The Process 1, Michael Adams 0

If Kirby Smart never accomplishes another thing during his time as Georgia’s head coach, he still deserves a commemorative plaque mounted somewhere in Athens for having a hand in this:

There are changes in store to the University of Georgia Athletic Association Substance Abuse Policy.

In a summary obtained by 11Alive, the new policy appears to remove the former stipulation that any arrest regardless of the outcome in court automatically counted as a violation of the Substance Abuse Policy.

According to the 15-page document dated Sept. 1, there are now two levels of violations which now apply to student-athletes attending school at UGA.

They are:

Level 1 — “Defined as possession, use, or facilitating the possession/use of alcohol.”

Level 2 — “Includes, but is not limited to, any violation involving the operation of a motor vehicle after consumption of alcohol and/or the use of drugs, acts of violence while using alcohol or drugs, destruction of property, disorderly conduct, or intoxication level that requires medical treatment or results in medical being called, even if treatment is refused, and any drug violation.”

Any violations of the Level 2 variety are considered violations of the Substance Abuse Policy.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity deferred comment when reached by UGASports until the complete UGA student-athlete handbook could be obtained via open records.

News of the changes came to light following the Dec. 4 arrest of Bulldog linebacker Natrez Patrick and wide receiver Jayson Stanley.

In my wildest dreams, never did I think this was a possibility.  I would love to have heard the Come-to-Jesus meeting somebody had with Morehead about UGA’s substance abuse policy.  (I’d settle for somebody getting a quote from Adams about having one of his perceived major accomplishments watered down, though.  I guess Georgia’s done with lobbying for drug policy at the SEC Spring Meetings.)  There’s nothing like a national semi-final game to make bureaucrats focus.

What’s that?  Oh, hells yeah, they’re playing.

Meanwhile, at one of America’s most beloved institutions…

It sounds like things are already rolling in Knoxville.

Arizona State’s athletic director was highly complimentary of the new football regime.

“The athletic department there is perceived there as a cluster,” Anderson told Dodd. “Their athletic director, now Phil Fulmer, in the athletic director’s world is a pariah. It is not a good situation.”

Anderson is the guy who just made the bizarre decision to hire Herm Edwards as his new head coach, so when he talks about clusters, he knows a little something from where he speaks.

Jeremy Pruitt’s only been on the job for about a week, but it sounds like he’s looking for some of that sweet pariah action, too.

Tampa Bay Tech coach Jayson Roberts has a difficult time believing Phillip Fulmer could have been involved in the process of pulling a scholarship offer from his quarterback, Michael Penix.

Roberts has never met Fulmer, but he knows the Tennessee athletic director had a sterling reputation during his Hall of Fame coaching career with the Volunteers. His impression from afar is that Fulmer is a man of integrity who did the right things in recruiting.

“I know that as an athletic director he has a lot to oversee,” Roberts said Thursday. “I can’t imagine he had a hand in how Tennessee’s new staff dealt with this.”

Fulmer is indeed a beloved figure in the Volunteer State, and a man the Tennessee fan base has rallied around since he took over as athletic director on Dec. 1. Thus, Roberts and others remain stunned at the awkward and uncharacteristic nature with which the new Tennessee staff cut ties to Penix, a well-respected 3-star recruit.

Penix, who had been committed to the Vols since April, stuck with Tennessee through Butch Jones’ Nov. 12 firing, a 26-day coaching search and the hiring of new coach Jeremy Pruitt.

It’s Pruitt’s first time as a college head coach, and calling the 11 players who were committed to Tennessee at the time was almost certainly one of the first things on his to-do list. Sure enough, Pruitt called Penix last week to tell the quarterback he was honoring his commitment.

That changed Wednesday, when Penix received a text asking him to call the UT football office. Penix said that when he made the call, new offensive coordinator Ty Helton told him not to come on the official visit to Knoxville that had been planned months earlier.

Apparently, the Vols had another pro-style quarterback they were bringing in to visit.

That’s nice.  Apparently, somebody in Knoxville has decided the time for mockery is past.  They’re going straight for active dislike.  Just like the good ole days!

“It’s Herschel Walker. I don’t have to play him, so it’s all right.”

If you’re expecting Baker Mayfield to provide bulletin board material for the Rose Bowl, I’m afraid you’re gonna be disappointed.

That exchange offered a nice glimpse into the persona of Oklahoma’s record-setting quarterback. The dude knows how to work a room and is quite comfortable at a lectern. And he knows how to butter-up an opponent.

Mayfield insists he wasn’t just trying to endear himself to the Bulldog Nation by offering effusive praise about their greatest player of all time. But one started to wonder when he began to gush about the Georgia defense he’ll face when No. 2 Oklahoma faces No. 3 Bulldogs in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Mayfield was asked if the Sooners’ had faced a comparable defense to Georgia’s this season

“They’re the best defense; you can’t compare them to anybody,” he said. “They’re in a league of their own and that’s the reason they’re in the playoffs. They follow behind that defense. You can’t compare them to other people because they’re so talented and they play so well together. To say they’re like anybody else would be downplaying how good they are.”

And so it went. If there is going to be any trash-talking in the first-ever meeting between these two powerhouse programs, it wasn’t coming out of the Red Room on Thursday.

Trying to get on our good side, eh?  Sneaky bastid…