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Perplexing SEC Coach of Year Poll, Jeremy Pruitt weighs in on Tennessee, Georgia
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Perplexing SEC Coach of Year Poll, Jeremy Pruitt weighs in on Tennessee, Georgia
ATHENS — Kirby Smart turned arguably the biggest reloading season in college football history into a perfect regular season and ranks among the lead candidates for national coach of the year.
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Ask yourself if you think any of these SEC coaches would be able to do what Kirby has done with the loss of players and staff over the past year. I don't know if even Saban could do that - 28 players! 4 staff members! 5 1st round draft picks?? No way, Kirby is a one of a kind coach and absolutely deserves the SEC Coach of the Year award. GO DAWGS!
I am glad Tennessee had a great year, but unless they get to the College Football Playoffs they have not won anything (Maybe a bowl game). Smart is coming in to his own as a great coach. He deserves the award, but those who choose need to consider how much Kirby has done great this year ! 78 - 15 over his tenure at UGA at this point in his career!
Well, I guess it all depends on who were the winners in previous years. If every year it was Saban, then, yeah Smart needs to be the obvious #1 by a mile. If, on the other hand, they generally picked coaches that "did the most with what they had" then the selections make more sense.
I can certainly appreciate ANY coach that can turn a miserable decade of football from Tenn and turn them into a true powerhouse so I'd certainly vote for Heupel.
Carolina, though, is a bit of a puzzler. Yes, a couple of big wins, but that doesn't change an unranked season.
Kirby doesn't get the credit he deserves because pundits just say well he has all those blue chippers. Ok, but who got all those top players to come to UGA? That would be Kirby! He created this, not by himself, but he is the architect.. HIs vision, his passion, his leadership, his coaching. WIth all congenialities to Huepel and BEamer, they haven't done anything yet, other than set their teams on an upward trajectory. THey've only begun their journy. They certainly haven't arrived at the pinnacle of success. They're nothing more than a feel good story and should be treated as such.
I doubt Kirby cares as much about personal accolades as he does team accolades, and Kirby embodies, in a sense, the team, as does any head coach. Win another National Championship, and Coach Of The Year means little, should he not win it.
Yes, UGA lost 15 draft picks.
Yes, UGA was still by far the most talented team in the SEC despite those losses.
You can give Kirby Smart credit for what he did in 2019, 2020 and 2021 when he was recruiting and developing the players that made up the 2022 team. For sticking with defense when everyone else - including Alabama - switched to offense. For emphasizing TE and RB recruiting when everyone else - again including Alabama - focused on recruiting WRs. For signing and sticking with Stetson Bennett while 4 and 5 star QB recruits didn't play nearly as well elsewhere, which again included Bryce Young this year at Alabama who botched a ton of decisions against Tennessee and LSU teams that turned out to be not that good (for example against Tennessee if Young just ignores his offensive coordinator and scrambles for a few yards - like Bennett would have done - his kicker makes the field goal AND it takes too much time off the clock for Tennessee to make theirs).
But in terms of this year, there was simply no other team in the SEC that came close to UGA's talent level. It isn't easy to figure out why. Of the 8 SEC schools that based on tradition/recruiting/facilities situations actually have a chance - Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, A&M, Arkansas - 5 of those are in rebuilding mode (Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas) with coaches in year 1 or 2. (Arkansas' coach is in year 3, but the place was such a disaster when he got there AND his first season was the pandemic year so he gets a mulligan.)
As for A&M, Jimbo is an even bigger disaster there than he was for FSU, if that is even possible. That leaves Alabama, who is running a scheme that doesn't fit their talent at OL, WR and TE (if they had put in a run-oriented and pass off play action philosophy that UGA ran in 2017-2018 and Bama themselves ran under McElroy and McCarron they'd be undefeated right now) plus they have no one at DT, ILB or safety that is any good. Truthfully they would have been better off switching from a 3-4 defense to either a 4-3 or a 3-3-5. Yes, I am accusing Saban and company of either bad coaching, or of bad recruiting, with the latter being going after highly rated guys that don't fit their scheme (they would have been better off chasing lower rated guys that do like Michigan now, and like Clemson did during their 2015-2019 run).
So yes, Smart is a great coach. He did an outstanding job putting together this team and coaching staff. But did he do a particularly good coaching job in 2022? Nope. He did in 2017, mind you. Smart and Mel Tucker took a defense that didn't have very many elite players beyond Roquan Smith a long way with their schemes and strategy. But this year, Smart just had the most talented roster in the country. That is good for a lot of things. I say that it should be good for the Atlanta Falcons job when it inevitably opens up again. But not 2022 coach of the year.
This kind of "poll" is a click or two below typical political polls, which already set the standard for JUNK. Go Kirby! Go Dawgs!
Why, sometimes, when trying to comment on some articles, does the following show up: Data too long for column 'Name' at row 1? When this happens, it seems no one is able to comment on that particular story. Again, why?
Kirby doesn't care.
Winning the games he cares about. Winning the SEC he cares about. Etc.
Personal awards for himself? Not so much.
Awards for the players? Of course, but not to the degree anything supersedes winning games.
Go, Dawgs!
Bit off subject, unless the subject is disrespect for UGA. From ESPN.com.
Spoiler alert: only Brock Bowers was nominated (TE award) but he won't win as the national media loves ND too much (and while Meyers is good - and a senior - Brock is better). SBIV is up for the "walk-on" award if you want to count that. Lots of other bad/political nominations. The 2022 award finalists:
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams of Southern California, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and Hendon Hooker of Tennessee for the Maxwell Award as the player of the year in college football.
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year): Will Anderson Jr., Alabama; Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati; Tuli Tuipulotu, USC.
Biletnikoff Award (outstanding receiver): Marvin Harrison, Jr., Ohio State; Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State; Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee.
Lou Groza Award (outstanding kicker): Christopher Dunn, North Carolina State; Joshua Karty, Stanford; Jake Moody, Michigan.
Ray Guy Award (outstanding punter): Mason Fletcher, Cincinnati; Bryce Baringer, Michigan State; Adam Korsak, Rutgers.
Davey O'Brien Award (outstanding quarterback): Max Duggan, TCU; C.J. Stroud, Ohio State; Caleb Williams, USC.
Outland Trophy (outstanding interior lineman): Calijah Kancey, Pittsburgh; Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan; Peter Skoronski, Northwestern.
Jim Thorpe Award (outstanding defensive back): Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU; Clark Phillips III, Utah; Devon Witherspoon, Illinois.
Doak Walker Award (outstanding running back): Chase Brown, Illinois; Blake Corum, Michigan; Bijan Robinson, Texas.
Burlsworth Trophy (outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on): Aidan O'Connell, Purdue; Carlton Martial, Troy; Stetson Bennett, Georgia.
John Mackey Award (outstanding tight end): Brock Bowers, Georgia; Michael Mayer, Notre Dame; Sam LaPorta, Iowa.