Dave Braine will keep screwing GT...for eternity

I've often felt that GT's former Athletic Director Dave Braine was the best thing to ever happen to the UGA vs. GT series. He was like a one man wrecking ball of incompetence hell bent on bringing their program to its financial and athletic knees. He was in charge of such brilliant decisions as:

• Investing $65+ million for additional seats at Bobby Dodd Stadium for rival fans
  
• Monitoring GT eligibility requirements into a 4 sport NCAA violation
  
• Extending Chan Gailey's contract in the face of total mediocrity
  
• Announcing that GT would never be consistently good in football

But all of that compares to the contract Paul Hewitt signed before Braine retired which apparently makes him the defacto Georgia Tech Basketball Coach for Life...unless Tech is willing to spend over $9 million to terminate him.

The AJC reports that Hewitt is on an automatic rollover six year deal which must be paid in full if Hewitt is terminated. The contract's current value is over $9 million.

(Image Caption: "I'm Invincible Nerds!)

Tech is too cash strapped due to reckless brilliant financial decisions made by Braine to even consider biting into that buyout. If they do bite it into, they'll be further cash poor.

I wish Dave Braine nothing but the best of health and many more years of happiness. But it looks like long after he's gone, he'll still be giving Tech fans the business.

The Best Part of This Story:
Hewitt's agent is...wait for it...Mark Carmony, University of Georgia Class of 1991. Georgia Tech, home of the self-professed greatest minds in the Universe, got taken to the contractual woodshed by a Dawg. Outstanding.

Paul Hewitt, the Wizard of Techwood, is currently 0-6 in ACC play with #4 Wake Forest coming to town tomorrow. He's only 4-5 against UGA despite us fielding arguably 3 of our 4 worst teams in the past 30 years while Hewitt was at Tech.

Update: Bradley fixed his math. It's now at $7.175 million for the buyout instead of $9.5 million. Either way, it's more than GT can swallow right now.

See Also:
-- The Hive Reacts to the Contract

PWD

A more professional process

There were many, many things about the Harrick termination that I didn't like. Don't get me wrong....I had no problem with actually terminating him, but I had a real problem with the aftermath of that decision because the players were treated with a total lack of respect.

In one case, they were treated as near criminals by Michael Adams during that process as he called the cops to have them removed from his lawn rather than this discuss their situation in person.

Chip Towers of the AJC says that this time, UGA got it right. They let the players know in a professional fashion before the media had the story, and they let Felton talk to his kids in an organized manner. Per the AJC:

As mundane as all that may sound, the order of events was really important to the players. Last time the Bulldogs had a change, the players found out via the media that their coach had been dismissed and the team yanked from postseason play. And lest we forget, the players are, after all, the ones most intimately affected by these changes.

We're clearly doing a better job of managing the blocking and tackling under Damon than we did in the past.

PWD

Finebaum Ripped Into Kiffin

In case you missed it, Paul Finebaum tore into Lane Kiffin on Wednesday. My favorite paragraph:

Since arriving at Tennessee in December, Kiffin has gone on a spending spree that rivals the recent government bailout of Wall Street. He's been hoarding assistant coaches, making unprofessional comments about other schools, and, in the process, is well on his way to becoming public enemy No. 1 in the SEC without having coached a game.

The funniest part is that Finebaum says Lane Kiffin is such a nut that he's basically on the path to vindicating Al Davis' rant about Kiffin. After terminating Kiffin, Davis called him immature and a "flat out liar." Per Finebaum:

[Davis'] behavior at the news conference, which was carried live on ESPN, came off more like a You Tube video of the Unabomber than the man who owns an NFL franchise and has three Super Bowl trophies.

" I just couldn't go on much longer with what I would call the propaganda, the lying that had been going on for weeks and months," Davis said.

Most concluded a straight jacket was the only solution to Davis' problems.

Now...not so much per Finebaum. Here are some highlights from the Davis conference.



PWD

Agent to Watch during the Coaching Search?

An agent to watch during this process is Mark Carmony, vice president of coaches and broadcasters at Career Sports & Entertainment. Carmony is an Atlanta-based agent who represents clients such as:

• Anthony Grant: VCU Coach (former Gator Assistant)
  
• Sam Mitchell: GA Native, Mercer Grad, Former-NBA Coach (out of work)
  
• Reggie Theus: Former NBA Coach, Former NMSU Coach (out of work)
  
• Mo Cheeks: Former 76ers Coach (out of work)
  

Oh...and Carmony is a University of Georgia graduate. I've heard but not confirmed that he also currently represents Mark Richt's interests from an endorsement standpoint.

Because of those connections and because he also represents Tom Izzo, Michigan State's uber successful coach, there have been rumors that UGA would try and talk to Izzo. Personally, I think we can talk to Izzo until we're blue in the face, but we're not pulling that dude out of MSU. I'd love to be wrong, but I think there's a very short list of folks that are out of reach. Guys like Donovan, Coach K, Roy Williams, Howland and yes....Izzo are out of our league right now. Regardless of how outrageously bullish I am about the short list rumors...I can recognize some reality.

Separately, Sam Mitchell was rumored to have made contact with UGA last week about the opening. Maybe he's the second coming of Wooden, but I don't get why we'd consider a coach with only 1 career winning season in the NBA out of 4+, and a guy that has never recruited a kid in his life. Hopefully he's on the C list.

That said...it'll be interesting to see if Carmony can get one of his guys into his alma mater.

PWD

The Short List? ESPN's Take on It

Mark Schlabach lists the candidates:

"Among the candidates believed to be high on Georgia's list of potential replacements are Oklahoma's Jeff Capel; Xavier's Sean Miller; UNLV's Lon Kruger; Baylor's Scott Drew; and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant."

That is almost the exact list I heard today from the same sources that told me about the termination yesterday. The only difference would be adding Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh much higher, and possibly swapping Mike Anderson of Missouri for Drew at Baylor. It's also very close to the same list I heard several weeks ago if a search were to start.

If I were putting together a list, those would be the names, and almost in that exact order. They all have pluses and minuses (which we'll explore later), and most will be tough to get out of their current jobs. BUT...it's not a question of "is Georgia a better job." It's a question of "How big a boy are ya?" It's a question of "Will UGA spend the money to get the type of proven candidate that will move the needle here?"

When asked about money during today's press conference, Damon Evans didn't say "money is no object." Which is true, because money is always an object. He said (paraphrase) that he wasn't going to "hold Georgia back" by being cheap on the hire. And that's the right message.

Compare that rumored list to the one from the last search when the three big names were Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger (who immediately withdrew his name) and Dennis Felton. Compare it to the rumored list to replace Jirsa which was Mike Brey and Buzz Peterson (Harrick wasn't even on the radar when he was hired by Adams).

Basically, I'm saying that if Schlabach is correct. That's one hell of a list.

Predictably, various candidates are already jumping to the podium to say they aren't candidates at Alabama and/or Georgia. Tubby was first to say that he's not a candidate at Alabama. He was immediately followed by Mike Anderson. If you deny interest in that job, you're going to deny interest in our job. Neither denial means much at this point in the season. It just means "don't screw up my season by publicly calling me."

