AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > February > 19 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USJohnson trusts his old offense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Jack McCain, a cadet at the Naval Academy, had a political suggestion for his father, who happens to have his eyes on the White House, “Get Paul Johnson for your running mate,” he told Senator McCain.
Bully idea, lad. There’s just one hangup. Paul Johnson is already taken. He has signed on at Georgia Tech. When Dan Radakovich needed a new football coach, he wasted little time. He went through the required routine, contacted one of those search firms, and a week after the Army-Navy game the search firm called Paul Johnson. The deed was done. No lollygagging. (That’s an old term from Johnson’s boyhood world that means “foot-dragging,” or “dawdling around.”)
Paul Johnson had, in no mean sense of the term, overshot his life’s goal. He had grown up in this little western North Carolina town, Newland. “One red light, a drug store, a hardware store, Claude Hughes’ general store and Sweetsie’s Diner,” he said. “It’s gone a little resorty now, with skiing and golf all around. But the population is still about the same.”
Paul played football at Avery County High, where the coach was Elmer Aldridge. Every small-town boy has a hero, and Elmer was Paul’s hero. His ambition after college was to come home to Newland and be the next Elmer Aldridge. (“From the time I was in high school, that was what I wanted to do.”) In fact, after graduating from Western Carolina he did come home and was Elmer’s assistant for a couple of years. To show you how much Elmer meant to him, when the old coach passed away, Paul flew home for the funeral. It was no short hop. He had reached Hawaii by that time, and his story was just beginning.
After Hawaii, he did his first tour at Navy as an assistant. Then Georgia Southern called him back, this time as head coach, and two national championships followed. Then back to Navy, this time as head coach, and that looked like no bargain. Navy football looked like a tornado scene. The Middies had won only one game in two seasons, and had only two winning seasons in 20 years. What devious search committee could have possibly wished such a job on any human being?
His first Navy team stumbled out of the gate, but he never had another losing season, and in 2004 he was the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, named for the man in whose shadow he now performs, in the stadium bearing his name. A mountain boy following another mountain boy. The two grew up in towns about 50 miles apart.
So, here he comes. Paul Johnson and his trusty old offense. “A combination of the old wishbone, the run-and-shoot and some of our own ingredients,” he said.
You heard and read of all the trepidation that comes with it. That the pass is an obsolete weapon. Some Georgia Tech players have abandoned ship, including the dropback quarterback, Taylor Bennett. He gets his degree in May, but he’s still shopping around for a place where the ball goes airborne. Johnson accepts it philosophically. He understands.
“I laugh at all that. It’s what I’ve been doing for 20 years, from Hawaii to Georgia Southern to the Academy. I’ve won a few national titles with it,” he said. “People who don’t like it don’t understand it.”
Back in “olden” days, national titles were won at Texas and Oklahoma and other big-time schools with a similar offense. Darrell Royal and Bud Wilkinson were devoted apostles. Whatever one may fear, that will be the new offense at Bobby Dodd Stadium, so get used to it, and get ready to like it.
A little bit of Hawaii followed Johnson from the islands to Annapolis. (“I’ve known the sands of Honolulu, the waters of Annapolis and the gnats of Statesboro.”) His last quarterback was a Hawaiian whose name I don’t dare attempt to spell. His successor at Navy is an American Samoan, former assistant Ken Niumatalolo, but the break from the islands is complete. His “island” now is downtown Atlanta, and he is still unloading furniture and unpacking, and will be for quite a spell.
He is a realist. He never played the game in college. “It wasn’t difficult to give it up. I could see I wasn’t going anywhere, so I changed my direction.”
Tech’s call came at the opportune time. He had beaten Army six times, he had beaten Notre Dame after a long drought and had taken the Middies to five bowls in a row. Time to go. “I had done all I could do.”
Permalink | Comments (43) | Post your comment | Categories: Furman Bisher, Tech / ACC
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By TDone
February 19, 2008 9:52 PM | Link to this
The Interlocking GT will prevail.
Go Jackets!!!
By wes
February 19, 2008 10:08 PM | Link to this
GT could not have picked anyone better for the job.
I cannot wait until the April 12th Spring Game!!
By jjr
February 19, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, great read. I believe PJ can do for Tech ,what he has done at each of his other coaching jobs.
By TDone
February 19, 2008 10:42 PM | Link to this
except against the Dawgs,-maybe after a decade or two we will be able to compete with them.
By statelinejacket
February 19, 2008 10:50 PM | Link to this
As always I thank my lucky stars you are still writing for the Journal-Constitution.
