Mark Richt Can’t Win
Mark Richt announced today that Caleb King will be suspended for the next two games for his Monday morning arrest for failure to appear in court. Fan reaction ranged from “not strong enough” to “way too harsh”. Let me be the first to say, “It’s perfect”! You may ask why? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me explain.
First, let me go back to when Washaun Ealey was in a bit of a pinch(click here). Washaun was guilty of the hit and run of a parked car while driving with a suspended license. The discussion on Atlanta sports talk radio was varied. My boys Buck and Ole Kincade couldn’t come to a meeting of the minds.
Surprise! Surprise!
While John Kincade wanted heads to roll, Buck kept saying Coach Mark Richt had to be consistent in his choice of punishment. I actually disagreed with both. My take on this growing issue of mostly irresponsible behavior with some downright appalling criminal behavior is this. The only type of consistency I want to see is the heat consistently turned up on these players until they get the message. To me, that’s what happened today.
As I stated yesterday, an expulsion from the team would have been too harsh. A one game suspension for similar offenses had not yet worked had it? It reminds me of when my two sons were coming along. Neither were bad kids but we had the occasional issue to resolve. My philosophy was to find where their pain was. If it was a couple of smacks on the backside, fine. If it was taking the Nintendo away, great, but I was committed to finding what hurt the most and worked the best.
For most players, that means playing time.
Once again, I believe that CMR has pressed the right button, the perfect balance. The heat has been turned up, but we haven’t lost our player. It’s not just a different verse of the same old song. It’s a new song. He is definitely on a roll in the last eight days.
I hope he can keep it up.
Irresponsible vs. Criminal
The Georgia Bulldog fans who were experiencing the relative joy of a much needed victory Saturday got derailed by the news that RB Caleb King was behind bars this morning. There were rumblings over the weekend that something might be going on with Caleb, but today’s happenings were different.
It seems Caleb got a speeding ticket in Walton County back in the summer. He failed to either pay the ticket or show up for his court date. A bench warrant was issued and when Caleb went to help a brother out, literally, he was arrested. His brother Brandon had been stopped early this morning and was driving without a valid driver’s license. The vehicle in question belongs to team mate Brandon Woods. Although Woods went along to pick up his vehicle, Caleb was going to be the one driving it home. I’m not sure why that would be, but it prompted the ACC police to check both Woods and Caleb’s licenses and that’s when the warrant for failure to appear was discovered.
Many people both in and outside the Dawg Nation are outraged that yet another player has been arrested. I understand that completely, but unless Caleb has done other things that we don’t even know about, this particular transgression does not rise to the level of him getting kicked off the team. It’s irresponsible, not criminal.
I see fans refer to these players as men, just because they are 18-22 years old. How does a number translate into true maturity and responsibility? The young people that make up any team are not only diverse racially and socio-economically, but in maturity as well.
Mark Richt can only do so much. He lives his life openly, as an example of what these players could and maybe should consider for themselves. Many will follow a similar path based on the comments I see from players I follow on Twitter, but not all of them will, obviously.
I had a conversation with one of my old team mates Saturday before the game. Neither of us could imagine how difficult it must be to even attempt to keep track of all these guys. It was tough enough when we were all under one roof at McWhorter Hall. When the NCAA did away with athletic dorms, the intent was for athletes to have a more well rounded college experience. That would be great if it were not for the fact that the expectations are so much greater for the athlete than the regular student.
We had curfews and a coach(Kasay) that lived on the same property and although stuff happened from time to time, it can in no way compare to living at another dorm or especially off campus in an apartment or house. I don’t know how they do it.
The bottom line is Caleb was irresponsible in this matter, but in no way deserves the consequences of an offense where he could have endangered lives like a DUI. Again, I say this with no real knowledge of any other extentuating circumstances or prior offenses.
Somewhere along the way, there has been a disconnect between the Athletic Department and the surrounding law enforcement agencies. There is obviously no attempt to handle things discreetly and still have consequences. How many people in Walton County with knowledge of this situation watched Caleb King and the Dawgs all year long and no attempt was made to resolve the issue. It’s not like Caleb is some secretive figure that no one knows where to find him. There knew how to find him.
Are the Georgia Bulldogs Coached Up?
I was reading THE Bulldog’s Blog and one of David Hale’s readers used the term “coached down”. It’s not a very commonly used phrase, but very descriptive and it made me think….no comments please! Especially you Bernie! It reminded me of a conversation I had with one of Thomas Brown’s high school coaches several years ago. Thomas was probably a junior at UGA at the time.
