Johnson on Lee, Days, freshmen
More from Paul Johnson at ACC Media Days in Greensboro, N.C., starting with everyone’s favorite topic. (No, not uniforms)
1. Quarterback Vad Lee has been pushing Tevin Washington. Johnson said he’s become more comfortable, trying to turn weaknesses into strengths.
“On this level, you don’t get to just do what you like to do and what’s fun,” he said. “You have to embrace the whole thing. He’s done that and worked hard.”
Lee has been in the football offices watching video and continuing his education.
Said Johnson, “I could see Vad playing some this year, definitely.”
2. Johnson said the starting A-back opposite Orwin Smith could be “one of two or three guys.” I’m not sure if he literally meant two or three, but Deon Hill and Robbie Godhigh would be two. Tony Zenon and B.J. Bostic are the other most likely candidates.
“It’ll be a group, anyway, a committee,” he said. “That’s the way we’ve always played. Orwin will probably be highlighted a little more than we have in the past and the other guy will be more of a role guy.”
Johnson said the rotation could conceivably be as many as six players deep, though, with this group, it’d be hard to imagine the snaps being split equally.
“It just depends who you’ve got and what they bring to the table,” he said.
On Bostic: “He’s learning where to go and what to do. He can get in the mix, as well. He could have a role himself.”
Of note: Should Hill win the job, Tech’s starting A-backs would both be from Central High in Phenix City. Props to the Red Devils.
3. Speaking of A-backs, Johnson spoke at length about quarterback Synjyn Days and his possible move to A-back.
“I’d like to get him on the field if he can handle it,” Johnson said. “He’s still going to play some quarterback. We’ll go into fall camp, see where he is there. If he doesn’t beat Tevin out in the first two weeks of fall camp, I don’t want him standing over there in a baseball camp. He and Vad are very close, too, to each other. He’s a good athlete. We want to get him on the field if he can take care of the ball, learn where to go and do all those things. There’s still an ‘if’ there.”
4. Chances are against a true freshman lineman playing, but Johnson said of defensive end Francis Kallon, “It would be great if he could help us rushing the passer or doing some things or Pat Gamble or (Roderick) Chungong or Adam Gotsis or one of those guys. Adam’s the one guy who physically is going to be a little more developed than the other guys because he’s older (he turns 20 in September), but now the speed of the game is going to be far different than his Australian club team.”
On if he could foresee a non-quarterbacking role for freshman Justin Thomas: “Probably not.”
Johnson said he’ll play a true freshman on special teams if he’s heavily involved. If he’s on both kickoff and punt units, for example, “you probably play him because he’s probably going to play 20 snaps a game. If they’re just on one of those teams, you’re probably not going to play him unless they figure in the depth (chart) on offense or defense.”
He said he could see a wide receiver or two or defensive back playing and possibly a linebacker. It would be more difficult for a lineman.
Last year, 10 of the 22 freshmen played – three defensive backs (Corey Dennis, Jamal Golden and Zach Laskey, although Laskey has returned to B-back), three linebackers (Nick Menocal, Tremayne McNair and Kyle Travis), two wide receivers (Jeff Greene and Darren Waller), guard Shaquille Mason and long snapper Sean Tobin.
Two years ago, six of the 17-member class played as true freshmen – defensive backs Fred Holton, Isaiah Johnson and Louis Young, linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, kicker Justin Moore and A-back B.J. Bostic.
5. Interesting answers about Miami coach Al Golden and the school’s NCAA investigation.
“It’s hard enough for me to do what I’m doing,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about it. I’m sure Al will handle it, do a good job with it.”
There was a follow-up about giving advice.
“I don’t offer advice to Al,” he said. “I don’t offer advice to any of these guys.”
The quotable Paul Johnson
On Washington: It’s “pretty clear to me he’s the leader on the team. I can see that.”
On if rules changes about blocking will impact Tech’s offense: “No. They keep trying, but they haven’t got it yet.”
As Johnson’s interview session wound down, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora had a large crowd at his table: “I’m going to go over there and listen to Larry. He’s having a revival.”
