Coaches differ in image and style, not ideas

MACON, Ga. --- On the surface, the two most prominent coaching figures in the state of Georgia could not seem more different.

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Associated Press

Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson brought the spark back into the rivalry with Georgia by beating the Bulldogs 45-42.

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Associated Press

Georgia coach Mark Richt is enjoying a "quiet summer," a year after the Bulldogs were the preseason No. 1 pick.

Paul Johnson -- Georgia Tech's second-year football coach -- showed up Tuesday at the Peach State Pigskin Preview wearing a logo golf shirt. He brought with him zero players and only one athletics department official. He handled foolish and repetitive questions with about as much patience as he has for a missed assignment by one of his linemen.

Mark Richt -- in his ninth year at the Georgia helm -- arrived at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in a tailored gray suit. He was accompanied by two players and enough sports information personnel to fill out a full roster in case a pick-up game broke out. He gave every inquiry, no matter how ignorant, the same thoughtful and measured response as a politician glad-handing a voter.

Yet behind the threads and the entourage and the personalities, Johnson and Richt are a lot alike. When it comes to most subjects, the coaches from rival schools are pretty much on the same page.

Neither one of them cares a lick for Atlanta's kickoff classic bringing rival conference schools into their recruiting backyards for a promotional spin.

Neither one of them really likes being one of only three BCS conference teams that plays three non-conference games against other BCS programs.

Neither one of them cares a great deal for the preseason hype like last year's, which had the Bulldogs preseason No. 1 and the Yellow Jackets vying for the Atlantic Coast Conference cellar.

Neither one of them would be caught dead arguing that either program has a leg up on the other.

That said, for the first time in a long time, the head coaches at Georgia Tech and Georgia seem to be on equal footing. Johnson's team dispelled a lot of mythology about the perceived dwindling rivalry by running roughshod over the Bulldogs' defense in a 45-42 victory last season.

Mission accomplished?

"For a lot of the fans and alumni it was a big deal because they hadn't beaten them in a while," said Johnson of the one thing he was able to do that no other Georgia Tech coach had done against Richt in seven previous tries. "For some people it's bigger than others. For some people beating Florida State was just as big a deal as that."

For Richt, it didn't change the dialogue at all as he crosses the state speaking to Bulldog boosters during the summer.

"It's the same as every year," he said. "When I'm up north they want Tennessee and Georgia Tech. When I'm over there (west) they want Auburn and Georgia Tech. When I'm down south they want Florida and Georgia Tech. And when I'm on the other side they want South Carolina and Georgia Tech. Those have been the same since I got to Georgia."

The state's two Division I-A powers are getting set for a new season with similar goals and challenges. Both are chasing the established champions from their respective conferences (Virginia Tech and Florida) in rugged divisions. Both are reasonable contenders.

Richt isn't complaining that the defending national champion Gators are getting all the pub this time.

"I like a quiet summer," he said.

The more down-to-earth projections suit Richt just fine.

"I don't think any Southeastern Conference team's fan base expects their team to win every year," he said. "I think they have a pretty realistic idea of what this league is about. Last year's preseason No. 1 got everybody thinking, 'Hey, this is it.' When you have a Stafford and Moreno people tend to want to judge the entire team on two guys."

Without the superstars, the Bulldogs will likely prove just as much of a threat as they always have under Richt.

Down the road, Johnson isn't convinced that he shut up the critics of his option-oriented offense with a 9-4 inaugural campaign and tie for first in his ACC division. As he says, "we threw some clunkers in there" which served as food for his detractors.

"I don't think it will ever shut them up," he said. "It's almost childish. We'll play a poor game like our bowl game against LSU. 'Well, that's the game plan. It's over now. LSU showed everybody how to beat us.' It's like there's some magic wand you wave and that's the way you make it go away. I mean, it's idiotic. I think people always look for ways to dismiss anything that's not the status quo."

The Yellow Jackets -- more mature and fully versed in Johnson's system -- will not be so easily dismissed in 2009. They are part of the conversation, as every Georgia fan now understands.

These two different sides of the same football coin are good for football in the Peach State. And maybe one day soon they'll agree to solve their mutual kickoff classic dilemma by meeting in a neutral season opener instead of the traditional post-conference season finale.

"Whose home game is it going to be?" Johnson asked. "You can probably make an argument for both options."

Not surprisingly, Richt feels the same way.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.