Tech’s Joshua Nesbitt: The most valuable collegiate player?
It takes at least four Hokies to handle Joshua Nesbitt. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Ankle surgery having precluded his participation in spring practice, Joshua Nesbitt had the chance to study Georgia Tech from the sideline. And what he saw, he said, was a team just as talented as last season’s ACC champs. Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, a big ol’ fib.
Because the Jackets with Nesbitt on the sideline aren’t one-tenth as impressive as Tech is when he’s on the field. He’s not quite the best player in college football, but no one means more to a program than this quarterback does to his.
Paul Johnson’s stylized option-based spread starts with Nesbitt, and often it ends there. He has to make every read, every pitch, every throw. He also has to take 30 hits a game, and therein lies the issue. With backup Jaybo Shaw having transferred to Georgia Southern, Tech can’t afford to lose Nesbitt for a single snap. But even a man as conspicuously robust as this — he appears bigger than his listed 217 pounds — is going to feel some pain.
The good news: Nesbitt said last week he feels better than he has “since high school.” The bad: Every Tech opponent won’t be so concerned with defending the option this season as with simply smacking Nesbitt.
But here’s the thing: Nesbitt is capable of smacking back. He has a linebacker’s approach to playing quarterback. If you come hard at him, he’ll come harder at you. Apologies in advance for again using the I-word — “indomitable” — but with Nesbitt no other adjective is half as applicable.
Said Nesbitt, speaking of Tech: “We understand what it means to fight until the clock says zero.”
Much of this comes from Pugnacious Paul, the head coach. Nearly as much emanates from the quarterback he inherited on arrival, a young man after PJ’s fighting heart.
And these Jackets, picked to finish third in the ACC Coastal Division, figure to need all the orneriness they can muster. They lost four gifted juniors to the NFL, and their road schedule — trips to Kansas, North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia — is a fright. Or it would be, were Nesbitt the sort to get nettled.
“People are looking for us not to be the same team,” Nesbitt said. “We know we’ve got a bull’s eye on us. … We need to prove everybody wrong.”
Someone asked if Johnson imparts that very message to his players. “Only every time we talk,” Nesbitt said, and then he laughed.
Another source of some amusement: The two letters at the shank of his first name. He was born Joshua Leonard Nesbitt, but for 21 years he answered to Josh. He and his mother decided to ask Tech to list his name as Joshua for his senior season: “More businesslike,” he said.
Which isn’t to say everyone has gotten the memo. Heck, sometimes his mom even slips and forgets the “u” and the “a.” “It doesn’t faze me,” said Nesbitt, who isn’t easily fazed.
And what does Tech’s coach call his quarterback? “He can call me whatever he likes.”
We know Johnson has the utmost faith in his offense — he should; he designed the thing — but even a man as proud as PJ will acknowledge that an option cannot run itself. Somebody has to take the ball from center and send it the right way and absorb those hits, and there’s nobody on Tech’s campus who can do it the way Nesbitt does.
Still, the cult of Joshua hasn’t yet found national traction. We saw it again this week when the assembled ACC media voted him sixth in its preseason player-of-the-year balloting. Yeah, that’s part of being an option quarterback in 21st century football, but still … sixth!
Maybe his low standing had something to do with Nesbitt skipping the ACC’s media days in Greensboro. Both Tech and conference officials implored him to come, but he was adamant. He had to attend a family reunion in Miami. (And no, it wasn’t an agent-funded soiree.)
And there’s just another reason to like Joshua Nesbitt. In an age where hype knows no restraints — hello, LeBron James — the most valuable Jacket had better things to do than talk about himself. Talk about a throwback.
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
555 comments Add your comment
Dave from GT
July 29th, 2010
12:23 pm
Tackin those red panties up on my trophy wall this Thanksgiving !!!
ACC’s lunchtime links | SportsTalk South
July 29th, 2010
12:38 pm
[...] there any player in the country more valuable to his team than Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua [...]
