Until Jan. 2nd, Chuck Heater was the co-defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators with specific position coaching responsibilities for safeties. He joined Florida from Utah along with Coach Meyer in 2005 as recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach.
At age 57, he's served on coaching staffs that have won two SEC titles and two national titles at UF, a national title at Notre Dame, an undefeated season at Utah, a Rose Bowl and Pac 10 title at Washington, a Big Ten title at Ohio State, and an 11-1 record at Colorado.
He's a winner.
As a recruiting coordinator for the Gators under Meyer, they built a recruiting machine with few peers. Also under Meyer and Heater, the Gators produced defensive back fields with devastating speed and toughness with kids who were coached well enough to begin contributing their freshmen year. He's a tough as nails coach with high expectations for his kids.
Yet, Will Muschamp isn't keeping him. So, he's looking at his options.
Hiring a guy with a resume like Heater's would strengthen our horrific DB production and give us another recruiter strong enough to further diversify our almost unhealthy reliance on Rodney Garner.
So...is UGA talking to him about replacing Scott Lakatos as defensive backs coach? It doesn't appear so. Well...there's something to be said for stability with complete disregard for merit I guess.
Am I suggesting that Richt should immediately fire Lakatos and hire Heater? Actually, no; although, the resumes of the two men aren't from the same planet. I'm suggesting that a move that bold wouldn't even be considered right now. And that's depressing as hell to me.
PWD
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19 comments:
If Richt had any balls he would hire Chuck Heater.
You and I usually see eye to eye, but I disagree with you here. What young, up and coming coach would ever work for Richt again if he fired Lakatos just to go after Heater? It would be a desperate move with likely limited returns. I think that our staff can win championships, they just need to GATA.
Loved watching VT in bowl game march downfield with 1:00 left in first half and get points. Wondered why we don't do that.
Multiple choice
a) we don't have a talented mobile QB and good receivers
b) conservative play not to lose mindset
c) we blew our timeouts coming out of TV timeout earlier in the game
Not that you (or anyone) cares but I will be unsubscribing from this blog.
The last few posts from you and Quinton have been amateur hour. This one especially barely even makes sense. Better Georgia blogs out there these days.
I don't think many position coaches that are 'young and up coming' would even look at this. Give me a break they would be happy to be at a big school.
I'm a Richt homer through and through. But I'm out of bullets defending him. Sorry Mark.
Prediction: Heater to Clemson.
Just sayin'
This kind of attitude is exactly what I fear will start happening if coaching turnover starts: going after every good assistant on the market regardless of timing or fit.
We get to find out in 2011 if CMR wants to keep coaching football at Georgia. His past success has earned him the 2011 season to correct course, and (IMHO) rightly so. Part of what he has earned is the right to pick the team he will face that season with.
If he turns things around with this team, fantastic. If not, well, then we'll see a program freed up to chase whatever assistants are looking for work.
An added bonus to that? After the 2011 season, if CMR and his team have not turned things around, it can never be said that the UGA AA wasn't patient and supportive of coaches.
That would be a pathetic move by Richt if he did that. I mean...c'mon, man.
You are saying Grantham stays but Lakatos is fired? 1 year?
Pathetic and that's what our fanbase is turning into lately.
TommyP
There is one thing in being bold and being foolish. Lakatos is the kind of coach we need on staff...young, hungry and has experience. At his previous stops at Rutgers and UConn he has produced NFL talent. If we are paitent and not whiney, and give Lakatos time, he will turn our secondary around.
Our DB play is among the worst in the SEC. Why should we give him another year?
He couldn't sniff a job in the SEC at any other school.
Richt is likely canned in 2012. It's not a question of whether he wants this job; it's a question of whether he can keep it. And the odds of him pulling out of this death spiral by doing nothing except changing S&C are pretty slim.
So you go gonzo. Hire Heater. Hire Rodriguez. Let both recruit the bejeezus out of south Florida. I'm only halfway kidding.
I don't understand how/where folks disagree with you on this one. They have Will Hill and Reggie Cunningham to look back on these past several years, while we have Rayshad The Shoulder Bump Assassin Jones, and Jakar The Hitman Hamilton?
Great post, great insight. Please keep them coming much more often.
To the guy that claims there are better UGa blogs out there, step up and name a few.
1) Seth Emerson is to blogging what Mark Richt is to coaching - tired, and routine
2) Get The Picture is great but for the guy's rampage against a playoff that is more offputting than the average Bama fan
Thanks PWD
Rich rod as OC would be fantastic but we will not win championships unless we get some quality linemen on both sides of the ball and learn to tackle.
Rich rod as OC would be fantastic but we will not win championships unless we get some quality linemen on both sides of the ball and learn to tackle.
Chuck Heater isn't going to stop Richt from settling for field goals. This program needs a shot of testosterone and it should be administered to the head coach.
Lakatos had a pretty solid track record as a DB coach before he came to Georgia.
Personally, I'm tired of hearing all the cries for changes to the coaching staff. Spurrier's famous quote about not knowing where all Goff's great recruits went could equally apply to Richt's coaching staff. Almost everyone on the staff was a proven winner in the same role elsewhere--Bobo is the big exception, but, leaving aside the Liberty Bowl, UGA's offense was pretty productive down the stretch.
The problem with the team isn't coaches; it's attitude. There's just no intensity. One can almost date the Dawgs' decline to Richt banning the Superman.
IMHO, Richt simply doesn't have the ability to manufacture swagger and intensity. That's not necessarily a problem if he has people around him who can do it, but that doesn't appear to be the case. When he had an assistant like Van Gorder and players like Pollack and Green, it wasn't a problem. I can't imagine anyone slacking around David Pollack.
Richt doesn't have those guys any more. He needs to find someone to replace them. Or, perhaps, when someone steps up and starts to generate intensity, he shouldn't kill it, like he did with the Superman ban.
Get Heater, remove Garner. I don't care if the positions don't match. Make it work.
Howbout hire him to be recruiting coordinator and get rid of freaking Rodney Garner.
That guy's usefulness to UGA is way over.
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