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
p
September 24th, 2012
7:48 pm
First!
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:49 pm
I thought Donnan still lived in Athens, wearing a fake mustache when he leaves the house to do the radio gig.
Tight End
September 24th, 2012
7:49 pm
What i see i don’t understand; with J.Nesbitt CPJ he call a lot of QB dives read dives which helped move the offense down the field also ate clock that scared me because J.Shaw was back up. Ok fast foward now is T. Wash brittle if he get banged up i feel better about Lee & Days. Days can handle QB dives plus he is faster. Now back to the game; 4th and 1 around mid field if you go for it and make 2:01 on clock we win; play called was punt; how about a toss to our speedy a-backs besides where was B.J. Bostic; fast foward to OT 4th and 1 again either Days with a straight dive or toss not pitch to the fastest i don’t care who it is race to the orange stick CPJ got speed use it
Not the real CJ10
September 24th, 2012
7:50 pm
No my memory isn’t letting me down! I watched him say it and who he said it to! This just proves he doesn’t mind screaming and demeaning all of his kids!
GTBob
September 24th, 2012
7:53 pm
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.
Again, it will cost 10.2 million to let CPJ go after this season. Gregory makes 1 million a year, Hewitt is still owed the majority of his 7.2 million. Lets say we hire a new football coach for 5 years 1.5 million a year. That means we are paying roughly 30 million dollars to FB/BB coaches over a 5-7 year span. Sorry, but GT doesn’t have that kind of money. We can’t just keep hiring and firing coaches with big contracts.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
7:54 pm
Tevin Washington isn’t brittle, but Lee is just a bit bigger (same as Nesbitt in height and weight.) Days could be a sensational runner if he develops a grip for the ball.
GT Fan
September 24th, 2012
7:54 pm
It may be Johnson’s fault as head coach, but only because Groh has failed to build a defense. Teams who can hold opponents to 5 touchdowns won’t win often. Even Oregon’s lackluster defense hasn’t given up 35 points in one game this year. People who keep saying CPJ’s offense is dead are not looking at reality. How many other teams in the NCAA have scored 21 points in one quarter as many times as GT has? How many teams have as many plays for 40 yards or more as GT? It’s a high powered offense and a weak defense.
Pitbull
September 24th, 2012
7:55 pm
GTBob, you finally got something right!!
There was no official NCAA recognized national champion at the Division 1 level prior to the BCS establishment in the 1990’s and the NCAA still does not recognize the BCS national championship as a national championship.
I am so proud of you.
If you want a national championship, then drop down to the FCS level and play for one like Georgia Southern or Appalachian State.
Now the Techies can quit lying to themselves and to others about winning all of these mythicial national championships that do not exist except in the minds of those who think they have won them and the organizations that “award” them.
You finally got something right.
rock_eagle
September 24th, 2012
7:57 pm
Agree with Bob. Tech can’t afford to get rid of CPJ if they wanted to. Best bet is to bring in a guy who can RECRUIT people who can play DEFENSE.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:01 pm
All this silly talk about Paul Johnson leaving. Only Mark Bradley could replace him, and Mark isn’t leaving his job for just a couple or three million a year.
George Stein
September 24th, 2012
8:05 pm
There is a staggering level of stupidity out there. At least now the 10% unemployment rate makes sense.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:06 pm
Pitbull – The NCAA doesn’t recognize the BCS. They report the results in their annual publication, just as they did for all of those poll results through the years. It’s unclear (to me) how they will treat the 4-team playoffs.
rock_eagle
September 24th, 2012
8:08 pm
10% ? Big underestimate. If I was one of these high paid coaches, I’d demand mine in gold bullion. … couple or three million will sound like chicken feed when Bernanke gets done with his QE’s.
terry
September 24th, 2012
8:12 pm
I agree completely. I knew every play Tech was going to run before each snap, and so did Miami. The only reason they beat Virginia is that the Virginia coaches must not be very bright. He is now the problem, and decent lineman who has pro aspirations will go to Tech. Same for quarterbacks.
Burgess
September 24th, 2012
8:18 pm
Good article Bradley. A big problem is what 4 or 5 star athletes are going to come play in this high school offense. Bottom line, the first 2 years Johnson won with Gailey’s players.
Gatorman
September 24th, 2012
8:19 pm
It’s sad to see a coach that’s never won anything in his career be so arrogant that he knows everything. He can’t recruit top players like Gailey could, but Gailey couldn’t coach them. There is a reason Virginia fired Groh, he is too predictable and now we see that at Tech. When you don’t have the best players, you have to scheme around the weaknesses and he has no clue how to do that. I think the program will go way down before the coaching staff is replaced and that’s too bad.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:21 pm
“I knew every play Tech was going to run before each snap”
That’s pretty much the point of the triple option. Beating the option play series demands concentration by the defensive players, and any small mistake can result in a big gain.
hit a single
September 24th, 2012
8:23 pm
Ralph Fridgen to Tech and Johnson back to the Naval Academy. Next year they meet in Boise, Idaho for Bowl game and Navy wins 42 to 41. Go Midshipmen!
