Seth Emerson’s take on Jim Chaney and Sam Pittman may sound like the plot for a ’90s buddy movie, but there is one point he makes that’s worth a note:
The close connection between Chaney and Pittman – the fact they were basically a package deal – could be an underrated boon to Georgia’s offense.
When an offensive coordinator and O-line coach are on the same page, things flow well. Witness the halcyon days of Georgia’s offense, 2011-14, when coordinator Mike Bobo and O-line coach Will Friend worked so well together and became so close that when Bobo became Colorado State’s head coach, Friend went west with him as offensive coordinator.
But last year, that closeness didn’t seem to exist. Brian Schottenheimer had spent the previous 11 years in the NFL, while O-line coach Rob Sale had a college and high school background, and came recommended by then-defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. It’s not that Schottenheimer and Sale didn’t get along, but they had different backgrounds and had never worked together.
No, that wasn’t the biggest chemistry issue on Georgia’s staff last year, but, yeah, I can see how having your o-line coach and offensive coordinator on the same page might help.
Get The Picture 
If nothing else, the comfort and trust of a past history together should pay dividends in the short term. Even top talents in their roles have a period of adjustment getting on the same page when working together. That is something that takes time. With an unsettled QB situation, time is something we don’t have an abundance of to get on the same page.
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I really hope the Chaney/Pittman combination is going to make a big difference in the offense. Someone needs to repost that picture from observing bowl practice where they looked like, “What the hell did we just sign up for?”
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Sale was a disaster, especially coming off of Friend. Plus, I get the feeling Pruitt actually made that hire. Last year’s coaching staff had to be a shitshow of epic proportions.
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I agree, it seems like Sale was a Pruitt hire. Who hired Schotty?
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If Pittman can whip that OL into a decent unit we have the makings of a very good O. Five star Eason, best RB tandem in cfb, 5 star Godwin and 5 star Nauta. A good OC would be salivating at the thought of turning those horses loose.
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We know those two click. They have to because this team this year is going to have to score considerably more than last year. Our front 7 on D last year was solid. Not overwhelming on the line but good enough to free our LBs to make plays. This year there are no proven studs on the line or at LB. If we finish the year at 85th in scoring like last year it’s not gonna be pretty.
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Davin Bellamy and Natrez Patrick are good players. Roquan Smith could be a star. Zo Carter could be the best of them all if he plays hard every down. Trent Thompson could be All-SEC at the end of the year. All of those guys were 4+* recruits.
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…and Rochester and Barnett
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dawgtired, as Dawg fans, we’re conditioned to bitch about everything about our program, but when you point out the positive side of the coin, you’re told you don’t know what you’re talking about or you’re just drinking the Kool-Aid.
I don’t give a rat’s @$$ about whether our whole front 7 is going to play on Sunday. All I care about is whether they can play on Saturday. I think we have a lot of guys who can do that.
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Yes they all could but not one of them has proven to be a game changer like a Jenkins or a Leonard Floyd. The fact is that outside of Dawg fans like us no one knows who they are. They might be solid. Might not. It doesn’t matter how many stars they had in high school. I hope they play lights out but I can’t name one player that I know will play next level football. That is some scary shit. I would be hard pressed to tell you who our leaders in the front 7 will be.
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Natrez will play at the next level. If Zo plays to his potential, he has a higher upside than either Floyd or Jenkins.
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Trent Thompson was going to be a freshman All-America until he dealt with an ankle injury. If you don’t think he’s an NFL-caliber player if he keeps developing, I don’t know what to say to you.
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All i am saying is that there is a bunch of ifs and coulds in your statement. Name one player on our front 7 that has done it? You cant and that is pretty scary. I know they are supposed to be great and they have flashed it at times but doing it a full 60 mins is something else. I sure hope they are a wrecking crew. I just do not know and neither does anyone else. It has been a long time since we had 0 players that I knew without a doubt were gonna bring it. Nobody is established which tells me we don’t have very much experience.
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They’re young and talented. I don’t know if they will be a wrecking crew, but I haven’t heard Kirby hedging his bets about his defense. All I know is that there’s talent. Whether that talent performs is a different question. I can state Natrez Patrick (a true freshman) was as good as either Floyd or Jenkins at the end of the season last year. Watch the games once he took over for Kimbrough. The young man can play.
It’s the nature of the college game. Everyone loses players – we lost two guys at LB who will likely be starters on Sunday if they stay healthy. Does Trent Thompson look NFL-ready right now? No … Because he’s a sophomore. Does he have the raw talent to be that kind of player? Absolutely.
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