Radakovich says Johnson is ‘right person for this job’
After 2-4 start, Tech coach Paul Johnson fired his second defensive coordinator. (AJC/Curtis Compton)
In his first two seasons at Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson went 20-7, including 12-4 in the ACC, and won a conference title (the whims of NCAA investigators notwithstanding).
In the 2½ years since, he is 16-16, including 10-10 in the ACC, and has lost nine of his past 13. He also just fired his second defensive coordinator, hoping to salvage a season that has some fans grumbling and wondering if those early results were some aberration.
Yet to be determined: Is this merely a step back before another eventual ACC title run (most optimistic) or ugly foreshadowing of a Bill Lewis collapse (most pessimistic).
Welcome to today’s sports world, which can be best summed up as: What a beautiful morning/Wait I felt A Raindrop/The Sky Is Falling! (Elapsed time: 12 minutes.)
For what it’s worth, the sky isn’t falling in Dan Radakovich’s office. The Georgia Tech athletic director affirmed Tuesday that he has not lost confidence in Johnson as the school’s football coach, nor has he given any thought to making a change in that office.
“I know there’s some erosion in support right now, but the Falcons are 5-0, and there was erosion in their fan base last year, too, when they didn’t win in the playoffs,” Radakovich said. “That’s the thing about sports now. People can express their opinion quickly.
Dan Radakovich said Johnson's resume makes him worthy of being given the benefit of the doubt. (AJC photo)
“I have confidence in Paul. He’s the right person for this job, and he will continue to move the program forward. We have to get through this bump in the road. We still have six games left for a chance to have a positive season.”
In at least one respect, being a football coach isn’t different from any other job: When somebody’s tenure begins with signs of very-good-to-greatness, the boss is more likely to give that employee the benefit of the doubt.
Johnson has earned that benefit.
What he accomplished in his first two seasons, including Tech playing in its first BCS bowl game and a first-season win at Georgia, went far beyond what anybody could have projected.
Critics suggest he has made consecutive defensive coordinators, Dave Wommack and Al Groh, scapegoats for his own failings. But apply some logic here: Wommack was fired after the 2009 ACC title season (hence: not a scapegoat). Groh was fired after a three-game losing streak that saw the Jackets score 36, 28 and 31 points but allow 42, 49 and 47. There were late-game defensive collapses both this year and late last season.
Is this really the time to pin Tech’s problems on the triple-option offense?
For as much as Johnson’s offense tends to be a lightning rod for criticism in these just-chuck-it days of football, the Jackets have scored fewer than 14 points in seven of 59 games under Johnson and fewer than 20 in 14 of 59. Overall, they have scored an average of 30.5 points.
Is Johnson ultimately responsible for whether his team wins or loses? Of course. But Radakovich doesn’t see any of the other signs an athletic director looks for when contemplating a coaching change, most notably a lack of effort or hopelessness. “It’s not like we’re getting blown out,” he said. “It’s not like we’re being physically overmatched every week.”
He said he understands the criticism. He expected it. He fields questions at booster functions and reads weekly critiques in his email’s inbox. He just doesn’t agree with them.
“Paul has demonstrated to me that he can coach and he can pull a team together,” Radakovich said. “And it’s important to note that it’s not just here. His entire career [including Georgia Southern and Navy] to me has been as big a positive as anything. He has shown that he’s able to sustain success in an organization over a long period of time.”
Radakovich and Johnson speak daily. The AD was a sounding board for him when Johnson was considering firing Groh.
Radakovich: “It was not an easy decision for Paul, and I look at my role as being someone who can give him a 360-degree view of things. But he’s the head football coach, and I want to give him the opportunity to have the staff that he sees fit.”
If the losses continue, it’s logical to assume that Johnson ultimately would pay a price. But Tech isn’t nearly at that point yet.
