Well, damn… and well, damn!

It looks like the Georgia quarterbacks have been unleashed on the media this week.  There are all sorts of quotes from Cox, Mettenberger and Murray (where’s Logan Gray?) popping up.

The stunner – unfortunately, in a negative way – comes from Mettenberger, who, though a freshman, spent a considerable amount of time around the team last year and had this to say comparing the mindset of last year’s squad to his current teammates:

Mettenberger on what has surprised him so far…
“Last year I was around a lot, and the leadership wasn’t too great last year. I’ve been here three weeks and I can already tell that the leadership and the seniors, they want to win a championship again. They want an SEC championship. They want a spot to play for the national title. So far, the leadership has been outstanding in my opinion.”

Wow.  Add to that David Hale’s editorial comment…

(NOTE #2: For those of you who are on the “We’re better off with guys who aren’t overly concerned with their NFL futures” bandwagon, pay close attention to the last quote from Mettenberger. It’s extremely telling. And so you know the context, Mettenberger said he was on campus at least 25 times last season, showing up as early as 5 a.m. to be around for practices, etc.)

… and I’m simply floored.  And curious as to how much of this the coaches observed.  And if the coaches were aware of it, what, if anything, they tried to do to right the ship.  And how frustrated they became over it.  And… well, you get the idea.

I’m not really sure there’s much you can do about something like this, especially once you’re into the season.  Nor is it fair to say this is a problem unique to Georgia.  Hearken back to the quote from Urban Meyer prior to last season, in which he claimed to know that his ’07 team wasn’t going to be as successful because of selfishness and a lack of maturity, for evidence of that.

On the other side of the coin, maybe there is something to that old saw about addition by subtraction.  One thing’s for sure, if Joe Cox doesn’t succeed this year, it won’t be because he isn’t prepared.

… The two freshmen and sophomore quarterback Logan Gray bring their thick playbooks to position meetings and have pen and paper at the ready, trying to learn the numerous intricacies of the Bulldogs’ offense.

Cox needs no such materials.

“Joe just walks in with nothing. He knows everything like the back of his hand,” Mettenberger said.

“He doesn’t need anything,” Murray laughed. “He’s telling us what to write in our notebooks.”

Tuesday breakfast bits

Feel free to sample to your heart’s content:

• Who knows what it means over the long haul, but Dan Mullen sure seems to be kicking the Nuttster’s arse on the recruiting trail so far.
• Brian Cook alert:  not only does DeWayne Walker plan to oversign, he’s bragging about it.
• When you’ve got open speculation that Randy Shannon may take back the DC reins at Da U as a cost-saving measure, that’s a pretty good indication that Willie Martinez won’t be seeing palm trees in his immediate future.
• If Auburn sounds a little desperate in its quarterback recruiting these days, that’s probably because it is.
• College football – still the sport of choice for young rednecks with a degree.
• I hope Bryan McClendon turns out to be a bargain.  With that starting salary, it shouldn’t be too hard, right?
• If you need proof that Notre Dame fans are feeling it after that awesome showing in the Hawai’i Bowl, look no further than Bruce Feldman’s mailbag.  At least that guy’s a fan, though.  What’s Matt Hayes’ excuse?

Vote early and often.

The Wiz has his annual Cheapest Shot of the Season poll up now.  There’s plenty of ugly stuff to peruse.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true cheap shot contest without some Auburn offensive lineman going after an opponent’s knee.   Yep, it’s tradition that makes college football special.

“This might just be my personal prejudice…”

Ya’ think?

Coming from a member of a fanbase that used to delude itself on a regular basis by insisting that Corey Jenkins was going to win a Heisman Trophy before he left Columbia for a glorious career in the NFL, that’s especially rich.

I have no idea how Stafford’s pro career will turn out, but the idea that he’ll “ruin the franchise” if the Lions draft him is laughable.  The team didn’t win a game last year.  There’s no place to go but up, Stafford or no Stafford.

You’d think a Gamecock fan would understand that.

“That was a long time ago…”

How’s this for perspective?

The last time the NFL Cardinals won a championship, the star of the game was… Charlie Trippi.  In his rookie season.

