How about this development?
Wild.
Daily Archives: December 5, 2017
Mark Richt has lost control of Jimmy Williamson.
This just hit the email boxes at UGA:
FROM: Ryan Nesbit, Vice President for Finance and Administration
RE: Jimmy Williamson, Chief of Police, announces plans to retire on June 30, 2018
Jimmy Williamson, Chief of Police of the University of Georgia Police Department, has announced his plans to retire on June 30, 2018.
Chief Williamson’s career in law enforcement spans over 30 years, starting at the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office in 1985. Since 1988, he has served with the University of Georgia Police Department, except for a brief departure in 1993 to serve as the Public Safety Director at Middle Georgia College before returning to UGA in 1994 as Captain. He was promoted to Assistant Chief in 1996 and then to Chief of Police in 2004. Jimmy has worked in many areas of law enforcement, from patrol to investigations. His accomplishments at UGA include creating the department’s bomb squad, which serves the Northeast Georgia area, and the K-9 and motorcycle units. He has managed numerous special events including US Presidential visits, large sporting events, and the 1996 Olympics, where Jimmy served as Assistant Venue Commander in Athens.
At UGA, Chief Williamson leads a diverse, highly educated, and highly trained force of professional peace officers. He has served on the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council and on the advisory boards for the Georgia Public Safety Training Center Regional Academy, the Athens Technical College Criminal Justice Program, and the University of Georgia Criminal Justice Program.
Jimmy worked his way through school as a police officer, obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy from UGA and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia College and State University. Jimmy is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Course.
A national search to identify UGA’s next Chief of Police will begin before the end of this semester.
Please join me in congratulating and thanking Chief Williamson for his extraordinary contributions to the University of Georgia. The entire University community has benefited greatly from his leadership and unmatched devotion to our students, faculty, staff, and the entire University and Athens communities.
I can’t help but wonder what led to the decision. In any event, scooters, alleys and players with middle names may soon be able to breathe a little easier.
Filed under Crime and Punishment, Georgia Football
It’s a raid!
Mel Tucker’s got himself a second interview with Tennessee.
James Coley is interviewing to become Jimbo’s offensive coordinator.
Good for both, although I wonder if Tucker knows what he might be getting himself into with Fulmer looking closely over his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the reserve fund’s financial statement trembles a little in Greg McGarity’s hand.
Filed under Georgia Football
Good thing we can laugh about it now.
This may be the best story of the SECCG:
Even if Fromm doesn’t have to throw 30 passes a game, he has to be able to run the offense. Swift, whose 64-yard touchdown run down the left side in the fourth quarter iced the victory over Auburn, said, “Every time I’m in the backfield, he tells me what I got, whether I know it or not.”
And whether Swift listens or not.
“He was supposed to go to the right,” Fromm said. “I take the ball, I get the handoff to him, and he starts taking off to the left. In my mind, I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ That joker takes off. I look, there’s a huge hole, and he makes a move on a guy and takes off. He didn’t run it in the right spot. It doesn’t matter. The guy makes a play.”
That’s when you know you’re having your way in a game.
Filed under Georgia Football
Have Dawgs, will travel.
If the downside to our fan base is the few who chose the announcement of the CFP field as the perfect opportunity to show their collective asses to an opposing player, the upside more than makes up for it.
It is a long trip from Athens, Ga. to Pasadena, Calif. –2,238 miles to be exact – but that won’t stop Georgia fans from heading out West to see the Bulldogs take on Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit is already expecting a lot of red and black to fill the iconic Rose Bowl.
(I’d show Herbie’s tweet, except he’s still blocking me on Twitter.)
Our travel prowess this season is a story in and of itself. We done good.
Filed under Georgia Football
Final Auburn-Georgia thoughts
So, Bill Connelly’s latest advanced stat team profiles are out. Talk about your turnaround:
- Auburn’s percentile performance against Georgia at home: 87%
- Auburn’s percentile performance against Georgia in the SECCG: 11%
- Georgia’s percentile performance against Auburn at Auburn: 14%
- Georgia’s percentile performance against Auburn in the SECCG: 92%
It’s eerie how much of a mirror image the two games, played a mere three weeks apart, were. Other than the dam breaking a little earlier on the Plains due to the Hardman dropped punt, everything else went down in almost the same way, except for the uniforms.
