Tech’s Paul Johnson: The best playcaller in the business
PJ's adjustments haven't included sending this guy in motion -- yet. (Brant Sanderlin, AJC)
It was the night of Oct. 3. Georgia Tech was playing Mississippi State in Starkville. With 9:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Jackets punted.
I mention this for a reason. That was more than a calendar month ago, and the Jackets haven’t punted in a second half since. Not at Florida State. Not against Virginia Tech. Not at Virginia. Not at Vandy.
Eight quarters of football. Not one second-half punt. And you know what this says?
Paul Johnson is the archduke of adjustments.
We hear announcers talking about them all the time. We hear Erin Andrews and her sideline-reporting ilk ask, “Coach, what adjustments will you make at halftime?” Ninety-five percent of the time coaches wind up doing the same thing in the second half as they did in the first.
Not PJ. He tweaks. He brings a guy in motion from a different angle. He splits a guy a tad wider. He runs the same stuff, only slightly differently. And Tech’s offense goes from powerful in the first half to unstoppable in the second.
You might ask Willie Martinez about this. Last November Georgia went from leading 28-12 at halftime to trailing 35-28 — in the span of seven minutes and five seconds. The Bulldogs had the game in hand, and suddenly they were chasing it. (And once PJ gets ahead, forget it. Tech is 8-1 the past two seasons in games decided by five or fewer points.)
“He’s not really coaching,” says Wayne Hogan, the pithy Tech associate AD. “He’s playing a video game!”
And that’s it exactly. Johnson figures stuff out on the fly. Even if the opponent seems to havee a handle on his stylized offense, he performs his little ju jitsu. He wears a headset on the sideline, but it’s just for show. He could make the same mid-course corrections wearing earmuffs.
We’ve known for a while he’s an outstanding head coach, but what sometimes gets lost is that he’s the best playcaller in the business. Hogan again: “Our coach is pretty cool.” And that’s it, too. To borrow Bob Greene’s description of Frank Gifford, PJ of GT is always the coolest guy in the room — even if the room holds 80,000.
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451 comments Add your comment
Jordan
November 5th, 2009
4:29 pm
I wish I could see IP Addresses sometimes, because I’m sure PJ has seen and commented on this at least once….haha.
RonaldE
November 5th, 2009
4:34 pm
Hey, those were some great adjustments against Clemson.
RogerDawg
November 5th, 2009
4:36 pm
Jordan-
Why don’t you just shutup???
ATLJacket
November 5th, 2009
4:38 pm
I’m astonished at just how many stupid, stupid UGA fans there are…and the bonehead comments they spew out.
Tech First
November 5th, 2009
4:39 pm
PJ FOR PRESIDENT GIVE HIM A TEN YEAR DEAL AFTER THA GEORGIA GAME BIGGEST BOWL GAME IN TWENTY YEARS AND HE’S JUST GETTIN STARTED!!!!
OH AND SINCE ITS A TEAM THANG HOW BOUT THEN JACKETS!!!!!
LEAD BY #9 #21 #91 #1 TIL HELL WIT GEORGIA UUUUUUUUUH
BIG G
November 5th, 2009
4:44 pm
I am a Georgia Grad with 3 kids. One a Tech Grad, 1 a UGA Grad and
1 at Clemson. All my kids have had a great college experience, that includes seasons with winning football teams. I am proud to see that
Tech football has brought excitement to the school. I have fun watching
and pulling for UGA, Tech, and Clemson every weekend. Can’t wait for
the UGA / Clemson rivalry to begin again and of course the UGA/TECH game is a great annual event. College football is just the best way
to spend a weekend. Thanks AJC for keeping the pot stirred.
Scrap
November 5th, 2009
4:45 pm
Really, do you guys think CPJ can recruit a quarterback to perform better than Nesbitt has this year? I’m telling you, I’ve watched every quarterback at Tech since 1962, and I’ve NEVER seen a guy play tougher than our current quarterback. I see your reasoning, that given time to recruit his own players, they should truly perform in this system, but it might be a long time before he finds a kid who can play tougher than the one he has now.
But, just so you realize that I understand your point, imagine what CPJ could have done with Reggie Ball………..the guy would have been an all american.
