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.)
♦
Earlier post: Our first coach rankings (and a poll about Richt, Hewitt)
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
601 comments Add your comment
Valdosta
January 4th, 2011
9:32 am
First of all Calbe King is simply unable to read at a 9th Grade Level.
That fact has a lot to do with why UGA student blogs have been reporting for 3 weeks that King faield every single class during the Fall semester. He’ll be gone by Spring practice. And, in the end, UGA is going to pay for it.
Second, this shows how really pathetic UGA and UGA fans have become when the “fate” of the head coach(of good character) is being “decided” by the outcome of the recruitment of a marginally illiterate high school running back. Thats just way too pathetic for words.
Third, if UGA really wants Crowell, how much will he cost?
Auburn “appears” to be willing to pony up enough money that,
in the alleged words of Cam Newton…”the money was just too much.”
I guess we’ll have to judge by what kind of new car Crowell arrives in on campus in Athens, or Auburn or Tuscaloosa, or which Crowell family member gets a new house, new job, or new improvements to the family home or church.
Mobile Dawg
January 4th, 2011
9:32 am
Jeff, my point exactly. People settle into the environment they are put into. I know what to expect out of a Mark Richt team now. People very seldom are capable of changing who they are. IMO, the only chance Richt would have at being successful would be to “surround” himself with “high caliber” assistants, and let them do their jobs. He has demonstrated “woefully” that he is incapable of doing that.
unbiased fan
January 4th, 2011
9:32 am
Jerry….any back that plays major college football is good and was great in HS. In college it is a fine line between average, good and great. Lattimore will probably play in the NFL because of his ability to break tackles and get extra yardage after the hit, but he can be stopped as he was in several games this year. Yards per carry is a good stat but it doesn’t define who is the better back.
GT
January 4th, 2011
9:32 am
I cannot believe Georgia missed another kid getting arrested. If you were Crowell’s parents would you want your child in this hole in the wall gang. There are millions of dollars flowing through the gates in Athens. You can’t tell me a real state university cannot come up with some system that identifies these problems. What in hell are they teaching in their business management school. This kid should have been suspended months ago. This lack of awareness encourages this kind of conduct. I would not be surprise, in fact expect, some others are getting away with stuff right now. If I had to I would open a state patrol office in the athletic dorm. The school could pay them. If they can waste money on these sorry coaches they certainly could spend some money on a working class of employee to fix this problem.
lazydawg
January 4th, 2011
9:33 am
I wonder where this kid’s upside is? Could he already be tapped out? King had some great video’s to.
browndog
January 4th, 2011
9:35 am
With the money being paid to UGA coaches today fans have a right to expect a quality product on and off the field. CMR is a good man, but he is being paid to win football games and mentor his players. He is failing miserably at both tasks. I truly hope he gets his “Dream Team” and gets this mess turned around, at least to where UGA is competitive with the rest of the SEC.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:38 am
No Jeff, 1 player partuclarly at RB, will not make a difference for Bobo and Richt on offense. They already have a boatload of 5 star players like Ealey, T King, C King, Charles, White, AJ Green, they just don’t believe in using playmakers on offense, they like to rotate–sort of the old, old USC Torjan outdated approach that doesn’t work anymore. These days, you play your best guy like Newton, Lattimore, etc. Richt also rarely lets a redshirt freshman start on offense at RB. Bobo insists they have to pass pro like a master first, delaying their impact for a year.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:41 am
Bobo won’t get any RB the ball 40 times, he loves to throw the ball too much. Name 1 RB, including Moreno, who got 40 touches a game like Lattimore under Mike Bobo?
joe
January 4th, 2011
9:41 am
If he goes to UGA, he won’t have an O-line worth a darn to block for him…
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:42 am
if Cam Newton had come to Georgia, Richt would have turned him into a tight end, and Bobo wouldn’t have let him run the ball.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:46 am
If Percy Harvin would have come to Georgia, he’d been moved to defensive back like Branden Smith.
tc
January 4th, 2011
9:46 am
It is disgusting to read blogs from uga fans that look to SC and lattimore as an example of what could happen at uga. I agree that it is a likely sinario, but how pathetic is that. We get a great RB and he carries CMR and the team only to get blown out in the championship game. That is exactly what we could expect even if we got Crowell and he was the next Lattimore why because it IS COACHING PEOPLE!!!! Please don’t start looking at SC as an example of how we could have success at UGA!!!