By Jeff Schultz
•
Got some time? Here’s the last dozen blogs
• Al Groh’s problems at Georgia Tech weren’t pure ‘fantasy’
• Falcons are easy highlight in Atlanta’s dark sports weekend
• Short takes: Gonzalez, Bryant and missing RG3 in Falcons’ win
• Braves’ Frank Wren needs to fix good, but not great, team
• Chipper Jones on loss in his finale: ‘Ultimately, I’m to blame’
• Braves are hoping to change postseason script
• Weekend Predictions: Dogs over Darth Rooster, Falcons over Skins
• Spurrier should take lesson from Richt on handling criticism
• Video: It’s Winnersville! We talk Braves, Falcons, UGA
• Medlen becomes an unlikely key to Braves’ postseason
• Georgia has uncomfortable mix of highlights, slapstick
• Chipper Jones: Braves lose a legend, fans lose a hero, I lose reason to open laptop
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317 comments Add your comment
Put It this Way
October 9th, 2012
3:06 pm
If Orwin Smith were at Alabama he would be leading the nation in rushing and total yardage.
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:07 pm
Want some cheese with that whine How Many? Maybe you should just give up football and go to techademic bees. Duke fans don’t whine and their academics are head and shoulders above GTs.
Survey of Calculus anyone. LMAO! Ivan Allen School of Liberal Arts? Classes at Morehouse? Drop the excuses How Many. And where in the world is Rueben Houston?
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:11 pm
Orwin Smith wouldn’t see the field as a running back at Alabama. Or LSU. Or UGA. Get real Put it This Way. That’s funny as hell. UGA’s 4th team TB is better than Orwin Smith.
Jon Koncak
October 9th, 2012
3:12 pm
I agree with the AD, the right person for the GT job is one that calls people “retarded”, says “they must have just gotten off from their job at WalMart” insinuating that people who work for WalMart don’t make much money and are much lower than him making his millions, punch the opposing team fans in the face and generally acts like a bafoon. Also, is that a wrist watch or a forearm watch in the picture??
Nativebird
October 9th, 2012
3:14 pm
“Is this really the time to pin Tech’s problems on the triple-option offense?” The head coach is the coach of the ENTiRE football team. This IS the problem with CPJ. He doesn’t like defense, never has. Has no interest In defense. Wants to pretend that defense doesn’t exist…wants to simply “give” it and it’s responsibilities to someone else….a Dc. Fire’em by the dozen if need be. Being interested in defense would take precious time away from his sublime supreme nirvana of being wholly consumed in his brilliance of his invention….uh…er…interpretation of the all knowing all powerful all consuming triple option.
PULEEASE. This guy is a narcissistic jerk that has failed and now wants to deflect blame. Pure and simple. Simpletons who an only evaluate this jerk in terms of how many points the offense puts up are missing The point. Football is more than offense, and being consumed with one damages the other irreparably, no matter how many DC’s you hire.
wxwax
October 9th, 2012
3:14 pm
The next hire is for Paul Johnson’s job.
Get this one wrong and he’s out. And the guy better be a good recruiter, too.
GStateBen
October 9th, 2012
3:17 pm
@JacketDetective Never embarassed by my team. 3rd year program and my expectations are set correctly.
Been busy running two websites and working 3 jobs.
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:18 pm
This is sink or swim time for the 2012 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
I think we’ll swim.
Prove me right guys with much better play on defense and some victories.
GTBob
October 9th, 2012
3:19 pm
As always you avoided part of the question..Gailey always had players that could at Georgia.Who on the current Tech team could start at Georgia?
Its not really a fair question. On offense we aren’t going to have any players that could start for UGA. On defense UGA is completely loaded at every position right now. Either way, just because Gailey might have had a few players who were good, that doesn’t make up for the 50 or so players that were bad. You can’t recruit Calvin Johnson and 20 two star players and call yourself a great recruiter.
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:19 pm
Good 4 u Ben.
Tom Ryan
October 9th, 2012
3:19 pm
Well, it is, of course, imperative at Tech to win the right way (i.e., playing by the rules) and have a head coach who represents the Institute well. That being said, Clemson’s first TD on Saturday resulted from Tech going for it on 4th and 1 from their won 37 and failing to make it. Those are not smart decisions and that was by no means an isolated incident.
tooltime234
October 9th, 2012
3:24 pm
Maybe the going for it on 4th and 1 was a result of giving up 1000 yards in the previous 2 games? Just a hunch.
ramblingbuzz
October 9th, 2012
3:26 pm
Tom…….Some of CPJ’s decisions on offense lately are troublesome. I chalk it up as being under a lot of pressure to get things corrected and win some ball games. Hope I’m right about that.
