Stacy Searels leaving Georgia? Can I offer him a lift? (Update II)
Stacy Searels hasn't lived up to his reputation. (Brant Sanderlin)
(Updated below with Searels officially accepting the job.)
Reports are flying that Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels is closing in on taking a job with Texas coach Mack Brown, who has been churning assistants (and recently lost coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp to Florida).
First thought: Does Searels need a ride to the airport?
Second thought: Is it abandon ship time in Athens?
First, about Searels: He came to Georgia from LSU in 2007 with a solid reputation. But the Bulldogs’ offensive line has been central to their problems, particularly in the running game.
Now, I suppose some of the blame also could be attributed to the team’s oft-criticized strength and condition program (Dave Van Halanger recently was demoted), or to a perceived lack of talent up front, or to coach Mark Richt. But Searels can’t be absolved of responsibility. Coaching the offensive line is his job and he also carries the title, “running game coordinator.”
I’ve already received Tweets from readers asking me if Searels’ departure just two weeks before national letter of intent day would hurt recruiting. I doubt it. Any recruit who is willing to come to Georgia knowing the state of things and amid questions of Richt’s job security is not going to change his mind based on the offensive line coach leaving. That recruit probably is coming for playing time and to be at Georgia.
Onto the second thought: Searels has good reason to look around, as would any Georgia assistant coach. We don’t know where this program is headed. If Richt loses his job after next season, his assistants are out of work.
In particular, head coaches tend to bring in their own offensive line coach. If Searels sees guaranteed long-term employment elsewhere — and certainly at a solid program like Texas — he would be nuts not to take the job.
Searels would be going from a 6-7 team to a 5-7 team. But Texas was in the BCS title game two seasons ago and won the title in 2005. Mack Brown’s not going anywhere.
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UPDATE: The Rivals Texas sports site Orangebloods.com reports that Searels has accepted the job. However, Texas has not announced the hiring and the Austin American Statesman reports there will be no announcement tonight. An excerpt from the Orangebloods story:
Sources close to Texas and Georgia have confirmed to Orangebloods.com that Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels has accepted the Texas offensive line coaching position. That could bring to an end a nearly two-month-long process in which Mack Brown has replaced six assistant coaches and made changes at two other staff positions.
UPDATE II: Searles was named the Texas offensive line coach Thursday night. Here’s an except of the official announcement, via Tim Tucker’s blog.
“When you’re in this profession, you want to coach at the highest level,” Searels said. “From afar, I had always been interested in The University of Texas because I thought it was one of the premier jobs in the country. You can win a championship, you have great leadership, great players, a great pool of talent to recruit from, and I think there’s no reason you can’t win and win big at Texas, and I want to be a part of that.”
Searels joins the Longhorns after coaching the offensive line at Georgia for four seasons beginning in 2007. He added the duties of running game coordinator in 2009. During his time in Athens, the Bulldogs have ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in fewest sacks allowed three times, including ranking sixth and leading the SEC in 2009 with just 12.
By Jeff Schultz
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So Richt would have a key position to fill on his staff, presumably after recruiting.
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343 comments Add your comment
Dawgfansince77
January 20th, 2011
7:20 am
Ok Jeff…here’s the deal. I know CSS personally and i haven’t spoken with him in awhile but he is from my hometown of Trion, GA. I know his momma and his grandmomma and his brother and sister. Now…First off , Searels didn’t like the AJC because of the spin that was put on his daddy in an article released right after he came here. After that he was done with all of you guys. I don’t remember who wrote the article but i know that for a fact because his momma told me so. Secondly..He is one of the top line coaches in the country no matter what you or Bradley think. As we see, he has no trouble getting job offers every year. He turned down Nick Saban and Alabama to come to UGA. He wouldn’t even go to the interview because he said that he was afraid that Saban(who has a dominating personality ) would talk him into taking the Bama OL job and he really wanted to work with Mark Richt at UGA. After taking the job at UGA, he told me himself that he had never seen such a mess with the OL. All we had were freshmen(who weren’t very good with the exception of Sturdivant and a couple of JUCOs who were jokes. Our S&G was pathetic. He told me the first year he was here that our OL was the worst he had ever coached and that Moreno just made those guys look better than they were. Then..2 years ago we had the debacle season that was Joe Cox. Searels had massive injuries to contend with including his best lineman blowing out his knee twice. We have recruited some good lineman (ranking wise) but our S&G is so poor that coaching them up just ain’t getting it done anymore. Searels could have left to go to Florida when Muschamp took the job there but he turned it down because he wanted to be at UGA. His daughters love it there and he really loves Athens even if he doesn’t love the AJC. I could go into more detail but i’m not. I do remember being thrilled when UGA hired him because: A. He’s a close friend and B: He’s a really really good Line coach. But obviously there is something terribly wrong at UGA these days. I heard that CSS and Bobo were pretty frustrated with Richt this year and his “hands off” atittude about everything. He was taking the Bobby Bowdon approach and pretty much “coaching from the tower” as the saying goes. Even with all that, I know the CSS really has a good relationship with CMR and something tells me that CMR knows he is a lame duck this year. Nothing short of an SEC championship will save him and when he goes, all his staff will be gone as well. I believe CMR told Searels that if he is gonna leave he better do it now because the opportunities may be less next year. The bottom line people is that we are going to lose a great coach today and its very rare we ever get anybody with CSS’s reputation coming in. This guy has been successful at every stop he has coached in. From App. St, to Cincinnatti to LSU where he sports a BCS national championship ring until now. The guy just didn’t forget how to coach at UGA. That tells me that the problem lies ALOT deeper with CSS and i have a feeling that after this all plays out, there are gonna be alot of new faces in Athens next year.
