It takes a support staff to raise a football team.

And it takes a once frugal Athletic Director to okay a spending spree on an enlarged support staff.

Georgia’s spending on its football support staff has jumped more than 33 percent in the past year as new coach Kirby Smart has added to what already was an increased off-the-field presence in the program.

That’s something Smart grew accustomed to when he was on staff at Alabama.

“Oh, man, we get a tremendous amount of help,” Alabama senior defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. “If you’re overweight and need to lose weight, we have people for that. If you’re going through family issues, there’s someone for that. Academic, there’s someone for that. There’s no excuse for why you shouldn’t be on top of your game at Alabama. They give you everything you need to be successful and that’s why I feel like we’ve had so much success.”

Smart was with the Crimson Tide for nine seasons under coach Nick Saban, the last eight as defensive coordinator. Smart said in January that Alabama had the “largest staff of any capacity I’ve ever seen,” but said he didn’t think “you need every one of those roles.”

Georgia is spending $2,893,550 on support staff positions, up from $2,171,393 a year ago, according to data received in an open records request by OnlineAthens.com. The numbers are also impacted by a three percent merit increase for athletics staff for the fiscal year that just started.

Is that a lot?  Well, yeah.

Alabama reported spending $2.7 million on football support staff in 2013-14 in its NCAA financial report, according to CBSSports.com.

Mark Richt can only shake his head in admiration.  This is a perfect example of why I’ve left that Quote of the Day up for three months.

It’s what “all in” looks like, observers of the Georgia Way.  Best get used to it.

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Thanks for playing, Speaker Ryan.

Those of you who think sports and politics don’t mix…

.@SpeakerRyan "When you advance to a national championship don't you root for a Longhorn if you're an Aggie? Start thinking that way."

— jonathantilove (@JTiloveTX) July 19, 2016

Maybe you’re right.

If stupidity were an Olympic event…

… Bob Bowlsby would be in line for a gold medal.

In case you were wondering how it was going in the Big 12 after the scandals at Baylor, here’s this thought from Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby at Big 12 media days:

… But let it suffice to say as it pertains to all of our institutions, we are very committed as a group of ten schools to eradicating sexual assault on our campuses. It almost goes without saying that when you combine alcohol and drugs and raging hormones and the experiences of 18-22 years old, it’s probably unrealistic to think that these kinds of things are never going to happen.

All that’s missing is sincere advice to victims everywhere to lie back and enjoy it if it should happen.

Raging hormones lead to rape?  It’s rather staggering to hear someone say this.  And in any event, it isn’t alcohol that causes sexual assault; it’s the one doing the assaulting who causes that.

So, yeah, this is sad and even a bit revolting.  And if Bowlsby’s a dumbass for saying it, what do we call the school presidents who think he’s doing a bang up job as Big 12 commissioner?

Here’s your cold shower for the morning.

Well, um… Kirby doesn’t seem to think Mark Richt and Jeremy Pruitt left the pantry particularly well-stocked in the secondary.

Georgia’s Kirby Smart is candid about his players, including a secondary that returns just about everyone. “We’ve got some good players back but not great players, certainly not the level I would be accustomed to coming from Alabama,” Smart said. “It’s not that caliber of corners.” Safety Dominick Sanders is the clear leader of the group but, according to Smart, needs great players around him to maximize his potential. “He’s an All-SEC second-team type of guy,” Smart said.

High praise indeed.

The ACC gets its network.

A deal is struck.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have agreed to a 20-year deal and rights extension through the 2035-36 academic year, sources said.

The ACC also extended its conference grant of rights deal nine years through 2035-36, a source said.

The conference’s grant of rights makes it untenable financially for a school to leave, guaranteeing in the 20 years of the deal that a school’s media rights, including revenue, for all home games would remain with the ACC regardless of the school’s affiliation.

The ACC’s new grant of rights also automatically extends Notre Dame’s contract with the conference as a member in all sports but football through 2035-36, a source said. If the Irish forgo football independence in the next 20 years, they are contracted to join the ACC.

