Paul Johnson: Coaching football, flouting convention
Tech's Paul Johnson communes with his many new friends. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
The quickest way to get a rise out of Paul Johnson is to cite conventional wisdom. Ask a question that begins, “People say …” and just watch what happens.
His eyebrows shoot skyward. He bites his lip, as if he’s trying to keep himself from saying something he shouldn’t. Then, being Paul Johnson, he says it anyway.
An example: At Tuesday’s media briefing, someone wondered if practicing against Johnson’s stylized offense made it more difficult for Georgia Tech to stop a more conventional team. And then the questioner clarified: “I heard Jim Donnan say that.”
That was all Johnson needed. “Jim was probably filling a little time on the radio,” he said, the barbed point being: Jim Donnan hasn’t coached a game in almost nine years, and I’m sitting on a team ranked in the Top 15.
And then: “I don’t think our defense fell off last year from the year before, when they were practicing against a pro set.”
Most coaches work hard at saying nothing. Johnson works hard at correcting perceived wrongs. At the same gathering, someone posited that Tech entered the 2008 season with only “10 percent” of its playbook installed. Not true, Johnson said: “We had most of the stuff in.”
Then: “It’s going to look about the same [in 2009]. Hopefully we’ll be a little faster.”
Ask about expectations and Johnson takes pains to note this isn’t his first rodeo. “I’ve coached a team that was preseason No. 1 [at Georgia Southern]. Expectations were pretty good there, too. We’re just trying to get good and win all our games, but every team has expectations. I guarantee everyone on Jacksonville State [Tech's opening opponent] thinks it’s going to come in here and win the game. I don’t think expectations are any different for me than a year ago. It hasn’t changed.”
Regarding the presumably perilous state of Tech’s quarterbacks, which would seem a concern with backup Jaybo Shaw out with a broken collarbone: “We’re probably in better shape at quarterback than we were a year ago. Josh [Nesbitt, the starter] was feeling his way along, and Jaybo was a true freshman.”
Regarding the apparent loss of senior leadership from 2008: “We’ve got 18 starters back. That means only four seniors started. I don’t think you have to be a senior to be a leader.”
Regarding the difficulty of stopping Tech’s offense: “I thought it was easy. We only run one play.”
That’s Johnson’s idea of a joke. He takes conventional wisdom and parrots it and then wads it up and tosses it in yonder trashcan. PJ does not harbor primal doubts about what he’s doing. He has done it this way for two decades, and he knows his way works. And if you don’t believe him … well, he’s got the stats to back it up.
And even if you’ve got a different set of numbers, Johnson won’t care. He knows what he knows, and what he knows isn’t to be confused with what everybody else thinks.
“I’ve never understood having your plays written down [scripted, in other words]. I just try to look out there and see what the defense is doing and calls plays accordingly. It’s not like, ‘I’ve got nine plays here — I’ve got to use them.’ If one play’s working, I might call it until they stop it.”
There might be a smarter coach in the land — then again, there might not — but nobody is a truer believer in himself than PJ of GT. Which isn’t to say he’s got everything figured out. Nearly thirty years at his trade and he still gets antsy. “I’ll be in knots starting about Thursday,” he said. But even that, in its nervous way, makes perfect sense.
“If [your stomach] isn’t churning,” Johnson said, “you probably should get out of the business.”
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134 comments Add your comment
juvenal
September 2nd, 2009
3:10 pm
st simple-that’s ancient history-were you even there?
go tech
September 2nd, 2009
3:12 pm
Way to go, Admiral Johnson! Looking forward to ‘09!
players with yourself club
September 2nd, 2009
3:19 pm
Saint Simons, heyyy, since 1965, Georgia is 32 and 12 against Tech. That’s pretty one-sided but the Wramblin Wreck shows that Tech wins a game every few years. And you loovvvvve it, right? Rightly soo… Still, I’ve been a Player with Yourself club member for a long time but you’re the only guy who gets offf on one measly win.. That makes you fit for president of the Players with Yourself Club!!!! Who luvs ya, baby?
LSU Fan
September 2nd, 2009
3:20 pm
38-3.
Hey Dogtards
September 2nd, 2009
3:21 pm
As a Tech fan, I’ve disowned St Simons long ago.
PJ for President
September 2nd, 2009
3:31 pm
I too am a Tech fan, and I want St. Simons to please, for the love of your favorite team, shut up and stop being such an embarrassment to the rest of us.
