It’s go time for Kirby.

Roll over Beethoven and tell Jeff Dantzler the news:  this ain’t no throwaway year.

Smart said Wednesday on “The Paul Finebaum Show” from the Regions Tradition Pro-Am in Hoover, Alabama that he thinks it’s best to embrace such outlooks.

“At the University of Georgia, that is the expectation. We should be a team that is favored to win the East each year. We should recruit the best players in our state, which is a very productive state, and develop those guys into really good players.”

“We’re still a young team in my mind,” Smart said. “Because over half of our roster will be freshmen or sophomores. But we’ve got some good football players coming back and I’m excited about our team. So I know the expectations are there; that comes with being the head coach at the University of Georgia.”

All I can say in response is hells to the yeah.  Coach without fear, coach with confidence, coach however you want to describe it… just accept what they brought you here to do, and do it.  That’s what I want out of the head coach.

If only we could hold everyone else associated with Georgia athletics to the same standard and have them hold themselves accountable to us for that.

97 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

97 responses to “It’s go time for Kirby.

  1. Maybe whoever replaces McG will bring that attitude. I’m a firm believer that you’ll never be great until you’re willing to admit that you want to be great.

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  2. 81Dog

    I’m not surprised to hear Kirby is taking the expectations head on, and I salute his willingness to do so (even with the over half the roster is freshmen and sophomores” mini-excuse making, which I guess is expected). On the other hand, what choice does he have? He inherited a program that won a lot, and a roster with a lot of players, not North Texas State. The guy he replaced won 9 or more games every year and got us to Atlanta 2 times in his last 5 years at least. That wasn’t acceptable and he was fired. Kirby wasn’t brought in to go backwards. Time to stop talking about the picture of the dog, and show some progress. We are all pulling for him, but I doubt he’s going to receive much patience from the fan base. I just want what was pitched to us when he was hired, not backtracking.

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    • PTC DAWG

      CMR posted 3 8 win seasons or less in the second half or so of his tenure at UGA. Not sure where the 9 wins every year comes from.

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      • RandallPinkFloyd

        I’m guessing he meant averaged 9 wins.

        2001 Georgia 12 8 4 0 .667 11.51 3.60 15 22 Music City Bowl-L
        2002 Georgia 14 13 1 0 .929 18.18 3.96 8 3 3 Sugar Bowl-W
        2003 Georgia 14 11 3 0 .786 17.46 6.11 11 4 7 Capital One Bowl-W
        2004 Georgia 12 10 2 0 .833 12.66 3.33 3 3 7 Outback Bowl-W
        2005 Georgia 13 10 3 0 .769 13.75 3.36 13 4 10 Sugar Bowl-L
        2006 Georgia 13 9 4 0 .692 10.21 3.75 15 9 23 Chick-fil-A Bowl-W
        2007 Georgia 13 11 2 0 .846 17.20 5.66 13 2 2 Sugar Bowl-W
        2008 Georgia 13 10 3 0 .769 11.60 4.52 1 1 13 Capital One Bowl-W
        2009 Georgia 13 8 5 0 .615 9.06 6.36 13 13 Independence Bowl-W
        2010 Georgia 13 6 7 0 .462 6.35 2.65 23 22 Liberty Bowl-L
        2011 Georgia 14 10 4 0 .714 10.67 4.02 19 12 19 Outback Bowl-L
        2012 Georgia 14 12 2 0 .857 17.93 4.21 6 3 5 Capital One Bowl-W
        2013 Georgia 13 8 5 0 .615 12.82 7.59 5 5 Gator Bowl-L
        2014 Georgia 13 10 3 0 .769 18.84 5.07 12 6 9 Belk Bowl-W
        2015 Georgia 12 9 3 0 .750 8.98 1.83 9 7

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        • PTC DAWG

          Fact is, 4 out our last 8 years we have posted 8 wins or less…

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          • 3rdandGrantham

            Right. Let’s not forget that, in CMR’s last 6-7 years as UGA HC, the SEC east was at its absolute nadir, with UT and UF in particular being borderline dumpster fires for most of those years. Yet, we had to sit back and watch the likes of SCU and freakin’ Mizzou makes trips to the dome in December.

