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
Kenny Powers
April 16th, 2009
3:21 pm
Don’t forget “Spaceballs” qutoes too!!!! KEEP FIRING, A$$HOLES!!!!!!
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 16th, 2009
3:32 pm
Thanks Supersize and Reality (I think), now, back to football. Squid!
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
3:39 pm
You just never know what will transpire on the ol’ blog. Today we’ve gone from Waffle House to world wars to “Spaceballs” to Ephesians. I stand in awe.
Huh?
April 16th, 2009
3:41 pm
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272580059
“The home crowd grew increasingly frustrated, drawing several warnings in the second half for throwing cups and other debris on the field.”
You were at the game and you don’t remember this? Your head must be further up you’re rear end than I originally thought.
Once again, I challenge a Techie hypocrite to name a single instance where UGA fans have exhibited such childish and embarassing behavior.
wxwax
April 16th, 2009
3:41 pm
I understand why the offense gets all the attention at Tech these days.
However, I’d sure like to hear Johnson’s thoughts on his defense. And maybe get a little analysis of its perceived strengths and weaknesses this year.
It’s a truism that teams win with defense, and I suspect it’s especially so for a team that relies primarily on the run for its offense. It’s hard to score quickly *on demand* when you run. Yes, Tech has had quick TD’s. But it’s the “on demand” part that folks overlook. Not, “Can you score quickly”, but “Can you score quickly when you need to”?
Anyway, long way of saying that I’d sure like to hear more about Tech’s defense.
Thanks Mark. I hope your job is safe. I sure do feel bad for the folks who are losing theirs at the AJC. It happened to me this time around, and it’s no fun. All the best.
TechDrunkTank
April 16th, 2009
3:52 pm
From what I saw last year (and this spring), I believe our team will be better than and probably win 9-10 games.
…But even so, do you think we can actually get our student body to show up for Home games???
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
3:56 pm
I appreciate the sentiment, WxWax, and your patronage. And you’re right: I probably should have quizzed PJ more on the defense, but the offense is just such a sexy subject.
I’m staying at the AJC as long as they’ll have me, and I wish you the best in your endeavors.
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:06 pm
Thanks Super Size and you too Ramble On (I think too)….Squid damn proud of it….hahaha….
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:11 pm
Huh? did you not read what I typed? The hosing incident at Auburn several years ago when UGAG won and fans stormed the field after the game, something not even permitted between the hedges. The UGAG fans puncturing the inflated Yellow Jacket at Grant Field. I was spit on by a drunken UGAG fan in a parking lot after O’Leary’s first win in Athens. (And I have a witness to that event) My aunt (a UGAG fan) being doused with booze by yet another drunken mutt in Knoxville. I also heard of, but cannot prove, a SC fan being hit with a thrown chair back in Athens. I think all of those are examples of embarassing and childish behavior on the part of your fans. If you don’t, then you prove my point about your obnoxious fans. As far as the cup-throwing at the BC game, I honestly did not remember that. I am sure that’s not the first time something like that has happened at any stadium in the country. Although since the field at Sanford and Son Stadium is so far from the seats, I doubt anybody could throw a cup that far (not a slam, just the facts). Once again, that was students not grown men. The students at both Tech and UGAG are probably no better nor worse than one another. It’s those adult redneck drunks in Athens (and away) who give you the bad name you have earned. And obviously, that’s not all adult fans, but enough to be a problem. Oh, and let’s not forget the “storm the field after a TD” against the Gators 2 years ago. The “celebration rule” may be a silly one, but rules are NOT made to be broken, and your own coach (Saint Mark) not only allowed that to happen, but encouraged it. Now that IS an embarassment…..well, to everybody except UGAG fans.
Okefenokee Dawg
April 16th, 2009
4:13 pm
I know God and I know Greyhoumd, and neither of them like m.
Seriously
April 16th, 2009
4:14 pm
What about the SC kid who got freakin shot and KILLED in down town athens a few years ago? Yeah, great fans all right.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:15 pm
Seriously, I forgot about that one. I guess murder is not embarassing to huh?
