It’s this kind of dedication to fist-bumping technique that gave Paul Johnson what he needed to knock off nationally ranked bumper Lane Kiffin in last year’s Sun Bowl. (Courtesy of the Chick-fil-A Bowl)

By Holly Anderson

We’re big fans of the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge golf tournament, which provides us with a steady offseason supply of photos of SEC and ACC football coaches grimacing at golf balls. And every once in a while, we get something even better.

That is Paul Johnson fist-bumping partner Jon Barry. They are two-time defending champions of the tournament, and, as of this writing, were in second place at the turn. Isn’t your Tuesday better now?

“Forward pass? With a football? Dead in 10 years. I guarantee it.” — A real thing Paul Johnson said (AP)

By Holly Anderson

The Georgia Tech partisans at From The Rumble Seat do a little pondering on the Yellow Jackets’ upcoming International Football Clinic, which is something of a crash course on college football fandom for Tech’s hefty population of students who hail from outside the U.S.:

With American Football hardly extending its bounds past the borders, imagine yourself going to college in India or China, and being expected to show up to, and cheer at, your school’s cricket match or table tennis match. Sure, it’d be easy to do once or twice — but without really understanding what’s going on, there’s no way you’re going to do it habitually.

The clinic will include actual participation in drills with Yellow Jacket coaches and players, and will be followed by a barbecue. We’re actually really curious to see what kind of fandom is engendered in students whose only exposure to American football has come through the lens of Paul Johnson. Will they even teach the forward pass?

Homer the Brave is fired up for the opener. @Braves http://t.co/egON0wY8Xo—
Paul Johnson (@GTPaulJohnson) April 01, 2013

Like most photos of Paul Johnson smiling, this image is blurry, which is what happens when you try to capture something on film never meant to be seen by human eyes. Did Paul Johnson’s presence at the Braves’ baseball season opener intimidate Atlanta into powering past the Phillies? Probably, right?

“Come to Georgia Tech. It’s pretty neat, I guess.” — Paul Johnson’s interior monologue, probably (AP)

The best case against elite college football prospects going to Georgia Tech that we’ve ever heard comes courtesy of … Paul Johnson? As told to the AJC (emphasis ours):

Johnson has heard it all while trying to attract recruits to Georgia Tech since 2007, and offered some candid thoughts on negative recruiting:

“I think a lot of it is out there,” he said. “I don’t hear as much about the (offense or SEC) in negative recruiting as I do ‘Your school is hard, and you don’t have any fun.’

Simple. Direct. To the point. There’s a lot to admire here, from a hater’s standpoint. This reminds us of nothing so much as our college roommate’s endlessly useful, never-fail breakup argument, the Avada Kedavra of coed slams: “Because you smell, and I don’t love you anymore.”

[Via the good Senator.]

If you felt like eating rusty nails for breakfast this morning and liking them, it turns out there’s a good reason: As announced and verified by their respective athletic departments, Paul Johnson and Art Briles have joined Twitter.

For what it’s worth, it appears Johnson is running his account at least partially himself, unlike many of his peers:

Congrats to T.J. Barnes on his combine performance looking forward to seeing Rod Sweeting blow it up as well#—
Paul Johnson (@GTPaulJohnson) February 26, 2013

Meanwhile, it is only Tuesday and already we know Art Briles can identify the Stanky Leg. What a week this is shaping up to be:

The Bears finished up winter conditioning with a big dance off this morning to the stanky leg!!—
Coach Art Briles (@CoachArtBriles) February 26, 2013

Paul Johnson and Jon Barry won the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament. Paul Johnson is clearly as bewildered as we are to learn he excels at the serene sport of golf. (Abell Images)

The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s annual charity golf tournament kicks off this weekend, forcing 16 ACC and SEC skippers to mute their phones (probably), partner up with celebrity alums from their current programs and battle for scholarship dollars in the carefully sculpted wilds of Georgia. The pairings for the main event have been released. We have some thoughts.

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