Paul Johnson recruiting Q&A with AJC

[GTRX7]

I really, truly don't think that there is much relationship between how a coach treats the media and either school image or recruiting. Ross was no winner with the media either. Like some above, I like Coach's candor.

Well, I ought to temper that: if you coach at USCw or UCLA, you need to be a media star. Seems to go with the job out there.

I agree that there is not necessarily a direct relationship. Guys like Saban, Spurrier, Calhoun, etc are examples of great coaches that are terrible with the media. That said, guys like Franklin and Kiffin show that you can be a mediocre coach but still be able to recruit at an extremely high level due to one's marketing and salesmanship skills.

I think CPJ is a great coach, and absolutely respect his honestly and candor. His coaching show is the only coaching show I ever listen to, as I find him to be charming and funny in his own way. That said, I think one of his weak spots is as an ambassador for the program and in being able to sell the program to the Atlanta market and to recruits. I think that is a fair criticism and one that most people would agree with. If we are going to take another step forward as a program, I think that is one of the areas we could try to improve upon. I just want to see him get excited about the team and try to sell it a bit harder, even if it is just when he is talking to GT's own media.

Would that make all the difference? No, of course not. But it would help some. This is something that I think Brian Gregory actually does a very good job about, and one of the reason I think fans are being a bit more patient with him than they might otherwise be.

 

[ATL1]

So Franklin is a mediocre coach? Spurrier isn't media friendly?

 

[gtdrew]

So Franklin is a mediocre coach? Spurrier isn't media friendly?

I haven't seen Franklin do anything on the field to debunk that.

 

[ATL1]

[quote Techster, post: 34495, member: 360"]CPJ sure didn't mince words on how he felt about Taylor.

I think CPJ could have been more diplomatic about things, but at the same time, if he wins none of it matters. The key is to win more.[/quote]

His comments about Taylor I thought weren't proprofessional. Even if a recruit slams you and your program you don't have to rip them in that manner, that's what I mean by gracious.

 

[gtdrew]

[quote Techster, post: 34495, member: 360"]CPJ sure didn't mince words on how he felt about Taylor.

I think CPJ could have been more diplomatic about things, but at the same time, if he wins none of it matters. The key is to win more.

His comments about Taylor I thought weren't proprofessional. Even if a recruit slams you and your program you don't have to rip them in that manner, that's what I mean by gracious.[/quote]
Whatever. CPJ told the truth. You think it's unprofessional because you don't like him. If Stanford's coach did it, you'd call it "Refreshing honesty."

 

[GTRX7]

So Franklin is a mediocre coach? Spurrier isn't media friendly?

I believe Franklin has only beaten two or three teams total with a winning record as a head coach. He may prove to be a good coach, but I don't think he has done so yet. As for Spurrier, he can be funny, but certainly has a very turbulent media relationship as well (for example):
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/09/cock_fight_steve_spurrier_has.html
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/24/2348974/steve-spurrier-to-media-i-dont.html
http://www.fitsnews.com/2013/10/02/what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-steve-spurrier/

 

[91Wreck]

Experience should tell us that the truth is somewhere between what the Taylor kid is saying and what CPJ is saying. I doubt that either of them is outright lying, but both are telling the story from their point of view.

 

[ATL1]

In three seasons he brought Vandy it's first consecutive winning seasons and bowl victories since the 20's !!! Two winning records in the SEC and did it without having a full recruiting cycle. The man can coach.

The media loves Spurrier and he plays the game with them well.

 

[GTRX7]

In three seasons he brought Vandy it's first consecutive winning seasons and bowl victories since the 20's !!! Two winning records in the SEC and did it without having a full recruiting cycle. The man can coach.

And Rich Brooks coached Kentucky to four winning seasons in a row and three straight bowl victories from 2006-2009. Do you consider Rich Brooks a great coach?

Regardless, you missed my point, which is that Franklin is an exceptional salesman who had Vandy recruiting at a higher level than their record and history would have indicated they should be. And, that it would be good if CPJ could learn to sell our program more like Franklin did Vandy's. Do you disagree with that?

 

[swampsting]

In three seasons he brought Vandy it's first consecutive winning seasons and bowl victories since the 20's !!! Two winning records in the SEC and did it without having a full recruiting cycle. The man can coach.

The media loves Spurrier and he plays the game with them well.

Franklin didn't have to face Alabama or LSU (in 12-13), A&M (in 2012) or Auburn (in 2013). And they got smoked by A&M this year. Got Tennessee when they were down. Got hot and cold Georgia and a floundering Florida program. Their OOC in 2012 was Northwestern (L), Presbyterian, UMass and Wake Forest. OOC in 2013 was Austin Peay (non scholarship FCS), UMass again, UAB and a lousy Wake Forest team they beat by 2 at home.
He was done huge favors by dint of the schedules.

David Climer, the very good columnist at The Tennessean in Nashville, didn't exactly throw roses at Franklin's feet upon his exit.

Spurrier, as noted above, has had his more than *****ly moments with the media. He can be entertaining to boosters but also expressly thin-skinned and vindictive.

