The doc is back: What Tech must do to rise above mediocrity
Just sayin': Special teams matter, too. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Step 1: Get players AND playmakers. Paul Johnson has proved he could win an ACC title with Chan Gailey’s recruits but hasn’t proved he can recruit as well as Gailey did. That will become an ever bigger issue next fall, when there’s no Joshua Nesbitt. Tech needs pretty much everything — speed, size, depth — and the loss of recruiting coordinator Giff Smith, who was hired away by Gailey last winter to coach linebackers in Buffalo, was a major blow.
Tech doesn’t so much need to light up the recruiting scoreboard — if rankings meant all that much, Georgia wouldn’t be where it is — as to find players capable of changing a game. The difference between 10-3 and 6-6 wasn’t the failing of Johnson’s stylized offense or Al Groh’s 3-4 defense but the absence of a Demaryius Thomas and a Derrick Morgan. (And neither, it must be noted, was a five-star recruit.)
Step 2: Get holistic. There’s more to football than offense, even a stylized one. Sometimes Johnson, who came to Georgia Southern as a defensive line coach, acts as if the other stuff doesn’t matter. But it matters when the head coach decides to go for it on fourth-and-2 near midfield with a minute left in the first half, as Johnson did against Duke, and leaves his defensive coordinator facing a short field in a hurry-up setting. It matters when you lose to Virginia Tech on a kickoff return inside the final three minutes.
Rather than simply rage at his latest punter for his latest shank, Johnson needs to do the simple thing: Hire a special teams coordinator.
Step 3: Get humble. There’s a tendency when you’re the smartest guy in the room — even if the room is an open-air stadium seating 90,000 — to trust yourself to think of something. Nobody disputes that Johnson is one of the best play-callers in the business, but there are times when he gives the impression that his, as they say in Hollywood, is the name above the title. (Maybe he doesn’t mean to come off that way, but he does.)
Clever as he is, Johnson cannot outsmart everybody all the time at this level of football. Nobody can. (Urban Meyer just went 7-5. Mack Brown just went 5-7.) Johnson needs to work as hard to sign players as he does on the sideline during games. Directing inferior talent is how this superior coach wound up losing as many games as he won. Surely the superior coach recognizes as much.
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397 comments Add your comment
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
7:42 pm
Paul in RDU, I don’t see how that was the correct call. On my TV, his foot was clearly on the line, plus (if this even matters) he never actually had control of the ball when he completely went out of bounds. The announcers said the same thing, at least about the foot. I also thought somebody kicked the ball way back up field; isn’t that illegal, or is that only in basketball?
Unfortunately, no, we were not able to stop the medical school addition in Athens. The previous president of MCG didn’t help any, and with Purdue sold on it, I guess it was a lost cause. Just more empire-building by Adams; and now he’s getting an engineering school too.
CPJ Wets the Bed
November 29th, 2010
7:42 pm
http://bedwettingstore.com/category_alarms.htm
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November 29th, 2010
7:43 pm
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supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
7:46 pm
Paul, you should know by now that whatever the mutts in Atlanta decide they want for Athens, they get, and they don’t give Tech anything. They blocked Tech adding a school of commerce in the 30s. They have added a totally unneeded medical college satellite in Athens (one might be needed, but definitely not in Athens). And now a ridiculous addition of an engineering school in Athens. This all coupled, of course, with the fact that in the 60s taxpayer money was used to build the basketball arena in Athens because it would be used as an exhibition hall for livestock shows…..AND THAT IS FACT !!!!
YellowFuzz
November 29th, 2010
7:47 pm
No young man with talent is going to play for a jerk like Johnson! A recruit goes to Tech because he can’t go anywhere else!
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
7:50 pm
YellowFuzz, you are the jerk
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
7:51 pm
Love all the “ifs”. If we had this, if we had that, we’d beat UGA routinely. If I had a million bucs I wouldn’t be sitting here with my laptop responding to these stupid posts…but here I am. Here’s a reality…triple option is a gimmick, CPJ is a regular ole coach, and Tech lost AGAIN!!
