Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

Some coaches get it, some coaches don't.

Rumor has it O'Leary doesn't like the color red to this day because it reminds him a little too much of the Bulldogs. O'Leary said he has immense respect for Georgia, but he will never stop cheering for Georgia Tech.

"I've always been a Georgia Tech fan," he said. "I left to take a job at Notre Dame. Other than Notre Dame, I never would have left Georgia Tech. They've always been very good to me. … I've always had a great interest in Georgia Tech and their success. Even though I'm not there, I always want to see them be successful."

"Any time you get a win, it's outstanding. … If you coach at Georgia Tech, you have to understand that you take that game very, very seriously. It's more than just a football game on the line. We've had some really good games. We had some tough losses, we had some great wins."

---

UCF 10, UGA 6
Congrats Coach O'Leary!

Buzzing with excuses

Since the humiliation of Monday evening, the insults and excuses from limp-wristed Tech fans have been flying like greasy tater tots in a middle school lunchroom. We here at FPJ believe that there are no excuses for this year's substandard play, and that it is merely a portent of similar seasons to come. Or to put it another way, as Coach Johnson would so glibly mutter, "It is what it is." Here we review some of the more remarkable cop-outs which have emerged in the last 48 hours, and refute them easily with our typical wit and dexterity.

It's not like we were losing to Fresno

Paul Johnson football in 2010:

• Georgia Tech's first losing season since 1996
  
• A 6-7 record overall, which in the ACC is essentially a 3-9 record in a real conference
• 3rd consecutive bowl loss under Johnson
  
• 3rd consecutive bowl scoring 7 or less offensive points
  
• 2nd consecutive loss to a 5+ loss UGA team
  
• 1 win against a team with a winning record(7-5 UNC with most of its playmakers suspended)
  
• Other wins over SC State, Wake Forest, Middle Tennessee, Duke, and Virginia
  
• Loss to Sagarin #105, 3-9 Kansas(pictured above)
  
• Combined conference record of ACC foes beaten, 7-25(.219)
  
• 67th in the Sagarin ratings, behind two FCS teams, and only 4 spots ahead of Georgia Southern
  
• 99th in red zone scoring percentage
  
• 119th passing offense
  
• 120th in fumbles lost
  
• 3rd to last in players on the postseason All-ACC 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams, ahead of only Virginia and Wake. Only one of these players is returning next season.
  
• Disastrous recruiting class following an ACC championship season
  

No Comebacks For You

As previously covered, Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson seems to have serious problems in mounting late-game comebacks. Here is the updated chart following the bowl:  

Games under Paul Johnson where GT gained possession of the football inside of 5 minutes remaining while trailing by 8 points or less:

Year	Opponent	Time left	Deficit	Result	Final score
2008	Virginia Tech	4:37	3	Downs	(L) 17-20
-	-	0:25	3	End Gm	-
2008	Virginia	3:29	7	INT	(L) 17-24
2009	Georgia	3:30	6	Downs	(L) 24-30
2010	Kansas	4:22	3	Downs	(L) 25-28
2010	Wake Forest	2:21	3	TD	(W) 24-20
2010	Virginia Tech	2:23	7	INT	(L) 21-28
2010	Georgia	2:53	1	Downs	(L) 34-42
-	-	1:22	8	INT	-
2010	Air Force	1:37	7	INT	(L) 7-14

Misnomer Myth

Tech's "offensive" performance in Shreveport continued a trend of poor play in the post-season. Paul Johnson insists that this inadequacy in bowl games is a "misnomer" about his offense. You take a look at the stats and be the judge:

Season	Opponent	Off. Yards	Off. Points	Turnovers	3rd down eff.	Final score
2008	LSU	314	3	3	3-15	3-38
2009	Iowa	155	7	1	4-12	14-24
2010	Air Force	320	7	4	8-18	7-14

Johnson's idea of sportsmanship

Air Force QB Tim Jefferson goes out of his way to greet Coach Johnson after the game, only to be shoved out of the way.

Weed Eater Fest 2010: The Honeymoon is over

At the beginning of the 2010 season, Coach Paul Johnson said this year's team had a chance to be his best yet, but he then qualified that statement with the same trademark cliché he had trotted out prior to the 2009 season:

"We might be a better team, but not win as many games."

Well the 2010 edition of the Yellow Jackets didn't win as many games, and it was most definitely not a better team.

Even the Aussies are catching on

Credit to Nedleeds on the Stingtalk board

Out-geniused

Air Force 14, Georgia Tech 7

During its customary pre-game flight, the Air Force falcon mascot desperately escaped from Independence Stadium, seemingly privy to the stinkfest which was about to ensue.

Special teams miscues, red zone blunders, a late-game meltdown. Basically everything we've come to expect from Paul Johnson football in 2010. The "genius" of option football was out-optioned by a program he used to beat regularly with service academy athletes. Of course who's to say at this point how much of Tech's roster would actually start at Johnson's former school.

I do know one thing. Chan Gailey never lost seven games.

