Paul Johnson is on a roll again. He’s talking about how much he enjoys coaching his players, reflecting on another nine-plus win season against a backdrop of doubts and a third ACC title game appearance in seven seasons for a program that tends to be used more as a punching bag than the impetus for a confetti drop.
Confidence never has been a problem for Johnson. The fact he’s usually as subtle as a thousand falling bricks tends to draw the most attention. But it’s easy to understand the emotions that fuel the man’s comments when Georgia Tech is projected as among the conference dregs (again) and doesn’t accrue a single vote in preseason polls, only to sit at 9-2 this week and having already clinched the ACC Coastal Division.
“You asked me earlier about my personality and how it relates to this team. They might get some of that from me,” Johnson said Tuesday. “My personality is such that when somebody tells me I can’t do something, I want to do it more. When we got picked for fifth, that upset me. I mean, let them beat us before you put them ahead of us.”
Here’s an idea: Maybe it’s time to stop assuming the worst when it comes to Paul Johnson. As the Yellow Jackets head into this week’s annual meeting against Georgia, they already know they’re going to play for a conference championship — a comfort the Bulldogs can’t relate to.
For a moment, put aside perceptions about Johnson and Georgia, or thoughts about the option offense, or beliefs that every college football argument comes down to: “You’re either the SEC or you’re stuck to the bottom of the SEC’s shoes.”
Tech will play in its third ACC Championship game since Johnson’s arrival in 2008. He is 37-19 in conference play, a record surpassed only by Florida State (43-13), Clemson (40-16) and Virginia Tech (37-18), with the Hokies playing its finale Saturday against Virginia.
There are some fans who want Johnson fired. I’m not sure where athletic director Mike Bobinski stands, but Johnson has only two years left on his contract after this season, and it wouldn’t seem to be a show of confidence that an extension has yet to be worked out.
Maybe some folks have a belief that Tech can do better given the program’s tremendous run of success before, like, integration.
I don’t know. Maybe Tech secretly is Nick Saban’s dream job.
You know what this season has been for Johnson?
One giant “shove it” to critics.
Tech has won more games than was expected. It certainly has won one more division title than was expected. This year’s team has beaten Miami and Virginia Tech, two opponents that have caused problems in the past, and Clemson (again). The offense so many love to lampoon once again is producing yards and points in bunches — all Johnson needed was the right quarterback (Justin Thomas) to run it.
The Jackets’ defense still doesn’t scare you. But they have the same second-most takeaways in the ACC, and they’ve significantly improved during the current four-game win streak, at least in part because Johnson spoke with defensive coordinator Ted Roof after consecutive losses to Duke and North Carolina about becoming more aggressive, sending more pass rushers.
Johnson won ACC coach-of-the-year honors in 2008 and 2009 (when he also was a national finalist). If the award is based on results vs. expectations, how does he not win ACC honors for the third time in seven years?
And if Johnson really recruits as horribly as has been painted on national geek websites, doesn’t that make a 9-2 record look even better?
“An old coach told me, ‘Never try to teach a pig to sing. It’ll frustrate you and annoy the pig,’” Johnson cracked. “That’s the way it is in coaching. We try not to ask them to do something that they can’t do, and then expect them to do it as hard as they can.”
His record isn’t without blemishes. He won in Athens in his first season and hasn’t beaten Godzilla since. He is 1-5 in bowl games. But the big picture has been pretty successful. He has won one ACC title — stripped by the NCAA for a relative trivial matter, and mostly the result of the missteps of Tech administrators — and will have a chance to win a second.
“People will define you any way they want to define you,” Johnson said. “It’s like some say, ‘What have you done against the big four (Georgia, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech). Who defines the big four? Why would Miami be in the big four? They haven’t won anything recently. Why wouldn’t it be Florida State? We’re 5-3 against Clemson but people say, ‘Well, you have to take out the first three wins.’ Why? We’re 2-1 against Florida State. That doesn’t count?”
The Jackets lost to Georgia 41-34 in double overtime last season after leading 20-0. They lost a close game to Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl 25-17.
“When the season started, they’re in the rankings and we’re dog (expletive),” Johnson said. “Did things changed that much? I’m not saying we should’ve been ranked in the top 10, but instead of people saying, ‘Well, the last two teams Tech lost to are both (ranked),’ it was, ‘Well, Tech collapses again.’”
He makes a point. But the overall results this season say enough.
