I really feel for Roquan Smith, regardless of where he chooses to go in the end. But I hope he takes the delay that occurred yesterday after he made his announcement to attend UCLA and then learned that his primary recruiter and position coach was strongly rumored to be leaving for the NFL as an opportunity to take a deep breath, reset and do what’s best for himself.
One thing he needs to factor into the equation is the strong likelihood that Jim Mora is a weasel.
Quinn and Ulbrich coached together in Seattle before Ulbrich was hired by UCLA head coach Jim Mora to be the linebackers and special teams coach in 2012. He was elevated to defensive coordinator in 2014.
Smith was unaware of the news, but Georgia’s coaching staff made certain that news got to Macon County as fast as possible. Speculation behind the scenes in the media is that at least one media outlet was aware Ulbrich was going to leave UCLA as long as three weeks ago, but sat on the story until after Signing Day.
“It was common knowledge,” said one reporter. “They just agreed not to report it until after signing day.”
All’s fair in love and war, I suppose. At least until you get caught.
Get The Picture 
Smith simply needs to go with his heart – UGA. He said his heart was with Georgia yesterday in his post commitment interview.
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I loved UGA’s response, “We aren’t going anywhere.”
Question Senator, regarding RS’s coach’s comment: “A lot of these coaches want kids to commit early, and then they do a lot of fooling around. It’s the coaches either getting hired or fired – it makes the whole process much more difficult.”
I assume the early signing date is binding for the kid, no matter coaching staff changes?
It says a lot that only casinos and the NCAA stack the deck in their favor so blatantly.
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Why not make recruiting a reciprocal agreement? The recruiter sends a letter that states he is going to be there physically for him along with the Coach’s or AD’s signature. That puts the shit out front quickly.
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It looks like Mora and Ulbrich are essentially doubling down at this point, with Ulbrich telling Smith that him leaving for the Falcons isn’t a done deal. Yea, right. Even more ironic was Ulbrich telling Smith that he’s concerned about having to move his family across the country.
First, coaches move all the time—that’s the nature of the business, and they are compensated quite handsomely for their gypsy like lifestyle. Second, he has a lot of nerve telling Smith about the potential stress of moving his family across the country when, at the same time, he’s trying to get Smith to do the exact same thing, even though he knows deep down that he won’t be the one coaching him. Oh yea, let’s not forget the little fact that Ulbrich will be making a 7 figure income in Atlanta, while Smith will be a poor college student living 2k miles from home.
I truly believe that many, if not a majority of coaches today have sold their soul to the devil given many of the things they do. At some point early in their careers, they took a hard look in the mirror and decided that they must throw away that moral compass; otherwise they’ll have no chance to ever be successful and will be relegated to as position coach at a North Texas type program instead.
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Bingo.
Mora and Ulbrich have really shown their lack of character here. It is a disgrace.
They’re screwing with this kid’s life and they don’t give a shit. They are millionaires with control over their lives and tons of options. They want to scam this kid into making a decision that will impact his entire life and lock him in, limiting his options in the future.
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If this matters to you, Muckbeast, you ought to think about it next time we take a loss and you start wanting Richt gone again. Seriously. I’m not saying the choice is easy, but there is not one doubt that there is a choice between having a coach with some degree of integrity and having an absolute sleazeball (which would be 90% of the top coaches in the profession, IMO)–because most college coaches have gotten to the top by being sleazy, lying bastards that take advantage of a flagrantly corrupt system that grants them tons of power.
Hence, Mike Riley for $500, please, Alex.
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I don’t believe I have ever called for CMR to be fired. If so, it was extremely rare. Van Halanger? Yes. Unqualified scrubs running S&C? Yes. Assistants like Willie Martinez? Yes.
I’ve said what I believe to be reasonable, which is eventually our program needs to win a title or changes need to be made. That’s just reasonable fact. Eventually the time comes where you have to accept that perhaps the group you have won’t get the job done – either because they lack something vital or they overstayed their welcome and their message has gone stale.
You are also creating a false dichotomy. Winning a title does not require hiring utter deceitful filth like Urban Meyer or what Jim Mora now appears to be.
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I think top, NC-winning college football coaches are almost exclusively utter deceitful filth, and I don’t think that’s a false dichotomy at all. But I’ll accept that it’s my opinion until (even more) evidence is provided.
