… is that it doesn’t leave you with much room for error in the years when you get your recruiting classes right.
“It was cool to be labeled that, and have such a great class,” Georgia offensive lineman Hunter Long said. “But as you know some of those guys fell off along the way. But the guys that have stuck around it’s been a great ride.”
Some of those guys:
The latter two are part of the star-crossed nature of the class: Neither lasted more than a year at Georgia, with Crowell (the SEC freshman of the year in 2011) gone after a gun-possession arrest (later dismissed) the summer of 2012. Marshall, Chris Sanders and Sanford Seay were dismissed following a theft from a teammate’s room in February of 2012. Marshall ended up back at Auburn, where he played quarterback twice against his old team…
… The Dream Team had some misses: The only quarterback in that class, four-star Christian LeMay, transferred because of playing time and is now the backup at Jacksonville State, an FCS school.
Other players were hit by injury: Receiver Justin Scott-Wesley stopped playing this team because of chronic knee problems.
Again, it wasn’t a bad class, as things turned out. But given the lackadaisical way the surrounding classes were filled out, it needed to show less fall out than it ultimately did.
Combine that with the crater that remains from the 2013 group – boy, I can hardly wait to read that piece in a couple of years – and you can see why the coaches are scrambling like crazy to play youngsters this season. And why the 2016 class, regardless of whom those kids come to play for (just thought I’d get that in there before some of you start up), is going to be big for Georgia in the near term, as well.
Get The Picture 
Anybody heard how many Early Enrollees we’re looking at this year? Eason is the only one I’ve heard, but I don’t follow recruiting closely during the season. Is Ben Cleveland enrolling early?
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Can we early enroll a new OC?
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I could be wrong, but sandwiched between 2011 and the 2013 dumpster fire, didn’t UGA only sign 16 in 2012 class?
Richt’s roster management amounts to program malpractice.
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Whether it is the Pruitt effect, or just an awakening, keeping our roaster at max scholarship the last 2 seasons is going to pay off. It also doesn’t reward other teams with talent we are passing on by not keeping our roster full.
The next 2 seasons should be a much improved and deep UGA.
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It was 19 LOIs with Leonard Floyd and John Atkins going the prep school route; technically 17 (but two were kickers). That was a good class, though. Gurley, Marshall, Jenkins, Floyd, Theus, Pike, Hicks, etc.. The sad thing is they intentionally left spaces open because there was “so much talent” in the state of Georgia for the 2013 class. They took 32 in 2013, and we all know how that worked out.
http://georgia.247sports.com/Season/2012-Football/Commits
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Go back even further to the 2007 class and analyze the positions separately. We lost the ability to recruit strategically especially on the OL and DL. Then it became DBs and QBs. We are in year 7 of a 10 year cycle due to the efforts back then.
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There are supposedly near half a dozen early enrollees in play. I thought Kyle Davis, who has yet to decide, planned to enroll early.
But what this made me think of was JSW, and how much I hope UT-K goes back to turf. Hate that his career, which was blooming at the time of his injury, has fizzled due to injury.
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I don’t see why it is so difficult for them to fix that field and hire a great grounds crew. At this point, I would rather they put in astro turf than that plowed up looking farm field.
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+1
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Probably paying off the remnants of SOD’s ill-fated contract has an effect on the field finances. So in the final analysis we can call HIM Agent Dooley.
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Kyle Davis says he’s enrolling early where ever he goes, so he ain’t got long to decide.
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Georgia hasn’t had the talent to compete in the sec for years. The “dream team” perfectly personifies this. A lot of hype but wasn’t even a top five class (yes there is a significant difference between top ten and top five ) and third best in the conference. Only six guys play in the nfl. None drafted earlier than the third round, one undrafted (Andrews) 2 didn’t stay at Georgia more than a year.
I know the meme is that Georgia signs a bunch of awesome recruits and sends a lot of guys to the nfl but if you really analyze the data we haven’t had enough Jimmie and Joe’s for a loooong time.
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I’m so tired of that meme. Agreed. We need to recruit better than we hype.
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Just drive me nuts. If you are going to criticize Richt, at least get your facts straight. Every day on the radio “look at all those guys in the NFL” as if Stafford counted toward UGA’s O and D line totals in the league and that no other SEC team puts players in the NFL.
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Exactly.
The good news is we seem to finally be putting the money into running & recruiting like a top tier program, BUT this change is less than a year old. People should just chill the f*ck out and let us pull in a top 5 recruiting class or two. We’ve got holes on the this team patched with chewing gum and duct tape right now.
