By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Already, Paul Johnson’s retirement leaves a void in the game. He was one-of-a-kind, with an originality that proved true a number of different ways.

In eleven seasons at Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson won 83 games, made the ACC Championship Game three times, won a conference title in 2009, participated in nine bowl games, led the Yellow Jackets, in 2014, to the program’s first Orange Bowl victory since 1951, beat Georgia three times in Athens, won five games against Clemson and three of the last four against Virginia Tech. The only head coaches with more wins on the Flats than Johnson are William Alexander, Bobby Dodd and John Heisman, all members of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Though many doubted the flexbone working in modern Power Five football, Johnson’s Georgia Tech offenses ranked first or second in the country in rushing five times, slotted in the national top 25 in touchdowns scored six times and led the ACC in total offense four times. In 2011, the Yellow Jackets scored on their first play from scrimmage in three consecutive games to open the season. Just 18 teams since the turn of the century have compiled over 765 yards against a P5 defense in a single game; only one offense did it with over 500 yards rushing, Georgia Tech, with 604 against Kansas that fall.

The Yellow Jackets, all combined during the Johnson era, ran for 42,912 yards, over 24 miles miles; longer than the distance from the Brock Football Practice Facility to the original Varsity right off campus to metro Atlanta’s newest stand-alone Varsity in Kennesaw.

Johnson was more than just productive, he was a pioneer.

“Coach Johnson is a college football legend,” shared former A-back Roddy Jones, now a field analyst for ESPN. “He is the originator of an offense, the flexbone option, that has led to hundreds of wins and will always be known as one of the greatest offensive minds of our generation. To play for a guy like that is incredible. It really has been an honor to watch him work up close for years.”

A unique personality from the outside-looking-in, Johnson has always had a special relationship with his players. What some fans or media members may, at times, call surly, many who have suited up for Johnson have call straight-up, an approach countless student-athletes have both appreciated and benefited from. With his team, Johnson is precise on the field and veracious off it. The end result has been a consistent style that has withstood the test of time.

You simply don’t see many head coaches stay at a major program for over a decade and leave on their own terms. In an era of multi-receiver sets, winning the press conference and social media momentum, Johnson thrived going against some of the best competition in the nation — and going against the grain.

Through it all, Johnson was committed to his principles and his players.

“Coach stood out because he was the first to actually tell me that college football was a business. Once he presented it that way, it led me straight to Georgia Tech and the opportunities I had there were just amazing,” former end KeShun Freeman explained. “He supported me every step of the way, any kind of commmunity service opportunity I had, he supported me. Of course the team is going to miss him, Georgia Tech may miss him. It’s going to be a little different, we definitely appreciate all the things he did there.”

Johnson elevated the recent status quo in Atlanta, winning eleven games in only year two, a total the Yellow Jackets had reached or surpassed just three times before. He matched that margin again a half-decade later. Georgia Tech finished in the national top 15 in 2009 and in the top ten in 2014. The Yellow Jackets had previously won seven regular season games 15 times in the 41 years between Dodd’s retirement and Johnson’s introduction; Johnson reached that milestone seven times. In over 50 years prior to his arrival, Georgia Tech had seven nine-win seasons; Johnson had four.

Under Johnson, the Yellow Jackets were an annual contender in the ACC Coastal, finishing first or second in their division in seven of eleven years, a feat only Clemson, in that same span, can top. Georgia Tech, during the Johnson era, was elite in the classroom as well. His career NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 86% is the highest in school history.

As was often the case with his dynamic offense, there was also more to Johnson, the personality, than one might think.

“He is a really funny person. Just talking with him, you will see he is really hilarious. A lot of the stuff he says, he says it sarcastic trying to be humorous; a lot of people overlook that humor because they have their personal opinions. But coach is always trying to make people laugh with his words,” Freeman continued. “I would walk to practice sometimes, he would say some things and I would be kind of confused, but he would give me a wink to show me he was joking. The person you see in the news is totally different then who we know.”

Even before the “Institute”, Johnson already was an institution.

Johnson won at least a share of the Southern Conference title in all of his five years at Georgia Southern, reached double digits in victories each season and advanced to, at worst, the quarterfinals of the playoffs each fall. Johnson, with College Football Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson, the all-time leading rusher in NCAA Division I history, starring, led the Eagles to back-to-back 1-AA national championships in 1999 and 2000. Including his time in the mid 80s as offensive coordinator, Johnson won four national titles in Statesboro.

“He was a great coach who knew how to win,” Peterson detailed. “He always explained his feelings to you. If you are doing well, he would let you know. If not, he would let you know. There was no grey area. I think our guys needed that and it showed, winning two in a row and playing for another. It worked.”

As Johnson did at Georgia Southern, he later made the transition from offensive coordinator to head coach at Navy. In his second year, Johnson took the Midshipmen to their second bowl game since 1981; Navy subsequently made three consecutive bowl games for the first time ever, winning a minimum of eight games and making the postseason each year under Johnson after his debut. The Midshipmen paced the nation in rushing in three of his last four seasons. Johnson, perhaps most importantly, went 6-0 against rival Army and won each contest by 12 points or more.

The impact Johnson mas made on college football must be measured both directly and indirectly. Though his coaching tree notably includes successful leaders like Army’s Jeff Monken, Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo and Brian Bohannon at FCS contender Kennesaw State, Johnson’s schematic principles are implemented at programs all across the country. His innovations continue to be intertwined into gameplans at every level. Johnson’s concepts remain timeless.

This is a coach who has seen and done it all. Johnson has been a revolutionary, has won national championships, has been a leader in the greatest rivalry in sports and has, for over a decade, walked the sidelines of major college football’s oldest stadium. Hawaii to Hotlanta, his legacy stretches far and wide.

Already, Johnson’s retirement leaves a void in the game. He was one-of-a-kind, with an originality that proved true a number of different ways. Johnson took on all challenges with great detail and determination. That approach has resulted in him having historic success — and having it his way.