Paul Johnson believes Tech will be even better in Year 2
Remember the offense that trampled Georgia underfoot? You still haven’t seen the monster fully unleashed. So said Paul Johnson, whose first Georgia Tech team won nine games. As his second round of spring practice was drawing to its end, the coach spent a half-hour discussing the past and the future. His prognosis: “I think we’ll be a better football team than we were a year ago.”
On his option-based spread: “It’s not so much putting in the basics. It’s the little nuances, the little changeups we didn’t get to last year … We were still just scratching the surface a year ago. There were so many games where if we’d been a little more adept at running it we could have done so much better … We will be better on offense. Now I don’t know if we’ll win any more games, but I guarantee you we’re better than we were a year ago.”
On just how that will happen: “It’s not just that we’ll get faster – we’ll be able to execute at a faster pace. You can watch our tape right now, and I can put on tape of my last year at the [Naval] Academy, and even though the kids here are much faster we don’t go as fast. Now this spring, I think we’ve made strides. If you ask our defensive kids, they’ll tell you it’s night and day from last spring to this spring, just the speed of it.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
On the offense at peak capacity: “When we get good at doing it, it’s like death [for the defense]. It’s not like, ‘I can take a wrong step and recover because they’re coming off slow.’ It’s like, ‘I thought he had the ball and [the real ballcarrier] is 15 yards downfield.’ ”
On continuity: “We replaced a lot of moving parts a year ago. This year we don’t have as many moving parts to replace … We’ve got 16 starters back, and there may be one or two of those guys who get beat out.”
On the importance of beating Georgia: “Because of the recent history it was a big deal to the fans. And it was an important game to our players because it was the in-state rival, and we know they’ve a good program and a good team. But I don’t think about it [every day]; we don’t talk about it here. You move on. While it’s a big game, it won’t be mentioned until we get ready to play them. It’s not like our be-all and end-all.”
On the blowout Chick-fil-A Bowl loss to LSU: “I did a poor job of bringing our guys back down. When you have a young football team and you have 42 days of everybody telling you how good you are, you start to believe it and you forget how you got there.”
On the Chick-fil-A buildup: “I’m sitting there at a bowl function, and the emcee is talking about how Georgia Tech may have the best defensive line in the country, and I can see those kids from LSU bristling. And I’m thinking, ‘Dude, you’re not doing us any favor.’ ”
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
On what might have prompted LSU coach Les Miles to order a fake punt with his team leading by 35 points: “I have no idea. During the week, everybody was friendly and nothing happened. I just took it as … who knows?”
On the rings Tech commissioned bearing a certain score (45-42): “We didn’t get rings for beating Georgia. Everywhere I’ve coached, there’s always been dollars for bowls. Rather than give the kids a couple of hundred bucks that they blow in one week, we’ve always gotten bowl rings … There’s a ton of teams that do it – it’s not like we’re the only ones who ever thought of it. Rather than get another set of sweats, we got a ring.”
On the reborn rivalry with Georgia: “[That one game] wasn’t as big a deal to me because maybe I hadn’t been here [for the losing]. I understand it’s a big game and an in-state rival. And I don’t want to sound cocky, but if you act like it’s a huge big deal, then it becomes huge… Hopefully we’re going to win some more.”
Tech and Georgia meet at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Nov. 28. Johnson’s team will win again.
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305 comments Add your comment
sammy
April 16th, 2009
11:07 am
They did fall on thier rears……They were suppose to be the 2nd coming with Stafford and Moreno….and Sports Illustrated…If they had been in the hunt, that would have been great…but they were not and they won’t be this year….or the next….or the next….etc. I hate it because I like CMR and ne of our high school kids is going to be a Dawg next season, so I will be pulling for him and the Dawgs…..but bottom line is ….Tech gets them agian.
JB
April 16th, 2009
11:09 am
Ok about the rings, but why wouldn’t the Tech players put the Score of the bowl game on the rings ?
beej
April 16th, 2009
11:15 am
Dang.
