BULLDOGS BLOG

Important blog note

2011-07-28T16:00:00.002-04:00

On Friday at 3 p.m. eastern time, we will officially transition to the new blog location, which will be on the platform (i.e., web site) of each paper.

This should NOT cause any hassle to you readers; the current blog will immediately re-direct to the new site, and will do so for awhile.

In the meantime, if you want to start early and bookmark the new site, here it is:

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/bulldogs-blog/

You'll notice there's nothing there at the moment. Obviously that will change, and I'm going to attempt to cut-and-paste as many of the recent posts as I can.

We figured it was a good time, right before practice starts, to make the transition. You will still have a choice as to whether to read or comment to either the Telegraph or Ledger-Enquirer blog.

Anonymous posting on the new blog sites will be allowed until early next week, when I will - barring major protest - re-institute the requirement that you register in order to comment. (There's a technical reason for having to wait until next week to do it, too complicated to explain.)

All in all, we're hoping this is a very positive step forward for everybody. It makes it easier for me to post, as I can now post the blog once and it goes to both sites, instead of having to post to two different sites. And when I'm able to post quicker, that helps you get the info in a more timely fashion.

The presentation of the new sites is also a bit more professional. The Google blogger platform has served us well, but it was time to get on a company-wide platform. After all, this is a blog that supplements the coverage in the papers.

I'm sure some people will blanch a bit at the change, but just bear with us and trust me that this will be for the best. I'm also thinking of some ways to improve the blogging process this season, and am open to any and all suggestions. Overall, I think things are going well, but there's no reason we can't be better.

So ... onward and upward.

Inside linebacking corps takes yet another hit

2011-07-28T09:17:00.001-04:00

Reserve Brandon Burrows will have shoulder surgery on Tuesday and miss the 2011 season, Georgia announced. The inside linebacker has what the team called "chronic shoulder instability" in his right shoulder.

Burrows, a redshirt freshman, saw time in the spring and was expected to provide depth this season behind starters Christian Robinson and Alec Ogletree. Richard Samuel was also supposed to play there before being shifted back to tailback a couple weeks ago.

Marcus Dowtin, the team's fourth-leading tackler last year, and Nick Williams each transferred after last season. So now junior Mike Gilliard is the only other player besides Robinson who has played college snaps at that position.

On top of that, Georgia is still waiting for recruit Kent Turene to get through the NCAA clearinghouse. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said last week he expected Turene to be fine.

Amarlo Herrera and Ramik Wilson, two other freshmen recruits, could now be in line for immediate playing time. So will Turene once he makes it to campus.

Robinson said Wednesday that Jeremy Sulek, a walk-on, and "the young guys" would have to step up.

“Me and Mike G are the only two that have really taken reps (at inside linebacker),” Robinson said. “Alec’s gonna have a great season. He’s prepared and knows the defense at linebacker now. He knows how to play linebacker. I’m just excited to see him contribute.”

Another Jarvis Jones update

2011-07-27T15:19:00.001-04:00

Here's a link to the latest on the Jarvis Jones situation. The Ledger-Enquirer has a story detailing how the police records seem to show more of a money connection between Jones and the Georgia Blazers AAU team.

The coach of that team, Tony Adams, has been described by people close to Jones as a father figure. In addition to the payments reported in the original report, the Ledger-Enquirer found two more, totaling $700.

As the story says: "A crux of the investigation involving Jones is the nature of his pre-existing relationship with Adams." So I'm not sure this story, while it definitely adds important details, changes the facts on the ground very much.

Based on what is publicly known ... and allow me to emphasize that again ... BASED ON WHAT IS PUBLICLY KNOWN, I think we're left with this right now:

- Will UGA's internal investigation, set to wrap up within days, determine that Jones and Adams had a long-standing pre-existing relationship? And would the NCAA agree?

- If so, the question then becomes whether the fund from which the payments came are a problem, at least from the NCAA's point of view. Will it be determined that Adams controlled the fund, which would then help Jones' side argue that this was merely a father figure passing along some money? Or will the fund be found to be something different?

We simply don't know for certainty the answer to either of these questions. So drawing any conclusions at this point, and opining on whether or not Jones will face a suspension, is not something I'm ready to do.

The word from veterans: Malcolm Mitchell, Chris Sanders are standing out

2011-07-27T11:22:00.005-04:00

Georgia football fans have been hungering for any information about their team’s incoming freshman, who have enrolled and been working out on campus. But with practice not beginning yet, the best source of insight have been Georgia veterans.

Defensive co-captain Christian Robinson has already pinpointed four players who have made the best impression on him so far during summer workouts: receiver Malcolm Mitchell and defensive backs Damian Swann, Chris Sanders and Corey Moore.

“Those four guys already have picked up more on defense and offense than most freshman I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Robinson said. “Damian, Corey and Chris on defense already know what we’re expecting and it’ll just come down to making plays in practice and showing they can contribute.”

Then Mitchell got a heaping of praise:

“I’ve never seen anybody that could stop on a dime like he can,” Robinson said. “I mean, I love A.J. (Green), but A.J. never stopped like he can. He gets separation. A.J.’s got that speed and quickness, but I’ve never seen someone with the feet that (Mitchell) has, and just the separation he can achieve with his routes.”

Well, I guess we know why Mitchell’s not playing defense.

Junior tight end Orson Charles also singled out Mitchell and Sanders. He called Mitchell "explosive" and willing to work. As for what stood out about Sanders: "He looks good. Physically he looks good. And covering TK (Tavarres King), even though he gets beat he'll get back up and do it again."

The aforementioned Tavarres King, a junior like Robinson, also heaped praise on Mitchell.

“He’s just a tremendous athlete,” King said. “He can do a lot of different things. One day he was just torching all the DBs when we were doing pass (drills). … You know, he’s gonna help this football team a lot.”

In general, King's summation of the young receivers - including Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley and Sanford Seay - is "speed."

"Flat-out fast. If their knowledge can be as quick as their feet, they're gonna be tremendous," King said.

Robinson was also asked about the most hyped freshman, tailback Isaiah Crowell.

“You know, I’ve been kinda separate from him, when we do our drills I really don’t work with him,” Robinson said. “But I know one day we were out there and he’s been able to burn some people with his ability. He has all the physical tools that are necessary to be a great back here. I’m excited to see him in camp.”

King was also asked for his initial impression of Crowell.

“He’s gonna be a guy that you just hand him the ball and watch him work," King said. "They’re all just ballplayers, and they’re all just tremendous athletes. I’m extremely excited to see how he does when the pads are on.”

A few other here-and-there notes:

- Crowell, of course, was expected to be a huge factor even before the departures of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King. But those two are gone, along with five other players who have transferred or been academically ineligible.

“Some of the guys that are not here, they made their decisions, whether they were right or wrong," Robinson said. "I think the guys that are here, that are left, are the ones that one to be at Georgia the most. Some guys didn’t always fit in and didn’t always do what they were supposed to do, and didn’t behave. Nothing against them, but they just didn’t fit into what we needed right now.”

The exception was King, whom Robinson played with for one year in high school.

“That’s probably the one that I don’t think fits in with the rest. Caleb wanted to be here and went through some tough things," Robinson said. "But the guys we have here on this team, the guys we have left, we have everything we need to have a great season.”

- Robinson also offered his reaction to the Samuel move back to tailback, and away from inside linebacker:

“When he moved I told him, ‘I’m just upset I have to hit you in practice.’ People think we have depth issues. I think we just need guys to step up. At any position we have enough guys here at Georgia to get things done. Richard’s gonna step up and help the running back position. And we’re gonna have linebackers step up and make those plays, even if they don’t have that many reps.”

So what now at inside linebacker? The team has already lost Nick Williams and Marcus Dowtin to transfer, Robinson didn’t confirm whether Brandon Burrows is out. He just said he expected Burrows to contribute “in the long haul,” then mentioned Jeremy Sulek and “the young guys” that would have to step up.

“Me and Mike (Gilliard) are the only two that have really taken reps (at inside linebacker),” Robinson said. “Alec’s gonna have a great season. He’s prepared and knows the defense at linebacker now. He knows how to play linebacker. I’m just excited to see him contribute.”

- Jarvis Jones has continued to work hard during the investigation, according to Robinson. I asked if, based on what he’s seen the past year, Jones is worth the consternation that fans and coaches are having over his eligibility. Robinson said he is.

“He is everything people expect of him, what he could be,” Robinson said. “He’s played. He’s played at the college level already. He’s got the tools that could take him beyond college and have a great career there. So I think the things he contributes to this team are very important to us. We need a guy like him with his speed.”

- Charles, fielding what may have been his first "are you going pro" question, successfully ducked it.

"How I handle that is I'm not talking about it right now. I'm not worried about it right now," he said. "I'm gonna leave it up to God. Whatever God has for me, I'll be blessed either way. But right now I'm focused on this season and winning."

- Quarterback Aaron Murray is taking on a more vocal leadership role, according to Charles.

"He snapped the other day, and we were all like, 'Whoa!'" Charles said. "We definitely respected that, because a lot of people were playing around. And he was like, 'Y'all gotta quit playing around, we came out to work.' He's starting to be more of a vocal leader, so that's good. ... He earned that right."

- Charles said he now weighs 245 pounds, a decrease of about five pounds since the beginning of the summer. And he took the high road when asked if he was under-utilized last year.

"I don't think so," he said. "I think Bobo did a fairly good job of calling the plays. I felt like as a whole we could have played a little harder, played a little faster, and had fun playing the game. But I think this spring it changed a lot. We were having fun, we were competing. In the locker room we were just embracing. So I'm just looking forward to this season."

Mike Bobo talks about the busy offseason, and where it leaves the offense

2011-07-27T10:27:00.001-04:00

Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo spent some time speaking to the media on Wednesday morning. A few players are coming in next. While we wait, the highlights from Bobo:

- He admitted that the attrition since spring practice “unnerves you a little bit. They always seem to happen when you’re on vacation.” But he saw it as opening more opportunities for people.

“Truth be told, I’m still excited about what we have coming back,” he said.

- The coaches aren’t allowed to have any football contact with the players during the summer. (Bobo ran into Isaiah Crowell the other day as the ballyhooed tailback was going into a study hall. That’s allowed, but quizzing Crowell on the playbook or watching film of workouts is verboten.)

The strength and conditioning staff has been working with players, but the coaches can’t even talk to those staff members about players.

”You get zero (access),” Bobo said. “You can’t watch film. They don’t film it. You can’t talk to a strength coach about whether a guy’s showing up, or ‘Hey Aaron how’s a guy doing.’ … It’s very frustrating sometimes.”

- The offensive line depth is obviously poor, but Bobo was taking the optimistic route.

“We’re not very deep. But you only need five,” Bobo said. “I think we played ’02 with only five linemen the whole year. And one other year we played with six. You’d like to have more depth. But I feel good about what we have.”

He feels good about the three seniors – center Ben Jones and tackles Cordy Glenn and Justin Anderson – and he also mentioned Chris Burnette (slated to start at guard) and backup Kolton Houston. The team is also getting good reports from the training staff on Dallas Lee, who missed most of spring practice.

- There aren’t any other imminent defense-to-offense moves, according to Bobo. While several freshmen were signed with the idea of playing both ways (Malcolm Mitchell, Nick Marshall and Damian Swann) early on in practice the concentration will be on them learning their base positions.

- Bobo seemed genuinely excited about the potential of Richard Samuel, now back at tailback after a redshirt year at linebacker. Bobo watched every carry Samuel had during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, and it reminded him that he was a hard, physical and fast runner, who had the ability to break tackles.

“The guy ran hard and physical,” Bobo said. “There were some times that guys turned down hitting him because of how big he was and how hard he was running.”

- As for Isaiah Crowell, Bobo expressed the hope that fans (and the media) would give Crowell some space early on.

“There’s gonna be a lot of pressure on this young man. There’s gonna be a lot of attention from fans and from you guys. Hopefully you guys won’t be able to talk to him (for awhile),” Bobo said, smiling at the media. “The main thing is you’ve gotta go to work and you’ve gotta earn your way. That’s what coaches always try to teach freshman: be yourself, and find your way here.”

- Ken Malcome, the redshirt freshman, was kind of a forgotten man. He was listed even behind walk-on Brandon Harton in the post-spring depth chart, but Bobo attributed that to Malcome’s groin injury.

“Ken is a guy that we felt good about going into spring ball. He just had injuries. I’m not sure but I think he missed about 10 practices,” Bobo said. “I think it was more of an injury thing about why he was behind Harton. Harton … Now Ken is going to be given an opportunity this fall to see what he can do. I’m still excited about Ken.”

- At fullback, it’s still basically a competition between Bruce Figgins and Zander Ogletree, with walk-on Dustin Royston also in the mix.

But Jay Rome could also get a look in the backfield, in the same kind of hybrid fullback-tight end role that is envisioned for Figgins. Rome’s path at tight end would appear to be blocked by Orson Charles, Aron White and even Arthur Lynch, but Bobo said this when asked if they’d try to find a way to get Rome on:

“I don’t care what the depth says. If a guy shows he can make plays and be productive, you’ve gotta play them.”

- Finally, Bobo is also the quarterbacks coach. But he only got one question about the actual quarterback, which is probably good news. And Bobo says Aaron Murray is still working as hard as he did last year.

“The hype and accolades really haven’t changed this kid,” Bobo said. “I feel like he’s gonna have another outstanding year.”

I didn't run every comment. So if there's any ground that went uncovered that you're curious about, ask a question below and I'll try to help. - Seth

Story: Georgia veterans anxious to see freshmen

2011-07-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

Here's another story from media days, via Mike Lough, which was just posted on Macon.com.

There's a lot of curiosity about the freshmen and how they're doing so far. Practice officially begins next week, but during summer workouts the veterans have been able to gauge the ability and work ethic of guys like Isaiah Crowell, Malcolm Mitchell, Damian Swann and others.

“Malcom Mitchell, off the top,” (cornerback Brandon) Boykin said. “I guard him a lot every day, and he’s progressing really great. Chris Sanders -- a defensive back, he’ll probably play corner -- looks really good, can run.”

More stuff in the story.

From Columbus, some more insight on the Jarvis Jones situation

2011-07-26T17:10:00.002-04:00

Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity provided an update Monday night on the Jarvis Jones investigation, saying the school had been doing its due diligence and was hoping to have a report to turn into the SEC (and perhaps NCAA) by the end of this week.

How much jeopardy Jones is in remains an open question. And even if UGA's internal investigation satisfies itself and the SEC, the NCAA may have additional questions.

So for a bit of background and insight, I now bring in Chris White, a reporter for the Ledger-Enquirer. Chris has been the lead preps writer at the Ledger-Enquirer for several years now. In addition to those duties, he covers other miscellaneous events in Columbus, including a lot of games hosted or put on in conjunction with the parks and rec department. It was through working at those events that he dealt with former parks and rec director Tony Adams, and wrote several stories on Jones while he was at USC and when he returned to Columbus during breaks.

Emerson: Chris, for those who aren't quite sure on all the details, what is the essence of what happened here with Jarvis Jones, and why could his eligibility be in jeopardy? And briefly describe how all this came to light.

White: Jones is facing the possibility that he received improper benefits, which would be a violation of NCAA rules. In short, he was given plane tickets to travel to and from Los Angeles that were paid for out of an account set up – illegally – to run a parks and rec-sponsored AAU basketball team Jones was a part of. Blurring the issue a bit is who was running the team and oversaw that account, a former parks and rec director who was also a longtime father figure to Jones. The issue came up when Ledger-Enquirer reporter and now metro editor Chuck Williams began covering an audit of the parks department. After investigations, former parks and rec director Tony Adams and East Marietta Basketball director William Fox pleading guilty to felony conspiracy to defraud charges and former parks and rec employee Herman Porter pleading guilty to misdemeanor theft charges.

Emerson: There is no dispute, presumably, that Jones was the recipient of the plane tickets. That leads to two key questions: Did Jones have enough of a pre-existing relationship with the man, whom you describe as a father-figure? And even if he is a father figure and satisfies the NCAA's definition of a pre-existing relationship, did the money come explicitly from him, or from a more general account, almost a slush fund?

White: The relationship between Jones and Adams, the former parks and rec director, goes back to at least Jones’ middle school years, as far as I know. Jones’ legal guardian was a 10-year employee of the parks and rec department when all of this became news, and so of course Adams was her supervisor and knew both of them. I haven’t been able to get a clear answer as to how Adams’ relationship with Jones began and whether it started as more of a personal mentor or strictly as a coach. But this late in the game it’s almsot a moot point arguing which came first or where the line is drawn. From my experience – and I used to deal with Adams regularly and talk to Jones whenever he was home on break – the two were very close. Wherever Adams went, I could find Jones hanging around. If I was trying to reach Jones for a story, I’d call Adams and two minutes later hear back from Jones. And seeing them interact it was clear, at least to me, that their relationship was deeper than the average coach-player relationship and more along the lines of a father-son relationship.

The issue with the source of the money definitely complicates things even further. The account was set up with an unauthorized city tax ID and in the name of the Georgia Blazers AAU program, and the outcome of the case shows it was used illegally as it funneled money away from the city and was used for some non-Blazers purposes.

So on one hand, the money for the flights came from an account set up and maintained illegally, and an athlete received benefits from an AAU coach and program, which the NCAA has cracked down on before. But on the other hand, could it be possible Jones simply assumed the plane tickets were simply the sort of favor or gift that many other athletes get from their parents, relatives or mentors and paid for legally? It seems impossible to guess all the motives of everyone involved, especially when the line between coach and father figure are so blurred.

Emerson: So let’s move on from that “known” issue and on to this: When we spoke to Georgia A.D. Greg McGarity on Monday night, he talked about being “hopeful that there wouldn’t be anything else there” other than what the Ledger-Enquirer reported, and the police report included. That’s sort of an obvious allusion to last year, when A.J. Green was eventually cleared on the original reason the NCAA wanted to interview him, but suspended once the NCAA investigation found something else. Now obviously I know you’re not privy to UGA’s inquiry into the Jones case or the police report, and you also wouldn’t want to speculate. But based on what you know, does it seem like the plane tickets would be the main/only point of jeopardy for Jones?

White: This is definitely not the only concern for Jones in terms of an NCAA investigation, and police records from the parks and rec investigation show there were withdrawals made from this account by Adams that may be tied to Jones.

From my notes on the massive amount of police reports we received from the parks and rec investigation– and I only made it through about a quarter of the files – and our coverage, there are definitely some serious concerns that have yet to even be addressed.

In fact, we’ll have a story in Wednesday’s paper detailing a couple new bits of information in the police report.

Emerson: Thanks Chris. We’ll look out for the story.

To the readers, (Seth speaking here again), here are my finishing thoughts: The key question remains whether Jones will be able to show that he received the money from someone he had a pre-existing or long-term relationship with. As Chris mentioned above, it would seem that Jones and UGA can argue that, and a relationship going back to middle school normally fits the NCAA's test.

But the source of the money could be where it gets dicey. If it wasn't Adams personally paying Jones out of his own account, and rather from a larger fund, as the police records show, there could be concerns.

But we once again have to add this qualifier: In NCAA cases, it's hazardous to make predictions, as a lot of people should have learned from the A.J. Green case last year.

Richt hits the circuit again, and talks about discipline, Crowell, Samuel and more

2011-07-25T21:09:00.000-04:00

ATLANTA - Mark Richt may have been peppered with job security questions last week in Birmingham, but on Monday night in Atlanta he was feeling the love from Georgia fans.

The Bulldog football head coach got a standing ovation when he was introduced, drawing a grateful reaction.

“That made me feel great,” Richt said.

Then emcee Chuck Dowdle broke in.

“I think the standing ovation was louder last year,” Dowdle said.

He appeared to be kidding. Appeared to be.

During a question-and-answer period, fans asked an array of questions, but all supportive.

Richt also drew kudos from the crowd when he brought up team discipline, and players who have left.

“I’ve probably had a little less patience than I’ve had in the past,” Richt said, drawing applause. “If they’re not going to be a positive force, they need to go.”

On the same subject, the coach also said: “A couple guys left because they wanted to leave the program. A couple left because we helped them out the door.”

The head coach seemed again to allude to the transfers when the subject of the revamped strength and conditioning program was brought up. Richt referred to some unnamed players who “haven’t made it” through the new strength and conditioning program.

“We’ve had a few guys that have kind of fallen by the wayside. But a great majority of them have embraced it, and gotten better for it,” Richt said.

Here are a few more notes from the evening:

- As mentioned above, the tailback situation was a heavy topic. In a pre-meeting interview with reporters, I asked Richt whether calling Richard Samuel the No. 1 tailback is partly sending a message to Isaiah Crowell that he won’t be handed the job.

“Nothing was promised to him,” Richt said of Crowell. “We didn’t promise he was gonna start or anything like that. We promised to give him an opportunity to compete. We think he has a tremendous skill set. We think he’s got a chance to be very outstanding. But he’s gotta learn what to do, and he’s gotta prove that he can hang onto the football and all those type of things. But I don’t think he’s afraid of competing.

“So we’ll see what happens. I mean Richard’s the No. 1 tailback not for any other reason than he’s the No. 1 guy we’ve got.”

Richt was a little more kind to Crowell in front of the fans. Asked if Crowell would indeed get the first carry against Boise State, Richt answered:

“If he earns it, if he deserves it, if he’s the best one, he will,” the coach said, before adding: “I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make a big impact for us this season.”

Then a fan asked about Samuel, expressing the hope he’d be the one to get the first carry against Boise State. And the fan didn’t know why Samuel was moved to defense in the first place.

“It was very obvious that was the thing we needed to do,” Richt said of shifting Samuel back after Caleb King was ruled academically ineligible. Running backs coach Bryan McClendon also “begged” Richt to have Samuel move back.

In fact, one of the first things offensive coordinator Mike Bobo did after King’s departure was watch old film of Samuel running the ball. Bobo then told Richt that he “probably underestimated the ability of Samuel” due to him playing behind Knowshon Moreno.

(Bobo is set to meet with the media on Wednesday.)

- Freshman recruits Kent Turene and Devin Bowman, each waiting academic clearance, are “still up in the air,” according to Richt.

- McGarity told the crowd the new high-definition scoreboard at Sanford Stadium would be “the one thing, without question, that garners the most attention” from fans.

- The four-year-old daughter of new inside linebackers coach Kirk Olividatti has been battling leukemia, Richt announced. Olividatti’s wife Keely hasn’t left the hospital for 30 days, the head coach informed the crowd; she spoke to Richt on Monday, and agreed that Richt could make the daughter Kasyn’s fight public.

UGA hoping for word on Jarvis Jones by start of practice

2011-07-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

ATLANTA - Two updates on the Jarvis Jones situation:

- Georgia, nearing an end to its investigation, is preparing to turn in its report to the SEC, hopefully by the end of this week. And the team hopes to have an answer on the linebacker’s status before the start of practice next week.

“Our goal is that we will have an answer early enough so we will be able to prepare properly,” head coach Mark Richt said before Monday night’s meeting of the Bulldog Club in Atlanta.

- Athletics director Greg McGarity also said that the NCAA is NOT involved yet, and right now it’s only Georgia that’s looking into it.

“I’m not aware of the NCAA (looking into it),” McGarity said. “So basically what you do on this thing is you learn of a situation. You do your due diligence. And at some point in time you file a report on your findings with the SEC, who then turn it into the NCAA.”

While that's normal protocol, recall that last year the NCAA first came to Georgia about A.J. Green. In this case Georgia found out about Jarvis Jones' case from a media report and then initiated its investigation.

McGarity said Georgia’s compliance director, Eric Bumgartner, has been interviewing the key characters. The school’s hope is that there’s nothing beyond the initial report in the Ledger-Enquirer on Jones’ relationship with his former AAU men’s basketball coach.

“You would think that the findings were conclusive. If there’s more stuff there I’m sure it would’ve been in the police report or in the findings that were reported in the Columbus paper,” McGarity said. “We’re hopeful that there wouldn’t be anything else there. Because if it was it would have been certainly in that report. Hopefully the report is conclusive and you’ve got everything there.”

Of course that doesn’t mean that you can quite pencil in Jones for the Boise State game. McGarity declined to characterize his feelings as positive or negative on Jones’ status.

“I quit trying to guess how things will turn out, because bottom line is it is what it is and you report what you find out, and try to uncover everything, try to uncover everything at one time,” he said.

The Columbus situation also involves the men's basketball team's star recruit, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Head coach Mark Fox said he hadn't heard anything new.

"You don't ever want these situations," Fox said when asked if he was worried about Caldwell-Pope's eligibility. "But I think it'll be handled appropriately. There's really not much I can do. It's not a decision I'm gonna make."

Back in Black

2011-07-25T14:16:00.001-04:00

Yes, the headline is a tribute to Amy Winehouse, may she rest in peace. And yes, this is the real Seth, back on the job after a few days away.

I hated missing SEC media days: the chance to make fun of Les Miles, nap to Gene Chizik's voice, and freeze to death in the Wynfrey Hotel ballroom. But the chance to see your little sister get married, and walk her down the aisle, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

(At least you hope it's once in a lifetime.)

Thank you to the inimitable Mike Lough for filling in last week. Judging by the lack of lawsuits, and the fact the blog is still here, I'm assuming Mike did great.

Speaking of the blog, I'm told by the powers-that-be that we will at long last be able to merge the two sites into one, hopefully before the start of practice next week. I know I've talked about this before, but this time I'm told it's for real.

It shouldn't entail any big changes - this blog link should automatically re-direct - and hopefully you won't notice any differences. If there are any kinks, please bear with us. I'm also not sure what it will mean about commenting, i.e. whether registration will be on or off. But all in all this should be a big improvement, and releases me from the headache of having to post and maintain two different blogs.

In the meantime, keep checking here for updates, starting tonight from Atlanta from the Bulldog Club meeting. Speaking of which, I better hit the road now. Talk to you later.

Tentative preseason practice schedule

2011-07-24T17:20:00.001-04:00

UGA provided this earlier in the week, with the proviso that it could be changed, and probably would be. But for the moment, here it is:

Tuesday, Aug. 2 – Players report
Wednesday, Aug. 3 – On-field testing day/ First official day of practice
Thursday, Aug. 4 -- Media Day (lunchtime), first day of on-field practice (night)
Friday, Aug. 5
Saturday, Aug. 6
Sunday, Aug. 7
Monday, Aug. 8
Tuesday, Aug. 9 (two practices)
Wednesday, Aug. 10
Thursday, Aug. 11
Friday, Aug. 12
Saturday, Aug. 13 (two practices)
Sunday, Aug. 14 -- Off
Monday, Aug. 15 (Classes begin)
Tuesday, Aug. 16
Wednesday, Aug. 17
Thursday, Aug. 18
Friday, Aug. 19
Saturday, Aug. 20 – Fans Picture Day (morning practice at practice fields, mascot picture day, 1-3 p.m., player picture day 3-5 p.m. Sanford Stadium)
Sunday, Aug. 21 -- Off
Monday, Aug. 22
Tuesday, Aug. 23
Wednesday, Aug. 24
Thursday, Aug. 25
Friday, Aug. 26
Saturday, Aug 27
Mon-Sat., Aug 29-Sept. 3 – Game week

You'll notice there are a pair of two-a-days, which is two more than last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see another one or two end up in there, with a current scheduled day to be skipped - especially if it's as hot as it's been this week.

Media days may be over, but discussion isn't

2011-07-23T18:29:00.001-04:00

From Mike Lough, subbing in for Seth Emerson:

There'll be more coming, but here's one man's look before he departs the fill-in role today or tomorrow.

There'll be more coming, but here's one man's look before he departs the fill-in role today or tomorrow.
Georgia can lose the first two games and still go 8-4, for all sorts of reasons, but obviously with caveats.
The Bulldogs HAVE to get through August and the first two games in quality health, especially at those two main spots, and we all know which two main spots. By then, players have a month of practice and two games, and depth will be developing.
And since most teams' starters are pretty equal, it's about the depth, and Georgia has at least some in every area except running back and the O-line.
The Cocktail Party?
Florida has assorted issues, and I'm not enamored with Charlie Weis in the least.
But Florida has Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU and Auburn before the pre-Party week off.
That's a slate of five bowl teams, with three games on the road. By the time they play Kentucky, the Wildcats - who beat South Carolina last year and were competitive in almost every loss (except to UF) could be a confidence-boosting 3-0. In football. And they host the Gators, who host Tennessee the week before.
Georgia is, right now, better than five of the seven pre-Florida opponents, and close with Boise State (especially at the Dome) and South Carolina. You can't in any fashion overlook Tennessee and Mississippi State, who are close to Georgia's level, but MSU is in Athens and will have played Auburn and LSU, so the West Bulldogs might be a little banged up.
And right now, with absolutely nothing having been done in practice or the training room, I'm picking Georgia over Florida.
So after eight games, it's nowhere near a stretch to be looking at a 6-2 UGA team, or 5-3, which equates to 5-1 or 6-2 in SEC play. And the Bulldogs are equal to or better than Auburn, and a notch above Kentucky and Vandy.
They're also better than late-season non-conference opponents New Mexico State and Georgia Tech.
South Carolina is the wildcard, courtesy of its quarterback position. If Stephen Garcia doesn't make or struggles, don't be surprised if Connor Shaw is pretty dang good.
The schedule is favorable for the Cocks, with Auburn, Kentucky, and Florida at home. They get Tennessee after a week off and after the Vols have played Georgia, LSU and Alabama on consecutive Saturdays.
In the world of reality and logic, the only unforgivable SEC losses are - sorry, Cats and Dores - Kentucky and Vandy. UT was one player - one player too many - away from a winning season, Florida is Florida (at least against Georgia), and any road game (like Ole Miss) in the SEC can be trouble.
And take a Valium in regards to Isaiah Crowell. He doesn't have any real leadership at the position in front of him, like Knowshon Moreno did with Thomas Brown. Don't put the world on his shoulders, and he'd better not try to put the world on his shoulders or the football will hit the ground and he'll start to Ealey his blocks.
The offense, I suspect, will show us some different things, some better things, some surprising things, all of which will mask that it'll probably be a little conservative early on.
What does 7-5 or 8-4 mean for Richt?
Yes, Richt the coach benefits from Richt the man, and here is where it happens: the quality of football can trump the record in terms of giving him more time. Did they play on their toes or on their heels? Were they in it at the end or just made the game close? Were they fundamentally sound (especially on defense, which has been brutal in recent years and was the reason for those first three losses a year ago with wretched coverage and tackling)?
If they have that sharpness and some swagger and remind you of 2002-05 and 2007, then you just can't cut him loose, because four years are more important than one, and if they do all that, then they've likely put 2010 in the "exception" file.
And let's not forget the recruiting. While recruiting "rankings" are a tremendous sucker bet (uh, yeah, the best programs are going to get the best potential), people buy into the hype, and Richt's newbies this year and already in coming years are, on paper, of great possibility. At least they've been top-flight high school players (like those signed by the top 40 programs anyway).
So a decent-looking 7-5 and 8-4 and an all-SEC quarterback back, loads of freshmen who will likely have an impact and others of note ready to join The Nation in a year or two, and you dump your entire coaching staff despite good-looking football?
Because you have a blood oath that who is going to take the job? Remember, coaches don't make lateral moves, and no job is nearly the gig its fan base thinks. And there are more and more "big" jobs in big conferences paying big money.
Richt knows what's on the line. That he doesn't jump around and yell or scowl doesn't mean he doesn't know. No coach is going to say, "holy crap, if my butt gets any hotter, I'm gonna name it 'The Microwave.' What the hell have I been doing?'
He likely/hopefully knows he and his staff have made some serious recruiting blunders as far as character goes and having more than enough offensive linemen.
Memo to coaches: you can never have enough offensive linemen.
Richt is showing a little bit more of the edge that his players see, from the shocking "hell" he dropped in Macon at a summer Bulldog Club gathering to seeming more aggressive and blunt in his assorted media appearances.
He almost has a little bit of a "I ain't dead yet, you (expletives deleted), and I'm going to show you." Granted, he won't answer why it took 6-7 to do it, but coaching brings out smothering stubbornness and quiet arrogance.
We all know about Richt the man and his humility. If Georgia does what he expects, he may not actually say "I told you so," but people will feel as if they've been told.