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This is simply not true. Our 2016 class (assuming the staff can hold it together) is third best in the conferencebehindlsu and Alabama and is ranked outside the top 5. Ditto for last year. Richt’s only top 5 class (basically a requirement to win a national or sec championship) was in 06. There’s no evidence we are starting to get enough talent in Athens.
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No, it’s simply true. We are currently #5 in 24/7, #7 in both Rivals & ESPN for the 2016 class.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2016/all/all
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/classrankings
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
We are the favorite or coin toss winner in half a dozen or so uncommitted 2016 5* recruits (Brown, Hardman, Davis, Allen, Nauta, Allen…). Land half of those and fill-out the rest of the class and we’ll be top 5, for sure. Last year our class was #5 in 24/7, #6 in Rivals, and #8 in ESPN. The evidence is there, just do your research.
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Roster management has been one of the greatest failures of the Richt era. What’s worse is that roster management, unlike injuries and polls, was entirely within his control.
I agree with the comments above: Between attrition and poor roster management, UGA is not nearly as good at recruiting as we think / they think we are.
I think Richt might have finally learned from his mistakes, but what took so long? Where were the ADs when were falling woefully short of best practices?
It seems like it wasn’t until Pruitt’s arrival that we saw an earnest revision of recruiting practices at UGA.
Like most things, too little too late at UGA…
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Well one AD was driving around with some panties in his hand.
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Does anyone do a reverse ranking of recruiting classes? What I mean is taking a look after the players from a class leave the program and then rank them based on their contributions while they played. It would be interesting to see how the original ranking compares to this.
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Nothing systematic that I’m aware of, but google “re-ranking recruiting classes” and you’ll see a lot of articles.
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I think the definitive piece has already been written and linked by the Senator: http://www.iyhsports.com/uga/football/blogs/2015/11/1/disastrous-class-of-2013
Sure, the history of the ’13 class isn’t done. But it’s a black hole of a class.
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Good article, brief but a great breakdown. It kind of highlights a question I keep asking – Why did anyone expect Georgia to do any better than 9-3 this season? 8-4 or 7-5 might even have been expected with the recruiting woes and so many recent changes in coaching staff. Why do so many people act surprised? In some ways, isn’t Georgia out-performing?
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There were folks who predicted exactly that-8-4 or 7-5 due to lack of a proven quarterback and inexperience at several positions If Murray was our QB and Chubb not hurt, this year would probably been great. Oh well…
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Nonsense! Richt just continues to underachieve with top recruiting classes year in and year out! I can’t figure out whether those in the “blow the whole thing up and start over” crowd either don’t comprehend the fact that so much of our “talent” has either not panned out or been kicked to the curb over the last 4 years… or just choose to willfully ignore it to further their agendas.
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Exactly. People get pissed at Richt but the guy we should be angry with is whoever’s in charge of recruiting and player development, fire that guy because he’s consistently failed, oh wait…….
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Lol, perfect comment charlotte. +1.
Whatever your argument is (we underachieve with top talent/we don’t actually have great talent), the blame still falls on the same guy.
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So blame Richt for what? Being ethical and following the rules of that UGA has put in place? Sure. I bet you two would love for Corch or some sleez of that ilk to come coach UGA to win a few championships at whatever cost. No thanks.
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Prior to 2013, everyone in the SEC was playing draw poker with recruiting, while we were playing stud and losing.
In 2013, we drew a lot of low cards and lost again. In 2014 and 2015 we continued playing draw poker like everyone else.
But unfortunately, in this game players can hold some cards up to five years. We just need to keep the recruiting momentum to get on the same level.
From this, I have reached the conclusion that making a head coaching change this year isn’t going to do us much good.
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Also, if we were going to let him go for roster management reasons, it should have been done years ago.
It doesn’t make sense now.
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Why? Because he’s suddenly going to start doing a good job with something he hasn’t done a good job of in over 10 years? Lol.
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No. It is because we don’t have an SEC-level quarterback on the roster and bringing in a new guy isn’t going to fix that problem for next season.
A new guy also means we get another 2013-level class in 2016, leaving us two classes down in talent for the next two seasons. We will be back to the 68 vs 85+ recruited player problems we had at the top of this decade.
Knowing this administration and the crowds we still draw, I don’t see them making the change this year.
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Not the coaches’ fault. The players just aren’t executing their own roster management like they’ve been taught.
