Striding into the lobby of the Georgia Tech football offices after leading practice at Alexander-Rose Bowl Field, coach Paul Johnson’s first order of business in addressing media is invariably the same. He answers how practice went.
The responses rarely extend more than a sentence or two, but still shed a sliver of light on Johnson’s thinking. Typically, the practice was “OK” or “good” or it dragged. Occasionally, he opens the door slightly more.
“I thought the enthusiasm was pretty good, actually,” Johnson said Aug. 11.
“I thought tempo could have been better, but I’ve seen worse,” Johnson said Aug. 18, the first day of classes, a notoriously poor practice day.
Johnson’s post-practice comments are probably not the most dependable gauge for what lies ahead over the next three months. Still, they point to what players and others around him sense. To this early date, the hard-to-please coach has found pleasure in leading the 2014 Yellow Jackets, who begin play Saturday against Wofford at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“I think we’ve got a good group of kids,” he said. “I think they work hard.”
On paper, the Jackets do not lack for questions. The defensive line is inexperienced. Quarterback Justin Thomas will make his first career start Saturday. The two-deep depth chart is fraught with freshmen. For the first time in at least a decade, Tech didn’t place a single player on the media preseason All-ACC team.
Tech fans looking for reasons to place hope in the Jackets, though, may find one in Johnson’s day-to-day appraisals through the preseason grind. In past years, he has described preseason practices as “lethargic” and “unacceptable.” He had no such critiques this preseason, which perhaps indicates a team that is more consistently meeting his standards for practice, is drawn together by a tighter bond and, as a result, can win the tight games that have been elusive in recent seasons.
“I like our team,” Johnson said. “That’s not to say that other teams haven’t worked hard and played hard and done that, but I think that these guys have bought into what we’re asking them to do. They’re not looking to do something else, so therefore, hopefully you can get better at it when it’s something that you want to do and something that you’re trying to do.”
Two fifth-year seniors, who have been around Johnson the longest, have noticed something different about their coach this preseason. A-back Synjyn Days said he thought Johnson was more satisfied with the team’s effort.
“He’s saying we’re doing pretty good, flying around and everything,” Days said.
Linebacker Quayshawn Nealy said he felt that Johnson “has toned it down some. Like I said, guys are really pushing and fighting. I’m pretty sure it makes things easier on him when guys are putting in the effort and the results are showing.”
Offensive line coach Mike Sewak said that he thought the difference in attitude in his group has been “night and day.” He thought having more players involved in legitimate competition for playing time was driving players to push themselves harder. He praised in particular the leadership provided by guards Shaquille Mason and Trey Braun.
Said Sewak, “The character I’ve seen to this point has been very impressive.”
It helps, undoubtedly, that there is scant external praise to distract the team. The offseason string of transfers and dismissals may have also served a purpose, as well.
“What we have here, a lot of guys have bought into it and, if you’re not, it’s better for you to leave rather than just straggle along and bring the team down,” Nealy said.
Only the season will reveal whether the character and attitude displayed to this point will survive in the crucible of Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium on Sept. 20 or help the Jackets’ break a five-game losing streak to Miami on Oct. 4, to say nothing of the three games that precede those two. The good feeling of August has a way of ceding to starker realities in autumn. Johnson, not given to swallowing preseason hype, knows it as well as anyone.
Said the coach, “That’s why you play the games and see.”
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