Quick post-game notes:

Johnson's recruiting tactics exposed?

"Our Staff does not negative recruit (...) Paul Johnson has stated it several times." - gt23eric, Stingtalk insider

The Colorado Springs Gazette Saturday published a fascinating story on the assemblage of Troy Calhoun's first recruiting class at the Air Force Academy in 2007. It goes without saying that the service academies often find themselves in pursuit of many of the same athletes, and Calhoun had quite a yarn to tell about two he courted while Paul Johnson was still head coach at the Naval Academy. Recruits Paul Weatheroy and Tim Jefferson were targeted by both Navy and Air Force at the time, and Calhoun's recollection of their respective recruitments is an eye-opener for those Tech fans who would continue to promote the myth of Paul Johnson's sanctity.

On Weatheroy's recruitment:

"On a recruiting trip to another service academy, [Weatheroy's father] said that school spoke negatively about Air Force. He said the coaches claimed the Falcons were going to use [his son] as a fullback, that Calhoun had lied about him being their top tailback recruit, that Calhoun was going to run a pro-style offense. [Air Force assistant Charlton] Warren said he heard other schools showed recruits film of the NFL’s Broncos and Texans, to convince them that would be Calhoun’s offense at Air Force."

Neither Navy nor Paul Johnson are specifically mentioned, but the dots are easily connected. At the time, Army ran a pro-style offense itself, leaving Navy as the only other service academy of the option mold. If "another service academy" negatively recruited against Air Force by suggesting it would run a pro-style attack, then that would isolate Paul Johnson and Navy as the only possible source of such disinformation.

The article continues on the recruitment of QB Tim Jefferson:

"More negative recruiting was happening on the other side of the country with Jefferson. Jefferson had told Air Force he was coming, but he wasn’t so sure now that he was hearing Calhoun wouldn’t run the option. Jefferson said his commitment wavered for about two weeks. During that time Jefferson said he told Navy he would go there. Jefferson’s father and high school coach wanted him to go to Annapolis, because there was no uncertainty about that staff."

Again, a competing school "on the other side of the country" negatively recruited against Air Force on the basis that it would not be utilizing the option. Furthermore, the school Jefferson had "wavered" in the direction of "for about two weeks" was none other than the Naval Academy. There is frankly no way then that the "negative recruiting" mentioned could NOT have been emanating from the forked tongues of Coach Paul Johnson and his henchmen in Annapolis.

Don't get us wrong. It's not that we see anything particularly wrong with certain kinds of negative recruiting-- it's all part of the game, and has been for decades. But it certainly casts a darker pallor upon Coach Johnson than the pearly-white gleam championed by your average Georgia Tech football Kool Aid slurper. And if insider gt23eric's statement on Johnson's explicit denial of negative recruiting is true, then it is yet another example of the selfish, lumbering hypocrisy practiced by that oh-so-blessed purveyor of the highest integrity, so perfect for Georgia Tech, Coach Paul Johnson.

Three more players suspended

"We haven't talked about that, but I'm sure (the motivation) is there (...) The motivation of not getting embarrassed should be high on our list. - Coach Paul Johnson

Starting linebacker Anthony Egbuniwe and reserve defensive backs Michael Peterson and Louis Young have found themselves appended to the ever-expanding roll of players unavailable for Monday afternoon's Poulan Weedwhacker Bowl. Apparently Coach Johnson has so little control over his players that he cannot get them to make curfew in the backwoods of Louisiana three days before a "must-win" bowl game. It appears the suspensions are for the first half of the game only.

Since two of the three, Egbuniwe and Peterson, are Gailey recruits, I'm sure the Kool-Aid slurpers have already devised a scenario whereby the pair treacherously ensnared the lily-white "Johnson-approved" Young into their sordid web of after-hours chicanery.

This ain't Navy, Coach Johnson! When you coach in the big-time, discipline and motivation don't simply take care of themselves! What an embarrassment the last month has been for all who love Georgia Tech.

Johnson losing control of team?

On Thursday four Georgia Tech football players were deemed academically ineligible for Monday's Weedwhacker Bowl in Shreveport. Starting receiver Stephen Hill, starting safety Mario Edwards, reserve linebacker Anthony Barnes, and woman-beating defensive lineman Robert Hall will not be suiting up for the illustrious game. This incident joins the abundance of evidence in the face of a miserable 6-6 season which has betrayed the fractures apparent throughout Johnson's crumbling program.

Only last Friday in fact were Tech fans faced with similarly distressing news, when WR Quentin Sims, a former two-star "CPJ special," revealed his transfer, presumably to the FCS where he belongs. In classic Johnson fashion, the reasons for this action "were not immediately [made] available" to the media. Sims's defection is the latest in what's been a virtual Conga line of departures in the last year, among them the dismissal of touted A-back Chris Jackson for a "violation of team rules," as well as the transfers of ballyhooed 4-star QB Jordan Luallen and backup QB Jaybo Shaw. Most puzzling of all was the bizarre transfer in early December of former starting safety Cooper Taylor, a Tech legacy and a once promising defender, who succumbed to mysterious "heat-related symptoms" in the opener versus SC State, never to be heard from again.

