After reading what Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz have to say about the recruiting classes for Georgia and Georgia Tech, I’m confused.
Bradley says I’m supposed to be worried about the fact that Rivals isn’t particularly impressed with the 2010 group coming to Athens.
When you get used to a school lighting up the recruiting board, it’s significant when it doesn’t. It’s significant when Georgia doesn’t land a single 5-star recruit. (That last happened in 2007.) It’s significant when an Auburn program in Year 2 under Gene Chizik lands 13 spots ahead of Georgia in Year 10 under Richt.
Schultz, however, says all that star stuff is overrated.
This is not to diminish the need for great athletes. But a college program makes the players, not the other way around.
Okay, now that I’ve removed my tongue from my cheek, let’s get past the silliness to make a few points about today’s developments and the AJ-C bloggers.
- It would have been nice for Bradley to acknowledge that the change at defensive coordinator that he championed had an effect on Georgia’s class. Would it have been better for Martinez to stay and for one or two of the kids who retracted their verbals not to have done so? I think we know what Bradley’s post would have read like if that were the case today.
- Something to keep in mind as you ponder the recruiting rankings: Georgia signed the smallest class in the conference, by far. (No other SEC school signed less than 21; Auburn signed 30.)
- David Hale gives us something else to factor in: Richt says Richard Samuel will move to linebacker. Says he was “anxious to make that move.”
- Schultz makes a good point about Tech’s recruiting rankings – Johnson’s system is going to preclude signing certain types of top shelf talent on offense, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not doing an effective job putting a class together.
- That being said, that won’t explain Tech’s shortcomings in attracting defensive talent to the Flats. You can knock Chan Gailey all you want (and, believe me, I do), but one thing he did an excellent job at was finding defensive talent. It remains to be seen how that plays out, especially with Giff Smith’s departure.
If there’s a bottom line here, it’s that I can’t say I’m particularly surprised that Georgia’s incoming class doesn’t match the level of some of its predecessors, at least on paper. A disappointing two-year run for the program, an unfair “hot seat” meme that no doubt made the rounds and a historic change to the defensive staff all contributed to that. But as Paul notes, it’s not like a bunch of stiffs are coming to Athens this year. Don’t let yourself get wrapped up in the departures so much that you lose sight of what kids like Jakar Hamilton will (hopefully) bring to the table.
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UPDATE: Additional food for thought, via Hale:
1:41 PM — Garner: “We could have gone out and signed other guys if we wanted to meet that number and fill a quota.” Instead wanted players that would fit Grantham’s scheme.
1:42 PM — Richt on Grantham & Lakatos: “They really understand what they want and what they’re looking for, and they’re great evaluators.”
1:44 PM — Richt: “Timing of the hire, taking as long as it did, it did put a strain on these guys who had committed.”
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UPDATE #2: Bradley addresses my first point.
… We cannot know how good Da’Rick Rogers will (or will not) be at Tennessee, but we can know this: Georgia was never going to play for another SEC title with Willie Martinez coaching its defense. If firing Martinez and two assistants made for what recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner called “some difficulties,” that’s a trade-off worth making if in fact Todd Grantham, Martinez’s successor, is as clever as advertised.
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