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All the hand wringing and bemoaning of the search process for UGA's defensive coordinator on message boards is understandable given the high priority nature of the hire. However, I don't agree with it.
So what if we got turned down by Chavis and Bud Foster? Or if we didn't? Let's say you ask out Miss September, and she turns you down. Then you ask out Miss October, and she turns you down as well. Who cares if you still end up with Miss December?
It's not like there's only one or two assistant coaches out there who can deliver a Top 10-15 defense in Athens. Mark Richt isn't out there looking for his mythical soul mate.
There's no candidate including Kirby Smart that doesn't have risks associated with him. In fact, hiring Kirby and switching to the 3-4 defense would likely involve a painful year one conversion as we work to re-tool everything we do. Even Van Gorder has risks. Name a truly elite defense in his career outside of his four years at UGA when he had 15-18 future NFL Players per year on his two deep...most of whom were either not recruited by him or fell into his lap almost by accident (See: Odell and Thomas Davis for excellent examples of nearly unrecruited kids falling into your lap). So everyone has risks.
I'd lose a recruit or three to get the right guy. But that's just me.
I get why people are frustrated. I do. I just think that when you step back from it...we're talking about a process...not an outcome.
See Also:
-- Smart Money isn't on Kirby - David Hale
PWD
8 comments:
Do people really think CVG would come back? What world are they living in? The man obviously wants to be a head coach, and he screwed the pooch at GaSou, so he's going about it the best way possible; he's building a great reputation at Atlanta for defense. He's starting to get credit (you can hear it occasionally in the broadcasts) for doing alot with very, very little. He's not coming back.
I feel we just need someone to focus on the little things and to improve our coverage schemes. The bowl game proved we can beat mediocre teams w/o a D coach. This year with Martinez we didn't.
I really feel we are stacked with talent and a little focus and attitude will make the difference.
CMR will make a good hire. It doesn't have to be a big name. Anyone new will make an impact.
PS. Nice look on the web page. THX for the great work and commentary all year long. Looking forward to 2010!
Add Tim Jennings to "players that fell in CVG's lap"
He had one other offer (South Carolina State I believe) and we didn't offer him until singing day when one came available
I totally agree, PWD. It's not going to take some superhuman effort from the Defense or its coordinator for us to be squarely in the mix for the East next year. It's way more important to get the right guy than to knee-jerk it. As you said- there is more than one "right" guy out there for us. As much as this search is killing my productivity at work, I'd rather be patient and get it right, even if it means losing a couple of recruits.
Alabama gave Mike Shula his walking papers on November 26, 2006. Nick Saban was not announced as Alabama's new head coach until January 3 of the following year. And yeah, they had to dump a ton of money on his doorstep, but sometimes you gotta pay quality cash if you want a quality project (something Damon Evans has indicated he is more than willing to do).
Point is, taking one's time isn't a bad thing in situations like this. And I dare say our search has been handled with a good bit more care and discretion than Bama's was, regardless of Bama's excellent results.
I am incredibly antsy about this coaching search, but it's not because I'm frustrated with the way Richt has conducted it, nor am I worried about losing out on a recruit or two. In all honesty, I've felt like a kid on Christmas Eve throughout this whole process. I know I'm getting something cool and new, but I have to wait until the big day to find out what it is, and it's driving me crazy. I just hope we end up with the DC equivalent of a Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time.
Paul Finebaum commented on the Kirby Smart situation yesterday. I have to agree with him in the Georgia is a sinking ship while Richt is the Captain. I think if Smart is smart he stays at Bama another year and he'll have the head coaching job at UGA.
Joe Schad/ESPN is saying both Reshad and Rennie are gone.
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