This attrition only underscores Johnson's growing lack of control over his team, something he freely admitted to in late November. Then, in a statement reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Johnson lamented his inability "to find the hot button on this team":

"When asked what motivated last year’s ACC championship team, [Johnson] said, 'If I knew I would use it this year. I don’t know. It just happens.'"

You heard it straight from the coach, folks! No teaching or motivation necessary. Apparently inspired play on the gridiron is merely some nebulous, uncertain thing-a-majig that just sort of "happens." As it turns out, Johnson doesn't really even understand how his team became motivated enough last year to win a championship, even if it was only the ACC and they still managed to lose to 6-5 UGA. Maybe it was dumb luck? Perhaps fueled by the most talented foursome ever on the same roster at Georgia Tech? None of which were recruited by Coach Johnson? Do you think?

Hall

The disruptions haven't been limited to transfers and academic casualties either. Last November, B-back and "high character" Johnson recruit Daniel Drummond was the recipient of a mandatory 12 month NCAA suspension of eligibility for... shh, don't tell anyone!... steroid use. And as previously mentioned, lineman Robert Hall was arrested and charged in June with battery for his brutalization of a young woman, an offense which the harsh disciplinarian Johnson greeted with a rigorous one game suspension for the opener versus prolific South Carolina State.

Even the rule-abiding members of the team have been finding ways to run afoul of the standard modes of decorum. Weeks ago, Tech fans were incensed when a seemingly-innocent exchange on Jonathan Dwyer's Twitter account belied current players Will Jackson and Roderick Sweeting turning on their own supporters and openly criticizing the loyalty of Tech fans.

And so the saga continues. Academic failure, attrition, discontent, rule-breaking, and now losses abound, and "The Man Who Wins Everywhere He Coaches" finds himself square in the middle. Surely now is where all that hard-won experience acquired at the Naval Academy and in Division 1-AA really pays off. At the rate things are going however, Johnson may not even need to draw on such a skill set, as he may soon enough find himself out of players left to coach.

Weedwhacker wrap

Notes as we approach the I-Bowl:

• There was little fanfare as the Georgia Tech football team arrived in Shreveport Thursday, and in fact it turns out the bowl organizers were so unimpressed with their selection that they did not even bother to familiarize themselves with the school's color scheme:
  

  "Following a short bus ride to the team hotel, the Hilton downtown, the 6-6 Yellow Jackets were greeted with minimal fanfare...
  
  I-Bowl executive director Missy Setters and 2010 chairman Jim Hagan welcomed the team in a hotel lobby decorated in Georgia Tech pennants and laced in black and yellow."

  
  
• Apparently the relentlessly stubborn Coach Johnson is the first coach "in recent memory" to close I-Bowl practices to the public. Freaking I-Bowl practices. Perhaps Johnson is having a flashback to his Navy days when playing Air Force was actually a meaningful game.
  
  
• As you may know, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association last week extended its discounted ticket offer, previously scheduled to expire on the 12th, to Christmas day. How jolly of them. According to Associate AD Wayne Hogan, "The response from our fans for this special ticket offer has been very good," however the principles of free-market economics would suggest that they're doing this because no one wants to see two boring teams in a podunk bowl.
  
  
• To that end, the Associated Press has described GT's tactics as "[going] the full used car salesman route":
  

  "The game isn’t that far away and will feature the nation’s top two rushing teams, but fans have been unimpressed enough that the university extended the deal until Christmas in hopes of spurring sales.
  
  “With Christmas around the corner, tickets make for perfect gifts or stocking stuffers,” associate athletic director Wayne Hogan said in a school news release."

  What a classy reflection this savvy ploy is casting upon our great institution. Was there no way to arrange for free hot dogs and Cokes with the Shreveport folks to further sweeten the deal? Or how about a free $5 coupon off the purchase of your next Poulan™ Weed Eater™ brand electric or gas-powered trimmer?
  
  Way to put a marketable product on the field Coach Johnson!
  
  

Johnson outfoxes Navy, Illinois St., secures commits

It's been a busy time of year for those of us at the Fire Paul Johnson blog. Since we were last with you, Coach Paul Johnson has managed to obtain two big-time commitments from Starr's Mill High School running back Zach Laskey and projected linebacker Tyler Marcordes from Illinois. Both players were hotly pursued, and together represent what surely must be an earth-shattering coup for Georgia Tech's 2011 recruiting class.

Laskey's offers? Well let's just say he's a very "serviceable" young man... Mr. Laskey chose Tech despite fervent overtures from Air Force and the Naval Academy, reaffirming GT's rightful place at the pinnacle of service academy athletics.