The AJC's list adds Dayton's coach, Butler's coach and Marquette's coach alongside Mike Davis of UAB. I personally like Davis, and he's better than what we have. However, Dennis Felton is not the measuring stick for the next coach, and we can do better than Davis. They need to look at the upside of our next coach in comparison to Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan. Not the guy we just fired.

See Also:
-- Mark Bradley endorses Anthony Grant - AJC
-- Terrence Moore says "Give Tubby a Call" - AJC

PWD

Press Conference Available Free at Gxtra

Damon is in front of the camera.

Georgiadogs.com

Dennis Felton Terminated

Image: Georgiadogs.com
"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving,
you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.
And so today I still have a dream." - MLK

Today, the University of Georgia will announce the termination of Dennis Felton as head basketball coach. Rather than spend time kicking the guy when he's down, I'm moving straight ahead to what's next.

One of my core beliefs about sports boils down to this....

Fans want a winner, but they need hope.

If you lose hope for victory or even improvement/progress, then what is left as a fan? Ultimately, that's why I think Coach Felton had to go. Going forward, I'll be doing a series of articles called "Profiles in Hope" in which we look at viable potential candidates to replace Coach Felton and reasons for optimism going forward.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,
and no good thing ever dies." - Andy Defresne

The recruiting base in state is un-matched. In fact, there's no basketball talent market superior to Atlanta within 600-700 miles of Athens. It's one of the few jobs in America where you can recruit your butt off for this program and still tuck your kids in most nights.

We've also invested in THE world class basketball practice facility, and the Athletic Department has plans for renovating Stegeman on the table. There is no reason why we can't be successful.

At 11:00 today, Damon Evans should focus his time on the future. He should outline our reasons for hope.

Note: This is happening during "real-life" work hours, therefore I'm skeptical that I'll be able to post much about the press conference immediately following it. There will most certainly be coverage and commentary after work.


PWD

Felton 0'fer 2009. Streak hits 7

As you know by now, the basketball team's losing streak hit seven games last night as they lost by 26 to the Gators in Gainesville. They really didn't look competitive in this one after about the 10 minute mark in the first half.

This is a bad basketball team with very little hope. Hope in sports is everything.

We've heard rumblings for about 18 hours that today is the end of Felton's tenure. How good are our contacts? Well...if he's gone, then they are pretty good. If not, then they aren't. That's about as transparent as I can be.

I think that we should know by around 2:00 today. If nothing breaks by then, he'll be the coach for the Bama game on Saturday. Beyond that who knows.

(UPDATE: Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com says that Felton has been terminated. Press conference at 11:00 am)

PWD

Birmingham News on Anthony Grant

Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News says that Anthony Grant isn't coming to Tuscaloosa per his sources. If he comes to the SEC, it will be to coach the Georgia Bulldogs. He's much more interested in our opportunity because:

"Why would he prefer Georgia to Alabama, given the choice? Georgia has a better in-state talent base, and Georgia has proven it will hire a black head basketball coach."

Grant's agent, UGA alum Mark Carmony of Career Sports and Entertainment, was rumored to have informally asked that Grant be considered as part of UGA's search if the job had opened up last year.

Let's back up. Who is Anthony Grant?
Grant was Billy Donovan's top assistant from 1994 at Marshall thru 2006 at Florida. He is currently in his third year as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth where he is 67-20 overall and 39-7 in his league. In his first two seasons, he won his conference's regular season title; however, he only made the NCAA tourney once after his squad lost the Colonial League Conference Championship game in Year 2.

He is best known for beating the 6th seeded Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Tourney in Year 1. He was also widely speculated to be Billy Donovan's successor at Florida if Billy had taken the Orlando Magic job.

While in Gainesville, the Gators and Grant landed:

1 National Title
2 Final Fours
2 SEC Tournament Championships
2 SEC Regular Season Championships
3 SEC East Titles
Dozens of obscenely talented players

He's a good basketball coach and a lights out recruiter with SEC and Atlanta AAU ties, but UGA may shoot higher at least initial when a search opens.

The biggest knock on his resume right now is the lack of longevity, and he's only won a single NCAA Tourney game. I will say that's one more NCAA Tourney games than Dennis Felton has won in 10+ years as a head coach, but Felton isn't the measuring stick for the next hire.

The other concern with Grant...the Duke win came with players recruited by Jeff Capel, Oklahoma's coach.

Regardless, Scarbinsky's article is interesting. Pat Forde of ESPN lists the other high-major conference jobs that may open this season. It gives you a sense for who UGA may be competing with.

See Also:
-- Anthony Grant Bio - Wikipedia

PWD

Freshman QBs talked to the media

Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger were made available to reporters this week for interviews. The most interesting quote comes from Zach:

“Last year I was around a lot and the leadership wasn’t too great last year,” Mettenberger said. “I’ve been here three weeks and I already can tell that the leadership and the seniors, they are trying to win a championship again. They want to win an SEC championship. They want a spot to play in the national title. So far the leadership has been outstanding in my opinion.”

I've been saying it for weeks. Get healthy. Develop leaders. Raise expectations. If Richt does those three things, most of the rest of the issues sort themselves out. On that front, the tone coming from the off season workouts continues to be encouraging (Hale).

See Also:
-- Cox's role vital for freshmen - Ching
-- QB Quotes - David Hale
-- Young QBs Learn Early - Hale

PWD

A blistering comparison between Felton and Gottfried

Image: Lindy Dugger
Darren Epps of the Chattanooga Times Free Press wrote an opinion piece in Tuesday's paper comparing Alabama's decision to terminate Mark Gottfried vs. UGA's decision to wait a little longer to address the Felton situation.

All of his points are valid. Earlier I wrote that there isn't much upside in terminating your head coach in the middle of the season if your in UGA's situation. That is to say a roster without a lot of talent won't suddenly become world class by simply removing the head coach.

However, the biggest positive that comes from a mid-season transition is addressed in Epps' piece. It gives you the time to get organized and properly research your replacement opportunities.

Closer to home, Chip Towers discusses the tough road ahead for Felton, and Mark Bradley asks which program is worse....Tech or UGA?

PWD

Georgia Basketball Myths, Vol. 2: Tradition

In our ongoing series about the perceived woes of Georgia basketball, today's installment is on tradition. Several people argue that Georgia will never have a consistently good basketball team because there is no precedent for a clean, sustained period of basketball excellence. It's another argument that does a disservice to our university and its goals of competing at the highest levels in all realms.

The first problem with this argument is that it presumes results based on past performances. In college athletics over the long term, such analysis breaks down fairly quickly. While it may be easier for Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, and Michigan to consistently win on the gridiron, that in no way prevents relative upstarts like Miami (Fla.), Florida, or Florida State, all of whom have won multiple national championships only in the past thirty years, from now beating the old guard consistently and winning championships.

Basketball is even more fluid than football. It requires fewer resources, so more schools can compete effectively. This has been proven by the sustained success of Gonzaga or Butler over recent years. Such results aren't limited to those two. Seven of the top 15 teams in this week's basketball poll have never won a national championship. If tradition mattered so much, UCLA and Kentucky should play for the national championship every year. Neither of those teams, by the way, are in the top 15.

