Finished the drill.

Tracy Rocker tells Chip Towers he’s chilling in a good place, really.

I talked to Tracy Rocker on Friday. He didn’t have much to say.

“What are you up to?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Rocker said.

“You OK?”

“Everything’s good.”

“Well, can you tell me, did you leave Georgia on your own or were you dismissed?”

Here he sort of chuckled. “Everybody’s in a happy place,” he said.

“Do you have another job set up or are you taking some time off for a while?” I asked.

“You’ll know. Everything’s in a good place.”

Here Rocker ended the interview by saying “I’ve gotta run. Thanks for reaching out.”

Click.

Zen for the win, baby.

47 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

47 responses to “Finished the drill.

  1. DC Weez

    Best of luck to Tracy! He will be missed.

    Like

  2. Greg

    It almost sounds like just one big blowup, one that may have been building. Who the heck knows over what. Nonetheless, I hate to lose him and wish him well, he was a good one.

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  3. Dawgy

    Kirby has made some decisions that will make him look like a genius or a big dumbass. More to come.

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    • Greg

      Honestly….the Pittman hire may be the only one that I feel good with – and even that one did not perform well last year. Whether it is a zone blocking team or power blocking, make it fit…play with the cards that are dealt to you. The more I think of it, I am hard pressed to think of anyone on staff that I am impressed with now that Rocker is gone….agree, either it will be feast or famine this year.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Macallanlover

        Feel the sane way. I also have felt best about Pittman but, like you, it is more on reputation than anything demonstrated on the field so far. Recruiting, and on the field discipline seem to be the gains so far, and there have been sine takeaways. Like others, giving them time to work out of the Year 1 blues and only taking public shots at the OC…who doesn’t seem to be a mystery to anyone at this point.

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      • Mayor

        ^This. Rocker was the best position coach on the team. Rocker also wants to win. It looks to me like UGA has been systematically weeding out the superior assistants who want to win and replacing them with mediocrity.

        Liked by 2 people

        • Seems Kirby wants recruiters first and coaches second. Scott was not an improvement in the latter and has shown nothing as far as a recruiter. Rocker showed that he was really good at substituting players on the DL and keeping them fresh, especially after the FU game the DL showed marked improvement. Scott has inherited a lot of talent so we will see what he does with it.

          Liked by 1 person

      • AthensHomerDawg

        ” zone blocking”. There are those two words. Again!
        😉

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  4. 69Dawg

    At least Tracy is being professional about it. Hope he got a hell of a buyout. He was by far the best position coach we had, end of story.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. 92 grad

    Is there anyone that doesn’t think Kirby has had too much involvement in either coordinators coaching? It sure looks like Kirby is struggling with chain of command and respecting the boundaries of the staff. I may be way off, I’m just making my judgement from what I see on tv.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Greg

      It seemed to me that he was too involved with the defensive side and not with the offensive side. Thing is, neither side improved……right now, just hoping for better year next season, that is all I have.

      Like

      • Mayor

        I dunno about that. I think Kirby made some offensive decisions last year that cost us. IMHO he needs to get the best OC in the country and stay out of it and let that guy run the show offensively. That would be a vast improvement.

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  6. Hank

    Disappointing. I wish the best for him. The man got screwed.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Hal Welch

    You guys are so opinionated about something that none of us have a clue about. Did Rocker tell his boss to screw off? Did he commit a recruiting violation? Did he get caught with porn, did he hit a titty bar on the road? Or perhaps he and Kirby just didn’t agree philosophically? We killed Mark Richt because he was too slow to part with coaches. And now yall are killing Kirby because he parted with one. We can debate CTR’s coaching/ recruiting value and unlike others if you, it’s very debatable. But i now understand why some folks say or fan base makes the HC job damn near a no-win position. Kirby has to do what he thinks is best, then he either wins or loses based on that. Everybody wants us to give Donald Trump a chance, let’s see how Kirby’s decisions play out before we castrate him and anoint a fired coordinator the best coach ever. Damn

    Liked by 2 people

    • 92 grad

      It’s not a big leap to make a conclusion out of this based on what we see and hear from Kirby. Rocker was probably controlled or circumvented more than he was comfortable with. I think his guarded non answers cited by the senator reveal something.

      And we all know the head coach is a no win job. They’re politicians, just in a different arena.

      Like

    • NoAxeToGrind

      Why should not Trump be given a chance? Obama was given eight years.

      Like

      • Don in Mar-a-Lago

        Eight years. He couldn’t Make Somalia Great Again.
        Took me less than a month.

        Today the special at the Club is meatloaf.
        Tomorrow there will be sandwiches.

        Like

    • Greg

      BAH!!!… don’t let it bother you.