Marcordes was an even more impressive get: He was actually pursued by a BCS school! In fact he scored TWO offers from FBS programs-- Illinois and Northern Illinois! Rounding out his impressive recruitment were highly provocative flirtations with Illinois St. and SoCon power Furman. Marcordes had in fact previously committed to Furman, then changed his commitment to Illinois, and now has changed his commitment to Georgia Tech. It goes without saying that this is A-OK with Coach Johnson, as Marcordes "probably" didn't have the same kind of agreement with those schools as he now has with Tech, though Johnson is not going to check.

Of course with these commitments followed the usual assurances from Johnson toadies that Laskey and Marcordes may not have stars or great offers but are "naturals," and that they had seen film on them or had seen them in person and that they were "real football players." Oh, and don't forget about measurables too. It goes without saying Marcordes is a "perfect Al Groh" kind of linebacker who just needs a little seasoning. Further, some have even suggested that Coach Johnson intentionally recruited the obscure Laskey precisely to be a "three carry a game" type of player who as a bonus might be dynamite on special teams. What foresight by the genius of the "Spread Option"!

Do any of the top programs recruit players with plans for them to play special teams or be a 3rd string backup? Does Nick Saban recruit players committed to Middle Tennessee because he thinks they might bring good effort on the punt coverage team? Of course not, because that would be a wasted scholarship. The bottom line is that Tech should NEVER be recruiting against the likes of Navy and Illinois St. And so does Tech find itself today two steps closer to Coach Johnson's guiding vision of bringing Annapolis-style service academy football to the deep south.

Johnsons's latest recruiting masterpieces:

Name	Rivals	Scout	ESPN	Offers
Zach Laskey	2 stars	2 stars	2 stars	Navy, Air Force
Tyler Marcordes	3 stars	2 stars	1 star	IL, NIU, IL St., Furman

Total control

Some folks say the only guarantees in life are death and taxes. Such people have obviously not examined Tech's 2011 recruiting efforts under Coach Paul Johnson.

Of the 28 players who have received offers from both Georgia and Georgia Tech for the 2011 class per Rivals.com, precisely ZERO have committed to Tech. Eight of these players have committed to Georgia, twelve have committed to other schools, and eight others are undecided, but do not appear to have Tech in the mix. It would seem in fact that an offer from Georgia is a virtual money-in-the-bank guarantee that a player will not sign with Tech. Rarely has UGA's intrastate control of the collective football mind share been so perfect and complete as it has become under Johnson's watch.

The meaning of commitment

According to preliminary indications from a HIVe insider, Coach Paul Johnson may be backing down from the "Aycock Rule" in the circumstance of 2011 commit Vad Lee. And predictably the same toadies who waxed poetic about Johnson's "principles" and all those high-character kids he was recruiting are now the same ones laying the groundwork of excuses. Among the early candidates:

• The Aycock affair happened later in the process.
  
  
• Aycock was dishonest with the coaches about his visit to Auburn.(though it's been established that he told the coaches about the Auburn visit and was instructed not to go)
  
  
• Johnson and Lee have some kind of special "agreement" that allows him to take visits.(If that's the case, isn't that a little unfair to the rest of the recruits?)
  
  
• Tech stopped recruiting another QB as a result of Aycock's commitment.(that doesn't apply in Lee's case??)
  
  
• Aycock had some kind of "character flaw" that Lee does not have.
  
  
• The AJC writer reporting on Lee's wavering is a UGA grad and is thus stirring things up against GT.
  
  
• There never was a "policy" to begin with. And Oceania has never been at war with Eastasia.
  
  

In case you're new to the situation, here is a refresher on what "commitment" (apparently) means to Coach Paul Johnson:

“We tell kids all the time in our office ‘Look around and make sure this is what you want to do,’” Johnson said. “I am not trying to keep kids from looking around. I think they need to look around. But when you decide and commit, then you’re giving people your word that you’re coming. It’s not a game. It’s not ‘Ok, I’ll take this one unless I can find something better. Or let me lock this down there so I can shop around for some other spots.’ If you’re doing that, you’re not committing.”

“Commitment to me means if they tell me they are coming, then I expect that they are coming. If they tell you you’re coming, then why are they taking more visits?”

“I view anybody that’s still visiting [other] schools as not committed. That’s just me. That’s just the way I do it.”

“... Dontae would tell you that I made him call Lousville and tell them that he wasn’t coming. I told him that’s only fair to Louisville. He went [the following day] and did that. There was a lot more to it. Then he got some bad advice. And maybe not. Maybe he wanted to go to Auburn anyways. That’s what I took it as. If he wanted to visit Auburn, then he wanted to go there.”

More on this situation as it develops.

Fútbol savant

The Georgia Tech Rivals site is reporting that Coach Johnson has offered a 2011 scholarship this weekend to Chattahoochee place kicker Ammon Lakip. Tech was not initially going for a kicker this class, but after whiffing on nearly all of its top targets has apparently experienced a change of heart. If Lakip commits, that would make for the second kicker Johnson has signed to a scholarship in two seasons.

