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

[Vespidae]

Thanks. It's all numbers though ... for all the fish that got away, a certain percentage get ensnared in the net.

 

[jeffgt14]

We never play for field position these days. Oh we talk about it, but it's not part of the game plan.

Here's a stat. A team that starts inside the 10 yard line has less than a 10% chance of scoring. You can completely neutralize a superior opponent if they can't use their athleticism.

I wish we had a QB that could punt. Dodd used to say that a punt is an "offensive" tactic. It is not to be confused with giving up. It is designed to move the ball downfield.

When was the last time you saw that?

Punting on 3rd down provides a 0% chance of gaining a 1st down on 3rd down.

 

[Vespidae]

And your point is?

 

[jeffgt14]

I’ve read a lot of insane comments on this board the past 2 weeks but that one probably topped them all. Punting on 3rd down sure worked back in Dodd’s day when he was beating Bear Bryant. That score was 7-6? That should explain the concept of punting on 3rd down right there.

 

[stech81]

Punting on 3rd down provides a 0% chance of gaining a 1st down on 3rd down.

Agree and I'm not sure I would want to put the defense back out there that fast. Times have changed offenses have got better.

 

[jeffgt14]

Agree and I'm not sure I would want to put the defense back out there that fast. Times have changed offenses have got better.

I watched my Panthers give up 2 TD’s of 98+ yards like it was nothing last week. Too bad Julio Jones didn’t play in the 50’s.

 

[Vespidae]

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.

 

[swampsting]

It's actually 157 counties. Your point is correct, of course.

It's 159.

 

[Vespidae]

It's 159.

I feel better now.

 

[Milwaukee]

Georgia Tech isn't MIT. We can recruit upper echelon players, we just haven't done it in bunches in almost a decade. #deadhorse

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Ya know....if we had a absolute beast of a D....top 5ish..... and we were facing the same type D vs our opponent....were struggling to make yards on 1st n 2nd down....AND had Billy Lothridge at QB......then I'd be ok to punt a time or two on 3rd down to flip the field. Otherwise....no.

 

[Vespidae]

a know....if we had a absolute beast of a D....top 5ish..... and we were facing the same type D vs our opponent....were struggling to make yards on 1st n 2nd down....AND had Billy Lothridge at QB......then I'd be ok to punt a time or two on 3rd down to flip the field. Otherwise....no.

Thank you. That's exactly right. It's situational and against superior teams.

 

[Skeptic]

Interview with Rob Cassidy at Rivals.

https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-com-q-a-georgia-tech-coach-paul-johnson

He pretty much says in one spoken paragraph what others have been saying, often into the wind who seriously -- and sincerely, I think -- want to believe that all that is required to go double digits every year is the GT "brand" and the "right coach" who will then magically recruit the guys who don't want a technical education or the course load.

 

[Vespidae]

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.

 

[Longestday]

If GT kicked off on third down to score would be 100 and nothing .

Teams hate to play against the triple option.

The main point I agree with is error-free football. GT acedemics and the player pool is not even remotely close to football plane before 1960. Error free football is the same but the landscape is totally different.

 

[GTJake]

This may be a bit off topic, but I think some are freaking out too much over the last two weeks.
We played the #5 and #10 teams ranked in the country and we competed vs. #10, minus turnovers.
The Pitt game is huge ... lets see what happens Saturday.

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

In today's football, if I ever see a head coach punt the ball on 3rd down, I'd be thinking they should be fired before another play is run in the game.

I don't care if it's 3rd and 75, you're one penalty away from an automatic 1st down.

 

[GTJoeBrew]

This may be a bit off topic, but I think some are freaking out too much over the last two weeks.
We played the #5 and #10 teams ranked in the country and we competed vs. #10, minus turnovers.
The Pitt game is huge ... lets see what happens Saturday.

Winning cures all. We win this weekend and everything turns sunny again. People tend to forget that we looked awful in 2014 until this point. Squeezed out wins against opponents that were not very good. The second half was beautiful. Let's hope we can figure it out and start scoring at will.

 

[Vespidae]

In today's football, if I ever see a head coach punt the ball on 3rd down, I'd be thinking they should be fired before another play is run in the game.

I don't care if it's 3rd and 75, you're one penalty away from an automatic 1st down.

I guess you should fire Bill Bellichick then. Oh yeah ... he's only the best active coach today.

 

[jeffgt14]

I guess you should fire Bill Bellichick then. Oh yeah ... he's only the best active coach today.

They were up 35 with 3 minutes left in the game.