ACC’s lunchtime links | SportsTalk South
July 29th, 2010
12:38 pm
[...] there any player in the country more valuable to his team than Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua [...]
cobbjacket
July 29th, 2010
1:39 pm
dawgfan1987, what do FSU, Miami and GT, all teams you deem as failing have in common? They have all earned at least one national championship since the last (only) dogs nc. The SEC is clearly the superior conference in this country, the nc resides there. Unfortunately, UGA is always on the outside looking in. UGA has a program (results wise) that should be the envy of 95% of the country, the problem is none of that 95% has ever won a nc. Florida, LSU, Miami, USC Ohio State, Texas, Alabama etc all have nc’s since UGA’s last. Simple fact is you guys are an above average team, playing in a VERY above average conference.
ACC’s lunchtime links | SportsXXL
July 29th, 2010
1:39 pm
[...] there any player in the country more valuable to his team than Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua [...]
woodyjjGT
July 29th, 2010
2:13 pm
you run this state? you barely run athens. and your mascot…last time i checked still dead. i think i hear your cuzzin calling. she’s slipping into something a little more comfortable for you.
Mark PRicht
July 29th, 2010
2:21 pm
you dont run the state….just Clarke Couny Jail
BigDawg
July 29th, 2010
2:37 pm
Sorry Tech fans for the ignorant and stupendous quotes from many of my fellow UGA fans. Nesbitt is a terrific QB for that system and he has my admiration. Let’s hope he stays healthy so that another loss to UGA will be legitimate without being able to use the injury excuse as my Coach Richt loves to do. Shoot even Coach Johnson did not take a ranked team and lose to Vandy as Richt did. That has to be the lowest day in UGA history. The only team to ever lose to Vandy with a ranked team in 100+ years of football. UGA beat Tech but fire Richt!
wesleywhatwhat
July 29th, 2010
3:22 pm
nesbitt for heisman.
wesleywhatwhat
July 29th, 2010
3:24 pm
nesbitt for hesiman
supersize that order, mutt
July 29th, 2010
4:30 pm
I think you RUIN this state would be more appropriate. With all the shenanigans going on in your Athletic Department of late, you have embarrassed the entire state of Georgia in the eyes of the nation.
JCH
July 29th, 2010
4:59 pm
The Subject matter is educed to Team Mascots????? Nobody gives a D____ Scarlett !!!!
JCH
July 29th, 2010
5:03 pm
oh, i’m sorry now we’re on to bigger fish to fry, Right Richt ???? we’re now up to dialogue about panfish, Crappie, or is it a Catfish Fry……
ACC’s lunchtime links | NowSportsLive
July 29th, 2010
8:09 pm
[...] there any player in the country more valuable to his team than Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua [...]
Athens, Georgia
July 29th, 2010
8:34 pm
————————–
Nesbitt for Heisman
————————–
Frank
July 29th, 2010
9:39 pm
Josh seems like a good kid and a good running back, however, he got lucky with cpj and the silly offense. Had he gone to any other school, he would be on defense, and quite possibly have a pro career in his future. Oh well. THWGT!!!!!
richard cranium
July 29th, 2010
10:06 pm
Surely you’ve seen Josh play UGAgers..?? He’s the guy that beat you’re buttocks two years ago in Athens when you had No Show Moreno and Capt. Beer Keg Lifter…
Yea, I remember. I left there with a piece of hedge on my head, like I’m gonna do this year, dick.
Coach
July 30th, 2010
9:09 am
Great article on a kid with an incredible heart!
gt4ever
July 30th, 2010
9:37 am
The Heisman used to be for players like this…… The player that was most important to his team. The award is a JOKE to date, it’s just a popularity contest, that only the very few even have a chance to win.. Josh Nesbit is a TRUE Heisman candidate, but he will never recieve any serious consideration because of the JOKE this award has become…..
the Octagon
July 30th, 2010
12:50 pm
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater,
I think you may be confusing MB’s praise of Nesbitt’s “value” vs. his “greatness” … I dont think MB is saying that Nesbitt is the best player, merely the most valuable to his team. Its a point of contention. For instance, last year Mark Ingram won the Heisman trophy as the nations best player…was he the most valuable? No, not by a long shot… take him out of alabama’s offense and they probably still make it atleast to the SEC title game, and possibly the national title game because their defense carried them.
