Tennessee football recruit Da’Rick Rogers had ‘a lot of bad dealings with UGA coaches’ before switch, according to QB Nash Nance
- BREAKING NEWS: Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson loses top football recruit to MLB’s Texas Rangers, says report (click here)
Why did Calhoun wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers, the state’s No. 1-rated football prospect, make the last-minute switch from UGA to Tennessee last February?
Rogers isn’t talking, but his high school quarterback provided some insight into the infamous flip, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
“The [UT] coaches are a lot more professional … He had a lot of bad dealings with Georgia coaches,” said Nash Nance told the newspaper.
Nance and Rogers both signed with Tennessee, and enrolled in summer classes last week. Neither Nance nor the News-Sentinel disclosed any specifics on the “bad dealings.”
Da'Rick Rogers (left) isn't talking but QB Nash Nance is (AJC)
Here are a few other items of interest from the article:
- After Rogers changed his mind, Nance and his father “got crucified a lot on the Internet.” Nance said both he and Rogers got death threats, but neither called the police. ”Da’Rick and I both got a lot of Facebook messages and wall posts that were insane. Nothing was ever serious – I don’t think.”
- Calhoun coach Hal Lamb supported and defended his players after they both switched schools, even if he was privately disappointed, according to Nance — who was committed to Vanderbilt before flipping to Tennessee. Nance said Lamb is very close to Vanderbilt’s football staff. Also, Lamb’s father, Ray Lamb, is UGA’s coordinator of high school relations. “I’m sure they all wanted Da’Rick to go to Georgia,” Nance said. “But [Hal Lamb] was real accepting of the fact that we signed with Tennessee. I don’t know about his dad. He’s a little different breed than our coach.”
- Nance knew that Rogers both liked Tennessee and was reconsidering his pledge to sign with UGA, but says he wasn’t sure about Rogers flipping to the Vols until signing day. ”It wouldn’t have surprised me if he would have pulled out a Richmond scholarship, signed it and gone there,” Nance told reporter Dave Hooker of the News-Sentinel.
Update: Both Hal and Ray Lamb, along with UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner, could not be reached for comment on Monday. UGA spokesman Claude Felton told the AJC that UGA’s coaches are out of the office at camps this week, but was confident that Garner and the elder Lamb would not comment in response to Nash’s accusations. What about Da’Rick? He appears to be keeping a low profile, doing his public speaking via Twitter.
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377 comments Add your comment
Rick
June 7th, 2010
3:22 pm
Best laugh o the day. Tennessee coaches were more professional than Georgia’s. Which staff is he talking about The joke that is Lane Kiffin’s staff or Dooley’s staff. Give me a break Nance. You should just stick to keeping Da Rick from flunking out of that chair stacking class.
JABDawg
June 7th, 2010
3:23 pm
“A lot of bad dealings”??? No other recruit has ever said that of Richt’s staff except the Carver deal, which was appropriately apologized for. The bad dealing I’d like to hear about is an investigation on the Nance Dad buying or providing a car for the Rogers to get him to commit to TN and solidify his son’s scholly.
REJECTED
June 7th, 2010
3:23 pm
Good one romedawg. Folks around this area know the truth about Rogers being booted from Darlington. But you never hear about that in the AJC recruiting news. And everyone here in Calhoun knows that the only reason nance started at Calhoun was because Daddy bought the school a brand new turf field. Calhoun’s previous QB was only a junior and he had led them to the state championship game the year before. He got major screwed by Hal lamb and staff. I’m pretty sure the kid ended up quitting the team. Imagine leading your team to a state championship as a junior and then getting replaced just because your father couldn’t afford a new turf field. Classy.
anotherdawg
June 7th, 2010
3:25 pm
Lame Kiffin said all this is just business, and that USC’s program was more professional.
Ace
June 7th, 2010
3:25 pm
I can see the UT win last year still stings.
