over emphasized’, well, apparently it’s not. I know we all jumped on Laskey, but he is, after all a true freshman. I didn’t think that this was our year – maybe next year or even 2013, regardless, we see now that lack of experience and youth DOES make a hell of a difference. Add to that, a somewhat lack in depth, and we see that we are what we are. Don’t blame the coach for all of these problems, and I doubt that anyone that posts here, troll or GTfan could do any better than CPJ. Change for the sake of change never works in the long run. When the guys get worked up enough, they’ll come around. As long as we kick ugag’s collective ass this year, I’ll be satisfied.
GTville
October 25th, 2011
8:43 am
An 8-4 season would be good if 2+ losses came at the beginning of the year. Now everyone thinks we are falling apart. Reality is the opposition is much better. The key to this team winning is to not make mental mistakes. If they are not talented enough, so be it, college football will never truly find the “best” team due to scheduling. Mental mistakes have nothing to do with talent. Take away players giving up on blocks, being timid, dropping easy passes, and penalties and they will win most and lose a few. Clemson looks great this year and I expect a blow out unless our offense can get it in gear.
juvenal
October 25th, 2011
8:45 am
besides, with payouts to chan & hewitt, more time is the only “option”-seems like more folks wondering why we can’t try a few different formations…….
carolinajacket
October 25th, 2011
8:49 am
Here’s hoping for 3-2 the rest of the season. We will be playing three teams that have better athletes, so we are going to have to have some breaks instead of giving them away. If our three big plays in the last two games weren’t called back for stupid, useless penalties, we very well might have won both games and our stats certainly would have looked much better. Now to recruiting. I would feel better if we were bringing in not only more, but a few higher rated hs kids. Look at Clemson last year and at them this year — its scary. But I did see that Dennis Andrews, qb from Tallahassee, is having a great year. They are undefeated and on a roll. Now, just bring in some more good ones, and please don’t lose Kallon to Auburn.
Jacket Man
October 25th, 2011
8:59 am
TechLB, first of all, it’s DAYS, NOT Davis. Secondly, if you want to hitch your wagon exclusively to Tevin Washington for the entire season, that’s entirely your right, but need I remind you we wen into last season with Joshua Nesbitt and no experienced backup and he was injured against VA Tech, then our entire season went down the toilet. Tevin came in, and while the Jackets didn’t win last season, started out okay this season.
Now they’ve hit a “funk” with Tevin running the offense, GA Tech is running the risk that he will opt to skip his senior season and go to law school next season instead, which would leave the team with a totally inexperienced QB next season, as well. It’s very possible Vad Lee would be the starter next season anyway, regardless of whether Tevin was on campus or not, but the risk of not having any experienced QB on the team is very real and the question is how great is Tevin now playing, and whether having Synjyn playing some snaps would, in reality, jeopardize the team’s chances of winning games that much. Does the risk outweigh the potential reward?
Little League
October 25th, 2011
9:04 am
He dosen’t have the best personel on the field for special teams. Kelly has his favorites. 37,16 and others are physically not ready for ACC competition. Jeff Greene is 6′5 180. He has no desire to block on the perimeter. They don’t know how to evaaluate talent or play the guy’s they have that have been in the weightroom. Vad Lee will be transferring next year. Johnson dosen’t play him now because he scans the field and finds open receivers. Johnson wants a puppet that can’t throw so he can run the ball 90%. Recruits know this too. It’s a boring enviorment and the players they have were tricked. Most want out!
Tech Guy
October 25th, 2011
9:11 am
A good passing game is the key to the success of the triple option offense. How can a quareterback be expected to be good at passing if he gets hit every play? Tech needs to play Washington and Vad Lee to improve the passing game.
Ga Panther
October 25th, 2011
9:12 am
16 hasn’t made a tackle all year on kickoff team! Laskey was offered one d1 schollie. They really don’t know how to evaluate talent or make adjustments!! Hill will leave for draft if given the opportunity! Vad is gone. Keep talking about Navy like they were some kind of power house! Are you kidding me. No one cares about Navy or Ga Southern. You better change your ways and get some players in here or we are going to be behind another 5 years!!!!!!
