March 23, 2016 · 9:04 AM

Mark Richt may be gone…

… but the spirit of Kirk Herbstreit at ESPN lives on.

Smart isn’t doing anything 99% of the other coaches in America already do, but only at Georgia is it an absolute disgrace.

Get a grip, people.  Wait, it’s ESPN and Finebaum – what am I thinking?

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70 Comments

Filed under ESPN Is The Devil, Georgia Football, PAWWWLLL!!!

70 responses to “Mark Richt may be gone…”

  1. Silver Britches
    March 23, 2016 at 9:11 AM

    This is almost like the transfer rule issue has been dawgraded. Something that everybody does but when Georgia does it, it’s worse.

    Like

  3. Gravidy
    March 23, 2016 at 9:18 AM

    Restricting transfers throughout recent history = Just Fine

    Having them completely unrestricted for 15 years and then putting relatively small restrictions on them = “absolute disgrace”.

    Yep. It’s a slow news day at ESPN.

    Like

  4. AO
    March 23, 2016 at 9:20 AM

    You tell him, senator. No one is allowed to pick on Kirby outside of this family! 😉

    Like

  5. Macallanlover
    March 23, 2016 at 9:25 AM

    You are right, it may have been handled incompetently but UGA is not acting any differently than many others. We need an new AD, and we need one now. Is Morehead asleep at the switch?

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  6. Derek
    March 23, 2016 at 9:28 AM

    Blame ESPN and Greenberg if you like but Kirby should have handled this a lot better. Had he framed the issue as “we don’t want opposing coaches poaching our players to gain an advantage on the field or in recruiting so we’re going to make it clear that it’s not worth trying.” Instead he basically said, “I’m afraid we’re going to have a lot of unhappy players who want to leave, but I’ll do my damndest to make sure that all of those miserable players stay right here.” Not a good look. I hope he learns from this.

    Hell he could have said: “we had a former Georgia player on our roster at Alabama last year. Do I need to say anything else?” What would Greeny be able to say to that?

    Like

  7. JCDAWG83
    March 23, 2016 at 9:29 AM

    Tennessee grad and long time Bama fluffer Finebaum doesn’t like anything that indicates Georgia might finally be getting serious about winning football games.

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  8. 3rdandGrantham
    March 23, 2016 at 9:30 AM

    I’ll defend Mike Greenburg here, though I think his Mike and Mike in the morning show with Golic is brutally cheesy (there’s a reason why their show is referred to as “Micky and Mouse in the morning” inside ESPN).

    He has gone after many coaches previously for this and has called out the blatant hypocrisy in place that many of us here have discussed recently here. This includes a rather brutal interview with then Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan a few years back concerning this (similar to Smart, Bo put his foot down and would only let a transferring player to select schools). This interview probably is on Youtube, and Ryan rightfully took a lot of flack afterwards, as he came off like a complete a**.

    With that said, this has nothing to do with UGA or Smart, but instead this is just the latest story of coaching/administrative hypocrisy that he’s been hammering on for quite a while. In other words, if, say, Stoops or McElwain had done this, the reaction would have been the exact same.

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    • Trey (@cpadawg)
      March 23, 2016 at 10:05 AM

      Total non sequitur, but Greeny comes off as an entitled prick 99% of the time. Everything is always about him… like Letterman’s retirement, the Jets, etc. When he comes out with a hot take on this issue, it seems so disingenuous, even if it’s a position he’s held firm on in the past. In the middle of his rant, he even talks about how Ryan won’t talk to him, and how Smart may never talk to him again. In his mind, everything revolves around him and only him.

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      • 3rdandGrantham
        March 23, 2016 at 10:22 AM

        “…everything revolves around him and only him.”

        What’s wrong with that?

        In all seriousness, I’m with you, which is why I rarely listen to their show. On top of being cheesy as mentioned, it also is painfully contrived with the so-called debates between he and Golic that they would drum up. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but when Cowherd was at ESPN, in which his show immediately followed theirs, he’d often take subtle digs at them, in which it was pretty clear that he wasn’t exactly a fan of their shtick.

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  9. paul
    March 23, 2016 at 9:36 AM

    I think it’s pretty obvious that while the rank and file Georgia fan says they’re tired of underachieving and they really, really want to win championships, they still want very much to be the nicest guy in the room while they’re doing it. We don’t see ourselves, to borrow a phrase, as the cold blooded sausage makers at Alabama. Nor are we willing to just cheat our way in like Auburn. I think most of us felt Kirby had just enough of an edge to him to get us over the hump while still being a really decent sort of guy. I believe what we’re seeing is the realization that maybe we’re not going to be able to maintain our reputation as the program that puts people ahead of winning and still win at a higher level than we have been. It’s morning and we’re awake but we’re still not quite sure who we’re in bed with. We’re not sorry it happened but we are a little surprised.