On linebacker Brandon Watts: “Brandon can fly. … When you put on the football pads, he’s one of the fastest kids on the team. He runs guys down like they’re backing up.”
Other Media Days stories
- Story from Tuesday’s paper on Johnson’s comments.
- Jeremiah Attaohcu and Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas have put last year’s game in the past.
- Washington’s comments in Greensboro.
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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243 comments Add your comment
5150 UOAD
July 26th, 2012
4:38 pm
GT LEE don’t play with the special needs children.
WnE would rather hide in the shadows and throw stones than come into the light and be seen.
ToeMeetsLeather
July 26th, 2012
4:38 pm
WinnE, I truly feel sorry for you dude, or is it dude-ett?
WnE
July 26th, 2012
4:39 pm
re:
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
4:36 pm
WnE,
Get your dictionary out and look up the definition of the word FAN……and not the one that moves air around, either…
___________
There’s a difference between being a Fan and liking a CFB team and then lying to yourself when you find out something that you don’t like.
I’m a Fan.
You’re lying to yourself!
A huge difference!
5150 UOAD
July 26th, 2012
4:39 pm
Senegal ties England 1-1
BLT
July 26th, 2012
4:40 pm
Oh no, calling someone a coward from the safety of your keyboard. Real tough guy!
GTBob
July 26th, 2012
4:42 pm
I’m a Fan.
Fans don’t usually hate the team they are a fan of and it is pretty obvious that you hate GT with a passion.
WnE
July 26th, 2012
4:45 pm
re:
ToeMeetsLeather
July 26th, 2012
4:38 pm
WinnE, I truly feel sorry for you dude, or is it dude-ett?
_______________
OK!
Let’s talk FOOTBALL, and let’s do so honestly.
Please analyze our Depth chart at DE:
Here are our returning players:
C. Crenshaw 6-3 256 4 years out of HS RS-Jr.
E. Cummings 6-4 275 4 years oo HS RS -Jr.
A. Williams 6-4 264 3 years oo HS RS-Soph.
J. Kitchen 6-3 270 3 years oo HS RS-FR. dues to academic issues
So far the starters are I. Cross at 6-4 300lbs. Sr.
E. Dieke 6-6 265-270lbs. RS- Jr.
___________
Fire away and please give us your best analysis of our DE Depth chart
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
4:46 pm
BLT
you cracked me up the other day when you told Super’s hater to wear a shirt that says Dysfunctional Idiot……hope you don’t mind if I borrow that one sometime (like we did with CMR’s Official Poo Inspector!)
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
4:47 pm
“Fire away and please give us your best analysis of our DE Depth chart”
Did you not read High Tech’s earlier post? It pretty much covered everything……
chas_jacket
July 26th, 2012
4:47 pm
Don’t feed the troll. If weenie ever does see the light of day, he/she will be dressed in red & black.
Ol'JacketFan
July 26th, 2012
4:48 pm
I’ve rarely, if ever, known a coach who would not play his best 11 players, freshman or not. Having said that the ability for a freshman to come in a beat out an upperclassman is rare. Particularly at an O or D line position. Huge difference in physical maturity and strength levels between an 18 y.o. and a 22 y.o. If Gotsis or Kallon is talented enough and ready enough physically to play then they will play, if not they will r.s.
Simple statement from CPJ in that “It would be great if he could help us…………………but now the speed of the game is going to be far different than his Australian club team.” How freaking hard is that to understand? When are some folks going to understand that an 18 y.o. is at a serious disadvantage from a pure physical standpoint unless he is an exceptional athlete???
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
4:48 pm
Let me see if I have this right: If a coach puts a freshman in the lineup, it’s because he doesn’t trust his returning players. Hmmm, I always thought it was because the freshman was probably better than the returning players and had a lot to offer towards the success of the team as a whole. As an example, does that mean that when Dooley let then freshman Herschel Walker start, it was because he didn’t TRUST his other running backs? Hmmm again; I thought it was because Dooley realized that Walker was the best back on the team.
We can learn so much from WnE’s highly educational posts……NOT !!!!!
Wreck
July 26th, 2012
4:49 pm
Poor dwagfan. You just can’t fix stupid. Run along, now.
