CRob doin work

He labeled it "New Beginnings." Very appropriate. Glad he's still around.

Richt, it's Latin for "stability"

Ching takes a deep look at the assistant coaches Mark Richt has had under his watch and specifically how they've helped give him ties to the SEC as well as stability over the years. Although Mike Bobo is the only coach currently on staff that was around for Richt's first season, Athens has seen little turnover in the coaches' housing market when compared to the rest of the college football landscape since 2001.

Few programs have won more consistently than Georgia since Richt took over as the Bulldogs’ head coach, so previous SEC experience might be slightly overrated as a predictor of future success in the league. Richt’s tenure might never have gotten off the ground, however, if he hadn’t initially hired some coaches who understood the SEC’s physical demands and who already developed key recruiting contacts within the state and region. 

Check it out. It's a good read. If for no other reason than to see Jon Fabris referred to as a "live wire".

My guess is that's Greek...

Stricklin ready for the challenge

It shouldn't be lost on us that Georgia's new baseball coach left his alma mater to take over our struggling program. And by this quote from his introduction yesterday you can already see he embraces challenges.

Stricklin has a catcher’s background and has been a pitching coach, so pitching and defense will figure heavily into his philosophy. Since the NCAA toned down bats, the three-run home run has diminished in importance in favor of the bunt and hit and run. Stricklin plans to use small ball but hesitates to call himself a small-ball coach.

“If you go back and watch that game at Kent State when we beat Oregon in the regional final — I’ve watched it several times, it’s fun to watch — we got a leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt and a bloop single and we go to Omaha,” Stricklin said. “I don’t necessarily say that we play small ball. There’s times to bunt. But there’s times to hit and run. There’s times to steal bases. Putting pressure on defenses and keeping defenses guessing is important. If they know what you’re doing, it’s a lot easier to defend.”

Stricklin's challenges won't start and end with trying to beat Vanderbilt and South Carolina. He's already thrown into a fund raising campaign to renovate Foley Field as well as evaluating his roster against this week's MLB draft, which starts today.

And a tip of the cap to Coach Perno for reaching out to Stricklin. Things didn't work out the way we'd hoped under Perno's watch, but there's no question that Perno is a Damn Good Dawg.

Season opening tests, mostly failures

Reading Paschall's piece on the growing spotlight of the Georgia-Clemson opener is enough to make your stomach churn. But then he adds this graphic:

PUT TO THE TEST

The Clemson Tigers could be the ninth top-10 team to open a football season against Georgia:

YEAR ... TEAM (RANKING) ... RESULT

1961 ... Alabama (No. 3) ... def. Georgia, 32-6

1962 ... Alabama (No. 3) ... def. Georgia, 35-0

1963 ... Alabama (No. 3) ... def. Georgia, 32-7

1964 ... Alabama (No. 6) ... def. Georgia, 31-3

1965 ... Alabama (No. 5) ... lost to Georgia, 18-17

1968 ... Tennessee (No. 9) ... tied 17-17

2009 ... Oklahoma St. (No. 9) ... def. Georgia, 24-10

2011 ... Boise State (No. 5) ... def. Georgia, 35-21

Ouch. Wonder who Buffalo is playing. (Kidding. Really.)

Learning to live with UGA's drug policy

Had an argument with another Georgia fan recently that illustrated both the frustration Dawg fans feel regarding the yearly drug related suspensions and the no man's land that Georgia resides in compared to most of its immediate competitors.

The fact that the SEC's top officials recently discussed the (absurdly remote) possibility of a league wide drug testing program and uniform policies for positive tests is impressive in itself. But Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman put it best:

"If another school wants to do it a certain way and regulate it a certain way, that's their prerogative. What are we trying to do anyway? We're trying to help young people. I don't want another school to tell me how to do it." (via)

Who's to say one school's policy is better than another's? I don't want my neighbor having any kind of say so in how I raise and discipline my kids. So why should LSU want to adopt Kentucky's testing program and suspension policies? In short, schools like UGA have made their bed and now we must take a long, tortured slumber in it.

Have you sent Prez Adams his Thanks for the Memories card yet?

 Is it fair? No. But that doesn't mean it's wrong for the SEC to not have some form of uniform policy. Alabama can gain a competitive advantage over Mississippi State by allowing a player to play in their game after a positive test; a standard much lower than the MSU players on the same field. But that's how the University of Alabama chooses to run things. Do we all need the same entrance requirements for enrollment as well? Where does this train stop? Pre-game meals? Equipment deals? Checkboard endzones?

Just win the games on the field and let's stop belaboring minute details over fairness. Do you really think if Georgia players hadn't been so tired from pissing in all those cups they would've found a way to stop Eddie Lacy or managed to gain a first down and kill more clock? No, games are won or lost on the field. Not in front of a urinal.Speaking of which, take a look at this quote too:

"There are a lot of things we don't do the same as other schools," (Alabama AD) Battle said. "The policy for a lot of schools has been undertesting and overpunishing."

If UGA is overtesting and overpunishing (a matter of debate, sure, but logic would dictate that a case could be made for both) that is its business. Personally, I do think we're over punishing. And I also recognize that I must somehow come to accept that because it's not going to change. Ever. UGA won't lower the standards. It's just not going to happen^*.

