February 18, 2014 · 10:44 AM

“I could write a book on this experience …”

I don’t know about a book, but Mike Ekeler did write a letter about the process leading to his recent hire at Georgia.  He sounds like a classy addition to the staff.

(h/t Emerson)

17 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

17 responses to ““I could write a book on this experience …””

  1. joyridingdawg
    February 18, 2014 at 10:51 AM

    Something huge this way comes for Georgia this 2014 season. What a wonderful humble man.

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  2. PTC DAWG
    February 18, 2014 at 11:08 AM

    Good life lessons in that letter. One big one was to never burn bridges and stay in touch with folks.

    Thanks for the link.

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  3. Hogbody Spradlin
    February 18, 2014 at 11:15 AM

    I note that Lane Kiffin called Richt and Pruitt on Ekeler’s behalf. You can sort of tell Ekeler’s opinion of Junior; he waited till the very last paragraph of his letter to mention him.

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  4. Vince Dooley's Combover
    February 18, 2014 at 11:23 AM

    He needs to learn that its ‘Dawgs’ not ‘Dogs’. Other than that, looks like a great hire. I guess I won’t hold it against him.

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  5. Debby Balcer
    February 18, 2014 at 11:29 AM

    Sounds like a great hire.

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  6. DawgPhan
    February 18, 2014 at 11:30 AM

    That is really great and I am happy to have another great guy on the staff. Really does seem like people might actually want to work for someone like Coach Richt.

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  7. Ben
    February 18, 2014 at 12:40 PM

    Did anyone read the comments on that post over there? Looks like Nebraska has their own version of the Disney Dawgs.

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  8. mdcgtp
    February 18, 2014 at 1:18 PM

    I had two thoughts after reading that…

    1)It reinforced my view that we hired a quality person as ILB coach. He comes with an interesting background, and quite frankly, the fact that virtually EVERYONE from his prior experience (save Indiana) was supportive of him speaks volumes to me.

    2)it reinforced my view that “paying up” for asst coaches does not make a lick of sense to me given the . The fact that Ekeler had to enlist the support of lots of prominent members of the coaching community just to get an interview suggests that the ADs are complete off base in their view of the market value of Head Coaches, Coordinators, and assistants. the issue is that they are closed minded in who they consider first (anyone who has had the same job at a “name” program or has “name” recognition) and they rush to “buy out” someone who is employed when someone better might have come available through no fault of their own!

    In NFL free agency, there is often a frenzy on the first couple of days as teams tend to overpay for their targets in both value and duration. On a realative basis, the “next” wave that sign at the same position might be 95% as good but get a fraction of the money with much less value and duration. It reduces risk significantly. Now the “next wave” free agent might sign a short enough deal to where they play as well as the top target and sign away a year or two later, but if you have good process, you can always find replacements

    What is the point? I am not trying to maximize the bottom line of our AD by being cheap. Rather, I am making the point that money does not equal quality, and in coaching, hungry and determined are often the best qualities. Do you really think Rodney Garner is worth 2x Tracy Rocker? How motivated does that leave him relative to Rocker?

    Of course, I would also argue that the head coach has to be prepared to repeat the process if good assts get opportunity AND to quickly act when it is clear that guys are not performing to standards (REGARDLESS of salary!)

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  9. South FL Dawg
    February 18, 2014 at 3:17 PM

    I’m sold. Let’s go!!!!

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  10. ScoutDawg
    February 18, 2014 at 8:55 PM

    Excited to have him. Love the “Big Gun” comment by CMR.

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