Chip Towers strongly suggests that’s the case.
Don’t be surprised if Tramel Terry ends up moving back to offense by August. Right now nobody’s saying that’s going to happen. But Terry’s recent comments about his progress on the defensive side of the ball hinted that it’s not going great and he didn’t seem very happy.
The redshirt freshman athlete from Goose Creek was moved from receiver to defensive back during bowl practices in December and has been working at safety throughout Georgia’s spring practices.
… Terry’s move to defense came at the behest of former Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
“Every practice Coach Grantham would come up to me and say this is where you’re money’s at, this is where you can make it,” Terry recalled. “I looked at the DBs and I’m like, ‘I’m a defensive guy,’ like my body size and all that. I just trusted them. They put me on the defense for the bowl game and I was out there making plays. It was more relaxed. … They were just kind of putting me out there and telling me what to do. Now it’s more like learning. Sometimes I’m hesitant on what I’m doing I’ve just got to keep learning from the coaches and make sure I know everything and I’ll be fine.”
Terry scoffed at the prospect of possibly being utilized on both sides of the ball or as a kick returner, as was once discussed.
“I feel like my hands are full right now,” Terry said. “We’ve got plenty of guys who are capable of doing it. I guess they just want me to be on the field at safety and focus on that. … I’ve just got to become a defensive player.”
And Mike Bobo’s not exactly pushing back hard against the possibility.
Moving safety Tramel Terry back to receiver or somebody else on defense could be discussed.
“That’s something,” Bobo said, “we’ll evaluate probably after spring and let everybody get a fair shot.”
Urgh. I hope we’re not reading stories two or three years from now about how Terry was never been able to find a position at Georgia from which he could contribute.
Get The Picture 
“Urgh. I hope we’re not reading stories two or three years from now about how Terry was never been able to find a position at Georgia from which he could contribute.”
No, it looks like we’re reading stories this year about it.
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I say put Terry on offense and leave him alone. If not for the knee injury, he would have played last year especially when the injuries at receiver started to pile up.
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Kiante Tripp says ‘hi’…
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Aaaaaand I see what you did there (be kind; still on my first cup of Kool Aid)
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Richard Samuels and Robert Edwards would like a word with him.
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I was really hoping this position change would click. He strikes me as a guy who could give you the kind of range at free safety that we haven’t seen in a long time, maybe since Sean Jones. I hope they don’t give up simply because he struggled this spring. When the change was first announced, the consensus on here seemed to be that it would probably take a year for Terry to learn it enough to really contribute (he rarely played DB in high school, unlike a guy like JJ), so the fact that he’s struggled this spring shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Realistically, assuming our WR corp doesn’t get decimated by injury again, he’s probably not gonna play much this year even if he goes back to offense. So take the year and learn the safety position, contribute where you can in 2014, then be ready to be a star in 2015. I feel for him being frustrated though. It’s easy to sit behind a computer and throw out opinions of what is best for him. Regardless, I totally agree with the last sentence of the post.
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I agree. We need that sort of athleticism and instinct at safety, and Terry has everything else you look for in a safety.
He’s just now learning the position, it’s new for him, and there’s a lot to learn for a guy that hasn’t really done it before. He seems to be on about an average learning curve, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s far too early to give up on Terry as a safety, IMHO. I think it would be a mistake to move him back too soon, unless Pruitt concludes Terry just doesn’t have the ability (which we can almost rule out).
So in that case you move him. But not because he hasn’t learned and developed at a lightning-quick pace. You have to give him a chance to get familiar with the position so you can see what he can do, IMO. That’s only fair to the player.
So I’ll be surprised if they move Terry back now. His real shot is going to come in Camp, after he’s worked all summer at the fundamentals he’s been taught this Spring, and gets a better grasp of the defense and defensive play in general.
I suppose it could be that Terry is a Corey Moore type, and just can’t, or won’t, learn the defense. But I doubt that is what’s going on here. Terry seems like a bright enough kid.
~~~
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Sometimes the transition just doesn’t work out – see Malcom Mitchell. And its not like CTG had much success with position changes. I think Terry should go where he feels most comfortable. It appears we’re deep at WR for 2014. But we’ll likely need receivers in 2015, and TT will only be a sophmore.
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Any doubt it would have worked out better under CJP? None, for me…
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Agree. I think we all feel CJP is the better coach – and he has the resume to prove it.
Not sure I’m a big fan of the almost constant position changes we’ve had. In TT’s defense, first he had the injury, plus he’s a freshman and had to learn the O playbook, then as soon as he gets healthy he’s asked to move to S, and now new D coaches. Imagine its tough on him to keep coaches happy, or at least off his case.
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Do we know the coaches are unhappy with him, WC?
~~~
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Wasn’t inferring that. But if the kid don’t like playin D, let him move back to WR. Seems the majority of these position changes don’t work out.
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Didn’t think so, but wanted to make sure I didn’t miss something.
I get that. But AFAIK, Terry likes the move. And we’re way overdue for one to work out. I still feel this one, more than likely, will.
~~~
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Malcolm
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On an interesting note, we’d have to figure out jersey numbers. They promised #1 to Michel, thinking Terry would be on D. Small thing, but it’s a thing.
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“tripping” huh? I will take a glass half full of this. TT is going to play somewhere, my thoughts are he would be more valuable on defense but he strikes me as a guy who will succeed on STs and as a receiver or DB. Nothing wrong with experimenting during a RS year, seems the right way to check him out.
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Maybe the coaches think they can make a good safety out of him. When Bruce Thorton made the move to CB he had never really played defense in HS and he did fairly well there. Played for Dallas I think. Robert Edwards made the transition from D to RB. If he didn’t break something in his foot we would have beat uT that year. Walking back to the car after that game and being heckled by the hillbillies was tough to take.
I think I read somewhere that Dooley thought Hershel would make an excellent linebacker. Go figure.
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Sadly, not every kid out of High School that is highly ranked contributes. Who knows if that will be the case with this kid. Too early to tell.
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Interesting that we stole the last to MR. FOOTBALL out of SC. I bet the ole ball coach is kinda steamed about that. If CMR was a snarky guy I bet he could have some fun with that fact.
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Your last sentence says it all. Let the guy go through a full fall practice before we start declaring his career a bust.
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It was not until Tramel checked out the Lexicon that he realized that in addition to gloom, despair and agony the process of making a good Tripp bad would also have a sense of ruthlessness about it
“Tripp (v.) – ruthless continual changing of a player’s position. (h/t Brandon)”
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Am I the only one who doesn’t get a “unhappy and not going well” vibe from that quote?
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No.
~~~
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I was surprised when I heard he was moving to safety. Our receiver production and depth is going to take a major hit after this season. The safety position is going to have plenty of bodies with a lot of talent.
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This wont ruin or degrade your career on bit Tramel. Trust me….
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I thought that I read that the coaches were asking the players where they wanted to play and giving them an honest shot at it??? If so let the player decide whats best for him, or we can wait for the UGA Union to decide next year for us. I don’t really care where he plays, as long as he can produce. The constant position changes that irk me are the continuous personnel movements on the OL.
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Shhhh…. they’re cross training… 😉
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