While there may be some parts of the Georgia Way that don’t mesh well with the Process, I’m sure there’s one part of Tuscaloosa that Butts-Mehre would be ecstatic to import in toto.
Hmm… maybe one day they’ll hire McGarity’s replacement from there.
Daily Archives: January 24, 2018
Hugh Freeze? Never heard of him.
You may remember a story bubbling up before the SECCG that Kirby had reached out to Hugh Freeze for some offensive coaching insight. I blogged about it here. The story barely had time to hit the Internet before everyone associated with the football program vehemently denied its accuracy. Also, note the last update to my post, in which Dan Wolken gets a denial from Freeze himself.
Fast forward to yesterday. Here’s what Wolken had to say about it:
Freeze aided Georgia in its offensive game-planning before the SEC championship game, USA Today college football reporter Dan Wolken said.
“I was told by sources that Georgia sent (Freeze) a laptop to look at their film (before the SEC championship game),” Wolken said on the “Out of Bounds” radio show hosted by Bo Bounds in Jackson, Miss.
“Hugh consulted for Georgia (dating to) this past preseason,” Wolken said…
“Georgia, within about 10 minutes of the leak, put out a strongly worded statement that Hugh Freeze has had no affiliation with their program this season and, frankly, kind of lied about it,” Wolken said. “They wanted to shut that story down. The week of the SEC championship game, Georgia did not want to answer questions about Hugh Freeze.”
Well, if so, that worked.
Wolken, in my experience, doesn’t make up shit out of thin air, so I’m really curious about the laptop. If it’s school property, is it a legitimate subject for an Open Records request?
Personally, it matters not to me what rocks Kirby turned over to game plan for Auburn. I’d just love to hear McGarity try to explain it all away. GATA, beat writers!
Filed under Freeze!, Georgia Football
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Herm Edwards experiment at Arizona State…
… it’s going just about as you might expect.
Filed under General Idiocy, Pac-12 Football
“If you’re a person who maybe doesn’t follow recruiting all that closely…”
Like me, in other words. If you share my lack of interest in burying yourself in recruiting news — maybe you don’t want to spend the money, maybe you don’t like the relentless sales tease from the recruiting services, maybe you don’t have much interest in hearing the short-term ups and downs of teenagers — but want to get a general picture of where things stand two weeks before the final signing day, you might want to give a listen to SB Nation’s Bud Elliott and Morgan Moriarty here. Bud knows his stuff and it don’t cost nothin’.
There’s a fair amount of Georgia talk, too.
Filed under Recruiting
Today, in a penny saved is a penny earned
Based on some financial disclosure information that came out yesterday…
Georgia offensive analyst Jay Johnson has received a new salary for the 2018 season, an indication he will remain on staff this year.
Johnson is now set to earn $135,000 in base salary, according to information provided by UGA on Tuesday. Johnson was earning $50,000 last year from UGA, during a year he was still being paid $550,000 by Minnesota, his former school.
The information provided by UGA appeared to only be base salaries. The school typically also pays coaches in supplemental compensation, and that often is much more than the base salary. (Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, for instance, is receiving $390,000 in base salary, the school said Tuesday, but Tucker’s total salary last year was $900,000.)
The information also confirmed the hiring of Tyson Summers as a quality control coordinator. Summers, the former coach at Georgia Southern, is being paid $50,000 in base salary. Summers received a $900,000 buyout when let go by Georgia Southern last year, per his contract. [Emphasis added.]
… inquiring minds want to know (or at least my mind does) something: is Greg McGarity getting a buy out discount for Summers? Johnson’s old salary and Summers’ new one sure seem like more than mere coincidence. If so, I can’t help but be amused by the thought of Georgia Southern indirectly subsidizing the reserve fund. Usually the money flows in the opposite direction.
Filed under Georgia Football, Georgia Southern Football, It's Just Bidness
Good news on the Natrez front?
According to his attorney, yes.
