Turnover Bug Spreads in Athens
The virus that plagued the Georgia Football Bulldogs has migrated from the Butts Mehre building to the Stegeman Coliseum. Turnovers are everywhere, and they’re not just for breakfast anymore. The Dawgs rank 319 out of 332 Division I programs in turnover margin(click). Sound familiar? I don’t write much about basketball and it’s for good reason. I never played and don’t watch very often. But the little I have watched, this common theme jumped out at me.
I believe many of the Dawgs turnovers this past fall were as a result of Joe Cox trying to do more than he was capable. If we had developed our running game early on, Joe could have played within himself and the Dawgs probably win two or three more games. The Dawgs of the round ball variety seem to try to make passes that just aren’t there as well. It’s not a lack of effort, as Fox and his Hounds have played hard and even upset the likes of Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
To lose to a mediocre Auburn team 82-63 is frustrating, but the Dawgs are still learning. Learning to win is one of the hardest thing to do. Many of UGA’s losses have been games where we jump out to big leads, just to see them vanish in to thin air.
At this point, it is a struggle for players to not expect that other shoe to drop in games. This psychological monster is a tough one to kill. Mark Fox is obviously a great coach that has his guys motivated and at times over-achieving. A (10-12) overall record and (2-7) in the SEC is hard to call it overachieving but, how many of our opponents are starting a former walk-on shooting guard? I don’t know, I’m asking.
I believe Mark Fox has the program going in the right direction. Maybe he will be the coach that breaks the cycle of Georgia being just a football school. I hope so.
What do you think?
The Saints’ Kickers were Super!
When football historians look back at Super Bowl XLIV, they will look at the second half kick-off or should I say onside kick as the turning point in the game. In a refreshing change of pace the New Orleans Saints kicking game was solid throughout the playoffs and exceptional in the biggest of big games.
Garrett Hartley was a perfect 5-5 on field goals in the playoffs, all over 40 yards. His game winner sent the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl after 42 years of relative futility(click here). His three in the Super Bowl over 40 yards is a new record. Thomas Morstead punted 13 times in the playoffs for a 47.5 average. His kick-offs were very solid, but he will be long remembered for a second half gamble that payed off big.
Morstead being a punter/kickoff guy had never attempted an onside kick and the idea terrified him(click here). He definitely hit it well, but there is always a little luck with onside kicks. The Colt’s Hank Baskett had not one but two chances to get it. Local Atlanta hero Chris Reis of Roswell HS and Georgia Tech secured his place in football history by being the man that came up with the ball.
All in all, Garrett Hartley and Thomas Morstead contributed a tremendous amount to a historic run by the New Orleans Saints. No one will ever say, “Who dat kickah? Now they know.
McCollum Comes Home
As I stated in an earlier post, my old friend and team mate Andy McCollum might be up for a position at the Trade School. He has indeed been asked to join the Georgia Tech Football Staff. He interviewed on Friday and the announcement that he had accepted the offer came this afternoon. McCollum will act as recruiting coordinator and could coach linebackers or defensive line, depending on who else is hired to flesh out the defensive staff.
I wish Andy well, but only to an extent. He can have all the success in the world in the ACC, but he should always remember.
WE RUN THIS STATE!
Coach Warren Belin
Georgia Bulldog fans may have been like me when they heard the name Warren Belin for the first time. Who dat? But the more I heard the more impressed I became(click here). Then it occured to me that if Coach Belin has been the linebacker coach at Vanderbilt for the past eight years, then he coached a young man I know from my Alma mater, Marietta High School.
Herdley Harrison played for Coach Belin from 2002-2005 and I caught up with Herdley over the weekend on Facebook. I was coaching at Marietta while Herdley was a Blue Devil. His email back to me is below:
Hey Coach,
Nice to hear from you! As it’s been a really long time.
And you’re right I did see that Coach Belin and his family were headed to Athens.
As for Coach Belin, he’s a stand up guy that cares very much about his faith, family, his players, and his team. As much as he was a coach he was also a father like figure for me when I was in school dealing with some issues he was the first person there to comfort me.
His office door was always open and he would love it when players would come by to watch some film with him. I remember even watching some film of the guys that he was recruiting to Vandy.
