Monday's Meatloaf - Champion Inception

Okay...bear with me here. Together, let's take a leap of faith. I've found a way to reconnect Georgia football with prosperity once again...

Inception.

I just watched it for the second time the other night and it came to me, like a dream. For those who haven't seen this incredible movie, I promise not to spoil it for you. Here's a trailer that can bring you up to speed for the moment. Then go and watch it as soon as possible.

Before we break for lunch, let's play with a couple quotes, alter them and use that to our advantage:

• If we're going to perform Inception at the GA Dome in December then we need imagination to beat floriDuh.
• A single idea from the human mind can build cities championship football programs.
• You create the world of the dream. You bring the subject into that dream...and they fill it with their secrets championship trophies.

Today's Ingredients

• Tons of coaching news over the weekend, the biggest of which may be Piggy Petrino's buyout. Whoa Nellie!!
• But most of the ink has been spilled on floriDuh's new corch. Like Pl0we, I never thought I'd see the day either. But the older I get, the less there is that surprises me.
• CFN has five viewpoints on the Muschamp hire. I can't agree with all of Mitchell's points, but it's the speed at which a decision was made that is the most curious. Like he says, it's not like the Texas DC was going anywhere.
• It's still a little unclear if Malzahn has taken the Vandy job (I think the W-Post just eff'd up the headline), or is still mulling it over. UPDATE: he decides to stay on the plains.
• But Kevin at College Football Zealots thinks it would be a smart move for the Auburn OC. At least $3 million times over I would say. And regardless of how it plays out, the Senator $ee$ a $eriou$ precedent being $et.
• The era of the Golden Hurricanes begins in Coral Gables. *yawn*
• Big Muddy draws on another movie's parallel to come to peace with the Muschomp hire.
• And Northern Illinois is set to name their new head coach today...*chirp, chirp*...okay then, onto some recruiting news...
• Justin Scott-Wesley had wavered a bit in his commitment to CMR. But sounds like he was reassured this weekend that the coaching staff he committed to will be Athens a while.
• Meanwhile over at DawgPost, Fletcher writes ($$) that Jay Rome may have left Athens even closer to a decision and Simmons says Damian Swann is ever closer to his big announcement ($$).
• AJ Green is close to a decision on the NFL, but doesn't see the potential lockout as much of a factor.
• Still some room around the Festivus pole if you want to enter in my bowl pool (password = GloryGlory). Remember, all proceeds go to The Human Fund.
• And Drew at Saturday Down South contrasts the last two Heisman acceptance speeches. I'll just say that I'm truly sorry the elder Newton couldn't be in NYC for the ceremony. It woulda saved Chizik some postage expense with the next payment.

So back to the task at hand, the possibilities are endless as long as the top stops spinning. I say we start with these:

• Coach Richt - Two-a-days are God's way of toughening the football soul...then...Jacksonville is a comfortable place for a fall Saturday.
• Coach Bobo - Aaron Murray is the key to your future. Muschamp can't stop him. Only you can.

Then we can move on to some recruits:

• Isaiah Crowell - You need Athens as much as Athens needs you.
• Gabe Wright - Orange is a bad color for someone your size.
• John Jenkins - Stillwater is a cesspool. Silver Britches can make you famous.

If this goes well I think we should then consider moving on to our true enemies. I just wish I had thought of this in time to plant an idea or two in Jeremy Foley's mind - Chan Gailey is the ol' ball coach of the modern era. Leave some suggestions below if you have any. Otherwise, here's your fork. Go have a Monday! 

Bernie

Christmas comes early for Florida...and Texas

Will Muschamp is the new corch in waiting at Gayturdsville U. Jeremy Foley easily has a top five program in college football, yet decided to pull a page out of Mike Hamilton's AD play book and hire someone to spite UGA. It may take me some time to decide which is more awkward for me as a Georgia fan, a Dooley on a Tennessee sideline or a former Dawg letterman in the swamp.

"Now you wait right here son, 'til I'm done..."

In all seriousness, it would seem to me that there were a few people at least that didn't want to try and fill Corch's shoes. I can't blame them really. Muschamp may be the only guy that was offered the job, but there's no way he was at the top of list A.


