“You just don’t listen,” Johnson said. “You don’t pay any attention to it. I mean, the best you can. I learned a long time ago, the people who don’t like you – it doesn’t matter – you’re not going to change their mind, and if you’re winning, they just crawl under a rock somewhere or they don’t say much. And when you start losing, they all come out. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Coaching, Johnson said, “is one of the few jobs that 100 percent of the people can do better than you.”

Johnson wasn’t sure about the impact that the criticism could have on team members. He said he told quarterback TaQuon Marshall to turn off his social media after he informed him that he was “catching some grief” through it.

“If we continue to play the way we’re playing, (players) are going to listen to it,” he said.

Johnson acknowledged that the team has to play better, but added that “there is a lot of revisionist history that goes on here, too.” Johnson was referring to what he perceives as fans measuring him against expectations that don’t match what Tech has accomplished since Bobby Dodd’s retirement at the end of the 1966 season.

From 1967 through 2007, the last season before his hire, Tech’s overall winning percentage was .526, with the Jackets not playing in a major bowl and winning two ACC championships with one shared national championship. In his tenure, Johnson’s winning percentage is .575 and Tech has won an ACC title, played for two more and twice played in the Orange Bowl.

No. 3 Clemson wins in a rout over Georgia Tech

Explore What Georgia Tech players said after the Clemson game

What Paul Johnson said after the Clemson game

Slumping Georgia Tech trying to solve problems

