… Booch makes a decent target.
They make for an interesting compare-and-contrast.
“For me it’s important that you understand as the head coach of the University of Georgia, I’m proud to be there, but we embrace those (expectations), the coaching staff, we embrace those as our players,” Smart said. “When you come to the University of Georgia, the expectation is to win championships. That’s what we expect to do at the University of Georgia, and that’s the standard we’ll be held to.”
“We don’t want players who don’t expect to win,” he added. “When you come to the University of Georgia … you’re going to be one of the best players in the country, coming from one of the best states in the country, one of the best high school football states in the country. We expect them to come in with that attitude and demeanor. You create that, and it permeates your program by how you carry yourself and perform on the field. And we have not performed on the field from the level we should. That’s something we have to continue to improve on.”
That’s a strikingly different tone than what we heard from Tennessee’s Butch Jones on Monday. The Vols were picked to win the East last year but finished two games behind division champion Florida. The difference in Tennessee’s nine wins and Georgia’s eight? A Joshua Dobbs Hail Mary touchdown pass to beat Georgia 34-31 in the final seconds on Oct. 1. Otherwise, their seasons were essentially the same.
Tennessee beat nationally ranked Florida, and Nebraska in the Music City Bowl; lost to nationally ranked Alabama and Texas A&M; and lost to unranked Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
Georgia beat nationally ranked North Carolina and Auburn, and TCU in the Liberty Bowl; lost to nationally ranked Ole Miss and Florida; and lost to unranked Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
But anyone within earshot of The Wynfrey Hotel on Monday knows Tennessee is coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons because Jones pointed out several times that Tennessee is coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons. With six NFL draft picks, the Vols reached the top 10 last fall but finished the season No. 22.
“On the field, we’re very proud of the fact that it’s very, very difficult to win in the Southeastern Conference, and we’re one of only three programs that have won nine games two years in a row,” Jones said.
“This is a results-oriented business and we fell short of our goals,” he added. “But I don’t like to use the term ‘disappointment,’ because when you still look at it, it’s hard to win in this conference. And only three teams have won nine games, and the University of Tennessee is one of those.”
Granted, some of the difference can be attributed to Jones sitting on a warmer seat than Smart, and maybe Jones deserves a little slack because he had to dig out of a deeper hole than the one Smart started with (remember, Richt got fired in the midst of back-to-back ten win seasons). As Matter notes, though, but for one play, the 2016 Georgia and Tennessee seasons were quite similar, so it’s enlightening to see the very different filters through which the two coaches view their last year.
Get The Picture 
Good to know that Kirby is a realist. GATA!
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Its like he was taking notes at Saban’s press conferences and then practicing in front of a mirror.
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I pretty sure we had more that would have been drafted if they came out…..I think UGA had a more talented team also. UT, Vandy, UF and GT all in one season was pretty tough to handle….first time in UGA history. Hoping to see better results this year….WAY too much talent for a repeat.
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I’m sticking my neck out, and I may have take some shit for it down the road, but I’m saying it here. CKS is the real deal. No Store Brand Saban or process robot. Last year was tough, sure, but it was year one/ground zero for a program that had been imploding since ’14. Let’s see what happens now.
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Disagree UGA was imploding, but it was definitely stagnant. No real debate there.
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Apologies, the ’15 UF game was on my mind. Agreed, imploding was a little harsh. Stagnant is a much better descriptor.
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I was fine with moving on from Richt after WLOCP ’15, but kudos to him for getting the team to nut up a little and win out to save face. No, none of those teams were world-beaters, but winning at Auburn and at Tech and making James Franklin and a bunch of annoying Georgia Southern fans cry….it beats the alternative, at least.
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Can’t wait to at LEAST get back up to “imploding”……those 50 wins the prior 5 years sure looks a hell of a lot better than 8 per…
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Rhode Island transfer….started at left tackle…
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You forgot the part about him being a Washington Redskin guard. We had no tackles at all.
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I know it’s been discussed before, but the previous regime failing to sign actual offensive tackles still boggles my mind.
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No question it was major shortfall, perhaps the biggest, but it wasn’t from lack of effort. I attribute it more to a lot of turnover and change at the OL coaching position, and a lot of shoulder injuries which I felt might be how we lifted weights. Whatever it was, we were never dominant along the OL in those years.
