Johnson continues to tweak SEC
Ga. Tech coach has had success vs. elite league
It was quintessential ATLANTA Paul Johnson to note after his team had handled Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl last New Year’s Eve that Georgia Tech finished the season 3-0 against the SEC East.
Just like Johnson couldn’t pass up an opportunity, in the euphoria of his team dismantling Mississippi State two years earlier in the Orange Bowl, to say, “And for at least a week or two we don’t have to hear about the SEC.”
Johnson, who just completed his 10th spring at Georgia Tech, has good reason to relish those moments. Surrounded by Southeastern Conference worshipers, in a sports market in which Georgia Tech football struggles to pull attention away from three pro teams, he can’t help himself from tweaking those who have judged his program harshly against Georgia, a rival in Athens that has a bigger fan base, more financial resources and richer tradition.
“We’ve gotten tweaked so much since I’ve been here the other way,” Johnson told USA TODAY Sports. “When you get your chance, you better take advantage of it.”
Whether Georgia Tech can continue to take advantage is again among the interesting questions of the college football offseason. Perhaps more than any other program in the country, the Yellow Jackets have exceeded expectations when they’ve been written off and flopped when they were supposed to contend.
Its hard to tell what that portends for 2017 in a jumbled Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division, as Georgia Tech brings back a lot of key pieces at running back, offensive line and in the secondary from a team that won six of its last seven games, with impressive road victories at Virginia Tech and Georgia. On the other hand, the Yellow Jackets will be breaking in a new quarterback to replace Justin Thomas, arguably the most talented player to ever run his offense. Replacing him might not be simple.
“When you lose a three-year starter, you lose a ton of experience. ... He’d kind of seen it all,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some really good athletes at that position, we just have to see how they play. There’s a difference in understanding it and transitioning onto the field when it’s going 100 miles an hour.”
Adding to the uncertainty is a lack of any pattern or carryover from season to season under Johnson. Three times during his tenure, that roller coaster has landed him on or near the hot seat, at least in terms of media and fan perception (whether Georgia Tech has had the desire or money to buy him out is an- other matter). But each time, including last year’s 9-4 finish, Johnson has pulled it together and shown why his option offense and stubborn contrariety against college football convention remains so effective.
“There’s such a fine line between winning nine games or five,” Johnson said. “People don’t realize it’s a couple-game swing one way or the other depending on whether you can win close ones, get a break here and there and keep healthy.
“I’ve been a head coach for 20 years, and 18 of the 20 years we’ve been in the postseason. You have to look at the body of work and not the last quarter. You see that happen so many times both ways. Somebody catches lightning in a bottle one time and they become the soup du jour and everybody’s trying to hire them, and four years later we’re like, ‘Whoa, maybe we jumped the gun here.’ Anytime you’ve got more data points, the better decisions you’re probably going to make.”
Johnson contends that Georgia Tech has traditionally been a bit better than a .500 program in the modern era with occasional spikes into the top 25 (the shared national title in 1990 under Bobby Ross remains one of the biggest outliers in college football history). For anyone to expect more than that would ignore not only the history of Georgia Tech football but also the reality of a university that ranks among the world’s elite engineering schools and has more than half its 129,000 alumni living out of state.
In other words, the infrastructure for Georgia Tech to compete with the SEC powers surrounding it has not existed under Johnson. For the Yellow Jackets to create it, they need money the school simply hasn’t had despite promises under previous administrations to invest more in facilities and support staff.
New athletics director Todd Stansbury, a former Georgia Tech football player, represents hope for the school to connect with key donors, expand its reach and catch up financially. But until then, it’s worth remembering that the ACC’s rush of football investment has left Georgia Tech behind its competitors in important areas.
“I think (Stansbury) understands and agrees with me we’ve got to do some things,” Johnson said. “He’s trying to find a way to bridge it and start getting back in the game a little. We’ve got to update our locker room. That was supposed to happen four or five years ago. If you’re not doing something with the weight rooms and practice areas where the kids are at, you’re behind. The bells and whistles seem to be so important to kids these days.”
None of that will make John- son a sympathetic figure, but he never has cared much about that. When he speaks his mind about the spectacle of recruiting these days or his distaste for certain NCAA rule changes, he is called a curmudgeon. When he takes unconventional chances on fourth down, he is called arrogant. Constantly fueled by those who doubt him or try to discredit his offense, Johnson isn’t above punching back when he’s proved right.
And the latest thing he was right about? Naturally, it was the fight for respect in the ACC. Johnson has said for years there wasn’t much difference between his league and the SEC, which earned a laugh track from Georgia fans when Mark Richt beat him five years in a row.
But with Johnson winning in his last two trips to Athens, plus the Orange Bowl victory against Mississippi State and wins last season against Vanderbilt and Kentucky, Georgia Tech is holding up its end of the bargain. And if the Yellow Jackets beat Tennessee to open the 2017 season at Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, don’t be surprised if he trolls the big, bad SEC again.
“Week in and week out, I promise you there isn’t anything different in lining up and playing those guys than there is playing North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia Tech,” Johnson said.
“What happened in my opinion is you had really good teams at the top of their league and they got credit. It was almost like the ACC in basketball this year. They all get ranked in the top 15, and then when they beat each other they don’t ever drop. Then you get to the tournament and you don’t do so well and you start thinking maybe they were overhyped.”