Georgia Tech’s football staff took a large hit late last week when B-Backs and quarterbacks coach Bryan Cook took the job of offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern, officially reinstating Paul Johnson’s option system in Statesboro -- at least to some degree, given that Cook may run his offense in the shotgun. It’s a big loss for Paul Johnson’s program, which will now be without the architect behind a long line of very successful option quarterbacks and one of the better recruiters on payroll. Of course, it was an excellent move for Cook himself, who got an opportunity at upward mobility that few other assistants over Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech tenure have received. He very well could be a head coaching candidate at some point down the road, and this was a logical first step in that process.
As for a replacement, Kelly Quinlan has speculated that it could be either Craig Candeto, who played quarterback for Paul Johnson at Navy, or Tevin Washington, who played quarterback here at Tech very successfully just a few seasons ago.
Bryan Cook will coach through the bowl game and I expect Paul Johnson to look at GT A-Ops Craig Candeto as QB coach or GA Tevin Washington.
— Kelly Quinlan (@Kelly_Quinlan) December 9, 2016
Both would be very solid choices, and Quinlan seemed to indicate that a decision has already been made in a later tweet. We won’t know what that decision actually is until after the bowl game most likely, but speculation is just as reliable. Just ask LSU head football coach Tom Herman or USF coach Lane Kiffin if you need confirmation on that. OH WAIT..
Cook is a great coach, but they have someone very talented ready to take his spot who played and coach for PJ. https://t.co/3jQtKpHvqS
— Kelly Quinlan (@Kelly_Quinlan) December 10, 2016
If I had to guess, I’d say Candeto will be the next man up. Though Washington seems very deserving of the job as well, Candeto is currently the Assistant Director of Football Operations — a role that Washington could be elevated to from his current job as a Graduate Assistant — and already has previous head coaching experience, albeit at a lower level. The B-Backs/quarterbacks coaching job is one of the most integral on the whole staff, and I’m more inclined to believe that Johnson will go with experience over a relatively unproven commodity in Tevin Washington. Of course, Washington could be reading this and laughing just moments after signing a new contract. We’ll see soon enough.
For the first time since 2001, the Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen in the annual Army-Navy game. It was a battle of two long-time Paul Johnson assistants in Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo and Army’s Jeff Monken, but it was the former Georgia Southern coach who outlasted his opposition by a final score of 21-17. The two teams threw for a combined 124 yards on 8 total completions while running for 428 on the day, just as God intended. By the way, Georgia Tech’s plant-abusing thugs could learn a thing or two from the way the Corps of Cadets stopped storming the field in order to properly respect Navy’s alma mater. Next time Tech wins in Athens, I fully expect the team to stand respectfully at attention and look up at the Sanford Stadium video board until it is turned off. It will be a very brief gesture, but a respectful one nonetheless.
That's respect. Mid-field storm, the Corps of Cadets stops to sing the Navy alma mater. pic.twitter.com/8tTVjwMlCo
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 10, 2016
What a game it was in Baltimore.
It was not necessarily the best football, but the spirit was incredible.