Just a reminder, as Jacob Eason prepares to take an official visit to Gainesville, Florida, that what’s going on right now for Georgia as McGarity figures out whom to hand the reins to next is bigger than one recruit, even one as important to the team’s immediate future as Eason appears to be.
As I keep insisting, as big a mistake as it is for a school to hang on to an underperforming head coach solely for the reason of holding together a recruiting class, it’s just as big a one to rush into a hiring decision to replace an established head coach for the same reason. For a program like Georgia, there will be other quarterback recruits, but get the next coaching hire wrong and you’ll be paying for that decision a lot longer.
Besides, who can blame Eason and his dad for being prudent at this point? In any event, there’s still time for Georgia’s next head coach to preserve the relationship.
Georgia’s got enough questions as it is about getting the right man in. Rushing to get someone here just to keep Eason in red and black only makes that tougher. Take the right amount of time to get it right.
Get The Picture 
Perfectly said,
Of course they need a backup plan. They would be fools not to have a contingency in place. But if we make the right hire, he will still be a Dawg.
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Agreed, the kid wants to enroll early which means he’s working with about a 1 month window right now, and no idea who his head coach and OC at UGA would be. He’d be crazy NOT to at least look around, just in case.
All that being said, I sure hope he ends up sticking with us!
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I just pray it’s not Mullen. I don’t mind mixing elements of the spread offense in with pro style but I don’t know that I’m donating tens of thousands of dollars to watch a high school offense.
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Maybe we should have just given the man who earned it the opportunity?
We shouldn’t have to rebuild anything.
When he’s suiting up against us, that’ll be fun.
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I’m having buyer’s remorse already.
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as am I, and it has little to do with Eason
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Wondering why not give brother Bobo consideration? 7-5 mark notwithstanding, his absence was huge this year. Knows the area, knows the players, recruits well, knows the rivals, and could give us a shot to keep Pruitt. Defense ain’t a problem, offense is. Bobo brings more in that regard than Smart. (And may help with Eason as a bonus)
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And has more head coaching experience … And more real coordinator experience … And better crayons and more kids!
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We don’t need a top-to-bottom rebuild. The program already wins at a clip of 9+ a year. Seems foolish to ditch assistants who’ve made that happen and who have good relationships with recruits. I think Bobo would be a better move than Smart since our problem is primarily on the O side of the ball, and certainly better than a Mullen – who represents a significant change in offensive philosophy.
But there’s still a lot of openings out there. Pruitt, Bmac, etc. may end up elsewhere no matter who we pick.
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I agree with you, WCD – if we’re going to play small ball with the succession, I would rather that be Bobo than Smart.
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I’m in. You guys have his number? Forget this search firm, we’ve taken care of it.
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I hope this Eason kid is as good as he is advertised or somebody will be in a world of hurt, As we have seen before big shot recruits don’t always pan out. I’m happy to provide examples.
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True, but Katie bar the door if a kid who’s seemingly wanted nothing but to be a Dawg suits up in Orange and Blue and hangs a half a hundred on us for the next four years because “we want to win championships now!”
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You hit it spike. And senator. The recruiting class will be what it is. Making the right hire is so much more important
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But Bluto you’ve also said you don’t trust the folks at B&M to get this right. I don’t trust our one time woman’s tennis coach AD McGumpity to lead the charge.
(I don’t think things are fixed at Florida with their new hire just cause they had a lucky season)
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It’s one thing to say I don’t trust. It’s another to say it’s okay to short-cut the process for a poor reason.
The odds are bad enough. UGA doesn’t need to make them any worse.
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Why isn’t it set already??? He asked the current coach to leave & he has no idea who the replacement is??? He’s had 2 months. And this was a staff that was disorganized? Just go to your big name donors & ask them who they wanted as coach. Then start walking in the desert cause it’s gonna be a long one.
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I agree but you have seen our choices at QB. We have to get some QB talent in here or the next coaches tenure could be very short.
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Eason is gone. The best case scenario is that he doesn’t play for Florida. That being said having the right head coach is way more important than any recruit.
Does anyone really think Eason would’ve done jack shit if Schotty was his his coach?
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I do not blame the Eason family one bit. I agree with part of what Charlotte Dawg ssid. Eason is gone from Lake Stevens High an will enroll somewhere in about 5 weeks. He has to make a decision soon and have a backup plan if we hire a spread guy. If he was my kid we would be taking visits left and right just in case Georgia hired thd Navy coach or someone else who does not develop NFL QBs.
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“The best case scenario is that he doesn’t play for Florida”
It would suck if this kid was instrumental in causing us to lose to UF the next 3 or 4 years.