Melinda
October 25th, 2011
9:24 am
What is that saying about the definition of insanity? Trying the same thing over and over again? Even if it isn’t working. LOVE our coach, but the special teams is a nightmare! Whatever we are doing isn’t working…. doesn’t that mean we have to change it?
panther prowler
October 25th, 2011
9:26 am
Football fans want to see a balanced attack. Big plays in the passing game and great backs. What Georgia Tech plays is not familiar to the average fan. You had Calvin Johnson a few years back. Why didn’t you use him to recruit some other big time receivers?. The option, though it works at times is not modern. Fans don’t like it and more importantly, kids don’t like it. It dosen’t develope anyone to the NFL. Unfortunately, that is what drives these young recruits. I have followed Tech my whole life but watching this style of play has been painful and the arrogence of Johnson is old. Why no media allowed in practice? Why are no fans allowed in pre season practices. Fans are what make college football! Drad, good job at turning a good thing around while Gailey is winning in the NFL!
CJ
October 25th, 2011
9:32 am
@ prowler. You are right. I used to take my kids to pre season practice each year to get familiar with the team. This year we couldn’t get in. That turned me off! I did see the scrimmage. That turned me off too. Its a boring brand! It used to not be that way. Throwback uni’s and exciting style of play used to be awesome!
old school
October 25th, 2011
9:44 am
Look what a modern offfense has done for Clemson! Recruits are getting in line over there. What are we selling to get recruits?
juvenal
October 25th, 2011
9:46 am
Jacket Man, i was the voice in the wilderness last season, asking why we did not play backups, &, before vt, all i read was, “he’s a warrior”-also, this O was developed in the ’70s, and, if it does not evolve, does not take into account that players have evolved into bigger-faster-stronger-Paul, if you read this, Napoleon had a graet offense, Wellington figured it out…….
Techie
October 25th, 2011
9:47 am
While you fixing the special teams how about fixing the offense ? The Wing-T has broken wings… You need a qb that can complete a 10 yard pass. But Tech’s qb’s can only run & pitch. Good defenses will play man to man and stop the Wing-T.
Techie
October 25th, 2011
9:49 am
Clemson can score in 10 seconds with their spread offense while Tech needs 5 minutes plus to drive for a td !
Ken Sugiura
October 25th, 2011
9:59 am
juvenal – the hearing is nov. 15 and the verdict will be one to two months later.
gtjoe – good question. i’ll ask.
Marietta Buzz – i think johnson’s response to a qb platoon would be that he’s won everywhere else with one quarterback. for that matter, no one was saying it was necessary with nesbitt. i’ve heard him point out, too, that nesbitt got hurt in 2008 when he was untouched and in 2010 on an interception, so it wasn’t the running the option got him injured.
Give me a break – i’m not sure you can force a player to stay and trying to do so would be pretty heartless. plus, you probably wouldn’t want a guy who doesn’t want to be there.
melinda and technically correct – i see it kind of the way you do. i was thinking this morning that johnson’s defense was kind of unusual for him, in that he’s not one to defend himself by saying he’s just like everyone else. regardless, something is not working somewhere along the chain.
gdburdell – you crossed a line. you’re banned. sorry.
carolinajacket
October 25th, 2011
10:00 am
Yet last week, Tech was the only team in the country that had more 50 yd. gainers than Clemson. If we had not screwed up the three big plays we would be whistling a different tune. that was not the offense, it was the execution, regardless of the offense that had been used. I’m not completely sold on this offense, but those are the facts.
