National Championship (4) Alabama vs (3) Georgia

[HMFFL]

I went, losing sucks.

90 minute wait times to get into the stadium. Took me nearly 3 hours to get home via MARTA. MARTA sucks.

That is brutal.
90 minute wait times to get into the stadium?

When I travel out of town for work every week I use Marta at times to go to the airport and park at one of the stations. I can only imagine how bad your experience was.

[dms269]

I went, losing sucks.

90 minute wait times to get into the stadium. Took me nearly 3 hours to get home via MARTA. MARTA sucks.

That is brutal.
90 minute wait times to get into the stadium?

When I travel out of town for work every week I use Marta at times to go to the airport and park at one of the stations. I can only imagine how bad your experience was.

They only have 4 gates and one was closed due to the President being there (or what we were told). Signage is horrible, so you would stand in a "line" only to figure out it led to nowhere. It was basically a huge funnel, leading to the gate. Security was increased so it took a delay in getting people into the stadium as well.

There is an article on myajc talking about the issues with MARTA. They weren't running enough trains, so people were trying to fit into the limited number of trains there, which meant pushing on the doors. The doors broke down, so the trains wouldn't move. Which created backups, which resulted in them having to close the stairs to the northbound tracks at 5 points.

[Jamaaliver]

^Ahhhh. Big city life.

While I do miss A-Town quite a bit, stories like this are all too common and remind me why I moved to the countryside.

Life is much easier in the country boondocks:

[macd-gm]

I can't even lie, dude.

I have no ties to UGA.

I grew up rooting for GT, but that football program hasn't been very good in recent decades.

Paul Johnson drives me crazy...

I have direct ties to the Falcons, an emotional bond with the Braves and an unhealthy, one-sided relationship with a mediocre Hawks franchise.

But college sports...I support all the kids.

#PeachExcellence

Not a GT fan, but Georgia is Georgia, and I as a team in Georgia, I wish GT would move on from Paul Johnson.

It's nowhere near as simple as just saying, "Uh get rid of CPJ." Saban couldn't win under GT's administration.

That's what all my hardcore GT friends say to me but honestly i think y'all are too close to it. I really believe that nothing good will happen with that program until they replace Johnson. If there is one thing that he's proven without a doubt is that his offense cannot win consistently. I mean it's been a decade with how many successful seasons? 1 or 2?

[Jamaaliver]

Not a GT fan, but Georgia is Georgia, and I as a team in Georgia, I wish GT would move on from Paul Johnson.

It's nowhere near as simple as just saying, "Uh get rid of CPJ." Saban couldn't win under GT's administration.

That's what all my hardcore GT friends say to me but honestly i think y'all are too close to it. I really believe that nothing good will happen with that program until they replace Johnson.

100% agree.

Paul Johnson isn't a bad coach. But he can't recruit top players because of his system. And his system isn't good enough to consistently win without top players.

It's one of those Catch-22s.

But missing out on 2 of the last 3 bowl seasons? Inexcusable for a program that had previously gone to 18 straight postseason games.

[kg01]

Not a GT fan, but Georgia is Georgia, and I as a team in Georgia, I wish GT would move on from Paul Johnson.

It's nowhere near as simple as just saying, "Uh get rid of CPJ." Saban couldn't win under GT's administration.

That's what all my hardcore GT friends say to me but honestly i think y'all are too close to it. I really believe that nothing good will happen with that program until they replace Johnson. If there is one thing that he's proven without a doubt is that his offense cannot win consistently. I mean it's been a decade with how many successful seasons? 1 or 2?

(dis)Respectfully disagree here. Folks on the outside looking in simply look at is as a sports discussion. It's not that at all.

I'm in no way saying CPJ is the end-all, be-all. I'm saying there's a lot more there than simply "coaching better" or "recruiting better". You can't send a blind, one-armed/one-legged dude into the Kumite then get all mad if he gets knocked out.

As a brief example, we had to petition the board to get support staff for recruiting. They approved us to add 4 dudes. 4. Compare that to places like Clem, Bama, etc. who have dozens, literally dozens (with an 's') of staff members.

You tellin' me we can go hire a guy like friggin Jeremy Pruitt, since he's the hot name, and make up for stuff like that?

[Jamaaliver]

It's past time to move on from Coach Paul Johnson.

GT may never again be a powerhouse. But they should be able to compete every single year.

Perspective: Chan Gailey was fired for avg a mediocre 7 wins a year (and never beating UGA.)

Paul Johnson has avg 7 wins a year over the past 8 seasons and can no longer consistently get to a bowl game.

There is legitimately no reason to keep him around at this point.

[kg01]

It's past time to move on from Coach Paul Johnson.

GT may never again be a powerhouse. But they should be able to compete every single year.

Perspective: Chan Gailey was fired for avg a mediocre 7 wins a year (and never beating UGA.)