Mark picking Tech to win is the kiss of death.
GT Fan
April 16th, 2009
11:17 am
Rings designed before bowl game. What difference does it make? Since when does GT have to ask uga what to put on rings. get a life.
m
April 16th, 2009
11:21 am
I got hit by a bus today. Thank God and Greyhound.
Buzzfan®
April 16th, 2009
11:26 am
So UCLA was offered a 2010 season opener in the ATL vs GT……and declined.
I guess Neuheisal knew it was a bad idea when his first instinct was to take the over?
Bill
April 16th, 2009
11:29 am
Mark how did your high level AJC meeting go? Really your first? Hope that good news.
Kenny Powers
April 16th, 2009
11:34 am
WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!! Thats me slapping the pi$$ out of Minnesota Jacket.
At least put witty comments in your posts like Supersize that order, mutts and Ramble On.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
11:36 am
Thanks, Kenny…..I think. lol
misterwax
April 16th, 2009
11:36 am
well, if Tech improves on 12/19 FGs and holds on to the ball in close games like VT, UNC and UVA fumbles lost on key drives, and does not go for it on 4th and long on their side of the field…..they will do much better…those three losses were defined by obvious errors. Otherwise they would have been in the Orange Bowl and looked a lot better.
SlimG
April 16th, 2009
11:43 am
AJC cutting 1000 jobs! No subscribers. Uh oh, Paul is thinking, that can’t be good. Last year beating the dawgs was goal number 1. Now, it’s just another game? Really. Seems like he doesn’t want to give out any bulletin board material. He knows it was a miracle in Athens and payback from a dawg is always bloody.
Kenny Powers
April 16th, 2009
11:45 am
Yes Supersize that was a compliment to your posts. Sometimes I think we need to remember to poke a little fun at each other’s supposed dominance of everything college football…oh and I am a Dawg fan.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
11:50 am
Kenny, I sorta thought I remembered that you are. I’m glad to see you have a sense of humor. Hell, it just gets too damn serious here sometimes, and I guess I can be as guilty of that as anybody. But when all is said and done, it IS only a game, and there ARE far more important things in life. But don’t be too hard on Minnesota. He is obviously a big Tech fan, and I love him for that. And he too has made a few witty comments.
ylojk8
April 16th, 2009
11:53 am
when UGA broke the longest streak (which GT still owns) to their in-state rival, they retired the guy’s number who scored the winning points. And JB is making fun of Tech players wanting to put the UGA score on their bowl rings?
When Tech retires numbers for scoring the winning points of a regular season game .. then you have something to talk about JB
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:00 pm
DawginLex, you just confirmed what I said. Can’t stand it, huh? Can’t admit your own inadequacy. It’s all about scoring, bubba.
45 – 42
67 – 62
57 – 42
3 – 1
11 – 6
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
12:02 pm
Coach Paul Johnson was groomed under Erk Russell. He is a good coach. Coach Mark Richt was groomed under Bobby Bowden. He is a good coach. If you look from the outside in, then you realize the state of Georgia has alot to be proud of when it comes to college football. This includes the past present and future. And yes I am a dawg fan, but with the hiring of CPJ I have a new respect for the Yellow Jackets. They are my second favorite team. Okay Ramble On, supersize and the other delusional tech fans you can now go back to slinging insults. I hate UF just as bad as you hate us. That is your reality check for today. Go Dawgs!! By the way, good article.
Tornado
April 16th, 2009
12:17 pm
JB, based on your Navy comparison, it does sound like the recipe for stopping the offense is easy: just have two levels better talent and size. Like, say, 20 pounds heavier per man while averaging a couple tenths faster in the 40.
Damn, now that y’all have figured that out, I guess GT’s prospects don’t look so good after all!
Tom
April 16th, 2009
12:18 pm
ylojk8, it will be interesting to see how the Dan Magills and other uga fossils react when the Gators are about to tie the series record in a few years.