5150 UOAD
October 9th, 2012
3:26 pm
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:07 pm
Want some cheese with that whine How Many? Maybe you should just give up football and go to techademic bees. Duke fans don’t whine and their academics are head and shoulders above GTs.
Survey of Calculus anyone. LMAO! Ivan Allen School of Liberal Arts? Classes at Morehouse? Drop the excuses How Many. And where in the world is Rueben Houston?
========================================================================
You are still STUPID these are not Liberal Arts degrees like PE, Housing, Consumer Economics that are BA that don’t require the MATH that a Bachelor Science requires.
All six schools offer Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees. With the exception of the School of Modern Languages, all Schools offer Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs. We also offer an extensive choice of Minors and Certificates.
Georgia Tech’s Reserve Officer Training Corps ROTC is also housed within the College.
Schools & Departments within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
School of Economics
School of History, Technology, and Society
The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
School of Literature, Media, and Communication
School of Modern Languages
School of Public Policy
ROTC
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:27 pm
@Tom Ryan.
I am frustrated by that too.
And then by not going for it on 4th and one with about 2 minutes left in the game against Miami when one more first down wins it.
On 4th and one in our territory, like the safety against Clemson, the other team can gamble on defense and win knowing they have a lot to gain by doing so.
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:28 pm
No excuse tooltime.
No one else goes for it there in the whole country with better offenses than ours and he also did it early in the VT and Miami games.
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:32 pm
Folks I’m going for a 3 mile run.
Watch the ship.
Dawg trolls a little downbeat after their beatdown?
No NC for Richt again.
25 million (rough estimate) in pay for what?
tooltime234
October 9th, 2012
3:32 pm
Yeah but not many people in the country have worse defenses than us either. I dont mind rolling the dice there. We’ve missed field goals and cant stop anybody. Might as well. We have to basically score 7 on every possession to beat anybody
Rick James
October 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
@GTBob
Its not really a fair question. On offense we aren’t going to have any players that could start for UGA. On defense UGA is completely loaded at every position right now. Either way, just because Gailey might have had a few players who were good, that doesn’t make up for the 50 or so players that were bad. You can’t recruit Calvin Johnson and 20 two star players and call yourself a great recruiter.
————————————————————————————————————————————
It is a fair question and the answer is nobody,,Simply because of the differences between the talent that Gailey and CPJ brought in.Tech in the past always had players that I would wished were at Georgia.Now? I see nobody.The last and the next projected first round draft choice CPJ recruited? Answer,none.He’s a poor recruiter Bob plain and simple.At Navy all of his players wanted to be in the military so there was no need to really recruit.At Georgia Southern he got the Division 1 fallouts or the kids that were not quite good enough,no real need to recruit.He does not recruit well because he never had to.
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
You too 5150 UOAD. Take off your wife’s panties and take your loses like a man. If it’s so darn tough lobby the AD to just give up football. Stanford doesn’t whine. Duke doesn’t whine. Vanderbilt doesn’t whine, and the list goes on and on and on. Or is whining about academics exclusively a Tech thing. And no offense to the GT fans that don’t make excuses. Just the sissies that do.
Jacket Detective
October 9th, 2012
3:34 pm
You don’t mind and that’s fine.
But some of us do.
We’ll agree to disagree.
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:35 pm
Reggie Ball lasted 4 years at GT 5150 UOAD. Can’t be that tough. And what was that degree Joe Hamilton got?
Mark in ATL
October 9th, 2012
3:39 pm
The facts are when Gailey’s players left GT the results went downhill fast…..he only won when he didn’t have his own players….he can’t recruit kids good enough to win at this level.
JB
October 9th, 2012
3:40 pm
Picadilly on Piedmont told to start salting the food again with Groh gone.
JB
October 9th, 2012
3:41 pm
Caption the picture of Johnson above……..” Can you believe I’m getting over 2 mil per year for this smoke and mirrors”.
5150 UOAD
October 9th, 2012
3:42 pm
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke…….Stanford and Duke and Vandy have EASY degrees for athletes to take. If you don’t know that then you are too Stupid to even learn that at this point in your life.
It is not an Excuse it is a FACT that Tech has to work with. There is not a single other BCS or FBS college that has the Academic Demands faced by Tech Athletes.
