Fortunes of Georgia, Richt can turn on recruiting Crowell
Carver-Columbus High's Isaiah Crowell can be a difference-maker at Georgia. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Those of you who’ve read me around college football recruiting time are familiar with my feelings about it. I’ve mostly mocked it — not because I think it’s not important but because the importance is so often overstated
We’ve seen enough in college football to know that it’s less important how highly a player — or entire recruiting class — is ranked by DraftSuperGeek.com than it is what happens to that player when he arrives on campus. Most significant is whether players are coached up, down or not at all.
How many top 10 recruiting classes you think TCU has pulled in the last 100 years? I’ll speculate: zero.
OK, that said, the fortunes of Georgia next season — and, it follows, coach Mark Richt — could swing on the potential recruitment of one player. I know. I’m contradicting myself. But by all accounts, running back Isaiah Crowell of Carver High School in Columbus, Ga., is that special of a player and, most importantly, he plays the right position.
The Dogs need to improve in a lot of areas but mostly they need a running back they can count on from week to week, on and off the field (read: not Caleb King).
What did Marcus Lattimore do for South Carolina this season? What did a guy named Herschel Walker do for Georgia?
Nobody can guarantee Crowell will be in that category as a freshman, but most seem to believe he’s a game-changer. Richt’s issue is he may not have the luxury of time so he needs an immediate-impact player in 2011. Crowell would pair nicely with quarterback Aaron Murray. The expected loss of A.J. Green will hurt the offense but Murray is good enough — his Liberty Bowl performance notwithstanding — that the Dogs should still have a solid passing attack.
Our recruiting monster, Chip Towers, is down in Florida at the high school All-American game at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Here’s a link to his latest blog about recruits saying they’re not spooked by Georgia’s 6-7 record this year. Here’s an excerpt, which quotes Crowell:
The general consensus among some of the state’s highest-profile college football prospects is that Georgia’s 6-7 record this past season is not necessarily a deal-killer with regard to their recruitment. Most notably, that is the opinion of Carver-Columbus running back Isaiah Crowell. He is generally considered Georgia’s highest-ranked recruit and is, quite clearly, the Bulldogs’ No. 1 target from the Class of 2011.
“Really, I don’t how they’re going to be when I get there,” Crowell said, speaking metaphorically of the possibility of enrolling at UGA before next season. “I try not to think about it like that. One year South Carolina’s down, then Marcus Lattimore went there and the program’s up. So you never know how it will be when you get there. And I feel like I’ll be a difference maker wherever I go.”
Hey, he stole the Lattimore example from me.
For what it’s worth, Georgia’s in a recruiting battle with Alabama and Auburn for Crowell.
So what do you think? Can one player like Crowell make that big of a difference?
This might help you make your decision. It’s a near four-minute highlight video of Crowell from Scout.com, via YouTube. (Sorry, no audio. But you can provide your own screaming.)
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Earlier post: Our first coach rankings (and a poll about Richt, Hewitt)
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601 comments Add your comment
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:21 pm
wildbill
In 05 when the talking heads were talking up Boise ST in the season opener I knew it wouldn’t be a game and it wasn’t. Boise never had a prayer. I don’t see it the same way this time around. It’s us that does not have a prayer. Unfortunately for us Dawg fans, that will be just one of the many embarassments in 2011. We have no coach
Decisions decisions
January 4th, 2011
12:22 pm
Crowell’s big decision- Mmmmh! Let’s see. Go to Georgia and lose to Florida every year(often in blowouts), go 8-5 or 6-7, join the sinking ship of a coach who is sure to be fired after the 2011 season, and lose to someone like UCF in a bowl game.
OR
Go to Bama and compete for sec and national championships, win 10 games or more every year- Bama just set an SEC record for wins in a 3 year stretch with 36, play in a massive 102k stadium, play under a superior coaching staff as opposed to BOZO as an off coordinator, play in one of the nation’s nationally elite programs as opposed to an okay regional program, join a program surrounded with massive talent- 2008 and 2009 classes ranked no. 1, 2010 class ranked no. 4, and 2011 class currently ranked no. 2 and which will be ranked no. 1 for the 3rd time in 4 years with Crowell’s committment.
