Technical Tidbits 11/20

Georgia Tech's very own Paul Johnson has been named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Coach of the Year award, which is handed out annually to the best coach in the nation. If you look at the list of semifinalists, Johnson is right up there with some big names -- Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Art Briles are all among those in the running. Of the coaches on that list, there are very few who have done a better job given the varying restrictions that they face in their respective programs than Paul Johnson. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if CPJ made it to the final rounds given how much he has done for Georgia Tech, which was projected to finish fifth in the Coastal this preseason. I personally feel that the award should be won by either Hugh Freeze, Doc Holliday, David Cutcliffe, Dan Mullen, Johnson, or Kyle Whittingham, but Mark Richt is really the only way the committee could go wrong.

A-Back Broderick Snoddy, who broke his leg on a freak play during Tech's win over Clemson, is expected to make a full recovery according to coach Paul Johnson. That is great news for Snoddy and the whole team; his presence on the sideline against uga will certainly go a long way in boosting the energy of the team. It is truly a relief to hear that Snoddy is expected to make a speedy recovery considering that his break was a gruesome compound fracture, right up there on the level of the injuries sustained by Kevin Ware, Paul George, and Anderson Silva.

The odds for various teams to make the new CFP Playoffs are ever-changing, and this week is no exception. The fact that some people want to leave the defending champions out of the picture despite them having the potential of going 13-0 is just flat out stupid. I mean, the only ammo they have against Florida State is that pesky SOS, which isn't even that terrible. The other thing everyone is calling out FSU for is their margin of victory, which has gone down since last season. I hate when people use margin of victory as a means of defining someone's season, to be honest. The reason for that is that media outlets know how to make margin of victory into either a weapon or a cushion for teams. Let's turn to the NFL for an example.

The 2012 Falcons won game after game on last-second drives and late field goals, finishing the season at 13-3. You'd think that this would get the Dirty Birds some credit, but what it actually did was provide ESPN and company with grounds to call them "lucky" or "barely good enough to win" or "not legitimate contenders". They called out the Falcons for not winning by more. Now, let's flash forward to 2013. The Chiefs are making a crazy run to the playoffs, and they are winning games in the same way the Falcons had a year before. The narrative completely changed, however, when media outlets started talking about how the Chiefs "were mentally tough and played well in clutch situations, which was why they were so good". They even said that winning close games was a part of being successful (for the Chiefs), yet knocked the Falcons for it. The Falcons were a play away from the Super Bowl that year while the Chiefs made an early playoff exit. So PLEASE don't talk to me about margin of victory. It can be put into two different perspectives and is a terrible measuring stick for how good a team is.

UNC quarterback Marquise Williams has that Carolina offense rolling, and he better keep it that way when they play the Blue Devils tonight. This has been your daily reminder to watch the UNC - Duke game tonight on national television. All of our lives depend on it.

Who deserves the Coach of the Year Award? Do you agree with me about using margin of victory as a metric for how good a team is?

Have a great Thursday and GO HEELS!