You keep running your mouth about some Morris Brown or Morehouse classes. you really need to provide some facts with that crap. Wait you can’t but you keep saying it hoping it will be true.
billyBobjacket
October 9th, 2012
3:43 pm
Thank God UGA lost and the Braves did their typical late season/early post-season pucker job, so we have plenty of company in our misery. We have some easy games coming up, so will likely win a few of them, and will probably keep the UGA game close for a while as their players sleepwalk though the first half, and keep our meaningless bowl streak alive…all of which will likely result in another couple of years of maddening mediocrity.
GTBob
October 9th, 2012
3:43 pm
Tech in the past always had players that I would wished were at Georgia.Now? I see nobody
Aside from Calvin Johnson, name all of the players recruited by Chan that would start for UGA’s current team.
GT Fan Since 56
October 9th, 2012
3:45 pm
Okay, here we go again. Wait until NEXT year. There’s this one recruit who will REALLY make us a better team. He’s EARNED the right to fix it. NEXT year we will be better at quarterback (or running back, or defensive end). Blah, blah, blah. How many times do you want to swallow this? He’s 16 and 16 in his last 32. How many of those 16 wins are against meaningful teams? How many of those 16 team we beat even ended the season with winning records? Do not focus on the offense. Johnson is the HEAD coach, not just the Offensive Coordinator. And he just cannot recruit – or thinks he does not NEED to recruit, because he is such a good coach. There are really only two reasons DRAD won’t fire Johnson before next season: either he does not have the money, or he has become infected with Dave Brain disease – i.e. he’s satisfied with mediocrity.
Skeptic
October 9th, 2012
3:45 pm
To those that use the phrases:
- How, EXACTLY…
- You claim AAAAAA, YET you BBBBBB…
- What is this CCCCCC that you speak of…
- REALLY?
I’m sure you think these are clever literary devices, but they’re not. They’re OLD. Please stop. Go find the next hip blog phrase.
JB
October 9th, 2012
3:48 pm
Observation from a distance. Gaily’s skill players and lineman under Johnson….Bada$$ team that couldn’t be stopped……now with Johnson’s players….2-5………Not brain surgery.
GTBob
October 9th, 2012
3:50 pm
Observation from a distance. Gaily’s skill players and lineman under Johnson….Bada$$ team that couldn’t be stopped……now with Johnson’s players….2-5………Not brain surgery.
The vast majority of the starters from the 2010 team were Gailey recruits. How did that work out for us?
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
3:53 pm
Just give up football 5150 UOAD. If it’s that tough give it up. You’re whining and excuse making is BS and everybody has figured that out. You don’t hear the Service Academy fans making excuses and they are head and shoulders above anything a GT athlete faces. Get those panties out of that wad how about it.
3-4 this
October 9th, 2012
3:56 pm
Groh was an awful coach,
meanwhile over-rated and over-paid Todd Grantham’s
53rd ranked UGA defense is also sliding fast.
3-4 this
October 9th, 2012
4:00 pm
Tennessee – 44 points
South Carolina – 35 points
Todd GrantHam = CHOKE
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
4:02 pm
Well…no, it shouldn’t. “Clustering,” as it’s called in this story from the AP’s Paul Newberry, is neither a secret phenomenon nor a new one. According to Newberry, there are five BCS schools where more than half of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors on the football team have the same major: Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Wake Forest, and Baylor. If you broaden the clustering criteria to “half the players clustered within two or three majors,” that number grows to 39.
Why don’t those other schools whine like you do 5150 UOAD?
Just do it!
October 9th, 2012
4:04 pm
The dwags will fire Richt at the end of the season. He’s the perfect fit for our conference. Hire him and we will see 10 to 11 wins per season.
5150 UOAD
October 9th, 2012
4:06 pm
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke…………..so now you go to the service academies? They RECRUIT the Best kids in the US and the World. Yes those kids could make it academically at TECH but they are not the best Football players. Very few of the service academy kids have FBS school offers.
We are not giving up football you idiot.
You really are making a bad argument and you are slanting your facts that are not helping your argument.
Jeff Schultz
October 9th, 2012
4:10 pm
Crackbaby — No. 1) Change your screen name; 2) regurgitating? Did somebody else talk to Radakovich about Johnson in the past few days? Maybe I missed that. Or are you just making that up to look tough, because I’m sure with a wonderful anonymous screen names like yours, it’s easy to write bold (and moronic) things; 3) I’d love if Tech brought Tenuta back for defense.