GT4Ever
September 2nd, 2009
3:33 pm
St. Simmons is nuts!!! He does have a point. We did win the last one and that’s all that counts. UGA wins this year, which I doubt, then you guys can brag again. UGA fans do have to admit, PJ has risen the stakes and the rivalary will be one to talk about again. GO JACKETS!!!!
JB
September 2nd, 2009
3:33 pm
Dawg here ( regulars know). Johnson is a great coach. Tech will be a better football team year in year out. Tech will have a chance to win every game they play. What they won’t have is a roster full of Great athletes, cause that what it takes to go 13-0 and win it all……and some luck. They never have had them. Yes, they have had great players, but just not a roster full. good luck in 09. See ya on the flats.
EEJacket
September 2nd, 2009
3:36 pm
TWO GT articles in a row from Bark Madley (and more importnatly) The University of Georgia-Constitution let him do it??? As I live and breathe, I never though I’d see the day!
GT alum
September 2nd, 2009
3:38 pm
Oh, Captain, my Captain! Paul Johnson is like E.F. Hutton and I’m all ears. Lets get it on!
msw
September 2nd, 2009
3:41 pm
Ever notices Paul Johnson has hog jowls?
Jackets Fans - BUY TICKETS
September 2nd, 2009
3:41 pm
Please, for the love of God, GT fans buy tickets. I am tired of not having a full stadium. Support your team.
GT4Ever
September 2nd, 2009
3:43 pm
JB, we will have a chance to win every game we play. I guess that includes UGA by you book, right? PJ will make 3 stars into 4 or 5 stars in his offense. One game doesn’t set the mark for stopping this offense. Every offense has a bad day. If this offense wasn’t that good PJ would still be working it 30 years now. Everyone knows winning brings good players into the program and that’s what PJ will do. We won’t be up there with UF, Texas, Oklahoma as far a s the talent level but PJ will bring in recruits that fit his system. Our talent level is and will continue to improve. Kids that wouldn’t look at us before will start looking. Things are only getting better.
Denver Dawg
September 2nd, 2009
3:43 pm
I am a UGA alum and love the rivalry, and listening to all you GT’ers blast Saint Simons makes me (uncomfortably) realize we’re all just the same – crazy football fans pulling for our favorite team. Truly the best time of the year!
GA Tech Insider
September 2nd, 2009
3:43 pm
Ever notice that Paul Johnson wins, and wins consistently, especially against his rivals?
GA Tech Insider
September 2nd, 2009
3:44 pm
Denver Dawg; ain’t this time of year great?
collegeballfan
September 2nd, 2009
3:49 pm
JB
September 2nd, 2009
3:33 pm
I have been saying that all year. UGA will always pull in a better recruiting class than GT. So they should always dominate the series.
But GT will win some games & keep most of them close. The problem is when the 1 & 2 at a position go down & you must play the #3. That is where is roster comes into play.
And, yeah, sometimes you need luck. That is what UGA has not had under Richt.
Geaux Tigers
September 2nd, 2009
3:53 pm
Johnson wins? We at LSU get a big kick out of that statement! 38-3 and LSU wasn’t even ranked at the time! HA HA HA HA
juvenal
September 2nd, 2009
3:54 pm
jb, the nfl is full of great players, & 78% of them are broke 2yrs. out of the game-MB, any idea of how GT/uga/nfl alums fare post retirement?
GT89
September 2nd, 2009
3:55 pm
You know, he does have a very jowl-y face. Just an observation.
What a joke
September 2nd, 2009
3:58 pm
I love how the nerd herd sings the old 1970’s Budweiser song at the end of the 3rd quarter. Oooh, what a bunch of rebels. Bet they tell their mommies about it when they get home.
JobHopper
September 2nd, 2009
4:01 pm
If Paul Johnson is as good as he thinks he is, he won’t be at Tech much longer. In fact, if he wins this year like Tech fans think (ACC Championship, BCS Bowl Game) he could be gone after the season. He couldn’t wait to get out of GS and Navy. It will be the same for Tech if a higher paying school comes calling.
hardmanb
September 2nd, 2009
4:06 pm
@juvenal…….”st simple-that’s ancient history”
Ancient history? I thought it mean that we are the current State Champions. And will remain state champions still until November 28th (and maybe even later).