Clearing out the SEC Media Days notebook, part I:

NO. 34 IS SAFE

All sorts of games get played during the recruiting process, which now includes unofficial offers to sophomores and commitments long before a player is close to high school graduation.
One is the promise of a jersey number.
The early commitment of high school sophomore Stanley Williams of Apalachee to Georgia reminded head coach Mark Richt of another precocious youngster, Ernie Sims.
Richt, then at Florida State, remembered seeing Sims in junior high and being floored by his potential.
He was too young to be a prospect, but eventually, he narrowed his choices to Auburn, Georgia and FSU.
And he wanted to wear No. 34.
“Florida State had Ron Sellers, retired jersey,” Richt said. “ ‘We’ll give you 34.’ Auburn, somehow, through the grapevine, they said Auburn said, ‘you can wear that 34 (of Bo Jackson).’ “
There was no such option coming from Athens.
“I’m at Georgia, I just got there,” Richt said, starting to laugh. “The last thing I’m gonna do is give Herschel Walker’s number away. I don’t care who he is.”
Richt told Sims no deal, although Walker did contact Richt later and say it was OK to use his uniform.
“I said, ‘Herschel, there’s no way I’m giving up your number to anybody,’” Richt said. “We didn’t get (Sims), but I don’t think that was the reason.”

MURRAY READY TO GO

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is more likely to make more plays from the pocket than taking off. Richt doesn’t want to change too much simply because Murray has experience.
“He navigated it so well and now you’re sitting there saying, 'OK, well, now turn him loose,’ ” Richt said Thursday before the SEC Media Days session began. “Well, you better be careful because a year ago, that wasn’t your philosophy, and he did very well.”
Decision-making has improved, too.
“I think Murray will make more plays from the pocket than maybe he made a year ago,” Richt said. “He’ll be more apt to stand in there and throw it rather than take off and try to make something happen with his wheels.”
One issue is adjusting to new receivers: there’s no A.J. Green and Kris Durham running routes. Obviously, the other wideouts have to step up.
Murray is taking in stride the pressure of being only a sophomore and earning consensus preseason all-conference honors, and center Ben Jones fully expects his quarterback to at a minimum equal the hype.
“I’m glad he’s on my team,” Jones said. “He’s always in the weight room, working out, watching film. He’s definitely the best prepared out of any quarterback in the SEC.”

ONE GRIZZLED VETERAN

Tauren Poole is among the SEC’s growing stable of top-flight running backs this season, but forgive the senior from Tennessee if he checks for gray hair.
He was recruited and signed by Phillip Fulmer, playing in 12 games as a freshman in Fulmer’s final season.
On came Lane Kiffin, and Poole got only slightly more time as a sophomore as heralded freshman Bryce Brown was being groomed as the back of the future.
Out went Kiffin, and out went Brown. In came Dooley, and suddenly, there was room in the backfield.
Poole, a senior from Stephens County, took advantage the departures to start 13 games and earn all-SEC honorable mention after two seasons of hardly playing.
“I wish we had 100 Tauren Pooles, his commitment to the program, how he represents Tennessee,” Dooley said. “He was inconsistent last year. He was productive as a whole. Number one, it was his first year of playing. He wants to do well so bad, he wants to perform so well, it took him a while to get settled into the position.”
Settled is not something Poole is used to in Knoxville, playing for three head coaches, and four offensive coordinators and strength and conditioning coordinators.
“That just doesn’t happen,” he said good-naturedly. “It was rough, the first couple years were rough. It’s a roller coaster ride. You’ve just got to do your best to enjoy it.”
He smiled at being labeled the last man standing.
“(None) of the guys here now even know Coach Fulmer personally, like I do and like a couple guys,” Poole said. “May be only two guys on team got recruited by Coach.”

IT'S PRETTY SIMPLE

Richt owns the current conference standard, starting his 11th season at the same school.
He is 13th all-time in the SEC in winning percentage (73.8) and 19th in wins (96).
Florida and Vanderbilt are on their fourth head coaches since Richt took over in 2001, with six other schools on their third.
South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and LSU’s Les Miles are second in continued longevity at the same school, entering their seventh seasons.
Since 1980, only Auburn’s Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville, Mississippi’s Billy Brewer, Mississippi State’s Jackie Sherrill, Arkansas’s Houston Nutt and Tennessee’s Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer have managed a decade or more in the SEC.
“It's not difficult if you win,” Richt said with a laugh. “It's not difficult if you win 9, 10, 11 a year, win the Eastern Division every other year, win the SEC every three or four years. It's not a problem at all.
“It's when you get 6-7, that's when it's a problem.”
(And yes, he's long been aware there's a problem).

NOTES 'N QUOTES

The preseason all-conference picks of the coaches and media all agreed on Georgia selections.
Both put tight end Orson Charles, offensive tackle Cordy Glenn and quarterback Aaron Murray on the first team along with kicker Blair Walsh, punter Drew Butler and return specialist Brandon Boykin.
They agreed on center Ben Jones, defensive lineman DeAngelo Tyson and cornerback Boykin on the second team.
The first-team offenses matched, except for the coaches voting a tie on the offensive line with Kentucky’s Larry Warford and Auburn’s Brandon Mosley. Mosley made the media’s second team.
The second-team offensive lines had only one common pick, Alabama’s D.J. Fluker, and Arkansas’ Joe Adams was the lone wideout to make it on each second team.
Tyson and Boykin were the only players at their positions to make both second teams, although Mississippi State defensive lineman Fletcher Cox made the media team alone but tied with South Carolina’s Travian Robertson on the coaches’ team. . . .
Tennessee’s Derek Dooley’s list of things to deal with has grown since he showed up as the Vols’ athletics programs stays in the news for things other than games.
The latest was the promotion of Joan Cronan to oversee the athletics department, which had separate administrations for the men and the women, on an interim basis.
So Tennessee is one of the few major programs with a female at the helm, which could be for awhile even if only temporary.
“Joan has been phenomenal,” Dooley said. “When Joan took over at interim athletics director, I thought it was very important to try to define for her three or four things where she could help us before we hired a new athletics director. She has responded beautifully. She has done a phenomenal job of kind of running the ship in the interim phase.”

Saban and Miles on the same day?

2011-07-22T13:21:00.003-04:00

From Mike Lough subbing in for Seth here on the final gathering of SEC Media Days:

Nick Saban is done reminding us that predictions are silly, as thus, are those who make them.

Vanderbilt's James Franklin is the latest Commodore coach to bring the enthusiasm and fresh air to the little program that's smarter than everybody else and keeps on chugging.

Houston Nutt wasn't quite the sermonator, but the Ole Miss boss still likes talking in front of a lot of people.

And next - drum rolllll - is that grass-eatin, hat-wearin, logic-killin Les Miles. We are all strapped in.

Stream of (un)consciousness from the first three rounds of the final day:

The requisite crowd jammed the hotel lobby hoping somebody from Alabama might sweat on them after coming down the escalator from where the conferences are. Hollywood has the red carpet, the Wynfrey one day a year has the Crimson carpet. ...

Trent Richardson has two children, and is still clearly moved by the thought of parents during the tornado in Tuscaloosa having Mother Nature just snatch children out of their grasps. ...

Saban said other teams have returnees, but they have quarterbacks back. No doubt he was talking about LSU's Jordan Jefferson. Tiger fans aren't really relishing that as an option. ...

UGA's offensive line has a first-team and second-team all-conference pick. Those other three fellers shall have some heat on them. Just be decent SEC O-linemen and stay healthy - time to ban scooters for the O-line? - and Georgia's a player. ...

"How did Jefferson make third-team all-SEC QB?" That's my impersonation of an LSU fan before happy hour. ...

The SEC now brags about how much media shows up. Listing 1,050 for this year, a record. Not quite, Scooby. There are probably 300 or so print media in this big ballroom - 12 rows, about eight per row, three sections - and there are NOT 700 TV and radio people here. Granted, there is the smell of makeup and the sound of ridiculous questions, but not to that tune. Even throwing in print photogs - which quadruple when Alabama's on hand - roaming around, it's not that much. ...

Teams go to 13 rooms during their time here: main media, radio/internet, TV 1, TV 2, CSS, Fox Sports, CBS, ESPNU, ESPN SEC, ESPN, SEC Digital Network, SEC radio network and Sirius XM radio. They must be counting employees of the networks and conference to get 1,050, as well as really stretching the definition of 'media.' ...

Rates at the Wynfrey are fixin' to go up. This big ballroom is freezing, and you walk into the hotel room, and almost every appliance is on and it's 65 degrees. ... That's an observation, not a complaint. ...

Les Miles is now 13 minutes late. His hat must've been late getting back from the dry cleaners. ...

Is it really that bad to expect some level of higher-education ability from those in higher education, ala college? Then again, GPA is quite arbitrary. Then again, there are few options for measurement. You can't go by how many tattoos, you knows, whatevers and cliches comprise a person to measure a grade. ...

Other than reactions to what Mike Slive might bring up or to whatever the latest major controversy is, Media Days don't offer much headline stuff. It's not like anybody's going to break down and admit anything.

Of course, it's the dream of such a potential meltdown or tirade that keeps everybody coming back. ...

Clearly Les's time management is better on Saturdays in the fall. ...

Now I get it. The Wynfrey is bringing football weather to us on the inside. I can deal with that. ...

Not sure how Ole Miss can be picked sixth - and clearly so - in the West and get two first-place votes. Yes, this gathering has as many homers as a weekend softball tournament. ...

OK, time to loosen up for The Hatter, and will check back in later.

New threads for 'new' Dogs?

2011-07-21T10:13:00.006-04:00

From Mike Lough here subbing for Seth at media days

Georgia no doubt wants to rinse as much of last season, and maybe the season before, away.

And new uniforms will be part of it. At least early.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt said the Bulldogs will have new threads for the opener against Boise State, but the details are still supposed to stay a secret.

Richt sat down with state and some national media before Thursday’s activity started at SEC Media Days.

He said the team saw the Nike-produced Pro Combat uniforms this week at a team meeting.

“We’re trying to honor (Nike) by not describing what it looks like, they want to present that,” Richt said. “We’re like death threating on the cell phones. ‘I better not see anything that resembles you saying what it looks like or somehow having an image of it.’”

Richt confirmed that running back Carlton Thomas will watch the Boise State game from the sidelines, and hinted without hinting that there might be somebody else joining him.

“Well, I’ll say this. If there’s anybody else we need to announce well announce it at the appropriate time. This is not the appropriate time. We’ll see.”

Richt doesn’t know if this year’s running backs will be better than last year, what with all the inexperience, but it seems as though he expects them to be better.

And returning Richard Samuel to the backfield is a plus.

“He’s a very mature physically man, he’s a mature man in the way he goes about his business. He’ll be in that meeting room and he’ll be a great example of how to prepare and how to play the position of tailback.

“I know he holds onto the ball well, I know he’ll strike a backer. I know he’s fast I k now he’s powerful. He will play hard.”

Samuel is also the unofficial No. 1 back going into the preseason, and Richt isn’t like everybody else, distressed over a depleted and raw backfield.

“I’m not fretting right now. I don’t lay awake at night going, ‘Oh my goodness, what do we do now?’”

Other nuggets from the early-morning sitdown:

- QB Aaron Murray is likely to make more plays from the pocket than taking off. Richt doesn’t want to change too much simply because Murray has experience. One issue is adjusting to new receivers: there’s no A.J. Green and Kris Durham running routes.

Obviously, the other wideouts have to step up.

- Opening up with the likes of Boise State and South Carolina has inspired a buzz on the team, and Brandon Boykin said there’s not talk of heat on Richt, but that the players have to show more pride in the program.

- Richt is, like everybody else, ready to see RB Isaiah Crowell on the field. And taking a commitment from a sophomore (RB Stanley Williams of Apalachee) is new, but a good sign for the program, he said.

He had a funny recruiting story regarding former Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims, who was down to Auburn, Georgia and FSU and whom Richt saw and liked in junior high.
And he wanted to wear No. 34.

“I’m at Georgia, I just got there,” Richt said, starting to laugh. “The last thing I’m gonna do is give Herschel Walker’s number away. I don’t care who he is.”

And here's some more stuff going to the website, on the hotseat, uniforms and running backs:

Mark Richt is pretty much atop the list of SEC coaches qualifying for the hammered-to-death hotseat, which won’t change until the season commences.

The Georgia fanbase is mixed in not forgiving him last season’s 6-7 mark and wanting him out, and in hoping he’s the coach to quickly get the Bulldogs back among the SEC and nation’s noteworthy program.

Contrary to the belief in some circles, he doesn’t think he’s steering the Titanic.

“I know if you walk in the Butts-Mehre Building, there's not one sense of doom or gloom,” he said Thursday at SEC Media Days. “There's only excitement, only guys that are so thankful that we've got a new season and a clean slate and the ability to play some great opponents to start the year.

“The expectations are just as high as they've ever been going into any season.”

As is the pressure. His players dismissed such talk, and it’s quite simple for center Ben Jones.

“We just try to focus on each game just trying to win every game,” he said. “If we win, there's no pressure on him.”

Cornerback Brandon Boykin said the Bulldogs don’t pay attention to speculation, and he sees the bigger picture.

“There are minor little mistakes that we (shouldn’t have) made that could potential have made us a 9-4 or, you know, 10-3,” he said. “If we take care of the little things and the minor mistakes that we’ve had, we can go to from that season we had last year to contending for a championship.

“There’s no reason why not.”

The questions aren’t just for Richt, either.

“It’s our job to go out there and play, play to the best of our ability,” Boykin said. “I wouldn’t say heat, just pride in ourselves and our program, not wanting to be what we were last year. It was a terrible season for the University of Georgia. Just our pride alone will allow us to bounce back.”

As has been noted, it wasn’t like Georgia was getting hammered in 2010, with six of the seven losses coming by a total of 39 points, an average of 6.5 points, and four by seven points or less.

Richt minced no words, however, in how bad the 10-6 loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl was.

“It wasn't devastating,” he said. “It hurt real bad. I didn't enjoy it. But devastation means you've like blown up the program and it's beyond repair, so I don't think it was devastating. But it was awful. I can say that.

“We learned that we better compete harder and we learned we better finish better. That was the story of our season. We'll see how well we learned it.”

Starting off in style

Maybe fresh threads will help wash away the stink of 2010.

Regardless, Georgia make a fashion statement to begin 2011.

Georgia will have new uniforms for the season opener against Boise State, but the details are still supposed to stay a secret.

Richt sat down with state and some national media before Thursday’s activity started at SEC Media Days.

He said the team saw the Nike-produced uniforms on Wednesday at a team meeting. At the start, Richt feigned anger when quarterback Aaron Murray and defensive back Brandon Boykin weren’t at the meeting, throwing a pad down.

“ ’That’s what the heck’s wrong with this team,’ ” Richt said to his troops. “ ‘Two leaders of our team, we got a team meeting, and they don’t even show up on time.’ Ben (Jones) tried to say something, and I jumped Ben.”

Then Murray and Boykin strolled in wearing the new Nike Pro Combat uniform and gear, greeted at first by silence.

“Their jaws dropped,” Richt said. “Then they’re looking at me, and then they started getting excited. There was a lot of buzz in that room for at least five to 10 minutes before things finally settled down.”

Richt knows that uniforms don’t win games, and the Bulldogs have had mixed success with wardrobe adjustments, ranging from a great game against Auburn in a 45-20 win at home in 2007 to a wretched first half en route to a 41-30 home loss to Alabama a year later.

Sometimes a surprise change works, sometimes it doesn’t.

“Your focus may be gone, too, because you’re worried about what you look like,” Richt said. “We’re going to get all that over with before we go out.”

The public won’t get a look until late August.

“We’re trying to honor (Nike) by not describing what it looks like, they want to present that,” Richt said. “We’re like death threating (sic) on the cell phones. ‘I better not see anything that resembles you saying what it looks like or somehow having an image of it.’”

Boykin seemed ready to bust out and talk about the uniforms.

“It was pretty exciting,” he said. “I’m always looking at every team and seeing what they have on. I’m like, ‘I wish I could wear that one day.’

“When me and Aaron put them on, we were like little kids at Christmas. When we walked into the team meeting and everybody saw them, they were really excited.”

Some players have tweeted general reactions, all of excitement, with no real details.

“As far as describing them, we told everybody (Wednesday night), ‘you’ve seen them, don’t ruin it for everybody else,’ “ Boykin said. “You guys’ll see them soon enough.”

Samuel boosts backfield

Returning Richard Samuel to where he began at Georgia, to tailback, is a plus.

“He’s a very mature physically man, he’s a mature man in the way he goes about his business,” Richt said. “He’ll be in that meeting room and he’ll be a great example of how to prepare and how to play the position of tailback.

“I know he holds onto the ball well, I know he’ll strike a backer. I know he’s fast I k now he’s powerful. He will play hard.”

Samuel, a 6-2, 243-pounder, has carried 114 times for 528 yards, an average of 4.6 yards. He’s caught eight passes for 50 yards in two seasons before moving to linebacker for what became a redshirt year.

He was a top-50 running back nationally coming out of Cass, No. 5 by ESPN, in 2007.
Samuel is also the unofficial No. 1 back going into the preseason, and Richt isn’t distressed over a fairly depleted and raw backfield.

“I’m not fretting right now,” he said. “I don’t lay awake at night going, ‘Oh my goodness, what do we do now?’"

He might if the absence of Carlton Thomas plays a role against Boise State. Richt confirmed his suspension.

“Carlton won’t play game one, I’ll say ‘team rules,’” Richt said. “You can figure out whatever you want.”

But Thomas will be back for South Carolina.

Richt hinted without hinting that Thomas could have company.

“Well, I’ll say this. If there’s anybody else we need to announce, we’ll announce it at the appropriate time,” he said. “This is not the appropriate time. We’ll see.
“We’ll be ready to play Sept. 3. I can promise you that.”

Media Days are heeeere

2011-07-20T15:28:00.009-04:00

And a good afternoon from Hoover, Ala. and day one of the SEC Media Days.

Finally.

I'm Michael A. Lough, filling in for Seth Emerson, who had a friend getting married during SEC Media Days, which, of course, is better than getting married during the season.

Silly people do that.

Mike Slive and Bobby Petrino are done, and Will Muschamp is up now, so I'll get back after listening to the latest head Gator.

Will Muschamp is a Gator.

Period. Time to move on.

He again put to rest the drastically overrated connections angle.

Muschamp, as he has said and will say again, may have played at Georgia, but ...

"I'm a Florida guy," was his simple response to the neverending question about his short roots at Georgia as a player.

Steve Spurrier has a bottomless tank of patience regarding quarterback Stephen Garcia. One wonders if he gave his kids that much of a break.

Defensive tackle Travian Robertson tried to dance around the Garcia question, and the apparently limitless patience Spurrier has.

"I'm not going to question it at all," Robertson said. "He's my boss."

Up next is Mississippi State and head coach Dan Mullen, who's making Starkville substantially more livable in the fall.

So far:

Petrino was Petrino: not an overwhelming people person. He looks like he ate something and can't figure out how much he doesn't like it. It's not horrible, but he'd rather have had something else. And he'd rather be somewhere else than in front of the media.

Muschamp is no barrel of laughs, but he showed some dry wit. He's been around tremendous coaching legends, and between his last two employers, he's much more likely to be compared to Nick Saban than Mack Brown.

Marcus Lattimore seems like a pretty thoughtful kid. He got up a few times in the offseason to run with teammates who were doing the early-morning punishment sprints, just to show that he was with them. More later on his advice for Georgia's Isaiah Crowell.

Florida QB John Brantley seems more than ready to put last year - OK, the last few years - behind him and run a normal offense without shuffling quarterbacks. Wideout Deonte Thompson wasn't complaining about a less dramatic offense and substitution pattern.

It's the normal crowd of 750-1,000 folks on hand. Silly questions have happily been limited. Nobody's virginity has been inquired about.

And the opener is done.

TGFSS: Thank God for Steve Spurrier.

He's getting back into form, where he just starts talking and the filter doesn't work.

He owned the room again, between discussing South Carolina's hopes, disagreeing with Mike Slive on multi-year scholarships, and the rollicking life and times of quarterback Stephen Garcia.

Spurrier said Garcia has made lifestyle changes, so he feels somewhat confident the drama is over. But Spurrier said too many people assume that Garcia has the job. Look for some competition with Connor Shaw.

Spurrier’s tone and inflection always adds to the humor.

As for Slive’s suggestion for multi-year scholarships rather than renewable yearly:

“No, that's a terrible idea, Commissioner. Do you sportswriters have a two-year contract, three- or four-year? Have you ever had a two-year deal?

“If you go bad, don't show up to work, your butt will be out on the street.
Everybody has to earn your way in life. You earn your way in life. Go from there. That's the way I believe.”

And then the comedian-timing pause and Spurrier smirk/smile:

“Luckily coaches have four- and five-year contracts. They get paid off if they get canned, I guess (laughter).”

Yes, stability at quarterback has become a dream.

“That would be helpful. Yeah, that would be helpful if our quarterback play was real solid and the quarterback was a player everybody could look up to and could rally around. That would be helpful. We're still trying to make that work out.”

Highly touted signee Jadeveon Clowney was put in handcuffs in a big bar area, ostensibly because he bore a solid likeness of the suspect of a robbery that had just happened. He was just questioned and released.

Spurrier found a teaching point, and got himself “arrested” a few days later.

“They had an armed robbery in the area. It was a guy with dreadlocks, a tall guy. So they saw Jadeveon in there, and they were looking for this dude. What they do, they handcuff you and then ask you a bunch of questions and then let you go.

“Of course, while he was getting handcuffed, all the kids in the bar there were taking pictures of him. That's what hit the Internet. Here is Jadeveon Clowney arrested in a bar down in Columbia. He wasn't arrested, he was just being questioned because he looked a little bit like the guy they were looking for.

“Our police chief came and talked to the team and explained how that could happen. We didn't know how it could happen, so we learned a lot from it.

“I said, ‘Chief, can you handcuff me today right after practice?’ He said, ‘Sure, what time?’ ‘I talk to the media boys about 6, so get out there about five till 6.’ so he's standing there, I'm talking to the media boys. They don't know what is really going on.

”He said, ‘Coach, I need to talk to you about something.’

“He took me over to the side and handcuffed me. None of the boys knew what was going on. But anyway, he let me go after about a minute or two.

“I guess I came back and said that there was a robbery down at the convenience store, and somebody said the robber looked like that head ball coach down at South Carolina, so he had to come talk to me.”

Only Spurrier.

“Anyway, we learned a lot about that. You can get handcuffed, no big deal, don't worry about it.”

An eyebrow-raiser, perhaps, came from Mississippi State head coach and part-time Starkville Chamber of Commerce representative Dan Mullen.

Now we know. It's not Athens, or Tuscaloosa, or the Plains, or Gainesville.

The loveliest little hamlet in the conference is, yes, Starkville.

Yeah, me neither.

Granted, people always exaggerate how brutal a place is, when it never lives down to that level. Some people really just have nothing going on, so almost everywhere sucks.

But one wonder if somebody spiked Mullen's afternoon tea.

He got a nice chuckle after a reporter noted a billboard he saw when crossing the border into Mississippi, with Mullen's face and "Welcome to our state."

Paging the Rebels, paging the Rebels.

Said Mullen with a smile: "Did you enjoy your time there?"

The guy was speeding to Birmingham, so he didn't have time to smell the magnolias.

Starkville is one of those places often considered a coaching graveyard, but Mullen sure sounded happy.

"I think everybody, when they walk out, they leave Starkville on a Saturday, they're looking forward to coming back. They're looking forward to the event that it was, not just for one person but for an entire family. That's made all the difference."

The winning he's engineering sure helps. But he's not second-guessing the move in the least:

"I think in today's world, everybody thinks the grass is always going to be greener somewhere else. Fortunately in my career I got to coach at a lot of different schools and see a lot of different situations.

"The situation we have with the great recruiting base in the state of Mississippi and locally within a five-hour radius of us, having an administration where everybody is pointed in the same direction with the same goals, a fan base that's really bought into what you're trying to do, and a great group of young men to coach, I have a great situation. We're very, very happy there.

"Everything that I'd read about the rumors, I'd kind of laugh because none of that was even a conversation for me and my family."

And as for his home (which will likely lead to another billboard before the week is done):

"I've had very, very few people, and I grew up in the northeast, I've had family and friends come down to visit. The first thing you hear out of their mouth is, 'Wow, I didn't know this was such a beautiful place. What a beautiful place to live, great community, friendly people, you have all these amazing things.'

"I think you got to be going to Starkville to get to Starkville. You just don't pass it by. It's a hidden gem. Everybody that comes to visit us, that's the challenge we've had. Once they come on campus, whether it be recruits, parents, even fans, they say, 'Wow, I didn't know what a beautiful place this is, what a great place to live, what a great community Starkville, Mississippi is.'"

Indeed, visiting on a football weekend and dealing with warm store-bought beer is a shock, but there's something to be said for uniqueness.

And then again, look at what he's done and is doing in Starkvegas. He's not completely crazy. Plus, it's about one's own quality of life, not somebody else's.

Thursday's order for the print peeps:

Kentucky's Joker Phillips, Stuart Hines, Morgan Netwon and Danny Trevathan; Georgia's Mark Richt, Brandon Boykin, Ben Jones and Aaron Murray; Auburn's Gene Chizik, Emory Blake, Nosa Equae, and Philip Lutzenkirchen (84 points in Scrabble for that last name); and Tennessee's Derek Dooley, Malik Jackson, Tauren Poole and Dallas Thomas.

UGA is bringing a lineman. Bulldog fans, pray for no escalator incidents.

Ye olde Mailbag: Jarvis Jones, recruiting, Crowell, Benedict, and so much more

2011-07-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

I’m checking in today from the Jittery Joe’s here on Barnett Shoals Road, and having a flashback to almost a year ago – when I started in this very wonderful job.

It was almost a year ago that I joined the beat, and on the second day of football practice – also, my second day on the job – I was here at this fine coffee establishment, making use of their Wi-Fi.

(Isn't sad when your memories revolve around wireless access?)

It’s also time for SEC media days, which this year gives me a very bittersweet feeling since I won’t be there. I wish I could, but my little sister didn’t check with me before picking her wedding date. So on Thursday, while Georgia is making its appearance, I will be preparing for the rehearsal dinner. And on Friday, when everything is wrapping up, I will be walking my sis down the aisle and giving her away to her new husband.

At some point I may also have to give a speech. Somewhere in that speech I plan to go on a riff about Isaiah Crowell and the offensive line’s blocking schemes. I’m sure the crowd will be enraptured.

I’m sorry I won’t be in Birmingham, but the esteemed Mike Lough will be there holding down the fort for The Telegraph, and he’ll be manning this blog too. Yes, I fully expect to be Wally Pipped.

So if this is my last blog post, and my last mailbag, let’s make it a good one. Here we go:

We got a lot of questions this week about the Jarvis Jones situation, so I’ll start with that.

What do you believe, if you had a guess, will be the outcome of the Jarvis Jones/NCAA situation. I've heard from a few people (bloggers) that it's unlikely he'll miss any games since the offenses were during his USC recruiting and not his UGA recruiting.
- Ginny

It doesn’t matter for Georgia that it happened while he was at another school: This isn’t a Georgia matter, it’s a Jarvis Jones matter, and the NCAA will decide whether or not he accepted benefits from someone who fell under the category of being an extra benefit, i.e. not a familial or long-time acquaintance. If the NCAA determines it was an extra benefit, it won’t matter that he was at USC when it happened. Now USC could get in trouble if it’s found somehow that it knew about this and didn’t do anything. (Which is precisely what happened with the Reggie Bush situation.) Georgia would get in trouble for the same reason, but all indications are that the school and team only learned of this after the Ledger-Enquirer’s report, and immediately turned it over to the SEC and NCAA.

I don’t like to guess, but I will say that based on precedent I could definitely see Jones getting a suspension of two-to-four games. It’s possible that the number could come down on appeal – and it’s very possible we won’t hear about the suspension and appeal until it’s all over. I also think Georgia’s cause is helped by having found out about it early, and also having gone through the A.J. Green situation last year.

But the key here is whether Jones can prove that he had enough of a pre-existing relationship with the AAU coach that the NCAA will find that Jones did not benefit (i.e., receive the plane tickets) purely because he was an athlete.

If the NCAA finds that it’s a pre-existing relationship, then there’s a good chance you see Jones out there against Boise State. But it’s really, really hazardous to speculate on NCAA matters like this, as we saw with the A.J. Green case last year.

Will Jarvis be cleared to play (or ruled ineligible) in time for the season opener or will he be left twisting in the wind like AJ Green was and Richt will have to hold him out until we hear ? If I recall the AJ Green Jersey affair we were at the NCAA's mercy and they took their sweet time.
- Robert K. Burnham

I’d be surprised if we don’t hear anything on Jones well before the season. The timeline is far ahead of the A.J. Green situation, which was also wrapped up in a larger, national agent issue. That slowed down the process a bit, and also keep in mind that the jersey sale was only found in August. At this time you’d expect – or hope, if you’re Jones and Georgia – that the NCAA has all the relevant information now and a ruling can come quickly.

What would really slow things down, and would thus be even more worrisome for Jones, is if during the course of an investigation the NCAA uncovers more, as it did with Green and that jersey. But so far there’s no info that it’s anything other than the plane tickets.

Can you explain what Jarvis Jones and the city staffers from Columbus did? Was he and his mom flying back and forth for AAU games?
When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny?
- Doug

The Columbus city staffers are part of a separate investigation. It was during the course of that investigation that the plane trips for Jones and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came to light. In Jones’ case, it was just plane tickets to go from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

On weather, whether it’s partly sunny or partly cloudy depends on what kind of person you are. For instance, I’m a partly-cloudy guy. I’m a journalist, a writer, a cynic. It’s what we do. Mark Richt is a partly-sunny guy, at least 95 percent of the time. So are people like Pippy Longstocking, Pollyanna and Al Roker.

Seth, It would be helpful to get a clearer take on the scenarios involving Jarvis Jones. Specifically: Is there any realistic chance the benefits he apparently received will meet the "pre-existing relationship" loophole that makes it all go away? And is there any realistic chance the NCAA will say anything until after the Boise and USC games?
If the answer to those questions is "no" or "probably not," then the next question is whether the coaching staff is looking at early action at OLB by Ray Drew.
- Newdonkey

Ray Drew is actually slated to compete with Cornelius Washington on the other side. We asked Todd Grantham about this last week, and he kind of hedged. I could definitely see it being Drew, but this is where the Jones situation really puts Grantham in a tough spot: Start working Drew over there now just in case, or ride with Jones there and if he’s pulled ride with Rueben Faloughi or someone else?

Seth,
Two and a half part question.
1.) Have you heard anything regarding Keith Marshall's interest in UGA? ESPN doesn't list UGA as one of the schools he is considering, but I have seen on message boards and heard from other dawg recruiting enthusiasts that UGA is well in the mix, if not close to the top of his list. Any validity to that?
2.) Crowell is on campus I hear. Do you know what kind of shape he is in? Has he been working out with the players any? Basically, could you please tell me everything you know about Isaiah Crowell's life since he arrived at UGA?
Thanks,
Trae

1) I’m no recruiting guru, but everything I’ve heard is that Georgia is very much in the mix for Marshall. You have to be careful about those school lists for each player. It’s my experience that it’s not updated very often, and even if it was a kid’s school choices fluctuate so much it’s impossible to be exact.
2) Yes, Crowell’s been on campus for a bit, and I know a lot of people have liked to speculate and read a lot into stories that they’ve heard. Whether that’s about how Crowell is in the weight room or the dining hall, there’s going to be a lot of attention on him. I understand it’s the summer and people are hungry for early news about the team’s most important (arguably) player, but frankly I think it’s a bit unfair at this stage. Sure, be worried if something actually tangible happened, like he was suspended from team activities (as Washaun Ealey was). But otherwise, remember that we’re still talking about teenagers.

