Lakatos: “There’s no story here.”

I suspect most of you have heard by now that there’s a staff opening.

Scott Lakatos, Georgia’s defensive backfield coach since 2010, has resigned his position on the Bulldogs’ football staff.

Lakatos, 49, would say only that he is leaving for “personal reasons.”

“Let’s leave it at that — personal reasons,” Lakatos, 49, said in a short telephone interview Thursday night.

The timing is a bit curious, as signing day approaches and Georgia is still in the hunt for a defensive back signee or two.  The reason given is a bit curious as well, since, as Weiszer reports, Lakatos hopes to coach elsewhere next season.

Richt doesn’t strike me as the scapegoating type and Lakatos stated that the choice to leave was at his option.  Does that indicate that perhaps accountability came into play?  I doubt we’ll ever know.

It’s all a little strange.  Lakatos came to Athens with a reputation from his prior job as being very good at coaching up talent.  He’s put a few kids in the NFL over the years.  But there was little evidence this past season of improvement in the secondary.

In any event, it is what it is.  Now comes the interesting part – whom Richt brings in as Lakatos’ replacement.  And when.

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UPDATE:  Michael Carvell talks to one of Georgia’s verbal commitments, JUCO DB Shattle Fenteng, about Lakatos’ departure and gets this:

… Fenteng was contacted before the news went public on Thursday by UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

“Coach Grantham let me know what was going on,” Fenteng said. “It made me feel good that he called, and it helped me understand the situation. I feel like Coach Lakatos is leaving for the right reasons. He has some family issues that he needed to take care of.

“I really don’t know yet how I feel about (the change). I don’t know how I’m going to react. But, so far, I don’t see a difference.

“Coach Grantham said he is going to try to hire someone within the next week. He’s waiting for some NFL guys to call him back. He said he wants to get a good coach so he can develop me to go to the NFL.”

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UPDATE #2:  Emerson has some more info here.

A million here, a million there…

The Vanderbilt Rivals site is reporting that whether James Franklin stays at Vanderbilt or goes to Penn State, his new contract will pay him more than $4 million per year.

I predict Greg McGarity has another sleepless night tonight.

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UPDATE:  This is even better.

Bobby Petrino, who lost $18M due to being fired with cause from Arkansas, gets a seven-year, $24.5M deal from Louisville.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 9, 2014

That’s right – Bobby Petrino is making more than Mark Richt.  I guess nice guys do finish last sometimes.

Opportunity awaits you in the beautiful SEC East!

Notice the “curious incident of the dog in the nighttime” aspect to this passage from John Pennington’s analysis of what lays in front of James Franklin’s successor at Vanderbilt?

And what better time for a new coach to enter the SEC East?  Missouri just went from 2-6 in the East to division champs. Florida’s coach is on a red-hot seat.  South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier will soon turn 69 and he — like Franklin at VU — is just about the only coach to have success at his school in the past 100 years.  There are no guarantees Carolina’s program will continue to excel post-Spurrier.  Tennessee is likely to be mediocre again as Butch Jones tries to re-stock the Vols’ roster. And Kentucky is still at the bottom with Mark Stoops having to basically start from scratch.  Who knows if/when Tennessee or Kentucky ever find stability?

Granted, last year’s jump by Mizzou suggests that our views now might not mesh with what actually occurs over the next couple of seasons… but on paper, the East is the place to be if you want to make three million bones a year and coach in the SEC.

Only one school isn’t mentioned there.  And I don’t think it’s because Pennington believes the Georgia program is seriously flawed.

There’s no reason Georgia can’t put itself back on track next season, provided some serious attention is paid to shoring up this past season’s weak spots… and maybe having a little better health.  But the East should be up for grabs for the next few seasons, anyway.  Carpe diem, Dawgs.

Greg McGarity has lost control of Mark Richt.

He’s obviously not as hands on as many anonymous Internet denizens would have him be, damn it.

Q: What kind of feedback have you gotten from fans and donors regarding the football season?

A: “I get tons of letters. ‘You need to fire (Todd) Grantham, you need to do this, you need to do that.’ Three years ago it was, ‘you need to fire (Mike) Bobo.’ It’s just the soup of the day. But I tell them, I don’t hire assistant coaches. [Emphasis added.]  After the LSU game, it was totally different. It’s amazing, the swing of emotions people have. I wish I saved them all. Even during games people are emailing me. Those are the ones I wish I could read back to them because people are so reactionary. There are so many ways of technology to get to people. It’s our world today and we’re living in it. We shouldn’t be surprised what anybody does any more. Sometimes people do irrational things. But it’s our world and nothing surprises me these days. We just have to manage the best we can.”

Q: You’re meeting with Coach Richt on Thursday. What kind of suggestions will you make?

A: “We’ll go through things I see from the athletic director’s chair that might help. Like every other coach, I’m sure he has some things he feels like he needs or he’d like to think about. We go through that with every coach every year. I want to make sure I’m providing the resources they need. There may be times I can’t do it, but there will be a reason behind it. But it’s the job of the administration to provide the resources that are necessary and provide an environment where the coaches feel like they can get the job done.”

Suggestions, bah humbug.  If you’re not gonna fund an IPF, Greg, start firing some people!

Trust is a wonderful thing.

Apparently this was said without a trace of irony.

Petrino on accepting UL job w/out contract/buyout finalized: "I don't need anything in writing. I can trust (UL AD) Tom (Jurich)"

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 9, 2014

I hope Jurich and Petrino start out their presser looking at each other and bursting into uncontrollable laughter.  And then leave.

Whatever works.

If you were a little surprised by how good Auburn’s defense looked for much of the national title game against a very good FSU offense, there could be an explanation.  Dameyune Craig, who was on Fisher’s staff last season, may have stolen signs and relayed them to Ellis Johnson.

https://twitter.com/TomahawkNation/status/421136644268232704

If you’re skeptical about it, consider what happened afterwards.

https://twitter.com/TheHoppahh/status/421136663184961536

Maybe it was the jitters.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Nick Saban, you have it within your power to make this blogger a happy, happy man.  Junior at ‘Bama would be a dream come true.  Don’t blow this opportunity.  Do it for the children bloggers.  Please, please, please…