Paul Johnson's job

[dressedcheeseside]

I haven't read the entire thread, so I hope I'm not being redundant here. From '08 to now, I don't think we've kept pace with the league's defences.

I'm a huge fan of CPJ, but the uniqueness of our scheme and the quality of our play calling is only going to go so far. When CPJ got here, defenses and DC's were clueless. I remember seeing huge chunks of green on the triple. We didn't need perfect execution or a team loaded full of NFL caliber players to score at will. It's different now. We are facing teams with many starters in their 3rd or 4th yr defending our system. More importantly, we are facing DC's with a clue in both scheme and knowing CPJ's tendencies. They all seem to do their homework, know what works, and spend extra time each year in prep. (Even the schedule seems to favor them, but that's another story.)

Any one of these three things must happen if we are to be successful on O: a) get better players, b) have perfect execution from all 11 on nearly every play or c) innovate big time.

It seems we are banking on b, which doesn't seem realistic to me, especially when we're rolling in new guys every year into a very complicated scheme predicated very precise timing and spacing in perfect synchronization. We don't oversign, which is good, imo, and we have a very physical style which leads to injury. Most of our guys are projects that require substantial weightroom development. How are we to have enough guys year in and year out with enough experience and development to execute on that level?

Imo, we must recruit better or innovate more. The D's have caught up. Btw, I never used to buy that line in the past.

 

[RyanS12]

JT is as best as we've had in 9 years and won't come around very often. I would take Lamar or Deshaun over JT but there's very few people out there better for this offense. I'm not tryin to start another tangent on who else could run this offense better, but just sayin finding another JT isn't gonna be easy and we've underperformed while having him. What about after JT. I'm sure CPJ gets another year no matter what, but next year without JT is probably not gonna be good. Tennessee is the first game of the year on Monday night in the new Falcons stadium. Both teams with have a new QB and they might embarrass us.

Not to get off track but you're right about the Tenn game next year. We do have 8-9 starters back on both sides of the ball but the way it looks now, even with another years experience, it won't matter because of coaching on the Oline and D. Breaking in a new QB against a team with the talent a dept of a Tennessee is going to be ugly. It's unfortunate that the season is going the way it has. There's been no chance to get Jordan or Marshall legitimate time at qb. If this is what we are getting with a 5th yr qb out there I'd hate to see it as without him.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

If it really all starts at the top shouldn't we fire Peterson? Let's just quit football while we are at it. Too many of y'all get too hurt by losses. We need some safe zones for you. Some emotional distress counseling would be good too.

I didn't get to see the game and haven't seen replays. The D must have fallen apart. Which is disappointing considering we made some small strides before this. I'm willing to bet some of Pitts success was due to them making plays on their end at times. Announcers in first half indicated so anyway.

The product on the field is not the same as last year. We are a better team. We might beat Pitt 2/3 times but lost a gut wrencher to them yesterday.

We have youth on D that will prove better than our current upperclassmen. I have no doubt. But it's a bit insane to expect them to play like upper classmen now. Recruiting the last 2 years has improved. That will pay bigger dividends in the next few years than it does today. We have some nice talent committed so far now too. Will Swillings still come if Roof is fired? Have you genius fire Roof, fire Paul folks thought of that one yet?

We have been to two Orange Bowls since the Dodd era. I can handle a rare bad year, 15, and some competitive non champ years...how many teams compete for nattys year after year? How many coastal teams compete for the division year after year (the two Techs have more than the others I believe)?

Can we be a top 25 team annually or biannually? Yes. With our current coaching staff? Yes. With the current level of support from the administration? Hell no.

There is plenty to play for still. You folks that express certainty of our final record (5-7!!!!) just amaze me.

Sorry, maybe I misunderstand.

You did not see the game or the replay, yet you reference what announcers said in 1st half? Then you would be talking about GT radio broadcast? Would that be an impartial analysis if so?

Too much youth on field? Perhaps, but in year nine one would think the genius HC would have known how / who to recruit by now. Either bad recruiter or bad recruiting.

Situations like this always leads to concerns about losing this or that recruit. But did you ever stop to think that if this trend we are in continues there will be a LOT more players that will not even consider us, much less commit/ sign?

The season is not over by any means, and I personally know of no one giving up on the kids. But it seems as if a downward trend continues.

And, indeed, Peterson and some jealous, insecure buttinski Hill Turds need their azzes held to the fire.

 

[Vespidae]

With the current level of support from the administration? Hell no.

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.

 

[MWBATL]

I haven't read the entire thread, so I hope I'm not being redundant here. From '08 to now, I don't think we've kept pace with the league's defences.