JB
June 7th, 2010
3:26 pm
Dawgs have moved on…….Have a commitment from the # 2 QB in America and a dream team lining up and Willie and Company gone…..Dawgs on the rise…Da’rick will be remembered in Tennessee as a guy who tried his best putting that proud program back together. Gonna be tough around ole Rocky Top the next 2-3 years.
Bubba
June 7th, 2010
3:26 pm
Nance sure does have a pirty mouth.
JB
June 7th, 2010
3:27 pm
ACE, I will be in Athens for this one this year….leave your women and Children at home.
superDawg
June 7th, 2010
3:27 pm
duh’ricky who.
Herschel Talker
June 7th, 2010
3:28 pm
“The [UT] coaches are a lot more professional … He had a lot of bad dealings with Georgia coaches,”
Yes, I’m sure the Georgia coaches were unprofessional and Da-Rick was Mr. Professional. What a joke. I hope one of the UGA players runs over to the UT bench and decks this punk Nance. What a piece of garbage he is.
Ace
June 7th, 2010
3:29 pm
Kiffen owned the dogs, will they be dooley jr’s dogs too ?
Rick
June 7th, 2010
3:30 pm
why print this Michael. no story here just bad grapes.
gwadgib
June 7th, 2010
3:30 pm
What’s funny is that Nash Nance still does not realize that he was signed as a scout team quarterback just to get Rogers to sign. Four years from now when Nance has not seen the field, he will realize that he and his family was used.
dawggrl
June 7th, 2010
3:32 pm
Good luck to both of those kids, but I agree that the only ‘bad dealings’ Nash had with UGA was not being offered a scholarship. I understand it might have stung when we offered Mason at the end of the season, but he was a better choice for the Red & Black!
bank walker
June 7th, 2010
3:33 pm
Who is this Nance kid? I don’t recall hearing his name during any of the recruiting blog or sites.
Pooshoosh
June 7th, 2010
3:33 pm
Nance will never take a snap at UT. He was strictly used to lure Da’Rick. Nance is not a D1 QB. Plain and simple. He’ll hold the clipboard for four years, or end up transferring to a DII school and finish up his career. Only reason he played was b/c of his daddy. They had an all state QB who was there, but got ran off when the Nance’s came calling and proimising all sorts of things to the HS. Smart move on their part, follow Da’Rick, let him make a name for Nash and get him a full ride to college. Oh well. Best of luck…
bawahahahaha!!!
June 7th, 2010
3:35 pm
TALK ABOUT TWO FACES MEANT FOR RADIO!!!! WOW!!!!
Willie Martinez
June 7th, 2010
3:35 pm
Watch OU’s defense tear it up with me on the staff. You will be sorry UGA fans…..
Bend dont break and give up at least 35 points per game!
ready fredie
June 7th, 2010
3:36 pm
Dang, it is true, looking at the picture, they could pass for brothers!
anotherdawg
June 7th, 2010
3:36 pm
Ace, since you’re bragging on Kiffin’s one victory over UGA, does that mean you miss him? Do you consider him professional and of high moral fiber?
jzdawg
June 7th, 2010
3:36 pm
The bad dealings were that UGA coaches wouldn’t offer buddy Nance a scholarship which would have made Rogers commit 100%. Then after they offered Mason it ticked them off and Nance persuaded Rogers to stick it to UGA!
athdog
June 7th, 2010
3:37 pm
Ahhh, they’re kids. No one knows what they want to do at 18 years of age. Good luck to ‘em both, except when they play UGA.
Mark Olsen
June 7th, 2010
3:38 pm
no, bad luck to both of them….real bad luck
dawgfan
June 7th, 2010
3:38 pm
Does anybody remember what it was like to be 18 and nobody on earth gave a flying two cent crap what you had to say about anything? I do and now that I’m older I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. If you are under the age of 25 you are by definition a complete effing moron, with only rare exceptions. I don’t care what the law has to say about voting, drinking alcohol, or serving in the military. You are so clueless at that age that you don’t even know how clueless you are.
