Paul Johnson starting to feel like a "wow" hire to me

[ThadFilms]

While he doesn't match my number one criteria, that would be the ability to walk into a room of folks with moderate college football knowledge, and say - "Hey, SMU just hired ____ _______" and for the response to be, "Really?? Wow!"


But the more I read and research the more I realize that this is a "wow" hire. The guy just wins. And even though you can say, "yeah but Notre Dame sucked this year" .... when you have a streak that long, and your Notre Dame, and your at home and you are to man leagues better than your competition, you don't lose to Navy. ESPECIALLY with how crappy their season has gone. I thought I would have seen Navy win MAYBE with ND on the road during very good but not great season, when they were nestled between Michigan and USC...

But the fact is PJ took his boys in there and won it.

Fact is PJ undressed Jim Tressell in a national title game.

Fact is turned a team with one win in two years into a perennial bowl team.

Fact is PJ uses the talent his team has to win, playing to their strengths.

Some may question his ability to recruit, at Navy his recruiting limitations are far great then the real or perceived restrictions at SMU.

Fact is he still maximized his recruits potentials.

Fact is his players have far more stringent outside the practice field and locker room responsibilities than most anywhere in the country.

Fact is he is rumored for most every current major football search in the country.

And the rumor is he is coming here.



The more I think about it, the more I like it. Sure I can't go into a bar full of longhorns and wow them with our hire.... but I bet if we could get UT on the schedule PJ could lead us into DKR Memorial and give 'em a wow that they won't soon forget.

[Mustang1991]

I think you're right! A week ago I didn't really know who Johnson was, and now that I do I am impressed and excited...IF he's the one.

[J.T.supporta]

I think you're right! A week ago I didn't really know who Johnson was, and now that I do I am impressed and excited...IF he's the one.

same...maybe its all the stories people find on him that i end up reading ...but he is a proven winner and thats what i want at smu

[Pony Soup]

I like

[PhirePhilBennett]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYyI6IW ... re=related

[PhirePhilBennett]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYyI6IWgUA&feature=related

\

Look for the flexwingback pitch pass back the QB...

[jkflamebo]

we need paul johnson

[mr. pony]

All you guys, take two kool-aid antidote capsules and post again in the morning.

Mr. 1991: If you hadn't heard of Johnson a week ago, how many DFW football fans are going to go "WOW!" when they hear we hired him?

Nobody, baby. It'll be, "Oh, SMU hired some guy from Navy."

Then you guys can say, "Wait a minute. Read all this great stuff about him, Mr. DFW fan. Do some research on Johnson! He's GOOD!!! Really!!

Too late. You've lost him.

[RednBlue11]

so the guy who snapped navy's 43 year loosing streak to ND is a nobody?

[mr. pony]

so the guy who snapped navy's 43 year loosing streak to ND is a nobody?

1991 never heard of him.

[RednBlue11]

must not care much about college football then

[FWMustang]

I watched that video and have two observations:

1) That's not 3 yards and a cloud of dust

2) Our end-zones need to be red-blue checkered!!!

[ThadFilms]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYyI6IWgUA&feature=related

\

Look for the flexwingback pitch pass back the QB...

I want that kind of a highlight video!!!!

[carolsmu]

For a variety of reasons, I think his GSouthern tenure is even more relevant than his Navy years.

"Johnson came to Navy from Georgia Southern, where he posted a 62-10 (.861) record, won two-straight I-AA National Championships (1999 and 2000), five-straight Southern Conference Championships and was named the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year four-consecutive times (1997-2000).

After Johnson took over as head coach at Georgia Southern in 1997, he returned the Eagle program to national prominence statistically and in the won-lost ledger. In addition to Georgia Southern's 62-10 mark, the Eagles scored 2,855 points (39.7 points per game), picked up 25,941 rushing yards (360.3 yards per game), 7,816 passing yards (108.6 yards per game) and 33,757 total yards (468.8 yards per game). GSU scored 380 touchdowns in the Johnson Era, an average of 5.3 per game. The Eagles' scoring margin under Johnson was +21.5 (39.7-18.5).

Johnson picked up a milestone victory in the 2000 I-AA National Championship Game against Montana. Not only did the 27-25 victory give Georgia Southern its second-straight national title, but it was Johnson's 50th-career win in four seasons. Only three other coaches in the history of Division I football have won 50 or more games in four seasons, as Johnson joined Walter Camp (1888-1891, 54-2 at Yale), George Woodruff (1892-1895, 53-4 at Penn) and Bob Pruett (1996-99, 50-4 at Marshall) on the exclusive list.

Johnson took over a Georgia Southern program in 1997 that was 4-7 the previous year and orchestrated a turnaround which ranks among the NCAA's best, directing the Eagles to a 10-3 record, equaling the school's best mark since 1989. His peers and media members justly rewarded his rebuilding efforts as he earned Southern Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors while also picking up national tributes from the American Football Coaches Association and American Football Quarterly.

In 1998, Johnson guided the Eagles to a perfect 11-0 regular-season record and the school's sixth NCAA Division I-AA National Championship Game appearance before finishing with a 14-1 mark. He directed a high-powered offensive unit which tied or broke 100 records during the campaign, and again earned the league's top coaching honor and received national praise as the recipient of The Sports Network's Eddie Robinson Award -- symbolic of the division's national coach-of-the-year selection.

In 1999, Johnson brought Georgia Southern back to the national championship game and this time won it, as the Eagles finished 13-2, broke 197 records and won the school's fifth national title. For his efforts, Johnson was honored as the 1999 American Football Coaches Association and Chevrolet I-AA National Coach of the Year.

The Eagles came back in 2000 and won their second-straight national championship, posting a 13-2 record. Johnson was named the American Football Coaches Association I-AA Coach of the Year.

In four-plus seasons, Johnson's squads broke or tied 389 individual and team school, conference, playoff or stadium records, ranked in the top 10 in 21 statistical categories and produced 31 All-Americans. The Eagles won an NCAA I-AA record 39-consecutive games at home, breaking their own mark of 38. Meanwhile, their 52 wins over those four seasons were the most in all of Division I.

Georgia Southern produced 300 yards or more of total offense in 53 of its last-59 games and picked up 400-plus yards of total offense in 45 of the last-59 contests. Fullback Adrian Peterson rushed for 6,736 yards in his career, the most in the history of Division I football.

Although lost at times in the glitz and glamour of Johnson's explosive offensive unit, Georgia Southern also had an excellent defense. The 2001 Georgia Southern defense ranked as one of the best at the school as it ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense (fourth), total defense (sixth) and pass defense (second). The defense allowed a school-record 12 points per game.

Johnson was Navy's offensive coordinator in 1995 and 1996 and his spread offense made an immediate impact, breaking five school records during the Mids' five-win season in 1995, equaling the most wins by a Navy team since 1990.

Navy came back in year two under Johnson and exploded, posting a 9-3 record, including a 42-38 victory over California in the Aloha Bowl. It was Navy's first winning season since 1982 and one of only two winning seasons the Mids had during a 19-year span (the other being in 1997 when Navy went 7-4 running the spread offense under the direction of Johnson protégé Ken Niumatalolo). "

[RednBlue11]

BOOOOOYAH!