I'm a huge fan of CPJ, but the uniqueness of our scheme and the quality of our play calling is only going to go so far. When CPJ got here, defenses and DC's were clueless. I remember seeing huge chunks of green on the triple. We didn't need perfect execution or a team loaded full of NFL caliber players to score at will. It's different now. We are facing teams with many starters in their 3rd or 4th yr defending our system. More importantly, we are facing DC's with a clue in both scheme and knowing CPJ's tendencies. They all seem to do their homework, know what works, and spend extra time each year in prep. (Even the schedule seems to favor them, but that's another story.)

Any one of these three things must happen if we are to be successful on O: a) get better players, b) have perfect execution from all 11 on nearly every play or c) innovate big time.

It seems we are banking on b, which doesn't seem realistic to me, especially when we're rolling in new guys every year into a very complicated scheme predicated very precise timing and spacing in perfect synchronization. We don't oversign, which is good, imo, and we have a very physical style which leads to injury. Most of our guys are projects that require substantial weightroom development. How are we to have enough guys year in and year out with enough experience and development to execute on that level?

Imo, we must recruit better or innovate more. The D's have caught up. Btw, I never used to buy that line in the past.

I tried to say this in a thread starter about my concerns with our coaching, but you said it much more eloquently. Thank you. That emphasis on all 11 executing on every play results in the chatter we hear from CPJ about execution and errors.

It is also quite evident that other programs have invested heavily in upgrading their programs. UNC, Duke, and heck even UVa are all much better than they used to be (looking back 5 years ago) which means there are no 'easy outs' in league play. I would MUCH rather play in the SEC East this year. We'd be 6-1 or 5-2 in that division, imho.

I am ultimately a CPJ fan but he isn't innovating enough in this offense, imho, and you are correct that we need to do something or we will have slipped from 7-5 as a program to 5-7 every year.

 

[GTBandit22]

A couple points:
1. 95% of today's NFL or bust, look at me, blue-chip factory players still can't or still won't go for that.
2. The STEM curriculum defines GT from a cultural standpoint as well as an academic one. What I mean by cultural is small fanbase, small stadium, lack of girls, the "nerd" label.... all these things are a direct or indirect result of our curriculum. The players mentioned above don't want any part of this, either.

On the second point, I think Tech has always gone about that particular problem in the wrong way, even Oleary. We try to mask those things instead of reframing them as a positive. Other teams point to the calculus book and we tell them "yeah but you'll have tutors". The girl thing is changing, plus Atlanta has some of the finest young black women in the south, so that's overplayed.
With the ubiquitous technology giants(Google, Apple, Samsung,) being aspirational companies for millennial students, Tech should be working those angles for our SA's and then point that out to recruits. I had a buddy that went to Stanford for football. He had a Nike internship right after he graduated.
Do we do anything like that for football players?
Sorry for the ramble, but what im saying is that instead of looking to just accept guys we think could make it with help, what else could we do to make ourselves more attractive to the Tuitts of the world? The smart 5 star that could go anywhere. The guy with enough time preference and future orientation that even though he could ball at Bama, he knows GT has his future in mind.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

He has no conference championships. If I am wrong, go the GTAA and take a picture of the trophy for me.

You are wrong and you know why.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

A couple points:
1. 95% of today's NFL or bust, look at me, blue-chip factory players still can't or still won't go for that.
2. The STEM curriculum defines GT from a cultural standpoint as well as an academic one. What I mean by cultural is small fanbase, small stadium, lack of girls, the "nerd" label.... all these things are a direct or indirect result of our curriculum. The players mentioned above don't want any part of this, either.

Correct.

And an equally important point related to this is how out of touch with reality most blue chip players are. Most will not be able to make a living by going to the NFL, even if they make it to the NFL, which happens with a very small percentage of players. Tech is selling a future, not a roll of the dice. But tell that to the average 17 year old who has been dazzled by watching years of sports highlights on ESPN.

 

[mj claz]

I am so tired of the academic excuses. How delusional are some of you who think that we would attract 4 and 5 star players if you took away our academic requirements? Do you guys really think we have done a good job of making ourselves appealing to high school athletes? Same goes for facilities (not including stadium since that is seen on TV). It's one thing if we are losing these players on NSD after they've taken OVs and seen the facilities and really thought about calculus, but read the quotes from top prospects in the early stages of recruiting--we really aren't on their radar. The ACC is getting better and better--can't use the SEC/ACC excuse anymore either.

Not to mention, there are plenty of high schoolers who view the academics as a major plus. For example, Jordan Woods came here because of all the opportunities that GT provides. However, when he was first contacted by GT, he was just "playing around," not taking it too seriously. To me, that is indicative of a kid growing up watching CFB, and not feeling any type of appeal from the GT football team whatsoever.

