Dig in, y’all.
- It’s the little things about SOD’s tenure in Knoxville you appreciate: “The two seasons under Dooley were the first back-to-back losing years in program history in 100 years.”
- That’s a trend his assistant coaches hope gets reversed this year.
- Damn you, FOIA requests!: evidently some Arkansas boosters want to provide the football coach with a private phone.
- Meanwhile everybody at Arkansas – including Bobby Petrino – loves the John L. Smith hire. (If it’s such a great move, why only commit to a ten-month contract?)
- File this under dogs and cats, living together.
- Somebody needs to explain to me why having a spring game against another school interferes with developing players while playing one that’s inter-squad doesn’t.
- An IRS official takes the position that paying college players wouldn’t affect schools’ tax-exempt status.
- Former agent Josh Luchs says most agents lose on their first deal with a client because after the third round of the draft, the commission check will not cover expenses already spent and invested on that prospect, which seems to beg an obvious question.
- In case you’re interested, Matt Hayes thinks Jarvis Jones and Aaron Murray are two of the fifteen best players in the country right now.
Get The Picture 
SOD just can’t catch a break when it comes to signs and such.
“Derek Dooley had barely finished his comments to the media after the Orange & White Game on Saturday when he glanced at a flat screen on the wall of the interview area.
There, stats from the scrimmage were displayed. But rather than identify the participating teams as Orange and White, the board showed this final score:
TENN 14 NCSU 17
Those unscrambling the alphabet soup were left to conclude that NCSU might stand for North Carolina State University, which just happens to be Tennessee’s first opponent in the upcoming season.
Foreshadowing? Given the pressure he is operating under, Dooley better hope not.
Told that the company responsible for the display board could not configure the appropriate logos, Dooley said:
“In 1969 we put a man on the moon and we can’t fix the logos.”
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Re: Spring Games … My wife was at the Bulldog Club mtg at Rock Eagle last night … She said CMR was asked about competive spring games. He was against them and cited player development as one of the reasons. He said that if you were playing a competive game you’d feel pressure to win and would want to keep your starters in longer, which would limit the reps for the 2nd and 3rd string.
He also said you risk injury in keeping your starters out there.
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I’m sorry, but I’m not buying that.
Don’t keep score if you’re that worried about competition. Set rules on how long starters can play, if you’re worried about reps for the backups. As for injuries, you don’t have to play another team to risk those.
Speaking of competition, though – isn’t that an important tool in developing players?
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I buy it and not sure why you do not given the question that was asked. If the question included all your caveats and rule changes then maybe the answer is different, but the man can only answer the question presented to him. Thinking that they are going to change the rules of the game to something akin to little league baseball seems more like something I would not buy.
Of course there is also the obvious what to do with special teams as some schools play this phase of the spring game live. I think the most interesting thing to see would be when a ref does not blow a QB down when the opposing defense thinks they have touched him. Next time through (since they are truly opposing teams) the defense lights up the QB. Of course there is a resulting fight and as this is now a NCAA sanctioned game between two universities there would be suspensions for the following game….also known as game 1 of the actual season where the Ws and Ls count.
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As you note about special teams, they do that already. As you also note, they do that with quarterback sacks, too.
Also, note that Richt prefaced his comment with “if you were playing competitive games”. That smells like a caveat to me.
It’s a scrimmage. They can set whatever rules they like.
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“It’s practice! It’s just practice!” said the former NBA player.
What would be the point of scrimmaging with another team if it’s not competitive? I still maintain that a Spring Game played amongst oneself gives more players time on the field for evaluation that another school would take away.
You just want to tailgate, fart and not pull your hair out while watching the game, Senator. We’re onto your little adventure.
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Agree that you could set rules and boundaries to mitigate the concerns, but if my team is lining up against another team I want to win … period.
Other reason why it’s not a good idea.
1. Imagine a coach on the hot seat losing a glorified scrimmage
2. Coaches love inviting recruits to spring games – lose that if your team is away – if you want to schedule 2 spring games (away & home) the NCAA counts the “game” as one your 15 spring practices.
Personally I’d love to see competive matchups, but can see the downside and why coaches are against it
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Also, Yabo Dabo Dipstick just wants some visibility in Georgia for recruiting. What would UGA get from having exposure in the Butthole of the South? We already cherry pick the precious few prospects that come out of that insidious cesspool.
(Also, I do not particularly care for South Carolina).
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I reckon just seeing Aaron Murray listed as one of the top 25 players was more than one commenter could stand. Did y’all know that in just 8 games Connor Shaw has already proven himself to be a better QB than Murray? I think someone needs to have the prescription checked on his garnet colored glasses.
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Have the chickens awarded their pre-season Heisman yet? Did Shaw get it? Figured it would be a tight vote b/w him and Lattimore.
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What about Clowney???? Huh? You forgot about him didn’t you??? Yeah, that’s what I thought. : )
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The glasses are only half garnet. It’s the black part of the lens that seems to…….
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Here’s to SOD…going for 3 losing seasons in a row…a new record breaking his old record.
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