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.