Recruiting Roundup - 25 days til NSD

We're about knee-deep into the home stretch of recruiting season. Things are going to start to happen fast. Before I get to today's post, a quick note regarding yesterday's in terms of player development. One thing CMR and staff can absolutely sell is playing time, which is what most kids want. That's one of the few advantages of being 6-7 I guess, you can easily say that competition is at a premium on your campus. But in order for that to truly stick, the Georgia coaches have to also smooth over any reservations about going to a coach clearly on the hotseat. 


With that said, here we go. For those of you with just enough curiosity, here is a rundown of some guys we're targeting. No real order. I'll single some of them out in subsequent posts.


Isaiah Crowell - our #1 target; the nation's best running back is an absolute playmaker that can take it the distance with any touch; from Carver-Columbus HS where we seem to have smoothed things over recently

Sanford Seay, CMR's latest commit

John Jenkins - arguably just as important as Crowell, Jenkins is the space eater at DT we need and he's ready to play in 2011, guaranteed. Once an Oklahoma State commit out of Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, things have recently opened up.
Jay Rome - Five star TE out of Valdosta has been rumored to be close to committing for a while. Also rumored to be recruiting for CMRs staff pretty heavily. An overall TE talent, can block and stretch the field. Also considering Bama and Tennessee (late comer).
Malcolm Mitchell - Rome's teammate, can play DB or WR, but probably plays on the defensive side of the ball in college. His play at the Under Armour game was impressive, natural athlete. He's another one Bama looks to steal from the state. Committing Jan 20th.
Damian Swann - Scheduled to announce at today's US Army All-American game. Athletic DB that really likes Georgia. Played all over the field in HS, but probably sticks to corner at the next level.
Ray Drew - If Dickson holds for Bama, Drew will be the kid to take some of that sting away with his LOI. Superb pass rusher that is just as amazing off the field as on it. Has kept things pretty close to the vest, official visits to UGA, Auburn and LSU. May get in two more before NSD, Clemson and either Tenn or Florida.
Jeoffrey Pagan - Like Drew and Dickson, another big athlete that can get after the QB. Was once a Florida commit but Georgia got the first visit when things opened back up. Clemson may lead with just about every other school within driving distance to Asheville close behind.
Sanford Seay - Similar to what was reported a couple days ago, Seay officially committed to UGA Thursday with Bobo and Ball at his school. He had plenty of offers, UGA was late to the list but was his biggest and the one he had waited patiently on. 


Quick note on Dickson and Bray - I think they are definitely still in the mix. It's hard to imagine Coach Richt snagging a commitment from the mighty Saban right now, but with recruiting these days there is just no telling. My impression the other night on television is that they both wanted their moment to shine. However, I don't think either is 100% solid. And of course, now rumors are rampant as to the hidden agendas and true meanings.


But in the end, they're just 17 year olds that thousands upon thousands of college football fans are fixated on, for whatever reason. There's 25 days until things can actually be counted on. Decisions until then aren't worth much at all. 


Except maybe some brief elation...and grief.

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Today's link is a really good read if you want to have a clearer picture of what this process is like for these kids. It's simply a collection of quotes from kids as they look back on their decision process, lumped together into more general categories. It's by ESPNs Gene Wojciechowski, The Little Blue-Chip Recruiting Handbook.

For Hoop Dawgs, appetizers are over

The plate is clean, time to fill it with something more lasting. Like wins over SEC teams. And what better way to open things up than with a home game against KenYucky? Newly renovated Stegeman sold out! NCAA finally on our side.


I'm heading to Athens today, but without tickets in hand. Have a couple errands to run, family and friends to see. But the plan is to be back home well before tip off. If you're local to the Atlanta area, we're on channel 17 WPCH at 4pm.


Go Dawgs! Beat Crapalari.

My players are pros!

Uga VIII is about to bite Lymphoma in the ass

Robert Baker got off easy with Uga V. Our newly appointed mascot Uga VII has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Stay firm Dawg fans. It's never rained harder. Time to hunker down. And when you bend a knee tonight, send one up for the Seiler family and their Damn Good Dawg!

Sturdivant Staying in Athens

Trinton Sturdivant will return for his senior season, he tells ABHs Marc Weiszer. And it was an expectedly difficult decision for the tackle who has undergone two knee rehabs.

“It was a really, really, very, very tough decision being that my lifelong goal was to play in the NFL,” Sturdivant said. “It’s been tarnished because of the two injuries. I was really thinking about leaving this year because of so many different factors because of the what if.”

The 6-foot-5, 312-pound Sturdivant, who was not expected to be an early round draft pick, saw risk in staying or going.

“Both sides are very risky,” Sturdivant said. “If I stay I could get injured and potentially never play NFL ball, but if I left I would have reached my goal hopefully of making it to the NFL. There were some more obstacles this year with the lockout. …I feel like I’ve made a really good decision.”

With Sturdivant still in the fold, we wait to hear from others...officially. 

Recruiting Roundup - 26 days til NSD

Going to start a fairly frequent feature here as we wind down towards signing day. Before ink hits actual paper and fax machines start whirring, it's important to get things in perspective. So here's my overall perspective on recruiting, in the interest of full disclosure.

Carver-Columbus' Isaiah Crowell

First, you should know I'm not one of those fans that gets too invested in this. I'm not meaning to piss on your parade if you are, but I'm just not that into 17 year old's decisions getting glorified and vilified on television, in print and on message boreds. However, I find the process more than a little compelling and get a charge out of seeing the names hit the screen inside Butts-Mehre. So it may be most fair to say, this part of my blogging is never a labor of love. But it intrigues me just enough.


