5 reasons Paul Johnson isn’t going to Notre Dame
1. He’s a little too much like Charlie Weis. Meaning: He’s blunt, and he can’t be coached in the gentle art of public relations. That works in Atlanta, where there’s one daily newspaper, but might not in South Bend, where the college team is covered by the Chicago papers in addition to the South Bend folks. Notre Dame is going to want a charmer this time around, someone who can schmooze with Regis about the big game. PJ has never heard of Reege, let alone Kelly.
2. Notre Dame isn’t just a program; it’s a TV show. Meaning: Appearances matter. NBC might not be thrilled about the prospects of airing a team that runs the football 83 percent of the time. (Understand: I admire Johnson’s offense. But I’m not a network programmer.)
3. Notre Dame cares about recruiting rankings. Johnson famously does not. The subway alumni wouldn’t like it if their adopted team didn’t show up in Rivals’ top 10. (Understand: I’m with Johnson on this one, too. Recruiting rankings are overblown — ask Mark Richt — but I don’t contribute to anyone’s program.)
4. He’s happy at Georgia Tech. In two years Johnson has become not just a hero but something approaching a legend. If the final fourth-down gamble against Wake Forest had failed, he wouldn’t have been second-guessed one bit. Because Tech people love PJ, and Dan Radakovich is about to put yet another bumped-up dollar figure on that love. And Johnson doesn’t want to live in South Bend. He’s a Southern guy who has a nice spread in Vinings — “Inside the Perimeter,” he always takes pains to say — and doesn’t even have to take an Interstate to work.
5. Notre Dame once hired a coach from Tech. The perfect union, right? A feisty Irishman coaching the Fighting Irish. It lasted 3 1/2 days. Even Cher and Gregg Allman made it past a week.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
577 comments Add your comment
Technophobia
November 18th, 2009
7:47 pm
I guess the only conclusion you can draw from all this discussion is that CPJ is a better coach than CMR. Notre Dame certainly has a better history than UGA, they have more money and it would be a higher prestige job. I see no reason why CMR couldn’t be lured away as well since all the UGA fans say money is the real issue.
jesse james
November 18th, 2009
7:52 pm
The true UGA fans are tired of all this talk about Coach Richt and what he will do. Anybody that questions the job he has done, will never be pleased. I don’t agree with the play calling, personnel decisions and some of the gimmicks sometimes, but I tell you the program is in good hands. I appreciate what he has done. I do wish we would go back to some of the rules he had when he first got there. example – I remember him telling Tony Gilbert to cut his hair and it better not be out of his helmet. I guess he feels he has to allow Evan and Moore’ hair or he may lose some recruits. That is why I couldn’t coach college football. You may not like the Yankees, but you won’t see long hair or facial hair. Bobby Cox use not to allow it and now you see where the Braves are. People may think this is a little thing, but It helps in reinforcing discipline.
B'Ham Jacket
November 18th, 2009
8:10 pm
Interesting that most of the comments are by GA fans touting ND and WISHING CPJ will leave Tech!!!!!!
I’d say that envy and fear are deep on the GA fans part!
THWG!
joe
November 18th, 2009
8:14 pm
Get rid of him & his mickey mouse offense. Watching it suxs.
But then again they are tech folks & they are Mickey Mouse so it fits
jesse james
November 18th, 2009
8:18 pm
I hope he stays, I mean seven years in a row is good, but we do like competition.
Go DOGS
November 18th, 2009
8:26 pm
CPJ is a great coach, and hopefully he will continue to raise the bar at Tech. Can’t argue with his success so far. The way I look at it is the better Tech does the better UGA will do via competition upping the ante on both sides.
Neil is not very smart because he doesn't crap about football
November 18th, 2009
9:19 pm
I heard a couple of time people saying that it’s scary that Johnson is winning with Gailey’s players and it’s going to get better once he work his players into the system.
Quick question: Where does Johnson’s two recruiting classes rank? Don’t look… it’s somewhere after 30th.
CPJ’s first two classes have the following players playing THIS year – Peeples, Wright, Hill, J. Burnette, Taylor (played a ton last year, hurt this year), Uzzi, P. Smith, Barnes, J. Thomas, Sweeting, O. Smith, Cross, A. Allen etc, etc. If you watched any of the games and saw how much ‘his’ players are contributing you might be able to stop smelling the poo inside your arse.
So I wouldn’t be so excited about getting Johnson’s players in the system. Especially when other schools in the ACC are still recruiting better than GT.