I remember finding out about the death of my grandmother after the Florida game and he was there with me as my mom broke the news to me. And even though I didn’t practice much that week as I had to fly back to Georgia for the funeral he was constantly checking on me and making sure that everything was okay and he made the decision to let me start the following week.
When I was going through the recruitment process he was very straight forward and stated that the best players were going to play no matter what. He said above else he always expected his players to compete and never wanted us to become complacent. He stayed true to his words and he was just as competetive as we were on the field. He’s always ready to go and always excited. And he would always be sporting a bright smile. Not to say that he wasn’t serious as he was also known to be sporting a scowl on the sidelines just as much. He demands perfection from his players and he wants them to demand perfection from themselves. I remember a game in which I had gotten a tackle for loss and when he came up to slap me on the helmet to congratulate me, he whispered in my ear that it would have been a 3 yd loss if I hadn’t taken a false step. I always knew that when we came to practice we had to put on our hard hats as we were coming to work. It was common place for Coach B to lose his voice regularly.
I have great memories of playing for Coach B and I wish him nothing but the best at UGA.
Hope that helps.
Just one more bit of evidence that Coach Richt is leading the Dawgs in the right direction.
Go Dawgs!
Stephenson Was Loaded
Georgia Bulldogs fans were thrilled that Stephenson’s Mike Thornton signed with the Dawgs February 3rd. Thornton became the icing on the cake when Dawg fans thought they would have to eat their’s dry. What I didn’t realize is the sheer number of quality football players that were on this 11-1 Stephenson Squad. Most teams would love to have a senior class this large, much less 29 kids that could play on the next level.
Below you’ll find a list of Jaguar signees. I’m curious, what is the largest signing class in the history of Georgia High School Football?
STEPHENSON SIGNEES
- Martin Adebowale – Presbyterian
- Miles Ashmon – Fort Valley State
- Kelvin Billups – Johnson C. Smith
- Tyrone Cornileus – Miami (FL)
- James Farmer – Tusculum
- Idris French – Concordia (AL)
- Denzel Hartley – Johnson C. Smith
- Thomas Hubbard – St. Francis (IL)
- Jabari Johnson – Kentucky
- Jacob Johnson – Tusculum
- Kenny Ladler – Vanderbilt
- Jeremiah Mahoney – Concordia (AL)
- Gary McIndoe – LaGrange
- Armond Mitchell – Belhaven
- Edward Passmore – Concordia (AL)
- Joshua Polk – Presbyterian
- Blake Rennels – Belhaven
- Jordan Rhinehart – Tusculum
- Raymond Sanders – Kentucky
- Chris Sharpe – Middle Tennessee State
- Ronnie Shields – Kentucky
- Brandon Smith – Miles
- Quinton Spencer – Johnson C. Smith
- Malcolm Strong – Marshall
- Steven Thomas – Tusculum
- Mike Thornton – Georgia
- Ephesia Tisdale – Concordia (AL)
- Franchot West – Southern
- Doral White – Valdosta State
The Richt Way
The recruiting game is one of shadows, of smoke and mirrors sometimes. Coaches make multiple offers and from time to time withdraw them. It’s not a black and white issue on either side of the equation.
More often than not the school/program has the upper hand in this transaction, but occasionally a trump card emerges and kids that have been incrementally empowered from their early childhood, flex their muscles.
Such is the situation of Da’Rick Rogers and the Nance family(click). I remember seeing pictures of Nash Nance from summer camp. I knew nothing about him, just that he was one of several in camp.
My understanding is the Nance’s were told that UGA was not going to offer a QB at that time. I can easily see the potential inference that if Georgia did offer a QB, Nash would be high on the list. You see, recruiters have to hedge their bets and keep multiple prospects on the line.
It’s not lieing, but it’s a qualified truth.
Then comes the late offer to Hutson Mason of Lassiter HS. Hutson apparently made huge strides as a QB from spring to late fall. He set several Georgia high school records and became a Parade All American. It reminds me of something the old sales trainer Zig Ziglar used to say. He said a “NO” from a potential buyer really meant, “Based on the information you have given me so far, I can’t say yes.”
The circumstances changed, period.