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“50 wins”….”50 wins”…..”Polly wanna cracker”….”braaaaaak.”
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LOL!!!….gonna keep reading it until he least gets back to where we were….plus 1 (game).
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Well, I hope you do keep reading it and I hope it keeps you busy so you don’t have the time to post the same *&%$ thing every single day.
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If it applies, I will…..if facts bother you, don’t read it (again). You should have got it the first time.
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You forgot “Richt had the number three class at the time when he was fired…..braaaaaak!”
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And that Kirby has to win at least 12 this year to reach “mediocrity”….13 to pass it.
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This, out of all the dumb crap you keep posting, is the dumbest of all. So by your logic, Kirby’s wins in year two of his new program MUST be added with his first year wins total to equal an average which matches the wins posted in Richt’s last year. Richt, the former “Dean of the SEC”, who was finishing up on his 15 year tenure at the time he was fired. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
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LOL!!…really? I bet you are fun at a party 🎉.
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That’s your response?
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Yes…it was all tongue in cheek. Hence, “I bet you are fun at a party”.
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“Five points away from an SEC East title”…”Five yards away from an SEC title”…”Five points away from a perfect season in 1992″…”BRAAAAK!”
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2013 recruiting class
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Grad transfer from Virginia, started at QB
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Lambert was 11 & 2 as a starter.
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I know, right? Imagine what might have happened if we had not had to rely on an ACC transfer backup as our starting QB?
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You mean …..it would have been better???
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Don’t know. It certainly could have been.
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QB position is very important, the most important position on any team imo. It is all about wins & losses for me…and not potential. I am hoping Eason has improved.
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If it’s all about wins & losses for you, and Lambert was such a good QB, then why in the world would the head football coach at the University of Georgia bench him for the 3rd string guy with no experience in the biggest game of the year in Jacksonville before the game even started? While it clearly was a bonehead move and one that might have been the straw to break the camels back on Richt’s career at UGA, I respect the man for having the balls to pull such a stunt, because he knew that we had ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance of winning that game with Lambert under center and was grasping at anything he could to maybe spark the team.
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Why are you asking me?? Ask him, he should know.
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Because you seem so sure that Lambert was a good QB cuz you know, he went 11-2 as a starter. You think we win that game if Richt sticks with him?
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Sure it could have been better. Having a decent option at QB and at least trying to recruit a great OL may have saved his job.
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11-2 baby… I’m so sick of people using this to try to argue that Lambert was even a competent quarterback. Lets break it down a little shall we?
Sure he started UNC last year but literally lost the job to a true freshman with ZERO college experience during the game, so I’m not sure you can credit Lambert with that W. So he went 10-2 in 2015. Lets look at some of those big W’s. ULM (2-11), Vandy (4-8), USCe (3-9), Can’t even find the record of the mighty Southern Jaguars that year, Mizzou (5-7, 4 of said wins all over nonconference cupcakes) by 3 points in which our D had to bail us out bc our offense was too incompetent to score a singe TD, UK (5-7, 3 of said wins against cupcakes), Auburn (7-6 thanks to bowl win), Georgia Southern (LOL 5-7 in the sunbelt IN OVERTIME AT HOME), and the mighty 3-9 Yeller Jackets by 6 once again bailed out by the D at the end. Then came probably his best win all year over then 7-5 Penn St in which he completed a whopping 50% of his passes for 115 yards.
OK I’m done. Please stop arguing that Lambert was a good QB because he went 10-2 as a starter with one of the biggest jokes of a schedule that UGA has ever had.
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Furthermore, we lost to the only 3 halfway decent teams we played that year, and in 2 of them we were out of it by the 2nd quarter. Had we not completely botched the QB recruiting in every cycle since Murray (which was what ’09?) and had a decent option back there, we certainly could have beaten UT or UF, but probably still would have lost to Bama. So yeah I think we could have done better than 10-3 if the QB situation had not become so dire that we had to rely on a grad transfer that couldn’t even cut it on a meddling ACC squad.
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See. It could have been better. 🙂
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LOL!….as far as he knows.
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There is more to the QB position than just throwing the ball & looking sexy….but you knew that, right?? “Just win baby.” BTW, I would have took a Vandy win last year.