MikeP
January 4th, 2011
9:48 am
“Dream Team” won’t matter. Richt has recruited a dream team for the past four years and coached them down to finishing 6-7.
Players like Crowell need to look around and see which schools will help them get better and which ones (UGA) will coach them down.
secbama
January 4th, 2011
9:49 am
Crowell in 2011 or Barry Sanders Jr. in 2012…either way, Saban will survive. Don’t know about Richt.
collegeballfan
January 4th, 2011
9:51 am
I would just as soon have 5 or 6 good offensive linemen sign with UGA.
The problem with recruiting is we are talking about High School players.
Caleb King was the Crowell of his senior year in High School, 5 star player, number 4 rated RB in the nation, a can’t miss star in college. But then he had to play College Ball instead of High School Ball. For some strange reason there seems to be a big difference between High School and College when it comes to football.
So if you rely on one player to lead you out of the wilderness and he turns out to be a bust, where are you? Answer, you are in a 7 loss season.
Recruit 5 or 6 top rated offensive linemen every year and you will find 5 or 6 out of the 25 to 30 on the team who can play. And then you can run the football on anybody.
My two cents.
tc
January 4th, 2011
9:51 am
UGA is quickly becoming a school that has not chance at a national championship unless we get a superstar that can carry us even though we are a poorly coached team. Are we now Vanderbilt looking for a Jay Cutler? I assure you that Bama could not draft any RB in the next 2 years rated in the top 10 nationally and still wip our buts.
jarvis
January 4th, 2011
9:52 am
Serious followers of recruiters a a strange bunch. I’ve known a few that have gone to signing day in Athens for the last few years but have not attended an actual game there in over half a decade.
Following recruiting to that level is like watching the casting for a film rather than watching the movie.
In keeping with mty metaphor:
Georgia has been consistently landing Samuel L. Jackson-like talent, but unfortunately they keep making Snakes On A Plane.
82Dawg
January 4th, 2011
9:52 am
@Vince Doooley ….since when did 2nd degree assault charges become a felony? Get your stories correct please or go back to the Tech board where you belong.
Fair and Balanced
January 4th, 2011
9:53 am
I don’t want any of these guys. They already sound like thugs to me bragging about how great they are.
11-0-1 1990 National Champs
January 4th, 2011
9:53 am
Look at Florida clean up with hiring great coaches and coordinators. The state of Florida should be proud of their football factory. Here is GA we have this total embarrassment called thUGA, where 4 and 5 star recruits go to become Clarke County inmates. thUGA is a football factory that loses and cheats.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:56 am
If 1 player could save Richt, it would have been AJ Green. How bout that Bowl game?
just a fan
January 4th, 2011
9:56 am
secbama
Barry Sanders Jr is going to go to Okie St not bama
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:57 am
UGA has been landing apples, when they needed oranges.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:58 am
UGA has been recruiting the wind, when they needed the sun.
ga gator
January 4th, 2011
9:58 am
JB, some guy who is the D line coach for the Seahawks. Don’t know anything about him except he coached with Muschamp with the Dolphins and out of 184 Dlinemen, he had 2 of the top 15 in sacks. His DC was not as important of a hire as his OC because of Muschamps background.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
9:59 am
UGA has been recruiting stamps when they needed envelopes.
jarvis
January 4th, 2011
10:00 am
The Seahawks had two of the top in sacks because they got to play St. Louis, Arizona, and Frisco twice each.
