Throughout coach Paul Johnson’s tenure at Georgia Tech, team goals have been fairly constant. Typical objectives that the team has agreed upon include going undefeated at home, winning the ACC Coastal Division and the conference championship and beating Georgia.
However, the Yellow Jackets’ gold rush in 2014 — a haul that included an 11-3 record and the first Associated Press poll top-10 finish since the 1998 season — has raised their sights.
“We want to be 15-0,” guard Trey Braun said.
In case the math fails you, that’s a national championship — undefeated regular season, ACC championship victory and wins in the semifinals and finals of the College Football Playoff. For whatever the talk is worth, it’s uncommon at Tech.
“We just want to take this thing to the next level,” safety Jamal Golden said. “When we see our potential, we see what we can do. Why not? Why not us? That’s our goal.”
Players said they began considering the possibility of a national championship last year as they stacked up three late-season wins over teams that finished in the Associated Press top 15 — No. 9 Georgia, No. 11 Mississippi State and No. 15 Clemson. It’s conceivable, perhaps likely, that had Tech pulled out a win over North Carolina and then upset Florida State in the ACC title game — both were one-possession losses — the Jackets would have earned a spot in the CFP and a shot at the championship.
“Like I tell people, if we don’t lose those two games (to Duke and North Carolina), we make the ACC game even bigger than what it was,” quarterback Justin Thomas said. “It was just a play here, play there. But we know where we stand. We proved that we can play with the best.”
The optimism has basis. Tech will return eight starters on defense and could be boosted with the return of defensive tackle Jabari Hunt-Days, who is trying to regain his academic eligibility. The offense lost four of its top A-backs, its top three B-backs, its top two receivers and its best offensive lineman, but returns the rest of its offensive line (minus tackle Chris Griffin, who likely is out for the season after knee surgery) and Thomas. Tech likely will start the season ranked in the top 20.
“I think we have a lot of guys coming back from last season, a very confident group, a lot of key players,” cornerback D.J. White said. “We beat a lot of really good teams last year, so I think that confidence kind of gave us the incentive like, ‘hey, let’s take it to the next level. Let’s go all the way.’”
While White said that, “this is my first really hearing the team as a whole say national championship,” players aren’t shying away from it. Golden said he could envision the entire team selecting it as one of its goals for the season.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Golden said, “just to think, What if?”
For Tech fans, national-championship ambition may be dizzying. The Jackets have holes to fill around the offense. The schedule, with trips to Notre Dame, Clemson and Miami and home games with Florida State, Virginia Tech and Georgia, is easily the toughest of Johnson’s tenure. For Tech to win 11 games in 2014, so much had to fall into place, and those pieces may not align again.
The way the Jackets look at it, it’s nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“You’ve got to shoot high to be successful in anything you do,” White said.
Thomas and others offered reassurance that they have not been blinded by the dream of a national title.
“You can’t think ahead,” Thomas said. “We play Alcorn State the first game. We’ve got to play them like we’re playing Georgia.”
The goal of finishing No. 1 and bringing Tech its fifth national championship has provided motivation in offseason workouts and spring practice. Players and coaches have repeated a message of not being content with the team’s 2014 success. Braun said he has seen a continuation of the habits and commitment that were building blocks for Tech last season.
“It’s not a work in progress anymore,” Braun said. “We’re all buying in. We’re all bought into the idea that we want to win a national championship. That’s the goal, and that’s what we’re working for.”
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