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December 2007
Johnson-Tenuta would be awesome tandem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Its been about a week now since Paul Johnson was hired to be the new coach at Georgia Tech.
So what do we know, or suspect, so far?
Coaching staff
From what I’ve read and heard, Giff Smith and Brian Jean-Marie have expressed a desire to remain on the defensive staff under Johnson. It also sounds like they have been involved in some of the recent recruiting visits. This would be huge for the defensive staff, in my opinion. Giff is a rising star in the recruiting ranks and may well develop into a quality defensive coordinator on The Flats if we keep him in the family and don’t let someone steal him away. Coach BJ has produced some of the best linebackers in GT history since joining the staff. Who had heard of KaMichael Hall, Phillip Wheeler, and Gary Guyton before they landed on the national radar as Yellow Jackets? Those guys weren’t highly recruited coming out of high school … they were coached up and developed after they arrived here.
I’m also crossing my fingers and hoping that Coach Kelly stays on staff as the special teams coach. The turnaround in GT special teams should have been one of the major stories in local sports this past season.
I don’t have a solid vibe on John Tenuta at this point. On one hand I hear that he and his family like Atlanta and that one of his sons plays high school football with Radakovich’s son. I hear that he likes Atlanta and feels like he’s well paid. But then on the other hand you have to wonder if two egos the size of Paul Johnson and Jon Tenuta can survive and flourish on the same football staff … especially after one of them was passed over for the job as the head guy. Tech fans can only dream about a Johnson led offense on one side of the ball and a Tenuta led defense on the other … how much fun would that be … if it happens. If it DID happen … that would be Dan Radakovich’s biggest coup yet …
I’d be mildly surprised if we kept any of the offensive staff, to be honest. Johnson will call his own plays, which puts John Bond on the outside looking in. You have to figure that the spread option will require some special instruction from Johnson’s existing offensive line and running back coaches. That puts Joe D’Allesandris and Curtis Modkins on the outside looking in. Both of those guys have done outstanding jobs at Tech and will land good positions elsewhere, no doubt. Buddy Geis was one of Gailey old buddies if I remember correctly. He’s probably gone as well. I don’t see that as a large loss though, since outside of Calvin Johnson we haven’t had exceptional wide receivers for several seasons. We might benefit from some new blood in that position. And I have no feeling at all on Coach Hunter and tight ends. I haven’t heard anything.
Recruiting
AJ Jenkins is officially gone. GT insiders had always figured he the was the recruit most at risk … way back to his original commitment. He’s committed to Illinios now.
Sean Renfree was potentially the biggest recruit in the upcoming class but his style doesn’t match the offense we’ll see at GT next season. So he’s dropped out of the upcoming class and been replaced with Jaybo Shaw. Shaw was a Middle Tennessee State commitment who our staff has been looking at for awhile. He would fit into Johnson’s scheme the offer was reinforced by the new coach. The result was a commitment.
Rumors have been swirling around Chris Jackson a bit as well over the past week or so. Jackson has been one of the ambassadors of this recruiting class and is very tight with ‘08 recruit Drew Little, another GT target at QB. Alabama has been putting the full court press on Jackson and the new staff has been working overtime to make sure we keep Jackson headed to The Flats. This will be one to keep an eye on since Jackson was very attached to Chan Gailey and may need some reassurance in order to maintain his committed status. This is a kid who is a Tech fan and who has no interest in UGA. He’s a national level recruit. He’s EXACTLY the kind of recruit that we absolutely cannot let get away.
Speaking of Alabama…it seems like our old buddy Geoff Collins has been learning at the altar of Nick Saban. Saban swooped into Atlanta when he got the Alabama job and hired Collins away from Georgia Tech. Ever since then, Alabama has been targeting Georgia Tech recruits … gee, wonder why that would happen? Maybe when Saban skips along to the next job he’ll take Collins with him … it shouldn’t take long given ‘ole Nick’s past record.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
Kansas will come to town undefeated and looking to stay that way. The Yellow Jackets have looked largely confused and ineffective this season. This is one of those games where NOONE in the country thinks Tech has a chance, except maybe the kids in the locker room before the game. Because of that … look out for an upset. Tech has the talent to make it a game, if they can play as a team instead of a group of individuals.
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Coaching Search Over
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well…its finally over…and it looks like we got the best available coach possible…even if we paid a little more that expected.
Paul Johnson was really the only candidate that turned my head.
Consider:
Will Muschamp? There was no way we could hire a UGA guy (lacking head coach experience) after firing a winning coach because he couldn’t beat UGA.
Chris Hatcher? There was no way we could roll the dice and gamble on a guy without any D-1 coaching experience…same as Muschamp.
Charlie Strong? Again…no head coaching experience and bringing a defensive minded head coach in would completely flush any chance of keeping Tenuta on staff.
Rick Nuheisel? You can’t gamble on a guy with that much NCAA baggage when you are coming off probation.
So…really…Paul Johnson was the only valid option out there for us.
He won at Georgia Southern…and he won BIG. The Eagles dominated when he was there…DOMINATED. (My mom is a GSU grad, so we followed them a bit as I grew up.)
He won at Navy…turning around a program that doesn’t recruit blue chip talent and which has stringent academic requirements. Navy is a TOUGH place to coach…and Johnson WON there.
And he’ll win at Georgia Tech…the only real question is how? What sort of offense are we going to see next season?
