2022 SEC Coach Rankings

From Barrett Sallee, here’s what he has to say about Kirby Smart:

Kirby Smart (2 overall): Smart led the Bulldogs to the program’s first national title iin 41 years when his squad topped Alabama in Indianapolis in January, and he has the program set up for long-term success after stockpiling talent in the Peach State. The Dawgs have four SEC East titles, one SEC title and two national championship appearances since Smart took over in 2016 as a first-time head coach. It’s really hard to sustain success, especially early in a coach’s career, but Smart did it quickly and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Last year: 3 in SEC

Hey, that’s great.  No more of that “recruits great, but he’s no game day genius like Dan Mullen”.

Of course, Dan Mullen’s no game day genius like Dan Mullen any more, either.

Object of amusement

Shot.

The funniest thing to watch this year will be the folly Honky McFailson suddenly thinking he’s Aaron Rodgers and trying to play outside of himself and the offense. Those 50-50 eephuses he threw up against Alabama’s inexperienced reserve corners won’t fly against teams that have some starting experience back there.

Chaser.

Most passing touchdowns on 30+ yard throws last season

🎯 Sam Hartman: 14
🎯 Stetson Bennett: 9 pic.twitter.com/2le8K350VC

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 5, 2022

I’m thinking Erik might not be right about the funniest thing to watch this season.

Forget it, man. Season’s over.

Over at RBR, Erik Evans is here to tell you what’s in store for Georgia in 2022.

• Georgia will go 12-0.

Fiction — You don’t lose 28 players to the draft, graduation, and the Portal and get better — including 8 off the defense, Jermaine Burton, James Cook, half of an offensive line, 6 out of 7 on the defensive front, and the defensive coordinator. Oh, sure, there are weapons at TE and WR, and UGA is always going to have running backs, but the margin of error is significantly slimmer this season. I think turning over a full third of the roster is going to matter at some point. And while Florida, Sakerlina are still a year away from putting it all together, there are enough traps on this schedule and enough question marks for it to ding the ‘Dawgs at least one somewhere, maybe twice.

The funniest thing to watch this year will be the folly Honky McFailson suddenly thinking he’s Aaron Rodgers and trying to play outside of himself and the offense. Those 50-50 eephuses he threw up against Alabama’s inexperienced reserve corners won’t fly against teams that have some starting experience back there.

Boy, losing a natty to a walk on quarterback is really eating at some people, ain’t it?

Whatever happened to…?

For those of you asking about Scott Cochran, he surfaced yesterday with this:

Proud to be 1 year sober. This one means a lil more than the rings pic.twitter.com/rgP08fpxFj

— Scott Cochran (@CoachYeah) July 4, 2022

Good for him.  And with the NCAA about to remove caps on assistant coaching positions, his timing couldn’t be better.

Today, in play fakes

I’ve never seen a quarterback execute this better.

Another beautiful fake and probably the best one under Richt! 65 yards for 65 days left until kickoff! @TEwracademy #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/DtTYSLd5XT

— We Are Dawgnation!🐶🔴⚫️ 🏆🏆🏆 (@We_R_Dawgnation) June 30, 2022

Edwards did a great job of selling it, too.  I, like everyone else in the stadium that day, was totally fooled.

“I was just speaking from the heart …”

At this point, the only thing I can figure is that Mike Griffith is sexually aroused by the thought of Georgia moving the Cocktail Party out of Jacksonville.  It seems like he’s got a post on the subject every week.  The latest version brings in that noted expert on Georgia football, Jeremy Pruitt.

“Pruitt, like Smart, has a uniquely qualified perspective to understand the Georgia program’s strengths and weaknesses…”

Whoa, hoss.  “Pruitt, like Smart”?  But I digress.

“I do know that just from a recruiting standpoint if I’m one of the top players in the country …. (Florida) is going to be a game that’s going to draw some of the best players in the country,” Pruitt said of the Georgia-Florida rivalry.

