Coaching rumors, episode three

So that Atlanta paper reported last night what we all knew anyway; "barring last minute snags" is the equivalent of saying there is still much that is fluid, but the two sides agree and would like to move forward with more pressing business. For one side that is the SECCG, for the other it is waiting for that to be over.

The assistants being retained is still foggy.

• It seems to me (as I alluded to yesterday) that the UGA admin have relented on its desire to pack up Pruitt's office. However, it's important to remember that it's a two way street. It's not a foregone conclusion that he wants to stay. Although I find it hard to believe South Carolina would give Pruitt more than a casual glance, I can believe Pruitt is as tired of McGarity as McGarity is of him.
• Muschamp also appears 50/50, as I could see South Carolina looking seriously at him.
• I've read conflicting reports on Rocker. I'd love to have him stay (and my wife would really like him to stay). But like Pruitt, he's a guy that is going to get some other interest.
• Thomas Brown appears safe to stay. I would imagine the other offensive positions (namely longtime assistants McClendon and Lilly) would depend on the coordinator hire there.
• Which seems to be zeroing in on Western Kentucky's Ty Helton. If that rumor sticks we'll look more at him tomorrow.
• The sexiest rumor appears to be that Alabama S&C coordinator Scott Cochran is coming with Smart. If you recall from the 2010 flirtations, these two are very close. So it's not surprising that Smart would want to poach his friend from Saban's staff. But I would expect the Alabama head guy to put up a fight. Cochran is the blood that pumps through that program.

Personally, I would hope some (or all) of this has been ironed out behind the scenes since we have so many coaches out on the road recruiting. That can get awkward, especially when some of those guys are being tied to other openings.

As the Butts-Mehre turns....

"Has not signed memo of understanding"

Some key phrasing...

Can confirm @AJC report that Kirby Smart will be named #UGA coach, barring a last-minute development. Has not signed memo of understanding

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 2, 2015

...reminds me of this...

Two words y'all...Glen Mason. If he's still here THREE days after the press conference, THEN the torch is passed.

— Bernie (@BernieDawg) December 2, 2015

Still, we look like we're getting closer y'all.

Well now...that's real cold.

Just seen in Athens! Love it! #FireMcGarity https://t.co/5QbpiutOyw pic.twitter.com/qzTiSruijz

— FireMcGarity (@firemcgarity) December 1, 2015

Unpacking the Richt firing

I have a great way to honor the Coach Richt Era of Georgia Bulldog football. I should have it ready late today or tomorrow. Not sure you'll enjoy it as much as I have putting it together. But it has certainly helped me focus on his importance to this program, both on and off the field.

Because of the format I'm using for that post, some things I wanted to say are getting left out. But they're important enough to bring up as I sift through social media, my own feelings, and my own experiences.

First off, the only people that can piss me off more than gator fans, are Georgia "fans" that won't even acknowledge facts. It's like they're so caught up in specific stats (and to be perfectly fair, their own factual evidence) and their own viewpoint, that they can't even recognize what this man meant to the program and the University and the community. You would think that they'd all be new to Georgia, but some of these guys are my age. They should remember what it felt like to lose to Auburn consistently and lose three in a row against Tech. I mean, you'd think Mark Richt kicked their puppy or something.

Next, and here's where I think I'm truly in a minority, you can support the program first and foremost while also believing that Richt shouldn't have been fired. I see all these Facebook groups and Twitter accounts that, at least on the very surface, represent a group of people that put the man himself above the program. That's as dangerous as it is wrong. Don't get upset that Richt was let go just because you love the man. Look, I love him too. But he ain't hurting. We've made him wealthy beyond his dreams and he's going to make some other program better off and the world a better place too. Get upset if you're like me and feel that after what he's built, the man had earned the chance to see at least one more season of full financial and administrative support. More importantly, we had earned the chance to see that.

Last, is anyone else feeling down about how this played out and saying goodbye to someone you've grown to admire for the last decade and a half, yet excited about the future? I don't care if I'm alone there as well. But if you feel that way too, I want you to know that's okay as well.

Hey y'all, Go Dawgs!

Coaching rumors, episode two

Had planned to look at Herman today. But that ship has been tethered closer to Houston. And really, truly, this is all about Kirby Smart.

Reading the tea leaves a little more closely, Pruitt, Rocker, and others joined Thomas Brown and Bryan McLendon on the recruiting trail yesterday afternoon. Our defensive coordinator appears to have been a sticking point for Smart and UGA. Again, that's just the way I'm reading things. But suddenly Pruitt leaves to recruit just after Herman agrees in principle with Houston and just before news of Muschamp and South Carolina getting cozier grains national attention.

Pruitt and McGarity don't get along. Hell, sounds like my dear, sweet grandmother Rosalie might not have enjoyed spending time with Jeremy Pruitt. But if you've fired the most successful coach in the program's history just to put all your eggs in Kirby's basket, you better find a way to iron some shit out.

So yeh, my best guess is we'll have something definitive in the hours after the SECCG. And perhaps by then we might even have a better idea of other assistants coming with Smart. Sure, there's always a chance this turns sideways. I mean, it was our own athletic director who couldn't answer the simple question yesterday of who was on the road recruiting. So UGA can definitely screw this up. But it certainly appears as if Smart is satisfied with the details and UGA is all in on bringing him home.