I don’t think it matters what your recruting ranking is when you have outscored 10 of your 11 opponents. Coach Johnson and GT will be very successful in the coming years, despite losing J Dwyer or Bebe Thomas because of the OL he is stock piling and the defense he will have starting next year. While having a Jon Dwyer is certainly a luxury, when Lyons and Cox (not gonna win many 40 yard dash competitions) can score on 30+ yard scoring plays UNTOUCHED with our current OL. just wait until either Anthony Allen, Daniel Drummond (4* player), Richard Watson or Charles Perkins, with a better OL, perform. Sims, Shaw, Luallen, Days, Washington will all have over two years in the system by the time Nesbitt leaves. At LEAST two of this group will be VERY GOOD at running this offense in 2011. Again, add in an OL recruited to run this offense. IMO, that is still the weakest part of this team while averaging 35+ points per game!! You are delusional to think otherwise
EVERY commit in this years class is from GA. Coach Paul Johnson KNOWS the HS COACHES that KNOW who the good players are WAY BETTER than the recruiting services that give away ’stars’ based on teams stadium sizes.
Anyhoo, like any coach, they are only the next big offer away from leaving. If a school like Notre Dame calls up Johnson (if they don’t get Urban Myer)… he’s gone in a heartbeat. Why? Because Johnson can win with the players Weis have in ND. All he really have to do is recruit for the O-line. And if he can guide Notre Dame to a 10-1 or 11-1 record… he’s already in the BCS and is a top 4 team. No championship games to worry about.
I agree, Coach Paul Johnson would win ANYWHERE, he’s already proven that. But from his lips, he has promised he would not move his daughter while in HS. From his lips, focussing on recruiting the state of GA to build the program and the fan base. From his lips, he took a PAY CUT to leave NAVY to come to GT. GT gave him a very good raise last year and will probably do the same again, especially after we pay off Chan Gailey’s contract. Have you listened to any of his call in shows? Go to ramblinwreck.com. Click multi-media and then itunes.
I don’t want to sound like a delusional dawgie fan and say he would not leave because of this or that, but I know for a fact he turned down the might SEC and Auburn last year for a ‘ton’ more money.
Either way GT fans… it’s college football and unfortunately there are schools out there that has a LOT more than offer a coach than Tech. Don’t you see that GT is Johnson’s stepping stone to greener pastures? Stop deluding yourselves into thinking that loyalty and commitment are coveted values in college football.
What more do other schools have to offer him besides money? He can recruit and be home every night and spend time with his family. I’d bet, based on what I have heard him say, that THAT is the reason he is coaching at GT for a very long time!!!
Yeah… Paul is going to stay because the Tech fans love him. Sure… they love him now… but what happens when the honeymoon is over? Tech fans are bandwagon fans… period. And the lack of presense they’ll have (especially if Clemson goes and Tampa becomes a sea of Orange) at the ACC Championship game will show it.
Once again, did you see the Ga Dome last year, GT sold ALL of its allotment and then some for the Chicken Bowl. We don’t travel well to Boise or San Franciso, but who does? I’d bet we sell our entire allotment plus some for the ACCCG. Win that and the Orange bowl will have a very good turnout as well.
I think Mr. Bradley is hoping more so than giving valid reasons.
Mr. Bradley has done his job and stirred the pot, but I’d agree, his reasons lack research. Listen to his call in shows and then tell me what you think.
sean
November 18th, 2009
9:22 pm
This nonsense by some Tech fans about where Dawg fans get their merchandise and belittling people who don’t go to the school is very childish. Every single person on this blog at one time or another liked Tech or UGA before ever making a decision on where to go to college so to imply that only current students and alum of a school can be fans of said school is very very dumb. I can see why many Dawg fans might see Tech fans as arrogant.
sean
November 18th, 2009
9:26 pm
Dawg fans are guilty as well especially the “nerd” crap I mean really? I’d put money on there being “nerdy” UGA fans and students just like there are “redneck” Tech fans.
So to UGA fans: What do you consider a nerd?
To Tech fans: What is your pre-requisite to being a fan?
Technophobia
November 18th, 2009
9:36 pm
I tend to agree with you Sean. I mean a little ribbing here and there, a pocket protector joke, a trailor comment here and there is one thing. But a lot of people on both sides kinda go off the deep end and are revealing more about themselves than anything else.