Maybe we just let Orson Charles line up at running back.
-P1Owe

That’s one way to make sure he touches the ball.

Spurrier took a couple if jabs at Grantham about that inside draw play after last year's game. Ask how many times he plans to run it this year. Also, please ask him how many more last chances Garcia has.
- Castleberry

As long as the Gamecocks still have Marcus Lattimore, I’m sure they’ll still run that, and do so until Georgia stops it. Which with John Jenkins, they may actually do this time.

Having covered him, I personally like Spurrier (and now I will duck), but the handling of Garcia is pretty laughable. Yes, none of the actions by themselves are that bad. But really, it’s about five strikes now, and he’s had about three “last chances.” I mean, really, come on.

Please tell me you watched season 4 premiere of Breaking Bad last night!! What do you think Gus is now calculating? What was the minerals all about that Hank was looking up on the Internet? You catch that and Gails lab book?
- MauiDawg

Sadly I’m not finished with Season 3 yet; I’m waiting for the final disc and last few episodes to arrive. But I have DVRed the new season, so don’t spoil it for me!

1) Has Katey Sagal's portrayal of Gemma Teller moved into Edie Falco/Carmella Soprano territory or do we need one more season?
2) How involved are Thomas Brown and Tony Gilbert in the actual weight room training? Are they learning and doing research on what other programs do, or are they mostly there for motivation or player relationships?
3) What in the world is Dave van Hallenger actually doing now?
4) Do you have any news about the new arrangement in Sanford next year. I know the band is moving, but where does that shift the visiting band, fans, etc.? Are my Northeast endzone seats about to be flooded with visitors?
- Matt Rushing

1) Sorry, I’m out of the loop on Segal.
2) I’m not in the weight room myself. But I’ll see Brown again next week, and am set to speak to Gilbert soon for a story, so I’ll have a better feel for it at that point.
3) Van Halanger is listed as “director, player welfare” in the media guide. The players really did think a lot of him as a father/grandfather figure, so behind the scenes I’m sure he’s doing something related to that.
4) Those are all good questions. I don’t really know. I’m sorry, I really was no help to you in any of these questions. Useless, actually.

Will Hamilton be playing any corner against certain offenses (ie. Georgia Tech or rushing offenses dependent on getting to the edge)
What date does spring practice begin?
What starting position appears to be most up for grabs right now.
Since we're nearing the end of summer... any players get noticed for work ethic, attitude, effort?
- Meansonny

Meansonny, I assume you mean Jakar, and not Alexander, Hamilton. The Georgia Tech game is a long way off but I would expect it to happen.

Do you mean spring practice, or preseason practice? I’ll assume you meant the latter: First day of practice isn’t officially announced yet, but it’ll be two weeks from this one, some day that week.

We've been told that Brent Benedict transferred to VT because of philosophical differences with UGA's strength and conditioning program. However, around this time last year UGA's entire strength and conditioning staff took a field-trip to Blacksburg to observe that school's program and (theoretically) implement those observations into our own. So is there really going to be a noticeable change for young Mr. Benedict, or was this more about a personal disagreement with Coach T?
- Clee

First off, I have my doubts that Benedict’s departure can be blamed entirely on his relationship with Tereshinski. If that were the sole reason, and everything else was hunky-dory, I’m sure Mark Richt, Will Friend or whoever else would have stepped in and mediated. No, I’m sure with Benedict, as with any transfer that’s not for playing time reasons, there were several reasons. This goes back to my answer on Crowell – keep in mind we’re talking about teenagers here (Benedict was coming off a redshirt freshman season).

I have no doubt the Georgia coaches wanted to keep him around. Shane Beamer, a new assistant at Virginia Tech, is good friends with Mike Bobo, so if it were an attitude thing I’m not sure the Hokies would have taken him. But Benedict just wasn’t happy in Athens.

Two, or maybe three, questions:
Will Samuel have any real impact in the running game? If they had confidence in him as a runner, why did they move him to linebacker in the first place?
Despite the fact I am 57 years old, in my second marriage and ugly, what do you think my chances are with J Lo?
- Dawgfan53

Samuel’s going to have every chance to play. Georgia made a big enough deal out of the move that I think they have big plans for him to be involved. Yeah, I probably wouldn’t bet on him being a Heisman contender, and I’d still bet on Crowell being the main ball-carrier against Boise State. But is he rusty, is he still a better linebacker than tailback? I guess we’ll find out.

If you’re IN your second marriage, then you might have a shot with J-Lo, because married guys are quite attractive, for some reason. I’m considering getting married just for that reason.

Love your work. I do wish you would go back to unregistered comments. There are much fewer comments since the change and half the fun is reading all the various opinions. Sure there are trolls, but isn’t that all part of the experience? I have two questions. Will they try John Jenkins at fullback? Have Malcome or Thomas commented about Samuel going back to tailback? Even though they may not say it publically, I am sure they have to be disappointed in the move.
- Joe Ryan

Thanks for the kind words. The registration of comments was always a trial phase, and to be honest I haven’t heard much negative response. That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be more out there. My current gut feeling is to keep with the registration because a) the web hits/unique visitors stats haven’t gone down, in fact they’ve been pretty good for the summer, and b) we’re gunning for a civil, readable comment approach here, and preventing the anonymous posters seems to have weeded that out, for the most part.

But like I said, I’m open for suggestions.

As for your football-related questions: They say they’ll try Jenkins at fullback, but I’m kind of on the skeptical side as to whether it’ll happen, and if then how often; The goal-line would be a great place for it, though. Malcome and Thomas have been quoted in other places saying about what you’d expect, but of course you’d have to expect they’re a bit disappointed. But apparently Thomas didn’t quite take care of business himself.

Is there anyone, anyone at all, in the UGA backfield who can pass block? I know that's always a source of concern for Freshman backs, and it seems like we're just a tad thin at tailback now. Is Aaron Murray going to spend the first two weeks of the season on his backside?
- Chris

Chris, that’s a legitimate concern – and not one Carlton Thomas and his small stature was going to answer, and not one we’ll really know much about over the summer. We’ll have to find out once preseason starts, and the team goes through scrimmages, how Crowell, Malcome and Samuel are with pass-blocking.

Here’s what Richt said about Crowell and pass-blocking when I asked him about it back in May:

“I’m sure when a rookie back’s in the game they’re gonna test that, they’re gonna bring pressure, and see if he’ll step up. Yeah, if he wants to play and be a full-time back, he’s gotta learn.”

How's Munson?
- UGAflyer

I haven’t heard anything lately. I hope that’s good news.

In light of Stanley Williams' recent commitment to UGA, I've long wondered what the allure Georgia has for these smallish backs and receivers who generally don't fit the mold for our pro-style offense. Small, speedy guys such as Carlton Thomas, Prince Miller (recruited as an ATH), Rontavious Wooten, Mikey Henderson, etc. seem to perform better in spread offenses (ie Percy Harvin, Noel Devine, etc.), yet every year UGA seems to add another small, fast athlete who doesn't contribute much more than a few punt returns (although Mikey should always be remembered for his OT TD catch against Bama). If Bobo called more plays that got these guys open in space I'd be more inclined to understand why we recruit them, but he doesn't and the recruits aren't able to utilize their talents. Rant aside, do you have any insight as to why we go after these guys, and why they keep coming?
- Stuart

Stanley Williams reportedly runs a 4.2 in the 40, so it’s kind of hard to not offer a guy like him. Yes, at 5-foot-8 he may be another Carlton Thomas, if he doesn’t grow. Then again, maybe he’s not necessarily a tailback. Plus, the other commitments lately – including Crowell and Derrick Henry, the 2013 tailback – have been of the bigger variety.

When they’re being recruited, I’m sure the coaches see great athletes who they can find a use for somehow. I covered Prince Miller in high school, and he was ticketed for cornerback-special teams the entire time. I can’t speak too well for the others.
I do get the sense with this staff that they’ve taken some chances on guys without a set position, and figured they’d find them a position, but never did. A lot of people are worried now that’s happening with Richard Samuel, but he swears he’s a tailback for good – and if he had a real chance to be an impact linebacker, I’m sure Todd Grantham would’ve held onto him. And moving Alec Ogletree to linebacker indicated Grantham didn’t feel that way.

If you crossed the International Date Line on your birthday would you still get presents?
- Hosayf

Interesting point. I would assume you’d be flying, in which case it depends on the airline: On AirTrain you’d have no room to move anyway, so your present would be one inch more of legroom, and maybe a small pillow. If it’s … actually, all the airlines stink.

Carlton Thomas suspended! What the hell is going on at the RB position?
- Dawgwood

I’m starting to wonder what the running back position meetings were like with this group. Maybe that’s why Bryan McClendon got the raise: Stress pay.

1) I'm trying to understand how someone could get in such an argument about strength and conditioning? Was there disagreement over how many reps or how much weight to put on the bar? What exactly is so serious that it couldn't be worked out?
2) I know Nathan Theus was brought in to be a long snapper. Any chance he can provide some depth on the line? He wasn't a tiny guy.
3) Think UGA football could learn a lesson from USA Women's Soccer? When you have an inferior opponent, don't get up and relax. Go for the jugular and put them away. Don't let them hang around.
4) Did anyone notice how GT has to vacate the 3 games from 2009 where they used an ineligible player? That means they get to vacate a loss to UGA. Is this a punishment or a reward?
- Riskadviser

So many multiple questions. So many greedy people. But I keep indulging.
1) Benedict’s issues with the strength staff, from what I understand, centered on his rehab. He and his father wanted to go a bit more slower, and sit out a few activities. The strength staff was willing to bend on some stuff, but not all. An understandable impasse ensued.
2) At this point, I do think Theus will be asked to get some reps on the line at practice. I don’t know if he’ll play, though.
3) Sounds like a plan.
4) When I think more about it, the Georgia Tech punishments actually kind of fit; It’s not anything tangible going forward – no loss of TV time or scholarships – but they are on probation and they can’t acknowledge their conference championship. And considering the violations – not cooperating fully with the NCAA over a player issue – that seems about right. OK, lemme rephrase that: Not really “right,” but “less wrong” than other penalties.

Basically, the whole NCAA infraction and penalty issue is broken, as I’ve pointed out for some time. The Ohio State-Sugar Bowl situation was laughable. The Cam Newton case is troubling. But the Georgia Tech case doesn’t really put me in soapbox mode. It’s just kinda … eh.

Hey Seth,
Question about the O-Line, which may have already been covered in weeks past. What kind of talent did Mr. Friend have down at UAB? Average number of freshman he had to start/play, average years experience of the line per season, and the results (rush yards per carry)? Did he coach up any NFL talent? Considering all this ridiculousness about our RBs and our already thin offensive line, I feel that his coaching and line’s play will have the biggest impact on how we do this year.
As always, thanks!
Steve

We talked to Friend about this after he was hired. The good: They had one player who had hardly played any football before college, and Friend helped turn him into an all-Conference USA player. The bad: The players weren’t as big and fast, as Friend acknowledged. But it’s not like he’s never been around talented players: He played at Alabama and was a graduate assistant at Georgia. I think Friend has a bright future in coaching, but given all the attrition, his debut season at Georgia will require a ton of coaching ‘em up, and that’s a lot to ask.

Greetings from SW Ga (south of the gnat line). I enjoy reading your blog on a regular basis. Keep up the good work!
I believe that the intangible "chemistry" is a huge part of a successful (or unsuccessful) team -- not only among the players but also in the coaching ranks. What is your perception of how the coaching staff -- particularly Grantham and Friend -- get along with one another? It seems that last year was a "breaking in " period with the D- Coord...and that perhaps he and CMR didn't see situations with the same discerning eye. Hopefully for UGA that improves this year.
- Anonymous, Leesburg, Ga.

Thanks, and shout-out to southwest Georgia. I spent a good deal of time in Leesburg, the home of Buster Posey … Richt gets along with pretty much everybody, which is a good trait for a head coach, as he has to break a lot of ties and settle disputes. He has a lot of strong personalities on staff. My experience, from afar as a reporter, is you may be a bit over-rating staff chemistry: there are inevitably going to be disagreements and personality conflicts on a staff of 10 full-time assistants, as well as other support staff members. They don’t have to go to picnics together, they just have to be able to communicate on recruiting and be cooperative when necessary when it comes to game-planning, player position changes, etc. And a good head coach will often like some healthy competition between assistants. Spurrier was that way.

Does coach Grantham continue to refer to you as Mister Blog Man?
- Paul

Actually, that was Brandon Boykin. I think Grantham just calls me “Al.” And you know what, you can call me that too.

Analysis: Richt's recruiting, and what it means for his future

2011-07-18T18:26:00.002-04:00

Here's my piece following up Georgia's big recruiting haul from last Friday night, and tying it to the much-discussed future of head coach Mark Richt.

An excerpt:

This much, however, should be clear: All those players who have yet to even enroll at Georgia may end up helping save Mark Richt’s job.

When Richt walks to the podium Thursday at the Wynfrey Hotel, the Georgia head football coach will know what awaits. There may be a thousand credentialed media members at the SEC Media Days, and a lot of them will be thinking of nice ways to ask the hard-hitting question: Is he on the hot seat?

The short answer is yes. But anyone looking at a certain number of wins Richt needs to get this year is being too simplistic. And the events of Friday night, when five players committed within 10 minutes to Georgia, are part of the reason why.

Again, you can read the full piece here. And you can criticize me below.

And yet another hit to the backfield: Thomas suspended

2011-07-18T12:24:00.002-04:00

Remember how the departures of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King left Carlton Thomas as the only veteran in the Georgia backfield? Well ...

As it turns out, Thomas is suspended for at least the opener against Boise State, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The report cites three anonymous sources, saying Thomas violated team rules in the spring.

Head coach Mark Richt and the team have yet to confirm the suspension. Team spokesman Claude Felton said he didn't anticipate any announcements Monday about player disciplinary actions, adding: "Discipline announcements in any sport will be made by
the head coach at the appropriate time."

If true, it's another signal as to the team's thinking in moving Richard Samuel back to tailback. The 5-foot-7 Thomas may not have been seen as a legitimate threat to start over Isaiah Crowell or Ken Malcome, but he at least provided a veteran presence.

We'll update this space when there's confirmation and/or further news.

Hey, how about a mailbag?

2011-07-18T10:17:00.001-04:00

So, it's SEC media days week, which in some quarters marks the unofficial beginning of the football season. And by "some quarters," I mean the people who don't already consider SEC football to be a 365-days-a-year situation.

In any case, it's as good a time as any to throw open the mailbag satchel and solicit your questions. Or perhaps you have thoughts, concerns, or threats. Please, no threats. Anything else is fair game.

Some things you could ask about:

- Follow-up from Georgia's "Dawg Night" haul, the move back to tailback for Richard Samuel, Caleb King's departure, or any other recent news on the beat.

- What to expect this week at media days.

- When the earth cools at the tips, what adverse conditions does this create for non-polar shoals and other outlying areas?

- Who will J-Lo marry next?

- If you could be any kind of tree, would that tree have any thoughts on how many games Mark Richt needs to win this year?

OK folks, fire away. And as always you can post in the comment section below, send me an e-mail (semerson@macon.com) or tweet at me. I'll post a mailbag sometime Tuesday, assuming we get enough questions. Or thoughts. Or concerns. And hopefully no threats.

Recruiting: Georgia's big haul

2011-07-17T13:37:00.003-04:00

Unless you’ve been holed up on a mountain, which in fact I was this weekend, you know that the Georgia football program had a recruiting home run on Friday night.

The list of players who committed:

- Offensive tackle John Theus of Jacksonville, Fla. Fleus is the nation’s fourth-ranked player overall in the class of 2012, according to Scout.com. He's listed at 6-foot-6 and 292 pounds and could start right away. His brother Nate is a freshman long snapper for Georgia.

- Running back Derrick Henry of Yulee, Fla., one of the top tailbacks in the 2013 class.

- Quarterback Brice Ramsey of Camden County High School, whom the Georgia staff pinpointed earlier this summer as its top quarterback target for the 2013 class.

- Receiver Tramel Terry of Goose Creek, S.C. He’s also with the 2013 class, and was a target of South Carolina, which hasn’t been losing many in-state battles lately.

- Running back Stanley Williams of Apalachee High School in Winder. Williams is already a top-rated player in the 2014 class.

So that’s five players, spanning three classes, two of them in the state of Florida. Georgia now has in the fold perhaps its top target for 2012, a big-time quarterback recruit for 2013, and already one of the top tailback recruits for 2014,

The position of this writer has always been to be wary of over-rating recruiting news as it happens. You need only look at the current or recent Georgia rosters and see a number of five-stars who didn’t pan out, and three-stars who are turning into all-SEC talents.

But regardless, it’s obvious that the Georgia program scored big on Friday night. Whether the players pan out or not, the Bulldogs showed – just as they did in February – that they can still recruit, despite all the recent on-field struggles.

I’ll have more thoughts on the Dawg Night run later this week. But as someone who normally tells fans to take the careful view on recruiting, I'd say the exultations of Georgia fans, at least this weekend, are very understandable and warranted.

Todd Grantham speaks - about personnel, freshmen, prepping for Boise State - and I blog

2011-07-15T12:39:00.001-04:00

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham discussed pretty much everything in a meeting with reporters on Friday. And we know you want the info, not some snappy intro about how he was dressed, so let’s go:

(OK, if you really had to know, Grantham had on a black Georgia shirt.) Now here you go:

- The move of Richard Samuel back to offense was the first item of discussion, and Grantham’s thoughts on that are in the previous blog post. But he hinted that more switches could be in the offing:

“I’m not 100 percent sure,” he said, when asked if any more guys could move to help shore up the tailback position. “I don’t know that answer.”

- Grantham is treating the Jarvis Jones situation the way he would an injured player. Georgia and the NCAA are looking into Jones’ connection to a former AAU coach, and his status for the start of the season could be in question.
Jones is the first-teamer at the “Sam” outside linebacker spot.

“We’re gonna prepare at every position as if the guy that’s the first team player is the guy, and then if he goes down then he’s the next guy. We’re always gonna have guys in place,” Grantham said. “(If Jones can’t play) we could move a guy around, it could be a guy who’s here now, it could be a freshmen.”

- Grantham didn’t sound too worried about Kent Turene, one of the two freshmen whose status still isn’t resolved. Turene, an inside linebacker, is awaiting word from the NCAA clearinghouse.

“He’s on track,” Grantham said. “But to me it’s just a matter of until they’re here, until we have them you never know. But I feel comfortable.”

Defensive back Devin Bowman is the other signee who has yet to enroll.

- Junior Sanders Commings will continue to cross-train in the secondary. But Grantham said Commings is basically still a cornerback who can play safety.

“It’s a long season. If you go into it and say he’s only this, then it gives you less options,” Grantham said. “The more you can do for us, the more valuable you become.”

- Kwame Geathers will start working at end, since he’s worked a couple years now at the nose. The team is still seeing if it can use Geathers and John Jenkins at nose, but they’ll start by teaching Jenkins the nose spot and letting Geathers – also the slimmer of the two – work outside.

“It’s like anything. The more you can do, the better chance you’ve got to get on the field,” Grantham said. “If he can continue to develop like he did in the spring, then move out and play some end stuff, then … it gives you someone that can play two positions.”

Jenkins is weighing in at about 345 or 350 pounds right now. Grantham was a bit playfully coy on that, asking me and Gentry Estes to guess on that first.

“He can run,” Grantham said of Jenkins. “Around the track, he can run.”

- T.J. Stripling, recovering from knee surgery, will be given a chance to work in pads early in preseason practice, and has a chance to play outside linebacker. Grantham said Stripling, a sophomore is “probably further along” than Dexter Morant, a redshirt freshman recovering from a shoulder injury.

“I expect (Stripling) to be able to come in and start working right off the bat,” Grantham said.

Finally, Grantham spent a good deal of time discussion the plan for the preseason, specifically evaluating the freshmen and when they start preparing for Boise State.

On the freshman, Grantham said they’d spend the early part of preseason determining who can play right away. When asked who could contribute against Boise State and South Carolina, he answered, “All of them.” He also agreed there’d be less of a learning curve for these freshmen than others.

As for Boise State, while players speak often about how excited they are to open with a well-known opponent, Grantham is a bit cautious about starting too soon to prepare for one game.

“The first part of camp you’re just competing, getting better, developing an opinion of the freshmen,” Grantham said. “Then I think once you’ve kind of got that going, then I think you look at things you’re going to see during the course of the season that are unique, that are kind of different. That means we’ll have to work on the spread offense for some of the time, we’ll work on empty, we’ll work on Georgia Tech, because obviously we won’t see any of that during the season, we’ll work on the read-zone stuff.”

Then they’ll spend the final week before the opener, and another day or two, working on Boise State. So Grantham’s basic philosophy is to not spend the whole preseason prepping for one team, because he feels it would leave the team too much to do the other 11 weeks.

“You’ve gotta kind of prepare for offenses,” Grantham said.

An upbeat Samuel says he's "excited" about playing tailback again

2011-07-15T12:00:00.001-04:00

Richard Samuel walked into a meeting with reporters on Friday looking like an insurance salesman. But the Georgia junior spoke like someone whose playing days are still very much ahead of him.

If he's being moved back to tailback just to be insurance for freshman Isaiah Crowell, then Samuel isn't aware of it. His understanding is he'll have a chance to start.

“It’s a complete competition,” Samuel said, one day after the announcement of his switch back to tailback, after a redshirt year at linebacker. “Like coach said, you can’t just come over and hand me the position. There’s guys that have been there. It’s straight competition. The best man’s gonna be the starter, and playing.”

The decision was broached within the past week, after Caleb King was found to be academically ineligible. Samuel said the coaches approached him, let him know the scenario of moving to tailback or staying at linebacker, and then Samuel thought about it.

“It was totally up to me,” Samuel said, who added that he wasn’t surprised. “After hearing (King) was completely done, if you look at the history, there’s no other backs besides Carlton (Thomas) have had playing time. So something was gonna have to be done.”

Samuel is spending the summer interning at the UGA compliance department, which is why he was dressed nicely for his meeting with reporters. But he also spent Thursday afternoon doing some pass-skeleton drills with teammates, where he lined up at linebacker and got some of the rust off.

“I still remember some of the plays, most of the blocking schemes,” he said. “So most of the stuff is the same. I just have to learn some of the new stuff they’ve put it.”

Samuel said he was getting comfortable at linebacker, and never pined to return to tailback. But the fact he has two years left, and the depth chart at each position, ultimately swayed him to agree to the switch.

He weighs 238 pounds now, after playing running back at 225 pounds. But Samuel shrugged that off.

“As long as my speed and agility hasn’t decreased, the coaches don’t really mind,” Samuel said.

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Samuel “had a spot” on defense had he stayed. (Samuel was listed as the backup to starting inside linebacker Alec Ogletree.) Grantham said Samuel also could have played some outside linebacker, so the switch will open a chance for playing time to guys like T.J. Stripling.

Grantham described Samuel as an “explosive” linebacker with good speed. But with the tailback depth taking such a hit, the offense got the nod for Samuel.

“You’ve always gotta do what you feel like is best for the team to help us win,” Grantham said. “We felt like moving him around, or moving him back, was best to help make us successful on the offense.”

It may seem that Samuel has been moved around a lot and never quite given a consistent chance. But the redshirt junior was taking the high road.

“I describe it as a career full of opportunities,” he said. “I came in at running back, I didn’t redshirt my freshman year. I started my sophomore year. Things weren’t going so good so I decided to follow another avenue and move to linebacker, and then redshirt last year. And now here’s another opportunity to go back to running back, be able to do something, and make changes, and learn from when I played running back the first time.”

He added:

“I’m more excited about it. I’m back to something I have a history with, something I know a good bit about. I don’t have to stress over learning a whole new playbook. I’m excited, I don’t know how to explain it.”

It's official: Samuel moves back to tailback

2011-07-14T17:36:00.002-04:00

Georgia has shored up its tailback depth by returning to an old hand: Richard Samuel, after a year redshirting at linebacker, is back at his former position.

Samuel had hinted at the move on his Twitter account, and head coach Mark Richt announced the move on Thursday afternoon.

"After discussions with Richard, his family, and our coaches I'm excited that Richard wants to make the move," Richt said. "He's one of our fastest and most powerful players, is very mature, has a strong character and is a man we can count on. I'm proud of him for always putting the team first and I look forward to seeing what he can do."

Samuel also had a statement:

"I'm excited about the opportunity at tailback. I'm ready to do anything that will help the team win."

Samuel will be available to speak to the media on Friday, according to the team. So will defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

Samuel was a five-star tailback recruit out of high school, and played 22 games there during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, including six starts. He had 528 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 114 carries, the highlight being a 104-yard game against Arkansas.

The question now is whether Samuel will merely be insurance for freshman Isaiah Crowell (and redshirt freshman Ken Malcome), or will be a real threat to cut into Crowell's playing time.

Evidently, Samuel wasn't too needed on defense, where he was listed as the backup to starting inside linebacker Alec Ogletree. Samuel was considered an option to start this year, but Ogletree's move to inside linebacker before spring practice may have signaled that coaches didn't have confidence in Samuel on defense.

If Caleb King had stayed eligible, Samuel probably would have stayed on defense. But King didn't, and now Samuel is back on offense.

Bulldogs well-represented on coaches preseason All-SEC list

2011-07-14T11:16:00.003-04:00

Aaron Murray is the SEC coaches’ preseason pick for first-team quarterback, and five more Georgia players make the first team:

- TE Orson Charles, OL Cordy Glenn, KR Brandon Boykin, K Blair Walsh and P Drew Butler.

Three more Bulldogs made the second teams:

C Ben Jones, DL DeAngelo Tyson and DB Brandon Boykin.

There was also a third team, but no Georgia players were on it.

Here’s the full list.

Georgia ranked behind only Alabama in the number of first-teamers. The Bulldogs are tied for third for the most overall, behind Arkansas (14) and Alabama (13). Georgia and South Carolina each have nine.

The media picks for the preseason all-SEC teams, and predictions on who will finish where, will be made and revealed next week in Hoover at media days.

A few quick thoughts on the coaches' list:

- Murray over Garcia at quarterback is predictable, but if not for Garcia's suspension, I'd guess they would have ended up flipped.

- Georgia has more special teams players on the first-team list than Tennessee has overall. (Thanks to Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel for pointing that out.)

- DeAngelo Tyson as a second-teamer is a bit of a surprise. It'll be interesting to see if he blows up this season now that he's at his more natural position, end.

- Newcomers don't make the list. But note that other than Murray, perhaps Georgia's two most important players this year (Isaiah Crowell and John Jenkins) aren't on this list. Neither is Jarvis Jones. So if you look at it that way, the Bulldogs may have a pretty high ceiling, talent-wise, this season.

In which we discuss a possible Samuel move back to tailback

2011-07-14T08:48:00.002-04:00

Richard Samuel, the Georgia linebacker who switched from tailback last year, tweeted the following on Wednesday:

“Have a tough life changing decision to make right now.”

That would lead you to believe one of the following is true:

- He’s considering becoming Rachel Samuel.

- President Obama has asked him to mediate debt limit talks.

- Samuel is thinking of moving back to tailback.

It could also be any number of other things, but considering recent events, it’s worth assuming for the moment that the redshirt junior was talking about being a running back again.

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is meeting with the media on Friday morning, so he should have more insight then. And of course Samuel could always announce it via Twitter himself.

Last year when the team had its tailback troubles, Samuel admitted he thought briefly about switching, but it was never broached and added that “I just feel like linebacker is for me.” He reiterated that during spring practice.

“Not really,” he said when asked if he still thought about playing tailback. “I think about it every now and then when I look at the other running backs and compare myself to what I would have done if I were in their position. But that’s about as far as it goes.”

But it’s very possible that Samuel’s mind has changed. Or is having it changed for him.

On the face of it, Samuel would seem a natural choice to join the tailback mix, since the team is sorely lacking experience after the departures of Caleb King and Washaun Ealey.

During his first two seasons at Georgia, Samuel rushed for a combined 528 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, with two touchdowns. He was basically the featured back in games against Arkansas (when he rushed for an 80-yard touchdown), South Carolina and Oklahoma State. And coming out of high school, he was ranked the nation’s fourth-best running back recruit by Scout.com, and the fifth-best by ESPN.com.

Plus, Georgia is hurting more depth-wise at tailback than inside linebacker: Alec Ogletree and Christian Robinson are set on the first team, junior Mike Gilliard and redshirt freshman Brandon Burrows got time in spring practice, and recruits Kent Turene, Amarlo Herrera and Ramik Wilson could contribute.

So it would be an obvious move, right? Well, there are downsides:

Samuel is listed at 243 pounds, and he’s been preparing (i.e., putting on weight) for awhile assuming he would be playing linebacker. If he switches back to offense, he’ll have to drop a lot of weight, and quickly.

And you could also argue that Samuel has a better chance of getting on the field on defense. He’s likely to sub in regularly for Ogletree. The question on offense is whether the coaches see him as insurance or competition for Isaiah Crowell, Ken Malcome and Carlton Thomas.

We should find out shortly.

DE Derrick Lott goes to hospital after scooter accident (updated)

2011-07-13T10:43:00.004-04:00

Georgia defensive end Derrick Lott was involved in a scooter accident on Tuesday, leading to surgery on his lower right leg. The redshirt sophomore is expected to make a full recovery within four-to-six weeks, according to the team.

A spokesman for St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens said Wednesday morning that Lott was still at the hospital and was listed in “fair” condition.

Lott suffered a laceration to his right leg, according to a UGA police accident report.

“The driver was parking his scooter and he scrapped the side of the building and his leg. Not a real dramatic incident,” said Lt. Eric Dellinger of the UGA police department.

Dellinger added that “there was no indication that there was any impairment or anything of that matter.” There were no charges filed.

I’ll update this space when we hear something from UGA, which was waiting to see what it could say based on HIPPA regulations.

UGA football practice begins in a little under three weeks. Lott is expected to back up Abry Jones at one defensive end position.

Here's the full release from UGA:

ATHENS - University of Georgia redshirt sophomore defensive end Derrick Lott of Kennesaw suffered a lower right leg injury Tuesday in a scooter accident in the parking area of the Butts-Mehre Building.

No other vehicles were involved. A surgery repair was performed at St. Mary¹s Hospital by Dr. David Sailors. UGA Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson said full recovery is estimated at 4-6 weeks.

Another media guide note: The 2012 schedule set?

2011-07-12T22:04:00.001-04:00

These dates have already pretty much been announced, but Georgia's just-released 2011 football media guide also appears to officially reveal the 2012 schedule.

Here it is:

Sept. 1: Buffalo
Sept. 8: at South Carolina
Sept. 15: Florida Atlantic
Sept. 22: Vanderbilt
Sept. 29: Tennessee
Oct. 6: at Alabama
Oct. 13: at Kentucky
Oct. 27: vs. Florida
Nov. 3: Ole Miss
Nov. 10: at Auburn
Nov. 17: Georgia Southern
Nov. 24: Georgia Tech

Of course, there's nothing stopping Georgia from making a late change, as we saw last year with the Boise State-for-Louisville switch.

Looking way too much into the just-released UGA football media guide

2011-07-12T12:56:00.002-04:00

About a decade ago, I was covering a college basketball program whose head coach was entering his make-or-break year. The school’s athletics director, I was told later, had one instruction for the team’s publicist as the media guide was being prepared:

“Don’t put the coach on the cover,’ the A.D. said.

He wasn't. In fact, the coach's bio was kept to one page and was tucked behind all the players. A few minutes after the team's final game, the coach was canned.

Ever since then, I’ve probably paid a little too much attention into how teams put together their preseason publications. Like on Monday when my copy of the 2011 Georgia media guide arrived in my mailbox.