Technically Correct
October 25th, 2011
10:00 am
And this is from the “Yellow Jackets Correspondent” at CBSSports.com:
Oct. 24, 2011 11:42 a.m. – by Larry Hartstein – Grading the Yellow Jackets: Coaching
Grade: D. If not for the defense rallying, this too would be an F. Coach Paul Johnson said afterward he was “frustrated that we couldn’t find something that they could do on offense better.” Coaches better find something fast before Clemson arrives with its ACC-best offense (40.6 ppg). Jackets RapidReports
Oct. 24, 2011 11:41 a.m. – by Larry Hartstein – Grading the Yellow Jackets: Special teams
Grade: F. This unit hit rock bottom. True freshman PR Zach Laskey had been a bright spot all season, but he fumbled a punt for a Miami TD and failed to catch another punt. Tech had a 13-yard punt and an 8-yard KO return. On the plus side, Jamal Golden blocked a FG Jackets RapidReports
Oct. 24, 2011 11:40 a.m. – by Larry Hartstein – Grading the Yellow Jackets: Defense
Grade: B. With LBs Jeremiah Attaochu and Daniel Drummond back from injury, the D did a much better job against the on run, holding Miami to 3.0 yard per carry. Tech did not allow a 100-yard rusher for the first time in ACC play. DE Euclid Cummings got good penetration and made four tackles, one for loss. Jackets RapidReports
Oct. 24, 2011 11:39 a.m. – by Larry Hartstein – Grading the Yellow Jackets
Grade: F. QB Tevin Washington sailed his first pass for an INT. On the option, Tech couldn’t get the ball to the perimeter. Miami’s speedy LBs helped limit the Jackets to 2.8 yards per carry. The Jackets also couldn’t get the ball to their biggest weapon, WR Stephen Hill (1 catch, 9 yards). Jackets RapidReports
juvenal
October 25th, 2011
10:05 am
again-atheletes now are bigger-stronger-faster-Nesbitt got hurt running the option, against uga, backup could do nothing, & he came back in, & we threw 4 times the last series….
TD
October 25th, 2011
10:08 am
Why would Tech players sign a petition to be paid for playing football? They should thank their lucky stars they are getting a free education because no one else would offer their sorry tails a schollie!!
Techie
October 25th, 2011
10:14 am
The Wing-T works against zone defenses but against a team like Miami that plays man & blitzes a lot on defense it has no chance.
Techie
October 25th, 2011
10:15 am
Tech needs to have 2 offenses. When teams play zone use the Wing-T, when they play man go to a pro set offense. Just change the plays at the line of scrimmage based on the defense’s look (man or zone).
Techie
October 25th, 2011
10:17 am
Use the receivers & tight ends in the pro set and the qb & backs in the Wing-T. Its not rocket science. But you can’t be one dimensional on offense and only run the ball. A balanced attack is what makes both the run & pass work.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
10:18 am
Referring to OldGold’s post at 6 a.m., here is what I posted yesterday on an updated count of the O-line. It’s younger than OldGolds’ list:
Delbert D.
October 23rd, 2011
8:12 pm
It’s not so much Dwyer or even Allen being missed at B-back; it is the play of the offensive line. Similarly, Auburn’s problems aren’t due to not having Newton at QB, and they still have Dyer at RB. Both of those two teams are young and inexperienced. Georgia Tech has 2 senior starters on offense, Roddy Jones and Tyler Melton. Check out this list of OL starters and their backups:
LT – Beno r-So; Alford r-Fr
LG- Jackson r-So; Mason Fr
OC – Finch r-So; McRae r-Jr
RG – Uzzi r-Jr; Lanier r-So; Braun Fr
RT – Smith r-Jr; Kidney r-So; Joe Fr.
That is 3 true freshmen, 1 redshirt freshman, 5 redshirt sophomores and 3 redshirt juniors manning the most critical positions on the offense.
Techie
October 25th, 2011
10:19 am
Tech should use their offensive & defensive starters on special teams. The NFL even does it a lot.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
10:22 am
I’ve had it with these filters. I tried a repost from yesterday, and nada. Here are the actual numbers of experience on the OL, different from what somebody posted earlier this morning.
3 true freshmen, 1 redshirt freshman, 5 redshirt sophomores and 3 redshirt juniors.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
10:23 am
There are 3 true freshmen, 1 redshirt freshman, 5 redshirt sophomores and 3 redshirt juniors manning the most critical positions on the offense.
Ram
October 25th, 2011
10:23 am
I got an awesome idea! Why dont all of you on this board submit your applications to DRad for head football coach! LOL give me a break this team is so young there still in diapers. Wait until there juniors and seniors and then call for a coaching change if it isnt better.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
10:25 am
It took 4 attempts to get a piece of a post through, watered down to what you see above. I’m out of here.