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
7:51 pm
Keep recruiting fine young men who can also play football. Let thUGA get all the arrests and still finish 4 place in their division, 8th place in their conference. For a football factory with all the cheating and scandal attached to a football factory, they sure can’t win and can’t ever even be close in the BIG games. thUGA is a chokers paradise, which is why you have Grantham.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
7:53 pm
Paul, I posted a comment to you that has not yet appeared. If it does, then forgive the duplication. You should know by now that whatever the mutts in Atlanta want, they usually get. They blocked Tech’s attempt to add a school of commerce in the 30s. They, as already covered, put a satellite medical college in Athens; one is needed, but certainly not in Athens. And they have now added a school of engineering in Athens; WHY is that needed there? And, lest you or others have forgotten, they used taxpayer money to build the basketball arena in Athens in the 60s, because THUGa needed a livestock exhibition hall, and it could be dual purpose. And that, for all you mutt fans, IS FACT !!!
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
7:55 pm
@UGA wins…AGAIN – Hey Dawgtard that gimmick offense ran it down your throats all day. No thUGA fan with any brains (I know there aren’t many) would ever put that loss on the offensive gameplan. Fumbles killed us, not the offense. PUT DOWN THE CRACK PIPE!
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
7:56 pm
….AGAIN, don’t you find it pathetic that your million dollar 5th choice DC couldn’t come up with a way to stop that “gimmick offense.” If Tech hadn’t lost three pretty much unforced fumbles, you mutts would have been down by 21 points. I don’t like dealing with “if’s”, because Tech lost. But you mutts have absolutely nothing to be proud of or pleased with.
tech1628
November 29th, 2010
7:56 pm
I would have to say that even though UGA won over Tech that the Florida Gators actually run this state because not only do they beat the dawgs more often than the dawgs beat Tech, they also out-recruit them on a regular basis. Face it UGA, we both need to bow down to the Gators and their recruiters and call them BOSS!
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
7:58 pm
Dawg-re-tard….you could have run that gimmick for a million yards BUT YOU STILL LOST….AGAIN! Nice try, get a new job cuz only a nerd from the North Ave Trade School buys that.
eagleman
November 29th, 2010
8:00 pm
Maybe Johnson will give his players rings for their moral victory over UGA. When it comes down to it, moral victories mean nothing to boosters. It’s all about wins and losses, as you see with the heat that is on Richt. Although Tech’s offense seemed unstoppable, I still remember a few turnovers that led to points for UGA. Go ahead and say that Nesbitt was injured and if Tech would’ve had him, they would’ve won. Tough! That’s football. If UGA had A.J. Green at the beginning of the season, then they likely don’t lose four games in a row. But, hey, it’s football. So, maybe next year for Tech….well, maybe not.
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
8:00 pm
And you lost AGAIN to the worst UGA team in ages with your great GIMMICK. Did I mention….AGAIN!
juvenal
November 29th, 2010
8:00 pm
all the states engineering programs in the metro area? why not ABA&TU? the pols shaft S.Ga. again!
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
8:01 pm
tech1628…True dat!
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
8:02 pm
@ UGA wins…AGAIN – you understand football alot like you understand a womens anatomy. Only through second hand knowledge that you can quite picture. Good luck with the sheep down @ the vet school.
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
8:05 pm
@tech1628 – very true, but thUGA doesn’t understand logic (thUGA wins…AGAIN , I give you full credit for understanding, good job)
Real facts
November 29th, 2010
8:07 pm
The Best Coach Lost??? He is 7 and 8 in his last 15 games. All his victories since the Ga Game last year are against ACC teams and 1AA teams. He lost to UGA twice(the worst 2 UGA teams in last 10 years) Iowa and Kansas to go with his 4 ACC losses….Luck for UGA, we forced
3 fumbles with big hits and going for the ball. Tech got a muffed KO and muffed punt-that’s luck!!! The refs, no penatlies on GT’s OL holding and tackling our DL on every play. Ref’s somehow missed the Facemask on Ogletree interception attempt, 95,000 spectators saw this but refs ignored….. Keep talking about offensive performance, did not do anything differnent than other option/spread teams did to UGA this year: MSU, CU, UF, and AU(except complete some passes)…..Hope our undersized DL does not get any better in the years to come our PJ may have to call something other than a FB dive, oh just like last year….”Well we did not have JN”, well we did not have AJ last year, Oh but a good coach made adjustments and moved the ball without the best player on UGA’s offense last year…I’m sorry maybe JN’s passing ablilty would have made the differnce on Sat…..Best Coach in the State, Mark Fox but if the game is close the next day it will be Paul Hewitt!!!
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
8:08 pm
Dawg-re-tard…wow, that was inciteful. Please don’t referene womens anatomy again..it reminds me of the GT football program. I do understand this. UGA won….AGAIN!
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
8:13 pm
@UGA whines…AGAIN
But it’s very clear you have no idea how they won, a typical Dawgtard. Alot of words, but no knowledge or meaning to them. Keep making thUGA look smart (which means stupid to everybody else).