There are two interrelated things that trump tradition: money and coaching. Here's a brief comparison. Before the 1990-91 season, Georgia basketball had two conference championships, cracked the AP top 25 in four seasons, and made four NCAA tournament appearances (although one was later vacated because of NCAA violations). Until that same season, Florida had won one conference championship, appeared in the AP top 25 four years, and had three NCAA tournament appearances. The two programs were virtually identical.*

So what happened in 1990? UF hired Lon Kruger to bring them from irrelevance to mediocrity. Kruger did just that. He also guided the Gators to a Final Four appearance. Kruger's results were spotty, but his hiring put UF basketball on a distinct upward trend. Then, when Kruger left, Billy Donovan came in and made the Gators a national power. All it took was good coaching hires and the commitment to the program that great coaches demand.

UF, a school with no appreciable basketball tradition, went on to win back-to-back national titles after their program's long history of losing. UGA, meanwhile, has remained stuck in its past, watching lots of upstarts with far fewer resources, a much smaller native talent base, and much less potential for national appeal pass the Dawgs by.

It doesn't have to be that way. We have already built a state of the art practice facility and there are talks of further renovations to Stegeman. It appears that the athletic department realizes our program has the same potential Florida has realized. No one is rationally demanding national titles in the short run. What I will demand, however, is a team that is competitive in the SEC. All it takes is money and coaching.

Quinton

*All my numbers came from the UGA and UF basketball media guides.

DawgSports interviews a Great American

Every so often the US House of Representatives votes on non-binding resolutions which honor this group or that group. In Jan. 2007 and 2009, the Florida Delegation sent a resolution to the House floor congratulating the Florida Gators for winning the National Title.

Representative Jack Kingston of the Georgia 1st Congressional District voted against the resolution both times. Both times, I raised a glass in his dawgly honor. Kyle King of DawgSports.com thought Kingston's refusal to salute the Gators was tacky or petty. Not me.

After Kyle's most recent complaint, he was put in touch with the Congressman to discuss his vote. The result is a very funny interview between Kyle and Kingston.

PWD

Butts-Mehre Expansion

Speaking of the facilities arms race. As you've probably read, UGA is expanding the Butts-Mehre building. Above is another rendering I found that shows it pretty well.

PWD

Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum Costs?

Ever wonder what Sanford Stadium actual cost UGA once you factor in all the renovations and then adjust for inflation? You probably haven't thought about it, but it intrigued me.

I started goofing around the cybertubes until I found an Inflation Calculator*. The site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to 2007.

I researched all the significant upgrades to Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum listed on Georgiadogs.com and other sources. Then I totaled the original expenses vs. the value adjusted for inflation.

It's not an attempt to compare what it would cost to build these facilities today. The cost of construction materials has exploded such that a comparison of that variety would need to be made by looking at recent peer investments. It's more of a discussion related to what that investment means in 2007 dollars**.

Sanford Stadium	Year	Cost	Inflation Adjusted
Original Structure	1929	$ 360,000	$ 4,321,237
Double Deck Both Sides	1967	$ 3,000,000	$ 18,440,513
Enclosed East Endzone	1981	$ 11,500,000	$ 25,917,591
Installed Lights	1982	$ 1,000,000	$ 2,122,131
Letterman's Club (East End)	1984	$ 386,390	$ 761,788
West End Lower Bowl	1991	$ 3,700,000	$ 5,566,676
Sky Suites	1994	$ 6,000,000	$ 8,293,229
Sky Suites Addition	2000	$ 12,000,000	$ 14,318,151
North 3rd Deck (600 level)	2003	$ 25,000,000	$ 28,137,004
North Sky Suites Under 600 level	2004	$ 8,000,000	$ 8,716,206
Sanford Total:		$ 70,946,390	$ 116,594,527
Stegeman Coliseum
Original Structure	1964	$ 4,200,000	$ 27,800,508
Reseating and A/C (Pre-Olympics)	1996	$ 3,000,000	$ 3,927,648
Lighting, Lockers, Sound, Etc.*	2001	$ 2,500,000	$ 2,935,973
Practice Facility	2007	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Stegeman Total:		$ 39,700,000	$ 64,664,129

So what conclusions do I draw from all of this? Well...

• Damn Good Deal - That initial 1929 investment in Sanford Stadium was one hell of a deal. Even with all the add-ons and adjusting for inflation, it's a steal at $116.5 million.
  
• We Ignored Hoops - There was no significant investment in Stegeman from 1964 until 1996. If you want to know why our b-ball program has faced such an up hill climb, that's it. Dooley simply ignored it. Within months of taking over, Damon signed off on the practice facility which adjusted for inflation is almost equal to all other b-ball investments in our 100 year history.

Just something that interested me.

PWD

*This was a staggered investment over a series of years.
**The site I used didn't have 2008 data.

Developing: Mark Gottfried may be out at Bama

MikeMark Gottfried (sorry....I habitually call him Mike) entered a meeting with Alabama athletic director Mal Moore at 2:30 EST today to discuss his future with the basketball program. Gottfried has been under intense pressure over the past few seasons, and his time may have finally run out.

This is relevant to Georgia as the Dawgs will face Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. It's also relevant in that we may be in competition with Alabama, Auburn and possibly Georgia Tech to hire a new basketball coach following the season.

Tech's Paul Hewitt looked to be on solid footing following the commitment of high profile basketball recruit Derrick Favors. However, the Yellow Jackets are now 9-10 overall and 0-6 in the ACC. With an 0-8 ACC start looming, how much longer can he survive?

Anyway....If you see confirmation of Gottfried's termination, feel free to link it in the comments section.

UPDATE -- Confirmed by Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. Gottfried has been fired.

PWD

Toby Jackson to GMC?

UGASports.com is saying that they have confirmed that Toby Jackson, elite defensive end recruit for the Bulldogs, will enroll at Georgia Military College (JUCO) instead of UGA.  This isn't a scoop of their premium content as they have that info in their front page teaser. 

DawgPost.com's Chad Simmons also has Toby Jackson news; although, they've asked that more of the details around their story not be posted beyond their site yet.  Regardless, both agree enough for me to be confident that Toby is unlikely to be at UGA in the Fall.

The "why not?" doesn't really matter, and neither have posted on that.  I doubt it's anything sinister beyond the fact that his grades or test scores just aren't good enough.

All that matters is that a position of extreme need in terms of a production, talent and depth upgrade just took a blow.  The mostly injured defensive ends from the 2008 and 2007 recruiting classes will need to have an enormous Fall Camp to help out at this position.

PWD

If you only read one article today....

...and I have only read one article today, read this one. David Hale talks about the players reacting to new coaches at RB and WR, the Joe Cox to AJ Green connection, and Jeff Owens recovery.

PWD

Off Season Workout News

The Banner Herald's notebook article includes an update about some changes with the off season conditioning programs. The biggest adjustment seems to be going from two large groups of players to three smaller groups. Within those groups they are also breaking down into more manageable sub-groups.

The goal is to provide more individual attention and accountability with a faster tempo.

This is good to hear. It was rumored that expectations within our strength and conditioning program had slipped a little last year, and some players were coasting through the process.

