Paul Johnson slams NCAA for Georgia Tech’s probation
Paul Johnson wasn't happy during Tech's probation news conference. He's still fuming. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
Paul Johnson doesn’t cheat. Doesn’t like cheaters. Calls the suggestion that he would cheat “almost insulting.”
“I’m sure I cheated in board games,” the Georgia Tech coach said. “And when I played, yeah, you’d do stuff. Move the ball forward. Move it back. Kick it. Maybe grab a guy where you’re not supposed to. But heck, everybody does that.”
But not as a coach. It’s why Johnson took a verbal 2-by-4 to the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions. He says he did nothing wrong. He says the punishment slapped on Georgia Tech’s football program, including the forfeiture of the 2009 ACC championship, is wrong. He wants the school to appeal. That decision hasn’t been made yet, but the trophy has been removed from a case in the Edge Athletics Center and is sitting in an office closet.
At the very least, Johnson wants it known that the Yellow Jackets gained no competitive advantage before the conference title win over Clemson. Also, he’s not giving his ring back.
“I’m proud of what those guys did on the field — they won it on the field,” Johnson said. “The NCAA can’t take away the memories or what happened on the field. Let’s say somebody took something illegal. I’m still not convinced that happened, but let’s say it did. Well, you’re punishing 115 guys who didn’t do anything but work their butt off.”
Johnson said he’s still “stunned” by the NCAA’s actions. He never expected anything of significance would come of the investigation until, “They started ripping [former compliance director] Paul Parker in the hearing.”
He understood why the NCAA might be upset that athletic director Dan Radakovich informed him of the impending investigation after he been told not to, but said, “I knew there was no coverup. If we were trying to cover the thing up, we would’ve just said that Dan never told me anything. Their perception of what happened and my perception of what happened wasn’t close.”
Johnson’s perception: “That they came in here and talked to seven or eight kids and they didn’t find what they were looking for.
“I’ve been in this business a long time. You see all the things that are going on in college sports today, and you get slammed for this? I mean, come on now. I feel for Dan and [Tech president G.P. "Bud"] Peterson. I’ve known Dan since I got here. Dan Radakovich isn’t going to cheat or cover up anything. Did you get bad information or maybe make a bad decision? You can debate that. But I certainly wasn’t privy to any information we had.”
The Tech case will go down as one of the strangest in NCAA history. Investigators never found proof or established a paper trail indicating former players, specifically Demaryius Thomas and Morgan Burnett, received improper benefits from agents. But there was the suspicious matter of $312 worth of clothing given to Thomas. Radakovich also went against the NCAA’s mandate by forewarning Johnson (and indirectly players) of the investigation.
Any potential violations might’ve been secondary, but the NCAA didn’t like the way Tech acted during the investigation, perceiving administrators tried to hinder the process.
Johnson said, “We thought we were cooperating,” then pointed to a black book on his desk and added, “I guess if they say that book right there is red and you don’t agree, then you’re not cooperating.”
He named at least five Tech players who were interviewed during the bye week before the Georgia game — Thomas, Burnett, Derrick Morgan, Jonathan Dwyer and Cord Howard (as well as Morgan’s roommates) — and said they shuttled off and on the field during practice. Peterson, who was relying primarily on the advice of since-retired school counsel Randy Nordin, ultimately cleared Burnett and Thomas to play.
Johnson said an investigator also interviewed one of his assistant coaches.
“They tried to say that he [the assistant coach] was directing players to agents,” Johnson said. “He even asked me if I was directing players to agents. I told him, ‘Dude, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.’ ”
The assumption here is that the NCAA was not expecting a warm embrace. Maybe they’ve just got a thing about bluntness.
“If you went out and you did something to gain a competitive advantage, if you knew you cheated or you paid somebody, it might be easier to swallow,” Johnson said. “But when you don’t feel like you’ve done anything wrong, it’s tough to take.”
The one saving grace for Tech is that the NCAA didn’t take away scholarships or issue a postseason ban. Also, this whole ugly process and resulting anger might help Johnson’s cause in at least one area with his players.
“Motivation won’t be a problem,” he said.
By Jeff Schultz
♦
Earlier: Tuesday Countdown: Tech stashes ACC trophy; Ohio State’s really stiff ‘I’
Earlier: Georgia’s RB legacy takes another hit with suspension
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891 comments Add your comment
Matt Skole
July 19th, 2011
5:31 pm
Tech cheated plain and simple.
Twice in the last ten years.
Tech has turned into one of the dirtiest programs in college football.
WTF?
July 19th, 2011
5:31 pm
As a Tech fan, I can’t believe this guy still has a coaching job with his Pop Warner offense that EVERY SINGLE team in the NCAA has figured out how to stop cold. He should be fired immediately.