      Like

    • 'Ol Gill

      Our fanbase is pretty level headed compared to others I’ve seen. In fact you could say that out of the two most successful SEC programs since ’92, one has a delusional cult following that questions nothing the HC does, and the other questions every little thing and is considered the spoiled brat fanbase of college football.

      I think we’re alright.

      Like

      • We’re levelheaded? That’s a good one. We have a lunatic fringe that’s right there with the worst of them. For goodness sake, we had a fan actually write he believed the team would be better off without its 2 best players next year.

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      • Mayor

        Hell, if Nick Saban was HC at UGA I would question nothing he does, too. We are coming off a 7-5 regular season with a loss to Vanderbilt and a 40 point blowout loss to a 5 win team. We also barely got past Mizzou, arguably the weakest team in the SEC and damn near lost to Nicholls State. I don’t think Kirby Smart has earned any cred yet–with anyone.

        Liked by 1 person

    • DawgPhan

      Well Kirby did stack a couple of no wins against Florida, Tennessee, tech and vandy so maybe Kirby put himself in that no win situation. You know. Because of all the no winning he does.

      Like

    • Kdaddy

      “But i now understand why some folks say or fan base makes the HC job damn near a no-win position. Kirby has to do what he thinks is best, then he either wins or loses based on that. Everybody wants us to give Donald Trump a chance, let’s see how Kirby’s decisions play out before we castrate him and anoint a fired coordinator the best coach ever. Damn”

      HAl Welch this ^^^ makes sense. Best post in a long time! People hated Richt’s loyalty. Well, Kirby did what he had to do. Give the man time!

      Like

  8. dawgfan

    Whatever CKSs reasoning, Rocker was very well paid during his time in Athens. If he is as good as a lot of people think, he will be working again soon at a high salary. Rocker was a hired gun when he came to UGA.

    Like

    • Mayor

      Yeah but he was OUR hired gun. Now we will undoubtedly see him again–next time on the opposing sideline.

      Like

      • oh come off it. He was Richts coach, and Kirby has to man his own cabinet – for good or for bad. and Rocker has moved every few years. its the life of assistant coaches. Its not a big deal at all.

        Like

  9. lakedawg

    Am really surprised that Scherer is still here. Would almost wager he will be gone by this time next year.

    Like

  10. Fred Everett

    Seems clear to me … it is my understanding that Tracy was only given a “one” year contract right at the pivotal point in the 2016 recruiting class.
    Had he not been given a contract … what would have happened to our four prized DL recruits. It seems to me that Smart took out an insurance policy while keeping his options open “after” the 2017 Class was in the barn.
    As for the OC … our offensive line was seriously deficient … just look at the All Conference selections and the invitations to the NFL Combine. At best … we were a “D+” grade OL by SEC standards. We could not give Eason required time in the pocket … we could not push the DL off the line of scrimmage. It really is that simple.
    BIG TIME HELP is on the way … I, for one, give the entire coaching staff a pass for the 2016 season. I will reserve judgement until after the 2017 season which I think will be a pleasant surprise.

    Like

  11. Are we becoming Tennessee?

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  12. DawgByte

    Rodney Garner and now Tracy Rocker. Hopefully, UGA has learned a lesson. Orange blood doesn’t sit well in Athens!

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    • CannonDawg

      Vince Dooley did okay.

      Like

      • JCDAWG83

        Exactly, he did “okay”. Take away Herschel and Vince doesn’t win a NC, probably doesn’t win three of his SEC championships and finishes his 25 year career with about 190 wins for an average of about 7.8 wins per season and a losing bowl record. He generally won the games he was supposed to win, threw in an upset every year or so and did well against tech.

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        • CannonDawg

          Judging Dooley with a “take away Herschel” stipulation is both silly and lame. What about “take away Brady” and Belichick is with the Jacksonville Jaguars on his fourth NFL coaching stint. Or “take away George Washington” and we all have bad teeth and crave Bangers and Mash. Or “take away the Wright Brothers” and Neil Armstrong would have been a photographer of the moon instead of walking on it.

          Sorry, but I don’t buy it. Dooley won the recruiting battle for the greatest back in CFB history. And turned him loose for three glorious years. Hershel might very well say that “take away Vince Dooley” and there is no retired #34 jersey at UGA.

          My point that Dooley did okay was in response to the previous comment about AU people not doing well in Athens. When Joel Eaves hired Vince Dooley who hired Erk Russell (Auburn grads, all), I’d say yeah, UGA football did okay with those guys.

          Liked by 1 person

          • These comments are clearly one believes the glass is half full and another half empty. The bottom line is Dooley and Cavan conVINCEd Herschel that Georgia was the best place. If not for the USFL, no one would ever question #34 as the #GOAT.

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        • Got Cowdog

          Wait, what?

          Like

  13. Got Cowdog

    @JC of course.

    Like