Paul Johnson has avg 7 wins a year over the past 8 seasons and can no longer consistently get to a bowl game.

There is legitimately no reason to keep him around at this point.

You think that because you don't really follow GT football.

Bill Belichek would not win more than 7-8 games on average at GT unless things change that are outside the coach's control.

[Jamaaliver]

You think that because you don't really follow GT football.

You have it backwards.

I no longer follow GT football because they aren't a good program. They were a good program in the 90s.

I followed them pretty intensely under George O'Leary. Even under boring old Chan Gailey I could proudly proclaim my GT fandom as I traversed the globe with the military.

GT Football isn't good. The current coach is a big reason why.

[kg01]

You think that because you don't really follow GT football.

You have it backwards.

I no longer follow GT football because they aren't a good program. They were a good program in the 90s.

I followed them pretty intensely under George O'Leary. Even under boring old Chan Gailey I could proudly proclaim my GT fandom as I traversed the globe with the military.

GT Football isn't good. The current coach is a big reason why.

What happened between then and now?

The academic scandal whereby double-digit fball players were suspended which prompted the administration to impose additional restrictions which meant basically all the guys who led the success of the '90's would no longer even be considered for acceptance into the school which meant any modicum of success we had would no longer be consistently repeated regardless of who the coach is.

Again, not bumping for CPJ, just letting folks know there are many layers to that onion. Stopping at the coach is doing him a tremendous disservice.

[Jamaaliver]

^I'm starting to sense a trend.

[Spud2nique]

This is so intense it makes me wanna watch college football ...I only know Stanford, Cal, UCLA USC...even them not so much.

[macd-gm]

I totally get what you are saying but to me that's even more reason to fire Johnson. Unless they just can't find anyone willing to take the job. But usually there are young hungry guys who might put some life into a pretty lifeless program even if there are a lot of obstacles in the way. It's still a major conference and the school has a rich football tradition. The education is second to none and the city is a desirable place to be.

But what is the argument for keeping Johnson? To me that's the question. I can't think of anything very compelling.

[HMFFL]

100% agree.

Paul Johnson isn't a bad coach. But he can't recruit top players because of his system. And his system isn't good enough to consistently win without top players.

It's one of those Catch-22s.

But missing out on 2 of the last 3 bowl seasons? Inexcusable for a program that had previously gone to 18 straight postseason games.

That's exactly it.
The system is not appealing enough. I would love to see Georgia Tech move on from Paul Johnson but Georgia Tech fans seem to be content with not winning.

[kg01]

I totally get what you are saying but to me that's even more reason to fire Johnson. Unless they just can't find anyone willing to take the job. But usually there are young hungry guys who might put some life into a pretty lifeless program even if there are a lot of obstacles in the way. It's still a major conference and the school has a rich football tradition. The education is second to none and the city is a desirable place to be.

But what is the argument for keeping Johnson? To me that's the question. I can't think of anything very compelling.

It's a 'devil you know' thing. He's been able to lead us to a "BCS bowl" win (just using that nomenclature for lack of a better description) while operating with a decided talent disparity.

With the way most of those "young, hungry" guys you mention are being paid (even as assistants), it's not automatic that we could simply roll it out there and have them jumping on the opportunity. That's a mid-00's way of thinking.

Look at basketball as an example. You think Brian Gregory/Pastner were 1st choices? GT bball is imminently closer to being a championship level program than the fball program is and we had to settle on 2 consecutive hires because we're not on a level where we can simply pluck who we want just because of history, the city, etc. It's no longer than simple.

And please don't put "education" into the equation. The recruits we're actually getting are the ones who actually care about that. What's that doing for us?

We're now on a run similar to a 90's era mid-major school where, once everybody reaches the jr/sr level we'll have a great season. That's probably coming next year or the year after. I suspect CPJ walks away at that point. I think he's got 2 years left on his deal anyway.

I hope our new AD is able to curry some favor with the school to allow the fball program to operate similarly to the other ACC/SEC schools with which we are competing. That will create an environment more supportive of actually winning consistently.

At this point in time, they see football as a distraction. Try telling some hotshot coaching candidate to sign up for that.

[kg01]

100% agree.

Paul Johnson isn't a bad coach. But he can't recruit top players because of his system. And his system isn't good enough to consistently win without top players.

It's one of those Catch-22s.

But missing out on 2 of the last 3 bowl seasons? Inexcusable for a program that had previously gone to 18 straight postseason games.

That's exactly it.
The system is not appealing enough. I would love to see Georgia Tech move on from Paul Johnson but Georgia Tech fans seem to be content with not winning.

Not true

[macd-gm]

I totally get what you are saying but to me that's even more reason to fire Johnson. Unless they just can't find anyone willing to take the job. But usually there are young hungry guys who might put some life into a pretty lifeless program even if there are a lot of obstacles in the way. It's still a major conference and the school has a rich football tradition. The education is second to none and the city is a desirable place to be.

