Coaching staff, restructured

I hope the old saw about having two quarterbacks isn’t analogous to having two special teams coordinators, because that’s what Georgia’s now got.

Richt has long resisted the idea of naming a special teams coordinator, choosing to spread the duties over four of his assistants. But now two assistants coaches will oversee the units, and carry the titles of co-special teams coordinator.

Tight ends John Lilly will coordinate units deemed as offensive special teams: Kickoff return, punt return and extra point/field goal.

Inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler (hired last week) will coordinator defensive special teams: Kickoff, punt return block, and extra point/field goal block.

The division of labor there actually makes sense to me.  Which probably means it’s doomed.

By the way, note that Bryan McClendon is the new Rodney Garner.  I suspect that means less than it used to, other than that Bryan’s about to get a major, well-deserved raise with that new title.

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“I can see it getting really ugly.”

I’ve got to say, if I found out my school was making a pitch like this on the recruiting trail, I’d be offended.

Multiple SEC assistants say that Sam’s coming out will be used by rival schools to negatively recruit against Missouri. “Coaches are going to be all over this,” said one assistant at another school.

If that sounds like backward thinking, that’s because it is. It also provides insight into the way football coaches operate. Some are tactful in how they approach things. Others, not so much.

“It’s a powder keg just waiting to explode,” the assistant said.

The assistant predicts that opposing coaches will pose a number of questions. “Why did [Missouri] cover this up?” the assistant said. “What else are they hiding? What were they trying to do? Keep a secret society?”

Not because of the prejudice.  Because it’s so effing stupid.  A secret society of teh gay?  What?  There ain’t a school in the SEC that doesn’t have secrets.  So what’s the real message supposed to be here – “come to our program where we try to keep a lid on old-fashioned, apple pie, American issues like rape, drugs and assault”?  Or, “don’t be fooled by a team having one of its players’ back, here’s the real dope”?  After all, what kid wouldn’t be swayed by that?

Honestly, I can’t think of a program that would be moronic enough to push something like that, unless there’s a five-star recruit on Duck Dynasty in next year’s class.  (I keed, I keed.)  Maybe it’s a form of reverse psychology – every SEC coach can deny with all his heart that his school would resort to something like that.

 Sports Illustrated really ought to be ashamed of itself for publishing that tripe.

We welcome our “network partners” overlords.

Remember when everyone and his brother were hailing Pac-12 Commish Larry Scott for his genius in negotiating his conference’s new broadcast deals?  All that money, served up on a platter.

Yeah, well, the bill’s come due.

The Pac-12 is in discussions with its network partners to change programming practices and avoid another season with an overwhelming number of night games, according to sources inside and outside the conference.

I wouldn’t necessarily characterize the back-and-forth as negotiations, because the league has a contract with ESPN and Fox that isn’t going away for a decade.

But Pac-12 officials were not happy with the ’13 broadcast schedule and are working with their partners to find an acceptable resolution for all parties involved. One source called the league’s approach “fair but firm.”

The conference spent three months listening to complaints from fans and school officials. Commissioner Larry Scott and his lieutenant are keenly aware of the frustration.

Whether they can do anything about it remains to be seen.

A $3 billion dollar deal and the networks want say so over broadcast times.  Some kinda nerve there.

But here’s what they can do: They can reduce or eliminate the exclusive window for the over-the-air broadcasts on ABC and Big FOX.

Maybe they eliminate it altogether.

Maybe they scrap it for half of the 10 broadcasts.

Either way, it would create more flexibility for the Pac12Nets.

I don’t know the specifics of the options being discussed.

But I know this: If nothing changes, the uproar from fans and campuses will be significant.

Maybe Larry can hit ’em into silence with the conference’s bank account.  After all, we know who’s gonna win here.

Bright lights, big city

Steve Spurrier has a bone to pick with somebody on the recruiting trail.

