Thomas gives Georgia Tech a chance to win the Coastal again

Paul Johnson does not suffer fools, kindly or otherwise.

The Georgia Tech coach spends much of his time with the media oscillating from indifferent to pedantic. That Johnson has won the ACC’s Coastal Division three times in seven years, without ever being picked to do so by the media, does seem to bring him a slight amount of satisfaction.

“You know how I feel about those things,” Johnson said at the ACC Kickoff in Pinehurst when told the Yellow Jackets were picked by the media to win the division this year. “I hope they finally got it right for once.”

The media missed on Georgia Tech last year. The Jackets were picked to finish fifth, out of seven division teams. Instead, they went 6-2 in the league (with losses to Duke and North Carolina) and ended the season with wins over two ranked SEC opponents (Georgia and Mississippi State).

In between the big SEC wins was a two-point loss in the ACC title game to Florida State. The 11-3 record also included a win over Clemson, which hadn’t lost to an ACC team other than Florida State since 2011.

The only thing Johnson enjoys more than proving people wrong is winning. He has done plenty of that. Over the past four years, only FSU (28) and Clemson (26) have won more ACC games than Georgia Tech (21).

Georgia Tech has a distinguished place in college football history, going all the way back to John Heisman coaching there for 15 years in the early 1900s and both Bobby Dodd and Bobby Ross picking up national titles almost 40 years apart.

It’s notable then that before Johnson was hired in 2008, Georgia Tech had won 11 games only once since Dodd’s title in 1952. Johnson has led two teams to 11 wins (2009 and ’14).

This doesn’t prevent Johnson from getting prickly with even the softest of softball questions. A question about the exquisite match of junior quarterback Justin Thomas with Johnson’s option offense is volleyed back at a reporter.

“He’d be good at whatever offense you ran,” Johnson said.

At 5-11 and 189 pounds, most other schools weren’t willing to give Thomas a chance at quarterback. Alabama wanted him to play cornerback. With his speed (he was the 100-meter state champ in high school in Alabama) and quickness, Thomas is the perfect fit for Johnson’s scheme. He ran for 1,086 yards last season but he’s also the best passer Johnson has had at Georgia Tech.

With four of the top five running backs gone from the No. 2 rushing offense in the country, Thomas’ role might expand this season, which is fine by Johnson.

“I’m glad he’s on our team,” Johnson said. “He’s pretty good.”

Johnson also has confidence in a defense that returns eight starters from a group that ranked No. 17 in takeaways last season with 29.

On paper, the only problem for Georgia Tech is the schedule. Clemson is its annual crossover partner from the Atlantic Division. The rotation for the second crossover game happens to be Florida State this year.

Given Duke, UNC, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech don’t have a crossover game against Clemson or FSU (let alone both), that’s a distinct disadvantage for the Yellow Jackets. Not that Johnson sees it that way. He’s 5-3 against Clemson and 2-2 against FSU but has a 2-5 mark against both Virginia Tech and Miami.

“We’ve had better success with them than we’ve had with Virginia Tech and Miami,” Johnson said. “You just have to play the games on the field.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Thomas gives Georgia Tech a chance to win the Coastal again."