When Johnson arrived at Tech, his plan was to rely on walk-ons at place kicker, but he and his staff's incompetence at developing the position led him to comb for talent on the recruiting trail. After the four juniors announced for the NFL draft last January, Tech had room to sign Marist kicker Justin Moore, who was redshirted for the 2010 season. The fact that, following a full season of seeing Moore in practice, Coach Johnson is willing to commit a scholarship to another kicker tells you all you need to know about his confidence in the position.

Will place kicker become yet another ongoing issue with this program? Coach Johnson whined frequently when he got to Tech about the depth issues that resulted from probation, but he apparently hasn’t learned his lesson. Johnson appears now to be panicking, throwing good money after the bad at the kicker position. Considering his team's abundance of weaknesses across the board, Johnson cannot afford to be so absent-minded when it comes to distributing scholarship offers.

Is there an Al Groh with "NFL credentials" and a Super Bowl ring who can be hired to fix the kicking game? The current plan of coaching special teams "by committee," just like so many of Johnson's stubborn and bizarre practices, is clearly not in the best interests of Georgia Tech football. With Johnson himself acting as the offensive coordinator, there is simply no excuse not to spend the money thus saved to hire a coach devoted to the special teams unit.

Many uneducated and delusional observers have lauded, and continue to perpetuate, the myth of Paul Johnson's supposed "genius" and infallibility. And most certainly Coach Johnson is a genius–- at coaching service academy football. One would imagine in fact that he didn’t have to worry too much about field goals against all the Kent States and North Texases he beat up on at the Naval Academy.

What could have been

Three years ago, Will Muschamp was all but hired as Georgia Tech's 12th head football coach when he was rejected at the eleventh hour by Tech's athletic board for being a UGA alumnus. Last night, the Texas defensive coordinator and "head coach in waiting" was announced as the new head football coach at the University of Florida. And there don't appear to be any concerns regarding his ties to the Bulldogs.


People ask me all the time, if Georgia Tech were to fire Coach Johnson, who could it get that is better? Well it could have had one of the nation's top coaching prospects in Muschamp. You would figure at least that if he was good enough for Florida and Texas, arguably the two top collegiate coaching destinations in the country, then he must be pretty hot stuff.

Of course the Kool-Aid Brigade will claim that part of what makes Coach Johnson "perfect" is the very idea that Tech is unlikely to lose him to another school. What they blissfully ignore however is that having top programs interested in your coach is a sign of great success. Certainly between Johnson's mediocre recruiting, his declining on-field results, and his soporific offensive philosophy, one can rest assured that football blue-bloods like Florida won't be pursuing him any time soon.

Further, some have posited that had Tech hired Muschamp instead of Johnson, it would have lost him to Florida last night anyway. That may or may not be the case. But surely if he'd done a job worthy of such reward, Georgia Tech football would be on a sounder footing today than upon the slippery slope of service academy methodology on which it finds itself in his stead.

Go Army, Beat Navy!

The unfounded hero-worship of Coach Paul Johnson has indeed become a nauseating phenomenon. Every insignificant word or gesture offered by this dumpy, belligerent mass of cliches and arrogance is seemingly another reason for a certain segment of Tech fandom to erupt in goosebumps while shrieking in womanly delight, "I love our coach!" This cult-like fanaticism has managed even to entail a strange reverence of Johnson's previous coaching stops, with Tech fans overnight emerging as "Wal-Mart" supporters of Georgia Southern and US Naval Academy athletics.

And while the latter circumstance may appear harmless on its surface, in reality the Johnson slurper-lemmings, through their support of other teams that run the Cheese-Ball Offense, actively root against the fortunes of Georgia Tech football. Simply put, the more teams that have success using the "Spread Option," the more teams we will see adopting it, and so will this compromise Tech's distinct advantage in running an offense no one ever sees.

Don't get on that plane!

On November 29th, 2010, the worlds of cubicle-dwelling middle-aged men throughout the southeast were thrown into a tempest when their creepy voyeurism of a seventeen-year-old kid unearthed the following chestnut on his Twitter account:

"I continue to pray about my early decision although others are starting to make a stronger argument"

That phrase was dispensed by none other than Durham, NC QB and 2011 Georgia Tech commit Vad Lee, a player who some would suggest is the Crown Jewel of what has been an underwhelming class for Coach Paul Johnson. The proceedings quickly invoked memories of Dontae Aycock, another Johnson QB recruit who committed to Tech in 2009 but had his offer revoked after subsequently catching a fateful plane ride to Auburn. The AJC has in fact confirmed that Lee "may" take visits to competing schools.

Get 'em while they last

Fresh from the weekly circular...

Johnson second-highest paid coach in the ACC

USA Today published Wednesday a list of FBS head coaching salaries for the 2010 season. Among the ten ACC schools with data listed, Coach Paul Johnson owns the second-highest salary, with the most lucrative bonus package. Note that, though data for Miami and Boston College is not available, Miami days ago fired its coach, and Boston College is unlikely to be compensating career assistant Frank Spaziani among the league's elite.