UGA 92
January 20th, 2011
7:51 am
This is good news. The bottom line is that Searels failed at UGA. I can’t believe Texas came looking for him. I still think Richt is safe for a while. I do have one concern. We (the dawg nation) are beginning to sound like Tennessee fans right before Fulmer was axed. That led to the Lane Kiffin disaster, which led to the Dooley disaster in waiting.
Escaped from Email Purgatory
January 20th, 2011
7:53 am
“Its funny you never see the negative articles or if so, very litttle when it comes to Tech.”
dawgster, a penny for your thoughts. But Tech stories – good or bad – rarely are the subject of a blog because the readership doesn’t give a darn about Tech.
Cripes, if you’re a regular visitor to the ajc.com sports page, you already know if a headline about CMR or UGA v Florida or the Falcons or Chipper’s latest hangnail sits atop their blog it’s is practically guaranteed to generate a 1000 hits.
It’s called passion. Bradley and Schultz know what stirs it among we few, we socially awkward band of brothers who share our tortured syntax, twisted logic and profound emotional dysfunction on the world wide web.
Posting a blog about Georgia Tech is the equivalent of a wet poot. The Hawks too, for that matter. It appears it’s gonna be a long winter. Please keep the CMR blogs comin’.
Yellow Fuzz
January 20th, 2011
7:54 am
Bet he’s gone. Wish he was headed to Tech.
Searels is one of, if not the best OL coaches in the south. No coach or player ever reaches their potential at uga due to the MORONIC fan base. I LOVE IT!
01HAWK
January 20th, 2011
8:05 am
You can not blame Searels for jumping ship. You may see others jump before Spring Practice begins. Texas looks good on the resume. Mac Brown also got BO DAVIS from BAMA recently. Mac Brown is trying to get the ship righted. They must love him.
I believe with the 5 BCS Championships you will see alot of SEC coaches in demand ………………..No matter how bad the record is of there team. SEC coaches are in demand.
FURMAN PALADIN DEATH DEALER
January 20th, 2011
8:15 am
AthDawg:
Yea, I think some NFL assistant who is an offensive line coach would come rushing to Athens with the great job security that is there now….No NFL assistant is that stupid….And maybe if we do find an NFL assistant that is that stupid, he can bring some players with him cause the ones Searels had last year couldn’t play dead in a Western movie….But yea, its always the coach’s fault…..Guess Searels forgot how to coach in Athens…..
FURMAN PALADIN DEATH DEALER
January 20th, 2011
8:18 am
Yellow Fuzz:
Hate to do this, but as a Georgia fan I have to agree with you about our moronic fan base….They need a good dose of reality….
A Big Dog
January 20th, 2011
8:28 am
Good deal Texas….Richt, please go out and hire somebody that knows how to teach blocking.
A Big Dog
January 20th, 2011
8:31 am
FURMAN PALADIN DEATH DEALER…..lest you forgot….Les Miles had already decided that he wanted a new line coach before Searles bolted for UGA….that tell you anything!
Fretz
January 20th, 2011
8:35 am
Jeff,
Weird isn’t it how a few years ago people were begging Richt to give Searels the biggest raise ever for a college OL coach, now people are willing to pack his bags for him and drive him to Hartsfield.
CALMDAWG
January 20th, 2011
8:36 am
Need to make a package deal and include BoBo.
coloradobulldog
January 20th, 2011
8:39 am
This is an opportunity for UGA. Personally think we should consider a zone-blocking guru to come here. Our line is not getting it done and SEC D-lineman are typically huge. A zone=blocking sceme works well against bigger defensive linemen. Alex Gibbs is a little old but sure he has some disciples out there.
