Paul Johnson on Tech’s recruiting: ‘Ask again in three years’
Tech A-back Orwin Smith: A good player, yes, but is he an impact player? (AP photo)
Some folks live to follow recruiting. Paul Johnson, who makes his living in a business tied to recruiting, isn’t among them. Here’s the Georgia Tech coach on the sport-within-a-sport:
“It’s kind of been blown out of proportion a little. Certainly [recruiting] is important, but you’ve got people hanging on every word. I think crowning a guy before he’s played a [collegiate] down is a little premature.”
I know what some of you are saying: Easy for Johnson to claim recruiting isn’t a big deal, but would he feel the same if the Rivals.com rankings were reversed? If Tech’s class were rated the nation’s seventh-best and Georgia’s the 40th-best?
Being Paul Johnson, he would. He’s a pragmatist of the first rank, and a bit of a contrarian. When asked a question, he often begins his response with, “Oh, I don’t know …” or “Not really.” He’s a football lifer who has seen pretty much everything, and one thing he knows is that, in football as in life, things aren’t always what they seem.
Johnson: “We did a study about the ACC, and it showed that more teams teams ranked in the bottom half of the conference in recruiting played in the championship game than those ranked in the top half. And yet you’ve got people ready to cut their wrists [over recruiting].”
Also: “I don’t think anyone really knows how hard a guy is going to work. Some guys have reached their peak; some guys are just scratching the surface. And people talk about ‘impact players’: A very small number of guys are ‘impact players.’ Go back to last year’s [Tech] group, where we had two guys go in the first round. [Receiver Demaryius] Thomas was redshirted as a freshman, and [defensive end] Derrick Morgan didn’t have a great freshman year. But they became playmakers.”
The issue of impact, or the lack thereof, is a Tech hot button. The Jackets plummeted from a 2009 ACC title to an Independence Bowl loss because of an apparent absence of difference-makers. Would Johnson concede that, with the famous 2007 recruiting class assembled by predecessor Chan Gailey all but gone, his program lacks top-end talent? He would not.
“As good a football player as [B-back] Johnny Dwyer was — and he was a great player, the ACC player of the year [in 2008] — he really didn’t play much as a freshman after his first four games. I just think as those kids worked, they got better.”
Gailey’s 2007 class was ranked 19th-best by Rivals, marking the only time Tech has cracked the Top 40 in the past decade. With this class at No. 40, it would seem the Jackets have done well by their standards but not quite as well as they’d have liked. Johnson’s take: “I think it’s going well, but ask me again in three years … It’s like a coach once told me: ‘They all came highly recommended.’ But you don’t know how hard they’re going to work.”
Will work alone be able to lift Tech back above .500? Or has a post-Gailey talent gap developed that Johnson — whose first three recruiting classes were rated 49th, 49th and 43rd by Rivals — has been unable to close?
Johnson: “We’ve got some good young players. We’ve redshirted some offensive linemen. [A-back] Orwin Smith made an impact; he had some big runs. And [outside linebacker] Jeremiah Attaochu had a better freshman year than Derrick Morgan. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as Derrick, but it’s possible he could be. ”
If it wasn’t an diminution of talent that led to 6-7 after 11-3, what was it? “We didn’t turn the ball over as much the year before, and we didn’t lose our quarterback [Joshua Nesbitt] … But you have to make your breaks. We did the year before, like Josh snatching the ball back at Florida State. Anytime something happened last year, it went the other way.”
That said, a coach is paid his million(s) to win games, not say, “Gee whiz.” Paul Johnson is nothing if not a results-oriented guy. But you’ll pardon him if he doesn’t see Signing Day, in this or any year, as a true result.
“You want to judge recruiting?” Johnson said. “How many games did you win? That’s the best bottom line.”
By Mark Bradley
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288 comments Add your comment
GTBob
January 30th, 2011
5:36 pm
@rxdawg79,
This years recruiting class is the second highest ranked recruiting class at GT in the past 10 years. You think we should fire CPJ because of that?
buzzwax
January 30th, 2011
5:36 pm
Everyone has SHORT memories….
Per the AJC AFTER the 2009 High School season was over, NINE of fifty top players coming out of high school last year signed with GT. (five on D) Charles Perkins was the TOP ‘ranked’ RB in the state last year. Young, Ayers were 4 stars, Bostic 4 *, Green 4*, I. Johson was only 3* and played as a FR was in the TOP 10!! Attouchu is going to be a beast!, A. Williams is going to be a beast!!! Jabari Hunt Days, McNair, Noble, Menocal, Cheeks are good additions for our defense. 2* Travis is 6-5 230, played RB for South Forsyth. Looks perfect for DE after a RS year……
All of these online ‘experts’, most of whom didn’t even play football, know better than a GT coaching staff with over 200 years of combined coaching experience……
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2010/01/08/ajc-top-50-list-reveals-best-of-best-in-georgia/
QB’s Synjyn Days last year and Vad Lee this year are BOTH going to be VERY GOOD QB’s in this offense!!! T. Washington and our high school offense put up over 500 yards on all of that top 10 talent……blah blah blah…..