When another player blossoms and surpasses all others under consideration, is that a recruiters fault? But as a kid and a father who have heard the qualified promise of a potential scholarship, there still has to be disappointment. If you are used to having things go your way and you have the “rug pulled out”, stuff happens.
You know, I referred to this process as a transaction earlier because it is. Not that money changes hands necessarily, but a player performs as an athlete in exchange for an education and further development as an athlete. Both sides use what is at their disposal to seek the best result for themselves. Like I said earlier, most of the time, the school has the upper hand, but sometimes they don’t.
Many of Georgia competitors feed that “monster” that is the athlete of today. From Tennessee’s Wild boys to Auburn’s Tiger Night festivities to Florida just being Florida, and especially USC. To a certain extent it could be called pandering to the Hip Hop culture many kids embrace. Hey, Georgia does to some extent too, but there is a line.
I think many kids come to Georgia because of what Mark Richt represents as a man and as a coach. Just as many go to Florida and Tennessee and USC because those coaches mirror what that kid is and wants to be. I’ll let you put the label on it. You can’t blame a kid for wanting to be in a familiar place.
But you also can’t crucify Mark Richt, for doing it his way.
Because history has proven, nine times out of ten, Richt’s way is the right way.
A Canine Resurrection
Well Georgia fans, it seems that from the end of the Georgia Tech game, when I thought Bryan Evans was about to get the “Baco Raton Beatdown”, til yesterday, Mark Richt is apparently over it. He doesn’t like to lose. Neither he nor his staff are in any way “complacent”, as some dumbass “fan” suggested at Butts Mehre on signing day. How he got out alive, I’ll never know.
CMR has gone full bore for what he thought would right the ship. From pretty much cleaning house on his defensive staff to his hirings of late, he’s all “bizness”. As I stated a few weeks ago, there is nothing wrong with swinging for the fences and ultimately Coach Richt hit his homeruns with Todd Grantham and Scott Lakatos(click here).
Many look at the 2010 signing class as a disappointment. I really do not. Since I started writing this blog and paying attention to the Dawg Nation in general, most often I have heard the cries that our talent was not getting coached up. That problem has been solved on defense, so let’s move on.
I swear we have focused way too much on the numbers of stars in a bio and not enough on the intangibles that make a player great. Da’Rick Rogers was interviewed by Radi Nabulsi of UGASPORTS.COM a few weeks ago and a few things stood out to me(click and join). Although DR had his Georgia ball-cap on, he was already planning his trip to Knoxville. He down-played the significance of it all, but when asked about signing day, he said he would have a UGA hat, a Tennessee hat and maybe an Ohio State hat, “just to throw people off”. That interview let me know that he was enjoying the process a little too much, jacking people around. That’s not someone sold out for Georgia and that’s what we need, kids that take seriously the traditions and the future of THE University of Georgia.
When I started going through the recruiting process all those years ago, I was not a Georgia guy. There did come a point in early November 1976 that my conversations went from referring to “them” as “us”. I didn’t even notice it, my parents called it to my attention one night. I had not told them of any decision, but my paradigm had shifted, and I was all in. That fact did not change a month later when Notre Dame offered a visit to South Bend.
That’s what we need, but it’s tough to find. When a player’s focus is on who can get him to the next level(NFL), how can there be a seed of love for your school. It’s a means to an end. The Georgia Bulldogs will be much improved in 2010. I believe that with all that I am. But, it’s not always about getting what are perceived as the best guys, it’s about getting the right guys and I believe we did.
Go Dawgs!
The “Calm” Before the Storm
It is 12:01 PM as I sit down to knock out this post. As I write, there are a couple of hundred coaches having lunch in Middle Georgia. An annual event sponsored by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association started last night with a dinner for Region and State Champion Head Coaches. It is usually a BBQ dinner, with some brothers from Wilkes County hauling their smoker over and I swear it’s some of the best I’ve ever had.
Today’s luncheon is when these best of the best high school coaches get to interact with most of the Southeast’s college football staffs. It’s a surreal mix, with Mark Richt, Paul Johnson and Nick Saban and their staffs all occupying the same space. Add FSU, Clemson, Auburn and all the smaller schools of Georgia i.e. Georgia Southern, Valdosta State, Lagrange and Shorter and all on the day before THE DAY. Very strange. It’s like a heavy-weight fight with the combatants sitting down for a beer while the score cards are tallied.
