“This is Coach Saban’s defense.”

Saban let his coordinators speak to the press this weekend, too.  If you’re interested, Jeremy Pruitt had some things to say related to his time at Georgia:

— Pruitt said he learned more about being a man coaching at Georgia under Mark Richt.

But what about learning more about coaching being a man at Georgia?

— At Georgia, they had to make up for having young players on back end of defense. It was different from Alabama and Florida State.

Good thing he was better at that than Todd Grantham was.

— Facing Alabama’s offense last year at Georgia, Pruitt said he was impressed with the size of the Tide players.

Weren’t we all…

The conference of the disposable quarterback

I’ve got no idea as to why, but this sure appears to be a strange statistic.

Since 2007, SEC teams have signed 176 quarterbacks. 55 still in school. Of the others, 62.8 pct. (76 of 121) transferred/gave up football.

— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) August 7, 2016

No wonder it’s hard to have a year of the quarterback in the SEC.

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UPDATE:  More here.

The explanation seems simple enough. All players want playing time, and sometimes there isn’t enough to go around. This is particularly true with quarterbacks, as college coaches tend to settle on a starter and backups often have to wait until the starter graduates, performs poorly or is injured before they see the field.

Live, from Athens, Georgia… it’s Jim Chaney!

Jim Chaney wasn’t bland yesterday.  In fact, you kind of wonder why Smart keeps him away from the media.  He was quick with the quips.

Chaney isn’t much for extenuating circumstances like that Ramsey is on his third offensive coordinator in three seasons at Georgia. Chaney pointed out he’s been at three different schools in three years after coaching at Arkansas in 2013 and 2014, at Pittsburgh in 2015 and now Georgia.

“What’s the big deal?” he said. “Players play, coaches coach, administrators administrate. There is no overlap. Do your job, do it the best of your ability, learn, work your butt off, strive to be the best you can possibly can be and see where it goes. Does it harm him, knowing more football and different systems? I never got that feeling that’s a negative. I always felt like that’s better.”

Chaney’s hire was announced on the same day he first met Eason, who was on campus for a visit from his home of Washington state.

Chaney was freshly arrived from Pittsburgh.

“Flying down on the plane, I throw the Pitt shirt off and put the Georgia shirt on and be with him an hour later,” Chaney said.

And you get the impression that he’s genuinely open-minded about the state of the quarterback battle.

Added Chaney: “On any given day, I like one a little bit more than the other.”

He said later: “The competition’s hot, it’s alive. It’s very competitive and it’s fun watching.”

In Friday’s practice, Chaney said something got him upset that prompted him to tell the group: “Somebody needs to start emerging a little bit here, you know and showing a little bit more. As the volume comes in it gets a little bit tougher on someone. Some could handle a little more volume than others. That doesn’t necessarily make you the best player and one we’re going to choose, but at the end of the day every one of us is human beings. Like quarterbacks, we have fleas. We’re not all perfect so we’ve got to figure out what they do good, do it as best they can and work on their weaknesses and I feel comfortable they’re all doing that now.”

After watching yesterday’s practice, I get what he meant when he said,

“Here comes the cliche, gang,” he said. “Who can secure the ball, who throws it to our guys and not the opponent. Who shows that discipline to be able to make that decision like calling the downfield throw when it isn’t there to check it down, who can show the discipline to learn a new gameplan week to week.”

It’s Smart’s call ultimately with input from Chaney.

“It’s not always about the math,” Chaney said. “Sometimes it’s about a gut feeling on what you’re going to do.”

Everyone who’s ever trolled about G-Day QBR numbers just blanched a little.

Mel Tucker wants it all.

Kirby lifted the cone of silence off the heads of his coordinators yesterday.  Mel Tucker was pretty bland, but you can’t say he doesn’t expect much from his defense.

“Our foundation is going to be in the best condition, to play with technique and fundamentals, play smart, play fast, play physical and just overall, a brand of relentless defense and relentless football — high velocity, non-stop. We want to stop the run, and we want to affect the quarterback with rush and coverage. We want to force takeaways, we want to be great in special situations and make people go a long our way and don’t give up big plays. In a nutshell, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

That’s quite a nutshell you got there, brother.

Today, in I don’t think that means what you think it means

Tray Matthews, one of a small number of college players who can proudly claim a starring role in not one, but two, iconic moments, refers to his attempted tackle of Leonard Fournette last season as a “business decision”.