Some UGA coaching rumors won’t go away
John Chavis (LSU)
Will John Chavis turn out to be Georgia’s next defensive coordinator after all? What about Kirby Smart, still any chance of that? Is Mark Richt really planning on getting his next DC from the NFL ranks?
Depends on which rumor you’re hearing, as the talk about who’ll replace Willie Martinez continues to generate conflicting stories. Are any of them based on real leaks of information out of Butts-Mehre in Athens? Or are they generated by agents looking to get their clients better deals from their current employers, or just sheer speculation? Only Mark Richt and Co. know for sure at this point.
It seemed a couple of days ago as if Chavis, the former Tennessee DC now running the defense for LSU, was off the board, after a Baton Rouge TV station quoted an LSU player as saying Chavis assured him at practice that he wasn’t going anywhere.
But ESPN.com’s Chris Low reports today: “In talking to several people close to the situation, Richt has serious interest in Chavis and is prepared to throw some serious money at the veteran defensive coordinator, who headed up Tennessee’s defense for 14 seasons prior to joining Les Miles’ staff at LSU for this past season.”
Low adds: ” LSU coach Les Miles has acknowledged that he’s aware that Georgia may have an interest in Chavis, whose salary was $450,000 this season. … The word out of Georgia, though, is that the Bulldogs may go to $600,000-plus annually and offer a three-year contract.”
Also, Gannett’s Bayou Bengals Blog reports that as of late Tuesday night, Chavis “had not completely ruled out a lucrative offer to be Georgia’s defensive coordinator after just one season with the Tigers.”
We may find out more later today when Chavis is scheduled to meet the media in Orlando as part of the Capital One Bowl coordinator’s news conference.
Low also notes that Richt has made a pitch to Alabama’s Kirby Smart (everything’s been very quiet on that front lately) and also mentions Todd Grantham of the Dallas Cowboys and Bob Sanders of the Buffalo Bills as “two NFL assistants to keep an eye on.”
The Bayou Bengals Blog noted that while Chavis may well have told LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard that he was staying at LSU, things could have changed since then. Richt may have upped his offer.
That is, of course, assuming there’s even been an offer. There’s been no confirmation either way.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach said on local radio and in an ESPN online chat: “I think Richt makes one more run at Kirby Smart. If Smart doesn’t take it, I think Dallas Cowboys DL coach Todd Grantham might be the front runner.”
Whether Chavis or Smart would consider a move to UGA is very much the subject of debate among college football observers. An NFL assistant might be more inclined to look on a coordinator’s job in the SEC as a step up.
What do you think? Feel free to offer your own speculation and rumors to the mix. …
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221 comments Add your comment
The Alpha Male
December 31st, 2009
8:47 am
It’s Kirby Smart. It always has been. Chris Lowe has no clue.
UGA #1 ?
December 31st, 2009
9:02 am
I would be ok with a no name hire at DC as long as he ranked high. worked with van gorder. pollack would be a big addition to staff, I would consider mike leach as OC we do need change there also. Discipline has got to pick up.Chavis is a good consider but Fulmer will be back and by by chavis.Smart could be hc in waiting but he is getting some bear bryant type training. cmr has got to instill toughness in these kids, we get top recruiting classes every year,and there is no excuse for our record.
1eyedJack
December 31st, 2009
9:03 am
ESPN is reporting Edna from the Waffle House in McDonnough is the new DC!
What a crock…those guys have no more of a clue than we do.
Dr Phil
December 31st, 2009
9:25 am
Hey, I’m still available! And I already have a TV show!
trey
December 31st, 2009
9:32 am
I don’t care who the DC is as long as it’s not some hire from the girls football team on N. Ave.
Look what I found dawg fans-
http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-sports/2009/12/university_of_alabama_athletes.html
The review identified at least 27 schools where athletes were at least 10 times more likely to benefit from special admission programs than students in the general population. That group includes 2009 Bowl Championship Series teams Oregon, Georgia Tech and Alabama, which is playing Texas for the national title Jan. 7.
What was all that about GT having players who were engineers? Looks like your players are 10x more likely to get “special help”.
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
(( 30-24 ))hahahahaha
Who’s your daddy?
30-24 Dawgs - WE RUN THIS STATE
December 31st, 2009
9:33 am
Doesn’t really matter if it’s Chavis or Smart – either one will be an upgrade over Willard Martini (even though the latter handed the best the ACC had to offer a 30-24 loss on their home turf).
There goes Caleb King running UNTOUCHED past Morgan Burnett, Touchdown, Georgia! 30-24
Realist.
December 31st, 2009
9:47 am
I don’t think it’s going to be Chavis because he’s doing the same thing that Bud Foster did. He’s salarybaiting. If Alabama wins the NC, like I think they will, Kirby Smart will get a raise to keep him there. Smart isn’t going to make a lateral move to make lesser money. The only other step for Kirby is HC. I think it’s going to be Muschamp, That 5 year extention on Mack Brown’s contract would be enough reason to leave if Muschamp was going to be the “coach in waiting”.
The ItalianDawg
December 31st, 2009
10:51 am
Folks, if Georgia is really serious to contend for the NC, Brian Van Gorden or Smart must be our DC. 800K will land either one and we will have mind peace. Im more toward BVG, the Atlanta Falcons D is pretty impressive considering the lack of talent in the secondary. just focus on those 2
hatfieldgeoff
December 31st, 2009
11:03 am
I think Chavis is the man Richt wants. Richt doesn’t want to be doing this again in a year or two because Smart takes a head coaching job. Chavis is a proven coach who doesn’t appear to have ambitions to be a head coach. He will be in Athens long-term. He won’t leave UGA after a year because it appears if he takes the job one of the main reasons would be to be closer to South Carolina where he is from. And of course more money would interest anyone. I hope we land Chavis it would solidify the program, make the defensive recuits happy and allow Richt to concern himself more with the offense (Bobo’s play calling in the bowl game was terrible).
