After further review, Tech decides its special teams need help
Perhaps we won't be seeing pictures such as this. (AP photo)
When the notion of hiring a special-teams coordinator was broached last fall by this helpful correspondent, Paul Johnson called it “ridiculous” and contended that, in divvying up assignments, his program was doing as most big-time programs do. Left unacknowledged was the reality that few big-time programs were less special on special teams than Georgia Tech.
Update: Georgia Tech stands ready to welcome a special-teams coordinator.
Conclusion: Paul Johnson has succeeded in negotiating the fine line between stubbornness, which can have its virtues, and silliness, which has none.
Two of last season’s losses — at Miami, where a botched punt became one Hurricanes touchdown and a long kickoff return generated another, and against Utah in the Sun Bowl, where Tech missed three field goals — could be traced to the kicking game. This was after a 2010 season in which the Jackets lost at Virginia Tech on a kickoff return for a touchdown, at Georgia after missing a tying extra point and to Air Force in the Independence Bowl after muffing two punts.
Running the numbers, we note that five of Tech’s past nine losses — that’s more than half — could be traced to failures of kicking, covering kicks or fielding kicks. We also note that the Jackets were 54th last season among 120 FBS teams in net punting, 59th in kickoff-return defense, 61st in punt returns and 106th in kickoff returns. Tech’s longest field goal of 2011 spanned 41 yards.
As much fun as it was to hear Johnson fuss about his kicking game — and he’s a fusser of the first rank — it also made you wonder: Why didn’t he try to do something besides fuss?
Now he has, and good for him. The addition of Dave Walkosky from the Canadian Football League can’t possibly hurt. Tech’s special teams had gotten so shoddy as to damage the entire operation. Kicking and its offshoots tend to be given short shrift by colleges — the pros, by way of contrast, leave nothing to chance — and that approach has never made a lick of sense. Given that kicking can win or lose games, why chop up the responsibility and have different coaches handle different aspects? Why render an essential function an afterthought? Why not put one man in charge?
To his credit, Paul Johnson thought hard about his special teams and concluded that doing it the way most others do it was no longer tenable for Tech. To his credit, he tabled his resistance and did what needed doing. This doesn’t mean the Jackets will never miss another field goal or yield another long return, but it does mean that future failures won’t stem from a lack of oversight.
By Mark Bradley
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179 comments Add your comment
Hardhat Jr
March 1st, 2012
10:14 am
The reason GT has such a poor record against ranked teams is for 8 games a year they don’t face a ranked team. Only UGA, UM(fla),FSU and then a bowl team. So the offense works other than those 4 games. I guess we will see influx of players north of the border with the new special teams coach.
ATL Fan
March 1st, 2012
10:14 am
Tebow was a two time winner of the Maxwell Award as the top college player. Only one Heisman Trophy (Sophomore year).
WnE
March 1st, 2012
10:17 am
You’re sloppy with facts and that’s good example of it. Why don’t you go back to inventing dialogue between Paul Johnson and his recruits?
_______________
Did me being sloppy with that FACT make the material validity of my claim LESS VALID, less true?
You call me out on getting a fact wrong, but you overlook the obvious faux pas of someone comparing the QB that CPJ has been Recruiting to Tebow & VY.
GTBob
March 1st, 2012
10:19 am
The reason GT has such a poor record against ranked teams is for 8 games a year they don’t face a ranked team.
GT has a poor record against ranked teams? Don’t look at UGA’s record then.
DawginLex
March 1st, 2012
10:21 am
not trying to defend Wne but he is not one of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is Tech 100%
George Stein
March 1st, 2012
10:21 am
Can we let the kid take a snap before determining who he is or isn’t?
And this isn’t the first time you’ve played loose with facts. In fact, it’s the norm, and this is further proof of it.
George Stein
March 1st, 2012
10:22 am
I see UGA fans don’t want WnE either.
FL Jacket
March 1st, 2012
10:22 am
“The reason GT has such a poor record against ranked teams is for 8 games a year they don’t face a ranked team.”