Dawg Tired
January 4th, 2011
10:00 am
Jeff – I agree with the general concept. Your examples of Lattimore and Walker being good ones. However, the current situation at UGA is different tha it was back in 1980 or even in 2010 at South Carolina. The biggest difference in both the 1980 UGA and 2010 USC scenarios is the head coach. No one has ever accused Vince Dooley or Steve Spurrier of having lost control of the team. Clearly, Coach Richt no longer has the respect of his players. IMHO, that is absolutely deadly. 18 year olds have to know who is in charge. The pitiful effort of the Dawgs in the Liberty Bowl, along with all the other evidence, tells me the players do not respect Coach Richt. There is so much wrong over in Athens right now that it will take more than one player to turn it around.
Now getting Crowell and a new coach would help.
Jerry
January 4th, 2011
10:00 am
Any Florida coahc can beat Richt, he’s 2-8 against Florida, come on.
jarvis
January 4th, 2011
10:01 am
Who remembers Sterling Boyd?
A
January 4th, 2011
10:02 am
My concern with him is ball security and blocking ability. Needless to say, ball security from our running backs cost us at least three games.
Mets Stink
January 4th, 2011
10:03 am
There’s not a recruit in the country that’s going to turn this program around. We have the best receiver in the country and look what happened this year. Fundamental changes need to be made in order to turn things around. It’s more than a single recruit can do to help. Richt has one more year to right the ship, and I’m not sure that he can do it but it has to change from the top all the way down. We already have the athletes, now the coaches and players have to get after it.
JD
January 4th, 2011
10:03 am
Not a good idea to base all your expectations on whether or not one recruit picks your school. I would rather get a guy who works hard and stays out of trouble along the way. There are alot of good kids out there who can play great football. It seems the “5 star” players for the most part have been told so many times how good they are that their work ethic has suffered and the next level knocks them down. Anytime I see a high school kid play the “which hat will I choose”, I know they are not ready for the next step in life.
The way I see it
January 4th, 2011
10:04 am
I’m not defending the play of Ealey but if he were running behind a good O-line and gets enough carries his numbers could be huge.
Bobo never lets a back get into a groove with enough carries.
With the talent Ga has had for the last few years it should have looked like a track meet with us moving the ball up and down the field. I think Bobo has a problem and the problem is Bobo.
Hellooooo
January 4th, 2011
10:04 am
It appeares the young man has potential but what Coach Richt needs to do is evaluate his coaching staff. When Dan Mullans went to Mississippi State, the whipping boy of the SEC west, he didn’t bring his own players but he did bring his own coaches. He didn’t have 5 years of top ten recruiting classes to work with yet be produced a winning team which put Mississippi State back on the college football map.
While Crowell will be a good addition to the UGA team he is not the answer to UGA’s problems. UGA’s problems are bigger than one position player. The coaches at UGA have these players brain-washed in believing they are so stupid that they can execute the simple plays, so all losses are blamed on failure to execute. Crowell has to look at the position coach and ask the question “will I progress or regress”. When comparing what Alabama’s running backs did against a #9 ranked Michigan State team with what UGA’s running backs could not do against a Central Florida team one would have to ask which school will best prepare me for the next level. Alabama’s backs will most likely be 1st round picks while UGA’s backs may be free agents who may make the pratice squad.
These film clips always look good. Go back and look at clips of Joe Cox, Logan Gray, and Caleb King. Christian LeMay is another savior projected for UGA but if you go to some blogs in North Carolina there are some who say he is almost as good as Joe Cox. Again my point is UGA’s inability to coach up tallent. Cox and Gray sat on the bench and got a clear message they were not good enough to play at UGA. Cox was three star, Gray four star, and now Nick Williams another four star is looking to transfer. These things don’t point to lack of tallent but point to lack of coaching.
