Tech’s Paul Johnson: A coach who dares to be great
Josh Nesbitt after scoring the game-winner in overtime. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
The surprise wasn’t that Paul Johnson went for it on fourth-and-inches with Tampa on the line. The surprise was that, for half a minute, it seemed Paul Johnson wasn’t going for it on fourth-and-1 with Tampa on the line.
Down three points in overtime, ball nuzzling the 5: What else would PJ do? “If we can’t get half a yard,” he said, “we don’t deserve to win.”
First Georgia Tech faked everyone out. The Jackets lined up as if to run a play but did the ol’ draw-’em-offside bit to no avail. They called timeout and trotted to the sideline, and your first thought was, “PJ just chickened out.” But PJ doesn’t chicken out. He talks the talk and goes on fourth down.
“If you ask the kids to play to win,” he said, “you’ve got to play to win.”
He’d asked his quarterback what he thought, and Josh Nesbitt, who’s as bold as his coach, said: “I can make it.” And PJ said: “I know you can.” And then Nesbitt did, and one play later he was in the end zone and Tech had climbed a couple of rungs up the BCS standings and drawn within one win of the ACC title game. So you can’t say there was nothing at stake. But PJ’s way is to play to win no matter the consequences, no matter the history.
Four times Tech had gone on fourth down already, and four times it had failed. Nesbitt had fumbled the snap and slipped in the backfield and gotten stopped at the line and thrown a pass Anthony Allen dropped. One more slip and Tech would lose. But this time nobody slipped. This time Nesbitt ducked his head and got the yard.
Tech wobbled Saturday. It started nicely but began to commit penalties at a Georgia-esque rate, and a quick 10-point lead became a 17-10 halftime deficit. It could have been worse, but Dave Wommack’s underwhelming defenders stopped Wake Forest at the end of the first half and then limited the Deacs to one first down over the next 25 minutes.
And then, even after Wake tied it, the D made a stand near the end of regulation to force overtime, and once beyond 60 minutes, PJ and Nesbitt weren’t going to let the Jackets lose. “You just will your way to win,” Johnson would say, and that’s what happened here.
Derrick Morgan had three sacks, all essential. Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 189 yards, 59 coming on Tech’s first snap of the second half when he burst up the middle on a tweaked play for the tying touchdown. (”Something I saw,” said Johnson, the archduke of adjustments.) Wake being Wake, it would never simply slink away into the gathering dusk, but Tech matched the Deacs in heart and trumped them in skill and gall.
Into overtime. Tech held Wake to a field goal and the game was the Jackets’ to win or lose, which meant it was PJ’s and Nesbitt’s, and was there ever any doubt how it would end? Said Johnson: “I don’t think [his players] expected anything else [than going for it on fourth down]. Our defensive guys knew we were going for it.”
Said Dwyer: “Who wouldn’t want to play for a coach like that?”
Before the game, Johnson had given his men an impassioned speech. He told them “not to put the horse before the cart” and ponder what might be waiting down the road. This prompted someone to ask: Doesn’t the horse generally go before the cart?
“Horse before the cart, cart before the horse,” Johnson said. “Maybe that’s why we came out flat.”
No matter. It all worked out in the end. PJ dared and Nesbitt made it work and Tech’s cart and horse, in whichever order you prefer, drew another hundred miles closer to a title game in Tampa.
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552 comments Add your comment
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
1:15 pm
ONE LAST THING….. WHERE DID BOOGER EAT GO…….. IT MUST BE HIS LUNCH TIME……
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
1:16 pm
Enter your comments here
Dawgfan1911
November 8th, 2009
1:23 pm
There must be something terribly wrong at the AP. The latest poll just came out, and there are now FOUR ACC teams ranked in the top 25, versus only THREE SEC teams. Don’t the sportswriters understand that we’re the better conference … we just keep beating up on each other!
BOOGER EATER FROM HARTWELL
November 8th, 2009
1:25 pm
YES, BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL. YOU AND I ARE TWO PEAS IN A POD. WE BOTH JUST LOVE THEM GAWJA BULLDAWGIES. DID YOU SEE HOW WE DOMINATED YESTERDAY? AND AS YOU ALL KNOW, TENNESSEE TECH IS RANKED HIGH IN THE NATION. I THINK THEY’S IN THAT THERE MOON BELT CONFERENCE OR SUMP’N. CALL ME. MAYBE WE CAN GET TOGETHER AT THE HARTWELL HUDDLE HOUSE AND DISCUSS HOW WE COULD PROBABLY BEAT LOUISIANA NORTH BY NORTHWEST IF GIVEN A SHOT.
B'Ham Jacket
November 8th, 2009
1:34 pm
It is embarrassing all the publicity Tech is getting.
