Paul Johnson's job

[GTFLETCH]

I was looking at various athletic association financials and for most of them, administration support runs about 3% of the operating budget. In the case of Tech, and I am assuming it is similar at the other schools, "institutional support" is the out-of-state tuition fees waived for those student-athletes recruited from out of state. It also includes payroll and other services to administer the AA. In other words, it's pretty much zip.

The low administration support is not the problem. Tech, like other programs, separate the AA from the school and operate it as a wholly separate unit. In other words, it's pay as you go and don't come to me for help. Pretty standard.

There are three things I saw with just a casual perusal:

1. Lack of consistency. Depending on whether you look at the AA documents, the Hill's documents, the Strategic Plan, or the Financials ... the AA mission is different in every one of them. Florida, on the other hand is clear ... to provide athletics and enable the UF brand. I don't know how you get alignment across Tech if every one sees the mission as different.
2. Strong endowment and fundraising campaigns. The larger programs like UT, UF, Bama etc are in fund-raising mode all the time. Tech is not bad, but it's way off in terms of what other teams are doing. Todd has mentioned this, so let's see what he does here.
3. Impact and use of booster programs. All the other programs mentioned the impact of a strong booster program on fund-raising for the program. Tech, as I have described before, has almost no organized booster program by comparison.

In most cases, football pays for all of the other sports, so a strong and financially-solid football program is essential. I was pleased to see that some programs provide scholarships back the the university to keep the faculty on board. That is clearly true for the SEC schools, and perhaps they are a special case because they can generate $100-125MM a year in revenue. Perhaps just looking at ACC will be more interesting.

Can Tech do this? I think we can generate additional sales to the season-ticket holders (but we are only talking $10MM or so) but the real trick is going to get a fundraising campaign underway that is significant and consistent. And a booster program.

I'll dig in more when I have time.

Spot on!!

 

[AE 87]

I understand wanting CPJ gone because he hasn’t hired a successful DC, the D has been consistently bad and we can’t close out games. For the life of me I can’t figure out why the hell we are even talking about the fact that “no great QB, RB, WR, or LT wants to play in the TO”. Our offense has been about the only consistent damn thing on this team and we’re trying to blame the losses on not having talent on offense? The offense moved the ball just fine against a defense we keep saying is bad but for the most part shut down a loaded FSU offense with a Heisman contending RB and a QB that reminds me of Russell Wilson. We gave up 2 scoop and scores because that’s apparently what we do now but the TO as a whole is not a consistent problem with anything. At least use some arguments that make sense.

Please don’t reply with “our offense is why we lost against Miami”. I know that. It wasn’t because we don’t have top talent at skill positions though. It was because of bonehead plays because we are a boneheaded team who likes to do everything in our power to lose games (it almost looks like it’s on purpose with how dumb we are losing games).

So much, this!

Blaming our offense is idiocy.

We may never know what's gone on behind the scenes with DC hires, but CPJ has to own the results. I can at least understand complaints at that level.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

OK, lets look at the Georgia Tech program from 1967 to today, I will list the coaches, their records, and top 3 years and AP Rankings ( since that is what you used) and we can see were Coach Paul Johnson falls on the list.... I will use the following source: http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/georgia-tech/

1967-1971
Coach Bud Carson
27-27
Best Season 1970
9-3, final ranking 13 and won Sun Bowl
Second Best Season 2005
6-6, final ranking unranked and lost Peach Bowl
Third Best Season 2004
4-6, final ranking unranked, no bowl

1972-1973
Coach Bill Fulcher
13-10-1
Best Season 1972
7-4-1, final ranking 20 and won Liberty Bowl
Second Best Season 1973
5-6, final ranking unranked and No Bowl
Third Best Season N/A

1974-1979
Coach Pepper Rodgers
34-31-2
Best Season 1978
7-5, final ranking unranked and lost Peach Bowl
Second Best Season 1975
7-4, final ranking unranked and no Bowl
Third Best Season 1977
6-5, final rankingUnranked and no bowl

