Thursday, February 10, 2011

Recruiting X's and O's, by Mike Bobo

I'm a firm believer in giving credit where it's due. I've been critical of our coaches for the results on the field the last couple of seasons. And as hard as it is to embrace a play action pass on 3rd and long, it's just as easy to appreciate the hard work our coaches did this past year on the recruiting trails.


And now Coach Bobo is getting some national love.
It was a great year for the Bulldogs in the Peach State, especially in southern Georgia. This is an area very familiar to Bobo, as he played his high school ball in Thomasville, Ga. Rome, Mitchell, Drew, OT Xzavier Ward (Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt) and QB Nick Marshall (Rochelle, Ga./Wilcox County) were all southern Georgia standouts. Bobo was also a key figure for Georgia in landing LeMay from North Carolina
We've known that Bobo could go up against the big boys in the high school hallways and living rooms for a while. This year was about as close to a home run as a coach can get in January/February.


Or a hitch and go down the sideline for 6, as it were.


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BONUS: The guys at DawgPost grade out the 2011 class. Wish I could've made those kind of grades on campus.


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UPDATE: Should've linked this earlier in case you missed it...Saturday Weiszer looked at the South GA hotspot that is Bobo's territory. It includes this great tidbit:
Bobo and Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart – friends and former Georgia teammates – had lunch together in Valdosta before Mitchell’s announcement on the night of Jan. 20.
“We kind of didn’t talk,” Bobo said. “Most people there were talking. We just sat there in silence.”
If the two friends ever meet in Atlanta one Saturday in early December, I hope it keeps the same script. 

2 comments:

DawgCPA said...

Haha. Nice "guidelines" for comments!
Anyway, as a Thomasville boy, I have a special love for Coach Bobo. That being said, it has pained me for quite some time that Mike has had to suffer through all of the blame over the last few years. I don't always agree with his calls, but I honestly don't know a fan who would agree with all of the calls their Coach made.
And it's difficult to argue with his success, at least recently. I think he gets it.
He's the son of a Coach, as am I, and as such, he sees things from a different perspective. Perhaps he's a little too over-thinking at times, but he gets it.
He's a great guy - very genuine and very non-assuming. I like that. His approach and demeanor in recruiting Hutson Mason, QB where I'm "at" now, was very popular. And that's among all of us "East Cobb Snobs"!
I'm thrilled for the Dawgs with this recruiting class, but I'm thankful that Mike and Coach Richt finally have had something go right. It's been a while. I thank you for your acknowledgment of victory for him.
I'm pretty sure I'm starting to ramble, so... Catch you on the Twittah...

Bernie said...

Thanks DawgCPA. I do think Bobo over thinks things. But when he's on, he's unstoppable. Obviously this is a pretty important year for his coaching career.

But one thing we can be sure of, he's a helluva recruiter. I think between him and Lilly, they were responsible for 20 of our signees. Of course, the other coaches had a hand in it. But they really laid the ground work and closed strong.