Once again, Mark Richt makes the case that he waited one year too long to make changes to his defensive staff:
“We’ll definitely be better a year from now defensively because we won’t be brand new,” Richt said. “Our players will understand our coaches better, and our coaches will understand our players better. I’m sure Coach Grantham had some learning experiences just playing through the league one time and getting out of the pro game to the college game.
“I think all those things will come together for our improvement.”
I’ll buy that, but it sure would have been better to have paid that price last year.
In that spirit, Southside Johnny has today’s theme song. Maybe they should substitute it for “Baba O’Riley” during the pre-game warmup.
“Better days are comin’… because you know and I know, they can’t get no worse.”
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UPDATE: More thoughts on the present and future defense from Gentry Estes.
Get The Picture 
It actually would have been better to pay that price in 2006.
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Speaking of pre-game songs…. someone told me that Auburn is playing Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty” in their warmups. Any truth to that?
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“Money” by Pink Floyd
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You call caviar a four star day dream
Think I’ll BUY ME A FOOTBALL TEAM
Indeed.
Well played sir.
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Funny how history repeats itself. This from a Lewis Grizzard piece in a November AJC 1993.
“All season I’ve listened to fellow Georgia fans discuss the shambles they say is now the Bulldogs’ football program. I’ve read the sports pages that buried the Dawgs on a daily basis.
And I’ve listened to the radio talk shows and heard our own describe the situation in Athens with such adjectives as “pitiful” and even “sickening.”
I certainly agree it’s been a year the locusts have feasted upon our crops.
But if we’re in all that bad a shape, think of the relative condition of the Tech program.”
What could be worse than to have played for the NC in 2009 have one of the winningest programs in college football and then stare at a possible 6 loss season in 2010. How does any program fall so far so fast? I guess it could happen anywhere to any HC or…………………… HC in waiting.
just sayin’
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Jarvis Jones info got me thinking about next year’s D. I’m intrigued by the addition of Jones, Samuel and a healthy Stripling (to offset the loss of Houston). D-line — will Geathers and Anderson fill the role of a dominant, or at least sufficient, nose tackle?
Secondary is the big weakness. I just don’t know if you can cure the big play stoopidery we’ve become used to. I hope, but visions of wheel routes, reverses and play action flutter before my eyes.
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It all starts with breaking down the opponent’s line of scrimmage. If Grantham fields a d-line that can disrupt, his secondary will look a lot better.
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Yea — is it too much to hope the guys we have now could make that big of a turnaround? I just don’t see us getting a Mt. Cody impact guy from the JUCO ranks, but I’d be happy to be wrong. Can Geathers be the guy, or Anderson, who we haven’t seen, or Thornton or somebody else? Sullivan had that kind of impact from 2001 to 2002 if I remember right. Was OK in 2001 and a beast in 2002.
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You can add G. Smith, A. Jones, and Fields to that list of hopefuls. They should be bigger, faster, and stronger next year, and with additional yr in the system. We just need size across board on the front 3. I think the LB corps should be top notch next yr. We should have lots of speed there.
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“Stoopidery” – Great word. I gotta remember that one. It will compliment well my wife’s favorite – “dumbassery”.
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I’ll take anything as a substitute for Baba O’Reilly being played in Sanford stadium ever again. What that song or that group has to do with SEC football, or especially the Dawgs, I’ll never understand. Why can’t they tap into our city’s own rich musical heritage?
I’ll even nominate the pre-game intro for next year’s Auburn game- Legal Tender, by the B-52’s.
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“We’re all wasted!” doesn’t capture game day atmosphere?
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I agree. I’m a huge fan of the Who, yet I fail to see what their music has to do with college football (“we’re all wasted” included – though funny).
First of all, I hate piped in music. But if we have to have it, play some local bands, or play James Brown.
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Mark Fox figured out how to beat Colorado. It involved playing better than them and not doing anything particularly stupid. And Colorado basketball > Colorado football, to boot.
Just saying. Between tears, in my beer.
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Mark Fox is the real deal. Basketball is looking up because of him.
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I’m still not going to blast Richt for not having hindsight and canning Martinez early. Yes, I wish he had done it, but think of this; Georgia had a stout defense in 2007 which was then crippled by injuries to key players in 2008. So I can see Richt giving Willie a chance in 09 to improve the D. Willie didn’t (it got worse) and was sent packing. A good hire was made in Grantham, D has improved, and hopefully we can stop someone on 3rd down (kicks kitten across room in frustration) next year.
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Agreeance. I have a hard time faulting him for that. A lot of the opining that came around the D staff firing last season was the a Saban or Meyer would have done it sooner. Really? Meyer’s holding on to Addazio and went through all of 2010 with him. Saban’s never canned a D or O coordinator to the best of my knowledge. Major Applewhite and the Clemson guy left for other pastures, but it was never a public display of “off-with-his head.”
Tubberville had an itchy trigger finger on coordinators but it backfired as much as it succeeded, especially with his insistence to keep his other assistant coaches around, scheme fitting or not
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Regarding the nose tackle position next year; I think Bean Anderson can do it. Full disclosure; I know the kid and I like him a lot personally, but I also think he’s got all the physical tools to be a fierce presence in the middle.
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I had forgotten all about Bean. What happened to him, I thought he was suppose to see some playing time?
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I found it…. does he qualify for a medical red shirt???
ATHENS, Ga. — Nose tackle Justin “Bean” Anderson will have season-ending toe surgery, Georgia head coach Mark Richt said Wednesday.
Anderson has been dealing with turf toe, which caused him to miss the past couple of games. The surgery takes away one of Georgia’s biggest nose tackles. It also takes a year away from Anderson, who already has served a redshirt year.
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/09/23/1277541/georgia-football-notes-caleb-king.html#ixzz15f6ySZhF
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When Coach Richt makes a statement about the defense being better next year, that rings a bell for this year. I recall back in August he said he would be surprised if the Dawgs did not run the ball well. Most people think the Dawgs have runned the ball very poorly this season. The question mark about the offense was a young, inexperienced QB. I do not think we have had a rushing game last season and his season. There have been a game or two where it looked as the Dawgs did, only to be followed with a game where it was not there. At one time I thought it was the position coach and the RBs. But as this season has moved on I have concluded that the OC and O line coach are contributing factors. How did a program go from being known as the TB school in the SEC and NCAA to one that does not have a premier RB. And yet Carolina and Bama do. But I think the D has more players than most folks think. It is a matter of a little more coaching, experience, and quality depth. Last year there wer several D players signed. This year the present list does not show too many D players.
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CMR should be contemplating the future of the offense, moreso than the D. The D improved significantly from last year – even though CTG & staff had a new scheme and limited talent (with the exception of Justin Houston). The O, with 10 returning starters and a talented QB, runs up the stats against teams that suck, but is helpless against everyone else.
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How many years will we accept these common excuses?
We are on 6+ years now without even a single trip to Atlanta…..will it take 10+?
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Maybe he’ll be smart and not repeat the mistake by firing Bobo and getting an elite OC.
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