Credulous Coaching Confabulations: Georgia Tech Style

The Situation: Well, one mediocre job in a season with a team expected to compete for a conference title will get you fired these days. Georgia Tech was always a beacon of stability, one of 7-5 and 8-4 records, anyway. It's not exactly that he's been a poor coach, but the administration obviously feels that he has underachieved during his tenure at Georgia Tech.

The Reasons for "Resigning"/Firing: From his first season in 2002, Gailey was on the hot seat. He just got fired for not winning a playoff game with the Dallas Cowboys. This guy was the head coach for "America's Team" so, let's just say he's dealt with pressure. The problem was his ability to win the biggest games, something his predecessor, George O'Leary, was able to do. Never being able to beat Georgia or win a conference championship is pretty damning as a Yellow Jacket head coach.


The Prime Candidate: Paul Johnson

As rumors currently swirl around the Internet, it appears that Johnson is the frontrunner in this campaign. He's got the smarts as a head coach and, don't be fooled by the talking heads, the option can still work nowadays. Just ask Boston College from their 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl experience and think of a team running that with better athletes. Ask Wake Forest or Pitt too because this Midshipmen option attack played out just fine. Apparently, he's being interviewed for a second time which means the guy is a serious player.

Even so, the offense that he does run will raise a few eyebrows and bring up some skepticism. And, another thing about Johnson, his name was thrown around for the NC State job last year and we always hear his name with coaching rumors. It never gets old.

Every year, we wonder if it's his last at Navy. Could this be the year?


The Dark Horses: Jon Tenuta & Rick Neuheisel

Tenuta's name was thrown around for the defensive coordinator job at Michigan before Kirk Herbstreit's report was updated (I don't think he was wrong, LSU just came back with a better deal, moving on....).

Tenuta has the defensive smarts that will take a team places in a conference like the ACC. In this conference, defense is the way to go. We all agree on one thing: The guy knows how to coach defense. The Yellow Jackets have consistently had a very good defensive team under Tenuta.






Yet another Neuheisel rumor. His name is popping up all over the place including Penn State (whenever it is that Joe Pa retires) and UCLA. Georgia Tech is the same thing.

As I've already said in the Ole Miss edition, Neuheisel has put his "scandal" behind him (and won his lawsuit, clearing him of any wrongdoing) and is currently working as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. I say, why not? The guy is one of the better coaches as evidenced by the struggles of Gilbertson and Ty Willingham (although I'd be the first to grant Ty more time after getting shafted by Notre Dame).


The Best Candidate: George O'Leary

Even though O'Leary mentioned that he's staying put at UCF, it's okay to dream, isn't it? Personally, I feel Johnson could be the best candidate out of all these four (as a fan anyway, I want to see the option revived in college football at a major level). Even so, let's take a look at O'Leary.

He's rarely been mentioned as a head coach for this job due to his steadfastness (is that word?) about remaining at UCF. The guy has it made in Orlando.

But this guy was at the prime of his coaching career in Atlanta and it would be fun to see him go back. He won an ACC title making something out of a piece of crap that Bill Lewis left over.