Thank you, Paul

[BCJacket]

We're going to miss him when he's gone. His legend will grow.

2009 and 2014 were two of the four greatest seasons since Dodd retired. 4th and 1 vs Wake, ACCCG, The Pick and the Kick, the Miracle on Techwood, Orange Bowl, tearing up the hedges....

But his CPJ's greatest legacy will be when we see former players back on the flats; as coaches, Ex NFLers and just generally successful young men. The immense value to the Tech community of guys like Tevin, JeT, Bay Bay, Roddy, Trey Braun, Nesbitt, Shaq, Sean Bedford, and hundreds of others who had academic and athletic success here... that will be his legacy.

Thank you CPJ

 

[JacketGirl]

Thank you, CPJ! I’ve enjoyed so many games in person - 2008 uGA, the Miracle on North Avenue, the Miracle on Techwood Drive, 2009 Wake when we went for it on 4th down in overtime, 2009 win over #4 Virginia Tech, the 2009 ACC Championship, 2009 FSU, 2008 and 2009 Clemson, 2008 and 2009 Mississippi State, Halloween in Nashville playing Vanderbilt. I’ve witnessed the Kick and the Pick, the moment I realized the team had refused to give up in 2014 when they forced 4 fumbles against Pitt in the first 5 minutes of the game, the dominant Orange Bowl win over the previously-ranked #1 Mississippi State Bulldogs. These are the moments I will always remember. I loved how you trusted your team to get that extra yard on 4th down and although I think Pressley is certainly good enough to win the Ray Guy, I will hate seeing us punt more.

I am excited for Tech’s future, but these last 11 years have been a lot of fun. Thanks, CPJ!

 

[nickp91]

Next stop for Paul Johnson is probably the College Football Hall of Fame

 

[Madison Grant]

CPJ had a great career as a championship winning coach. He brought us some of the greatest, most exciting wins over the mutts in Tech history. And he got us through some of the unique challenges in terms of academics and funds of the last 11 years that only he could have. Thanks and appreciation go to him.

 

[Animal02]

CPJ had a great career as a championship winning coach. He brought us some of the greatest, most exciting wins over the mutts in Tech history. And he got us through some of the unique challenges in terms of academics and funds of the last 11 years that only he could have. Thanks and appreciation go to him.

Agree.....I think rule changes both on and off the field plus getting older took it's toll and it is time to move forward.

 

[GT NC]

Thank you Coach Johnson for your many years at Tech. I very much appreciate your leading Tech with honor and integrity. I am very proud of Tech in both academics and athletics. You brought balance and success to both. Along the way my wife and I enjoyed incredibly exciting football - whether it is going for it on 4th down deep in our own territory, or a long pass when least expected, an option run when the defense had no idea who had the ball (and I did not know either), or grinding it out up and down the field when the opposing coach had no answer, etc. We win some... we lose some.. but you taught our players to be winners in life and brought honor to Tech. Thank you and God bless you!

 

[takethepoints]

I've said enough about how great a coach Paul was and is. I know for certain that over the next few years we'll be looking back at his time here with more then a little regret that he wasn't supported better. I hope Coach can come up to his standards and surpass them, but that will take awhile. In the meantime …

Thanks for all you did at Tech, Coach Johnson. I'll miss you more then you could know.

 

[gtpi]

as a fan of cpj and his accomplishments at tech. something doesnt feel right re this whole situation.

imo there is more to this story than we are led to believe.

this feels more like a divorce than a retirement to me. im thinking cpj was forced out by powerful alumni and or the fact that he may have lost the team.

their play last night did not look like an all out effort to send their coach out with a win to me. all the quotes in the ajc seemed to indicate that some players did not give their all.

good luck paul in your next fb coaching job. except if you play us.

 

[nwgatech]

In my 46 years of being a Tech fan, I have seen some great players and some great games. The last 11 have been the pinnacle of these. So many exciting games. So much domination of other teams at times. There has been no other period like it in the modern era.

I will miss this offense. I will miss you coach. I will always be a Tech fan. I will always be a Paul Johnson fan.

My Dad is in his eighties and close to the end of his time of being able to follow Tech. I am thankful that his faithfulness to buy the season tickets, take my son and I to the games, see some great football that we could be proud of, and have the memories we have because of your tenure at Tech during these years. You wrote my Dad a lengthy letter once many years ago that is a prized possession. You sat down at the table with my son when he was about 12 at the coaches caravan and just talked to him like a guy. My Dad was so proud and cried a bit when he talked about it later In the annals of Ga Tech athletics or academics my family and I are not even a blip on the screen. But in your way in our few encounters you treated us like we were GT family.

My Dad became a fan at 8 years old when he first saw the Tech tower in 1946. He is a diehard. I am a diehard. And we respect you greatly because we know as a man you are you of high character and to whatever you set your mind, you are a diehard, too.

My most sincere thanks for all your hard work, sacrifice, and success we have enjoyed from it.

The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord shine his face upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His countenance, His favor, upon you and give you peace.

 

[vamosjackets]

In my 46 years of being a Tech fan, I have seen some great players and some great games. The last 11 have been the pinnacle of these. So many exciting games. So much domination of other teams at times. There has been no other period like it in the modern era.

I will miss this offense. I will miss you coach. I will always be a Tech fan. I will always be a Paul Johnson fan.

My Dad is in his eighties and close to the end of his time of being able to follow Tech. I am thankful that his faithfulness to buy the season tickets, take my son and I to the games, see some great football that we could be proud of, and have the memories we have because of your tenure at Tech during these years. You wrote my Dad a lengthy letter once many years ago that is a prized possession. You sat down at the table with my son when he was about 12 at the coaches caravan and just talked to him like a guy. My Dad was so proud and cried a bit when he talked about it later In the annals of Ga Tech athletics or academics my family and I are not even a blip on the screen. But in your way in our few encounters you treated us like we were GT family.