Pitbull
September 24th, 2012
8:25 pm
Delbert D. you are absolutely right.
The BCS is pretty much a creation of the media with input from the coaches thru the AP poll and some computer stats thrown in.
My thinking is that the NCAA will be reluctant to recognize an FBS level national champion unless it is in the FCS format and of course that will not jive with the bowls.
That said, all FBS schools have to decide if they want to play for an NCAA national championship in which case they can drop down to the FCS and play at that level. The FCS does not have it bad as the games are played at one of the two schools competing each week so they are usually packed although the stadiums are smaller.
Or the schools can remain in the FBS and play in a bowl if they have at least 6 wins and get the bowl money which is usually spread among all of the conferences’ teams – and remember in today’s environment schools are generally committed to a bowl by the conference and not by the school itself.
I remember when the bowls made the offers directly to the schools and the players voted on accepting the offers in the good old days. It was better than to be assigned a bowl by your conference.
And I have seen a lot of lower tier bowl games less than a third full of spectators. That is hardly any kind of reward for a team, and remember with around 70 teams going to bowls now with many of them at 6-6 or 7-5, the bowls have lost their luster.
That said the FBS teams will probably not drop down to the FCS level to play for a NCAA championship as the money from the bowls is more important and schools at that level will continue to compete for a mythical nc awarded by the media with the football coaches’ input.
I just think that we all need to be honest about the fact that there is no official ncaa nc in the old Div I or current BCS divison level.
Although I think a FBS school who goes 14-0 has every right to make a claim for being the champion.
I personally cannot stand Auburn, but I thought they had a much stronger claim to a nc several years ago when they went 14-0 than they did under the Sham Newton controversy when they were awarded it.
hit a single
September 24th, 2012
8:28 pm
NCAA is a joke! About like the GHSA with these Class A power ratings.
techster
September 24th, 2012
8:30 pm
coach is fine – qb needs to run play called
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:30 pm
Gatorman – Never won anything in his career? Do some homework. Johnson won 2 national championships at Ga. Southern as head coach, and he was the offensive coordinator for 2 others.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)(J Jones for Heisman)
September 24th, 2012
8:32 pm
Something is wrong on here!!!!!!!!!!!!
To say that CPJ had his best years using Chan Gailey’s players may be true to a point but if he got better results out of them than Gailey that pretty well indicates he is a better coach than Gailey so GT took a step up when they fired Gailey and hired CPJ. CPJ got a lot of mileage out of Nesbitt and Dwyer that indicates he probably accomplished that by using his program and coaching skills because neither made a big splash in the NFL. Doesn’t that indicate he probably got the maximum results with his offense and coaching skills???
The problem definitely lies with the DEFENSE because the offense is seldom, if ever, stopped cold.
and has produced high offensive numbers EVERY year!!!!!! Granted it is a handicap when trying to come from behind but I ain’t buying, or joining in on, the stoning of CPJ.
And yes the GT scholastics play a significant role in GT getting the players they want because too many prospects are afraid of the GT courses and many can’t even get out of HS because of grades(Nooooo Problem with Cheesenick or Nickie boy. Those factors will go away when either of them arrive) and need but that can be cured by hiring one of the two HC that are currently at Alabama and Auburn. Either one can work miracles IF……………………………..Chiznik can get his “Player Purchasing Fund” like he has at Auburn or Saban who will simply move his empire, including his attorney and financial people, with him because he has the system all figured out
"" HOT SEAT ""
September 24th, 2012
8:33 pm
Run the table with eight in a row and things might quite down.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:35 pm
Pitbull – I’ve watched the FCS playoffs for the past few years, and it is more interesting to me than junk bowl games. Montana has a nice setup there in Missoula. Freeze-out games in a packed stadium.
Rick James
September 24th, 2012
8:38 pm
@GTBob
Again, it will cost 10.2 million to let CPJ go after this season. Gregory makes 1 million a year, Hewitt is still owed the majority of his 7.2 million. Lets say we hire a new football coach for 5 years 1.5 million a year. That means we are paying roughly 30 million dollars to FB/BB coaches over a 5-7 year span. Sorry, but GT doesn’t have that kind of money. We can’t just keep hiring and firing coaches with big contracts.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
Somebody’s not making good hiring decisions nor negotiating contracts that benefit Tech.Fish stinks from head down..
hit a single
September 24th, 2012
8:41 pm
Paul Johnson knows more football than most of us will ever know. He is a hell of a coach. His only weakness is that he is loyal to a player that has been with the program.
