There was a “report” on Twitter, the 140-character mutant news source, in January that Paul Johnson was unhappy with his situation at Georgia Tech and he hoped the school would buy out his contract. The tweet subsequently was shot down by all non-Sasquatch legitimate parties, but it did illustrate the underlying uneasiness about the program as Johnson goes into his seventh season.
Now, let me be clear about something: I like Paul Johnson. That probably puts me in the minority in the media. When Johnson is asked a question he believes is stupid, he replies in tone and words that suggest, “Wow, that was really stupid.” But I find his lack of a filter entertaining and often far more illuminating than most bland coaches who feel compelled to play to the camera or boosters or an administrator.
Back to the coach and his feelings about Georgia Tech.
“I really like it here,” he said, looking out of his office window onto Grant Field. “I like what we’re doing and I like these kids. I really like the kids this year, although I don’t know what that will mean when we get onto the field. But the players here remind me of the Naval Academy because of what they have to deal with academically.”
There are two reasons for a perception problem at Tech: 1. Johnson’s first two teams were so throw-off-the-curve good (20-7 overall, 12-4 in the ACC, with a conference title and an upset in Athens) that it created unrealistic expectations about what would follow; 2. Athletic director Mike Bobinski didn’t hire Johnson and has been on campus for only one season (7-6).
“I know coaches by nature are nervous about those circumstances,” Bobinski said. “I’m sure when I was hired, he called some people who might know me. But I’m not a “my guy, his guy” kind of thing.”
In four seasons since that grand opening, Johnson is 28-25 overall, 19-13 in the ACC. We can bring up the blown leads and narrow defeats last year, the dreadful defenses throughout Johnson’s tenure and the hiccups with the option last year. But the numbers are the numbers.
"Nobody is going to have a higher expectation than me," Johnson said. "I want to win every game. Nobody is more competitive than me. But there's bad and there's bad, and we haven't been bad. Have we been championship level? Well, we've won our division twice and tied for it once. Did that happen every year before we got here? Is there a history of that?"
No. History — post-integration — suggests Tech isn’t going to be competing for championships every year. But Johnson teased the masses with that early success. Tech also exists in the massive shadow cast by Georgia and the SEC.
Bobinski says a lot of nice things about Johnson, but the core truth is that he still hasn’t made up his mind about the coach. It’s revealed in his words and actions. Johnson has three years left on his contract (two after this season). In pro sports, that’s not an issue. In college, anything under four becomes fodder for opposing coaches in recruiting and sounds alarms.
“I’ve only seen a year,” Bobinski said. “When the time it right, we’ll deal with it.”
Does he have to be impressed this season?
“I’m doing the evaluating so I’m sure every coach has to make sure they’re doing things in a way that meet our expectations,” he said. “I also think this: Paul is not a guy who gets hung up on things like that (contract). His focus today, as it should be, is getting his team ready for the season. … Too much emphasis on that stuff has really screwed up our business. Everybody worries about how long and how much — I get a headache thinking about those things.”
Bobinski said the perceived recruiting effect is “the most overblown thing in the world. That’s a figment of agents’ and other people’s imagination. (Opposing) coaches will say what they’re going to say. But the counter to that is coaches will just pick up and leave.”
It’s understandable why Johnson might be irritated. Johnson’s teams have played for two ACC titles and won one. Tech entered the ACC in 1983, won the conference in 1990 and shared a title in 1998 with Florida State. Simple math: Before Johnson, the Jackets went 2-for-25 (8 percent). With Johnson, they’re 1-for-6 (17 percent).
Bobinski and Johnson are on the same page about one thing: negativity.
“I personally have no tolerance for it,” Bobinski said. “I don’t think anything has gotten better from people (whining) all the time. Ever, in the history of the world.”
The question this season is whether Johnson and Tech can change the narrative.
About the Author
