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
Mongo
November 29th, 2010
8:55 pm
@supersize…Can only tell you what I see in person. Try and call the athletic department and get tickets for others folks to some of these games as I did. They didn’t have any available. I guess they didn’t want to sell anymore so they just keep that section vacant on purpose. Gives people fodder the week after to talk about lies and deceptions by UGA. Tha section historically is “late arriving”. Why, I don’t know, but for 15 years it’s the last to fill up. Like I said, many games it was spotty, some it was full, and some it was not. I can’t change what you believe.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:55 pm
gt4ever, IMHO, not many freshmen or sophomores contribute much at any school to the overall success of a program. Since CPJ has only been recruiting 2 1/2 years so far, I think it’s a little early to judge his overall recruiting ability. That 1/2 year refers to the fact that he didn’t have a lot of time to recruit after being hired. The upcoming recruiting year can’t really be evaluated too well just yet. But I DO agree that losing Giff (sp?) Smith has hurt.
indianman
November 29th, 2010
8:57 pm
coach mark richt out coach paul johnson for the second straight year
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
8:59 pm
Mongo, I can only tell you what they show on TV. Like I said, every game I have seen shows empty seats in the upper corners of every upper deck, and they don’t fill up late; they are still empty later in the games. And like I said, they showed two such empty BLOCKS of seats for the 2009 LSU game. Back when Tech DID sell out every game, we had the same problem. The upper corners of the west upper deck were almost always empty, even for sold out games, and people trying to buy tickets were told that none were available. I think the lesson there, both in Atlanta and Athens, is never trust what your ticket office tells you.
Mongo
November 29th, 2010
9:01 pm
I might go with don’t trust what they show on TV.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
9:02 pm
Mongo, how can you not trust what a live camera is showing???
ugadawg1979
November 29th, 2010
9:02 pm
First of all as a Georgia fan I am glad we won….embarressed at the perfomance and final record of the regular season, but glad we won. Secondly there should never be a “moral victory” with any major college program such aa Georgia or Tech. Moral victories are for programs like Georgia State or even Georgia Southern when they perform well against an opponent who is much better than they are. Finally and I said this when Paul Johnson was hired…..Tech will have one of the best offenses in the country that will be hard to stop; but his defense will be below average. Why? Because he goes after the elite offensive players first and the defense is an after thought. He did it at Southern and he did it to a certain extent at Navy. He has always lived by the theory that his teams can outscore the other team without worrying about defense. His GSU teams (while head coach) gave up an avg of 24 ppg. You can’t do that in the FBS and succeed with regularity. Although Ga Tech has a great offense and will continue to….they will never with any consistency be a power in the country. Of course with Mike Bobo as our OC neither will the Dogs. Hell we can’t even beat Miss State or Colorado!
m
November 29th, 2010
9:02 pm
Mark, you miss the mark with your idiotic rant.
Paul Johnson is the best thing that has happened to Tech in many years. He is an offensive genius and a great head coach.
The problem this team had is Gailey left us no offensive linemen!!! The idiotic Gailey that you sucked up to left us no offensive linemen.
Uga didn’t have a clue as to how to stop this offense even without a good line. Just wait until we have redshirt seniors and juniors on the line. No on will come close to stopping us.
The defense came up short because we switched to the 3-4 defense without the proper personnel to run it. This will be corrected by recruiting and familiarity with the offense over time.
Special teams will be fine when we get a kicker that can kick it into the endzone.
Uga winning that game was a total fluke based on Tech’s turnovers.
Mark, juist as you failed to recognize how bad Gailey was….you fail to realize that Paul Johnson is the best coach in America….just watch and see over the next few years and try to keep your idiotic rants to a minimum.