ACC head coaching salaries (max bonus in parentheses)

1. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest - 2,939,475 (n/a)
2. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech - 2,300,000 (1,125,000)
3. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech - 2,128,000 (407,500)
4. Ralph Friedgen, Maryland - 2,043,306 (737,232)
5. Jimbo Fisher, Florida St - 1,804,000 (675,000)
6. Mike London, Virginia - 1,780,000 (715,000)
7. Dabo Swinney, Clemson - 1,768,500 (694,792)
8. Butch Davis, North Carolina - 1,752,000 (105,000)
9. David Cutcliffe, Duke - 1,581,903 (n/a)
10. Tom O'Brien, NC State - 1,520,450 (750,000)

Cost per regular season win

1. Tom O'Brien, NC State - 190k
2. Jimbo Fisher, Florida St - 200k
3. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech - 213k
4. Butch Davis, North Carolina - 250k
5. Ralph Friedgen, Maryland - 255k
6. Dabo Swinney, Clemson - 295k
7. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech - 383k
8. Mike London, Virginia - 445k
9. David Cutcliffe, Duke - 527k
10. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest - 979k

I guess $2,300,000 doesn't go quite as far as it used to? Perhaps we can take some solace in the fact that Johnson will not be earning a good chunk of his outlandish bonus this season.

Double agents

On Wednesday eight words induced shivers down the vertebrae of Yellow Jacket football fans far and wide:

"Urban Meyer resigns as Florida Gators head coach."

Meyer indeed relinquished the position Wednesday evening, presumably for good this time, drawing close to a magnificent coaching run highlighted by the three most prolific seasons in school history and a pair of national championships.

Of particular relevance to Tech fans was Meyer's 5-1 mark versus the University of Georgia, as well as his team's continual impedance of Georgia's success in both SEC East play and recruiting. Meyer's five victories account for more wins than Tech has accumulated in the last twenty meetings versus the Bulldogs.

Johnson: Not a considerable difference between Tech and Navy players

A revealing quote from Coach Paul Johnson, as reported on Monday by the Denver Post:

"I haven't seen a considerable difference in the players here at Georgia Tech from the players we had at Navy," Johnson said. "Our players here might be a tad bigger."

Oh really Coach Johnson?

If that truly is the case, one can't help but wonder why you came to Georgia Tech in the first place. Surely he must be speaking of Chan Gailey's refuse rather than his own stable of hand-picked stallions, right Kool-Aid slurpers?

Five-peat!

Much is spoken about Paul Johnson's dominance in the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy series, where he won the annual competition among the three service academies five years running from 2003-2007. What is less frequently mentioned is the record of the teams Johnson beat to achieve this distinction. With the unique opportunity now afforded America's newly-ordained "fourth" service academy this bowl season, Johnson's previous successes merit a closer examination:

Year	Army	Air Force
2003	0-13	7-5
2004	2-9	5-6
2005	4-7	4-7
2006	3-9	4-8
2007	3-9	9-4
TOTAL	12-47	29-30

The first thing one notices: Johnson enjoyed a veritable gravy train of miserable Army teams-- in fact his tenure at Navy paralleled one of the losingest six-year stretches in the history of Army football. Further was Johnson the beneficiary of an Air Force program which compiled three consecutive losing seasons for the first time in twenty-five years, and which finished with fewer than five losses only once in Johnson's six seasons. All told, across Johnson's streak, he faced only two teams from either academy that even finished the season with a winning record.

Yes, Navy football was quite bad when Johnson arrived. And yes he should be afforded every accolade due a coach who annually cobbled together winning seasons out of the 110th ranked schedule. But it's not like he was conquering a pair of credible opponents on a yearly basis in some heroic struggle for service academy pre-eminence.

Of course the myth of Johnson's infallibility in rivalry games has already been thoroughly discredited against five-loss UGA, and six-loss UGA again, illustrating all the more poignantly that Navy football is a far, far cry from the rigors inherent in piloting a major conference program, even if it does play in the "Almost Competitive" ACC.

Diesel backs the dump truck on Tech fans

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 DwyerIts 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 Dwyeri really hope georgia tech fans get themselves together

Jon Dwyerscoob 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

And while the fickleness of Tech fans is hardly a well-kept secret, and some might even consider Dwyer a touch conceited, it's difficult to blame the young rookie for lashing out. If I'd spent half my college career slamming my body into the line without the football, only to witness the evisceration of my draft prospects via Paul Johnson's offense, I'd probably be bitter about Georgia Tech too.

What Air Force fans are saying...

WanderingFalcon: Not particularly excited about playing a more athletic Navy in a bowl..."

AFAfan: Don't worry...this years GT team isn't[more athletic]. I'm actually a bit disappointed after looking at their record and stats. We will be favored to win. (...) They'll probably promote the game as the #1 and #2 rushing teams, like it will be some kind of offensive fireworks show...but it will more likely be like a low pitchers duel.

FledglingFalcon: What AF has going for them compared to GT is discipline. GT will have slightly bigger & faster players, but as we've seen time and time again, that means squat compared to heart.