When TECH was about to tie the series in the 50’s (during that 8-game streak), that’s when the uga weasels went back and decided to suddenly “not count” the ‘43 and ‘44 losses to Tech. Seems they didn’t care about them until the series was about to be tied…..then they suddenly shouldn’t count?
So, which previous losses to Florida won’t be counted in a few years?
gt_blume
April 16th, 2009
12:21 pm
Quit making excuses about the rings! Be proud of them!
Beating GA was our biggest win on the season…of the last several seasons. It may have been the biggest regular season win an ACC team had last year. It is a fact that the GT-UGA game means a lot more to Tech right now.
If we win 2 of the next 3 then the game is much more important to UGA. If we come into that game with a top 10 ranking, it becomes a MUCH BIGGER game for UGA because winning it means something to them…an end of season boost in BCS ranking. If we can start upsetting their post-season plans on a semi-regular basis they start to care about the game again.
fortebuna
April 16th, 2009
12:24 pm
Well, well, well the mongrels are still complaining about the GT win. Well who would have guessed? PJ may no be a second coming of Bobby Dodd, but I have the feeling that the Right Reverend Ritch is the second coming of Wally Butts. Butts oop I meant MR will win some lose some to Tech so get use to it. UGay is not Techs primary concern, the ACC championship is. UGay is just another notch in PJ’s gun.
pensacola dawg
April 16th, 2009
12:26 pm
Man I wish we could get out of playing the Mighty Tech……If not I dont what were going to do.
GT GRAD
April 16th, 2009
12:26 pm
“10 wins in the SEC and a BIG BOWL win is falling on our rears ?????????”
The same old nonsense. The SEC had 2 great teams, 2 good teams and 8 teams which offered easy wins to any decent team they faced. The SEC only had 4 teams that finished in the Top 25. The bottom 8 teams in the SEC had a grand total of 4 wins against the AP Top 25 teams all season (Only 2 Top 25 wins throughout the entire regular season and then 2 wins against the Top 25 in bowl games)!
The SEC is VERY solid at the very top, but the suggestions that any win against an SEC team is difficult to accomplish is getting old and is simply misleading (untruthful). UGA only had 6 wins in the “overrated” SEC and all 6 wins were against the lower 8 teams in the SEC. UGA lost to the 3 best teams they played in 2008. The out of conference schedule only had one decent/good team (GT just in case you were wondering; I am fairly certain that I do not need to remind any of our blog readers, but UGA lost this game just in case you have blocked this memory in an attempt to justify your inflated opinion of UGA and the SEC).
The “BIG BOWL” win was against a one dimensional mediocre Michigan State team that had 1 win against the Top 25 (a close game against an overrated Iowa team that was only ranked because they squeaked out a 24-23 victory against Penn State – this fluke gave Iowa 1 win against the Top 25).
Considering UGA was ranked #1 preseason, I would have to conclude this was a somewhat disappointing season. Any impartial and realistic observer would probably agree.
Robert Fitzhugh Lee
April 16th, 2009
12:33 pm
“Tech and Georgia meet at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Nov. 28. Johnson’s team will win again.”
LOL
BLAZER
April 16th, 2009
12:37 pm
GET OVER THE FLUKE THING!! 45-42 COUNTS AS A WIN!
WAS 49-10 A FLUKE?
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
12:37 pm
Tom, I normally refrain from calling people names, but you sir are a complete scum bag. How dare you bring up 43 and 44. When UGA’s football players were dieing for their country, your football players were well, plaing football. As a veteren, I wish to meet you at Arlington (sp) National Cementary so you can see the scarafice of those men and women gave so we could type on this blog. Boy and I mean boy, you need a reality check. Go live in a third world country where if you are from another tribe, they cut your arms and legs off and throw you into a swimming pool. And yes you struck a nerve with me. Any place, any time, any where.
And to answer your question, let’s see we will start with all home and home games because they weren’t played in Jacksonville. Wait that is a home game for you. Just ask SOS. My cousins (who are avid gator fans) would kick your butt as well for that completely stupid remark.