Mark Richt isn’t on the cover, but otherwise his presence is hardly played down. Richt’s bio occupies the normal four pages, before any players or staff members, and after the opening section of the guide. There’s a highlighted quote: “He (Richt) is one of only nine head coaches in Division I-A history to record 60 or more wins in his first seven seasons, one of only seven to reach 80 wins in his first eight seasons and 90 wins in his first nine seasons.”

(Last year, obviously, was Richt’s 10th season.)

The “dog tracks” opening section also includes a note that Georgia has the nation’s third-best winning percentage (a record of 96-34) since Richt began as coach in 2001. And Richt’s picture is front and center throughout the guide.

Everyone knows this is a big year for Richt and the future of the program, and things haven't been great the past couple years. But judging by this guide, the people who handle P.R. at Georgia aren't running away from their coach.

A few other quick impressions and notes after leafing through the guide:

- Remember how last year the UGA communications staff rushed to recall the guide from the printer after Damon Evans’ resignation? It chose not to this year: Caleb King and Brent Benedict are still in there. King was ruled academically ineligible last Friday, and Benedict announced he was transferring last month.

- The front cover is white, and features the top five seniors: Brandon Boykin, Drew Butler, Blair Walsh, Ben Jones and Cordy Glenn.

The back cover includes seven players: Aaron Murray, Orson Charles, Trinton Sturdivant, Christian Robinson, Bruce Figgins, DeAngelo Tyson and Tavarres King.

- Richt puts an emphasis on “effort” in the section that provides an outlook for the season. The quote that is pulled and put in bold type says:

“We need to do what we do well and do it full speed. As a head coach, that’s the number one point of emphasis that I am going to watch for. If you don’t finish well and you don’t win those close games, you’re going to be where we were. If you win those close games, you’re going to be where Auburn was. We’ve got to train to have the type of strength and stamina physically to finish well. Then, we’ve got to gain some mental toughness through the summer and through out camp. We’ve got to compete harder.”

- There was some thought that Dave Van Halanger was being shunted aside and would eventually leave when he was replaced as strength and conditioning coordinator. But he’s still in the media guide, with the new title “Director Player Welfare.”

- Among the revamped strength and conditioning staff, John Kasay may have a part-time role, but he has a spot in the media guide, along with a head shot and a four-paragraph bio.

- Jonathan Batson, who lettered with Georgia as a quarterback in 2009, and appeared in one game as a player, is part of the coaching staff now. He holds the title of program coordinator, offense.

Mike Kelly, former reserve and defensive assistant at Alabama, is now at Georgia. He holds the title of program coordinator, defense.

The team also has a new video coordinator, Brett Greene, who spent the past nine years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

- By my count, the player with the longest bio is Blair Walsh, followed closely by Drew Butler.

- The section on former Bulldogs in the NFL spans eight pages, and now includes a picture of A.J. Green holding a Cincinnati Bengals jersey.

- Two pages are dedicated to the team’s strength and conditioning, mostly pictures. Joe Tereshinski's face is the first you see.

- The two pages dedicated to media coverage of the team (basically, players being interviewed and pictures of media personalities) has a startling omission: I believe Georgia is the only program in America that doesn’t get Erin Andrews on this page. (Mark Schlabach, Bill Shanks, Andy Johnston and Zach Klein – but no Erin Andrews?)

- There’s one page that highlights the walk-ons that have made it at Georgia. Verron Haynes is the most notable, along with J.T. Wall and Billy Bennett. (There might be room for Blake Sailors on here eventually.)

- A page extolling the virtues of Athens notes that Rolling Stone rated it as having the nation’s hottest college music scene, and Sports Illustrated rated Athens second overall, behind Madison, Wis., for the best college sports town.

- Always my favorite page: Famous classmates, and “celebrity fans.” This year, the guide notes that two members of Lady Antebellum (the two guys, not the lady) are UGA graduates. It also points out that Samuel L. Jackson and Larry Fitzgerald attended Georgia games last year. And the big picture of Herschel Walker first refers to him as an MMA star, and then a former NFL great.

Other notable former UGA students: Ryan Seacrest and actors Kyle Chandler, Josh Holloway, Wayne Knight. Or put another way: The guy from American Idol, the coach in "Friday Night Lights," Sawyer from "Lost," and ... Helloooooo, Newman!

Caleb King speaks (sort of)

2011-07-12T11:46:00.002-04:00

Former Georgia tailback Caleb King has confirmed that he will enter the NFL's supplemental draft. Here's a full statement, released through UGA on Tuesday:

"My years at the University of Georgia have afforded me a tremendous opportunity to develop my skills on the field. Coach Mark Richt and the entire UGA football team and staff have been instrumental in my growth and development both on and off the gridiron. I have learned countless lessons that continue to mold me into a better individual and player. While I will miss my Bulldog family, I will continue to put my situation and future career in God's hands. I look forward to pursuing an opportunity at the next level through the NFL's supplemental draft and playing the game that I have loved since I was a young boy."

King's chances at being picked in the draft, which is supposed to be sometime this month, may not be great. But he wants to continue to play football, and transferring to a non-FBS school to play one year wasn't attractive to him, especially considering his academic situation.

Brent Benedict is headed to ...

2011-07-11T19:09:00.000-04:00

... Virginia Tech, according to a couple reports on Monday night.

Scout.com and Dawg247.com each reported that Benedict had committed to the ACC school. Benedict, who redshirted last year at Georgia, announced last month that he was transferring.

There had been some thought that Benedict, a native of the Jacksonville area, would eye Florida. But he instead will go to Virginia Tech, where he visited this past weekend. He told Scout.com's Chad Simmons he would be in Blacksburg in August.

Georgia players at SEC media days ...

2011-07-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

... will be seniors Brandon Boykin and Ben Jones, and sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray.

Here's a link to the full list of SEC players.

It's normal for teams to bring their top seniors on each side of the ball - which, arguably, are Boykin and Jones. It also helps for the player to be well-spoken: Boykin is a journalism major (and as we all know, journalism majors are smart beyond belief), and Jones is a bit more comfortable around the media than (God love him) Cordy Glenn.

And teams also tend to bring their top player, or at least the one to draw the most interest from media members. Last year it was A.J. Green, and this year it's Aaron Murray. Of course it was at media days that the story about Green's NCAA issue broke, so let's hope for Murray's sake that being the wild card choice to media days isn't some sort of Madden-like jinx.

Georgia will run the media gauntlet on the middle day, Thursday, along with Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee.

Another note on King

2011-07-10T22:16:00.002-04:00

According to a source close to Caleb King, the now-former Georgia tailback has decided to enter the NFL supplemental draft. An announcement should come soon from King, who has one year of college eligibility left.

King was ruled academically ineligible on Friday, cutting short his career before the beginning of what would have been his senior year.

The date of the supplemental draft has not been announced yet. But the NFL has said it will go forward with the event despite the lockout.

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor announced last month that he was entering the draft. If a team selects a player, it forfeits its selection in that round during the following year's April draft; in other words, if a team were to pick King in the seventh round, that would be considered its seventh-round selection in 2012. (But King's career can start right away.)

There have only been 40 players selected in the supplemental draft since its inception in 1977. Past supplemental picks have included Bernie Kosar, Brian Bosworth, Cris Carter and Steve Walsh.

Analysis: Crowell was always The Man, but UGA still needed King

2011-07-08T17:07:00.002-04:00

The temptation is to say the departure of Caleb King isn’t a big deal. It was only a matter of time before he messed up again. He wasn’t going to start. He wasn’t that good anyway.

But I do think it’s a big deal.

The transfer of Washaun Ealey, granted that was lesser news. After everything that happened with him, his departure was a fait accompli. I saw that as the Georgia football coaches essentially making their choice between Ealey and King: One would depart, the other would stay to be the veteran presence next to Isaiah Crowell.

Now, it’s Crowell, and … well, hopefully he’s really, extremely, very good.

Don't worry, we’re not forgetting about Ken Malcome and Carlton Thomas. The former has a chance to play a lot too, given his size and speed. But Malcome was only fourth on the depth chart after spring practice, behind walk-on Brandon Harton. He has a ways to go in the eyes of the coaches. As for Thomas, he has to be more of a change-of-pace back, given his size.

King’s departure also means the team is sorely lacking in the depth department. After a spring scrimmage, we media hacks all kind of laughed when the UGA staffers brought Harton around to talk to us, figuring he’d be another spring flash-in-the-pan. But now the 5-foot-6 former track star is one of the first fallback options in case of injury. So is Wes Van Dyk, another walk-on, as well as fullback Zander Ogletree.

Another option is to move Richard Samuel back to tailback. But if Todd Grantham thinks Samuel can contribute on defense, even as a backup, the thinking is he won't be moved back to tailback just to be a backup to Crowell.

So this is why Friday was not a good day for the Georgia football program. King may have made some boneheaded decisions – like his arrest last fall for a failure-to-appear charge – but he wasn’t a team cancer. Teammates like Christian Robinson and Orson Charles posted supportive messages on Twitter after King’s news. Mark Richt started the summer by talking about how "dependable" King had become.

In person, I always found King to be an engaging interview. He was a superstitious, almost eccentric personality: Always wanting to be interviewed in the same spot in the hallway, and claiming to take three showers before each game.

His presence also would have been valuable to Crowell and the team. As a senior, his advice couldn’t have hurt. He was also the team’s best pass-blocker, and averaged 5.4 yards per carry last season.

Sure, Crowell was almost certain to be the main tailback anyway. Richt had been telegraphing that since Feb. 2. But the coaches would have preferred to have a veteran there as competition with King, or as part of a tandem.

Once Crowell signed, there probably wasn’t enough room for Ealey and King. That’s why it wasn’t surprising when one left, and it was less of a surprise whAnaen it was Ealey. But now both are gone. That wasn’t what Richt or Georgia wanted.

The Bulldogs might end up being just fine. Crowell could live up to all his hype. The patchwork offensive line could pull through.

But as things stand right now, Georgia is not a better team without Caleb King. That much, at least, should be clear.

It's official: Caleb King academically ineligible

2011-07-08T14:38:00.006-04:00

And then there was Isaiah Crowell.

UGA has confirmed that tailback Caleb King is academically ineligible and will not return to the team in 2011. Thus ends a very checkered career for the former five-star recruit from Greater Atlanta Christian - and pretty much ensures that Crowell will have the spotlight on him when Georgia opens against Boise State.

Washaun Ealey and King were the Bulldogs' top two rushers the past two seasons, but each had a rocky 2010. Now both are gone.

"It's unfortunate Caleb will not be with us this season," head coach Mark Richt said in a statement. "We wish him the best in whatever he decides to do; however, we have to move forward and this will provide more opportunities for others to step
up."

The release added: "King indicated he will consider the options available to him before
making a decision on his future plans."

Richt was making calls on Friday to help King for his next destination, but that won't be college, according to a source close to the player.

Earlier on Friday, King sent out a cryptic tweet:

“Somethings u cant control, and what seems bad right now might turn out good. Too all of my homeboyz hold UGA down don't let them brake u.”

According to two sources, King had the choice early in the summer of either transferring to a non-FBS school, or trying to make it through summer school classes. He chose the latter, but on Friday he discovered he was no longer eligible to play in the fall.

Friday was the first day of summer session II.

King rushed for 430 yards last year, leading all tailbacks with a 5.4 yards-per-rush average. But he missed five games: The Liberty Bowl, when he was academically ineligible; he was suspended two games last year after a traffic-related arrest; he was charged with failure-to-appear in court in Walton County, after incurring a speeding ticket there in June. King also missed two games with an ankle injury.

Besides Crowell, the five-star recruit from Columbus, the other options are redshirt freshman Ken Malcome, and junior Carlton Thomas. The only tailback with any experience is Thomas, who has 364 rushing yards and two touchdowns over the past two seasons. But he's only 5-foot-7, and thus is probably more a change-of-pace back.

Malcome (6-foot, 218 pounds) nearly played last year because of Ealey and King's various issues. But the coaches opted to save the redshirt. He dealt with a hamstring injury for much of spring practice.

Ealey announced he would transfer after the spring semester, when for a brief time he was suspended from team activities. Ealey's departure was a mutual one, but Georgia coaches had hopes for King. In late May, Richt called King "dependable", adding:

“People can have a debate on how effective he’s been. But when it comes to knowing what to do, when it comes to pass protection, when it comes to doing the things that we’re asking him to do, he does a good job.”

As for King, he sounded optimistic in the spring, when he got the bulk of the carries. He said he had exchanged messages with Crowell and was looking forward to mentoring him, and finishing his own career strong.

“Fifth year senior, that’s crazy. I never thought I’d be here this long,” King said. “I’m motivated. I’m focused. Because it’s my last year. One and done.”

As it turned out, his career is over, at least at Georgia.

More watch list honors: Does it mean much?

2011-07-08T10:33:00.001-04:00

The offseason attrition may mean depth issues for the Georgia football team, especially on the offensive line. But if you go by the preseason awards lists, the team still has plenty of potential star power.

Two Bulldogs - tackle Cordy Glenn and guard Ben Jones - are among the 65 players on the watch list for the Outland Trophy. That award goes to the nation's best interior lineman (in other words, O-line and D-line.) Here's the link to that release and full list of players.

Cornerback Brandon Boykin is also among 87 players on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski award, bestowed upon the nation's best defensive players. Here's the link to that release and full list.

Georgia players have been on a slew of other watch lists released this week, all for positional awards: Punter Drew Butler, kicker Blair Walsh, tight end Orson Charles, receiver Tavarres King, quarterback Aaron Murray and safety Bacarri Rambo.

So let's try to answer the intriguing headline to this blog post: As we pointed out before, the watch lists are really just a chance to get some advance publicity for the season. Players will fall on and off from consideration. And there are, for example, 17 SEC players on the Nagurski list, so that should tell you the level of competition Georgia faces this season.

But it's a hopeful sign for Georgia that:

a) it's quarterback is highly-rated not only at his position, but overall on offense.
b) three of his receivers are nominated, considering all the concerns left by the departures of A.J. Green and Kris Durham.
c) two offensive linemen are highly-regarded, reflecting that if the Bulldogs can shore up the other three spots and keep injuries to a minimum, all is not lost up front.

That's just the offense. And we already knew the special-teamers and Boykin would be highly-regarded. Rambo has been inconsistent, but he's done enough to be noticed entering his junior year.

The front seven hasn't seen any nominees yet. Maybe those are forthcoming, maybe not. But we know there are questions there:

a) Christian Robinson is a good leader, but is he an all-SEC type of inside linebacker?
b) will Alec Ogletree be a good fit at inside linebacker?
c) will Jarvis Jones (assuming he's on the field the first two games) be a playmaker?
d) just how much of a difference will John Jenkins make at nose tackle?

(OK, so I turned a few rather innocuous awards into a full-fledged analysis of the Bulldogs entering the 2011 season. But hey, there ya go.)

If you had to go by the watch lists, I'd say the quick, one-sentence analysis for Georgia football in 2011 is ... "Lots of questions, but still plenty of hope."

Summer fluff: Ranking the rankings

2011-07-07T09:42:00.003-04:00

The doldrums of summer means there’s not much news in the college sports world. Of course this is a major problem for content-hungry college football fans and the media that serves them.

The result is an onslaught of rankings, lists and general fluff that can be safely written from the couch of a sportswriter’s beach house. And it’s a good lead-up to the actual college football season.

We here at Le Blog are not immune. Therefore, our latest ranking: A ranking of the best preseason rankings:

10. Predicted division standings: Good ol’ reliable filler. Sparks discussion and argument. One tip for the aspiring list-maker: If you want to rack up the web hits, don’t predict what you think will ACTUALLY happen. South Carolina to win the East? Bo-ring. But also don’t be outlandish. (Sorry, Vanderbilt). So go with Georgia or Florida to win it – we suggest flipping a coin – and whichever one you don’t pick first, pick last. Georgia and Florida have the most fans in the division, so that’s the best way to increase your unique visitors number. Next, do a separate set of predictions each week leading up to the season to cover all scenarios, so as to later be able to proclaim that you called it back in the preseason. (It works for Mel Kiper.)

9. SEC coaching rankings: This is a favorite of yours truly. Of course every coach is actually pretty good at his job, or else he wouldn’t have earned a job coaching in the best conference in America. But it’s really fun to say just how good they are by placing them high, or infer that they’re an idiot who couldn’t dress themselves by ranking them 10th or below. Yes, it’s always a problem when someone is a new coach you’ve never heard of (like James Franklin), who has never in fact coached a game. Just put them at No. 8 or No. 9, which is always a safe spot. It’s also a problem if you have to actually cover the coach on a daily basis. If that’s the case, just tell Mark Richt it was your editor’s call, that you really wanted to put him No. 1, no really, trust me coach, why are you walking away from me coach …

8. Best players rankings: Much like the coaching rankings, but takes a bit more research, and because of pesky facts – such as position differences – is even more subjective. (But don't worry about the subjective thing. Objectivity is passe'.) Another free tip for young writers: It’s boring to say obvious things like “Marcus Lattimore is good,” or “Aaron Murray is one of the SEC’s top returning quarterbacks.” Instead, say, “Marcus Lattimore will rush for 3,000 yards on the season’s FIRST SERIES” and “Aaron Murray is not only the SEC’s top quarterback, but he’s also a Heisman candidate, and Mitt Romney’s main competition for the GOP nomination.”

7. Surprise player rankings: Do you actually have a real opinion on which players will come out of nowhere, or the doghouse, to be a major factor this season? Of course not, but who cares! Just pick a few players who aren’t being mentioned much and point out reasons they could emerge as factors this year. Don’t worry a few months later when the player is still buried on the bench, or fumbles five times in one series or is in jail. You were just throwing something up against the wall, and that’s what’s important.

6. Coach-on-the-hot seat rankings: Always a good way to spark discussion. Mark Richt and Houston Nutt will be the top two this year, in some order. Les Miles is always on this list, no matter what. Always point out that Miles’ career winning percentage is fantastic, but he also eats grass and often coaches like he’s been smoking it too. It also helps to throw in a wild card, like Nick Saban (hasn’t won a national championship in over a year) or Will Muschamp (currently winless as a head coach).

5. Ranking the schedules: This one tends to make my head hurt. It’s easier just to figure out who has the most home games, or doesn’t have to play at a preseason top 10 team. You could get all statistical and break it down like Phil Steele. But unless you’re Phil Steele, that probably isn’t a good idea. So it’s best to take a good, hard look at all 12 teams and their 12 games, make a grid, cross-check opponents, and then rip off Phil Steele’s list and proclaim it your own.

4. Recruiting rankings: Want to make a lot of money? Don’t have a journalism degree, or any actual journalism training? Good news! Just start calling recruits, and get penetrating quotes such as “I really enjoyed my trip to State U,” and start putting out lists of who’s doing the best on the summer recruiting trail. Then just sit back and smile.

3. Ranking the mascots: Fun list, and an excuse to post pictures of furry animals and live tigers. Any ranking that does not have Uga at the top will immediately result in an e-mail jihad by Georgia fans. As well it should.

2. Ranking the coeds: This usually waits until the season, when memories of tailgates and sun dresses are fresh. But an enterprising journalist will get a jump on it over the summer. These always tend to bring the most enjoyment and debate from readers, who all proclaim to have visited each school and made strenuous evaluations. Never mind how outrageously subjective it is to say that the girls at, say, Alabama, are better-looking than the ones at Tennessee, based on having been to a few football games there. Just go with it. This isn’t exactly a scientific endeavor. Also, if you have a significant other who reads your blog, rank their alma mater first.

1. Anything else creative: Believe it or not, some territory in this important area of fluff has not been mined. A few suggestions: Best secondary violations, top long snappers, teams that tweet the most … OK, people, get on it.

An addendum ...

2011-07-07T08:26:00.003-04:00

... to our Damon Evans story from last Sunday.

Evans has been hired as a consultant at Savannah State, which just fired its athletics director. The Savannah Morning News reports that Evans, fired a year ago from Georgia after his DUI arrest, has been "as a consultant to assess Savannah State’s athletics department."

Evans, 41, is currently working at the Markley Group in Boston. He would probably perform any consulting duties from afar for the Savannah school.

Savannah State, which has been racked by numerous problems through the years as it moved up to Division I, fired its athletics director after less than seven months on the job.

Recruiting update: Lonnie Outlaw and Jalen Fields

2011-07-05T11:44:00.001-04:00

There’s been plenty of focus on the recruits that could make an immediate impact at Georgia this season. For those who don’t mind looking even further ahead, there are also a couple that could make a big impact in 2012 – one on each side of the ball.

Jalen Fields and Lonnie Outlaw are each entering their sophomore seasons at Georgia Military College, where they were placed after signing at Georgia but failing to reach academic requirements.

Academics remain an issue for both, according to GMC head coach Bert Williams, who spoke about the two Bulldog recruits last month. But each is still on track to be ready to play for Georgia next year.

Fields is closer to being able to get in at this point, and they project him to graduate in March. Outlaw would be more of a summer transfer.

“They both had a good spring on the field and all,” Williams said. “Georgia liked what they saw when they were in there. Everything’s good there.”

Outlaw is a 6-foot-7 receiver, which sounds tantalizing. But Williams said he doesn’t think Outlaw is a “vertical stretch guy.” He can catch the 40-yard catch downfield just by virtue of being taller. But he would be most valuable on the fade routes.

“To me, he’s a guy that once you get about 30 yards from the end zone, I’d like to have him on the field,” Williams said.

Outlaw is a good blocker too, thanks to his size.

As for the 6-foot-5 Fields, he projects as an outside rusher, but whether that’s at linebacker or end hasn’t been decided yet.

“You’ll have to ask Todd (Grantham) for that one. In my opinion I don’t see him as a stand-up guy unless he’s a rush guy,” Williams said, meaning that Fields could be a weakside rusher. “I would love to have him at that weakside end. He’s fast enough to do everything you want to in a five-technique. And he holds up well enough inside, he could be a pretty good three-technique too.”

Fields weighs in at about 230 pounds now and can run “like a scalded dog,” as Williams colorfully put it.

“He’s got every tool to play a lot of things,” Williams said. “The biggest thing that he got over the hump with in the spring was playing every play with consistent intensity and focus with what’s going on. Because in the fall he was a feast or famine. He’d go in there and make a great play, and then he’d go in there and be a blocking guy. It was one of those things where we’ve gotta get you playing at a high level on every play. It’s not a laziness thing, it’s more of keeping focus like you’re supposed to.”

Murray on Maxwell award watch list ... and some other award list too

2011-07-05T10:45:00.002-04:00

If you’re not sponsoring a college football award, what’s your problem? What’re you waitin’ for?

Along with the multitude of other watch lists and trophies, there’s something called the College Football Performance Awards, and a bunch of Georgia players were named to those:

Aaron Murray is on the 40-man watch list at quarterback. Only three other SEC quarterbacks make the list.

Orson Charles and Aron White are among the 39 tight ends named to the watch list at that position. (Think the Bulldogs aren’t loaded at that position?)

Blair Walsh and Drew Butler, who should be on just about every watch list at their respective positions, were on the CFPA lists at kicker and punter.

Then there’s Brandon Boykin, who made the watch list both at defensive back and kick returner. And Bacarri Rambo also made the defensive back watch list.

So what are the CFPAs? The web site says it’s the “official website of college football’s most scientifically rigorous conferments.” So … there ya go.

A slightly more prestigious trophy is the Byron Maxwell award, bestowed annually on the nation's top player. And Murray made that list too, one of 68 on the initial watch list.

The idea of the watch list may be a bit silly; If a player doesn't make the first one it doesn't mean they can't play their way on it, as Cam Newton did in 2010.

But it makes for good preseason fodder, and shows that Murray is receiving a good deal of respect in the college football world.

One year later, Evans doesn’t want “to discuss the past”

2011-07-03T08:18:00.002-04:00

It’s now been a year since the events that resulted in the abrupt end of Damon Evans’ tenure as the athletics director at Georgia. Here’s my story from Sunday’s papers, and the following is the opening excerpt:

BOSTON - This is where Damon Evans works now. Amidst a conclave of financial buildings and historical landmarks, the man who once had everything, a world away and a year ago, now works in anonymity.

That’s the way he seems to like it.

When he walks around the downtown financial district in Boston, he isn’t likely to see anyone wearing a hat with a red or black “G” on it. He may find that refreshing, or it may remind him of his goal to expand the “G” brand.

Once, before it all came crashing down one night a year ago, Evans ruled over one of the most profitable, popular college sports programs in America. He is an alum of that school, Georgia. It was his dream job, he was young, and he had just received a big raise.

Now he works a couple of blocks down from the church where Samuel Adams helped plan the Boston tea party.

The back story on this is that I was going to be in Boston anyway on vacation, so I looked into whether Evans would be interested in speaking. Understandably he wasn’t.

We did have a brief conversation, and Evans was very polite and friendly. But it was clear he wants to move on.

He has remained in touch with people at Georgia, as the story goes on to mention. That includes his signature hire, men's basketball coach Mark Fox, who told me that Evans has called him to congratulate him after some big wins.

Just a reminder ...

2011-06-28T16:12:00.000-04:00

... That I'm on vacation through the end of this week.

I've had sporadic (at best) access to the web and even cell phone service over the past nine days - which actually can be a good thing, if you're trying to truly enjoy your vacation.

But I've got a window here of availability. All this info has been posted on the main web sites and published in the papers. But in case you haven't seen it:

- Brent Benedict, the redshirt freshman offensive lineman, has decided to leave the Georgia football team for what are being called "personal reasons." This was probably a bigger blow to the future of the line, although Benedict had a chance to start eventually this year on a very depleted line. Assuming he returned healthy from his serious knee injury, the highly-recruited Benedict had a good chance to contribute this year and start eventually.

In the meantime, Georgia's current projected starting lineup remains intact. (LT Cordy Glenn, LG Kenarious Gates, C Ben Jones, RG Chris Burnette, RT Justin Anderson.) Bendict had been listed as the backup right guard.

- The Ledger-Enquirer reported on Sunday on the potential eligibility issue with two of Georgia's bigger-name athletes: linebacker Jarvis Jones and top basketball recruit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Here's the link to the story, in case you haven't seen it yet. UGA followed up with a statement that it was aware of the issue, has contacted the SEC and NCAA, and the athletes will cooperate with the investigation.

It's hard for me to give an educated analysis at the moment, being on vacation and all. My initial response is that you probably don't have to worry about Jones and Caldwell-Pope having any permanent eligibility issues, as happened with Kentucky's Enes Kanter. But it could hit the football team hard if Jones has to sit out the Boise State and/or South Carolina games.

- The newest member of Georgia's football strength and conditioning staff is Macon's own Tony Gilbert. Here's the story.

- Former Mercer men's basketball coach Mark Slonaker, now serving as a game analyst for Georgia hoops games, is the new executive director of the Bulldog Club. Here's that story. Slonaker is good with personal relations, so it seems a good move.

That's it for now. I'll be back soon, and I hope everyone out there is getting their summer off to a good start.

Mailbag: Breaking down Boise State, the kickoff debate, season expectations, hoops and more

2011-06-16T13:35:00.006-04:00

I’ll begin the mailbag by saying a proper adieu, or at least adieu (to you, and you, and you) for a couple of weeks. It’s vacation time.

If events warrant I may check in, or someone at the home office may post something. Otherwise I have been ordered, upon penalty of intense pain to my upper body, to do minimal checking of the laptop and Crack-berry. Hopefully I can comply, because I’ve grown very attached to my upper body.

In the meantime, I’d like to wish everyone a happy summer, and thank you again for visiting the blog, reading the daily stories on the web and paper, following the Twitter feed, and all the crazy stuff a media member has to do these days. It’s been a good first year on the beat, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

On to the questions. The good news, if you're worried about suffering blog withdrawal, is this is so long it'll probably take you two weeks to get through. Enjoy:

1.) With Boise State having such a complicated Offense, do you see Georgia trying to stick with a base defense in the opener more than they would otherwise?

2.) In our Nickel set, who do you think will start on the Defensive Line against Boise?

3.) Did you receive a picture of Representative Weiner's Chief of Staff and do you think he should step down?
- Clinton

1) That may be too Jon Gruden-ish a question for me to field in June, so I thought I’d just ask my friend Brian Murphy of the Idaho Stateman – and formerly of the Macon Telegraph – for a quick primer on the Boise State offense. Here’s what Brian wrote back:

“What makes the Boise State offense complicated is its variety - lots of shifts and motions, different personnel groupings, creativity in plays and play-calling. The Broncos will line up with three tight ends and two running backs on one play and five wide receivers the next.

TCU's defense has given it the most trouble over the last few years - and the Horned Frogs run that 4-2-5 defense with lots of speed. Historically, they've had trouble with odd fronts where you can bring blitzes from many angles. Utah State played without any down linemen a few years ago, putting six or seven guys near the line of scrimmage so Boise State didn't know which ones were rushing. Boise State's response in those situations has been to run the ball effectively.”

So short answer, Clinton, is that I’m sure Todd Grantham will study what’s worked against the Broncos, and if Brian is right, he’ll focus in on that TCU tape.

2) I expect the starting D-line to be John Jenkins, DeAngelo Tyson and one of Abry Jones, Derrick Lott or Kwame Geathers. Whether they’ll mix that up much in the nickel, I don’t know.

3) I did not receive a picture from the esteemed Congressmen, but that may be because I’ve blocked direct-message capabilities on my Twitter account ever since I got those suggestive messages from this guy.

In what way do you think we match up well with Boise State? In what ways do we match up poorly with them?
- Ian Black

Boise State’s top returning player is QB Kellen Moore, who will be a Heisman Trophy candidate. And the Broncos always seem to find steady, fast receivers who can get open. I would say that will be a challenge for a Georgia secondary that is high on experience, but needs to show it can be consistent.

The Broncos also return most of their defensive line, which was one of the best in the country last year. So that figures to be an issue for the Bulldogs and their questionable offensive line, and freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell.

The Broncos also return a strong offensive line and starting tailback Doug Martin, who averaged six yards a carry last year. So John Jenkins and that Georgia front seven better be improved right away.

But Georgia should match up well is their passing game against Boise State’s secondary, which lost a couple experienced starters. That of course assumes a big game out of Aaron Murray, and the Bulldogs finding some options beyond Orson Charles and Tavarres King.

Going by all that, you’d make Boise State the favorite. What Georgia has to hope is that it’s natural size and speed advantages will win out. But as teams like Virginia Tech have found out, you can’t just out-physical Boise State. Given what’s essentially a home-field advantage for the Bulldogs, however, it still qualifies as a toss-up.

I'm 23, graduated from UGA in 2010, but am a grad student living in Austin, Texas right now. I'll be going to GA-FL this fall and at least one other game. At this point, I am trying to decide between Boise or SC. Pros for Boise: night game, national interest, the dome, cool out of conference game, literally cool as in temperature, opening game, unique experience. Pros for SC: SEC action, SC is SC, Athens, Sanford, between the hedges, and bourbon bombs, downtown before/after, the incoming freshmen class... Cons for SC: HOT, the score will prob be something like 12-9 if history has taught us anything. Taking these things into consideration and anything you feel like I've missed, give me some advice on which game to attend.
-ATXDawg

I’ll throw this out there for others that would like to chime in. One thing I’d consider if I were you is game times: Since Boise is at 8 p.m., would that tend to ruin your ability to celebrate/mourn the result, or would you prefer having the entire day to hang out in Atlanta? And with SC being at 4:30, you would have the night to celebrate/mourn, if that floats your boat.

Do you think UGA will ever retire David Pollacks #47 jersey? Three-time All- American among the many awards and accolades.
- Ed

They might down the road. For now, Ray Drew will be wearing that number. The thing about retiring numbers at a place like Georgia is so many good players come through that you’ll eventually run out of numbers. I’m not saying they shouldn’t do it, or that David Pollack wouldn’t qualify, but you do have to be careful.