Jolly Good Fellows
November 18th, 2009
9:43 pm
Chuck Norris and The Most Interesting Man in the World fought each other for the right to be compared to Paul Johnson. Chuck Norris won and then lost: http://www.jollygoodfellows.com/paul-johnson-better-than-chuck-norris/
Booger
November 18th, 2009
10:06 pm
Louis, perhaps you should pay the dogg pizza guys so they’ll go back to their own blogsite.
CPJ may leave sometime, but not yet. Bobby Ross went to the next challenge, the NFL and the Super Bowl. Tech is a stop for great coaches, but Johnson will leave for his choice, not some crappy hasbeen school like ND.
Louis Skolnick
November 18th, 2009
10:09 pm
Booger, be nice, the doggs have had a bad year, and it may be that their coach is getting ready to pack up. I hear someone sent Mayflower over to his house Monday morning.
Louis Skolnick
November 18th, 2009
10:12 pm
and Booger, don’t be arrogant.
Booger
November 18th, 2009
10:13 pm
I hope some doggs sit near me at BD on the 28th. I might be arrogant then.
Louis Skolnick
November 18th, 2009
10:14 pm
45-42 last year. What does the slide rule say for this year Booger?
Booger
November 18th, 2009
10:15 pm
something like the dookie score.
Why Paul Johnson isn’t a fit at Notre Dame : Football Rumor Mill
November 18th, 2009
10:31 pm
[...] Five reasons why Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson won’t be the next coach at Notre Dame: He’s a little too much like Charlie Weis. Meaning: He’s blunt, and he can’t be coached in the gentle art of public relations. NBC might not be thrilled about the prospects of airing a team that runs the football 83 percent of the time. Notre Dame cares about recruiting rankings. Johnson famously does not. Johnson doesn’t want to live in South Bend. He’s a Southern guy. Notre Dame once hired a coach from Tech. The perfect union, right? A feisty Irishman coaching the Fighting Irish. It lasted 3 1/2 days. – Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Technophobia
November 18th, 2009
10:38 pm
More like the 1990 score IMO but even if it’s like the 2008 score, a win is a win.
Open Wide DDS
November 18th, 2009
10:43 pm
Georgiadawg70, OMFG! WTF?
I know you dawgs are not as good in math as techies, but…
“Dear Trembel The SAT scores for the top 1000 freshmen at both schools are the same. Georgias average is some lower but they amit 4000 and Tech admits 1000. When you compare apples to apples they are they same.”
You are saying the average of GT is the SAME as the avergae of top 25% of UGA.
Let me put it this way so you may comprehend: After 1000, UGA admits 3000 more IDIOTS that are dumber than the dumbest person at Tech.
Have a nice day.
Really?
November 18th, 2009
11:52 pm
If the fourth down gamble against Wake had failed he would not have been second guessed? You believe that? I imagine yourself, Schultzie, Barnhart and every fan in Atlanta would have been second guessing him. No offense, it’s just what we do.
As a Dawg fan, I’d love to see him go to Notre Dame, but having been to South Bend on numerous occasions, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to live there. My guess is this year’s bowl game will see CPJ stick to his offense instead of trying to become a passing offense ala last year’s LSU game.
Either way, he’s a good coach. Gonna be fun beating him in a couple of weeks.
HBTD
neb dooh
November 19th, 2009
3:40 am
the whole world will want cpj if the following scenario occurs tech beats ga and clemson edging by boise into sixth pitt beats cincy-fifth auburn beats ala-fourth neb beats texas -third fsu beats fla or ala beats fla setting up a tech-tcu nc lot of season left
Gt4ever
November 19th, 2009
9:10 am
I wonder…. The fans that are the most DELUSIONAL about their program??? ND or UGA…. Toss up!
Gt4ever
November 19th, 2009
9:12 am
At least UGA plays great football. ND is irrelevant….. I don’t care how much money they have to throw at a coach…
Rebecca Hamilton
November 25th, 2009
4:34 pm
Enter yoDoes anyone feel Bill Parcells or Joe Montana has a chance of being named?
Take a look at these latest odds:
http://www.playblackjack.com/prop-bets/who-will-replace-charlie-weis-at-notre-dame-bet-on-it.htmlur comments here
Dave Johnson
November 26th, 2009
11:50 am
This website thinks Joe Montana could possibly be named head coach. If he is named head coach you can win $250,000.
Make sense?
http://www.playblackjack.com/prop-bets/who-will-replace-charlie-weis-at-notre-dame-bet-on-it.html
Rob2595
November 29th, 2009
11:13 am
30 – 24