I believe Dawgs.com has set a record!?!?! Having been a member for nearly a decade, I can honestly say I've never witnessed a divisive \"Call to Arms\" thread reach 9 pages and some 12,500 views...We should all be so proud...especially with recruits actively engaged, searching as I'm sure I would be, for every nuance of information available when making a potentially life changing decision.

Think it doesn't happen? It was during the 2001/2002 recruiting season, on this very board, that a new recruit introduced himself to the handful of posters present. Most were eagarly watching the LOI's roll in, when out of nowhere a poster popped on, introduced himself and thanked the members for providing some much needed background information. His name was Max Jean-Gilles...I wonder what a 17 year old might think if he happened upon our little slice of Dawg heaven?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and are free to post and publish those words to all that desire to read them. But once posted they become the intellectual property of cyberspace. I'm certain that everyone here is old enough that they do not need nor desire a lecture, but I greatly fear the current path won't yeild that which so many expect....or expected!

I did, however, find a post from one of my favorite web authors, recently posted on another dawg site. Middle Dawg is a former \"Grady Grad\" and avid dawg fan. Middle found the right mix of reality and perspective that might do everyone some good....That being said, I give you Middle Dawg........

************************************************************************

It's basically the same bunch of coaches

Posted by: Middle Dawg

It's basically the same bunch of coaches you were so proud of in 2002. I remember that Florida game well. That night the problems were on offense. We went 0-13 on third down. David Greene threw a pick six just like Stafford did against Tech. What Greene didn't do was to toss 5 TD passes to make up for it. Terrence Edwards, UGA's all time leading receiver, dropped an easy TD pass late that would have tied the game. Fan reaction was so negative that we wound up paying for a billboard lauding Terrence in his hometown. His mama, a dyed in the wool Dawg fan who had sent two sons to UGA, was so disgusted that she wanted nothing more to do with us awful Georgia people. It took that billboard -- the brainchild of a member of this forum, btw -- to calm the Edwards family down. That was also the game where Pollack grabbed fumble and handed it off to Sean Jones while returning the ball for what was to be a sure TD. The refs robbed us calling the handoff a forward lateral.

We never scored. Sound familiar?

That 2002 team finished 13-1, won the SEC and finished #3 in the polls. The only thing that kept us out of the title game was that both Ohio State and Miami went undefeated. And we still took heat from Florida fans for years for losing the \"big one\" to their lovely lizards.

Is anybody happy with the way the team played this year? No. I don't know who they thought they were but they weren't the Georgia Bulldogs we've become spoiled watching in the Richt era. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why our defense melted down in the second half last Saturday. Well, it turns out that Bryan Evans sustained an injury and couldn't play in the second half. That's all you need to know. Oh, one more thing, Gamble broke his leg Saturday. You know, the kid who returned two pick sixes against LSU and made 14 tackles starting in place of another injured linebacker. I wonder if that affected us any?

I'm not big on excuses either, but it is a fact that this year we lost 18 players to season ending injuries. Another 5-6 missed several games apiece. Southerland missed half the season and was never the same player even after he came back. Ellerbe started the season white hot, got hurt, and he was never the same.

It's true that not all the players lost were starters. Even so, it certainly limits you. A certain player who has (rightly) caught a lot of heat for last Saturday -- well, it would have helped if our key backup -- really our only backup at that position ready to play -- had managed to stay healthy for more than one game this season. When you have a guy who is messing up and you look at your bench and it's empty, there's not a whole lot left you can do about it. You have to put SOMEBODY out there. The refs are kind of picky about that point; they insist that you send 11 guys out there.

Nobody is happy about this just concluded season. I'm so disgusted that I don't really care whether we get a bowl game or not. I'm not sure we deserve to play in a bowl. This is one year I want to put in the record books and forget about ASAP.

OTOH, nobody can really plan for all that happened this year. Even General Lee, one of the finest tacticians to ever lead an army, eventually suffered so many casualties that he had to hand over his sword. Hell, we lost our best OL in camp. We lost the anchor of our DL against Georgia Southern of all things. We started the season with one of the deeper linebacking corps in the conference. It most certainly isn't that any more.

Tuberville has hired and fired something like 11 coordinators since he's been at Auburn. They're lucky to last more than a year or two in Tubbyland. His seat is so hot after the spread globbed up on him that he's borrowing Uga's ice bag to keep his butt cool.

Tennessee fans complained loud and long that Fulmer kept too many mediocre coaches for too long. Fulmer finally caved and hired a bunch of new assistants and he just walked off the field for the last time.

Moral of story: Be careful what you ask for because sometimes you get it.

