Georgia Tech: The Next ACC Powerhouse?

Mark it down: Georgia Tech will return to dominance under first-year coach Paul Johnson and will win the ACC within three years.

All of a sudden I can hear the sighs and groans from the Hurricane and Tar Heel fans, saying that they themselves will dethrone the Hokies as king of the ACC.

Certainly, both teams are on the right track. Miami had a top-15 recruiting class in '07 and arguably the best recruiting class in '08, as Randy Shannon looks to strike fear once again in the hearts of their opponents.

Up tobacco road, Butch Davis has quietly stockpiled his team with NFL talent, such as defensive stud Marvin Austin, and they should compete this year for a decent bowl game.

However, there is more to the game than recruiting talented players. In order for a team to be the "next great thing", they have to have some key ingredients that, once mixed together, equal a powerhouse in the making.

History

Remember, college programs go through more cycles than a Hotpoint Washer. One decade they're good, and the next decade they're just fortunate to get TV time.

It wasn't long ago that the semi-pro team USC was barely winning games. From 1990 to 2001, the Trojans were winning an astounding six games per year. Now they are the darlings of college football and have played in seven straight BCS games.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has four National Championships to their credit, which ties them with LSU, Penn State, and Texas. They have a better all-time win percentage than such notable teams as: Boston College, Iowa, UCLA, and Wisconsin.

And they boast the fourth highest all-time win percentage in bowl games—for teams that have played at least 40 games—at 61 percent. That's higher than Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma, and Norte Dame.

Recruiting Hot Spot

They are smack-dab in SEC country. Florida is just around the corner, and they can get kids from Georgia that the Bulldogs leave for scraps. And they can pull some kids from Tennessee and the Carolinas. Simply put, they don't have to go anywhere to build their team to their specifications, which brings us to our next ingredient...

A Hot Coach

G. Tech picked up one of the hottest coaches that many fans have never heard of in Paul Johnson. Paul brings a toughness and swagger that Chan Gailey seemed to be missing. Chan could put up the offensive numbers, but you never got the sense that he was the right fit for Yellow Jackets.

Paul Johnson brings with him the most unstoppable offense. No, not the spread, but the ever confusing Flexbone, commonly called the triple-option offense. Navy ran it to perfection with lesser talent. Imagine that same offense with better talent and more speed!

With a killer defensive line, Georgia Tech will be solid on defense, as the offense grows into their new weapons. Once the offense kicks off after year one, watch out ACC. The Yellow Jackets will put the sting back into their program.