Requiem for a (former) heavyweight

Serious question:  was the spread offense more ruinous to any other defensive coordinator than it was in Brian VanGorder’s case?  It’s amazing how far the fall turned out to be.

17 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, Strategery And Mechanics

17 responses to “Requiem for a (former) heavyweight

  1. Corch Irvin Meyers, Former Jags Corch (2024)

    Aren’t there clinics one can attend to learn how to beat the spread, so to speak???

    Liked by 2 people

    • It’s a shift in personnel and philosophy that BVG just never made. It’s always 2003 to him.

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      • junkyardawg41

        I think you are correct and I also think the player safety on how headhunting was outlawed removed any vestige of ability to coach against modern offenses.

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  2. The old AJC sportswriter has a HS team?

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Down Island Way

    Let me get this straight…college to the pros, back to college, finally to the H.S. level…isn’t the spread offense popular at this level…wonder if he’s gonna visit the porn facial hair look…

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Ozam

    Say what you want about BVG, but he was an excellent coach at UGA. Maybe the game passed him by, but Mark Richt never would have survived without him.

    Liked by 3 people

    • BVG’s problem at UGA was that’s exactly how he saw himself and got too big for his britches.

      Liked by 3 people

      • Ozam

        Agree… Given all his subsequent moves it seems clear he was always looking for the next better opportunity and/or he intuitively knew the game was passing him by….. keep moving and no one will notice.

        Van Gorder and Pruitt are excellent examples of the Peter Principle.

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      • akascuba

        Totally agree. His total destruction of the Georgia Southern program was due to his need to prove they were wrong in continuing to run Erk’s brand of smash mouth championship football. He knew best or so he thought.

        He once was as good as they come according to David Pollack. He watched BVG predict 23 straight plays correctly on a live game the two were watching.

        Liked by 3 people

        • I’ve heard that was Kentucky game film. There was one last game to review and he invited the D over to go through it together. By then he had already done the tendencies based on down/distance and field position.

          No less impressive if it’s actually true.

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    • Greg

      agree…..will always be grateful.

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    • W Cobb Dawg

      Saved Mike Smith’s job (for a while) when he was with the Falcons too.

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  5. In retrospect, maybe it was more about the NFL developmental roster that Donnan left behind than it ever was about BVG.

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  6. practicaldawg

    Agreed. Van Gorder will always be a DGD in my book but his fall from grace post-UGA is a fascinating case study.

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  7. Munsoning

    Wow. Adapt or die. BVG seems to have consciously chosen the latter. Talk about a death drive.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. originaluglydawg

    Best of luck BVG! I can think of worse places to retire than Gulf Shores. But I scratch my head wondering why he would want to deal with HS kids. I guess the answer is he really does love coaching football, and he loves kids.

    Liked by 2 people