Smaller groups provide more opportunities for leaders to emerge and fewer opportunities for slackers to hide from their peers. Regardless of the validity to the rumors regarding the past, it's a positive move forward for a team that's in need of more toughness and player driven leadership.

PWD

Trinton Sturdivant's Rehab Update

David Hale has an interview with Trinton Sturdivant where he talks about his approach to getting his job back. Gotta love that work ethic and attitude.

The rehab of Sturdivant and Jeff Owens are two of the biggest keys to the 2009 seasons. We have to be stronger up front on both lines. I expect next year's starting offensive line to be:

OT - Boling (25 starts)
OT - Sturdivant (13 starts)
OG - Glenn (~9 starts)
OG - Davis (26 starts) or Vance (~10 starts)
C - Jones (~10 starts)

PWD

Hoop Dawgs lose another one

Image: DawgPost.com
Georgia fell to Mississippi State by six points tonight in Athens. They played about 15 minutes of competent, SEC-caliber basketball. The other 25 minutes...not so much.

David Hale has all the details and post-game quotes including discussion of a new offense for the b-ball team that apparently debuted in this one. As David Ching said, the idea of cutting loose Dustin Ware and letting him make plays is appealing.

Dustin Ware looked like an SEC caliber freshman point guard in this one, and that's a good thing. He got 14 points, 5 rebounds, and two assists in 37 minutes. Ricky McPhee, walk-on shooting guard, had the game of his life scoring 15 points in 24 minutes.

Jeremy Price looked good at times, and he looks to be shaking the confidence issues of the past. However, the box score shows him with five turnovers. As Felton said post-game, that doesn't really sound right. Some of those (not all) may be a score keeper error. Someone turned it over. just not JP in all instances.

On the downside, our guys had about 19 turnovers in the first 23 minutes of the game, and Trey Thompkins continues to struggle going 1 of 8 from the field. Most of Trey's problems look to be mental. He's never dealt with anything remotely similar to the sort of adversity that he's currently facing.

The team didn't quit on Felton, and they actually improved significantly in the second half. I doubt any changes will be made this week. They head to Gainesville on Wed (Raycom) and Tuscloosa on Saturday (FSNS). UF looks like a definite loss. Bama is a somewhat winnable game. The Tide has lost 4 of its last 6, and they play a rare Thursday Night game before facing us. Maybe they'll pout their way to a defeat.

(Note: If you're reading this and finding a tone of embracing a moral victory, then we have a disconnect. That's most certainly not the intention. I just didn't feel like piling on when I wrote it.)

See Also:
-- Dawgs fall apart again - DawgPost
-- Dawgs put up fight but lose - ABH

PWD

Latest on Felton's Job Security

The Chattanooga Free Press talked with Damon Evans about the future of
UGA hoops. Damon's language suggests a likely more aggressive time
table in managing Felton's future with the program.

Audio and text available. Great read

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jan/23/georgia-dogs-difficulties-go/?sports

After reading this article, it wouldn't shock me to see us make a
change as early as Monday...if we lose to MSU.

Check it out.

Ok State announces UGA ticket allotment

The Cowboys will offer 5000 tickets to Georgia fans via the official
UGA Athletic Department.
Source:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subj

I think this is roughly what we gave them in '07.

There will be no single game tickets for sale. Season tickets start at
almost 500 bucks

They learned their lesson from asu.

Hurrican Willie Updates

Willie Martinez is no Bill Young--and by that I mean it is unlikely Mark Richt would want to be his own DC, a la Randy Shannon. If CWM departs, someone has to replace him. Chip Towers warns Dawg fans to be careful what they wish for:

This is a man that is very well respected. He’s produced three All-America DBs at UGA and is about to have his 10th drafted into the NFL. He has played and coached the game at a very high level. A South Florida guy, he starred at Hollywood Hills High in Coral Gables and helped win a national championship as a defensive back at Miami in 1983. He has all those Florida connections and recruits that area hard — and well — for the Bulldogs. And for all the criticism of this past season, it truly was his only bad season. They were ranked in the top 20 in yardage and scoring his first three seasons. As it was they were 22nd and 54th, respectively, this season.

As of around noon, the Athens Banner-Herald reported there is no change in status. Miami still has not contacted UGA about talking to CWM, and messages for CWM were unreturned.

Who has two thumbs and does not rush...to return phone calls?

Miami DC departs for Oklahoma State

According to the Miami Herald, Defensive coordinator Bill Young has left the University of Miami to join his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Miami head coach Randy Shannon did not tip his hand regarding potential replacements. The Herald quotes him as saying: "I will be looking for the best possible defensive coordinator to replace him. If that candidate is not out there, those responsibilities will fall to me."

Randy had better get a move on if he doesn't want to double up as his own defensive coordinator, because he still has not replaced offensive coordinator Patrick Nix.

According to the AJC, Mark Richt's spokesman said Miami had not requested permission to speak with Willie Martinez.

Who has two thumbs and no comment?

Willie Martinez atop Hurricanes List?

Still having trouble embedding links due to internet issues; however,
I can tell you that the Miami Herald is reporting that Martinez is the
#1 candidate to replace the current Cane DC. Here is the link
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/um/story/861732.html

As a member of the first Hurricane national title team it would be a
great fit for Willie.

Pwd

Felton's excellent adventure

As you may know by now Felton is attending the presidential
inauguration in DC. He'll be away from campus for 2 days.

As I understand it, he won't lose any practice time. With the ncaa
mandated limits on practice time, he'll just make up the practice time
later in the week.

However, it doesn't look good from the outside. And I know the message
boards have exploded with added frustration over this.

Personally, I don't care. My list of things to be frustrated about is
so long this doesn't even register.

If he's not missing any net practice hours what does it matter beyond
the perception?

Not saying I'm right. Just saying I don't care.

Pwd

Ps - Still on wireless device. Pardon typos and formatting.

"It's like we're forgetting that we're SEC Champs"

That's Terrence Woodbury's comment following today's 23 point loss to
UK. It comes from Mark Bradley's article in which he calls for an end
to Felton's tenure.

It's hard to argue with Woody's comment given how well the team played
during the Tourney in terms of tempo, aggression and general
competence vs now.

Right now this team is a total mess. They have fewer field goals than
turnovers in the past two games.

The questions in my mind are:

1. would a mid-season termination hurt us in our search for a
replacement for Felton?

2. Would a mid-season firing do anything more than put us and him out
of our collective misery?

3. Doesn't an SEC Tourney title count for something? No matter how
absurd the tourney was it is still a title. Doesn't that buy him more
than half 3 SEC games?

4. I'm not interested in any of the assistants as replacements long
term so what's the point of giving them a chance?

5. What will it "fix?" Now?

The best reason to remove him would be if you thought the existing
players would play better with Hermann or Jones as head coach.

I can't defend where we are and no one else can either. Not with a
straight face. It's bad and it's inexcusably bad for year 6.

The dates to watch for a possible mid-season termination are next
Monday if we lose to MSU, Feb 12 after the 4 of 5 road game swing, and
March 8 after the last regular season game.

The real issue isn't who coaches next week. The issue is who coaches
next season?

Can he save his job? Sure....if he can deliver 2 months of what we got
in the McThriller Dome. Tallest of orders. It will be interesting to
see what David Ching says on this topic.