Some sidenotes rattling around in my brain:

• I'll reserve judgment until we see his staff. He's young and has a good resume. But Muschamp left the Texas sideline in a state of disrepair. If he can pull some SEC and NFL ties, this hire will feel a lot less like a reach.
• However, Dan Mullen had to be the top choice. How deep is he in this Cam mess? Or did he just not want to follow in his former head coach's footsteps?
• Was Muschamp actively looking to get out of Austin? Or did he make a pitch to stay and get promoted to Head Coach? (Things are upside down right now at UT)
• Lots of Dawg fans upset at Muschamp. But I can't blame a guy for wanting a head gig; Will is obviously desperate to knock the lid off his coaching potential. If I recall correctly, Muschamp never beat Florida...and now FU fans have to accept him as their own. Would you ever want Reggie Ball as Aaron Murray's QB coach?
• That being said, he's dead to me. *spits on laptop*
• Also a lot of people made mention of Florida announcing during the Heisman ceremony. What about the murmurs that had to be going on at the Gala in Athens last night.

Thanks Foley.

Recruiting Spotlight: Quan Bray

When I went back and read yesterday's post, felt like I slighted Quan a bit. So here's a rundown and a video of the player that is like a symmetrical opposite to Branden Smith in my mind: he can play both sides of the ball, but probably concentrates on offense.

Quan Bray
measureables: 5'11" 175lbs
speed: 4.46/40
high school: Troup Co.
position(s): RB, WR, QB, DB

BIG Recruiting Weekend

If Coach Richt wants to assemble a 2011 Georgia dream team in recruiting, this weekend is the beginning of the REM cycle. Eighteen recruits total are expected over the weekend, which is highlighted by the annual Gala tonight. Some of the top uncommitted in the state are in Athens:

• Zzavier Dickson - superb athlete that is versatile enough for either DE or OLB
• Ray Drew - DE, also a great athlete that eats up quarterbacks and makes plays all over the field
• Damian Swann - future playmaker at DB, SEC speed
• Jay Rome - all around talent at TE; great size and speed; ranked #1 at his position
• Malcolm Mitchell - fluid, exceptional speed; should play early at DB

Throw in the likes of Quan Bray and Jeoffrey Pagan from outside of Georgia as well as a host of committed players and it is quite the parade of all-stars in Athens. Let's hope guys like LeMay, Marshall and Herrera have a chance to bend a few ears ($$).

Team Mentality

It's a team game. You don't have to have been in the arena to get that. At the Liberty media primer yesterday, Coach Richt made reference to a level of play becoming more Georgia-esque in the last seven games.

Richt pointed out that Georgia’s 5-2 finish included an overtime loss to Florida and a loss to an Auburn team that’s pretty good.

“We have in the last seven ball games played Georgia football the way it’s supposed to be played,” said Richt, who again talked about the tougher practices as the key.

Added O’Leary: “What Mark said is right. They’re playing Georgia football now.”

Well, not quite.

“We’re still not playing championship level defense right now,” Richt said.

I try not to read too much into quotes, and I've been critical of the defense as well despite some statistical gains. But the truth of the matter is we're no closer to Georgia football than we were a year ago. That's a mindset that the entire team has, an attitude that allows our silver britches to be more proactive and less reactive. We set the tone, you try and keep up...we dare you.


Tougher practices are a step towards something good. But Richt's clarifier at the end there begs the assumption that things are fixed in the rest of the phases of the game. But until we can smash opponents in the mouth with our run game and our defense, I'll still be waiting.

the Longshots Impossibilities

Last week I promised an individual post for each of my bullet points in Richt's To-Do List. When I made that promise I didn't realize exactly how much reading I would need to do to be able to type intelligently on the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement. And I intended to do these in the order in which they were presented. All that to say two things really: I'm sorry it's taken this long for the first installment and I'm still no expert in lawyerese.

I get the feeling that many fans across the country believe the potential work stoppage in the pros may affect rising seniors and red-shirt juniors' decisions significantly. The fact of the matter is that this likely isn't true at all. Namely for these reasons:

• I don't believe there will be a work stoppage. It doesn't appear owners or players are in any position financially to afford it. Owners have been hit by the recession pretty hard and players tend to spend as fast as they run. Couple that with the fact that there's been few (if any) hard lines when it comes to negotiating so far and it seems less and less likely the NFLPA and the NFL owners will allow a work stoppage.
• And even if negotiations eventually do fall through, it would likely come well after January 15th which is the deadline for underclassmen to declare. 

