I only know of one team...the 2002 team that went 11-1....Now before you bring up 2007, Georgia was ranked 5th that year going into the bowls...in none of the other years Georgia was even close to the top 4 going in to the bowls
Just want to point out that UGA has also lost to Vanderbilt under Smart's regime. That is all. Go Dawgs!
I think JT could have played on crutches against FLA and hit those open receivers. Exaggerating, sort of.
A lot of overreaction on here. Kirby has made one big mistake since he’s been HC and that was the hiring of his buddy Coley as OC a couple years ago. The offense has shown signs of improvement this season with Monken, but are not an elite unit yet. I’m encouraged by the team’s current trajectory and fully support what Kirby is doing now. I’m excited to see the offense progress the rest of this season, and fully expect the team to finish solidly in the top ten in the nation which is where they have been every season since he’s been here. This natty or bust mentality is taking all the fun out of being a Dawg fan. If we remain consistently in the top ten it will happen eventually.
Kirby is in over his head as as head coach. Coordinator ok...head coach not so much. Sad thing is he either doesn’t or slowly learns from his mistakes, if he even thinks he’s made any.
Imagine Saban, Spurrier and the rest of the elite coaches with this amount of almost wasted talent on a roster the last 4 years. Saban and the old ball coach would have at least two National Titles and have played in all four National Title games. But nope we have one SEC champ and 40 years and counting without a Natty! Kirby needs to win a national title yesterday just the facts guys...coaching is the difference and as you can see Kirby has had he talent he just isn't coaching his players to win championships.... sad and factual!!!
Mark Richt beat Saban twice and Urban Meyers once but when he fell behind them on the recruiting trail his team struggled to beat them but the man should get credit for winning the east twice when Fulmer, Spurrier and Meyer were in the east at the same time. Unfortunately for Kirby, there aren't any coaches in the east of their caliber to challenge him to make him become a better head coach.
Fortunately for him he had veteran players left from Mark Richt's staff who weren't afraid to speak their minds about how Kirby and his staff should utilize them and it paid off in the long run.
Apples & oranges... Instead of comparing Kirby to Richt, how about comparing Kirby to coaches like Saban, Swinney, Day, Riley now that UGA finally has the same resources and talent as those programs?
Just a quick question......There are a lot of people who are really high on Freeze. I'm not completely sold on that but you can't argue with results. If you were the Georgia AD and Freeze called and said he wanted to coach the Dawgs.........Would you hire him?
The mark of a good coach? Look at 247 recruiting for the five years leading up to Dabo's first championship....The average is not in the top five......Now look at Kirby's recruiting over the last five years....never out of the top five.....I would say that Dabo gets the bang for his buck
Complain all you want but Mark Richt stayed for 15 years and only won two sec championships and never played for the natty. Including a six win season with a sun bowl loss to Ucf. I continue to believe we are in good hands but even if I’m wrong CKS will not be fired by UGA.
Clemson can't help it that they play in a cupcake conference any more than the Dawgs can help it that they play in what has been for years a generally weaker SEC East. Put the Dawgs in the SEC West, and I will bet you that Kirby would struggle mightily to ever win that division. Winning the SEC East title is not that difficult honestly if you can get past Florida. And Florida has been terrible over the last several years. Winning an SEC Championship is much more difficult. Kirby has only won (1) SEC Championship.
Dabo's record at Clemson since the 2012 season has been at least 11-2 or better (most years 0 or 1 loss). Sure, he had a rocky first 4-5 years at Clemson. Kirby has actually done better in his first 5 years. But Clemson has been in (5) of the (6) CFP semifinal rounds played thus far. They have won (4) out of those (5) semifinal games (Bama is the only team to beat them in the semis). Clemson has also won (2) National Championships since 2016. So, when they do play the best-of-the-best teams in the nation they tend to win. Dabo's coaching method & philosophy apparently works for the most part.
The standard response to this is " Well, who is going to replace Kirby?" I don't have a definitive answer to that other than Swinney or Saban. I know they could easily replace Kirby and do better. BUT, the better question really is - WHY aren't the Dawgs doing better than they are? The answer is coaching and development. So, until that improves then I think we're on a merry-go-round of disappointment and frustration if our goal is to make it back to the playoffs consistently and win a National Championship.
It's called an embarrassment of riches!!! But what's embarrassing is that UGA still does not perform like an elite team. Every other team that comes close to the recruiting level of UGA performs to expectations i.e. Alabama, OSU, Clemson, etc. While 2020 is a whacky year, we are not even in the top 10!!!! If the problem isn't talent and depth, then therefore can we assume...
Can't say for sure but Dabo didn't inherit a team that went to the NC his second season and he didn't have the benefit of top 3 recruiting classes consecutively for 4 years. Below are Clemson's recruiting class rankings since Dabo took over, (2012-2018) his first full year as head coach for recruiting was 2010 but that isn't shown here, doubt it was top 10.
2011: No. 10 nationally, (28 enrollees)
2012: No. 20 nationally, (15 enrollees)
2013: No. 15 nationally, (22 enrollees)
2014: No. 16 nationally, (19 enrollees)
2015: No. 9 nationally, (24 enrollees)
2016: No. 11 nationally (21 enrollees)
2017: No. 16 nationally (14 enrollees)
2018: No. 7 nationally (17 enrollees)
Not a mathematician but the avg. looks to be roughly 12th.