            Let’s also not forget CMR horrid record against ranked teams going back 7 years or so — it was something like 13-29 against ranked opponents. CMR’s main play was to rack up wins against smaller programs with far less talent — kind of like in ’15 when UGA won 10 games(!)…yet we beat exactly zero teams with a mere winning record and were 0-2 against ranked teams that year.

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            • Irwin R. Fletcher

              Southern and Penn State both had winning records…but I don’t want to stop you when you are on a roll.

              Leave it to Georgia fans to turn a post about being fired up and ready to face expectations in 2017 into another debate about Richt.

              Richt is arguably the second best coach the program has had. But his wins and losses have absolutely ZERO to do with anything in 2017.

              If you want to talk about how there were 6 players from Georgia on the All-SEC teams in 2016 and none of them wore the red and black, now that would be relevant. But I’m really ready for folks to stop setting expectations for the program based upon what Richt did the last X years of his career. It doesn’t matter. Kirby’s goal is to win championships, soon. Period.

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              • Normaltown Mike

                2nd best?

                I’m assuming you’ve got Kid Woodruff #1?

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                • Russ

                  Well played. Don’t want to forget about ol’ Kid.

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                • Mayor

                  Wally Butts won at a lower percentage than CMR but he also won a nattie and more SEC Championships than CMR. He also didn’t play 2-3 cupcakes every year. If numero uno is Vince I think Butts is #2.

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              • Just Chuck (The Other One)

                Amen.

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              • 3rdandGrantham

                re: 2015, I was referring to the regular season and teams from a P5 conference. But I’m glad you were impressed with the win over mighty Southern and a 7-6 PSU team in a trivial bowl.

                I didn’t start the CMR debate; someone else did above. I was simply responding.

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                • Irwin R. Fletcher

                  I guess it’s too bad you can’t add footnotes to these comments, huh? That way you could throw out all sorts of stats with qualifiers and not have to worry about people not being able to read your mind.

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                • 3rdandGrantham

                  Ok, fine — let’s try this again — in the regular season, how many P5 teams did UGA beat with simply a winning record? Or, how many teams did CMR beat from a P5 conference that had a winning record in 2015?

                  I’m again utterly amazed that some of you cling to wins over Southern and .500 Big Ten teams in pointless bowl games as part of your talking points; not to mention the latter involved a game CMR had no part of. And as typical, someone will say something like, “I hope you guys are happy running off a 10 win a year coach for the guy we have now.” Then when I or someone else responds, you immediately go to the “CMR is no longer our HC, let it go” remarks.

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                • Irwin R. Fletcher

                  I’m again utterly amazed that some of you cling to wins over Southern and .500 Big Ten teams in pointless bowl games as part of your talking points;

                  I never used it as a ‘talking point.’ You just ignored facts in yours and got called out on it. Shake it off.

                  By the way, the idea that Mark Richt had ‘nothing to do’ with the bowl game win is pretty funny. I’m sure that the coaches that he hired all got together in the month prior to the game and came up with an entirely different offense, defense, game plan, practice plan, etc. etc. etc. Oh…and I had no idea they went out and recruited a new roster for the bowl game. Not giving Richt credit for the bowl game is just another hypocritical brick in the wall…

                  There is an actual argument for letting him go without manipulating the facts.

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                • Napoleon BonerFart

                  Come on, dude. You can’t accept that CMR played no part in the 2015 bowl win, but was responsible for the 5 losses in 2016? You must be a Richtophile!

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                • Sherlock

                  I consider that bowl win over PSU to be quite the feather in Bryan McClendon’s hat. While working with a depleted coaching staff, he managed to pull the team together, worked with Lily and Sherrer to develop a successful game plan, and came out with a quality win despite all of the noise. That performance will mean a lot in a few years when he is being interviewed by some mid-majors.

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                • Irwin R. Fletcher

                  Agree with that. McClendon is more than a recruiter…hopefully he gets a shot soon.

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              • PTC DAWG

                It’s obvious who brought up Richt…it was me or 3rd…

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          • Greg

            Or, they won 40 games the last 4 years (CMR).

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      • The greatest trick Richt backers pulled was convincing people UGA fired a “10 game winner.”

        Richt was great. I loved him at UGA. But he wasn’t a 10-game winner. He had seasons in which he won 10 games, though that’s different.

