According to a Thursday press release, Georgia Tech RS-junior safety and punt returner Jerrard Tarrant will skip his senior season and declare for the NFL draft. He was the second Tech player in as many days to make the decision, joining fellow 2007 recruit Nick Claytor who announced on Wednesday. Since neither Claytor nor Tarrant appears to be regarded as a top NFL prospect, the situation has become yet another damning indictment of the control, or lack thereof, that Coach Paul Johnson has over his football program.
Tarrant was one of the few identifiable playmakers that remained on the roster following the defection of the four juniors to the NFL following the 2009 season. He captured the imagination of Tech fans from the beginning of his brief two-year career, as he returned punts for touchdowns in each of his first two games as a Yellow Jacket. Tarrant also had two critical interception returns for touchdowns, one in the 2010 Orange Bowl and another against NC State this past season, which frankly kept Johnson's team from being humiliated in both games. Tarrant's penchant for the big play also led him to force and recover three fumbles after being moved to the safety position in 2010. His absence from the lineup will be particularly worrisome in 2011, as Tech will now be starting new players at all four defensive back positions.
Further, is it not an ominous sign that the substitute at returner for the injured Tarrant in the Weedeater Bowl muffed two punts?
And just as with Claytor, some vindictive Tech fans have immediately seized this opportunity to turn on Tarrant. Talk has already begun of his being another "bad apple" who was poisonous to the program. And as Tarrant was likewise another (playmaking) Gailey recruit, speculation has surfaced that there must have been a division on the team between Gailey and Johnson players(three years in), completely independent from Johnson's control(naturally). According to some allegations, this conflict perhaps even involved one of the team's leaders, "Mr. Heisman" himself, starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt.
But is this the end of the attrition? Rumor has circulated already that the "jailbreak" is far from complete: Defensive back Louis Young, one of Johnson's more heralded recruits in his time at Tech, is apparently considering a transfer, and others are rumored to follow.
At the pace it's going, "Annapolis South" may indeed arrive faster than anyone ever could have imagined.
Why don't you participate in stingtalk? Oh yeah. You went to UGA. That's why.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hilarious that people accuse the author of this blog of being a UGA fan.
ReplyDeleteRead the material. This guy knows WAY too much about fine details of the program and writes way too well about the subjects he discusses to have anything but a Tech loyalty.
It's amusing as heck to me that whenever somebody calls it like it is when it comes to Tech, they are instantly "a UGA fan posing...."
Keep up the good work! While a lot of Tech fans obviously cannot handle somebody writing views that oppose theirs, it is their choice to read it, therefore their choice to get mad about it.
Paul Johnson SUCKS!!!!
The page owner is clearly posting as "anonymous" above me. He writes with the same vitriol and childishness as the page owner in any event. If he is a Tech man, he should have his man card revoked, and his diploma ripped up.
ReplyDeleteSome of the comments are over the top, but I have to agree with the overall assessment of Paul Johnson. The guy is a good offensive coordinator (which is where I differ with the owner), but he is not head coaching material at the BCS level. He doesn't get recruiting at this level, he doesn't understand kids at this level (hence the locker room issues this year) and he refuses to get involved with special teams (or doesn't know what to do). Those are just the things we see from the outside. It's no surprise, he has never played or coached (even as an assistant) at this level.
ReplyDeleteHe was a high risk hire, and the leash needs to be short. One more bad year and he should be gone. Unfortunately, he has 6 years remaining on his contract.
Anyone who supports a coach over GT should have his diploma ripped up.