One spot filled

Kevin Sherrer, South Alabama's defensive coordinator, will come be an assistant for his buddy Jeremy Pruitt. 

I like this hire. He's got experience as a DC, so he'll have a good sense of how the whole needs to be stronger than the sum of its parts. More importantly, he's worked with, and for, Jeremy Pruitt before. I just like the idea that Pruitt's coaches are on the same page as he is, considering.

Anyone know if Sherrer can coach special teams?

TD

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Until I see a press conference on Pruitt

Or an official press release.

TD

UPDATE: Official, y'all.

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Pruitt to UGA

That escalated quickly....

UGA is expected to hire Florida State's Jeremy Pruitt as its new defensive coordinator: http://t.co/qCScK9J7yj
— AJC UGA (@ajcuga) January 14, 2014

Filed to http://t.co/IUb98wE4d8: Jeremy Pruitt is new UGA defensive coordinator. Story coming
— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) January 14, 2014

Looking like he'll get $850K. Gotta think Bobo's going to get a bump, too.

More confirmation:

Can confirm #FSU's Jeremy Pruitt expected to be named Georgia's new DC. #UGA football staffers are being informed today
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerCBS) January 14, 2014

TD

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The Florida State Process...

SBNation has a very good piece on Jimbo Fisher's rebuilding program at Florida State. I like that they acknowldge that FSU caught lightening in a bottle with Winston, but also recognize how important keeping their players healthy this season has been. (And no, this isn't some sort of swipe at Georgia's strength and conditioning program, as I don't have any knowledge of our program or how it compares to other schools' programs.)

I was most interested in it due to the information about Jeremy Pruitt and his approaches. Sure, they wordfellate over his coaching tree (hint: Saban), but there is one thing that really stands out to me:

He can see what is coming and adjust in a game.

One of my major complaints, even in Granthams' good years, is the inability of his defenses to recognize and adapt to changes that offenses make through a game. One other thing that caught my eye:

Pruitt would throw the whole defense at the players, dial it back and work on parts, and then see how much of the whole the group could handle. This was done masterfully.

Pruitt was implementing Saban's defense on the fly at FSU. There was only one game they really struggled in during the season. That was against Boston College. Instead of throwing a full defense at them and just expecting them to get it, he was adapting his scheme to fit the players he had.

I that is a big part of our defensive problems this year, especially early. And I believe it is directly related to the way Grantham approached teaching his defenses, his substitution patterns in years past (and this year), and how those schemes fit together, particularly in pass coverage.

Jeremy Pruitt isn't coming to Athens. I just don't see why or how he would. However, I hope our next DC is better at doing those two things than Todd Grantham was, because we have talent to be a top tier defensive team. The key is getting that talent coached up and in a position to do the things it takes on the field to be a top tier defense.
TD

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My defensive coordinator wish list

Westerdawg threw one name out that I'd be intrigued by in David Gibbs, who is currently the DC at the University of Houston. While he has jumped around some, his NFL experience, combined with his current success at UofH makes him worth a look. Plus, he's a DB coach by trade, and as noted by PWD has coached up some pretty good ones in The League.

I'm making the conscious choice to ignore some Name Brand guys (at least until the bottom of this post). 

Here are my top names, basically in order of my jones:

Pat Narduzzi - Current DC at Michigan State. His teams produce, bro. Yeah, it's the B1.5G, but they produce. You have to go back three years to find a season in which his defenses aren't in the top 10 in total D. And he is one hell of an in game coach who is willing to view his defenses as a weapon, not an impediment.

Clancy Pendergast - Former NFL DC who is now looking since he wasn't retained as a part of Sark's crew at Southern Cal. He is also a devoted 3-4/5-2 coach who loves to bring the pain up front. And he significantly improved Southern Cal's defensive stats in his first year.

Kirk Olividatti - Good coach. Is probably ready to lead the unit. Much better rapport with Richt. Huge if we are worried about continuity and team cohesiveness. 

Here are some other guys that have potential to be effective DCs at Georgia:

Nick Holt - Current DC at Western Kentucky. Let the Hilltopers to a top 25 finish in total defense and was respectable in points allowed. They also were top 20 in passing defense. My only concern was his abysmal showing as Washington's DC in his last season there, finishing 108th in total defense. 

Tyrone Nix -  Current DC at Middle Tennessee State. Former DC at South Carolina and Ole Miss. Nominated for Broyles award while at Ole Miss. His Blue Raider defenses run the 4-2, but has coached the 3-3 and 5-2 at Ole Miss and South Carolina. Effective teacher, but his Middle Tenn defenses has been maddeningly inconsistent at times. That scares me.

Randy Shannon - Current LB coach at Arkansas. Not sure if he has ever coached the 3-4, but his defenses at Miami as DC only ranked below 7th in total D once in six years. It was 28th that year. So, yeah. Dude can coach a little.