Spread/Option… I’ll be honest with you…my favorite football motto is “Run the Ball, Stop the Run, Control the Clock, WIN”.
So if Paul Johnson can put together an option/spread offense using Josh Nesbitt, Jonathan Dwyer, Roddy Jones, and the rest of our offensive weapons…well, that sounds like my kind of offense.
Johnson runs the type of offense that pummels opponents and keeps their defense on the field. I like that…it means you control the clock, tempo, and ultimately the game.
Staff Changes? With Johnson obviously being an offensive guy…does it mean we’ll keep Tenuta?
Johnson’s style of offense would seem to play to Tenuta’s strengths. Just imagine how much better our defense would be if our offense were able to grind out first downs and give them breathers? Tenuta’s guys come come out blitzing and attacking on every down of every possession…because when the offense got the ball back the odds would be very good that they’d hold it for a good long while.
So which coaches should Johnson consider keeping? The following three coaches are critical components that I would like to see retained.
I want to keep Giff Smith. Giff has ties to Johnson from their Georgia Southern days and he is critical to our recruiting efforts. He’s a “must keep” guy on the defensive staff.
I want to keep Brian Jean-Mary. He’s done an ASTOUNDING job with our linebackers since joining this staff. We ALWAYS have very good linebackers and Coach BJ is responsible for much of that success.
I want to keep Charles Kelly on Special Teams. We had one of the best special teams units in the country this past year. Coach Kelly did an incredible job, repairing our issues from last season.
Beating UGA I think the new Coach gets it…he’s been engaged in one of the biggest rivalries in American sports the past several years. Army vs Navy is huge and Johnson never lost that game…going 6-0 during his tenure at Navy.
Our new coach understands rivalry games and that may be the most important change of all for our program.
Go Jackets!
THWG
Regular season did job of playoff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BCS / Bowls
What we’re seeing today is the fact that the regular season is the playoff everyone is asking for.
LSU came out hot and stumbled late in the season, but came out of the “loser” bracket to defeat UT in the SEC title game, which should jump them above UGA. UGA fans may wail and gnash their teeth but the reality for them is that their losses to the Gamecocks and Volunteers sealed their fate when it came down to the national title race. If they win either of those games they are playing the SEC title game for an undisputed shot at the big prize.
Virginia Tech lost early to LSU and late to Boston College. They also came out of the “loser” bracket in the ACC to beat a Boston College team that was ranked as high as #2 during the season. That early loss to LSU will cost them a shot at the national title.
Oklahoma lost to Colorado and Texas Tech but managed to beat #1 ranked Missouri in their conference championship game, vaulting them ahead af pretty much everyone except Ohio State here at the end of the year.
Speaking of Missouri…they’re 11-2 now…with both losses to Oklahoma. National title hopes are dashed there in spite of the fact that they beat everyone else on their schedule…including 11-1 Kansas.
And what about Kansas…sitting there with ONE loss and the #2 scoring offense and #5 scoring defense in the nation. They couldn’t beat Missouri for the right to play Oklahoma…so they are out of the hunt.
And then there is Hawaii…the only undefeated team remaining…but they won’t even get a chance at the big prize. One could argue that they were never really playing in the championship brackets with everyone else.
How would my Top 10 shake out?
1) Ohio State 2 ) LSU 3 ) Oklahoma 4) Missouri 5) Kansas 6) UGA 7) VT 8) Southern Cal 9) Arizona State 10) Hawaii
The Top 5:
OSU had one 28-21 loss to a 9-3 Illinois team. LSU had triple OT losses to 8-4 Arkansas and 7-5 Kentucky before winning the SEC. Oklahoma redeemed losses to Colorado and Texas Tech with a pair of wins over #1 Missouri. Missouri stomped everyone they played…except Oklahoma…and were #1 in the final week of the season. Kansas has one loss to Missouri…who was #1 last week of the season.
On the outside and looking into the Top 5:
UGA? Couldn’t get in the endzone against 6-6 South Carolina and a 21 point loss to SEC #2 Tennessee. VT? LSU spanked you by 41 points…just be happy you made it into the party. Southern Cal? A 4-8 Stanford team punched you in the mouth. Arizona State? Losses to 10-2 Southern Cal and a Oregon team that made a run this season. Hawaii? Being undefeated has to count for something!
GT Hoops
What is there to write about? I had more fun raking leaves than I did watching that “game” against Vandy.
We hear about Paul Hewitt’s emphasis on individual instruction about 54 times a game. Maybe he needs to spend more time on team concepts and a half court offense?
The Coaching Search
The coaching search is only slightly more intriguing than the hoops season at this point. At this point I’m hoping there is a name out there that will pop up from off the radar and surprise us all. I’m really not that enthused by any of the names we’ve seen floated out. Muschamp and Hatcher don’t have any head coach experience at the BCS level. Paul Johnson has gained a majority of his success at Georgia Southern and Navy. Rick Neuseisel? No thanks…not after we just got off probation. Jimbo Fisher? Didn’t do much at FSU this year. Tenuta? Maybe, not sure…don’t know how long it would be before he made some poor newspaper reporter run laps after a question he didn’t like. The man makes George O’Leary look like a teddy bear by comparison.
Only one thing is definite…Radakovich better move quickly…the same natives that provoked him into the coaching change are getting restless again. And once the inmates know they run the asylum its a slippery slope to walk on….
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