GssiT
September 24th, 2012
8:43 pm
Instilling confidence in our team is a must. Drad needs to get the team a sports psychologist. Our kids do not believe in themselves;even though the greater majority of them were hotly recruited by many other programs. They need to be reminded that when they play good football they’re as good as any team out there. Good teams are suspose to win. It’s OK to feel nervous, everybody else on the field feels exactly the same way. So simply go out there and get it done. Go, Jackets!
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
8:43 pm
Dwyer is the leading rusher for a team that runs the ball 25 times a game.
Paul in NH
September 24th, 2012
8:44 pm
Losing 3 OT games in a row is a trend – giving up 14 point leads in the 4th in 2 of them – pointing to several problems. D-Rad will give CPJ time to turn things around – even though we are in an era when fans have the patience and attention span of a hyperactive 5 year old. The coach of the team GT lost to in the opening game took 7 years to get things going.
Confused Fan
September 24th, 2012
8:48 pm
What has Paul Johnson done for the University. When you look at coaches like Urban Myer, John Calipari, Mack Brown they are TEAM PLAYERS. They support all the programs, energize the students, and sell the university in the media. Paul Johnson doesn’t even want to get on twitter more less go to any other sporting events on campus. He is not a TEAM player!
Big Bird
September 24th, 2012
8:53 pm
I think a big part of Johnson’s problem is his ego. He’s the gospel in his mind. I put him and Bobby Petrino in the same category in that regard.
Mike
September 24th, 2012
8:57 pm
Enter your comments here
I am not a tech grad in fact AU, but your article is very offensive to GT and certainly will not help them, I would think you could be more helpful in the future if you care to promote local programs as you should!
Ramblin Black Jacket
September 24th, 2012
8:58 pm
I totally agree with this article. He needs to use the players capable of making plays instead of trying to red shirt them. I don’t have anything against Tevin Washington, but I do know that the guy IS NOT a winner and doesn’t know how to win in the big games. He seems to freeze up and make mistakes every time the game is on the line.
Michael
September 24th, 2012
9:02 pm
“Also, Al Groh’s 3-4 is the most passive version I have ever seen. When we attack, we do well; too bad we sit back most of the time instead.”
That is the best two lines of this comment section. Why is our 3-4 mostly just 3 mediocre lineman against 5 or 6 blockers? The opposing QB has 4 to 7 seconds to scan the field and find someone changing routes or getting loose.
Tech hasn’t have an above average defense in decades, but at least Tenuta’s defenses blitzed and attacked often, sometimes getting burned, but many times forcing a turnover or 3 and out. I berated Tenuta’s reliance on the blitz to solve poor pass coverage issues, but man alive, why can’t Groh fashion a few zone blitzes that WORK? I do see a few, but it is like the other team knows exactly who is blitzing and have two blockers waiting and salivating at the helpless blitzer.
Groh, change something, everyone has your defensive plays down cold. Use two linemen and 6 LBs if u have to…something different…blitz 3 from one side or something.
jo
September 24th, 2012
9:06 pm
Defense is the problem, offense is more than fine and loses on gambles because the defense stinks!
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
9:06 pm
“he is loyal to a player that has been with the program.”
One plan says if you are going to lose, lose with youth. I am not sure that freshman Lee is an incremental improvement over senior Washington. He appears to have good upside potential, but he doesn’t have the repetitions that Washington has in a precision offense. The triple option is not the kind of read option with zone blocking as run by the shotgun teams. The TO as run by Tech depends precisely on the option-side A-back and WR taking out specific assigned targets and the QB making the correct read on the toss or keep and making that toss at exactly the right time. The QB has to be familiar with not only the play but the A-back he’s tossing to.
George Stein
September 24th, 2012
9:06 pm
Confused fan is an appropriate handle as Johnson regularly attends hoops games.
The Truth
September 24th, 2012
9:08 pm
Paul Johnson is perfect for the GA Tech fan base. He’s ugly as hell. He lies. He cheats.
GA Tech Lies & Cheats & Everyone knows it. Everyone!!!!! Why would any good football player want to play at GA Tech. Any other school would be a better choice!
The very few schools who run the high school offense have thrown up their hands in defeat. By running a gimmick offense, they have admitted they cannot compete with the big schools playing straight up football. They are admitting they cannot recruit with the best schools, so we are going to try to trick people with a high school gimmick offense and pretend we are smarter than everyone else. LOL! If there was something special about that offense, every school in America would be running it. GA Tech’s program is a big joke and hiring a coach like Paul Johnson who runs this high school offense is all the proof you need. What kind of idiot would want to play for a school where blockers would be diving at his knees for 4 or 5 years? The pros don’t block with illegal chop and unethical cut blocks. Why would a good player want to spend 4 years running that type of offense?
