How Good Was Coach Johnson at Tech?

[OldJacketFan]

Coach Bear Byant wasnt a big stat guy. He complimented Auburn coac Shug Jordan by saying He could take his-in and beat your-in AND he could take your- in and beat his-in.

I wish we had givin him a top 25 recruiting call 3 years running.

Actually Bryant said that about Dodd

 

[Boaty1]

Winning % vs opponents with the same number of scholarship players (no FCS):

GOL: .602
CCG: .561
CPJ: .539

CPJ had a losing record against FBS opponents in 5/11 seasons. He got fat and happy against lower tier competition.

T

O'Leary years were definitely the most consistent in terms of success. He also left the program much better than he inherited it. Gailey and CPJ left the program in roughly the same shape as what they walked into.

This program is not in the same shape as when from a talent perspective as when Johnson inherited it.

 

[GTFLETCH]

Winning % vs opponents with the same number of scholarship players (no FCS):

GOL: .602
CCG: .561
CPJ: .539

CPJ had a losing record against FBS opponents in 5/11 seasons. He got fat and happy against lower tier competition.

Winning % in BIG Bowls (NY6 Bowls)
GOL: .0 (Lost in Peach)
CCG: .0
CPJ: .333 (1-2 {OB, Peach})

 

[knoxjacket]

Great point. Another factor along with all the others during his tenure. I seem to recall that early in, we did a lot of double team blocking....that became futile due to the chop block rule. The they tacked on the cut block rule.

The high-low chop block penalty was added in 1980.

 

[heyhellowhatsup]

T



This program is not in the same shape as when from a talent perspective as when Johnson inherited it.

Well even if you say that (I actually think there’s a lot of young talent on D that are future NFLers.. Juanyeh, Charlie Thomas, etc), the program is in a lot better shape in other ways.. Namely APR/Grad Rates, ongoing investment, etc.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

He did a very good job. As he said himself, we did a lot of things under him that we hadn’t done here since the 1960s. His highs at Tech are better than just about anyone at Tech’s Post-Dodd with the exception of 1990. It would have been nice to see what he could have done with a competent AD his whole tenure, but it also may be a blessing we had him during the Sasquatch years because with a worse coach, the football program could have been a dumpster fire under Sasquatch.

I mentioned the highs, but I also have to mention the lows. The struggles on defense and special teams held us back, but aside from a few programs, most coaches have their strengths and weaknesses. When was the last time LSU fielded a good offense? Their talent is loaded(I never heard of OBJ at LSU), but their identity isn’t in their offense and their offense hasn’t been very good. You could say the same about, say, the defense at Big 12 teams, so I don’t think being a one-sided team is that rare in college football. He wasn’t perfect, so it’s worth mentioning, but again, something along those lines can be said about most coaches/programs. Either they excel at offense or defense or they are average at both. Not sure the results would be better being average at both at Tech. It was good we had an identity and we were above average on one side of the ball.

Speaking of the offense, if CPJ could have sold his offense better, things could have been even better. There was an unfair stigma against his offense that our own fans bought into. The results don’t back it up, but CPJ and Tech should have realized recruits and media perception didn’t care about just the results, as wrong as it may be. We could have and should have “Branded” the option better. If everyone tells you something is “boring”, people go in expecting it to be boring. It’s s self fulfilling prophesy. I can speak of this firsthand. I used to teach a class on classic cinema and my first year the students came in thinking black and white films are boring, stiff, outdated etc.(sound familiar?) I felt my passion for the material could win some people over, and it mostly didn’t. The next year, I changed my strategy. I came in and told the students “hey I know most of these films are boring, stuff and outdated. However, I’m going to show you some classic films that AREN’T like that. Citizen Kane uses modern camera and acting techniques. Casablanca doesn’t have a traditional happy ending yada yada etc.”....The results changed. My students were open minded and were much more interested in the films I was showing, even though I was showing the exact same films from the previous year. Same results the next year. And the next. You could argue my first class just wasn’t into classic films, but I’d argue my approach of specifically acknowledging the stigma and building my teaching around it allowed the students to quit looking at the movies as “old movies” and started to look at them at face value. If CPJ and GT could have figured out a way to get kids to quit looking at the offense as an “option offense” and just look at it at face value as an offense, I think we could have pulled more kids. If you look at the offense at face vaule, there’s not much to not like. It got in the end zone more times than not.


From a Gameday perspective, I think he was the best Gameday coach we’ve had since Dodd.

Great post. I always thought Tech should do an “old fashioned” Sunday post game breakdown show of prior games.

I’m sure that would have been a time drain for CPJ but it could have greatly helped defeat a lot of the false narratives he hated so much but could never shake. Might have helped with recruiting and fund raising. And we might not have had so many stupid arguments about scheme here in forums.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Johnson was the right coach back in 2008 and overall a great offensive mind, but just a good head coach. People always point to 2009 and 2014 but we went 6-7 in 2010 and 3-9 in 2015. Johnson never could capitalize on the success of seasons either in building momentum the following year nor in recruiting. Ultimately that inability to capitalize will relegate Johnson to being a good head coach here instead of a great one imo.