MinnesotaJacket
April 16th, 2009
4:15 pm
Supersize he is correct Iw as in the section that threw the Jager bottle and the beer cans onto the field…that was the reason the new patting down policy has started for all student tickets is because of that game…makes it damn hard to get alchohol in now a days….but hey thats what students are supposed to do make total fools of themselves..
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:16 pm
Mark,
What do you expect? It’s clean ole fashined hate, but sometimes I think the clean get thrown out the window.
MinnesotaJacket
April 16th, 2009
4:17 pm
but in reality what can you expect from fans who can’t spell “Dogs” right, and only have a 5 word fight song because if it was anymore none of their fans would have known it
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:18 pm
Minnesota, you should have been there when they threw frozen fish at Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine…..LOL Not something I am proud of, but, in a manner of speaking, it was deserved.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
4:21 pm
Good line, Reality Check. I’ll steal that one somewhere down the road.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:23 pm
If I ever witnessed somebody throwing a solid object onto the field or b’ball court, I would personally report him and be a witness against him at any ensuing trial. That is TOTALLY uncalled for.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:24 pm
Mark and Reality, was it ever REALLY clean? lol
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:29 pm
Seriously, do you have a link top that one? I hope they caught the killer. We all need to face the facts. They don’t like us and we don’t like you. And speaking of drunk rednecks, outside of Atlanta they are everywhere. It’s like city versus country. Face it jackets you ain’t going to get rid of them. What I thought was very interesting that when I was at the game, I noticed a few tech students in our section looking at their phones during the game. What gives, I turn my phone off until the game is over. different generation and technology I guess. Also, when I was leaving I heard the student say some very nasty things about the game and UGA fans. All I did was shake his hand and say good game and said see you boys next year. I can remember breaking the streak against UT. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. So yeah guys I for one am happy that GT got a good coach, but my question is what took so long for greyhound and god to come to GT’s rescue. We got rid of Donnan after his second lose in Athens. I hate it when rivals take pieces of the hedges. A win at UGA is that big to them.
Huh?
April 16th, 2009
4:30 pm
Seriously, because nobody ever gets shot and killed near Georgia Tech’s toilet bowl campus. Good one genius. Tech fans are the dumbest bag of rocks on the the planet. No lie.
Supersize, I’m not going to try and refute all of your big stories about what big fat meanies Georgia fans are. It would be a waste of time. You are going to tell your lies and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I will only say that I have been to alot more Georgia games than yourself and I have NEVER seen the type of behavior that Tech fans claim they see on a regular basis. I will also say that you are missing the point. The point is that Tech fans are a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites that point the finger at everybody else but laugh at and ignore the stuff going on in their own house. That’s the point. You can spread all the lies and myths you want about what barbarians Georgia fans are but you can’t change that. Good day.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
4:33 pm
Folks, can’t we all just get along?
(Alas, when it comes to Tech-Georgia, I know the answer.)
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:34 pm
Minnesota Jacket it is a marketing ploy. It separates us from all other teams that have a nickname like ours. Dude, you went to Tech, you got to be smarter than that. LOL. As for the fight song, we here in the south like to keep things simple. No need for a complicated fight song. It’s just in the words.
Seriously
April 16th, 2009
4:38 pm
Hey Huh- Yeah, people get killed around downtown ATL (its slightly bigger than that cow pasture at the end of 316), but not opposing fans being killed by GT fans you f-ing dumb arse! Are you kidding me? Moron.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:39 pm
But Reality, it’s a damn Yankee tune—”Battle Hymn of the Republc”. Remember? LOL
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:40 pm
Seroiusly, do you have a link to the story? I would love to read it.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:41 pm
Huh? what myth or lie was there in my recounting the punctured Yellow Jacket or the hosing incident at Auburn or the crap Richt pulled in Jacksonville? Everyone of those incidents were on national TV. True, I cannot prove to you what happened to me or my aunt, but since Tech fans are not the only ones who complain about UGAG fans, maybe JUST MAYBE, you should open your closed mind and help to clean up that crap.