BLT
July 26th, 2012
4:51 pm
Sure WnE,
Have the dwags decided that they take the whole Penn State team? They seem to believe every one of their players is lining up to play for UGA. Quite delusional on a dwagfan’s part but they’ve always been delusional. This is their year! MNC is in the bag! How ’bout them dogs?
BLT
July 26th, 2012
4:56 pm
GTLee, feel free to borrow or use whatever you like. I’m looking forward to FOOTBALL season.
WnE, I’m not sure if you look forward to anything. Well, maybe bashing CPJ, his staff and all things Tech. I guess you need a hobby.
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
5:05 pm
WnE I think this sums it up quite well….
HighTech
July 25th, 2012
6:20 pm
Credit to gtrower at StingTalk…
I’d break it down like this:
GREAT DEPTH (can absorb injuries without losing much):
DB – Sweeting, Young, Johnson, Holton, Thomas, Golden all with a lot of experience
OL – Uzzi, Jackson, Beno, Finch, Bailey, Mason, Braun, Kidney, McRae all ready to go
DECENT DEPTH (can absorb injuries as long as it’s not multiple key guys):
QB – Washington, Days/Lee, and Thomas make me pretty comfortable here.
AB – Smith, Godhigh, Hill, Bostic, Zenon all seem decently ready. Losing Smith would hurt.
BB – Sims, Perkins, Laskey are all experienced. I’d rather not lose Sims though.
DE – Cross, Cummings, Dieke make a good rotation. If we lose two it would be bad.
ILB – Drummond, Nealy, Hunt-Days are a solid top 3 with Harrell providing depth.
MEDIOCRE DEPTH (hopefully we don’t lose a starter):
WR – Jackson, Moore, Waller, Greene, Henry make us five deep, but none are proven yet.
OLB – Attaochu, Watts are studs. Menocal has some experience. After that we have ?’s
BAD DEPTH (please god no injuries):
NT – If Barnes goes down we’re f’d
WnE
July 26th, 2012
5:10 pm
re:
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
4:48 pm
Let me see if I have this right: If a coach puts a freshman in the lineup, it’s because he doesn’t trust his returning players. Hmmm, I always thought it was because the freshman was probably better than the returning players and had a lot to offer towards the success of the team as a whole. As an example, does that mean that when Dooley let then freshman Herschel Walker start, it was because he didn’t TRUST his other running backs? Hmmm again; I thought it was because Dooley realized that Walker was the best back on the team.
We can learn so much from WnE’s highly educational posts……NOT !!!!!
_____________
RBs and skill position players are different than LINEMEN especially DL/DEs.
Guys that are T-Fr. should not be beating out guys that have been in your development Program for 3 or 4 years.
IF T-Fr. can beat them out, then that means you have a lot of “dead weight” on your roster since guys don’t get a lot better after they have already been in College for 3 or 4 years, ergo there is no magical boost that will come in year 5.
Comparing Herschel from 30+ years ago to DLs & DEs from today (2012) only shows that you really don’t know a lot about CFB.
kingster
July 26th, 2012
5:12 pm
dawgfan, why are you on this blog?
gtfan1951
July 26th, 2012
5:14 pm
Its just the month before football starts and dawg fans aredrinking the kool-aid of how they will win the NC again. They will need their meds by the end of Sept and Oct. when they are out of the race for the Special Education Conference East!
BLT
July 26th, 2012
5:15 pm
We got alot of “dead weight” on this blog.
BLT
July 26th, 2012
5:17 pm
“Don’t feed the troll. If weenie ever does see the light of day, he/she will be dressed in red & black.”
With pumps? Like the UGA professor?