“We don’t run into much of any negative recruiting around here as SEC coaches,” Spurrier said. “We were involved with a player who was being recruited by a Big Ten school. They got negative a little bit with ‘There’s a lot of crime in Columbia, the big city. They don’t graduate their players,’ which was completely untrue. They searched for a little bit of everything but the player came with us anyways.”

Crime in Columbia, the big city?  Shit, no wonder the genius can’t recruit kids to the Flats.

Awaiting the gay

They’re at GAYCON1 in Mississippi, or something.

Coaches and administrators from Ole Miss and Mississippi State said they hope they’re ready for it, even if the situation has not presented itself yet.

The question, though, was unavoidable Monday, a day after former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam announced via ESPN and the New York Times that he was gay.

“To say that are we ready? We don’t know,” Ole Miss athletics director Ross Bjork said. “We haven’t had anybody approach us. But I feel confident in who we are as coaches and as administrators and as a campus. We would want someone to feel welcome and free, and to be who they are.”

That should work out well, given his school’s track record.

Ole Miss became the subject of national headlines in October when an audience at an on-campus performance of “The Laramie Project” allegedly used a homophobic slur. The university later said it could not determine what was said and who said it, and the school’s investigation made a point of clearing the athletes (including freshmen football players) in attendance.

Eh, maybe they were interacting with the performers.  Kinda like “Rocky Horror”.

And this is probably just a coincidence.

No worries, mon.  They could always let the Rebel Bear mascot sport a rainbow jersey out of solidarity.

Sympatico

My favorite part of this inevitable Stingtalk message board thread about Chris Conley’s Star Wars tribute is the commenter who indignantly asked, “How the hell did we not have a better shot at this guy?”

Because, you know, nerds.

Forget it, Rashaan. It’s Auburn.

Stay classy, Tigers.

Besides, young man, it’s not that you are Satan.  It’s that you’re playing for him.

“an influence that’s out there that you have to recognize…”

This is a very interesting read on how Virginia has made significant inroads into what was long a recruiting bedrock for the Virginia Tech program, the Virginia Beach area.

It’s also the latest example of how important offseason training programs and 7-on-7 spring football have become during the recruiting process, in some cases supplanting high school coaches as the main contact between top college programs and recruits.

All five prospects, along with many of the Cavaliers’ top recruits from recent seasons, grew up together in Virginia Beach (Kamara starred at Bishop Sullivan) and either trained in the offseason with the 757 Sports Academy or played 7-on-7 football with the Virginia Thoroughbreds, organizations that have joined together in recent years to become a controversial force in talent-rich Hampton Roads.

Such programs remain largely unregulated by the NCAA, and some in the recruiting industry question whether, in addition to helping recruits, they are also creating pipelines to certain schools for their own gain.

I’m shocked, shocked that could happen.  And Frank Beamer ain’t happy about it.

Tech coach Frank Beamer wrote about the situation in his recent autobiography, “Let Me Be Frank,” comparing the trend to AAU basketball without referencing either program by name.

“We are seeing certain mentors tied to different colleges. They are getting involved in recruiting and may direct a kid, or group of kids, to a certain college. Our coaches tell me they have been seeing quite a bit of this in the Virginia Beach area,” he wrote, a statement that only worsened the animosity between the Virginia Beach contingent and the Hokies.

Five’ll get you ten the Hokies eventually wake up and try to fix things by hiring somebody from that 7-on-7 program.  Support staff, for the win…

“Take a walk in the woods, be creative. Listen to the birds.”

Sure sounds like Jon Fabris wants back in Athens, doesn’t it?

Weatherproof

In case you were worried…

The UGA Athletic Association and The Georgia Bulldog Club will follow the inclement weather operations policy set forth by the University. Any potential weather related closing will not impact the Feb. 15 Hartman Fund deadline, which is UGA’s priority program for renewable season football tickets.

It’s good to know they’ll never need an indoor practice facility for that.