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Coach X is an awesome recruiter AND roster manager. He’ll put a fence around the state that would make Trump jealous AND recruit nationally too!!! Coach X is the answer to all our prayers. As a bonus Coach X will make any one of our qb’s an All-America in 2016 ’cause that’s just coachin’ right there. In fact every player on the roster will be first team All-Americans under Coach X’s tutelage. If they ain’t we’ll just fire his ass and get Coach Y. Rinse, lather and repeat until like magic a playoff trophy appears!!
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You’ve hopped on a logical train that ends in the conclusion that no coach should ever be fired … which, of course, is laughably absurd. But you’d rather ride that train into oblivion than admit your mistake. Good for you.
Enjoy the ride, little guy.
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Clearly you are unfamiliar with the term “logic.” You fire a coach when you HAVE TO not when you WANT TO. The reason: coach X is only superior when status quo is untenable. “I think we won’t win a natty with this guy” is the flawed logic. It’s just plain dumb. First I’m sure those words had be uttered about Bowden, Osborne and Mack by fans who, surprise, were wrong. Second, not winning a natty is not a fireable offense.
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I actually know quite a bit about logic. And you’re not any better at it than my undergraduate students.
This, for instance, is what logicians refer to as a straw man: “… not winning a natty is not a fireable offense”
Maybe you should take a break for a while and cool off. With each comment, you sound less and less like a sane human being.
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Turd, what folks like you don’t understand (that Derek does, because he’s super smart) is that Georgia simply won’t find a coach better than Richt. If you think coaches who have the foresight to use up all of their scholarships grow on trees well you my friend are sadly mistaken. I know we’re the flagship school and program in a state that produces a ton of division 1 and nfl talent but expecting Georgia to sign a top five class, consistently produce first draft picks and compete for sec championships is crazy talk.
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I have yet to read another basis for firing CMR other than some variation of “we can’t win a natty with this guy.” There are other various bitches to be sure. We should give our guys as much weed as they want to smoke being among them. CMR fucked up recruiting in the late 2000’s being another. Why did we have 68 scholarship players in 2012 is another. All of the minor bitches seem to be being addressed, save the weed importation plan that Coach X would no doubt address on day one with full approval of the administration. (This weed thing is my being facetious in case you are wondering.) The main concern I have seen is “if CMR could win a natty he would have already.” That’s not a straw man I’m attacking. It fairly describes the FIRE RICHT!! crowd. I appreciate that you learned a phrase, but putting it to correct use is the key to showing that you understand it. If you want to state a “I’m fine with CMR not winning a natty but he should be fired because of _____” I’ll listen but I quite certain that it would be a literary equivalent of a turd.
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Unless it’s an argument that I’m making, it’s a straw man. But of course, I haven’t made an argument here. I’ve only made fun of yours.
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There are plenty of other arguments to fire a coach other than no national title. Like these: no SEC titles in 10 years, not enough SEC east titles when UT and UF are down, poor roster management, poor choices at coordinator positions, change for change’s sake/change of scenery, etc. (The list of reasons to keep CMR is long, too).
Don’t lump the FIRE RICHT crowd all into one. There is a continuum of reasons, veracity, etc….just like there is in the keep CMR crowd.
What it boils down to me is that the program has under-achieved based on the talent UGA has had under CMR.
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Even if you are correct that we should be HERE but we are actually HERE, it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing where Coach X will take us. People shouldn’t confuse promoting status quo with satisfaction. They are different. I’m not happy about a lot of things. I think a lot of things could have been handled better than CMR has. For example I wanted to go with Brice from the beginning of the season. Am I right? Who knows? However, the deviation from optimal is not so great that its worth risking the unknown. The odds are that a change means things get worse not better. Those who say that they KNOW Coach X improves our situation are just full of it. There is no way of knowing that. From my perspective if the players are playing hard for CMR and CMR is attracting players to come to UGA you ride that horse where it takes you. Change for the sake of change is a mistake IMHO. If our guys start laying down and the in state recruits start heading to Gainesville and Knoxville that is the time to visit the question of firing. We haven’t seen the results because our QB has straight sucked for two years, but structurally this program is on the up swing from both a coaching and personal stand point. There are times to burn down the barn to kill the rats, but I just don’t think we are there.
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I agree with some of what you say, including there is no way to know for sure that we will do better with another coach.
However, I disagree when you say: “the deviation from optimal is not so great that its worth risking the unknown. The odds are that a change means things get worse not better.”
There is no way for you to know the odds, and many of us believe (emphasis) you’re wrong and that UGA will most likely be better. Many of us know there is a good chance we will be worse, but are willing to take the chance anyways.
