Georgia works the recruiting trail with a skeleton crew.
Most of the Bulldogs assistants have been called off recruiting duties, a source told DawgNation on Sunday night.
At least three UGA staff members – recruiting coordinator Bryan McClendon, running backs coach Thomas Brown, and Todd Hartley, the director of player personnel – will still be representing the Bulldogs on the road this week.
However, the rest of the regular coaching staff will stay put.
I’m curious as to who made the decision. And even more curious about what kind of instructions those three have received.
Get The Picture 
I am reading this as they are going to be retained by the new staff.
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Unless they already have the new staff ready to be announced and they’ve agreed to keep those mentioned – Recruiting just seems like an impossible thing to do well when you don’t expect to coach there much longer. I don’t see how any coach can be expected to be retained when the head one is fired.
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Yep looks like an offer has been made and accepted.
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I guess we’ll find out if/when Gruden does Monday Night Football tomorrow.
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good one Mike…
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THIS GUY…
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There goes our recruiting class.
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Calm down. Nobody is bailing just yet. We’ll end up keeping most. We’ll probably lose a couple, probably pick up a couple. With something as highly unpredictable as recruiting, it’s ridiculous to be worried about what some 16 or 17 year old is thinking at this moment, months away from signing day.
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we should go ahead and tear down Sanford Stadium now and salt the earth.
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Given the immediate decision on who is going recruiting, I anticipate they also already know who Coach Richt’s successor is.
We have a different man in charge these days.
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Good Lord. As leaky as BM seems to be lately how the hell did they manage to blindside everyone(myself included) with the firing? I sure hope they have a plan and would really like for tomorrow’s scheduled press conference to be the announcement of a hire. If it’s Kirby he’s got the SEC championship game to get ready for so maybe why they asked the staff to stick around.
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Short answer: they didn’t. People have been hearing things about Richt’s fate for at least a couple of weeks now. Hell, I heard things, and I’m not exactly what you’d call connected.
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I guess I made the mistake of listening to too much sports talk radio when down in Atlanta. Obviously that makes me an idiot but I didn’t think he’d be gone unless he lost to southern or tech.
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I was hearing Kirby and that Richt was staying on in an administrative capacity two weeks ago and I thought it was total BS. This also came from someone less connected than me. If it goes down like that then I won’t be shocked at how leaky BM is. I will be shocked that they had a plan that far in advance and that how the season ended was irrelevant. I guess it’s 11 wins or bust from here on out.
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Listen, I really am not trying to come across like a dick to you here, I promise – but you HAVE to realize that this isn’t about the number of wins. It’s about titles. 10 years since an SEC title and no Eastern crowns in a 3 year span when we were the only program with stability aside from newcomer Missouri. Everyone acts like Richt fell victim to a “NC or bust” mentality, when it reality it’s about competitiveness in the SEC. We won nine games this year, and it means absolutely nothing. We will finish the season unranked, because in nine wins, we defeated nobody worth a damn. And that’s the trend that got Richt fired. Not a lack of a crystal ball. Not because he didn’t win 10 games every year. Because we were getting eliminated from contention in October far too often.
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No one was thrilled with the last couple of seasons but if every season boils down to either a championship season or complete failure then I am no longer among the demographic that needs to cheer on this sport. Hey you got what you asked for. I just wonder how you will be if you get what you deserve.
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The last couple of seasons? It’s a lot longer than that, man. We missed out on a golden opportunity to play for it all in 2007 because of a typical Richt game at Tennesee. 2008 we were pre-season #1 and got embarrassed three times. The lone bright spot for us since that time was 2012, which was a loss to Alabama. If we had more years like 2012 instead of 2015, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
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Living in Reno you don”t make Hartman Fund contributions and buy season tickets. I do, and the number of wins I see in person is damn important to me.
Don’t be so cavalier with the win/loss record.
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Living in Reno I DO make Hartman Fund contributions and it costs me a lot more to make the trip to Athens than it does you. Just because I can’t make it to six home games a year doesn’t make my opinion worth any less than yours.
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Did not say your opinion was worth more or less. I did say and I mean that I strongly disagree that the number of wins we have each year is meaningless. I told you that the number of wins per year is important to me, and why, and you were the dick who has problem with folks having different values than you.
If all you care about is championships and a 0-12 season is the same as a 10-3 season then that is your value system and yoy are entitled to it. Don’t act pissy because it is not mine.