Seriously
April 16th, 2009
4:42 pm
Huh- How about you try and read the conversation that was going on, instead of just chyming in with your nonsense? Thanks
Reality Check..
April 16th, 2009
4:42 pm
Supersize, We use it to make fun of yale and them damn yankees. Remember? You did grow up a dawg fan didn’t you. I thought “Dawg” history was read in all households at bed time outside Atlanta. LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
4:45 pm
Reality, I grew up both a Tech fan and a Georgia fan (they weren’t called the “dawgs” back then, just “bulldogs”). Actually, I am not quite old enough to remember any rivalry with Yale, but I still make fun of them and all those Ivy League schools, and not just for their athletic programs. LOL
cluett peabody
April 16th, 2009
4:51 pm
m,
whew, you scared me for a moment there. I thought I would have to carry on the mantra: TGAG!
Seriously
April 16th, 2009
4:51 pm
Im searching for your link Reality, but in the mean time, I found something pretty funny. When searching google, it will automatically pop up the most active searches, and when I typed in “athens banner” it finished with #1 being athens banner herald, and #2 being “athens banner herold”. Great job on uga morons not being able to spell herald.
Kenny Powers
April 16th, 2009
4:53 pm
MINNESOTA JACKET, what are you doing here? I slapped the pi$$ out of you earlier and told you to leave.
WWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now leave Yankee!!!
Supersize, please kick him in the rear-area. Oh, and go dawgs.
Otto
April 16th, 2009
4:59 pm
Supersize: Why weren’t Trippi and Singwich (sp?) fighting on the battlefields instead of playing football?
Midway through his sophomore season (1942-43) with the varsity Bulldogs, coach Wally Butts switched All-American halfback Frank Sinkwich to fullback and inserted Trippi at the halfback position……Trippi missed the next two and a half seasons serving in the Air Force in World War II (1941-45). He returned for the last six games of 1945 and, in the season finale against Georgia Tech, set the SEC records for passing yards and total yards in a single game. Trippi captained the Bulldogs in his senior year, leading the 1946 team to an undefeated SEC championship season and a Sugar Bowl victory and winning the Maxwell Award as college player of the year.
Sinkwich finished his senior year in ‘42 and was rejected by the USMC. I don’t know if it ws for his jaw that was injured playing football.
IMO give the debated wins to GT.
As for bad fans GT has an image of being bitter over UGA and you are doing nothing to change that. The screenname and UGAG enforces that image. We all have bad fans and having been in the student section at UGA and GT I can say that GT was far more rowdy and taunting to opposing fans and UGA had more drunk students. Alot has changed in how UGA views GT since the 60s. GT leaving the SEC has really lowered their spot on the radar. It is not a shot but UF, UT, and Auburn end UGA’s championship hopes far more often than GT.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:01 pm
Reality, do you remember Ed Thellinius, the voice of the bulldogs back in the 50’s and early 60’s? WOW, WHAT A VOICE!!! I LOVED hearing him broadcast the Georgia games. And Tech’s announcer, Jack Hurst, during at least part of that time, was no slouch either. The excitement in his voice alone was enough to get anybody fired up. I HATED it when the Falcons hired him away from Tech. What I have never understood though is how, after having an play-by-play man the caliber of Thellinius, the Georgia fans could ever have been happy with a clown like Munson. I never saw him as more than just a cheerleader. He was definitely not in the class of Thellinius.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:05 pm
Otto, I stand corrected and apologize. I thought they were both in school during the war years. I remembered incorrectly the year in which Sinkwich won the Heisman.
fortebuna
April 16th, 2009
5:13 pm
Quote Reality Check ”
April 16th, 2009
2:06 pm
fortebuna…I served on LST1198, I was a BM2(SW). No GT or UGA grads on this ship there fortebutt. Also, I will get off my high horse when you come up for some fresh air. You are a crap vet as well.
