Rivals.com Q&A: Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson

[Vespidae]

Love what you have here! So a question is - how do we know that something like this does not exist?

Maybe there is. I suspect not. Otherwise, you would not see CPJ frustrated in public like he has been.

 

[Vespidae]

Comparisons between a college football program and a corporation in the business world are apples and oranges....period.

This makes me laugh.

Any organization worth a salt has Objectives. Any organization worth a salt has an estimate of Resources. Any organization that has objectives, has Constraints. Any organization that has objectives, bases them on Assumptions.

This is not football vs. business. This is leadership. Period.

 

[jeffgt14]

Vespidae brings his lifelong accomplishments in business to coach the Wake Forest Demon Deacons where his team has amassed an incredible record of 52-0 over the past 4 years by winning games 7-6 with the impeccable strategy of punting on 3rd and 8 and has forever changed the landscape of college football.

 

[Vespidae]

Wake Forest is beyond help. When you're school song is Deacon Blues, you're toast. Time to go into the tire business.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

I obviously disagree and here's why...

You have to consider the athleticism of the team you are facing. It's all in the match ups.

The usual goal in the 3 down zone is 6-7 yds on Down 1, set up the pass play on Down 2, and the TO on a 3-4 Down 3. That assumes you are moving the ball.

Take Clemson. Did we move the ball? No. So, you have to adjust and reduce their ability to operate and force them to run more conservative plays. And that is done through field position.

Ideally, Tech would have shown this against Vandy to put the threat in. But quick punt against a superior team? Heck yes.

Look at the drive charts from the game.

Conventional plays against superior teams are not a recipe for success.

People think the game is about offense. It's a game of territory.

Dodd also punted the ball back to an opponent on 1st down in a game.

Wonder what the reaction would be to that today, beyond the loss of ticket sales?

 

[Vespidae]

My guess is not too good. With today's offensive formations, there's no reason for a punt on first down today. I would still argue that a punt on third down makes sense under some game conditions.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

This makes me laugh.

Any organization worth a salt has Objectives. Any organization worth a salt has an estimate of Resources. Any organization that has objectives, has Constraints. Any organization that has objectives, bases them on Assumptions.

This is not football vs. business. This is leadership. Period.

This makes me laugh. I can draw parallels between apples and oranges (or crap and donuts), it's still apples and oranges.

 

[bravejason]

This is what frustrates me. Businesses have to do this every day. Yes, I like to work on strategy. It's fun and I enjoy it. But guess what? If I want to translate that strategy into results, I have to think about all the other stuff ... People (recruiting, training, retention, satisfaction, workload), Facilities (where, what to insource, outsource, financing, partnerships), Materials (supply chain, purchasing organization, key vendors, relationships, etc.), etc.

This is where I think CPJ struggles. If he wants to be effective as a coach and put up good results, he has to be the "executive" in charge of the football program and show the gap of what he wants to do, the impact, the investment and argue for what he wants. Being passive and just saying "we don't have the resources" or "we don't have the players" or "our kids have a harder time in school" is lame. It says, "I only want to work on the coaching stuff."

I see lots of assumptions about this or that re the football program. I see very little data and almost no use of frameworks to assess and plan at the program level. This is a classic case of the "the shoemaker's children always go barefoot". Tech teaches this stuff but doesn't seem to use it in improving its athletic program.

My two cents.

I've got the opposite opinion. I think CPJ has thought about those kind of non-football items as they relate to football. I also think he has ideas on what is needed to improve them. I think his point was that the resources required to fully address them just aren't there in the same way they may be at other schools. He commented the other day about Clemson having 45 assistants in addition to the coaching staff. If Clemson is spending money to hire that many assistants, then you know a lot of money is being spent elsewhere in the football program as well. That's what CPJ is saying. Like CPJ said, it's a matter of priorities. The school and the AA have to decide where football sits in priority stack. If you want a national championship football contender, then football has to be near the very top, or maybe even be the top priority.

 

[Vespidae]

I don't disagree. But it is one of spending. To spend $100 million, you have to raise $100 million. That's less of the Hill's problem, and more of GTAA.

So, they should put together a revenue plan and go get 'em. A new AD will help.

 

[GTBandman]

I remember the Falcons in 1977 had lowest scoring defense in NFL Super Bowl era history. 129 points in 14 games and finished 7-7 missing the playoffs. Offense was just horrible. Punter was terrific. That team should have punted just about every time they got the ball on first down on their own side of the field. They gained more net yards on the exchanges, and the feeling was the defense was more likely to score than the offense.

Even with the Broncos defense it would not make sense with the rules as they are. Just handoff up the middle, run left or right, throw incomplete pass then punt.