From Athens- Friday Thoughts 11-01-19

Good Morning All,

Been a blur of activity around our football program the past week..

Much to ponder and mull … pardon me for jumping around but just trying to get my thoughts sorted out…..

Players and coaches ….. going and coming…

Setting aside for a minute all the noise we had an excellent early signing day for new recruits…… addressing our position needs…

Much of what is going on comes under the heading imo… as

We don’t know what we don’t know ….. Truer now than before..

No surprise that Chaney is moving on…. Big clue to me was HC barking in his headset to get OC’s attention…. Second time sealed the deal in my mind…

At first there may have been a package deal of Chaney & Pittman…

Me thinks HC worked for three years to separate the two just to be prepared if he had to make a switch at OC…… which I have felt was always the weaker of the two…..

Coach Sam has found his groove… in sync with HC and the direction program is headed…. Great product to recruit for… Coach Sam loves recruiting and teaching football…. Win … win for all parties …

Staying with the same we don’t know what we don’t know….

I for one think having Field’s move on is a healthy thing for our program… In my mind he was never going to be willing to wait behind Jake … for him it was starter or nothing….

To my knowledge we never saw what the coaches did in practice….

Yes there were flashes but just felt he never wanted to learn how to read defenses beyond tuck and run…. I think coaches would have given him more if he could learn and digest the information….. same coaches took a freshman in Fromm… brought him along and he was playing for a Natty with major bowl win and SECCG on his resume…. Seems a stretch that coaches would not try to get Justin up- to that level…..

Time will tell …… I hope OSU works out for him …..

Like most I have been following the drama around hiring of a new OC….

The thingy with Kentucky’s OC just didn’t feel right …. Past experiences with HC has me questioning if this story has any legs….

Seems if it were true it would have been a done deal … and leak would have come from UGA’s end….. much like UT with Chaney….

Recruiting has opened back up so doesn’t be surprised if no movement until NSD….. recruits may get a heads up….

One thing for certain ….. Year Four will have changes ….. more than a coat of lipstick……

Pause and give thanks

Have a great weekend and a safe week

As always “Go Dawgs “

As Paul Harvey used to say ...and now the rest of the story..

Kentucky OC was in discussion about a possible opening

However it was never the open OC position....no money was

Discussed...AND ..no offer extended.... smelled from getgo

Would not be surprised to learn he was using this to get a raise or

Contract extension from KY.....aka ... Gus Bus negotiations...

Remain calm Jim Coley still in the picture

Go Dawgs

Look around and I see the states that surround Georgia as having done something much differently that we have, on the football field.

Alabama and now Clemson are leading the way when it comes to championship talk. They have the trophy case(s) to back up who and why they are viewed by most folks as #1 and #2 in college football.

Looking at their rosters, not hard to find players that grew up playing football in Georgia. Lots of players, many players over many years. Have not seen nearly as many players on the UGA Roster that played football in those two states. Some, not many.

Takes me to this . . . . What the hell has been going on in Athens for so many years? I know that we have had abundant talent going back as far as I can see and remember.

When Mark Richt was hired, he did not have a bigger supporter than myself, remained that way for too long. Finally came to my senses and said enough is enough.

Now we have lured Kirby Smart back to Athens. Comes from being around a successful coach for a long period (Saban) and without a doubt learned a lot. Takes me to this . . . . Coach Smart has been the leader of our football team long enough now to have “his” players on the roster. Comes down to coaching is all I can come up with. For years on this board I would end what I had to say with “coach’em up”. I had a reason for posting that . . . . had been around the team long enough to know that the problem(s) were not talented players, it was a lack of talented coaches. Not all, I hold some in high regard, such as Erk Russell.

I am hoping that Coach Kirby Smart continues on an upward path with his selection of coaches and players. No longer can I overlook some of the things that have happened in his short time as head coach. If it looks like a “wart” will say so. There are a lot of folks that do “understand” football at many different levels, folks that are not in the Buttes-Mehre area asking questions, questions that sometimes make me and some I know cringe.

Below is a video that has a lot of things that I like. Probably the biggest is the two players talking about “playing football in Georgia”. Under Smart and Company these two did not cross over state lines to play the game. Thank them profusely.

With that, go Dawgs, coach’em up!

Looked at year 4 of the prior regime. 10-2 with losses to the two SEC division winners, Tennessee and Auburn. Pollack cleaned up in post-season awards, Bednarik, Lott and Hendricks. Georgia started #3, finished #7 and beat Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. Looks good from the outside looking in. Beat Tech and Florida. Lost to Tennessee and Auburn.

Only catch is, probably came out of the gate favorites in the East and finished second so no SECCG and the Auburn loss was pretty bad, 24-6. Was probably "good enough" in 2004. Won't be in 2019 I suspect. For anybody, coaches, players, fans. The bar has been raised.

yankeedawg1 wrote:
Staying with the same we don’t know what we don’t know….

I for one think having Field’s move on is a healthy thing for our program… In my mind he was never going to be willing to wait behind Jake … for him it was starter or nothing….

To my knowledge we never saw what the coaches did in practice….

Yes there were flashes but just felt he never wanted to learn how to read defenses beyond tuck and run…. I think coaches would have given him more if he could learn and digest the information….. same coaches took a freshman in Fromm… brought him along and he was playing for a Natty with major bowl win and SECCG on his resume…. Seems a stretch that coaches would not try to get Justin up- to that level…..

I have huge respect for your opinion and the opinion of all here at Dawgs.com, but I never saw or heard anything that would give me personally the opinion that Fields never wanted to learn anything about reading defenses beyond tuck and run. In the UMass game, he went 5-8 passing so it seems as the season went on he was learning. He also came here knowing what type of offense we ran.

I just think he came here thinking he had a legit shot of winning the job and when it became obvious he couldn't do it, he decided to go someplace where
he thought he could. I have zero doubt promises about the starting job were made by OSU.

Wartdawg posted, I agree . . . . Supposed leader at the quarterback position at OSU quickly decided to look elsewhere after trying to have Justin rethink enrolling at OSU.

I just think he came here thinking he had a legit shot of winning the job and when it became obvious he couldn't do it, he decided to go someplace where
he thought he could. I have zero doubt promises about the starting job were made by OSU.