UGA to Penn State players: Come on down!
Mark Richt was unusually open about his interest in Penn State players. (David Tulis / AJC special)
While Mark Richt has perhaps been the most up-front about his interest in picking up some of the Penn State players who are free to leave the NCAA-hammered program and play immediately elsewhere, Georgia certainly isn’t the only SEC school looking at that possibility.
In terms of players currently on the Nittany Lions roster, this is likely to play out rather quickly, as most schools will be starting preseason camp soon — UGA on Aug. 2 — and in order to have a realistic shot at anything close to immediate playing time a transfer would need to be on campus by then.
It’s not surprising that Richt is interested, but what did widen a few eyes among college football observers was how he wasn’t at all coy about it when addressing the subject at Monday night’s UGA Day fan gathering. In fact, he volunteered the news that as soon as they heard about the NCAA sanctions against PSU, the Georgia coaching staff went over Penn State’s two-deep roster to identify players the Bulldogs might be interested in.
The fact that Richt offered that tidbit up in public is an indication that, yes, Georgia is really interested. And why not, the Dogs have a depleted roster that numbers less than Southern Cal, which is on probation!
Penn State players apparently would be welcomed by the UGA team as well. All-American Jarvis Jones tweeted: “Penn State players feel free to b a Part of BullDogs Nation!!!”
While you can bet Nick Saban and other SEC coaches are moving just as quickly as Richt, if more quietly, Georgia does have what appears to be a couple of built-in advantages: Georgia has plenty of room on its roster and also has on staff John Thomas, who until recently was Penn State’s strength and conditioning coordinator for 20 years.
As for which players Georgia might talk with, early speculation has centered on defensive end Deion Barnes and linebacker Khairi Fortt, both of whom considered Georgia out of high school and reportedly took recruiting visits to Athens. And UGA has at least somewhat of a relationship with two Penn State commitments — defensive end Garrett Sickels and tight end Adam Breneman — since both were offered scholarships by Georgia.
Beyond that, the most obvious need the Dogs have is experienced offensive linemen, so I imagine that’s where the Georgia coaches looked hardest when they examined the PSU roster at their retreat Monday. But the Dogs also are in need of additional depth in the defensive secondary.
Of course, we don’t know that Penn State players will bail on the program en masse, though it certainly would be understandable if they did, and Georgia may wind up not picking up any of the school’s current players.
It’s quite likely, however, that Pennsylvania — which proved very fruitful territory for the Bulldogs in past generations with names like Sinkwich, Trippi and Rissmiller — is likely to get increased recruiting attention in the future from a lot of schools, including Georgia. And in addition to Thomas, secondary coach Scott Lakatos is very familiar with the area.
Aunt Pittypat might have been aghast at more Yankees in Georgia, but this is one case where they’re entirely welcome!
Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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258 comments Add your comment
Will Muschamp
July 24th, 2012
10:55 pm
SSI is my boy! Chomp chomp.
PTCDAWG
July 24th, 2012
11:03 pm
Hey Bill, thought Frankie was from Youngstown,Ohio!
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!
RED DOG 77
July 25th, 2012
12:06 am
Why hell yes we should take any serious Penn State player and plug him right-in…………..I am an optomistic BULLDOG, however, we need to get our numbers up as soon as possible………………..Not to squander scholarships, mind you, just thoughtfully bring our numbers up…………Oline, Dback, RB, Dtackle, WR, Kicker[both]…………….GATA…………….RED
SSIgator
July 25th, 2012
12:07 am
I believe the phrase “Come on Down” is generally applied to the game show “Let’s Make a Deal” but in this case it is only fitting since Richt knows all about that sort of thing.
Frank Lane
July 25th, 2012
12:18 am
Bill,
Sinkwich was from Youngstown, Ohio, I believe. I was in Athens in the 60’s and we had plenty of PA players. In fact, I believe John Kasay’s dad was from PA and played in the 60’s. Along with Rismiller was Jim Martin and others including a quarterback Keith (?) who flunked out of GA. And of course Namath was from PA for Alabama.
boykin
July 25th, 2012
1:12 am
Good gesture. But we have a National Championship squad as it is ! Sic Em!