Yep! This choice is easy!
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:23 pm
Snoop
Van Gorder isn’t HC material. Great DC and excellent motivator but a bull in the china shop at a HC position
doggie
January 4th, 2011
12:24 pm
Yep, Caleb’s videos were impressive, so were washaun’s. Richt will just redshirt him anyway and he’ll leave after two years.
DIT
January 4th, 2011
12:24 pm
@Snoop Dawg
______
Go after CMR for his lack of getting the job done at UGA. That everyone gets. Why do you feel that you have to go after his character/belief via “Preacha man?” There’s no reason for that. It just shows a lack of class on your part.
I get it; I’m just as ticked off as the next Alumnus, if you are one, but to go after someone’s character regardless of who it is classless. Especially a man’s beliefs. Let’s stick to his coaching abilities or lack thereof. Thank you.
The Thin Guy
January 4th, 2011
12:25 pm
The reason he will end up at THUGA is he can’t count to 21 with his clothes on. Our course Richie Rich is not going to be canned as Head Coach. Who would do all those commercials for those gas guzzling pick up trucks? Who else looks that cool wearing those shades?
Snoop Dawg
January 4th, 2011
12:25 pm
For all you Richt Apologists (take notice DIT), you can measure Preacha Man’s incompetence based on how the quality differential between UGA and Boise State has absolutely flipped over the past five years. Unless Richt leaves within the next 30 days, we are going to get on of the ugliest beat downs ever adminstered on national TV in the Georgia Dome at the Kickoff Classic.
If Richt stays, Snoop Dawg predicts a 3-win season next year and a seven year recovery period after he is gone. He is worse than the NCAA Death Knell.
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
12:27 pm
Einsteindawg
Leach is an UNDERARMOR guy and the SEC is a NIKE league. I don’t see Leach geting the UGA job when he couldn’t get the Maryland job and Maryland is THE UNDERARMOR school.
DIT
January 4th, 2011
12:29 pm
As stated above Snoop Dawg = Classless.
Not arguing about his job performance. I guess I should have expected these kind of juvenile comments from someone that uses “snoop dawg” as their blog name.
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
Crowell makes the grade and is a talented RB. He is going to be good no matter where he goes. If he is going to be great remains to be seen. He wasn’t so great in his recent semi finals in the play offs. Maybe just a bad day or maybe just the difference in competition who knows. What I do know is this. He can’t save Richt’s season either way. Only Richt can do that and nothing he has done insofar shows he doesn’t really give one fat rats azz
blazerdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
Snoop – Peterson is a great coach, but I think being at a private school with resources helps him alot and that he may not be a good fit in Athens.
Smart is from the gene pool, but he is very intense and would not be overly subordinate to Adams, which is why I do not think he would be hired in the first place, but I would love to see him at UGA.
Strong has done a great job at Louisville and was the superior DC in the SEC in his era. I think he would be awesome at UGA, then go to the NFL.
To me Mullen has done the most with the least, and would be my first choice. Starkville is a nice place and Mississippi State is a fine school, but MSU is by far the school in the SEC that is the least appealing in terms of academics, program history, facilities, social activities, etc. (I know that sounds bad and that Bully kicked our tails this year – it is a nice place – but the institution is not on the same level as UF, UGA, UA, UT).
GM – If your going to make a move, do what it takes to get Mullen!
Dawglasville
January 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
POAD I agree with you that if your quality of life is hinging on a an 18 year old you need to find a new job.
You are cherry picking when you take a shot at the SEC using the AAU. The ACC is part of the hypocrisy as well. I know you said the Big 10 but we know this is a Tech/UGA thing. The last 4 teams to join the ACC are not AAU members. The ACC jumped on FSU, VA Tech, and Miami for the money. Unfortunately, the plan for a super conference did not work out like they planned. I will agree with you that I am sick of the football factory mentality of the SEC.