CPJ Wets the Bed
November 29th, 2010
8:13 pm
GT coaches and players are the most common age group using bedwetting alarms. GT GRADS should be given a little more time for growth and maturation before beginning bedwetting alarm use.
http://bedwettingstore.com
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos
November 29th, 2010
8:13 pm
PJ is such a jerk. His arrogance reflects the Gtu student body. Book smart but dumb as a rock when it comes to common sense.
GTZ
November 29th, 2010
8:14 pm
That one pitch UGA recovered “because of a big hit” was the recover for a TD… Washington pitched it because he didn’t want to take the hit. In my profession, we call that ‘throwing em under the bus.” You are right Real facts, UGA hits hard… Jesus!
THWG!!!
Dawgtards ruin this state
November 29th, 2010
8:17 pm
@UGA whines…AGAIN
You use the word referene. What word were you trying to use? Great education, you must be a high school english teacher with a THuga diploma.
UGA wins...AGAIN
November 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
Dawg-re-tard…okee dokee. well think ya fur setting me strate. ize gonna go finish my punkin pie and go talk to da sheeps. then ize gonna turn on da telebision and watch the rerunz of dem smart yeller jackets beatin dem stupid bulldawgs as ya point out so elokwently….only to lose AGAIN!
Navigator
November 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
Thank goodness you said what most of Tech’s fans has believed for awhile. The oldest adage in college football is you have to recruit a national champion before you can coach one. I really don’t think the system will ever allow PJohnson to recruit top receivers or a top ten running back (who want’s the running honors to have his name on it not a whole stable or running backs). Take a page from the last coach who had national champion written next to his name, recruit the biggest fastest linemen on both offense and defense and the numbers will improve on both sides of the ball. You don’t need 4 shut down defensive backs if the opposing QB spends most of the game running for his life. Chan Gailey had his faults but recruiting top talent was not one of them (see the previous mentioned list of starting players in the NFL). Lastly, PJohnson needs to design a regular passing attack into the option, and when he does a lot of teams won’t be looking forward to playing them each year.
wdm
November 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
Mark Bradley, the never was and never will be, is giving advice to Paul Johnson. What a joke this idiot it. Mark Bradley can not even carry Paul Johnson’s jockstrap. The crazy thing is Mark Bradley (in all his dumbassness) really believes he has some knowledge to share. Are you kidding me? All you have to do is look at Mark Bradley’s football coaching record…oh wait, he doesn’t have a football coaching record because he has never coached…so how is he giving advice. Mark Bradley is the equivalent of an anonymous blogger; he knows it all but hasn’t ever done anything. Mark Bradley, before you start telling someone how to rise above mediocrity, why don’t you start with the man in the mirror and these lame ass columns you write. Mark Bradley telling Paul Johnson anything is like a wino explaining astrophysics to an astronaut…it just doesn’t make sense.
Get the facts
November 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
Real Facts, face this fact. There were nowhere near 95,000 in that stadium Saturday, and it wasn’t because Tech didn’t sell its allotment. There were plenty of empty seats in the upper corners of the sideline upper deck. That’s about all the TV ever showed, but those were definitely not in the visiting team’s allotment of seats. So there were a lot of mutt fans who must have thought it was Halloween and came disguised as empty seats, as has been the case at every other game there this year, in spite of your claims of sellouts.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:24 pm
Hey, Real Facts, did all those (however many there actually were) fans in the stands also see your number 50 rip the helmet off Allen in that pileup when his helmet was on the ground? It didn’t just fly off his head, bubba; number 50 ripped it off. And you hypocrites claim Auburn plays dirty. GIVE ME A BREAK !!!
Mongo
November 29th, 2010
8:27 pm
sellouts = tickets sold, not seats filled
There were a lot of “mutt” fans who didn’t want to come watch a bad UGA team beat a worse GT team in the cold. Me, I came anyway and wish they would have as well.
wdm
November 29th, 2010
8:27 pm
Just to prove what a moron Mark Bradley is…now he is referring to himself as a doctor. This is how delusional this guy is. I could retire tomorrow if I could by Mark Bradley for what he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth. Mark Bradley, just a word of advice from one of the commoners out here in the real world…lay off the peyote.
sasquatch
November 29th, 2010
8:28 pm
mark, you have succeeded in bringing out the crayola kids. nice advice, but i puke at the stupidity and lack of class of the crass dogboi’s……..
i should kick their buts out of sight………….
