Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong would have been a great hire for Georgia Tech if he had been a head coach somewhere before, Tech President Wayne Clough said Friday.

"He looked very good. He impressed everybody. He just hadn't had the head coaching experience," Clough said. "So do you go with somebody who has a great deal of potential but just hasn't been there? In our case, I think it's good to have somebody with head coaching experience and [athletics director Dan Radakovich] certainly agreed with that."

That's one reason Tech chose Paul Johnson as its coach.

Radakovich said Tech interviewed seven candidates and spoke with a few more. Clough interviewed only Johnson but had thoughts about many of the others.

He said Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's background as a Georgia football player didn't necessarily keep Muschamp from getting the job.

"I had no problem with that, no," Clough said. "Some of our alums would. But I would say the majority of the e-mails I got on that one were in favor. You can't let that kind of thing stand in your way."

Former Washington and Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel had some baggage, including a long list of NCAA recruiting violations from his first head coaching with the Buffaloes. That wasn't necessarily disqualifying at Tech, and Neuheisel spoke with Radakovich and the search committee.

"With Coach Neuheisel, I respect what he brings to the table," Clough said. "I thought he would have brought a lot to Georgia Tech. I tend to be a forgiving person. I grew up in a Christian home. The idea is you give people a second chance. If somebody can express that clearly to you, that they understand they made some mistakes and they can do something different, then I can live with that. It just didn't come to that.

"He's a very bright and talented young man, and I hope the point will come where he does get that opportunity."

Chris Hatcher won a national championship at Valdosta State and had a strong first season at Georgia Southern but lacked the experience of other candidates.

"That was a hard one," Clough said. "Everybody said he is a really terrific guy. Every candidate they interviewed they were impressed by. That was not an easy decision. Chris impressed everybody on the committee."

Clough praised the way Radakovich handled the search and the way he gathered alumni support to fund the expenses of the coaching change, which include more than $4 million owed to fired coach Chan Gailey over the next four years, a $500,000 raise for the head coaching position and an unspecified amount of money for the coaching search, including the hiring of a search firm.

Clough praised Johnson as a terrific candidate who stood out among an exceptional pool. And if Johnson had turned Tech down?

"Dan had a plan," Clough said. "He had Plan B, C and D. If this didn't work out, we were ready to roll with the next one."