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Not even October. How many years did a loss to freaking Spurrier put us behind the 8 ball after two games? That and the annual loss at UF left us too many years of pulling for other teams to lose so we could back into the East. That’s what finally changed my stance. Loved what MR did early in his career. Began to hate having to pull for teams I disliked to beat whoever we needed to lose to get to Atlanta.
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Hey SD and Chilli, the blog has nothing to do with CMRs recorded or whether he should be fired. Quit making out with each other and move on.
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Actually this blog is for expressing opinions. Sorry if you can’t handle that but for my part I’m not forcing you to read my posts. Have a good one.
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Actually this blog belongs to someone other than you and is for whatever he wants it to be.
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Da comrade.
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Did not say your opinion was worth more or less. I did say and I mean that I strongly disagree that the number of wins we have each year is meaningless. I told you that the number of wins per year is important to me, and why, and you were the dick who has problem with folks having different values than you.
If all you care about is championships and a 0-12 season is the same as a 10-3 season then that is your value system and yoy are entitled to it. Don’t act pissy because it is not mine.
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Well if it means anything I think you’re a dick too. Have a nice week
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No, capitalism at its purest. He owns it, he controls it.
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Do not know why that reply appeared. What I typed was, “Actually, it is capitalism at its most pure. The Senator owns it and he can control it, Comrade. “
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I don’t think it’s about wins OR titles – I think that would be foolish. But I do think it is about being competitive in meaningful games. We didn’t have to beat Bama but we had to show up in a meaningful way. We don’t have to beat UF – well, yeah, we do, but not every single year. Still, we should be competitive every single year.
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I heard many of these same things last year, too.
I’m just glad they didn’t leave everyone twisting in the wind this time around.
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I was told early this week by someone with more knowledge of this situation than myself that Richt would be fired and that Smart would be the new head coach. Additionally, I was told that Smart is going to bring Muschamp with him as his DC, and that is where he lost me. A few days later…and it looks like he may have actually been more right than wrong. I still don’t believe Muschamp will be our DC. Smart? Well, who knows.
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At least they are all Saban disciples(Pruitt included) so hopefully the scheme and type of talent they look for aren’t drastically different.
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Well, the irony in making a former Florida head coach a Georgia assistant sure wouldn’t be passed on in the annual cocktail party trash talk.
Let’s not forget Boom had a hell of a defense at U-Fugly.
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Boom is an embarrassment to UGA.
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Muschamp is an embarrasment.
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You are right. I don’t want that out of control asshole on our sideline.
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This has been a fascinating day. Every time I think I see an article so stupid it cannot be topped I am corrected.
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No to Smart. 1000 times no. Herman, yes.
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Herman may have the Houston cred going for him, but I don’t think he could out recruit Kirby.
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Smart is not an upgrade over Richt. His winning percentage as a head coach is .000. Let him ween from Saban’s teet elsewhere. Plus, you don’t pimp my team to get a raise and then have me writing checks to pay your salary. Expletive Kirby.
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Who do you think could replace Richt?
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Who do I think will? Smart. Who do I think should? Tom Herman. Seriously. I don’t believe Smart can operate independently from Saban. I think he will be a literal move at the very best, and we’ll be shopping for a coach who advance beyond Atlanta again in 4 years, only this time with a brand new AD, and a lot less cash to throw around because of a massive payout to the unproven Smart. But hey, my crystal ball could be broke.
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Lateral, not literal. Sheesh.
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Josh, you might be right. But what have we got to lose? You think in four years wed have been anywhere else with Richt? I don’t. The powers that be at Georgia didn’t think so either.
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Agree that Herman could be better hire than Smart. Flip a coin. Disagree that Smart is at this point is not an upgrade over Richt, since Smart is unproven and Richt is now proven to not win an SEC title in 10 years. Either way, I am glad to be rid of a guy who was bigger than the program.
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What was Richt’s winning percentage as a HC before taking the Georgia job?
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You want another Richt?
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Richt was a great coach for his first five years. If we got another guy who could have that kind of success, we’d have made a great hire. And before you say “then why not keep Richt, ” Because that was 10 years ago and it’s passed him by.
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Thought the idea here was to upgrade to a guy that can beat Saban in Atlanta and win the playoff. If that’s not the goal, what in the hell was the point?
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The point is to get a guy who can get us competitive again. We were never competitive in the past three years.
You’re acting like this is about beating Saban every year. It’s not. If Richt was getting to Atlanta every year and losing to Saban each time, you’d have a point. But we’re far away from that much right now.
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Lately I would say an upgrade would get to Atlanta in the first place. Can’t win if you don’t play.