Great job and go Jackets!
By Michael Cameron
February 19, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this
Wes — Hello. The Yellow Jackets’ spring game will be held on April 19th. I expect Tech to win!
Seriously, I believe the Ramblin’ Wreck will hit the proverbial ground running (pun intended) in 2008, winning nine or more games with the exciting flexbone triple option.
Mr. Bisher — That was a good interview with Coach Johnson, with one N.C. country boy interviewing another. Thanks for a typically excellent story.
By buzztheirazz
February 19, 2008 11:06 PM | Link to this
great job furman! PJ’s offense and competitiveness are going to be great things for GT football!
By Kirk James
February 19, 2008 11:20 PM | Link to this
Get ready for an awesome ride with one of the best coaching minds in the game. Paul Johnson is the real deal and Tech fans who do not know him will be more than pleased. He is the likes of Bobby Ross, and we all know what he did in just a few years at the helm. This is a no nonsense, successful coach. We could not have selected a better coach.
By The Big Bug
February 19, 2008 11:39 PM | Link to this
In the near future, UGA wont even be a factor. Book it.
By The Grinch
February 19, 2008 11:57 PM | Link to this
Being a Dawg fan and a Ga Southern alumn, I’m glad it’s time you gnats are going to become a challenge again. It’s hard to root against PJ; he’s quite a coach. Here’s to a competitive rivalry.
By Ashley Brathwaite
February 20, 2008 2:08 AM | Link to this
This was highlighted on the Sports Illustrated website today. The article is extremely funny and well written. Great work for an 18 y.o. -journalism student. So far over 28, 000 hits— agree this guy is a genius. CONGRATULATIONS UGA !!!!!
copied from www. sportsillustrated.com and http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/extramustard/02/19/hotclicks.0219/index.html
“The amusingly named blog, Dunson Checks In, is comparing each NBA team to a popular movie “
By bravesfan79
February 20, 2008 2:54 AM | Link to this
Dont worry GT fans, after a year to prove his system, next years recruiting will be ALOT better!
By Jim@PineMountain
February 20, 2008 7:29 AM | Link to this
This was Tech’s best hire since Coach Dodd.
By m
February 20, 2008 7:55 AM | Link to this
Thank God for Paul Johnson. And praise the Lord that the worst coach in the history of college football….Chandler Gailey…is GONE!! Halleeeeedamloooooyah!!
By reebok
February 20, 2008 7:57 AM | Link to this
Great column, Mr. Bisher - as always. Regarding the Jackets, I think they will have a losing season this year (say goodbye to the bowl streak), but will be very good in 3-4 years. And yes, the rivalry w/ UGA will indeed be a rivalry again…thank God.
By "New" Tech Fan
February 20, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this
I can’t wait see what Coach Johnson can do with something that he hasn’t had since Georgia Southern…Defensive talent! In Annapolis, his offense was constantly required to play “defense” by keeping the ball out of the opposing team’s offense and “eating” as much of the clock as possible. With a solid defense that can stand on its own, I suspect that he will be less concerned about “ball control” and will take more risks through the air…And that will be scary! If you can run at will, forcing the opposing defense to respect the run first and foremost…and then “pop” the long pass off of the play action…that will be tough to stop…simply look at Florida and WVU’s success.
By the sage
February 20, 2008 8:10 AM | Link to this
Furman I’ve been a reader of yours since you replaced Bradberry. Great article on a man with both feet solidly planted on the ground. I know the excitement I have for GT football is too optimistic, but it’s an attitude that feels like the Dodd era. Good luck to our new coach. We’ll see a more consistent performance by our football team. Excitement reigns at GT.
By gatech87
February 20, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this
You’re the best Furman! You are the only ray of hope in that group of writers at the AUC.
It’s so nice to read an article on GT where there wasn’t an underhanded insult thrown in or plug for the cesspool.
THANK YOU!
By Jacketman
February 20, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
Great article Mr. Bisher. Coach Johnson is a winner. We are on our way! Go Jackets!!
By ga_tech_92
February 20, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this
Great write up Furman, keep up the great work!
By AlpharettaJacket
February 20, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this
Awesome article. Once again, Furman stands out by writing something positive about the home team.
CAN’T WAIT for Tech’s spring game!
By old fart
February 20, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
Ever notice how the riff-raff and low-life bloggers that frequent other AJC sports columnists are for the most part absent from Furman’s articles?
By Rashad
February 20, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
Hey Grinch you are a disgrace to Georgia Southern.