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    • DawgPhan
      March 23, 2016 at 9:59 AM

      my issue with this case is that restricting the transfer doesnt make you better. It doesnt help your team win and it doesnt hurt you to help the guy make it to the next stop.

      Knowing where the tolerances matter makes you an expert, applying the same tolerances to everything does not. Kirby is trying to handle this the same way he handles a bad rep at practice and they shouldnt be handled the same.

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      • Debby Balcer
        March 23, 2016 at 10:31 AM

        Exactly.

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      • paul
        March 23, 2016 at 10:33 AM

        I agree completely. I think you can be a Nick Saban and still let any player transfer anywhere, any time. Playing against Nick Marshall and Zach Metteberger didn’t bother me in the least. Good for them that they landed on their feet elsewhere. I don’t see any reason not to let players go wherever they want. Coaches leave in the middle of contracts all the time. They’re not restricted as to where they can go. To say a player who is not getting paid shouldn’t be able to do the same is the height of hypocrisy. And it makes you look like an a-hole. Personally, I couldn’t sleep at night if I acted that way but that’s just me.

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        • Trey (@cpadawg)
          March 23, 2016 at 10:49 AM

          Allowing players to transfer wherever they want creates a competitive imbalance. Now, Georgia has a hole it can’t fill because the player decided to transfer after signing day (well within his rights to do). Georgia had committed to Turman, and as far as they knew, Turman had committed to Georgia. Turman wants out of the commitment, but Georgia doesn’t. Turman’s decision to leave costs him something, which, because he isn’t compensated, is non-monetary in nature. It costs Georgia something, too, and I hardly fault Kirby for trying to prevent that from happening.

          In a world where college football players are paid, transfers will likely cost them cash like it does coaches. Is that a better model?

          Turman can go wherever he wants. He can go enroll at Miami or Florida and join the football team. Kirby’s restriction cannot prevent Turman from attending any school he desires. Kirby’s restriction prevents Turman from getting a scholarship to the restricted schools. It is the only form of recompense UGA has for Turman leaving… UGA cannot prevent their loss, but they can prevent a competitor from gaining on UGA’s loss. I’m sorry if I just don’t think this is nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

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          • KershDawg
            March 23, 2016 at 11:18 AM

            +1 Trey

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          • DawgPhan
            March 23, 2016 at 12:21 PM

            this just sounds so beta male.

            “I made a commitment to you. Sorry you dont feel the same way but now I must punish you to show you how much I need you.”

            It’s like straight out of the abuser handbook.

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            • Trey (@cpadawg)
              March 23, 2016 at 12:54 PM

              If you had a problem with me comparing a scholarship and the ramifications for the player vs the university to a basic contract that two willing parties engage in everyday commerce, I could understand. The player has no representation, the agreement is largely one-sided, and the university is protected by an unregulated monopoly. A solid case could be made that my analogy fails on its merits, and I would have to agree with those points.

              But, to try to obfuscate what I said by falsely linking it to abuse (something truly awful that we all are against)… that is straight out of the political debate handbook. Are you running for president?

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            • JarvisCrowell
              March 23, 2016 at 6:40 PM

              Low class AF dawgphan. Btw Beta would be to let any player screw over the program and sign with any of our competition. Laying down the law, and preemptively stopping this behavior is alpha if anything.
              Kirby for president.

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        • 81Dog
          March 23, 2016 at 3:55 PM

          we didn’t have the right to restrict either, since they went to a JUCO, graduated, and were thus free to go where ever they wanted without restrictions. But, I agree that players should all be free to go where they want, without restrictions. Some would abuse it, some wouldn’t, but it doesn’t seem to create a big problem in college baseball, does it?

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      • sUGArdaddy
        March 23, 2016 at 11:28 AM

        How do you know it doesn’t make you better? How do you not know that South FL kids might be thinking of transferring to Coral Gables if that’s an option because things have heated up at practice in Athens. Do you not remember the rumor mills about a transfer after the bowl?

        Losing good players makes us worse. If he thinks 1 player who could make 1 play that might help us win a game next year will stay because things are a little more restrictive, we just got better.

        1 player. 1 play. 1 win.

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        • DawgPhan
          March 23, 2016 at 12:14 PM

          lulz….sure.

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        • JarvisCrowell
          March 23, 2016 at 6:42 PM

          +100 sUGArdaddy. It’s time to be winners, and winners don’t leave a single possible advantage on the table. That type of lack of attention to detail is exactly what caused the collapse of the Richt empire

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  10. illini84
    March 23, 2016 at 9:36 AM

    Maybe Kirby is going to be an asshole just like Saban. . . but he’ll be our asshole!

    Like

  11. Hogbody Spradlin
    March 23, 2016 at 9:37 AM

    Oh! Moral judgments by Paul Finebaum. How ironic.