Pwd

*no links tonight and likely lots of typos. I'm writing this while
looking at a 1 inch by 1 inch mobile device window.

Check Bradley and Ching for commentary.

Gamecocks Lose 5th Assistant Coach

South Carolina's running backs coach has left the program to join the Oklahoma State coaching staff. According to The State, he is the fifth assistant to leave the program since the Clemson game.

"Offensive line coach John Hunt was fired, safeties coach Ron Cooper was hired at LSU after being encouraged to look for another job, and recruiting coordinator David Reaves and strength coach Mark Smith joined the staff of Reaves' brother-in-law, Lane Kiffin, at Tennessee."

Despite Spurrier's objections, it looks like some of the assistants are positioning themselves for greater long term stability elsewhere.  When Spurrier arrived in Columbia, I felt that he would give them 5-6 years max.  Spurrier turns 64 in April, and the weight of all the losses has to be getting to him. 

He lost more games in SEC play during his first three years in Columbia than he lost during his entire 12 year career in Gainesville, and he has an outside shot at doubling his SEC loss total vs. his UF tenure next year (Year 5).

The coaching defections plus the mounting losses further convince me that this is Spurrier's last year coaching college football.  The talent level in Columbia just isn't strong enough to keep him there.  

The natural question would then become....who replaces Spurrier next year?  I'd list the top three candidates as Tommy Tuberville, Charlie Strong and Skip Holtz.

PWD

Reshad Jones is Staying

The ABH says that Reshad Jones is staying at Georgia. He will not enter the NFL Draft. The deadline to file for the draft is today. According to their article:

The deadline for underclassmen to submit paperwork to enter April's draft is today. The official list will be released Monday by the NFL, following a 72-hour period in which underclassmen can withdraw their names from the draft.

It'll be interesting to see who else declares across the SEC once the smoke clears. Update: Speaking of which....Harvin is gone. Spikes is staying.

PWD

Georgia lost at Vandy tonight in Hoops

I went to the game. We had moments where we played smart. We came out of the gate with more intensity than I've seen us play with on the road in a while. Those are the positives.

But things just sort of fell apart. Trey Thompkins was off his game all night going 3-15 from the field. He just couldn't get it to fall inside or out, and the frustration really wore on him. Really the whole team fell further and further into a funk as it got late.

Crazy factoid of the night....Georgia only shot 2 free throws in the game. There's no way there were only 19 turnovers. The stat sheet at half-time said 12 turnovers for UGA. There's not a chance in hell that only 7 turnovers were committed during the second half. Is there? Seemed like 28, but I guess the stats don't lie.

Vanderbilt shot 2-16 from the three point line, or this would've been an epic beating.

Bummer of a day. First Reshad Jones pulls a nutty and goes pro. Then Favors goes to GT. Now this game. I'm going to sleep before anything else crazy happen.

PWD

Derrick Favors to announce Wed @ 6:30

South Atlanta center Derrick Favors will announce his college choice [between UGA, GTU and Memphis] tomorrow night at 6:30.

We hear Uga has a good chance, regardless of Felton's future, due to his relationship with Trey Thompkins.

UPDATE: AJC reports Derrick Favors picked Tech. No link available as of yet.

UPDATE2: Until about 72 hours ago, I thought that Favors coming to UGA was about as realistic as the Tooth Fairy having beers with me. But there were lots of rumblings since monday. Turns out. Not so much. There were 10-12 kids in the Top 150 in GA this year. Felton signed NONE of them. Approximately 15-20 kids overall will sign scholarship offers with high major schools from our home state. This is not how you follow-up an SEC Tournament Championship and the grand opening of a $30 million practice facility. --> PWD

Asher is Gone

I'm on a wireless device in the boonies. Web barely runs all the way
out here. So not much posting til Friday. I can say that Asher Allen
is gone. Check ajc for info.

Buck Belue recovering from Bell’s Palsy

Per the AJC:

Buck Belue of 680/The Fan, said he has Bell’s Palsy, a paralysis of the cranial nerve. He’s not sure exactly when he’ll be back on the air but will continue to blog.

The AJC has more at the link above. Buck has more details on his blog. Hopefully a speedy recovery for a Damn Good Dawg.

PWD

Super Recruit to play on ESPN2

All-Universe basketball recruit Derrick Favors' South Atlanta High School team will play on ESPN2 on Jan. 15th at 9:00 pm. Favors will face DeMarcus Cousins in Mobile, Ala. They are two of the highest rated big men in the 2009 recruiting class according to Rivals.com and Scout.com.

Favors is the front runner for ESPN's Mr. Basketball nationally, and UGA and Tech appear to be among the favorites in his finalist list. As recently as Jan. 6th, ESPN predicted that Favors would end up in Athens. Many other "gurus" think he's a Tech lean. Who knows.

Signing Favors could create some wiggle room for Felton. It becomes much more difficult to bitch about Felton's recruiting if he signs Thompkins and Favors in back to back classes. He would certainly be able to tell a story around recruiting momentum.

PWD

Stay Classy, Gainesville: Miami Edition

Received via third-hand email: "My friend saw this girl squatting near his tailgate for the [national championship] game [Thursday] night and thought she was just pissing until she stood up and came over to talk to them. That's when they noticed..."

Update: Yeah...we had our fun. So I killed the pic. I feel a little bad that her sorority letters make it pretty easy to figure out who she is. I didn't notice that originally. Dawgnoxious blacked out the face to protect her ID a bit. But hell, she's wearing her letters.

I'm pretty sure that dropping your gators off at the pool while rocking your sorority letters will put you in deep doo doo. So I feel a little bad about it. As for the question of was it a bad call to post the pic originally...I'd say the real bad call was consuming that last beer. I had my fun. I'm moving on. I still say that potty humor regarding Gators is within this blog's core business, but the extremely large version of the pic was probably a bit much on the graphic side. -- PWD


Dawgnoxious
Bureau Chief, Trashy Gator Investigations

Competition for Georgia Dome's Season Kickoff Game

As you likely already know, the Georgia Dome will host Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A sponsored season kickoff event in 2009. The Atlanta Sports Council's Gary Stokan has described wanting to create a "Daytona 500 style" event that kicks off the season nationally with a bang.

Well, it looks like they have some new competition for that gig. ESPN and the Dallas Cowboys have entered into a new five year agreement to host a game Labor Day weekend at Jerry Jones new Cowboys Stadium starting in 2009. The first installment of this game will be Oklahoma vs. BYU.

I think UGA vs. Oklahoma State is still the second best game of opening Saturday, and we'll end up on ESPN or ESPN2 at night. JimFromDuluth shot me a note, and he thinks we end up at 3:30 on ABC for the first one.

Not that you asked, but if I were guessing right now at our start times for the first few weekends with only a glance at other SEC schedules:

at Oklahoma State (ESPN2 twilight or later)
vs. South Carolina (CBS 3:30 pm)
at Arkansas (ESPN2 or ESPNU at night)
vs. Arizona State (CBS 3:30 pm)
vs. LSU (ESPN or CBS night game)

More on that topic later.