Second, this being the winter of our most recent discontent, it's important to note that just getting the right signatures is a very small part of the battle. I don't want to get into a talent vs coaching debate right now, but it's safe to say at this point that we have coaches that aren't developing the February signatures into SEC caliber statistics. And that's not to say that they can't or haven't in the past. But 6-7 teams beg a powerful microscope, and player development demands a keen focus in Athens these days.

Davis, touching that rock

From what I read and what I see I think we’re evaluating the right players across the state and the country. We’re competing against the schools that are currently winning at a high level; just take a gander at the number of kids we're courting against Bama. But we just haven’t closed the deal on enough immediate impact guys and we haven’t landed that diamond in the rough like Thomas Davis or Verron Haynes; guys that are so thrilled for that UGA offer that they bleed red and black right through their silver britches.

So a huge question is development. I would rank our best position coaches at this point as Bobo number one and Belin/Grantham number two. It’s hard to be too critical of the other defensive coaches since we only have 13 games to go on the 3-4. But I think that’s enough to say that Lakatos has a ways to go and Garner is almost solely a recruiting guy here lately.

But even those disappointments don’t come close to the mystery of Coach Searels. How in the world did our biggest asset going into the season become our biggest liability? I went to bed every Saturday this fall thanking the good Lord that Aaron Murray wasn’t scheduled for any tests or surgeries the next Monday. Did anyone expect back in August that our 13^th hour 2010 signee Kenarious Gates would play such a role this season?


That question in and of itself is reason to at least pay attention to recruiting. You never know who the next player is to fill an emergency hole. And you never know who the next Nick Williams will be either.

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Be back tomorrow with another Roundup on the 2011 targets. Until then, here's some important links for your Friday lunch:

• Fletcher Page catches us up on CMR, Garner and Grantham's visit to Connecticut yesterday. John Jenkins is indeed the missing link. ($$)
• Rusty Mansell also talks up the Jenkins' visit, over a few games of pool.
• Weiszer brings us up to speed on CMRs latest commitment, Sanford Seay. 

AJ, Houston and Boykin...GONE!

Per Kelin's Twitter.

FWIW...Aaron Murray tweets back, surprised...???

AND...Boykin says wait a minute...

Sweating Through the Opposite Day Presser

Despite my best wishes, Coach Richt did very little to do away with appearances yesterday. And since I tried to get in a late word just before his 2010 craptacular wrap-up presser, I thought I'd also lend a few quick after words. 


The fact is, we are not even remotely close. We're very, very far away. The point is to be close in August, which in turn can keep us very close in September and through November. I didn't at any point think he'd go and throw a stick of dynamite onto Woodruff Practice Field. That's not his style. I get that. I think we all get that.


One of the few positives I thought was the not so subtle tone being set by AD McGarity with his attendance as well as others. To be clear, this is the type of thing that is usually done in the comfort of CMRs office as a teleconference. The new AD wanted to make his coach sweat a little. Kind of his version of stadium steps for a 6-7 season if you will.


I may get reamed for typing this (and I never thought I would), but perhaps those martinis and red panties back in July were a blessing. Damon would never have stepped out of Richt's shadow. They were comfortable. Casual. I want all of Georgia’s coaches and McGarity to always be on the same page. But I’m ok if things aren’t always peaches and cream. It’s okay with me if Richt sweats a little when he walks through the Butts-Mehre doors.


It would have been nice to see more accountability from the guy behind the microphone. Yes, he's changed tweaked the Strength and Conditioning program. But I would fall well short of saying Bobo and Searels were great. And you know what? I doubt they would say they were great either. Our running game was abysmal and despite all the points scored, our offense lacked consistency. That's not great. To be quite honest and fair, that's merely being good...some of the time.


Richt spent years defending his defense at the expense of the offense, now he's flipped his teleprompter over. 

Please. Give. Me. A. Break.

But in the end I think we got what we expected. Little more, nothing less. And as long as the head guy walks into Butts-Mehre this winter wishing he'd worn a little more anti-persiprant...then I guess it'll be as close...as we can get.

The Dawg Blawgs Podcast - State of the Program

Giving bloggers space to type is dangerous enough. Give them a voice and all hell could break loose. But ecdawg (Leather Helmet) was brave enough to try. Click play if you want to hear me try to keep up with him, CCRider (Sports and Grits) and CorbinDawg (The Grit Tree). 


(FYI - there's several seconds of dead air space at the beginning. Just consider it a 4th and inches and GO FOR IT!!)


UPDATE: a commenter mentioned wanting to hear more podcasts on UGA. You can't get much better than the guys at Dawgcast or Kit's DawgGoneBlog. If they're not already in your queue, make it happen.

They said...They're ALL in!!

SportsByBrooks is leading the charge when it comes to Auburn's eligibility questions. And this compilation sums things up nicely as well as brings us up to date.

Again, we all know everyone's playing. It's just going to be a matter of how many mops Jacobs, Slive and Emmert have to use to clean up the confetti.

Doing away with Appearances

Coach Richt's press conference is set to begin here shortly. Before he gets his say, I just want to make one point. 


A lot of people are asking what kind of record CMR needs in 2011 to keep his job. Is the SEC East enough? Then further, if he wins a division or a conference title next season then falls back to 8-4 in 2012, what then?


I don't know the answer to that. To be honest, there's not really a fair one anyway. And I certainly don't know what I expect to hear him say this morning that's going to make me feel better about what has happened the last few months years.


But I do know this, no one is on the same page right now. Not the fans, the players, the coaches. I don't think the team as a whole played with much passion at all Friday...or the season as a whole. It appeared to me as if no one wanted to be in Memphis Friday except the fans who traveled there. It appeared to me as if the players and the coaches weren't any more in sync this season as last. 


Talk is cheap. Right now doing away with appearances is at a premium in Athens.