I guess they don’t count when we beat a ranked Clemson or a top-5 Virgina Tech team.
FL Jacket
March 1st, 2012
10:25 am
WnE…
You have yet to name a better coach GT could have…although (based on your extensive history) that whoever it is you would trash him as well…
Edward C.
March 1st, 2012
10:26 am
This makes me happy. Gotta give CPJ credit, he at least “tries” to address the flaws at GT. This is great news especially considering this wonderful article written during the season in 2011:
http://coachesbythenumbers.com/whats-so-special-about-special-teams/
WnE
March 1st, 2012
10:33 am
re:
FL Jacket
March 1st, 2012
10:22 am
________________
1-3 vs. Va. Tech
1-3 vs. Miami
1-3 vs. UGA
0-4 vs. Bowl Games, 2 of them being Air Force & Utah
3-13 vs. the segment of the schedule that really “defines” GT FB!
DELUSIONAL, IN-DENIAL GT fans try to justify that CPJ is a good coach because he has had moderate success vs. an UNDER-achieving Clemson team and going 2-0 vs. FSU when Bowden was at the END of his career, and a UNC team that had NCAA troubles in their Program over the last 2 years and an interim HC.
Those Games/teams listed above are a truer indicator of what GT FB has been under Coach Kung Fu Panda!
GTBob
March 1st, 2012
10:35 am
WnE is starting to post the exact same stats that Headley Lamar used to post. Hmm. Makes you wonder.
Jacket99
March 1st, 2012
10:38 am
GTBob
December 14th, 2011
12:18 pm
Sorry GT Bob, but I wants kids that go to GT to go to the NFL and do well
So when Vad Lee committed to GT and you started harassing him on twitter about his decision it was because you care about him and want him to be a great NFL QB?
—————————————————————–
WnE…you never answered GTBob about Vad Lee. What was up with that?
George Stein
March 1st, 2012
10:38 am
If we lost routinely to Clemson, he’d include them, too. But, of course, that doesn’t fit the narrative, so he doesn’t.
GTBob
March 1st, 2012
10:39 am
He is Tech 100%
After Vad Lee committed to Tech he spent all day on Twitter trying to get him to change his mind until Vad eventually asked him to stop. I don’t think he is 100% Tech.
1 4 GT
March 1st, 2012
10:39 am
DawginLex. weenie is not Tech either. He may have went to college somewhere, but not GT. NOBODY that attended any college could be so completely negative towards their supposed alma mater. NOBODY!!!! NOWAY!!!! NOHOW!!!! I and the vast majority of the GT bloggers may not support everything GT & CPJ does, but we do see positives to build on. WEENIE only has negativity!!!
The rut
March 1st, 2012
10:42 am
How about we actually recruit and give scholarships to a kicker and punter insted of using walkon’s?
FL Jacket
March 1st, 2012
10:44 am
WnE…
Looks like you’re never going to like ol’ “Moobs McFish Fry” or any of the players that play for him…like Vad Lee
WnE
March 1st, 2012
10:45 am
re:
WnE is starting to post the exact same stats that Headley Lamar used to post. Hmm. Makes you wonder.
____________
I don’t know who that guy is that you’re talking about, but I think I was one of the first guys to break out those games as the ones that define GT FB.
Lifetime Atlantan
March 1st, 2012
10:45 am
All of us longtime Tech fans remember how much importance one ex-punter who coached the Jackets put into special teams before it was fashionable (like many of the things Coach Dodd did).
Grits
March 1st, 2012
10:45 am
Just keep on keeping coach Paul Johnson so you will keep on losing!!! That guy is over his head and in the weak ACC that’s really saying something.
Jacket99
March 1st, 2012
10:46 am
1 4 GT…did you get your answer about transferring CD’s to your ipod?
We Own You
March 1st, 2012
10:46 am
You Tech geniuses can diss UGA’s program all you want—but as long as you are 1-10 against Georgia, if they are bad, you–by comparison–are so much worse. Glad you could get that powerhouse MTSU team off your schedule so you won’t have to start the season 0-2–becasue EVERYONE knows how you will end your season–AGAIN!