Monroe's first Redcoat
January 4th, 2011
12:32 pm
Can’t help but wonder if Crowell’s 20-10 highlight reel includes the footage of him throwing a screaming hissy fit on the sidelines when he got totally OWNED by Calhoun’s defense in the AA semifinals…The “future if UGA’s program” was screaming at his coaches and teammates like a spoiled brat who had just had his favorite candy taken from him. Real mature, and I’m sure just what we need in Athens – another prima dona with an entitlement mentality.
Snoop Dawg
January 4th, 2011
12:32 pm
DIT, I diesagree with you. I do not think Richt is an honorable man. I believe he is a world class scam artist. True men of faith do not make a big deal out of it. They walk it. They do not tell their players to intentionally draw poor sportsmanship penalties as a “morale booster,” They don’t start press briefings with long diatribes about God and Savior Jesus Christ. I truly believe that this is just a big schtick with Richt. I am sick and tired of hearing everyone blathering about how much the respect this charletan has led us to the bottom of the outhouse floor at a cost of aroung $30M over the past ten years. If this guy were respectable, he would have already resigned with honor like Urban Meyer has. The Bulldog nation doesn’t owe another year, another month, another week. He owes us a huge apology and owes the UGA a lot of money he accepted without earning it. So please save your patronizing lecture.
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:33 pm
Leach had one mediocre season and one good season at TT in a mediocre conference. Pullezee save the praise and quit considering him for the UGA job. He’s a space cadet one hit wonder and a joke
DIT
January 4th, 2011
12:34 pm
Snoop Dawg – Let’s just agree to disagree on this one.
Decisions decisions
January 4th, 2011
12:35 pm
Go to an elite, championship level program like Alabama that just set a record with 36 wins in 3 years or waste away with a lame duck coach who can’t even beat UCF. Yep. This decision is easy.
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
12:36 pm
Dawglasville
I know all the ACC schools are not AAU members but most are. It is no suprise the SEC gets all the best players because of the high school players feeding the SEC. MIAMI is not an AAU member but it is a small privite college that does have high standards and it has a student diversity of 51% non-white students.
Snoop Dawg
January 4th, 2011
12:37 pm
DIT, it’s a deal!
Mullen seems to be the consensus savior based on a realistic assessment of what is actually possible. We really can’t attract folks like Jim Harbaugh with the dynamics of the UGA adminstrators and their tight purse strings.
Dawglasville
January 4th, 2011
12:39 pm
Five star recruits?*!*@? Go on rivals and look up all of the five star recruits UGA has gotten over the last 10 years. People have been blogging that crap for years. We get very few 5 star recruits. For the most part Richt has recruited top 10 classes and for the most part his teams have finished in the top 10. As a grad and a fan, I am sick of losing too. Please don’t continue to use this 5 star myth to make your point.
DW
January 4th, 2011
12:42 pm
I think Crowell is not big enough to meet the needs of running the ball effectively 20-30 times a game.
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
12:43 pm
Does the picture of Hunprey Bogart sitting in the Captain’s quarters rolling marbles around in his hand remind you of UGA football right now?
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
12:44 pm
DW – Don’t worry, we don’t have anyone with enough sense to let any running back carry the ball 20 to 30 times a game.
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
12:47 pm
Dawg Tired maybe like Matt Modine perched naked on his bedrail staring at the moon on the Birdy movie poster.
DIT
January 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
I think it stems from a lack of dedication from the players. Which is a result from the coaching? It just seems that players want out of UGA as fast as possible. We have had guys not only this year, but in the past leave early even though they were not going to be drafted high. There are just no “Die-Hard” players on this team. Hate to use the example, but look at Tebow and Manning, granted none of our players are of that caliber, but they stuck around their final year for the good of the team
Manning would have still been #1 or #2 coming out his JR year.
