Paul Johnson Q&A, Part 4
Fourth segment of interview with Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson. This portion deals largely with the quarterbacks, including the upcoming competition in spring practice.
Q: Going into spring practice, where do you have to get better?
A: We’ve got to get better at everything. It’s like when you watch the thing, we weren’t as good at running the triple (option) as we need to be by any stretch. Certainly, we need to be more efficient throwing and the same things every year. I don’t know that it’ll ever change. It’s always going to be like that.
Defensively, you (have to) get better at rushing the passer, being consistent tackling, better in special teams. There’s no any area I can say, ‘Oh, wow, we’re really good there.’ We were pretty good offensively on third downs. I think we led the country or were second (in third-down conversion rate). We probably were in the top 3 or 4 in (fewest offensive) three-and-outs. That’s always a positive. You’d like to get more three-and-outs on defense.
Q: The problems in the passing game, would you say it was a system-wide matter?
A: I don’t know if you can say it’s system-wide or not. We were pretty efficient the first four or five games.
Q: I mean, would you say it was system-wide as opposed to just one player or a position group?
A: Talent, too. I think as the competition level got better, we weren’t quite as good. We could do it against some people and other people, we struggled. Sometimes, it’s matchups and different things. You’re always looking for what will help you in that area. Can you tweak things? Can you do some things that will help you?
Q: How close is Tevin Washington to his ceiling?
A: I don’t know. I think he got a lot better. I think he’ll have to continue to get better or he’ll get passed. But he’s had a knack for doing that. I don’t think anybody thought he would be the quarterback last year and he didn’t let the guys beat him out. I’m sure in their mind, they’re coming this spring to beat him out right now. There’s probably two or three that think they can beat him out. (But) they’ve got to do it. And we’d be a better team if they do. And it’ll make him better fighting ‘em off. Competition’s a great thing.
Q: I imagine the quarterback competition is one you’re looking forward to a lot, especially given the hand you have in coaching those players.
A: I have not had the time to work with those guys like I have in the past. It’s something I miss. I’d like to get more time to do that. Brian (Bohannon) is pretty much coaching them. There’s so much going on (as head coach). You can stick your head in now and then, and during the game, I call the pays and I do that, but during the week, I don’t get to spend a lot of time with them, not like you’d like to.
Q: Do you have any plans to change that?
A: You always have the intention of it changing, but part of being the head coach is you’ve got a lot of other duties. You’re not the quarterback coach. You’ve got a lot of things that happen, a lot of things you’re dealing with. That’s why you hire a guy to do it and you’ve got to trust them to do it.
Q: I remember you telling a story about (former Georgia Southern coach) Erk Russell telling you after you’d become head coach to work with the quarterbacks, because that’s what you do best…
A: I watch practice every day and I’m around the drills and I’m always watching. If I need to go get involved, I will, but Brian’s been doing it now for four years and he knows what he’s doing. He knows what we’re trying to accomplish. You have to trust that he’s going to do a good job with them. I think he does.
Q: Where do Synjyn Days and Vad Lee have to get better?
A: Just get more consistent and be better. They’re both athletic and they bring something to the table. Synjyn’s a really strong runner, big. Needs to take better care of the ball, be consistent that way. I think for Vad, it’s just playing, learning the system. I would hope that he’s going to look a lot different this spring than you would expect a true freshman to come in in the fall.
You’ve got Dennis Andrews in here now. He’s going to be a little bit behind, then you’ve got Justin (Thomas), who’ll come in in the fall. Hopefully, this spring, we can sort out the Vad-Synjyn deal and know where that stands. And as compared to Tevin, we’ll see where they stand.
If both of ‘em beat him out, then we’ll see where you go, but you’d hope within 15 days, they’ll start to give you some idea of how that’ going to unfold.
Q: Are you hoping that after spring practice, you’ll have a good feel for who’s going to be the guy?
A: I don’t know if in 15 practices, if you’re going to know that, but certainly, you’ll be a lot closer to it than you would otherwise. What we’ve got to do is find a way in the spring to make sure that we give ‘em enough reps to get ‘em a chance to do it. Tevin’s played a lot; he might be the guy that gets less reps because he knows the system.