1 4 GT
March 1st, 2012
10:48 am
Yes Jacket99, I did. Thanks.
roughrider
March 1st, 2012
10:50 am
I’m glad CPJ came around in his thinking. Here is hoping that Tech and UGA will win more games this year.
GTBob
March 1st, 2012
10:52 am
Glad you could get that powerhouse MTSU team off your schedule
MTSU is still on our schedule.
FL Jacket
March 1st, 2012
10:52 am
WnE…
Explain the logic of decrying CPJ because he’ll never bring in top-notch recruits, and then harrassing a top-notch recruit into not coming to Tech?
Jacket99
March 1st, 2012
10:53 am
roughrider
March 1st, 2012
10:50 am
I’m glad CPJ came around in his thinking. Here is hoping that Tech and UGA will win more games this year.
——————————
It would be something if both teams went into the game with no losses.
the rut.... if it was that easy
March 1st, 2012
10:53 am
than saban would have had a better kicking game last year.
if it was that easy the pros’ would draft kickers at or near the top of the draft every year.
if it was that easy that bobby bowden would not have had the saying ‘wide right;’ attributed to his program.
are you WnE perchance? he seems to have issues with facts and rational thought processes. btw he did recruit kickers recently and they flopped.
lmao i do believe that i have nailed WnE to a tee. he has no come back for my hypothesis so it must be true.
hey WnE stall no 4 in the mens room needs tp and somebody pooped on the floor. git r done bubba.
as my mamma used to say if you dont defend yourself that it must be true.
Hashbrown Dawg
March 1st, 2012
10:55 am
hey ‘we own you’ ill have hash browns instead of fries.
1 4 GT
March 1st, 2012
11:08 am
Well, at least she had a built in hotbox to keep her hashbrowns warm!!
Grits
March 1st, 2012
11:10 am
WnE
Why did you black out the year of your supposed graduation from GT? Embarrassed?
GTfan2012
March 1st, 2012
11:17 am
Reminder to everyone who reads these comments. WnE is a proven LIAR! He makes up stories to make himself sound intelligent. He made up a story about Stephen Hill’s recruitment by UGA, which I proved was false. He did this only to claim that Stephen Hill was some elite level WR coming out of HS, so he could then claim that Hill was “coached down” at GT. Only a sociopath builds something up through lies just so they can tear it down and make themselves feel important.
WnE also continues to make up lies about CPJ and as pointed out in some comments above, make up conversations that CPJ has with potential recruits. He claims CPJ tells recruits lies. There’s only two problems with his argument. #1 He has no clue what CPJ tells recruits. He just makes it up in his mind. #2 He’s so delusional that he claims that the conversations that he’s made up in his mind ARE lies, when that can’t even be proven. For instance, he’s claimed that CPJ shows potential QB recruits film of his time at Hawaii, and claims that he lies to the recruits about how they might implement that offense. First he has no proof of this, and second even if it were true that he tells the recruits this, that doesn’t necessarily make it a lie. It only makes it a lie in WnE’s demented mind. But then that’s the definition of a sociopath, after all.
Truth
March 1st, 2012
11:31 am
wne you’re an idiot. there are only 2 elite qbs coming out of this draft and rg3rd is still in question.
so you say you can’t look at high school stats. they are meaningless. what a dumbass comment.
what matters is a qb that fits your system. gt has that now along with 2 very capable of passing the ball with solid consistency. you will see a big difference with these guys. that’s what you’re afraid of as a dwag fan. the missing pieces to gt winning and beating uga have been special teams…fixed…and a passing game…fixed. gt will go undefeated next year and will have but 2-3 losses this year..and not to ugag
doc
March 1st, 2012
11:32 am
could we entertain the idea of a qb coach or is there one in place?
GT Gilbert
March 1st, 2012
11:48 am
With Coach Johnson’s new less gimmiky fumble-ruski, statue of liberty, based offense coming on board next year, this attention to special teams is a must.