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Of course we know the “odds.” What we don’t know is how those odds will play out in any given situation including our own. The vast majority of coaches in the history of college football have been less successful than CMR. Most of the coaches at UGA have been less successful than CMR. In fact an argument could be made that no one has been more successful at UGA. So yes, we know the odds. They aren’t in our favor. Odds are good that the next guy is worse. Does not mean he WILL be worse. If you want to bet me even money that the next guy wins more than 2 SECs and 5 SEC Easts and has a higher winning % after 15 years I’m happy to take your money whether its next year or in 20. I don’t even have to know his name and I’d take that bet.
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Derek, your first reply to me was reasonable but your second is not. You “know” the odds but the rest of us don’t. Riiiight.
I would bet you even money. Of all the jobs open right now UGA would be a clear #2 behind USC, and of all the coaches who will be looking for jobs (including the ones with jobs already), there are several who over-achieve instead of underachieve. It’s no guarantee, of course.
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“What it boils down to me is that the program has under-achieved based on the talent UGA has had under CMR.”
I agree. But people like Derek have a quick reply to complaints like this, which is what I was mocking in my original comment. Whatever so-called “underachievement” there has been isn’t the fault of the coaches. It’s the fault of the players — i.e., they simply haven’t executed the way they were taught.
There’s a kind of brilliance to its stupidity, in that it’s one of those views that is neither confirmable nor disconfirmable.
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There are other turds with better reading comprehension than you. Among the class to which you belong, you would be at the back of the class in terms of reading comprehension.
I know you can’t understand it Turd because for you reading is not a possibility, but assuming that you were the qb for Georgia would we have beaten Alabama? Would that be your fault? Or is it that your aren’t a very good qb?
On the other hand if we could have snuck Tom Brady in could we have beaten Alabama? Is that because of good coaching or is coaching irrelevant when your qb is just that good?
Assuming that our actual qb is somewhere on a continuum between Turd and Tom Brady at some point (on the Turd side) we are losing because of of our qb and (on the Brady side of the continuum) we are winning in spite of our coaching, right? The only time its the coaches “fault” is if the qb we have could’ve beaten Alabama (we know Turd can’t) but we don’t anyway. (Again, Turd this is complicated so don’t strain yourself.) I say that no coach ever in the history of football could have beaten Alabama with Greyson Lambert. You can say that’s wrong but you can’t say that this is not a plausible scenario.
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Jesus. And people call ME a broken record…
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Our recruiting is again being affected by the negative noise around our program. This and our discipline standards (which I support) hamstring our Coach in roster management in a way that does not affect Saban and others.
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Lol you are beyond delusional if you think “noise” affects our recruiting more than what happens on the field. This is just another way of blaming Richt’s shortcomings on someone else.
The Georgia way.
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Are you an expert in being delusional or is because you are delusional that you don’t realize the irony in your calling someone else delusional? While the results on the field matter more than many other factors when it comes to recruiting noise: constant non-sensible biching by idiotic fans does matter to the recruits who sense that their potential coach may not last their entire careers. Because they are young they can’t sort out the truly stupid from the rational and reasonable. I’m sure you are far too delusional to understand that your particular brand of stupidity is corrosive and unhelpful. You also don’t realize what an awesome and sensible auburn fan you would be. You’d be right at home. Try it. Please…
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Bluto: “..and you can see why the coaches are scrambling like crazy to play youngsters this season.”
That may be true of the D and STs. Other than Godwin and an occasional sighting of Harris at TE, I haven’t seen many freshman getting playing time with that dumpster fire we call an offense.
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I said youngsters, as opposed to true freshmen, but, okay, whatever.
Chigbu’s seen the field in almost every game.
Seeing as it’s usually best practice to redshirt as many o-linemen as possible, who among the freshmen do you think the coaches should push?
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I have felt for years that we leave our 1st string in games too long. It hasn’t happened as much this year – especially lately – because there haven’t been any blow out wins.
The most glaring example was Gurley playing against AU when we were up by 20 late in the 4th Quarter last year. This year, I have been dreading seeing 26 in until the end of games we had wrapped up on a couple occasions.
Clearly, things have changed for the better this year; see almost the whole defense and Godwin. But with Marshall clearly hobbled and Chubb out (and without knowing what’s going on behind the scenes) I would have liked to see Turman getting carries early in the year and instead of Hicks at TB, etc. If we sign Holyfield and another RB in the ’16 class, I’d expect him to transfer without us ever getting a chance to see him in a game.
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any blow out wins [of late]
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