Any news on a new Uga? Is there any thought that there might be a 'secret' grand unveiling at GA Dome this September?
- Ben

Here’s my story from a couple weeks ago. Short version: Sonny Seiler says the new Uga will likely be unveiled either midway or late through this season.

1) What's the latest on a Guns N Roses reunion tour?

2) What confirmed out of conference series do we have for baseball in 2012?

3) Are all of Georgia's men's basketball signees on campus?
- UGAdawwg34

1) A quick news search reveals that the Guns N Roses are planning on performing in Peru in October. So, there you go. Circle your calendar. If you need to know anywhere to stay, I lived there for a couple years as a teenager, so I’ll try to hook you up.

2) I checked with UGA spokesman Christopher Lakos: There will be the usual three games with Georgia Tech (home, away, Turner Field), and a home-and-home with Clemson. Beyond that, nothing’s set. But the 2012 schedule won’t be as tough as this year’s, when there were 37 games against ranked teams. Lakos points out that Georgia played the fewest home games of any SEC team this year (28), and expects it to be more like 34-36 next year.

3) I haven't heard any whispers about potential issues with any of them. But you never know; last year the Cady Lalanne thing came out of the blue in August. (The NCAA declared the 6-8 forward academically ineligible and he ended up at UMass.)

Could Luke Fickell’s press conference been any worse and why would “The Ohio State University” let him embarrass himself like that?
- Shawn Wilkes

It seems like there’s something fundamentally wrong in Columbus right now, and the place needs what I’ll call an “attitudinal overhaul.” When even Kirk Herbstreit has to move because of fans …

Seth, can you give us injury updates? Speaking of eliminating kickoffs, how is TJ Stripling faring in his rehab? Fwiw...count me as someone against the idea of eliminating them.
Thanks, MauiDawg

Last I heard, Stripling and Dexter Morant were still a bit questionable to be 100 percent by the start of preseason. We'll get an update before camp opens.

Ironically, Stripling's season-ending nasty injury happened on ... wait for it ... a kickoff. This isn't aimed at you, MauiiDawg, because you didn't put it this way. But I'm a bit turned off by the macho attitude some people have on the kickoff issue: I'd challenge them to make their snide remarks ("What's next, getting rid of tackling, or playing flag football?") in person to a guy like Greg Schiano, who's motivated purely by his player's life-threatening spinal injury.

I'm not pushing the issue because I'm necessarily in favor of it. I just think it deserves some study and consideration, and merits some national discussion. Dismissing it out of hand is very close-minded. Look, I think kickoffs are an exciting play too. But they're on average four or five plays a game, out of more than 100. If they were eliminated, I'm sure the game would survive.

What do you think is more beneficial to the team: Having the Boise St game inside and conserving some legs for the mid afternoon SC game or would it have been better to have a game in the humidity and heat to help get the team to get in "game shape".

I also think it would be interesting to see what the freshmen class measured in at vs what the recruiting services had them listed at.
- Dawgjammin

That's actually an interesting first question I haven't heard discussed much: Will playing an indoors game help Boise State, rather than if it had to start out in the heat and humidity of the South? I'd guess so. ... That said, on Georgia's side I don't think there will be much carryover to the SC game, at least not in the terms you mention.

Georgia hasn't released any official measurements on the freshmen yet. But those numbers from high school to college always fluctuate, and not necessarily because of the recruiting services. They're getting them most of the time from the high schools, some of whom are sticklers for accuracy, some of them, not so much.

With all of the talk regarding Coach Mark Richt's job being at stake, I have started wondering what scenarios could be in play at the end of the season if the bulldog football team shows another underwhelming performance. Should Richt get the boot, what would be our chances of claiming Kirby Smart as our next head coach? Furthermore, is Smart valuable enough to pursue even if Richt posts a 9 win season (the number I've often seen projected as a requirement to save Richt's job)?
Thanks for your thoughts!
- T Baker

I’m sure Smart’s name is going to come up a lot if the job comes open. And if Will Muschamp has a good year at Florida, that may make a Smart hire seem more palatable.

That said, there’s a long time between now and any decision like that. From my discussions with Greg McGarity, and some other people at UGA, my educated guess is that if there’s reasonable improvement and hope for the future, Richt will be back for a 12th season.

I also don’t think you can put a specific number on the win total: Is nine wins enough if it includes blowouts to Florida and Georgia Tech and close wins over bad teams? Is eight wins NOT enough if it includes a win over Florida, and close losses to good teams?

Can someone do an open records request to see what school wanted to hire Brian McClendon? I am dying to know who wanted that guy.
- Bryan Grantham

By the way, it’s spelled Bryan – ironic mistake for you to make there. :)

McClendon’s a young assistant and a good recruiter. Obviously the production at running back last year wasn’t good, but it’s debatable how much (if any) of the blame lies with the position coach. Whatever fans think of McClendon, at least two schools at least thought a lot of his talents: One school that wanted to hire him, and Georgia, which anted up to keep him. (And no, the info on which other school was not available on the Open Records Act request.)

Who you got winning the U.S. Open?
- Jake

Russell Henley? I really don't know. As I write this the U.S. Open is on and I still haven't watched a second of it. Without Tiger, sorry, my interest is almost nil. That’s too bad because it’s going on at Congressional, near where I grew up in Maryland. But no, I’ve never been to Congressional, much less played it; I didn’t exactly grow up in that social strata.

By the way, in case no one's seen it yet, here's the funny (if you think so) golf video featuring Bubba Watson and friends. You might find it very disturbing.

Seth, What do the players think are the two most important things or areas they need to improve to compete at a championship level?
- Ant123

That specific question hasn’t exactly been put to them. But based on interviews since the end of last season, the emphasis has been on locker room chemistry and conditioning. As for actual on-the-field stuff, I think players would agree with the obvious answers: Running game and overall defense.

And since those are the obvious areas of concern, I'm sure the passing game and special teams will be the areas that actually end up being a wreck.

Just kidding. (Probably.)

Every day reader, here. Whenever you are able to speak with players again, I thought it'd be cool to know why some guys wear the number they do. Some guys are supersticious or like to honor their favorite player growing up, etc. I think that'd be a good idea for a quick story or blog post when you get the chance.
- Thanks, Van

Sure thing, Van. I’ll put it on the list.

Seth, what is going on with UGA Football Recruiting?
We seem to be either late in offering (and missing out) or missing on many top athletes in the state? I know we signed a big class last year but how many are we signing in 2012?
Are you planning on a doing a feature on the strength program and its progress?
- George Pierce

Actually, the recruiting got a lift last weekend. Here’s the link to that blog post. Georgia now has a couple four-star commitments, but the biggest targets remain out there. The Bulldogs have the same amount of commitments (10) as they had this time last year.

As for the strength program, here’s my story from January. I’ll probably check in again during the preseason, but as I’ve said before, the next test is when they actually start playing games. I know players have been reporting (through tweets and interviews) that the summer workouts are leaving them exhausted, and I’m sure that’s a good thing. But Joe Tereshinski will be the first person to tell you that’s the way it should be.

Bigfoot, real or fake?
-Dawgnotdog

Fake is too harsh of a term. Myth, maybe?

Look, I want these things to be real. I want to believe in the Loch Ness Monster, aliens, and ghosts. Or at least ghosts that never haunt me. And I’m sure we’re not alone in this universe. But I just gotta think there would be more evidence, right?

That said, a good friend of mine who claims to have psychic powers (and I have no reason not to believe her) swears that a certain downtown Athens bar is haunted. I will protect that establishment’s identity, but for what it’s worth the owner of that bar has also experienced paranormal activity there. So, yeah, there’s one place you won’t see me patronizing at night.

Is there any chance that UGA will field a men's varsity soccer team any time soon? With the talent pool that exists in the metro Atlanta area I think we could field a very competitive team in a reasonably short period of time.
- Joe, Athens GA

There hasn’t been any mention of it lately from any powers-that-be. I’ll ask Greg McGarity if it’s under consideration, but starting a program from scratch would take a few years of run-up. And I’m sure they’d have to look at Title IX restrictions.

That said, I do find it curious that Georgia has neither a wrestling or a men’s soccer program – normally schools have one or both. So I have to imagine Title IX isn’t a HUGE factor.

The bigger problem may be that the SEC doesn’t have a men’s soccer league, so where would Georgia compete? South Carolina and Kentucky are in Conference USA for that one sport, and I always found that strange, but also an impediment (when I covered USC-East) towards the sport getting a big following. Fans want to see you competing against your traditional rivals. Maybe if Florida and Georgia Tech started men’s soccer programs, Georgia would follow suit.

I know June predictions are like appendices, everyone's got one but they're mostly useless, but I was just wondering what your honest prediction is. You can do a best case and worst case scenario if you'd like. Please explain where you see losses. Thanks!
- Jeff Ostensen

This actually sounds like a good blog idea for July, when it’s even deader, and I hate to shoot my wad on that. But since you asked nicely:

Best-case scenario: Georgia shoots out of the gate and beats Boise State and South Carolina, which sends the team on a confidence-infused hot streak. And there’s no game on the schedule that jumps out at as a sure loss: Not even Florida. (Hey, I’ve been there when Georgia won in Jacksonville, so I can believe.) I’m not going to sit here and predict an unbeaten season, but it’s fair to say the Bulldogs have the talent to win every game on their schedule, but enough major questions (offensive line, defense) to prevent predicting that. So 10-2, with the most likely losses coming from Boise State, South Carolina, Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech.

Worst-case scenario: Georgia loses its first two games, and it breaks down from there. The Coastal Carolina game in Week 3 provides only a minor restoration of confidence, and is immediately made worse with a loss at Ole Miss. If this were to happen, I would expect the freshmen would basically take over the team, at least as far as playing time, as the coaches empty the bag of tricks attempting to save the season (and their jobs). In a worst-case scenario, only the Coastal Carolina and New Mexico State games are sure wins, but Georgia would still be an even bet to win at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and beat Auburn and Kentucky at home. So, worst-case record: 4-8.

Knowing full well that Jonathan Taylor more than likely won't play baseball again (although I will not say "never"), I was wondering if the Texas Rangers intend to make good with their drafting of JT and hire him in some capacity within the organization, perhaps in the scouting department? Or was his drafting for nothing more than P.R. points for the organization?
- Stuart

I checked with Christopher Lakos on this too, and he hadn't heard anything new. But even I'm not cynical enough to believe the Rangers were just doing it for P.R. reasons. Picking him in the 33rd round, rather than the 50th, means they probably have something planned, whether it's placing him on the 40-man roster for a day, giving him some sort of role, or something.

But even if they don't do anything more, it was still a great gesture, and they're to be commended for it.

What’s the latest on the NBA draft prospects Howard “Trey” Thompkins and Travis Leslie. Any projections on where they go? Haven’t seen either name on any draft show or draft board on the net.
- CK

The last couple mock drafts I’ve seen – on SI.com, ESPN and Draftexpress.com – don’t have either going in the first round. That’s a major drop for Thompkins, who was considered a surefire first-rounder when he left. So I guess the definition of “surefire” needs to be changed.

That said, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see either go in the first round, especially Thompkins.

Since most mock drafts do not have Thompkins or Leslie going in the 1st round, does it look like they should have stayed in school for another year?
- Riskadvisor

Yes. No. Maybe.

Really, we have to wait and see. NBA people like to say it’s all about your second contract. Lots of prospects have fooled teams into picking them in the first round, then not proven worthy and their careers ended quickly. Others have left too early, or stayed too long, and were drafted low, then had great careers.

Thompkins probably couldn’t have done much to help his stock by staying for his senior year. The reason he’s dropped is because he didn’t test well at the combine, particularly with his body fat.

Leslie was always taking a bigger risk, and hoping teams bank on his athleticism. Someone’s going to take a flyer on him, and I still wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the first round. But whether he’s in good position for that big second contract, I don’t know.

Most feel that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will step in in some sort of fashion and contribute some this coming year. Aside from him, which of four new bigs coming in (Florveus, Dixon, Cannon, and Djurisic) do you expect to make the biggest impact their first year in Athens?
- Mike

None of them are going to be expected to be impact players right off the bat. Nemanha Djurisic, the prep school kid from Montenegro, sounds like he could be more of a flex-wing player. So of those other three, I’d guess Florveus, but only because he’s a junior college kid. But really, the frontcourt will be up to the sophomores, Marcus Thornton and Donte Williams, at least at the outset.

1. What is your most oft used quote from Blazing Saddles? Mine..."We're gonna need a s**h-load of dimes."

2. Speaking of a movie with a sheriff, I haven't notice any arrests this year from the program. Is this luck or new strategies?
- Jesse Fortson

1) The dimes quote is very underrated, and one of my favorites. But since you specified “oft-used” I’d have to go with what I tell Archie the dog every time I let him out into the yard: “Now go do … that voodoo … that you do so well!”

2) Mark Richt – while being properly cautious that the good streak could end any time – said in Macon on Tuesday that he thinks the players know that the many arrests were related to the amount of losses. I thought that was an interesting statement.

Seth,
How many times have you been to bourbon street, general beauregards, and how many times have you been to power hour since you have been living in Athens
- PIOwe

I’ve never been to Bourbon Street, and from what I understand I might be significantly older than the average crowd in there. While I love downtown Athens, I try to make Pauly’s the extent of my visits to the college-age scene. That’s more for the benefit of the patrons than me.

I’ve been to General Beauregard’s a few times, and it’s a nice place. But I haven’t partook of power hour yet, either. Maybe in July I’ll try to gather up Gentry and Fletcher and dive into that.

Mark Richt, recruiting and the dangers of pocket-dialing

2011-06-16T09:34:00.004-04:00

We've all done it. Normally the penalty is just an unwanted conversation, or an embarrassing, unintended call to an ex-girlfriend, or just a good laugh.

In the case of Mark Richt and a Georgia assistant basketball coach, however, the so-called pocket texts, or sending a text when you mean to send an e-mail, result in having to report a secondary violation.

It happened this spring with two high-profile recruits: Jordan Jenkins in Richt's case, and Robert Carter with UGA men's basketball assistant Kwanza Johnson.

Here's how UGA described Richt's pocket call in a May 27 letter to the SEC. (The paragraph breaks are mine, to make reading it simpler):

“The violation occurred when our men’s football program Head Coach, Mark Richt, sent two text messages to a prospective student-athlete’s father on May 26, 2011. Specifically, Coach Richt sent two text messages to Mr. Ron Jenkins, the father of rising senior high school prospect Jordan Jenkins, inadvertently from his Blackberry.

"Coach Richt called Mr. Jenkins the evening of May 26th. Later in the evening Coach Richt received a text from Mr. Jenkins asking for camp dates. As Coach Richt did not have Jenkins’ cell phone number programmed as a contact, the text appeared to be from an unknown number. Coach Richt intended to text his Recruiting Assistant, Charles Cantor to identify the number. Coach Richt failed to send the final text to Mr. Cantor but instead replied to the original text from Mr. Jenkins.

"Immediately, Coach Richt realized the error and self-reported the violation to Eric Baumgartner, Associate Athletics Director for Compliance. Mr. Baumgartner later texted Coach Richt asking if Mr. Jenkins had replied to his impermissible text.

"Coach Richt attempted to forward Mr. Jenkins’ response to Mr. Baumgartner, but instead replied again to Mr. Jenkins. Coach Richt then self-reported the additional text to Mr. Baumgartner and eventually emailed Mr. Jenkins the camp dates.”

In the letter, UGA asked for "relief" from the standard two-week ban, citing the "inadvertent" nature of Richt's call, and that they were "informational" calls.

And here is what UGA reported to the SEC in an April 25 letter:

“Assistant Coach Kwanza Johnson was following PSA, Mr. Robert Carter Jr’s, Twitter account and saw the PSA post that he was out of school for the day. Since the men’s basketeball staff was together in a staff meeting, Coach Johnson decided to send the PSA an email asking him to call the staff.

“However, instead of selecting the email feature on his cell phone, Coach Johnson noticed that the SMS feature was used and a text message was sent at 10:45 a.m. Coach Johnson then sent a permissible email to the PSA at 10:47 a.m. The message that Coach Johnson sent to the PSA was, “No school today, huh? Hit me up. Coach Fox and I want to holler at you.”

“The violation was immediately reported by Coach Johnson after he realized the violation occurred.”

As penalty, UGA blocked itself from corresponding with Carter for 30 days, and precluded Johnson from calling any recruits for two weeks.

Anybody up for a mailbag?

2011-06-15T11:45:00.003-04:00

I have to form this into a question this time, because, well, it's summer and nothing much is going on. So maybe you don't have questions. Maybe you're taking some time off from football, Georgia athletics, or whatever. Maybe you're in Europe on vacation. Well, Europe or Early County, whichever you can handle.

In any case, yours truly is two days from my own two-week break. But it's been weeks since a mailbag, so I figure this would be a good time to throw open the satchel and see if anybody wants to throw any questions in.

If there's enough response, I'll post a mailbag before I leave. And as always, feel free to ask anything under the sun. Well, almost anything. Things I can't answer for various reasons:

- Where do we go when we die?

- What's wrong with the U.S. national soccer team?

- Why is "Jersey Shore" still a hit?

Anything else, fire away. Post a queetion below, or tweet at me, or email me at semerson@macon.com.

A note on the incoming freshmen

2011-06-14T14:22:00.002-04:00

MACON - Every signee that Georgia expected to be able to enroll this summer will do so, head coach Mark Richt said on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs signed 26 players in February, and the vast majority of them - including tailback Isaiah Crowell and junior college nose tackle John Jenkins - are on campus and have enrolled. Several recruits from south Florida, Kent Turene and Ramik Wilson, are on a different high school calendar, which is why they haven't arrived yet, according to Richt.

Another defensive tackle, Chris Mayes, will be going to junior college after not qualifying academically. Richt said the team knew that would be the case even before Mayes signed.

Asked if there was anybody else on the fence, Richt answered: “There’s another guy in the state of Georgia. We’re not getting into names or things like that. You guys can figure it out.”

That player is believed to be defensive back Devin Bowman, a defensive back from Ridgeland County High School. But Richt indicated he was still optimistic about everybody but Mayes.

“We expect everybody to be here,” he said.

Over-signing not a simple issue, but about 'integrity,' says Richt

2011-06-14T13:55:00.000-04:00

MACON - Mark Richt clearly wasn’t comfortable being the main voice against over-signing. It may have drawn praise from fans and media, but it put the Georgia head coach on the opposite side from most of his peers in the SEC.

So two weeks ago at the league meetings in Destin, Richt tempered his rhetoric on the issue, and supposedly voted with the 11 other coaches to keep the limit at 28 signees per class. The SEC presidents over-ruled them and whittled the limit down to 25.

The controversy may have receded, but Richt still has some thoughts. That said, he was hesitant again about imparting them on Tuesday, as he met the media at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Richt had been ruminating about larger issues in athletics, when he was finally asked about over-signing. The coach began by treading lightly.

“Lemme just say this. I don’t know if I should say this,” Richt said, looking over at Claude Felton, UGA’s associate athletics director for communications. “I shouldn’t say this. Keep my mouth shut.”

Then, clearly out of consideration for the media, Richt spoke anyway.

“Over-signing, I’ll just say this. You guys can figure it out: Eighty-five on scholarship. If 15 guys leave, how many do you have room for? Eighty-five you have on scholarship, and that’s the limit right? It’s not a trick question. If 15 guys leave, how much room do you have.”

Fifteen, a reporter finally answered.

“Thank you for being brave enough to answer that,” Richt said, smiling. “OK. How many are allowed to sign?”

Twenty-five.

“Is 25 more than 15?” Richt said. “So I don’t know if you catch my drift of what I’m trying to say.”

Is his drift that the rule should be more like the Big Ten, which ties it’s signing limits to the 85 overall scholarship limit, and not per class?

“No, I’m not saying the rule – all I’m saying is you can still over-sign at 25,” Richt said. “If you only have room for 15 and you sign 25 you still sign more than you’ve got.”

Then he got to his main point.

“The question is everybody’s integrity. That’s the question. Are we all gonna do things in the right way,” Richt said. “And I think everybody’s trying to. It’s not an easy thing to manage, it really is not. Because on signing day, if you sign right to the 85 number, by the time August rolls around, you might only have 79. You know what I’m saying? Because of the attrition that happens from the signing date to August. And that’s what everyone’s trying to figure out: How can we start the season at 85 and not over-sign.

“So it’s not as simple as maybe everyone wants to make it.”

Richt favors eliminating kickoffs

2011-06-14T12:52:00.003-04:00

Mark Richt is another coach who supports eliminating kickoffs, although he doesn’t fall fully in step with the proposal by Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano.

And one of Richt’s own Georgia players is in complete opposition to the proposal.

Schiano recently proposed that the kickoff – considered to be the most dangerous play in football – be eliminated altogether. Schiano suggests that it be replaced with a fourth-and-15 situation from the 30, with teams being given the option to punt or go for it.

The motivation for Schiano’s proposal stemmed from his player, Eric LeGrand, being paralyzed on a kickoff last year. Richt, who also had a player suffer a serious injury on a kickoff, is of a like mind.

“I think if it went to a vote, I would vote for no kickoff also,” Richt said Tuesday, while attending a media day for football coaches in the state. “I would just place the ball on the 23-yard line, or whatever it is, whatever the average has been. I’m sure defensive coaches would want it on the 18, and offensive coaches would want it on the 30.”

Richt recalled that when he started coaching he was in the booth and wasn’t involved in special teams. It was only when he moved down to the field that he saw how potentially violent a full-speed kickoff could be.

“Being up in the booth you just can’t sense the speed and the violence of the hits,” Richt said. “Then when I became the head coach at Georgia and now I’m standing on the sideline, and I’m watching it from me to you, it is violent, it is very physical. You’ve got a bunch of guys that can run strong. They’re fast, and they’re not afraid. It’s kind of a manhood thing: No one’s gonna back down.”

The wedge block – where essentially two players block one – has already been outlawed, a move Richt called “wise.”

Richt said he hasn’t spoken to other coaches about the issue. But he remembered back to Decory Bryant, whose career ended in 2003 after a neck injury on a kickoff.

“We had a young man get hurt on that also, which ended his playing career. So I’m not all that excited about it,” said Richt, who also acknowledged how hard it would be to get people on board with the change. “It is an exciting play. It’s probably gonna be a bigger story than it should be. I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon, I don’t. It’d be a major, major rule change, no doubt.”

So major a rule change that it would certainly have a lot of opposition – including from Christian Robinson, the defensive captain for Georgia.

“I think that would just take away a lot of plays that are game-changing. It’s a dangerous sport,” he said. “Excitement. The first play. Everybody wants kickoffs. You don’t just line up and play. That first kickoff when the crowd’s going wild. And if you eliminate that you’re eliminating a part of the game.”

Robinson, a junior, pointed out that plenty of players who get to play on kickoff who wouldn’t otherwise. He played on the unit his first two seasons at Georgia.

“If they eliminate that, that’d be very disappointing,” Robinson said. “That’s how I got a bunch of my tackles. Coaches tried me on kickoff and I got more time on defense. So that’d be disappointing if they got rid of it. Because I know that’s where a lot of players get their confidence and get their start.”

Three Bulldog baseball players turn pro

2011-06-13T15:58:00.002-04:00

Three Georgia baseball players - OF Chase Davidson and pitchers Cecil Tanner and Ben Cornwell - have decided to sign contracts the week after being drafted.

Davidson was a 41st round pick of the Houston Astros. He hit .278 with seven homers and 31 RBI this season.

Tanner was a 23rd round pick of the Oakland A's after making just seven appearances this year, with a 2.45 ERA.

Cornwell was undrafted, but signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Mariners. he went 1-3 with a 5.68 ERA in 13 appearances this year, including seven starts.

Pitcher Matt Taylor signed last week after being a fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles.

Georgia is awaiting word on two other current players who were drafted and 11 signees. The highest pick, Zach Cone (37th overall) is expected to sign. The signing deadline is Aug. 15.

Adams to attend NCAA summit, and more on eliminating kickoffs

2011-06-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

A couple items for a Monday in June:

- NCAA president Mark Emmert is organizing a meeting of about 50 college presidents and chancellors to discuss the state and future of college sports. If that sounds far-reaching, then yes, it is.

Here's an excerpt from a press release/story about the event on the NCAA's web site:

Emmert, who began his term as the NCAA’s fifth chief executive officer in October 2010, is convening a presidential retreat to discuss continued expectations for student-athlete academic success, fiscal sustainability in Division I and fortifying the integrity of the enterprise, among other things.

Emmert did not identify a specific agenda, but he indicated discussions will be purposefully broad.

Georgia president Michael Adams is among the invitees, according to school spokesman Tom Jackson.

"It is on Dr. Adams’ calendar and he is committed to attending at the invitation of Emmert," Jackson said.

The proposed agenda will almost certainly include full-cost scholarships, which people in the NCAA appear to be rallying around. The above-linked story also indicates that the NCAA's enforcement and penalties will be under discussion.

And it also mentions that Division I is the only one to be sub-divided (between FBS and FCS), so that could mean the long-rumored breakup of Division I football powers, or it could even mean discussion of a playoff. But I'd bet on the former, not the latter.

- Here's another good look at the proposal to replace kickoffs, which is being pushed by Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. The web site Football Outsiders, run by Bill Connelly, breaks it down and suggests that the fourth-and-15 situation should actually be fourth-and-12.

Connelly, supportive of the change, writes:

Typically, Step One in having a "Serious Debate" on a topic, one that would constitute a major systemic (but, again, not spiritual) change, results in the old guard and opinion-makers saying something resembling "We need to have a serious debate about this topic (though I'm not even remotely willing to actually consider any changes)." Step Two is to have the serious debate. Clearly the Schiano proposal has reached Step One. Hopefully makes it to Step Two; it deserves consideration.

So far the idea, as far-fetched as it seems, hasn't caught on with any notable non-media members other than Schiano and Rogers Redding, the NCAA's director of officiating. Then again, it's the summer and a lot of coaches haven't been asked yet, or had much time to hear or consider it.

Recruiting: Where things stand after a busy 72 hours

2011-06-13T09:09:00.001-04:00

Georgia had a huge weekend on the recruiting trail, and finished with a flurry. So it’s a good time to take stock and see where the Bulldogs go from here.

Defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor committed on Sunday, according to various reports, becoming the highest-rated player on Georgia’s list thus far. The 6-foot-4, 317-pound Taylor is the third-rated player in Georgia, according to 247Sports, and the nation’s No. 36 overall prospect, according to Rivals.

James Deloach, who is Taylor’s teammate at Jenkins County High School, also committed. Deloach is a three-star prospect according to Scout.com, and projects as an outside linebacker. Earlier in the weekend, punter Collin Barber and fullback Quayvon Hicks gave Georgia commitments.

That gives the Bulldogs 10 commitments – the same number it had this time last year. There were eventually 16 by August, then not another one until December.

By my count Georgia will be able to sign 26, perhaps 27, per the new SEC restrictions. The new limit is 25, and the team can back-count early enrollees. It signed 26 last year, and back-counted two early enrollees, Christian LeMay and Chris Conley, so that leaves room for one extra spot.

And then the question is whether the new SEC rules allow you to not count signees who don’t enroll, such as Chris Mayes. If that’s the case, it has two extra spots for next year. (I’m seeking clarification from the SEC on the new rules.)

Much like last year, most of the big names remain on the board. Here are some of the main targets:

- OT John Theus, The Bolles School, Jacksonville, Fla. (Five stars)
- RB Keith Marshall, Milbrook High School, Raleigh, N.C. (Five stars)
- DB Geno Smith, St. Pius X School, Atlanta (Five stars)
- DE Jordan Jenkins, Harris County High School, Hamilton (Four stars)
- OLB Josh Harvey-Clemons, Lowndes High School, Valdosta (Four stars)

All of the above players are listed in the top 60 national prospects by Rivals.com. But the summer camps and actual high school season will cause a lot of fluctuation in national rankings, and all that kind of stuff. Remember, Isaiah Crowell's stock rose a lot from the summer to February, and few had heard of a junior college prospect named John Jenkins.

Since none of the commitments so far are offensive linemen, expect Georgia to make a big push at that position. (Vadal Alexander from Buford is another name to watch there.) It doesn’t plan on signing a quarterback this class. Receiver would also appear to be a need position, based on the current roster.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in this class,” said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “Coming off the Dream team, the momentum is certainly there.”

Comings and goings: Football updates

2011-06-11T12:52:00.004-04:00

The Georgia football team has seen a number of departures since the end of the season. The most recent was tackle A.J. Harmon, and he announced via Twitter this weekend that he was headed to Alabama State, an FCS school.

Here’s a quick summation of where everyone has ended up:

LB Marcus Dowtin .....TBA
RB Washaun Ealey .... Jacksonville State
WR Logan Gray ....... Colorado
OT A.J. Harmon ...... Alabama State
DE Jeremy Longo ..... Retired (injuries)
LB Nick Williams .....North Alabama

Meanwhile, Georgia picked up its seventh and eighth commitments for the 2012 class on Friday when Fullback Quayvon Hicks of Pierce County High School player is listed as a three-star prospect by Scout.com, and punter Colin Barner of Cartersville could be the replacement for Drew Butler.

Here are the other commitments:

WR C.J. Curry, Flowery Branch (Three)
DE Jalen Fields, Georgia Military College (NR)
DE Leonard Floyd, Eastman (Four stars)
K Marshall Morgan, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (NR)
WR Lonnie Outlaw, Georgia Military College (NR)
TE Ty Smith, Moultrie (Three)

Fields and Outlaw are two previous signees who would have (from my understanding) two more years of eligibility.

NOTE: No sooner did I post this blog did word come down of Barber's commitment. I updated the blog post accordingly.

Still chiseled, Herschel imparts his knowledge to his former team

2011-06-09T19:09:00.003-04:00

Herschel Walker has been hanging around the Georgia football program the past two days. He met with the team early Friday morning, and according to the Twitter updates of a few players left quite an impression.

"A 49 year old man just showed the #UGA football players how it's really done. And when I say 49 year old man, I mean Herschel Walker," wrote linebacker Brandon Burrows.

"Great First workout with Hershel Walker. "Georgia Means Something!" wrote linebacker Christian Robinson.

Walker also met the media on Thursday. I had meetings in Macon on Thursday and wasn't able to attend the media availability with my Twitter buddy Walker. But staff correspondent, friend to the stars and all-around swell guy Fletcher Page was there, and here's what he filed:

ATHENS – Herschel Walker couldn’t recall the last team he spoke to the football team at Georgia as he met with the media Thursday.

With his always-busy schedule as the primary culprit for his lack of trips to Athens, Walker finally found time to return to the football grounds where he famously dominated in the early 80s.

“To be honest, I was happy they asked me to come back,” Walker, who now trains and fights in mixed martial arts, said. “Sometimes I think people forget about you when you start getting old.”

Walker, 49, is just as physically impressive as he’s ever been. He says he’s still eating one meal a day, and is still pumping out a considerable amount of push-ups and sit-ups on a daily basis. He’s currently gearing up for a match in August.

“Doctors always want to test me,” he said, pulling his shirtsleeve up a bit to reveal his right biceps muscle. “But I’m not on steroids or anything. This is all natural.”
Walker spoke to the football team on Thursday night, and plans to work out with the players on Friday.

Flexing his modest charm as much as his biceps, Walker said he wanted to lift with the team “just to show that I can work out a little bit. I’m still in a little bit of shape,” he said in a profound understatement.

“My message is going to be more staying together as a team,” Walker, who won the 1982 Heisman, said. “One of the things people don’t realize, and I tell everyone one this and I probably shouldn’t, is that I hear about all these other teams at the first of the year. I don’t know who is going to be No. 1, Alabama or who else… The thing is, who’s better is who’s going to put it on out there right now in this hot sun …

"There’s going to be days like this one when it’s going to be extremely hot, but you’ve got to go out there and get it. I love working like this here. That’s what I want to stress to the guys is sometimes it’s not going to be happy times. But that’s OK as long as you get the time in. That’s what is going to make you a champion.”

