It has been an amazing two weeks for the Georgia Bulldogs.
I’ve started to write this blog a couple of times, but I was
unable, because my feelings have evolved. At this point, I think I’m writing
this more for myself than for anyone else.
Let’s start at the beginning, with the win over Tech.
I can’t remember a time where I have been more underwhelmed
by a Georgia team than I was for this year’s team. The victory over Tech was
just another example of the offensive limitations of this team. Tech is bad and
Auburn is bad, but Georgia struggled mightily against both of those teams, and
barely won the game because of their inability to do anything
creative/effective on offense.
But, when the Tech game was over, I was sure that Mark Richt
had done enough this year to save his job. He won the last four games of the
season. He won 9 games, again, and with a bowl win would have the chance for
yet another 10-win season. He had made the right hire two years ago when he
brought in Jeremy Pruitt who had developed our defense remarkably. He also had
the potential for one of the best recruiting classes he has ever put together
at Georgia. I thought he had done just enough to keep his job.
Two weeks ago today, we all found out that I was wrong. We
had just gotten home from church and Harrison had just gone down for his nap
when I heard the news. I was sad. I loved Mark Richt, and I loved the way he
represented the university that I love. I was frustrated. For so long, people
had wanted Mark Richt fired and I had argued with those people time and again
that he was the right man for the job. Now, all of those people had won.
The next day, I watched Mark Richt show just as much class
and dignity as he could ever show in his press conference. After the press
conference, I had a different feeling: this was the right move for Mark Richt
and for Georgia.
You could just see how at peace he was with the entire
situation. When he talked about wanting to be more involved with the hands on
coaching if he ever decided to coach again, you could tell that even in the
short time he had to digest what had gone wrong, he was self-aware enough to understand
that he had made some mistakes in the past few years.
The program had become stagnate, and a change needed to be
made. I credit Greg McGarity for making that tough decision, because I don’t
think I would have done the same thing if I were in his shoes.
Mark Richt was a fabulous coach for the University of
Georgia. He set a standard here that had never been set before. Vince Dooley
was a great coach, but it was a different time with a different level of
competition. Mark Richt established a level of expectation that ultimately lead
to his firing, because winning 10 games isn’t good enough. The bar has been set
for Georgia: win championships. SEC East championships, SEC championships, and
National Championships. That is what we should expect from a program like
Georgia, and if that standard is not being met, we should continue to search
for the person capable of delivering those things to a fan base that is thirsty
for a title.
Moving on.
I posted on social media that I didn’t want Georgia to
settle for an assistant coach with no head coaching experience. My logic was
simple, if Georgia is a Top 10 job, which I firmly believe it is, then there should
be about 118 Division 1 coaches that could move up in the world of coaching by
leaving their current school and going to Georgia.
20 years ago, that was good logic. But something has changed:
money. You see, 20 years ago, Hugh Freeze would have been the head coach at
Florida after Will Muschamp got fired last year. Florida, a Top 10 program in
their own right, had to settle for the head coach of Colorado State instead.
The money at Ole Miss and other mid level programs is so good now, that you don’t
have to be at one of the Top 10 programs in the country to be happy. Hugh
Freeze can make $4 million per year in Oxford, Mississippi and be happy. The
fan base thinks he is a God because he is going to win 10 or 11 games each
season, and he has brought that program to heights never seen before. Why would
he trade that in for a move to Florida who has had 5 coaches in 14 years?
So, very quickly it was obvious that Georgia wanted Kirby
Smart. After about two days of social media click bait, the rumors surrounding
the coaching hire all but stopped, because there was nothing to report. Smart
was going to be the guy. Everyone in the know, knew that, but with the SEC
title game on the horizon, nothing was going to happen until last Sunday.
One week after Georgia announced the firing of Mark Richt,
they announced the hiring of Kirby Smart. Instantly, energy was restored to the
program. After Smart’s press conference, last Monday, I was encouraged too.
Smart seemed to have an idea of how he wanted to run the program and how he
wanted his team to play football. He didn’t seem to want to give too many
details, and when pressed by the media to give answers or clues as to what he
was going to do with the two coordinator positions, Smart stood firm in saying
nothing. He wasn’t rude, but he seemed like a man with a plan, who didn’t feel
the need to share that plan with anyone. I like that.
Now, we need to take a minute to talk about Kirby Smart,
what he is, and what he isn’t.
Kirby Smart is a Dawg. He played in Athens, his wife played
basketball in Athens, he got married in Athens, and looking back, he has been
waiting for the Georgia job to open up so he could return home and be the head
coach in Athens. Kirby could have been a coach two or three years ago, but he
wanted this job, so he stayed at Alabama, waiting for his opportunity. I like
that.
Kirby Smart is not Nick Saban, and I don’t want him to be.
Any great coach is a great coach because he is trying to be himself, not some
other great coach. Standing next to a genius does not make you smarter. Kirby
Smart should benefit from years of coaching alongside one of the greatest
college football coaches of all time, but he can’t just try to make Georgia the
diet coke of Alabama, or he will never succeed. I believe he understands this,
but I’m not sure if Georgia fans understand this. What Saban has been able to
do at Alabama has been impressive, but his methods have worked for him because they
are his methods. Anyone who is a real leader has the ability to learn from
those around him, but a true leader will also have unique ideas and systems
that they will want to implement. If Kirby Smart is going to be successful at
Georgia, he will have to figure out the Kirby Smart way to run a program.