I would hope Crowell does come to UGA but one has to wonder if Coach Richt mite want to look at how the team sees his relationship with his coaches. Does he demand accountability from them or just press on with the attitude of, “it is what it is”.
UGA is on a steep slope downhill slide that may require a major shakeup of his coaching staff and not the recruitment of one player to fix this mess.
ga gator
January 4th, 2011
10:08 am
jarvis, with that logic does it mean that Justin Houston had a great year because he played against La Lafayette, Colorado, Idaho State, Tech and the SEC East? Like I said it is the only thing that I know about the guy and coaching.
Derek
January 4th, 2011
10:09 am
As long as he’s not a headcase. By the comment of “I know I’m going to be a difference maker,” it sounds like he is. Anyways…. it doesn’t matter until Richt & Bobo are gone.
Mikes Bobblow
January 4th, 2011
10:09 am
At least with Crowell I might be able to convince Saint Richt to go for it on 4th and inches at the opponents 2 yard line. Then again…………………
Mikes Bobblow
January 4th, 2011
10:10 am
Crowell will fit in pefectly with preachers son Christian “Me” LeMay.
Score Check
January 4th, 2011
10:12 am
Absolutely he can make a huge difference
The Big Head Dawg fan
January 4th, 2011
10:12 am
Just look at the photo of this kid already doing a Heisman pose and hasnt even played a damn down in college football. Most likely will be a bust if UGA nabs him.
Evansdawg
January 4th, 2011
10:15 am
Certainly one player can make a difference. Without Cam Newton, Auburn would be 8-4 at best this past season.
shane
January 4th, 2011
10:17 am
I would be careful putting too much pressure on this kid to “save the program”. Unless he can make all the other players go to class, not get arrested, call the plays and provide the motivation and discipline for the entire team it wont matter. Great player, but no more so than AJ Green. Many more things have to happen which have nothing to do with players or X’s and O’s in order for the Bulldogs to get things turned around.
UGA Rules
January 4th, 2011
10:17 am
Crowell would help us win 9 to 10 games but with this current coach that’s about it. He’d be better served by attending one of the Alabama schools since the coaching staffs over there over achieve whereas our staff has a five year record of under coaching and certainly underachieving! Fire Richt! Then we’ll worry about getting the talent capable of doing something. Sadly, we need another poor year to get the change we all know we need.
DAWG BITES
January 4th, 2011
10:21 am
Isaiah go to UGA. You can Bring PRIDE back to our great state. i was once a bigtime prospect and understand your pressures and wish i would have played at UGA after graduation in 1994, but you staying home is a great fit and your whole state will behind you. Do whats right and rep your hometown, Highschool, state, and your GA family and things in ypur life can be very special.
Seriously?
January 4th, 2011
10:25 am
Does Coach Rick Tah have the ability to teach him how to carry the ball with the correct hand and not run into the line standing straight up? If not, he won’t make it through one full contact practice with that style of running, he’ll be bent over backwards and will break. PS Will that due every abandon his feathered dome?
JB
January 4th, 2011
10:25 am
After next year, you are selling UGA to a perspective new head coach as a house in bad disrepair. Spin it anyway you want to, but after this year 6-7, and next year probably about the same, you are talking about a rebuilding job. probably not as bad a Tennessee, but close….I say all that to say we ain’t getting a top notch experienced head coach in here with a shiny resume. Ask Tennessee.Georgia will be hiring potential.
King Donko of Punchstania
January 4th, 2011
10:25 am
Just watched the video…this kid is nowhere near an elite back. He made a few nice cuts, and eluded some poor tackling, but other than that he’s above average at best. If this is the player that UGA is hanging it’s future on, then the future doesn’t look very good between the hedges.
dbc
January 4th, 2011
10:26 am
So what. If he comes to UGA, Richt will probably red shirt him.
JB
January 4th, 2011
10:29 am
The future starts in 2012