Surprise! Paul Johnson not happy with NCAA sanctions against Geogia Tech | CollegeFootballTalk
July 19th, 2011
5:32 pm
[...] “I’m proud of what those guys did on the field — they won it on the field,” Johnson said. “The NCAA can’t take away the memories or what happened on the field. Let’s say somebody took something illegal. I’m still not convinced that happened, but let’s say it did. Well, you’re punishing 115 guys who didn’t do anything but work their butt off.” [...]
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:32 pm
I agree that the DUI analogy was poor. I was going with it.
You assume everything in the NCAA report is true. They had no proof any thwarting ever happened.
dbldawg
July 19th, 2011
5:34 pm
George: “I’m sorry, that is not correct. You see, George, the insecure one is the guy trying to correct the spelling of the word ‘methinks’ on a message board”. Alex Trebec
At least the Tech fan who started the DUI analogy acknowledged your were legally drunk. Oh yeah, you were sober and you simply reacted to the fact that the NCAA would dare accuse you of being drunk.
gt4ever
July 19th, 2011
5:34 pm
I don’t like his offensive system, but I just LOVE how he lays it all out….. I really like this coach, but I sure wish he would hire a OC to put a real offense in place…
ROFL, the only thing I am truly sure of,,, YOUR AN IDIOT! A Complete MORON!
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
5:35 pm
Oh, I didn’t understand that you were asking ME to do the comparing/contrasting.
So:
Situation 1) your ex-teammate offers you a handful of T-shirts. You may or may not have taken them. You claim not to take them. There is no proof you took them. Your coach mentions offhandedly that the NCAA is going to ask you if you took a few t-shirts. You tell them you didn’t. You get fined $100,000 and your championship ring on the assumption that you took the t-shirts that you claim not to have taken and don’t currently have, and the fact that your coach mentioned something offhandedly to you.
Situation 2) you decide on your own free will and accord to try and make money for being an athlete at your school by selling a keepsake jersey from a really memorable game for $1,000. It is very public and everybody knows you did it, so your coach sits you out for a game.
The situations aren’t particularly comparable, but you decide who was trying to make gains off of being a student athlete, and who wasn’t. Using that information, think about who you would sit out of a game and who you wouldn’t. Now think about whether the punishment fits the crime.
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:35 pm
You are either not a Tech fan, WTF, or you’re an idiot (or both). UGA, for one, sure hasn’t figured out that Pop Warner offense.
dbldawg
July 19th, 2011
5:35 pm
I’m the smartest, least insecure person I know. Whoops … that was boasting wasn’t it, which must mean I AM insecure. I’m so confused.
dbldawg
July 19th, 2011
5:38 pm
George: We were holding AJ out for the USCe game as well. Look, I know it helps to rationalize that we would have “rolled the dice” as well but we committed to sitting him until the ruling was handed down. You should have as well.
Chris
July 19th, 2011
5:38 pm
Having Thomas vs not having Thomas is “no competitive advantage”? You have to be kidding me Paul johnson. Then why didn’t you just do like you should have and sit him. And Burnett? No competitive advantage. Losing the championship is the thing that is bugging Tech the most. They don’t care about remorse, the fact that the school’s name will be associated with probation until July 2015! They just don’t want to lose that title that they won while playing an ineligible player or two.
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:39 pm
You are awfully defensive about your spelling for such a secure, intelligent person.
gt4ever, the offense isn’t the problem. If he ever gets a defense, we won’t lose a game.
Chris
July 19th, 2011
5:40 pm
If you didn’t want to “punish 115 guys” for the actions of one or two, there’s an easy solution. Sit the one or two ahead of time. Then, if you win the game, you get to keep the trophy. It isn’t rocket science.
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
5:43 pm
You know what IS rocket science?
L=Cl(1/2)(rho)V^2S=k1+k2Cd^2
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:43 pm
Only problem, dbldawg, is the UGA held him out one game. He was ruled intelligible by the NCAA before the South Carolina game. Those darn facts keep getting in the way, huh?
GT
July 19th, 2011
5:44 pm
Truth of the matter is CPJ has more character than four or five of us. You will see it next year. It will translate to the players and they will be better men because of it. You know the kid that got those gifts was a 4 year player for Tech. Went in the first round, could have gone last year. This is the guy the NCAA decides is a troublemaker.
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:45 pm
We have nothing to be remorseful for, Chris. Nothing was ever proven.
sldkfjslk
July 19th, 2011
5:45 pm
Another Dawg in Tech’s camp on this one. The NCAA is capricious and inept. They can’t even do their job without yahoo.com or someone doing all the homework for them. They’re just trying to bully Tech to make an example of what they want everyone to think the NCAA is capable of. Tech wasn’t trying to cheat. The people who are trying to cheat and get away with it will pull the wool over the NCAA’s eyes every time unless someone spills the beans. That’s why Auburn will get away with it. They’ve cheated and been caught too many times to leave a trail.