Hate to tell you this but you would have been saluting me. I was a Lt Commander. Any REDNECK from Jerkwater Ala, Ga, Miss, Tenn etc could have run a LST. It took someone with brains like a GT grad to run a Ballistic Missile Nuclear Sub. No brains required to run a LST I guess that’s why they had UGay people on board.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
5:17 pm
And now we’ve moved to naval maneuvers. What’s next? Global warming? The Tea Party?
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:18 pm
Otto, as far as my name and some of the things I say in here go, REMEMBER, this IS a Tech blog. And yet, you have fans posting messages in here every day trashing Tech for one thing or another, and calling us nerds, geeks, and queers. If that were not going on, I would have a much different name and not get so contentious. But why should I sit back and read all those insults and other crap and not play the same game back? I can assure that I have friends who are Georgia fans who don’t give or receive that kind of abuse when in my company. We might kid around, but we respect each other. Sadly, I cannot say the same for most of the dawg fans who post here.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:21 pm
Marc, you asked for it. Global warming is a scam. Tea Parties MIGHT provide us with some hope for our F’D up government. How’s that for a start? LOL
fortebuna
April 16th, 2009
5:21 pm
Good one Mark, I for one will miss you and hope to read some of your stuff again. It’s just these UGay fans think they own the world which in fact they don’t own the state of Ga.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
5:22 pm
Actually, this isn’t technically (no pun intended) a Tech blog. This is a Bradley blog about Tech. We welcome one and all. Just keep it clean, please, and turn off the lights on your way out.
Otto
April 16th, 2009
5:22 pm
Supersize no problem. Sounds like our childhood was very much alike in how we cheered for UGA and GT. I grew up a UGA but had ties to GT as well. We were cheering GT on in their bowl in ‘90.
Munson could suck everyone with his stories and people loved to hear him get excited. He was all I ever knew for UGA radio. The south had some great radio voices GT included. It is sad to see the market fading especially with the terrible TV anouncers we have to listen to now.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
5:26 pm
Fortebuna, I’m not going anywhere. (Well, I am going to eat dinner in a bit.) But if you’re bidding me farewell because you think I’m leaving the AJC … I’m not. I’ve just started on my second quarter-century at this establishment.
(Unless, that is, you know something I don’t know. In which case, please tell me.)
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:28 pm
Otto, if you never heard Ed Thellinius do a Georgia game, then you missed the best. The man was AWESOME, as was Jack Hurst for the Jackets. But Thellinius’s voice was one you could just never forget. And you’re right about the state of announcers today, especially on TV. I don’t know who you guys have to replace Munson, but I doubt that he will be the cheerleader that Munson was. I like Durham for the Jackets for the most part, but sometimes you don’t have a clue where the ball is on the field. I still miss Al Ciraldo, despite his HORRIBLE grammar and other shortcomings. He was much better at basketball than he was at football though.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 16th, 2009
5:28 pm
Marc, are you SURE you want to know? LOL
fortebuna
April 16th, 2009
5:31 pm
Mea culpa, I was thinking of Terrence.
John
April 16th, 2009
5:37 pm
Mark, it might be a good idea to NOT allow blogging. It get ugly pretty fast. Either that or at least moderate and remove the idiots.
Mark Bradley
April 16th, 2009
5:48 pm
I’m endeavoring to moderate, John. This is, as far as I’m concerned, fairly benign stuff. All (or at least most) in good fun. And Tech people seem to be holding their own.
But if you see something truly objectionable, let me know.
Otto
April 16th, 2009
5:50 pm
I vaguely remember Ciraldo and like Wes Durham. Durham was great at Munson’s roast as well. I grew up with a headset on listening to Munson at UGA games every weekend. As a result I did not hear other voices often.
Many of the new radio broadcasts sound like morning drive time babble. You really have no idea what is going on during the play and at times do not even the down and where the ball is. Scott Howard has been doing the UGA football games. The play calling is fair but he is no Munson or Durham from what I have heard.