1980-1986
Coach Bill Curry
31-43-4
Best Season 1985
9-2-1, final ranking 19 and won Hall of Fame Bowl
Second Best Season 1984
6-4-1, final ranking unranked and No Bowl
Third Best Season 1982
6-5, final ranking unranked and No Bowl

1987-1991
Coach Bobby Ross
31-21-1
Best Season 1990 (Coaches Poll #1 not AP)//Atlantic Coast Conference football champions
11-0-1, final ranking 2 and won Citrus Bowl
Second Best Season 1991
8-5, final ranking unranked and won Aloha Bowl
Third Best Season 1989
7-4, final ranking unranked and No Bowl

1992-1994
Coach Bill Lewis
11-19
Best Season 1992
5-6, final ranking unranked and No Bowl
Second Best Season 1993
5-6, final ranking unranked and No Bowl
Third Best Season 1994
1-7, final ranking unranked NoBowl

1994-2001
Coach George O'leary
52-33
Best Season 1998 Atlantic Coast C0-Conference football champions (11-0 FSU gets the BCS bid)
10-2, final ranking 9 and won Gator Bowl
Second Best Season 2000
9-3, final ranking 17 and lost Peach Bowl
Third Best Season 2004
8-4, final ranking 20 and lost Gator Bowl

2002-2007
Coach Chan Gailey
44-32
Best Season 2006 -- Lost to Wake Forest in ACC Championship Game
9-5, final ranking unranked and lost Gator Bowl
Second Best Season 2005
7-5, final ranking unranked and lost Emerald Bowl
Third Best Season 2004
7-5, final ranking 8 and won Champs Sports Bowl

2008-Present
Coach Paul Johnson
65-46
Best Season 2014 -- Lost to FSU in ACC Championship Game
11-3, final ranking 8 and won Orange Bowl
Second Best Season 2009 -- Atlantic Coast Conference football champions (NCAA later vacated)
11-3, final ranking 13 and lost Orange Bowl
Third Best Season 2008
9-4, final ranking 22 and lost Peach Bowl


Call me Crazy but it would appear that Coach Paul Johnson can hold his own on this list, and throw in the College APR mandate that some on the list did not have to follow and the NCAA probation thru June 13, 2017 and the fact that some recruits have not worked out like Travis Custis and Myles Autry. Along with the fact that high school players who considers college nothing more than "the NFL minor league" are looking for the easiest route to that ultimate goal, the NFL, are not going to wrestle with the academic rigors at GT. Coach Paul Johnson has been great for GT.

I do understand that people want a 9-10 win season every year, however we are not a football factory and whoever coaches at Georgia Tech will have to be willing to coach and recruit at a disavantage to other football factories in the Southeast. It is what it is!!

Solid post. Thank you.

 

[JStewart2227]

Im not saying that all of our problems are PJ's fault, there is several things that we have to fix to get back to competing with the top teams, I just want to know people's opinions on if we were to fire Johnson and Roof who does everyone think we would go after to replace them?

 

[MWBATL]

Im not saying that all of our problems are PJ's fault, there is several things that we have to fix to get back to competing with the top teams, I just want to know people's opinions on if we were to fire Johnson and Roof who does everyone think we would go after to replace them?

Hard to tell who might be available in 2-3 years from now, because that's the earliest I can see any change happening at GT. Moot thread.

 

[33jacket]

Hard to tell who might be available in 2-3 years from now, because that's the earliest I can see any change happening at GT. Moot thread.

paul is here next year unless we lose out IMO.

So who knows.

I will say this. The transition from Pauls O to another O will NOT BE THAT HARD. Don't overplay it.

Our OL are in perfect shape and form to transition nicely to a zone scheme

We have WR.
We have big RBs. We have smaller RB that can be Slot WR or 3rd down backs.

We will have 2 QBs in the next year who can run a zone read passing O. Perfect. No, but not bad.

The biggest gap, will be FB if the new coach needs it and TE. But both can be recruited and playing just fine in 2 years, and at FB a LB can move over. Its not that dire...

I am not concerned

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

paul is here next year unless we lose out IMO.

So who knows.

I will say this. The transition from Pauls O to another O will NOT BE THAT HARD. Don't overplay it.

