Sure doesn’t sound like it was a spur of the moment decision.
Needless to say, it seemed like a surprise move when Terry practiced with the safeties this week, but Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said it had been a long time coming. While Terry practiced at receiver along with the other scout team members, the defensive coaches started to take notice of what looked like an excellent defensive back in the making.
“I just think that the defensive coaches were kind of keeping an eye on him and kind of coveting him and kind of playfully recruiting him a little bit,” Richt said. “Sometimes if a guy’s on your scout team, they hang around the defensive coaches more than the offensive coaches when it comes to practice time. And they liked what they saw and thought it might be a good move for the defense.”
At 6-foot, Terry certainly has a body type that fits the average NFL safety instead of the rangier pro receiver. That was one of the arguments defensive coordinator Todd Grantham could make in proposing a change to Terry and the offensive coaches.
“I think Coach Grantham’s background in the NFL and just how he sees prospects and things of that nature, he really sees him as a great-looking safety prospect,” Richt said. “It was something that the defensive staff was all for, and actually kind of started it off, started the whole conversation.”
So what does the decision indicate?
- It says something about how the coaching staff feels the medium-term depth at receiver and in the secondary shapes up now. Terry isn’t going to be a contributor at the position next season, because he’s very green. (“Terry played some defensive back in high school, but has a long way to go to be a proficient college defensive back.”) But he’s clearly a good enough athlete that they want to get him on the field as soon as they can, and no doubt Terry is anxious to play as well.
- For a guy who supposedly – and I use that word in the “I heard it on the Internet, so it must be true” sense – has been at odds with his head coach this past season, Todd Grantham still seems to have the ear of Mark Richt when it comes to talent evaluation, no?
- Malcolm Mitchell, there’s no looking back now. Not that you were, anyway.
- Terry may not be ready to play much as a safety in 2014, but I expect that will make him more of a likely candidate to nab one of the return jobs next season. If he’s as good an athlete as the buzz about him indicates, they’ll want to get him involved in one form or fashion.
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UPDATE: Seth Emerson has a timely summary of the projected depth charts at receiver and defensive backs here.