Darryl Jones’ replacement is on board and, yes, he’s served time in Tuscaloosa.
Former college coach and offensive analyst Ronnie Letson has been named Director of Player Personnel at the University of Georgia according to an announcement Monday by head football coach Mark Richt.
“Ronnie has a vast wealth of knowledge in both on-field coaching and organizational skills that will be a great asset to our program,” said Richt. “His career has been spent in the southeast and he knows the landscape of college football.”
Letson most recently served briefly as wide receivers coach at Samford University (since February, 2014) but spent the 2013 season as an offensive analyst at the University of Alabama.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this was part of a deliberate strategy to make Kirby Smart feel more comfortable when Richt leaves Athens.
One interesting side note to this:
[Insert name of current member of Saban’s staff here.]
Get The Picture 
Senator, I sure am interested as to WHY Coach Jones left UGA? Any insight on that?
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Pure speculation on my part, but it sounded like Jones lost out in a power struggle that occurred as McClendon was given more authority over recruiting.
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“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this was part of a deliberate strategy to make Kirby Smart feel more comfortable when Richt leaves* Athens.”
Or make Jeremy Pruitt feel more comfortable when Pruitt leaves Athens and takes the Alabama Gang with him to:
(a.) Columbia,
(b.) Gainesville,
(c.) Knoxville, or
(d.) Fayetteville
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D Jones is a class guy. Hope he lands a good gig.
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Do some Google Fishing fellas, Ronnie Letson is a Mike Bobo pick from JSU days. Has a long and solid relationship with CMB, much moreso than Pruitt.
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I’d like to see CMR move to AD and with a small miracle, Pruitt to HC. IMO, Pruitt really likes being associated with a program that will hold players accountable………..it’s a big reason I’m a fan
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Do you think Pruitt has earned the right to be successor to Richt more than Bobo has?
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No. He’s the flavor of the month, the same was Grantham was. I don’t doubt the man’s skills and talents, but I would prefer to actually see him coach a down at UGA before anointing him the replacement for Mark Richt. If anyone on staff has that spot at the moment, it has to be Bobo.
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my thoughts exactly
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I think I’ll wait at least 1 season before considering such a proposition.
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If I didnt know any better, I’d think CMR is setting the table for CJP to slide in as HC in the not-to-distant future. Think about it, CJP currently is the DC, his staff is likely to handle the STs, he’s openly & most outspokenly directing the S&C program, is arguably our top recruiter, and now this hire. Do the math.
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I’d call it the “Pruitt-ization” of the Dawgs.
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I blame someone for not clearing this with Bobo. I thought he was supposed to be the undesignated/unnamed HCIW while CMR puts in what will be at least Bobby Bowden time (30-40 seasons) in Athens
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I’m optimistic about Pruitt as our DC, but this HCIW is overboard and comical. The guy hasn’t even coached our defense for a single game.
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Are you trying to say that Springtime for Pruitt is not enough?
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No doubt you’ve nailed it. Then again, I know us Dawg fans find nothing odd and consider it a lateral move to leave a much easier gig for no extra $$, leave the #1 D, and leave the national champs, etc. – to go to an 8-5 team with a D, STs, etc. that need serious work, in a much tougher conference.
The guy walks, talks, and acts like the HC already. I don’t have a problem with it. But no, there’s no chance in the world CJP is the CIW.
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“The guy walks, talks, and acts like the HC already”
Really? He hasn’t even coached in a single game for us.
Also, just to play devil’s advocate, FSU had a great defense for several years prior to Pruitt’s arrival. He wasn’t nearly as responsible for recruiting nor developing any of the talent as people give him credit for.
I still believe he’s a great hire for us and a huge step up at DC, but hailing him as the next head coach is very premature.
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Nobody asked. But IMHO, all the next head coach talk is nonsense. I know for sure I don’t want Smart. And neither Bobo nor Pruitt excites me either. I wouldn’t want either one. I think they’re both coordinator guys, not the face of a program.
Pruitt – maybe. But he’s not ready yet, and I’m not sure that’s what he wants. He’s a pure football guy. If he wants it, he’ll get it, sooner or later. But if he can make a $1M + as a plain old football coach, I suspect he’ll find that very tough to abandon.
~~~
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Guess we’ll just have to take Bruce’s word for it.