Im A Jacket
July 19th, 2011
5:45 pm
Damn Good Yellow Jackects, Damn poor NCAA.
dbldawg
July 19th, 2011
5:45 pm
Rambler: That would be interesting if that is what happened. But answer this: when was the last time a buddy just gave you $312? For no reason. Further, I love the off handed mention. How are your studies? Ready for the UGA game? Oh by the way, did you take an improper benefit and have I mentioned to you that the NCAA will want to speak with you about this.
AJ sold a jersey for what it is worth, Your player was given items. In neither instance are we talking about a significant sum of money.
[NCAA News] Ga. Tech's Paul Johnson Lashes Out Against The NCAA Committee Of Infractions - GridironFans.com
July 19th, 2011
5:47 pm
[...] [...]
RipK46
July 19th, 2011
5:47 pm
Hey WTF?, I guess you’d like for us to fire PJ so we can go back to the Chan Gailey days of winning 7 games a season for a decade!
Johnson has put Tech in contention every year AND his offenses have been leading the nation in rushing ever since he landed in The Flats. Figure it out? Richt said it himself when facing one of PJ’s Ga. Southern teams: “The Option is the equalizer in football”. PJ will be here for years and UGA fans know it. They just wish their coach had PJ’s fire and guts to say what’s on his mind.
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
5:48 pm
This is an issue because the NCAA who “focuses” on promoting the term ’student-athlete’ is laying down a heavy-handed punishment for a pretty minor infraction that may not have actually happened on a very academically focused school that is has a program full of illiterate criminals to the east and a program that lies and cheats to the west, and neither of them have gotten busted.
crackbaby
July 19th, 2011
5:49 pm
If some hotties gave a player sex because he is a star football player, should the NCAA get involved and investigate? Vacate victories, etc.?
Would like to know because some of us would pay more than $312 for some of that action!
Hey Coach..........just sayin
July 19th, 2011
5:50 pm
“If you want to kick the tiger in the ass, you’d better have a plan for dealing with his teeth”
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
5:53 pm
Nice, crackbaby.
Hit A Single
July 19th, 2011
5:54 pm
I do and will always like Coach Johnson. I appreciate what he did at the Naval Academy and Ga. Southern and I hope he goes 11 and 1 at Tech every year. And I also dislike the NCAA and my feelings comes from Coach Ron Polk’s stance on the limited number of scholarships allowed in college baseball. It is definitely the most discriminated collegiate sport. But I do not believe the NCAA would have come down as hard if somebody in leadership would have shown some leadership. Somebody dropped the ball at Tech. Also I don’t care if 115 busted their tails it doesn’t take but one selfish individual to ruin it for everybody. If you broke rules you broke rules. But like I said the leadership was not there.
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
5:54 pm
When your friends pull down what many Tech alum do, they don’t feel too bad about giving you $312. A certain executive (I won’t say who so as not to sound ‘insecure’) took myself, my girlfriend, my roommate, and some of our family to a dinner that probably cost well over $312 after a game just this past football season. One of my coworkers bought another about $200 of single barrel bourbon. I would say a handful of t-shirts wasn’t an issue.
And if you ever speak to PJ, you’ll understand what I mean about offhanded. He says everything how he sees it, with about the same emphasis. That’s actually probably what he said (in your comment dbldawg).
Mike S
July 19th, 2011
5:55 pm
I am not a Tech fan, and certainly not a UGA fan, but reading this blog shows one thing. UGA fans (not all of them, but a large majority who post here) are the most delusional, immature, uneducated, spiteful blowhards in the history of the world. You make the ancient Romans look shy and bashful about conquering what was then the known world! You guys have not hardly won squat in almost thirty years, yet you act so high and mighty. I am a big fan of both Coach Richt and Coach Johnson. I admire both of them, though they are completely differnt type men. Even if you UGA guys are only high school graduates, you should still see that the NCAA is wrong in this situation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a great college rivalry, but you guys take it to an incredibly vindictive level. Would you ever say these type things to a person’s face or are you just a bad a** behind your keyboard? Grow up!
By the way, I have complete admiration for CPJ standing up to the tyranny of the NCAA, for his players, his program, and his institution. Would you not have the same admiration if it was your coach?
CFT: Ohio prep coaches might honor Tressel | Indian Players
July 19th, 2011
5:57 pm
[...] “I’m proud of what those guys did on the field — they won it on the field,” Johnson said. “The NCAA can’t take away the memories or what happened on the field. Let’s say somebody took something illegal. I’m still not convinced that happened, but let’s say it did. Well, you’re punishing 115 guys who didn’t do anything but work their butt off.” [...]