This would make for a great question for somebody like Bill: how often do same-season rematches between ranked opponents play out like that?
Filed under Auburn's Cast of Thousands, Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Gonna have a good time.
Enjoy 45 seconds of Jim Chaney celebrating with the troops.
In the end, he earned it.
Filed under Georgia Football
Biting the bullet: reviewing my SEC preseason predictions
Okay, okay, it’s time to call my own ass out. I made my preseason picks and now I have to live with them. It’s time for my annual modest attempt at keeping myself accountable.
As always, schools are listed in the same order as they were in the preseason post, with this season’s won-loss totals.
[Ed. note: Please read that last sentence again, carefully, before you blast me in the comments for not agreeing with the order of presentation. You’ll save us both a lot of time. Thanks!]
SEC WEST
ALABAMA (11-1, 7-1)
- What I said: Did you ever see Groundhog Day? Nothing changes under Saban.
- How I did: Close, but no ceegar. It turns out even Alabama can have enough injuries to expose depth problems. Who knew?
- Final grade: B+
AUBURN (10-3, 7-1)
- What I said: If you believe the Stidham hype, Auburn is going to have a great season. I’m a little skeptical because of the small sample size and because of the change at offensive coordinator. On the other hand, the Tigers looked better on defense last season than I thought they would under Steele, so I expect the losses they suffered on the d-line won’t affect them too adversely. That being said, Gus has proven he doesn’t do as well when big things are expected at Auburn. Add it all up, and it comes to nine wins.
- How I did: It took a little while for Stidham to get untracked, but when he did, so did Auburn. I have to give Gus credit for going against type, too. If Auburn beats UCF in the bowl game, that means the Tigers will have beaten three ranked undefeated foes in the same season.
- Final grade: B+
LSU (9-3, 6-2)
- What I said: On paper, there’s a lot to like: talent in many places and two well thought of coordinators, for starters. So why does it feel like some cracks are starting to show? Part of it’s probably due to Orgeron’s ceiling as a head coach. The extra SEC road game doesn’t help, either. It looks like another eight-win season from here.
- How I did: The Tigers won a game more than I thought they would, but lost to Troy. I’d call that a draw.
- Final grade: B+
TEXAS A&M (7-5, 4-4)
- What I said: Sumlin’s looking at more hot seat talk. The real issue for TAMU is that while he’s a good in-game coach, he’s clearly not as good at talent evaluation and signing as Mike Sherman was. The Aggies get Alabama and Auburn at home, which can’t hurt, but that last three quarters of the schedule looks like a real grind. It’s hard to see them notch more wins in 2017 than they did in 2016.
- How I did: They dropped one more game than they did the previous season. Then they dropped Sumlin.
- Final grade: B+
ARKANSAS (4-8, 1-7)
- What I said: Is this the SEC’s most meh team? It’s not that the Hogs are outright bad; it’s just that it’s hard to see much to get excited about. Seven wins again sounds about right.
- How I did: I predicted mediocrity and got bad instead.
- Final grade: D
MISSISSIPPI STATE (8-4, 4-4)
- What I said: Mullen is an excellent quarterbacks coach and Fitzgerald is his latest success story. Grantham is an improvement at defensive coordinator; unfortunately he doesn’t have much to work with. The middle part of the schedule is a weekly grind. There is also the question of whether the NCAA investigation of Ole Miss winds up ensnaring the Bulldogs, or at least diverting some attention to the season. This season looks like another fight for bowl eligibility.
- How I did: I underestimated this team, or maybe I overestimated the quality of the SEC West. In the end, same difference.
- Final Grade: D+
OLE MISS (6-6, 3-5)
- Outlook: Man, what a mess. I figure there’s about a 20% chance of the team rallying with an “us against the world” attitude and about an 80% chance things snowball quickly as the schedule toughens. The Egg Bowl ought to be fun, though. Even if the Rebels were bowl-eligible, they wouldn’t be going.
- How I did: The 20% chance hit. The Egg Bowl was fun. They aren’t going to a bowl game.