My Dad became a fan at 8 years old when he first saw the Tech tower in 1946. He is a diehard. I am a diehard. And we respect you greatly because we know as a man you are you of high character and to whatever you set your mind, you are a diehard, too.

My most sincere thanks for all your hard work, sacrifice, and success we have enjoyed from it.

The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord shine his face upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His countenance, His favor, upon you and give you peace.

Amen.

 

[Buzzbomb]

He has class like Bobby Cremins. When the enthusiasm waned, they knew when to depart(not hurting Tech).

 

[Animal02]

as a fan of cpj and his accomplishments at tech. something doesnt feel right re this whole situation.

imo there is more to this story than we are led to believe.

this feels more like a divorce than a retirement to me. im thinking cpj was forced out by powerful alumni and or the fact that he may have lost the team.

their play last night did not look like an all out effort to send their coach out with a win to me. all the quotes in the ajc seemed to indicate that some players did not give their all.

good luck paul in your next fb coaching job. except if you play us.

CPJ is only a couple years older than me....has made far more money.....I know in my profession, changes occur and it is difficult to keep up and not worth the time to invest to make the changes. I suspect a similar situation with CPJ.....the rule changes on and off the field, attitudes of the kid, attitudes of the fans, etc. Sometimes it is not worth the fight as you get older. If I was in his shoes, I would stick back, travel, maybe do some consulting, write a book, etc.

 

[Milwaukee]

Still gives me goosebumps. The man is a straight up offensive genius and he terrorized opposing coaching staffs. He was a bit of a quiet cocky mofo, but he was our quiet cocky mofo. Damn he was fun to watch. #NeverForget

 

[iceeater1969]

# neverforget ^2

 

[GTRambler]

Still gives me goosebumps. The man is a straight up offensive genius and he terrorized opposing coaching staffs. He was a bit of a quiet cocky mofo, but he was our quiet cocky mofo. Damn he was fun to watch. #NeverForget

I remember the NCAA changed the rules to prevent an on-field substitution like the one ‘Ol CPJ cooked up for that play against Clemson shown the video above. Seems like lots of coaches (Dabo included) hated getting outsmarted by CPJ, and whined about it enough to get the rules changed.

Also, the NCAA made other rule changes outlawing cut blocks beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage, citing it as necessary for “player safety” reasons. Again a rule-change-shot against CPJ’s flexbone spread option offensive system ... and it was unjust, in my opinion.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I remember the NCAA changed the rules to prevent an on-field substitution like the one ‘Ol CPJ cooked up for that play against Clemson shown the video above. Seems like lots of coaches (Dabo included) hated getting outsmarted by CPJ, and whined about it enough to get the rules changed.

Also, the NCAA made other rule changes outlawing cut blocks beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage, citing it as necessary for “player safety” reasons. Again a rule-change-shot against CPJ’s flexbone spread option offensive system ... and it was unjust, in my opinion.

If you can’t beat them cheat them....or in this case change the rules of the game. The one with the play by DT I actually get. It prevents “trickery”. But though that may seem more “fair” it lessens the game imo. Trickery is awesome and that play was iconic.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I wish Coach Johnson well, but I am glad to close this chapter of Tech football. There was an exciting Orange Bowl win (thanks in part to FSU getting into the playoff and Geoff Collins resigning from MSU) but also a loss to a Kansas team that ended up 3-9 and a thrashing by MTSU at Grant Field.

The last 9 years averaged out to mediocrity. I believe we can do better. I am excited about our new enthusiastic coach. I just hope people wait until at least the end of the 2021 season to make judgments about him-- although that is unlikely to happen.

This is not meant to be a put down of Collins or TStan or anybody else for that matter, but ..... Suppose Collins had stayed at MSU and we had still beat them as badly as we did (and that's a distinct possibility), would Collins be HC at Tech now? From what I have seen of Collins thus far at Tech, I would say he SEEMS to be a perfect fit. But what if ???

 

[Treb1982]

Dude was the man

 

[takethepoints]

I'll say this, in Paul Johnson's 11 seasons we won every single cross-division ACC game. Amazing considering our horrendous 2015 team played an undefeated FSU and we still won that one too. As far as being an equalizer goes, we were generally pretty good at beating teams that didn't regularly see our offense. But I think in recent years, teams within our division started scheduling more option programs or requesting byes before us and (coupled with seeing us yearly) we lost that uniqueness advantage. But it was nice getting that one game a year where an Atlantic foe was panicking about having to play GT. Those were fun games.

Yet we led the nation in rushing. Again. And one of the games that contributed to that was our 49 - 28 drubbing of VT (35 first downs, 465 yards rushing, 0 passing). And we beat both Miami and UVA.

In short, I don't think we ever lost our edge. Last year was, again, an injury story: if we hadn't lost Benson we would have won 9 or 10 games. But you can't convince people who were looking for an argument for replacing Paul. I wonder what would have happened if he had come back next year and we won 9, like in 2016? Mass suicide would be my bet.

But I expect that someone will hire him, if he wants to get back into coaching. And, depending on the next three years, it might be Tech. I hope that doesn't happen, but you never know.

 

[wesgt123]

I still feel weird playing NCAA 14 using an offense other than the triple option.

Learn how to use it in a game and you can torch a buddy who doesn’t see it coming.


2008 FSU popped my college football cherry. I was hooked since then. Watching Dwyer bust huge TD runs was mind blowing (so was FSU awful splits on the D line). Thanks CPJ