"After discussing the situation with Paris, we mutually agreed this is a good decision," Richt said in a statement. "He has a positive future in football and we wish him all the best in attaining his goals in football and in education."
Gurley will be the starter for every game as long as he's healthy. JJ Green is on the other side of the ball. Brendan Douglas had an impressive freshman season but is still mostly a situational tailback option. The two freshmen have a lot to learn, but I doubt they both redshirt.Marshall and fellow tailback Todd Gurley are juniors. The top job is presumably Gurley's for as long as he's on campus, but he has the option of going pro after this season. If he does, Marshall could be the featured tailback for only one year - or two if he redshirts.Marshall taking a redshirt was labeled a possibility back in December by offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Since then Marshall has recovered ahead of schedule, but that doesn't mean he will definitely play in 2014, running backs coach Bryan McClendon said Tuesday."Right now the plan is to see how far along he is, and then do what's going to be best for him," McClendon said. "That's going to be priority No. 1. To do what's best for him. And that way, I think everybody will be able to sleep good at night."
"I've gotta scale him back a little bit, and tell him: Hey, don't do that, or obviously constantly modifying things for him," McClendon said. "But I'm very pleased with how he's been. Obviously you've just gotta know when you've gotta know when to say when. And that's what I'm talking to him about."Whether it's this fall or next, looking forward to seeing Keith Marshall back in action.
It's when spring turns to late summer and there's still rounds left in the chamber that I really begin to fret. To his credit, Coach Friend goes there:"A bunch of you have a shot this spring."
"And if we don't see things like we need to in the spring then it'll be the guys' who get here's chance. So they kind of know that. Those guys were recruited to give them an opportunity, and we'll give them a shot.
"Now if we can get some guys going ... There's still eight days left, I guess we're halfway there."It's a familiar tune to Georgia fans' ears, one that might perpetuate a pattern in Athens. But I like the freshmen we have coming in. Don't get me wrong. I just hope before they get here someone like Kublanow and DeBell have gotten well and situated themselves atop the depth chart.
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| "I've always thought Ken Griffey Jr could really help UGA with special teams." |
"I'm thrilled. I mean, to go from doing the laundry of a bunch of 8th graders to managing punts and kicks and what not for a major program...Jeez Louise I can't wait to buy a pair of actual shorts!!"Pressed for more of an indication as to how this move developed, Coach Campo added:
"Just crazy, crazy stuff. I was reading something called the AJC that was just chock full of comments about all the help Georgia needed with special teams. So I sent Mark Richt an outline I drew up for how to revamp all the punting and kicking for the Bulldogs and what not. Mostly highly technical stuff like having punters wear gloves and kicker people taking karate. Did you know there's no rule against punters using stilts?"Incidentally, calls to Coach Richt and AD McGarity have not been returned. But that didn't stop Mr. Campo from confirming the news for us.
"Oh, it's a done deal. The contract was easy to finalize because I'm getting a base salary of $2 million per year, with $500,000 fines for every missed kick, blocked punt, or fair catch."At which time I pointed out that Georgia is about half way through spring practices. When is this guy planning to start this special teams overhaul in Athens?
"Well. As soon as I can get to the General Store and pick up a map. I've never been south of Cheyenne. Has the snow melted down there yet?"Oh boy.
All of that together kind of reminded me of this play by another diminutive Bulldog. Big Texas! (Fast forward to about the 7:40 mark if you're pressed for time.)“I can do a lot more things that I couldn’t do last year, so it’s been coming around, but it’s still a work in progress,” Davis said. “I can get off jams a lot better and actually establish a vertical line.”Georgia head coach Mark Richt also has noticed a difference in Davis this spring. Davis caught three passes for 59 yards in the Bulldogs’ first spring scrimmage, but it wasn’t his receiving work that impressed Richt.“We had a screen early in the scrimmage. He didn’t make a devastating block, but he was supposed to crack a defender,” Richt said. “Come inside and crack him and pin him when we had a screen coming outside, and he wasn’t strong enough to keep him from going, but he was athletic enough and played hard enough to stay on him and stayed with him all the way until he went out of bounds.”
