Unranked, unrated new buzzwords as Tech lands trio

For the first time in over three months, Coach Paul Johnson has obtained a commitment from a prospect of any note.

Three-star offensive lineman Errin Joe out of Lakeland, FL pledged for Tech on Sunday, toting behind a respectable list of offers which included Miami(FL) and West Virginia. Tech was reportedly Joe's second choice, but the committable offer from his first pick, FSU, was not forthcoming.

Much like with the Simple Option offense however, there's always a little bit of bad sprinkled in with the good.

Tech absent from earliest preseason 2011 rankings

It appears that writers around the country are finally starting to catch on to "The Man Who Wins Everywhere He Coaches."

Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech have been shut out in the five earliest preseason rankings released by major outlets for the 2011 season. Tech indeed failed to make an appearance in any of the top 25 listings, and even managed to avoid being named among the top 30 of Sports Illustrated and the top 50 of Nationalchamps.net!

Examining further, the Nationalchamps.net ranking showed Tech behind several traditional powers who are very likely to be overrated, such as Southern Miss, Baylor, and Miami(of Ohio), as well as behind two of its fellow service academies Navy and Air Force. Though Army did not appear in the top 50, it is unclear at this point as to how the site evaluates them in relation to the Yellow Jackets.

Just give Coach Johnson time though! Once he gets his players in, surely he'll bring The Trophy back home to North Avenue!

ESPN.com

SI.com - Not among 30 teams listed

Nationalchamps.net - Not among top 50 teams!

Orlando Sentinel

San Jose Mercury News

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.

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!