NewnanDawg
January 20th, 2011
8:41 am
Can we press charges against Searels for theft?
Richt should’ve had the courage to fire him after this season….but didn’t.
coloradobulldog
January 20th, 2011
8:44 am
What’s Rick Trickett up to these days?
Joey
January 20th, 2011
8:45 am
Gee. You mean when a coach of a major football program has a losing season, he replaces assistants (and I know Muschamp left voluntarily)? I thought the head coach is supposed to say, “no changes in the staff,” and, “Bobo and Searels did a great job, not a good job, but a great job.”
Seriously, I think it’s kinda silly to blame Van Halanger for the offensive line’s futility. If it’s really the case that our line is weaker and poorer conditioned than other teams’ OLs, Searels didn’t notice it the past 2 or 3 years?
Seems like he would be the first to report something like this to his head coach . . .
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:45 am
La-Dawg — Seriously? Texas was in the national title game 2 seasons ago and won the BCS title 6 years ago. They’re not a solid program?
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:46 am
Loyal Dawg — I’m writing one on that subject today, and I agree with you completely.
CenterofMass
January 20th, 2011
8:49 am
Just an observation: Stacy Searles interest in leaving UGA is like the tip of an iceberg. What we see is one thing (we can steer clear of this), but what’s lies below the surface of the “frigid team-waters” is not really seen and can take a long time to melt away…In the meantime, it can cause a lot “ship wrecks”. Also like the canary in the coal mine which tends to be an indicator/symptom of trouble. We need to competent assessment, diagnosis, & treatment of the source(s) of the football program’s illness.
Joey
January 20th, 2011
8:49 am
“No coach or player ever reaches their potential at uga due to the MORONIC fan base.”
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Yellow Fuzz,
I guess I am a part of that fan base, but in my 35 years as a UGA fan, I’ve never gotten to work directly with a player or coach to help them “reach their potential.”
Dufus.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:50 am
1) dcbl — True, my job is to writing interesting blogs and provoke thought which ideally lead to page views. But that doesn’t mean the tail is wagging the dog, so to speak. That’s where some folks have it wrong.
2) I’m not advocating CMR’s firing. Like I wrote, I took heat when I said he SHOULD be brought back next season. As for the rest of your comment, coaches obviously are extended shorter lifelines today than in the Dooley/Bear era that you referred to. And CMR’s first five years obviously far exceeded his second five year. So the question now obviously is: Is that a permanent downward trend?
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:51 am
Bulldog high IQ — Yes. I was a three-time All-American.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:52 am
Dawg Fan 4 Life — Thanks.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:53 am
And the award to most moronic blogger goes to…– Yep, I think you summed that up quite well.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:54 am
Tide Rising — Let me rephrase: There’s only one city in Texas I could live in, and it’s Austin. Just not sure I’d ever want to live in Texas.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
8:59 am
Dawgfan77 — I don’t doubt that much of what you say is true. I have no idea about Searels and his history with his father and the AJC, I just knew he didn’t like talking to the media in general. But honestly, I really don’t care about that. Speaking for me, not others in media, it’s more important to me that somebody be honest and professional when they do talk, and if they choose not to talk, that’s their business. I may think it’s wrong but it doesn’t affect me. It’s a common misconception. …. As for Stacy Searels the coach, I’m well aware of his reputation as a good OL coach. Again, I’m just going on results here, and to me it’s disingenuous to blame everything and everyone but Searels for the fact the Dogs had a poor OL during his tenure.
DawginLex
January 20th, 2011
9:01 am
All you idiots who have been wanting to run off the coaches, congratulations.
The timing of this is horrible.
Horrible.
We will lose 1 maybe 2 recruits because of this.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, and all the crap that comes with it.
CenterofMass
January 20th, 2011
9:01 am
Jeff, I appreciate your blogs…It appears that many fans do not appreciate nor understand the purpose of constructive critique; many long term UGA alumni and fans do. Hopefully, they don’t apply this mindset in the job place, political elections, etc.
DIRTY FAIRLEY
January 20th, 2011
9:02 am
Dang,
That’s too bad. Maybe you guys will hire someone whoe will teach you guys how to block because you guys haven’t blocked anyone since Moreno left but he made you guys look good because he could make people miss.Those clowns you have running the ball now are clueless
GO WAR EAGLE—NATIONAL CHAMPIONS—DOESN’T THAT SOUND GREAT
READ IT & WEEP
jbeggs
January 20th, 2011
9:04 am
Well I have to say that Buck called yesterday on 680. Jeff you never disappoint – that’s for sure. “Second thought: Is it abandon ship time to Athens?” He said this is exactly what you would write. I’m not sure you can get any more shallow than you and Bradley.
