Hindsight: What if Tech had hired Neuheisel over Johnson?
"Hey, do any of you guys know if that job in Atlanta is still open?" (AP photo)
History lesson: Georgia Tech fired Chan Gailey after he lost to Georgia in 2007. It settled on Paul Johnson of Navy as his replacement and hasn’t been sorry. Johnson beat Georgia in his first season and won the ACC title, since vacated, in his second.
In sum: Good hire.
That said, there was another candidate who could have been described as the runner-up and of whom a few impressed Tech insiders would say later, “We hired the right person, but that other guy’s going to do well in his next job.”
That other guy: Rick Neuheisel.
He’s about to get fired at UCLA.
Tech liked Johnson because he seemed to fit the Institute. (Again, can’t argue that.) Tech was impressed by Neuheisel because he’s smart and innovative — not that Johnson isn’t — and glamorous. He played quarterback at UCLA and won the Rose Bowl, tutored Troy Aikman as an assistant coach, won as Colorado’s head coach and won the Rose Bowl coaching Washington. But the part about Neuheisel that made Tech uneasy was his background.
Nearly four years after he left Colorado for Washington, Neuheisel was hit with an eight-month NCAA recruiting ban for violations committed while coaching the Buffaloes. That was strange. Far stranger was the revelation that he’d broached another NCAA regulation by entering and winning an NCAA basketball tournament pool. This, eventually, prompted Washington to fire him.
Neuheisel at first denied his pool winnings, then said he’d been given permission by Washington to enter. The whole thing got so confusing that he filed a wrongful-termination suit against the NCAA and Washington and wound up settling for $4.5 million. Another win! (FYI, Neuheisel has his law degree.)
In 2007, Neuheisel was the offensive coordinator for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens but was looking to get back into college football. Tech didn’t hire him that winter, but his alma mater did. This was a huge story in Los Angeles. Neuheisel spoke boldly of unseating Southern Cal and Pete Carroll and went so far as to hire Norm Chow, the coordinator who’d coached Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart to Heismans at USC. But nothing much has gone right for the Bruins since.
Chow was bought out with two years’ remaining on his contract — seems he and Neuheisel couldn’t get along — and UCLA went 4-8, 7-6 and 4-8. On Thursday they lost 48-12 to Arizona, which had just fired coach Mike Stoops, to fall to 3-4. (The game was enlivened, if that’s the word, by a players’ brawl ignited by, of all things, a fake referee who started ripping off his clothes.)
Afterward Neuheisel told reporters: “My argument is that I’m absolutely the right guy for the job.”
The best Dan Guerrero, the UCLA athletic director, could offer was that he wasn’t going to fire Neuheisel over the weekend.
Maybe it would have been different for Neuheisel at Tech. Maybe he’d have charmed and disarmed this big city and the ACC. (That approach hasn’t exactly worked in a bigger city or the Pac-12, we must note.) On the strength of 3 1/2 seasons you’d have to say Dan Radakovich’s instincts served him well: Rick Neuheisel was a good guy to interview; Paul Johnson was absolutely the right guy for this job.
By Mark Bradley
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235 comments Add your comment
Jackets 2011
October 21st, 2011
1:53 pm
Unfortunately that is what both fan bases love to do: Prevent intelligent conversation.
Like prevent defense.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
1:54 pm
JB, glad to see we agree about the Augusta paper, but they don’t even rely on the AJC. What they put in there about Tech comes from AP, and is generally worthless. They even had a writeup about a Tech player 2 or 3 years ago never sniffed the field.
And thanks. Yes, I know, it rubs the Dawgs (rather the mutt trolls) the wrong way. Some of them literally hate me, and I LOVE it. LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
1:55 pm
LOL 2011
jarvis
October 21st, 2011
1:55 pm
I think Morgan Sherlock made the Supersize phrase passe’ at Mickey D’s.
jarvis
October 21st, 2011
1:55 pm
Or Sperlock (sp?) as it as
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
1:56 pm
JB, I assume you are a BIG UGA fan, if you catch my drift. Obviously don’t want to say too much here.
Jackets 2011
October 21st, 2011
1:56 pm
@JB.
