The Head Coach Hated Me

[IronJacket7]

So, where does the “feels like family” that so many recruits mention come from?

Like I said above I'm sure there are several that like him.

 

[GTRX7]

Like I said above I'm sure there are several that like him.

Always going to be a mixed bag with any coach. I also know some guys who have played for CPJ. They personally love him, but have told me about others that just didn't mix with his personality. More often than not that stuff probably comes down to playing time, but I am sure there are some starters that have their own issues with CPJ and bench players that love him. I think you can find anecdotal evidence on either side for every coach. Heck, ol' Bobby Knight has a lot of former players that swear by him, while there have been a couple Duke players transfer recently while speaking very poorly of Coach K.

 

[IronJacket7]

Always going to be a mixed bag with any coach. I also know some guys who have played for CPJ. They personally love him, but have told me about others that just didn't mix with his personality. More often than not that stuff probably comes down to playing time, but I am sure there are some starters that have their own issues with CPJ and bench players that love him. I think you can find anecdotal evidence on either side for every coach. Heck, ol' Bobby Knight has a lot of former players that swear by him, while there have been a couple Duke players transfer recently while speaking very poorly of Coach K.

Exactly.

 

[ramblinwreck1378]

For every anecdote like that there is one that goes the other way - like this one.

Know a guy who played backup QB at Navy when CPJ was the OC there. This guy is married to a UGA grad, so for all intents and purposes, their household is red and black. He has never and will never say anything negative about CPJ or the way he runs his programs. Consistently says he was one of the most caring, brightest, and best coaches he's ever had and vouches for him on both a personal and professional level.

 

[Vespidae]

Had a former GT football player (who will remain anonymous because we all know him) tell my wife about two months before the 2018 season began that several of the former football players go back to GT to work out in the weight room. He said it is often discussed how much they do not like CPJ. Take it for what its worth (grain of salt). I'm sure a lot of the players like him too.

Hard to evaluate. One of the bankers at the Wells Fargo branch I go to played for CPJ at Ga Southern and nothing but nice things to say about him. It's all relative.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Some of you are questioning whether players, current and former, like him, but the person mentioned in this thread is not, and never was, a player. He was the SID for Tech. I don't know what kind of relationship he had with CPJ, nor what CPJ thought of him, but he just flat did not get the job done as SID, and that is why he was fired. As I posted earlier in this thread, I have a little bit of knowledge on the issues involved, and I can assure you that Tech is better off without him. If Yandle wants to blame it on CPJ, fine, but CPJ was not the problem; Yandle was.

 

[swampsting]

Met and dealt with Dean Buchan a little bit. He was Ok.
Did not know Yandle. But the fact he was not there long says plenty.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Everything -- even given exaggeration for effect -- except the one possible: the guy is right. Because sometimes he or she just is, and we have all had that one, too. Sometimes when they say the boss hates me, they are right. The boss, well not exactly hates, but really dislikes them. And sometimes that can be a valid reason to separate. Maybe handled better, but justifiable though the employee won't think so. I mean, who gets the benefit of the doubt: the valued manager with a proven track record, or the complaining employee with almost no track record but who is just not going to gee and haw with the boss?

You’re right I’ve seen the Boss be the bad guy as well. I’ve just never seen the case where you’ve had 1 guy against the world & the one guy was right and the rest of the universe was wrong. I’m sure it happened somewhere but that scenario’s a long shot.

 

[bke1984]

Always going to be a mixed bag with any coach. I also know some guys who have played for CPJ. They personally love him, but have told me about others that just didn't mix with his personality. More often than not that stuff probably comes down to playing time, but I am sure there are some starters that have their own issues with CPJ and bench players that love him. I think you can find anecdotal evidence on either side for every coach. Heck, ol' Bobby Knight has a lot of former players that swear by him, while there have been a couple Duke players transfer recently while speaking very poorly of Coach K.

Yeah I've encountered several that loved him. Honestly, I don't really care if they love him or hate him...I want results, and I'm sure they do too.

I'm sure a ton of players hate Nick Saban...doesn't seem like the most likable guy, IMO. But does that really matter? They probably love winning, right?

Also, there's a lot of people that hated someone at some point in their life only to realize that person helped them become a better person. Not saying this is the case, but I know there are a few people I disliked at some point that later I came to appreciate for what they did for me.

 

[stingem103]

I briefly worked with (2) of our players (both played a lot on offense from 2009-2011) back during the summer before the 2011 season....they were working some shifts part time for my company and I had to know what they thought of PJ given their status as current players....I also think many of us GT fans at the time were pretty negative based on what happened in 2010 so I thought it fair to ask. After I asked what they though, they basically said they didn't like him but it was obvious they respected him as a football coach....one guy just seemed to be mad about not getting enough targets at GT as a WR. PJ is probably not a "players" coach in many ways but I dont think he is not well liked by his players....at least the ones that buy into the system/team.

