Ga. Tech’s Paul Johnson wins ACC coach of the year
By KEN SUGIURA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Paul Johnson’s first 365 days at Georgia Tech are ending rather well.

Tuesday, five days before the anniversary of his hiring, Johnson was named the ACC coach of the year by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Johnson was a runaway winner, earning 46 of a possible 67 votes. Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski was second with 12 votes.

Paul Johnson’s first year on the Flats keeps getting better and better. On Tuesday, he was named ACC Coach of the Year.

“It was a great group of assistant coaches and a group of players and there’s a lot of outstanding coaches in the ACC,” Johnson said. “So it’s humbling to win the award.”

Hired from Navy to replace Chan Gailey, Johnson is the fourth coach in school history to win the honor. Bill Curry (1985), Bobby Ross (1990) and George O’Leary (1998 and 2000) preceded him. He’ll also be a candidate for national coach of the year honors.

The Jackets were picked to finish fourth in the division and predicted to finish 3-9 by Sports Illustrated. An inexperienced roster and a radically different offense were among the reasons for the low expectations.

But Johnson has led the Jackets to a 9-3 record, a share of the ACC Coastal Division title and the No. 15 spot in the BCS rankings. Perhaps most notably for Tech fans, the Jackets ended a seven-year losing streak to Georgia this past Saturday. They’ll learn by Sunday which bowl they’ll attend.

Tech did this with 16 freshmen and sophomores in the starting 22 at the end of the season.

Among them was A-back Roddy Jones.

“Everyone he meets, he instills confidence in them through his confidence,” Jones said. “You can see why he’s been a winner everywhere he’s been.”

N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson was named the ACC’s rookie of the year on Wednesday. The freshmen led the Wolfpack to four consecutive wins to end the season. He received 62 of 67 votes.

Wilson passed for 1,769 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for four more scores. He beat Virginia Tech tailback Darren Evans and Miami linebacker Sean Spence for the award.