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If our goal is to have a guy who can win 10 games, we had that this morning. If we’re going to scrap that, it better be to make a serious run at a proven head coach that can win National titles. Otherwise, we’re about to spend a lot of money for Jack Shit. Richt won 10 games for less than 4 million a year. Smart has proven he can be the hill that Saban’s poop rolls down. Good for him, but I’ll need to see a more quality hire than an assistant if I’m going to give up a 10 win Richt.
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I see you just completely ignored my reply about the 10 wins thing.
Again, 10 win seasons don’t mean anything if you’re not playing for championships.
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Who is getting to Atlanta and beating Saban every year? Wasn’t Urban the last one to beat him in Atlanta? In 2008, or am I wrong? If our goal is not to throw the sink at a Title, and have a competitive 9-10 win team, we had a coach that can do that 10 hours ago. I’m not a Richt worshipper, but if you’re going to fire a proven 9-10 win coach, you’d better replace him with an 11-13 win coach. Otherwise you’re wasting time, money, recruits, and good will.
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There are so many programs in America (let alone the SEC) who would beg to differ with you. It’s easy to look at the top of the hill and say you’re so close and forget how high up you already are.
I’m not so sure consistently winning 10 games a season but struggling for championships is worse than winning 7 or 8 games and then spiking a championship every now and then (a la Auburn). I think I’d much rather have the consistency. Just me though.
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Auburn has championships. We have a 9 win average and a stupid sense of moral superiority. Is that really better?
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To me it’s not a stupid sense of moral superiority. There’s something to be said for doing something the right way vs. perpetually being shady and winning a national title and 2 SEC titles.
I would absolutely take Mark Richt over Gene Chizik and Gus. I think both of them are one hit wonders of coaches, and I value the consistency and ethics Richt brought to our program.
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Well, to me, I don’t care. I think the moral superiority is silly and something we’ve learned to tell ourselves to feel better. But I get that you feel differently. The powers that be didn’t though.
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You think the powers that be are willing to buy a championship ala Auburn? You obviously haven’t been following UGA football long.
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I appreciate your point of view. I’m not being facetious in any way. There’s definitely something to be said for consistency. I just reached a point last year where I’d had enough. I would have pulled for the team if MR was back next year but I was slowly caring less and less. Now as much as I appreciate what Richt did for Georgia and my pleasure as a fan, I’m excited to see something new.
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When you go to thd games 10 wins means 4 better Saturdays than 6 wins and 8 better Saturdays than 2 wins.
Your comment smacks of ” there are just 5 rankings in college football. 1 through 4 and a 121 tie for last.”
I that is your vies then that is your view. Mine is that 6 wins are better than 5, 7 wins are better than 6. 8 wins are better than 7, 9 wins are better than 8. 10 wins are better than 9 and so forth.
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A wiser man than chili once said, “If you’re not first, you’re last.”
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9-10 wins is competitive. You can’t win an SEC title unless you beat Saban in Atlanta. Of course that’s the point. Let someone else gamble on Smart. If I’m going to lose a 10 win coach that can’t win a title, we’d better be replacing him with someone who’s proven he can win a title. Especially for what we’re about to pay.
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The point is you have to get to Atlanta to have a chance to beat Saban.
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No, it’s not. We won 9 games this year. Would you say we were competitive? Keep in mind we were eliminated from contention in October.
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All but 4 teams in the SEC were eliminated from contention in October. Do you want to be elite, or did you just want to fire Richt? If you’re going to fire Richt, it better be to make a move like Saban to Bama. Like Urban to OSU. Otherwise, there was absolutely no point in firing a coach that consistently beat Auburn, Tennessee, and Tech.
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Seriously, if we didn’t fire Richt to make an elite move, if we fired Richt so that we could gamble on an assistant, then we just made a huge mistake. The only thing we know Smart can do is follow Saban’s instructions. That’s not an upgrade. That’s not a hire elite teams make. That’s not hire worth losing a coach like Richt over. It’s just a gamble that costs a lot more money.
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Will Muschamp as DC. I mean is someone really seriously considering such nonsense?
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I don’t like Muschamp any more than most on here but he can coach a defense. Yeah I know he sucked at the Barn this year but he was taking over for a guy that ran a different scheme. Id assume that he and Pruitt aren’t that different in scheme or players they like so it could be a smoother transition.
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So we hire Kirby and Pruitt goes back to AL? Yeah, that’s an upgrade.
