By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

It seems like nowadays, coaches in general, are relieved of their duties for various reasons- not winning enough games; thinking the university or franchise can find someone better; arguing that Creed is the greatest rock band of all time- you know, the normal.

So, it’s nice to see a program like Georgia Tech reward head coach Paul Johnson with a contract extension, when he could just as easily have been fired for two of the reasons I just mentioned. (I admit I am unfamiliar with Johnson’s stance on Creed)

On the surface, when most athletic directors don’t care about anything a coach has accomplished outside of the past 3 years, it’s a little perplexing to hear of a director actually extending the contract of a coach whose record over the past three seasons has been 17-19.

In this particular case, I applaud Tech’s athletic director, Todd Stansbury, with looking past just the last three years when making this decision.

For one, while Johnson’s teams have struggled in 2 of the past 3 seasons- his 2 worst seasons he’s had at Georgia Tech- overall, he has been very successful.

Since arriving in Atlanta in 2008, the Yellow Jackets have finished either 1st or 2nd in the Coastal Division six times. Yes, those happened during the first seven years, but combine that with Johnson’s history before arriving at Tech and it’s clear the ‘15 and ‘17 seasons were the aberrations.

With the exception of those two seasons- those teams only won 3 and 5 games, respectively- Johnson has also led Georgia Tech to a Bowl game every other year, including the Orange Bowl, twice.

I realize if you’re a fan of a team like Georgia or Florida State, you would have a different view of that “success”, but at Georgia Tech that should be acceptable.

I don’t mean that as an insult to Yellow Jacket fans, but as long as your team is competing for divisional titles, with the occasional shot at a playoff appearance, you should feel good about where your program is at.

I also like the extension for financial reasons. I don’t know what his salary will be for those extra two years, but Johnson is scheduled to make a little over $3 million in 2020 and I can’t imagine it would be much higher than that.

That’s not chump change by any stretch but there are plenty of coaches making at least that if not more, many within the ACC alone who don’t have nearly the accolades Johnson has. So far, Tech has gotten a pretty good return on their investment.

Plus, and I realize this only really matters when teams are winning, it seems like Johnson runs a fairly clean program. Very rarely do you hear of his players getting into trouble. And even the one time I do remember (Demaryius Thomas receiving impermissible benefits totaling $312) it was more of a bad look on the NCAA than it was GT.

Again, I know this type of integrity isn’t important with all coaches (hey Hugh Freeze, what have you been up to?), but it does seem like it legitimately matters to Johnson and the university.

This could all change if the Yellow Jackets stumble to a 4-8 record this upcoming season. But for now, it’s nice to see a coach be rewarded for his entire tenure and not just the last few years, regardless of what his musical tastes may or may not be.