GT JJ
November 5th, 2009
4:53 pm
natvatln – if you read all my posts you would see that i welcome all comers who root for GT, including yourself. i’m just saying the higher percentage of idiots who post on this blog didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning.
get the chip off your shoulder and i’ll get my nose out of the air.
sharecropper
November 5th, 2009
4:54 pm
I have it on indisputable authority — the school crossing guard several blocks over from Paul Johnson’s neighborhood, who has yet to have a Johnson sighting but has heard of him — that Johnson is taking a mammoth contract of several bajillion dollars to coach both UCLA and USC. One will practice in the a.m. and the other in the p.m., and one will play every Thursday night and the other on Saturday to make sure he is available for the games. On Sundays he will restructure our financial markets, as well as “other duties as assigned.” Still pending is a contract to play point guard for the Lakers.
GT Dad
November 5th, 2009
4:58 pm
check out my video I shot of CPJ on the sidelines during the last UGA/GT game. No wonder he get’s so much out of his players!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI
Richt just doesn’t have this mentality in him and he never will.
Mitch
November 5th, 2009
5:02 pm
tech 75
ever heard of copy paste?
#1 GT fan
November 5th, 2009
5:03 pm
All of you people are sooooooo funny.
When Georgia puts up the numbers tech has this year, then all you doggie fans can say something.
Coach PJ is a great coach. No matter what school he will go to, they will be a good team.
This “high school” offense. WOW! Call it what ever you want BUT it has worked on some good teams. ( VT ) and Georgia-last year.
Coach PJ is doing the best this school has ever seen. If you are a true tech fan……………. you love every second they are on offense.
GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!
yellowjacket82
November 5th, 2009
5:05 pm
Rogerdawg…I sense that you need to attend your anger management classes. This blog is not about the PAST performance of CMR. It’s about CPJ’s abilty to make the apropriate adjustments in playcalling for GT to win games…something CMR has FAILED to accomplish this year.
Randy
November 5th, 2009
5:10 pm
The El Paso, Texas-based Sun Bowl matches a Pac-10 team against either the ACC’s title-game loser or its third selection after the Bowl Championship Series. The Shreveport, La.-based Indepedence Bowl pits the league’s sixth post-BCS selection against the Mountain West’s No. 3 pick.
The league also extended deals with the Orange, Chick-fil-A, Champs Sports, Meineke, Music City and EagleBank bowls. If an additional ACC team is eligible, the conference will conditionally send its eighth post-BCS pick to San Francisco’s Emerald Bowl.
What happened to the gator bowl? And the sun over the chik fila? Weird. Sun bowl gets the second pick? I think most acc teams and fans would rather play in the gator or chik than the sun.
VegasGT
November 5th, 2009
5:11 pm
Just focus on Wake.
Butts Wagner
November 5th, 2009
5:17 pm
Sun bowl gets the second pick?
Sun Bowl picks 3rd after BCS, but it must pick Title Game Runner-Up if they are still available.
Paddy
November 5th, 2009
5:19 pm
RogerDawg…you seem to be getting it from all sides today. Take a rest and come back tomorrow.
TechMD
November 5th, 2009
5:21 pm
Great article Mark. His adjustments have been awesome and he’s the perfect fit for Tech. If there’s one thing that Ga Tech football is known for it’s Tech’s history of great coaches, Heisman, Alexander, Dodd and now Johnson. Go Jackets! Sting em!
Hank Hill
November 5th, 2009
5:22 pm
Down in the west texas town of el paso, I fell in love with a mexican girl.
Tech's Paul Johnson: The best playcaller in the business | Mark … | Georgia Today
November 5th, 2009
5:24 pm
[...] Read the original: Tech's Paul Johnson: The best playcaller in the business | Mark … [...]
Paddy
November 5th, 2009
5:24 pm
GT Dad….loved the video. CPJ looks so different. Maybe because he has changed his hair style?