It just doesn’t compute, but it’s been happening for years.
Oh You Herschel Walker!
Herschel Walker made a successful debut versus Greg Nagy in the Mixed Martial Arts arena last night and proved once again that he is one of a kind(click). There is no one comparable. Herschel has the most eclectic resume you will ever find and the most extreme.
NCAA and NFL football, World Class Sprinter, Black Belt in Taekwondo, Olympic Bobsledder, Entrepreneur, Marathon Cyclist, Reality Show Star(Pros vs. Joes and The Apprentice), and now MMA.
That’s quite a bucket list you got there #34.
To say that Herschel is in phenomenal shape and a freak would be unoriginal and redundant. One of his trainers said he had the body of a 22 year old.
By my calculations, that means Herschel should live to about 188 years old.
Getting back to the fight. He did look very raw in his debut. I watch a good bit of MMA and you could tell it was his first time in the octagon. I was really concerned that his lack of grappling experience was going to hurt him and he never really tried any jui-jitsu. He was in great position to choke Nagy and even when he did mount him was too high to ground and pound like he wanted to.
Ultimately the fight was stopped because Nagy stopped trying to improve his position from the ground and quit defending himself and that is a TKO.
I heard Herschel say in a pre fight interview that he didn’t anticipate fighting for an extended period. I can’t wait to see him again and see what kinds of improvements he makes.
In the mean-time, I fully expect to see him pilot the Space Shuttle soon.
Georgia Bulldog Recruiting
There is much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Bulldog Nation as SIGNING DAY approaches. Many lives hang in the balance, and I’m not talking players and/or coaches. It’s the fans that seem to feel that their lives will be somehow changed if one player or another makes the “wrong” decision. One Bulldog commit has played his late recruitment to the hilt and the firestorm it has caused is remarkable. I wanted to make a brief comment on the phenomenon.
Get a freakin’ life!
The day I let a 17 or 18 year old kid dictate the ebb and flow of my day, is when hell freezes over. Obviously, I want to have the best players possible. Some folks think that means 5 Stars by a kid’s name. I think it’s about a kid with talent and a real desire to wear red and black.
I believe with all my heart that the Georgia Bulldogs of the future will be dramatically improved. Not because of a dramatic influx of 5 Stars, but because of a renewed focus of Coach Mark Richt and the hiring of a defensive dynamo, Todd Grantham. The future is indeed bright, so sit back, take a chill pill and enjoy the ride.
The reception is not that great, six feet under.
It’s Senior Bowl Week
It’s that time of year when all we have to look forward to is the Super bowl and College All-Star Games like the this past weekends East West Shrine Game and now the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. I was fortunate enough to play in the 1981 Senior Bowl but my how things have changed.
It was considered a golden opportunity to practice and play in front of NFL scouts and coaches and maybe get drafted. There are some that still look at it that way, but many, many players turn down offers to play because it may actually hurt their draft status. The Senior Bowl people have been scrambling to fill out the rosters because of this new attitude.
Georgia is represented by Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens this year. I am pulling for them to make some last minute statements to the assembly of pro football evaluators. In 1981, Scott Woerner, Nat Hudson and I made up the Dawg contingent.
It’s sad that not playing and relying on combines or carefully controlled pro days have replaced an opportunity to meet and play with guys from all over the country. We lost the game but I had a decent game with a 43 yard field goal. Some of you might actually remember that I punted, that’s right Dawg fans, I punted….terribly. It didn’t help that it was cold and windy and I had not punted in a game in 4+ years.
Even so, it was a great time. I hope this year’s Dawgs feel the same.
with Alabama’s E.J. Junior…I know…we cool.
Scott Woerner and our coach Denver’s Red Miller…suck up…
Maryland TE Eric Sievers…not his best moment.
with Alabama’s Byron Braggs…a BIGGEN!
A New “Day” at Marietta?
I got a call Friday night about James “Friday” Richards decision to retire as head coach of the Marietta Blue Devils. Some of you may not realize that Marietta is my Alma mater, so this coaching change is of some import to me. Coach Friday graduated from MHS in 1972 and came back from the University of Florida just in time for my senior season(1976).