Tom
April 16th, 2009
12:42 pm
No, dumbice, they WEREN’T. Tech players were ALSO fighting for their country overseas (see Clint Castleberry…….number retired after his bomber went down off the coast of SAfrica, NOT after he scored the lone td in a regular-season game).
The team TECH was fielding had players who were enrolled at Tech as part of the USN’s V-12 officer training program….preparing to also go to war.
About 130 US colleges had V-12 programs on-campus in the early 40’s.
Might be time to consider a nickname change, “Reality Check”.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
12:42 pm
Blazer 49-10 was a fluke, the games are normally alot closer.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:47 pm
Reality Check, you are the scumbag. The Tech players those two years were in school on military “scholarships” of a sort, preparing to enter the war. They were NOT draft dodgers. The NCAA and every other college whom Tech played recognizes that fact and accepts the wins and losses. And do you think that Tech was the only college in the country who had such students? HELL NO!!! There were just as many potential Tech athletes dying for our country as there were UGA potential athletes. To say otherwise is just pure blind, nasty predjudice. Does the name Clint Castleberry (sp?) mean anything to you? He was a superstar Tech running back with Heisman aspirations who entered the war and was killed, never to live out his dreams. Why weren’t Trippi and Singwich (sp?) fighting on the battlefields instead of playing football? You and your kind totally piss me off, always dreaming up stupid excuses and pointing fingers. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!!!
Tom
April 16th, 2009
12:48 pm
Supersize, Reality Challenged probably wants Angelo Bertelli to give back his Heisman, too. After all, he was a V-12 Notre Dame enrollee in ‘43 when he won it.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:49 pm
Tom, you beat me to it. LOL
m
April 16th, 2009
12:51 pm
Let me explain it for you ignorant dawgs. Chan Gailey is gone. There is a new sheriff in town. His name is Paul Johnson and he is going to kick your sorry arses year in and year out. As far as the games in ‘43 and ‘44, the stupid dawgs are counting all their wins but don’t want to count their losses (stomps actually). The NCAA counts the games just like TECH does. The only ones that try not to count them are the hypocritical dawgs. Thank God and Greyhound that Chan Gailey is gone forever.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:51 pm
Yeah, Tom. Probably lots of other great athletes during that time were V-12ers too. And we know there were lots of students like Castleberry who gave it all up for our country. God bless them all!!
DawginLex
April 16th, 2009
12:51 pm
bubba? Hey supersized idiot.
Want me to quote the previous 7 years football scores? How about the scores from last year’s baseball regionals? You do realize that UGA lost to Tech last year in the regular season? How many more regional beatdowns will it take to shut your pieholes and save you further embarrassment?
JB
April 16th, 2009
12:52 pm
Still 38-3……..You guys really embarrassed the ACC……..I guess the “ROBOT” got “LOST IN SPACE”.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:52 pm
m, I sometimes get sick of your postings, but you’re right on on that one. If it’s good enough for the NCAA, then it SHOULD be good enough for the mutts and stupid people like Dan MacGill and Reality Check.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:54 pm
DawginLex (aka BUBBA), quit living in the past. What happened in 2007-2008 has nothing to do with what happened in 2008-2009.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
12:55 pm
Bring Techies! You moron really piss me off. Super your own order, dirt dober! I didn’t say they were draft dodgers scum bag. You always cast the first stone sinner, just look at your call sign there boy wonder. We reconignize the WW2 and the sacricies aour team made as well as all other men and women. Don’t put words in my blog, there little boys. I didn’t dream up any excuses or point fingers. I actually like CPJ and tech football, But I love everyting UGA. And please refrain from preaching to me with your call sign.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
12:59 pm
Reality Check, you certainly implied that the Tech players at that time were draft dodgers. Read what you typed again. You said your football players were dying while ours were playing football. What else am I supposed to think you meant? And that certainly looks like excuses and finger-pointing to me.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
1:01 pm
Like I said, I am a veteran, are you. I am so pissed off you three idiots that I would love to meet you in person, just to see the down right hatred in your eyess. You can’t get into heaven with hate in your heart.