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        • 3rdandGrantham

          Over his last 7 years at UGA, CMR averaged 9 wins and 4 losses annually, with as pointed out just above an absolute pathetic record against ranked competition. His win/loss record over that period mirrors Donnan’s record at UGA during his final 4 years here. Yet, the Richtophants now want to make it seem like CMR went 10-2 or better every year and pretty much steamrolled everyone save Bama, which simply isn’t the case.

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          • I get why fans feel the way they do about Richt. He brought the program out of the weeds for the first time in two decades. But the revisionist history with regards to his last 4-5 years is real.

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            • Irwin R. Fletcher

              You talking about yourself? Because I would assume having to explain why 10 wins or SEC East titles aren’t “REALLY” 10 wins or SEC titles is about as revisionist as it gets.

              Please. Stop.

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              • I wasn’t in favor of firing Richt at the time, but what’s done is done and I understand why it was done. I don’t necessarily understand how it was done or the search for his replacement, but I get why he was let go. UGA won the SEC East in 2011 and 2012. Then 2013, 2014 and 2015 happened and it painted a picture that the magical 2012 season was more of the outlier than the norm.

                A man’s full career, as you put it, does matter. But what you did in the first half of a tenure and what you did in the second half of it don’t hold equal weight. That’s just the way life works, rightly or wrongly.

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                • Irwin R. Fletcher

                  I’d agree with most of it. I think BM either needed to support him or fire him…and I honestly don’t know if they had a plan to do either until the Kirby to Carolina talk happened.

                  One point of clarification…a magical season like 2012 is an outlier but really because the vast majority of coaches don’t ever have them. We expect those at Georgia every year…and that’s great…so bottom line is Kirby needs to deliver.

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                • playmakers in space

                  Very well stated, sir.

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              • playmakers in space

                “Please. Stop” what? The guy is bringing up good points.

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          • Irwin R. Fletcher

            Just so I get this right, you are a Richtophant if you want to talk about the man’s full career at Georgia and not just the won/loss record of the period of time that best justifies his firing? Heaven forbid you talk about winning the 2012 SEC championship game or give him credit for recruiting some of those players, right? I mean those are all real things that actually happened, but even bringing them up means you can’t see the OBVIOUS WON-LOSS RECORD STAT THAT I CITED!~!~!

            Honestly, there is so much hypocrisy whenever Richt comes up…it just makes me tired.

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            • Well, we didn’t win the 2012 SEC title game. Had we, I suspect Richt would still be the head coach as UGA would probably have won the national title that year.

              /sobs

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              • Irwin R. Fletcher

                I’ve got some typos this morning…clearly. But I think you get the point.

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                • But that typo is sort of the point. Richt last won the SEC in 2005. Not a lot of coaches at programs as big as UGA last when you don’t win your conference for more than a decade. Even a conference as good as the SEC.

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                • Irwin R. Fletcher

                  That’s right…Richt’s longevity at UGA is an anomaly. But his career record is, too. I mean…most coaches have that clear decline or a string of 4-5 loss seasons. Or can’t beat your rival. Richt didn’t have that (well…except UF). I think there was the rush to make sure everyone understood that case for firing him was clear…when it never was going to be because he was just good at winning football games in a really unique way that any other coach in the last 20 or 30 years (for better and for worse in that way). Doesn’t mean it wasn’t time for a change…but I just get annoyed when people try to make something really grey into black and white.

                  Liked by 1 person

                • Mayor

                  In fairness CMR had a winning record against just about every team in the SEC except FU and Bama, and Bama was close. As to our historical rivals, CMR crushed the series with Tech and Auburn, and beat UT regularly. FU is really the only blot on his record and that can be explained by having to play the Gayturds every year as an away game.

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        • 81Dog

          Is 8 wins enough for you? If it was, why is Richt gone? The point is not “Richt should still be here.” The point is “If you cant do any better than he did, why are YOU here?”

          But, it figures that the people who complained the most about our inability to win SEC titles or NCs are now suddenly suggesting we should relax, wait around 5 years, see what happens. Kirby wasn’t brought here to tread water, was he?

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          • I’m not sure who you’re referring to, but I don’t think anyone is saying 8 wins is enough. I do think there are people (I would fall into this category re: 2016) that felt there would be a transition of some kind. Will 8 wins be acceptable this year? Only if half the 2-deep gets hurt. But when you make a change and overhaul a staff there will be a transition, and we definitely saw that a year ago.