“These prospects are going to choose the games and decide what game do I want to go see Georgia play? What game do I want to see Alabama, maybe Clemson, LSU, whoever?”

Yes, that’s exactly how the recruiting game is being played these days.  Championships, facilities, ability to develop players, NIL — all of that takes a back seat to seeing the team Georgia is playing on a given Saturday.

Griffith notes that Pruitt is taking a year off from coaching after leaving the New York Giants.  I’m beginning to understand why.

Stat of the day

Not bad for a walk on…

Stetson Bennett's 2,861 passing yards last season were the most by a Georgia QB since 2012 🎯 pic.twitter.com/MKJuvrbkf0

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 28, 2022

… but not exactly a ringing endorsement of UGA’s rich tradition at quarterback, either.

Back in (red and) black

The more I look at this…

UPDATED RETURNING PRODUCTION RANKINGS:

* BYU jumps to the top of the list
* Hawaii dives to the bottom
* Ohio State’s still top-25, which is almost unheard of for an elite team. pic.twitter.com/04SBo3Svlf

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) June 29, 2022

… the more I’m impressed that Georgia could lose fifteen players to the pros, another bunch to the portal, not bring in a single transfer and still have 61% of its national championship production return this season.  For comparison sake, with all the chest beating about its returning young talent, Alabama, at 67%, is only a few percentage points ahead.  (Insert Metchie and Williams snark here.)

Although I have to admit I’m even more impressed with that Ohio State number (73%!), considering how loaded that team is.

“Rivalries”

Apparently, the word isn’t supposed to mean what I thought it meant any more.  Seth Emerson, in ranking Georgia’s most important SEC rivalries, post-expansion era ($$), defines them thusly:

What are the games that are the most important – for reasons of history, location and luster – to be on the annual calendar?

When you put those three factors on equal footing, I suppose that’s how you can get to ranking Oklahoma and Texas, whom Georgia has rarely played, ahead of Kentucky, whom the Dawgs have faced 74 total times, including every year since 1956.  Or seeing South Carolina as UGA’s third biggest conference rival.  (No question Georgia’s USC’s biggest SEC rivalry, though.)

My point isn’t to take a shot at Seth’s ordering, but it does seem like he’s using the term more broadly than I would.  For me, it’s a short list:  Florida and Auburn. Everybody else comes after those two.

And you?

Stetson’s gauntlet

It’s a fun, albeit misleading, stat:  In 2022, Georgia faces last season’s nos. 121 and 122 in defensive passing yardage in Georgia Tech and Tennessee, respectively.  It’s misleading because, in the case of the latter, the Vol defense is on the field more than most teams’ because of the way its offense runs.

But it did make me wonder what sort of defensive passer ratings the twelve D-1 defenses Georgia faces this year generated in ’21.  Here’s how each did, along with their national ranking:

• Oregon:  127.01 (42)
• South Carolina:  123.86 (30)
• Kent State:  136.49 (74)
• Missouri:  146.59 (105)
• Auburn:  136.73 (76)
• Vanderbilt:  151.29 (114)
• Florida:  124.90 (33)
• Tennessee:  132.55 (63)
• Mississippi State:  137.93 (82)
• Kentucky:  137.65 (79)
• Georgia Tech:  173.30 (130)

Okay, so it wasn’t misleading with regard to the Jackets.  They sucked on pass defense, and judging from this…

After a mass exodus this offseason, Georgia Tech only has three returning starters on defense, one of whom is cornerback Zamari Walton. The Yellow Jackets added five secondary players from the portal in hopes of quickly retooling and help the defense make legitimate strides forward.

… are likely to do so again.

That being said, with 130 being considered the average passer rating, there’s a whole bunch of mediocrity staring Stetson Bennett in the face this season.  (Not to mention in the cases of Missouri, Vandy and Tech, some downright awfulness.)  While I would expect improvement in certain quarters — Oregon being one — Stetson isn’t going to get thrown into a situation in the opener like Daniels was last season, facing a Clemson pass defense that finished fifth nationally in defensive passer rating (110.07).