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Recent CFB national champ coaches that I do not think are “utterly deceitful filth.” Sure, they might push the envelope here or there, and may not be the nicest guy on the planet, but these are ones I don’t think deliberately screw kids over heartlessly:
Les Miles
Gene Chizik
Mack Brown
Nick Saban
Pete Carroll
Jim Tressell
Larry Coker
Bob Stoops
Bobby Bowden
Tom Osborne
Lloyd Carr
Steve Spurrier
That’s 12 out of 15 that aren’t anywhere near Urban Meyer level from the last 20 years.
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Your list almost confirms my point. Les Miles, Tom Osborne, and Mack Brown are the only ones I would consider to be human enough to survive in the non-football world. The rest of them, well, if you don’t know their deceitful and sub-human actions over the years, you’ve not been paying attention.
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Even by your insanely strict standard, that’s still 3 out of 15.
And I think your standard is too strict.
You don’t have to be Urban Meyer level gutterslime to win a title.
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Well said.
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This kid wanted some spotlight, he’s getting all of it. He needs to make a decision fast, for his own sake.
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I disagree, he should take as much time as he needs… and it sounds like his decision will be fast once he knows what’s going to definitively happen with Ulbrict. There is no way that guy doesn’t know what he’s going to do.
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I say this because it will become more & more of a spectacle the longer it draws on. That type of attention can ruin a person, many people, whether it be from ego inflation or deflation.
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Even if the coach stays at UCLA, how can he continue to trust him? I say it should be fast to show he catches on and gets over the ego deflation quickly. Hanging on really makes him obtuse and unmanly-appearing on top of everything else. Let his decision to play at UGA drive him to excel.
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Why does he “need[] to make a decision fast?” He will not lose any opportunity by waiting.
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I’m not saying I know RS in the slightest, but watching his commitment live yesterday and reading his comments, as well as those around him, gives me an idea of who he is….he’s an impressionable 17 yr old kid. He’s had the last year+ to make his own decision in relative privacy, he failed to do that. Now he’s living in a fish bowl and has everybody in his ear, if that’s not pure hell on him, it soon will be. He’s got great schools to choose from, he should just get it over with and focus on reaching his maximum potential. I honestly don’t see him ending up at UGA, though I’d love to be wrong.
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Put yourself in his shoes. He had a relationship with a coach that he believed would be there fore him, and that coach is a big reason he was going to sign with UCLA. He found out ON SIGNING DAY that the coach may be jilting him.
I analogize it, simpl_matter, to if you found out the morning of the wedding that your financee was planning to stand you up and marry someone else. You ask he and she says, “I am thinking about it but I am not sure yet, I probably won’t and will want to marry you.” You feel betrayed. Under your theory you are better off picking up the phone and asking your last girlfriend to marry you. My advice would be to not make any life altering decisions until you have had time to get over that shock emotionally and be thoughtful about your next move.
That is the what’s best for Smith. If he really wants to play for that coach at UCLA, waiting to sign gives him a chance to see if the guy does turn the Falcons down and stay at UCLA, or if he feels betrayed by Jim Mora waiting gives him a chance to reassess the other colleges. He evaluated those colleges in relationship to UCLA. He may wish to evaluate the remaining ones against each other. Why should he do that immediately?
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I hear you, but I don’t know if that’s the best analogy. This isn’t a life-partner, and it’s not like there are limitless new options out there for him to discover. He had his top 4, assuming he doesn’t want to go to UCLA, he should go with his next favorite option and get down to business. The media circus spotlight is for clowns.
I do think UGA is now tainted by this (in his mind); Richt & Co did the right thing, but no good deed goes unpunished. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go to A&M.
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As I said before, he may not have ordered his “next favorite options” yet since he may have compared each with UCLA and not with each other. Give him time to do that. It is his life, not ours.
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“Speculation behind the scenes in the media is that at least one media outlet was aware Ulbrich was going to leave UCLA as long as three weeks ago, but sat on the story until after Signing Day” …. I wonder if Urban Meyer called Mora to give him an ‘atta boy’ after that level of cooperation from the media… probably not, since it actually leaked out.
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Senator – Maybe you should establish a Weasel of the Year Award. Not sure who I would vote for – Mora or Petrino. Of course there are lots of other candidates out there too. 2015 appears to be the year of the Weasel.
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Petrino easily trumps Mora. In Mora’s case, at least he’s trying to persuade a recruit to come play for him. Petrino, meanwhile, is yanking schollys away just a few days before NSD.