When we scrimmage on Saturday mornings, he may get a series or two with the [first string]. We’ll see how it goes. But you’ve got to let the other two guys play if you’re going to find out who’s going to be the better of the two.
Q: There was a school of thought that you might have been better served if Lee had gotten playing time early. I’m wondering what you thought about that.
A: We were one penalty away from probably winning our division and going to the ACC championship. At what point would have put him in? The other kid (Washington) was leading the country in passing efficiency for six weeks. He was 6-0. Are you going to take him out and put a true freshman in?
You’re not going to waste a year of eligibility to put him in in the fourth quarter when you’re ahead 70-20. I mean, I’m not. It’s like, in my mind, we didn’t even get Synjyn in enough. There’s no way you’re going to get three of them enough reps.
Thanks for reading. Part 5, which I think will be the last one, will be posted Wednesday morning.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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264 comments Add your comment
dawgfan
March 6th, 2012
9:42 am
A guy who calls himself “5 star recruits, 2 star results” (Gee, I wonder who you are referring to?)says I’M the one that’s obsessed with the in state rival. Sure thing pal. The only thing that I am obsessed with is tormenting you delusional nerds with the stone cold truth. Guilty as charged.
Beating the everloving life out of the Joke By Coke year after year after year=”2 star results.”
Thanks for the ammo Techie.
5 star recruits, 2 star results
March 6th, 2012
9:48 am
Still did not answer my question, wne. Do you really think that he was asking tech fans to just accept mediocrity or was he implying that a desire to improve is something that never goes away? Real simple.
BigTimeTechFan
March 6th, 2012
9:58 am
Nice interview
Looks like we got a QB battle in spring.
Very nice freshmen class comeing in, plus a lot of last years freshmen red-shirted.
Va Tech to open the season will be fun and motivate the players to practice hard.
Can’t wait
WnE
March 6th, 2012
10:11 am
re:
Ha! Yeah, Saban and Spurrier are NEVER publicly critical of their players. What the hell planet are you living on, WnE?
_____________________
Sorry Steinie, but Spurrier is always saying how he needs ” to coach em’ up” whenever one of his teams plays bad, this is true both at UF and USCe.
CMR gets flack for not blaming the players when things go bad.
CPJ is very quick to blame players, “we had the right play, but the players didn’t make the plays” or “the plays were there but didn’t execute”.
CPJ loves being the Genius when things go well, but when things go bad, “the PLAYERS didn’t execute”.
Sorry Stein, but CPJ is much worse than other College HCs when it comes to things like that .
GTBob
March 6th, 2012
10:21 am
And you GT fans wonder why CMR & guys like Saban, Miles, Spurrier can out-Recruit GT & CPJ so easily.
Do you really expect GT to recruit as well as the powerhouse SEC teams (and UGA)?
gtfanfrom1951
March 6th, 2012
10:22 am
why does CMR,Saban, and the old ball coach get more of the “best player” because they are not going to college to get an education their going to get ready for the NFL. They can tell them their lies and keep a kid in school until they are through with them. Its all about the money. Saban will say anything to get a kid then cast him aside.
Ken you did a great job this time I have enjoyed it.
5 star recruits, 2 star results
March 6th, 2012
10:29 am
My apologies to the room. I have one simple rule, to never read posts by certain handles, as they rarely have anything of value to contribute. Not only did I break that rule by reading a post by WNE, a frequent offender on here, but then I compounded my mistake by trying to argue a point with him. I see he still has no answer for my question, not surprised. I’m done.
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
10:30 am
FL Jacket…I think WnE is talking about past discussions like this one…
http://georgiatech.247sports.com/Board/35/D-Rex-Wrecksneffect-trying-to-sabotage-Vad-Lees-recruitment-790060/1
…if you have time to read it.
WnE
March 6th, 2012
10:36 am
re:
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
10:30 am
______________
Wow!
14-15 months ago, is that the best you got?
Ramblin Man
March 6th, 2012
10:50 am
I like the idea mentioned earlier about Days moving to AB. I think he can be a punisher in that position. I noticed Demon was not mentioned so I assume he will be solely practicing as a DB this year. I think we will see TW start unless Lee blows it out of the water during the spring and summer. This will allow Lee to get rep time without the presure of the #1 slot. The down side is we need a BB to stand out and the recieving core minus Smith will be all new. I have faith the “Goon Squad” will look 10 times better this year.
