Johnson on special-teams hire
Greetings-
Have some notes from interviews from Wednesday’s practice with coach Paul Johnson, defensive line coach Andy McCollum, punter Sean Poole and defensive end Izaan Cross.
1. Johnson spoke about his decision to break with his philosophy to not have a special-teams coach. He said he began to consider it “maybe midway or three quarters” through the season. (His memory might be a little fuzzy. His enthusiastic defense of his philosophy was after the Miami game, the eighth game of the season. Regardless…)
Johnson: “It wasn’t a situation where I was going to let somebody go to do that, but as the situation (with former co-offensive line coach Todd Spencer resigning) unfolded, we had a chance to do it, and we had a chance at a position to do it,” he said. “I talked to some people who had done it. They said, ‘Hey, I think you’ll like it. Try it.’ There’s very few people that do it. There’s only five or six in the country. It’s new for me, so we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, it’ll be productive.”
I’m not convinced that the way it had been done was the wrong way, per se, as there’s more than one way to do most things. Plenty of schools with good special teams go about it the way Tech had been doing it. Regardless, give Johnson credit for being willing to try a new approach. Ultimately, it’ll come down to how good a special-teams coach David Walkosky is. Simply having a dedicated special-teams coach isn’t going to fix the problem.
I spoke with Walkosky for a good bit on Wednesday for a story for Sunday’s paper. I think you’ll be interested by what he had to say.
2. I’ll hopefully develop some of the information that McCollum shared with me later on for a story, but I’ll give some of it here. Obviously, the line has to replace end Jason Peters and tackle Logan Walls and find a way to become more productive. I’ve heard Johnson say more than once (probably because he’s been asked about the line more than once) that the line has to generate more of a pass rush on its own without blitz pressure. Not always easy to do with three linemen instead of four, but that’s the expectation.
So it’s a big spring for some younger players like ends Emmanuel Dieke and Euclid Cummings and tackles T.J. Barnes and Shawn Green. McCollum said that Dieke has “worked his butt off in the offseason and Euclid Cummings has really grown up. … Those two are athletic and have got a chance to really help this team.”
McCollum applauded Barnes’ offseason work and said that Green is working himself into shape. Of Barnes, McCollum said that “T.J. did a lot of good things for us a year ago, had some games he really stood out in, especially the Clemson game. But he’s got to do it every game now. It’s time to become more consistent. It’s time to be able to play longer and he’s got to take it by the throat.”
3. Cross said that he and the other linemen feel that burden to produce. He sounded a little embarrassed and motivated by the small number of sacks that the line produced. (Six)
“You’ve got to do better,” he said. “That’s the constant reminder of us. … Collectively, we feel like we’ve got to come together, and we do feel like we’re going to be a lot better.”
This might be the unit that makes or breaks the Jackets this season.
4. Poole on having a special-teams coach: “Love it. He’s got a great attitude, bringing a new attitude to all aspects of special teams.”
Poole said Walkosky is with the specialists the entire practice, including a roughly 20-minute stretch with strength and conditioning coach Neal Peduzzi. Monday, they were doing bear crawls up the hill at the practice field, which, if you haven’t seen it, is just about at a 45-degree angle. Poole said he likes that practices have more structure.
“He definitely knows his stuff, coaches us up on from the little things to the main big things,” he said. “It’s hard to get into specific detail with it, but the nitty-gritty stuff, he knows what he’s talking about.”
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
268 comments Add your comment
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
4:55 pm
that’s ‘fitting”
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
4:56 pm
Our Special Teams really need a REMEDY
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
4:57 pm
FLJ if you like Kirk’s classical additions, listen to Yngwie Malmsteen or Randy Rhoads
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
4:58 pm
GT Lee…
You know it’s “Sad But True”
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
4:59 pm
BTW saw Metallica 3 or 4 times while stationed in Europe…plus a few here also (last show ever in the old OMNI)
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
4:59 pm
Thanks GT Lee…
I’ve seen Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani when they came through Atlanta. I played guitar during my college years but not so much anymore.
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:00 pm
HT better change your handle before people associate you with Crowell and Co. !!!!!!!!
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:01 pm
FLJ saw both those guys on G4 tour
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:02 pm
FL Jacket…you didn’t go see the Black Crowes at Piedmont Park did you? NORML sponsored that concert. lol. That organization could help some of the UGA players.
BLT
March 29th, 2012
5:02 pm
GT Lee is a Metalhead. LOL No offense, I’ve listened to all thats been posted. Thanks for your service.
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:02 pm
hopefully our defense will “seek and destroy” this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:03 pm
maybe even give opposing ballcarriers “whiplash”
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:04 pm
Thank YOU for caring, BLT……was my pleasure
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:04 pm
I hope so GT Lee. And be a “Harvester of Sorrow”.
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:05 pm
UGA has St. Richt, we have “St. Anger”.
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
5:05 pm
HT…
Saw them at Music Midtown a few times, the old Cotton Club once, and here in FL a few times…I would have mortgaged something to have seen them in PP
George Stein
March 29th, 2012
5:08 pm
No love for old school country, eh? Waylon Jennings, anyone?
