[Editor's Note: The following is a small piece of college football preview section available in Sunday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.]
Entering his fifth season at Georgia Tech, coach Paul Johnson has his team in position to challenge for the school's fourth ACC championship. After a 6-7 finish in 2010, the Yellow Jackets rebounded with an 8-5 performance last season and more is expected in 2012.
The following was culled from his news conference at the team's media day at the start of preseason practice. Questions and answers were edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: How quickly can you tell who's picking up the offense?
A: You can see the first day or the first practice who has better football acumen or better IQ or picks things up quickest. But I don't think it matters what system you run. It's a transition. You come in and, as a freshman, you're 18 years old. Some of these guys are 17. We've got a couple that are still 17. All of a sudden, you're playing against 21-, 22-year-olds that have been in there. It's more than picking up on the system. There's a maturity factor and a strength factor and all those kinds of things. If you have a true freshman coming in and they're starting, they're usually a pretty special player.
Q: What will be the impact of losing linebacker Julian Burnett to his neck injury, not just on the field but from a leadership standpoint?
A: Anytime you lose a player the caliber of Julian Burnett, it's certainly a blow to the football team, especially early. Clearly, he was one of the leaders on the team. He led the team in tackles. He was possibly one of our best players, might have been the best player. It'll be hard to fill that role, but that's what happens. You have to move on. We've got some young guys that'll step in, and hopefully they can fill the role and grow into it.
Q: How can A-back Orwin Smith help the team the most?
A: I think just being consistent and hitting big plays. He hit a lot of big plays a year ago. I don't know what he rushed for. I'm terrible with stats — 600, 700 yards, I guess. [Note: Smith gained 615 yards.] Passing game, he can be a big part of that, as well. And just play well.
Q: In looking back at B-back David Sims' production last year, how much of a factor were things like the offensive line's blocking, quarterback Tevin Washington keeping the ball more and Sims himself?
A: I think there were several factors. Really, I also think when you look at it, you have to look at it kind of like we did, where you also have got to add Preston Lyons in there with David. Charles [Perkins] played some. We played with probably three or four guys, and if you do that, it was still down some, but it wasn't down as much as what people would think.
I think David got better at it as the year went along. We didn't have the big plays out of that position that we've had, the big long runs. It's probably a function of all of the above. I would say the least amount of the problem was Tevin keeping the ball. It was probably more a function of not finishing and hitting big plays when he had the ball, not doing as well up front, just a myriad of reasons.
Q: How do you see the Coastal Division shaping up?
A: I think most everybody's returning their quarterback, which is usually pretty big. I think it'll play itself out. We'll see. Is there a marquee team? Possibly. But it could be four or five different teams. Until you really start playing, you don't really know. That's why I think the polls are useless until about Week 4 or 5. We'll see how it unfolds.
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