PWD

Coaching staff stuff

That's Coach McClendon (Image: Hipple)
Thoughts on the various moves:

• John Eason - Moves to Director of Football Operations. Coach Eason took a lot of grief from Dawg fans over the years, but he's a good football man and an undervalued recruiter.
  
  The wide receiver drops that plagued the team intermittently from '01-'06 were often pinned on him by fans. Some of that is probably fair, But let's be honest. Terrence Edwards was dropping passes before Eason got to Athens. Martrez Milner and Tripp Chandler dropping passes at tight end was not his fault. It's also not his fault that Fred Gibson refused to fully develop his considerable gifts.
  
  The SEC career leader in receiving yards played for him, and the WR corp was consistently the least "in the police blotter" group among all positions. He was a steadying influence on the staff, and he's a good person. Other than substitution patterns from '05 thru mid-'07, I don't have any big beefs with him.
  
  
• Tony Ball - He has around 11 years of experience coaching wide receivers, so we're in knowledgeable hands. Most recently, he spent 7 years coaching WRs at Va. Tech. The VT WR corp wasn't known for blue chip players, but that was true of most VT positions at the time. He'll have more young talent to work with here than he's ever had with A.J. Green, Tavarres King, Rontavious Wooten and potentially Marlon Brown. The VT receivers were known as strong blockers and active / aggressive participants on special teams. Ball was already active in the recruitment of Marlon Brown.
  
  
• Bryan McClendon - Coach Richt could've had his pick of WR or Running Back coaches across the country, and he went with 25 year old B-Mac as running backs coach. That's a tremendous endorsement of the guy's potential. It's not a risk free move, but the last time he took a chance on a young guy it was Mike Bobo. Bobo was only two years older than B-Mac when he got the QB role. I'm pretty sure that Coach McClendon has been involved with recruits on campus for several years, and they speak highly of him. I love having a young guy who's hungry to make a name for himself pounding the phones and pavement. Plus, I like bringing fresh young energy to the staff.
  
  
• Rodney Garner - A rumor we heard several times last week and Dean Legge confirmed tonight in his "What We're Hearing" note....one of the things that annoys Rodney and many of our assistant coaches is the lack of multi-year contracts and the lack of a pension plan for assistant coaches.
  
  It's common for programs with less stability to pay more than stable programs like UGA. Georgia not being a leader in compensation doesn't worry me. However, not having multi-year deals, competitive retirement packages *and* being a salary laggard isn't a healthy combination. For all the complaining about Rodney's wandering eye, it should be noted that he's come back to UGA three times for less money than he was offered by the other school. We were more competitive across the board financially three weeks ago than we are today because of the compensation explosion at UT, LSU and AU, but this is an issue that the Athletic Board will have to address soon.

PWD

UGA loses to UT 86-77

For the middle 23 minutes of Saturday's game, Georgia played as well as this team could possibly play. The first four and last eight minutes...not so much in losing this one.

During the 23 minute stretch Georgia when UGA was playing its best ball since the SEC Tourney, they outscored the Vols 57-44. Then the wheels fell off. The Dawgs didn't hit a field goal from the 8:10 mark in the second half until Rickey McFee's meaningless 3 pointer with 8 seconds left. During that run, they also collapsed at the free throw line and went 9-6 from the stripe.

As Corey Butler told the ABH:

“It was really a product of finishing the game, again, rebounding,” Georgia senior guard Corey Butler said. “When we took control of the game, I think we were up (10) points, we took control of the glass. But when you saw the game slipping, that’s when we lost control of the glass.”

Yep. That and not making shots. Here are some positives and negatives:

• There is hope for the future - Trey Thompkins, Dustin Ware and Travis Leslie form the nucleus of a solid SEC team in future years. The near term problem is they are absolutely puppies out there. Ware in particular played an exceptional game getting 11 points and only 1 turnover in 16 minutes.
  
  
• Substitution Patterns - Given how well Ware was playing, I really don't understand why he didn't get more minutes. We need a kid with his wheels when playing a team as fast as UT.
  
  
• Cameron Tatum - Tennessee's starting freshman had 13 points in the game. He's from Tucker, Georgia. 61 miles from Athens.
  
  
• Competition Level - We likely won't play a dramatically better team than UT for a while. If they could ever find a way to play consistently for 40 minutes, or legally change the game length to 35 minutes, we'd be ok in a down SEC.

The hope really lies in what Trey Thompkins told the ABH:

"...we had been getting every shot we wanted and being patient," said Georgia freshman forward Trey Thompkins, who scored 14 points, but was held scoreless for the final 14 minutes. "But for some reason, we just started rushing shots and started playing into their hands."

If they ever figure out that "for some reason" issue, they'll be fine. In the meantime, we'll keep getting headlines like "Dawgs find a way to lose."

PWD

Coming and Goings at UF?

The big SEC news of the day is Tim Tebow's expected and confirmed return to the Gators for the '09 season. No shocker there.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Percy Harvin is leaning towards returning as well, but I'll believe that when I see it. And the Orlando Sentinel reports that Brandon Spikes is leaning towards staying as of 4:15 today. Although, oddly enough Spikes didn't attend the Gators national title celebration today in Gainesville. I still expect both to bolt once the giddy glow of the title wears off a little. If not the Gators will return 11 on defense and 8 on offense. They have until Sunday to announce.

Their personnel is formidable, but there could be more coaching changes. Their offensive line coach and new offensive coordinator Steve Addazio is considered a finalist for the Boston College head coaching job (Source: Boston Globe). Losing Dan Mullen (QB Coach / OC) doesn't really matter for '09 because Tebow is on auto-pilot at this point. But losing your top two internal offensive minds could hurt play calling a bit.

PWD

A great gesture

Knowshon Moreno took out a large ad in the Athens Banner Herald today to thank the fans for their support. It's a very classy gesture. Here's the online version.

PWD

Tebow: "My Goal is to play in the NFL"

Please. Sooner is better than later. Tebow hasn't announced anything yet, but he's considering it. We'll probably know in a few days. A new Detroit Free Press article argues that the Lions should just go ahead and draft "the man of douche." They actually said "man of steel," but I just can't go there.

Update: He has decided to skip his senior year and ascend directly to Heaven.

PWD

Detroit Free Press on Stafford

This is a brutal look at what Matthew Stafford faces as he enters the draft.  The possibility of playing for the Detroit Lions is an overwhelmingly depressing proposition.  Per the article:

"Stafford didn't realize it when he sat before television cameras in Athens, Ga., Wednesday, but he sadly endorsed his professional football death warrant.

When the junior Georgia quarterback declared for the NFL draft, he basically told the Lions, 'Take me, I'm yours' — a submission that, if history serves as an accurate barometer, might cost him his sanity as well as his self-confidence."

The good news is that Matt Millen is no longer in charge of the Detroit franchise. With Millen gone, there is a chance that he hasn't signed up for heart break.  The other good news...the Falcons and Dolphins looked almost as terminally broken this time last year.

Well...there's this stat

As pointed out in the comments today....Georgia is 7-1 vs. the defending national champs since 1965.