Walker gushed about every sport at Georgia, even making mention of the program’s successes in softball and equestrian. He said he keeps up with the football team “more than people would think,” and said he hopes to attend more home games in the future.

“I watch a lot of UGA football,” he said. “This past year I was kind of upset because I’d say, ‘Oh Jeez, what’s going on.’ But I’ve kept up with UGA football all the time.”

What was going on was the worst season in 14 years at Georgia. The Bulldogs finished 6-7, losing in the Liberty Bowl to Central Florida.

While Walker casually avoided a question asking for specifics on why Georgia has stumbled, he did say, “I don’t know whether anything is missing.

“I’m happy with what’s going on,” he continued. “I think they had a great recruiting year. There’s no doubt Alabama and LSU are going to be strong again. But who knows what is going to happen. Like I said, the kids got to realize, hey when you step out there between those lines anything can happen. But if you think the guy across from you is better, you let him beat you. But I look at it like he puts his helmet on just like I did, and we can go at it. I think Georgia can do well.”

A Texas-sized gesture: Rangers draft Taylor

2011-06-08T15:35:00.002-04:00

One of the classier moves you’ll see occurred on Wednesday when the Texas Rangers used a pick in the middle of their draft to select Georgia’s Johnathan Taylor.

Taylor suffered partial paralysis in March after an outfield collision. The Rangers used their 33rd-round selection to pick Taylor. The draft lasts 50 rounds.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the Rangers selected UGA outfielder Zach Cone – the man Taylor collided with – with the 37th overall pick in the draft.

“I was pumped up when the Rangers told me they were thinking about drafting J.T., and then I got a call saying that they had drafted him," Cone said in a release by UGA. "I was already planning on going over to see him and now we can talk about the Rangers. This made my day, it's just awesome, and I'm so happy for him."

Georgia head coach David Perno called it a “classy move and a great gesture on the part of the Texas Rangers organization.” Perno said Taylor was in the middle of rehabilitation work when he called him after the draft pick was made.

“We’re all very proud of him,” said the player’s mother, Tandra Taylor, in the school press release. “It’s just amazing, and when he got the call, his face lit up, and we were all very excited. It was awesome news.”

Taylor is in the “Day Program” at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, after recently graduating from in-patient care. It’s uncertain that he’ll be able to walk again. He appeared in 117 games for Georgia, including 91 starts, with a career batting average of .312.

UPDATE: Texas Rangers director of scouting Kipp Fagg said drafting Taylor was "the right thing to do." His statement:

"We thought selecting Johnathan was the right thing to do. We would have drafted him either way, regardless of any other circumstances involving his injury or Zach's draft status. Our area scout in Georgia, Ryan Coe, has had a relationship with Johnathan since he was a high school player. The club has always liked his passion and ability as a player.

"A few weeks ago, myself and a couple other members of our department visited Zach Cone in Georgia in the course of normal pre-draft activity. We presented Zach with a Rangers jersey for Johnathan that had been signed by the entire club, and asked if Zach could deliver it to his teammate.

"As an organization, I think all of us are always trying to do the right thing in any situation. Taking Johnathan in the draft today, it was something we felt was right."

Summer polls: The SEC's top coaches

2011-06-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

Since it's summer now - maybe not on the official summer calendar, but on the football one - you're going to start seeing a lot of so-called fluff. And we here at The Blog That Needs Content, we're only happy to oblige.

Down in Destin last week, a Knoxville, Tenn., radio station asked media members to vote in a poll: Name the top six football and men’s basketball coaches in the league, and then the top 12 combined.

Here were the final results:

Football Coaches

1. Nick Saban, Alabama
2. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
3. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
4. Les Miles, LSU
5. Gene Chizik, Auburn
6. Mark Richt, Georgia

Basketball Coaches

1. Billy Donovan, Florida
2. John Calipari, Kentucky
3. Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt
4. Mike Anderson, Arkansas
5. Anthony Grant, Alabama
6. Mark Fox, Georgia and Rick Stansbury, Mississippi State

Top 12 Coaches Overall

1. Nick Saban, Alabama
2. Billy Donovan, Florida
3. John Calipari, Kentucky
4. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
5. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
6. Les Miles, LSU
7. Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt
8. Gene Chizik, Auburn
9. Mark Richt, Georgia
10. Mike Anderson, Arkansas
11. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
12. Anthony Grant, Alabama

Here's a link to the breakdown of votes.

And, because you know you're curious, here's how yours truly voted:

Football coaches

1. Nick Saban
2. Steve Spurrier
3. Bobby Petrino
4. Dan Mullen
5. Mark Richt
6. Les Miles

Basketball coaches

1. John Calipari
2. Billy Donovan
3. Kevin Stallings
4. Mike Anderson
5. Anthony Grant
6. Mark Fox

Top 12 coaches combined

1. Saban
2. Calipari
3. Donovan
4. Spurrier
5. Stallings
6. Anderson
7. Petrino
8. Grant
9. Mullen
10. Richt
11. Fox
12. Stansbury

A few quick bullet points:

- My criteria was basically this: If I wanted a coach for the next couple seasons, who would I want. So that allows for a bit of projecting (in the cases of Mullen and Grant) and reliance on track record (Spurrier, Richt). And it also includes what coaches did outside the SEC, such as Anderson's track record at Missouri, and Fox and Grant at mid-major schools.

- Yeah, I didn't pick Chizik, despite being a few months off winning a national championship. For the moment, I still see Gus Malzahn as the top coach on that staff, with Cam Newton and Nick Fairley also being a bigger difference than Chizik, whose career record is still just three games over .500 (27-24). But maybe he'll prove me wrong.

- Relative to each sport, it sure looks like the SEC has a deeper trove of basketball coaches at the moment. Thanks to turnover, the football coaches are heavy on unproven coaches (Derek Dooley, James Franklin, Joker Phillips) and previously successful coaches whose seats are getting hot (Richt, Houston Nutt and arguably Miles.)

All that said, while I did put a lot of thought into it, like everyone else I voted while on stakeout in a hotel lobby, possibly while hungry. So blame any major oversights on that.

A Bulldog makes the Open (again), and another gets drafted

2011-06-07T09:15:00.002-04:00

Russell Henley is headed back to the U.S. Open.

The Macon native, who finished tied for 16th in the Open last year, qualified again on Monday. It came in dramatic fashion, as The Telegraph's Jonathan Heeter reports.

Henley just finished his senior season at Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs reach the championship match of the NCAA tournament. Henley hasn't officially turned pro yet, but he already has one win under his belt: The Nationwide Tour's Stadion Classic, last month at the UGA golf course.

- Georgia had one current player picked on the first day of the MLB draft, and had a signee picked too.

Outfielder Zach Cone was selected with the 37th overall pick by Texas. That technically makes Cone a first-round pick, as the Rangers were picking in the so-called "sandwich" round, with a pick as compensation for losing Cliff Lee as a free agent.

“It was exciting to get the news on the plane, and it’s a great opportunity,” Cone said in a release by UGA. “I’m sure I’ll be talking with them in the next couple of days.”

Also in the compensation round, Bulldog signee Dante Bichette Jr. was picked by the New York Yankees, at 52st overall. The son of the former major league slugger, Bichette Jr. is a native of Orlando, Fla.

The draft continues Tuesday and Wednesday.

An interesting idea worth exploring: Eliminating kickoffs

2011-06-06T15:10:00.007-04:00

Rugers head coach Greg Schiano is thinking a bit out of the box. Okay, maybe not a bit. It's way outside the box. But I like it.

Schiano is proposing a novel concept, in reaction to the serious injuries that have resulted from kickoffs. One of Schiano's players, Eric LeGrand, was paralyzed just last year.

The proposal is to eliminate kickoffs altogether, as detailed in this story in the Newark Star-Ledger. While kickoffs are an exciting play, they have also proved dangerous, thanks to players rushing at each other and colliding at high speeds.

So what replaces the kickoffs? Punts, or at least a punting situation: In every situation where there would have been a kickoff (opening play of each half, after touchdowns and field goals) the team that would have kicked off will instead have it fourth-and-15 at its own 30. Most teams would punt it away, but maybe a team would go for it, just as they do when they try an onsides kick.

“It would lead to much less impact and fewer collisions, but it would still be a way to get the game started in similar field position.” Schiano told the Star-Ledger.

There are downsides: Kickoffs are an exciting play, and years of tradition will make it hard for the sport to make such a drastic change. And punts are boring. (Sorry, Drew Butler.) Some will also argue that injuries will happen regardless.

Still, my first instinct is to say I like the idea. Beyond the health benefits, it would create excitement: A fourth-and-15 vs. an onsides kick? Give me the shotgun formation and the dynamic quarterback.

Once upon a time, the 3-point shot in basketball would have seemed too ridiculous, too radical of a change. But it's been in effect for decades now and has probably helped increase the popularity of the sport.

Then again, with this proposed football change you're talking about taking away an exciting play, which is more difficult for people to embrace.

At a minimum, it would be great to see a smaller conference - someone at the non-FCS level, or the Sun Belt or WAC - try it on an experimental basis for a year, and see how it goes. That's a reasonable request.

So, what do y'all think?

UPDATE: Andy Staples of SI.com likes the idea too. And he writes a better column than me about it. The passage I like:

When I forwarded Politi's column for discussion on Twitter on Monday, plenty of Internet tough guys countered with the "Quit crying, it's a violent game" argument.

Those people probably wouldn't know a thigh pad from a Thighmaster. More than 100 years ago, President Teddy Roosevelt thought college football had grown too dangerous. While some wanted to ban the game, Roosevelt saw the value in a slightly-less-violent contact sport. So he called a summit of representatives from the football-playing schools and forced them to create rules to make the game safer. They banned the "flying wedge" and forced offenses to spread players across the line of scrimmage. They also legalized the forward pass, which probably brought howls from the purists.

With apologies to Teddy, Schiano's idea doesn't mollycoddle anyone. Quite the contrary. Of the recent rash of attempts to make football safer, Schiano's idea may be the first conceived with safety in mind that could make the game more interesting and make it more of a test of actual football skill.

And Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman actually wrote about eliminating kickoffs all the way back in October.

While the catastrophic injuries attract attention, nearly every kickoff leaves someone on the ground, grabbing a knee, an ankle or holding their arm.

“Basically, it’s a 70-yard blitz,” Boise State special teams coordinator Jeff Choate said. “The guys that do that (cover kicks) for us, a lot of them miss games, whether it’s a stinger or some other shoulder injury. Some things need to be examined in that reguard.”

I don't know if this constitutes a movement, but it will be interesting to see if the idea takes hold in more quarters.

This and that: Baseball, golf and football enrollees

2011-06-06T10:30:00.005-04:00

ATHENS - As you can tell by the dateline, I'm back in the classic city. And it's good to be back, even though it's scorching hot and there's no ocean nearby to jump in.

There's a river, and a bunch of man-made lakes, but they're gunky. The dog has no problem jumping in them, but I'm a bit more discerning.

In any case, we are pretty much arriving at the doldrums-of-summer stage, as the season has ended for a bunch of Georgia spring teams. That doesn't mean stuff isn't going on. But it's not very much stuff.

Your news update:

- The Georgia baseball team saw its season end very late on Sunday night, as it fell to Oregon State in the NCAA tournament regional final. The Bulldogs lost 6-4, and even if they had won would have had to beat the Beavers again on Monday night.

This was very unfortunate not only for the Bulldogs, but for snarky people out there with middle-school senses of humor who wanted to make puns based on Oregon State's nickname. Yours truly of course finds this very immature.

- The Georgia men's golf team almost won the national title, but was defeated by Augusta State, 3-2, in Sunday's final. Ironically, the championship came down to the final match, where UGA's Harris English was defeated by Patrick Reed, a junior who began his career at Georgia.

- Summer school starts this week, so most if not all of the football signees will be registering for classes. Schools don't usually announce that players have registered - i.e., made it into school - but the only player we know who isn't making it is Chris Mayes. The Bulldogs pretty much knew the defensive tackle wouldn't make it when they signed him. (And the new over-signing legislation by the SEC will probably discourage teams from doing so in the future.)

It's also important to note that a player enrolling at UGA doesn't necessarily mean they're in the clear. You still have to make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse, so any excitement about players getting into school is a bit premature.

That said, from what I know right now, there's no cause to be concerned about anybody else on the signee list.

The week that was: Winners and losers

2011-06-05T10:22:00.004-04:00

Here's my overview of the SEC meetings this week, which proved eventful and somewhat contentious.

The winners, in my opinion, of the week that was:

- Mike Slive
- The Georgia-Florida axis
- SEC basketball
- Steve Spurrier
- More cowbell
- Bobby Petrino

And the losers:

- Football coaches in general
- Nick Saban
- Houston Nutt
- Dan Mullen
- Graduate students
- The beach

The story (and here's that link again) has more details on each.

In other news, two things to watch in Georgia sports today:

- The baseball team, which staved off elimination on Saturday, faces Creighton in an elimination game on Sunday at 4 p.m. If the Bulldogs win, they'll face Oregon State at 9 p.m., and a win in that one would force a single game on Monday for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.

- The Georgia men's golf team is in the NCAA championship match, and faces Augusta State on Sunday. Here's the story on that.

Notes: SEC revenue up (surprise surprise), 7-on-7 crack-down, hoops

2011-06-03T21:11:00.002-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - Roster management wasn't the only item up for discussion at the SEC meetings. Here are my notes after Friday's meeting of the presidents and athletics directors.

I'll have one more report from Destin before the weekend is out. Otherwise, it's back to Athens and the grind.

Well, not a grind. Athens is a great town. It just doesn't have a beach.

Slive, SEC presidents have their way: A crackdown on over-signing

2011-06-03T14:50:00.001-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - The coaches voted one way. The presidents over-ruled them. And SEC commissioner Mike Slive showed, at least for today, that he really runs his conference.

At least that’s the read from Friday’s events, when the SEC school presidents voted – unanimously, according to Slive – to crack down on over-signing.

The annual limit on recruits was dropped from 28 to 25. The coaches voted unanimously against that two days before, according to South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.

But Slive, who put together a series of roster management proposals, won the day.

“They don’t agree with everything, but I think they are some things with which they do agree,” Slive said. “Obviously they had their own interests to pursue. I though the conversation was helpful. Some of the issues we were able to accommodate their concern, some of them we were not.”

The conference now plans to send an official request to NCAA president Mark Emmert to have the NCAA adopt a uniform standard. There had been concern about the SEC putting itself in a position of competitive imbalance, but Slive, whose league has won the past five BCS championships, was adamant.

“No one, no one wants to win more than I do,” Slive said. “But we don’t want to win at the expense of young people.”

Georgia president Michael Adams, a vocal opponent of over-signing, was beaming as he departed the meetings.

“It’s a good day to be in the SEC,” Adams said. “People did the right thing. … People voted right. This was a good high point for us, I think.”

The 25-limit wasn’t the only part of the package of proposals that passed.

- The conference will now approve all requests for medical disqualifications. If necessary, it will seek an outside opinion.

- The exemption allowing graduate students to transfer in and not sit out a year was also eliminated, although it won’t go into effect until later. That means former N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson would still be able to play at an SEC school this year.

Meanwhile, the league also announced that:

- Schools are now prohibited from hosting seven-on-seven events on campus. The move is an effort to combat what Slive called the “creep” of importance of seven-on-seven coaches and organizers, similar to AAU basketball.

- The SEC will distribute $220 million to its schools, an increase of 5.3 percent over last year. The $220 million is for the 2010-11 fiscal year, with most of it ($113 million) coming from football television.

UPDATE: My full story is now posted at Macon.com. You can read it at this link.

Live from Destin: Over-signing to be decided. Probably. Hopefully.

2011-06-03T10:06:00.003-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - The SEC's dominant, and perhaps overblown if you believe some coaches, issue is set to be ruled on Friday. And we'll be camped out at the Hilton waiting for the presidents and commissioner Mike Slive to reveal their ruling.

On another note, and a curious one, Mark Richt saw the need to clarify his public stance on Steve Spurrier's proposal to pay players $300 per game. Richt was not one of the six SEC coaches who signed on to Spurrier's proposal. He gave a fairly tame reaction at first on Wednesday, saying it was a nice idea. But UGA released this from Richt on Thursday night:

"I am all for providing more financial help for our players. I'd even go so far as to say I'd be willing to help fund it if there is a way that's possible. I just don't believe Coach Spurrier's idea is feasible.

"If we're going to do something like this, we have to do it for all 125 guys, not just 70. That would create all sorts of morale and chemistry problems. Doesn't everyone practice? Can you imagine trying to decide a dress list knowing that you'd be cutting out 55 guys who are working just as hard every day? Also, if we do this for football, I believe you have to do it for every sport across the board at every level of the NCAA. This is much bigger than SEC football.

"I'd prefer spending time talking about ideas that have a legitimate chance of becoming reality."

You could surmise that Richt felt a bit of blowback from his initial statement, perhaps from those who thought it would be bad P.R.-wise, i.e. for recruiting. But Richt is also the kind of guy who would give it real thought and decide to come back with a clearer, thought-out statement. After all, Spurrier's idea surely caught him by surprise. (And who knows if the six coaches who did sign it really cared much about what they were saying.)

The bottom line is Spurrier's idea, while noble, has no chance of passing. Slive and NCAA president Mark Emmert made that clear within hours. So why did Spurrier propose it? Having covered him, I think he's just clever enough to see the recruiting pay-off, as well as the opportunity for it to make headlines and deflect from the Stephen Garcia situation and the over-signing proposal.

But I also know Spurrier's has a fairly liberal social streak. (Remember his shot at the Confederate flag?) So I don't doubt that he honestly thinks it's a good idea. And he deserves credit for at least trying.

Ealey headed to Jacksonville State

2011-06-02T18:43:00.003-04:00

Last month we found out Washaun Ealey would be leaving the Georgia football team. On Thursday the tailback's destination became known.

Ealey enrolled in classes at Jacksonville State on Thursday, according to football team spokesman Greg Seitz. Ealey would be eligible to play right away at the school, which is an FBS (formerly Div. I-AA) school.

Ironically, Ealey would still have a chance to play at Kentucky, since Jacksonville State plays there on Oct. 22. Last year Ealey broke a Georgia program record with five rushing touchdowns at Kentucky.

Ealey led Georgia with 811 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 2010, but it was still considered a disappointing year. He was suspended for the opener after a three-misdemeanor arrest, and was briefly suspended from team activities in February. Spring practice became a lost cause for Ealey after a hamstring injury.

Destin update: Presidents ready to 'hunker down' with ADs before vote

2011-06-02T18:40:00.002-04:00

The SEC presidents appear to be concerned about going further than the rest of the country on roster management issues, but may do it anyway.

At least that’s what could be gleaned from South Carolina’s Harris Pastides, who was the only school president who was talking when the meeting broke up.

UGA president Michael Adams declined comment on his way out. He said none of the presidents would say anything.

That memo apparently didn’t reach Pastides, who said there was a “vigorous” and “lengthy discussion” over the roster management issues.

“And I think you’ll see the presidents tonight hunker down with their athletic directors and come together for a vote on that as well,” Pastides said. “But we think, we’d love the SEC to take a lead role on doing the right thing, and we would hope the NCAA would adopt whatever we do. I think that’s where our Ads and coaches are on. They don’t want us to be so far out front that we’re the only league that clamps down on that. We’re interested in seeing clarity on that in terms of what happens in the nation.”

The main point of contention is whether to keep the limit at 28 recruits per class, or cut it down to 25. The football coaches voted 12-0 against that, according to Pastides’ own coach, Steve Spurrier, who then added that the presidents “may” feel differently.

Pastides declined to give his own opinion, other than to sum up the league’s conundrum.

“I think most of the discussion was around if we go first and we do something that is viewed as restrictive and conservative, would that be a challenge for the rest of the country and to the other leagues,” Pastides said. “Or might we just be left out there as the only league. And we decided to do what was best for the college athlete. And I think that’s what we’ll vote tomorrow.”

NCAA president Mark Emmert was in Destin and spoke to the presidents, but Pastides said the issue didn't come up.

On Thursday, I asked Emmert about it, and he didn't indicate a uniform standard was in the making yet.

“The way it works with a whole array of issues is the NCAA sets a national standard and then if conferences want to be more restrictive then they can be," Emmert said. "So if the SEC or any other conference wants to have a more restrictive approach to that, then they’re welcome to do so. That’s a local decision that they can make.”

My take on this: SEC presidents, as a whole, want to be restrictive on roster management. But they’re deciding whether to do so over the objection of their coaches.

Either way, we should find out on Friday.

NCAA president Emmert: 'With many people we may have lost the benefit of the doubt'

2011-06-02T15:45:00.002-04:00

Here's my story, just posted to Macon.com, on the issues affecting the NCAA, amid its recent scandals.

Some key passages:

NCAA president Mark Emmert was up front when asked if the NCAA has an image problem:

“Of course it does. I don’t think there’s any question about it. And we can’t pretend otherwise,” Emmert said, sitting in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel as he attended the SEC meetings. ...

“We’ve had a number of very high-profile cases that are very disturbing coming out, and they put us in a position where with many people we may have lost the benefit of the doubt,” said Emmert, the president of the NCAA since last year. “We have to address those issues, the real ones and the perceived ones and make sure that we restore people’s confidence in the integrity of intercollegiate athletics. That’s essential.”

And Mark Richt says you can still win in college football without competing in the so-called gray area.

“I think you can win without ...,” Richt started to say, appearing to choose his words carefully, “without you know, feeling you’ve gotta cheat. That you’ve gotta break the rules or bend the rules.

“Everybody’s human. Everybody’s gonna make mistakes. The rule book is sometimes very specific, and sometimes it’s very vague. It’s hard to sit there and never have a secondary violation. But from a gut level philosophical point of view do I think you can win by doing things right and doing things within the rules, yeah.”

Again, you can read the full story here.

South Carolina game time set

2011-06-02T14:14:00.003-04:00

It turns out Mark Richt wasn't completely right about the Georgia-South Carolina game being at night.

The SEC has announced that South Carolina's visit to Athens on Sept. 10 will have a 4:30 p.m. kickoff and be broadcast on ESPN. And as usual, the Georgia-Florida game, set for Oct. 29, will be on CBS at 3:30 p.m.

Richt had told Bulldog fans at a Greenville, S.C. meeting that the game would be at night. Technically he could end up being right if the game goes late. But it might have to go an overtime or two for them to turn on the lights at Sanford Stadium.

It also probably won't be a fun time for them to be out in the sun.

Live from Destin: Day three

2011-06-02T09:26:00.003-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - The spotlight now shifts to the school presidents and chancellors, who meet this afternoon. They're not supposed to do any voting until Friday, but they're at least here and discussing the week's major topics.

Wednesday proved to be an eventful day. For a rundown, here are our three stories in today's papers:

- Steve Spurrier made a surprise proposal to pay players $300 per game. It was quickly shot down by the higher-ups, including NCAA president Mark Emmert. The NCAA prez told myself and fellow McClatchy reporter Josh Kendall of The State that paying players in such a manner "would be the death of intercollegiate athletics."

- Divisions in men's basketball are no more, or at least will be once athletics directors ratify the recommendation of the coaches' vote on Wednesday. Georgia's Mark Fox and SEC commissioner Mike Slive were among those in favor of the move.

The schedule remains the same for the 2011-12 season, but the league will immediately begin studying a new schedule format. That's where it'll get tricky; who are which team's natural rivalries, will everybody try to get Kentucky on their annual schedule, will the schedule be expanded to 18 or even more games?

- Finally, the roster management issues are now before the presidents. The coaches supposedly voted 12-0 against limiting each class to 28. (I say supposedly because Spurrier claimed that, but no one else confirmed it.) Mark Richt softened his rhetoric after meeting with fellow coaches.

But it certainly seems that they're on the opposite side of the issue from the presidents and many of the athletics directors. The question now is how much sway the coaches have with their bosses.

Slive appears to be pushing for some tangible action, and Emmert told us that he was "very pleased" with Slive for putting it on the agenda. But when I followed up by asking Emmert if there should be a uniform rule for each conference, he called it a "local issue."

I'll have more from Emmert in a later story.

- My favorite moment from Wednesday was Nick Saban. The Alabama head coach was the first to leave the joint meeting with coaches and A.D.'s, and made right away for a back elevator. The media horde still managed to get in some questions, following Saban to the elevator, where he appeared to blame us for the whole controversy.

“You all are creating a bad problem for everybody, because you’re going to mess up the kids getting opportunities by doing what you’re doing," Saban said icily. "You think you’re helping them, but you’re really gonna hurt them."

Hey, what'd I do? Wha' happen?

Roster management: Coaches have their say, now it's up to presidents

2011-06-01T16:47:00.007-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - SEC football coaches emerged from their final meetings on Wednesday in apparent agreement on roster management issues. Now the question is whether their bosses will go along.

The SEC is looking at a number of proposals to curb some issues such as over-signing, gray-shirting and medical disqualifications. Coaches, in favor of roster flexibility, made their case to their athletics directors in a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Now the issue will be decided by presidents and chancellors, who will vote on Friday.

“Friday afternoon we’ll find out what the league would like to do with these issues. … It’s always spirited dialogue,” commissioner Mike Slive said. “There’s nothing about the SEC that’s not spirited, I can tell you that.”

The most controversial proposal is to limit each signing class to 25 recruits. The current limit is 28, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban made his position quite clear.

“What’s the problem with 28?” Saban said. “You all are creating a bad problem for everybody, because you’re going to mess up the kids getting opportunities by doing what you’re doing. You think you’re helping them, but you’re really gonna hurt them. You take one case where somebody didn’t get the right opportunity but you need to take the other 100 cases where somebody got the opportunity because of it.”

South Carolina's Steve Spurrier put it a bit more nicely.

“We’re in favor of over-signing. We’ve never had a problem of too many qualifying and not having room,” Spurrier said. “All the coaches are in favor of the 28 and so forth. The presidents I don’t think are, but that’s OK.”

Spurrier said the coaches voted 12-0 to keep the limit at 28 and not drop it to 25. But he didn’t know if that would sway the presidents and chancellors.

“I don’t know. They’ll make the final call,” Spurrier said.

Georgia's Mark Richt had been among the vocal opponents of over-signing, and letting players go at the last minute. He didn’t come out and say he was in favor of over-signing now, and wouldn't get into the voting, but said after the meeting that the coaches “agreed almost unanimously” on the roster management issues.

“I think there was some education,” he said. “You get your proposals to look over a week ago. You read them then and you’re like, Hmm. Then yesterday morning, I got here and for about an hour I read them again and I’m trying to make total sense of everything, and it’s hard to get the entire gist of it. Then you start discussing these things getting lived out, it starts to make sense and you understand it better.”

Richt also said the roster management issue did indeed get as much attention behind the scenes as it was getting in the media.

“I’d say in our head coaches meeting, when it came to proposals, that was the one that had the most discussion to it,” Richt said. “I thought it was a very good discussion. I thought we had some good ideas that we presented. But we don’t want anything – there’s more conversation and more process to be done before everything gets spewed out all over the airwaves. It’s better that we don’t say anything at this point, and see where it goes.”

Update: Hoops coaches vote to (basically) eliminate divisions

2011-06-01T16:35:00.004-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. – The SEC men’s basketball coaches have recommended that the league essentially stop using divisions, and the move is expected to be formally approved Friday.

The schedule will remain the same for the upcoming season. But the league standings will not be broken into East and West anymore, and the tournament will be seeded 1-12, with the top four getting byes, regardless of division.

“I think we’re tired of our league being presented as two different ones,” said Georgia head coach Mark Fox, who favored the move.

In the meantime, the SEC will also study future scheduling, under the assumption that the old division model (two each vs. fellow division foes, one each against the other division) will no longer exist.

“The issue comes down to, if you look at last year, Tennessee got in the tournament with an 8-8 record and Alabama was left out at 12-4. And they get listed in a (separate) set of standings,” Fox said.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive, a former chairman of the NCAA selection committee, felt it was a good move for the league.

“I’m pleased that we’ve come to this conclusion,” Slive said. “I think it’s better for SEC basketball.”

The move still has to be approved by the league’s athletics directors on Friday. But all indications were that the recommendation by the coaches would carry the measure through.

"I would hope so," Slive said. "But I don't vote."

Slive said expanding the schedule to 18 games, or even more, would be on the study list for the future, and could happen for the 2012-13 season.

Live from Destin: Update on possible hoops changes

2011-06-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. – Basketball and football coaches are slowly trickling into the main ballroom to meet with the athletics directors. It’s still hard to get a firm grasp on what may happen on the basketball front, as far as changing the division and conference structure.

Before going in, Georgia’s Mark Fox said the basketball coaches, meeting separately Tuesday and Wednesday morning, had a “heated” and “excellent” dialogue.”

“It’ll be really interesting to see what the A.D.’s, after we go upstairs, how they feel,” Fox said. “Because again, what their discussions have been about, I don’t know. We had a lot of discussion about divisions, yes.”

The range of options for the league include eliminating divisions, adding two games to the league schedule, and seeding the tournament according to league finish, and not divisions.

“We did have very active dialogue, the most active dialogue we’ve had since I’ve been in the league, regarding a lot of topics,” Fox said. “But I think the general consensus is the coaches in the league now are genuinely concerned with doing what’s best to help the league. I really felt like all the conversations weren’t selfishly driven, they were motivated by an interest to make the league better.”

The word last year was that Western Division coaches blocked an effort to have the tournament re-seeded, rather than go by division finish. But on Wednesday one Western coach, Trent Johnson, answered “hopefully” when asked if re-seeding the tournament may happen today.

“I said this from Day one, I like the model that the Pac-10 has,” said Johnson, the former Stanford head coach. “You go one through 10 and play each other twice, you have a true champion and you celebrate your overall league champion more than the tournament. But we all know the tournament is money-driven.”

Live from Destin: Day two

2011-06-01T11:07:00.002-04:00

Destin, Fla. - The media horde is back, yours truly amongst them, sitting here in the atrium of the Hilton hotel. The athletics directors are convened behind closed doors with the commish (Mike Slive, not Michael Chiklis), while the football and basketball coaches are downstairs, probably discussing how much they love each other.

There should be some actual news to come out of today's meetings, unlike yesterday, which was mostly about setting the groundwork and taking people's temperatures. In case you missed it, here are my stories from day one:

- On roster management, i.e. oversigning and grayshirting, everyone has opinions (though Mark Richt was less eager to provide his), but there remains plenty of disagreement.

- On basketball, there was talk about some fairly drastic changes - getting rid of divisions, re-seeding the tournament by using the RPI - but Mike Slive said after the meetings that he didn't expect any major changes to be voted on this week.

- The A.D.’s will meet with the football and basketball coaches in separate meetings this afternoon. That’s when there might be some real movement on issues.

The most likely tangible result is some vote on basketball: My guess is they will vote again on tournament re-seeding, and there’s a better chance it passes this year. I’ll also be curious if other coaches agree with Mark Fox about getting rid of divisions. But based on Slive’s comments, I’ll be surprised if they do anything more today than just talk about going to a 12-team set-up.

As for football, it would be surprising if they vote on over-signing. Right now it looks like the coaches are on one side, and the presidents are on the other. Some of the presidents are trickling in earlier – South Carolina’s Harris Pasites arrived Tuesday, and Georgia’s Michael Adams is supposed to come in today. So perhaps there will be a meeting of the minds.

The A.D.’s seem to be caught in the middle a bit. Greg McGarity and his coach and president are on the same page, luckily for them. I spoke to another athletics director off the record yesterday, whose coach has not publicly been vocal about the issue, and that A.D. was up front that he thought 25 was a reasonable limit:

If you sign 25 every year, this A.D. stated, and figure in redshirts, that’s 125 players, more than enough to be safe with academic casualties and transfers and get to the overall limit of 85. But this A.D. kind of threw up his hands to say: Can we get the coaches to agree?