If u grew up in Atlanta, then u must know there are at least as many snotty and wealthy Uga fans there.
I went to Northside, now NorthAtlanta, and graduated 1969.
Lots of Uga friends would ridicule country folks and fellow fans.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
1:57 pm
JB, am I safe in assuming you are a BIG man, if you catch my drift?
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
1:58 pm
Actually, maybe you shouldn’t answer that question. Forget I asked it.
Jackets 2011
October 21st, 2011
2:02 pm
I miss both the Dawg and Jacket vents.
Guess the AJC had to cut back there too.
GT Joe
October 21st, 2011
2:03 pm
CPJ can’t win without gailey’s players? Guy is 6-1 with his recruits, isn’t he? Fools.
Maybe CPJ could recruit better if he sang to them like ol’ Richt!
Doubledawgs
October 21st, 2011
2:04 pm
must be a slow day for news, which this is not. Few people care about “what ifs”. I am fan of neither of these coaches, but it seems that most of what you guys want to talk about is all of the negative stuff that happens to coaches or that coaches do. Why not come up with stories that report the good things that are happening in programs around the State as well as the area. There are plenty coaches that are positively effecting the lives of young people everyday. Get a life and find something relevant to write about.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
2:06 pm
GT Joe, another fallacy often repeated is that other teams have learned how to stop our HS offense. UGA has BARELY won 2 out of 3 against that HS offense, but not because they stopped the offense; both losses were solely because we couldn’t stop theirs when it counted.
Jackets 2011
October 21st, 2011
2:06 pm
I see the Virginia loss as similar to last year’s Kansas loss.
A fan base embarrassed lit a fire under the team even if the coach didn’t.
Both teams might have tanked had we done anything to shut up the fans.
JB
October 21st, 2011
2:07 pm
Doubledawgs, I agree, but these blogs are just like the 6 O’clock news….If it bleeds, it leads.
Jackets 2011
October 21st, 2011
2:08 pm
@Doubledawgs.
Long time complaint of many is how the news follows the negative stories and ignores the positive ones.
Your sentiment a common one.
A wonder we all don’t get depressed reading all the negative stuff.
PigIron
October 21st, 2011
2:09 pm
Biggest difference: Less Moob.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
2:11 pm
And then there are the idiots who result to name calling and somehow claiming that a man’s physical appearance has any kind of significance whatsoever. Always makes me wonder about some guys’ fascination and near obsession with another man’s anatomy; strikes me as being rather perverse.
PigIron
October 21st, 2011
2:15 pm
Maybe you guys wouldn’t be so depressed all the time if you had a sense of humor?
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
2:17 pm
I am not depressed, and I DO have a sense of humor, but I consider remarks like yours as being offensive. Maybe you would have more friends, if you had a little class.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
2:19 pm
But hey, if you obsess over other men’s anatomies…..whatever floats your boat
Supersize that order, mutt
October 21st, 2011
2:21 pm
I’m outta here, guys
JB, good chatting with you. Don’t work too hard
Jackets 2011, hold down the fort.
PigIron, get a life
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
October 21st, 2011
2:29 pm
Supersize that order: Speaking of “name calling” reread your 2:11 pm contribution. Idiots?????
Perverts???????????????
Typical Bunglebee
GT Joe
October 21st, 2011
2:33 pm
This just in, Mark Richt sings “You Light up My Life” to 5 star recruit in Tennessee…
DawginLex
October 21st, 2011
2:34 pm
This blog is like an episode of Star Trek
A new frontier
Georgia and Tech folks getting along(albeit brief)
WnE
October 21st, 2011
2:38 pm
Very poor analysis on your part Mr. Bradley.
First of all, CPJ has GT on probation after just 4-yrs. on campus, so Slick Rick’s past is a wash since GT has had an ACC-Title stripped away.
Furthermore, IF CPJ, aka Coach Kung Fu Panda were a HC at UCLA in the Pac-12 he’d play a much tougher Schedule than he has played at GT.
In the Pac-12 they play 9 Conference games, plus at UCLA they have NEVER, EVER played a crappy D1-AA Team like W. Carolina and they NEVER WILL, it is school policy to never play teams below D1-A.