I’ll never forget his encouragement in a triple overtime classic against Douglas County that fall. My extra point made the difference after the Tigers kicker missed his to make it 38-37. He started teaching and coaching officially the next year and the rest is history. As the head coach for 15 years, his record at Marietta was 107-58.
When I started selling sporting goods six years ago, everywhere I went around the state, coaches wanted to know when “Friday was going to retire”? A few years ago, he started talking to me about it some, but this fall his mentions of retirement accelerated. I was at Marietta Thursday and it came up again, but some details had yet to fall into place. That happened Friday and again, one of his assistants called me that night with the news.
Suffice it to say, Marietta will be inundated with applications for this job. When coaches think of Marietta, they think of the Dexter Wood years and the success they enjoyed in the early 90′s. It will be very interesting to see the direction the administration goes with the new hire.
Athletic Director Paul Hall is half-way through his first year on the job and now will be involved in hiring someone for a job that was ear-marked for him a couple of years ago. Friday mentioned that possibility on more than one occasion to me. Hall was a long-time assistant coach for Richards and would have been a great choice. The x-factor at this point is a school administration that may or may not be committed to excellence on the field. They have already made a let’s say, “interesting” choice in replacing another legend, basketball coach Charlie Hood, with a first time head coach. The team is 3-8 in Region 5-AAAAA and 5-13 over-all.
The kids of Marietta deserve the best opportunity to succeed,
academically and athletically.
I hope that is kept in mind.
Hartley Defeats Voodoo with Mojo
Garrett Hartley won the NFC Championship with a 40 yard field goal last night, restoring some degree of confidence in kickers worldwide. In recent weeks, kickers had fallen victim to some kind of voodoo, but that spell is broken. The Saints are going to the SUPER BOWL!
This season has been a strange one for Hartley, with him having to serve a suspension for using a banned susbstance(click). John Carney took his place and the old dude(45) did a great job(click), but the Saints knew Hartley was their future.
They just didn’t know how big he would be in the present…
Hartley only started kicking in week 13 and only attempted 12 field goals this year, making 10. So after only playing in six games, Hartley comes into the NFC and wins the game with his only field goal attempt and in overtime at that. When I saw him being interviewed after the game, it struck me how he looked more X-Games than NFL.
All I know is…Last night, he perfected the 270 leggie footie upkick and…
New Orleans will never be the same.
D’Brickashaw…Really?
I remember it like it was a few years ago, because it was. The NFL Draft was a few months away and the mock drafts were mocking. That’s when I heard it. D’Brickashaw Ferguson, tackle from the University of Virginia. Say what? Come again?
Ferguson is named after Father Ralph de Bricassart, a fictional character in the 1977 novel (and on the 1983 television mini-series) The Thorn Birds, played by Richard Chamberlain.(From Wikipedia)
You girls should LOVE that!
Okay, at least that makes a little sense. Sort of. I actually like unusual names, heck, I have an unusual name. How many Rex’s do you know, personally? My full name is even better or worse, depending on how you look at it. Noble from my paternal grandfather and Rexford from my Father. The first day of school every year was an adventure, with each teacher getting to the R’s and hesitating but eventually saying, “Noble Robinson”? I would wait for the giggles to subside and I would sheepishly say, “just call me Rex”.
Some parents just go off the deep end in their attempts to make their children “stand out in a crowd”. Instead of allowing them to create their own identities, they do it for them by naming them like cartoon characters. Celebrities are the worst. Apple? Audio Science? Pilot Inspektor? Sage Moonblood? Bronx Mowgli?
The reason this subject came to mind is one of our commits(as of today anyway), Da’Rick Rogers. Do you know how to pronounce it? If you are a die-hard you might, but I bet many of you do not. You might think it’s Duh-Rick or Dah-Rick, but you would be wrong. It’s Day-Rick with the apostrophe taking the place of the “Y”, what’s wrong with you? I have talked with many teachers over the years and have heard some great names.
See if you can figure this one out. This is a real name.
Le-a.
I’ll even give you a hint. It’s a girl’s name.
