January 14, 2008
Rumor: Georgia TE Coach to WVU as OL Coach
The West Virginia Scout.com site is reporting that UGA TE Coach Dave Johnson will be returning to his alma mater to coach the WVU offensive line.
Coach Johnson was rumored to have pursued the UGA OL coaching position last year, but Richt turned to Stacey Searels to fill that role. In the football pecking order, OL coaches rank higher than TE coaches in terms of prestige, future promotional opportunities and compensation. It was also rumored that Johnson pursued and/or interviewed for the WVU OL position last year after Rick Trickett went left the Mountaineers for FSU.
The opportunity to return to OL coaching at his alma mater is a great one for Johnson. He was a good recruiter, and our TE play was very good under his watch. Our guys blocked well and ran good routes. It's true that Martrez had hands of stone at times, and Tripp's first couple games this year were brutal to watch. But overall he coached Randy McMiracle, Ben Watson, Leonard Pope and a rapidly improving Tripp Chandler.
If the rumor is true, best of luck to him and his family.
One replacement name that always pops up in these situations is John Lilly at FSU. Who knows.
PWD
ht - dawgrun
Labels:
Coaching Rumors,
UGA
7 comments:
According to Rivals.com, Johnson has accepted the WVU spot. Their story mentions Lilly, FSU DE coach Jody Allen, and Jeff Bowden as replacements.
Going based on the few times he's had to replace coaches on the staff, my guess is that Richt already has a short list of guys. I also am gonna guess that the hire is someone nobody thinks of, but will do a great job.
Good Riddance! Somehow I don't think CMR will have any trouble finding a good replacement.
We could use Jeff Bowden on staff to give Bobo a few pointers on the jump ball offense...
Good move for CDJ (I've met him a few times at his daughter's volleyball games - my niece played on the team).
As much as I'd like to see someone like John Lilly, I think it will be someone we don't know as of yet. But I trust CMR to find the best man.
I'd guess as well, that this will open up D. Allen, but I've thought he was iffy for some time now. The other side would be does this open up a spot for Z. Sanders or O. Hunter.
Fun, fun, fun.
Did they ever really use the TE as more than a blocking back that much at FSU?
I've heard Lilly's a great recruiter, but I can't think of any Randy Mac/Pope types to ever come out of Tallahassee.
John Lilly would definitely be about recruiting more than TE's.
That's why I think it is probably someone we don't know as of yet.
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