Our OL are in perfect shape and form to transition nicely to a zone scheme

We have WR.
We have big RBs. We have smaller RB that can be Slot WR or 3rd down backs.

We will have 2 QBs in the next year who can run a zone read passing O. Perfect. No, but not bad.

The biggest gap, will be FB if the new coach needs it and TE. But both can be recruited and playing just fine in 2 years, and at FB a LB can move over. Its not that dire...

I am not concerned

We had players here that transitioned to Pepper and Paul that were not recruited for the system. It can work both ways. The key is the LOS.

 

[stech81]

Im not saying that all of our problems are PJ's fault, there is several things that we have to fix to get back to competing with the top teams, I just want to know people's opinions on if we were to fire Johnson and Roof who does everyone think we would go after to replace them?

This is just dumb CPJ is our coach be part of the solution and support the team and him.

 

[IronJacket7]

Deja Vu

#CPJ thread

 

[Greenjackets]

I agree. We can go get some new up and comer from a lesser FBS school but I doubt the results will be any different. We tried to compete with "pro style" offense but the results were the same (or worse).

Paul is stubborn that's my biggest issue with him. I don't blame him for going for it on 4th down but I don't understand why he ran the B back dive. Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming. Pitt had not stopped the rocket toss all day.

Any coach that would come in would be plucked away by a bigger name program if they were successful.

I think we need to stick with Paul. I support him.

 

[jacob]

Im not saying that all of our problems are PJ's fault, there is several things that we have to fix to get back to competing with the top teams, I just want to know people's opinions on if we were to fire Johnson and Roof who does everyone think we would go after to replace them?

Charlie strong

 

[jeffgt14]

Charlie Strong kind of scares me as a HC too. I like to believe he’s a good coach and can succeed at Texas. I know he’s kind of gutted it but he’s a defensive guy and you would at least think they’d be losing due to bad offense and have a scrappy defense. That defense may be worse than ours.

 

[Vespidae]

I don't understand why he ran the B back dive. Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming.

Isn't that the highest percentage play? I think Woody Hayes made a comment along those lines that "So what if they know? They still have to stop it."

 

[Vespidae]

Honestly, I don't think it's a good idea to change dramatically every few years. It takes a huge toll and affects far more than just the offense.

I had a college professor one time who made this comment ... "There's a lot of different techniques to use to solve this problem. The most important thing is to pick ONE, stick with it, and EXECUTE."

I don't think we've committed. Paul is a recognized genius on the TO, but the rest of the staff? The rest of the system (recruiting, teaching, etc.)? I don't think so. Personally, I'd like to us commit to PERFECTING it and not just changing all the time. We are struggling with execution these days and why wouldn't we struggle with something else new?

In 2014, everyone LOVED the TO. We went to the OB. Articles were all over the place about how well GT did. The problem is we don't have a system to sustain it. Look at Bama ... all they talk about is The Process, The Process, The Process.

That is what the new AD, Todd, should work on. What do we need to do to the GT Process to perfect it? We're friggin Engineers!

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

paul is here next year unless we lose out IMO.

So who knows.

I will say this. The transition from Pauls O to another O will NOT BE THAT HARD. Don't overplay it.

Our OL are in perfect shape and form to transition nicely to a zone scheme

We have WR.
We have big RBs. We have smaller RB that can be Slot WR or 3rd down backs.

We will have 2 QBs in the next year who can run a zone read passing O. Perfect. No, but not bad.

The biggest gap, will be FB if the new coach needs it and TE. But both can be recruited and playing just fine in 2 years, and at FB a LB can move over. Its not that dire...

I am not concerned

I agree. The thought of changing schemes doesn't scare me. Other schemes have been and can be successful at Tech. The ability to find a better coach who can be more successful is what scares me.

Most everyone on this board concedes Tech doesn't do enough to compete at a high level. Yet that is exactly what we have done for the most part during CPJ. We haven't dominated like Bama but we have been to Charlotte and the Orange Bowl, twice. The other years we have typically finished 2nd in the division. A problem now is that the conference has gotten better from top to bottom and I think we have not kept pace. So the competition has caught up with us. I point again to commitment by the institute. Therein lies the only real fix. Otherwise we will see the same results, or more likely worse, with new faces.