Surely all the talking heads know other teams are in the top 10.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
1:36 pm
Was that Reggie Ball tha just threw a Pick 6 to the Falcons? no, that was the AUBURN QB Reggie beat twice. HAHAHHAHAHA.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
1:39 pm
It looks like the redskins have a crushe can of Campbell soup and broke Caddy too. Let Tubberville coach and have his players. Washington might win a game.
Jolly Good Fellows
November 8th, 2009
1:44 pm
Chuck Norris kicks the filed goal. Paul Johnson kicks ass.
Harris
November 8th, 2009
1:45 pm
All we need is a loss by texas and cincy and perhaps TCU and we are in the Nat Champ game if we win out. How amazing is that?
JoeSchmoe
November 8th, 2009
1:52 pm
Nice #7 in AP, but we could surpass Boise and Cincy next week.
Chad
November 8th, 2009
2:05 pm
Mark
How about someone writing an article detailing gt’s chances of getting to the title game. From what I can tell, we need texas to lose, cincy to lose and maybe tcu. What is interesting is tcu. They did beat clemson and va. But so did we. And our schedule is tougher than there’s. SO if we beat clemson again in the acc champ game, what does that say about us and tcu? The old adage of don’t lose late will come into play this season. You reward teams for winning. And if texas loses, there is no way they can put them in the title game. Especially since their loss, if it happens will be to a unranked team. I don’t see cincy beating both pitt and wv either. Texas could lose at the end to a&m. If they do, I don’t see how they can put them back in the title game even if they win the big 12 cause a&m is a crap 5-4 team. Or if they were to lose the big 12 game, they are done cause you aren’t putting a team that loses it’s conf in the title game. So any loss by texas would knock them out. Boise has no shot unless a lot of teams lose. Need utah to beat tcu just in case.
Not just a rumor
November 8th, 2009
2:17 pm
I am starting to hear/read that Notre Dame is going to make a serious run at Urban and Johnson. Tech will lose to UGA in a few weeks, lose the ACC to Clemson, then lose the only coach that could make something of a sorry program.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
2:24 pm
NOT JUST A RUMOR; Why would any coach go to ND ? The last two tries
were abysmal.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
2:25 pm
NOT JUST A RUMOR: I’ll bet Tenuta wishes he had stayed.
OptionBee
November 8th, 2009
2:26 pm
Knowing PJ and the coaching staff, there was no way that he was not going for it! There is a hugh difference between telling them to run that final play, and making them come to you, ask to run it, and then guarantee that they would make it! He did just that in getting Josh to commit to making it!! That is coaching!! By making JN to guarantee it, the whole offense then was not going to let him fail! That is why this guy is a great coach! We not only had to beat a game and well coached WF team, we had to overcome a bias officiating crew…seems they were out to make a point about chop blocks (2 of the 3 calls were wrong..watch the film). Also, the crew was spotting our forward progress on many plays a half yard short each time…makes for a larger number of 4th down tries during a game!! And NO, JD is NOT going to get us killed, he is the “horse pulling the cart”.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
2:26 pm
If PJ were to leave DRAD would find another great coach. You can bet on that. The TECH job will always draw the best dimwit.
Paul in RDU
November 8th, 2009
2:29 pm
Wow I love how Dawg fans keep “hearing rumors” about ND.
I think their dream is that ND hires Meyer as HC, Saban as DC and Johnson as OC. UF hires Bobo as a replacement and ALA hires Willie.
What does it say about the mindset of some fans when they want their rivals to lose their coaches so that UGA’s record can improve?
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
2:32 pm
NOT JUST A RUMOR: Why would ND take a coach with a high school offense and no defense ? Just tell me please.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
2:34 pm
I want PJ to stay forever and think we should do anything necessary to keep him but if he moves on DRAD simply gets R Rodriguez from Michigan. And there are plenty of other good ones to be had. Rodriguez would love, I’m sure, to get out of Mich and Tech’s “high school” offense is very similar to his style.
Chris C
November 8th, 2009
2:38 pm
CPJ isn’t going anywhere. GT is very happy to have him and he loves it here. This is a perfect fit for him. He is committed to the programs he coaches at. He isn’t a flash in the pan coach. He stays around and builds a winner and he will go down as one of if not the best, coaches in GT history. That will be his legacy.
Not just a rumor
November 8th, 2009
2:44 pm
Johnson is not a loyal guy. Once he gets mugged by the pack of girls that keeps taking advantage of you guys he will run.
GA Tech Insider
November 8th, 2009
2:50 pm
Not just a rumor; As I mentioned previously, Paul Johnson promised his wife and daughter that he wouldn’t even CONSIDER moving until his daughter graduated, and I can assure you, that means he’ll be on the Flats for quite a while, especially with the continual raises the Jacket Faithful will be throwing he, and his staff.