BirdBorneIED: IMO: Least entertaining matchup we could have received. I will not fly out for this one. I would have loved to see us play Clemson, Miami or BC and would not have missed being there"

FlyZoomie08: GT is a yawn. I really wanted Clemson or Miami.

ProudoftheFalcons: We will absolutely demolish Georgia Tech.

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Turns out even service academy fans are bored to tears by the "Spread Option."

And imagine how ESPN2 must feel about having to broadcast this stinker. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they moved it to the more lightly-regarded ESPNU, perhaps in favor of poker or some kind of cheerleading competition.

Note how the Air Force fans are actually more confident about beating GT than they are about beating Navy! But I thought this thing would take off with the "better athletes" Coach Johnson would be recruiting to Georgia Tech?

Bottom line: We need to send Coach Johnson and his chickencrap offense back to Annapolis where they belong! Hire a hungry young coach who will upgrade our recruiting, reintroduce the concepts of defense and special teams, and most importantly bring our offense back into the 21st century!

Do it NOW or do it later. Your choice D-Rad. You're already pushing discounted tickets to the Weedwhacker Bowl. This isn't like firing your average coach-- it will take many years to repair the damage which "Spread Option" football will do to our roster and national identity. The longer you wait, the more extensive this reclamation project will be.

Major programs knew this about Johnson, which is why the only other job offers "The Man Who Wins Everywhere He Coaches" had coming were Duke and SMU. Consider yourself warned!

Another kind of championship

A year ago Coach Paul Johnson made the statement that he didn't come to GT to win an ACC championship-- he came to win "another" kind of championship. Who could have known this was what he meant?

In other news: The GTAA is selling discounted $14 tickets in, um, "commemoration" of our 14th consecutive bowl appearance. What generosity in these difficult times!

Do U I Bol?

Shreveport, is what it is

It's not like we're playing Fresno, right coach?

A Public Service Message

One of the more enduring "misnomers"(as Coach Johnson would put it) of the Paul Johnson era has been that he possesses some kind of magical ability to judge talent which is fortuitously not owned by any other coach in the major collegiate ranks.

For you see, Paul Johnson knows football. He really knows it. While Superman has X-Ray Vision, and Spiderman his "Spidey Sense," Coach Johnson, with what we can only speculate to be some kind of tingling or burning sensation in his ample busom, can deftly recognize unheralded future All-Americans to whom only FCS and mid-major schools have offered scholarships.

Case in point: 2011 commit Broderick Snoddy, who of course projects to the program's dingy utility closet, the "A-back" position. Amidst what was surely a throwdown on the recruiting trail, Mr. Snoddy chose Georgia Tech over Sun Belt titan Middle Tennessee and FCS schools Delaware, Georgia Southern, and Jacksonville State. It goes without saying then that he must be a late-blooming Diamond in the Rough with super measurables and impressive high school stats whom the elite schools were "just starting" to recruit. I mean, who cares if other FBS schools didn't see fit to offer Broddy Snoddy a scholarship? They aren't coached by The Man With the Magical Blubbery Bust. In CPJ We Trust.

Another All-ACC team, same results

Phil Steele has released his postseason All-ACC teams, and predictably Georgia Tech has scant representation, placing a mere six players among four teams. Four of the six players are seniors. Of particular note is that only one defensive player made any of the four teams, 3rd teamer Julian Burnett. GT is second to last in the conference in representation across the teams, ahead of only Wake Forest.

1st team offense: RB Anthony Allen, C Sean Bedford
2nd team offense: OG Omoregie Uzzi
4th team offense: QB Joshua Nesbitt(shared with Christian Ponder)
3rd team defense: LB Julian Burnett, K Scott Blair

Selections by team:
1. Virginia Tech - 18
2. Miami - 17
3. Clemson - 14
4. Florida St - 10
T5. Duke - 9
T5. NC State - 9
7. North Carolina - 8
T8. Boston College - 7
T8. Maryland - 7
T10. Georgia Tech - 6
T10. Virginia - 6
12. Wake Forest - 5

Top 10 Most Annoying Things About Paul Johnson

2010 edition...

10. "I think recruiting is going well."

9. Running on 1st down.

8. "We work on it every day... you might not know it to see it."

7. Running on 2nd down.

6. Incorrect use of the word "misnomer."

5. Running on 3rd down.

4. "We need to force more punts."

3. That draw-them-offsides-on-4th-down play that never works.

2. Piss-poor special teams.

1. "It is what it is."

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Honorable mention(maybe next year):

- The Dontae Aycock rule

- Berating players on national TV

- Wes Durham: "Where are the areas where you've seen this team grow a little bit?"
Paul Johnson: "Hmmm... that's a good question... um.... I don't know. "

- Fumble on the pitch

- "I really couldn't tell you why [Jerrard Tarrant is not returning kickoffs]."

- Simplifying the defense

- "Don't talk, show me."