Did GT ‘deserve’ to lose this past year? YES!! Too many turnovers…..blah blah blah
Biggest holes are still OL and DL….OL has been addressed in this class, still need some DL!!!! Like CPJ said, we will know in the next two to three years if ‘his’ recruits and his coaches can get it done…..
Sugar Hill Dawg
January 30th, 2011
5:36 pm
Sorry – “two,” not tow.
You guys suck
January 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
Hate to break it to you GTFan, but recruiting is why Georgia can habitually underachieve and still beat you nine times in a decade. The other story the recruiting rankings don’t tell is that Georgia slipped compared to its SEC competition. That 15th ranked class in 2010 was probably 7th or 8th in the SEC. Other top-12 classes would be no better than 4th in the SEC. Tech’s mediocre recruiting doesn’t set them back when they’re competing with a bunch of private schools and basketball schools.
collegeballfan
January 30th, 2011
5:39 pm
Nice article. I tend to agree with Johnson’s take that recruiting is way over emphasized. No team in college football history has won a conference or national title with high school football players. And that is what the discussion is about, high school players.
Now which high school players recruited are going to be college stars?
No one knows. No one!
Scout.com had Tech’s Calvin Johnson as a 5 Star and he lived up to it.
Scout.com had Richard Samuel as a 5 Star recruit at RB. Who? Where?
The point is, recruiting is all about high school players. College Football is all about college football players. They are not necessarily the same.
Grayson Ram
January 30th, 2011
5:40 pm
Paul Johnson is a FIRST CLASS A$$!! Who in their right mind would want to play for this turd. Johnosn has the personality of a steel ball. GO CANES!
Recruiting rankings......
January 30th, 2011
5:47 pm
If they were that important, Clarke County Prisons would have won a national title in the last 30 years.
Instead they have a bakers dozen arrests in a year……
destin dawg
January 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
UGA and FSU are winning the recruiting battles this year.. For Sure !!!
Go Canes......
January 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
Man, I’d love to go get Temple’s coach. A guy who doesn’t even have a .500 record as a HC.
Wow what a hire. To think you missed out on Will Muschump.
Miami is a trash program.
NOBODYYOUKNOW
January 30th, 2011
5:57 pm
Hey; I got a compliment from a dog fan. He called me a genus. Thanks. That meant so much. At least it shows I pissed you off. FECES brain…
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:00 pm
PJ recruited at a different level, or in a different demographic (i.e. GA S. Navy) life has changed..maybe it will work for him and maybe it want ….Time..and he relies on his system to make the differences everywhere he has been..I think
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:05 pm
no be whahkenobi or someone
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:06 pm
Richard S. is at a new position the book is not closed
@buzzwax
January 30th, 2011
6:12 pm
Charles Perkins wasn’t the highest ranked RB out of Georgia last year.
He was ranked 7th behind Storm Johnson -Miami, Rajon Neal- Tenn
Mack Brown-Florida, Rajon Bennett – Vandy , Ken Malcome -UGA and Raymond Sanders-Kentucky . Tech did sign 10 of states top 75 according to Rivals, but none were ranked in the top 10, The top ranked running back in Georgia would only have written offers from Tech, UCF, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
@buzzwax
January 30th, 2011
6:13 pm
would not only have offers
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:22 pm
I do get caught up in rankings for recruits, because I want my “Dawgs’ to get the best,but I do not now about each kid to say for sure he is the difference-maker and oh sometimes like the bcs..the experts get it wrong..
TechRedNeck
January 30th, 2011
6:23 pm
Don’t nobody say anything bad bout them poor little doggies. They are just having a bad year. They will be back and whip everybody. We gotta admit. They’re program is the best, they’re recruits are the best, they’re coaches and campus are the greatest. Gee, I wish I were a bulldog. With dog breath, licking up puke, and sniffing my friends butts. Its gotta be great to be a bulldawg!
JSS
January 30th, 2011
6:26 pm
“Some folks live to follow recruiting.”
Anywhere else it would be called “stalking!”