- Final grade: C+
SEC EAST
FLORIDA (4-7, 3-5)
- What I said: McElwain is two-for-two in division titles, which is particularly impressive given the personnel flaws on offense he’s had to manage around. He faces different challenges in 2017, though. The offense ought to be better on the o-line, at receiver and at running back, while the defense has suffered significant losses at every level. The schedule helps, but this is a team that could go south in a hurry if injuries mount. If that can be avoided, the East being weak should keep the Gators in contention. In that regard, it helps that the two toughest games on the schedule are against non-conference opponents. (Not to mention the Gators have five home conference games.) I’ll say nine wins for now.
- How I did: Oof. Didn’t see the wheels coming off this particular wagon the way they did. One of my bigger whiffs.
- Final grade: D-
TENNESSEE (4-8, 0-8)
- What I said: Boy, did I whiff on last year’s prediction that Shoop was the best offseason hire in the SEC. The Vols’ disappointing 2017 season can be blamed on several things, but the defense was a major contributor. It’s hard to see the losses in the offensive backfield and Barnett being replaced without a hitch. This season has the feel of a reboot. Eight wins, if they get some breaks; otherwise, seven seems likely.
- How I did: The Vols were so far off from my expectations that they made me look like Nostradamus when it came to Florida.
- Final grade: F
GEORGIA (12-1, 7-1)
- What I said: On paper, this is a team that should win at least nine games and the SEC East. As last year’s Nicholls game indicated, though, Georgia often doesn’t play on paper. The rising talent base fueled by two excellent recruiting classes should fix the problem areas; the question is how long it takes. If the offensive line gels early on, the season shapes up quite favorably. I’ll say nine regular season wins and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
- How I did: What can I say? I was pleasantly surprised.
- Final grade: B
KENTUCKY (7-5, 4-4)
- What I said: There’s a lot of “if this team wore Florida’s or Georgia’s uniforms, they’d be taken as a serious division contender” talk for the Wildcats. But they don’t, and that’s because it’s hard for a perennial doormat to take that next big step. That being said, there is a fair amount to like about UK, as Stoops has done a good job upgrading the talent base. I don’t think the ‘Cats slide and may actually add a win to last year’s total.
- How I did: Came out where I expected, but that may be more attributable to the weakness of the division than Kentucky’s quality.
- Final grade: A-
VANDERBILT (5-7, 1-7)
- What I said: Derek Mason knows how to coach defense. That’s good, because losing Zach Cunningham hurts. Vandy starts at a talent disadvantage against the rest of the conference and this year’s schedule doesn’t help. If the ‘Dores make it back to six wins, Mason’s done a good job.
- How I did: It looked early on like Mason was on his way to exceeding expectations, but then his team imploded. The big surprise was how much the ‘Dores regressed defensively. This was not a good season.
- Final grade: C
SOUTH CAROLINA (8-4, 5-3)
- What I said: Although the talent situation is less dire than Spurrier left it, there are still a lot of holes on the roster. Muschamp did a respectable job managing last year’s team to bowl eligibility. A respectable job this year might mean another win.
- How I did: Helped by divisional mediocrity, Boom did a better than respectable job.
- Final grade: C-
MISSOURI (7-5, 4-4)
- What I said: The offense was okay last year. The defense was abysmal. The offense will probably be better with another year under its belt. If the defense shows even modest improvement, the Tigers should be bowl eligible, especially with that non-conference schedule. It’ll be close, but I think they’ll get to six wins.
- How I did: It took a while to kick in, but the defense stabilized in time for Mizzou to rattle off wins in its last six games.
- Final grade: B+
Overall, it felt like I was about as mediocre with my picks as the conference was with its results. How did your expectations turn out?
Filed under GTP Stuff, SEC Football
Musical palate cleanser, generosity edition
If you’re a Neil Young fan, I’ve got something very cool to share. He’s put his entire musical archive on digital storage that you can access — for free. That’s not a joke or a tease. Check it out here.
To celebrate, here’s one of my favorites of his, the closing cut on Harvest, “Words (Between The Lines Of Age)”.
As an added bonus here’s a 10-minute live version of the song he performed at Glastonbury in 2009.
Thanks, Neil. You didn’t have to do that, but I sure am glad you did.
Filed under Uncategorized
Get The Picture 