2008: UGA vs. LSU (away) - W
2007: UGA vs. UF (neutral) - W
2004: UGA vs. LSU (home) - W
1999: UGA vs. UT (away) - L
1997: UGA vs. UF (neutral) - W
1991: UGA vs. GT (away) - W
1982: UGA vs. Clemson (home) - W
1965: UGA vs. Alabama (home) - W

So, we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

PWD

Oh well...

OU was two interceptions and one 250 lb quarterback away from winning that game. The two interceptions by Florida were as good / lucky a play as you can make, and OU's inability to punch it from 1 yard out...a problem UF doesn't struggle with....were the difference.

It wasn't the SEC's speed that sealed it. It was Megatron QB and great bounces. Oh...and the OU defense...there was nothing wrong with it. They held Florida to their lowest scoring output since the LSU game...in 2007.

With the national title, hopefully Tebow goes pro. That's the only positive I can draw from this.

My cup of hate runneth over.

PWD

Basketball Schedule Rumors for 2009-2010

Coach Felton apparently mentioned on his radio call-in show this week that UGA is working to get into the Inaugural Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22, 23 and 25 (2009) in Hawaii. Assuming we get in, this would be our second trip to Hawaii in three seasons. (HT - MemphisDog...the Walter Cronkite of hoops scheduling rumors.)

The Diamond Head Classic event is owned and operated by ESPN. The tournament will be an eight team and 12 game event with a "winner advances" bracket and consolation games that guarantee every team will play three games.

This will be the fifth early season basketball tournament that ESPN operates*. As you can see from the link above, ESPN does a solid job of filling these tournaments up with quality teams.

That means our 2009-2010 schedule (so far) could include:

Home:
-- Georgia Tech (confirmed)
-- Hawaii (confirmed)

Away:
-- Missouri (confirmed)
-- Virginia Tech (confirmed)

Neutral:
-- Illinois at the Gwinnett Arena (confirmed)
-- Big East Challenge: Site TBD (confirmed)
-- Diamond Head Classic Game 1
-- Diamond Head Classic Game 2
-- Diamond Head Classic Game 3

If we land that schedule, it sets the foundation for a solid to strong non-conference slate in the 2009-2010 season. I think we need one more solid home game, but it looks like a reasonable start otherwise....regardless of who the coach is.

PWD


*Not that you asked, but ESPN also owns and operates six bowl games.

Boomer Sooner

I won't kid you.  I hope the Gators lose by 200 points tonight.  As Quinton posted earlier...the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

SEC fans keep saying that the Sooners haven't seen a defense like the Gators.  That's true, but I can assure the Gator defense has seen nothing like the Sooner offense.  The best offense the Gators saw all season was Georgia's....seriously.  The three best quarterbacks they saw all season were Matthew Stafford, John Parker Wilson and Jevan Snead.  That's not exactly McCoy, Harrell, Robinson and Daniels in terms of depth. 

The Gator defense has only seen two offensive lines anywhere near the OU group, and that was LSU and Alabama. LSU's offensive line was handicapped by having an imbecile freshman at QB. Bama's line -- aside from Andre Smith -- simply isn't as good as Oklahoma's group.

If I'm Sam Bradford, I give the Gators a steady diet of crossing patterns at various depths. This isn't a defense that you beat with bubble screens and draw plays.  They are going to need to attack them down the field and over the middle.  Leverage that big boy tight end to create mismatches.  They'll need the pass to set up the run.

I like the Sooners tonight, but what do I know.

PWD

ESPN: Stafford and Moreno will go pro today

Knowshon Moreno (Image: Jim Hipple)
ESPN's Mark Schlabach just posted an article stating that multiple sources have confirmed to him that Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno will declare their intentions to enter the NFL draft early at a press conference today.

For all of those folks who think, Stafford "isn't ready yet," I would ask you...."Who is MORE prepared for the NFL right now than Matthew Stafford? Sam Bradford? Ok. I'll give you that one.

Who else? Colt McCoy? During the Fiesta Bowl, I'd wager that McCoy only attempted about 3 passes longer than 15 yards of his 55 or so attempts. Tebow's mechanics are a total mess. Graham Harrell is a system QB who primarily throws dink and dump passes in a non-analogous NFL offense. So, who is more ready? The only way I see Stafford falling out of the Top 5 picks of the draft would be if the Lions or Chiefs sign Matt Cassell as a free agent AND if the other team drafted Bradford over Stafford.

Could he have benefited from another year in college? Probably. But that's not the same as saying "He's not ready, yet."

Good luck to both of them. They've both performed at elite levels for Georgia, and they were both instrumental to our success. Without Stafford and Moreno, there's no #2 ranking last year, and this team would've easily been an 8-5 or worse squad without them.

Update:
I'm watching the press conference. They are both gone, and they are saying all the right things. Richt said that Joe Cox is our #1 as of right now, and one of the other guys will "have to knock him out of the box."

PWD

Last Night's Debacle at Tech

The greatest strengths of Dennis Felton are his high sense of integrity and his relentless work ethic. Felton genuinely works his ass off trying to make the Georgia Basketball program better. If you're drawing up requirements for a successful coach, those would be two of the first handful of attributes that you'd seek.

Unfortunately for us, recruiting, game management and player inspiration would be pretty high on that list, too. Those are areas where Felton is not as strong.

Last night, Georgia continued its track record under Dennis Felton of complete ineptitude on the road. I can sort of deal with being talent deficient, but it's awfully hard to swallow watching a team lose because they lack consistent hustle or play dumb.

If you are outrebounded on the offensive glass 23-10, that's a hustle issue. Particularly, when your front court is the strength of your program, and you're playing a team that won't finish in the upper half of the ACC. When you consistently give up 18-28 turnovers, that's an issue of basketball intelligence. Both of those are coaching and recruiting problems.

You can't get beat on loose balls and surrender 4th chance offensive rebounds to your bitter rival. You just can't.

See Also:
-- Man that was ugly - AJC
-- Dawgs Lose - Daugman
-- Bulldogs Collapse - ABH
-- Hoops, too - AJC

PWD

UGA vs. GT Hoops Game Tonight

Ideally, the Georgia Bulldogs would receive their SEC Tournament Championship Rings at half-court before tonight's game against the Yellow Jackets in Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

It seems reasonable that a return to the site of one of our greatest hoops moments would include a nice ceremony. Maybe they'll hang a banner for us. We've certainly won championships on that floor than Georgia Tech has over the past 10-15 years.

Neither team is good right now, and both coaches desperately need a win tonight to keep the natives from getting truly restless.

There are still tickets available to the game, and they start at $30. They are available via RamblingWreck.com. Tickets are also available via Georgiadogs.com for Saturday's game against Tennessee.

PWD

Georgia Basketball Myths, Vol. 1: Scandal

In an effort to put our basketball program into perspective, I will be occasionally making some comparisons this season. The first has to do with the notion that Georgia's current basketball ineptitude is a product of the Harrick regime's scandal and disregard for any notion of integrity.

As you will recall, Jim Harrick and his son won a lot of basketball games at UGA. But any achievements on the court were badly tarnished (and eventually rescinded) by their actions off the court. In the last few weeks of the 2002-2003 season, Jeremy Schapp reported on major academic compromises in favor of the basketball team and payments to players (Tony Cole) and their friends.

