ATLANTA – Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson announced Wednesday he would step down after the Yellow Jackets’ upcoming bowl game.
On Thursday, he revealed that he had considered such a move long before then.
Now 61, he said he thought about leaving before current athletic director Todd Stansbury was hired in 2016. Johnson said his job had become “drudgery” under former AD Mike Bobinski.
“It’s not like I just thought about it last week,” Johnson said Thursday. “To be honest with you, truthfully, if Todd had not shown up, I was ready to do this before he came. It wasn’t as much fun. It was drudgery.”
When Tech had a slow start this season, Johnson again began thinking about departing.
“We had talks during the year, and I told Todd in the middle of the year it wasn’t much fun,” Johnson said. “Then we talked before the Georgia game and set up a time to talk again. I wanted to make sure I was good with my decision. I didn’t want to do it immediately after a game.”
Tech recovered from a 1-3 start to finish the regular season 7-5 with last week’s 45-21 loss at No. 4 Georgia. The Jackets finished 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, their first winning record in league play since 2014.
Johnson has one more game – most projections have the Jackets playing in the Military Bowl on Dec. 31 in Annapolis, Maryland – but Stansbury said he began updating the “list in your brain” of coaching candidates after the midseason meeting with Johnson.
“You definitely are paying attention to what’s going on,” Stansbury said. ” The fact I’ve been able to watch a lot of games this year, I’ve kept that in the back of my mind as we figured out what Paul decided he was going to do. I think you’re doing that naturally anyway. You never know when something like this may happen.”
Stansbury wouldn’t discuss potential candidates. He also wouldn’t say if he wants to hire a coach who would bring an offense with more passing than Johnson’s ground-heavy flexbone scheme, which featured triple-option plays.
“At the end of the day, I just want to win games,” Stansbury said. “I don’t necessarily worry about schemes. I’m going to leave that up to the coaches. I’m looking for the best coach for Georgia Tech.”
Possible candidates may include Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, a former Tech tight end and a former NFL head coach with the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans; Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott; Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield; and Temple coach Geoff Collins, a former Tech assistant.
If Stansbury considers coaches who would likely retain a similar offense, Army’s Jeff Monken and nearby Kennesaw State’s Brian Bohannon are among possible candidates. Each worked under Johnson at Georgia Southern, Navy and Tech.
Johnson said he’s young enough to consider another job if he decides to return to coaching.
He went 82-59 in 11 seasons at Tech with three appearances in the ACC title game. The Jackets won the 2009 championship, though it was later vacated because of NCAA sanctions. Johnson’s overall record as a head coach is 189-98, with only four losing seasons in 22 years.
“Very rarely do you have coaches that have the opportunity to finish on your own terms,” Stansbury said. “In this case we have a hall of fame coach in Paul Johnson who has been able to do that.”
Johnson told his players of his decision to “take a break” from coaching on Wednesday.
“I think the two hardest things I’ve probably ever done in my life are when I left Navy and then yesterday,” Johnson said. “It’s just tough. It’s emotional.”
Stansbury said players gave Johnson a standing ovation at the end of the meeting.
Johnson said he plans to spend more time with his wife, Susan, and daughter, Kaitlyn, who attended Thursday’s news conference.
He also said he “got contacted immediately with other opportunities” after Wednesday’s announcement. Asked if he might consider a TV analyst job, Johnson acknowledged he joked with his staff about that possibility.
“I could do that and take a shot at everybody,” he said with a smile before adding, “I don’t know what the future holds.”