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Well Pruitt is obviously gone so you could do far worse than Muschamp at DC if the Kirby rumors are true.
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And if they are true the OC and O-line coach hires are make or break.
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“Muschamp…can coach a defense.” Right. We laid 45 points on his LSU defense in 2004. Hit him up for 37 in 2006, in his first go-around as Auburn DC. Piled on another 45 in ’07. This season, his defenses have given up 45 points to LSU (wow, he’s good at giving up 45 points, ain’t he); 35 points to mighty San Jose State; 27 to Kentucky, then he doubled-down to give up 54 to Arkansas; Idaho torched him for 34 points, but yeah, the guy can coach a defense. So what if he’s running a different scheme, those are horrendous totals. Surely to God you didn’t want Mark Richt canned just so we can somehow get Will Muschamp to coach our defense.
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My first words were that I don’t like Muschamp. I’d prefer Pruitt or any number of guys. My point was that at least the players wouldn’t have to learn a completely alien scheme and I think some semblance of continuity on the D side would be preferable. And his defenses at UF handled us pretty well if we’re cherry picking.
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How many of you would really bet a dime on anything you read or hear on the internet? Last night Les Miles was being carried off the field by his players and serenaded by the fans. I guess they were just practicing for next year.
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LSU was absolutely, and 100% going to fire Miles and announce Jimbo Fisher. Fisher backed out and LSU opted to stick with Miles. Had nothing to do with the serenade. That’s as close to official as you can get without being official. Came from solid sources at TigerDroppings.
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How could you know that? Are you AD Joe?
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They don’t let unsubstantiated rumors go up on that site and the guy who shared that information had a track record of being right.
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It all sounds crazy, but the rumor mill is in full swing. Smart and Muschamp could happen, may not be the worst outcome. We would need a heck of an offensive coordinator though.
It is very interesting to me that those three are being sent out. It is possible that the deal is done and they are staying, why else would they be sent out and not anyone else?
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Did they call Chappie Hynes off of the job too? I sure hope so.
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I suspect Chappie’s going to be putting in a lot of overtime this week.
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This was McGarity’s plan from the beginning. He just didn’t anticipate the 2012 season.
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Smart and Muschamp? I guess being a former player trumps all else.
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It’s the Ray Goff coaching tree bearing fruit.
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Chilidawg…please go back and read my response to you under the title ” The Georgia Way Hits the Recruiting Trail” that the Senator posted early this afternoon. Don’t worry, I’m being nice this time.: )
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Well at least they made a reasonable decision on who to send out. I trust McClendan and TB more than I do Sales or Schitty.
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I’ve never understood why people are so anti-Smart. I understand the concern that he hasn’t yet proven himself as a HC. But for some, it seems to go beyond that. In fact, some people seem to be practically certain that he’ll never amount to anything apart from Saban. How could you possibly be so sure? I swear, it’s as if it’s impossible for some people to allow for uncertainty in life. Maybe he’d be terrible. Or maybe he’d be great. There’s no way to know at this point.
Personally, I’d rather have Smart than Mullen. But I can also think of a few people I’d rather have than Smart. Hell, I think I’d take Pruitt over Smart.
However, if there’s any truth to the rumors of Smart + Muschamp, that’s going to be really difficult for me. In addition to thinking Muschamp is just generally a terrible human being, I really think he’s over-rated as a DC. Great recruiter, sure. But I don’t think he develops talent anywhere near as well as Pruitt apparently can.
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Change equates to fear for most people in some part of their life be it a new job or Georgia football. I’m sure we can all find some aspect of our lives where we kept with the status quo to avoid it. I’m more of a gambler so I agree with you.
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Muschamp is a proven entity. He’s a raving lunatic on the sidelines and I’ve never been that impressed with his defenses.
Hell, if we don’t care about hiring assholes, let’s go after Corch.
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Personally, I didn’t like the way he used UGA’s interest in him as DC in 2010 to get a raise. Nothing wrong with getting a raise, but he was either Machiavellian, or he’s just the world’s biggest flake.
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If they’ve already more or less hired a coach, then at least they had a plan. If it is indeed Smart, I’m not sure it’s a great plan, but we’ll see.
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I don’t hold CMR higher than the program, but I sure hold the program higher than Will Muschamp. If Muschamp comes to Georgia I think I really might find another hobby. Guy is a d-bag.
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Now that this has been done, I don’t want either Mullen or Smart. Mullen has done a good job at MSU, but I don’t want him in Athens because I don’t believe he can deal with the pressure and expectations here. I don’t want Smart because he’s sleazy, has done nothing to prove he can run a program, and has negatively recruited against his alma mater for years now. He’s a turncoat in my opinion.
