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Georgia Tech's head coach Paul Johnson leaving

He's been with the team for 11 seasons.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Johnson is leaving the team.

Johnson has been coaching the team for 11 seasons and had just signed a contract extension that lasts until 2022.

“Aside from Bobby Dodd, no head coach in Georgia Tech football history has won more games in his first 10 seasons than Paul Johnson,” Athletic Director Todd Stansbury said in a statement at the time of the contract extension in April.

Johnson was hired in 2007. 

11Alive Sports spoke with him exclusively after the announcement.

“After 40 years of coaching, it’s time to take a break,” Johnson said. “My family has sacrificed a lot over the years. I want to watch my daughter [Kaitlyn, a professional opera singer] perform and do some things with my wife [Susan] that we’ve never had a chance to do."

Johnson added that he had a great run in the last 11 years and that he is proud of what they've accomplished.

In addition to 82 victories, Johnson has led Georgia Tech to nine bowl appearances and three ACC Championship games, according to a statement from Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets earned two Orange Bowl berths in 2009 and 14, winning it in 2014. 

He was also named the ACC Coach of the Year three different years and was named National Coach of the Year by CBS Sportsline in 2008.

Johnson's career has spanned 22 years with some of that time at another program in the state, Georgia Southern. There, he led the Eagles to a 62-10 overall record before moving on to coach Navy.

With a career record of 189-98, Johnson is the fourth-winningest active coach in Division I college football.

He will continue to serve as Georgia Tech's head coach through its upcoming bowl game.

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