Patrick is enrolled in spring classes at UGA and plans to be with the team in 2018, his lawyer confirmed Tuesday.
“Natrez is doing very well in his treatment,” Billy Healan said in a text message. “He is enrolled in classes this semester. He is still on the football team and is looking forward to the upcoming season.”
All of which I am glad to hear. That’s a hard road to travel successfully and he’s just getting started.
As far as the ultimate question goes, though, that’s above Healan’s pay grade.
“As for playing time, that is obviously up to the coaches. They don’t usually consult a player’s lawyer on that issue.”
Point taken, although I’m not sure Huntley Johnson would agree.
Filed under Georgia Football
This should end well.
“We are always mindful of the voices around college athletics,” Remy said. “and we strive to do the right thing.”
The NCAA has formally opened an investigation into how Michigan State handled Lawrence G. Nassar’s serial sexual assault of female athletes. Why do I have the feeling this is more about Mark Emmert’s ego responding to the obvious comparison of this situation to his epic mishandling of Penn State in the Sandusky matter than about possible violations of organizational bylaws? Speaking of which, why should anyone expect Emmert to do any better the second time around?
I ask none of this because I think the MSU administration is beyond reproach. Quite the contrary. But I fear we’re about to be reminded again how ill-equipped Mark Emmert is to dispense meaningful justice within the confines of established rules and procedures. Not that he’s likely to care.
Filed under Crime and Punishment, The NCAA
Establishing the 2018 parameters
It’s January. The shape of this year’s recruiting classes hasn’t been finalized, let alone has the first snap of spring practice occurred, but a pundit’s work is never-ending. If you’re looking for early hints on the Georgia narrative, the most optimistic one I’ve seen so far is that of CFN’s Pete Fiutak, who’s got the Dawgs going 11-1, 7-1 in the regular season and coasting to an easy divisional title (he predicts no other SEC East team will post a winning conference record).
On the flip side, SI.com’s Chris Johnson identifies Georgia as one of five teams likely to backslide in 2018. Why? Well, because Georgia:
Georgia is clearly trending upward under Kirby Smart, but unlike Alabama, it needs to string together multiple seasons like the one it had in 2017 before it can be trusted to reload and compete at the sport’s highest level no matter how extensive its personnel turnover.
We’ve already talked about roster turnover. Yes, there’s a lot of leadership that just left town and Roquan Smith is a rare talent who will be next to impossible to replace. But roster change is a fact of life in college football, not just at Georgia. The complementary issue is how well a program continues to stock the talent pantry on the recruiting front and it would appear based on Smart’s three classes (or at least what’s been reeled in so far) that Georgia is in better shape to withstand its losses than most teams in the SEC.
There’s also the matter of a schedule that on its face appears friendlier than 2017’s was.
What’s your head/heart telling you about Georgia’s outlook for 2018?
Filed under Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
They’re bad and they’re back.
With regard to the Florida players who were suspended last year for their collective foray into credit card fraud, do you really need to know more about their fates than this?
“All of our players understand the standards and expectations we have of them to be members of the Florida football program,” Mullen said.
Hey, who would know more about those standards and expectations than the guy who was once Corch’s right hand man in Gainesville?
If you’re not already amused by the news, here’s an added chuckle-worthy note:
A source told ESPN that the four players will go through workouts, spring practice, summer workouts and fall camp, but there is no promise that they will play in the first game of next season.
Uh hunh. Right. Florida opens against Charleston Southern. Easy virtue. Let’s see how many of those four play the next week, against Kentucky.
Filed under Crime and Punishment, Gators, Gators...
Musical palate cleanser, horn-y edition
With the news of the passing of Hugh Masekela, the South African trumpeter, I have to post my first experience hearing his work, the immortal Byrds hit, “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star”.
There’s a lot of brilliant musicianship packed into that two minutes and thirteen seconds… McGuinn’s guitar work, Hillman’s bass line and, of course, that sinuous trumpet. Great, great song.
Filed under Uncategorized
Get The Picture 