I want a proven college head coach. I believe that man is in Palo Alto, California right now celebrating a victory over Notre Dame and is likely taking his team to Pasadena. I know it’s not likely to happen, but he’s a guy who can unify the fan base, solidify the recruiting class, and win the right way.
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I am not saying Smart is the guy, but the turncoat idea is false. He turned Richt down years ago because he knew this day was coming. He recruited against us because it was his job. Other than that why is he sleazy? Oh, by the way, Bobo is his best friend and they spend holidays together.
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The rumors about how he negatively recruited against UGA is the problem I have with him. I don’t give a damn about whether he and Bobo spend the holidays together. He will not unify the fan base. He may salvage some part of the recruiting class. I damn sure don’t believe he’ll win the right way.
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I don’t hold a grudge against Smart. It’s business. Even MR isn’t going out without a hefty check. Muschamp I dislike more because he went to UF but even then, he’s got to do what is best for himself and his family. All these guys have agents. They probably do most of the dirty work.
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It’s not the fact that he coached at UF that makes so many of us dislike Muschamp; it’s his lack of class when he was addressing the Florida fanbase after he was hired. Muschamp had to do what was best for himself and his family, but he didn’t have to disrespect his alma mater just to get a few laughs from his new Gator fanbase. I’m not excited about Smart, but I could get over that. Muschamp, on the other hand, can go piss up a rope. There are plenty of good DCs out there that haven’t bad-mouthed their own school.
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I hear you
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Coaches aren’t the ones working on a commission I meant to say.
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“he’s a guy who can unify the fan base,” Oh right.
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I take it that you don’t think anybody can do that? 🙂
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That is also true but and I love Shaw but I don’t think this “fan base” is ready if you know what I’m saying. Thousands of white kids bouncing to hip hop during time outs ain’t enough. I’d love it if I were wrong.
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I think the mainstream of the Georgia alumni and fan base would do cartwheels over David Shaw. He has coached a #1 overall draft pick (I imagine Jacob Eason and his dad would be pleased), has a pro-style offense that would keep up the tradition of Tailback U (Chubb, Michel, Holyfield, and Whaley would be pleased), has a reputation as a no-nonsense guy, and has a team that is fundamentally sound.
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Agreed. I would love to have that guy in Athens.
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I’m not specifically advocating for Shaw (although he seems like a solid option in many respects), but the fan base is certainly “ready”. If he were to come here, and he were to win, the fan base would be right there with him.
You can’t know whether the fan base is “ready” for an African American coach until there is an African American coach for them to be “ready” for. It sure seemed that Mississippi State’s fan base was ready for Sylvester Croom when he was leading them to big wins about 10 years ago. Granted, you can argue that they were impatient with him, but he was fired after a 4-8 season. The fans are with you when you win, and they leave you when you don’t.
Please don’t tell me that you think that the people of Georgia are a decade behind the people of Mississippi when it comes to race relations. I don’t think I’d be able to take it.
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The Bulldog Nation LOVED Tubby Smith when he was here, so I don’t think the race angle is anything at all. He brought excitement to Georgia basketball.
David Shaw would do the same thing if he were named as CMR’s successor.
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I don’t care if he is pink with green dots (not orange) as long as he is decent human being (no Freeze or Petrino types) and wins. Shaw would be great hire but I don’t see him leaving Stanford to go all the way across the country. How many 1000 yards a year would Chubb get behind that line he has at Stanford?
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No, capitalism at its purest. He owns it, he controls it.
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You missed this huh?
“I’d love it if I were wrong.”
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Anyone in the southeast who wants a readymade D staff that can recruit their asses off ought to be doing cartwheels. But jeebus, Smart & muschamp? That’s gotta be a fricken joke, and a bad one at that.
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If it’s Kirby Smart, I am all in. I was for Dooley, Richt and even Goff and Donnan. Still proud to be a Dawg. God speed, Mark Richt.
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I’ll pull for the Dawgs whoever they hire, but Muschamp or Fisher, I’d pull for the Dawgs in spite of those jackasses.
I’m pretty “meh” about Smart, but then I wasn’t fired up about Richt when he was hired, either. Tom Herman could be exciting.
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I agree on Muschamp, and I don’t think Fisher would be a candidate by any stretch. I just hope it’s not an Urban Meyer assistant. That would take some digesting.
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