I am excited about the perfect option punt.
THWG!!!!!!!!!
GT Gilbert
March 1st, 2012
11:57 am
Truth, You are Right, We will beat UGA. If my Tech educated calculations are correct……..
62-39-5 X 1-10 ≠ Option X 3 θ = (k + 1/2)π X manzier power = assured tech win
Jacket Dad
March 1st, 2012
11:58 am
Wow – lots of off-topic posts here. Count me as loving this decision for many reasons. PJ swallowed his pride and is doing something to shore up a much-needed part of the team. The added focus and attention cannot hurt. I also like what I see about the hire – his intensity and other attributes sorely lacking on this team.
(Yes – I was at the bowl game with Air Force and died a thousand deaths that day with our “special teams”!!!!!!)
GT Gilbert
March 1st, 2012
12:17 pm
LOL Twinkie
Those crazy Bulldog guys, always doing heterosexual things.
maharajiean shorts
March 1st, 2012
12:30 pm
Conclusion: Paul Johnson has succeeded in negotiating the fine line between stubbornness, which can have its virtues, and silliness, which has none
NOT SO SURE ABOUT THAT UNTIL HE AXES THE HIGH SCHOOL OFFENSE.
C G Jung
March 1st, 2012
12:34 pm
Psychological evaluation of WnE
Delusions of grandeur – CHECK – thinks he is an expert talent evaluator
Over sense of self-importance – CHECK – regularly refers to himself in 3rd person as “Ole Wrexy”
Stalker of HS students – CHECK – had to be asked by Vad Lee to stop contacting him
Has a fixed hate object – CHECK – thinks Paul Johnson is the cause of all bad in the world
Dehumanizes people he doesn’t like – CHECK – calls GT coach “Kung Fu Panda” and calls supporters of GT coach “Boot Licking Toadies”
Exhibits self-loathing – CHECK – claims to be a GT grad and claims that all GT grads are ignorant, pompous,
Wants to change reality – CHECK – thinks GT should drop out of the ACC and join the SEC
Prognosis
A hopeless case. Likely to keep posting diatribes against Johnson, GT fans and the ACC as a whole
Possible cure
Come out of the GT closet and become an open UGA fan
William Casey
March 1st, 2012
12:39 pm
WnE simply has some kind of obsession with Coach Paul Johnson. I don’t know, maybe he has a shrine to the second coming of Coach Bobby Dodd. Maybe he’s a GT graduate, maybe just a provocateur. Very few of us GT fans (saw first game in ‘60, Alabama’s “Digger” O’Dell beat us 16-15 with late FG) believe that CPJ is a “genius.” Those of us who support him believe that he brings an “out-of-the-box” thinking and system that can be successful at GT. Like it or not, GT is (and will remain) much more similar to the Service Academies than it is to the football factories (Alabama, LSU, UGA, etc.) that surround us. I reached the conclusion during the late ’70’s that GT would never be able to draft the sheer numbers of NFL prospects that the factories do. Depth matters in football. Hence, I came to believe that GT needed a different approach. CPJ provides it on offense. I wish Coach Tenuto had stayed because he provided it on defense.
IMHO, WnE just has this neurotic “thing” about CPJ and we just have to put up with it. BTW, not that it matters, anybody can buy a GT ring at a pawn shop. BTW2, if CPJ had Joe Hamilton, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Maybe Lee or Thomas will be our new “Joe.”
William Casey
March 1st, 2012
12:41 pm
Should have said “recruit” rather than “draft.” My apologies.
Who is WnE?
March 1st, 2012
12:44 pm
I don’t know who this gentleman is, but I think there needs to be more listening to what he says and less blind criticizing. After reading all of the statements on here, WnE’s are the most accurate, thorough, and on point. You can still be a passionate fan and be critical of sub-par performance…heck, that what a passionate fan does!
Like any college program, GT’s season(s) are defined be the critical games. Right now that’s VT, Clemson, Miami and UGA. The bowl game becomes a part of that equation when you’re winless the past 4 years. When you’ve lost 3 out of 4 games in 3 out of 4 of those critical series, plus go 0-4 in Bowl games, isn’t there reason for concern??
