Saturday in Athens

An revised version of my post on the AJC today post-Boise State:

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but it’s always amazing to me how it’s “news” when a situation has been in steady deterioration, in this case, since 2004. It was evident in 2005 that BVG was the difference-maker in the Richt regime. Just like when Erk Russell left UGA after the 1980 season, this team has not been in the same zipcode of the first 4 years of Richt’s tenure when Van Gorder fielded his eat-thunder-and-crap-lightning defenses. What a lot of people don’t realize is having a good D makes your whole team better, because the O has to play against that D everyday, and in the words of Johnny Cash, “get tough or die.” When the D went soft under Martinez, this team went down the tubes. Yes, I know UGA won the SECC in 2005 but they backed into it. (Losses to UF and Auburn—AGAIN—that year). Then of course the Sugar Bowl loss to WV. Martinez should have been fired that off-season. Instead, b/c CMR is a “good man” and the UGA admin decided to accept mediocrity for the last 6 years, Richt will FINALLY, thankfully be gone this year, and he deserves it, for not making the right decisions when they obviously needed to be made. This team will be lucky to win 6 games this year, not that it matters: Richt, b/n blind loyalty to Willie Martinez, “blackouts,” “combat uniforms,” and “Dream Team” gimmickry, and lack of accountability from and discipline over his program, will mercifully be gone.”

More to come.

I just posted this to Bill King’s AJC blog on the secondary and its new coach, Lakatos, today:

I have been optimistic about everything I’ve read about the new D coaches until today. When the Jalapeno took over 5 years ago, he said he wanted to “create more turnovers.” As I’ve said on this board and on my own blog incessantly, that was a red flag to me as soon as I read it. I’ve found that emphasis on TOs usually translates into poor fundamentals, resulting in big plays for the opponents’ O. If you EARHOLE somebody, the TOs will take care of themselves. I’m getting a sinking feeling.

Let me amend the above by saying Martinez was actually quoted back then, whereas King seems to be giving his own personal take. Hoping that King is overstating Lakatos’ emphasis on TOs and the coach’s aggressive approach also stresses the fundamentals.

I have watched the Dawgs play UNC-Asheville, Tech, and Kentucky from my exile up here in Washington, DC. Just as on the football field, good coaching is evident, no matter the level of talent, and Fox has these guys coached up. Felton’s defenses were always good, but we seemed lost on offense. Turnovers notwitstanding, Fox’s O seems very confident and certain about what it’s doing—we actually seem to have a plan (in contrast to the Felton regime, when the O always seemed to be mildly-controlled chaos to me, at best). I am by no means any basketball expert, but it’s a nice diversion this time of year, and a bonus to watch a Dawgs unit that is competitive that plays hard and smart.

So wake up Dawg fans, I think we might have a lot to small about in roundball the next few years.

Smart was a nice idea and I hoped it would happen like most UGA people, but he ain’t the only defensive coach in the country, and maybe not even the best. Smart may just be biding his time until the top job at UGA is open, though I think he’s probably shut the door on that now whether or not he knows it. With all the build-up, there’s going to be some bruised feelings in Athens. Who knows. Move on.

Just off the top my head, which I’ve mentioned before, how about whoever’s working for Bo Pellini at Nebraska?

Just as I was congratulating Nick Saban and the Tide on their BCS championship on my Facebook page, Saban says something to remind me (and I’m assuming many other CFB fans) of the arrogance frequently attributed to him. He in essence fired a verbal warning shot at his own coach, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, against considering “a lateral coaching move,” undoubtedly with the University of Georgia foremost in mind. His comments also included the old Erma Bombeck metaphor of “the grass always being greener over the septic tank,” which many UGA fans have taken as a direct insult to the school and program. I don’t know for sure about an intended insult, but I know that it is the height of condescension for a man to frustrate another’s career.

I’m supposing we can take Saban’s comments to mean he’s at Alabama for the duration then, because I’m sure the Tide faithful consider any other job to be a “lateral move,” if that.

Nick Saban does himself no favors by discouraging an assistant coach’s consideration of a sure-to-be lucrative offer to coach at his alma mater in his home state, albeit for the same or a similar job title as he now has. Every circumstance is unique, and in this one, Saban is the “elephant” in the room—another of the major reasons Smart would consider Saban’s derided “lateral move”: he would be running his own show at Georgia, which, rightly or wrongly, is not the general perception of Smart currently in Tuscaloosa.

By denigrating the “lateral move,” i. e., the Georgia job, Saban not only has risked the appearance of lack of respect for a fellow SEC member program, but has also damaged his ability to lure future coaching talent. Who wants to work for a guy who is a control freak to the point that he wants to run your career—essentially your life?

If you track back in this blog, you’ll find that I first raised the possibility of Smart coming back to UGA last season (2008—the reference is near the end of a response to a comment on this blog here), and have openly campaigned for him for head coach at Georgia through a good part, if not most, of the season just passed. Word here in the wee hours of Monday morning, January 11, 2010 is that Kirby Smart may indeed be on his way back to Athens. Now more than ever, I hope Smart comes home if for no other reason than to stick it to Satan.

Congrats on the BCS again, Nick Saban. Now go screw yourself.

Baffles me that people still think Muschamp is a possibility, or that we’d even want him—we lit up his D’s at Auburn, and as is pretty common knowledge, D is not the trademark of the Big 12. Regardless, Muschamp will be the next coach at Texas. He’s not coming back to UGA, and personally, I think we’re better off.

I hope Smart has the door open, but something that occurred to me the other night, nobody’s talked about the D-Coordinator at Nebraska. Don’t know who it is, and I know immediate reaction will be that it’s a Saban-Smart situation, but anything would be an improvement, and my above Big 12 comment notwithstanding, that Nebraska D flat-out gets after people.