{"71590":{"#nid":"71590","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Welcomes Paul Johnson","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Friday, Dec. 7, Tech Athletic Director Dan Radakovich announced that U.S. Naval Academy football coach Paul Johnson had accepted the position of the Yellow Jackets\u0027 new head football coach. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson, who becomes the 12th head coach at the Institute, coached six successful years at Navy (45-29) and coached five seasons at Georgia Southern (62-10), winning back-to-back 1-AA National Championships in 1999 and 2000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERadakovich described Johnson as the \u0027best fit, the best choice and the best man\u0027 for the position, after saying he had met with many qualified individuals during the last 10 days. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022President (Wayne) Clough and I are convinced that Johnson will be the steady leader, the principled teacher to our student-athletes and the point-producing conductor that will energize our fans and fill our game days with excitement,\u0022 Radakovich said. He compared Tech\u0027s rigorous academic discipline to the Naval Academy\u0027s, and touted Johnson\u0027s achievement as one of four Division 1 coaches who won 50 games in four seasons. \u0022He looks at his talent and maximizes it, using what it takes to win games.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson, who was named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2004, thanked President Wayne Clough, Radakovich and his wife and daughter along with \u0027the entire Georgia Tech family\u0027 as he stood before the podium. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s truly humbling to be here,\u0022 Johnson said. \u0022When I met with the committee, it seemed like a match made in heaven. There\u0027s not another program I would have left the Academy for. From an academic standpoint, the two institutions are very similar. We\u0027re looking for the total package [in student athletes].\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson faced the Atlanta press for roughly 20 minutes, answering questions on what offense will be used, how will he tackle recruiting and what members of Navy\u0027s coaching staff will come with him, as well as will he do what it takes to \u0027sell the program\u0027 and energize the fan base. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think that\u0027s all part of being a football coach at any major program,\u0022 Johnson said. \u0022The way to achieve [excitement for the program] is to win games. If you have a good program, people will come. If you win, people will leave excited.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson said he will not be involved with Tech\u0027s appearance in the Humanitarian Bowl, nor will he be involved in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl where Navy will face Utah, citing that he was now Tech\u0027s coach and eager to \u0027hit the ground running\u0027 on Monday morning, where he listed his top priorities as [putting] together a top-flight staff, a top recruiting class, and meet with every player one-on-one. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I want to get in touch with the committed recruits, and sit with the recruiting coordinator and look at the board.\u0022 While he touted Tech as an institution with the ability to recruit on the national level, he said the state of Georgia would be the team\u0027s primary recruiting concern.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson was an assistant coach at Navy prior to landing the head coaching position at Georgia Southern, and he was an offensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii from 1987 to 1994. At Navy, his team defeated rival Army six years in a row-the record number of consecutive wins from either team in their meetings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Athletic Director Dan Radakovich announced that U.S. Naval Academy football coach Paul Johnson had accepted the position of the Yellow Jackets\u0027 new head football coach.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Named new head football coach"}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2007-12-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ramblinwreck.com\/","title":"Georgia Tech Athletic Association"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1843","name":"football"},{"id":"2224","name":"Paul Johnson"},{"id":"2223","name":"yellow jackets"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}