Paul Johnson’s offense isn’t hurting Tech; his approach is
Paul Johnson on Saturday: Another close game, another loss. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Because Paul Johnson’s stylized offense has become the public image of Georgia Tech football, it’s tempting to blame his creation whenever Tech loses. (Which, not incidentally, it has done seven times in its past 11 games.) But here’s where numbers rear their pesky head. The Jackets scored 36 points and gained 419 yards against Miami on Saturday. And we pin this loss on the offense?
Right about here, you’re probably expecting some Al-Groh-has-to-go screed. If so, you’ll be disappointed. Has this coordinator elevated Tech’s defense? Those 42 points and 609 yards yielded Saturday are all the answers we need, but to finger Groh and the D is to miss the bigger picture. What’s dragging Tech back to mediocrity is …
Paul Johnson.
Yes, he’s the same coach who went 20-7 his first two seasons here, beating Georgia in Year 1 and winning the ACC title (since vacated) in Year 2. That’s the trouble: He’s still the same coach, and he’s coaching the same way.
Whenever you’d see Johnson’s teams at Georgia Southern or Navy, your first thought was, “What it would look like if you ran that offense with real Division I-A talent?” For two years we saw. We saw Joshua Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer and Demaryius Thomas and this offense score 45 points in Athens and 49 in Tallahassee and 39 against Clemson in the ACC championship game, and we hailed Johnson for taking Chan Gailey’s players and winning bigger than Gailey ever had.
Then Gailey’s players began to leave, as college players will. From the 20-7 of those two giddy seasons, Tech has since gone 16-14 overall, 10-9 in ACC play. An even more salient stat: With Nesbitt as starting quarterback, Tech was 23-11; since Nesbitt broke his arm at Virginia Tech in November 2010, Tech is 11-10.
That sounds like an indictment of Tevin Washington, who succeeded Nesbitt. It’s really not. Washington isn’t the player Nesbitt was, but that isn’t his fault. The greater issue is that Tech football functions less as a total program and more as a front for Johnson’s stylized offense. In 2008 and 2009, that offense had so many good players it could overcome most any failing anywhere else. Without those players, the whole operation has suffered.
Oh, the offense still functions. Tech ranks 19th nationally in total yardage, 13th in scoring, third in rushing yards. But the offense couldn’t kill the clock — you’d think a running team would be able to kill the clock — with a 17-point lead against Miami, and by the final frantic minutes the Jackets’ defenders, who aren’t to be confused with Alabama on their best day, were covering nobody and missing every tackle. For the third time in five games, Tech couldn’t hold a late lead and was forced to overtime. For the third time in those three overtimes, the offense couldn’t score a touchdown.
We flash back to Nov. 7, 2009. Tech had seen Wake Forest score late to force OT. The Deacons took the ball first and kicked a field goal. Tech faced fourth-and-1 at the 3. After considerable lobbying from Nesbitt, Johnson chose to go for the first down. Nesbitt converted. He scored the winning touchdown on the next snap. He did those sort of things.
On Saturday, Johnson eschewed an overtime field goal and saw Washington stopped on fourth-and-inches. Same coach, same bold choice. Different players, different result.
Those who criticize the scheme have it backwards. If you took these same players and put them in a pro-style offense, Tech might finish next-to-last in its division. Johnson’s offense is the only thing that makes Tech worth mentioning. (Lest we forget, that offense stacked 56 points and 594 yards on Virginia only nine days ago.) But Johnson is not just some scheming offensive coordinator: He’s the head coach of a proud and distinguished program, and too often it seems the program exists only to prop up his offense.
Johnson might think recruiting rankings don’t matter — he has said as much — but we’re seeing now the limits of a team that has talent closer to Georgia Southern’s than, say, Georgia’s. So long as Johnson can outsmart somebody and his offense can run free, Tech can win. But you can’t outsmart everybody, and the better teams won’t let that offense go unchecked. So then it’s down to execution, and Tech has lost five of its past six games decided by 10 or fewer points. The exception came against Duke.
Johnson might say his team is two plays away from being 4-0 and leading its division, and he’d be correct. But plays must be made by players, and Tech doesn’t have enough of those. What it does have is a stylized offense. And that’s about all.
By Mark Bradley
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515 comments Add your comment
da catfish
September 24th, 2012
6:44 pm
a ramblingish led by da catfish
GT Human Resources Dept
September 24th, 2012
6:45 pm
Ever since we botched the George O’Leary Masters degree thing we have tried to keep our errors to a minimum. However we have discovered a major error in our hiring system.