He was expressing some frustration because he felt Thomas was having his natural running instincts and abilities “coached out” of him. He said Thomas had shown a game breaking ability that I am sure helped him get recruited and a scholarship offer. Why then would the Georgia running backs coach go against that grain?
It could be as simple as the coach wanting the backs to run north and south and not to go east and west. That’s a pretty common mantra, but sometimes you have to go east and west just a little. These days that hole that was supposed to be there just isn’t there. Some of our backs run there anyway and fall down.
One of my favorite books as a kid was Run to Daylight by Vince Lombardi
That’s some basic stuff, but do we do that? Seriously.
Here’s a question for you. Since when do we recruit running backs as projects? The comments from Coach Richt recently regarding Richard Samuel prove to me that he is an ongoing project at running back. The fact that he is “still learning the position” doesn’t ring true to me. He’s been on campus 18 months and still doesn’t know what to do or how to do it? How can that be? And he’s starting again this weekend vs. Tennessee.
Now I have an occasional reader that feels I dislike Richard Samuel. That’s not the case. I want Richard to be successful. It’s up to the coaches to give him a chance to be successful. I’m just not sure that running back is the spot. If this weekend is Richard’s coming out party, I will dance naked in the street and kiss him square on the mouth, I swear I don’t care.
To clarify, I will get dressed again before said kiss on the mouth.
I think the more likely scenario is it could be Washaun Ealey’s coming out party. A fractured jaw and concussion for Caleb King may have created that opportunity for Washaun. It took an injury to Thomas Brown in 2007 for Knowshon Moreno to get the numbers of carries that proved his true value.
Bottom line is, I want to win. I am very concerned about our ability to run and consistently stop the run. Monty Kiffin will have his defense ready. He will put the onus squarely on Joe Cox to win this game. Joe will be hit early and often if we can’t slow the Tennessee pass rush by running effectively.
This will need to be our best over-all game to win.
Let’s do it! Go Dawgs!
Georgia’s Membership in SEC is Under Further Review
The gradual but accelerating decline of defense as a philosophy at The University of Georgia has caught the eye of the Southeastern Conference office in Birmingham. Michael Slive as the head of the conference has expressed a growing concern that UGA may not be up to the SEC standards of defensive football. Last night after the Bulldogs 52-41 “win” at Arkansas, he was over heard saying, ” I hear the WAC is looking to expand”.
The SEC By-law that has been called into question is 5.3(a) which reads…an SEC defense must exhibit at least some desire to stop the other team’s offense while defending one’s end zone with aggressiveness, toughness and actually covering receivers and tackling the opponent.
The first two paragraphs of this post are a total fabrication, but it could happen! If things don’t change, we are in deep kimchee. Forget the bend don’t break thing, our guys look completely lost in pass coverage. Linebackers neither getting to the quarterback nor dropping into pass coverage, but settling into no man’s land. Not enough catches are contested. Potential interceptions dropped.
Now, on quite a few occasions the Georgia defense has been put in tough situations. Turnovers are great for breakfast, in football, not so much. The fact that we have won with such a high number of fumbles can be looked at two ways. If we can possibly correct this and maintain our offensive production, we could have a special year. But that is a big IF. A failure to make said corrections will doom us to a very mediocre year.
Based on the Arkansas game, I’m betting Caleb King will have earned more carries and maybe even start. Almost any running back could have made the big run Richard Samuel made. Aside from that run, Richard was largely ineffective.
Back to the defense. I understand why Willie Martinez is still using a soft zone defense. With young guys like Brandon Boykin and sometimes Branden Smith, you can’t afford to risk man to man. Our men are too inexperienced. Bryan Evans has become quite the hitter, but has always been a weak coverage guy. Reshad Jones is pretty much the same kind of guy. These two are the new Thomas Davis/Greg Blue combo. Great in run support and make the occasional huge hit. But you can count on them getting sucked up and burned deep every single game. Georgia does not have the athletes to run a high pressure defense. Not enough pressure up front and our defensive backs are not talented or experienced enough to man up.
So smart guy, what is Willie to do?
What’s that Coming Down the Track?
