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Paul Johnson claims he found out from reporter that his agent was asking Tennessee about vacancy

The Georgia Tech head football coach's agent was asking about the Tennessee head coaching job.
Credit: Grant Halverson
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said it wasn't until last Friday that he found out his agent had reached out to Tennessee about its vacant head coaching position last year.

After phone and text messages from former Tennessee Athletic Director John Currie were released in documents obtained by reporters through open records requests, it was revealed that Johnson's agent, Jack Reale, had reached out to Currie about the job after the school released Butch Jones. He said that Johnson was interested in the job.

Johnson was reportedly working on a contract extension at the time, so it makes sense that Reale was testing the market.

"As far as Tennessee, I had no idea. I didn't even know it happened," Johnson said on Monday.

Johnson has been the head coach of the Yellow Jackets since 2008. He is expected to sign an extension that will keep him in Atlanta through 2022 any time now.

"That's what those guys do. I don't think there's a lot to it," Johnson said when asked about his response to his agent after finding out about the inquiry from beat reporters.

The Yellow Jackets began spring practice on Monday at Rose Bowl Field. Their spring game is on April 20 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Georgia Tech has missed out on bowl games in two of the last three seasons, so they are motivated to get back to being competitive. Several offensive starters are returning, including sophomore quarterback TaQuon Marshall.

Johnson still has goals he wants to accomplish at Tech, like getting his team back on top of the ACC which is currently one of the most competitive conferences in the FBS.

"I think the league is so much better than when I first got here top to bottom, and it's a challenge every year."

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