It seems that we did not hire Coach Paul Johnson of Navy. We inadvertantly hired a Ms Paula Johnson who served IN the Navy instead. Obviously they are not man boobs after all.
Unfortunately Ms Johnson Does not know squat about football. This explains a lot.
That being the case, we do have her under contract for 4 more years and it appears to be somewhat iron clad I am afraid.
However, you can still get a free hot dog and coke with your ticket and we ARE Georgia Tech so we feel it is still a good deal for you fans any way.
So sorry about the confusion and we will try to address this problem in 4 years.
In the meantime if you run across Paula while on campus and she is wearing a dress, please try not to say anything. This has become a very touchy subject with the alumni and the legal department.
Rick James
September 24th, 2012
6:46 pm
What amazes me is how I get blasted by Tech fans when I say that CPJ just cant recruit.I always hear the academics aurgument.Personally as a Georgia fan I hope Tech gives him a contract extention.Funny though how he seemed to be more productive with Gailey’s recruits.He’s a mid-major coach at a major school.Maybe he’s just in over his head.Best of luck the rest of the year.
da catfish
September 24th, 2012
6:52 pm
Da– I drink my whiskey clear while others eat da fried CATFISH!
This is so simple
September 24th, 2012
6:54 pm
GT and CPJ run a FORMER very average Division 1-A offense with division 2 talent. Proof? GT has only won 4 games to very, very lousy teams and lost to 7 really, very mediocre teams, incl my UGA Bulldogs, over 11 games. It is what it is. Who is shocked? Not I> you need some talent, even in the hapless ACC.
GT is living a lie. The 1950s will never, ever come back. Bobby Dodd was falling rapidly into mediocrity by the late 60s and except for the almost undefeated 10-0-1 1990 MNC team, Tech has done nothing since and really nothing exceptional or remarkable, since the mid 1950s, when they last were invited to major bowls, two years in a row. Sad.
Music City Bowl just scrubbed GT from their wish list. Independence Bowl already did that after the Va Tech loss, because Va Tech is also a huge joke.
Basketball? I think not !!
Rick James
September 24th, 2012
6:55 pm
Mark you may not ever get another interview with Paul Johnson..
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
6:56 pm
The problem with being rabid is that it is an incurable condition and almost always leads to death. Too bad there is not a vaccine available for fans.
Dewayne
September 24th, 2012
6:58 pm
The option can work if they can get the talent to go there. Nebraska use to run over people with the option an even crush the SEC back in the day. I just don’t think GT can get the talent there with Paul Johnson. GSU and Navy have not been know for getting the best talent. NAVY got young men who wanted a naval career but played football while doing their studies. He needs to add some new schemes to the option to keep the defenses from focusing just mainly on the run.
JD
September 24th, 2012
7:00 pm
No team ran Johnson’s offense better than Nebraska in the mid 90s. Nebraska scrapped that offense. Why? Because you cannot cnsistently recruit top tier taent to run it. The high school kids, at every position, want to play in NFL type passing offenses so that they will have the best chance of making it into the league. Tech will quickly reach the same conclusion.
beezit
September 24th, 2012
7:01 pm
If the defense would tackle the ball carrier instead of trying to unbuckle his pants, all those extra yards after contact wouldn’t translate to points on the scoreboard…pretty simple….we used to call it tackle football, I’m not sure what to call it today….
Georgia Tech is in Atlanta
September 24th, 2012
7:03 pm
Why is anyone surprised? We only have the most overrated coach in the country.
Tech Man
September 24th, 2012
7:03 pm
Come on people. Show Paul Johnson some love.
We need him at Tech. Who else are we going to get?
Let’s all go to the game Saturday and cheer for a win against MTSU!
Pale Rider
September 24th, 2012
7:05 pm
Like players, coaches get outdated too. Johnson & Groh are very old school- and I don’t think “old-school” wins it any more- lack of fire and desire
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:07 pm
Nebraska did not run a triple option offense. Also, the majority of the QB runs in that offense were designed plays.
afan
September 24th, 2012
7:08 pm
Just a few years ago Mark was sing Johnson’s praises…how quick we forget.
Get a DEFENSE and we’ll be ok.
Dewayne
September 24th, 2012
7:08 pm
Pale I think that can vary from person to person!!! Bill Snyder of KSU still has it!!