Les Miles: Over-signing number is 'in play,' presidents favor action

2011-05-31T19:23:00.001-04:00

Just ran into Les Miles in the lobby here. The LSU head football coach was already holding court with a trio of other reporters, so I quickly asked him if he had addressed roster management issues, and if he had to please repeat it.

“I said that there has to be an alligator handler in every class. In fact Troy has got the swamp people. We’ve got to make sure that we keep a quality contingent of free-spirited men around.”

And no, I’m not making that up. Miles was kidding, of course, apparently alluding to an earlier interview. He was nice enough to turn serious and provide an update on the controversial over-signing issue, a few minutes after the SEC coaches’ meeting had broken up.

“The number is certainly in play,” Miles said, referring to the proposed limit on 25 signees per class. The current limit is 28. “The chancellors and the presidents certainly have a strong opinion. The A.D.s and coaches (may feel) slightly different. I think it will come to a point where we decide on a policy. And I think the intent certainly is to make college football better.”

Miles was then asked if the minds of the chancellors and presidents could be changed.

“You know I don’t if that’s the focus in any way,” he said. “I think it’s more just really (finding) a good policy.”

Will SEC coaches pull the trigger on basketball changes?

2011-05-31T15:32:00.001-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - There is real movement towards realignment to the structure of SEC men’s basketball. At least that’s if you believe Mark Fox and Billy Donovan.

The league is debating here whether to get rid of its division format, go to 18 games and change its schedule. And unlike last year, when tournament re-seeding was voted down, Fox expects there to be action.

“If I would have to guess, I would guess there’s a lot of momentum for change,” Fox said.

The Georgia head coach said he supports change.

“I think we have to look very hard at going away from being in divisions,” he said. “For the health of our league, I think we have to look at it.”

It’s unknown if there are enough votes among the 12 coaches to make that drastic a change. And even if they are, logistics then have to be worked out: Who would each team play every year, how would they rotate the schedule, and how would the tournament be seeded.

The schedule could be a really thorny issue, considering one team – Kentucky – brings in a lot of revenue wherever they play.

Donovan, the Florida head coach, had perhaps the day’s most interesting idea: Instead of seeding the SEC tournament by record, do it by RPI ranks. It would help encourage teams to schedule better, Donovan mused.

Donovan also referred so off-handedly to the schedule going to 18 games that it made you think it was almost a certainty. But he may have been misunderstood.

Re-seeding the SEC tournament still seems the most likely change to come out of these meetings. The vote last year against doing so was 6-6, but as Fox pointed out, “some of the coaches have changed.”

“It’s something we’ve talked about for a couple years,” Donovan said. “I don’t know if anybody feels that we’ve got it solved, here’s the solution to this.”

It’s still very possible that nothing much tangible will be passed. Coaches may prove resistant to change when they get in their meetings and have to pull the trigger on realignment.

But heading in, it does seem like the appetite is there to at least discuss big changes.

Live from Destin: Over-signing update

2011-05-31T14:31:00.004-04:00

DESTIN, Fla. - The football coaches have closed the door and begun their meetings. I attempted to plant a listening device, but was thwarted at the last moment by the crack SEC staff.

Seriously, it’d be quite cool to be a fly on the wall there. I’m not sure how much consensus will be reached on the league’s most visible issue, over-signing. But I think it was summed up well by Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino when he met with the media beforehand:

Petrino stated bluntly that he over-signs and he thinks the issue is overblown, but commissioner Mike Slive wants something, so legislation will be pushed through. And Petrino didn't sound too crazy about it.

At first, when Tennessee’s Derek Dooley spoke first to the media, it seemed Slive might have already arranged a consensus behind the scenes.

“That’s obviously been the big talk in the last couple of weeks. I think with any piece of legislation the first thing you have to be cautious of is not getting so caught up in the public outcry you over-legislate,” he said. “Here’s what I do know: Most of the complaints have been fair, it’s been because of some things that have been not so common.”

Then Dooley – who had come down publicly for over-signing before Destin, said he favored things in Slive’s package of proposals.

“It closes the loopholes, and still accounts for a little overage,” Dooley said. "There’s a difference between overage and excessive signing. … We just need to close the loopholes.”

So that sounded like a bit of potential consensus forming.

But then coaches like Auburn’s Gene Chizik, Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino and Mississippi’s Houston Nutt traipsed through, making clear they had no stomach for the proposal to limit signing classes to 25 players.

“I think the 28 (limit is) just right,” Nutt said. “Follow that rule, and you won’t have a problem with it.”

Chizik said the 28 limit hadn’t been given enough time to work, and was surprised the issue was even being discussed again.

“In my opinion it’s worked,” Chizik said. “In my opinion I’m very comfortable where it is now. For us to turn around a year late rand try to change it again, I have my doubts about us having given it enough time to see whether it’s worked or not.”

Then came Mark Richt, who didn’t appear comfortable being the outspoken voice against over-signing. He started out by saying he would just “listen to what everyone has to say” in the meetings.

“First of all, I think everyone should have a right to manage their numbers,” he said. “I think every university should be able to do that.”

Then he said over-signing would be okay if the players know in advance they would gray-shirt.

“If everyone knows that on the front end, then I don’t see anything wrong with that ethically,” Richt said. “But what I’ve said, if you sign five over, and you get to the moment of truth, and you have to tell two or three kids that thought they were coming in with everyone else, and then all of a sudden you spring the news, all of a sudden there’s no room, you’ve gotta come in in January, I don’t think that’s right.

“But I never said anyone did that, I wasn’t accusing anybody of anything. I was just saying if everyone knows on the front end what’s going on, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Nick Saban spent his media session discussing other issues – the tornado, Jim Tressel, NCAA compliance issues – so he didn’t field anything on over-signing. But doubtless, the Alabama coach is talking about it behind the scenes.

We’ll see soon what comes out of all this. Stay tuned.

NCAA baseball regionals: UGA heads west, young men

2011-05-30T12:47:00.002-04:00

The Georgia baseball team did indeed make the NCAA tournament, but it was apparently a close call, and it will rack up some mileage getting there.

The Bulldogs are headed for the Oregon State regional, in Corvallis, Ore. They were selected as a No. 3 seed, indicating they were one of the last at-large selections to the field.

Georgia's first-round opponent in the four-team, double-elimination regional is second-seeded Creighton.

The NCAA selection committee could have kept Georgia closer to home, with regionals at Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State or even North Carolina and Virginia. Instead, the Bulldogs head to the west coast, and not alone in that fate: Arkansas, another at-large selection out of the SEC, is headed to Arizona State.

But if you go by the RPI, Georgia got a pretty good draw: It's ranked ahead of Oregon State and Creighton in those rankings, according to Boydsworld.com. (Georgia 17, Creighton 29, Oregon State 31.)

SEC meetings: Five things to watch

2011-05-30T10:59:00.004-04:00

We've posted a story over at Macon.com on the five things to watch at this week's league meetings in Destin, Fla. Here's the link.

A tease: One of those issues rhymes with "Dover-shining."

I'm headed on the road soon. (And just downloaded a bunch of music for the journey, including the soundtrack to "Juno." Yeah, I have questionable music tastes.)

Look in this space for coverage all week from Destin, including a round of coaching press conferences on Tuesday. But there should also be plenty of other stuff.

It'll be interesting to watch if something really substantive and meaningful comes out of the meetings on roster management. And while basketball realignment - perhaps eradicating division play - hasn't received as much attention, that really appears to be on the front-burner.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day.

Baseball update: Where will Georgia play? (Assuming it gets a bid)

2011-05-29T15:46:00.004-04:00

The conventional wisdom says that Georgia all but clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament with its performance in the SEC tournament. So assuming the conventional wisdom isn’t wrong, where will the Bulldogs play next weekend?

The NCAA has announced the 16 regional sites. Five of them are from the ACC:
Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida State.

Those would be the most likely destinations if geography ends up being the main factor for Georgia’s placement. (Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt were the three picks from the SEC.)

Or the committee could send the Bulldogs to the Lone Star State, which has four regional hosts: Texas, Texas A&M, Rice and Texas Christian.

And if the Bulldogs are sent WAY far away, the possibilities are UCLA, Oregon State, Cal-State Fullerton and Arizona State.

Georgia is likely to be a No. 2 seed because of its RPI rank (16) and performance in the SEC. But given its record (31-30) it wouldn't be a shock to slip to a third seed. That's not too much of a difference, however, given it will be playing in the 2-3 seed game either way.

A pre-Destin look at over-signing

2011-05-29T10:12:00.002-04:00

Here's my Sunday story on the SEC's "roster management" issue. That means over-signing, grayshirting, medical exemptions ... the whole kit and kaboodle. But I tended to focus on over-signing.

An excerpt:

At heart, the issue is how cut-throat college football must be. And there isn’t much common ground.

On one side, you have those who oppose doing “whatever it takes.” Florida president Bernie Machen, in a February letter to SI.com, ripped into grayshirting and medical exemptions. Georgia head coach Mark Richt has called pulling scholarships for numbers reasons “an awful thing to do.”

...

On the face of it, the math would indicate that the head coaches -- virtually all of the Western Division, plus Spurrier -- would out-vote Richt and his like-minded friends. But the athletics directors and presidents have the final say.

Slive doesn’t have a vote, but he has a view, as he pointed out, and it’s unlikely that he would put forth legislation without having a good idea of how it will fare.

While Slive won’t achieve any consensus among the coaches, he will try to get the administrators to agree on an overall plan. The easier task will be getting an agreement on the SEC overseeing medical exemptions; but further limiting signing classes and gray-shirting will be a tougher task.

I'll be in Destin this week and will provide updates on these and any other key issues.

The first of hundreds of preseason all-SEC lists

2011-05-28T10:50:00.003-04:00

Phil Steele is out with a very early, and as usual comprehensive, preseason all-SEC team. And it has plenty of Georgia players on it.

Here's the link to the full list.

Five Georgia players make the first team:

QB Aaron Murray
TE Orson Charles
T Cordy Glenn
K Blair Walsh
P Drew Butler

Two make the second team:

C Ben Jones
PR Branden Smith (even though he hasn’t been given that job yet)

The third team:

DT DeAngelo Tyson (even though he’s moving to end)
LB Christian Robinson
CB Brandon Boykin
S Bacarri Rambo
KR Brandon Boykin

And the fourth team:

RB Isaiah Crowell (even though he hasn’t played a down yet)
WR Tavarres King
LB Cornelius Washington (even though he may not even start)

And yes, I used “even though” four times there. But it’s the preseason, you project, and you have some fun.

Seiler continues to defend Uga lineage

2011-05-27T14:28:00.001-04:00

A lot of you have asked recently about the next Uga. Here's an update, and a bit more: Sonny Seiler reveals why it won't be Russ but could be his offspring, clears up the "inbreeding" misconceptions, addresses the Isaiah Crowell puppy story, and more in a story just posted:

ATHENS - Sonny Seiler has heard the comments and questions: Is there something wrong with the Uga line? Why not take the interim title off Russ? What about using that Isaiah Crowell puppy?

Seiler, whose family has been breeding the Georgia mascot for more than half a century, sought to answer a few of those queries and clear up some things.

But in an interview Friday, while driving back to Savannah after a UGA athletic board meeting, Seiler also spoke of how rough it has been to have two straight Uga mascot pass away suddenly. He also pointed out that the litter mates of Ugas VII and VIII are all healthy, so their deaths were not the result of breeding.

...

“Cancer is cancer. It hits people. It hits animals. In neither case was it hereditary,” said Seiler, who lives in Savannah and is a board member emeritus at UGA. “That puts down those soothsayers out there who say we need a new process of breeding.”

You can read the full story here.

A list of people who are smarter than me

2011-05-27T14:15:00.001-04:00

Georgia has released the names of the 277 student-athletes (a term I don’t usually use, but will in this case) who earned a 3.0 or better grade point average during the spring semester.

You can read the full list here. But here are some of the names that stand out:

- Gerald Robinson, the starting point guard and third-leading scorer for the men’s basketball team.

- Jasmime James, women’s basketball starter and a second-team all-SEC pick.

- Derek Owens, the reserve cornerback who was academically ineligible for the Liberty Bowl but came back to attain a 3.0.

- Christian LeMay and Chris Conley, the two freshmen early enrollees for the football team.

- Other notable football players: Michael Bennett, Brandon Boykin, Drew Butler, Mike Gilliard, Jarvis Jones, Derrick Lott, Aaron Murray, Christian Robinson, Richard Samuel, Branden Smith, Garrison Smith and Trinton Sturdivant.

Murray was noted for having over a 3.5, and Butler for having a 4.0.

- Russell Henley, the senior golfer who in May became only the second amateur to ever win a Nationwide Tour event.

- Zach Cone and Kyle Farmer of the baseball team. Cone is the team's cleanup hitter, and Farmer is the team's second-leading hitter and tied for the team lead in home runs.

- Gymnast Kat Ding, a junior who won the NCAA bars title.

Georgia reported that 54 percent (or 277) of it's student-athletes posted a 3.0 or better. Nineteen had a 4.0, and another 118 were between 3.5 and 3.99.

Georgia-Florida tickets get more expensive

2011-05-26T15:25:00.002-04:00

Starting in 2012, fans will have to fork over more for a ticket to what was formerly called the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. And it could get more expensive in future years.

The UGA athletic board on Thursday approved a ticket hike for the 2012 season. Right now the tickets are $40 for regular stadium seating. They will increase to $60 for 2012.

But the board agreed to table (i.e., discuss later) tickete increases to $70 for 2014 and $75 for 2017.

The University of Florida athletic board had already approved the ticket pricing schedule for the 2012 game, and will discuss the 2014 and 2017 games at its meeting next month.

Georgia cited the ticket prices of other notable rivalry games as a reason for the hike:

Texas-Oklahoma: $110.00
Army-Navy: $115 club/$65.00 priority seating
Miami-Florida State: $70.00
Oregon-Oregon State: $78.00
Michigan-Ohio State: $70.00
Auburn-Alabama: $65.00

In other news, the board approved an additional $727,000 in funds for what it called “student-athlete welfare.” That includes the addition of two nutritionists, a sports psychologist, a training table and a mentor program.

The athletic association’s annual budget for the 2012 fiscal year will increase to $89,952,400. That’s about $5 million more than the current fiscal year budget. The school will be spending $2.66 million more in scholarships, and $1.4 million more in guarantees to non-conference football opponents.

Meanwhile, athletics director Greg McGarity told reporters covering the board meeting in St. Simons that head baseball coach David Perno will return in 2012.

Notes: Diamond Dogs lose, Taylor "graduates," Harrow commits elsewhere

2011-05-26T07:19:00.001-04:00

Yours truly was away from the computer on Wednesday night, so I missed a chance to post a few items. Now after drinking a lot of water – let’s just say they might be a bit low on champagne in downtown Athens this morning – I can give you a catch-up:

- The Georgia baseball team opened play in the SEC tournament with a 10-0 loss to Vanderbilt. In fact the Bulldogs were held to just one hit, the first time since 2009 that's happened.

The loss puts the Bulldogs in an elimination game today against Auburn. The loser is not only headed home from Hoover, but their season is done. Georgia will need to win its next three games, at least, in order to be eligible for an NCAA tournament bid.

Sophomore left-hander Alex Wood (4-7, 4.80 ERA) will start for Georgia against junior right-hander Derk Vernadore (6-2, 3.75). The game will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Arkansas-Mississippi State game, which begins at 10:30 a.m.

- There’s much better news for the baseball team: Jonathan Taylor has “graduated” from the in-patient program at the Shepherd Center to the “Day program.” That means Taylor, who suffered a serious neck injury earlier this year, will live next to the Shepherd Center in a connecting resident hall. He will continue rehab for the next four-to-six weeks.

“After rehab, he goes back to the residence hall and is on his own until the next day when he goes back for rehab,” team spokesman Christopher Lakos said. “They do this for their patients to help them get adjusted to being independent.”

- Ryan Harrow, a big recruiting target for the Georgia men’s basketball team, announced via Twitter that he was headed instead to Kentucky.

That’s a big disappointment for the Bulldogs, who thought they had a good chance at the N.C. State transfer. Harrow, a 6-foot-1 point guard, would have fit nicely in the lineup once he became eligible for the 2012-13 season.

Georgia could still end up adding another player to this year's class. Guard Kevin Ware, the former Tennessee signee from Rockdale County, has yet to announce his plans. But the Ware situation isn’t exactly clear-cut; he’s already backed out of another commitment, to Central Florida, and has yet to qualify academically.

- Finally, I had an item earlier on Mark Richt and his lake house being up for sale, downplaying the notion that it was somehow connected to his job security. Chip Towers at the AJC reached Richt later, and the coach relayed that he had decided to sell the house, which he built in 2009, out of a desire to feed the needy.

Richt said he was inspired after reading a book by Richard Stearns, “The Hole in our Gospel.”

“I was actually compelled to do this much earlier,” Richt told the AJC. “I made the decision to do it a while ago but I didn’t want to do it during the season or during recruiting because I knew it would be blown out of proportion. But it’s been on my heart for a long time, so we’re just going ahead and doing it.”

Have $2 million to spare? Richt's lake house available

2011-05-25T16:02:00.001-04:00

This isn’t a major thing, but in the dog days of the offseason everything may seem that way. So I thought I’d pass this on.

The web site SportsbyBrooks has posted an item about Mark Richt putting his house on Lake Hartwell up for sale. Richt just purchased the house a couple years ago, and is now asking $1.99 million for it.

Brooks (a UGA graduate) writes:

Normally I don’t subscribe to a coach putting a home up for sale as a sign of anything, but in this case, it might be applicable. …

Richt doesn’t strike me as a guy out to flip houses, so I think it’s reasonable to surmise that last year’s 6-7 record - and the subsequent outcry emanating from Athens - may have something to do with the coach making over his real estate portfolio.

UGA spokesman Claude Felton shrugged off the report, indicating that Richt’s desire to sell the house was a fairly open secret.

“He’s actually been thinking about doing that for a couple months, I do know that,” Felton said.

Richt and his family still have their main house in Athens, so the lake house is more of a retreat. Plus, lots of other coaches keep lake houses far from home; Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech) and Ralph Friedgen (formerly of Maryland) both have houses on Lake Oconee. And obviously they don’t live close by.

So even if Richt were worried about his job – and he probably is – if he really loved the lake home, I would guess he’d be keeping it either way. Selling it is probably more about money, and less about his future.

Of course, given the current housing market, good luck to Richt selling it anytime soon.

Zero hour, of sorts, for the Diamond Dogs

2011-05-25T09:49:00.001-04:00

If the Georgia baseball team is done playing by Thursday or Friday, then it's done playing.

If the Bulldogs are still playing by the weekend, they'll likely be playing next week too.

That's pretty much how it breaks down, according to the experts, as the SEC tournament begins Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.

Georgia is 28-28 entering the tournament, and plays Vanderbilt in the first round. The Bulldogs need to be over .500 to be eligible for an NCAA bid, so they need at least three wins this week, or else their season is over.

Here's my preview of Georgia's tournament chances. The key quote from Baseball America analyst Aaron Fitt:

“If they (win three games), I think they will get in, on the strength of their SEC record and their challenging nonconference schedule,” Fitt said. “The committee has made a point to emphasize nonconference strength of schedule under chairman Tim Weiser’s leadership.”

Here's the immediate schedule for Georgia:

Wednesday: vs. Vanderbilt, 9:30 p.m. (approximately)

Thursday: (if wins first round) vs. Auburn-South Carolina winner, 8:30 p.m. (approximately) .... (if loses first round) vs. Auburn-South Carolina loser, 1 p.m. (approximately)

APR scoresheet: Good marks for Georgia

2011-05-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

It’s okay if you hear ‘APR’ and think your credit card rate is about to be jacked up. I’ve been following the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate for all seven years of its existence, and I still do the same thing.

The good news for Georgia fans, and the people associated with its athletic programs, is they probably have more to worry about from their credit cards than the NCAA’s APR.

In the date released on Tuesday, Georgia’s teams are in good shape, and don’t appear close to any penalties.

Georgia’s scores in football and men’s basketball are both slightly up, and appear to be safely away from any potential penalties.

The football team’s rate was 976, which was 30 points higher than the national average for the sport. By comparison, Arkansas and Tennessee are tied for the worst multi-year score in the SEC, at 937. (Thanks to Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel for that nugget.)

The lowest score for any Georgia team was the men’s basketball team, at 946 – but that’s still well beyond the current cut-off (925) where penalties begin. The four-year average nationally for men’s basketball is 945. And the score for the 2009-10 season was 965, so head coach Mark Fox's team would seem on track to improve its score next year.

The Bulldog women’s basketball team nearly registered a perfect score, coming in at 995.

The Georgia baseball team came in at 952, seven points below the national average. The men’s golf team had a perfect score, while women’s cross country had a 995.

The APR score is a four-year rolling score, with two main components: It measures whether a player was in good academic standings (i.e., eligible) and stayed in school. A player flunking out of school results in a dreaded 0-for-2.

If a team’s score is below 925, it receives a public notice, and further sub-par years can result in penalties. If the score is below 900, what are called “historical penalties” – losses of scholarships, postseason bans, etc. – will kick in.

This year's figures measure the players who competed in the four years prior to the just-completed one: In other words, the 2006-07 season through the 2009-2010 season.

Here’s a link to the NCAA’s report on its web site.

Official depth chart released: A few mild surprises

2011-05-23T14:03:00.003-04:00

We've all had our stabs at what the Georgia football team's position ranking might be at this point, and now the coaches have offered up theirs as well. Here's a link to the official depth chart, released on Monday afternoon.

A few notes after a quick scan of the chart:

- Caleb King is listed first at tailback, which is no shock, but then it gets interesting: Carlton Thomas is second, followed by spring walk-on sensation Brandon Harton, and THEN Ken Malcome.

So put the brakes on the Malcome train, at least for a bit. And bottom line, this position is Isaiah Crowell's for the taking if he doesn't blow it.

- Bruce Figgins is listed first at fullback, over Zander Ogletree. Figgins just switched there from tight end before spring practice. The third fullback is walk-on Dustin Royston.

- The starting offensive line is the way Mark Richt listed it a couple weeks back. The backup spots are a bit more interesting:

After the departure of A.J. Harmon, Austin Long is now the top backup at right tackle, while walk-on Hugh Williams is the top backup at left tackle. Yup, getting a bit thin there. ... Kolton Houston is the top backup at left guard, while Brent Benedict is the top backup at right guard. I suspect new offensive line coach Will Friend isn't done moving players around.

- Sanders Commings remains at cornerback, at least according to the depth chart. In fact Branden Smith is listed as the top backup to Brandon Boykin. I'm not sure whether to read something into that or not. But it does seem quite interesting.

- Shawn Williams enters the summer as the starter at strong safety, with Jakar Hamilton the backup to Bacarri Rambo at free safety. But that's a very tenuous hold on the position for Williams.

- There are no surprises in the front seven. Richard Samuel is the top backup to Alec Ogletree at one inside linebacker spot. Abry Jones is the starter at end opposite DeAngelo Tyson.

- No surprise that Huston Mason is listed as the top backup to Aaron Murray, with Christian LeMay third. I still think it's likely that Mason plays this season and LeMay redshirts, but I wouldn't rule out Mason taking the redshirt.

- Marlon Brown retains his hold on the No. 2 receiver spot, with Michael Bennett and Israel Troupe listed behind him. Rantavious Wooten and then Chris Conley are behind Tavarres King.

Of course, all of this is quite temporary. The recruits who will vie for playing time right away include John Jenkins (nose tackle), Crowell (tailback), Malcolm Mitchell (receiver), Ray Drew (outside linebacker) Damian Swann (cornerback), Corey Moore (safety) and Nick Marshall (cornerback). And the way that offensive line looks, I wouldn't rule out Zach DeBell, Watts Dantzler, Hunter Long and David Andrews playing right away.

Former UGA assistant Pyburn passes away

2011-05-23T10:39:00.002-04:00

Here's some sad news from UGA on Monday morning:

ATHENS - Former University of Georgia assistant football coach Jim Pyburn died Saturday night in Jasper, Ala., after a long illness.

The father of former Georgia quarterback Jeff Pyburn (1976-79), Jim Pyburn coached defensive line, linebackers, and secondary from 1964-79 under UGA head coach Vince Dooley.

Born November 1, 1932, in Fairfield, Ala., Pyburn played football and baseball at Birmingham¹s Ensley High School before he became one of the greatest ends in Auburn University history. As a senior was named third team All-American and received more votes on the All-SEC team than any other player. He also was an outstanding baseball player leading the SEC in hitting with a .432 average in 1953 as a third baseman and outfielder.

The following year he signed a pro baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles where he played in 158 major league games between 1955 and O57. After three years, he left baseball for a coaching career.

He was inducted into the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. Jeff Pyburn is currently a practicing attorney in Phoenix, Ariz.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Destin could get interesting

2011-05-22T13:38:00.002-04:00

Here's my interview with SEC commissioner Mike Slive, conducted earlier this week. The biggest news, that Slive and the league will push over-signing legislation, was posted earlier.

But as you can tell by reading the Q-and-A, there will be plenty of issues discussed at the upcoming league meetings in Destin, Fla. Here's what stood out to me:

- The over-signing "package", as Slive referred to it, will be the most fascinating to watch. Georgia and Florida appear to be out-numbered by the Western Division coaches, and South Carolina, in wanting to stiffen rules. But you have to remember, the presidents are the ones who actually vote for it. So if enough Western Division presidents are willing to over-rule their coaches (and perhaps athletics directors), there might be some teeth behind whatever is passed.

If anything does end up getting passed. But I have to think Slive has done a good bit of head-counting, so the question is what exactly the commish will propose.

- The men's basketball division and tournament setup will get some serious examination this year. The Western coaches vetoed tournament re-seeding last year, but there appear to be more votes for it this year. That could become effective right away if agreed upon, Slive told me. And beyond 2012, the commissioner said, the divisions could be eliminated altogether, or the conference schedule could be changed.

- Slive has backed off being a public (but not vocal) proponent of the plus-one system as an alternative to the BCS. This isn't surprising considering his league has won the past five BCS titles, as he pointed out. (One would argue, however, that the SEC would probably benefit under any system.)

- I don't imagine that the words "Cam Newton" will be mentioned prominently. But considering it was the major story of the past year, I thought it worth asking Slive about. You can read his responses in the story.

- One issue that hasn't received much attention, but appears on the front-burner for the SEC, is seven-on-seven football camps. People in college football are concerned that it's creeping too close to the importance of AAU coaches in basketball recruiting. We'll see what the league and others do about it.

Mailbag: Football schedules, transfers, baseball, movie re-makes and more

2011-05-20T10:31:00.000-04:00

It may be the dog days of May, but there's still a lot on the minds of Georgia fans. So here's the latest in our popular installment, known as the reader asks a thoughtful and intelligent question, and Mr. Blog Man answers to the best of his ability.

Which tends not to be much.

Onward and upward.

Yesterday on Sicemdawgs.com they listed future non conference opponents. Listed for 2020 & 2021 was Ohio State. I have not heard any announcement about this, have you? Thanks,
- Joe

Yep, this came out the week leading up to the Liberty Bowl. Here’s my story from then.

Incidentally, I haven’t been able to post this, but UGA says that Clemson will be the opener for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. While they agreed to resume the series awhile ago, they only recently moved the schedule around to make it the opener each season. The 2013 game is in Clemson, and then the Tigers come to Georgia the next year.

Worst remakes? How about:
The Day The Earth Stood Still (It goes without saying, any film with Keanu Reeves is garbage)
Rollerball
The Longest Yard
I could go on.
Seriously tho: info on the next UGA would be appreciated.
Any update on the baseball team's post-season prospects?
- Joeski

The baseball team got a big win on Thursday night, beating Vanderbilt, which is ranked No. 7 nationally by Baseball America. Georgia is now 28-26 overall and 16-12 in the SEC. If the Bulldogs can pull off one more win either Friday or Saturday, they probably enter the SEC tournament in good shape. If Vandy wins the next two, Georgia will have a lot of work to do in Hoover; It’s hard to see the NCAA committee picking an at-large team with a record of .500 or worse.

This concerns mainly Crowell but I guess could be directed at all the incoming recruits. Are they (Crowell) studying the playbook and learning the offense/defense? If so, are there any kind of tests or conversations being held between the recruits and the coaches that would allow the staff to decipher how well the recruits are or aren't picking up the offense/defense?
Thanks,
Trae

The short answer is no, the coaches are not allowed to have contact with the recruits over the summer. But during contact between signing day and the end of spring, I’m sure the coaches were passing along whatever information they felt they need. But there are no summer quizzes or anything.

Any last minute JUCO/walkons to help w/ O-line? Oh, my vote is for Psycho remake...
- Oreo Drama (via Twitter)

The only possible last-minute recruit for this upcoming season is Denzel Nkemdiche, who is a cornerback. Nkemdiche’s brother Robert, a defensive lineman, is currently projected as one of the nation’s top overall prospects for the 2013 class.

I wouldn’t rule out a walk-on or two, but at this point it wouldn’t really be any help for the 2011 season, other than being another body for the scout team.

Good call on the Psycho remake. That had Vince Vaughn – when he was first becoming a hot name – totally miscast. And I love Vince Vaughn, but him saying “Helloooooo, mother” … Uh, no.

Other than the generic "We're training for football now, not the Olympics" and scrapping the mat drills, have you been able to ascertain some specific examples of how the S&C program differs under Coach T? Are there really that many changes from a training standpoint, or is it a matter of getting the players to be more dedicated, or both?
- Regular Guy

I’ll refer you first to my story in January, where some specifics are mentioned. Otherwise, Tereshinski wanted to keep things relatively close to the vest. But from what we’ve gleaned from the players and other staff members, the thrust of changes are: a) conditioning, i.e. playing as well in the fourth quarter as they are in the first, b) nutrition, c) making sure everyone shows up and lifts, rather than coming and going as they please.

As I’ve said before – and frankly, as Tereshinski has said – it’s all going to sound great now. But the true judgment going to be made fairly until well into the season.

Any updates on the new scoreboard? Has construction started yet?
- Aubrey

UGA spokesman Claude Felton said this week that it’s still expected to be ready for the opener (vs. South Carolina), and it’s being built on the same support that currently exists.

Any word on where Ealey is headed?
- Katepy

Not as of this moment. My friend Gentry Estes at Georgia247sports.com was the only reporter to be able to reach him, the day after the transfer was announced, and Ealey told him he didn’t have any schools targeted yet. It’ll be interesting to see whether he ends up dropping a level or transfers to another FBS school.

Which Coach's wife do you think will win the swimsuit competition in Destin ?
- Robert K. Burnham

Oh boy … Don’t get me in trouble here.

The Wire or Sopranos?
Hottest Jim Halpert girl: Katy, Karen, or Pam
Better Office supporting character: Creed or Todd Packer
Shelly Long or Kirstie Alley?
Willy's, Moe's, Barbaredo's, Chipotle's, or Qdoba?
Why won't Nike make our silver britches actually silver again? Why the washed out grey?
- Matt

The Wire … by a nose. Both great series, along with The West Wing the three best dramas of the 2000s.
I’ve always liked Pam. I don’t even remember Katy.
Creed is the best supporting character, period. So much so that I didn’t like him as even the temporary boss in this year’s finale. Some of the best moments in “The Office” are the five-second snippets with a reveal about Creed: “Yes, I run a fake ID operation.”
Kirstie Alley … “Cheers” was one of the rare shows that got better every season. I would argue that about “Seinfeld” too, but I’m in the minority on that one.
“Moe’” … I haven’t been to any of those other options except Barbaredo’s. But I’ve been a Moe’s man since my days in Albany; nothing better after a morning of tackle football than going to Moe’s, grabbing about 5,000 calories worth of Mexican food, and not moving for the next five hours.

Nike would make the silver again if Georgia asked nicely. It just prefers the grey at the moment.

