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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Stumbles, fumbles don’t faze Tech coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Johnson is a realist. He is also an optimist, and good that he is, for after Georgia Tech’s spring practice wrap-up game Saturday, both qualities are highly recommended. A football coach realizes that precision and timing aren’t achieved in a flash. They come only with repetition, drill after drill, and if you put together the number of times Tech’s new head coach shook his head and kicked the air, mildly but despairingly at another play gone awry, the message was transmitted to the 8,000-or-so patrons viewing from the seats in Bobby Dodd Stadium.
It was the coming out of Johnson’s personal spread offense. It has been his trademark from here to Hawaii and back. No fullback, no tailback, but an “A” back and a “B” back, and essentially a quarterback with the deceptive skill of a magician. The final scrimmage couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. The first snap was fumbled, then the sophomore quarterback, Josh Nesbitt, took a wrong turn, and this was the No. 1 team. The first first down came on a pass from a walk-on freshman. That freshman, Bryce Dykes, was the most effective quarterback at running Johnson’s offense. Another, Calvin Booker, was the most impressive passer. He threw lasers for two touchdowns, but those were rare interventions in Johnson’s trademark spread offense.
“I was hoping for something a little smoother, but it didn’t surprise me,” the coach said. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
It would be accurate to say the spectators were aghast, but too startled to let it show. I mean, after all, this is the hope of the future. The Gailey Era has been put away, and this is what they get? Johnson, though, showed no signs of despair, nor did he after he had a few days for it to sink in. You should be reminded that this is a mountain man whose early ambition was to be the next Elmer Aldridge. Aldridge was his high school coach in the town where he grew up — Newland, N.C.
“From the time I was in high school, that was what I wanted to do — go back home and be the coach at Avery County,” he has said. You might say he has overshot his goal.
As for his trademark spread offense, he has this to say: “People who don’t like it, don’t know it, don’t understand it.” Takes some time and patience.
You can’t expect a miracle. Johnson’s first team at Navy won only two games. George O’Leary broke in at Georgia Tech with a three-game losing streak. Bobby Ross was 2-9 and 3-8 his first two seasons, but a national championship followed.
And in his first spring game, Paul Johnson’s second team beat his first team like a drum. If the Grant Field patrons were left scratching their heads, they have company in the coach himself, getting his first serious look at his intricate offense in the hands of a cast to whom it was a complete mystery a month ago.
“Our wounds were self-inflicted. You see the ball, you’ve got to catch the ball,” he said. “It’s never as bad as it looks, it’s never as good as it looks. I’m confident we’re going to get it right.”
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