Sorry Dogs
November 29th, 2010
9:03 pm
Enter your comments here
Bmo35
November 29th, 2010
9:11 pm
if tech was the better team wouldn’t they have won the game? i thought gt ppl were smart. i guess they r just making excuses to make themselves feel better. how pathetic. obviously tech couldn’t finish the drill which does not make them the better team. it was a slobby game by both teams, but Dawgs proved the better team in the end. I just want this year to be over and im sure tech fans do too. Lets move on to next year and try to improve to a better record Dawgs. I don’t care what the stats say b/c the stats do not matter in the long run. 9-1. 42-34. Dawgs run this state.
sasquatch
November 29th, 2010
9:12 pm
dogbois, feel better about your loss of ticket buyers. seminoles lost 20,000 ticket holders this year. and forget tech ever selling out BD. will never happen so move on to another smartss post.
Sorry Dogs
November 29th, 2010
9:12 pm
Here’s how you fix Tech:
First, add Housing, Turf Management, Excercise Science, Pre Business (whatever that is – ask A.J.) Early Childhood Development etc…… as majors.
Add a healthy dose of bleach blond sorority girls – you know the ones that say “I’m soooooooooooo
drunk” right before they barf on their shoes.
Open a hundred bars catering to underage kids.
Allow 96% academic exceptions for the football team – and presto – you’re in the SEC. (Apologies to Vandy).
No thanks, I’ll pull for Tech.
GTZ
November 29th, 2010
9:14 pm
Love the post Sorry Dogs… awesome, never looked at it like that before.
THWG!
say what
November 29th, 2010
9:15 pm
um CPJ is not the only one that needs to be a little more humbled, take a look in the mirror.
GTZ
November 29th, 2010
9:16 pm
Although, I did spot a cute blond wearing GT colors on TV during the game. I believe the camera operator spoted her to because she was shown a lot during the game.
M-1
November 29th, 2010
9:17 pm
Mark Bradley there is a big difference in being smart and just plain being a smart arse. Take a look in the mirror. You seem to have all the answers so why are you not a coach? Sounds like you could win national championships every year. Typical bulldog mentality.
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos
November 29th, 2010
9:23 pm
How do you fix Gtu’s problems? They need to give up football. They need to stick with ACC women’s field lacrosse. Leave the football to the Big Boys. GTU grads suck at life.
black bee
November 29th, 2010
9:24 pm
Tech has to recruit nationally! When you mention it some Tech folk thinks that is crazy, though I understand the logic of recruiting the state of Georgia but really who are you fooling? You take the TOP 44 recruits in the state and Tech will be lucky to sign 20 percent of them. Never concede Georgia but if Tech would have recruited like they recruit now players like Derick Morgan, Anthony Allen, P.J. Daniels, the Cox Brothers, Mike Johnson etc. never would have been recruited to TECH. CPJ is a great Coach and can have TOP 10 teams at Tech but his strenght is also his weakness. His confidence in himself sometimes he doesn’t look at the picture objectively. Next year Clayton and Roddy Jones will be the last of Chan’s recruits.
m, as in moron
November 29th, 2010
9:25 pm
Keep telling yourselves…….that you won on Saturday night…..GT was the better team…….the ACC officials who called the game were biased against GT……CPJ is a genius…..it is all Chan Gailey’s fault….wait until CPJ gets his players….blah…..freakin’ blah
If you keep telling each other this crap long enough you may even start believing it yourselves.
Hahahahahaha……pathetic losers who are left to cling to whatever scraps they can conjure up to get them through the night….like a 2 year old self medicating with a thumb in their pie hole….hahahahahaha……another long, pathetic year in your long pathetic lives….ENJOY
Baltimore Jacket
November 29th, 2010
9:26 pm
I was curious about this building sense that Johnson’s success the last two years only came because he had Gailey’s superior players to work with (and the resulting implication that it’s down hill from here because he can’t recruit). Was Gailey really a better recruiter than Johnson? So I looked at GT’s recruting classes for the eight years on Rivals.com. The class that produced Morgan, Burnett, and Nesbitt was an aberration! Most of Gailey’s classes, at least according to these ratings, were not as good as Johnson’s class last year. There are tons of two-star players in those classes. I think we need to reevaluate this idea that Johnson can’t recruit people like Gailey could. Check it out for yourself.