Kirby Smart is a fantastic recruiter. This fact is undeniable.
He connects with players, he connects with parents, and he brings in the big
fish. Since taking the Georgia job, he has acknowledged that one of the biggest
things that will have to change at Georgia is the talent level. Smart has seen
at Alabama that you have to get great players consistently if you want to win.
Nick Chubb got injured this season, and Georgia’s offense fell apart. To
compete for titles, you have to be able to replace your best player and not
miss a beat. Kirby will get the players, and that will start this year. Georgia’s
class was on track to be in the Top 10 before Smart was hired. Kirby is going to
keep everyone, yes everyone, that Georgia had on the hook, and he is going to
bring in a few more guys who he recruited while at Alabama who really like him.
He has already started to offer a few guys that Georgia had not offered with
Richt at the helm. Georgia’s recruiting class will finish in the Top 3 in
February. Georgia will get Eason. They will get Mecole Hardman. They will get
Isaac Nuata. They will get Julian Rochester. Georgia will put together a class that
the entire Bulldog Nation can be proud of. The best part of this class is going
to be the way it is handled. Smart won’t call the 2016 class the Dream Team, or
any other catchy name. He will put together this fantastic class and he will
call it the new normal. He will act as if Georgia got the players that Georgia
should get, rather than celebrating a bunch of 18 year old who have never
played in the SEC. He will bring in talent, but…..
Kirby Smart is not a proven head coach. There is a huge
difference is being the man, and being the man the man depends on. Sure, Smart
has been Saban’s right hand man for a while now, but its different when you are
sitting in the big chair. Smart has not proven that he can run a program, and
Georgia fans should understand that nothing
is guaranteed. On paper, Will Muschamp should have had great success at
Florida, but it didn’t work out. The jury is still out on Butch Jones at
Tennessee. If being a head coach in the SEC was easy, then so many guys wouldn’t
get getting fired year after year. The fact that South Carolina had the
audacity to ask Steve Spurrier to step down at the end of the year just shows
how crazy this entire thing has gotten. South Carolina is Kentucky with Sandstorm playing in the background, and
Steve Spurrier is the best coach they have ever had. Spurrier should have been
able to write his own ticket, but South Carolina wants to be Alabama, so they
thought they could do better. Spurrier is a tool and he was a tool for quitting
on his team in the middle of the season, but South Carolina has misjudged who
they are, and it will cost them, dearly. Georgia fans should be excited, but
there are still big questions about Smart as a head coach, and we won’t get
answers until next fall. You can win the press conference, you can win Signing
Day, but can you win in the Dome against North Carolina? Can you go on the road
and beat South Carolina for the first time since 2008? Can win in Jacksonville?
Not winning those games cost Mark Richt his job, so until Kirby Smart wins
those games, consistently, we won’t know what we have in a head coach.
Smart is all but done putting together his staff. The offensive
coordinator and offensive line coaches were announced yesterday. I could tell
you their names, but you wouldn’t recognize them. I like that. It tells me that
Kirby knew what he wanted, and he didn’t feel the need to hire a name that
would excite people, he felt the need to hire the right guys for the job. I’ve
seen a lot of positive comments from regional and national pundits praising the
two hires.
Apparently, Smart will be bringing Kevin Sheerer and Scott
Cochran from Alabama as well. Sheerer will be the defensive coordinator and
Cochran will take over as strength and conditioning coach, a position that he
has held at Alabama for many years. The Cochran hiring is perhaps the most important
hire that Kirby will make. Georgia has been weak on both lines of scrimmage for
many years, and new blood was needed in the off season training program.
If you can’t tell, I’m excited. Next fall will bring more
anticipation than any college football season since 2008 when Georgia was the
preseason #1. You will hear a lot of people say that we need to give Kirby
time. I disagree wholeheartedly. There is no reason, on paper, or anywhere
else, Georgia should not win the East next year. Tennessee has to come to
Athens. I don’t buy Florida at all. Missouri has come back to reality after a
couple of seasons of overachieving and South Carolina hired Muschamp, so they
are out of the picture for about 3 or 4 years until they fire him. Nothing
about Auburn scares me for the next season or two. Our toughest road game next
season is at Ole Miss, who loses three of their best players at the end of this
season. Tech will always and forever be Tech, so don’t expect Kirby to start
losing to them. We won’t win the whole thing next year, and we probably won’t
win the SEC, but we will be in Atlanta, because that is where we belong.
The sun is rising in Athens. A sleeping giant has been
awoken. The era of the Dawgs will soon begin. Get on board now, while there is
room.
We look back on the past with reverence and thankfulness for
what Coach Richt and his staff did while they were in Athens.
We now look to the
future with eyes set firmly on the ultimate prize. Georgia will raise another
National Title banner. It is not a question of if, but of when.
Glory, Glory
Go Dawgs!
