A THOUGHT OR TWO!!

It has been a few days now since the young football players have decided the colors that they will wear. Thought it would be a good time, since time has passed to ask what the following on this board thinks.

Again, have read many if not all of the posts on this forum, concerning coaches, players and administration where it pertains to UGA football (and other sports).

I have started a couple of threads along this same line before, so will put my two cents worth in and look for what others on this board think.

Where to start . . . .

First off, hope we leave the stadium alone. That is probably a cause of concern for many, and I understand that. I liked having the tracks open and viewed by all. If we are trying to get into another league, meaning having 100,000 or more folks in the stadium, then I understand that times have changed. If we cannot make enough noise with 90,000 paying folks, then I am not sure that another 10 or 15 thousand will make a big difference. Keep the HEDGES trimmed and the football played inside the HEDGES on a scale that makes all of us proud to be who we are. Dawgs.

A new poster here has caught my eye, for what that is worth, Yankeedawg1. YD1 has posted about the talent we have on the DEFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL. Totally agree, not just the 3/4 or 3/whatever, a different MENTAL approach to what UGA is going to do. Have tried real hard not to throw stones, however, UGA Defense has sucked for some time now and the friendship between CMR and WM is still there on a 1/1 basis, however, it did not work for UGA. It might take some time for the 3 man front to work with the MAN COVERAGE, but the bet on my part is this . . .we have a coach that is not the Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Back Coach that is focused on his duties. Lakatos would not be here if Grantham thought for a minute that he would have to worry about that.

Offense . . . .
Anyone that thinks for a minute that UGA does not have talent on that side of the ball . . . . well, guess we will see.

Special Teams . . . . last few years a concern of mine and many others. That is going to be one of the largest turn arounds of the Red and Black.

We have talent on both sides of the ball. We have a couple of kickers/punters that are way the heck above average.

Tweak this team on the Special Teams, this is a dad-gum good team.

Running Backs, you tell me. I like what I saw at the end of the year.

Looking forward to JAX. . . . . Da'RickEEEEE, couple of folks looking forward to you coming to Athens, not that they don't like you, just want to be sure that you understand what SEC Football is about. Speaking for myself, hope that you meet Jakar Hamilton about 15 yards down field. He is a nice guy, you will like him a lot. . . . . he also has a friend, think his name is RAMBO. He is not a nice guy.

Go Dawgs!!

well stated!!! i can only say 100,000 dawgs in the pound with more seats will not make or break the dawgs!! great coaches and talent with desire and brains make all teams. i still think the addition would be nice and a great draw for ticket holders, recruites, revenue, and endzone jam especially for opposition who are in the redzone on that end. the hedges and view under current design will not take away . that view on the bridge will be preserved based on current architecture if they were to close it in!! im all about the tradition!! i dont think well have to worry about expantion for quite some time. GO BIG DAWGS!!!!

I agree with you long term. For my two cents, I think we have three weaknesses heading into 2010.

1. LB play. We THINK we have answers but we were not elite here last year and we lost our best player there.

2. I am still not 100% sold on King/Ealey. They seem to get the yards that bare there-they don't create something out of nothing.

3. QB. I have been around the block a couple times and all we know about Murray is he was good in HS. They all were good in HS. I did color mcommentary for Winder-Barrow High School when Zach M. was the QB for Oconee. WB won they game and still finished 4-6. We stunk-and ZM didn't stand out at all.

I love the dawgs like we all do-but UF and UT are getting any worse either. I think our talent level is below what it was 5 years ago. 2011 is the year I think we get back to winning the east. (The schedule breaks our way with ole Miss and MSU playing us out of the nWest).

I THINK we could have it go right and go 11-1. But I think 9-3 is more realistic. I hope i am wrong.

Couple of interesting points made. While many schools have what appears to be great recruiting classes, meaning those 4 and 5 star recruits, there simply is no guarantee that once in the SEC, the stars remain that high or bright.

As most of us know, some of these young men in high school do not get the same top grade coaching that others do. Betting that many on this board can reflect on high school days when there was an opponent or two that always or nearly always caused the home team problems. Not necessarily because the rivals had better players, it was in fact coaching that made the difference.

You can listen to some of the NFL coaches discuss certain players and how they can expect to get a certain type athlete from a particular school. Normally these are schools that year after year put their young men in a position to win at the next level. The NFL seldom waits for talent that takes too long to develop, they want all of the basic skills instilled prior to the draft. These same rules apply to players going from high school to college. Better coaching in high school opens up opportunities quicker for those athletes.

I believe that we have a lot of talent that has been riding the pine for the last few years. Almost a teachers pet type of thing. Just because you are a senior does not or should not guarantee that you play. Especially when that freshman or sophomore is better suited for the same spot on the field. Should be that you are guaranteed an education, not a playing status. Same as earning the good grades in school, same should apply to the football field.

Back to the highly rated players. It will be interesting to see how contented some of these young players are when they don't get the playing time they had in high school or were promised on the recruiting trail. Sometimes the best laid plans turn out to be nothing short of disaster.

Most on this board can trace the beginning of our problems, the problems that we hope have ended with the coaching changes that Coach Richt has made. If Coach Grantham, the leader of UGA's defense is anywhere near what we are hoping for, it will not take long to correct many of the mistakes made prior to his arrival. My belief is that we will see immediate improvement on the defensive side of the ball, and that is TEACHING the ENTIRE DEFENSIVE TEAM an entirely new way of playing defense. Coach Grantham has his plate full, he however has what appears to be coaches that know their stuff.

While I can agree that there might be weaknesses facing UGA in the coming season, I also think that we are going to see some players that are going to step up and amaze us. Some of those players that would not have played had the past \"bunch\" remained for another year. The time is right for the Dawgs to get back to that Junkyard mentality, and not a doubt in my mind that Coach Grantham plans to do that. I like his bloodline.

Go Dawgs!!

Good post Buc. Insightful and thoughtful.

1. I agree with BS on King and Ealey. King did run better at the end of the season but he still runs tentatively imo......and like BS said, can't make something out of nothing, like the great ones do. Believe Ealey has the most potential but if I'm an opposing DC, neither scare me.

2. Don't quite agree about our LB's. Jancek was a terrible LB coach. All our LB's were taught to do was to run sideline to sideline and not to penetrate (that includes Curran). Maybe WM's awful scheme contibuted to Jancek's style but regardless, our LB's ARE talented.....just badly coached. That will change with Belin.

3. My gut and eyes tell me that Murray not only is the real deal but that he is going to be exciting and fun to watch. Similar to DJ. Expect mistakes his 1st year but also expect to see a winner as well.

4. I agree that 2011 may be the coming out year but with \"possibilities\" this season. Just believe 2011 will have less mistakes on both sides of the ball resulting in a trip to Atlanta.

5. Leave the stadium ALONE.