Also how much of a “genius” would CPJ be if he showed up in a Conference and a Stanford AND an Oregon Program out of nowhere became perennial Top-6 FB Programs (both went 12-1 last yr.) and are both in the BCS Top-10 this season thru 7 games.
These kinds of comparisons are usually invalid since Strength of Schedule varies so much on the college level, last season CPJ was 6-7 vs. the 70th toughest schedule in all of CFB, had he played Stanford & Oregon in conference and Houston & Texas & K-State OOC what kind of recrod do you think he would have had.
Make no mistake about it, Slick Rick’s team has quit on him and he needs to be canned, but much of CPJ’s “genius” is closely aligned with the good fortune of happening to be a HC in the ACC during the weakest era of ACC-FB in recent memory.
Through 7 games this season GT has the 100th toughest schedule, at the same time UCLA has had the 16th toughest Schedule so far.
These types of hindsight articles by you Mr. Bradley are usually worthless since each School is allowed to schedule based on their own standards, vs. an NFL model where scheduling is out of the control of the teams where comparisons are much easier.
BTW, Stoops from Zona has been canned and Rich Rod from Michigan has been canned and any GT Fan would have been happy to have either of those guys as HC also.
Last yrs. genius Mullen now looks ordinary at Miss. St. and last yr. hot up-an-comer Muschamp looks more lost than Zook looked at Florida,
GT Fans also would have loved to have either Mullen or Muschamp.
In summary it is hard to judge HCs that don’t have the benefit of GT’s pathetic ACC-Schedule and their even weaker OOC-Schedule.
we steal ruin this state
October 21st, 2011
2:40 pm
JB, I’ll bet you know Brad Thompson?
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
October 21st, 2011
2:46 pm
CMR is simply rehearsing for his NEXT career in case the walls fall in the next few games.
JB
October 21st, 2011
2:51 pm
Brad Thompson…name sounds familiar…..
StingerSplash
October 21st, 2011
3:02 pm
DawginLex,
Your friends in blue Wildcat land better keep their dadgum paws off Monken. He’s ours.
81 Dog
October 21st, 2011
3:03 pm
I agree that the Mini-Skipper is the perfect coach for GTU. They love testy little blowhards who talk big, who obsess over the UGA game, and who think they’re soooooooo much smarter and soooooooo much classier than the programs who outrecruit and outplay them on a regular basis. PJ wont ever admit he was wrong, or that he’s doing less than a stellar job. Tech fans wont ever admit they were wrong, or that the reason they’re not BCS champs every year is not because all the other big mean schools are cheating to get recruits, cheating to win, and ignoring all kinds of NCAA rules.
Tech fans like to think their little program is on the up and up, but they’ve been put on major probation twice in 10 years now. PJ wont admit the last one was his fault, and GTU fans wont admit they did anything wrong. It’s a match made in heaven, really. Just like the one with Pepper Rodgers, which was great until they realized he couldnt beat UGA consistently, either. Meet the new boss, nerds. Same as the old boss…..
GT Joe
October 21st, 2011
3:08 pm
WnE: I’m about to destroy your whole stupid post with one link:
http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/overall-power-ranking-by-conf
First 2 years of CPJ era, the ACC was BETTER than the Pac-12. Last year, Pac-12 was better, this year is incomplete. Done with you. Next.
we steal ruin this state
October 21st, 2011
3:08 pm
JB, played high school ball in or near Augusta (Columbia Co?) played at UGA 73-75. defense
GT Joe
October 21st, 2011
3:09 pm
81 Dog: probation for $200 of clothing isn’t really “probation”. And it’s being appealed. Besides, if you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin.
GT Joe
October 21st, 2011
3:21 pm
Also WnE: GT had a tougher schedule in 2009 than UCLA, #10 schedule in the country. UCLA was tougher in 08 and 10.
Tech fan
October 21st, 2011
3:32 pm
Did not know much about Johnson before the hire and I wanted Rick to come and utilize the seemingly good QB Tech in waiting….was tired of RBall type play.