The players UGA has recruited could give two turds about the college or team. It’s all about them. That’s where it needs to start first. Recruit players that want to be here and are dedicated to doing “whatever it takes” to win. That’s part of the reason for the FOOTBALL scholly.
Just my 2 cents!
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
12:49 pm
A question for my fellow bloggers: Do you find it pleasurable to watch well-coached teams like Stanford play or does it drive you absolutely crazy when you compare those teams to us? I mean, they take three star recruits, put them together as a well oiled team and let them do their thing very effectively. They play very hard, with a lot of energy and passion. They seldom make stupid mistakes. What sya ye?
Dawglasville
January 4th, 2011
12:49 pm
5150 P.O.A.D OK, but you conveniently left out UGA which is also a fine school, on par with Florida. The University of Georgia is still the state university and can only pull a diverse population from the number of applicants who qualify to get into the University of Georgia. Being the state university I believe that UGA has a responsibility to take the kids from Georgia first.
DIT
January 4th, 2011
12:49 pm
@ DW – Don’t worry, we don’t have anyone with enough sense to let any running back carry the ball 20 to 30 times a game.
______________
LMAO
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:53 pm
DIT
IMHO. Yes, it is a result of coaching. Coaching is much more than recruiting and bagging 4-5 stars, it is about coaching them past the potential than they arrive to campus with. Anyone can throw talent on the field, it takes a coach to teach them how to win
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
12:53 pm
5150 P.O.A.D. – Good one!
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
12:55 pm
Dawg Tired
I have been in awe of Stanford all year. That is an excellent example of the difference between a well coached team with mediocre talent and a talented team with mediocre coaching. Did you notice Harbaugh running from the reporters and putting his players in front of the camera?
dawgrific
January 4th, 2011
12:59 pm
Is it just me that gets nervous when I hear that auburn is “recruiting” someone? Seriously, does anyone really think that #2 went and played there for free? really?! really?!
dawgrific
January 4th, 2011
1:02 pm
anyone bashing CMR for anything but his coaching is just a sad and angry person-get off the judgement wagon and enough about the overblown celebration against FL already-good lord!
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
1:02 pm
dawgrific
and hershel walker paid for that Trans Am when he showed up at UGA too.
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
1:03 pm
dawgrific
Get over the TECH players ripping out some of the HEDGES then.
On a break in Bangalore
January 4th, 2011
1:11 pm
Reggie Ball was the best…that Hershel Walker is loved by millions for his positive persona, Trans Am given to him by his awesome and loving family, good grades, and his dominance on the football field over my trade school…. it is not fair…Hershel is a very bad man, very bad!
Dawg Me
January 4th, 2011
1:12 pm
With this recruit, UGA will be back on top soon—book it!
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
1:17 pm
Hershel had how many brothers and sisters? They were broke and they bought an Brand new Smokey & the Bandit TA 455? I don’t think so.
5150 P.O.A.D
January 4th, 2011
1:18 pm
Coloring Book it
The Sage
January 4th, 2011
1:20 pm
Talented players come and go. Top notch coaching is a constant.
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
1:21 pm
ARDawg – Yes, I noticed. The thing I really noticed was Harbaugh’s level of intensity. I mean he’s really into it. I liked it when he called time-out just so he could talk with the official who called that bogus defensive “holding” when the ball was throw into the stands by VT.
gomdawg
January 4th, 2011
1:22 pm
OK LETS STOP DOWN GRADING THE UGA IT IS AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST COLLEGES IN THE COUNTRY . SO LETS STOP DOWN GRADING. I WILL AGREE WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR TEAM BUT IT’S OUR TEAM SO LET’S FIX IT TOGETHER FIRST THING TO DO IS LETS WORK TOGETHER, GET SOME GREAT RECRUITS AND TURN THIS PROGRAM AROUND
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
1:23 pm
Gomdawg – Shouldn’t we get a coach first? Just asking.
