College football recruiting has grown and mutated to an unrecognizable form over the past several years, and there’s at least one unfortunate byproduct of that: Letter-of-intent day has become an annual referendum on a program.
Coaches are judged and a team’s direction is determined before a game is even played. Why? Because Rivals and Scout, the Frick and Frack of recruiting, have declared it so.
Which leads me to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets gave out 21 scholarships Wednesday. They filled needs, particularly on the offensive line and in the secondary. There could be a number of immediate-impact players, including defensive end Kenderius Whitehead (a rare Tech junior-college transfer from Georgia Military College) and defensive back Step Durham (Jacksonville, Fla.).
But how did Frick and Frack view Tech’s recruiting class? Like a caved-in souffle.
Rivals placed the Jackets 48th in the nation and 10th among ACC schools. Scout ranked them 55th and 11th, respectively. If this were an actual report card, Johnson would so be going to summer school.
The only thing Johnson hates more than recruiting rankings and the flimsy “star” rating system those sites used are suggestions that Tech doesn’t have enough, and that’s why the team isn’t winning enough.
When I asked Johnson if he believed recruits had a certain perception about the program, he said: “Not really. Especially when you get outside this area, where you don’t get beat up every day, it’s really good.”
You think you get beat up every day?
“Pretty much.”
And we’re off …
Me: Maybe I need to go back through my clips.
Him: “I’m not just talking about just you.”
Me: So you’re lumping me in with everybody else.
Him: “I’m just saying …”
Me: “That’s like me blaming you for Bobby Petrino.”
Him: “Like today, I heard someone say, ‘Well, do they have any recruits as high profile as the kid (quarterback Vad Lee) who left?’ Well, the kid who’s playing quarterback now (Justin Thomas) was more high-profile than the kid who left. He was a four-star recruit, and the other guy was a three-star recruit.”
(Timeout: For a guy who hates the star system, Johnson was pretty quick to pull those rankings out of his back pocket. But I digress …)
“Just like (the storyline that) we’re struggling,” Johnson continued. “We go into the last game of the year (against Georgia), both teams are 7-4, we go into double overtime. But (the perception is) one’s doing great and the other’s falling to pieces.”
When asked directly about his team’s talent level, Johnson noted Tech’s record in his six seasons (48-32 overall, 31-17 in the ACC) is fourth only to Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson.
“That’s my view of the star system,” he said. “If our recruiting is so bad, and that is so accurate, then we must be great coaches. And from what I read from you guys, I don’t believe that. … We’ve won more ACC games and a higher percentage than any coach since (Tech) joined the ACC. That’s not spin, that’s just facts.”
Johnson is right about one thing: Ultimately, the record is the only grade that matters.
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