Do you think any of the incoming freshman will end up starting in the secondary?
- PI0we

End up starting, yes. Begin the year in the starting lineup, probably not. Corey Moore at safety would be my best bet to possibly do both, and at a minimum I expect him to be in the rotation against Boise State and South Carolina. The cornerbacks who could also play right away are Damian Swann and Nick Marshall, and depending how that position shakes out either could at least be the nickel back by midseason.

There certainly seems to be more folks transferring out this year than usual. Does this appear to be mostly related to playing time (or lack thereof), grades, chemistry or some combination of all three? Have you heard anything about the next UGA?
- Paul

No one is saying it on the record, but A.J. Harmon’s academics almost certainly had an impact on his transfer. As for the rest, I think it’s fair to say Washaun Ealey’s departure was mutual, and probably with a push from Georgia. You need only look at Richt’s public comments on Ealey leading up to it to make that assumption. Marcus Dowtin’s transfer is almost the exact scenario as Ealey. Logan Gray and Nick Williams each wanted a chance at more playing time, and apparently weren’t that happy on the team.

It is a lot more transfers, compared to previous years, but as I wrote before, team chemistry has become a talking point for the returning players; Christian Robinson, Ben Jones and others have intimated that some “cancers” are gone.

Of course, losing tends to create cancers, and winning tends to fix chemistry issues. So it’s yet to be seen if the cancer issue was a cause, or result, of last year’s record.

All quiet on the Uga front. Obviously the Seiler family is trying to be very careful about its next choice. Although I’m sure they were the last couple times, and sadly illnesses like that just kind of come out of nowhere.

Two questions: 1. With Malcolm Mitchell being regarded as the #1 CB recruit in the country by some, why are we considering moving him to WR (I know depth is an issue at WR but still...), and 2. Have you seen the tapes on RB Keith Marshall? If this kid is a lock to come to UGA then it seems to me that the Crowell era may not last long as this kid looks faster than any RB I have ever seen on tape.
- Atlien

1. Mitchell’s move to receiver is more than being considered, it’s happening. Richt has explained that they recruited him as a cornerback, but around signing day Mitchell “decided” he preferred receiver. And if he can play the position it’s probably a good call; the team has a bigger need at receiver. You mention depth, my concern would be stardom: Tavarres King can be one at receiver, but who else?

2. Whoa, whoa, whoa … I’m sure Marshall is good, but let’s wait for him to actually commit before we start declaring him the starter over a guy who some people still refuse to declare the starter because HE hasn’t played yet. I’m sure Georgia fans would be pleased with a tandem of Crowell and Marshall for at least two years, if it comes to that, and if they’re even close to as good as hyped.

Reading another blog, I saw an interesting topic of Richt and the no huddle offense. It stated that SEC officials were required to hold the ball 12-14 seconds (I think) in between plays in order for the officials to get set. This rule took any option away for Richt to run a no huddle, which he did at FSU. I am just curious since this rule is now gone, why has Richt not taken advantage of this, or will this be seen this year. Seems like an advantage to me.
- DawgWood

First off, I don’t remember that rule. Not saying it wasn’t in place, but that seems like something I’d remember.

The one thing with the no-huddle is that it used to be innovative, but it’s been around for so long that defensive coordinators are used to scheming against it now. They use it so much in high school now that even defensive players are more used to it. But you’re right, that on a down-by-down basis in the heat of the moment, it can still be an advantage – as long as the offensive coaches are good calling plays in 10 seconds, and the players are good at executing said plays in that little time. If it were that easy, EVERYBODY would run a no-huddle, without exception.

Come on Seth, Clash of the Titans is so bad it is awesome. How can you dislike any movie with such quotable lines as "Haha, I'm a god!," "The eye! The EYE!," and of course, "Release the Kraken!" Buy some Kraken spiced rum, have some friends over, drink it whenever the kraken is mentioned in the movie, and then once you are done, watch "Taken," another 90 minutes of awesome.
- Sam

I thought “Taken” was pretty good. Not Oscar-worthy, but not terrible. Were you putting that on par with “Clash of the Titans”? I hope not.

Any idea where we stand with the recruitment of John Theus? Seems like with all the attrition along the O-line Georgia should be at the top of his list. I've read comparisons to Tony Boselli with this kid, and I'm sure Aaron Murray would like the sound of that as well. Think you can pick the elder Theus' brain for some kind of indication where his kid brother may be leaning?
- Stuart

The expectation is that Georgia and Florida are the leaders for Theus, whom Scout.com ranks the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect for the 2012 class. I’m sure Georgia will do everything it can (legally, one would hope) to nab him.

Interestingly, I’d have to get clarification on this, but I don’t think I’d actually be able to talk to the elder Theus – Nate – about his younger brother once he’s a member of the team. It would be considered an NCAA violation. (Which doesn’t affect reporters, we wouldn’t be penalized, but Georgia wouldn’t be crazy about racking up secondaries so we can get pithy recruiting quotes.)

Seth, my son's preschool graduation ceremony is tonight, the same night Coach Richt is coming to town. Could you ask him if he will drop by the ceremony after his Carpets of Dalton commercial taping so I can ask him a few questions? Thanks.
- Will

Sorry, I assume I’m too late for this, since it was Thursday night. But here’s my question: A few ruffians broke into my apartment and beat me up – it was a case of mistaken identity – and messed up my carpet, which really tied the room together. Could he please grab another one while he’s at one of those commercial tapings? Thanks.

I'm going to go on record and bet that the new boss on the Office is going to be Andy Bernard, the 'Nard dog (Ed Helms). I think all the people they're wheeling out are just a distraction, although, I would love to see James Spader creepify up the place. Thoughts/predictions?
- Brandon

The season finale left the boss question in doubt, but I’m starting to come around on your Andy Bernard prediction. He might be a better fit – in terms of the show, not the office. James Spader was great on Thursday night too, but they wouldn’t be able to sustain that for the rest of the show.

Any chance of Yoculan coming out of retirement?
How can I make $200k by not showing results or making improvements at my job? Sorry, Seth, I think I answered my own question here. I need to become a UGA RB coach.
Why do players who get suspended for unspecified violations of team rules? Why not put the violations out there in public? If someone didn't go to class, missed a meeting, failed a drug test, etc. why not just put it out there in public?
Why do different schools have varying penalties for infractions? Is it true that I read that you can have 5 failed drug tests at Florida before you are kicked off the team? Shouldn't the SEC mandate standards so everyone is using the same measuring stick?
- Riskadvisor

That’s a lot of questions. Let’s see how I can do:
Suzanne Yoculan seems very happy in her current role.

Bryan McClendon was instrumental in the recruiting of Isaiah Crowell, and – according to UGA – was pursued by at least one other school. That’s why he got the raise.

Schools are able to use the “violation of team rules” thing with proclivity because of things like HIPPA and academic privacy laws. I’m not saying they hide behind it … well, they do. That creates an interesting question of how much does the public need to know. Do you need to know why Player A was suspended or booted off the team, or do you just need to know that he’s suspended, or gone?

The SEC wouldn’t be able to set a standard, for the same reasons listed above, re: HIPPA.

Seth,
Is it bad that the only reason i want the NFL labor talks to be resolved is for my fantasy football league?
- I. Lee

I sort of feel the same way, but I suspect by the time September rolls around I would miss the games themselves too. So would A.J. Green, Justin Houston, Akeem Dent and company, all of whom were counting on paychecks of a certain amount.

1.) So now that we have hit the Debt Ceiling, how long do you give us until our Government implodes.

2.) Since there are only 8 scholarship O-linemen left on the roster (and 3 of them coming off major injuries) which Freshman do you think will see the most playing time this year?
- Clinton

1. Some would argue that happened long ago.

2. David Andrews has a good shot at being the backup center and one of the backup guards. They’re still going to try to redshirt as many of the others as possible – Zach DeBell, Watts Dantzler, Hunter Long and Xzavier Ward – but you’re right, they may have no choice but to play one or two. There’s also Nathan Theus, projected as a long snapper.

Not living close to Athens, or GA for that matter, it is difficult to keep up with the Diamond Dawgs. Can you give us a one pager on our squad? Do we have any studs?
Thanks,
- Kevin

Well, I don’t know that I can give you one page. Honestly, I have to admit to being a bit delinquent in covering the team this year; I only covered the home opener, and wrote a preview before the season. I know the blog posts have been sporadic. I apologize to anyone coming here for that, but frankly being a one-man bureau in Athens means I have to pick and choose my spots.

As for the Diamond Dogs, I mentioned their NCAA situation above. Junior Michael Palazzone (9-3, 3.17 ERA) has been the staff ace and a big reason the team has turned it around this year. Sophomore Kyle Farmer (.316, 7 HR, 51 RBI) has been the team’s top hitter, although junior Levi Hyams leads the team with a .341 batting average.

But do you own a European Men's Carry-All (I think so)?
And given your USC experience, what's your view on Garcia: unnecessary distraction going into a season where they should be SEC East favorites relying on a stud RB, WR and Defense OR a pivotal player worth giving yet another chance and ruining whatever shred of credibility Spurrier had left regarding player discipline?
- Jeff from Milton

First off no, I definitely do NOT own a fanny pack. Although now that you mention it, wouldn’t it be great if people like Rodney Garner, Ben Jones and DeAngelo Tyson started wearing them? Or is that just me?

I’ll give Spurrier a bit of a break on player discipline; obviously he’s picked and chosen here and there, but so do a lot of coaches. The dirty (but open) secret is that there are different rules for players based on their ability on the field. Georgia will kick walk-ons off the team for the same penalty that will draw starters a one-game suspension. And there are specific examples for that, which I won’t bring up but you can easily research.

But as it pertains to Garcia, there’s no doubt if he weren’t the starting quarterback he would’ve been gone long ago. South Carolina is about to give him his FIFTH chance now. That’s ridiculous. The only defense is that each discretion has been pretty minor. But the consistent (and public) rule-breaking just doesn’t reflect well on Garcia or his team.

Have you been around Coach Olivadotti much? I was excited when he was first hired after reading up on him but have not heard much since then. Just checking out his bio on georgiadogs.com still has him in a Redskins shirt and it made me wonder if he was even on campus at this time.
- Deryll

I’ve spoken to Olivadotti a bit, including about traffic patterns in northern Virginia. (He lived in my native Washington for the past 11 years.) He comes off as a very laid-back, soft-spoken guy, not at all like the hard-bitten son of a coach you’d expect. That doesn’t mean he won’t get after some of his players.

And I’m sure he’ll have a picture with a Bulldogs shirt on by the time the season starts.

Hoops scheduling update: Cincinnati joins the list

2011-05-19T14:28:00.005-04:00

Another blank has been filled in on the Georgia men’s basketball team’s schedule for next season: Cincinnati will visit on Dec. 2, as part of the SEC-Big East challenge.

The matchup was announced Thursday along with the other 11 games. The challenge used to be just four teams, but it has expanded to 12 to accommodate every SEC team. (That still leaves out teams from the Big East, which at last check had expanded to 97 members. … Just kidding. For now.)

This will be the first-ever meeting between Georgia and Cincinnati in men's basketball.

According to UGA, the Bulldogs currently have contracts for two non-conference games – Mercer and Furman – along with the College Basketball Experience tournament. The latter is a 16-team event, with Georgia hosting one of the first-round pods against teams yet to be announced. The possible opponents for the CBE’s final two games, in Kansas City, include Notre Dame, Missouri and California.

Georgia is also committed to road games at Xavier and Colorado, return games for trips last year, as well as the annual Georgia Tech game, which will be in Athens this year.

Interestingly, the Los Angeles Times reported last month that Georgia and Southern California had scheduled a home-and-home, with the Bulldogs visiting LA first. But head coach Mark Fox said last week that there isn’t a signed contract for that game. (USC also said it couldn’t confirm the game yet.)

In any event, Fox said he’s still trying to arrange a challenging schedule, as he did last season. But with the losses of Trey (or Howard) Thompkins and Travis Leslie, Fox didn’t come out and say it, but not every game is specifically targeted with the NCAA tournament resume’ in mind. He did mention wanting the young team to “grow up on the job.”

As it is, with Colorado, the CBE Classic and Georgia Tech, that’s a minimum of four games against power-conference teams, plus Xavier, a perennial NCAA team.

Here’s the full SEC-Big East challenge schedule:

Thursday, Dec. 1
Georgetown at Alabama
Providence at South Carolina
St. John’s at Kentucky
Ole Miss at DePaul

Friday, Dec. 2
Auburn at Seton Hall
Florida at Syracuse
Cincinnati at Georgia
Vanderbilt at Louisville

Saturday, Dec. 3
Arkansas at Connecticut
West Virginia at Mississippi State
LSU at Rutgers
Pittsburgh at Tennessee

Call for the mailbag

2011-05-19T10:54:00.001-04:00

It's been a couple weeks, and I've already had a couple unsolicited requests. So I'm opening up the satchel - proverbially, I don't actually own a satchel - for your questions.

Possible topics:

- The football team's offseason and continuing roster change. Which apparently are not continuing anymore, according to Mark Richt.

- Anything football-related. (As if you all needed the invitation.)

- Basketball recruiting, i.e. when will Ryan Harrow and Kevin Ware make their decisions?

- The upcoming SEC meetings in Destin.

- Is "Clash of the Titans", the 2010 version, the worst remake ever? (I just watched it last week. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes should fire their agents.)

- Anything else under the sun. Or the moon. Whatever.

All right, fire away, either by commenting below, tweeting at me or e-mailing at semerson@macon.com.

Slive: SEC has prepared over-signing legislation, schools will vote in Destin

2011-05-18T16:03:00.001-04:00

SEC commissioner Mike Slive has prepared legislation that involves the practice of over-signing – a hot-button issue this year around the league. And Slive has a view on it, and hopes the legislation passes.

But the commissioner isn’t saying yet what his view is, or what the package specifically involves.

"There will be action because (the proposals) will come forth as proposed legislation for the presidents, the A.D.s and the other groups to opine on. But I feel good about them," Slive said during an interview this week. "So I think the goal is to make sure that our prospective student-athletes are treated in a way that is as they should be treated, like students our treated. And I think this package does that."

The package, as Slive described it, involves not only over-signing, but all issues relating to what he called “roster management.”

“In other words, it’s more than just the question of over-signing or grayshirting,” Slive said. “It’s a question of over-signing, grayshirting, early admissions, summer school admission. We’ve put together what we call a bit of a package to address these issues, that will give our people a chance to think about these issues in a more global fashion. So then it will be an important discussion item in Destin.”

The over-signing issue - teams signing more players than they have room for - has garnered plenty of attention, with SEC schools coming down on different sides of the issue. Georgia head coach Mark Richt has been outspoken against it, calling it “an awful thing to do.” But South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier has said it was something his program needed to do because of the academics in his state.

Slive indicated that more debate has gone on behind the scenes.

“Well, we’ve had some discussions to get the proposed legislation in place. I can tell you that the First Amendment in the Southeastern Conference is alive and well,” he said. “I have a view and not a vote. And I will certainly exercise my view. ... I like this legislation."

The full interview with Slive, which involved a range of issues that will come up in Destin, will run this weekend in the Macon Telegraph and other McClatchy newspapers.

What the (heck)? Richt discusses his feisty Macon comments

2011-05-17T18:49:00.003-04:00

GAINESVILLE – Mark Richt’s traditional spring speaking tour is winding down, and it hasn’t been without its fun moments. Recall, if you will, what happened in Macon when a fan asked Richt some pointed questions:

The deeply-religious head football coach at Georgia slipped up and now-famously told the fan, “I know what the hell I’m doing, OK?”

Richt brought up the exchange himself on Tuesday night, as he prepared to meet another group of fans in Gainesville. And he put a happy face on Macon back-and-forth, without quite backing off the tenor of his comments.

“I know it was publicized one time I got on a guy a little bit about what he was asking. But even at the end we hugged, and it was fine,” Richt said. “He just wanted to give me his opinion. I wanted to let him know I was there. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. That’s really the only time it’s gotten a little testy. I appreciate the guy’s passion for his team and the program. I just wanted to let him know I’ve been doing it a long time and I still know what I’m doing, and stuff like that. Sometimes you’ve gotta help them out.”

A reporter then asked Richt if the outburst had forced him to explain himself to his wife Kathryn.

“Well yeah I told her as soon as I got home,” he said, smiling as his face reddened a bit. “I probably told her on the way home. If I had just said 'I know what the heck I’m doing', it wouldn’t have been a story.”

Then Richt was asked if it surprised himself to hear those words come out of his mouth.

“Well, I mean I didn’t prepare mentally and spiritually well enough for that moment. I mean it wasn’t that bad,” Richt said, then began to laugh more. “I mean he asked two or three more questions before the night was over. And literally we talked and I hugged him. He was happy, I was happy.”

But Richt didn’t learn the fan’s name.

“I thought he’d be an Internet phenom by now,” he said. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal, I didn’t think. I didn’t like the choice of words – I wasn’t upset that I said what I said, I just wished I didn’t use that word. To some people it’s not a big deal. But I could’ve chosen a better word.”

Richt elaborates on the impact of Harmon's departure

2011-05-17T18:38:00.000-04:00

GAINESVILLE – Mark Richt is here to speak at the tour stop in Gainesville – that would be Georgia – and per usual he spent a few minutes with us media hacks.

First off, Richt didn’t want to say much about A.J. Harmon’s announced transfer.

“That’s kind of why you say it’s personal reasons. Because it’s personal,” Richt said. So that’s all I can really say about that.”

But Richt did make clear that after the departures of Harmon and Washaun Ealey, he didn’t expect any more, at least for academic reasons.

“I don’t. I don’t,” Richt said. I expect everybody to be here in the fall.”

He also elaborated on what Harmon’s departure means for the offensive line. Harmon finished the spring as essentially the third tackle, the top backup on the left and right side.

Kenarious Gates, projected as the starter at left guard, could move out to tackle “if need be,” according to Richt. And if that happened, Kolton Houston would be the next option at one of the guard spots.

Richt said the “jury was still out” on Austin Long, but said he has time to move up the depth chart. Brent Benedict knows he has a ways to go as he heals from his surgery, the coach added. Dallas Lee, a guard, missed most of spring practice.

Throw in the injury to Trinton Sturdivant, and Richt admitted the team is scraping a bit on the line.

“You’d like to have more depth by now. You’d like to have more guys waiting in the wings for their opportunity,” he said. “I’d rather not go through another cycle of freshmen playing, they kind of go through the program and when they leave you’re playing freshmen again. It really is not ideal. But if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do.”

Watts Dantzler, Zach DeBell and Xzavier Ward are the signees who project as tackles.

”I do feel like we’ve got enough guys right now to be able to play well,” Richt said. “But as we all know, when you’re short on depth, you’ve gotta stay healthy.”

In other news, Richt confirmed that the plan “at this time” was not to sign a quarterback for the 2012 class. But he cautioned that they didn’t plan to before they signed Hutson Mason.

Fences mended, Vince Dooley praises the "interesting" Jake Scott

2011-05-17T17:18:00.003-04:00

According to various accounts, Jake Scott and Vince Dooley had a falling out years ago and hadn’t talked in awhile. But on the occasion of the announcement that Scott was being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Dooley praised Scott as one of his best-ever players – and said he and Scott have been back on good terms for several years.

“He had been back to Athens a time or two for some golf tournaments, and chatted with him,” Dooley said Tuesday afternoon. “I talked to him on the phone one time. He was out in the middle of the ocean trying to catch marlins. He’s not your normal football player. He’s a little different and has always been that way. You could say that’s Jake.”

Scott wasn’t available for comment – for me or much of anyone else. Georgia wasn’t able to reach the somewhat reclusive former Super Bowl MVP to get a comment on its release about Scott’s Hall of Fame selection.

Scott and Dooley reportedly had an icy relationship after he left Georgia a year early. Scott signed with the CFL rather than play his senior year, but eventually went on to a successful NFL career.

Scott now lives in Hawaii. But his mother still lives in Atlanta, according to UGA spokesman Claude Felton. Scott will come back to Athens for games, but doesn’t make a big deal about it and the team only tends to find out he was there after the fact.

Dooley recalled on Tuesday how he once banned players from using motorcycles after Scott rode his onto the top of the coliseum. But Dooley has warm feelings for his former player, saying his ability rivaled that of Herschel Walker.

“If you take all-around, certainly Herschel was the most productive, but in all-around football player, in every phase of the game, he was as good as it gets,” Dooley said. “He could do it all.”

The best all-around player he’s coached – and the most interesting.

“Very much so, yes,” Dooley said. “He was indeed interesting. He was Jake. …

“I’m really happy for him. Actually he could have gone in earlier into the Hall of Fame, but being Jake, he wasn’t ready to accept that accolade. But I’m pleased to know that he is (being inducted) and I’ll look forward to seeing him up in New York at the induction.”

Offensive lineman A.J. Harmon to transfer

2011-05-17T15:26:00.003-04:00

UGA announced this afternoon that offensive lineman A.J. harmon, who would have been a redshirt junior this season, is transferring.

Harmon is leaving for what the team termed "personal reasons." The native of Louisville, Ga., was academically ineligible for the Liberty Bowl.

He appeared to make a run at playing time in spring practice, spending some time on the first time at right tackle. But when he was asked about Harmon last week, head coach Mark Richt used the past tense: “We had him on our depth chart as the backup at both the left and right tackle.”

The (short) release from UGA:

ATHENS---------- University of Georgia junior offensive tackle A.J. Harmon will transfer to another institution for personal reasons according to an announcement Tuesday by UGA head coach Mark Richt.

A native of Louisville, Ga., Harmon was redshirted in 2008 and appeared in seven games over the past two seasons in an offensive line backup role.

Jake Scott is a Hall of Famer

2011-05-17T11:41:00.004-04:00

Former Georgia safety Jake Scott has become the 16th former Georgia player or coach to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame, it was announced on Tuesday.

Scott will be inducted on Dec. 6 in New York City. He played at Georgia from 1967-68 and went on to a sterling pro career, earning MVP honors of Super Bowl VII.

Some other members of the 2011 induction class include Deion Sanders, Eddie George, Russell Maryland and Lloyd Carr.

This is what Vince Dooley said about Scott in a release:

“I’ve been asked many times who was the greatest player I ever coached. I always said that Herschel Walker was the most productive player, but the most gifted all-around athlete combined with the love and determination to play the game was Jake Scott.”

Scott, a Greenwood, S.C. native, was a member of Georgia’s SEC championship team in 1968. He twice led the league in interceptions, and in 1968 also led the league in punt return yardage. He still holds the SEC’s single-game record for interceptions touchdowns, two against Kentucky in 1968.

Scott joins the following former Georgia players and coaches to earn induction: Glenn “Pop” Warner (inducted in 1951), Bob McWhorter (1954), Frank Sinkwich (1954), Charley Trippi (1959), Vernon “Catfish” Smith (1979), Bill Hartman (1984), Fran Tarkenton (1987), Vince Dooley (1994), Wally Butts (1997), Herschel Walker (1999), Bill Stanfill (1998), Terry Hoage (2000), Kevin Butler (2001), John Rauch (2003), and Jim Donnan (2009).

Georgia the division favorite? One magazine says so

2011-05-17T11:24:00.001-04:00

Last week I asked Mark Richt, while in upstate South Carolina, whether he felt the team in that state would be the favorite to win the SEC East. The Georgia head coach nodded.

“My guess is most people will preseason predict them to win the East," Richt said, then ticked off the list: "You’ve got some transition just happened at Tennessee, Florida’s got transition, and we had the season we had. And they (the Gamecocks) won it last year and they’ve got a lot of guys returning and their staff pretty much stayed intact. I would think most people would predict that. I think some people would have some votes for other teams. I’m sure we’ll probably get a couple."

If Richt sounded overly optimistic by saying "a couple" votes for his team, he wasn't.

Athlon has tapped Georgia as its preseason favorite to win the East. Here's a link to the magazine's preview of the Bulldogs, which also lists them No. 14 in their preseason national poll.

Now I know what you're saying: Whoa. That's crazy, that's nuts. Is too much faith being placed in Aaron Murray, Isaiah Crowell, a possibly improved defense, etc.?

I was about to write that too, until I remembered something. ... I wrote the Georgia preview for Athlon. ... Whoops.

Actually, in the interests of full disclosure, I only wrote the preview and didn't participate in the division and national rankings, other than giving my opinion once when asked. Otherwise, it was Athlon's call. And since they were good enough to offer me the chance to work for them, and can always put a stop payment on the check, I'll point out that they're very smart people with keen football minds.

Seriously, it's not too much of a stretch. The Gamecocks do have quarterback issues, even if (as seems likely) Stephen Garcia is eventually reinstated. And they have to come to Georgia; the Bulldogs' schedule is a big reason Athlon picked them.

Of course, that schedule still includes Florida, so ...

Anyway, back to Richt. After breaking down the rest of the division, he elaborated on what Georgia might have in its favor:

“Certain things we’ve got back for us I think that are positive are it’s the second year of our system defensively, I feel that's important," he said. "When you’ve got a second-year quarterback compared to a freshman quarterback, I think that bodes well.”

And he's not the only one thinks so.

Richt slams what he calls 'winning at all costs in college football'

2011-05-15T10:02:00.006-04:00

GREENVILLE, S.C. – You could tell this crowd of Georgia fans was a bit out for blood. And Mark Richt, without naming any fellow coaches, was willing to jump on it.

It was a meeting of Bulldog faithful in upstate South Carolina on Wednesday evening. These haven’t been good times for their football program, and at previous meetings Richt had taken strong questioning from fans about his own performance.

But the mood of this crowd turned early, during a question-and-answer session, when a fan asked Richt and men’s basketball coach Mark Fox what they would do to prevent Georgia “from becoming an Ohio State.”

It was Fox’s turn at the microphone. But moderator Chuck Dowdle stepped in and said Ohio State’s main problem was they “have a head coach who’s not truthful.”

Then he said pointed at Richt and Fox and said Georgia didn’t have that problem.

Fox, who just completed his second year in the SEC and probably doesn’t want to make too many waves, answered by saying people forget that the NCAA rulebook is thick and changes every year. Then he spoke about educating players to “think and not act, and not act and then alibi.”

He finally threw the crowd a bit of meat:

“I have yet to visit a tattoo parlor in Athens, and don’t plan to,” he said, to laughter.

Dowdle didn’t make Richt answer the question. But when it came his turn to take questions, a fan jumped in with an even more pointed question, closer to home:

What would Georgia do about the practice of over-signing – as in bringing in more recruits than they have room for, and then eventually running them off.

Richt and the Georgia administration have said before they dislike the practice and won’t do it. A few other coaches in the league have defended it, and the issue will certainly be on the front-burner this summer.

But Richt, in his customary polite way, began by bringing any crowd members unaware of the issue up to speed.

“Some coaches …” he began, before a voice from the crowd interrupted.

“Nick Saban!” a fan yelled out.

“Well I won’t say,” Richt said.

You can only bring in the number of players you have room form Richt explained, and that means 25. (He didn’t get into the rule that you could apply early enrollees to last year's total, as Georgia did this year with Christian LeMay and Chris Conley.)

Then the coach explained the practice that he doesn’t like, the distinction between over-signing and grayshirting:

“If you bring them in in the summer, and you work them and you let your strength staff work with them, and you kind of decide which ones you like the best, and you tell five of them, ‘Hey we know we signed you, and we expected you to be able to come in, we don’t have space for you, we’re really sorry about that but we don’t have space for you – you’re gonna have to leave and come back in January.'

“I think that’s an awful thing to do, I think that’s the wrong thing to do. And it’s nothing that we’ve done since I’ve been at Georgia.”

This was met by a loud round of applause.

“Not that we haven’t grayshirted, or talked to guys about grayshirting,” Richt added. “If you tell five of those guys ‘Hey we’ve got 20 spaces. I can sign 25. There’s a good chance that by school starts there’ll be room for you, because of the attrition that happens every year everywhere you go. If there’s space for you, you come in with your class. If there’s not space for you, are you willing to come in in January? …

"If you tell them on the front end and they know that, everyone understands that, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. And that’s how we go about it if we’re going to talk to a guy about grayshirting.”

Richt said Georgia usually has at least one player that grayshirts in every class. The public doesn’t even know about it, he added.

“These other coaches have been over-signing, trying to grayshirt, trying to make sure they never come up short of that 85 (scholarship limit) number. But in doing so have they done it in an ethical way, which is what you’re asking. And I’d say not. That’s why the NCAA is trying to change its rules.”

As the meeting wound down, Richt weighed in on what he sees as the general breaking down of ethics in the profession.

“There’s been a bit too much of the winning at all costs in college football,” he said. “And I hope the tide turns in the other direction.”

This was also met with a loud round of applause.

These Georgia fans didn’t have much to feel good about on the field. But they left the meeting sure that their coaches and school were at least making them proud off the field.

UGA-SC a night game? Suggestions for visiting Spurrier, and other notes from Richt

2011-05-12T10:20:00.000-04:00

Here’s my story from the Greenville, S.C. meeting of people who root for Georgia athletics. And while there’s lots of good stuff in there, along with the previous blog … wait, there’s more!

And here it is! Without all the exclamation points!

- There’s been no official announcement on the game time for Georgia-South Carolina, but Mark Richt is under the impression that it will be at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN. He twice referred off-handedly to the game being “at night.”

- When it comes to the opener, Richt gave a new reason for wanting to schedule Boise State in the Georgia Dome. As he put it, Georgia had been “taking hits” nationally – presumably for its on and off-field issues – and Richt felt it was a good chance to make a better statement to open the 2011 season.

“Everybody in the college football world is going to be watching that,” Richt said. “There’s an opportunity to get back into everybody’s consciousness.”

Richt also threw in the standard line about neutral sites, which of course isn’t really talking about Jacksonville, unless it is:

“I think the Georgia Dome is a great neutral site, I don’t know about you,” he said, as the crowd laughed and applauded.

- When he gets in front of these crowds, Richt lets loose a bit more. For instance, when a Bulldog booster was showing the South Carolina-based fans a copy of a UGA license plate they could buy, Richt broke in. He pointed out that he “hates” seeing cars with non-Bulldog plates when he’s driving around, and encouraged the Palmetto State residents to show their Bulldog pride.

“Get one of these, and ride down to coach Spurrier’s house!” Richt implored.

- Someone asked Richt about the receivers, what with A.J. Green being gone. Richt’s answer:

“I believe our best receiver right now is Orson Charles,” he said.

Charles being a tight end, of course. But Richt went on to add that Tavarres King is “very capable of making big plays in the Southeastern Conference.”

- Nick Marshall might see some time on offense, perhaps as a quarterback in the team’s Wildcat -- or Wild Dog formation, as Richt called it. The Bulldogs have used that before, but Marshall, the Wilcox County graduate, was a quarterback in high school.

“We’d stick Washaun back there or Caleb back there. It’s nothing like having a Nick Marshall back there,” Richt said. “That’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”

The team also recruited Valdosta star Malcolm Mitchell as a cornerback, but he will play receiver, according to Richt. That’s because the team has the luxury of other signees, including Marshall and Damian Swann.

“We’ve signed a bunch of DBs who are talented enough to play offense. And that’s a good sign when your corner has the ball skills to pick balls off instead of just knock them down,” Richt said.

- Richt listed Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams as the top safeties, with Jakar Hamilton and then perhaps Mark Deas as factors. Sanders Commings will continue to train at safety, but for the moment he’s still penciled in at corner.

“That’s what he is right now,” Richt said. But I’ll say that Boykin, B-Smith, if Sanders was at safety then Boykin and Smith would be at corners. Unless a freshman steps up.”

- Finally, Richt was spotted at the NASCAR race in Darlington, S.C., last week. He was there along with Mark Fox, Todd Grantham and a few other Bulldogs. The group was there just hanging out and not doing anything official.

So of course I had to point out to Richt that a picture is floating around of Spurrier – when he went to Daytona this year – shirtless and holding a beer. I asked Richt if something like that might emerge from his NASCAR experience.

“I hope not,” he said, grinning. “We can’t go anywhere. If your wife’s mad at you she can take a picture of you (doing) anything she wants. We’ve gotta behave.”