Butts Wagner
November 5th, 2009
5:29 pm
I just need to vent about people who bring up the LSU and Miami games. Did anyone read that fascinating link that someone posted earlier to the bird dog blog about Navy football? He pointed out in one of the clips about one of the GT guards getting abused by Uga’s nose tackles and that it went one during the whole game last year. The O-Line was terrible last year, and started out this year pretty badly too. The Clemson and Miami games were so rough because their D-Lines were in the backfield on every play before the play had a chance to develop. It’s pretty hard to look good when the offensive backs are getting tackled on the handoff/pitch. Not to mention A-Backs completely whiffing on cut blocks on corners and safeties. The O-Line has been playing better since the Miami game, and the A-Backs have gotten back to blocking better. But the teams since the Clemson and Miami games have not played as aggressively as those two defenses did. But to get back on point, the reason GT got its doors blown off against LSU and Miami has nothing to do with poor play calling. Everything still comes down to execution, and not being able to block the defensive line is a pretty big problem. There’s only so many ways to work around that, especially against talented defenses like those two teams.
dr
November 5th, 2009
5:38 pm
Butts,
Let’s also not forget that in the UM game and LSU game of last year, the quarterbacks for the two teams were playing lights out. Not giving an excuse, but every once in a while, you see a QB get on fire and become nearly unstoppable. If there is a weakness that the GT defense has, it is in stopping good, smart, and accurate QBs.
jacket3
November 5th, 2009
5:45 pm
Now here comes the band wagon – and it is just getting started.
Just wait until Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame want CPJ and all of a sudden cough up an A-Rod salary offer – something that would make Saban and Meyer drool over. Hey there Bobby Petrino would jump ship!
I don’t think CPJ wants to do that.
Johnson came here on a mission and it is far from complete. Could be perhaps – he’s planned all along to raise Georgia Tech football from mediocrity and turn it into a dynasty ?
Now that would be signature Paul Johnson.
Dawghater
November 5th, 2009
5:50 pm
Below is “Harry B’s” post on this blog. It clear that he can’t stand working for a Tech Grad. And after this post he’s probably not happy about being FIRED by a Tech Grad. Harry B is not looking for a puppy dawg to hire him. The Big Mac is a grilled sandwich “Harry” now get to work!
Harry B
November 5th, 2009
11:48 am
Georgia Tech is terrible.
Once again, Georgia Tech is an incredible lame place where the breed of college student is different than most universities. The kids that go there just suck. Whenever I hear these Tech fans talk smack on here, i literally laugh to myself and discredit their opinions because they are loser Tech fans!!
Its like, ok you are doing well in football this year, but you lose at the game of life because you are a freakin loser nerd from Tech. And that makes me smile.
Georgia Tech sucks in every way, i mean you can not dispute this factually. Honestly.
dagtbuzzman
November 5th, 2009
5:52 pm
Note to the UGA Athletic Dpt:
The Ga Tech Alumni Assoc has now begun a fierce fundraising drive to pay for Willie Martinez for the next ten years @ UGA. Money is no object.
This is an act of reciprocation for continuing to convince Chan Gailey to play Reggie Ball for 4 very frustrating years.
The Ga Tech Alumni Association promises pay you guys as soon as we get back from our BCS bowl game.
MARK "PAUL IS MY DADDY" BRADLEY
November 5th, 2009
5:53 pm
The reason that Georgia fell apart in those 7 minutes of that game last year could have bee tackling, or lack there of. Could have been, just watching the films, COULD have been, just sayin. Never saw Martinez pulling a Woody Hayes and trying to make a tackle. But I guess he COULD have made that adjustment. Just sayin.
Richard
November 5th, 2009
6:03 pm
You’re on target Mark. He is the “very best”! I have followed PJ first as a GSU alumni and then a fan of PJ where ever he went. He never has been on the so-called “hot seat”. As you know he called the signals for the famous Erk Russell and the most of the 6 national championship wins.
Not Disappointed!
November 5th, 2009
6:06 pm
Has anyone be able to call in to Ft Hood? The website is down and I was trying to old school buds………”interesting.”
Not Disappointed!
November 5th, 2009
6:09 pm
Maybe it’s my internet service. The site http://pao.hood.army.mil/ Ft Hood and I can call in or email my old buds. Don’t want to jump to conclusions………
Not Disappointed!
November 5th, 2009
6:11 pm
I cant call. sorry for the typo. ………..