Now go away.
juvenal
October 9th, 2012
4:10 pm
can’t afford paying out a contract that runs to 2016…….will drad think long & hard before extending it again? if not, maybe Taz & the other fat cats will decide drad is the problem….otherwise, what else do you expect drad to say?
The Old Coot
October 9th, 2012
4:11 pm
Ah, so Johnson got the dreaded “vote of confidence” by his AD boss.
A sure sign that Johnson’s end is near at Georgia Tech.
Jeff Schultz
October 9th, 2012
4:12 pm
GT Joe — “Groh got scapegoated; the real problem is Tevin Washington.”
<< Really? Wow.
GTBob
October 9th, 2012
4:15 pm
Tech is good at Calculus and Football here to bring us Techies back to the flats so we can drink whisky get drunk and act silly and then fall out of Bobby Dodd Stadium. Dam we are cool!
Jeff Schultz
October 9th, 2012
4:16 pm
GStateBen — “Jeff,
Out of those 16 wins, only 11 are vs. BCS schools. Tech fans should win 6-7 FBS games per year and going to a bowl (who is still in very much doubt in 2012).
Buyout Info for Paul Johnson per Eric Thompson of Rivals.com:
Post 2012 season – $10.2 million
Post 2013 season – $7.7 million
Post 2014 season – $5.2 million
Post 2015 season – $2.4 million”
Didn’t break down 16 wins and haven’t looked contract in a while — both may be accurate. But I really don’t think we’re close to looking at a buyout situation.
QB/DB
October 9th, 2012
4:16 pm
I applaud CPJ and D Rad for making a hard but necessary move! GT needs to build a fan base, the hardliners will come but this was beginning to be a public relations nightmare! All CPJ wanted was a great deffense on paper Groh looked good but it wasn’t like that on the field. The next DC has to be right, a guy who can x and o’s motivate and recruit. The recruiting program has to be overhauled, GT has to bring in some guys who can close who are the opposite of CPJ personality. CPJ is great, yes great but he is also his own worse enemy, with his arrogance and stubborness. Get a true QB Coach who can teach foot work and release. Put the dollars together to go get Lance Thompson as DC, bring Giff back as D. Coor. switch Waller back to defense and I bet you, that you will see CPJ pure greatness.
5150 UOAD
October 9th, 2012
4:18 pm
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke……………..look at the Degree requirements those athletes need for the degrees they are taking.
You really don’t get the difference and you never will just because you hate tech and are not smart enough to ever understand why it is different.
I have not made a excuse. I am explaining How and Why TECH is a different than every other school in the FBS.
If you just Hate Tech so much you can’t or will not try to understand the difference there is no hope for you.
I you don’t understand that the majority of government school educated children in Georgia have no chance of going to Tech then explaining why it is even more difficult for athletes then you are just to Stupid to ever understand much about TECH.
Jon Tenuta
October 9th, 2012
4:19 pm
Hey guys it’s me Jon. Have you guys forgotten about me? Yeah sure, we brought the house on most plays but sure as heck better than what you guys got now! haha
Hillbilly D
October 9th, 2012
4:19 pm
The Georgia Tech athletic director affirmed Tuesday that he has not lost confidence in Johnson as the school’s football coach, nor has he given any thought to making a change in that office.
Most times in the sports world a “vote of confidence” means get the resume ready and have your suitcase handy.
2dogs2cokesAnotherChoke
October 9th, 2012
4:21 pm
And you don’t have an argument 5150 UOAD. Only excuses. Once again. If you can’t play the hand you’ve been dealt, fold. But whining and excuse making is very unflattering for any program. Lobby your Pres to level the field. Go to a less competitive conference. Drop down a division if you can’t compete. But PUHLEEEEEZE!!! No more excuses.
Jeff Schultz
October 9th, 2012
4:25 pm
General comment since others have touched on recruiting: Chan Gailey recruited some really good players. Problem was that Paul Johnson won more with Chan’s players than Chan did in previous years. If you believe Chan would’ve gone 20-7 in the first two years that Johnson took over, you’re in the minority.