The result of the story was a cascade of horrors: no post season for one of the best Georgia basketball teams ever, the program being the subject of late night comedy monologues (how many points is a three point basket worth?), the resignation of Harrick and his staff, and NCAA sanctions.

The scandal thumped the basketball program. The team had seven scholarship players in 2003-2004, but still somehow managed an NIT slot. The next year, the effects of scandal really hit home as the team went 8-20. The Dawgs snuck back into the NIT in 2006-2007, before last year's miracle run earned the team its first NCAA appearance since Harrick left.

In contrast, I present the Baylor Bears. There are likely two things that readily appear in your mind when you think of Baylor athletics: Mike Singletary and that one of their basketball players shot and killed a teammate in 2003. The investigation into the murder yielded all sorts of dark, seedy truths, eventually forcing coach Dave Bliss to resign and sending forward Carlton Dodson to prison for 35 years.

For Baylor's basketball program, the result was five scholarship reductions, recruiting limitations, and five years of probation. The NCAA also found that the Baylor administration lacked institutional control of the basketball program, as severe a finding as the NCAA can make. Because Baylor was a repeat offender, it was eligible for the death penalty, but the NCAA spared the Bears. The year after the scandal, Baylor went 8-21. Per their NCAA penalties, they only played a conference schedule in 2005-2006 going 4-13. Baylor continues to be on NCAA probation. I think we can all agree that the Baylor scandal, by any reasonable measure, was far worse than the Harrick debacle, both in terms of the actions that produced it and the cumulative penalty imposed as a result.

Our punishment for the Harrick scandal was mild in comparison: three scholarships were forfeited from the '05-'06 through last season, one in each year, public ridicule, and the release of a large recruiting class. We also got four years of probation, which ended last year. All three scholarships, however, were reinstated after a successful appeal by the university in 2005. The NCAA's rational for this reversal was that all but one of the signees in Harrick's final class decided to go elsewhere when the university granted them all a release. The NCAA decided this was punishment enough and lifted the scholarship sanctions.

So, where are these program's today? Baylor is currently ranked #19 by the AP after last season's 21-9 record and NCAA appearance. The Bears are 11-1 so far this season, including a win over #17 Arizona State. Georgia is 10-4 9-5 and our most impressive win was over Virginia Tech.

I point these facts out simply to show that if one believes that the Harrick scandal still holds this program down, they are mistaken. We are past the point that the NCAA sanctions have a legitimate effect on our program. After all, our penalties were far less severe than Baylor's, yet Baylor is vastly outperforming our basketball program. Our struggles have little to do with the NCAA violations earlier this decade.

Quinton

Richt's Post-Season Recap Press Conference

David Hale has the transcript. Here's my favorite part:

On whether he would address issues with the staff:
"I think we've already had a little bit of time to reflect, and one of the things that I know for a fact affected how we played defense was how we prepared, how we practiced. I know that we practiced different this year. It was directly attributed to the number of injuries we had in camp. So we already began to address that issue when we practiced in the bowl. We probably tackled more in our bowl practices than we did all season long, and I think our defense improved. I think the defense had a better edge, I think we tackled better, I think we had more swagger going into that ballgame because we knew we prepared the way we had to.

"We kind of bit the bullet a little bit. We had a couple guys get banged up. We didn't think we'd have Dobbs, but Dobbs actually played. I think that was part of what we needed to address was making sure we practiced like we needed to. I know there's risks when you tackle somebody to the ground, but if you don't, there's a risk you don't do well in a game you need to have it the most.

"There are other things. We'll address personnel, make sure we've got guys in the right spots. We'll make sure we're asking guys we're asking guys to do things they're able to do. We've got to be honest with ourselves about whether or not or how we're going to create pressure, whether it comes from individuals or more from scheme. We've got to look at all those." (emphasis added)

If Richt does all those things -- particularly more tackling, scheme changes, and better player utilization (ie. having the right people in the best spots) -- it'll go a LONG way towards addressing many of my concerns.

On the personnel side, I mentioned this in the comments earlier -- Richard Samuel is a key player the team needs to look at from a position move standpoint.

Many coaches would look at a player who is big, strong, fast, relishes contact, was an elite high school linebacker, and who fumbles or bobbles the ball regularly and they would say...."That is a linebacker." If Samuel doesn't learn to hang on to the ball, he's not going to play. That's pretty evident by his decreasing minutes to bobbled balls ratio this season. Giving him a long look at LB in the spring makes enormous sense to me.

Having him at LB is particularly intriguing given the speed we're facing in Jacksonville. The idea of having a guy with Samuel's wheels going against Demps and Rainey is much more appealing than a guy with Gamble, Washington, or Dent's feet. Richard is blessed with great speed, but it won't do him any good on splinter patrol due to fumblitist. He's a kid to watch.

PWD

Rodney Garner staying in Athens

Rodney Garner, Georgia's defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, has turned down an offer to return to the Tennessee Vols coaching staff. Garner came to Georgia from Tennessee in 1998, and he was instrumental in Jim Donnan's retooling of the Georgia talent base. He was also critically important in holding together the 2001 recruiting class after the Donnan to Richt transition. The seniors from that transitional class went 42-10 for the Dawgs.

There were numerous rumors floating around about what type of role Garner would have on the UT staff. One version had Garner taking on the job of "Running Game Coordinator" for the Vol offense with position responsibilities at RB, TE and/or OT. In that scenario, another position coach would've been responsible for the passing game coordination while Lane Kiffin called the plays. That three headed monster is somewhat similar to what Oklahoma State has done with their offense. It also sounds like a convoluted mess.

(Update: Towers confirms the job title)

Over the past several years, Richt had proactively and strategically moved to put reduce Georgia's risk of losing a key recruiter like Garner. Most recently, John Lilly was named Tight Ends coach for the Dawgs prior to the 2008 season. Lilly spent 10 years on the FSU coaching staff much of that as their recruiting coordinator. Lilly appears to be the defacto "Recruiting Coordinator in Waiting" for the Dawgs.

Georgia has also upgraded its recruiters vs the initial Richt coaching staff of 2001 and 2002. For instance, Stacy Searels apppears to be a quantum leap forward in talent evaluation and recruiting effort vs. Neil Callaway. The stabilty of the Georgia staff has also helped. Five of Georgia's nine assistant coaches have been with Richt for his entire 8 year tenure. As a good sales manager will tell you, there's no substitute for time in territory for building relationships and trust among your customers and partners (in this case High School coaches).

Losing Garner wouldn't have been the devastating body blow to recruiting in 2009 as it would've been in 3, 5 or 8 years ago. But it wouldn't have been painless either. It is a good thing to keep him.

For the record, I do NOT begrudge Rodney Garner for looking at other offers. Two weeks ago, Garner was a little underpaid versus the open market value for a man of his unique skill set. Just two weeks later, with UT and Auburn spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave, he was significantly under paid. Kudos to Richt and Damon for being creative and working hard to keep a key hire.

And for those questioning RG's loyalty to UGA. If he turned down a "running game coordinator" job title promotion that involved more money and less recruiting responsibilities to stick at UGA, how is that disloyal?


See Also:
-- Garner to remain with Bulldogs - Georgiadogs.com

PWD