One could certainly make the argument that Kirby did better with Richt's recruits than he has with his own. Here's hoping Kirby can start coaching them up, a little better.
Either Saban is getting a lot better talent, even though the rankings don't bear that out, or he's just a much better coach. I mean he is the G.O.A.T.
Go back and look at Dabo’s first five years before mentioning Clemson. Kirby is light years ahead while not having the benefit of not playing in the All Cupcake Conference.
Who do you want? When Richt got kicked to the curb, Tom Herman was most mentioned by Dawg fans that didn’t want Kirby. Texas would be glad to be rid of him!
As I have said before, 5 Star Recruits do not especially bring you a Natty. Player development and coaching does. The 2016 signing class has one 5 Star recruit left on it's roster, Ben Cleveland. Demetris Robinson was ranked as a 5 Star, but transfered in to UGA, and has not played up to what he did at Cal while he was on their roster. The 2017 signing class has two 5 Star recruits left on it's roster, Richard LeCounte III, who has played like a 5 Star recruit while on the field, and Robert Beal Jr., who has not. The 2018 signing class saw Justin Fields and Brenton Cox transfer out after their freshmen season, and Cade Mays flew the coop this year. Zamir White, who has had ACL surgery on both knees has only had 1, 100 yard rushing game, and James Cook has not played up to his prior ranking as a 5 Star. The 2019 signing class have all contributed. Dominick Blaylock has had two surgeries, he may never be the same player again. The 2020 signing class, saw Kelee Ringo have to have surgery and was lost for the season. Broderick Jones has only appeared in one game for the year so far. Thank God, Kirby gave Zach Evans his release before he was buttoned down as a bona vide 2020 signee. Tate Ratledge, don't know of his status. Kendall Milton showed flashes of being a 5 star, but he is now on the injury list. People claim it takes a Village to raise a child. It does take a Team to make it to the Natty, so far Kirby has had only one team to make it that far, and most of that, was due to players like Nick Chubb and Sony Michael were hungry for that trophy. It's too bad 2nd and 26 spoiled their dream.
At some point(next year or two) all the hype for recruits that UGA is building something special will fall on deaf ears if Kirby can't convert us to a NC playoff team. We will fade into the background of dare I say FLA. We will become 2nd best team in the East, Tenn and SC will change coaches and depending on who they get and their immediate success(if they have it) will steal the thunder away from UGA.
we don't want to prove Spurrier right again. "What happens to all those blue chip players when they get to UGA?
@randyglass14 ,@MontanaDawg ,@mattyp87 ,
All I can say about your comments is: OUCH!!!!!
This is basically an indictment on Kirby and his coaching staff for not winning a Natty or at least not getting to the CFP more than once. It's simple - poor player development and questionable schemes. No doubt they are great recruiters, but that's a shallow victory given the deserved expectations. If Kirby doesn't get us back into the playoffs within the next two years, I would prefer a coach with less recruiting prowess and greater player development. Too bad we can't seem to have both like AL, OSU and Clemson. I'm a little embarrassed to be honest by all this.
Jeff, the 'staggering' number of 5-star recruits and #1 recruiting classes does make Kirby look like "the man" to get it done. BUT, in fact, the only thing your stats show (embarrassingly so) is that Kirby really has no excuses other than his own coaching & development as to WHY we can't seem to make our goal every year. It actually shows me and many others why having the talent doesn't necessarily equate to making the playoffs and winning a NC. In fact, Richt had a pretty impressive recruiting record relative to many of his predecessors, but other than a few SEC titles he couldn't get it done.
Coaching and development is where Kirby and his staff are apparently falling short every year. The old "we've got to get better" saying we keep hearing time and again from Kirby is getting old. Other than the 2017 blip on the screen in our run in the playoffs, we have yet to even make it back to the CFP much less make a run for the Natty.
I guess I could give Kirby a mulligan this season (his 5th) since he's trying to install a new offensive coach, scheme, and find a QB to run it. But, Saban and Swinney rarely skip a beat when it comes to new seasons, new players, new offenses, and getting back to the playoffs. They don't offer excuses. They just produce results.
Like I've said before, what's the only real difference between us and Bama? Answer: Coaching and development. It ain't talent.
We open with Clemson next year on September 4th. We should have the remaining games this season and an entire Spring practice to get our act together, iron out the kinks at QB and offense, in order to make a run for it next season. Sure, we lose some studs on defense but so do other teams. With today's college football revolving door of players in and out of teams so quickly we'd better figure out a way to make hay while the sun shines!
Can Kirby get it done in year 6?
GO DAWGS!!
Five stars are supposed to get drafted in the 1st round of the NFL draft. WEesure have had a lot of busts over the years. Makes you wonder why.
DRob, Nauta, James Cook, Robert BEal, Deanglo Gibbs, Tyson Cambell still hasn't turned his head around to look for the ball, that ain't happening.
Some of our defensive guys are used so sparingly I doubt an NFL team would risk a 1st round pick with such a limited body of work. Guys like Tindall, Anderson, Smith. Salyer has been somewhat of a disappointment. He won't go 1st round.
Nakobe Dean looks like another 1st round middle LB. Trayvon Walker isn't blowing anybody up like I thought he would. I believe he's playing out of position. Too lean to play effectively in the middle. Sort of a tweener body type.