With that in mind, isn’t all this recruiting gossip just a tad bit silly? I mean its absolutely laughable how this kid makes these vague “accusations” and the AJC jumps all over it like its hot news. What a complete and utter waste of time.
Dave
June 7th, 2010
3:39 pm
“Unprofessional?” I guess by “unprofessional” he means UGA wasn’t willing to give Rogers a brand new Hummer and offer his D-III caliber BFF quarterback a full ride just to sit the bench for 4 years.
gt
June 7th, 2010
3:39 pm
Not professional…
VolFan22
June 7th, 2010
3:39 pm
Welcome to Big Orange country Da’Rick Rogers! I think your upside is way more than Marlon Brown who we lost to UGA last year. Da’Rick=Future AA and first round pick!!!!!!!
Marlon appears to be a pretty good at best.
There sure is a lot of talk from dawg fans to Vols considering you got drilled by UT last year!
Nick
June 7th, 2010
3:39 pm
Funny Denver Dawg!
If he plays this year, I can’t wait to see Rambo lay him out, if not it’ll happen soon enough! It’s easier to be a headhunter when you’re on defense! Can’t wait!
bill_in_atl
June 7th, 2010
3:40 pm
Nash is clearly a LIAR. There is ZERO chance he’s telling the truth that UGA coaches did anything wrong with Da’Prick other than tell him clearly that they wouldn’t take his buddy.
The proof that he’s a liar is the fact that he said it wouldn’t have surprised him is Da’Prick would have signed with Richmond on signing day.
He also said he had death threats, but then said it was “nothing serious” and he never called the police.
That kid is liar. I’m SO glad UGA has neither of these kids today.
Joey
June 7th, 2010
3:41 pm
“Nance did not reveal any specifics on the “bad dealings.” Really? Nice journalism, Knoxville News.
That photo …. I mean, does that Nance kid have look goofy or not?
You just gotta hope Rogers changes his mind again, goes somewhere else and Dooley has to keep “Goofy” up in Knoxville for 4 years.
Jeff in Calhoun
June 7th, 2010
3:41 pm
REJECTED…..your right about Micheal Johnson getting screwed by Hal Lamb for the astro turf field.
But kudos to Micheal Johnson and his Calhoun team mates for winning the AA state championship.
That is something that Hal has failed to do.
VolFan22
June 7th, 2010
3:41 pm
45-19
rooks
June 7th, 2010
3:41 pm
The real scumbag here is daddy Nance. He was pissed that his boy didn’t get an offer from UGA, who decided to offer Mason last minute.
Please, continue to boycott the Nance carpet business.
Jeff in Calhoun
June 7th, 2010
3:42 pm
I was talking about AA baseball championship.
Dawg H8ter
June 7th, 2010
3:42 pm
Vandy and Tennessee were more interesting to these kids? They are obviously too smart to be at Jawja!
Mike Hunt
June 7th, 2010
3:42 pm
Karma is a MF’er and I can’t wait to see it hit these two douches at UTerd!
Ace
June 7th, 2010
3:43 pm
Will UGA finish in the top 25 this year, heard that last year and it didn’t happen.
BIG UGLIES WIN GAMES!!!
June 7th, 2010
3:43 pm
I am sooo gald this kid is at UT!!!! Dawgs in 2011!!!
byers
June 7th, 2010
3:43 pm
Funny that a snot nosed brat that is clearly, and shamefully, clinging to the coattails of his far more talented friend, would talk about “unprofessionalism.” I would think it’s unprofessional to continue to hound a kid that has been committed to another school for nearly a year.
Darick dafool
June 7th, 2010
3:44 pm
Darick—going to a terrible program—he can trash UGA all day, but watch for Richt to really run up the score on UT this year to show them who’s boss in the SEC east!! Dawgs blow out UT: 45-13!!!
takedowndawg
June 7th, 2010
3:45 pm
Does any Volunteer supporter believe that Nance would have been offered a scholarship on his own w/o Rogers? I don’t think so. We move on though. Next…..Looking forward to the UGA 2010 season!!! Hope, Georgia can get its end of season defense ranking in the top 15. If so, I personally would be pleased. And, in opinion, the record will take care of itself.
dawglasville
June 7th, 2010
3:45 pm
Nance should take a look at some old Knoxville Sentinel’s blogs around the time some of their players defected and read how classy their fans are. This kid is using a big boy microphone now so I hope that he and his family have real thick skins. He really didn’t think this thing out. Of course, when he passed up the chance to get a world class education at Vandy, he really wasn’t thinking too hard that day either.