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Exactly. Who was it, for crying out loud. Leaving the name off is like a cheap shot.
~~~
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I’m starting a rumor, it was Kirk Herbstreit, this way all discipline problems are his fault.
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Thanks. Coach Jones was and is a class guy, as Lrgk9 points out. I guess we will never know the truth. Too bad. UGA lost a good one.
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The best part of that link was the Tech part. To wit:
“Georgia Tech player personnel director Matt Griffin was fired with cause on May 1 for “violation of rules.” According to the AJC’s Ken Sugiura, per an open-records request, a letter from athletic director Mike Bobinski to Griffin informing him of his termination stated that he owes the athletic association $9,388.35 for “personal expenses charged to our accounts.”
You’d think those Tech guys would be better at math.
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If I didn’t know better I’d say this was part of a deliberate strategy to make Georgia the Bama of the SEC East. 🙂
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Another great headline in a continuous string of great headlines. I’m all for it. 100% in, hook, line, and sinker. Our structure was in bad need of an overhaul.
~~~
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I agree. Whatever they’ve been doing sure has been working
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Thanks, watcher.
I should clarify, though, I was trying to complement Blutarsky on his headline writing, he’s as good as it gets in that department. But it works the other way too. 🙂
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He’s as bad as it gets in that department? If so, that may harsh his mellow
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I like the turn of phrase, but it won’t be full Bama-zation until:
— we have 200 quality analysts on the football payroll,
— we oversign to the max,
— we conceal our scholarship numbers and cut down to 85,
— we get the cops on the program and make all discipline internal,
— the local media are silenced,
— we have a medical scholarship program,
— we have a grayshirt program, and
— every coach in the state knows his duty.
Have I missed anything?
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I don’t think so. Nice job.
And a good point, too. We’re doing some things with our structure, and they’re going to help us. A LOT, IMO. And they won’t change who we are. They are common sense things, in terms of structure and organization, and they are only Sabanesque at all because he uses them. There are others that do as well. Contrary to popular opinion, Saban didn’t invent the wheel.
We will never be Saban’s exact model, and I don’t ever want to be. I want us to be ourselves, and I’ve said before we can win and compete consistently at the highest level, with Saban or anybody else, and still maintain our standards.
We just have to do it a little better, because we have little to no room for error, in order to negate the advantage that comes when you believe winning is worth compromising certain values, standards, and principles.
~~~
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Be assured I was tongue in cheek. I get a little too subtle with the sarcasm sometimes.
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“Contrary to popular opinion, Saban didn’t invent the wheel.”………….thanks for the laugh, that’s good stuff
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“Have I missed anything?”
What about suits from Tom al-Betar’s T-Town Menswear kiosk in the mall to completely outfit the well-dressed man?
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Dont forget the car deals for recruits. Derrick Henry and Reuben Foster didnt
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So why the jab at UGA from Bruce Feldman?
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I thought it was a shot, myself.
~~~
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Bruce is working us over like a Mandel. It’s go time
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“The Alabama-ization of Georgia’s staff continues.” just thought it was because every coach in a 15,000 mile radius either works or has worked for Saban at one time.
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Keep in mind most of us would have hailed Grantham HCIW after we saw his intensity the first time on the sideline. I remember him getting a standing O in his first game in a 50 point route when he tore into a DB who blew coverage.
Pruitt by the way did get a significant raise. He was at $500 at FSU and Fisher only secured $300k for the entire staff’s raises where JP ended up with that much by himself. And we can say what we like, but the FSU job as good as it is can be a dead end if you’re not careful, ask Mickey Andrews. If you want to be HC, he’ll need to prove it in the best conference he can and UGA is as good a job as there is period. This is a school that has NO excuses and it’s not easy to find schools with our commitment and resources. We can debate the reasons why we haven’t won the NC whether it’s luck, bad coaching, recruiting or what have you but the fact remains we have everything we need to do it. They just have to put the pieces together.
But I would agree, especially considering the crap the CMB put up with over the years he is a DGD and if anyone has earned the right to be the head dawg after Mark at this point it’s Bobo.
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Please don’t taunt the conspiracy theorists with the Richt leaving/ Smart coming talk. I saw what you did there. 🙂
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Damn it! So much for subtlety. 😉
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