Our offensive scheme, our coach's personality, our attendance issues (our stadium is plenty big to attract top recruits), our Russell uniforms (yes, I went there), our poor overall branding, etc. are all things within our control to improve how we attract recruits, yet we aren't doing anything.

Why do we expect top recruits in basketball, but not football? Up until very recently, GT was actually an attractive place to play basketball. Sure, we lost a few potential recruits due to the stringent academic requirements, but at least guys were interested. Yes, we do not have to compete with SEC basketball programs to the same degree we do in football, but plenty of programs have recruited at a high level in football without incredible gameday atmospheres. Miami, Stanford, UNC, Baylor, Vandy (under Franklin), TCU, Louisville, Cal, Miss St., have all recruited at a solid to high level on many occurrences.

We have good program history, great location, great academics (many forget that this can be a positive), a nice campus, and many other selling points.

 

[jeffgt14]

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).

 

[Techster]

I haven't read the entire thread, so I hope I'm not being redundant here. From '08 to now, I don't think we've kept pace with the league's defences.

I'm a huge fan of CPJ, but the uniqueness of our scheme and the quality of our play calling is only going to go so far. When CPJ got here, defenses and DC's were clueless. I remember seeing huge chunks of green on the triple. We didn't need perfect execution or a team loaded full of NFL caliber players to score at will. It's different now. We are facing teams with many starters in their 3rd or 4th yr defending our system. More importantly, we are facing DC's with a clue in both scheme and knowing CPJ's tendencies. They all seem to do their homework, know what works, and spend extra time each year in prep. (Even the schedule seems to favor them, but that's another story.)

Any one of these three things must happen if we are to be successful on O: a) get better players, b) have perfect execution from all 11 on nearly every play or c) innovate big time.

It seems we are banking on b, which doesn't seem realistic to me, especially when we're rolling in new guys every year into a very complicated scheme predicated very precise timing and spacing in perfect synchronization. We don't oversign, which is good, imo, and we have a very physical style which leads to injury. Most of our guys are projects that require substantial weightroom development. How are we to have enough guys year in and year out with enough experience and development to execute on that level?

Imo, we must recruit better or innovate more. The D's have caught up. Btw, I never used to buy that line in the past.

I think a large majority of the problem with our TEAM lays more with the defense than offense, but certainly having an offense that performs at the levels of past seasons would certainly help that. It wouldn't be the first time our offense had to mask the liabilities of our defense.

One of my frustrations with this offense is we know it works. Navy just beat the #6 team in the nation, a team who's head coach is the "next hot thing" with a defense that has a lot of future NFL players on it. And this is not a slight to the SAs at Navy, but their players are just not in the same tier as GT's players. Navy also didn't do anything "innovative" against Houston...they just executed the same offense we run at a higher level than we have been. It's not like Houston has never seen Navy, they played them just last year, and Tom Herman is an Urban Meyer protege and I'm sure Meyer has shared notes he has from his discussions with CPJ (they're friends). Yet Navy was still able to put up 382 yards of offense and hold out for the win...it was really a vintage spread option performance of ball control and maximizing scoring opportunities. Rarely did I see miss blocks on the perimeter, and the Navy OL seemed to have a body for a body.

So the question is, why is it that our offense seems to be so helter skelter from week to week? Why are the performance from players uneven as well? Certainly there's youth factor, but we're in year 9 of CPJ's tenure. We've got a 5th year senior QB, a 5th year senior at Center...and probably the most talent group of RBs CPJ has had in one year. Sure our WRs are not the same as some of the guys that have come through here, but they're good enough. Certainly better than what Navy has.

I've advocated for innovation, and it doesn't need to be a wholesale change to the offense. Recruiting will also be an issue at GT, but I think innovation can help with that.

I just hope it's not a case of "It's worked before, and it'll keep working" mindset that sometimes older coaches have (see: Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown, Frank Beamer, etc.) that eventually becomes their downfall. You're absolutely correct, defenses evolve and coaches are helped with analytics in modern day football, so tendencies are picked apart. It's up to CPJ to stay ahead of it.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

We have good program history, great location, great academics (many forget that this can be a positive), a nice campus, and many other selling points.

These things are all true, but how much do they matter to blue chip recruits? Or better, how many blue chip recruits care about those things? I'd say not very many. What the factories offer compared to what these kids actually care about tip the scales big time.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I think a large majority of the problem with our TEAM lays more with the defense than offense, but certainly having an offense that performs at the levels of past seasons would certainly help that. It wouldn't be the first time our offense had to mask the liabilities of our defense.