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:09 pm
I like both kinds of music, George. Country and Western. lol.
Waylon and Willie….”Someone’s Gonna Get Hurt Before You’re Through”
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
5:10 pm
George…
When I think of Waylon Jennings I think of Dukes of Hazzard haha
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:10 pm
Well it’’s the same old tune, fiddle and guitar, where do we take it from here?
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:10 pm
I’m afraid “all my rowdy friends have settled down”
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
5:11 pm
George…
This is NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
BLT
March 29th, 2012
5:12 pm
Waylon had the hands for it. LOL
George Stein
March 29th, 2012
5:13 pm
Don’t let your boys grow up to be cowboys, HT.
Made me chuckle, FLJ.
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:14 pm
I said Big Ben this here’s the Rubber Duck, we just ain’t gonna pay no toll….so we crashed the gate doing 98, let them truckers roll……10-4
ahsoisee
March 29th, 2012
5:15 pm
To those commenting on my post. Yes, I know what it means to be in the best shape you can attain. However, that is not the problem I had approached. I was lucky, I did not tire easily, but all of my team mates had different metabolic rates among ourselves. We all had different physical and metabolic makeups to our body..
Lets say two players on the defensive line plays the same amount of consecutive plays, one gets tired quicker than the other and his consistency drops. The coach will sometimes punish the player with less consistency by making him sit on the bench and claim he is not in shape. He might be in the best shape possible for his particular body and metabolic rate. Sometimes this player will play extremely consistent if he plays less plays than the player next to him who has a better body system and metabolic rate.
I had previously noted that everyone should be in the best shape for their particular body makeup, but all are not equal. Let’s say Barnes can play three consecutive sets of four downs on defense and play consistently. Maybe Green could play five consecutive sets of four downs on defense and play consistently.
If Barnes were rested after his limit of energy, then his next stint after the substitution might be as good as his first stint after the rest. He might even be more consistent that the player next to him who has a better metabolic rate of play without getting tired. I have watched teams that substitute a lot and they play much better than the teams who do not substitute a lot. Tech does not substitute as freely as they should.
I understand that some teams play a fast pace on offense and make it hard for the defense to substitute, but it just takes more management to that particular detail of the game. Sometimes coaches get to involved with the X’s and O’s and forget about the physical abilities of individual players.
I still say some coaches use the term “suck it up” wrongly instead of substituting properly.
Rodney Kent
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:15 pm
Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be Bulldogs. lol.
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:15 pm
“you don’t like the way I’m livin, you just leave this long-haired country boy alone”
BLT
March 29th, 2012
5:16 pm
Maybe HighTech is also a person with red on his neck. Won’t let me enter the other word. Makes sense…
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:18 pm
Rodney, are you related to Clarke?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:18 pm
BLT, you mean we can’t say red neck anymore?
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:19 pm
You have to hyphenate it or otherwise break it up, BLT.
“I’m a HighTech, Red_Neck, Mayberry meets Star Trek, I’m a bumpkin, but I’m plugged in, I’m a HighTech, Red_Neck.”
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:20 pm
BLT, you just have to put a space between the two syllables, like I did. Another example of homerism by the AJC
George Stein
March 29th, 2012
5:21 pm
Ha! Even better, HT. I don’t have any kids (that I’m aware of), but when I do, my home will be extremely inhospitable to red and black.
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:21 pm
Red_Neck is outlawed on this blog just like leg humpers is outlawed on Chip Towers blog. lol.
George Stein
March 29th, 2012
5:22 pm
I didn’t even know it was an offensive term. Sometimes it’s just a statement of fact.
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:22 pm
Damn, our 1st amendment rights just keep disappearing
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:23 pm
Political Correctness run amok.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:24 pm
HT, so they ban any words that might be used to describe the true nature of dwags, but they can use whatever term they want to describe Tech fans. Like I said, HOMERISM !!!
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:25 pm
Keep it up, Supersize. “Dwags” will be banned next.
BLT
March 29th, 2012
5:26 pm
The origin of the word is not offensive.
George Stein
March 29th, 2012
5:27 pm
Well, it isn’t the government doing it, Lee, so there really isn’t a First Amendment issue at play.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:28 pm
HT, I fully expect that to happen
BLT
March 29th, 2012
5:28 pm
I think Mr. Kent played for Georgia…
Can’t remember…
FL Jacket
March 29th, 2012
5:28 pm
Oyyy…is this where the liberal has to rear his ugly head?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:29 pm
Who is Mr Kent?
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:30 pm
Well THANKS for bursting my bubble, George!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HighTech
March 29th, 2012
5:30 pm
Supersize…at least that precious sign will live forever…Go Dwags!…priceless.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 29th, 2012
5:31 pm
HT, it’s definitely one of the best signs ever !!
GT Lee
March 29th, 2012
5:33 pm
that’s right…they can’t ban us from saving this……
http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/30893609/Go-Dwags.aspx