Learn How to Read
November 5th, 2009
6:25 pm
tu87-
you are a moron…the article says “in the last calendar MONTH”…MONTH the keyword there…you even quoted it correctly in your comment then went on to point out the 2nd half punts we’ve had in the last calendar YEAR…there are 12 months in a year…seven days in a week, etc…do i need to continue?
Stanco
November 5th, 2009
6:31 pm
PJ…first, a class guy! second, a great coach!!! His record has shown that at all 3 stops.
One of the many things he learned from Erk Russell…..how to make changes and adjustments at half time….truly the mark of an excellent coach. Something Mark Richt has not understood or mastered!!
BS Patrol
November 5th, 2009
6:31 pm
Dawg Fan,
If not for a few Jap Zeros, Dec 7,1941 might have been a pleasant Sunday morning.
old T fan
November 5th, 2009
6:44 pm
please lets not start acting like a bunch of dirty bandwagon barking ugag fans just enjoy the game. the wins SPEAK LOUD!
DVJ
November 5th, 2009
6:45 pm
http://dawgsvsjackets.blogspot.com
david
November 5th, 2009
6:45 pm
how many BCS bowls has Navy or tech played in? WHO CARES HOW MANY PUNTS??????????????
Duncan
November 5th, 2009
6:47 pm
Penn State already has a coach after Jopa
Michigan just signed Rod and he ain’t going anywhere for a while
Ohio State Same with tressel
Nebraska same with pelini
Oklahoma same with Stoops
Notre Dame PJ has no desire to go there. Plus Weiss is just getting started.
You tards with the, he’s leaving for somewhere else are clueless. GT is teh perfect fit for him with all the recruits here. He’s gonna be here for a long long time and us jacket fans will support him through his tenure.
re punts
November 5th, 2009
6:47 pm
How many did Dodd have?
Many were quick.
MLATT
November 5th, 2009
6:48 pm
Hey Mark —
Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you one of the geniuses at PJ’s preseason press conf before his 1st yr who asked the following question: “Coach, considering the fact that you’ve never coached at the level of talent you’re about to face, what makes you think you can compete in the ACC?” PJ’s response was classic : “Hey fellas, this ain’t the NFC East” —- He didn’t get to be a great coach AFTER he got to Tech, he always WAS, you idiots in the media just didn’t realize it.
Matt
November 5th, 2009
6:49 pm
David
You are an ignorant fool.
david
November 5th, 2009
6:51 pm
f off matt
david
November 5th, 2009
6:56 pm
how many matty? Im waiting–oh thats right ZERO. How many punts has USC had? OSU? Texas? what the hell does that have to do with anything???? They score more than their opponents–THATS the bottom line–not who has the least amount of punts!!
89Grad
November 5th, 2009
7:16 pm
Thank you David for telling the truth. How many BCS games has Navy or Tech played in – 0! Dawgs, last time I checked, 3 with a 2-1 record. Tech, enjoy the success because you never know how long it’s gonna last. The Dawgs are certainly out but I think we still play you guys on Nov. 28 with 35% – 40% of the stadium black and red. The next time we play Tech in Athens and 35% -40% of the stadium is black and gold, I’ll change my allegiance. We might not be happy right now, but we still got fight. Kill Tech!
Tech Geezer
November 5th, 2009
7:32 pm
I think Johnson and Mark Bradley have to give a big assist to Josh Nesbitt. The play is only about 1/3 called when the ball is snapped. Nesbitt only has about 2 seconds to figure out where the defense is breaking down and get the ball there. It is a lot of fun to watch.
GT For You And Me
November 5th, 2009
7:33 pm
To Paul Johnson: It ain’t no big thang! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWClpRTA0J0
Cmill
November 5th, 2009
7:44 pm
He’s definitely the coolest guy at tech…
JGW
November 5th, 2009
7:44 pm
Um…LSU anyone?
GT For You And Me
November 5th, 2009
7:46 pm
Bobby Bowden on how to stop the triple option! Funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qm23srD0RI
Paul Johnson
November 5th, 2009
7:51 pm
If you think I give a crap about what any of you think, you’ve checked into the wrong hotel.