 

[gtdrew]

James Franklin can recruit. There's MUCH more to coaching than that. Ask Ron Zook, Tommy Bowden, Charlie Weis, Randy Shannon, and countless others. When James Franklin plays for a conference championship anywhere, then I'll say he can coach. I'd rather have our guy.

 

[ATL1]

And Rich Brooks coached Kentucky to four winning seasons in a row and three straight bowl victories from 2006-2009. Do you consider Rich Brooks a great coach?

Regardless, you missed my point, which is that Franklin is an exceptional salesman who had Vandy recruiting at a higher level than their record and history would have indicated they should be. And, that it would be good if CPJ could learn to sell our program more like Franklin did Vandy's. Do you disagree with that?

No I definitely feel CPJ could learn to be a better salesman. But that isn't his make up unfortunately.
As far a Franklin did something at a program that wasn't done for over 80 years !! That's coaching ! This is as bad as people not giving Malzahn the credit for Auburn winning the SEC.

 

[Techster]

[quote Techster, post: 34495, member: 360"]CPJ sure didn't mince words on how he felt about Taylor.

I think CPJ could have been more diplomatic about things, but at the same time, if he wins none of it matters. The key is to win more.

His comments about Taylor I thought weren't proprofessional. Even if a recruit slams you and your program you don't have to rip them in that manner, that's what I mean by gracious.[/quote]

Considering that Taylor pretty much called our staff liars and we deceived him, I think CPJ has a right to defend our program so other recruits don't get the impression that we do what the factory schools do.

 

[Techster]

James Franklin can recruit. There's MUCH more to coaching than that. Ask Ron Zook, Tommy Bowden, Charlie Weis, Randy Shannon, and countless others. When James Franklin plays for a conference championship anywhere, then I'll say he can coach. I'd rather have our guy.

Well, he did beat UGA this year...

 

[gtdrew]

Well, he did beat UGA this year...

Fair enough. A good coach would've gotten that team to the SEC Title game. I'm not saying he's terrible, but I think he gets a LOT of undue credit....

 

[daBuzz]

Fair enough. A good coach would've gotten that team to the SEC Title game. I'm not saying he's terrible, but I think he gets a LOT of undue credit....

What? I don't think Vandy had better talent than UGA, Missouri, or South Carolina. Him not getting past SC or Missouri to get to the SECCG isn't exactly an indictment.

I don't know how good the guy can be but he certainly did change the perception of Vandy football pretty quickly.

 

[son of an engineer]

A lot of info here.

http://recruiting.blog.ajc.com/2014/02/12/qa-with-georgia-tech-coach-paul-johnson/

First time posting. I guess I am peculiar because the part of the interview that I was most intrigued with was the last part about position evaluation. I was always under the impression that linemen were the most difficult to project because of maturity and growth factors but what he said about defensive backs made sense. Now I know why the DBs are invariably offered in camp. Makes perfect sense that the coaches are able to evaluate closing speed and such much better in person than on tape.

 

[AE 87]

Considering the source was Carvell, that was a pretty good interview.

I think it's

Franklin didn't have to face Alabama or LSU (in 12-13), A&M (in 2012) or Auburn (in 2013). And they got smoked by A&M this year. Got Tennessee when they were down. Got hot and cold Georgia and a floundering Florida program. Their OOC in 2012 was Northwestern (L), Presbyterian, UMass and Wake Forest. OOC in 2013 was Austin Peay (non scholarship FCS), UMass again, UAB and a lousy Wake Forest team they beat by 2 at home.
He was done huge favors by dint of the schedules.

David Climer, the very good columnist at The Tennessean in Nashville, didn't exactly throw roses at Franklin's feet upon his exit.

Spurrier, as noted above, has had his more than *****ly moments with the media. He can be entertaining to boosters but also expressly thin-skinned and vindictive.

I think there's some basic posting principles used by the self-loathing and the trolls (perhaps others) that you need to learn:
1) W-L says everything you need to know about the quality of the coaching, unless superseded by a later caveats
So, according to rule 1, Cutcliffe and Franklin are better coaches than CPJ, regardless of schedule strength
1a) A corollary to rule is that the quality of the head coach as measured by rule 1 applies to his emphasis, such as offense, defense, recruiting etc; regardless of statistics
So, according to rule 1a, CPJ's offense has been the problem underlying our 7 win seasons, regardless of defensive struggles

Caveat 1) W-L does not say everything you need to know about the quality of GT's coaching if it relied on players recruited by the former coach
Caveat 2) W-L does not say everything you need to know about the quality of GT's coaching if some wins were against lesser competition

 

[LongforDodd]

Doe anybody know when Miles Taylor took his OV that PJ seemingly was using as the linch pin for his rebuttal to Taylor's statement regarding how little communications were going on between himself and the staff?

 

[vamosjackets]

No I definitely feel CPJ could learn to be a better salesman. But that isn't his make up unfortunately.
As far a Franklin did something at a program that wasn't done for over 80 years !! That's coaching ! This is as bad as people not giving Malzahn the credit for Auburn winning the SEC.

CPJ accomplished more than that at Navy, if you're going by historic rebuilding of a program.