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Maybe they are different animals. Mora is a weasel and Petrino is a douche.
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True dat. Make the award Weasel of the World (WOW!) to match their “Equivocate You” (EY!) name to recruits. Their recruiting symbol could be a shadow portrait of a kid with dreadlocks running away from outstretched red hands waving a towel..
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Definitely Petrino. Besides all the football garbage think about what he did to his wife,children and his mistress’s fiance. When my father was in SAC one of his crew’s fiance was in the wrong and it tore that young man up. I was a kid and I could see it. He stayed with us for a week as my father was very concerned about his mental health. Ultimately the two went their separate ways. That made a big impression on me. The gentleman that caused it all was one of my father’s men too. He caught hell the rest of his tour. One thing was certain. When you got on dad’s shit list you were gonna do hard time until you managed to get off.
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Senator, I object to AHD poaching my handle. It’s confusing and is being done in bad faith. Please either have a talk with the guy about this or just block him when he does it. Thanks.
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Well then. You don’t have your sarcasm font sooo? Anyway I’ve shared that my youngest son is a Y1. He reads this blog. So do the majority of the people he hangs with at school. He occasionally writes a post or two for Bernie’s blog. In the past he has requested that I tone the tenor of my remarks down here at GTP. I have tried to do so. Your request to Bluto has cause some interest at UGA Law. I’ve received some pro bono advise. lol. Calm down Mr. Mayor. I am not trying to impersonate you and no one is confused. I mean… Mac is still nice to me.
I am not, have never been, and have no desire to be the Mayor nor am I involved or associated with the Mayor. I have no particular axe to grind, this is not a pro domo plea.
😉
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Senator Blutarsky,
The first time I used Mayor 2.0 was in response to Mac’s rather sharp response/criticism to one of Mr Mayors posts (I did it my way/youtube). I didn’t intend to remain as Mayor 2.0. But my multitasking is not as sharp as it might me and I simply forgot to change it back. It was an oversight. I had changed it back prior to Mr Mayor’s complaint. I hope this resolves any misunderstanding and insures that in the future no one will mistake me for * The Mayor*.
Thank you.
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I nominate Steve Spurrier.
Changed DC’s as soon as all his LOIs were in. Classic bait and switch.
Weasel.
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This one wasn’t as bad as you think, I doubt if any recruits were caught by surprise on this one. It’s been kind of an open secret for a couple of weeks now (I live in SC, tho I’m sure it wasn’t getting much coverage elsewhere). Then on Monday, Tony Morell from TheBigSpur.com was on local sports talk here saying that unless Spurrier had a huge change of heart, it was pretty much a done deal that Hoke was coming. As much as it was speculated in the media around here, I have a pretty hard time thinking their recruits didn’t know about it.
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Would think that the D recruits would welcome it since their present coach isn’t doing so well, but still, it could have been stated by SC. It would have helped more than it hurt. Now it looks like skin color was used to entice them.
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As I understand it, Ward is likely to still be there, at least for the next year. Spurrier said a couple weeks back that all the D coaches are under contract for the next year. What Morell said was that any coaches who are replaced will be given the option to stay on in an administrative or analyst type of role, or if they find another coaching position then they’re free to go. But he seemed to think that Ward will stick around and accept a step down. Some are saying Ward is even likely to retain the “Defensive Coordinator” title, and Hoke will be “Assistant Head Coach of Defense” or something like that. I guess we’ll see.
But at least a couple of weeks ago, Spurrier made a comment something to the effect of “We may still make some changes, but not before signing day”. Which pretty much EVERYONE took to mean “There will be changes after signing day”. Again, I just don’t think any recruits were caught off guard by this. Spurrier is a lot of things, but one of those things is that he’s a pretty straight shooter. Heck, to the point that it cost them several highly commits this year with is “Two or three more years” comment.
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Wow I butchered that last sentence. Should say:
Heck, to the point that it cost them several highly rated commits this year with his “Two or three more years” comment.
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This guy is in a tough spot. Good luck to him.
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I recall we once had a player sign on Easter Sunday and things worked out OK.
Take all the time you need, Roquan.
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No shortage of candidates for being the scummiest coach/program based on 2015 NSD but one thing is as expected: UGA isn’t in the running. You have to be proud to have CMR being the face of your program 365, 24/7.
