What is your current opinion of CPJ?

What describes your current opinion of CPJ?


  • Total voters
    154
  • Poll closed .

Animal02

Banned
Messages
6,269
Location
Southeastern Michigan
I 100% agree with all of this. But, it is my belief that his O is having a negative recruiting impact on the D side also. (i.e. "Do you really want to be blocked low all the time?" or "Do you know that if you come here (instead of GT), you will constantly see more NFL-type offenses in practice?", etc. etc.) That is the reason I just cannot see him getting past where he is now. Again, I hope I am wrong, because you are totally correct about his offense giving us an advantage, and I believe it can make up for a 20-25% talent gap, but not a 35-40% talent gap, which is where I believe we are now and unfortunately where I believe we will remain under this regime.

I don't buy the negative recruiting angle WRT to our offense. Anyone that has played ball with with a decent size team (as in more than 30) should know that the 1st team offense and 1st team defense rarely practice against each. If they do not know that....they probably could not hack Tech's academics anyway.
 

GTrob21

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,440
I want GT to succeed. I have my reservations about CPJ as a coach and as an ambassador of the program. I have long been vocal that I think CPJ is either let go at the end of this year or next barring some 9-10 win season including a win over UGA.
 

collegeballfan

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,694
"Find a coach that wants to coach at GT with the limitations it has and we are good."

I agree. Find a top notch coach who wants to coach at a primarily STEM institution with only 38 majors and one of the toughest academic environments in the nation. Who will have the 5* and 4* players lining up at the door to sign onto a program that will challenge them to graduate in 5 years, while their buddies attend a NFL day camp for 4 or 5 years.

I agree, we are good to go!
 

AlabamaBuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,005
Location
Hartselle, AL (originally Rome, GA)
I don't buy the negative recruiting angle WRT to our offense. Anyone that has played ball with with a decent size team (as in more than 30) should know that the 1st team offense and 1st team defense rarely practice against each. If they do not know that....they probably could not hack Tech's academics anyway.


Well, that still doesn't mean that the quality of the scout players and quality of the scout team offense they see will be as good at GT as it is at other schools. So, either way, the recruiting gap (no matter the star ratings) looks to be increasing at least by the "eye test".
 

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
Messages
5,786
Location
Mt Juliet, TN
I don’t believe we will ever have the talent (depth especially) of a Georgia, Bama, FSU, Clemson, etc. and a huge reason for that is the difficulty we have recruiting here regardless of the HC. So in order to compete, we need a HC that runs a system that allows us to compete with lesser talent. We could try and get a coach that can recruit maybe 3-4 4-star players a year but I don’t believe that will be an upgrade if we don’t have a coach like CPJ that can win with lesser talent. You look at other teams in the ACC and a couple of teams pop up every few years and are good solely because they have a couple of great players but once those players leave then those teams fall off and suck again. I have no desire in being one of those teams (which currently I think we are).

One thing I like about CPJ is he seems like he’s all in on GT. Most other up and coming coaches we could get would most likely view us as a stepping stone to get to a bigger school like Michigan, ND, any big time SEC schools that would pay much more than we ever would. CPJ gives off the impression that everything he accomplishes he does for pride. I just don’t see many coaches coming here and succeeding for more than 5-6 years without jumping ship to a bigger school.

I would like to see CPJ be able to build something here like Bill Snyder did at Kansas State. Snyder wins with even worse recruiting classes than we get because he knows how to win with who he gets and has firmly established a foundation and his style of play there (and he knows how to work the JUCO transfers like non other).
 

boozinbuzz

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
21
To use the old presidential debate line: "Is GT football better off now than it was at the end of 2007?" I don't see any compelling arguments that it is.
 

Old School

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
136
Yes, we've had some mediocre years recently. But I think he's making changes where appropriate to do so (firing Groh and hiring Roof, Hiring ST coordinator, Recruiting bigger O-linemen, getting the recruiting budget increased, and he's graduating players). Plus I think he's a helluva competitor.

The "we can't get talent" discussion will go on forever, but look at the players who signed NFL contracts this year. We've got enough talent to win. What I like about our offense is that a player who may be rated as a three star athlete or quarterback for most programs might be a five star quarterback in ours! Levels the playing field a little if you ask me.

Time will tell, but I think Johnson is long for Tech. I think we run the hell out of the ball this year, and win a minimum of 9 (and we beat the mutts in Athens)!
 

Jay Alexander

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
271
I'm a Paul Johnson fan. Love his swagger, commitment to academics, and I truly believe he has the players' best interests at heart.

For the most part, we've been extremely competitive in every game during his tenure. (A few bad breaks in the first 2 years would have made those years less stellar; we easily could have lost to Gardner-Webb, Clemson, U(sic)GA, Wake Forest, etc.), a few good breaks during the past 3 seasons makes these past years easier to stomach (Va Tech, U(sic)GA, Miami, etc.)