Manny Diaz - Former DC at Texas and Middle Tennessee. Is he damaged goods after getting the blame for Texas's lack of defensive recruiting terrible run defense? The Longhorns improvement after that BYU game surely didn't help that narrative go away.

Ed Orgeron - I know he's never coordinated before. But that dude can close like Alec Baldwin at the Democratic National Convention. Wonder if he can coach LBs?

Yeah, but if we could get them guys....

John Chavis - We've beaten this horse some, but if he's interested, we've got to consider it.

Kirby Smart - Same. The only compelling thing for him is to step out of Saban's shadow, if that is what he wants to do. And then there is the jack it'd take to get him here. Remember, if we pay Kirby what Alambama is paying him, we'd be criminally negligent in not bumping Bobo up to something close to that. Look, if he is in, and I mean in without looking back, this is a home run hire. If he's going to 'think it over' and allow Saban to Jedi Mind Trick him into staying, then we need to just walk away.

Agent Muschamp - Current head coach at Florida.

Gruden - Just to troll Tennessee.

Also, I'd bet there are some NFL guys that would merit a look, so don't be shocked when someone we've barely heard of gets connected to the job.

Who'd you have on your list?

TD

See also:

• New DC search - day one (the elite candidates) - Bernie
• Post Grantham Thoughts - Blutarsky
• Potential candidates for Georgia defensive coordinator - Macon Telegraph, Seth Emmerson

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Profiles in Hope: David Gibbs DC Candidate

By Paul Westerdawg

This article isn't campaigning for David Gibbs, but last night I researched the guy and liked what I saw.  Let's start with his personal story:

• Son of Alex Gibbs, famous OL coach
• Former resident of Auburn, AL
• Attended the University of Colorado
• Coached for 20+ years.  10 in the NFL, 9 in college and 1 semi-pro
• 4 years as Champ Bailey's DB coach in Denver
• 6 years as a college DC
• 1 year as DC of Auburn (2005)
• 1 year as DC of the Houston Cougars (2013)

In 2013, he inherited a defense which allowed 36 points per game, and he cut that total in one year to 21.8 points per game.  In other words, he fielded a Top 20 scoring defense one year removed from the Cougars finishing 110th in the nation in scoring D.

In his first year, he trimmed almost a full yard per carry off the run defense, and his troops allowed 10 less passing TDs this year.  Other stats from his 2013 defense include:

• Scoring Defense: 20th in the Nation
• Total Defense: 80th
• Rush Defense: 44th
• Passes Defensed: 7th
• Interceptions: SECOND
• Fumbles Forced: FIFTH
• Fumbles recovered: FIRST
• Opponents 3rd Down conversion: 24th

The biggest problem his defense had was on long passing plays.  For instance, they only allowed 6 completions against Vandy in their bowl game; however, two of those passes were 50 yard TD completions. Overall, the pass defense yardage numbers are bad this year, but the passing TDs and other passing turnover stats are good to exceptional.

Considering they had two sophomore safeties and considering where they were the prior year that's still a massive, massive leap  That leap, his team's ability to produce turnovers, and his history as a DB coach is likely why the Dawgs are rumored to have already spoken with him.

See Also:

• Post Grantham Thoughts -- Blutarsky

PWD

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Tennessee's Early Enrollees Can Still Bolt

Per Brent Hubbs, the early enrollees can bolt if they don't go to class tomorrow.



UPDATE: The hits keep on coming. Ed Orgeron reportedly told the early enrollees not to go to class tomorrow....so they could transfer to Southern Cal. Damn that's classy. Here's the AJC's update on three Georgia boys who committed to play for the Vols.

By the way, would someone PLEASE call Al Davis and get his reaction.

ht - Radi at UGASports.com

PWD
Georgia Sports Blog

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Lane Kiffin to Southern Cal

Breaking. And confirmed via multiple real sources. He's taking the entire family and Coach Orgeron to L.A. Holy shit. Best line of the night comes from a Vol fan on a rivals.com message board, "This is like divorcing a stripper."

Dear Southern Cal...if you're scared of the NCAA and looking for a sacrificial lamb like Mike Shula who will baby sit the program for 3-4 years while probation blows over, that's not a bad plan. You just don't hire a guy NCAA Compliance wants to kill to do the whole "under the radar low profile thing."

Chris Mortensen just nailed it on Twitter...they just about have to go after David Cutcliffe. Longer list of candidates is:

• Will Muschamp
  
• Gary Patterson
  
• Jon Gruden - grad assistant for vols in mid 80s. Probably a pipe dream.
  
• David Cutcliff

Chris Petersen of Boise is one weird dude. He's apparently not interested in this or much of anything other than Boise.

The Vols need to nail this in ~72 hours. That gives them almost 3 weeks to stabilize the class. The

As a buddy just said..."sort of makes our Defensive Coordinator search look like baby sh*t."

PWD

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