Gary Lambrecht, The Examiner
2007-12-10 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Nearly a year ago, I remember watching the University of Florida quickly turn the Bowl Championship Series title game into a joke against Ohio State, as the Gators ran and passed at will, overwhelming the Buckeyes with a spread option offense loaded with world-class speed.

And I remember thinking, why couldn’t Navy coach Paul Johnson win a game of this magnitude with players this talented?

Finally, after a six-year run during which he coaxed more out of less than any football coach in America, Johnson has a chance to prove he’s more than just a triple-option believer who can torment Army and Air Force and take a team without scholarship players to lower-tier bowl games year after year.

If anybody deserved a shot at some big-time glory, as in taking a realistic stab at a national championship, it’s the 50-year-old Johnson, who has found the ideal partner in Georgia Tech.

Give Georgia Tech credit for making an inspired decision, after reportedly interviewing eight candidates that included former Auburn coach Terry Bowden and Ravens assistant Rick Neuheisel. Give Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich credit for not getting caught up in what the Yellow Jackets’ offense might look like under Johnson, and simply going hard after a winner.

At Navy, Johnson proved he’s got the tools to succeed anywhere, especially at a place with enough resources and commitment to football. With 85 scholarships available to him, and with his ability to match personnel with whatever version of the spread offense suits them, Johnson soon will look like a bargain with his reported seven-year, $11 million contract.

Watching this guy run a program has been a treat. Johnson is a witty, no-nonsense, straight shooter who doesn’t hesitate to criticize players or himself. His organizational, game-planning, teaching and motivational skills were firmly in place the day he took the Navy job six years ago, following a ridiculous, 62-10 run at Division I-AA Georgia-Southern.

As head coach, offensive coordinator and play-caller at Navy, Johnson has always impressed me with the way he adjusts from quarter to quarter, series to series, play to play. So much of the Mids’ success has been predicated on putting the option in the quarterback’s well-schooled hands. But so much has involved Johnson’s ability to adjust and impose his will as an instinctive play caller unafraid to listen to his gut.

My favorite image of Johnson during his 43-19 run over the past five years is him standing on the sideline with arms folded, without a script, sometimes with his headset hanging around his neck, watching the game, reading the game, feeling the game.

In retrospect, the clock probably started ticking on Johnson’s time in Annapolis way back in October 2003, on a chilly day at FedEx Field, early in his second season. The Mids were playing more freshmen than any team in Navy history. That day, a year after getting embarrassed at Air Force during a 2-10 season, they hung around and outlasted the favored, unbeaten, 25th-ranked Falcons by a field goal.

Following the victory, Johnson let his competitive skin show when he told the assembled press, “Last year, [Air Force] said they wanted to send a message. We got it. Back at ‘em.”

That day marked Johnson’s first win over Air Force, some 10 months after he had beaten Army for the first time. Since then, three rival service academy coaches have come and gone, and Johnson went on to hang an 11-1 record on them.

Johnson understandably turned down offers from SMU and Duke and went to a better place in Georgia Tech, which had underachieved consistently under Chan Gailey.

Now, Maryland can no longer hide from Navy, and North Carolina and N.C. State will get a taste of the coach they declined to pursue before hiring Butch Davis and Tom O’Brien last year.

And to those Tech fans concerned about how much the Yellow Jackets will run the ball or how little they will throw it, don’t worry. The Atlantic Coast Conference just got better and a lot more interesting because you have snagged the right guy.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com.