Are You Excited?

So now that Paul Johnson is the new head coach at Georgia Tech, let's gauge your excitement level. I have posted a new poll in the left column.

THE EXCITMENT METER?
So is Paul Johnson an "exciting" hire? Is he going to "energize the fanbase"? Did Dan Radakovich accomplish the goals he layed out on the day that Chan Gailey was given his walking papers?

For me, getting "energized" is as much the responsibility of the fans as it is administration. At the end of the day, we just hired a guy who has won everywhere he has gone and a guy who consistently beat superior teams with inferior talent. We hired a guy who is a proven head coach, not just an assistant. We hired a guy with experience but enough youth to still have that fire in the belly. We hired a guy with a chip on his shoulder. That's a lot to get excited about.

Is he going to sell tickets? Are GT Fund donations going to increase? Who the heck knows. However, we probably just won over a whole slew of Georgia Southern followers. Why? - first, PJ is beloved by Eagle faithful, and #2, we hired their ex-coach, not their current one - which would have probably alienated them. More important that all that, we got a guy who is a proven winner, and winning takes care of a lot of that other stuff.............. well.......... as long as it's more han 7 wins a year :-)

I've said it more than once - a witty, media friendly guy with snappy quotes who wins is Steve Spurrier. A witty, media friendly guy with snappy quotes who loses is Chuck Amato. In the end D-Rad went for substance over style and I think it was the right choice.

But you know what - if you watched the press conference, you saw plenty of substance. For a guy who probably hasn't slept much this week and has been on a whirlwind tour through Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and MD - and around and around again - a guy who in the same day had to face his current team and tell them he was leaving - then turn around and have a press conference in ATL to show us his excitement - well, wow, I think he showed plenty of wit and style.

Here are some reasons you should be excited:
- He wins........ everywhere
- He is an offensive guru
- He has a system that wins beats teams with better talent.
- He has deep ties and a coaching history in the state of Georgia
- By all accounts, he is a good man and a good person
- He has a chip on his shoulder
- He is well respected in all coaching circles
- He's not Chan Gailey (threw that in for the haters out there)

Having said all this - there are no guarantees in this world. None of us know how this will play out, so we're just going to have to wait and see. In the meantime, it is a clear opportunity for Jacket nation to get back together again and rally behind the new guy.

If you were disappointed we fired Chan Gailey, it's clear we got another high character guy to support and he wins everywhere he goes. There's probably a part of you that feels guilty to be excited about this because of what happened to Coach Gailey. Honestly, Coach Gailey is the type guy that would want fans to unite, even if he couldn't do it himself. By the way, did you know that the day after he was fired, Coach Gailey heard about one of the recruits who was waivering on their commitment, so he took it upon himself to call that kid and remind him that he was commiting to Georgia Tech and not a coaching staff. Come on - Coach Gailey is class personified, he loves the school and he would want his supporters to be happy here. He's a Tech man!

On the flip side, if you were happy we fired Gailey, well, now there's a new guy to get revved up about. He's not Coach Gailey so brighten up - change is in the air. If you can't get with PJ, then maybe you it's time to check the expiration date on your anti-depressents. You asked for change. You got change. Roll with it. Embrace it. Love it.