Now on the other hand, does Texas make it ANYWHERE last year if Colt McCoy gets hurt? What if Sam Bradford stayed healthy? Those 2 players were not the best players out there, but certainly had the most value of any players in college football… and that is the point MB is trying to make.
Name a player in college football this year who will have more value… if you take Nesbitt off of this GT team (or better yet, off of last years team… do they win 10 games? no.. without Nesbitt last year, that is a 6 win team at best). And now this year, after losing his best offensive and defensive weapons, his value is even higher. remove him from this years team, and they might not win a game outside of SC State.
Is there any other player you can think of that is more important to his teams success this year? Any player that if you removed him from his team, the team would fall apart completely?
JCH
July 30th, 2010
3:35 pm
wreckbone… yea man, powering 300 lbs makes a great QB, just like Reggie Ball had physical attributes but No Talent At QB… It takes Skinny armed kids like JP Wilson to make it and Lead their TEAMS into the Natl Championship Record Books… Toughness isnt measured in the weightroom, unless you’re talking about Linemen or Linebackers… All other Positions are what’s Called SKILL POSITIONS, something nesbiscuit is far from.
Frank
July 30th, 2010
6:55 pm
After reading through this blog I am reminded of how much I hate gtu. You are assuredly the cesspool of college football, your team color is even the color of urine. Your entire school is an embarassment to the proud state of Georgia.
THWGT!!!!
supersize that order, mutt
July 30th, 2010
7:03 pm
Yeah, Frank, wave those red panties proudly. It’s your school that is an embarassment, before the eyes of the enitre nation. A profligate former AD, drunk athletes who can’t stay out of jail, and a professor who murdered his wife in front of their children. And let’s not forget Jim Harrick and Jan Kemp either. Yeah, so much to be proud of over there in Athens. Hell, nobody in the SEC even takes the mutts seriously anymore.
supersize that order, mutt
July 30th, 2010
7:04 pm
And by the way, Frank, Stephon Marbur notwithstanding, there is no such place as GTU.
supersize that order, mutt
July 30th, 2010
7:04 pm
Marbury, that is
Frank
July 30th, 2010
11:14 pm
I have also heard announcers on TV and other recruits refer to your trade school as georgia tech university. You really have no identity except in your own egotistical minds.
THWGT!!!!!
supersize that order, mutt
July 30th, 2010
11:31 pm
any announcer that says that, and I have heard a couple also, is just plain stupid. That is not and never has been the name. It is, and has been for at least 45 years, The Georgia Institute of Technology…..formerly Georgia School of Technology. You should be thankful you have such a “trade school” in your state. It brings in more money and indirectly provides more work to the state than anything UGAG does, other than it’s overrated and overhyped football program
Frank
July 31st, 2010
10:55 am
supersize that order, mutt July 30th, 2010 11:31 pm
If you really belive that last statement, you sir, are delusional.
thwgt!!!!
supersize that order, mutt
July 31st, 2010
1:15 pm
Frank, it’s called ENDOWMENTS, and Tech has one of the largest collection of endowment funds in the entire country….far more than UGAG. As far as the INDIRECT (that was the word I used) effect on employment, I meant that a very high percentage of jobs in this world are affected by technology, and therefore technological institutions. You wouldn’t even be on a computer right now were it not for technology. I know that particular kind did not come from Ga Tech, but your daily life, and the employment rate in Georgia, is affected by what goes on at Tech far more than you realize or want to admit. Take a look at the clothes you wear; does the term Textiles Engineering ring a bell? How about the building you work in? Civil Engineering. The house you live in? Architecture. The research into the chemicals you use, and the production of them? Chemisty and Chemical Engineering. The planes you fly in, AND the space program? Aerospace Engineering. Electrical Engineering covers almost every area of those and the rest of your life as well. All are degree programs at Tech which produce jobs both in this state and throughout the world every day.
record in bowl games
July 31st, 2010
6:33 pm
As a die hard GT fan, I have to say that CPJ’s bowl record is something to be concerned about. 2-5 may point out some glaring weaknesses for the trip option and how teams prepare for it.