Prevent conference members from leaving for two decades and lock in Notre Dame?  Not too shabby, John Swofford.  The only way the ACC is going to suffer any of its member schools being poached in the near future is if the entire conference blows up.  Hell, ask the Big 12 if they wouldn’t like that kind of stability.  The extra TV money is almost a bonus.

Nick Chubb continues to be unsinkable.

Even his head coach has bought in.

“I think Nick Chubb’s going to be fine,” Smart said. “But I won’t know that until the first scrimmage. Or the second scrimmage. When we get to go live and tackle and hit and he gets over that mental aspect of taking that first hit.”

Chubb’s progress has astounded coaches and players alike, with Smart stating during the spring that the Cedartown native was ahead of schedule with his recovery.

Having torn three ligaments and damaged cartilage, Chubb’s been able to rehab quicker than perhaps even Smart expected.

“There’s nobody in the country who could be back as fast as he is right now,” Smart said. “And he’s sped up the progress by his effort and toughness.”

It sounds like he’s saying Chubb’s pretty much made it back physically.

The good thing is if that’s the case and all that’s left in recovery is to determine Chubb’s mental state, I have a hard time believing he’s any less tough mentally than he is physically.

“… in our league you better win, or you won’t be here long.”

Shorter Kirby Smart:  Rebuild?  The hell with that.

The cost of doing business in Knoxville

UT’s total for settlements and attorney fees in athletics-related lawsuits in the past two years is roughly $4.5 million.

Then again, if it’s being paid with other people’s money, no big deal, right?

In the $2.48 million settlement amount, half will be paid by the athletics department and half by the Knoxville campus.

According to UT, the funds come from “income-generating activities” at UT such as licensing fees and other profits…

And if you’re wondering what it would have cost the school to fight the good battle to clear its name all the way to its conclusion, well…

In its settlement announcement, the university estimated that continuing the suit through trial, set for May 2018, and appeals would have cost as much as $5.5 million.

Such a deal.

Is Kirby Smart protesting too much about Jacob Eason?

I realize it’s got to be hard handling the number of times he’s been grilled about Eason’s starting chances, but it seems like Smart spends more time talking about what his talented freshman brings to the table than he does about Eason’s upperclassmen rivals.

On “Russillo & Kanell,” Smart was asked by former Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell how special Eason has to be to start week one against North Carolina.

“Well, he’s got to give us the best opportunity to win the game,” Smart said. “I just know he’s got a talented arm and he’s got to be smart enough and be a good decision-maker to play within the system and not think that it’s all on him in order to be that guy. Greyson has proven that he can play within the system and be disciplined, the system that he was in. Brice has got to prove that as well. All three will get that opportunity in fall camp. Jacob does a special arm talent, but Jacob has not been anointed or appointed that job.”

Of far more interest to me is Smart’s statement that he intends to follow a timetable in setting up the depth chart at the quarterback position.

Georgia will hold two scrimmages this preseason and Kirby Smart would like to narrow down the quarterback race after the second to name his No. 1 guy.

“Obviously, that’s guessing right now,” Smart said about the timetable Monday on ESPN’s “First Take.”

Sure, it may not work out if none of the three steps up, but I like what the coaches are trying to do here.  I’m not a big fan of spreading the reps out until the last minute in August, especially with yet another offensive system being installed.  Getting to an established pecking order with more time to spare before the opener will allow Chaney to manage the reps better.  As a bonus, it should help the three quarterback candidates maintain focus from the get-go.  Early on especially, this offense is going to need all the help it can get.

Thanks a lot, Slive.

I don’t think it’s any big surprise that I think Mike Slive was an overrated conference commissioner.  And that’s even before I learned this:

Finebaum morphed from attack-dog columnist to attack-dog radio host, but he won his current platform by morphing again into a ringmaster of sorts who balances informative interviews with wacky callers. Former SEC commissioner Mike Slive had to go to bat for Finebaum with various school presidents to get them to sign off on the hire.  [Emphasis added.]

For the love of all that’s holy, why, man, why?  Unless PAWWWLLL had photos of Slive in a compromising position, I can’t begin to think of a decent excuse.  And, to be honest with you, I’m not sure even blackmail would be enough to justify advocating for Finebaum like that.