The Good Word
March 6th, 2012
10:50 am
WnE:
CPJ was saying that what will never change is the need to improve in all areas of the game. Do you think Saban is going to say to his players that they don’t need to keep improving just because they won the National Championship last season? Hell no. You always have to push your players to get better in every category, and you will always have to do that no matter what happened the previous season.
Old Gold
March 6th, 2012
10:50 am
Sorry Wne, don’t think there is any statute of limitations on abhorrent behavior.
WnE
March 6th, 2012
10:51 am
re:
gtfanfrom1951
March 6th, 2012
10:22 am
why does CMR,Saban, and the old ball coach get more of the “best player” because they are not going to college to get an education their going to get ready for the NFL. They can tell them their lies and keep a kid in school until they are through with them. Its all about the money. Saban will say anything to get a kid then cast him aside.
Ken you did a great job this time I have enjoyed it.
________________-
Tomlinson from Henry Co. is planning on majoring in Accounting at Bama and plans on going to Grad school, and he spurned for FB reason only, he’s a 3.9 student that could have done the academic work at GT.
It makes Text Fans look like HUGE DOUCHE-B@GS when every time they lose a Recruit, they claim that the Recruit didn’t want to study hard and make something out of himself.
When up & coming HS recruits read this, they like Ga. Text a whole lot less, and because of this Fans LIKE YOU HURT GT’s recruiting more than fans like me that demand the most from GT FB and want GT FB to be elite and also to play Elite competition.
If your son were an elite FB recruit and read what you wrote above he wouldn’t want to come to GT.
Your SMUG, ICE-HOLE elitism is worse than any tweet that I could ever send to anyone!
5 star recruits, 2 star results
March 6th, 2012
10:55 am
Good luck with that good word, but don’t expect an answer. Facts and logic have proven to consistently confuse and shut up Wne.
WnE
March 6th, 2012
11:04 am
re:
WnE:
CPJ was saying that what will never change is the need to improve in all areas of the game. Do you think Saban is going to say to his players that they don’t need to keep improving just because they won the National Championship last season? Hell no. You always have to push your players to get better in every category, and you will always have to do that no matter what happened the previous season.
_______________
You’ll never improve your passing game if your QB coach has to split time coaching the B-Backs, like I sad above either you’re allowing it to happen OR you’re coaching it!
BTW, I pointed this out way back in Dec. 2007 when CPJ was hired, I questioned back then how would he be able to develop QBs when the guy coaching QBs has split duty.
It is one thing for the QB coach to also be the OC, but it is harmful to the development for your QBs to have their coach split his efforts by coaching B-Backs.
At the LOWER LEVELS of CFB you can de-emphasize QB play and passing and still win, but at the BCS level your QB determines how far you go, even the crappy QBs at Bama are good enough to hold a clip-board in the NFL.
Not only has CPJ de-emphasized QB play, but he also tries to de-emphasize Recruiting and elite athleticism in favor of his “System” working miracles and beating MORE TALENTED teams.
CPJ has set his staff up like he is still coaching in the MINOR LEAGUES (GSU, navy, etc.).
The problem is that GT doesn’t have enough knowledgeable fans that can see that what he’s doing won’t work in a BCS conference.
I theorized back then that CPJ wouldn’t be able to develop QBs for BCS-Level play, and so far I am 100% correct on that prediction.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:05 am
@ 5 star….., learn from the error of your ways…LOL NEVER NEVER NEVER read what WnE posts. You’re wasting your time and end up being frustrated beyond relief. I just scroll past every post he makes now without reading a single word. EVERYONE should do the same. His opinions are WORTHLESS !!!!
I need more football coverage
March 6th, 2012
11:07 am
Ken,
I don’t think you should stop after part five. These are way too interesting. I would suggest continuing on once or twice a week until spring practice starts. Write about spring football and then start a new series until we finally get to summer practice. This will give us football geeks something to look forward to each week. Either way keep up the great work.
5 star recruits, 2 star results
March 6th, 2012
11:08 am
Thanks supersize, I’ve given the same advice to at least three regular posters to these forums myself in the past. A momentary lapse of reason on my part. I see he still has not answered the question though.
