Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson Calls ACC Schedule ‘Ridiculous’


The 2017 ACC football schedule was released on Tuesday, and Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson believes his team is at a distinct disadvantage.


Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson is not one to beat around the bush.

When the ACC released its 2017 football schedule on Tuesday, the Yellow Jackets head coach minced no words to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, telling the newspaper that his program is at a disadvantage because it will face three league opponents—more than any other ACC team—who come off an open date.

“The conference tries to screw us every way [it] can,” Johnson said.

Oh boy!

This isn’t the first time that Johnson has expressed himself in regard to the Yellow Jackets’ perceived unfair slate. In 2016, three ACC foes played GT after their open dates, which was also the most in the league. Between 2013 and 2017, 10 league opponents have had open dates before playing the Jackets, which is tied with Florida State for the conference lead.

Looking ahead to 2017, Clemson and Wake Forest will have open dates before playing GT. The Yellow Jackets will play Miami on Thursday, Oct. 12, when both teams will have been off the previous Saturday. Johnson believes that ACC foes are requesting to have their open dates before playing his team and that the league has followed up on the requests.

“It has to be it,” Johnson said. “It happens every year. It has to be intentional. There’s no other explanation for it.”

Last fall, an ACC spokesperson said teams can make requests related to dates, such as asking for an open week or away game during the school’s fall break, but that policy does not allow for teams to make a request to play a specific team after its open date.

It’s understandable that Johnson is not exactly ecstatic about another schedule that may seem to put GT at a disadvantage, but it’s important to understand that Virginia Tech and Wake Forest played three games against teams coming off of open dates in 2015, and Florida State had to play four such opponents in 2014. In 2013, Clemson, Duke and Florida State played three such games.

Johnson was also salty that Duke plays Army, which offensively runs a similar scheme as GT, the Saturday before the Blue Devils face the Yellow Jackets. Duke’s open date falls before the Army game, giving the Blue Devils even more time to prep for GT’s spread-option offense.

“They can call me all they want, but that’s ridiculous,” Johnson said.

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