A serious, full fledged heart attack. If the Georgia Bulldogs continue to ride this roller coaster they’re on, taking pre-game medications will become a part of the tail-gating ritual. Do you want a Beta-Blocker Burger or a Digitalis Dog? Last Saturday I failed to take care of things before the game and by the second half I was feeling my blood pressure soar!
The only good thing about this ride we’ve been on is that we have such an upside. I feel like our defense is like Forrest Gump before the braces came off his legs. They are being held back. Let ‘em run Forrest! To be fair, our guys have been a patchwork of players trying to deal with injuries and suspensions. This week should be better as some of the missing pieces like Justin Houston come back.
Offensively we saw flashes of what could be. Richard Samuel, AJ Green, Branden Smith and Orson Charles all showed signs of fulfilling the promise of their recruiting hype. Caleb King will probably see his first action of the season. The fact that Marlon Brown and Rontavious Wooten are still waiting in the wings, is very exciting. Logan Gray, the one snap wonder, has to be a little frustrated. It would be better to not play at all, than to go in for no apparent reason.
I really believe we need to continue to give these young guys reps because they need to get over any jitters now. Let them build some confidence, so as the conference schedule progresses and Halloween approaches, this arsenal of weapons could be formidable. Sounds like Coach Richt may understand the need to open things up more and more. I hope so.
So Far, I’m Wrong and Loving It
Georgia Bulldogs running back Richard Samuel has bolted into the lead as the heir apparent at Tailback U. I for one am pleasantly surprised because of his struggles to fully adjust to the college game last year as 17 year old true freshman. Sometimes it’s difficult to judge when it’s a boy in a man’s body. But boy oh boy, that’s no boy now.
Just a few weeks ago I had predicted a different outcome, but Caleb King pulled a hamstring and Richard and red-shirt freshman Carlton Thomas have both had two outstanding scrimmages. I have no problem being wrong, in fact I’m ecstatic. As many have said, the prospect of a true thunder and lightning combination could be just what Georgia needs this year.
On top of that, the Bulldogs offensive line has been heaped with praise and expectations this year. If they can fulfill that promise, these two running backs could find themselves thrust into national prominence as a top backfield combo. The icing on that tasty cake is that a even an above average running game should allow QB Joe Cox to go out with bang this year, with his many targets at wide receiver and now some young, talented tight ends.
I believe the continued emergence of Richard and Associates will be an answer to prayer and The Bulldog Nation is very, very thankful for that.
Georgia’s Backfield Emotion
Everyone has an opinion about the question mark UGA has at running back. Will it be Caleb King…Richard Samuel….Dontavious Jackson… Carlton Thomas…Washaun Ealey? Someone posted a link of Washaun highlight’s on Dawgvent the other day and it got me thinking. I seldom go to the extent of looking at all the Youtube stuff, but I did this weekend. I had some opinions before, I have stronger ones now.
Too many fans get hung up on “measurables” like height, weight and 40 forty yard dash times . Many times it is the little things that matter most. Size is an important variable. A running back in the SEC will be subjected to a great deal of violence and mayhem. It takes longer to crush a big rock than a small rock but, if the rock doesn’t get rocked, then he can rock and roll, know what I mean? Durability is always a concern though, no matter your running backs size.
How fast you run from point “A” to point “B” while interesting, does not necessarily translate to a productive college running back. The speed at linebacker and safety mean you better change your angles or you are going to get blown up and possibly fumble from time to time.
It’s that sometimes almost imperceptible move that means the difference
between head pain and yards gained.
Knowshon had it. Caleb, Dontavious, and Washaun have it. Richard Samuel has not shown it at all. He runs like a tall athletic fullback. He could run by you but sometimes prefers to run over you. That’s okay in high school, but last year he was not able to adequately transition to SEC football. I would never write a young man off because sometimes things click and voila, they arrive. That being said, Carlton Thomas not only has it, he looks like Barry Sanders in his highlight tape. I just saw his tape today, so I came to that conclusion on my own but I was not the first to say it. I swear, if he had a couple of inches and pounds on him, I would say hello Heisman in 2011 or 2012.
All of these guys have ability. Most people believe it will be running back by committee in 2009. I have said it before, thats just fine by me. As long as the committee appoints Carlton Thomas to the special teams sub-committee in charge of returns. This kid needs the ball in space. I know this is not news, but I’m telling you this right now. He will be a difference maker, whether on special teams, bubble screens, reverses or as a decoy. The opposing defenses will have to account for this mightiest of mites. I can’t freakin’ wait!
Tell me what you really think!