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:26 pm
TRN were you being sarcastic or was that blog effected by your nose being up your friends butte
Tech Fan Since 1950
January 30th, 2011
6:30 pm
Woulda? Coulda? Shoulda? In the days of Dodd and some others, Tech could recruit 40 plus freshmen a year and make do enough to beat Georgia 8 straight years and a few other teams too. Some say those days are gone and the 40 plus freshmen option is. Tech academics have toughened but the curriculum isn’t all that different, yet a bit wider, still allowing you to be a doctor, lawyer, or candlestick maker. Your choice. You do have to be more than adequate in math. To play at Tech you have to be a good student/athlete and you have to be COMMITTED to bettering yourself and COMMITTED to helping and working with your team. Coach Johnson is perfect for Georgia Tech and Tech folks will not find any better. Judging by the blogs, he catches the wrath of many dawg and a few Tech fans and compliments from many others. They should know that he is getting the most out of the current supply of Tech talent and with another skill player or two and more than another defensive player or two, he is right there with them. That is not too bad when you are playing chess/football with the so-called 2s and 3s against the 4s and 5s. Just look at the scores of the last three years. Yes, there are no moral victories, just what the scoreboard dictates, so we have to offer our congratulations to others and move on. Tech is in the best shape it has been in since the late 1990’s and not too far away from 1990. Some Tech fans like to think it is still 1987 or 1988 or 1980 or 1968. It is not! The Tech offense is unique and strong. The Tech defense is not unique but it is weaker than it should be. The latter will change sooner rather than later, but it is going to take some more work and yes, some more patience for us Tech fans. When you are a Tech fan you have to be optimistic but pragmatic at the same time. It’s not as bad as it was and it is not as good as it is going to get. Let’s face it, despite all the hype and all the great recruiting over the years by some ,1990 is still closer to the modern era than 1980.
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:38 pm
I think what PJ did with Nesbitt was great coaching..he was an option beast..
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:40 pm
But he was also an athlete, who adapted….in hs he was a killer passer..
cattle dawg
January 30th, 2011
6:44 pm
Mark, theres 2 types of coaches. Coaches who coach great players and ex coaches.
northavenuealum
January 30th, 2011
6:45 pm
We have to dump cpj if we ever want to have a decent program again. This idiot is a walking contradiction.
Recruiting is not a big deal to him, so why is he so upset if some 17 year old who with offers to much better schools than Tech, let’s be honest, wants to go to fsu and enjoy some sun and beautiful girls for a few days? Again let’s be honest when these commits get to Tech they will not be seeing many lovely women or many women of any kind.
Since I raised the subhect and all the kool aid drinkers will clamor about pj’s admirable ethics for sticking to his word, please explain why he will try and flip kids commited to other schools.
Let me guess mark b since you are in love with this buffon of a coach who btw looks like he is on a constant bender, chug a lug paul says “those schools commits are that coach’s problem, my commits are my problem.
All right then. How is cpj interviewing with Tech while still under contract with another college any different than what these teenagers are doing? It’s not. Except they are teens and he is what like 65?
As long as we have this pathetic hyporite and his high school offense as our coach we might as well get used to being in the basement of the ACC. Beating uga once is not enough for this alum.
a really old defensive coach
January 30th, 2011
6:49 pm
confoundit paul. I sure could have used that there young feller you decided to boot. My bunions are throbbing and that lets me know that kid is going to end up in the acc and put a whomping on us
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:54 pm
I ain’t no CPJ advocate..but to call him a buffoon..means you need to take a look in the mirror mister alum..he has done more as a coach than you could ever dream of…dammmmmm I am defended techss coach,,,well when nothing is on tv..look for a cause to blog for…sometimes you have to search
kral
January 30th, 2011
6:55 pm
plus he did coach at my GSU
another sad gt fan
January 30th, 2011
6:55 pm
Why the heck do so many of us techies know so much about those icky dags commits and stuff? Golly wiggles guys isn’t it enough they spank our little bottoms, pardon my french, year after year. I for one refuse to comment on the fact that yucky richt is assembling what will probably be a top 5 2011 class and that in the next few years those awful dogs will be sec champs and possibly more.
Aw heck see what y’all made me do
GT Albany
January 30th, 2011
6:55 pm
Just coach them how to block, tackle, and play special teams.
northavenuealum
January 30th, 2011
7:01 pm
@kral
The first 2 years under PJ with Chan’s talent and running an offense that most other programs never see and have a week to prepare for we did have some success. However year 3 was a disaster and since this moron seems to feel he can toss away talent again this year all because of his so called “ethics” I have to stand by my buffon comments. Not to mention what kid or parent can respect a guy who lives by the standard of “DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO”
Poopdawg
January 30th, 2011
7:01 pm
Johnson is his own worst enemy. GT could use the passing game (15-18) throws a game to move the ball more effectively. He will recruit what he needs not what someone else thinks he needs. His ego prevents him from passing. Some GT fans wanting to get rid of Johnson is crazy.