By dawgone
February 20, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
Johnson’s a great hire, but his challenge is going to be getting players who can compete with ACC/SEC teams. The wishbone will be trouble to teams who don’t face it enough to take time to learn to defense it. But strong defenses with outside speed and strength and dicipline inside can beat it. That’s why it’s not used much in the bigs.
By jabster
February 20, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
2008 will look familiar in the record book—5 losses, including 1 to UGA, as everyone gets adjusted. After that, though, watch out!
Although it would be SCHWEET to beat UGA betwixt the shrubbery if they’re undefeated and going for their natchamp this year (assuming UGA doesn’t choke beforehand, natch).
By bama boy
February 20, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this
I know you will never say his name or give him credit but Paul “Bear” Bryant won several National Championships with the wishbone offense, also.
By gt45
February 20, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this
Thanks, Bish, for a great read! Let’s fill up the stands for the Spring game, and show this team and staff they have our reinvigerated support!
By tjs
February 20, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Living in the metro Wash D.C. area, and being surrounded by Navy people everywhere, I have come to respect Paul Johnson. He is a quality person, and a very able football coach, he has no where near the talent CMR has up the road has.But he will fool a few ACC opponents, and with-in three years, he will change the Dawgs bark. Most kids can see real quality, so he will get 4&5 star prospects. The state of GA has few real drop back QB’s, note UGA’s Texan. So he will get several quality good running ones, and the overall team quality will rise…FSU, Clemson, and B.C. look out…Johnsons in the house….
By Great
February 20, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this
Great article Mr. Bisher. And nothing will be sweeter than ending the drought to UGA in Johnson’s first year against the best team Georgia has had since 1980!
By wes
February 20, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher - Once again you prove to be my favorite sports writer. There are few folks like you any more and it is a shame.
By Baddawg
February 20, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this
Darn!!! More bloggers in here than show up for GT home games!!!!
By Jeff Hill
February 20, 2008 12:59 PM | Link to this
Leave it to you to relate the Hometowns of Dodd and Johnson then put it in a writing as eloquent as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Furman you are the best!
By Navy Grad
February 20, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this
While we are sorry to lose Coach Johnson G T is a good place to lose him to. Their players also take calculus. His offense will work, Navy and GT had two common opponents last season, Army and Notre Dame, and Navy scored more against them than the “pro” offense. Admittedly it took O/T with ND, but it was a more exciting game than GT-ND. At Navy it took him a year to beat Air Force but he did it 5 times in a row after that. He should do the same to UGA
By College Fan
February 20, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this
Furman Bisher: a Georgia Tech schill to the end.
By BlueandWhite
February 20, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
I agree with Rashad. Grinch, a true ‘Southern’ grad shouldn’t be on this board yapping up about those $%#@ mutts.
Can’t wait to see PJ run it down jawga’s throat tween those bushes. Long live the TO.
By CarolinaJacket
February 20, 2008 2:15 PM | Link to this
But I wonder when Coach Johnson does win at Tech if he will pull a Curry, Ross, and O’Leary and “abandon ship”. The program really needs stability to keep building into a consistent winner.
By GA Tech insider
February 20, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, you are like some fine sipping southern bourbon…you get better with age.
It is truly a shame that the AJC can’t find other sports writers who take their job as seriously as you. If they did, the AJC wouldn’t have a problem losing subscribers.
By Chris Bridges
February 20, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
Paul Johnson and Furman Bisher - two of the best
By Michael Cameron
February 20, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
Someone calling himself “m” is guilty of the following insulting and utterly ludicrous entry:
By m
February 20, 2008 7:55 AM | Link to this
“Thank God for Paul Johnson. And praise the Lord that the worst coach in the history of college football….Chandler Gailey…is GONE!! Halleeeeedamloooooyah!!”
The Chan-a-phobes continue on, unfortunately, with their asinine Chan-bashing. Rather than simply express optimism about our current coach, “m,” you evidently feel the need to build yourself up by putting down Coach Gailey. You have presented above, while evoking the same “God” and “Lord” that Coach Gailey worshipped, one of the worst evaluations of coaching quality in college football history. Your patently insipid insult is deliberately made more personal by the fact that you actually spell out the fellow’s full first name, Chandler, rather than use the truncated version by which he is widely known.
Saying that Chan Gailey is “the worst coach is the history of college football” is not only grossly inaccurate, but also a statement that, if you are serious, causes you to appear downright irrational and borderline delusional. By saying such things you dip yourself down into Stewart Mandell (a disreputable—on this topic—writer with CNN/SI.com) territory.