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:21 pm
LOL @ BLT
I guess we all should bow in awe in the presence of such awesome intellect and CFB knowledge that WnE has. I am so unworthy
GTBob
July 26th, 2012
5:25 pm
IF T-Fr. can beat them out, then that means you have a lot of “dead weight” on your roster
So there has never been a freshman in the history of college football who was just plain good enough to play. The ones that did play as freshman only did so because the team had a lot of dead weight on their roster and had no other choice but to play them. Got it.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:27 pm
GTBob…..obviously you really don’t know a lot about CFB…..just like me. You are unworthy too. LOL
Ol'JacketFan
July 26th, 2012
5:27 pm
Seems as I recall a pretty good DE at South Carolina that started as a true freshman…………….;-)
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:28 pm
@ OJF….I guess the rest of the D that year at SC was dead weight…..or else the coach just didn’t trust them
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
5:30 pm
Apparently Football Guru Gollum and his staff have not yet found a coaching job in FBS. Too bad, I really would like to see A) how much money he makes and B) how many games he wins.
Ol'JacketFan
July 26th, 2012
5:30 pm
LOL@ SS, see y’all later, gotta run for a little while
Teddy Roosevelt
July 26th, 2012
5:31 pm
“I’d be willing to bet that leg injuries go up when teams play Georgia Tech.”
Okay, put your money where you mouth, or keyboard, is.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:32 pm
Some things never change. For a couple of days on these blogs, WnE seemed almost human. I guess he’s back off his meds now and we see the real gollum again
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
5:34 pm
I’ll bet dwagfan, in his role as CMR’s Official Poo Inspector, gets some real funny looks when he follows CMR into the bathroom at the tanning salon……
GTBob
July 26th, 2012
5:35 pm
lol, yep. South Carolina ended up # 3 in the country in total defense with a lot of dead weight and one true freshman.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:43 pm
They burn elephant dung in Africa to ward off the tse-tse flies. I wonder what CMR’s poo is good for? Dwagfan, can you answer that question?
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
5:45 pm
what can we burn to ward off Gollum?
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:53 pm
Any honest answer I might give to that question might be used against me, so I shall remain silent
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
5:57 pm
I was thinking a UGA hoodie, Super……
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
6:01 pm
That might work
5150 UOAD
July 26th, 2012
6:02 pm
GT Lee the only thing WnE wants burned is CPJ but that wouldn’t keep him away. I would say you have to Burn Down WnE himself and that is the ONLY way to keep him away. LOL
GT Lee
July 26th, 2012
6:15 pm
you ain’t right 5150………….
5150 UOAD
July 26th, 2012
6:17 pm
Any of you guys going to Fan Day on the 4th at 3pm?
Paul in NH
July 26th, 2012
6:32 pm
Wow – WnE has a song tune stuck in his head. Every time I read his posting I get song lyrics stuck in my head too.
From the immortal Paul Simon
“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest..”
Dawg48
July 26th, 2012
6:45 pm
Do y’all miss me?
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
6:53 pm
Who are you?
WnE
July 26th, 2012
6:54 pm
re:
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
5:28 pm
@ OJF….I guess the rest of the D that year at SC was dead weight…..or else the coach just didn’t trust them
___________
JaDeveon Clowney (sp?) was the #1 Recruit in the country and is/was a far cry from a T-Fr. that only played ONE YEAR of HS FB.
GT fans always look for the exception to the rule to defend CPJ, and when guys like you do it, you usually find a bad example that makes you look like you know very little about CFB.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
6:54 pm
Sorry, 48. Couldn’t resist. Have you been away?
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
6:57 pm
@WnE…..apparently you didn’t read all the posts. I didn’t bring up the SC DE. I merely applied your logic (total lack of logic, actually) to that particular case,
If you choose to hate everything concerning CPJ, that’s your prerogative, but why not just keep it to yourself. Nobody on these blogs agrees with you, wants to read what you have to say, or even cares what you have to say. GET A LIFE !!!
Dawg48
July 26th, 2012
7:02 pm
SS, doing good. How was Africa?
Supersize that order, mutt
July 26th, 2012
7:09 pm
48, it was GREAT. Had a fantastic time. Glad to be home, but wouldn’t have missed it for the world
Dawg48
July 26th, 2012
7:12 pm
Im ready for football to start. Everyone is running out of things to talk about. Seems like it takes so long for the season to get here and it goes by so fast.
FL Jacket
July 26th, 2012
7:13 pm
SS…good thing you didn’t miss it “for the world” haha
How ya doing?