Reading between the lines from what Smart said on yesterday’s radio show, it sounds like he’s growing pretty settled with his starting 22, but not so comfortable with the depth behind them. Yeah, that’s what regular seasons are for, but I find myself hoping that Georgia can stay reasonably healthy in the first half of the year.
Smart also touched on the injury to senior Malkom Parrish, a two-year starter at cornerback who underwent surgery on a broken bone in his foot. Parrish is not expected to be ready for the season opener on Sept. 2, and his status for Week 2 at Notre Dame is also in doubt.
“We hope to get him back as soon as possible,” Smart said. “He’s certainly got a great attitude about things … It’s really sad because he was having a great camp.”
Get The Picture 
Maybe it’s just faulty memory on my part (always a possibility), but it seems like we’re hearing more comments about specific players from Kirby this year. Last year I remember the comments as being more general and along the lines of we need more talent. It wouldn’t be unusual for a new head coach to need some times to learn his players with their strengths and weaknesses. I look for Kirby to do a better job coaching job this year because I think he may know better how to use the guys he has.
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I don’t know if anyone has asked the important, investigative question. Did Parrish’s injury happen in the IPF? I blame Pruitt!!!!
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Nothing like a fresh shot of Mecole cool-aid this morning to get you going!
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Kirby Smart seems focused like a laser on every aspect of the team..personalities, efforts, skills, depth, even walk ons. He may or may not be a blooming great coach, but if he’s not, it won’t be for lack of effort or attention to his job. I was impressed that his answers weren’t euphemistic or general in nature, but were real, detailed information given back to the questioner. The biggest concern he seemed (to me) to have was depth in the secondary. He pretty much said we have the starters backed up by a prayer.
He also said “App (his term for Appalachian St.) has a very good four year QB, and a very quick defense that doesn’t miss tackles”. Even his opinions on App were very specific and informational. I’m impressed with the man.
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He has enhanced his coaching skills in year two, by reading P.W. Bryant’s. “The Art of Silica filled Burlap”; and V.J. Dooley’s “Ferocity’s Eyes: The Tale of the Long Snappuh Killer”.
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“…focused like a laser on every aspect of the team..personalities, efforts, skills, depth, even walk ons. He may or may not be a blooming great coach…”
Not many coaches excel at every point. So, my unattractive friend, let’s assume that Kirby may NEVER be the ‘great’ coach (as far as scheming) we want. It may be enough that he excels at other details and recruiting. If we can field better talent than our opponents Sat. aft Sat., he may not HAVE to be the greatest of coaches during play…just decent. Of course on those occasions when we play the Bamas of the world, we’ll need more than just talent.
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My concern with that (laser focused/every aspect), is that you can overmanage/micromanage. At some point, you have to let your staff do what they were hired to do. That seemed to be an issue last year imo…..Oh well, we will know soon enough.
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He was tutored by the most micro of managers in the business. He may not be able to pull it off, but that’s the general template he’s using.
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Yep…..but you gotta be yourself for it to work, not someone else.
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I’m curious to know how much of the scheme’s/plans etc are Chaney’s and Tucker’s and how much of it is Kirby’s. Does Kirby dictate an abundance of control? Does Kirby allow them to think but within a certain ‘frame work’ of a plan? Are our coordinators good enough to be turned loose completely? Tucker and Kirby are from the same pond so it’s likely their style/mentality
will be similar so it may not matter, but I would like to see Chaney unchained. Kirby apparently saw something he liked prior to hiring him so let’s see what he can do.
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I believe that Chaney hinted in an article b AJC recently, something about different philosophies and the OL…. my belief, is that one wanted a zone scheme (Cheney) & one wanted a man (Smart – same as Bama). Man is what we ran….despite us running a zone all these years (suited for smaller quicker linemen).
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Not for nothin’, but Chaney: Unchained would be a great name for his autobiography.
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I believe that Chaney hinted in an article by the AJC recently, something about different philosophies and the OL……my belief, is that one wanted a zone scheme (Cheney) & one wanted a man (Smart – same as Bama). Man is what we ran…despite us running a zone all of these years (suited for quicker smaller lineman).
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If you want to turn your offense loose you hire an up and coming offensive genius. Kirby hired a journey man, who has never sniffed an HC job. He is paid to do whatever the HC says. He said it in his preseason presser. Kirby signs the checks. So he is working within the parameters set out by Kirby. This is something he learned from Saban, just like Muschamp did. He did not want an innovative offensive mine he wanted what he got. OC HC’s tend to hire DC and turn them loose, DC are control freaks. Saban has looked at who has beat him and appears to be softening his attitude. Dabo has basically turned his guy loose and it really worked well ($57 million) for him.
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I feel like there was a coach out there that would have taken iMac and absolutely shredded people with a player like that.
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