But fans see losses they don't like and the knee jerk is the same...."fire the coaches." It's like amputating an arm to cure a flu.

 

[slugboy]

Betting Gus Malzahn will be available.
(OK, not a helpful remark)
Transitioning offenses shouldn't be that hard. We have the right players to run the same kind of offense we ran under Fridge.
Have we had more than one good offensive line since CPJ got here? It seems aside from the Orange Bowl year, it was a patchwork or young line.
I don't think we've had an overall strong front 7 on defense since the first year (am I right on this?)

 

[Techster]

Most everyone on this board concedes Tech doesn't do enough to compete at a high level. Yet that is exactly what we have done for the most part during CPJ. We haven't dominated like Bama but we have been to Charlotte and the Orange Bowl, twice. The other years we have typically finished 2nd in the division. A problem now is that the conference has gotten better from top to bottom and I think we have not kept pace. So the competition has caught up with us. I point again to commitment by the institute. Therein lies the only real fix. Otherwise we will see the same results, or more likely worse, with new faces.

.

Unfortunately, the pattern at most colleges is that some coach becomes a sacrificial lamb for the next coach with regard a school's "commitment" to the program. Ted Roof saw it first hand during when Duke fired him and he returned to see David Cutcliffe with all the new facilities and extras they never wanted to give him. Baylor was a wasteland of a program with terrible facilities until they hired Art Briles and he demanded a certain commitment from the school before he would sign on. Same thing happened at Stanford with Jim Harbaugh (seriously, this part is silly: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/25/70k-bathroom-causing-a-stink-at-stanford/ )

Maybe Stansbury, who's been part of multiple programs (especially a PAC 12 program) understands the $$$ it takes to compete with the Clemsons and FSUs, or at least makes the gap small enough for GT to compete with them. It's possible CPJ will get enough of what he wants when AD and HC do their end of the year state of the program talks.

 

[Vespidae]

Maybe Stansbury, who's been part of multiple programs (especially a PAC 12 program) understands the $$$ it takes to compete with the Clemsons and FSUs, or at least makes the gap small enough for GT to compete with them. It's possible CPJ will get enough of what he wants when AD and HC do their end of the year state of the program talks.

The overall direction of major college sports is to a consolidated few. Estimates are that only about 100 colleges can survive with FBS football because of the always escalating costs. Tech aims to stay part of that hundred.

In the last few days, I've been perusing the various financial reports of other schools. Tech is not hopelessly out of step. Our spend is good (or at least comparable), but here are the YUGE gaps ...

Recruiting ... we spend about $1.3MM a year on recruiting which is not enough. I would suggest doubling this, but want to compare to other ACC schools first
Lack of a booster organization ... FSU, believe it or not, runs a very comparable program to ours. Except ... a) significantly more ticket revenue and b) $40MM coming in each year from the boosters. Tech has no booster organization.
Lack of a long-term plan ... Tech is JUST NOW setting a vision of what "delivering progress" looks like. Can you believe they have no objectives for the GTAA at this level of competition?

There is a lot of discussion of doing the right things, but the problem is there are metrics and no specifics on what that is. So "success" is so vaguely defined as to be irrelevant.

I like the idea of a Top 25 program while achieving a GSR rate of X and/or finishing first or second in the conference. That makes it clear. To everyone.

 

[VolJacket]

Charlie Strong kind of scares me as a HC too. I like to believe he’s a good coach and can succeed at Texas. I know he’s kind of gutted it but he’s a defensive guy and you would at least think they’d be losing due to bad offense and have a scrappy defense. That defense may be worse than ours.

I think Charlie Strong will wind up at Kentucky when Mark Stoops is fired for having his third straight losing season. Kentucky needs a big name head coach that is known nationally and is a good recruiter.

 

[Vespidae]

Kentucky needs a big name head coach that is known nationally and is a good recruiter.

Kentucky had a big name coach ... Bear Bryant. Kentucky, like Kansas, is a basketball school, no? I would think UK would get an up and comer on his way to a bigger school. I don't know .. what do you think?