"When Brian Kuo arrived at Georgia Tech as a freshman in August 2011, he said he had “zero interest” in football. Now, seven years later, Kuo will leave Tech with undergraduate and master’s degrees from the school’s college of electrical and computer engineering. And, thanks to seven years of playing trumpet in the Tech marching band, he will make his departure as a fan of the Yellow Jackets football team.
That being the case, he wanted to meet and thank the man who helped kindle that interest, coach Paul Johnson. He got the opportunity this past Monday, when Johnson shared lunch with Kuo and four of his friends (three in the band, one in Reck Club) at the cafeteria in the Edge Center."
"The students shared a table with Johnson for about 45 minutes on Monday, Kuo said, peppering him with questions about his job, life and family. They learned about, among other things, his friendship with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and the challenges of leading and motivating a team of 85 scholarship players.
In turn, Kuo said that Johnson thanked them for their support of the team and recognized how the band plays a critical role in revving up the fans, who in turn charge the team."
"Kuo said he found Johnson to be down to earth and personable, not the stoic person that he has seen in news conferences.
“Those kids were huge fans and they love football and they could ask about certain plays during the season and what was going on, so it was fun,” Johnson said. “I enjoyed it.”"