Instead, as a Georgia fan, I have to come to accept it in some way. In the case of Alec Ogletree, the school's policy did not alter his behavior as much as fans would've preferred. Truly, that's his prerogative. But I can explain to my own kids the tenuous and constantly strained relationship between choices and consequences.

And I can do that without my neighbor knocking down my door and telling me I'm wrong.

^*I suppose the President Morehead era could bring lots of changes, I just don't see a new drug policy for athletes being one. And besides, it's not just the President's office in play here.

RIP "Gurshall"

Two men have always been better than one.

“I think the guys have been trying to get away from the Gurshall label a little bit because they are two individual human beings,” he said. “So I’m all for kind of breaking off that saying.”

Richt said he expects the running backs to have productive sophomore seasons, especially behind an offensive line that didn’t lose anyone to graduation or the NFL draft.

Around campus this morning...

Quick look at the headlines this morning brings some news to stir into your coffee. First, Scott Stricklin as the new baseball coach is official. I think this is a great hire. The more you read about this guy the more it sounds like McGarity went and got the right guy to turn around the program. Again, it's not going to take much.

"Scott Stricklin is a tremendous hire for the University of Georgia; he is a guy who has had a lot of success as a head coach, taking Kent State to the College World Series and perennially has had one of the best and most talented teams in the Midwest," said Baseball America executive editor Jim Callis. "He's got a background coaching in Georgia and in the SEC at Vanderbilt. As a Georgia alum, I was thrilled by the hire as well."

But we need to continue to keep a watchful eye here as Stricklin starts to round out his staff. If he can convince Mike Birkbeck to come to Athens as well and take over a talented yet raw pitching staff, things will look even better around Foley Field. Birkbeck has been putting top draft picks into the MLB draft, but could stay at Kent State as Stricklin's replacement.

Former player Jonas Hayes has been named as Kwanza Johnson's replacement. This has been expected for a few weeks and comes as welcome news for older fans of the program. Hayes should do a good job for Fox. He'll almost certainly work with big men as well as try and lure young talent to Athens (although there's not a whole lot of recruiting to be done in the coming year unless more spots unexpectedly open up). Yes, Hayes was an easy choice here. Looking forward to seeing what he can do developing players and recruiting for Fox.

Is Kenarious Gates Richt's "most indispensable offensive player"? I don't ask that as a slight against  the very versatile big man here. But I'd personally give the nod to a fifth year quarterback or a sophomore sensation at running back.

Speaking of football, tomorrow a limited number of single game tickets to North Texas and Kentucky will go on sale at GeorgiaDogs.com.

Elisha Shaw and a hotty toddy transcription

It's not that Ole Miss is getting recruits' attention these days. It's that it comes across as if Coach Freeze is throwing buckets of pixie dust on them as they step onto campus. Out of nowhere they're suddenly mesmerized by all of the Rebel Bears' titles and sterling 7-6 record last season.
This past weekend it was Tucker GA four star defensive end Elisha Shaw's turn:

“Robert Nkemdiche and Denzel Nkemdiche are like my brothers agents” $haw said. “We just chill, count ca$h, talk football, make counter offer$ and have fun. Robert told me if I came there, we could win championships games. They are trying to pay off all the Georgia boys.” 

Before the trip it was a battle between Georgia and Alabama. Now it smells like...a trap Colonel Akbar!

Jarvis signs first contract

Steelers just announced that Jarvis signed his rookie contract and he sounds ready for the next step.



GATA Jarvis!

Comparing the 8 and 9 game schedule

Thanks to all who voted in the poll. It may only be clear as mud, but it certainly is fun to speculate; both as to what a schedule might look like and which format would be better overall.

And I don't envy the admins of the SEC for determining which is better, the current 6-1-1 format or a nine game format like a 6-2-1. I tend to side with Saban in that the fans are what matter most when it comes to the schedule. Tickets are expensive. Taking your family and joining your friends for a gameday is even more so. It just makes sense for the game that every Saturday is centered around to be worth the time and money invested. In other words, less Buffalos and more SEC West foes.

But enough of my opinion. I've put together mock 2015 schedules based on the current skeleton at FBS Schedules. I'm a visual learner, so seeing it laid out helps me get a better grasp.

Completely Circumstantial 8 game 2015 schedule
Sept 5 - Southern Jaguars
Sept 12 - South Carolina
Sept 19 - at Alabama
Sept 26 - BYE
Oct 3 - Missouri
Oct 10 - at Tennessee
Oct 17 - at Vanderbilt
Oct 24 - Buffalo
Oct 31 - Florida
Nov 7 - ULM Warhawks
Nov 14 - at Auburn
Nov 21 - Kentucky
Nov 28 - at Georgia Tech

Completely Circumstantial 9 game 2015 schedule
Sept 5 - Southern Jaguars
Sept 12 - South Carolina
Sept 19 - at Alabama
Sept 26 - Arkansas
Oct 3 - Missouri
Oct 10 - at Tennessee
Oct 17 - at Vanderbilt
Oct 24 - BYE
Oct 31 - Florida
Nov 7 - ULM Warhawks
Nov 14 - at Auburn
Nov 21 - Kentucky
Nov 28 - at Georgia Tech

Both of those give UGA seven home games, something McGarity has also put an emphasis on. What it boils down to is, would you rather play an additional SEC West team (and not have to wait a decade to do so) or suffer through another patsy. 

*the Alabama game is based on McGarity's recent comments that hint at the 2014 schedule having the Crimson Tide in it. Potentially.