Look, was something wrong this year beyond a plethora of injuries? Yeah, I think so, but I think the root problem primarily lies somewhere other than in the coaches' box. Do the coaches have to shoulder a lot of the blame for anything that goes wrong? Yeah, they're the adults out there. But it's not always the coaches who are the primary culprits. The old lead a horse to water cliche.

Richt has made his decision that he thinks he can fix things without firing 1-7 of his staff. If he's wrong, he'll eventually be fired for it unless he makes a last ditch correction before it's too late. He knows all that; and Mark Richt is no dummy. Just because he fails to agree with you doesn't mean that he intends to sit on his hands this off season. He's always made adjustments before. Fulmer he's not.

************************************************************************

That being said, I'll probably take leave of this site for awhile. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

GO DAWGS !!!!!!!!! GATA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NC Dawg, Middle Dawg could not have stated the problem with this edition of the Dawgs more accurately. I for one, would not make any changes in the coaching staff. I am glad this season is over and I agree we do not deserve a bowl game. It seems the players do not asorb and retain the materal put forth by the coaches. How can you play so well in the 1st half and so lack luster in the 3rd quarter. It seems to me that their attention span is lacking. The game plan on defense worked well the 1st half, why didn't the players follow the same scheme the 2nd half? Maybe they ran out of gas, being on the field so long, maybe the wind was knocked out of their sails with the quick touchdown to start the 2nd half. Fire was gone, the paying attention to assignments was missing and they started to regress to playing with all their old bad habits. This is not the coaches problem, they teach and the players are supposed to learn and comprehend. This was not happening. A coach teaches and tries to motivate his players, but they can't perform for them. It's on the players to respond. Maybe with their attention deficit a little Ratlin might help. Oh well there is always next year, let's put this year to bed. A Blessed Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. As always, GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DawgDoc.....I believe you have found THE problem!!! RIDALYN !!!!!!! (had to ask my assistant how to spell it)

That should stop the schizo lapses....brilliant DawgDoc, the staff should order a truckload right away!!

And a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family as well.

DawgDoc wrote:


How the heck are ya?...Glad to see another long toother lurking these hallowed halls. This season's been a disappointing bust, but I wouldn't trade places with AllBarn or EweTee...!!! These are the times when we gotta put faith in those entrusted and paid to make the right decisions...Much like what we are all seeing on the national stage, I believe them Dawgs are in for some painful times ahead, but we will emerge better and stronger from the bitter pill that is this season of not!

Merry Christmas Doc...and Happy New Year!

GO DAWGS !!!!!!!!!!!!

NC_Dawg and DawgDoc, do ya'll realize that there is only 85 posts difference in the two of you and ya'll have posted over TEN THOUSAND times over the years.....unbelievable.

Merry Christmas and Happy new year to both of you. Please don't take any breaks from posting.....we are all ears!!

This is young team as well. Good post. Especially the part regarding recruits, thanks for the perspective.

I will die a Dawg. I appreciate the wise perpective.
I think that for all the coaching that a coach can do, you can't coach heart. Cockiness over a good play or two does not win a game. The heart of a team does.
I would love to see less flash and more heart from the defense. I don't know if you can coach that.
GO DAWGS!

im not trying to turn this back into a \"get rid of willie thread\" or argue with 2 people who have obviously been around to watch more dawgs than me, but i do not agree with the statments \"The game plan on defense worked well the 1st half\". Even though we held them to 12pts, we really didnt see a LOT of triple option. yea, they showed it to us a little and proved they would use it but it was mostly straight handoffs. dives and sweeps (not option play). i mean...5 of their 6 passes were in the 1st half. but for that half i guess i would have to say, yea, our d played \"good\". however, it wasnt until the very first play from scrimage in the second half that they really brought their option to the table and never looked back. players out of position and just would not tackle nor did they seem to know what to do. we had players FALLING TO THE GROUND on soft stutter steps. as for the team getting tired, they had plenty of time to rest for the most part. in the 2nd half we had exactly 1 play under 7 min. it was 1:14. it was a 7 min total time of posession difference. our team just looked like they didnt know how to cover it. i wont put it all on wm b/c he did have 2 weeks to teach and im SURE he a LEAST went over it for a day. maybe its a lack of talent, maybe they just lost the love of the game from all the pressure of pre-season, maybe its coaching. after reading your post maybe i dont agree with fire him, but i definetely agree with demote him and see where that takes us. i also have to say the same goes with fabris. i dont remember us having and awsome special teams unit (of corse i havent been a die hard football fans but for about 5 years). im the biggest now

alright guys, im done rambling. take it easy and have a merry xmas if i dont talk to ya before then. NC_Dawg, DawgDoc, GREAT TO HAVE U BACK. love your post! and your right about recruits...lets clean it up dawgs.