Navy's Johnson Reportedly Offered $2Mil

With Navy win over Army, Midshipmen HC Paul Johnson has cinched his 5th straight 8-win season, burt the hot stove is heating up in regards to drawing the coach and his offensive prowess to Durham, particularly in light of news that LSU DC Bo Pelini will take over the job at Nebraska, ruling out out an Johnson-style Option Revival in Lincoln.

According to this report in the Annapolis Capitol, sources have indicated that Duke are willing to pay up to $2 million to convince Johnson to take the head coaching job, as well as make other commitments to the program (including lowering admissions standards).

I was at Duke's heartbreaking 46-43 loss to the Midshipmen this September, and the thing that impressed me most about the Navy offense was about how they were able to do so much with so little, in terms of size and speed. They were probably the only team all year that had a smaller, lighter offensive line than the Blue Devils (who themselves only had one starter, Fred Roland, who weighed over 300lbs), yet they were able to move the efficiently both on the Blue Devils (not a huge feat, mind you) but on whoever else they played this season.

Whether you like the option attack or not, the fact is that—when run as well as Johnson can teach it— it can help teams compensate for deficiencies in talent. Duke needs someone who can get wins above all else, and Johnson has already shown an ability to win at a school that has recruiting constraints (although different in nature) as onerous as Duke's. He'd be an excellent hire.