One of my frustrations with this offense is we know it works. Navy just beat the #6 team in the nation, a team who's head coach is the "next hot thing" with a defense that has a lot of future NFL players on it. And this is not a slight to the SAs at Navy, but their players are just not in the same tier as GT's players. Navy also didn't do anything "innovative" against Houston...they just executed the same offense we run at a higher level than we have been. It's not like Houston has never seen Navy, they played them just last year, and Tom Herman is an Urban Meyer protege and I'm sure Meyer has shared notes he has from his discussions with CPJ (they're friends). Yet Navy was still able to put up 382 yards of offense and hold out for the win...it was really a vintage spread option performance of ball control and maximizing scoring opportunities. Rarely did I see miss blocks on the perimeter, and the Navy OL seemed to have a body for a body.

So the question is, why is it that our offense seems to be so helter skelter from week to week? Why are the performance from players uneven as well? Certainly there's youth factor, but we're in year 9 of CPJ's tenure. We've got a 5th year senior QB, a 5th year senior at Center...and probably the most talent group of RBs CPJ has had in one year. Sure our WRs are not the same as some of the guys that have come through here, but they're good enough. Certainly better than what Navy has.

I've advocated for innovation, and it doesn't need to be a wholesale change to the offense. Recruiting will also be an issue at GT, but I think innovation can help with that.

I just hope it's not a case of "It's worked before, and it'll keep working" mindset that sometimes older coaches have (see: Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown, Frank Beamer, etc.) that eventually becomes their downfall. You're absolutely correct, defenses evolve and coaches are helped with analytics in modern day football, so tendencies are picked apart. It's up to CPJ to stay ahead of it.

They don't call them "trap" games for nothing. When heavily favored teams come in unprepared, you get Houston/Navy. When heavily favored teams come prepared, you get Michigan/Rutgers.

 

[Techster]

They don't call them "trap" games for nothing. When heavily favored teams come in unprepared, you get Houston/Navy. When heavily favored teams come prepared, you get Michigan/Rutgers.

I'm not sure the "trap" game label fits in this case.

Navy and Houston also played a tight game last year, and Houston spent a lot of time in offseason prepping for Navy (sounds familiar). For all intents and purposes, as it was last year, Navy is the best team Houston will face in their conference.

This is just a case of Navy playing extremely well. Give the Middies credit: they played spread option football at a high level. Their D also had 3 turnovers, one of which was returned for a TD. But having an almost 10 minute advantage in time of possession and keeping Houston's high powered offense off the field is what spread option football is all about.

Maybe someone can align spread option plays from Navy and GT to see the difference in execution between us.

 

[IronJacket7]

Hard to eat steak on a spam budget

There's alot of ways to fix spam.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

There's alot of ways to fix spam.

I don't care how you "fix" spam, it's still spam, and it's nasty

 

[GTFLETCH]

Really?

Johnson is 3 games under .500(FBS) since 2010 when he no longer had Gailey's recruits to count on.

For 5 1/2 of the last 6 1/2 seasons. Johnson is 10 games under .500 (FBS).

His FBS win % at GT is lower than Gailey's.

He is 5-21 since 2010 against VT, Miami, Clemson and UGA--and if you take out 2014, he is 1-21 against those teams. That's 1/3 of every season's schedule in which we really aren't competitive.

He has no conference championships. If I am wrong, go the GTAA and take a picture of the trophy for me.

He has only one real division championship (not 4), and we play in what most people consider the weakest Power 5 division. It is getting stronger as our results of 2015 and 2016 (so far) show. Not only are we behind Miami and VT in our division, we are behind UNC and Pitt, and even possibly Duke. UVa's new coach will take them past us too unless something changes.

George O'Leary put up 5 consecutive AP top 25 finishes. How has Johnson had better success than Ross and O'Leary? Or was that not the modern era to you?

Calculus is not required for liberal arts majors at GT (unless you count "Survey of Calculus"). Let's put that myth to rest too.

He plays 2 or 3 more games a year than coaches of the 70's and 80's. He has coached against 10 FCS teams in the last 8 years (many prior coaches had none; Gailey only played 3 FCS teams in 6 years). Saying he won 11 games twice in 8years so he is the greatest coach in modern GT history is the pinnacle of a misleading statistic. Look at his FBS %, It is among the worst in GT history.

(I apologize to John for pasting from another thread, but this one deserved a response).

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!!

 

[IronJacket7]

I don't care how you "fix" spam, it's still spam, and it's nasty

You can work with Spam. Just got to have the right marketing.

 

[VolJacket]

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!!

Georgia Tech was 6-5 in 1977 and unranked

 

[jeffgt14]

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

Don't you give that 5th down team credit for being #1