A Crazy Couple of Weeks

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!

Does your blood run Red and Black?

Each college football season, the first blog I write is almost exactly the same, because each year, fans have to start with perspective.

Sure, pundits in the media can say stupid things like, “this team should be in the hunt for a national championship every year,” but that isn’t realistic.

Now, you want to point out Alabama. Ok, for the past six years, Alabama has been in the hunt each year. But what about before that? Maybe look at Alabama football from 1993 to 2007. Despite what Bama fans might tell you, the Crimson Tide did field a team during those years, and they weren’t competing for a championship each year.

Perspective is the key to enjoying any season, and Georgia fans completely lost perspective on the 2015 season.

As Georgia enters their bye week, the Bulldog Nation has become disenchanted with this season, this team, and of course, this coach.

If you thought this team should have contended for a National Title this season, then you are the problem, not this team.

Sure, once Georgia was 4-0 and hosting Alabama, who had already lost a game, you could start thinking that things might fall Georgia’s way. But go back to August, and remember that this team was going to be young at receiver, incredibly young in the secondary, and they didn’t have a quarterback.

Here we are on October 18^th, and what is the state of this team?

We just played about a million freshmen mostly at receiver and in the secondary, we still don’t have a quarterback, and our best player is out for the year with a knee injury.

If you are a Georgia fan, please stop rooting for a team that doesn’t exist, and root for the team we have. This team isn’t going to change before they get to Jacksonville in 13 days.

So you have about two weeks, as a Georgia fan to decide if you want to be a Georgia fan or not. This team is 5-2, will probably get back in the Top 25 before the Cocktail Party, and controls its own destiny in the SEC East.

Are you in or are you out? You have to decide now. Because I am sick of hearing people complain or cheer after the game.

Georgia fans aren’t alone in this, but we have become a terrible fan base that is ready to burn down Sanford Stadium after every loss. We want to fire a great coach and a better man because Nick Saban has gone on an historical run at Alabama, and now we have decided that it is our birth right to win every college football game we play.

There are five games left in this season, and I’m going to choose to be a fan. If we lose in Jacksonville, I’m going to watch the Kentucky game. If we lose to Auburn, I’m going to watch the Tech game. If we lose to Tech, I’m going to vomit, and then I’m going to watch the bowl game.

After the season, we can assess the season and the program, but instantly reacting to every third down play and trying to judge the entire program on a game or two is annoying.

Georgia is going to be underdogs in Jacksonville in two weeks, but in a rivalry game you never know what might happen. The Dawgs were a far better team last year, but didn’t show up and play at their best, and they lost the game. Florida isn’t the greatest team in college football, and Georgia can beat them.

Win or lose, the program is heading in the right direction. The recruiting job that this staff has done over the past two seasons is excellent and the incoming class might be the best of all. We see Georgia’s depth at linebacker with the injuries and ejections this season, so I’m convinced we will be strong there again next season, the young secondary is really talented and they are going to be really good maybe even by the end of this season, and next year we will have a quarterback that has the ability to make all the throws.

Is anything guaranteed?

Of course not.

As a fan I’m excited about watching these young Dawgs grow over the rest of this season, and I’m very excited about the future.

Perspective is something that we aren’t good at in this country any more. We want  what we want and we want it yesterday. For Georgia fans, the best example of this is that just two years ago these same “fans” that want Richt fired were calling Aaron Murray a bum and wanted Hutson Mason or Bryce Ramsey to play quarterback, because they were obviously a better option than Murray.

I hate to break it to you “fans” but you aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are. You might watch a lot of football, and you might have even played in high school, but you don’t know more about the game that Mark Richt and his coaching staff. You thought Murray was terrible, and he was the best quarterback we have had at Georgia in a very long time. Reading a message board doesn’t make you qualified to coach the team any more than writing a blog does.

The media is part of the problem. Whether it is sports, politics, the economy, or social issues, we are influenced by what we read or hear from so called experts, but they get ratings and readers by telling you who to blame. They sit in the cheap seats and criticize the man in the arena who does the hard job of actually competing or making decisions. If these people were truly experts, they would be on the field either playing or coaching. Mark Richt makes a lot more money coaching than anyone at the AJC makes writing about how bad Mark Richt is as a coach. That should tell you something. 

Fans need to be fans, support the team in good times and bad, or just find another team to support. The term fair-weather fan applies to the Bulldog Nation more than I ever thought it could. Character is revealed through adversity, and true loyalty is shown in the hard times.

At the beginning of the season, from my perspective, 10-2 would have been a success for this team, and I’m sticking to that, but win or lose, I’m all in.

The rest of you Georgia fans need to decide where you stand.