Fried Fish

In a continuation of events set into motion last season, UGA replaced its long-time strength and conditioning director on Thursday, addressing an area which some felt to be culpable in their program's recent decline. This follows last December's staff shakeup headlined by the ouster of embattled defensive coordinator Willie Martinez.

As a true GT fan raised on this rivalry, and not a Paul Johnson "moral victory" Kool-Aid slurper, I find such developments painful to watch. Georgia Tech has had every opportunity to shake the foundation of college football in the state of Georgia the last two seasons, and it has done nothing but spit the bit and buy more time for Mark Richt and front-running Wal-Mart Bulldog fans statewide. Slowly but surely the capable Richt has been allowed to correct the deficiencies in his program, and my belief is that they will be back in the national spotlight sooner than later.

No comebacks allowed

Joe knew comebacks

Paul Johnson won 20 games in his first two seasons at Georgia Tech. A large component of that success was his team's ability to build leads which it could protect in the final quarter of the game. This leverages the team's strength, which is running the football.

Unfortunately for Paul Johnson, there is virtue in balance, and when you play at the highest level of college football, you will often find yourself needing to make offensive plays late in a game. This proves difficult when you are pressured to score in a time-sensitive situation and all you know how to do is possess the football and run clock.

In order to accomplish a truly special season, a team must be flexible enough to adapt to any game situation, and Paul Johnson's one-trick offense will always hamstring Georgia Tech from reaching the upper crust of college football.

Oh, but 2009 was a special season you say? Sorry, but winning a sorry ACC, with a loss to UGA, and a middle-of-the-pack ranking is NOT a special season. And how was that loss to UGA achieved? By failing to score in a time-sensitive situation late in the game.

Games under Paul Johnson where GT gained possession of the football inside of 5 minutes remaining while trailing by 8 points or less: (note: Clemson in the 2009 ACC Title Game does not meet the criteria, as GT gained possession at 6:11 remaining)

Year	Opponent	Time left	Deficit	Result	Final score
2008	Virginia Tech	4:37	3	Downs	(L) 17-20
-	-	0:25	3	End Gm	-
2008	Virginia	3:29	7	INT	(L) 17-24
2009	Georgia	3:30	6	Downs	(L) 24-30
2010	Kansas	4:22	3	Downs	(L) 25-28
2010	Wake Forest	2:21	3	TD	(W) 24-20
2010	Virginia Tech	2:23	7	INT	(L) 21-28
2010	Georgia	2:53	1	Downs	(L) 34-42
-	-	1:22	8	INT	-

Conclusion: In the Paul Johnson era, Georgia Tech is 1-6 in games where it possesses the football late with the game within reach. The lone win came against a 3-9 Wake Forest with the 102nd ranked defense whose only ACC win came against Duke.

How would Gailey have fared?

The classic argument of your average Paul Johnson fanboy is that Johnson did three things Chan Gailey never could... Beat UGA, finish in the top 25, and win the ACC Championship.  The problems are however that Chan Gailey is hardly the gold standard of what a Georgia Tech coach should be, and that the cupboard was left far from empty upon Johnson's arrival.

Senior Allen only Johnson recruit on All-ACC team

Distinct characteristics of this year's Georgia Tech team have been its snooze-inducing lack of playmakers and its questionable level of BCS-caliber talent, resulting in contentious barnburners against teams like Kansas, Wake Forest, and Duke.  That fact was only unscored by the naming of the 2010 All-ACC football team released by the conference on Monday.

Georgia Tech placed a mere three players on either the first, second, or "honorable mention" teams, only one of which can be fully credited to Johnson, senior B-back and Louisville transfer Anthony Allen.  Two of the three players were offensive linemen.  Omoregie Uzzi was a member of Johnson's first class in 2008, but was primarily recruited by Gailey prior to Johnson's arrival.  Senior center Sean Bedford originally walked-on under Gailey and was inherited by Johnson.

Georgia Tech tied Duke(3-9) for the third fewest players included, ahead of only Virginia(4-8) and Wake Forest(3-9).

Members on the first, second, or honorable mention squads by school:

Virginia Tech: 13
Miami: 10
North Carolina: 7
Clemson: 6
Maryland: 6
Florida State: 5
NC State: 5
Boston College: 4
Duke: 3
Georgia Tech: 3
Virginia: 2
Wake Forest: 0

Facts about Paul Johnson and UGA

- Paul Johnson has blown as golden an opportunity as Tech will EVER have to overtake UGA as the premier program in the state, all by losing to a 6-5, and then a 5-6 team. This game is enormous for recruiting in our talent rich state, and we’ve seen the fruits of that with this year’s mediocre “post-ACC Championship” recruiting class.

- I take ZERO heart in the fact we were more competitive in the game than expected. First of all, they are a 5-6 team and tried to give us the game with fumbles, which we promptly returned. Second, we should not be so poor in the first place as to where we are a 14 point dog to a 5-6 team, particularly in the 3rd year of a coach’s regime.

- If Paul Johnson had beaten the two worst UGA teams since Ray Goff, Mark Richt would be OUT OF WORK today.