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 24th, 2012
7:08 pm
I haven’t read all of the comments. Mark, you failed to mention that CPJ has replaced a DC and a S&C coach and added a STC that he said for years that he didn’t need. I don’t think that those actions come from a stubborn coach. Too many things went wrong in that game and created a perfect storm. I’ll hang in there with CPJ and CAG for now. ” GO JACKETS “
GIRL KNOW BETTER THAN ALL OF YOU
September 24th, 2012
7:08 pm
everybody on here is missing the even bigger point including Bradley……CPJ can go coach at some other DIV I FOOTBALL SCHOOL WITH THE TO AND WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. yes that’s right. Why? Because he can get the 5 stars he cannot get at GT because of the academic standards. He throws enough..TW passed a good bit. So, CPJ could get the receivers he needs at another school along with the Dwyers, Nesbitts and Thomas’. In fact, CPJ ought to recruit diffferently. If those guys converted to his offense and won then go after the best players and who cares if they never played in an option format. THE PROBLEM IS GA TECH. Help this coach out. Yes CPJ is guilty of calling some wrong plays and maybe hiring some coaches that are of no help whatsoever but GEEZ GA TECH get a Bachelors of Arts degree that some of these h.s.recruits can qualify for. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FUTURE ALIGNMENT, YOU ARE HEADING FOR A DIV I BASKETBALL CONFERENCE that is going to put your football team in Div 1AA with the Wakes and Dukes if you don’t.
Alumni should contact DRAD AND SCHOOL PRESIDENT.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:14 pm
“Who else are we going to get?”
According to “Tech fan”/reporter Taylor King of chuckoliver.net, James Franklin is the right guy, or after his successful audition with BYU at Bobby Dodd Stadium, maybe Bronco Mendenhall. Give Mark Bradley credit for not suggesting names.
Pitbull
September 24th, 2012
7:14 pm
I don’t ever want to hear anyone from Tech say they can’t win due to the superior academics of Tech again. Here is Jonathan Dwyer on Facebook:
Tech alumnus and voluminous Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jonathan Dwyer recently had some choice words concerning the Institute on his Facebook page. You see, it turns out “The Diesel” has not exactly been keen on the amount of fan loyalty exhibited at recent Georgia Tech home football games. Thus has he been compelled to pontificate on the subject among his esteemed peers:
Jon Dwyer: Its a shame bc no matter wat UGA tennesse or anybodies record they have a packed out game no matter wat bc they are loyal fans came to games last yr bc we where winning..that shoes more and more how hypocritical ppl are and just like kyle jackson until we get pack out games u can kiss the fact of being on college gamed…ay and receiving big time recruits goodbye..it also has the effects on the players
Jon Dwyer: i really hope georgia tech fans get themselves together
Jon Dwyer: scoob its sick man..like why cant yall be loyal..we bust are bodies week and week out to come to play and we barely see anybody in the stands..but UGA or whoever it is can be 3-6 and that stadium is rockin bc they care about there guys man and players respond to that
Dwyer is obviously a well educated Tech man who excelled in his mathmatics classes LMAO.
TechAlum
September 24th, 2012
7:18 pm
The problem is the scheme. Under PJ we are going to be stuck at 7-9 wins a season, an average bowl game and that is it.
1. No top talent want to come play at Tech between the academic standards and an offense that most likely won’t get them to the NFL (yes we have had some great players in the NFL, but they were freaks who would have made it anywhere)
2. How is our defense ever going to get better? Because of our offense, they will never get to simulate a normal college offense because we can’t run one. Defense can’t get better if all they practice against is the triple option.
3. Look out our record when teams have more than a week to prepare, it is terrible. The major conferences has too much talent and given 2 or more weeks spell bad news for us.
PJ only won at Navy because of the competition and he only won in Division 2 because the playoff format helps his team because they play every week.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:18 pm
“Old school” is relative, of course. Dickens made reference to it in 1853 in “Bleak House.” It’s on my Kindle, 3 chapters into it right now.
Mitt "the Twit" Romney
September 24th, 2012
7:22 pm
Okay, after Saturday Tech is now part of the 47%.
collegeballfan
September 24th, 2012
7:23 pm
The problem is not Johnson and his offense or Groh and his defense. The problem is the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Since 1960 Georgia Tech has a record of 328 – 266 – 10. That is 62 games over .500 in a 52 year period. The shared NC in 1990 obviously was an anomaly. GT has not been remotely close to a repeat since. There is a message in these numbers for those willing to look.
Johnson and Groh are doing no better or worse than every coach since 1960.