That’s some drought.  No wonder he can’t remember too many of the details.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Two inevitabilities from the end of last season didn’t take long to surface:

• The Mountain West wants a guaranteed slot in the BCS.
• The Urban Meyer renegotiated contract watch has begun.

My sympathies lie with the Mountain West, but, honestly, one great year doth not a great conference make.  However, if the conference kicks the Pac-10’s butt for another year or two, and the Big East keeps sending the likes of Cincinnati to the Orange Bowl, who knows?

Doubtless Meyer will get his money.  And he does deserve to be better paid than the Hat of Baton Rouge.

Monday morning buffet

Get your juices flowing this morning with these tidbits:

• Is there a new trend on how to fill graduate assistant slots?  If so, it seems like Notre Dame’s model is a lot more admirable than Tennessee’s.
• Matt Melton takes a statistical look back at the last four years in the ACC.
• I’ve gotta admit it would be pretty cool to see a wide receiver catching a TD pass in front of the ivy.
• This is one of those posts on a subject that I never really thought much about – how scholarships and stipends work – that wound up piquing my interest.  Good stuff.
• On the other hand, here’s a post from David Hale that I was sure would be of interest to me.  And it was, in spades.   If you’re a Georgia fan who’s not reading his blog regularly, shame on you.

Spend it if you’ve got it.

If you’re trying to figure out where this new SEC arms race of escalating assistant coaches’ salaries is headed, here’s a clue:

… SEC officials have told league athletic directors, for budgeting purposes, to expect an additional $9 million or more a year to come from conference revenue sharing. The hike is going to come from the league’s recently renegotiated TV deals with ESPN and CBS.

Mr. College Football opined before the 2008 season that the new TV deal would lead to a recruiting bonanza for SEC teams. (Although schools are still limited to 85 total scholarships.)

This from GoVols.com:

The increased salaries for assistant coaches will be offset somewhat by an anticipated increase in funds distributed by the SEC in 2010, the first year of a new blockbuster television deal with CBS and ESPN.

Last year, UT received about $10.6 million in shared revenue from the conference. (UT Athletic Director Mike) Hamilton declined to provide an estimated amount UT would receive in 2010, but said it was important to reinvest in football, which is responsible for roughly 85 percent of UT’s $87 million athletic budget.

So by that measure, each school’s cut of conference revenue will almost double with the new TV money.  You do the math.

Recipe for success

Here’s Mark Richt’s:

“I think there’s a lot of things that go into winning a championship,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “You could play a wide-open offense and score a lot of points, but also as you’re wide open, you may make a couple of more mistakes then you would if you’re a little more conservative. Not to say we’ll be a more conservative team. You win playing great defense and you win playing great on your special teams.

“You win because you’ve got great chemistry and you find a way to win the close games. … We can certainly do a whole lot better when it comes to penalties and things like that. There’s a lot of things that we can improve on as a football team that can give us an opportunity to win the (SEC) East.”

The smart ass response to this is that it sure would have been nice if the coaches and players had been paying more attention to this advice last season.  That being said, I do believe that many of last year’s problems came as a result of falling in love with the talent level and being unduly swayed by the preseason hype.  Last year’s team seemed to have lost a certain edge as a result, so if the losses of Stafford and Moreno bring back into focus the other factors that go into winning football, that’s a good trade off in my book.

Going forward towards next season, I suspect we’ll see more and more comparisons made between the ’05 Georgia squad and this year’s model.  The similarities between Cox and Shockley make that almost inevitable.  And in a way, that’s probably good; the staff has some confidence that it’s dealt successfully with that kind of adversity before.  But it’s only fair to note that the Florida of 2009 is much, much better than the Florida of 2005.  These Dawgs are going to have to step it up if they want to accomplish as much as Shockley’s team did.

“In the case of Greg Reid, there are 10 more as good as he is waiting to take his spot.”

Let’s face it, Dawgnation:  we’re doomed.  The Gators have ten more kids lined up behind the Georgia high school football player of the year, all just as good, to pick from.  That’s why Urban Meyer seemed so nonchalant about Reid’s decision to open his recruitment back up.

Yeah, that’s it.

Personally, I welcome our new Gator overlords.  At least after I stop gagging.