As for Smith, his coach, or other adults close to him let him down in this process. I get the impact and sleaziness of UCLA’s actions, they should be ridiculed nationally, but before we knew that and according to his interview yesterday, Smith approached one of the biggest decisions he has faced in his life with no idea which way to go. He didn’t know the night before, he didn’t know yesterday morning before school, and had not decided before he reached into the bag to pull out a hat…he had both UCLA and UGA gear in the bag. Smith had been thinking on this for over a year, had taken trips, narrowed his schools down, but not one adult sat him down and asked him where he stood, and if he were sure. That is a failure in so many ways, and a responsible adult should get involved with him and go through a process of evaluation with him so he has something to hang his hat on (either hat) and know why he is going to whichever school selected.
Something is wrong about Athens for him, and I don’t know what it is. He didn’t choose it yesterday, had not chosen it definitively before yesterday, and after the UICLA fiasco blew up, he still didn’t choose UGA. Now he is opening his commitment up to more schools? Why? I understand that ctg snubbed him, but that horse has left the barn long ago. It was the current staff that helped save the day for him yesterday, shouldn’t that have put us over the top for him? We need a strong ILB candidate so I hope he picks UGA but something isn’t looking good in this process and, after listening to him yesterday, I don’t think it is his own idea….someone is working against UGA behind the scenes, imo.
One thing is sure, he should slam the door on UCLA immediately. They not only treated up like animal dung in the days before NSD, they weren’t honest with him even after the news broke. How can you trust that group, and specifically the man who was talking with you everyday as your primary recruiter? Answer, you don’t. That is the guy who was supposed to have your back 2500 miles away from home?
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‘t see this until after I posted. Talk about like minds…
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We sure can’t blame Trenton who was probably on him like stink on shit after he announced. He drove the 80 miles to hear Smith commit – to UGA. Sounds like his entire school was for his pledge to UGA as well.
This kid made a last second mistake and the consequences haven’t yet played out in his mind. He doesn’t know that we can take being second and not denigrated to feeling second choice if he just gets angry, joins us and takes his frustration out on opposing players. He can realize his dream in good company and at home.
We all see the bright lights in life and take it from me, there are a lotta bright lights in LA (you didn’t miss the Snoop Dog reference from Mora, did you?) And UCLA and USC use them well when recruiting out-of-towners.
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No, there is so much to love about TT, even before you get to the exceptional talent part. The young man committed initially without all the requisite sucking up from coaches, didn’t use NSD as a coming out party for Drama Queen # 4,611, never waivered from his commitment down the stretch to get additional attention, and recruited other athletes to come join the party. I couldn’t be happier about having him on board for what could be the best run of UGA football in decades….and then there is that talent thang.
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I think this kid likes the attention. He probably genuinely likes both schools, but what he likes more is everyone talking about him. The “opening back up my recruitment” tells me he’s going to drag this out as long as he can. The more this drags out the less inclined I am about him coming to Athens. More talent is always better, but I’m wary of such a prima donna.
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Or maybe the kid is just unsure of where he wants to go now that the UCLA coach he had a relationship with may be moving on. You understand, Dashlok, that when he sends in that NLOI he is stuck wit the at choice. Maybe he does not want to make a live changing choice while in the glare of publicity.
If I was his Father I would advise him to not sign a NLOI with anyone. He is not required to sign a NLOI to get a scholarship. At least one school (UGA) is keeping a spot open for him if he shows up on campus in June with a suitcase in his hand, so I would want him to have the ability to make sure he is getting the decision right. That is nt being a prima donna; it is being smart.
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+1
Why are we lighting this kid up like he’s the devil? Apparently he hasn’t been sure of what he’s wanted to do, even up to the point of when he was making his announcement. He’s got a really big decision to make, and I don’t blame him for looking at all of his options after Mora revealed his inner snake.
I will say that the way he’s handling this makes me think UGA is not what he really wants, or not what someone very close to him really wants and he’s listening.
But regardless of the impact on us we should support the kid in making the best decision for him and not call him a prima dona.
