Johnson confident heading into 2016
CHARLOTTE, NC-- Paul Johnson was in a way different mood smiling and cracking jokes at the ACC Kickoff event. With only a little bad news regarding B-back C.J. Leggett who is no longer on the team, Johnson spoke about his high expectations for his 2016 squad and the spark of chemistry he sees from his team.
Click here to read more insider notes from the session.
Here is a transcript of the media session with Johnson
COACH JOHNSON: Good morning. Let me start out by saying how excited we are to be here today. I think we officially report to camp two weeks from yesterday. As the wait of the college football world works now, I'm not sure reporting date is what it used to be. Our guys have been around for most of the summer.I think we had an outstanding spring off-season. Our guys have worked really hard. We can't wait to get started this fall. Certainly last year didn't end the way we would have liked for it to or the way we thought it would be. We have a little added incentive this year to bounce back to where we're accustomed to being.I was talking to the players. We finished our eighth season at Georgia Tech as a coaching staff. In eight years we finished first or second in the coastal division. We had the opportunity to play in a three ACC championship games and a couple Orange Bowls. That's the standard we're looking to get back to.We have a good returning nucleus. We lost a lot of players last year due to injury which forced us to play a lot of freshmen. The good news is those guys are back and they'll be sophomores and they have some playing experience.Looking forward to going to Dublin, the first game, September 3rd, against Boston College, getting the conference season started, and moving on from there.With that I guess we'll bring up
Q. We're used to seeing Georgia Tech among the leaders in third down conversions, and number one with fewest punts. This year you were down near the bottom in third down conversions. North Carolina actually punted less than Georgia Tech. What is it going to take to have Georgia Tech making third downs and not punting?
COACH JOHNSON: I think we have to get back to the level of play that we've become accustomed to over the last few years. We weren't near as good offensively a year ago as we had been. We weren't good enough in other areas to carry the team.Offensively we've kind of been in a spot for most of the last eight years that we could kind of push through and control the ball, stay on the field, do those things.I think there's a lot of reasons why nobody wants to hear the labor pains, they just want to see the baby. We've just got to do better.Third down conversions historically have been good for us. The key to that is staying out of third-and-long. If you do that, you're going to have a high conversion rate. It's a big part of winning football games, both on offense and defense.
Q. You made it through the spring health-wise. A couple question marks about a couple offensive linemen. What is the current status with those guys, Whitley and Griffin?
COACH JOHNSON: Chris Griffin is working out hard this summer. We fully expect he's going to be in camp. He'll report next week. We'll go from there. We're anticipating that Chris is going to be able to play.
Q. You play Mark Richt, Miami, this year. Is it going to be different that he's no longer with UGA this time around? Will that add any familiarity with him?
COACH JOHNSON: No, I think we're excited to have Mark in the league. Certainly he brings a lot of tradition, whatever. We've struggled with Miami the past few years without Mark. Unless he's going to throw it or carry it... I'm more worried about their quarterback than I am him.Certainly he brings some credibility to their program and to the conference.
Q. Take a look at the chemistry between Justin Thomas and the runningbacks you've had through the spring so far, what can you say about team chemistry offensively.
COACH JOHNSON: I think each year it's a work in progress. It starts probably in the off-season, then spring, then summer conditioning, fall camp. It's an ongoing deal.Last year what people didn't realize, and two years ago we were really good on offense, I mean, really good. We lost two wide receivers to the NFL. We lost our top four slot backs. We lost our two runningbacks. We had seven injuries to the A backs in spring and fall camp. We lost our top two B backs coming in.Justin was surrounded by guys who had never played. So the chemistry was not going to be that good. I looked on the field last year at Miami, the score was 7-7. We were in the start of the second quarter. We had the ball on their four yardline. I have nine freshmen playing offense. When that happens, it's tough to be successful in our league, on this level in general.I think Justin will be a little more comfortable this year having some guys who have played. We're still going to be young in the skill positions. But fortunately those guys all played a year ago, so it's not going to be like they're totally starting brand-new.I think that will make him a better player.