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  12. ericdawg
    March 23, 2016 at 9:51 AM

    What do you expect from that buffoon!

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  13. stoopnagle
    March 23, 2016 at 9:53 AM

    Who is this greenie person and why does any one have time for his shit? Thought we were on The Process now?

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  14. UnderDawg
    March 23, 2016 at 9:53 AM

    Has Alabama ever placed a restriction on a player who wanted to transfer? Doesn’t Finebaum think Saban walks on water?

    And there…..you have it. Hypocrisy at it’s finest.

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  15. Trey (@cpadawg)
    March 23, 2016 at 9:56 AM

    I hope Kirby has learned his lesson. That is, do what you need to do, and when the media starts to ask questions about fairness and treating players like employees, turn it back on them. Berate the media as entitled whiners, tell them they are the reason players have to be treated like this. Then, put up a Coke bottle, revert back to coach-speak, say “aight” a bunch, and go on doing what you feel you need to do to win. Tell the media nothing, focus your attention and energy on results on the field, and if the media gives you any more guff, tell the fans the media is keeping you from doing your job. No more media problem.

    Like

  16. Bulldog Joe
    March 23, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    Talk about a high-hanging curveball…

    Waiting now for Greg’s confident and witty twitter response 😉

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  17. CB
    March 23, 2016 at 10:05 AM

    In fairness I don’t ever recall hearing it come out publicly that a head coach tried to block the transfer of a career back up, and then tried to restrict him to only the schools in one state minus two of the best football schools in said state. Not saying it’s never happened, I’ve just never heard of it.

    Like

    • Trey (@cpadawg)
      March 23, 2016 at 10:11 AM

      I would posit that it is only news in this case because it wasn’t the status quo. If Saban or Freeze or Spurrier had done this, no one would have batted an eye. In fact, they may do it, and we never hear about it because it isn’t considered news by either the player involved or the beat writers. Because it is different from how things were done in the past, it got some attention.

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      • CB
        March 23, 2016 at 10:12 AM

        That, or the fact that Kirby got caught in a lie exacerbated the situation.

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        • Trey (@cpadawg)
          March 23, 2016 at 10:22 AM

          Feldman’s article is “pre-lie” (if you want to put it that way).

          Most head football coaches have pretty hard-line transfer policies. You can’t transfer within the conference or to a school that is on the future opponent list. We’ve heard these stories so much, we don’t think much of it because it’s SOP. That’s why it seemed pretty refreshing when a few years back Georgia’s Mark Richt explained why in over a decade at the school, he’d never requested a transfer restriction of any kind.
          …
          Not anymore at Georgia, it turns out, as UGA athletic director Greg McGarity told the AJC this week. That perspective has been “adjusted” under new head coach Kirby Smart, who blocked a possible transfer destination of A.J. Turman. The Bulldog running back, an Orlando native, was interested in transferring closer to home but one of those places that UGA has made off-limits besides SEC East rival Florida is Miami, where Richt now coaches after being forced out in Athens.

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            • Trey (@cpadawg)
              March 23, 2016 at 10:31 AM

              Feldman, a national sportswriter, made it national news on March 19th. The “lie” didn’t really become news until the 21st. It was national news before the “lie” was discovered. The national pundits, Greenberg included, haven’t even mentioned the lie as a reason they are on tilt about the issue. From Feldman’s own article, this is standard operating procedure for most coaches out there. The reason this first became news was because it was a change from the previous administration’s stance on the topic. What am I missing?

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              • Senator Blutarsky
                March 23, 2016 at 10:51 AM

                That’s exactly right. Although it’s fair to mention Feldman also dinged McGarity for looking hypocritical.

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              • CB
                March 23, 2016 at 11:42 AM

                You’re not missing anything, you just weren’t clear on your position. I stand by my original point that I can’t recall such egregious restrictions being placed on a transfer.

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                • Trey (@cpadawg)
                  March 23, 2016 at 12:34 PM

                  How about Baker Mayfield? He walked on at Texas Tech and won the starting job as a true freshman, but was never given a scholarship. Texas Tech blocked any communication with other Big 12 schools, despite not being on scholarship (and never even recruited, really). He had to appeal to be able to transfer where he wanted (he won his appeal), but still had to sit out a year… despite never being on scholarship with Texas Tech. Now that is a dick move by Texas Tech and the NCAA.

                  In other news, Bryce Brown – infamous college RB recruit, left Tennessee and paid his own way to Kansas State, a school from which he was blocked by his head coach. That’s certainly not an option for many college football players, but it is still there.

                  Rushel Shell wanted to follow Todd Graham of all people from Pitt to Arizona State, but Pitt refused to allow him to do so.