Biggest mistake, IMO, was hiring Al Groh (nothing against CAG, just didn't work out for whatever reason). This one mistake set the defense back immeasurably. (This blog over at the ajc was a real eye-opener on some of the talent we've had on the defensive side of ball: http://georgiatech.blog.ajc.com/2014/05/13/how-talented-was-techs-2012-defense/ In fact, I think I remember reading one of CAG quotes when he was hired was that GaTech had some real good players to coach.)

Except for last year, I think the offense has performed at or above what is to be reasonably expected.

I also think CTR is quickly righting the ship on defense.

Maybe it's because I'm the eternal optimist, but I'm expecting good things this year. Go Jackets!
 

Boomergump

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
3,262
CPJ graduates his players. That is not just a side note. It is a MAJOR factor imho. Let's start right there. He is holding kids accountable, teaching them life lessons, and beating the entitlement mentality out of them, all while producing a quality football product on the field. Some may argue that we are paying him to coach football and win games, not to be some academic mentor or advisor. I beg to differ. We are paying him to do all of that. I steadfastly resist the temptation to go down the road of the SEC and endorse the idea using kids for my entertainment.

With all of that said, there have been some poor decisions made on his part, in terms of coaching hires, that have hurt the program to a certain degree. He owns that. Hopefully we will soon be seeing the fruits of his most recent hiring decisions. I could care less about his attitude with the media. I am glad he is passionate, determined, and animated with the kids when they screw up. They need to share his passion and hold each other accountable too. If he alienates many of today's elite athletes, I say so be it. They aren't all prima-donnas. We can get the ones who fit. I would rather we bring a whole slew of Roddy Jones types anyway, who will benefit from the entirety of the TECH experience, than Isaiah Crowell types, who won't.

I strongly disagree that this offense is incapable of carrying us to the promised land. Whether it hurts or helps recruiting, on the whole, on either side of the ball, I don't think has been proven or disproved either way. Over time, that should become evident. At this point, I see us as having recruited about the same as we always have. Obviously, we need to do better and that will take a developing strategy and possibly greater resources to get that done.

I think many people characterize him as stubborn and inflexible based on his outward media persona rather than his actions. He has let people go when need be, added staff, rearranged staff, altered recruiting strategies and tweaked offensive strategies for certain players. All in the effort to improve end results. I see a guy who is always looking for ways to improve. Ornery and inflexible are two different things.

Stability and integrity are two very important things in any program that I want to be associated with. Retaining him provides both. I am not satisfied with the results on the field, but at the same time, I don't feel like we are far away either. My vote is to stay the course for the time being. Every team CPJ has fielded since he got here has been competitive. Many of the mediocre records produced were pretty close to being good records the way the games actually played out. If we start looking like we are not competitive on a consistent basis, then I may change my vote. Not until then.
 
Last edited:

augustabuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,401
I can't wait to see what he can do with the larger linemen he has recruited the last two classes. I hope we don't repeat the mistake of running off the coach who is early into his change in philosophy about recruiting at Tech. I for one am pleased with the last two classes and the commits in the new class.
 

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
Messages
5,786
Location
Mt Juliet, TN
Yes, we've had some mediocre years recently. But I think he's making changes where appropriate to do so (firing Groh and hiring Roof, Hiring ST coordinator, Recruiting bigger O-linemen, getting the recruiting budget increased, and he's graduating players). Plus I think he's a helluva competitor.

The "we can't get talent" discussion will go on forever, but look at the players who signed NFL contracts this year. We've got enough talent to win. What I like about our offense is that a player who may be rated as a three star athlete or quarterback for most programs might be a five star quarterback in ours! Levels the playing field a little if you ask me.

Time will tell, but I think Johnson is long for Tech. I think we run the hell out of the ball this year, and win a minimum of 9 (and we beat the mutts in Athens)!
The draft always intrigues me because you see the percentage of 4* players that go to factories that don’t pan out vs the percentage of 4* players that choose to go to smaller schools.
 

Essobee

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
437
Location
Gas Pump #1
I was somewhat surprised to see that I find myself in an overwhelming majority who want to see CPJ succeed at Tech. :) We've had our disappointments of late, but I guess I'm became too used to them over the years...dating all the way back to 1957 when we kind of fell off the win express we had enjoyed for a number of years. But as far as euphoric seasons are concerned, they have been few and far between for 57 years...and that may go back to before CPJ was even born. Dunno.

We'll have another great season soon and it will be made all the better because of the anxious anticipation. It might even come as big a surprise as in 1990.
 