Q. This is an unusual season. You're going to play seven teams this year with staffs you haven't faced or new coaches. How does that change your approach going into this year?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, it's always difficult I think anytime you do that. We have played with Boston College, we played against their offensive coordinator who comes from Virginia Tech. The defensive coordinator was at Virginia for a couple years. So we do have some familiarity with those games. The next two we're completely blind, but we'll have some film to look at.The uniqueness of what we do, on offense especially, through the years, we've done it for a long time, we get ourselves ready. We're not worried about what the other team plays. We're dialed in. Doesn't make a difference whether they're a three-man or eight-man front. It makes a difference whether they have really good players.It will be a little bit difficult. It's kind of the profession. I was sitting in the room this morning before we took the photo. I'm looking around, there's nobody there that was there when I came into the league. I guess Coach Cutcliffe, David and I, came in at the same time. Other than that, everybody's new. I guess it's kind of the profession.
Q. On the defensive side of the ball, you had two freshmen that got some good reps last year. What do you expect from them this year?
COACH JOHNSON: We had to play a lot of freshmen everywhere, especially over there. I thought that Brant Mitchell ended up being our starting inside linebacker. I expect he's going to really grow.A.J. Gray probably had as good a spring as anybody on our football team. He was surviving last year on pure athleticism out there because he wasn't sure what he was doing as a true freshman playing safety. I think he's got the opportunity to be one of the all-time great players at Georgia Tech. If he can build off his spring, he had a tremendous spring, I think you'll be excited to watch him play this fall.So we've probably got more depth than we've ever had, especially on defense. I feel like we've got probably eight guys we can play on the defensive line. We're going to be new in the secondary a little bit. But A.J. comes in at one safety that's played, and the other safety, they're competing right now, probably be Corey Griffin if we played today.We got a couple of corners that transferred in, sat out last year. Overall I expect to be much better on defense than we were a year ago. Certainly hopeful.
Q. Aside from trying to get that first win of the season, what do you hope the Ireland experience will be for the Georgia Tech family?
COACH JOHNSON: I think Justin mentioned the fact that when we were setting up our young men for passports, I think we've got 80 guys out of the 110 or so that will travel that have never been out of the country. It's going to be an experience for them to do that.But the bottom line is, it's a conference game, conference opener. We're going over there with a mindset to try to win the football game. That's number one.Right now we plan to leave on Wednesday night after practice. We'll get in there Thursday morning. Maybe we'll get to tour a little bit on Friday, let them see some things. Then we're right back after the game because we play the next Saturday.It's going to be a really quick trip.
Q. Looking ahead to the Clemson matchup, Clemson hasn't won in Atlanta since 2003. What do you think has made it so difficult for Clemson to win on the road there? Is that something that gives your team additional confidence heading into that matchup?
COACH JOHNSON: We've had some pretty good football games. Both schools have had some good teams. With the exception of last year's game at Clemson, every game has been hard-fought, right down to the end.I think it's a Thursday night game. Both teams are coming off playing on Saturday, which you'd rather not do in a big game like that.Our guys get excited about playing Clemson. I think we've played them nine times since we've been there. We're 5-4. We're back and forth. You know they're going to be very talented. Certainly their quarterback is one of the top players in the country.I think sometimes what people don't realize is how athletic and good they are on defense. It will be a defense. Coach Swinney has done a good job building that program up. Hopefully we can keep that streak going in Atlanta. We'll see.
Q. You mentioned Deshaun Watson. As you look at the offensive returning players, 90% of the top play-makers in the league are back. I don't remember seeing this much offensive talent in the league returning. What is it like to be a defensive coordinator in the league this year?
COACH JOHNSON: I think top to bottom, the league has gotten better almost every year since I came into the league eight years ago. There are some tremendous, tremendous athletes. I'm excited to have our quarterback back. I think he's a gifted play-maker. I think last year was kind of not indicative of the type of player that he is.But there are some really good players. I mean, I think Deshaun at Clemson, James Conner coming back from Pitt who was an outstanding player before his illness. You can go through almost every school. Everybody has a guy or two that can be a dynamic play-maker.It will be an interesting season, I think. I wouldn't want to try to predict the order of finish in this league.
Q. What are your feelings or thoughts on opening up with a game like Boston College on the road, the big starting games in college football?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think we've kind of gone both ways where we've opened up with an FCS opponent. You would probably rather not have a conference game right out of the chute. I think it's good to play an opponent, a tough opponent. I don't mind doing that at all. Just the logistics of traveling outside the country for a first game, a conference opener, makes you a little nervous.But our guys are excited about going and excited about having a chance to play in Ireland. I've decided I'm going to be excited with them. We're going to go over there and do the best we can to represent Georgia Tech and the ACC and hopefully come back with a win.