Does your blood run Red and Black or not?

Georgia/Alabama Preview

Weeks like this are so much fun.

The anticipation of a big home game, especially against a traditional power like Alabama is what college football is all about. The weather doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, but both teams have to play in the same conditions, so I’m not convinced that will be a deciding factor in the game.

When I say this game could go either way, I mean it. In any game, there are four possible outcomes: either team wins a close game, or either team blows the other team out. Most of the time, you could eliminate at least one of those possibilities, but not this week.

Nothing that happens on Saturday will surprise me.

Obviously either team winning a close game would be just about what most of us expect.

Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it, so you can’t discount the idea that Georgia could get blown out on Saturday just like they did in 2008.

My guess is, based on previous Georgia performances in big games, most Georgia fans wouldn’t expect a blow out win for the Dawgs, but that is exactly what I expect.

Going back to 2012, the last time Alabama won the National Title, you see that the Alabama defense was fantastic. Even in the one game they lost in 2012, to Texas A&M, Bama only gave up 29 points. In the classic SEC title game versus Georgia, the Tide only gave up 28 points.

The following year, 2013, Alabama gave up 42 points to Texas A&M in a victory, and then gave up 34 points to Auburn in the “Kick Six” game, and 45 points to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

Last season, Alabama gave up 44 points to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, but still won the game, and they allowed 42 points to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff.

Two weeks ago, Ole Miss put up 43 points on Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama still has good players on defense, and they are more than capable of putting up a big performance, but against the best teams that Alabama has faced over the past few seasons, Alabama’s defense hasn’t been the juggernaut that the dynasty was built on.

Then look at the other side of the ball. Alabama’s offense is still solid, but would anybody take Jake Coker over Blake Sims, AJ McCarron, or Greg McElroy? I don’t think so.

Lane Kiffin’s big play offense worked last season with Sims finding Amare Cooper time and time again for long touchdowns, but this year, Coker hasn’t had the time in the pocket to execute those big plays, and he has been too loose with the football at times.

Now let me say something that could really come back to bite me. Derek Henry is not as good as Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, or TJ Yeldon. I’m not saying he is a bad player, but he isn’t the dynamic kind of runner those previous backs were. He is too big. Once he gets going, he can’t be stopped, but I think there are going to be a lot of plays on Saturday where Henry doesn’t get going.

Now look on the other side of the field.

Georgia’s offensive line has been phenomenal this season. They run block, they pass block, and they haven’t been giving away stupid penalties.

Georgia’s quarterback isn’t an All-American or a 5 star recruit, but he has shown himself to be a solid game manager that is capable of making big plays in the passing game when needed.

At running back, Georgia has multiple weapons they can put on the field in different situations to cause matchup problems for opposing defenses with Chubb and Michel.

Malcolm Mitchell is a game changer at wide receiver, and now that he is healthy for the first time since the Clemson game in 2013, he is showing just how good he is.

Defensively, Georgia has come a long, long way under Jeremy Pruitt. The strength of the defense is obviously the linebacker position, where it seems some of Georgia’s backups are as good as the starters. The secondary has been great since the middle of last season, and those guys all seem to have a nose for the ball.

The defensive line is solid, with a chance for greatness as Mr. Thompson continues to develop into the beast that I predicted he would be before the season started.

So what does that all add up to?

Great offensive line, smart quarterback, dynamic receiver, multiple running backs, strong defense that can produce turnovers.

Georgia 2015 is built just like Alabama 2009-2012. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I guess the Tide should be flattered.

I think we are going to see the same type of game on Saturday afternoon that we saw 7 years ago, just with the roles reversed. Georgia is poised to break out and prove to the nation that they are a different team with a different feel. I’m not saying that the Dawgs are the best team in the country right now, I’m just saying they are better than the team they will be playing on Saturday.

The South Carolina win has been blown way out of proportion because the reality is that South Carolina isn’t a very good team this year. This win for Georgia will also get blown out of proportion because Alabama 2015 isn’t the same team that we are used to seeing Nick Saban coach. I think Alabama is going to lose their 2^nd SEC game on Saturday night, but it won’t be their last. Bama is going to lose 2 more games this season, with the likes of Texas A&M, LSU, and Tennessee still on their schedule.

Now I am an eternal optimist when it comes to Georgia football, I know that, but this program has a different feel to it now. The talent on the field has gotten better and better through some fantastic recruiting. The talent on the sidelines has gotten better with new coordinators. The mentality of Mark Richt has changed a bit, as his experience is starting to show him how to prepare for these big games. Georgia is ready to take the next step, and I think that is exactly what they are going to do on Saturday night.

Georgia 34  Alabama 20

Glory, Glory