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Jeff Driscoll was a five star QB
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Guys, gracious I don’t get Dawg fans. The kid is going to come to UGA. It’s called a back-up plan. He’ll be in Athens the next weekend, and Kirby will be solidly in place. And Kirby will run a pro-style offense.
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If you don’t mind, we would like to wallow in our self-pity for a little while longer…thank you. 😉
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This.
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“Eason is gone.”
Really? What else did he tell you when you spoke personally with him in order to get this information?
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The flip side is that without a solid QB the new coach is doomed.
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Jim McElwain just won the SEC East with no QB and a rotten offense, right?
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And Gus Malzon’s lucky rabbits’ foot.
I sure would like to find that foot one year.
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That laughing three-legged rabbit hasn’t been seen in Clarke County since 2002.
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Yeah, and with all the bounces UGA didn’t get this year. Miracle 4th down play against UT and a missed UT field goal at the end. Torrential downpour during Florida Atlantic’s OT possession, not to mention that they were in OT against Florida Atlantic (hello), longest kick of the season from the backup kicker to beat VANDY. Lost to LSU, who almost fired their own future HOF coach, and got shut out at home by FSU, who lost to a 3-9 GT team. See how a season looks when you look at it like those who wanted Richt fired looked at ours?
Also, let’s see: Ole Miss beats Bama, Bama beats UGA, UF beats Ole Miss, FSU beats UF, GT beats FSU, UGA beats GT. Does any of that sink in? Yeah, Mark Richt didn’t win the “right” games. All of those teams lost games they “shouldn’t have lost” but only Richt gets fired. Even Paul Johnson’s job is safe. Sheesh.
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UF was the tallest midget in the circus. As long as the East is a dumpster fire then flawed teams can get lucky and go 10-2. Hell, we went 9-3.
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At this rate, will we have a new head coach (and maybe a coordinator for the offense that develops NFL QBs) before Eason needs to leave for school?
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FWIW, when we jettisoned Donnan for Richt, we lost Ingle Martin to Florida
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Charlie Stromg would likely differ with you on this point. If we had a decent QB today, I would agree. But we don’t. And losing Eason would mean at least two years in the wilderness rather than just the one. He is the leader of this class as well, not just a guy who would hold the most important position on the field.
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In addition, every guy we lose, and we are talking 5-star guys here, will end up being a star elsewhere playing against us. Disaster. Had the # 4 class with five 5-star guys left on the board, three of them leaning to the Dawgs. We were headed for the #1 class easily and still have a shot at it, but only if McGoofus acts quickly. Some say he already has but can’t announce yet. I hope so.
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Hey folks, at least we still have a Championship caliber AD.
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Normally I’d agree. Normally you’d have somebody on the roster that can handle the job next year. We don’t. Our problem is that if we lose Eason its 2018 before we have a qb and that’s if the guy we sign in 2017 doesn’t physically and mentally get destroyed as a freshman. If we don’t keep Eason in the fold we’re screwed. That as much as anything was reason to stay the course. It isn’t keeping a coach for a recruit. It’s keep a coach for a stellar recruit at the most important position on the field that is fucking empty without him. In short, our position was and isn’t normal.
I’d like to see anyone tell us what happens at the qb position in 2016 and 17 if Eason bolts. Would an NFL team fire a coach if it meant that lost the first pick in the draft? That’s what we may have done. Of course, if the next guy keeps Eason in the fold then we dodged the bullet, but we’ve taken a hell of a risk.
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Exactly. UGA’s depth at QB (and overall lack of talent) is scary. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to predict a UT-like death spiral for the program if UGA doesn’t land an elite QB this class. More of Lambert next year, then a true freshman year after that. Ouch.
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I don’t know; a bad QB can shorten the career of a HC very quickly. Our next HC may be the greatest evah but he won’t be without a QB.
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“a bad QB can shorten the career of a HC…”
Truer words were never spoken: Lambert got a two-fer: London and Richt. Not to mention he’ll also be the reason a batch of assistants and probably two a.d.s get booted. Lambert’s got a great future ahead of him if he opts to be one of those CEOs who specializes in downsizing.
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Long time viewer. First time poster.
I don’t understand the assumption some express that we would have a #1 recruiting class if Richt had been retained. That’s pure speculation.
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It had never happened in 15 years, it wasn’t about to.
And Eason will still end up at Georgia. If he doesn’t, oh well. The program is bigger than any one person, regardless of their recruiting ranking.
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And here I thought the program was all about you. I mean why else would you want to lose in order to get Coach X unless it was only you that mattered?
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Completely agree….unless the decision has already been made (and by most accounts it has). If that’s truly the case, let’s get on with it instead of going through the fiction of a “wide open” search that ends up at the place you started…just weeks later.
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You don’t want (yourself or the institution you represent) to look foolish if you get turned down. You also don’t want to embarrass any candidates that want anonymity.
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