RumorMill
December 31st, 2009
11:16 am
Word is that Smart won’t come unless Garner is gone…they don’t get along, and Garner ain’t going anywhere…must have some dirt on someone.
Papadawg
December 31st, 2009
11:20 am
You ever think that Smart doesn’t like his head coach and would jump at the chance to move on
THE HATER
December 31st, 2009
12:55 pm
The puppies are on a slide they had the number one team in the Nation last year and were unable to beat anyone that was good. They had 2 top ten draft picks and lost to Tech on Senior day. The future does not look good for the Dawgs no matter how you look at it.
THE HATER
December 31st, 2009
12:58 pm
Everyone thinks the defense is the problem. The mistakes this team makes is the problem. The turnovers are a big problem. I dont care how good your defense is if there starting field position is there own 20 there gonna give up points.
I'm Just Asking
December 31st, 2009
9:56 pm
I’m not a UGA fan, but my wife is a graduate so I’m curious. Why does the DC hire have to have a tie to the university? Why is this even an issue? Richt never had ties to the university, did he (I can’t think of any, but I could be wrong)? It seems to me that you should chase an up and coming defensive coach that can get the most out of his players. This may sound stupid, but someone like Tim DeRuyter at Air Force sounds like a great fit for a “bigger” school. In the offensive-minded MWC, opponents scored 20+ on AF only 3 times (TCU 20, Utah 23, and BYU 38). Additionally, only 2 OOC teams put 20 on them (Minnesota 20, and Houston 20). And this is with players who have academic and size restrictions. I don’t know…it just seems to me that to limit the search to a “Georgia Guy” is extremely short-sighted. Dooley wasn’t a “Georgia Guy.” Why does the DC need to buy.
This is not really a criticism–I just don’t understand why you want to limit yourself to a Georgia (or SEC) guy. A good coach can coach no matter where he is.
No Chavis!
January 1st, 2010
5:46 pm
Chavis as DC? Get real. The lsu D wasn’t that good this year—he’s way overrated and overpaid. UGA needs to break the bank and hire kirby smart, the best DC available!!!!
no more st. simon :D
January 1st, 2010
6:21 pm
Chavis has proven in more than one place that he is one of the premier DCs in the country. he made tennessee the great defensive football team it is today. he made LSU’s defense the dominant force in the SEC west (with the exception of the Alabama defense). Georgia has just as much talent as tennessee and LSU. so there’s no reason Chavis couldn’t transform the dawgs into a top ten defense like it was when Brian Van Gorder was here. I hope Richt throws as much money at either him or Kirby Smart as possible.
Invictus Mon
January 2nd, 2010
3:32 am
Chuck Amato….It’s because you sucked at NC State. Your linebacking core sucked at FSU and you just got canned by a guy who hasn’t even officially coached his 1st game as a head football coach. Go talk to Tech. They might need something. As for alphare…why not do some math of your own. A little Calc 2 here…if you ran a series progression on how many different ways 11 people can cover 11 people for each play of the ballgame…wow. I’d say it takes someone pretty smart to figure out the best way to do it.
Now my 2 cents. As for the DC. Countless coaches in NCAA football will rumor themselves (or their agents will) to have been approached. If it doesn’t come from the National Championship, it’s coming from the Pros. My guess is that we’ll know if nothing is announced in the next 2 days.
Invictus Mon
January 2nd, 2010
3:37 am
I’m just asking….I went to Air Force. I’m from Athens. I’m glad we one our bowl games this year (both USAFA and UGA). That said…NO! There is no MWC coordinator, head coach, athletic director, PT professional who belongs in the SEC. NOT ONE. Different ballgame here. We saw it with Cincy tonight against Florida, we saw it a few years ago with UGA vs. Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. No. IT JUST DOESN’T WORK!
I’m fairly certain that the DC hire will not have a UGA tie. That said, we’ll see where they go! Appreciate the try though!
WatsonOne
January 2nd, 2010
5:16 pm
James T. Kirk, you must be a booger eating engineer. You must be dreaming, you probably don’t even have a friend. And hot exotic chicks just do not hang out with engineers. Careful or you will wet your trou in your sleep.
UGA = Under Grown A**holes
January 3rd, 2010
11:08 am
I guess we can forget all the pretense about the SEC being a tough football conference!!. Most of their bowl teams have either lost or have needed overtime to win (Arkansas nearly lost to East Carolina – that’s East Carolina!!; and Auburn nearly lost in OT to NW; LSU couldn’t cut it, neither could S. Carolina; and UT got their butts kicked).
Libba Birmingham
January 12th, 2010
12:49 pm
I commented at the on set; Dance w/ the one who “brung you”…also look to MSU’s former Head Coach, he ha dbeen w/ the Pros and with the NFL..all this “would satisfy the fickle fan aka alums and yet bring a loyal man and Coach to the ranks of Richt wanting loyalty and teaching first..and keep the three who were there for the G-GA. Tech game; I belive Crooms woold do that, these coaches kep the defense together and arevthe ones who have been in the trenches all along.. give them there chance too, somebody belived in Richt when he was younger, keep the youth and desire..the talented players will respond to whatever defensive scheme is given to them…the kids, players, know who really cares!!
Libba Birminham