Power DAWGS!!
March 6th, 2012
11:14 am
Ken your Pushing the point of Poor defense enough… same story as before..
WnE
March 6th, 2012
11:14 am
FIVE YEARS into CPJ’s tenure and ALL we have is ONE question mark at QB (Vad Lee) and one 5-9 guy from Alabama that Saban has looked at for one year and has determined that he can’t win a MNC by playing QB for Bama.
If Justin Thomas could pass good enough to get Bama to another SEC CG and MNC, then Saban would have kept him at QB.
So GT fans are counting on CPJ’s “Magic System” to get more out of Justin Thomas at QB than the other 21 4* & 5* recruits that Bama would have surrounded him with had Saban let him play QB for Bama.
Think about that CPJ-boot-licking-toadies, Saban could surround Thomas with 21 other 4* & 5* recruits IF he played QB at Bama, but GT putzes/fans think that CPJ’s gimmicky System can get more out of him.
Saban looked at Thomas and said that even if I do surround him with 21 other 4* & 5* Recruits, I still CAN’T WIN with this non-passing 5-9 Recruit at QB.
It just shows you how delusional the GT fanbase is!
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:16 am
@ 5 star….., he will NEVER respond to your question, because he is lacking any semblance of integrity or honesty.
FL Jacket
March 6th, 2012
11:18 am
5 star…
I get into it way too much sometimes with axe-grinding agenda-driven people who can’t respond logically to straightforward questions.
The future is bright at GT, for sure.
George Stein
March 6th, 2012
11:21 am
Mark Richt never talks about poor execution:
http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/010212aag.html
Nick Saban never doesn’t, either:
http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2011/11/lsu_enhances_position_at_no_1.html
Nor does Steve Spurrier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKoNo3IQ_HI
And Les Miles would NEVER throw a 17 year old under the bus:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/video-les-miles-mocks-gunner-kiel-chest-ability-192230869.html
5 star recruits, 2 star results
March 6th, 2012
11:24 am
Supersize, don’t you think it’s about time for Wne to post a picture of “his” Tech class ring to prove he’s a fan, and not a delusional, hateful troll. I may post a picture of “my” Italian super model wife posing on the hood of my Ferrari in front of one of our many mansions. I just love the internet. I get to trade in my grandmother of two wife, for a supermodel, my Nissan Frontier becomes a Ferrari, our modest home becomes a mansion and Wne becomes a Tech grad who simply wants the best for the program. George Lucas should have such a fantasy life.
George Stein
March 6th, 2012
11:24 am
I love that WnE has the gall to call anyone or anything smug or elitist.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:26 am
LMAO @ 5 star…….and @ George too
WnE
March 6th, 2012
11:27 am
The future is bright at GT, for sure.
______________
Non-passing QBs?
B-backs that can’t crack 700 yds rushing vs. the 75th toughest schedule?
No WRs with any game experience to speak of?
Losing 2/3 of a very WEAK DL, and CPJ still hasn’t recruited a decent NT?
Best LB might be done with FB due to neck injury, and the other LBs have never covered a TE or RB in pass coverage in the entire CPJ Era?
Very poor, SLOW, pedestrian safeties, that get burned badly in pass coverage, usually right before Half-time?
One decent A-Back and then a bunch of “under-the-radar-guys”?
Are you sure the future is bright at Ga Text ?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:30 am
On the Bradley blog, somebody pointed out how Chip Towers blocks “offensive” posts, thus proving what a homer he is. Some joker named “beanster” defended it by saying that there are sleazebags who post what he called “cheap shots just to satisfy their desire to rip anything related to UGA.” So it’s apparently ok in beanster’s eyes for dwag trolls to do that on Tech blogs, but it’s over the line for anybody to do that on Chip’s blogs. Talk about a homer.
student athlete
March 6th, 2012
11:31 am
Classic:
Paul Johnson: “We were one penalty away from probably winning our division and going to the ACC championship.”
WOW; Why not just say the same thing he says in private,
” them !@#$ )(*h@# +_c^&%$ players cost “me” title.
None of the poor play calling or game management had a darn thing to do with it!!!