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,656
This conversation has been had ad nauseum on this board and others for the length of Coach Johnson's tenure, and I'm not sure how much we can contribute of new relevance. But for the sake of conversation, here goes:

I witnessed CPJ turn GSU into a juggernaut of a program. I had roommates play for him as preferred walk-ons. The Southern Conference was the SEC of Div. 1-AA, with GSU, App State, and Furman consistently being ranked in the top 5-10. At that time, he faced few hurdles in recruiting, and was able to get the cream-of-the-crop of talent at that level (for the record, Sewak maintained the high level of play that PJ established, and his offenses were prolific, but his control of the entire program wasn't on par with PJs, and it was about to fall apart).

His success at Navy speaks for itself. Under the most restrictive recruiting limitations, he dominated the service academies and competed with traditional powers. His success in that environment is convinced many of us, including myself, that he could take GT to the next level (consistently competing for ACC titles and top 15 finishes were my hopes).

IMO, the thrilling successes of 08 and 09 had a lot to do with PJs ability to coach up that 1-85 talent (since he did inheret the 1-8 talent of that 07 class). Gailey did a great job getting those guys in, but I don't know if he could have capitalized on that talent with overall team success. PJ did that, even while dealing with a criminal lack of depth on both sides of the ball. For every JD and MB on that squad there was an Austin Barrick and Sean Bedford, playing completely out of position and way above their pay grade. Those guys responded to PJs fire (for the most part), and even though some of them have cooled to him recently, they owe their legacy at GT to the infusion of competitiveness that he brought.

The failures of those first couple of years, however, were obviously in recruiting. Facing tougher academic restrictions than any GT coach in memory (obviously debateable, but my opinion nevertheless), I think PJ struggled to find an effective strategy. GSU used to get studs from south GA and north FL all the time. Its no secret those kids aren't the most likely to get accepted to a world-class research institution. Combine that inexperience with the ALL-OUT ASSAULT that GT and PJ experienced from the local media after we beat UGAg in 08 and bad luck with DC hires, and you had a recipe for our struggles of '10-'12.

CPJ has always been hard. Sometimes he's a jerk. I didn't go to GT, but it seems like that fits with the culture. Sometimes I wish he would buddy-up to the media more, and talk up his players more, and generally be a nicer guy, but that's just not him, and never will be. I'm fine with that.

I think he has kept us afloat, and very competitive, through college-football's major push toward semi-pro status. He has faults, and he doesn't do everything exactly like I wish he would, but I absolutely feel like he is the man for this job right now. With the improvements in recruiting, the obvious upgrades on the defensive coaching staff, and his IMPECCABLE record of student-athlete conduct and academic success (no way to overstate this), I hope he is here for a long time. His integrity and commitment to his players being true student-athletes is what makes me sleep well rooting for GT.
 

GTsuperfan

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
195
Like everyone you love the offense when it's working but it's miserable watching when it ain't. Personally with the talent in Georgia and ugag running a pro-style offense, I think a more traditional spread offense would fit the day and times of GT athletics. Kids like Taj Griffen who don't fit in A pro style will give us a much harder look in state. Gotta go shotgun and cater to talents of the kids state. We will always pick up decent players on defense just from being in GA.
 

augustabuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,401
translation please...
In Johnson's case, we succeeded early with some small linemen. I believe that this led him to believe that he could win with more small linemen. The smaller linemen are disadvantaged in pass pro. He was criticized for not recruiting bigger linemen. Well now he has adjusted and this year will be the 1st year that the larger OL recruits are on the depth chart.

Our offense plays a very physical game and the lack of size and depth is really exposed when we play physical DLs in successive weeks (or short weeks ). This was also true with the defensive scheme that Groh tried. When we get in tight games, it is natural for coaches to play only the guys they trust to win the battles. This leads to a lack of development for players down the depth chart and increased wear and tear on the regulars. in 2000, O'Leary gave his coordinators a minimum required number to play in the first half of each game.

For the 2007 class, it appeared that Gailey had changed who and how we recruited. He followed that class with a strong following class of commitments. But we ran him off before he had half a chance to see the fruit of his labor.

I am concerned that some are hell bent to repeat the mistake.
 

AE 87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
13,015
I heard an interesting stat while rewatching Elon game (they got it wrong), and I thought I'd post a yearly comparison.
Points per Game vs ACC:
2008: 22.5
2009: 33.3
2010: 23.6
2011: 28.0
2012: 37.2
2013: 31.2
 

GTRX7

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,508
Location
Atlanta
On additional layer:
vs ACC: vs UGA
2008: 22.5: 45
2009: 33.3: 24
2010: 23.6: 34
2011: 28.0: 17
2012: 37.2: 10
2013: 31.2: 34

Certainly no real downward trend that I see in PPG.
 
Top