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I get the feeling that maybe it is not Athens or UGA, but the proximity to his hometown. There is something in him that wants to leave the area either to get away from certain elements (friends or family) or just to start a new chapter in his life with new people, new location, new perspectives, etc
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Still don’t get it. Smith , even after making his choice, stated that it was still 55% UGA. Then when shown to be duped, he didn’t carry out the feeling he was all torn up about. If UGA was so prominent and continued to be so after his decision, why is he opening his recruiting back up again? Why not just take us as he intended and decided not to after a long moment on stage (my neighbor watches and told me how his decision played out). Turns out he was still deciding as he was reaching for the apparel to don under the podium. Did anyone else see that? How can a kid still have positive feelings for UCLA(Mora) after being duped publicly (and with the help of the press it turns out) against his state school “of his heart” ?
Who exactly is “the media” in that no UGA coach, nor personnel nor UGA sympathizers had a friend anywhere that would divulge this unscrupulous act to us? If it was us and the kid was in LA, how the hell do you think that plays out?
I mean they deliberately did this to show that they can’t be trusted and didn’t give a shit about a kid’s future by luring him to the bright lights and then informing him that his coach-in-not-waiting had gone to that part of the country where the kid and his family lived. If it was Bobo or Richt they would have done what is right for the kid long ago.
In case any of you are feeling like unleashing Montezuma’s revenge (kudos to DIF), don’t worry. Cross-town rival USC will make them pay in recruiting next year by repeating this story ad nauseam.
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I wonder if someone over in the Falcon’s front office (not necessarily a higher-up) didn’t tip off the Georgia staff to UIbrich’s impending hire.
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I heard an unsubstantiated rumor that this was exactly the case.
If it was indeed the case… thanks, Uncle Arthur.
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Georgia Sports Blog’s Tyler Dawgden suspects that the bad blood between Blank and Mora is exactly how the news was leaked.
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Purely speculative, of course, but TD’s theory is sound.
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Really? Hahahahaha. That would be kinda awesome.
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That was a suspicion in a lot of minds, but for the antithesis; if they knew all along, why didn’t they let UGA know earlier?
Mac is onto something when he wrote “Something is wrong about Athens for him……”. I wonder if it’s not being shamed as to being duped publicly and reflexively acting obtuse. He’s loyally hanging on for the coach to confirm he’s going to be hired in Atl,(instead of being angry) sorta like a defense mechanism for trusting and believing naively. This tops the Petrino crap because it was done publicly while he was showing the world how wise he was in his decision while the other kid and his coach brought Petrino to the public’s attention in a revenge move.
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I disagree that no one had talked to him.You can see the expressions on the faces of the people in the crowd when he said UCLA.I think they did,like so many others and told the kid it was his decision thinking that he was going Georgia.The coach and a few others did take him to lunch before he sent his LOA in and all the time UCLA is calling wanting the LOA.I think the boy got to thinking about the last trip he was on and they did a great job of selling.I have bought cars before from fast talking salesmen that I wish I could have taken back.Luckily they kept him from signing anything and now he has time to weigh all the facts.
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Always easy to play close to home…see friends, family members, high school coaches, etc during playing football and studies at UGA.
But we all saw Mora’s class and character come out in the bowl game with Kansas State.
And you have to ask why UGA did not go to the high school football staff and say look the position coach is leaving after signing day.
If he is that unsure where he wants to go, then let him go to the west coast. They play at midnight after the Midwest and East coast news media is shut down.
Takes a man to play in the SEC. Anybody can play in the pac coast bush conferences.
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What happened with Mora and KSU?
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Never mind. Found it.
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Amen. It ain’t the same cfb world. Hell, they applaud politely when you score a TD. At least you can get a beer spilled on you here or, if I’m behind you, cookie crumbs spat on your head, when scoring TDs.
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Whether Ulbrich leaves or not isn’t pertinent. Whether Ulbrich has been negotiating to leave for three weeks is. If Smith can’t see the deception then he simply doesn’t want to.
One other thing.
I didn’t know that Mora and Ulbrich attended Auburn and graduated from their school of ethics. And that Trooper Taylor was their recruiting consultant. Suddenly it all becomes crystal clear.
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If I was advising Smith I would tell him to not sign a national letter of intent. The NLOI is not a required prerequisite to getting a scholarship. All it does is bind a kid to a school. If Smith is waiting to see if the UCLA coach really is going to take the Falcons job Smith will know by the time he would report to college in June.
Richt has already told him we are saving a spot for him, so he can show up at Butts-Mehre in June just as if he signed a NLOI. If I was advising Smith I would get him to make the coaches commit. In other words, I would ask them to assure him that there will be a scholarship available in June, even without a NLOI. The, Smith can make a decision based upon any coaching or other changes between now and June.
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