For whatever reason Tech does not bring into the program the same quality of player as Alabama, Florida, FSU, Georgia, LSU or Virginia Tech.
ricky bobby
September 24th, 2012
7:23 pm
mark, I don’t exactly understand the point you’re trying to get at. the offense is more than fine. produces at pretty much the same level it did in those first couple of seasons. it is the defense that has let us down this year in our two losses. first, they couldn’t stop vt from driving into fg range for 44 seconds (after playing a very solid overall game). and this past weekend, they just stunk overall and again allowed a very long drive at the end of regulation in very little time.
is cpj ultimately accountable for that? some would solely blame grog, but yes he is responsible – he is the head coach. but I don’t see how “his approach” as your article states is causing the problem. as a matter of fact, I don’t quite gather what you’ve stated “his approach” even is in context of this article. usually agree with you, just don’t even exactly see where your criticism is aimed this time
ScudTechster
September 24th, 2012
7:23 pm
pretty much gotta agree from a 38 yr. ticket holder. just sayin
Burdell90
September 24th, 2012
7:24 pm
Mark,
Your an idiot!!! Have you ever played the game?? If you had, you would know the biggest rule of all…DEFENSE WINS GAMES!!!
To say that we lost becuase the offense couldnt run down the clock for the last two minutes is absurd. What happened to the defense for the entire 4th quarter? I guess the offense should have held onto the ball for 15 minutes?
You need to crawl back in the hole that you came out of and rewrite about Al Groh and how bad he sucks as a DC. Or you could have written about how it is CPJ’s fault because he hasnt fired that OLD FART!!!
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:25 pm
As to the classless comment about Jon Dwyer, totally uncalled for. Thumbtyping an iPad isn’t indicative of how a person speaks.
LIVINGSTON
September 24th, 2012
7:25 pm
I would personally like to see GT get a physical education degree or some other easier degree just to make the UGA fans go crazy. They think they own recruiting in this state. They have had it too good all these years. It doesn’t matter to me who the head coach at Ga Tech is.
southdawg
September 24th, 2012
7:26 pm
Mark – you’re “time to fire the coach” article has gotten old and predictable. You are way to quick to pull the trigger writing such things because of a slight downturn in W/L success.
You did the same thing to Richt and I would say you and your coherts fueled the entire “hotseat” fiasco of 2010 and to start 2011. I for one am a little tired of your opinion about such things you clearly know nothing about.
Maybe Johnson is not the coach Tech was hoping for, but it’s WAY too early for these types of call outs. I’m by no means a Tech fan, but I see these articles coming a mile away when a coach in this state has a bad loss, or a losing season, etc.
I think you do a good job in many respects to your coverage of the local sports teams, but this is one area I just flat out think your wrong for even suggesting a coaching change for a 2-2 team 4 games into the season.
Just tired of it.
NOTSO FAST
September 24th, 2012
7:27 pm
COACH JOHNSON THINKS THAT HIS SYSTEM IS SO GOOD HE CAN WIN EVEN WITH WEAKER PLAYERS. SYSTEMS ARE IMPORTANT BUT GOOD PLAYERS WILL ALWAYS BE MORE IMPORTANT. WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE THE SMARTEST PERSON ON THE FIELD, YOU SOMETIME ARE WRONG.
ColoradoJacket
September 24th, 2012
7:29 pm
So here we go again. I have been watching and attending Tech games since 1969 so I have seen a lot.
1. Don’t sell Miami short. They have talent size and speed. They beat BC on the road and yes lost to K State, a team that just beat Oklahoma at Oklahoma.
2. It aint the offense. When you score 36 point you should win. What Tech can’t get are D linemen. We don’t have PE as a major. We played better defense during the Gailey years because Tennuta blitzed every down. We also lost a lot of games on a lot of big plays. In 2008 we had a top D-line. Very rare.
3. CPJ has one of the best records at Tech at this point as compaired to many coaches who have been here.
4. I will take 9 wins every season, I remmember Bill Lewis.
5. Dwyer, oh I remember he chose GT over…….Navy.
6. The only thing I would tell CPJ is have Groh blitz more and when we have the lead, pour it on.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:31 pm
Mac Brown seems to have forgotten how to win consistently with elite talent. I wonder how old he is.
.....
September 24th, 2012
7:32 pm
IF COLLEGE FOOTBALL DID AWAY WITH OVERTIME AND WENT BACK TO THE TIE BALLGAME..GA TECH WOULD BE UNDEFEATED AND PROBABLY RANKED NEAR THE TOP TEN ALONGSIDE VT.
dwreck
September 24th, 2012
7:33 pm
I think the recruiting problem is this: if you’re a blue chip offensive lineman, QB or WR and think you have a shot at the NFL, why would you want to play in this offense? That doesn’t explain not getting high quality defensive players though. When was the last time we picked up four or five 4 star linemen in a year? Ross?