We’ve all seen this phenomenon of vitriol for other coaches. Some of the Chan-a-Phobes just can’t seem to let it go. And, because the man they’re bashing is quite obviously a decent human being—regardless of what you think of his coaching skills—the level of mean-spiritedness perpetrated toward him almost seems to reveal some type of psychosexual illness manifested by the perps. Do some of you have Chan Gailey voodoo dolls into which you jab little poison pins? Do you hang him in effigy? Some of the remarks I’ve seen posted here since 2002 on AJC.com and on other Internet message services, are simply mind-boggling in their absurdity and meanness.
Coach Gailey was, for Georgia Tech, a good, solid football coach. I’m not saying he was “great,” but I am proclaiming that he was, as I just said, deserving of the adjectives “good” and “solid.” While I believe Paul Johnson probably will prove to be a “great” football coach for Tech, there is no need to ignorantly and viciously denigrate a good coach who tried to do his best—and who was, as far as I know—always a gentleman who represented Tech with class and honor.
Speaking of history, he produced the best winning record of any Tech head coach for the first three years of tenure. His Tech teams went to six straight bowl games, albeit not bigtime, BCS bowls. Nonetheless, how many teams would’ve loved to have gone to bowls for a half-dozen consecutive seasons? Answer: A lot of them. And that includes some of the traditional powerhouses.
He had a winning record. You might not be able to count all the coaches over the years since the 1800s, including between 2002 and 2007, that had losing records at their schools, and that is inclusive of programs with resources approximately equal to those of Tech.
I will virtually guarantee you that many, and maybe most, college football coaches—amongst all that have been available and/or active over the previous six years—would have coached Tech to fewer wins.
Yes, Tech never beat UGA while Chan was here, but he kept coming close, and that’s against Bulldog teams headed by a fine coach in Mark Richt and loaded with four and five star recruits. The last two Tech recruiting classes were among Tech’s best ever, and Coach Gailey is the fellow who should be credited not only with directly recruiting players, himself, but also with hiring and keeping the excellent recruiter, Giff Smith, on the staff.
Coach Gailey led Tech to a pair of superb wins over talented Auburn teams. He recruited (and did not “waste,” as some have absurdly claimed in yet another spin-job pejorative analysis of Chan’s coaching) Calvin Johnson. He had the vision and wisdom, in 2002, to take a back-up DB, Tony Hollings, and convert him to a running back who was leading the nation in rushing and on his way to Heisman candidacy before rupturing his knee against BYU and ending his season. And no, you can’t fairly blame Chan for overplaying Hollings and getting him severely hurt—although his leg was already hurting, he was a well-conditioned young man, who said himself, along with the trainers, that he was okay to go back in. It’s impossible to predict an injury like that, and Tech was trying to seal their eventual victory.
Coach Gailey was one of the better college coaches in NCAA football while at Georgia Tech, and I am thankful for his contributions.
Michael Cameron — Atlanta, Georgia
By EightyFiver
February 20, 2008 7:16 PM | Link to this
Jack McCain is not a cadet — he’s a Midshipman (not a “middie” either). We’ll miss Paul Johnson at Navy. It was a thrilling ride. Wish him the best. GaTech fans who are unfamiliar with Johnson’s offense are in for a treat. GaTech opponents who are unfamiliar need to find some Navy game films and start studying.
By Navy Guy
February 20, 2008 7:30 PM | Link to this
Furman, Please note: Jack McCain is a midshipman at Naval Academy, not a cadet! GT is very fortunate to get a coach like PJ, he builds winners with whatever hand (or players) he’s dealt!
By jimbo
February 20, 2008 9:13 PM | Link to this
Michael Cameron - your post admonishing the Chan-bashers, particularly m, was one of the more thoughtful and well-written posts that I have seen on the ajc blogs. m’s delusional and frequent comments have always been bold-faced, always referring to Chan Gailey as “…the worst coach in the history of college football…”, an opinion which you so aptly refuted.
With that said, I am excited and looking forward to the Paul Johnson era … a pass-enhanced triple option utilizing the talent from the outstanding 2007 recruiting class and the speed burners picked up in 2008, an aggressive but not so heavy on the blitz defense, a re-energized fan base, and a decisive future victory over a nationally-ranked and well-coached Georgia team. Go Jackets!!
By Michael Cameron
February 20, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this
Jimbo—Thank you for your kind and supportive words regarding my efforts to defend Coach Gailey.
Also, I appreciate the intelligence of your articulately expressed evaluation of what to expect from the upcoming Paul Johnson era of old is new again option football. I predict that Tech will be competing for ACC and National Championships by or before 2010.