But what is the argument for keeping Johnson? To me that's the question. I can't think of anything very compelling.

It's a 'devil you know' thing. He's been able to lead us to a "BCS bowl" win (just using that nomenclature for lack of a better description) while operating with a decided talent disparity.

With the way most of those "young, hungry" guys you mention are being paid (even as assistants), it's not automatic that we could simply roll it out there and have them jumping on the opportunity. That's a mid-00's way of thinking.

Look at basketball as an example. You think Brian Gregory/Pastner were 1st choices? GT bball is imminently closer to being a championship level program than the fball program is and we had to settle on 2 consecutive hires because we're not on a level where we can simply pluck who we want just because of history, the city, etc. It's no longer than simple.

And please don't put "education" into the equation. The recruits we're actually getting are the ones who actually care about that. What's that doing for us?

We're now on a run similar to a 90's era mid-major school where, once everybody reaches the jr/sr level we'll have a great season. That's probably coming next year or the year after. I suspect CPJ walks away at that point. I think he's got 2 years left on his deal anyway.

I hope our new AD is able to curry some favor with the school to allow the fball program to operate similarly to the other ACC/SEC schools with which we are competing. That will create an environment more supportive of actually winning consistently.

At this point in time, they see football as a distraction. Try telling some hotshot coaching candidate to sign up for that.

Man that's a sad state of affairs really. So the answer is that everyone feels it's unlikely Tech could find anyone better willing to take the job? Geez. That sucks.

Just a cursory look at salaries though and he's the 40th highest paid in the country. That's on the lower end of big time programs for sure but it's definitely an attractive salary amount. Maybe they don't want to pay two coaches?

[kg01]

I totally get what you are saying but to me that's even more reason to fire Johnson. Unless they just can't find anyone willing to take the job. But usually there are young hungry guys who might put some life into a pretty lifeless program even if there are a lot of obstacles in the way. It's still a major conference and the school has a rich football tradition. The education is second to none and the city is a desirable place to be.

But what is the argument for keeping Johnson? To me that's the question. I can't think of anything very compelling.

It's a 'devil you know' thing. He's been able to lead us to a "BCS bowl" win (just using that nomenclature for lack of a better description) while operating with a decided talent disparity.

With the way most of those "young, hungry" guys you mention are being paid (even as assistants), it's not automatic that we could simply roll it out there and have them jumping on the opportunity. That's a mid-00's way of thinking.

Look at basketball as an example. You think Brian Gregory/Pastner were 1st choices? GT bball is imminently closer to being a championship level program than the fball program is and we had to settle on 2 consecutive hires because we're not on a level where we can simply pluck who we want just because of history, the city, etc. It's no longer than simple.

And please don't put "education" into the equation. The recruits we're actually getting are the ones who actually care about that. What's that doing for us?

We're now on a run similar to a 90's era mid-major school where, once everybody reaches the jr/sr level we'll have a great season. That's probably coming next year or the year after. I suspect CPJ walks away at that point. I think he's got 2 years left on his deal anyway.

I hope our new AD is able to curry some favor with the school to allow the fball program to operate similarly to the other ACC/SEC schools with which we are competing. That will create an environment more supportive of actually winning consistently.

At this point in time, they see football as a distraction. Try telling some hotshot coaching candidate to sign up for that.

Man that's a sad state of affairs really. So the answer is that everyone feels it's unlikely Tech could find anyone better willing to take the job? Geez. That sucks.

Just a cursory look at salaries though and he's the 40th highest paid in the country. That's on the lower end of big time programs for sure but it's definitely an attractive salary amount. Maybe they don't want to pay two coaches?

Oh my dear macd, GT is currently paying the following ...

Chan Gailey (this one may actually finally and mercifully be done by now but, if so, it was in the last year or so)
Paul Hewitt (I think there's only 1 year left)
Brian Gregory
Paul Johnson and
Josh Pastner

"Maybe we don't want to pay 2 coaches"? Don't make me laugh.

News broke today that they're extending CPJ to 2022 (just a 2yr extension), btw. I still think my 2yr prediction on him retiring still stands but you can't recruit or keep coaches with a short deal.

Anyway, I think we'll either see him retire or put the dreaded unofficial HCIW in place not too long from now.

[macd-gm]

Extension? See now this just seems so stupid. There is not a single thing you can point to to justify an extension. It's just making an already bad program look that much worse that they are rewarding horrible mediocrity. I could see letting him coach out his contract but screw an extension. That's just stupid. Are people really knocking on Johnson's door for his services?

Anyway, I give up. It's sad and seems like it maybe a decade before any hope is in site.

[Jamaaliver]

At least the Yellow Jackets have a nice, high draft pick coming in after a disappointing season.

I'm pretty sure that's how college football works...