Decisions decisions
January 4th, 2011
1:27 pm
Dawg me!,
You are an abject fool. You think one single recruit can save the entire dawg program from the gross mediocrity of your coaching staff? Seriously? Dream on sport.
DTC
January 4th, 2011
1:36 pm
I make a motion that Kevin not be allowed on here anymore. AJC, are you listening?
Chuck
January 4th, 2011
1:39 pm
Folks, 5 stars beside your name for what you are perceived to have accomplished against other high school athletes is meaningless, and often times wrong. Think about it this way: how many Heisman winners are drafted #1 (Sam Bradford not withstanding)? NFL folks draft players that fill needs and then COACH THEM UP when they get up there. If scouts were blown away by stats alone, Charlie Ward wouldn’t have gone undrafted out of FSU.
We have 4 and 5 star high school athletes. Problem is, most of them never get any better when they get to Athens. Add that to this sense of entitlement that suddenly appears, and you have what we have: a bunch of 4 and 5 star underachievers with no fire in the belly.
Crowell could come here and be great, but I would be very hard earned money against that happening if Mike Bobo is calling ths shots for this offense. Stop pointing out how many times we scored 30+ points because that is an absolutely meaningless statistic. Garbage yards and garbage points dilute stats until they are meaningless. When we needed 2 first downs to get Walsh in field goal range against Arkansas, what did Bobo have? When we needed ONE touchdown to beat a Conference USA team (and we had AJ, Aaron, Tavarres, Orson, Marlon, et. al. at our disposal), what did Bobo dial up? Answer: NOTHING. And he’ll still have nothing when it counts most next season.
Our schedule next year gives us a great opportunity to bounce back (but don’t start counting wins just yet… remember what happened in Starkvegas?). After next season, our schedule is absolutely brutal for a few years. Fix this now, or we are toast for a decade.
DFWTXdawg
January 4th, 2011
1:40 pm
Mark, a phenom RB never hurts, but what really needs to improve is the OL run game blocking. The OL this year was largely comprised of the same guys that played on the OL as freshmen in 2007. The OL in 2007 was probably the best I’ve seen during Richt’s tenure. They started out green and rusty but the improvement was very noticeable from game to game in 07. By mid-season, they were clearing massive holes for Brown and Moreno. Searles did a remarkable job…that year. However, ever since 2007 IMO, I’ve seen the same OLinemen get worse each at run blocking. I don’t care how talented Crowell is, the OL will have to vastly improve for run-blocking and playing Power-I football.
UGA’s talent has dropped over the past few years on both sides of the ball. However, the problems with the UGA football program run deeper than talent. I think it’s a culture problem that is systemic and starts with Richt. I have been a staunch Richt supporter the last 2 years. However, after the performance rendered in the Liberty Bowl, I’m really beginning to doubt that Richt can get UGA football back to the level he took it to from 2002-2005 & in 2007. He has made several poor decisions (keeping Martinez as long as he did & basing starting player decisions on longevity instead of performance & redshirting too many players-i.e. Moreno) that will come back to haunt him. Richt definitely deserves the chance fix UGA football, but based on everything I’ve seen since 2006, I seriously doubt he will. Hopefully, he will prove me wrong.
ARdawg
January 4th, 2011
1:43 pm
Dawg Tired
His involvement and intensity on every play was very evident. Every player that had a flag thrown on them was pulled directly to him for a “chit chat” and when they made good plays you could see him going to them after the series. Sans Andrew Luck there wasn’t much “superior” talent on the team. Maybe the exception of the two way guy LB/FB yet they were no doubt as a team a superior force
Gator Man
January 4th, 2011
1:54 pm
How the mighty has fallen: UGA is building its hope on a freshmen, we are only in Jan and these idiots journalist are talking about the up comming season.
What a sad, sad program and news paper people in Georgia.
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
1:57 pm
Gator Man – I get your point. However, you are actually reading it and making comments! Now just how sad is that?