Report: Searels To Texas A Done Deal – MrSEC — Baton Rouge Real Estate
January 20th, 2011
9:06 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:08 am
Let’s see which of Richt’s clueless assistants gets promoted. Gotta keep the $$ in the Sunday bar-b-que gang.
McGarity should take charge and get a true, knowledgeable, professional OL coach instead of sitting back and letting Richt just throw one of his “boys” into the position (ie. Joe T as S&C).
DawginLex
January 20th, 2011
9:09 am
yellow fuzz says “none of the UGA coaches reach their potential because of the moronic fan base”
What?
What an a$$ clown this pollock boy is.
Son, if you are really going to Tech, your parents need to get a refund.
DawginLex
January 20th, 2011
9:11 am
Joey,
You don’t know what the crap you are talking about.
Joe T is a military drill sargeant who has hired former players to kick butt and take names. This is 180 degrees from where the program was with Dave Van H.
The next OL coach can only take the program up compared to the underachieving that has been going on with Searles.
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:15 am
What was I thinking? I didn’t realize drill sargeants automatically make good, collegiate, S&C coaches.
My bad.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
9:18 am
CenterofMass — Thanks for the comments. Like I commented earlier, fans are passionate and everybody has different opinions. I understand that when I write mine, some agree and some disagree. I’m cool with that.
Jeff Schultz
January 20th, 2011
9:20 am
Jbeggs — I didn’t hear Buck yesterday, but he’s a friend of mine and I respect and value his opinion. He’s also loyal to his alma mater.
Dawgfansince77
January 20th, 2011
9:21 am
Jeff,
I know the Dawgs had a bad year on the line this year..but it pretty much was a bad year for the entire team. If you look at Searels entire body of work since he was here, The line has been pretty solid with Moreno garnering back to back 1,000 yard seasons and last years performance being solid for the most part. Yes…they did take a step back this year but again….what aspect of UGA football was good this year???
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:21 am
I’m not sure “passionate” is a good description for some of these posts, Jeff!
But nice of you to call them that.
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:24 am
“Yes…they did take a step back this year but again….what aspect of UGA football was good this year???”
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. . . . . . . . . . .crickets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
DawginLex
January 20th, 2011
9:36 am
“drill sargeant” is a figure of speech joey.
give the guy a chance.
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:47 am
I do wonder if the OL’s problems are due to poor S&L, and the OL coach, or more to our predictable offensive schemes and sets?
Joey
January 20th, 2011
9:47 am
S&C
SavDawg
January 20th, 2011
9:49 am
GOD BLESS TEXAS !!!
lefty fielder
January 20th, 2011
9:51 am
JS – I just read on Tucker’s spot that you and Bradley, et al, are “the axis of evil out to destroy UGA football.” Dude . . . I didn’t know you had that much clout.
PMC
January 20th, 2011
9:59 am
The thing is, if the recruiting is as bad as all of these coaches are saying on the way out..
Why didn’t they tell Rodney Garner to quit recruiting these guys and go out and find better talent??
CSS was here for several YEARS??? He couldn’t improve a terrible line in several YEARS???
Why has Mark Richt been so hands off? I just don’t understand how these guys who obviously are good football coaches otherwise they wouldn’t ever land those jobs not A) see that there are serious issues with talent and ability and B) DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
PMC
January 20th, 2011
9:59 am
If CSS thinks he’s getting any better at Texas right now he’s crazy. They are not physical, and they are probably worse at running the ball than Georgia.
grantham next
January 20th, 2011
10:02 am
hopefully grantham leaves soon—he’s been a bust and gets paid $750,000 for mediocrity. Hire kirby smart to run the D and be the coach in waiting.
JB
January 20th, 2011
10:17 am
Coupon on back of Athens phone book from Mayflower Van lines For 20% off moving was set to expire Jan. 31st is what I’m hearing.
georgiabuckmaster
January 20th, 2011
10:18 am
Not Searels, it’s the play calling and the running design or formations that’s the problem. We don’t know how to run the ball physical because of the formations. Saben loves Searels and so will Mack Brown. Our offense has never been able to smash it inside the red zone the past 10 years
JB
January 20th, 2011
10:20 am
Searles might of been coaching under a certain dictated “philosophy” that made our OL stink.