From Athens - "Mars Week"

justlow wrote:

OldSouthDawg: Man you hit the nail on the head. Come out strong, pumped, and viscious. Force a 3 and out and show them that in order to beat you in your state, they'll have to fight you tooth and nail to earn a win. Like Shakespeare said "Cry havoc and let slip the DAWGS of war"!

wlayton: I couldn't agree with you more. It's time to put up or shut up. No excuses this year. I loved how pumped and fired up CTG was the 1st game, then he kind of quieted down during the year. There has to be a coach on the sideline to keep these young men focused and motivated.

EXACTLY...

wlayton, don't think that Grantham is an excuse kind of guy. With the discontent that our team had last year, and the year before, don't believe there is a coach on the planet that could have gotten everything done that needed to be done under those circumstances.

Many on this edition of UGA Football are Grantham's choices. What he is installing is not from a crap shoot, he understands what it takes to make his system work. Bet here is that Richt saying how he thinks this is going to be a great year, some of that talk has to be because of Grantham's input.

Do want to ask you where you think the defense will struggle this year. A particular area or the lack of time in the 3/4. Know that you mentioned earlier in the year about concerns with the defensive backfield. Concerns me a bit with Boise State. Smart quarterback, understands x's and o's.

Copied this from your post. Guess the same could be said about the offensive side of the ball. The head coach has been on the offensive side for 11 years. Think that the overall scheme has to be "team play", one side of the ball creating opportunities for the other side. I hope that Grantham will show all of us what you are asking him to do . . . Coach Them Up.

Part of my "show me" is this........CTG has to scout and scheme every opponent, call the right D plays to get our players in the right positions, manage the game with down and distance etc, motivate, have the right combination of players in the game at any point during the game, make quick.....quick on the spot decisions and changes......etc etc

justlow wrote:

OldSouthDawg: Man you hit the nail on the head. Come out strong, pumped, and viscious. Force a 3 and out and show them that in order to beat you in your state, they'll have to fight you tooth and nail to earn a win. Like Shakespeare said "Cry havoc and let slip the DAWGS of war"!

wlayton: I couldn't agree with you more. It's time to put up or shut up. No excuses this year. I loved how pumped and fired up CTG was the 1st game, then he kind of quieted down during the year. There has to be a coach on the sideline to keep these young men focused and motivated.

You are aware that Grantham had his chain yanked last year because of his "outgoing personality".

Buc, I wasn't in any way saying that CTG was making any excuses about last year.....geez, that was a huge undertaking he had to deal with and even at that, we all saw some signs that he could be "the guy".

I simply meant that a lot more pieces of the puzzle are in place now so let's see IF he indeed can coach them up. Also agree with you on the offensive side of the ball, if not more. Show me proof there as well.

Guess, Buc, I'm trying to "temper" my enthusiasm a bit. Hoping for a huge turn around from last year but also trying to be realistic and try not to expect TOO much. As much as I love CTG he still has to prove himself to me.....haven't really seen the proof YET.

(we all know that "Bozo Gotta Go Go" has to prove himself)

My concerns on D:

1. Pass rush
2. Safeties....they aren't very good at all
3. 2nd year in the scheme...do they REALLY know it?
4. Depth
5. Can CTG make gametime adjustments successfully

Absolutely and without a doubt agree with you on Grantham pulling it together this season. I really believe that he got his Christmas present early when Olivadotti came on board. Belin in my opinion is a terrific coach, should be a head coach, for sure the NFL did not overlook his talents. He will be a plus for the Panthers.

All of us have comfort zones, and I feel that Grantham has that with Olivadotti. Might or might not be as good as Belin, but one thing I have found to be true over the years is the comfort zone means so much when you put the keys in the lock to open the door.

Here is where I agree with you for sure wlayton. I think that the keys are in the door, now as you say, let's open the door and see exactly where we stand . . . . That seems to be your position, and Brother I agree with that. I pulled a quote from Richt about Grantham that I will post below. Comments like these made by Richt tend to "soften" me up a bit. Hell, I am pulling for the University of Georgia, everything and everyone else falls beneath UGA.

If we get past Boise State, and they have no choice but to throw the pigskin, our DB's are going to grow up quickly. This truthfully could be the single best thing that could happen to us this year, playing an outstanding passing quarterback first game. We come away with a bit of knowledge, it will make the second contest look even better for us. Perfect game for us to see where we are at with the 5 points you made in your post.

“I love a lot of things about Grantham, but one thing I like the most is he’s so used to playing with a 53-man roster,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Thursday before the Bulldogs opened preseason practices. “When you’re looking at a college depth chart, you’re thinking, ‘Man we might be thin.’ He’s like, ‘Coach, I’m used to playing with 53 guys,’ and he’s right.”

I also like the fact that a man with Grantham's experience both playing and coaching shows how he feels about Richt by calling him Coach.

Third down defense, my main concern.
We were terrible on third downs last year.
I am cautiously optimistic, as wlayton says.