Hard to prevent the down years when underfunded etc. Something every Tech coach has had to contend with.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Off topic: who was the best DC in CPJ’s tenure?

Womack? Charles Kelly? Kinda like asking which brand of plain oatmeal is best.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Coach Bear Byant wasnt a big stat guy. He complimented Auburn coac Shug Jordan by saying He could take his-in and beat your-in AND he could take your- in and beat his-in.

I wish we had givin him a top 25 recruiting call 3 years running.

I thought he said this about Dodd.

Nm, @OldJacketFan beat me to it.

 

[Matt E]

Winning % in BIG Bowls (NY6 Bowls)
GOL: .0 (Lost in Peach)
CCG: .0
CPJ: .333 (1-2 {OB, Peach})

In the GOL years the Gator Bowl was above the Peach. The goal for the team was the play a new years day bowl. The Gator fit this and the peach did not.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Success moving forward, in my eyes, is consistent 8 win seasons.

That would mean winning Tobacco Rd games (UNC, Duke),
3 of 4 from the rest of the Coastal (Miami, VPI, UVa, Pitt),
All your Non Conference games (minus UGA)
And then splitting Clemson & UGA (2 Current Top 5 programs).

Can it be done consistently in the modern era, given Tech' s limited academic offerings and fan support? As CPJ said, Time will tell....

Hope everyone who didn't like CPJ and the Option are lining up new season tix purchases and A-T Fund donations for 2019.... Coach Collins is going to need it!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

You set a high standard there. The BIG FIVE are currently: Miami, Virginia Tech, Clemson, UGA and which ever one of the tobacco road schools we are upset with at the moment, usually Duke. Win any three of that group and you have a pretty good year, win four and you are the toast of the town, win all five and its New Years Day bowl or playoff country. None of this will come easy as Coach Collins knows. IIWII

 

[Techster]

My GT Mount Rushmore:

Heisman, Dodd, Alexander, Ross, CPJ

(Yes, I know Mount Rushmore only has 4 presidents)

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Coach Bear Byant wasnt a big stat guy. He complimented Auburn coac Shug Jordan by saying He could take his-in and beat your-in AND he could take your- in and beat his-in.

I wish we had givin him a top 25 recruiting call 3 years running.

In his autobiography, the Bear commented one time to an assistant: "The worst thing about this job is looking across the sideline and seeing that damn Dodd" Funny he should say that.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

My GT Mount Rushmore:

Heisman, Dodd, Alexander, Ross, CPJ

(Yes, I know Mount Rushmore only has 4 presidents)

That pretty much covers it though some would hold out for Coach O'Leary. The first four all won national championships. Truly remarkable. Incidentally, (my memory is fuzzy here) but last night Coach Collins (as he is inclined to do) got into some kind of twitter exchange with a Dwag supporter. Coach Collins ended it with a side by side display of national championship banners showing four for Tech and two for UGA. As might be expected from a Georgia native, this guy really does get the how and why of how much we detest those bastards. He really does get it going so far as to call them "rednecks". A bit crude, trite perhaps but spot on.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

In the GOL years the Gator Bowl was above the Peach. The goal for the team was the play a new years day bowl. The Gator fit this and the peach did not.

I don't care what anyone says, in my mind the Gator will always be just a notch below the big boys and just a notch above the Peach or whatever they are called now. I still contend there are too many of the damn things but people seem to like watching it on television and maybe the players like the swag and playing before 20,000 empty seats but to me it is cheapening the whole concept.

 

[heyhellowhatsup]

That pretty much covers it though some would hold out for Coach O'Leary. The first four all won national championships. Truly remarkable. Incidentally, (my memory is fuzzy here) but last night Coach Collins (as he is inclined to do) got into some kind of twitter exchange with a Dwag supporter. Coach Collins ended it with a side by side display of national championship banners showing four for Tech and two for UGA. As might be expected from a Georgia native, this guy really does get the how and why of how much we detest those bastards. He really does get it going so far as to call them "rednecks". A bit crude, trite perhaps but spot on.

I don’t see this on his twitter. Did he delete?

 

[iceeater1969]

Actually Bryant said that about Dodd

Your are right. It was Dodd.

I feel that Coach johnson could also do more with less.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

That pretty much covers it though some would hold out for Coach O'Leary. The first four all won national championships. Truly remarkable. Incidentally, (my memory is fuzzy here) but last night Coach Collins (as he is inclined to do) got into some kind of twitter exchange with a Dwag supporter. Coach Collins ended it with a side by side display of national championship banners showing four for Tech and two for UGA. As might be expected from a Georgia native, this guy really does get the how and why of how much we detest those bastards. He really does get it going so ar as to call them "rednecks". A bit crude, trite perhaps but spot on.

I would love to see that exchange. Can you provide a link to it?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Success moving forward, in my eyes, is consistent 8 win seasons.
Can it be done consistently in the modern era, given Tech' s limited academic offerings and fan support? As CPJ said, Time will tell....

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

If we could do that even semi-consistently, I believe fan support could go way up.

 

[StingU2]

T



This program is not in the same shape as when from a talent perspective as when Johnson inherited it.

Lol.... I wish CJP left CGC half the talent that Gailey him.