Did not happen and I’m satisfied…if Johnson would just attempt a few more mid/short range aerials instead of B52 type bombs.
PigIron
October 21st, 2011
3:36 pm
I can’t believe that someone who uses the screen name “Supersize that order, mutt” would attempt feigning sanctimony with me!
That made my day you old fart!
GTBob
October 21st, 2011
3:53 pm
We would be worse then we are now. We probably wouldn’t have beaten UGA or won the ACC. CPJ is a great fit for GT. Bringing in another pro minded coach would not have done us any good at all.
The Ole Ball Coach
October 21st, 2011
4:08 pm
Tech would lose to UGA by a few more points every year.. UGA ’s 4th string would get in by Half time instead of 3rd Quarter as now, I assume.
Nativebird
October 21st, 2011
4:20 pm
We’d have a college football team with quarterbacks that could actually execute a forward pass. (a relatively new phenomenon since oh the better part of the 20th century that we’ve chosen to simply do without).
Delbert D.
October 21st, 2011
5:23 pm
Neuheisel would be an absurd choice for any team. Start a new blog, Mark.
Mike
October 21st, 2011
5:32 pm
It depends, Mark. If Rick had been able to somehow keep Tenuta as D Coordinator, or get one just as good, I think he does better here than Johnson. Gailey had already built up a solid recruiting base here, and there is no reason to think Neuheisel wouldnt be able to continue that. Also, the ACC and UGA were much tougher when Gailey was coaching…especially UGA with that run of teams competing at a BCS level every year.
For those that think Tech is limited in recruiting, you need to pay attention to what Gailey was pulling off. he got Calvin Johnson to come here over UGA. He got Tashard Choice to transfer in from OU. He got Dwyer, Nesbitt, and several others to come to Tech in what ended up being a top 15 recruiting class. He had a projected top 20 recruiting class coming in the year he got fired. You can recruit at Tech if your running a system that translates to the pro’s and you get on TV which Tech does.
Bob
October 21st, 2011
5:36 pm
Neuheisel is that guy we’ve all worked with…nice looking, great resume’, good speaker, writes an excellent letter, even has passion, but just can get the job done. But, he’ll always bounce back into a great position, only to repeat the same routine. I’m not sure ESPN would hire him now.
TheItalianDawg
October 21st, 2011
5:46 pm
Both coaches suck! tell me what Johnson did other than beating Georgia by a field goal?!!!! By the way Tech will lose to Georgia again!
WnE
October 21st, 2011
6:08 pm
GT Joe, it is easy to find something on the Net that supports your agenda, I use sagarin computer rankings that have been around the longest and is considered by many to be the most reputable of the Computer ratings outfits.
BTW, anyone that watched the games on the FIELD knows that the ACC has not been better than the Pac10/12 in ANY of the last 10-12 years. If you think that the ACC has been better thanthe Pac10/12 for 2 yrs. of CPJ’s tenure then you’re being delusional.
Nice try, but deep down inside, you know that CPJ has benefited from the ACC being much worse than it was during the Gailey yrs., this has probably been the worst that ACC-FB has been in the last 30-40 yrs.
1eyedJack
October 21st, 2011
7:07 pm
TheItalianDawg, I’ve heard that 3-point win referred to as a “mudhole stomping” and “the greatest game ever played”.
TheAntiMe
October 21st, 2011
7:42 pm
One thing is for sure, I don’t know about Neuheisel, but I would think that it’s a good bet that you will never hear of Paul Johnson singing Happy Birthday to a recruit like Mark Richt did. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, per se.
Buzz 2011
October 21st, 2011
7:45 pm
We have the right coach.. UGA should be so fortunate..
GO JACKETS..
Buzz 2011
October 21st, 2011
7:47 pm
I’ll tell you Pasta dog…How about 2009 ACC champions???
Tech will blow the Dawgs away…………….
kreedham
October 21st, 2011
8:23 pm
If Monken were to leave for KY then I guess Ga. Southern would have to take another Tech asst. Johnson’s system (now Monken’s) works for GS. If he leaves we’ve got to get someone like PJ.
And another thing…it may be a 1st. If Alabama beats LSU we could have #1 vs. #1 on 11/19