UGA = YAWN
November 29th, 2010
9:26 pm
When I read the ‘humble’ heading, I thought Mark was going to tell him to kick a field goal every now and then – instead of going for it on 4th down . . . as if he is invincible!
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos
November 29th, 2010
9:27 pm
Good day but one more thing, I want to leave you with this comment – “WIDE LEFT”.
Old Fashioned
November 29th, 2010
9:28 pm
Didn’t we lose some scholarships because of improper academic monitoring,or something similar? If so,that could be a factor in our lack of talent/depth.
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
9:28 pm
Haha look, in “Atlanta” you have a terrible old nasty 40,000 seat pos next to the ghetto…don’t compare that thing to Athens
UGA = YAWN
November 29th, 2010
9:31 pm
Baltimore Jacket – you don’t actually think Mark would write anything based on facts do you? Lol. Johnson recruits just fine. He needs to kick field goals instead of going for 4th down all the time. Needs players that don’t fumble. And needs a defense!
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
9:34 pm
I believe the loss can be squarely attributed to the intensity and rigor of tecks academics
macrotech
November 29th, 2010
9:36 pm
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos, HOW is it, after over 100 years of playing football uga ONLY has two national championships?! Hell, EVEN Tech has 4! MAYBE, the pups should give it up!
macrotech
November 29th, 2010
9:36 pm
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos, HOW is it, after over 100 years of playing football uga ONLY has two national championships?! Hell, EVEN Tech has 4! MAYBE, the pups should give it up!
Arno
November 29th, 2010
9:45 pm
Ridiculous. Humility isn’t how you come across. It’s how hard you work.
TechRedNeck
November 29th, 2010
9:51 pm
Hey mutt fans, if you run this state how come the best recruits go to Bama, Auburn, Tenn, S. Car. and all the other schools? I got news D.A.s. Nether UGA or Tech run this state. These comments come from your blogs. GET OF OUR SITE. YOU MUTTS ARE SO INFATUATED WITH TECH YOU GOTTA STAY ON OUR BLOGS!. You people are nuts.
BobbyGodd
November 29th, 2010
9:55 pm
Agree with the article. Johnson has made some great calls while at Tech but he has also made some huge blunders. I love the way he reinvigorated the program but he’ll quickly be seen as a two year wonder if he can’t right the ship next season when the home schedule will be much more favorable. Losing to UGA for a third out of four years plus both at home after next season would be another sign that he is a good coach but not the Great coach most of us felt he was when hired. Next year will tell the tale.
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
10:01 pm
Look flies, you got hoodwinked by PJ, now you’re paying for it
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
10:07 pm
GDB, the only hookwinking has been done by CMR, making you guys believe you have an elite program, when in fact you are irrelvant even in the SEC east.
Burgess
November 29th, 2010
10:08 pm
Congratulation m, you’re the dumbest SOB to ever post in here. I’m glad to see Mark Bradley finally gets it. As far as you , m, you do realize Gailey has been gone for 3 years ???? His players have left, except for a few. Tech won the ACC with GAILEY;S PLAYERS. I’m so happy to see that Bradley has finally admitted CPJ won the ACC with Gailey’s players. Tech’s winning is over now. All this time, I’ve tried to understand what Johnson has to be arrogant about. I agree with the post above that he’s still recruiting players that should be at Georgia Southern…..not Georgia Tech. I can’t believe there is not a QB on the team that can pass the ball 15 yards downfield, but obviously there’s not.Johnson will NOT win with his own recruits in a BCS conference, even one as weak at the ACC.