Why do UGA fans try to denigrate the State Champion, when they crow so much about being state champions in previous years? And by the way, “previous years” IS ANCIENT HISTORY. Live in the present.
tu
September 2nd, 2009
4:06 pm
JobHopper…..Duke offered more money to PJ than GT did. In the end PJ choose GT for a reason.
quaildawg
September 2nd, 2009
4:10 pm
Napolean thought he was going to kick the crud out of the Prussian’s at Waterloo too.
A few too many 8-4’s 7-5’s at Tech and that smugness will wear thin. FUnny you brought up Donnan because he was cut pretty much from the same personality mold as CPJ.
All I'm Saying Is...
September 2nd, 2009
4:10 pm
I find it hard to fault someone for leaving Georgia Southern for Navy and then leaving the Navy job for Georgia Tech and the ACC.
And last time I checked, past successful coaches or assistant coaches at GTech also packed up and left for greener pastures (Bobby Ross for NFL and San Diego Chargers, George (Uh)O’Leary who left for Notre Dame and Ralph ‘Fridge’ Friedgen [sp.] who left for Maryland). In fact, isn’t that where most new coaches come from—-another school?
I wish PJ much success and hope he takes G-Tech all the way! In fact, this non-UGA and non-Tech grad would love nothing more (although the odds are long that it will happen) than to see both teams meet undefeated at the end of the season.
LET’S GO YELLOWJACKETS!
steveh
September 2nd, 2009
4:11 pm
JobHopper – He was in no hurry to leave Georgia Southern. He had turned down other big school before taking the Navy job. He had worked at Navy before, had a relationship with the people, and they offered him more than 5 times more money than Georgia Southern could afford to pay. Even with all of that, I know it was not an easy decision to make. I am not a Ga. Tech fan, but I get the feeling he will be there a while. I also think that he will be quite successful at Tech. For the record, I root for UGA. But I happen to be a big admirer of Paul Johnson.
JB
September 2nd, 2009
4:14 pm
Watching the LSU/TECH bowl game gives Dawgs fans hope. Our D was horrible last year. As m likes to say, if it is that way again this year, there will be a new Defensive Sheriff in town in Athens. You looked good last year, but that was against a poor defense and two BIG offensive blunders/gifts. The Third quarter was impressive. Let’s play’em out this year and see what happens. I still like our chances against you guys. We would feel the same way if we lost 7 in a row. Congrats.
JB
September 2nd, 2009
4:20 pm
juvnel, where’s Eddie Lee Ivery and Reggie Ball working. I looked at the who’s who directory at Tech and it came back not found ? Could be in Hong Kong working on a big project. hum ? Reggie might be working on his masters. Haven’t thought about that. I know ole Reg can’t count to four . LOL…….
rduck
September 2nd, 2009
4:22 pm
UGA hasn’t had any luck under Richt? Does the Vandy fumble or the phantom pass interference against GT ring a bell. As for these guys who are constantly raving about how many stars a recruit has in front of his name… Well how many 13-0″s and Nat’l Championships has UGA won with all those stars? I would rather take a 3 star player who can be coached up over a 5 star player who only wants to showboat and pad his own NFL draft status anyday!
JB
September 2nd, 2009
4:28 pm
I see Calvin came back for his senior year and helped the team…………………..whoops , my bad. he took the damn money, as will this stud running back this year. Dwyer ? rduck, you’ll break glass if you throw at glass houses. Stop it. losing 22 players to injury last year was luck also. Let Nesbitt go down in the Clemson game for the year…..then tell us about it.
SatchelBuzz
September 2nd, 2009
4:31 pm
Wouldn’t trade him for any other coach out there. You you Georgia folks can forget the smug comparisons to Donnan. Not even close to same. This is payback for the seven years we endured that preceeded his arrival on the Flats.
GO TECH!!!
JW
September 2nd, 2009
4:32 pm
How long before the Fighting Irish come calling with their check book. You gotta admit, Johnson is absolutley PERFECT for Notre Dame…
juvenal
September 2nd, 2009
4:33 pm
jb, where’s quincy working?-that’s why i’d like to data; not anecdotes-last i heard, Eddie Lee (finally) got his degree & was in coaching
Mike
September 2nd, 2009
4:34 pm
Heard at a high school football game from visiting fan: “C’mon D, they only know three plays!”
From home fan: “They know those three good, don’t they?”
