SMU Appears to Have Its New Football Coach

We’re still trying to confirm this like everybody else around the country, but all sources point to Paul Johnson as SMU’s choice to become its next head football coach. Johnson, currently the head coach at Navy, will be introduced on Monday.
Here’s the skinny on Johnson.
Johnson has a national reputation as being one of the top coaches in the country. He has improvised his offense around whatever talent he has had at Georgia Southern and now at Navy. His resume includes back-to-back Division I-AA national titles at Georgia Southern and a 14-1 runner-up finish in 1998. His playoff record at Georgia Southern, when the games mattered most, is 11-1. He was 62-10 at that school.
At Navy, Johnson took over a moribund program that was 1-20 in the two seasons before he arrived and has totally revived the Midshipmen. His first Navy team was 2-10 (including a 38-7 win at SMU in Phil Bennett’s first game), but his is now 38-16 over the past four seasons and the Midshipmen will play in their fifth consecutive bowl game next month. He has a 102-35 career record.
The SMU connection? SMU athletic director Steve Orsini was part of the Naval Academy administration during Johnson’s tenure as offensive coordinator there. He is also a coaching colleague with SMU associate athletic director Mike Vaught.
The guy can flat out coach. And SMU is going to pay plenty of cash to pry him from his $1 million-a-year job in Annapolis. SMU is reported to be paying $1.5 million a year for Johnson, which almost triples the highest amount SMU has ever paid a head coach.
“Pony Up” indeed.