Paul Johnson has given us Brand Identity

LLTW

LLTW

Flats Noob
Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Messages
693
Reading all the preseason stuff, I've come to the realization that the 2nd best gift PJ has given us is our own brand of football. When you think of USC, you think of the premier superpower. When you think of Texas and Oklahoma, you think of Heisman QBs. When you think about Florida, you think of speed. When you think of UGA, you think about prison.

When people think of GT, they think about our dynamic and unique offense. Everyone recognizes us instantly by this, and it so crucial to recruiting and building a consistently winning program. Under Gailey, and even O'Leary, what recognition did we really have in the national media? When GT highlights would come up on ESPN, there wasn't anything to focus on... except for Lil Joe when he was here. Guys, this is something awesome that I'm really seeing for the first time as a GT fan. If we hired another coach, maybe we would win just as many games, but we wouldn't be so recognizable.

BTW, you might be wondering what PJ's best gift to Tech was... 45-42. To Hell With Georgia... every day and in every way.
​
 
This is something Georgia Southern fans really miss, we thought we would get it back with the spread Air Raid but we didnt. :(
 
I totally agree. We are the torch bearer of the option offense, much like Nebraska was during the 90's and early 2000's.
 
LLTW said:
Reading all the preseason stuff, I've come to the realization that the 2nd best gift PJ has given us is our own brand of football. When you think of USC, you think of the premier superpower. When you think of Texas and Oklahoma, you think of Heisman QBs. When you think about Florida, you think of speed. When you think of UGA, you think about prison.​


When people think of GT, they think about our dynamic and unique offense. Everyone recognizes us instantly by this, and it so crucial to recruiting and building a consistently winning program. Under Gailey, and even O'Leary, what recognition did we really have in the national media? When GT highlights would come up on ESPN, there wasn't anything to focus on... except for Lil Joe when he was here. Guys, this is something awesome that I'm really seeing for the first time as a GT fan. If we hired another coach, maybe we would win just as many games, but we wouldn't be so recognizable.​

BTW, you might be wondering what PJ's best gift to Tech was... 45-42. To Hell With Georgia... every day and in every way.​
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Furman Bisher backs you up!
http://blogs.ajc.com/furman-bisher-blog/2009/08/22/paul-johnsons-message-is-clear/
Paul Johnson’s message is clear
4:09 pm August 22, 2009, by Furman Bisher
 
Maybe some of ya'll who were around during Bobby Dodd's time can tell us youngins if this feeling was around the program during that era. How were we perceived by outsiders, and what was our trademark? I'd love to know this kind of stuff.
 
LLTW said:
Maybe some of ya'll who were around during Bobby Dodd's time can tell us youngins if this feeling was around the program during that era. How were we perceived by outsiders, and what was our trademark? I'd love to know this kind of stuff.
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Bobby Dodd himself was a trademark in those days. His honorable and sportsmanlike approach to the game was the Tech way.
 
As a child growing up the son of a high school coach in Atlanta, I would describe the perception of Tech under Dodd this way with ten observations:
1. Classy - smart student athletes, Dodd a perfect gentleman, athletes with character on and off the field.
2. Successful - not the best program in the south except for the run in the fifties, but always one of the best, most respected programs around
3. Great tradition - the fight song, the Wreck, the Varsity, Grant Field, the west stands crowd with its coats and ties and women wearing corsages, the loud cheering predominantly male student body - Tech football was a major event with their 2 PM kickoffs on Saturdays
4. Old fashioned - conservative, strong defense, great kicking game, use the quick kick, play field position. Often small on defense, but very quick and smart.
5. Offensively - an I formation with an emphasis on ball handling, options, belly series. Known for good QB's. Enough innovation to surprise sometimes on offense.
6. Arrogant - rivals hated Tech and even Dodd's arrogance. We wouldn't play certain people at their home fields, Tech fans had an air of superiority (wonder where that came from?), big city school looked down at many of its SEC brethren from more rural and small town settings.
7. Lucky - well chronicled that many perceived Dodd as lucky and many believed referees favored Georgia Tech, much as current ACC fans feel the bias leans towards UNC.
8. Signed too many players - before the 70's limited scholarships greatly, Dodd stockpiled players, knowing the academic attrition alone called for more athletes in the program. Some high school coaches felt like Dodd took too many Atlanta area athletes that never saw playing time at Tech that could have played somewhere else. The SEC cutback on scholarships was a key factor in our decision to leave. Many other schools did the same thing for as long as they could - Bama, Nebraska, etc.
9. Media darlings - yes, Georgia Tech of the 50's and 60's with Head Coach Bobby Dodd were the media darlings of the SEC, particularly with the Journal and the Constitution.
10. The place kids wanted to play - even with an Auburn grad as a father and a love for the Tigers, what kid in Atlanta didn't want to play for Bobby Dodd on Grant Field dressed out in white and gold?

All in all - it was good to be the King back then!
 
