The One That Got Away-Paul Johnson

[redpony]

And if he is back next year we will have a lot less hard-core fans in the stands and giving to the MC.

[SoCal_Pony]

SMU is probably not a football step up from Fresno State, but $2MM is a step up from $700,000.

Right, but are the powers that be willing to pay Tim Deruyter $2MM a year?

Do not be surprised if SMU doesn't pay anywhere close to $2MM per year for their next head football coach.

PS,

You have made several references to this over the last couple of weeks. Care to expand on it?

It will be your 5,000th post so make it interesting.

[big foot]

I am open to June coming back if he could at least win 4 out of 6 and truly re-commit to the mission of being a top 25 program. We need to either make a change after this season or extend his contract out at least 2 more years(thru 2016) for recruiting purposes. But I do not think June has any plans on staying for even another year; he has sold his house, shipped his belongings to Oregon and moved into a Hyatt extended stay type residence. That being said I do not think he has any plans on leaving next years money on the table. Frankly I think this time next year June will be the head coach at Hawaii! I wonder if his contract off-sets next years compensation if he has another job? Hawaii will probably be willing to pay him $1.5MM ++.

[redpony]

bigfoot- the problem is that jj and none of his 'early retirees' recruit. Look at the quality of this years commits- nada with major BCS offers. This looks to be the worst class jj will have signed and it is a clear indication that he has checked out on us. He doesn't want to come back next year because he knows the 'closet is empty'.

[big foot]

redpony - You are right on! I sometimes try to be optimistic, but the football program, unlike the basketball program, does not have the coaches needed to recruit. I am convinced that one way or another he will be gone at the end of the year. I think Hart can sell the COC on staying together by pushing the fact that June brought us back to relevance and now we need them to make one more step to get better recruiting and 8 to 9 wins a year. Easy for me to say I am not writing the big checks.
Frankly if we can push our fund raising drive up from $500MM to $1 BILLION, we can surely find a way to pay a top level coach if we truly want to be P5.

[redpony]

if we truly want to be P5.

And therein lies the big question. Does this admin really want to be top tier or just continue to be mediocre?

[Mustangsabu]

I'm pretty sure they want to be as good as they can afford to be. Easy to spend other peoples money.

[redpony]

I suspect that what happens at the end of this season will be pretty indicative of how far and how high the school wants to go. If we lose the support of the CofC then we will likely end up being a lower tier program or possibly even FCS. I doubt if RGT cares to spend much of the schools money on sports. JMHO

[blackoutpony]

But I do not think June has any plans on staying for even another year; he has sold his house, shipped his belongings to Oregon and moved into a Hyatt extended stay type residence.

I didn't know that... That's extremely telling and alarming, but also not. It's alarming because it clearly means he's checked out and doesn't care at all (even though we knew that), but it also means he doesn't plan on being here much longer (THIS IS GOOD).

I think Hart can sell the COC .

Hart is a yes man. He has a "it is what it is" and "woe is me" attitude and doesn't think for himself. He does what he's told. He couldn't sell food to starving children in the Sudan. This greatly concerns me when trying to convince the COC of anything and for the future of our program.

[redpony]

Hart is a yes man. He has a "it is what it is" and "woe is me" attitude and doesn't think for himself. He does what he's told. He couldn't sell food to starving children in the Sudan. This greatly concerns me when trying to convince the COC of anything and for the future of our program.

And what is even scarier is the idea of him trying to sell SMU and our coaching position to a top level prospective coach.

[mrydel]

Can either of you provide any evidence of your statements or are these just again unfounded statements?

And as for me I have seen him with some of the COC and he was not cowering or whimpering at the time.

[StingStang]

Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech-another gimmick offensive coach-known for poor recruiting is struggling in a very similiar way as June Jones once he was required to put his recruited players on the field. If you take of the ridiculous victories over Division 1AA schools (Elon and Presbyterian????? WTF). While June has exactly a .500 record against Division 1A schools since 2009 (eliminated transition 1-10 season in 2008), Paul Johnson has an even worse record against Division 1A schools over the last 4 years at 20-22. Georgia Tech is a program that had gone to about 6 straight bowls even before Johnson showed up. As some great recruits have left for NFL, Johnson has been unable to replace them. Again, a program built without strong recruiting is a house of cards-IT JUST DOESN'T SHOW UP FOR 3-4 years despite the fact that both are regarded as Coaching geniuses

Tech/SMU guy here. Recruiting under Paul Johnson has actually been solid, slightly better than Gailey. Gailey left a lot of talent for CPJ, and he won big with it. CPJ is on solid ground for now. However, a few more losses to UGA and a few more 7 win seasons will erode his support. Too costly to fire him now anyway - check back in 2 years. If he does go, I expect UNC may be involved. UGA might just be beatable this year - and if Tech pulls it off, CPJ ain't going anywhere for a long time.

We've returned to Tech norms for wins (7-8), but still own a 16 year bowl streak. We are having a hard time beating more talented teams who are stout along the D-line (but who doesn't?). However, the defense is improving (Ted Roof helping at DC and a great recruiter) and the depth better than ever.

We are taking some lumps with a talented soph QB (Vad Lee), but maybe the corner is starting to get turned. I was in Atlanta last weekend to watch us blast Syracuse 56-0. Probably looking at 7 or 8 wins again, and brighter future next year with an easier schedule.

[blackoutpony]

Can either of you provide any evidence of your statements or are these just again unfounded statements?

And as for me I have seen him with some of the COC and he was not cowering or whimpering at the time.

Glad you asked. Ricky and I happened to be eating lunch at the same restaurant a couple weeks ago. I snapped a pic of his reaction when the waitress asked what he would like to eat.



Other than this, my claims are unfounded, but I think this is pretty strong and compelling evidence IMHO

[mrydel]

Then I stand corrected.

[big foot]

Mrydel - He lives at the Hyatt House Dallas Linclon Park (across the street from North Park).