Football Rumor Mill Says We are Close

[Dwan]

to hiring Paul Johnson

http://www.footballrumormill.com/scoop.php

[PonyDogg]

That would be most excellent!

[SWC2010]

Damn right-- I think that would be a good deal

[perunapower]

to hiring Paul Johnson

http://www.footballrumormill.com/scoop.php

He has zero credibility especially after that Kragthorpe debacle.

[OR-See-Nee]

He would be a very good hire, if we can get him. Not a bad second (or third or fourth) pick, especially given the competition for him.

I hope we are closer with Johnson than we were with Nutt.

[OC Mustang]

This one was supposedly Turner's pick. Anything that guy says is good for football automatically goes into the "I'm not so sure about this" column.

He may be the second coming; until he is inked, he is still coaching for Navy.

[mustang91]

All he does is win? This is a wow for me. But there's another thread saying it's Fran. It's getting cloudy now.

Info on Johnson:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Johns ... ball_coach)

Paul Johnson (born August 20, 1957(1957-08-20) in Newland, North Carolina) is the head coach of football at the United States Naval Academy.

Contents [hide]
1 Coaching
2 Head coaching record
3 Personal
4 External links
5 References



[edit] Coaching
Johnson formerly served as the head coach at Georgia Southern University. During his time at Georgia Southern, the Eagles captured the NCAA Division I-AA national football championships in 1999 and 2000. He is also one of only four coaches to ever record 50 wins in their first four seasons as head coach at the Division I level.[1]

In 2002, Johnson departed Georgia Southern for Navy. Johnson's initial season saw the Midshipmen win only two of twelve contests, although the season ended on a high note with his first victory over Army. Subsequently, Johnson's teams have enjoyed a high degree of success. The 2003 team completed the regular season with an 8-4 mark, including wins over both Air Force and Army, and earned a berth in the EV1.net Houston Bowl, Navy's first bowl game since 1996. The Midshipmen faced a tough opponent and lost to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 38-14. In 2004, Johnson's team posted Navy's best start in over 30 years, finishing the regular season 9-2 and once again earning a bowl berth, this time in the Emerald Bowl. Johnson coached the Mids to a win over New Mexico 34-19, the fifth bowl win in the school's history. That gave Navy 10 wins on the season, tying the record for wins at Navy, which had stood since 1905. Coincidentally, this was the season that Johnson won the NCAA Coach of the Year honors. The 2005 squad recorded a final mark of 8-4, which was highlighted by victories over Army, Air Force, and Colorado State in the inaugural Poinsettia Bowl.

Coach Johnson has dominated the Commander in Chief's Trophy competition, going 9-1 (.900) in his five years, with the only loss against another service academy coming at the hands of Air Force in his first season. He is only the second coach in Navy's history to go 5-0 in his first five seasons against Army, joining Wayne Hardin, and his 2006/2007 senior class was the first in Navy history to win the Commander in Chief's Trophy for all four years.

Much of Johnson's success has been predicated on his triple option flexbone offense, a run oriented attack that has led NCAA Division I-A/FBS football in rushing yards three of the last four years. Some have criticized the triple option as an antiquated, unbalanced system unfit for major college football, which may explain some BCS teams' reluctance to offer him a position despite his accomplishments at both Georgia Southern and Navy. Johnson has rebutted this argument in numerous press conferences and interviews, asserting that several top teams, including 2005-2006 national champion Texas and 2006-2007 national champion Florida, use various forms of the option. He has repeatedly stated that the superior athletes in power conferences could help the triple option flourish.

However Johnson has also stated that if he had a good throwing quarterback he would use the pass more often.





[edit] Head coaching record
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl Coaches# AP°
Georgia Southern Eagles (Southern Conference) (1997 — 2001)
1997 Georgia Southern 10–3 7–1 1st
1998 Georgia Southern 14–1 8–0 1st
1999 Georgia Southern 13–2 7–1 T-1st
2000 Georgia Southern 13–2 7–1 1st
2001 Georgia Southern 12–2 7–1 T-1st
Georgia Southern: 62–10 36–4
Navy Midshipmen (Independent) (2002 — present)
2002 Navy 2–10
2003 Navy 8–5 L EV1.net Houston Bowl
2004 Navy 10–2 W Emerald Bowl 24
2005 Navy 8–4 W Poinsettia Bowl
2006 Navy 9–4 L Meineke Car Care Bowl
2007 Navy 7–4** Poinsettia Bowl
Navy: 43–29 ** as of November 11, 2007
Total: 105–39
National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.
°Rankings from final AP Poll of the season.


[edit] Personal
Johnson and his wife, Susan, have a daughter named Kaitlyn. He earned his Bachelor of Science in physical education from Western Carolina University in 1979, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He also earned a Master of Science in health and physical education from Appalachian State University in 1982

[expony18]

my cousin is a freshman at the Naval Academy, and someone's been selling shirts that said: "Keep Your Hands off My Johnson!"

[Statler]

That loud Argh! just came from Stallion's abode.....

[jkflamebo]

if he comes here, does that mean we run the option and have no defense?

[Stallion]

and lose on multiple occassions to Division 1-AA teams? Maybe we can start our own Prep School where we stash 50 players a year and can get half our starters from.

[Statler]

and lose on multiple occassions to Division 1-AA teams? Maybe we can start our own Prep School where we stash 50 players a year and can get half our starters from.

Stallion,

Darth knew it wouldn't be long for your venom to be unleashed

[Stallion]

So we are going to hire a Coach who has never been required to recruit under NCAA recruiting standards. We are going to trust our program to a Coach that has no track record in outrecruiting anybody. We are going to trust our program to a guy that runs the triple option. I DON'T believe this report because I refused to believe that he is really negotiating a couple of days before Army/Navy or that he would jump at SMU when other jobs have not been filled. I am the first in line to say this will be a disasterous hire and will hurt SMU in recruiting in several areas.

[BRStang]

So we are going to hire a Coach who has never been required to recruit under NCAA recruiting standards. We are going to trust our program to a Coach that has no track record in outrecruiting anybody.

It just gets worse and worse every time I come back here. Stallion, I'm with you.

[Dwan]

but he was won....something Cavan, Rossley, and Bennett never did