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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > September > 05
Friday, September 5, 2008
Paul Johnson will not waver, even if Jackets do
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Johnson will tell you he played almost every position in football as a youth, and when he adds, “I wasn’t really good at any of them,” it comes off as less an admission than a badge of honor.
He just played, free of delusions of riches or celebrity. He just played, and he figured one day he would just coach, maybe back at his old high school in Newland, N.C. (population: 704, give or take a picnic).
“As a general rule, some of the best players aren’t great coaches,” he said. “They get frustrated with guys because it was easy for them. That wasn’t the case with me. Some guys get motivated by the reward at the end. I’m motivated by the thought of what happens if you don’t do well. Fear of failure. People saying you can’t do something. People saying you can’t do this or you can’t run that offense. That’s what gets me going.”
The small-town kid steps onto a bigger stage today, even if he doesn’t quite see it that way. Football is football, Johnson believes, whether it’s Avery County High School or Navy or Georgia Tech. But when the Jackets travel to Boston College today, how can it not be seen as the first major test of Johnson’s regime? If Jacksonville State was like the welcoming committee, consecutive games at Boston College and Virginia Tech are like a two-punch reality check.
Johnson makes no promises. He knows better. His team is young. The roster is short on scholarships. It’s a new coaching staff teaching a new offense. It was a chore just getting offensive and defensive players to acknowledge each other. (“The team was split into different factions when I got here.”)
He wants to win at Tech. He believes he can win at Tech. But look elsewhere for grand proclamations. These things take time, even if administrators and booster clubs and ticket sales often mandate otherwise.
“We could go up and beat Boston College, and what does that mean?” Johnson said. “We could go up and lose, and what does that mean? It’s a long season. … We’ve got a chance to win every game. We’ve got a chance to lose every game.”
Every coach says he doesn’t care what people think. When Johnson says it, you actually believe it. His manner is direct and without pretense. He is the anti-Petrino. If things don’t work, it won’t be because he cowered to public pressure or panicked and changed plans in mid-stream. He is tough and he’s a disciplinarian, and there’s a reason for that.
“Part of it is the way you grow up,” he said. “I grew up in a mill town, playing sports. My dad coached me in sports. I think sometimes when your dad coaches, especially in a small town, it forces you to kind of toe the line a little bit more than the other guy.”
This newspaper ran a photo last Sunday of Johnson grabbing Embry Peeples’ jersey, admonishing the freshman for missing a block. It has been a source of amusement for the coach and player all week. But Johnson caught some flak. An e-mailer criticized him, maintaining that yelling at players is counterproductive and it doesn’t build character. It prompted Johnson to joke on his radio show: “I forwarded the e-mail to the Marine Corps, because they want to build character, and I know they never yell at anybody.”
“Everybody has their own ideas about how to do things,” Johnson said later. “I have a 15-year-old daughter, and she thinks she knows what’s best all the time. But I don’t think she does. It’s like me checking on players [attending] classes. It’s about accountability. They say, ‘We’re grown men. We don’t need you to do that.’ Well, if that were true, I wouldn’t have to check. Deep down I think people want discipline and accountability.”
Eventually the Jackets will get there, Johnson said, even if the schedule isn’t going to wait.
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