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:31 am
I just took a good WnE and it looked like dWagfan so I finished filling the toilet bowl with gt4ever and flused them all down together.
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:33 am
SuperS it looks like Chip has banned me for saying S Hill is moving up in the draft and O Charles is moving down
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:34 am
WnE
March 6th, 2012
9:06 am
re:
FL Jacket
March 6th, 2012
8:52 am
___________
You must really like beating DEAD HORSES, those 8-12 tweets were discussed ad nauseam, they were made 15 MONTHS AGO, and have been talked about in various blogs and on various message boards MONTHS AGO.
—————————————-
WnE
March 6th, 2012
10:36 am
re:
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
10:30 am
______________
Wow!
14-15 months ago, is that the best you got?
—————————————————–
I posted a link to what you referenced as being 15 MONTHS AGO. Were you trying to convince Vad Lee he should go to a different school?
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:36 am
Are you sure the future is bright at Ga Text ?
——————————————————–
Are you sure you are a GT alumnus? Do you know a troll named Really? What is a Ga Text anyway and why would an alumnus of GT ever call his school that?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:36 am
UOAD, like I said, they are all homers
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:38 am
5150 UOAD…don’t feel bad. Chip Towers banned me for pointing out that Memphis is a Conference USA team.
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:38 am
Headly Lemar, 13-1,buLLdawg, A Father, Thomas Brown, WnE……can you say Sybil of the AJC blogs?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:40 am
HT, why would he do that? Had he said something different and didn’t like being corrected?
Egg_guy
March 6th, 2012
11:41 am
please…….NO MORE TW AT QB! It’s time to re-load, we are one good QB away from having a great offense!!! CPJ……do your job and make it happen for all us Tech grads/fans.
damn where is rush when you need him
March 6th, 2012
11:44 am
we have 2 beyotches (WnE gt4ever) having a 2 way and no talk of birth control. oh wait… they are men,.
btw i have some hash browns for you.
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:45 am
Supersize…No. Some dwag was saying that Tech competes with Conference USA for recruits so Tech should drop down to Conference USA to be competitive. I pointed out that UGA flipped a commit from Memphis, which is in Conference USA. I asked on his blog if this was a move to make the Dawgs more competitive with Conference USA teams like UCF. That’s all. No profanity. Nothing really mean spirited in it, either. I was called out for being provocative and banned.
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:46 am
Athens-Clarke County police are hoping a $1,000 reward will help catch a sniper who used a high-powered BB gun to shoot a jogger and two moving cars last weekend.
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the shooter is a young white man driving a black Volkswagen Jetta or similar car.
That Reward money could buy a lot of PBR and Hash Browns
GTGreg
March 6th, 2012
11:46 am
It’s our own trolls (WnE) that make this board unreadable now… amazing.. the dwags don’t even need to be on here… we’re doing their job for them!
PJ is the right man for GT.
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:47 am
GTGreg WnE is not a Tech or UGa fan
5150 UOAD
March 6th, 2012
11:49 am
Chip would get more HITS if she would lighten up. He is a baby about so many things.
Egg_guy
March 6th, 2012
11:50 am
How many times have we seen QB TW under-achieve against the good teams when it came to making a play? Sure he makes plays against the sorry teams…..but look at his record against the good teams! I think he is a great kid, nothing against him as a person, but c’mon man! Look who he was playing early last year on the way to 6-0. What did he do against the last 7 teams we played?Hello? CPJ are you listening?
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:52 am
Egg-guy…if there is a competition for starting QB, then we have to trust the coaches are capable of judging the competition fairly and putting the best player for that position in that role.
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:53 am
That’s for sure, 5150. I rarely read his articles anymore.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:54 am
@ UOAD, HT, and GTGreg…….Ken says, and I have no reason not to believe him, that he has to run requested bans by somebody higher up. Apparently the AJC gives Chip free reins to do whatever he wants to do and ban whomever he doesn’t like. Why the disparity there?
HighTech
March 6th, 2012
11:56 am
Supersize…do you even need to ask that?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:59 am
@ HT……LOL, no, I don’t. But out of frustration I had to. Chip would ban the likes of WnE in a heartbeat. I wish Ken could do the same