Not the real CJ10
September 24th, 2012
7:33 pm
Paul Johnson screamed the words “are you that stupid” to Josh Nesbitt on the sidelines during a
game. That’s when I lost any respect at all for that guy!
WOW
September 24th, 2012
7:34 pm
SURPRISE! Bradley doesn’t like Johnson.
Triple Option Spread
September 24th, 2012
7:34 pm
36 points is enough for any bad defense to still hold up a 16 point lead. We need a young and aggressive defensive coordinator.
Go Jackets!
@spencaman
September 24th, 2012
7:36 pm
WES – you are the idiot. Mark is right on
Bring back Jim Donnan
September 24th, 2012
7:37 pm
Mark, this is all wrong. It is unfair to GT that they can only get 3 star players. Alabama and other schools that get all these 5 star players need to share. Let’s re-distribute the 5 star players and maybe even move the coaches around so that GT can have a shot. After all the GT engineers provide the roads that we drive on and the buildings that we work in, the cars we drive, and the electronics that we enjoy. These big name SEC schools didn’t build those football teams. GT deserves a SHOT!
GTBob
September 24th, 2012
7:38 pm
For whatever reason Tech does not bring into the program the same quality of player as Alabama, Florida, FSU, Georgia, LSU or Virginia Tech.
The reasons are well known, but you are right, we will never ever bring in talent even comparable to the schools you named. I wish more GT fans accepted this as it might temper their expectations some. Wanting to fire the coach with the best start in GT history just because of a rocky start to the season is silly. He more than deserves a chance to turn things back around.
SATX_Jacket
September 24th, 2012
7:39 pm
Let CPJ coach and coach Chan Gailey recruit.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:39 pm
“Paul Johnson screamed the words “are you that stupid” to Josh Nesbitt on the sidelines during a
game. That’s when I lost any respect at all for that guy!”
Sorry, fella, your memory is letting you down. That was OT Phil Smith his freshman year. Smith never did get it right; he would have been a senior this season, but he parted ways after being ineligible for the bowl game last season.
rock_eagle
September 24th, 2012
7:41 pm
Get a guy in there who can compete with the “big boys” when it comes to recruiting some quality defensive players. Otherwise, get used to schizophrenic Saturdays.
Lance Thomson would be a name for the short list. He did pretty good getting some defenders for Bobby Ross, Not sure if you could lure him away from Saban and Tuscaloosa though. Then again, Atlanta is home for him.
All this talk of the CPJ’s offense by Mark is dart throwing and piling on. Easy to do with a keyboard. 36 points should get you a win. Period.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:41 pm
Donnan is rumored to be the next coach at Arkansas. He has the perfect resume to replace Coach Chapter 7 Smith.
Pitbull
September 24th, 2012
7:42 pm
collegeballfan: You state that since 1960 GT is 62 games over .500 in the won – loss catagory.
Actually it is worse. Did you know that 32 of those 62 wins were against Div II teams?
So Tech has actually won 30 more games than it has lost since 1960 when playing in it’s own division. That’s about .59 more wins than losses per year for Tech. Pretty sad.
Did you also know that Tech has never won a national championship in football although they claim they have? They have won co-national championships.
When more than one organization (and as many as five) have named national champions, Tech has been named by at least one of those organizations a few times.
However Georgia Tech has never won an undisputed national championship in the history of it’s football program.
Bring back Jim Donnan
September 24th, 2012
7:45 pm
Donnan is rumored to be the next coach at Arkansas. He has the perfect resume to replace Coach Chapter 7 Smith.
I wish Donnan would come back to Athens – he was one GA coach we could beat.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
September 24th, 2012
7:47 pm
Paul Johnson should be a non issue for Ga Tech at this point. You have gone as far as he can take this program. The dollar folks and the AD should be working their contacts for the next guy. Spend the damn money needed to get a football coach. Kids aren’t going to flock to the BS wishbone these days. If you like 7-5 then enjoy what you have.
wrecked
September 24th, 2012
7:47 pm
Pj and his staff are in way over their heads .Pj has never understood the concept of recruiting , believing his system would win games. PJs approach and his staff is pure 1AA.
GTBob
September 24th, 2012
7:47 pm
When more than one organization (and as many as five) have named national champions, Tech has been named by at least one of those organizations a few times.
By your standards UGA has never won one either, or the majority of college football teams. In fact, during the current SEC championship run, only one of the championships was a real one.