GTZ
November 29th, 2010
8:28 pm
I want 5 star DB’s
sasquatch
November 29th, 2010
8:29 pm
and i was impressed with the blocking allen got saturday.
The Doctor is in
November 29th, 2010
8:29 pm
Mark…thanks for calling in the antibiotics for me. I’m feeling much better. These people have no idea who you really are.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:31 pm
Mongo, just who is buying those tickets? Certainly not fans, because the same sections have been empty for every game this year in Athens
gt4ever
November 29th, 2010
8:36 pm
All these UGA Pukes just make me want to PUKE…… Yeah, UGA won again… I picked it, and everyone else that has any football IQ….
We absolutely have to recruit, or we have NO chance. I will say it once again. This coach has not proven he can recruit… I have NO idea how, after 3 years anything will change with recruiting. The longer we wait the deeper the hole GT digs…. You can not be competitive in D1 football without recruiting with the likes of UGA, UF, AU, and all the rest of the successfull programs… I don’t buy into the BULLS$it that we can’t compete because of academics….. Academics is just an EXCUSE for LOSERS…. CPJ probably needs to go…..
Saying all that really pisses me off, because I really do like him. I like his NO nonsense way about words. I don’t think he is arrogant, he just says it like it is, not sugar coating anything…. He just can’t recruit, and I think that his system more than anything else is the reason…
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:38 pm
gt4ever, why would his system have any bearing on the recruiting of defensive players?
Mongo
November 29th, 2010
8:39 pm
I’ve been to nearly every home game and they haven’t been empty every game. Certainly since mid season it has been spotty at best. It’s what happens in a down year like it or not.
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
“They blocked Tech’s attempt to add a school of commerce in the 30s”
teck was a trade school at that time teaching people to run mills and lathes.
PJ got the royal smack down from the dawgs baby. To the retard that sat behind me all night: your team lost and you suck just like the “triple O” HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
Mongo, the only times I see the cesspool is on TV, and there have been empty seats for every game I have seen. Hell, those same seats were empty last year for the LSU game. Somebody’s lying about selling out.
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
“If the Queen had balls, she’d be the King. They can’t accomplish any of this.”
right on
Butts Wagner
November 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
Ever notice how the Tech QB’s, Nesbitt and Washington, who are both right handed, drop back to pass as if they are left handed and then have to do a 180 degree turn to pass….what’s up with that??
That’s intentional. It’s because they drop back that way on certain running plays. It’s a kind of play action in PJ’s offense. But let’s get back to the main point of Bradley’s prescription: players.
This comment is the truth:
The next two years will be the measure of Johnson’s ability to recruit and coach.
Tech is still pretty thin when it comes to upperclassmen. One thing about doing well in recruiting and getting playmakers is that some of them will leave them after their junior year, which necessitates a replenishment of playmakers. But at a school like Navy(or Wake Forest where Grobe has had success), there aren’t going to be those guys who are able to leave early for the NFL, and it takes 4, 5 years to build up the depth of the team with redshirts and what not. Hopefully that’s not purely how Johnson is thinking when it comes to building up Tech, but the large numbers of hits that the runners take on offense do create a need for good depth at those positions. Tech is still struggling to build depth at QB.
I do not think next season is the season that Tech will breakout as a purely Paul Johnson team. I think it will be in two years. If Tech is still 6-6 in two years, then it will be time to start wondering if Johnson can get it done in an AQ conference. For now, I am still highly optimistic.
gt4ever
November 29th, 2010
8:47 pm
Super size,
Good question! I have NO idea, recruiting may have something to do with losing our recruiting coordinator. All I can verify is the guys he has recruited since being hired, and with the excpetion of a few, most of them should be playing at places like Georgia Southern….IMHO
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
8:48 pm
“Somebody’s lying about selling out”
because you saw empty seats? Think about how you are wrong nerd
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:48 pm
Butts, I agree
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:50 pm
GD, then you want to tell us why there are empty BLOCKS of seats at every game? Scattered empty seats can be written off as no-shows, but ENTIRE BLOCKS of them? Those seats were never sold to begin with.
We still hit-and-run this state
November 29th, 2010
8:53 pm
How ’bout that ole GT “highschool offense?” I did take pleasure in watching GT run the same play over and over right up the gut of the dawgs defense. It was fun to watch the dawgs humbled knowing what was coming (as did every dawg fan in the stadium) and not being able to do a darn thing about it. The PAT sucked but 92 plays of pounding with a high school offense against the mighty SEC was great fun!