GDBurdell
November 29th, 2010
10:10 pm
speaking of schedules, teck had a cakewalk schedule this year and still finished up a loser, just like all teck fans
icedawg
November 29th, 2010
10:15 pm
Tek had a pretty good offensive team though one dimensional. Defensively they were not much better than Georgia. Don’t know what it is with defense across the board in college FB. It seems like no one consistently shut down anyone. What’s up with that? Tek lacked depth at a few key positions otherwise they would have one a few more games. If they can recruit some depth they’ll be just fine.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
10:17 pm
GDB, I suppose you think the mutts had a hard schedule this year? They played two halfway decent teams (SC and Auburn) and lost to both, PLUS they lost to Colorado (who lost to KANSAS!!!!), and the worst Florida team in 20 years. Don’t be talking about schedules, bubba.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
10:18 pm
icedawg, the majority of the starters on this year’s team were Gailey recruits also. Don’t talk about things you don’t know anything about.
supersize that order, mutt
November 29th, 2010
10:19 pm
Sorry, icedawg, that should have been directed to Burgess
gt nuke
November 29th, 2010
10:43 pm
You know what I love the most about the past three years? Watching the GT football program progressively improve and simultaneously watching the dawgs program fall apart at the seems. I know that most GT fans used to obsess about beating the dawgs – our performance against the dawgs used to be how we would define ourselves. Many leg humpers on the tech blogs have pointed it out also. It’s true – many of us used to think that the thugs in athens were our measuring stick. I think that CPJ has showed us that there is more to college football than beating the dawgs, although it does feel good to kick ‘em till they cry now and again. Some techies still hold on to the idea that UGA defines Tech, but I don’t anymore. I have become a believer in what CPJ said last year “We do have bigger fish to fry”. But this is not an excuse, no sir! This is the beginning of a new era for Tech. We will eventually perform consistantly beter than our lesser counter parts to the east. We are improving. Go ahead, sniffers, point out the 6 win season. It’s our transition year. The last of the gaily dead weight is finlly falling off like an old scabb, and the freshmen and sophmores that CPJ has recruited are coming into their own. We will need anther year or two for the D to catch up, but I see nothing but a bright future. Oh, and BTW, it wouldn’t surprise me if Ritch went to Miami – it sems he loves a good tan…
GO JACKETS! THHHHHWG!
GTMD79
November 29th, 2010
10:44 pm
You dawg fans are funny. We lost, but bragging about winning like you did is pathetic (remember we had 512 yards of offense with our back-up quarterback and missed an extra point). Granted we still lost and you won but come on (I would be happy about winning but bragging–I bet the players are not even bragging about it). GT would have at least the same record if not better had they played UGA’s schedule.
Jughead Obama
November 29th, 2010
10:57 pm
UGA grads “run this state”. Exactly why GA is an A-grade Cluster Fark.
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 29th, 2010
10:58 pm
Do you really think I would take advice from a measly word hack who graduated from a school that loves football sooo much that after the first week in September they can’t wait for Nov. to arrive so they can see some basketball?!!!
Didn;t you just say I was a “Genius” yesterday??? I love that title…Genius. Makes losing to the worst UGA team in over a decade seem insignificant. Glad my fan base is “giddy” that we lost!!!
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 29th, 2010
11:02 pm
GTMD79 -They must have discounted those MD’s when you were in school. Was Walmart running a special that year? Please re-read your post and then send your degree back to Tech…pronto!!!
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 29th, 2010
11:07 pm
gtnuke, “there is more to college football than beating the dawgs” like what??? Losing to KANSAS???!!!!
Tech Freshman
November 29th, 2010
11:13 pm
When is Dragon Con?
GTMD79
November 29th, 2010
11:13 pm
We are not giddy that we lost. We are happy that we played as well as you mutts even though we both suck. Remember the point spread and all the predictions of a slaughter. Remember our best player did not play. CPJ’s mistake was not kicking a field goal on the first possession. He otherwise called a great game offensively. He cannot kick the extra point — the player has to. We need a better defense but I believe that UGA does too.
GTMD79
November 29th, 2010
11:23 pm
I know the truth hurts.
GHF
November 29th, 2010
11:27 pm
9 out of 10…….SWEET!!
GTMD79
November 29th, 2010
11:28 pm
Hey Coach Johnsons Paul take two aspirin with your Jack tonight and the garbage will not smell as bad tomorrow as you collect it at work.