I wonder what CPJ’s record is facing teams w/ a bye week. Anyone know? (I’m too lazy to look it up). L at Miami last year is one. But that game was all on our defense.
supersize that order, mutt
July 31st, 2010
11:03 pm
record, we beat UGAG 2 years ago after they had a week off. I think the problem with the bowl games is not that the other team had time to prepare for it; I think that in those weeks off, our offense loses its rhythm. I would think that would be a relatively easy thing to address, and I think it will be easier if the defense is any good and can keep the game close until the offense starts clicking. That’s just my opinion, for whatever it’s worth
Hairy Dawg
July 31st, 2010
11:10 pm
You pointy heading Techie nerds know Nerdspit Nesbit is goning out like the looser he is. Were goning to make him pay for that flukey win in Athens. We already put him out last year and now we run him off field permanant like the wimpy player he is for mule backend coach.
We now got rid of the Wet Willie “bend” over and “break” wind defense. And we got rid of Evans. Now we working on Adams. We those wothless clowns on road we never loose again to you pesty bugs while winning Sugar and dominatring as bests. You stinks from playing in that low class chump league ACC with the second rate high school offense.
No SEC talent real mens want to play where they cant heading to NFL like the SEC talent and speed. Insteas we unloading whooping can on you and rest of SEC to letting big DAWG eat.
supersize that order, mutt
July 31st, 2010
11:16 pm
Hairy, you are a great example of how educated you mutts are. I have never seen so many spelling and grammatical errors in one post. You must really be a stupid, stupid man. I would be embarassed to type crap like that, knowing that it shows just how f***ng stupid you really are. How does it feel to be so stupid, huh? Are your momma and poppa and boyfriend as stupid as you are? Why don’t you try getting an education. Then you might not end up in jail somewhere, like half the mutt football team, and end up as some big boy’s little biatch. I hear they like stupid little biatches in prison.
supersize that order, mutt
July 31st, 2010
11:17 pm
I hear that Damon Evans has some extra red panties you can take with you when you go to jail. I bet the boys there will really like them, especially on a stupid ass like you.
supersize that order, mutt
July 31st, 2010
11:24 pm
Tell me, Hairy, what’s it like being so stupid. I know you don’t have anything to compare it with, but are the people you hang around with as stupid as you? Or do you have any friends at all, other than your momma and daddy, who HAVE to love you, and your boyfriend, who is just probably desparate?
Frank
August 1st, 2010
6:57 am
Actually 2 years ago UGA gave gtu a gift wrapped (fluke) win by relaxing on defense after the half. cpj’s record playing teams after a week off probably mirrows his pathetic bowl record, but that is just a guess. gtu is a better team that they were under ccg, but you will fall back to your usual also ran position in the acc this year, bank it!
THWGT!!!
supersize that order, mutt
August 1st, 2010
7:33 am
Frank, I do believe thta you are as stupid (STUPID) as Hairy Dawt. I remind you that UGAG had a week off before the 2008 game, and it didn’t help them at all. The defense relaxed? Yeah, right. That would mean your team plays with no motivation or pride. But wait, we already know that. You can’t win unless you cheat anyway…..like against Florida in 2007, and last year deliberately hurting Nesbitt. Your school has a tradition of cheating, whining, and never winning the big one, the 1980 gift against Notre Dame notwithstanding. And that WAS a gift, since Notre Dame didn’t deserve to be in that game anyway, having had to come from behind in Atlanta just to TIE a one-win Tech team. And you guys like to claim that Tech’s NC’s (FOUR of them, I might remind you) are bogus. Seems like everybody connected with UGAG is STUPID.
Hairy Dawg
August 1st, 2010
8:53 am
Dawgs is dominater state and techmites is second just in Atlanta with football players transfer to GSU just to go with better winner tradditions. Before mashing nerds usign pestky bug repellents this year we unloading a can of whooping on rest of SECS. Techies running high school offenses could play worst than Vandy in SEC. And that why pointing heads at Techmites is no good with football playing and recruitins NFL talent to win.