So, keep wishing it were so, but it ain’t going to happen, as much as you keep telling yourself and everyone else whose dumb enough to listen to your garbage.
GT For You And Me
November 8th, 2009
2:50 pm
If our coach was planning to leave,I don’t think he would be recruiting the way he has been. I don’t think he would be telling a recruit to come to come and play for him and then turn his back on them,like 2 of our past coaches did. PJ has more class than that..GO JACKETS TOHWG!!!
Not just a rumor
November 8th, 2009
2:54 pm
Johnson is going to coach Valdosta High so he can get some national attention. Go Tigers!
Paul in RDU
November 8th, 2009
2:54 pm
GA Tech Insider – as the father of a teenager myself, I know where Johnson is coming from. However, isn’t his daughter 17 or so – meaning she’ll be graduating fronm HS in a few years?
Hopefully she wants to do Aerospace Engineering and hang around for a while.
Heck – I’d like to see Johnson stick around for years, but if he decides to move on in a few years, good luck to him.
WTH
November 8th, 2009
2:58 pm
Not just a rumor,
You don’t think you can beat Meyer or Johnson, so you want them hired away, what a chicken …….
WTH
November 8th, 2009
3:00 pm
CPJ is pissed at the way UGA dissed Erk, so he wants to hang around and whip their butts a few years.
Columnists Corner | Football Picks
November 8th, 2009
3:01 pm
[...] Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson is a coach who dares to be great. [...]
Ron
November 8th, 2009
3:08 pm
PJ will be here at least 6 years. Count on it. So sad there are pathetic Ga fans writing crap like this. Shows what kind of white trash comes from that fanbase.
BS Patrol
November 8th, 2009
3:10 pm
Hey rumor,
Haven’t heard any rumors about any interest in CMR,CMB,CWM have you? Thought not.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
3:22 pm
Willie M. and P. Nix will be running the REDAN HIGH SCHOOL Footbal program next year. BoBo is the coach to be named later.
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
4:07 pm
CPJ won’t even CONSIDER leaving GT until after he’s won a NC! He keeps telling the kids, “You haven’t done anything yet!” with each win. And although he’s accomplished Big Wins since coming to Tech (mainly breaking losing streaks), he still hasn’t “done anything”, to use his own words. AFTER he wins a few ACC Titles and 1 or 2 National Titles, then I’ll start worrying about the rumors that he’s going to be hired away…Until then, ENJOY!! GT Football is BACK and it’s EXCITING to go to games again!
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
4:10 pm
TECH vs WAKE REPLAY is scheduled for 7:30-10:00 pm tonight on ESPU (Ch 614 on DirecTV)…Here’s your chance to record it or just watch it again without the uncertainty of the outcome that was experienced yesterday!
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
4:13 pm
GT vs WAKE REPLAY on ESPU (ch 614 on DirecTV) is scheduled for 7:30-10:00 pm tonight in case you missed it the first time…
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
4:14 pm
WOW…What’s with the posting delay? I thought they nixed that…
FUZZON
November 8th, 2009
4:15 pm
CPJ for Governor!!!!!
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
4:17 pm
Absolutely for Coach of the Year! Vote once a day for him:
http://www.coachoftheyear.com
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
4:38 pm
PI$$ IS PI$$ANT
Paddy
November 8th, 2009
5:40 pm
CPJ can really coach, we are all seeing that first hand. But what he does even better, he stays out of the players way when it is time to win. Uncanny how he can utilize all at his disposal to make his players have the maximum fun and still run thru a wall for him. I believe the recruits are liking what they are seeing out of this man. He is tough, he is fair and he lets them play!
Yellow Fuzz
November 8th, 2009
7:28 pm
Anybody heard from AtlantaTruth since early August? Me neither. lol.
AtlantaTruth
August 6th, 2009
11:20 am
Only 113 days till the Tech beat down in Atlanta. Its posted in the locker room at Georgia…beware Tech fans its gonna hurt so bad you won’t be able to show your faces. Tech always has been and will continue to be a second tier college football program. I’ll bet you that there will be more Dawg fans at Grant Field than Tech fans for the game. Isn’t it amazing that Tech consistently is out recruited by not only Georgia but also Clemson, Tennessee, South Carolina, Auburn and more recently Alabama in its own state? That fact alone should tell you that the Tech program is not thought of very highly throughout the South. Have your childish fun now Tech fans posting on this blog cause after this year’s game Tech will be back in its rightful place….irrelavant in college football!
AtlantaTruth
August 6th, 2009
2:30 pm
Please…….stop…. please stop…we’re laughing so hard at your blogs we just can’t stand it. Tech a national power…what are you guys smoking? I love how you talk about running for 400 yards aganist Georgia…… Wake up. Tech is not that good and far from a national power….please I’m laughing to hard!
