… you make the adjustments you need to make.
Tom Crean is a good sport.
Advertisements
Category Archives: Georgia Football
Today, in Always. Be. Closing.
Georgia has a new defensive lineman.
He’s a graduate transfer from Notre Dame (yes, he played against Georgia) who turned in a decent 2017 season. He should help address depth concerns on Georgia’s defensive line this season.
Now it’s roster management time for Kirby.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE: If you’re wondering about quality…
That should work.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE #2: One door opens, or something.
On Wednesday, Georgia picked up a commitment from graduate transfer Jay Hayes. It also lost a linebacker, as Jaleel Laguins announced that he would be transferring from the team.
Laguins, a former 4-star recruit and member of the 2016 recruiting class, announced his transfer via his Twitter page. This is the second day in a row a Georgia player has transferred as offensive lineman Pat Allen did so on Tuesday.
Best of luck to you, Jaleel.
Maybe we need to keep the roster in pencil for now.
Filed under Georgia Football
The Process abides.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time a Georgia offensive lineman who started a game one season elected to transfer the following spring.
Depth and Pittman, baby. Best of luck to Pat Allen, too.
Filed under Georgia Football
Can’t win ’em all.
One of the faithful narratives of a certain segment of the Georgia fan base eager to see Mark Richt shown the exit door was that the man’s ability to recognize talent was overrated — this was, after all, a coach who pursued Cam Newton as a tight end, we were told repeatedly. Obviously, judgment like that was prima facie evidence that Richt was unqualified to run a football program.
Nah, you need someone whose eye for talent is unimpeachable. You know, somebody like Jeremy Pruitt, who could be counted on to identify the perfect future for a recruit. Like Lamar Jackson, for example.
Jackson has said that as a recruit he heard from at least one SEC football program recruiting him to play safety, though he hadn’t played safety in high school.
“Georgia said they wanted me at safety,” Jackson said in a 2016 interview prior to his Heisman Trophy-winning season. “They were out of the equation right after they said that. …
“I think it was the defensive coordinator. He called me and was like, ‘I like your speed. I think you’d be a great fit at safety.’ I was like, ‘Coach, I play quarterback.’ He was like, ‘Well, here’s the offensive coordinator.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not going there.'”
This would have been former coach Mark Richt’s staff at UGA, and the defensive coordinator – assuming that was the coach who called Jackson – would have likely been Jeremy Pruitt, who went on to become the head coach at Tennessee.
The point here isn’t to knock Pruitt’s judgment. After all, he was far from alone in recognizing Jackson’s ability to play the quarterback position in college. Nor is it to immunize Richt against all criticism. But, man, was that “Cam as a tight end” meme dumb.
(h/t)
Filed under Georgia Football, Recruiting
“As we have been telling you for some time, Kirby is a spiteful little man…”
Hmmmm… it seems someone’s panties are in a wad because a former assistant coach well-known for successfully employing negative recruiting tactics in support of his then-employer’s program — no complaints at that time, obviously — is now using those very same skills to benefit his own. Amazing how that works.
Meanwhile, the more interesting takeaway from Bud Elliott’s article is that the teacher apparently is learning from the pupil.
Alabama’s coaches are also using social media en masse for the first time. Insiders think this is a reaction to Georgia’s social media presence.
Coach Kirby Smart has copied the Saban blueprint almost step-for-step, with the exception of social media. Georgia coaches routinely post videos of themselves cutting up, having fun, etc. Alabama isn’t looking to cede its image as the program most resembling the NFL, but it’s now trying to pitch itself as able to have fun as well.
“I think he’s pissed about the perception and narrative that he’s slowing down,” Garcia said. “And I think he’s pissed about finishing No. 6 in the rankings. He won’t say it that way, but every time someone says he can’t do something, there’s a renewed energy.”
Kids are taking notice of the new approach.
“With the social media angle, we’ve never seen that. We’re seeing tweets, graphics, videos,” Garcia said. “The whole ‘Bama Cuts’ thing, you have Julio talking about the Alabama standard. It’s all about recruiting. They’ve always been ahead of the game in every element, except for social media recruiting. And now they’ve jumped up towards the top.”
Saban having fun. Who’da thunk it?
Filed under Georgia Football, Nick Saban Rules, Recruiting
Montana is just a state of mind.
It’s good to know we Dawg fans remain on Stewart Mandel’s mind. Dial up the latest edition of The Audible with Stew & Bruce, starting at the 38-minute mark (listen very carefully at the 46-minute mark) for evidence of that.
It’s nice to be loved. (h/t)
Filed under Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
Today, in it just means more
You know, when Nick Saban chided Alabama fans for not staying in their seats for the entirety of games, I thought it was mockable. I mean, if you want the fans to stay 60 minutes, give ’em something more than watching your fourth-string quarterback hand off to your fifth-string tailback six times in a row in the fourth quarter of a six-touchdown rout of a cupcake.
When Kirby Smart turned Georgia’s spring game from a pleasant day trip for the fan base into a recruiting mission, I was mildly irritated, but recognized that at least he’s given us something to be excited about and seemed genuinely grateful for our turnout.
As far as Jeremy Pruitt’s bizarre chastisement of UT’s fans?
“To me, it’s kind of like our football team for the fans. The ones that were here, I’m proud they’re here. They’re fired up, ready to get going. And then there were some people that weren’t here, they had legitimate reasons they couldn’t be here. Then there were some people that weren’t here, why weren’t they here? It’s kind of like our football team. I think we all need to look in the mirror and see who we want to be.”
Welp, it sure seems like somebody needs to look in the mirror, alright.
Anyway, I guess that’s part of what comes these days from the Saban coaching tree, so while I can’t say I excuse that line of thinking, at least I get what it’s about. What I don’t get is what I suppose is the next stage in this — the media taking steps to normalize these coaches’ expectations/demands of their fan bases. Take, for example, Barrett Sallee’s defense of Pruitt.
Isn’t this what you wanted, Vol fans? Don’t you want the best? Don’t you expect the best? Don’t you want a coach who strives for perfection in every aspect of the program?
That’s what Nick Saban does at Alabama, and that’s what Kirby Smart has implemented at Georgia. Not coincidentally, those are the two teams that played in the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.
Pruitt might not be as successful as either of his two mentors, and certainly has a steeper hill to climb than they do considering the tradition at Alabama and the fertile recruiting ground that exists in Smart’s backyard. But at least he’s following a tried-and-true blueprint that has proven to be successful.
Could he work on his delivery? Maybe. After all, talking down — or even giving off the appearance of talking down — to your own fan base prior to ever coaching a real game is a bold move.
If by “bold” you mean “dick”, I suppose you have a point there, Barrett. A somewhat creepy point, but a point nonetheless.
Seriously, when did we cross the line from being passionate about a program to being enlisted in Gawd’s Army? Jeremy Pruitt is being paid nearly four million dollars a year to win football games and that somehow entitles him to make demands on a fan base — a fan base that’s put up with years of mediocre football, by the way — that forks over the bucks that contribute to his paycheck? What other organized sport approaches its fans like that?
I suppose the next development will be for a coach or his athletic director to blame a sub-par season or recruiting class on inadequate fan support. And there will probably be some pundit out there ready to stroke his chin and admit there’s something to that excuse. When the coach or AD gets canned, at least they’ll have a sweet buyout provision to fall back on. All we fans will get is a guilt trip from the new guy in town. And then we’ll be told to like it.