Richt says goodbye

Press conference is over. Sounds like the one most thankful it's over is the one most responsible for it happening in the first place.

Coach Richt on the other hand looked and sounded like he had a good night's sleep.

LISTEN | @MarkRicht says "thank you" to #BulldogNation in today's press conference... @IMGAudio ---> https://t.co/5HqGtSbDzq

— Scott Howard (@UGAVoice) November 30, 2015

Coaching rumors, episode one

I know. I’m just not there yet with a Richt reflective piece. Gonna need a little more time to get it right. The man deserves that much.

For now, let’s delve into the rumor. Prevailing thought is that a deal is imminent with Kirby Smart to succeed Mark Richt as the head football coach at the University of Georgia. There’s some factors that make this more than just message bored fodder, namely the South Carolina coaching search.

Tom Herman (former Ohio State offensive coordinator and now the head coach at Houston) backed off of the Gamecocks’ overtures (as well as some others I would imagine) a couple weeks ago and that’s when AD Ray Tanner made a push for Smart. From what I’ve read, things progressed quickly, but naturally the Alabama defensive coordinator and UGA alum wanted to see what would happen in Athens before making a decision.

And it appears as if Athens was more than ready to open up backdoor communications.

From there we get that certain coaches like McClendon, Brown and Rocker are being retained and Smart is bringing specific coordinators with him. Muschamp has been mentioned as the potential defensive coordinator and I’ve read where Clay Helton (USC interim head coach)*, Bill Napier (Tide receivers coach) and several others as the possible offensive coordinator.

(At this point I don’t put much credence into assistant rumors. I only mention it as I’m sure a big factor in a coach like Smart’s decision to take his first head gig would be who he could retain and who he could bring with him. Given the recent connections between the Alabama coaching tree and UGA, I would think there is a lot for Smart to sort through.)

Last night after the team meeting there was loud noise, mostly from the defensive players, to #keepPruitt. I doubt Muschamp’s hissy fit on the sideline (and the field, twice) during the Iron Bowl helped his case to “come back home”. But in my opinion, his track record of mediocrity in the SEC as a coordinator speaks even louder than his F-bombs. If Pruitt can be retained along with Rocker, it would be a big plus for me as we played a lot of young players on defense this year.

Anyway, the main point here is that if the Kirby Smart rumor is true it appears to be a counter-move to step in the way of South Carolina getting him instead of us. I’ll be honest, I’m intrigued by Smart. That would win the press conference for sure. What worries me is we have at least a week before any kind of announcement is made as Kirby is a little busy this week continuing as Saban’s minion.

A lot can happen in a week. And most of it is not good considering the traction the story will get. Traction leads to more and more questions which adds more and more pressure. That’s where a confident and poised administration steps in and seizes control.

Unfortunately, everything we saw and heard outside of Butts-Mehre last night speaks to the opposite of confident and poised. Therefore today’s press conference needs to restore order, at an absolute minimum.

*Helton has been promoted from interim to USC's new head coach

McGarity's way, the power play

As I try to put some thoughts and words together to honor the end of an era, I keep coming back to this moment of complete douchebaggery that was made public today:

By the way, Richt had to know he was in trouble when McGarity made him fly commercial to Washington to visit Jacob Eason

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 29, 2015

This is the man we're trusting to find our next coach. And now that the cat's out of that bag, what coach would want to work for this asshat? If he treats his long-tenured head coach like this, unless your only offer is to replace Richt, why not look elsewhere?

This may be a quick search. Most tend to agree that McGarity had to have a plan in place before he fired Richt. If we don't know soon who the next coach is, things have backfired on our bean counting, dipshit of an Athletic Director and things will start to spiral into back up plans.

Like Coach Inman said, I'm not worried about Coach Richt. I'm worried about Georgia football.

Richt fired.

Welp, I asked. And McGarity has responded.

Georgia has fired Mark Richt, a source told https://t.co/IUb98wmtlA

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 29, 2015

I agree with Fletcher, both opposing views are right. I don't agree with this move. But if they were going to make it, it was important to make it now and not in January.

I'll have more later. For now, glad Richt will get to coach in the bowl game. Hope he goes out on top. Go Dawgs!

The deafening silence from Butts-Mehre

Watching the post-game after LSU's win - Les singing before finishing his interview, carried off the field, and then using his press conference as a big ol' "take that chumps" - I could only think about what Butts-Mehre is thinking. Hours later, still no vote of confidence and nary a pink slip.

The coaches will hit the recruiting road soon. Sure would be nice to have something said. Something.

Don't get me wrong. Joe Alleva handled this week about as poorly as an athletic director could. But he and the boosters with knives in their hands knew when it was (finally) time to put them down and allow Miles to enjoy the moment and continue to run the football program.

Seems to me like Richt deserves that much, at a minimum. He just beat Tech for the 13th time in his 15 year career. As MaconDawg pointed out, that's as many times as Tech has won the game in my lifetime.

Don't let the cloud linger through the bowl season. Put on your big boy pants and step in with your alternate plan, or pat Richt on the back and give him a vote of confidence his recruits can have faith in.