I hope GA Tech keeps Paul Johnson for many years to come. It guarantees they will never be a great team. I love it! LOL!!!!!!!
Notes: Johnson calls loss ‘my fault’ | Georgia Tech
September 24th, 2012
9:09 pm
[...] Mark Bradley: Johnson’s approach hurting Tech [...]
Mike Bell 790
September 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
FIRST!!!
TomB
September 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
The man in the middle of your picture, Mark, must go if Tech is to right the ship. Groh has been an unmitigated disaster using a system(3-4) that doesn’t compliment the talent on the field. Tech must find a replacement for him and soon, and it wouldn’t hurt if we were prepared to spend some money in the process.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
9:16 pm
“The pros don’t block with illegal chop and unethical cut blocks.”
Oh yes they do.
TomB
September 24th, 2012
9:20 pm
The Truth is an idiot and doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about. Exactly what is gimmicky about an option offense. No tricks involved dope. Tech doesn’t run reverses or flee flickers; they run the damn option which is the perfect offense if you have a quarterback that can make the correct reads and pitches. It in many ways exemplifies power football in that Tech comes at you with the same plays over and over. They may block it differently each time but basically its the same plays. Why don’t you learn before you speak idiot.
JB
September 24th, 2012
9:24 pm
CPJ is a dead man walking. The talent on that team is 2-3 years removed and 2-3 years to restock with some D1 talent. CPJ won’t have the time. This team will beat the PC’s of the world every time 55-7…………….BCS talent teams…..no way. I’d take a chance on a defensive minded young coach. Paul needs to be back in AA ball with little to no defenses to stop him and win 10-11 games a year. Problem for him, none pay 2 mil. They pay 250K.
Paul in NH
September 24th, 2012
9:28 pm
Cut blocks are unethical and aren’t used by the pros? That has to be one of the more ridiculous posts I have read. Cut blocks are legal and the only thing the pros care about is a W.
OLD MAN
September 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
GET A QB QB
MaconDawg
September 24th, 2012
9:32 pm
I am not going to sit here and pretend I know more than ANY head coach (even at the high school level) but I have a few observations. Obviously I am not a Tech fan but, to me, the key to the offense is the quarterback. In Tech’s case it depends on the quarterback reading the defense correctly in order to determine which option is best for that particular play and the execution of the other 10 offensive players on any given play. Nesbit was a tremendous athlete and he ran the system (almost) flawlessly. Had he not had a broken arm and could have played, PJ would have been 2-0 against UGA. I can only assume that Tevin Washington is the best and most prepared at this point and that is why he continues to start. The others may eventually be better but aparantly they are not ready, quite yet. I didn’t see the game Saturday but was told that on the 4th and short that was unsuccessful that Washington checked out of the play that was called. I don’t know that for sure. I am not a big fan of that offense only because after you have played against a few times you learn how to defense it (Heck, even Willie Martinez figured it out after the loss). Quite frankly, I think that PJ is the same coach he was at Southern and Navy. The problem is not only is he now having to face better athletes in this league but probably more important he is having to go up against much better coaches than he had to previously. There in may be the difference.
Delbert D.
September 24th, 2012
9:35 pm
This year, the Groh version of the 3-4 finally does match the talent on the field. Barnes is the 330-plus pound NT needed, and the DEs are prototypical size. The linebackers have the prototypical sizes and skill sets for the 2-gap Parcells-derivative 3-4. Unfortunately, some of the players do not match the skill level of the NTs and other front seven guys at Georgia and Alabama. Incidentally, Georgia plays the 1-gap 3-4 (Bum Phillips-derivative) that Grantham uses. Oddly, Grantham has 2 NTs that fit the mold of a 2-gap NT, and Jenkins will probably be high draft pick for that defense (maybe to replace Wilfork? Belichick is another Parcells-derivative guy.)
Along the same line of thinking, Tech’s 3-4 linemen have been more suited for the 1-gap 3-4. Logan Walls was not the ideal 2-gap NT, and it remains to be seen if Barnes finally matures into his role. Barnes is a senior, and soph Shawn Green is very strong but undersized in a 2-gap NT role.
GT1986
September 24th, 2012
9:37 pm
Someone above said CPJ doesn’t support other sports at Tech, guess you don’t go to Basketball games either. I saw him Philips multiple times last year and he was one row behind me at the ACC Tourney at Phillips also, talking to Tech fans,taking pictures etc. The guy is a football coach. Also, didn’t Mark Bradley,just a year ago say CPJ was better than Richt or something to that affect. Get defensive players with “Big Dumpers” who can plug the middle.