In the words of Montgomery Gentry...Gone!

So I expect current underclassmen like AJ and Justin to monitor the NFL headlines, but it shouldn't prove much of a factor. Any college player with remaining eligibility that declares on the 15th of January will already be cozy with an agent shortly thereafter. Meaning, they're gone. Done with classes and dorm life forever.

Other factors that will come into play with AJ, Justin Houston and any others:

• Family. Do they feel a pressing need to support their loved ones monetarily? How big of an emphasis is placed on education?
• Education. How close are they to graduation? And closer doesn't always necessarily help the player lean towards staying. If they are a semester or two away in a major that can be found online, it becomes that much easier to finish in the comfort of their own new home with a brand new laptop.
• Maturity. Sometimes you see kids jump too soon before they are ready athletically or emotionally. Sometimes you see grown men wait despite the fact that they are ready athletically, simply because they are not yet ready to leave what has become their second home.

But you and I both know the greatest (and usually only) factor is money. I also did a lot of searching in terms of draft status for AJ and Justin. I didn't see AJ below a 5th pick overall and saw Justin as high as late round 1 (keep in mind this is early for even speculative mock drafts, given that the teams' positions on the board plays a big role. Especially for a player like Houston that may not fit every defensive scheme).

I don't have as good a read on Justin, but I'm sure AJ would love to stay another season. But when you're the best prospect at wide receiver and can only help your stock through a combine...it proves to be nearly impossible to turn down the money. So I expect both numbers 8 and 42 to be available. We'll see if there are any surprises in the coming weeks.

SEC FOY Honors

Congrats to Aaron Murray, Kwame Geathers and Alec Ogletree for being named SEC Freshmen of the Year. They join Georgia's other All-SEC award winners: Clint Boling, Blair Walsh and Justin Houston (first team) as well as AJ Green, Orson Charles and Drew Butler (second team).

Foley...gone corching

By 3pm yesterday conspiracy theorists had Slurban whistling John Denver melodies and Dan Mullen digging the SPF 50 out from the old suitcase. All that aside, I think Year2 has the most complete list of candidates and non-candidates. Our friend Exile has a short list as well and did a lot of impressive background checking (correction...it's actually jimmycrackedcorndawg's list). And Kit looks at the pros and cons of Meyer suddenly realizing he has a family.

I paid em all! All of em!

And since everyone is compiling lists, I thought I'd add my own...with a twist. As a Dawg fan, here are the guys I would most want to see corching the scripted helmets (in no particular order):

• Lou Holtz, ESPN - just so he'll stop spitting all over my TV screen.
• A Meyer Daughter, NATS or Fort Meyers - what better way for a girl to get back at an absentee father than to take his old gig. Then they can give him a taste of his own cold shoulder.
• Dave Wannstache, some bar - pretty sure he could bring Ditka with him...SEC Media Days just went off the charts!
• June Jones, SMU - he can bring back at least 90% of his Hawaii wardrobe (sans the grass skirts in favor of jorts).
• Charley Pell's Ghost, purgatory - old $chool, reptile $tyle!
• Chan Gailey, Braine's Basement Buffalo - all the cold blood as an FU alum, without the sharp teeth of an actual coach.
• Jeremy Fowler, Orlando Sentinel - Corch dressed him down, now it's the beat guy's turn to give the beatdown.

Your welcome Foley. And if none of those are available, I hear Joe Paterno is still in the game. You can even scout him New Year's Day for free.

Stop Me if You've Heard This One...

...Corch is stepping down...


If true, I guess St. Tebow has called him home.


If this is a sequel of last year and you are a recent commit of Corch's, please stand by. Your nightmare will be over in approximately two weeks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

UPDATE: more and more signs pointing toward a more truthful rumor this time. 


- Posted using BlogPress from Bernie's iPhone

Bowl Season - another Festivus Miracle!

I'VE GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH YOU PEOPLE!!

I love bowl season. I'm the guy that doesn't get all pissy about there being more bowls than there are eligible teams. The more the merrier.


And I also embrace my heritage...Festivus! 

So if you have some grievances to air, or think you can best me in the feats of strength...SIGN UP. We're donating all proceeds to The Human Fund.

Group: Festivus4theDawgNus

password: GloryGlory