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I do know that. Which is why I know that Greyson Lambert, while maybe an outstanding citizen and human being, was or is not a good quarterback. “Just win baby” is exactly right. In OT or by 3 points over teams we should have run out of the stadium in the first half.
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A win is a win…..they all count the same, by 1 point or 100. Go back & look at some of the scores in the ’80 season….look at Buck Belue’s stats. Is a 11 & 2 record not good IYO??
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An 11-2 record is always good. But how good depends entirely on the schedule of teams played that year. That is not at all what I am arguing. What is wrong is using a team’s record to prop up a QB’s skill or talent. You’re proving my point further with that reference. Buck Belue wasn’t a very good QB either. We won it all in 1980 thanks entirely to the best running back in college football history and a great Defense.
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“Buck Belue wasn’t a very good QB”??…. LOL!….I guess you are proving my point also, bet there are plenty that would disagree with you. You do realize that it is a QB’s job to lead, to distribute the ball to his playmakers…to change plays if needed….and to WIN, right? No doubt HW was the best RB in the game, but it takes all 22 to win, that is why they call it a team…..and a team also needs leaders. Belue was one of them………
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Belue’s career stats: 264 of 484 (54.5%) 3,864 yards (Murray eclipsed that mark in his Junior year alone) 8 Y/A, 32 TDs to 32 INTs. No wonder you think Lambert was a good QB and are obsessed with mediocrity. Keep it coming. I love arguing against opinions with facts 🙂
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Good Lord, you are definitely arguing….but not sure if you even know what you are arguing about. Did the “win” part throw you off?? To say Belue was not a very good QB is just crazy. The Dawgs would not have had an undefeated season in ’80 without Belue. Were you around back then….if so, did you witness it??
Try to read the post above again…try to process it & let it soak in. Perhaps it will work a second time around. If you still can’t understand it, I am not sure I can help. I certainly thought it was basic, but apparently it was not to you. God bless you!
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So let me get this straight… by your definition of quality football, UGA played lights out against Nicholls last year then right?
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That schedule was murders row for sure. No offense to Lambert, but Joe Cox could have done that.
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Preach on B!
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Why is it always the offenses fault? The defense plays the game too. The 3 losses that were the worst were UT, Vandy and GT. In each the defense lost the game. During UGA’s Dooley years the defense won the games when the offenses were terrible. As Erk said if the other team doesn’t score you can’t lose. Our defense was terrible last year and if they don’t improve the offense won’t be able to save us.
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Last year was one of the weirdest Defensive years I’ve ever witnessed. Statistically we were pretty good (save Ole Miss where they just hit miracle long ball after miracle long ball and bullied our small corners with their monster receivers – just one of those days). I just don’t get how we were so horrendously bad in the red area all year. It seemed every time an opponent crossed the 20 our D just caved and you could just about go ahead and throw 6 on the board. If our D can learn how to bow up and hold teams to more FG attempts down there this year, look out.
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Coaching change, maybe??
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LOL, sure Greg, maybe. But probably not.
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defense and offense both regressed from the prior year….so did wins.
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I know you’ve already went out and bought one of them green n urnge hats with a “U” on the front. Go ahead n throw that bad boy on. It’ll feel really good instead of living with all this angst against UGA
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The reason this program didn’t dominate the East for several years, like it was seemingly set up to do as of December 2012 is because:
(1) Brice Ramsey’s inability to develop into what we had hoped at exactly the same time that . . .
(2) Mike Bobo left and
(3) The inability to keep the 2013 recruiting class from completely imploding, which was partially bad luck but had plenty to do with The Georgia Way.
Re #3, some were injuries but many were the program’s inability to effectively manage difficult and conflicting personalities in the wake of staff turnover. I say the Program because it wasn’t always Richt’s fault. He was a product of The Georgia Way, that (at least implicitly) supported the dismissal of high level talent (or simply let it walk out) instead of diplomatically defending it and managing internal rifts when we had OC and DC staff turnover. I believe Kirby will be much better at making potential unhappy campers feel valued (playing time, etc) so that we are always running at 85 highly tuned athletes who can contribute when called upon. The days of playing and awarding scholarships to the Connor Normans of the world (not a personal attack) are thankfully behind us. Premiere programs don’t give out coveted scholarships to under-talented “hustle award” winners. No matter how warm and fuzzy it feels.
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