RamblinRecluseRd
August 1st, 2010
10:22 am
Recently I commented about how the Tech-Georgia game needs to be changed from the childish, learning the abc’s ABC network channel. It’s been played on ABC since I was at Tech in the early 70’s. I said that ESPN is a network with random letters more intellectual than a child’s knowledge of the English alphabet, and it also has one more letter than in ABC. Then I said Georgia might not want to start a contract with ESPN for the Tech game because they don’t have any more than a child’s level of grasp of the English alphabet- A, B, C. A Georgia commenter here named Glory Glory is proof of my point, mentioning Mickey Mouse in their comment. This ABC broadcast is biased toward Georgia, and it’s not a good contract for Georgia Tech.
anybody but GT
August 1st, 2010
10:50 am
It is intuitively obvious that a GT player by definition cannot be the most valuable collegiate player.
Frank
August 1st, 2010
12:56 pm
supersize that order, mutt, I have not resorted to childish name calling, but then again you are a techmite. Your institution would be 1-19 against UGA over the last 20 games had you not cheated and knowingly used ineligibe players for 3 years. Your tech school is the cesspool of college athletics and no one respects anything about gnats, except other insects.
THWGT
Hairy Dawg
August 1st, 2010
1:43 pm
The fat slobs techie coach is always asking for supersizing and that why he fat and thinks like high school offense. He can’t winning playing with big mens in SEC against the teams like Bammers and Gaytors that Dawgs goning beating like Crimson and ugly Orange head step childs now that Willie packed to gone. Instead he get boys to play high as loosing and not talent for NFL.
Mel
August 1st, 2010
2:59 pm
Why don’t you bulldogs concentrate on keeping your players and your staff out of jail and then we’ll talk.
Dawg 1
August 1st, 2010
6:18 pm
OK, this is busy league stuff. Nesbitt is a fine QB. He is perfect for the Yellow Jackets. He runs very well and he is a big/strong kid. He is very tough, both mentally and physically.
With this said, the ‘options’ that Newbitt has simply do not stack up to last year. I think this kid is literally going to take a beating. Would not surprise me at all if he is out by the Georgia game.
No doubt that CPJ is a fine offensive coach, but if the offense has a weakness, it is how often it exposes the QB.
jeff the jacket
August 1st, 2010
6:23 pm
Excellent article, I do not expect the spoiled GA fans to know what it is like to have a player like Nesbit. They have the money, the publicity, the media and the top recruits all at thier beckon call, always have. Considering all that, how would anyone ever expect them to understand toughness and class all wrapped up in one package! By the way, who has not won a conf. championship in 5 years , oh yes, that would the Dawgs! Face it, Tech is tough, and will be for years, get used to it!
jeff the jacket
August 1st, 2010
6:32 pm
kevin,
if you are going to blog with intelligent Tech men, get your facts straight.
1— We have 4 national champs, not 1 , as you do.
2— As far as tradition, We had a coach by the name of Heisman, heard of him?
SAINT SIMON
August 1st, 2010
11:18 pm
UGA 30 – GT 24!!!!!!!!
UGA 73 – GT 66!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAA!!!!!!!
WE RUN THIS STATE!!!!!!
Hairy Dawg
August 2nd, 2010
2:56 am
Haha! Pestky bugs is Lamar throwing limpy javalin. Now everyone knowing how to beat high schoolers offense and bugs go loosing like wimpy javalin throwers. Techmites cant play in real mens and we never loose again if Adams replaced to let Dawgs stock piling SEC talents.
85AIRSTAR
August 2nd, 2010
11:09 am
all these…haters….get off georgia tech….this was about him bein valuabe, not the best…damn idiots!!! ge tech all day…when u win ur conference…HOLLA
85AIRSTAR
August 2nd, 2010
11:16 am
man, ALOT of these numb nutts don’t know their history!!!!