GTBEE
October 25th, 2011
10:25 am
Defenses have figured it out folks and CPJ has done nothing to throw the defense any kind of curve ball. We have ten plays at the most…even UGA’s defense (albeit ignorant at best) can figure out how to stop only 10 different plays. We look good until we hit the LSU bowl game in the first year, it was the Iowa bowl game in the 2nd year, and it was nearly every game last year. A big defense will shut us down everytime. This style of offense will never compete for a national title let alone win a BCS Bowl. I don’t understan why there has never been a “Plan-B” other than CPJ’s pride and stubborness. It’s time to star playing some freshman and building this team for the future. CPJ is crazy to say that we do special teams the same way every other team does. No other team has as bad of a kicking and return game as we do in the entire league. I wonder what Mike Leach could do with this team?? The run and shoot would fit perfect with Vad Lee’s style of play.
Speaking of Mike Leach…CPJ lost me when he grabbed the kid’s face mask a few weeks ago and berrated him on national TV. These kid’s are afraid to do almost anything hoping to avoid the wrath of CPJ. Duke is our only chance at another win this year. We should hire Chan Gailey to be our recruiter!!!
Al Bundy
October 25th, 2011
10:30 am
If you take a good look at GT offense and defense I think it’s pretty clear the defense is getting better under coach Al Groh and the offense is getting worse under the direction of CPJ. So it seems to me that coach Groh is doing a better job. Maybe we could promote coach Groh to head coach and find something else for CPJ to do like maybe equipment manager.
Smyrna Gold
October 25th, 2011
10:33 am
Tech Forever is telling it like it is. If CPJ is responsible for special teams play then he should be fired. There is absolutely no excuse for what we are seeing with the special teams. If a “young” team does not improve from week to week then we have inferior athletes or poor coaching. I think it is the latter.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
10:35 am
Ram, you could not have said it better. THANKS !!!!
Big Ol Stinger
October 25th, 2011
11:26 am
They were young when the season started. They’re closer to being sophomores now than green behind the ears freshmen.
No excuses. Just get it fixed. And they better do it before Saturday night or it’s going to be embarrassing.
Old Gold Britches
October 25th, 2011
12:00 pm
Coach Johnson said “Four teams, including Tech, do not have a titled special teams coach”
Coach, How is that working out for you ?
Lewis
October 25th, 2011
4:05 pm
I guess these guys disagree and i would have to side with them on this issue:
http://coachesbythenumbers.com/whats-so-special-about-special-teams/
FuzzyBee84
October 25th, 2011
4:12 pm
It isn’t arrogance to say the truth. If there really are that few teams in major conferences with a dedicated Special Teams coach, then it’s simply the TRUTH. If we really are running schemes that are similar to most other teams then it’s simply the TRUTH. What CPJ is saying is that we’re not doing anything oddball in terms of kicking game schemes, it’s that we’re not EXECUTING and the way I see it he has taken the blame for that (”we gotta keep working at it”). If the kids aren’t executing then the coaches in charge of the special teams have to teach better. You people call it arrogance because he’s irritated or doesn’t “just do something different” when in reality Paul Johnson is just HONEST enough not to suffer FOOLS for very long. Frankly I don’t blame him for being irritated. He’s been remarkably successful everywhere he’s gone, most of the time with “inferior talent”. ‘Nuff said.
Secondly, it’s been well documented that overall Paul Johnson is actually recruiting better than Chan Gailey did, if you trust “star ratings” ( just look at UGA’s “star ratings” and see how many conference championships they’ve won the last 5 or 6 years).
What would you people want him to do… panic? Stay the course, keep working. Trust people who have proven themselves to be trustworthy in the past… and SHUT UP when it comes to topics which you know very little.
Bama Techster
October 25th, 2011
4:22 pm
Special teams coach or not, someone needs to teach our punters some basic “Bobby Dodd” kicking techniques to avoid these 10 yard shanks on punts……right-legged punters should kick to the left sidelines so that a shank still is in play. Can’t believe someone on our coaching staff doesn’t know this basic.