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:03 pm
Heellllllllllllllllllll even I hate when someone assumes a false id. sad you need to go take a shower…that was filthy… wash it off you will feel better the come back as a true “Dawgfan” or try a powerwhasner
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:05 pm
weeeelllll alum I agree you should always stand by what you say but when you start calling names make sure you are not the buffoon
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:08 pm
there is a problem with arrogance…hot tempered…make bad judgements…dammmmm am I talking about me or CPJ…oh heeeeeeeeeeeeell I think I am a buffoon
ToeMeetsLeather
January 30th, 2011
7:09 pm
By having a policy in place on how he goes about recruiting(finding out if a kid has any scruples before he waste a scholarship on them) has at least kept the arrest ratio with UGA at about 15 to 1. The Aycok kid that got his offer pulled because he lied to Johnson a couple of years ago lasted about eight months at Auburn. The policy definetly has it’s pluses.
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:09 pm
I am not hot tempered in real life
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:09 pm
I am not hot tempered in real life
northavenuealum
January 30th, 2011
7:11 pm
Mark Bradley did you not have enough time after kissing PJ’s feet to ask him how the AD and Al Groh feel about his hypocrisy and getting rid of kids that could really help our team?
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:13 pm
tooe..tooe ..tooe.. you take a historic tech radio call and demean it…yes our criminal record is worse than yours ..ohhhh so MR is BAAAAAAAD…and CPJ isGGGOOOOODDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:15 pm
Are maybe all our young athletes are BAADDDDD and all of yours are GGGOOOOOODDDD
Dawg 1
January 30th, 2011
7:16 pm
His issue isn’t Offense. It is defense.
If he doesn’t upgrade the defense, Tech will be floating around .500 year in and year out.
He knew that when he made the change last year. So far the results for recruiting on the defensive side of the ball continues to lag.
That offense will always be somewhat effective and there are plenty of ‘option’ QB’S that will be available. (You do not need a ‘big time’ QB – just a ‘big, strong, physical QB’ that can run the option.
Defense has been Tech’s issue since CPJ arrived. This will decide Tech’s success or lack of over the next few years.
northavenuealum
January 30th, 2011
7:16 pm
Sorry kral I couldn’t follow if you were talking to me with some of those comments are not. However, it is possible to be a Ga Tech fan and not a deluded Paul Johnson lover. I don’t understand why with the condition our program is in, more fans and especially alums are not upset about CPJ running off commits.
northavenuealum
January 30th, 2011
7:20 pm
Yet another example of why some of our fans get me upset. Toe talks about scruples when it should be plainly evident to any rational person CPJ does not have any.
ga_tech_92
January 30th, 2011
7:20 pm
Like it or not, CPJ’s recruiting is pretty typical for GT historically. What isn’t typical is for GT to win the ACC, beat FSU, beat UGA, win ten games, etc…but we did with CPJ already. I understand he doesn’t out recruit the football factories………we never have. CPJ is good for GT, he does more with less and we need one of those guys.
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:22 pm
My 7:05 & 7:08 were directed at you…you sound like a GA fan fed up with MR…be careful the grass on the other side of the fence might be painted green alum
Ralph
January 30th, 2011
7:26 pm
The ACC won’t ever out recruit the SEC since they have higher academic standards. thUGA will out-recruit most other SEC schools because they accept a higher percentage of borderline idiots with low IQ’s.
Of course, we have found out that recruiting athletic idiots often backfires.
ToeMeetsLeather
January 30th, 2011
7:28 pm
NorthAve, I don’t think you understand Johnson’s policy. He tells the kid if he is not 100% sure, don’t commit. If you commit he takes that as the kid’s word. It is not a reservation until something better comes along. I like it. He can’t control how other schools go about their business(ie: running players off as juniors when they need a spot for a new recruit-LSU) but he can control his program.
Rodney Dangerfield
January 30th, 2011
7:29 pm
The people that keep calling CPJ a hypocrite can you please define what you mean?
If you think CPJ is a hypocrite for pulling a kid’s scholarship because the kid commits to GA Tech and then waits until the weekend before NSD to visit another school and then still actively recruits other players that are committed then you don’t know the definition of hypocrite.
CPJ would be a hypocrite if he waited until the weekend before NSD to pull a kid’s scholarship because he found someone he thinks is a better player. That is a hypocrite.
A lot of people on here have some kind of demented, negative attitude towards CPJ. Just because he says what he means and means what he says and is a little pudgy instead of praying that his players will play better and not get arrested while he lays in his tanning bed doesn’t make CPJ a bad coach.
kral
January 30th, 2011
7:31 pm
Let’s see CG was a buffoon..dammmmmmmmmm how does he keep getting a job in the pros..had the passing qb to turn it around ..did not get a chance…passing..qb becomes great option qb..oh he can pass and run…not quite Cam the Newt…but gosh if he was even close imagine
Atlantan
January 30th, 2011
7:33 pm
Ugag recruits well every year and it gets them 6-7…. Johnson is correct – check back in 3-years.