Best of both worlds

[rodandanga]

I have a family friend who has been a season ticket holder since before I was born and he hated CPJ because he insisted CPJ was rude to him at some shmoozing event. He was calling for him to be fired ever since. I asked him at the tailgate Saturday “would you rather the coach begrudgingly shake your hand and go to the OB and beat UGA a few times or the coach high five you and small talk with a big smile on his face and get outscored 100-0 to end the season?” He didn’t give me an answer.

I've always had a theory that a certain segment of the fan base hated CPJ because they couldn't talk about NFL players or other flashy things around the water cooler. That made them care more about optics and being able to talk ****, than caring about winning games.

 

[Techster]

I have a family friend who has been a season ticket holder since before I was born and he hated CPJ because he insisted CPJ was rude to him at some shmoozing event. He was calling for him to be fired ever since. I asked him at the tailgate Saturday “would you rather the coach begrudgingly shake your hand and go to the OB and beat UGA a few times or the coach high five you and small talk with a big smile on his face and get outscored 100-0 to end the season?” He didn’t give me an answer.

I've written this anecdote several times on this board over the years. CPJ use to get food and drinks at the same watering hole I regularly frequent. This was when he lived in Vinnings before he moved away. I never approached him because it was CPJ's personal time, and I just wouldn't do it to anyone. However, I've seen people come up to him...fans of GT and other schools. He was always gracious to everyone and treated them kindly. I'm friends with the owner of that place, and good friends with a lot of the staff...each one that's served him has only nice things to say about CPJ.

Funny story. CPJ also use to play darts and pool at that watering hole with coaches and people I assumed were friends or donors. One time, as he was leaving, he told a guy wearing a GT baseball cap "Nice hat!" That guy had no clue who CPJ was.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

ideally you have neither. one of the first things dabo did was go straight to the boosters to schmooze. clemson’s funding grew and the success that followed compounded that. that is a huge part of the game and paul johnson’s refusal to do that was a legitimate criticism that probably held us back.

collins was too far on the other end. too much salesman not enough football. hopefully we work in a direction that has a guy competent at both.

our fans and boosters need something to spark them back into caring and we have to also show after that we can deliver results

Oh, I absolutely agree. My point wasn’t to say we can only have one or the other. Just a funny story.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

I've written this anecdote several times on this board over the years. CPJ use to get food and drinks at the same watering hole I regularly frequent. This was when he lived in Vinnings before he moved away. I never approached him because it was CPJ's personal time, and I just wouldn't do it to anyone. However, I've seen people come up to him...fans of GT and other schools. He was always gracious to everyone and treated them kindly. I'm friends with the owner of that place, and good friends with a lot of the staff...each one that's served him has only nice things to say about CPJ.

Funny story. CPJ also use to play darts and pool at that watering hole with coaches and people I assumed were friends or donors. One time, as he was leaving, he told a guy wearing a GT baseball cap "Nice hat!" That guy had no clue who CPJ was.

This is funny because one of the two times I had an encounter with him, he initiated the conversation because I had a Tech hat on and was going to go the same route you went and not bother him. I found him pleasant both times and all of my family friends from Statesboro love the Johnsons as people, not just as a great coach.

My job leads me to interacting with several celebrities and so I have witnessed first hand so many moments where fans are entitled and think a celebrity is being rude to them simply because they aren’t allowing their whole day to be dictated by that fan encounter. It’s become a sign to me that if someone has a story about someone kind of famous being “rude” to them without having any real details of WHY they were rude, it’s most likely a case of an entitled fan than a rude celebrity. With boosters, people giving money to the program, there can easily be entitlement. My family friend’s story about CPJ always came off that way to me.

 

[tomknight]

Can you imagine what would have happened if CPJ had been more of fired-up, marketing/recruiting guy intensely interested in owning the 404?

Or what if CGC had some of CPJ's unique, offensive genius, knew how to manage his timeouts, and could make good mid-game adjustments?

can you imagine what it would be like around here if some font started 100 new threads about CPJ, as if that does anything at all to address the current situation?

 

[Randy Carson]

can you imagine what it would be like around here if some font started 100 new threads about CPJ, as if that does anything at all to address the current situation?

Analyzing what has and hasn't worked in the past has EVERYTHING to do with what we should do in the very near future.

 

[GTsapper]

can you imagine what it would be like around here if some font started 100 new threads about CPJ, as if that does anything at all to address the current situation?

I would pay good money to hear CPJ's honest assessment of Geoff Collins

 

[GT33]

The bolded is true. He turned off a lot of big donors that wanted to be schmoozed...CPJ just didn't want to play the game off the field. It was one of the parts of coaching CPJ despised...he was revered at GSU and Navy, and winning big was enough at those places. It's why Bobinski had some big donors behind his scheme to starve CPJ of resources until he would finally quit. It almost worked.

CPJ quit on his own volition. He could have made GT buy him out, but he did not. GT should be more grateful for that seeing as what's going on now.

In his defense, even after three ACCCG appearances and two Orange Bowls, he was still getting negative questions and treatment.
However ... he rarely, if ever, turned down an interview request. If someone wanted his time, he gave it. Yeah, he could be brusque and *****ly but he was also accommodating as possible.

Everybody I knew at Navy loved him, but it's a dfferent environment when you're not having to coddle players & boosters. And yes, even with great success here early on some of our own fans remained negative to the hire wanting their guy over a winning team & a successful program.

 

[jacket_fan]

I would pay good money to hear CPJ's honest assessment of Geoff Collins

I only have second hand comments, but my understanding is he told Todd, anybody but Collins. Second hand, but reliable.

 

[jgtengineer]

I only have second hand comments, but my understanding is he told Todd, anybody but Collins. Second hand, but reliable.

Fits with what i heard too.

 

[TheTechGuy]

if paul johnson was more endearing to the media and tried to be like that just a little more (not asking him to make a fool out of himself) he would probably still be here. going 24-25 the last 4 years while being so indifferent about upselling the program is probably what eventually got him politely shown the door.

CPJ wasn’t shown the door. I’m always surprised by the consistent few who want that to be the case, but it just isn’t accurate.

 

[CEB]

Fits with what i heard too.

 

[takethepoints]

I've always had a theory that a certain segment of the fan base hated CPJ because they couldn't talk about NFL players or other flashy things around the water cooler. That made them care more about optics and being able to talk ****, than caring about winning games.

Bingo. There's something else too. I don't mean to be disparaging (oh, wth, let's just do it) but there are a good number of football fans who flat don't know that much about the game. Those people have a tendency to like to carry on about the talents of particular players and how they are going to lead a team to victory. These folks - and I know some and like them too boot - are never going to be content with a system offense. They want to see their team produce players of the week and NFL draft picks. Even if the team wins regularly and does produce pro players, they will not be content.

I should say here that I'm not talking about the folks on this site or others like it. Fans who take the time to contribute to boards like this commonly know a lot more about football than the average person in the stands.