A Special Teams Dream
The limitations placed on coaching staffs by the NCAA may preclude a special teams guru. You can only have your head coach, 9 assistants and two GA’s on the field at any given time . I have no knowledge of Coach Richt’s plans, but here is the present breakdown
- Mark Richt(HC)
- Mike Bobo(OC/QB)
- Stacey Searels(OL)
- Tony Ball(WR)
- John Lilly(TE)
- Bryan McClendon(RB)
- Todd Grantham(DC/LB)
- Rodney Garner(DL)
- Scott Lakatos(DB)
- Outside Backers or Special Teams?
It seems to me that it would be difficult for Coach Grantham to coach the outside backers/defensive ends because of the vast differences in their responsibilities from the inside backers. I do like Grantham’s decision to coach LB’s because he said during practice he will get valuable time with the D-Line(Inside Drills) and the DB’s(Pass Skeleton). It just seems like he could spread thin during fundamental periods with inside and outside backer skill-sets being so different.
The most important issue regarding special teams is not if there is one man doing it all or not. It’s the special teams philosophy and time spent implementing said philosophy that really matters. It would still work with coaches sharing special teams responsibilities if the philosophies and personnel choices are more sound. That was where Georgia struggled most.
All I know is this, every time I hear Todd Grantham talk, I get all tingly inside. This is going to be fun to watch, no matter what.
Go Dawgs!
T-Minus Two Weeks and Counting
Signing Day is two weeks away and basically a free for all has ensued in SEC recruiting. Many fans are pulling their hair out. Between Alabama’s championship, Urban Meyer’s intermittent “health” issues, Lame Kiffin leaving Tennessee in the lurch, Derek Dooley trying to save the day, Georgia finally naming their DC, this two week home stretch promises to be one for the ages.
Remember the tag-line for the MTV show”Diary”,
You think you know, but you have no idea…
Hey, did you think two days ago, that Chan Gailey would be a head coach in the NFL this year? SEE? There is no alternative universe aka Bizarro World. We LIVE in the Bizarro world.
That’s why I’m concerned about commits like Da’Rick Rogers taking visits with his buddy Nash Nance to Tennessee and possibly Florida. The Gators have continued to clean up with commitment after commitment, with Urban Meyer’s future “up in the air”. How can that be? That is some “leave of absence” he’s got going on.
I am very concerned about Derek Dooley. He’s young and looks even younger. He’s a great communicator. He’s going to be a pain in our collective buttocks.
Then there is National Champion, Alabama. Winning will create additional recruiting momentum and they will be formidable for the forseeable future. I remember how 1980 led to some the most loaded teams UGA has ever seen.
Just now is new Georgia DC Todd Grantham able to hit the road. He has some catching up to do. New Defensive Backs Scott Lakatos apparently arrives in Athens today and hits the road tomorrow. On the surface it seems Coach Richt and company have kept our commits intact. The lone exception was a mutual parting it seems.
The roller coaster is leaving the platform, are you buckled in? Let’s see if you can ride this “Scream Machine” with no hands…
Go Dawgs!
Fragile
Pronounced- Fra-jeel-ay…must be Italian. Hopefully you get the reference from the movie classic “A Christmas Story”. The word fragile comes to mind quite often these days as I watch game after game with kickers struggling in bowl games and the NFL playoffs. All in all, it’s been a horrible year for kickers.
Even going back into the regular season, some of the best kickers in history hit a wall. Jason Elam with the Falcons and Nick Folk with the Cowboys are two of the best examples. What’s so strange is, the kicker who replaced Folk, Sean Suisham, has had his struggles as well. He was cut from the Washington Redskins just a few short weeks before joining the Cowboys. In fact, a short miss versus the Cowboys is what got him cut from the Redskin roster in the first place.
The worst case scenario just happened Sunday with Nate Kaeding of the San Diego Chargers going 0-3 versus the New York Jets. Two of the misses should have been automatic. Jim Nance had just gotten the words out of his mouth and I KNEW it was a jinx coming. Kaeding had made 67 in a row inside 40 yards. Sunday he started another streak, missing two. The final score of 17-14 makes it a big deal. The fact that similar games have happened in the playoffs before, makes Charger fans crazy.