Factory schools by comparison hire a bunch of assistant coaches so the head coach can operate a little differently at those schools while still having motivation/discipline applied (Dabo is a good example of this..he looks like the nicest guy in the world partially due to it). Tech probably is better served by a coach like PJ...of course I think we all wish he was a little better at recruiting.

One thing is for certain, this topic of him being liked by players comes up everytime we have some issues in a given season.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Has CPJ ever given a pregame speech to the team -

Beyond IIWII?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Has CPJ ever given a pregame speech to the team -

Beyond IIWII?

You would have to ask the players.

 

[TechCubed]

We've had multiple guys at our company who have played for CPJ. How much they "liked" him depended on their playing experience, but it was clear they all respected him. One of the guys went through a difficult family situation after graduation, and CPJ stepped in without hesitation to help him and checked on him regularly to make sure he was doing well. He didn't have to do anything, so says a lot of about the character of our coach.

I think having a tough-minded head coach like him is a lot like going to GT -- you probably appreciate the lessons you learned the older you get.

 

[LibertyTurns]

This seems rather specific

All those things happened though not all at once because this was a splice of many events with many leaders, including myself.

I can say with absolute certainty that every salaried employee that I’m aware of that was terminated during my tenure at my company has “workers comp’d” us after we PIP’d them. 100%. You can’t fire me because I was injured on the job is by far the most common tactic.

As standard policy we investigate all of these cases. Nearly half we’ve charged with fraud and had arrested, ie back injuries & they can’t stand for more than 5 mins or lift 5 lbs and later are caught pushing a lawn mower or manhandling their boat. Those are the 2 most frequent ways they get caught.

If they spent as much effort doing their job as shirking their duties they’d probably be average employees but sadly these types seemingly either want a free ride or want to generate drama over all else.

 

[jgtengineer]

I've talked to a good number of players over the years. To be honest the only ones i've heard that had anything negative to say about johnson were players who played for gailey then johnson. Johnson was a bit more of a disciplinarian. He forced them to go to class etc Gailey was much looser with this ( and it showed with our first apr report). I can see the difference too. if you started off playing say 3 years under gailey who did in fact treat his players like they were already nfl players ( it was on them to do the right thing etc) and you have to play your last year or 2 under a guy who is trying to instill some naval academy style discipline that would be a major shock.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

Only player I personally know who played for CPJ felt his play calling was a bit stubborn at times, but had a lot of respect for him. It felt more like one of those “I like my boss, but there’s ONE thing I wish he wouldn’t do...” kind of situations and I think even CPJ’s biggest defenders sometimes feel he can get stubborn running the damn ball occasionally.

 

[motynes]

Only player I personally know who played for CPJ felt his play calling was a bit stubborn at times, but had a lot of respect for him. It felt more like one of those “I like my boss, but there’s ONE thing I wish he wouldn’t do...” kind of situations and I think even CPJ’s biggest defenders sometimes feel he can get stubborn running the damn ball occasionally.

If you don’t think CPJ can be stubborn in his play calling the you haven’t watched him very much. At a minimum once a game he calls back to back plays of the same call where it was stuffed the first go around. If he thinks it’s there he is going to keep calling, be fanned it the results change his mind.

 

[Skeptic]

Only player I personally know who played for CPJ felt his play calling was a bit stubborn at times, but had a lot of respect for him. It felt more like one of those “I like my boss, but there’s ONE thing I wish he wouldn’t do...” kind of situations and I think even CPJ’s biggest defenders sometimes feel he can get stubborn running the damn ball occasionally.

He can be stubborn about running the damn ball all the time. He is what Woody Hayes would have been had they put air in the ball back in the day.

 

[Skeptic]

If you don’t think CPJ can be stubborn in his play calling the you haven’t watched him very much. At a minimum once a game he calls back to back plays of the same call where it was stuffed the first go around. If he thinks it’s there he is going to keep calling, be fanned it the results change his mind.

It may look it, and it may well be true, though not accurate. But it is an option. Give or keep and move down the line to option #2. Sometimes QBs get fooled by the optioned lineman. Sometimes they make a bad read. Sometimes that lineman just makes a great play. Sometimes it is Johnson getting a read on the defense and changing his blacking schemes vs. defensive stunts, or keeping the linebackers from skating to the edge. What we think we see and what actually is happening out there are often not related. At the Naval Academy they still tell the story of Bill Belichick, more than a decade ago, spending hours in Johnson's film room (his dad was a long-time Academy assistant coach) trying to figure out Johnson's offense. If he struggled imagine us neophytes grasping it.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

If you don’t think CPJ can be stubborn in his play calling the you haven’t watched him very much. At a minimum once a game he calls back to back plays of the same call where it was stuffed the first go around. If he thinks it’s there he is going to keep calling, be fanned it the results change his mind.

I like that. He only does it when the call was the perfect call but some guy made a boneheaded mental mistake that is easily correctable.