DawginLex
April 16th, 2009
1:02 pm
Speaking of good enough for the NCAA, how many wins have you nerds vacated in the last 20 years?
Supersize, I guess I’m not smart enough to realize that a 3 point win was a “beatdown”.
You attack anything UGA with terms like UGAG, bubba and idiots and have robot roll call and wonder why no one outside of your little nerd herd likes you or cares about you.
I am going to leave this blog because of something I was taught a long time ago:
Don’t argue or debate with an idiot, someone watching might not be able to tell who is who.
Tom
April 16th, 2009
1:05 pm
I hate UF just as bad as you hate us.
You were saying?……
Tom
April 16th, 2009
1:06 pm
NadLexer, the answer to your “vacated” question would be “0″.
(not the same answer for UGA’s hoops team, btw)
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
1:08 pm
No I did not! I said that your football players we playing football. That meant, they were playing football. do you even know what the qualifications for the draft are? I prouldy served my country diring wartime. did you? I give the utmost respect to those men at GT that gave the ultimate sacrifice for there country. I got pissed at tom because he brought up those years not me. Those were some of the most trying time in this country’s history. Boys you need a reality check and go join the military.
m
April 16th, 2009
1:09 pm
dawginlex…your post confirms you are THE idiot. Tech has vacated no wins….NONE.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
1:10 pm
You are right tom, I am having trouble getting into heaven right now. I am working on it. but are you? that is the question I brought to you. I was saying any time, any place, any where? I like the way you backed off of that request.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
1:10 pm
DawginLex, Tech has had NO wins vacated EVER. That part of the proposed punishment for our violations was rescinded. And nobody claims a 3-point win was a beatdown, but it sure as hell was a victory, and I doubt it will be the last. As far as the way we refer to you mutts, stay off the Tech blog if you don’t want to be offended. I don’t go on the UGAG blog; why are you here? So who is the real idiot? It’s certainly not me. And if you think that Techsters are the only ones who HATE UGAG, you are out of your mind. Every school in the southeast despises you guys, but not because of your usually good teams; it’s because of your LOUSY fans. Mutt fans are the worst in the south, and everybody knows it.
Reality Check, if you are a veteran, I applaud you and thank you. But, as I said, you certainly IMPLIED that the Tech football players during WWII were draft dodgers. If the NCAA and every other school who played Tech during those years recognizes our record, then WHY DOES NOT GEORGIA???
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
1:12 pm
The meeting was fine, Bill. Thanks for asking.
And I’m about as low in the ol’ pecking order as it gets. A few years ago I forgot my ID card, and the security guard asked me, “Do you work here full-time?”
Big Johnson
April 16th, 2009
1:20 pm
haha, hey reality check, where do you want to meet you blogging bad arse? Pathetic. uga fans getting all riled up on a blog, making threats!!!! LMAO. Waffle House, high noon..be there punk!!! Loser
R-Wreck
April 16th, 2009
1:24 pm
Reality Check, I am afraid that if you are “working” on getting into heaven, you will never get there. We can’t get there based on works. It’s all up to the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
1:25 pm
Okay Super size, I don’t think you will agree with any answer that I post. So I will refrain from this arguement at this time. My blood pressure is coming back down. Supersize, you are wrong about our fans. I would love for you to come to athens and tailgate with me. All teams have lousy fans. Yours included. I think it lies more on the football field and not in the stands. When UGA is counted out, we whip your buts.
That brings the hatred you have. My best memories are with GT and LSU fans. GT is beecasue I went to with a bunch of them. LSU is because they really are nice and have the best food. UF fans is where I have the worst memories, I try to tell myself it is because of the way the series of wins and losses come about in this rivalry. But man they sure make it hard to be nice to them. Just look at tommy boy.