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Kirby Smart at center of whirlwind, stays on point amid coaching rumors, player attrition
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Kirby Smart at center of whirlwind, stays on point amid coaching rumors, player attrition
Georgia coach Kirby Smart addressed several topics on the Sunday night Sugar Bowl teleconference, including potential coaching changes
Comments
The trend of players who will graduate or declare for the NFL draft not participating in Bowl Games is disturbing . Coach Smart nailed it with his final comment in the article. Guys who are excited and engaged in playing are far more important than how good they are. I hope this trend will not continue and players will appreciate one more game with their team.
2 things stand out to me regarding coaching changes at football programs:
1) It's amazing that in Dabo Swinney's 11 years as the head coach at Clemson their program has had very little coaching turnover. A few folks have left, but in general all the major players on offense and defense are still there.
2) Other than this 'blip' on the screen for Bama this year, how in the world has Saban managed to produce National Championship teams year-after-year with all of the coaching turnover his program has gone through? I mean he has to rebuild his program almost every year and loses some key guys. But the fact is he is 17-0 against his former coaches who went on to become head coaches. Impressive.
Swift will be a sorely missed asset. But, as much as I like Fromm, he needs to go and we need to move on to another QB.
You will find out next year how **** that last sentence is if Fromm leaves for the NFL this year.
If I were on the team, I’d play in the bowl game to get the bad taste out of my mouth from the LSU debacle. Ending my career by leaving the team on that note? No way!
Bowls are becoming more about how to put a good cap on a team's year. I'm actually a fan of them. It's a reward to the players, offers a fun getaway for the fans, allows for a sneak preview into the next season, and allows for 1/2 of the teams who participate to end on a high note. It's one of the reasons why college football is the best sport, bar none.
I think the Dawgs will be ready for Baylor because they will not want to repeat what happened with last year's Sugar Bowl debacle against Texas. It will be interesting to see what Fromm does(he needs to come back), what CKS does to replace Sam Pittman quickly so as to retain of OL recruits, and what CKS does at offensive coordinator(give Coley more time or cut bait and move on).
I'd like to see a new OC, 2020 be about an explosive offense involving a revitalized Fromm, Cook and White going nuts behind a line that can now open up holes because we are a passing threat, and a mature and determined George Pickens being an unstoppable receiving force, and a continuation of the stifling D....oh and Zirkle taking over for Rodrigo to continue our strong tradition of powerful and accurate kickers. The kicking game is a place that separates UGA from Bama. Wouldn't it be interesting if the kicking game allows us to beat Saban/Bama in 2020?
Go Dawgs!
The players that are going to declare and choose to skip the bowl are doing the team a favor. That's just life in the bowl era. If your not in the playoffs, the bowl game is an exhibition that allows you 20 practices to prepare for next season. Playing young players against Texas last year and Baylor this year is a much better indicator of what they will bring to the table next year than the scrimmage at G Day. Want to win the bowl? Sure. Want to make every attempt to ensure the players that will be counted on to run the SEC gauntlet and be in the NC conversation in December next year are prepared? Absolutely!
We need to do more as far as finding a QB who can win us the game when not surrounded by two 1000 yard rushers, an offensive identity because that 2008 alabama ball just reached the end of its life cycle.
Not the least of Kirby's worries is making sure all the young players are eligible next year, especially a marginal student like Pickens. Dollars to doughnuts Pickens was suspended for the first half against Tech because of classroom problems.
At first, I cared about the players not sticking around for the bowl game, but now, it makes no difference. They don't care and I don't care, either. I hope the Dawgs win in New Orleans, but if they don't, what does it mean. Texas beat the snot out of us in last year's Sugar Bowl and Texas was claiming they were on their way to national relevance again. And what happened? Texas nosedived and we're right back where we were a year ago, just outside the nation's Top 4 (someone respects us). Quite frankly, more than winning this bowl game, I'm far more concerned about finding a new O-Line coach and a new OC, or a least, to show improvement with the one we have. Don't panic yet, Dawg fans. Just keep in mind that a year ago this time, Tua and Trevor Lawrence were the rage of of college football; Joe Brady was basically a joke if he was thought of at all, and no one beyond Louisiana had even heard of Joe Brady. Things change quickly in the world of college football so maybe all of this churn is a blessing in disguise. Go Dawgs!
A major shakeup is needed to put in a competent coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball. The whole "players not plays" philosophy is not going to cut it in modern college football. The Dawgs offense was stacked with elite talent this season, but the product on the field was less than the sum of the parts. Deandre Swift is one of the best players in the nation, and we had him running into a brick wall all year. Our players were literally tripping over themselves all season, while the LSU offense was running like a well-oiled machine. Coley is a great recruiter, but not an X's and O's guy. Until there is recognition of this fact, it's just going to be more of the same next year.
I wish D'Andre Swift a lot of luck, it's been such a pleasure watching him play. His run against Auburn in the SECC game in 2017 is one of my favorites ever.