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          • PTC DAWG

            After 3 years, we will have more to discuss….right now, we have no idea, either way…

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            • RandallPinkFloyd

              THIS

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            • Rocket Dawg

              This is such hypocritical bullshit! The very thing that Irwin is talking about. Urban Meyer 2nd year won a MNC, Nick Saban 2nd year SEC Championship game appearance and 12-0 regular season, hell even shitty old Mark Richt won the SEC in his second year. 2017 is time for Kirby to put up or shut up. If he doesn’t win 10 games and the SEC East his ass will be on fire from the flames coming from his seat in 2018.

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        • MGW

          True, but the mealymouthedness of the administration about his status as head coach for the last 5 or 6 years of his tenure did him absolutely no favors on the recruiting trail, to say nothing of the lack of financial support of the program overall. He’s a very high quality coach, it just wasn’t going to happen here.

          Liked by 1 person

          • 3rdandGrantham

            I disagree. CMR wasn’t nearly assertive enough and lacked a general sense of urgency. He could have really pressed for greater financial investment but chose not to do so. Hell, he even lamented as such after being let go, just as he lamented spending too much time fundraising and delegating authority to his assistants instead of taking charge during the later years. As for the recruiting trail, that was his decision to only recruit up to the 85 level…which is why we were sitting with as low as 65 on scholly until Pruitt came aboard and corrected matters.

            Speaking of Pruitt, it finally took someone with some urgency and, shall I say, balls to press the issue publicly about building an IPF and such. Only then did the admin act and publicly commit to building it right away. CMR, meanwhile, was conspicuously quiet and didn’t pipe up until after the IPF was approved. Oh yea, let’s not forget all the other improvements that followed right after Pruitt came onboard — from a much larger staff, nutritionists, etc., all of which again stemmed from Pruitt, not CMR.

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            • Mayor

              Agree on Pruitt but it also cost Pruitt his job. Even if CMR was allowed to return in ’16 McCheap would have insisted on firing Pruitt.

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        • Napoleon BonerFart

          Mathematically, trying to differentiate a “10-game winner” from a coach who averaged 10 wins per year is a distinction without a difference. Richt averaged 10.3 wins per year in his UGA career. Over his final, subpar 4 or 5 seasons, he averaged 10 wins per year. He won less than 10 games exactly once over his final 5 seasons. You can be happy or sad that he’s gone. But please don’t try to argue that 10<10. At least, not with a UGA education.

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      • Greg

        Actually 10 per year on average, or 9.72 if U wanna be exact……but you already knew that, right???

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  3. I’m glad to see Kirby embrace the expectations. IMHO, he should have done it last year rather than the “turning the battleship” nonsense. That’s history … GATA.

    For those other individuals in the athletics apparatus, get the hell out of the way and support all of our sports from baseball to volleyball to make them great … or clean out your offices for people who will.

    Liked by 2 people

    • dawgman3000

      Well if he is gonna steer the ship, im sure he didn’t want to stay on the course that got the guy he was replacing canned.

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      • Do you know how to make a comment that doesn’t take a cheap shot at the previous coach?

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        • dawgman3000

          Sure I can. Can you make a comment without taking cheap shots at the current coach?

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          • I didn’t take a cheap shot at Kirby. I wished he had not made the turning the battleship comment and instead embraced expectations last year. That’s a fact, and others who wanted or were ambivalent about the change said the same darn thing.

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            • dawgman3000

              Embraced expectations!? What expectations? Playing for a spot in our annual mid-level Florida bowl game? Those of us who were not biased in our expectations knew that last year would be a little rocky just due to the transition itself, let alone the fundamental flaws of the program, i.e. poor o-line recruiting, horrible roster management, ect that Kirby inherited . True, Kirby and staff made mistakes last season, but let’s not act like he was taking over a juggernaut 10 win team because the polls didn’t find those 10 wins impressive enough to even rank them in final top 25. That’s a fact.

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  4. Starbreaker

    It can’t be understated how critical on-the-field results are for 2017, both for Kirby and the program. A ton of recruits for 2018/19 are watching to see if we are legit, or if Kirby is a 3-4 years and done flop. We need 10-2, the SEC East, and at least a competitive SEC championship game performance to spring board to the next level, IMO. Yeah, it’s a young roster, but there is too much talent on this team to have the types of games we had last year. OL is obviously still a concern, but if Chaney can’t figure out how to work around them to produce Ws then his hire will end up having been a critical mistake for Kirby’s career.

