Is Paul Johnson Our Guy Now?

The momentum seems to be building for Paul Johnson. Not the momentum of overwhelming excitement by internet posters, but momentum that he looks more and more like our next head coach.

Local radio is saying they have multiple "sources" that Paul Johnson seems to be a done deal. Of course I wouldn't count my chickens at this point. Just wait it out.

In the meantime, it is interesting to note that many of these candidates have ties to one another. For example Will Muschamp was Chris Hatcher's DC in 2000. Giff Smith played at GaSouthern at the same time Paul Johnson was the OC for Irk Russell, which could bode well for keeping Giff if PJ is our guy.

Now, it seems that the best source for Paul Johnson updates is this blogger. Evidently he is now at SMU and was at Duke yesterday.

Here's another interesting point - we are competing with SMU and Duke for Johnson's services, and evidently we have the least amount of money to offer. Duke's AD has made it clear that they are willing to break the $2MM barrier if necessary to get the right guy. SMU has raised over $10MM from alumni towards a new coach fund and would likely start in the $1.8M range. Tech's offer is likely to be in the range of $1.2M - $1.8M. However, Duke is a possible graveyard for coaches and SMU is a rebuilding job to put it mildly.

In another interesting twist of fate, do you know who SMU's new AD is? Steve Orsini, the same guy who hired George O'Leary at UCF and the same guy that was assistant AD at GT for awhile. Small world folks.

Lastly, there is a HUGE amount of concern being "voiced" about Paul Johnson's offense. I think it is clear that he is going to have to clarify his intentions if he is the guy. I'll have more on that later.

One last thing - www.firepauljohnson.com is already taken, so don't bother.