JB
September 2nd, 2009
4:38 pm
If that’s true, good. Eddie worked for me for about 2 years about 10 years ago.
JB
September 2nd, 2009
4:42 pm
oh yea, quincy’s probably working on a rock pile somewhere.
Dooley's Cardiologist
September 2nd, 2009
4:48 pm
Since when is Jim Donnan relevant? What’s he doing now, working the checkout line? He could recruit like Richt, but just ask him to win a big game. you would have probably been disappointed in the end. His opinion matters about as much as Munson’s
Duh
September 2nd, 2009
4:56 pm
Donnan works at ESPN. Where have you been?
db
September 2nd, 2009
4:57 pm
Are you ready for some foooooooooooooooooooooooooooosball? Oh yea – toe meets leather. Go Jackets!
GA Tech Insider
September 2nd, 2009
5:00 pm
It’s a too bad these guys have to wait so long to play on Saturdays so we have to listen to your juvenile remarks any longer than we have to. Oh wait; once the season starts, your bravdo and bs will just get worse and we’ll have to endure more of this until the teams finally play each other again in November, at which time one team will win, one team will lose, one team’s fans will make excuses and the other team’s fans will gloat, and will go full circle and have to deal will all of your childish antics through another football season most of us are looking forward to.
Do you get enjoyment out of arguing with each other about petty things instead of getting excited about the upcoming football season? What’s wrong with you people? Are you insane, or just selfish?
sharecropper
September 2nd, 2009
5:01 pm
Don’t be ridiculous. Notre Dame ain’t never, ever, going to play option football. it just doesn’t look manly. And I don’t think that coaching six years at one school is actually bolting when he leaves. Christ. Give us a break.
Hey, Insider
September 2nd, 2009
5:01 pm
Go away.
Saint Simons
September 2nd, 2009
5:04 pm
Another irrelevant article!
GT45
September 2nd, 2009
5:10 pm
A man’s man!
GT45
September 2nd, 2009
5:13 pm
Donnan righted the ship sunk by Ray Goof, and left the pantry open for Richt. There was only one game that mattered each year he didn’t win.
Pat
September 2nd, 2009
5:23 pm
Ralph F was an assistant when the OC when he left. Not a coach. PJ will be here a loooong time. He loves the state and loves beating uga.
DawgsAllHaveRubberTeeth
September 2nd, 2009
5:32 pm
Ol’Georgie does have one National Title that was bought with a trans-am and new home for the Walker family and a great defense thanks to Irk Russell and the Freshman Terry Hoage that blocked that FG in the first quarter.
Tech has won the award four times! Go figure. Even with the change brought about by leaving the SEC and competing nightly with professional sports in the market…GT still won a national title in 1990 (a decade more recent than Ugay). Tech fans would much rather lose 7 out of 10 years to Georgie if they can win a NC about every 20 years. Georgie would rather hire mediocre coaches – Richt included- that can recruit star HS athletes…never really make them a whole lot better…and win a NC about once every century or so.
We simply have different priorities. NC’s versus regular 8-10 win seasons.
Oh yeah! Let’s not even talk about educating the athletes. My third grade daughter aced the Final exam that Georgia UNIVERSITY athletes had to take in Basketball 101.
dcp
September 2nd, 2009
5:33 pm
JB – are you trying to say you UGA lost because of injuries to Tech. Stop – your core players were there – Green, Moreno, MoMass, Stafford. You need to get over that Tech won the game – you sound like Bobby Cox after every loss – a few more feet and that ball would have been out, if the ump had not squeezed our pitchers, would have won that game. UGA should win every year with that talent and like you or anyone else gives a crap about whether a kid gets his degree or not, or where he is working. I am sure you are really deeply moved by graduation ceremonies at UGA. Talk football – facts are 45-42 last year and you need to wait until late November to earn the right to spout off. Don’t act all self-righteous – I am realistic – luck was not involved last year – the better team won. And yes, LSU was the better team on New Year’s Eve – by far. I am sure you wore your SEC shirt that night jumping up and down about how proud you were of the conference.
Dobearsbare
September 2nd, 2009
5:46 pm
I don’t know why anyone would be surprised at him having success at Tech. The BCS conference teams he played at Navy had trouble slowing the Middies down (for that matter, the same was true at Georgia Southern), and he has better athletes at Tech. Now about that defense …. Eight starters back on a team that was shredded for 159 points in its last four games. They have to be better. Nowhere to go but up.