Marietta Daily Journal: GT's Paul Johnson kicks season off with positive message

[Ggee87]

imo, there are quite a few of us who think CPJ and CCG were/are good football coaches that have (more or less, no need to rehash again in this thread) accomplished at about the same level. The program has an apparently self-imposed ceiling that no amount of changing coaches will fix (unless you do luck into the next Vince Lombardi or Bear Bryant). Unfortunately there are those think that constantly churning coaches every 6-8 years in the search of "someone who can breathe life into" it is the answer. This is a lottery ticket approach to retirement planning.

At this point, I think the responsibility for "fixing" the program lies above the head coach. At minimum this is an AD issue and probably involves the president of the school. I am of the opinion that interest in GT football is waning because we tend to dabble in it and never try to fix the status quo. Not because we have hired bad coaches in our last two attempts.

In a nutshell, firing the coach (in the absence of a complete meltdown) is a bandaid fix to a bigger, systemic issue imo. Assuming another typical 7 win season or worse, firing Paul would be a bit of a safe move to make by our current AD - a bone to appease the rabble at the gate. Nothing more. (Disclaimer: not saying he would get fired at a 6 or 7 win season but another one, with losses to the usual teams would certainly make things "warmer").

One last thought - I used the word fixing 2 paragraphs up in quotations because we do have a certain % of our fanbase who are indeed content with the state of affairs and thus would argue that there is nothing to be fixed.

This makes alot of sense and is the truth as I understand it. Its not impossible to recruit to GT, But it takes time to figure out the nuances and getting help from the AD on recruiting helps as well. GT must give our HCs a little more rope and time to put everything together. Im not under the impression that changing coaches is going.to magically change things. CPJ is a good man, a good coach, and is as far from a quitter as you can get. Itd blow my mind if CPJ threw his hands up and waved the white flag. Every issue at Tech under his watch, has been addressed. Some quicker than others but it was done nonetheless. We saw what CPJ could do with a little better talent. Why would we let him go before these last couple of.classes ever saw significant PT? I understand where alot of the CPJ haters are coming from, my Father happens to be one of them. But since Drad left, Ive seen a change in coach. I have a feeling the tide is about to turn back in our favor. New QB, New Jerseys, New Bback, Lets get some new results. Go Jackets THWG.

 

[Essobee]

Didn't Homer Rice hire Curry after Dodd had retired? I know they both started at Tech in 1980. Dodd loved Fulcher, but I seem to remember that he didn't really like Rogers all that much. The one Dodd always wanted but couldn't get was Frank Broyles; Browles turned him down on two different occasions.

IIRC, no. Curry was hired before Rice.

 

[AE 87]

IIRC, no. Curry was hired before Rice.

The curry before the rice? That does not sound like the right way to serve the meal.

 

[LibertyTurns]

If that were true, why was he, after retiring, on his way to hire Doug Dickey? The brilliant "Tech Men" in charge said we had to hire Carson because he had coached at GT. For God's sake, WE MADE THE DECISION TO HIRE CARSON OVER DICKEY (DODD'S CHOICE) AND WE HIRED CURRY OVER OVER STEVE SPURRIER,

What is it that some people don't understand?

You're all assuming Spurrier would have done to GT what he did at UF. What if GT doomed Spurrier to eternal coaching purgatory and the man never ended up having much of a career? How could we ever know? We've already caught lightening in a bottle once in my GT life. I wonder what the odds are I live to see it twice? Maybe I need to find the company that bet against Rory McElroy's dad and put down the bet of a lifetime. I could die happy and rich but I don't like my odds.

 

[4shotB]

You're all assuming Spurrier would have done to GT what he did at UF. What if GT doomed Spurrier to eternal coaching purgatory and the man never ended up having much of a career? How could we ever know? We've already caught lightening in a bottle once in my GT life. I wonder what the odds are I live to see it twice? Maybe I need to find the company that bet against Rory McElroy's dad and put down the bet of a lifetime. I could die happy and rich but I don't like my odds.

Spurrier won an ACC championship at Duke. That accomplishment alone makes him a Hall of Famer imo. There are several coaches who could win MNC's at UF. The list of coaches who could win a league championship at Duke can probably be counted on one hand.

 

[TVan]

My guess is that Johnson did not do his due diligence when he came to Tech. He likely did not understand the vast, vast difference in quality of football player he would be able to recruit at GT and who our peers at Clemson, Georgia, Miami, and Virginia Tech are able to recruit. He probably understood there would be some limitations due to the academic requirements at Tech, but I doubt he understood the full magnitude. Guys, we've found ourselves competing with mid-majors and lower level divisions for football players! All thanks to the academic requirements imposed by the Hill and the lack of easy degrees.

But at this point, I think Johnson has fallen somewhat into a resignation that things are never going to get better at Tech, and he would like to be fired in order to collect a lucrative buyout, and then go coach somewhere where he can bring in quality football players. The program is a corpse on life-support. And it's just going to keep lurching along until the next coach breathes some life into it.

I believe CPJ knew was he was getting into. Navy type kids that are better athletes. I believe they thought they could get more athletic qb's that could throw. I think this year they have that. The D has been an issue as well. Schools are also recruiting the heck out of Georgia. Once they changed their philosophy in going out of state more, the better classes. CPJ is class and will win. I think GT will surprise a lot people this year.

 

[pckl300]

“I heard a long time ago a coach saying and it’s probably true, ‘you’re getting old on a recruiting trip when the grandmas look good, so you know you’ve been in it maybe a little bit too long.’”

Sounds like he's gearing up for retirement. Maybe he's gotten fed up with all of this.

 

[Atomic Jacket]

Sounds like he's gearing up for retirement. Maybe he's gotten fed up with all of this.

Exactly.