AtlantaTruth
August 6th, 2009
3:14 pm
When was the last time Tech had a great coach? the fifties?….When was the last time you had great talent…Reggie Ball?…please stop I’m laughing again…..Please don’t forget our golf team and equestrian teams winning NC’s…How about our 02′and 05′ SEC Championships…… you know as long as were counting. When was the last time Tech won the mighty ACC? ….keep dreaming and posting on this blog….I need a good laugh every day.
Atlanta Truth
August 6th, 2009
6:04 pm
The truth hurts doesn’t it Tech Fans…..Tampa Gator is that all you have? Doak Walker award? Choice?…get a life. I’d start naming the Georgia backs and players now in the NFL..but I’d run out of room. What a bunch of pompous phonies. How many championships did Calvin Johnson win for Tech while he was there? And you’re telling me I give Georgia bloggers a bad name….stop I’m really laughing hard now. Come see me when you win the ACC…or a BCS game…or sell out your stadium for a home game. Until then NOBODY that closely follows college football thinks Tech football is RELEVANT!
AtlantaTruth
August 7th, 2009
2:08 am
Are you kidding me. Tech wasn’t even a consensus NC winner in 1990. The poll that mattered didn’t have Tech #1.You asked if you are supposed to be scared by my rhetoric…..I really don’t care. All I do is state the facts. Just because you Tech fans live in a dream world and interpret them the way that makes you feel better about yourselves is your problem. Believe me your team is not that good. Average at best. Tech will not win the ACC, and definitely WILL NOT beat Georgia. In looking at the Tech schedule…I see Tech losing at least five games and possibly six. I predict that Tech will lose to Georgia by at least 17 points……Tech is a team that actually dropped out of the SEC because they thought they were better than everyone else and where did it get Tech?…relegated to a second tier team in the ACC. When Tech consistently has double digit win seasons, wins the ACC, and plays in meaningful BCS bowl games you’ll be able to pound your chest and tell me and everyone else that will listen how great Tech is until then….the Tech football program is irrelevant!
Yellow Fuzz
November 8th, 2009
8:16 pm
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0911/cfb.top25.week10/content.9.html
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
8:29 pm
PJ may leave but UGA is stuck with CMR until you drive the moving van up to the house and start packing for him.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
8:34 pm
When PJ leaves he will go to the NFL just to show how a high school offense can kick big boy butt. He’s got the moxie to do it for just that reason. He will not fool around with another Div 1 school. Thats too easy. Meanwhile, I hear that Adams is asking CMR to sign a 15 year extension.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
8:37 pm
Martinez is considering offers to coach Ludowici high school but CMR is begging him to stay. Bobo is thinking about managing the new Publix in Athens.
wreckmaniac
November 8th, 2009
8:42 pm
Larry Munson said last week: Boy, did I get out at the right time. I just can’t come up with another famous phrase for when Dwyer gets to the 250 yard mark.
Columnists Corner | Football Picks
November 9th, 2009
1:30 am
[...] Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson is a coach who dares to be great. [...]
morgan
November 9th, 2009
10:56 am
Can we quit calling Paul Johnson CPJ? I mean we have already (unfortunately enough) ripped off UGA’s chant on kickoff’s (is there anything dumber than people bzzzing out loud?) Do we really need to rip off CMR as well? Just stick with PJ
Chuck Clausen
November 9th, 2009
11:17 am
I coached football for 28 seasons (5 with Woody at OSU). Paul has an offense which nobody understands as well as he and his player do. One week is not enough time for any defense to get really ready for Paul’s spread option and all the adjustments they may have seen on tape. Plus he has others you are going to have to adjust to on the run. It’s unlikely any defense is going to do something Paul and his coaching staff have not seen. Navy been ND last week and gave the Buckeyes all they could handle with the same concept. The Tech players are learning some great lessons from their coach and they extend beyond the White Lines.
Tech’s Paul Johnson: a Coach Who Dares To Be Great | Mark Bradley | homemadechristmasgifts
November 11th, 2009
9:28 pm
[...] The last chop call was bogus due to the fact that Bedford initiated the contact above the waist, Howard came in on the double team, Bedford slid down the defender and then the umpire threw the flag. If you start above the waist and … No Snapple regular lemonade! What gives? Another fine read. I told you earlier that I was nervous about this game. Great win. Maybe better Florida State win. Although, I didn’t attend that one live. Ramblin Wreck! Link; Report this comment …Page 2 [...]
Now you can make decisions like Paul Johnson! | Mark Bradley
November 13th, 2009
9:33 am
[...] (Something daring, surely. I mean, the man only went for it on fourth down five times against Wake Forest. And never mind that the first four didn’t work. The fifth turned out OK.) [...]