Really, this says so much about one of Smart’s strengths, roster management.
Coach Smart said that they weren’t expecting to lose Isaiah McKenzie. #UGA
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) July 31, 2017
Kirby on Crumpton: We combed the country looking for an elite returner. We really don’t have any experienced returners. #UGA
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) July 31, 2017
Nobody knows if Crumpton’s going to work out, obviously, but I’d rather see the staff tackle stuff like this proactively than sit back and wring their hands mid-season if none of the returning options works out.
Filed under Georgia Football
“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
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Kirby does impress me with his attention to detail. I just hope it translates into wins sooner rather than later (meaning, for us rather than for the next team if he doesn’t work out here).
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McKenzie made a mistake leaving early IMHO. I know he is on the Broncos’ roster but as the 28th pick in the 5th round. Had he stayed and had a good season likely he would have been picked higher and gotten a lot more $$. I’m giving Kirby a pass on this. How is a coach supposed to foresee that?
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He had no choice but declare for the draft as he would not have been eligible due to academics…
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Heard the same from multiple sources. I was a big fan from the day he committed and I watched his film but nothing surprised me more than the number of times, and ways, he stepped up for us last year. You could see it as you watched week to week but to really appreciate how valuable he was you need to watch the highlight reel of UGA’s 2016 season. That was a disappointing year for us, it would have been bad in an embarrassing way without The Human Joystick.
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As I understand it, there were allegedly family and possibly academic circumstances that forced IMac’s decision.
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I don’t think anyone is blaming Kirby for THJ leaving for the NFL… if anything the post praises him for getting after a possible replacement.
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Unless he was going to grow a few inches during his sr year, his draft stock wasnt going to rise no matter what kind of season he had.
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Correct. His pro career will depend on injuries, 160lb guys usually don’t do well in the NFL unless they kick.
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It could’ve only gotten worse for him in the draft. Chances of him being the focal point of the offense this year wasnt great as he isn’t the sort you want to have to build an offense around, but I’m glad we had him.
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OK, OK…I stand corrected. IMac left for legit reasons and had he stayed it wouldn’t have helped his career. Plus, I take back the only good thing I’ve said about Kirby all off-season. There. 🙂
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This method seems like common sense but alas we saw the opposite of this philosophy practiced numerous times with the last Coaching staff.
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Agree attention to detail is welcome, but we really don’t have any experienced returners? I’ve seen Mecole return some and he could do it. Maybe we are better off with him focusing on his job as a receiver, but I am not sure experience really has a lot to do with it. IM was great when he got to Athens, and Logan Gray did a lot of returning (well, catching) and all the experience in the world didn’t help him. Mostly you need good hands and quickness. Glad to have Crumpton, but I wouldn’t worry if Mecole did it instead.
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I think the point is that CKS wants options.. many of them. Not just a “well we’ll address that down the road” attitude that existed previously which causes you to constantly chase your tail.
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He wants someone who has shown they can excel at returning and not put the ball on the ground. We have had some good athletes who made some pretty dumb choices on returns or had issues not putting the ball on the ground. Kirby wants to remove that as much as possible by having a legit option, not a well just throw some fast guys back there and see what happens. I remember at one point there was talks about having to have a guy stop our returners from coming out too deep in the endzone.
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Two things we know about Kirby so far: great recruiter, great roster manager.
I also think the Rocker firing wasn’t an aberration; if he isn’t getting what he expects out of his assistants, they’ll be replaced. We’ll find out more about that with Chaney this year.
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Been crying all day about this. Sad. Pitiful. AD and AJC should fire him for not having control of his players and teams. Dawgs do not stand a chance in hell now in the East.
Pick a freshman from the secondary. You have one KS, better than IM…ask one KS, surely a player will respond I AM.
Think about it this way Coach. Get your stalled offense rolling, you will be kicking of a bunch. But then some of us think, and perhaps so does Kirby…many three and outs for his D…pick one of the ladies from the swim team…modern day…probably faster on land than water.
Just makes you wonder what in hell is going on in Athens.
Just give up on them.
Problem, after problem…maybe one day UGA will learn to cope like the Gators and Tide.
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So refreshing the way the roster is being handled….
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I’ve seen many an UGA tailback return kickoffs…for TD’s. Shouldn’t be afraid to use Chubb occasionally and would definitely have Sony back there. Don’t protect them with walk-on blockers and 3rd stringers, but find the best combination of ST players to get the job done right and the injury risk is no greater than any other play.
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Sony ran a kick back against Louisville that got called back. I would definitely consider him back there.
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Gurley certainly had some well timed kick returns.
I think it also depends on depth at a given position. Special teams also does not require an in depth knowledge of the entire playbook nor the ability to pick up blocks as needed (especially at RB) UGA may have more depth at RB than WR which for example if Holyfield has shown to have a good set of hands might make him a good option to return kicks. He is at best 3rd on the RB depth chart. I would not have wanted a RB returning kicks during 2013 especially after playing on the knee killing Knoxville turf.
Also, I didn’t have a problem with Logan Gray returning punts, but I did have problem with him only fair catching punts. It did seem logical to have a smart player fielding punts in field position critical situations but you’re playing with 1 hand tied behind your back if the other team’s scouting report says he never has the option to return the kick.
I do like that Smart is seemingly taking every chance to play without leaving cards on the table.
I also blame Fabris for making defenses that weren’t great look worse by giving up the field position battle. All 3 phases of the game need to work together to win the field position battle.
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Maybe snatch this kid while we’re at it. http://247sports.com/Bolt/Last-Chance-U-star-Ronald-Ollie-still-without-a-team-for-2017-105591651
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I’d just opt for Logan Gray… I keed I keed
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