When a negative precedent is set, a molehill can become a mountain pretty quickly, and almost impossible to get over. I’ve been there. I have mentioned the 1978 Astro Bluebonnet Bowl before. Without doubt my worst game as a Georgia Bulldog. It was a game played on turf, in a dome. The next time I had a chance to play on turf, in a dome was the Sugar Bowl for the national championship. I would have been fine, but all week reporters reminded me of my earlier failure and asked me if it would happen again.
This constant negative input was very difficult to push aside. As you have seen this year, when a kicker has any doubts in a pressure situation, the results are less than stellar. The reporters questions actually ruined that week for me, because all I could think about was not letting a replay of the Bluebonnet Bowl take place. As it turned out I had a solid game, not perfect, but solid.
When doubt creeps in, that chink in the armor can kill you. As a golfer, a pitcher or hitter in baseball, and especially a kicker, confidence is key. Phill Simms really impressed me with his understanding of the position Sunday. A regular player is instinctive, reacting to the flow of the game. Kickers are on the sideline, stagnant and come in for one play to either succeed or fail. It’s not easy, but it is the nature of the position.
A kicker has to do his part, or suffer the consequences.
Tennessee’s Upgrade is Dooley Noted
As a Georgia guy, I was surprised by the hiring of Derek Dooley at the University of Tennessee. Not because I don’t think he is worthy, but because he is unlike the other candidates mentioned. Troy Calhoun of Air Force, Houston’s Kevin Sumlin and David Cutcliffe who was a Tennessee guy for so long are all so different.
I know that some of the Tennessee faithful looked at the Dooley hire as settling for the sake of expediency, with signing day looming. I think Derek dispelled much of that concern in his introductory press conference. His combination of down home eloquence and understanding of the value of tradition had the press corp applauding at one point. Even Volunteers recognize class when they see it, it’s just been a while.
He is the anti-Kiffin…it was love at first bite.
Sound bite that is. A couple of reporters attempted to get Dooley to comment on Lane Kiffin, even if in a subtle way, and Derek would not stoop to that level. It was as if uttering the K-word would leave a bad taste in one’s mouth.
I hope Tennessee wins it’s share of games each year with losses to Georgia and Florida.
But I will not be cheering for the Big Urange!
That sounds perfect to me.
What say you?
Why Grantham?
You may have questions about the process we have endured to finally name a DC at Georgia. You may even have questions about Todd Grantham himself. After all, his only stint as a Cleveland Browns DC was less than stellar in some people’s minds.
The only stat I need to see is the flowing:
Coaches who hired Todd Grantham
FrankBeamer/Bud Foster
Nick Saban
Romeo Crennel
Dom Capers
Wade Phillips
That’s a veritable who’s who of great defensive minds to have learned from and coach for. The fact that each of these men hired Todd Grantham, says it all to me. Congratulations to Coach Grantham and Coach Mark Richt!
Proceed with GATA! Go Dawgs!
Who wants Dominoes?
Well, you got’em! The first to fall was Jim Mora getting fired as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Before the door could even hit him in the butt, the Seahawks were on the phone with Pete Carroll. Captain Cool said yes and left the USC Trojans, the college football mecca of this decade, in his dust. After overtures to Oregon State’s Mike Riley and the Jacksonville Jaguar’s Jack Del Rio, the Trojans have settled, and I do mean settled, for Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin.
As of about midnight last night, the campus of the University of Tennessee became a reenactment of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s with Lane Kiffin the only McCoy left to shoot. The air was filled with snuff spat in such anger that some kids thought it was raining.
Kiffin’s departure tips the next domino and creates a vacuum in SEC recruiting just three weeks from signing day. This could be great for Georgia if we can get our stuff together. There were several of those commits to UT that had Georgia high on their list.
The first replacement for Kiffin that came to mind was Peewee Herman, but I think I dreamed that. The next name was Duke’s David Cutcliffe. I’m sure that would be fine with Duke because Cutcliffe has been there two years, more than could be reasonably expected…..insert crickets chirping….I have always felt that Cutcliffe was the key to much of the Vols success in the 90′s.
