Next Victim?

According to the AJC, Georgia Tech and Paul Johnson have agreed to a deal in principal:

By Tony Barnhart

Navy coach Paul Johnson has an agreement in principle to become the next head football coach at Georgia Tech, three people close the hiring process told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday morning.

But as has been the case during this crazy season, it is not a done deal until Johnson signs the contract.

Johnson, 50, was scheduled to meet later in the day with his team at Navy, where he is scheduled to take the Midshipmen to the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20.

Several coaches, including Wake Forest's Jim Grobe (Arkansas), have seriously discussed other jobs only to change their minds at the last minute.

But this much is clear, according to one person who talked to the AJC, Johnson will either stay at Navy or he will become the next coach at Georgia Tech, replacing Chan Gailey.

If Johnson signs with Georgia Tech later today, the next question will be about the future of Jon Tenuta, the Yellow Jackets' defensive coordinator. Tenuta has been serving as interim head coach since Gailey's firing on Nov. 26 and is preparing the team for the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 31 against Fresno State.

Contacted Friday morning, Tenuta would not speculate whether he will remain as Georgia Tech's defensive coordinator under Johnson.

"My job is to manage the football program and get our team ready to play Fresno State," Tenuta said. "I look forward to that because our players deserve every chance to succeed. I have made that commitment to them."

Johnson, who is 107-39 in 11 seasons as a head coach, won a pair of national championships at Georgia Southern in 1999 and 2000. He took over a Navy program that was 1-10 in 2001. He has won five straight Commander in Chief Trophies, which goes to the top school among the service academies. He is 11-1 in six seasons against Army and Air Force.

Johnson's decision to come to Georgia Tech will send a ripple throughout the coaching carousel. Johnson entertained strong offers from SMU and Duke, which are still looking for coaches today.

Johnson was named Navy's 36th head coach on Dec. 9, 2001. The program had been 1-20 in the previous two seasons and Johnson was 2-10 in his first season in Annapolis. But over the past five seasons he is 43-19.

Johnson has been successful at Georgia Southern and Navy by running a version of the triple option offense. But over the years he has made it clear that if he landed a job at a BCS school, his offense would be more diversified. He spent eight seasons as the offensive coordinator at Hawaii (1987-94) before going to Navy as offensive coordinator (1995-96).

Johnson then took over at Georgia Southern where he was 62-10 with two Division I-AA national championships. He was on Erk Russell's original staff at Georgia Southern when the program was started in the early 1980s.

A native of Newland, N.C., Johnson has an undergraduate degree from Western Carolina and a Master's Degree from Appalachian State. He and his wife, Susan, have a daughter, Kaitlyn (14).