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  5. Jeff Sanchez

    Actually I heard Dantzler say on the radio the other day he’s picking the Gators to win the east in 17.

    But JUST WAIT until ’18, he tells us…

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  6. Dawgy

    Can’t handle another year losing to GT and Vandy.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jared S.

      Can’t handle another year where Florida wins the East and doesn’t even look competitive against Alabama.

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  7. Macallanlover

    He is setting the right tone, and should embrace the expectations of a high bar for this season. I don’t think characterizing this as a “young team” is accurate because over half are freshman and sophomores, many, many teams are close to this teams age. Don’t we return around 17 starters? We are a talented, deep, and experienced team by my estimation.

    My concern, and question, is why he continued to ride the Chaney horse. This looks to be a rather critical year for Kirby and while offense isn’t his strong suit, it is the major weakness in the 2017 team…..just as it was in 2016. Let’s hope there has been a lot of midnight oil burned planning how to fix/minimize the problem.

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    • Irwin R. Fletcher

      I get the criticism of Chaney last year…but I think you go back and look at his career and hope that 2nd year…better players…better offensive line…again, hope he’ll have a better year.

      My take is that you’ve got a better shot of that happening than bringing in a whole new offensive staff and hoping it clicks in year 1. It really comes down to Eason getting better and at least one of those freshman being able to play on the O-Line in Week 1.

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      • junkyardawg41

        It’s a good point. I am definitely in the camp that Chaney should still be here. I am not into the change coordinators every 1-2 years. If we had followed that, CMB would never have taken us to the offensive heights — Coach Turtle blossomed after CSS left and CWF was brought on board. Having said that, I went back and watched the UNC game again last year. Solid game plan to open the game. Then, UNC adjusted and our offense did not. Not sure if that was a reflection on limited ability based on the installation of the offense or a reflection of the coach. I think eyes will be on the offseason growth of the offense and an improved ability to make ingame adjustments. Without that, I am afraid Chaney’s time might end sooner than expected.

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        • Macallanlover

          And both of you may be right, there certainly would have been some fall off with a change at the top, at least the first few games (which look manageable). But what I saw was a guy, who wasn’t ever great anywhere he has been, look like the game has passed him by, and have no idea how to mix things up and figure out a way to even befuddle a Nicholls State team. No innovation, no change in how personnel could be used to make a defense be reactive, even after several games of seeing how the defense was stopping him….cold.

          UGA will be better on offense in 2017, regardless of who is the OC, because the talent is there and the defense will put them in position to win against a weak schedule. I still think he will get stifled against ND, LSU/Bama because you can go ahead and game plan against him. We were the same team every week last year, imo. I just wouldn’t delay the inevitable and be sitting in the same position next spring. Hope I am wrong and he shocks me, but nothing he has done anywhere says there is an energetic, creative mind inside him.

          If UGA is going to be the team we all hope for, it will have to make this move anyway. Another year like last will have top offensive players seeking a system that displays their talents better.

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          • Mayor

            I agree Mac. I am less than thrilled with some position coaches, too, however. We really need an upgrade in the quality of the staff as a whole. Some are good, no doubt about it. Some less so, though.

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        • Irwin R. Fletcher

          We were down heading into the 4th Q and scored 10 to close the win. We scored more in the second half than the first. I’m not saying that I definitively disagree with you, but I’m just curious on what basis you are saying that the offense didn’t adjust.

          I don’t know…I look at the offense and I think it should have been better….but then I look at a game like Tech, where we get a false start on a 3rd and 5, Eason misses open receivers…and even then you have an offense that doesn’t score quickly pinned at the 6 yard line, up 13, with 9 minutes left…and you lose. 2016 was a weird year. I’m taking the over on 8 wins this year. I think they are going to be much better.

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          • Macallanlover

            Yes, it is a great bet, I will load up on that one. Better not wait either, it will move once more action is placed.

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          • junkyardawg41

            Don’t disagree with the scoring more in the 2nd half vs the 1st. I am not sure it was a function of adjustments. I think it was more a function of UNC D wearing down, a safety, and some defensive pass interference calls that helped.

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  8. Russ

    I’m feeling better about the season. I still think we ride a tough defense to Atlanta.