VolFan22
June 7th, 2010
3:46 pm
I remember feeling bad last year when Marlon committed to uga but it happens every year. Let the kids go where they want. Good luck Marlon and Good luck Nance and Rogers! I’ll take the last two any day!
Ace
June 7th, 2010
3:46 pm
Better save some for the Gators.
Jeff in Calhoun
June 7th, 2010
3:48 pm
Goofy Nance won’t get to play and Darrick will end up getting suspended for violation of team rules. They both will end up at some small school. Daddy Nance will be pissed at both of them and yank their Escalades away and replace them with Ford Escapes.
Dawg boss
June 7th, 2010
3:48 pm
Nash should keep his mouth shut, his buddy Ga’rick is the one who will pay for it on the field.
Stay classy dawg fans
June 7th, 2010
3:49 pm
So dawg fans were making death threats to a couple of 18 year olds. Why does that not surprise me about these rednecks?
This nance kid is obviously just seeking his 15 minutes of fame and will never start or even play at UT. Doesn’t mean you worthless redneck dawg fans should be making death threats to the kid or Rogers.
bill_in_atl
June 7th, 2010
3:51 pm
Volfan22, why do you guys keep making this comparison? Marlon never committed to UT. Da’Rick was committed until SIGNING DAY.
There was no 2 for 1 where the daddy of the less talented 2nd player insisted on getting a package.
There is ZERO COMPARISON so stop being silly.
If he wanted to switch he should have done it sooner and it would have been less of a deal. CMR does not oversign in case of things happening like this. He respects people’s word and deals honestly with the kids. That’s why it hurts UGA more than some others (like Bama) who are having to get kids off the roster every year to make room.
VolFan22
June 7th, 2010
3:51 pm
DaRick Dafool
That terrible program beat the %^*&* out of you last year! It wasn’t even close. And UT has gone to the SEC Championship game since you last went and will probably go back before you. In 18 years of the SEC Championship game we have been 5 times and you 3. Terrible Program. Also a NC in that time versus a lot of underachievement from Richt’s teams.
Who is the terrible program?
Oh and we took your best lineman last year too. He will start for us this year!
Gator Bob
June 7th, 2010
3:51 pm
BIG DEAL!!!
This is last years news – what else do you expect an 18 year old to say in defending his best friend>
Here is my take on exactly what happened:
– Da’rick Rogers gets a UGA schoalrship
– Nance (his best friend) does not – and is told by UGA they are not taking a QB in 2010 class
– Nash Nance gets an offer from Vandy!
– Rogers and Nance commit to UGA/Vandy!
– Kiffin calls on Mr. Nance (nash’s dad) – offers both so they can play together – and lure Da’Rick to Tennessee. Kiffin leaves – but Dooley is there to keep the recruiting going.
– UGA decides to get a QB – offers Mason out of Cobb couunty
– Nance family insulted that UGA did not offer NASH. Nance family brokers deal to Tennessee – sealed with a Truck to Da’Rick – whom the Nance family has generously kept an eye on as Da’Rick’s family situation is not the best.
– Both commit to Tennessee.
At the end of the day – both kids get to play together at a major D1 school – GOOD FOR THEM.
Also – the Nance family can not complain about integrity and loyalty of the people of Calhoun regarding their business and feelings – as both kids “committed” to UGA/VAndy – then left both schools high and dry!!! But this is their option – Good For them.
Now – what UGA and Vandy need to do – is go kick Tennessee’s butt. which neither school has done in the last 4 years!!!!
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