Paul Johnson and talent

When Paul Johnson was hired at Georgia Tech in 2008, the big question was whether his flexbone offense would translate to the major-college level.

He's 33-19 in four years leading the Yellow Jackets, including the ACC title season of 2009. Not great. Certainly not bad. Pretty good would probably be the best appraisal, given that it's a school that doesn't typically reel in a bunch of big-time talent like, say, Georgia.

I've said before that no one is going to "figure out" Johnson's offense. He's going to make defensive coordinators pull their hair out as long as he's there, and certainly Clemson fans know the feeling after having lost four times in five tries against the Johnson-coached Jackets.

But to you folks who, back in 2008, were saying Johnson wouldn't win big consistently at Georgia Tech because he wouldn't be able to recruit well enough: I'm thinking there's something to that theory.

Georgia Tech has had a grand total of two players taken in the last two drafts: second-rounder Stephen Hill this year, and seventh-rounder Anthony Allen last year.

You just know rival coaches are licking their chops to pack this into their negative-recruiting cannons, as they should. It just doesn't look good when your draft representation is that meager.

In fairness, Georgia Tech did produce a total of eight draftees in 2009 and 2010. Included were first-rounders Derrick Morgan and Demaryius Thomas in 2010. But those weren't Johnson's recruits. And if he continues to fail to send many players to the NFL, you have to think it's going to really hurt the Jackets' chances of getting high-level players in the future. Because walking across that stage to give Roger Goodell a great big bear hug has become the dream for more guys than ever -- the real measure of success for so many of these kids.

Maybe Georgia Tech is due for a big year in next year's draft, but they didn't look abundantly talented last year. Their personnel just seems lacking.

Johnson certainly isn't the warm and fuzzy type, and it's hard to imagine him being a master salesman in the homes of recruits. This probably wouldn't be a problem at, say, Nebraska or another place with a massive recruiting base. But my hunch is that it will be a problem at Georgia Tech, assuming it already isn't.

My belief four years ago was that Johnson would win nine games a year and have the Jackets in the ACC title game on a regular basis. The Jackets have fallen short of that the last two years, and the last two drafts present a pretty good explanation.

LW