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    • Brandon

      I hope this is the case. Its been a while since we’ve had a suffocating “Junkyard” Defense. I miss those days

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      • John Denver is full of shit...

        See, i feel like Chubb is gonna chubb and literally carry this team to Atlanta. In my mind the D keeps us in games and Chubb takes over in close ones.

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  9. The quotes you pulled from Kirby are the best things I’ve heard him say since he was hired. Embrace the expectations. I always felt Richt and Co tried to downplay them more often than not.

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  10. FisheriesDawg

    “We’re still a young team in my mind,” Smart said. “Because over half of our roster will be freshmen or sophomores. ”

    I assume he must have meant the starting lineup or the two-deep, because this is a stupid distinction to make w/r/t the roster. There is an 85 scholarship limit and you can sign 25 per year. There will be attrition of the guys you sign for various reasons (academics, playing time, dismissals, early NFL entries). Therefore, if your roster is dominated by juniors and seniors, you’re likely in a heap of trouble in the near future, and it also probably means your roster isn’t all that talented right now since you don’t have many players leaving early.

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    • PTC DAWG

      Without a deep dive into our rival’s rosters…hard to say if we are younger or not…

      Sony and Chubb & others coming back tells me that they like something they see in Athens.

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      • dawgtired

        …or that last year was NOT a good spring-board for NFL and this year COULDN’T be worse…right? Maybe they see improvement on the OL…or coaching-learning-curve or players buying in. Both were injured so maybe they see an opportunity for a season with better health and a better demonstration of ability…?

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        • Dawgwalker07

          They’re running backs. It’s extremely uncommon for those to come back to school because of how many hits they take over a career. Yes, they may improve their draft stock this year, but I sincerely doubt either one of them would have gone undrafted a few weeks ago. They would have signed with someone, made enough cash to be happy, and earned their way up the depth chart. That tells me they came back out of loyalty to the team, institution, or something other than just trying to make themselves look better.

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    • HVL Dawg

      Let’s see, there are freshmen, red-shirt freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. I wonder why over half the roster are freshmen or sophomores?

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  11. Paul

    At this point it’s nothing but happy talk y’all. And talk is cheap. I’ve bought in to the preseason hype WAY too many times in the past only to be disappointed. I ain’t believing nothing no more until I see it on the field. I sure hope we’re still talking this way four or five games into the season. As far as downplaying expectations, Richt was a rank amateur compared to Vince. Dooley could actually convince you we should be scared to play a high school team.

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    • You’ll find no greater mocker of happy talk that I am, but with all due respect, what Smart said doesn’t qualify as such.

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      • Paul

        Perhaps a more accurate description would have been that it’s all just coach speak at this point. Not unlike what any coach should be saying in Kirby’s circumstance. My point is that I’m not putting any stock in anything anybody says at this point. Not the coaches, not the players, not the pundits. I’ll wait to see the results on the field. I’m very hopeful that those results will be much improved. I believe Kirby, his staff and their players are certainly capable of being a vastly superior team than what we saw last year. But I’ll believe it when I see it. So I guess that makes me ambivalent. I want to buy in, but I ain’t going there just yet.

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  12. dawgfan

    No excuses this year barring major injuries to key players to not have a great season. If UGA loses to Tech and UF and wins 8 or fewer games this year, Kirby will need to embrace a smoking hot lava inferno of a hot seat. Hopefully if that happens McGarity will be sitting with him.

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    • Hopefully if that happens McGarity will be sitting with him.

      Why would you expect that? Other than a healthy reserve fund, McGarity isn’t embracing any expectations.

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      • Russ

        History certainly bears that out, but it does seem like recent conversations may tie McGoof’s fate to Kirby’s fate. I don’t like that either. I obviously want Kirby to win big, but I’d hate to keep McGoof around to ruin all the other programs just because football is winning. He needs to be evaluated on the performance of all the sports programs. I hope you, Seth and others keep up the pressure on that front.

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  13. It’s go time for sure. Let’s hope Kirby doesn’t metaphorically throw his back out 🙂

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  14. 3rdandGrantham

    By the way, well done with the Chuck Berry reference. CB’s “Gold” album is my favorite album of all time.

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  15. dawgman3000

    Time to fish or cut bait my man.