Vince
July 19th, 2011
5:57 pm
Enter your comments here
Bleed red
July 19th, 2011
5:58 pm
What’s wrong with chop blocking it’s a game all you puss won’t to make it a sissy game can’t touch the QB football should go back 30 years and start over get rid of the pre madonas and the winers
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
5:58 pm
I appreciate your insight, Mike S. Spot on.
Footballrules
July 19th, 2011
6:00 pm
Tossed Salad….so, winning the ACC is like winning the title “Shortest Midget.” Guess that means winning the SECheat is like being declared biggest Neanderthal of the Knucklehead Conference.
Vince
July 19th, 2011
6:01 pm
BIG Dawg fan here. I could laugh this off or throw insults the way Tech fans do whenever UGA has misfortunes…. but I will refrain from doing so. Tech is right in this. The punishment was overblown and the evidence of a cover up seems circumstantial at best. Besides…if they had made the offending players sit out we never would have had that legendary play where bay bay dropped the ball!
repeat offenders
July 19th, 2011
6:01 pm
So a man who admittedly cheats at board games or whatever everybody else does expects me to believe he wouldn’t cheat to win conference championship?
gt4ever
July 19th, 2011
6:03 pm
I’m up for that crackbaby….
Vince
July 19th, 2011
6:04 pm
@ Mike S
I am not going to read through 11 pages of comments,but most of the UGA fans’ comments I have read on here seem to side with Tech……and that is something I can GUARANTEE you Tech fans would not have done in reverse.
dawggone
July 19th, 2011
6:06 pm
why is it that dawg fans are infatuated with men with boobs. just asking
Mike S
July 19th, 2011
6:06 pm
By the way, I should give kudos to the UGA fans who provide a reasonable discourse of the “situation” and are willing to see past the rivalry to debate the issue without pettiness.
Vince, sldkfjslk, etc.
Matt Skole, you don’t qualify.
George Stein
July 19th, 2011
6:06 pm
Then I suggest you go back and read 11 pages of many UGA fans doing it, Vince.
Mike S
July 19th, 2011
6:10 pm
Vince, read my comment above that must have posted at the same time as yours. I read a good deal of th 11 pages (I only have myself to blame!) and there was a lot of vindictiveness in there.
If the shoe was on the other foot, I would call out Tech fans also. In fact, their responses at times are no better. I just get tired of the crap I see here all the time, about any subject. In the immortal words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”
Rambler
July 19th, 2011
6:11 pm
If u(sic)ga were being heavily punished for something quite small, I would probably say that it was bs and side with the leghumpers (with a comment or two about fleas and their sisters, just for fun).
If u(sic)ga is in the news for the 2nd time this week because a player, recruit, or staff member is going to jail for theft, duis, driving without a license, etc, I’m going to keep up my making fun of the trashiest program in the country.
I appreciate the students and fans from the community college in athens who return Tech the same courtesies.
Thanks Vince, and others like you.
Bama
July 19th, 2011
6:13 pm
@ripk, Just what was Pj in contention for in 2010? Chan never had a losing season.
Vince
July 19th, 2011
6:14 pm
@ George Stein
Okay..On the first page, seven people identified themselves as Georgia fans and six sided with Tech. On to the next page……
Beast from the East
July 19th, 2011
6:15 pm
You gotta admire PJ’s spunk. That guy just tells it like he sees it.
Vince
July 19th, 2011
6:17 pm
@ George Stein
Okay…page two…^ 6 UGA fans……4 side with Tech.
RipK46
July 19th, 2011
6:19 pm
I love what Paul Johnson is doing here. How can you not love what he is doing?! He could have stayed quiet and taken this slap on the wrist from the NCAA. Instead, the man sticks up for his school and those players that layed it all out there in 2009. The NCAA has it’s priorities completely upside down on this. This is not even in the same universe as what happened at USC, Ohio State, Auburn, and soon to be discovered at Oregon.
Paul Johnson has sent a message to the NCAA that this is wrong on so many levels. Georgia Tech will not win the appeal, but by fighting back so vehemently will ensure that the NCAA thinks twice about such frivolous “investigations” in the future.
DJ
July 19th, 2011
6:21 pm
You idiot Dawg fans (only addressing those of you who are idiots) do know that Paul Johnson’s mentor is your very own Erk Russell….Yes, there’s a reason that deep down you really do like him, and now you know why you can admit it.
ROFL is retarded
July 19th, 2011
6:22 pm
why don’t you read something before you post your ignorance. Johnson never went to Auburn or coached for Auburn. Born in NC, went to Western Carolina and App St. Coached at Hawaii, Navy, Southern and Tech. Where did you get Auburn from?? Are you mad bro?