It would be refreshing and just freakin’ awesome if he were to stay at Duke and continue building a competitive program there. I for one will not be holding my breath but, whether it’s him or another coach yet un-named, the dominoes will continue to fall.
Oh yeah, and all the kids can do is watch.
Swinging for the Fences
Well, I lied. I had told a lot of folks that I would not write about the Georgia DC search again until we reached the finish line. Yesterday Alabama’s Kirby Smart decided to stay in Tuscaloosa and the Bulldog Nation started yelping again. I understand that. It has been a frustrating process.
We’re about five weeks in and signing day is drawing nigh. So far, it appears we have not lost any commits because of the lengthy search, but we are vulnerable. Our enemies could certainly twist this into a reason to consider their programs.
Most Dawgs would agree that Coach Mark Richt has consistently gone for homerun hires. Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster, LSU’s John Chavis and now native son Kirby Smart. The fact is, just as in baseball, when you swing for the fences, you’re going to strike out some. When CMR does make contact, it will be a homerun. We as Georgia fans just have to stay in the game.
The worst thing Coach Richt could do is “choke up” and just try to make contact.
Waking Up From a Liberian Dream
I knew who Rennie Curran was. I just didn’t know who Rennie Curran was. It was #35′s freshman year and I had checked out Myspace of all things. I met alot of Georgia Fans on there and over time a few players as well. Rennie had a page and for all I know he still might, but that’s when I learned who he really is.
A Christian and unafraid to share that fact. Perfect? No, but forgiven.
Today, Rennie announced his intention to forgo his senior year and enter the NFL Draft. In reality, Rennie really did not have a reason to come back for the 2010 season. He will not get appreciably taller. Rennie is what he is and all that matters is the size of that heart.
You have been a DGD Rennie. Godspeed and Go Dawgs!
Disarray Oh Disarray
Here we sit on January 9th , 2010 and the football world as we know it is in complete disarray. First Florida’s Urban Meyer goes off what he thought was the deep end and hit his head. Now Pete Carroll is rumored to be leaving the college football mecca that is USC for the NFL. Both programs have enjoyed tremendous success but both now face an uncertain future. Disarray oh Disarray.
Meyer’s health issues and putting family first was apparently just a 24 hour bug. Now he says he feels in his gut he will be back for the 2010 season. Looney Tunes was always my favorite. Stay tuned for more hilarity.
Pete Carroll has been ultra successful as Trojan Man but ongoing investigations about impropriety going all the way back to Reggie Bush’s apartment and more recently Joe McKnight driving a Land Rover around LA. Nice! Charlie Weis also put a spot-light on the RUMOR that ole Petie had a sweetie on the beach in Malibu. All of this,in addition to a sub-par season and several early defections make the future less than golden in the Golden State.
Former USC RB Lendale White said he was very disappointed in the idea that Carroll would leave after preaching family and loyalty for 10 years. White went on to say that he expected Carroll to be stay at USC like Bobby Bowden did at FSU. Lendale needs to understand that those days are gone.
Ambition and attrition are the realities of the day.
Total Team Sports is Hot
SnowSham 2010 was a major disappointment here in Atlanta. Just enough precipitation combined with frigid temperatures to be a pain in the butt, but not enough to really enjoy it. All the schools and systems that I do business with are closed today, but this week has been a great start to 2010.
New customers and vendors are evidence of continued growth for Total Team Sports.
I am thankful.
I have created ad links to many of my suppliers on the blog as well a listing of apparel suppliers in the left side-bar. Ash City was my first supplier of corporate apparel and it’s been a great fit. I have used Sanmar as a supplier of tee shirts, sweats and other athletic apparel. Augusta Sportswear has uniforms and coaches gear at great prices. Stewart and Strauss is my primary source for custom lettermen’s jackets. Just this week, I have added Game Sportswear as a supplier of warm-ups, jackets and corporate apparel. I have sold their products before and they are top quality and unique.
The other new relationship is taking me in a new direction, promotional products. Norwood is a fantastic resource for ad specialty items for corporate and/or booster club applications. I also hope to supply items for fundraising and charity golf tournaments around the southeast. If your company needs golf balls with your logo, call me.
All in all, 2010 is off to a tremendous start.
Let me know if I can be of service to you.
Tell me what you really think!