77GTFan said:
As a child growing up the son of a high school coach in Atlanta, I would describe the perception of Tech under Dodd this way with ten observations:
1. Classy - smart student athletes, Dodd a perfect gentleman, athletes with character on and off the field.
2. Successful - not the best program in the south except for the run in the fifties, but always one of the best, most respected programs around
3. Great tradition - the fight song, the Wreck, the Varsity, Grant Field, the west stands crowd with its coats and ties and women wearing corsages, the loud cheering predominantly male student body - Tech football was a major event with their 2 PM kickoffs on Saturdays
4. Old fashioned - conservative, strong defense, great kicking game, use the quick kick, play field position. Often small on defense, but very quick and smart.
5. Offensively - an I formation with an emphasis on ball handling, options, belly series. Known for good QB's. Enough innovation to surprise sometimes on offense.
6. Arrogant - rivals hated Tech and even Dodd's arrogance. We wouldn't play certain people at their home fields, Tech fans had an air of superiority (wonder where that came from?), big city school looked down at many of its SEC brethren from more rural and small town settings.
7. Lucky - well chronicled that many perceived Dodd as lucky and many believed referees favored Georgia Tech, much as current ACC fans feel the bias leans towards UNC.
8. Signed too many players - before the 70's limited scholarships greatly, Dodd stockpiled players, knowing the academic attrition alone called for more athletes in the program. Some high school coaches felt like Dodd took too many Atlanta area athletes that never saw playing time at Tech that could have played somewhere else. The SEC cutback on scholarships was a key factor in our decision to leave. Many other schools did the same thing for as long as they could - Bama, Nebraska, etc.
9. Media darlings - yes, Georgia Tech of the 50's and 60's with Head Coach Bobby Dodd were the media darlings of the SEC, particularly with the Journal and the Constitution.
10. The place kids wanted to play - even with an Auburn grad as a father and a love for the Tigers, what kid in Atlanta didn't want to play for Bobby Dodd on Grant Field dressed out in white and gold?

All in all - it was good to be the King back then!
Click to expand...

Nice post. I enjoyed reading it.
 
77GTFan said:
As a child growing up the son of a high school coach in Atlanta, I would describe the perception of Tech under Dodd this way with ten observations:
1. Classy - smart student athletes, Dodd a perfect gentleman, athletes with character on and off the field.
2. Successful - not the best program in the south except for the run in the fifties, but always one of the best, most respected programs around
3. Great tradition - the fight song, the Wreck, the Varsity, Grant Field, the west stands crowd with its coats and ties and women wearing corsages, the loud cheering predominantly male student body - Tech football was a major event with their 2 PM kickoffs on Saturdays
4. Old fashioned - conservative, strong defense, great kicking game, use the quick kick, play field position. Often small on defense, but very quick and smart.
5. Offensively - an I formation with an emphasis on ball handling, options, belly series. Known for good QB's. Enough innovation to surprise sometimes on offense.
6. Arrogant - rivals hated Tech and even Dodd's arrogance. We wouldn't play certain people at their home fields, Tech fans had an air of superiority (wonder where that came from?), big city school looked down at many of its SEC brethren from more rural and small town settings.
7. Lucky - well chronicled that many perceived Dodd as lucky and many believed referees favored Georgia Tech, much as current ACC fans feel the bias leans towards UNC.
8. Signed too many players - before the 70's limited scholarships greatly, Dodd stockpiled players, knowing the academic attrition alone called for more athletes in the program. Some high school coaches felt like Dodd took too many Atlanta area athletes that never saw playing time at Tech that could have played somewhere else. The SEC cutback on scholarships was a key factor in our decision to leave. Many other schools did the same thing for as long as they could - Bama, Nebraska, etc.
9. Media darlings - yes, Georgia Tech of the 50's and 60's with Head Coach Bobby Dodd were the media darlings of the SEC, particularly with the Journal and the Constitution.
10. The place kids wanted to play - even with an Auburn grad as a father and a love for the Tigers, what kid in Atlanta didn't want to play for Bobby Dodd on Grant Field dressed out in white and gold?

All in all - it was good to be the King back then!
Click to expand...


Thats neat! Thanks for that!
 
Nice post 77GT. This is pretty much the same way my dad, who grew up in Atlanta and went to O'Keefe, has always described his days of growing up a GT fan in the 50's/60's --particularly 1,3,4 & 9.
 
Wow, thanks for all that information, 77. Found out a lot of stuff I didn't know. Had no idea that we were that hated. That's awesome...
 
LLTW said:
Wow, thanks for all that information, 77. Found out a lot of stuff I didn't know. Had no idea that we were that hated. That's awesome...
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Grew up in a Duke household, and my Dad, Duke '52, absolutely hated Bobby Dodd and Tech. We even had season tickets for a while and he rooted for whoever Tech was playing that day. He thought that every win was luck, or Dodd having influence with the refs. To this day, if you mention Dodd he'll make some comment about how lucky he was. I've given up trying to tell him that if you're always lucky, it ain't luck.
 
That's kind of how I feel about Virginia Tech and luck. Consistently grinding out the tough games says alot about Beamer and Bud Foster.
 
That's how I feel about LSU and luck. I watched almost all their games growing up in NOLA. I don't think I have ever seen a team win games at the last second more than LSU. Or a team get favorable calls each and every game.
 
LLTW said:
Maybe some of ya'll who were around during Bobby Dodd's time can tell us youngins if this feeling was around the program during that era. How were we perceived by outsiders, and what was our trademark? I'd love to know this kind of stuff.
Click to expand...
As I recall, from the deep mists of time, Tech was perceived as being arrogant. Dodd was an excellent recruiter and was very good at game management. No less authority than Bear Bryant thought Dodd was the best game day coach in college football. His teams were disciplined and played smart football. At the time, the state of Georgia did not produce very many elite football players but Dodd had innumerable contacts all over the South and was forever stealing players seemingly right out from under the nose of home state coaches. For instance, George and Larry Morris were from Missisippi, Leon Hardeman was from Tennessee, Lenny Snow was from Florida. Well, you get the idea. He was also an excellent bowl coach.
 
He was also famous for relaxed bowl preparation and it irritated the hell out of the Bryant types, especially given Dodd's great bowl success.
 
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