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  16. Uglydawg

    Concerning the useless debate over CMR’s record, firing, etc…here’s the way the water went under the bridge for me. I was a big CMR supporter but mostly on a character basis. I was verbal about his lack of aggression, dependence of FG’s (too many times he just couldn’t turn down that chance to get the three) which cost us wins. But still I kept thinking he would get it together and win it all. I was disappointed when he was fired, But after looking at other bloggers’ (on GTP) opinions and stats, I began to realize CMR’s tenure at UGA had ended timely. It is true he struggled to beat ranked teams. His effectiveness was in decline. I hope he wins hugely at Miami (HS coaches in Florida tell me he will do great). And that’s the way my feelings have progressed. I actually had my opinion altered by getting out of the emotional argument and looking at other people’s opinions..something that is hard for me (and some others) to actually do.

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  17. 69Dawg

    You know how to tell the Kirby supporters, if they never mention the way the defense lost to UT, Vandy and GT. They always talk about how the OC is bad can’t do this and can’t do that but they never go after the worst red zone defense in the SEC. If I expected anything from Kirby it was that the defense would be good but when the chips were down they folded like an old rug. It was so bad that when a team got into the red zone I assumed they would score a TD and they usually did 70% of the time. If the defense stinks up the field this year like last year we have bought a pig in a poke. If he can’t coach up the defense then we know it was Saban and not Kirby that coached Bama’s D. Tucker is just a highly paid Graduate Assistant. End of Rant.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Normaltown Mike

      I don’t know how many people are living in Kirby Town at the moment. AFter last season I’m pretty anxious about our prospects. If 17 is a repeat of 16, I suspect the Kirby = Muschamp Redux theory will be at 11 and 18 will be a “loser leaves town” season for Kirby.

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  18. The Dawg abides

    The Kirby supporters? So you’re saying there is a group firmly in the camp of actually rooting for him to fail? I understand some people being convinced that he isn’t the guy and that we will see no improvement at all this season, but already labeling people “Kirby supporters” as if they are some kind of out-group? I support the program myself, so by doing this I’m always going to back the current coach. I was strongly behind Richt, no matter what I perceived as shortcomings, until he wasn’t the coach. I didn’t like the hiring process, but nobody asked for my input. But as soon as the team hits the field I’m behind them regardless. I have a lot of reservations about the staff. I agree with everything you said about the defense last year and with the complaints about the offense. But I’m hoping like hell we get better this year and Kirby finds his footing, grows into the job, and takes the program where we all want it to be. Just like I was hoping in ’13, ’14, and ’15 that Richt could just maybe get the right mix of coordinators, or the right S & C staff, or have a full roster, or actually emphasize recruiting the OL. I was always behind the man, until he wasn’t the Man. Now I guess you can call me a Kirby supporter.

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  19. whb209

    Sportsbook operator CG Technology released its college football conference championship odds on Monday:
    SEC Champs……
    Alabama 5-2
    Auburn 15-4
    Georgia 5-1
    LSU 8-1
    Ole Miss 8-1
    Tennessee 8-1
    Arkansas 10-1
    Missouri 12-1 I
    Miss. St. 12-1
    Texas A&M 15-1
    Florida 18-1
    S. Carolina 25-1
    Kentucky 75-1
    Vanderbilt 100-1

    I like the way this looks.. I would rather be #1, but #3 is an improvement..
      Please Coach Smart,  beat Florida. I am so tired of losing in Jacksonville to these pricks. There is no way to explain it.
    

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  20. whb209

    College Football Future Odds
    ODDS TO WIN 2017 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (1/8/18)
    Team Odds
    Alabama 15/4
    Ohio State 11/2
    Florida State 15/2
    USC 15/2
    Oklahoma 10/1
    Michigan 15/1
    Penn State 15/1
    Clemson 20/1
    LSU 20/1
    Louisville 20/1
    Georgia 22/1
    Auburn 25/1
    Texas 25/1
    Washington 28/1
    Notre Dame 45/1
    Florida 50/1
    Oklahoma State 50/1
    Virginia Tech 50/1
    #11 is not great, but it
    is an improvement.
    It also means nothing
    except the guys in Vegas
    think this teams looks better than
    it has in several years.

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  21. Georgia fans still trying to convince others of why one of our best coached ever needed to be fired. So disappointing. More disappointing than the new guy losing to Vandy and Tech.

    Just run the damn baw and have some fire! Smh

    The Georgia Way is thriving. Just run the fan

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