I’m a huge GT fan, but I would like for the expectations of the program to increase. Imagine if the folks up the street had a similar 4 year record against Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, GT and the bowl opponent.
I like watching the TOpt when it works, but the shortcomings of the GT defense are IMHO a product of the TOpt offense. How prepared is the defense when they go against an option offense 15 practices in the Spring, practice against undersized “scout” linemen who don’t know how to drive block and pass protect during the season, and practice against non-throwing scout team QBs as well? Can these guys simulate what the D will see on Saturdays??
WnE has some good points. I’m wondering if he is a current/former player. Hmmm……
Tokyo jacket
March 1st, 2012
12:46 pm
I think a lot of people are going to have a different view of GT football come October. Personally, I like where the program is going.
Shorts, what makes it a high school offense? I would point out that while he’s only 1-3 against UGA, he does average ~450 yards per game against UGA’s 4- and 5-star recruits. Those losses have not been about offense. They’ve been about defense and special teams.
DAWGS!!
March 1st, 2012
12:51 pm
@ WnE
You seem to harp on the Job that the Offense has done under CPJ but his offense is NOT the issue here!!
It always has and continues to be the Defenseive side of the Ball, and his poor recruiting is almost is 50% of the issues here! If they could get some sort of defense at all they would win almost every game on the schedule!! Even Georgia! But folk like you confuse the issue by makeing statements of him recruiting running QBs first…. that’s the offense and the Offense has been very sucsessful!
Momentum is created on the defensive side of the ball 75% of the time…Its what gave Tech the spark in the Clemson game!! go review the 1st quarter of that game.
We need to harp on the defenseive side of the ball thats where 80% of the issues are… and agreed we also have isses on special teams as well.
slydog
March 1st, 2012
12:59 pm
Round of applause for CPJ. With the kind of make or break offense Tech runs, a more intense focus on special teams was needed. More ways to score a create turnovers was needed. Mark Richt are you listening?
DAWGS!!
March 1st, 2012
1:00 pm
@ Who is WnE?
You are ABSOLULTY CORRECT here my friend!!! ABSOLUTLY!! This is the kind of stuff the media and fans need to be worried about… this would be the BIG game changer for this whole program.. I have said it before. But this is going to sound strange but.
Some how some way Tech needs to find a GOOD scout team to run their defense against …I mean this spring, fall and ESPECIALLY durin the season!!! this is the Kicker… EVEN if they have to somehow Pay past players or formal NFL players to run the scout team!!!! I know tons of people who if you paid them they would put on pads and give a good look!!
Why do you think tenuta’s defense was soo much better? Is it because Chan gailey recruited THAT much better than CPJ, maybe, bout sort of doubt it.
Watching Tech Offense is very fascenating and different and it keeps defense confused. But, that sword cuts both ways too, Tech’s defense thinks other offense are fascenating and different as well
@tokyo jacket
March 1st, 2012
1:19 pm
Tech averages 408 yards per game vs UGA , that average is bolstered by the 2010 game where Tech had 512 yards offense and lost. 2 of the 4 years offense was held to 340 and 355 yards. 2009 and 2011. Truth is the Georgia offense has out gained tech in every game but 2010 when Georgia gained 425 yards in only 21 minutes of possession. tech had barely over 100 yards offense in the 2nd half of 2011, most of that coming when the game was well out of reach. its 1-3 1-10 and only 15 wins since 1957 any way you slice it. Rushing yards in 2009 were 202 and in 2011 242 yards rushing only 75 rushing yards in 2nd half 13 yards of that coming on final play scramble by Days. lets not forget in 2008 and 2009 and to a degree in 2010. PJ was playing with Chans 4 and 5 star recruits from 2007 recruiting class.
next thing you know
March 1st, 2012
1:19 pm
the dawgs will deny pooing in their library and the law building.
their excuse….. “they was hash browns.”: