What was frustrating to watch in 2016 is now an accepted identity for Smart’s Georgia team.
Smart simplified his vision for the offense when he explained that the identity is about not allowing other teams to break the Bulldogs’ will. Each player, whether they touch the ball or not, will have to help propel Georgia toward that goal in order to achieve it, and that is exactly what Smart expects.
No, the vision hasn’t been simplified. The roster, particularly the offensive line, has been significantly improved. That’s the difference.
Get The Picture 
Thought they had that identity since ND game. It was the difference in their play for SEC and both NC games.
That O-line play is what’s the convincer then and now for the future. RBs, TEs, QBs and WRs are being pipelined in behind them.
Start the friggin’ season already!
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Maybe there really was something to that throwaway year…
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Nope. If you look at the losses and the close wins, we played (and coached) horribly. I don’t subscribe to the notion that Bama’s loss to ULM was good for their program.
Georgia is one of the programs that should never have a throwaway season. Jeff Dantzler and Kevin Butler should have been embarrassed to make that comment.
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If I didn’t read with sarcasm font on, I apologize in advance.
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Dantzler has really declined over the last 5 years. He’s basically a shill at this point.
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UGA team needed a change. They got it. Took a while to buy IN…and took a shorter while to get the HOSSES on the LOS. We all needed 16. Deal with it. Enjoy what Kirby is building.
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Blame the players for not buying in … typical.
I’ve said I’m pleased with how last season went and how Kirby has implemented the Process with a human face.
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I understand how some of the players didn’t want CMR gone….just human nature. He brought them in, CMR meant a lot to them.
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I don’t think our players in ‘16 didn’t want to play or didn’t play hard for Smart. Frankly, that would be dumb unless you were a senior with no NFL ambitions.
We did have deficiencies on the offensive line. We did have a true freshman QB we threw into the deep end with that mediocre offensive line by choice, not by injury. I’m not saying Lambert would have done any better … I’m just stating a fact. The team did need to develop a toughness. None of that explains some of the performances and some of the poor decisions in 2016.
I’m looking forward to the season. I can’t really say that since 2014 with a Heisman candidate at tailback.
The throwaway season meme and any implication it was good for the program absolutely drive me nuts.
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Nobody is saying they wouldn’t rather be 15-0 vs. 8-5. What they are saying is that they want the NEW coach to implement his full plan rather than let long term issues fester that necessitated the coaching change to begin with. It means they wanted Sam Pittman coaching the Sam Pittman way and not trying to be Will Friend even if that means 9-4 vs. 8-5 in the first year of a new staff. Otherwise, why make a change.
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I have no idea what your comment means. I didn’t say they should have Sam Pittman coach the offensive line the way Rob Sale did (thanks, Jeremy Pruitt, for that guy) after Friend’s departure with Bobo. Anyone who thinks we needed to go through what we did in 2016 on the field to get 2017 results is nuts. We blew 3 games (Tennessee, Vandy & Fech – all 3 could be blamed on the sideline not the players), faceplanted in epic style in Oxford, wet the bed in Jacksonville, were fortunate to beat Missouri & Auburn, and came close to the most embarrassing loss (way more embarrassing than Bama’s loss to ULM) in the program’s history. If those last 3 go the other way, does anyone think we end up with the recruiting class in 2016 we did? Do all those 5 stars that just came to campus still come? Do Chubb, Michel, Bellamy, and Carter decide to stay after finishing 4-8 or 5-7?
I’ll hang up and listen.
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…and i have no idea what your comment means. None of our opinions exist in a vacuum. Nobody “wanted” a shitty season, but it’s pretty clear you were an anti-smart guy and are looking for ways to feel better and still be a rabid fan without admitting you missed (which to some in sports fandom is cardinal sinnery).
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It has zero to do with being anti-Smart or not. I was in Sanford on 93k Day to support him and the program in 2016. I renewed my season tickets rather than take my ball and go home like some did toward the end of the previous guy’s tenure.
I admit I wanted an experienced, winning P5 coach, but that’s not what we got (and that doesn’t mean one is “anti-Smart”). Am I happy Kirby is working out? Yes. Am I going to support him? Yes until he doesn’t deserve it (which I hope he retires as coach of my alma mater – the exact same thing I wanted for Ray Goff, Jim Donnan, and Mark Richt because that means we’ve been successful). Am I going to call things the way I see it on the field given my view? You bet whether that’s positive or negative. I would expect you would be the same way.
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The offensive line was coached up from 2016 to 2017. It wasn’t as overloaded with talent as the next several years’ will be. The receivers also blocked fabulously last year. I haven’t rewatched the 2016 season, but I’m guessing that was markedly improved as well.
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To think that the transition and culture shock didn’t paralyze the 16 team at certain times is naive whether you call it throwaway or not. The coaches played ultra conservative on offense because of the freshman QB and the OLine, especially LT, didn’t answer the bell. The strategy wasn’t much different last year but Roquan and the defense could run like hell and Chubb and Michel made the offense work.
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Isaiah Wynn was on the team in ‘16. He should have been playing left tackle from day 1 instead of the guard from Rhode Island.
Sure, there were times the team looked discombobulated. I would suggest as much of that was from the sideline as on the field.
How the team that played UNC in the Dome turned around and almost suffered the most embarrassing loss in program history was startling.
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agree on Wynn…..to me, the biggest difference in the teams play from the prior year was playing Wynn at left tackle, replacing the starting QB with Fromm & Roquan coming into his own. if none of that happened, it would have been much like last season imo.
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The problem was that the guards and especially center were even worse. So playing Wynn at tackle would have allowed even more of a turnstile right up the middle. The 2016 line was just an utter disaster.
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The guy from Rhode Island was considered by the pros to be a guard. I don’t understand why we made that decision.
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I couldn’t tell ya. I just know it was a disaster, at about 4/5 of the positions.
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Left tackle is the 2nd most important position on the offensive side of the ball behind the QB (you could make the case it is the most important). From middle school, coaches take their best lineman and say, “You are the left tackle. Your job is to protect the QB’s backside.”
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This is the clip I meant
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I find the hubris of the average fan to be stunning. Sam Pittman is one of the best OL coaches in the country. He was at practice every day watching each combination of linemen in his pursuit of putting together the best functional five. In his best professional judgement from 30 years of coaching for a living, decided that the best line had Catalina at LT and Wynn at LG. Yet, some how, from the comfort of your home, you know more than Pittman. That is amazing.
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I’m stating my opinion based on what I saw. People said Kirby had his hands tied behind his back because we had to have a left tackle who transferred from Rhode Island. My response is that Wynn was on the field as well.
I guess because you aren’t at practice every day and in every meeting, you can’t ask questions or state opinions about the lineup. Got it.
I thought Wynn was our best choice. He started at left tackle before Kirby and Pittman showed up. Pittman came around during the bowl game against TCU to start Wynn at left tackle. Guess what? We played possibly our best game of the year offensively.
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This is all Ex Post Facto reasoning. If you move Wynn to LT, then someone has to fill in the LG position. One advantage a Tackle has that a Guard does not is that a Tackle can get help from a TE with a chip block before they release into their pattern. You can’t do that inside.
Because I am not in practice every day, nor in any of the meetings, or know as much about OL coaching as Pittman, I trust his judgement.
This is similar to how I caught a lot of shit for defending Chaney and Pittman after the 2016 season. They have a long track record of success. They had their reasons for starting Catalina at LT. Then, during the bowl practices, something changed their mind as to having Wynn start at LT. Don’t forget, the bowl practices are about the same amount of work as Spring camp. It is long enough that they spend a couple of weeks focusing on fundamentals again instead of game prep. I think Wynn’s improvement during those practices is what led to the change.
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Left tackles typically don’t get help from a tight end (they may get a chip from a RB). That’s why they make a ton of money in the NFL and why tackles get drafted typically before guards and centers. They are expected to take on the defense’s best edge rusher with little to no help. It’s why Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson were so highly recruited. Another reason why the best lineman on every team is the left tackle.
It’s not after the fact reasoning. Wynn was the starting left tackle in 2015. For some reason, Chaney & Pittman thought Catalina was a better option (since Kirby, like Saban, doesn’t allow assistants to meet with the media during the season, they never had to answer the question of why). I don’t think anyone in their right mind would say Catalina was our best offensive lineman in 2016 based on the on-the-field performance.
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I don’t know WTF you are talking about, LTs get a chip block from a TE on a regular basis. Your best lineman doesn’t automatically play LT either.
Look, man. Your argument is that you know more about football than Pittman, Chaney, and Smart. Good luck convincing others of that.
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My argument isn’t that I know more football than any of them. I was only making an observation that Wynn seemed to be a better fit at left tackle than Catalina in 2016 and to make the case that those who said the staff should get a pass because they had to recruit a left tackle from Rhode Island.
You, sir, turned that into an attack about that no one should question a personnel decision if you haven’t been at every practice and in every meeting.
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Got to agree with you, brother….you got it right.
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Your argument is that Kirby, Chaney, and Pittman played the wrong players at the wrong position and that you did not come to this conclusion after the fact. That means that one of two things would be true. They either didn’t know any better (and you did) or they did know better but played the wrong player in the wrong position with the full knowledge that it was not what was best for the team. I find the second instance to be impossible. That means you think that you know better than the coaches as they were playing the wrong players. You knew it, but they just didn’t have the football acumen to recognize it.
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I don’t know if they did it with the full knowledge that it wasn’t best for the team. You would have to ask Chaney or Pittman that question (oh yeah, assistants are off-limits to the media once camp starts throughout the season … therefore, the media that covers Georgia couldn’t ask them and I don’t recall if anyone ever asked Kirby that question directly). I did know after game 2 (Nicholls) that Catalina had no business playing left tackle in the SEC. They didn’t recognize it until the bowl game for whatever reason.
Coaches make mistakes just like any professional does (and I do think Kirby was a bit stubborn in 2016). Thank goodness Pittman recognized it and made the change leading into 2017.
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Especially since Kubs got pushed 3 yards back on the reg.
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Kubs went to a public school (Walton).
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It was a metaphor. Clearly missed.
Our OL was soft. Private school kids are soft. If A=B and B=C, then A=C.
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Exactly. Pittman knows what he’s doing. The shitshow of the 2016 line was mostly due to our over reliance of private school OL coming to a head.
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Well, the returning guys were pretty good in 2014 when getting solid coaching from Will Friend. I think Rob Sale (who was a Pruitt hire I will point out) really fucked up some of their technique. It took Pittman a full year to get them back to where they were.
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Yeah, and if Boss, Theus, and Houston had still been around in 2016, the line probably would have been better. I mean, that was only 60% of the line.
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Boss (Wesleyan) and Theus (Bolles) were 2 of those private school guys. Houston played at Buford.
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Offensive linemen on the 2016 roster per georgiadogs.com
Gailliard — public school
Sims – public school
Allen – public school
Barnes – public school
Hardin – private school (Marist … not exactly A private or GISA)
Baker – private school (Marist)
Kindley – public school
Madden – public school
Bynum – private school (Valwood – recruiting mistake)
Cleveland – public school
Wynn – public school
Tell me where the over-reliance on private school linemen is.
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The website is screwed up with 2016 roster, so I went to the participation report from the UNC game on georgiadogs.com for additional players
Pyke – private school (I don’t think anyone complained about him)
Catalina – RI transfer
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And Kublanow – public school
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It was a metaphor. Never mind.
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One question for you, gatriguy … do you know where Andrew Thomas attended high school?
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Is he one of the Pace guys?
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Yep – I just tire of the people who say we spent all of our time recruiting these guys on the line of scrimmage that had no business playing in the SEC by calling them “private school kids” when they had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.
If I misinterpreted your comment, I apologize.
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No worries. My metaphor obviously fell terribly flat.
Go Dawgs
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“To think that the transition and culture shock didn’t paralyze the 16 team at certain times is naïve”
Nailed it. I would add how big a role the drastic change in approach to OL blocking played. Now we know why the coaches were so stubborn and wouldn’t “adjust to what they had”… Kirby and his coaches BELIEVED in what they were coaching, and the learning curve was just a really long, really uncomfortable one for a lot of us. It just took time to re-learn how to block a different way. And yea, some really talented new players doesn’t hurt.
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Basically Kirby changed the team culture from being a finnesse team to being a smash mouth team and he did it in one year. Yikes!! Not only that, he made Georgia THE smash mouth team. The only team that could match up physically with the Dawgs last season was Bama. Now, I’m not sure even Bama can match up with the Dawgs physically. I can’t wait for the season to start!!
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The ND defense matched up well physically with us, but yes, it’s amazing the Process took this quickly.
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I would also say Auburn matched up well the first time around with us.
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Auburn1 was a throwaway. SEC East locked up, played vanilla not to show our hand and knew we could face them again. That Kirby is a sly one…
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Concur, been saying this since pre-kickoff on the flats.
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Honestly, looking back on it, we should have wanted an Alabama team that was the walking wounded on defense with a QB problem by early December. Bama had barely beaten Miss State leading up to the Iron Bowl. I believe if we had beaten Auburn on the Plains that day, Bama would have won the West (Auburn would have had 2 conference losses). We would have done to Bama what we did to Auburn in December.
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I think the team was a bit softened by rolling through the games after Notre Dame. They weren’t ready for the physicality Auburn brought, and they didn’t respond well, finally crumbling in the third quarter.
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That’s a fair statement. Auburn was a horrible matchup for us that day. Excellent lines of scrimmage, balanced offense, home field advantage, and momentum.
Thank goodness for Davin Bellamy’s strip sack of Stidham in the SECCG or we may have gotten a 2nd loss to Auburn. That was a momentum changing play like the freak interception in the CFP championship game.
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Maybe. The team was playing a different level from the first snap of that second game, though. I’m pretty confident they would have rallied down 10-0. Maybe they wouldn’t have gone on to win 28-10, but I think they still would have won. If not for some stupidly horrendous officiating, the score would have been worse than 28-7.
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I’m just saying Bellamy’s play stopped any momentum. Yes, you’re right … that game was horribly officiated. The 3rd down DPI penalty on Baker on Auburn’s first drive was horrible.
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Refreshing to read an informative article not laced with click-bait.
Well-done, Red&Black.
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Red&Black > DawgNation and it’s not even close.
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Obviously the Process, a year with Pittman, Thomas starting as a fresh and other upgrades made last years OL much better. But how bout this…we now know that Eason was not very effective at check downs and audibles so even when they were mismatched physically we couldn’t make changes and ran right into a wall over and over. I think Fromm understanding what he saw across the LOS and making appropriate changes was also huge in the improvement we saw in year two.
Another thing, someone here suggested that Mike Griffith of Dawgnation may be a pot stirrer. He’s done nothing this week to change that opinion. Thank you for your quality work Chip…miss you Seth!
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Fromm deserves a lot of the credit. Basically runs the offense flawlessly. We’re a fixture in the playoff hunt as long as Jake is QB.
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LA-LA-LA-LA-LA, I’m not listening!
I am not looking back; I am looking forward and I like what I see.
They didn’t have the Rose Bowl on yesterday (although I think it’s on today) so instead I watched the Tim Bliss posting of the WLOCP game from last year on YouTube. It is pure Dawg porn. That version is so sweet because there is ‘because of time restraints we move ahead in the action’ and almost no commercials.
I recommend it highly, but when you watch it you will see we have some low moments – we just overcame them.
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Could have sworn there were some in the “10 Wins A Year™️“ crowd that argued recruiting wouldn’t really be improved much with the new regime.
One Phan in particular I remember going to the mat on that point. He had the algorithms and everything to prove it.
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