                  Mike Gundy blocked 40 different schools for a backup QB. Randy Shannon (from same article) prevented Robert Marve from any ACC, SEC, or Florida (the state of) school. Marve’s father was being treated for prostate cancer in Tampa. He ended up at Purdue.

                  Bo Ryan, the one Smart was compared to on Mike & Mike, prevented a player from transferring to any Big Ten or ACC school, plus a handful of others before rolling those restrictions back upon appeal to just the Big Ten.

                  And those were just the ones that made the news.

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                • PTC DAWG
                  March 23, 2016 at 12:54 PM

                  Obviously, Kirby is the only Coach who has ever done anything remotely like this. Just ask the pundits.

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                • KershDawg
                  March 23, 2016 at 3:59 PM

                  +10 for specific examples.

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                • CB
                  March 23, 2016 at 3:59 PM

                  All great examples that I was unable to recall earlier. Smart is getting blasted by the media just like the others. What’s the difference?

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  18. Rick
    March 23, 2016 at 10:07 AM

    I will never understand the martyr complex college football fans have. The media is not “out to get” your school specifically. Tilting at windmills.

    Can’t we just rejoice when the criticism is merited?

    Like

    • dawgtired
      March 23, 2016 at 10:50 AM

      That’s because all media types are completely subjective and void of any personal opinions or bias when reporting the news. 🙂

      Like

      • Rick
        March 23, 2016 at 12:07 PM

        Not at all, particularly in the travesty that is sports journalism. But there is no systemic bias against any school, despite the fact that every school thinks the media has it out for them.

        Is it not interesting that you never see a fan of one school accusing the media of bias against another school? It’a always UGA fans saying the media hates UGA, or Auburn fans saying the media hates Auburn. Every school has it’s version of ‘dawg-graded’ concocted by the part of their fanbase prone to victimhood and wallowing in self-pity.

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  19. Rampdawg
    March 23, 2016 at 10:15 AM

    I’m always amazed that Finebaum can get his head out of Sabans ass to say anything. He can get it up there easy enough with that penis shaped noggin of his, but those ears have got to be like fish hook barbs.

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  20. PTC DAWG
    March 23, 2016 at 10:15 AM

    I still fully support Kirby and his decision on this.

    Like

  21. Bright Idea
    March 23, 2016 at 10:16 AM

    We fired the nicest coach in history cause he didn’t win the big games, a point ESPN was all to happy to point out, and they expect his successor to follow the fired guy’s blueprint. Go figure.

    Like

  22. MagnusDawgus
    March 23, 2016 at 10:16 AM

    Hey, its a learning process. Our AD making $600K a year is still on a learning curve as he gets educated on the “current transfer culture.”

    Like

  23. Turd Ferguson
    March 23, 2016 at 10:31 AM

    The players should be treated like men, and paid and insured like the workers that they are. Except when I say that they’re just innocent kids trying to get an education, and the mean ol’ coaches and administrators are being so mean.

    Like

  24. Billy Mumphrey
    March 23, 2016 at 10:38 AM

    A few more topics like this and the off-season will be a real boon for your page hits, Senator.

    Like

  25. Russ
    March 23, 2016 at 10:50 AM

    ESPN talking heads are against this? That settles it, I’m “all in”.

    Like

  26. hassan
    March 23, 2016 at 11:52 AM

    UF has same restrictions on Will Grier

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  27. W Cobb Dawg
    March 23, 2016 at 12:50 PM

    McGarity should’ve been the point on this administrative issue, not the HC!! As usual McG demonstrates how totally fricken useless he is.

    Like

  28. 69Dawg
    March 23, 2016 at 1:00 PM

    Can we just say that Kirby made some errors in judgement on this one. The fact that the player has not played in any games for 3 years not even on special teams didn’t make him indispensable. This was the worst case to adjust the transfer status. He should have either let him go or he should have address the change in the transfer rules before anybody asked. If the kid was a starter the fans, for the most part, would have been all for stopping him. I think Kirby is a pretty savvy guy and he committed an error when he changed his initial restriction. Going from only letting him transfer to the state of Florida except UF and UM to just restricting him from UF and UM just made it look like he didn’t know what to do. He should have just come out and said we have a new policy which is like all of our SEC brothers and that’s no SEC and nobody on the schedule. The Miami restriction just made him look like a controlling ass hat coach. Besides unless things have changed a player that doesn’t want to play for you won’t. Any way this will be over when sometime more news worthy comes along.
    Oh and by the way doesn’t it seem unfair for a rule to say that the school losing the player can prevent the player from getting a scholarship from another school. How about the kid who can’t afford the cost to attend any school. Seems some of our civil rights attorneys could cause the NCAA more headaches with this one.

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  29. James H
    March 24, 2016 at 2:41 PM

    Greenberg played JV as a senior and got picked on throughout his late teenage years.

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