The final score

“We want to be (recruiting) throughout the state. There are enough good players in the state of Georgia (that) if we can get the best players, we can be successful. If we can get the best players in Atlanta, we’ll be pretty good.” Coach Paul Johnson, 2/3/10

A list of committed 2011 prospects holding offers from both Tech and UGA:
Data obtained from rivals.com

NAME	POSITION	STARS	RATING	STATE	COMMITTED TO
Sterling Bailey	DE	4	5.8	GA	Georgia
Devin Bowman	ATH	3	5.7	GA	Georgia
Chris Conley	WR	3	5.7	GA	Georgia
Watts Dantzler	OL	3	5.7	GA	Georgia
Zach DeBell	OL	3	5.7	FL	Georgia
Ray Drew	DE	5	6.1	GA	Georgia
Amarlo Herrera	LB	4	5.8	GA	Georgia
Nick Marshall	ATH	4	5.8	GA	Georgia
Xzavier Ward	OT	3	5.7	GA	Georgia
Justin Scott-Wesley	WR	4	5.8	GA	Georgia
Quan Bray	ATH	4	5.8	GA	Auburn
Chevelle Buie	RB	4	5.8	FL	East Carolina
Anthony Chickillo	DE	4	5.9	FL	Miami(FL)
Xzavier Dickson	DE	4	5.9	GA	Alabama
Erique Florence	DB	4	5.9	AL	Auburn
Taylor Gadbois	OL	3	5.6	GA	Miami(FL)
Doran Grant	DB	4	6.0	OH	Ohio St
Carlos Gray	DT	3	5.5	NC	NC State
Demetrius Hart	RB	5	6.1	FL	Alabama
Jeoffrey Pagan	DE	4	6.0	NC	Alabama
Brian Randolph	DB	3	5.7	GA	Tennessee
Terrance Smith	LB	3	5.7	GA	Florida St
Tony Steward	LB	5	6.1	FL	Clemson
Ja'Juan Story	WR	4	5.8	FL	Florida
Stephon Tuitt	DE	5	6.1	GA	Notre Dame
James Vaughters	LB	4	5.9	GA	Stanford
Jabriel Washington	ATH	3	5.7	TN	Alabama
James Wilder Jr.	ATH	5	6.1	FL	Florida St
Karlos Williams	DB	5	6.1	FL	Florida St

0 for 29 vs UGA (.000)

AJC Top 50 commits by school
In parentheses: Stars, Rating, Nat'l position rank, overall nat'l rank according to Rivals.com

GEORGIA
1. RB Isaiah Crowell (5, 6.1, 4, 23)
2. DE Ray Drew (5, 6.1, 1, 9)
3. TE Jay Rome (4, 5.9, 4, 56)
5. ATH Nick Marshall (4, 5.8, 15, NR)
6. WR Malcolm Mitchell (4, 6.0, 1, 30)
9. OL Xzavier Ward (3, 5.7, 42, NR)
11. WR Chris Conley (3, 5.7, 37, NR)
12. CB Damian Swann (4, 5.9, 3, 47)
22. S Corey Moore (4, 5.8, 5, 103)
25. DE Sterling Bailey (4, 5.8, 8, 105)
27. ILB Amarlo Herrera (4, 5.8, 13, 230)
29. WR Justin Scott-Wesley (4, 5.8, 32, NR)
30. OT Watts Dantzler (3, 5.7, 44, NR)
33. ATH Chris Sanders (3, 5.7, 24, NR)
41. C David Andrews (3, 5.7, 9, NR)

GEORGIA TECH
17. OLB Jabari Hunt-Days (4, 5.8, 11, 187)
19. ATH Chris Milton (3, 5.7, 22, NR)
39. RB Zach Laskey (2, 5.4, NR, NR)
49. RB Broddy Snoddy (3, 5.6, NR, NR)

And just for kicks...

AUBURN
15. TE C.J. Uzomah (3, 5.7, 20, NR)
16. DT Gabe Wright (4, 5.8, 13, 141)
18. RB Quan Bray (4, 5.8, 5, 109)
31. OG Thomas O'Reilly (3, 5.6, 43, NR)
46. OLB Justin Garrett (3, 5.6, NR, NR)

KENTUCKY
24. WR Demarco Robinson (3, 5.6, NR, NR)
26. RB Marcus Caffey (3, 5.7, 37, NR)
44. RB Josh Clemons (3, 5.6, 54, NR)
50. S Ashely Lowery (3, 5.6, 59, NR)

SOUTH CAROLINA
28. QB Martay Mattox (3, 5.6, 27, NR
31. S Kadetrix Marcus (3, 5.7, 30, NR)
43. OT Quincy McKinney (3, 5.6, 61, NR)
47. OG Kyle Harris (3, 5.6, 37, NR)

TENNESSEE
7. ILB A.J. Johnson (4, 5.8, 8, 136)
14. S Brian Randolph (3, 5.7, 32, NR)
21. OT Alan Posey (3, 5.7, 46, NR)
40. ILB Christian Harris (3, 5.5, NR, NR)
48. ATH Vincent Dallas (3, 5.7, 35, NR)

How sad is it that football powerhouses like South Carolina and Kentucky seem to be recruiting the state of Georgia just as well as Georgia Tech?

Alternate realities

In defense of this season's disaster, some Tech fans have found it necessary to apply dubious tactics in shielding their beloved Coach Johnson from criticism. Among the more ridiculous has been their illustration of the fact that Tech finished with the same 6-7 record as rival UGA, despite not having the same "4 and 5 star" talent. This has also been used somehow as evidence that Tech doesn't "need" that kind of talent to be a great program, despite UGA's 9 wins over Tech in the last 10.

Obviously such claims ignore the reality that UGA plays in arguably the nation's toughest conference, while Tech plays in a second-rate league comprised mostly of "academic" and "basketball" schools. To this effect have I argued that Tech's "average" 6-7 record in the ACC is akin to a 3-9 debacle playing in a "real" conference.

I thought it would be interesting then to examine how Tech may have fared playing UGA's schedule. The following results were ascertained by using the "predictor" rating published by Jeff Sagarin. Let's take a look:

Opponent	Predictor	Margin	Result
Louisiana-Lafayette	50.52	+21.86	W
@South Carolina	83.35	-16.97	L
Arkansas	87.09	-14.71	L
@Mississippi St	83.00	-16.62	L
@Colorado	66.84	-0.46	L
Tennessee	74.31	-1.93	L
Vanderbilt	58.06	+14.32	W
@Kentucky	69.45	-3.07	L
Florida*	82.38	-13	L
Idaho St	40.15	+32.13	W
@Auburn	93.56	-27.18	L
@Georgia	N/A	-8	L
Central Florida*	77.57	-8.19	L

*neutral site game
Georgia Tech's predictor rating = 69.38
3 points added for home field advantage


So 3-10, with wins over La-Lafayette, Vandy, and Idaho State. Sounds about right. By the way, Georgia Southern gained a spot on Tech in the final Sagarin ratings but failed to overtake the Jackets, placing two notches behind at 72nd.

Better luck next year Coach Monken!

Changes need to be made

Though this blog is titled "Fire Paul Johnson," we realize that, because of the ludicrous and reactionary contract extension afforded Johnson following the 2008 season, he will be given every opportunity to fix the mess he has created. Since we are not averse to pitching in and doing our part, here are some changes which we feel are necessary to make the current regime more palatable until a few more years can be eaten away from the buyout:

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.