TIDE ROLLING JOINTS AND GETTING OFF FREE
July 25th, 2012
4:40 am
First of all, WHY ALL THE GLOOM AND DOOM? UGA is picked to WIN THE EAST “AGAIN”!!! WE HAD LSU 28 NOTHING LAST YEAR AT HALFTIME, that is if our nervouse recievers didn’t drop sure touchdowns right in there hands and a few other SCREWUPS!!!! LSU DID NOT SHUT US DOWN OR BEAT US, “WE BEAT OURSELVES!!! South Carolina was OUT PLAYED in every part of the game and WON BY PURE LUCK!!!!!! WE BEAT THE GATORS!!!!!! DESTROYED AUBURN!!!!!! BEAT A GOOD GT TEAM!!!!!!! Go look at some of the final scores last year. MICH STATE ONCE AGAIN WAS DESTROYED IN THE FIRST HALF!!!! A young team again blew a SURE WIN!!!!!!! NOW PUT ALL THAT TOGETHER AND WHAT DOES IT SPELL FOR AN EVEN BETTER DEFENSE AND BETTER UGA TEAM THIS YEAR????? BOISE STATE IS SOOOOO GLAD THEY GOT THAT YOUNG UGA TEAM FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR. WE PLAYED SOOOOO BAD!!!!! Either way, UGA WON THE EAST LAST YEAR, AND IF NOT FOR BEATING THEMSELVES SHOULD BE SEC CHAMPS!!!! Now what if UGA had not beat themselves in the sec title game? What if they didn’t throw away 28 sure points FIRST HALF ALONE? DIFFRENT GAME FOR CERTAIN!!!! MAYBE UGA 45 LSU 10 MAYBE? DIFFERENT BOWL GAME, WITH A MORE MOTIVATED UGA FOR SURE. All these very real facts would have equaled a very different season. The same kind of season that earned BAMA AND THE GATORS NATIONAL TITLES BOTH WITH 2 LOSS SEASONS!!!! Also crowell was hurt the whole year mostly. He was not much against LSU because of enjory. Did he even play? I forgot loo. HAVE NO FEAR UGA FANS, THIS YEARS RUNNING BACK IS AGAIN THE #1 HIGHSCHOOL BACK AND BY THE WAY, HE PUTS CROWELL TO SHAME!!!!!!! I am glad he is not being over hyped. By far better than Crowell and played in a more traditional offense UNLIKE CROWELL WHO WAS A PRODUCT OF A SYSTEM. He was ok but nothing like this years running sensation!!!!!!! LETS KEEP HIS FEET ON THE GROUND PLEASE, NO HERSHELL COMPARESONS ALTHOUGH HE HAS AS GOOD A CHANCE AS ANYONE IN YEARS!!! DEFENSE WILL BE BETTER THAN LAST YEARS TOP 5 D COMPARED TO LSU AND BAMA BOTH!!! WE WILL HAVE THE BEST SEC D THIS YEAR ONCE THEY ALL GET ON THE FIELD IF THEY STAY HEALTHY!!!!! TALK BIG NOW BAMA AND LSU, ONCE AGAIN IT WILL BE UGA REPRESENTING THE EAST AND A BETTER VASTLY BETTER TEAM THAN DEFEATED LSU LAST SEASON MINUS ALL THOSE DROPS AND SCREWUPS IN THE FIRST HALF AND SECOND HALF MELTDOWN!!!! Less Miles and the LSU tigers know exactly how lucky they truly were. They know they were dominated in the first half. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER, UGA BEAT UGA LSU WAS LUCKY PERIOD!!!!!! AS FOR THE BAMA FANS RUNNING THERE MOUTH ON HERE, HMMM HOW MANY POINTS DID AUBURN SCORE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE BAMA VS AUBURN NATIONAL TITLE TEAM???? BAMA ALMOST BEAT CAM NEWTON LOL BAHAHAHA WHAT WAS THAT FINAL SCORE BAMA FANS? REMIND ME, I FORGOT. LOL I personally believe UGA is about to have there dream season. Bama fans, you better look at the records the last 10 years. UGA AND LSU ARE ALMOST TIED. Around 2 games or so difference, both Florida and bama ARE WAY BEHIND UGA!!!!!!! LSU AND UGA ARE ALONE AT THE TOP IN WINS BY A LONG SHOT!!!!! If not for bama ’s 2 nc in the last 10 years UGA would be considered the far more successful program in these last 10 years alone. In the 80s we beat bama like a drum plenty of times. As soon as UGA has a couple of good years that end in NC then UGA not bama will be Top program in all the SEC the best conferance by far. PENN STATE ROYALTY WELCOME TO AN HONEST PROGRAM UGA THAT IS BUILT TO DOMINATE NOW!!!!!!! WITH YOUR HELP THE 2012 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS UGA COULD BECOME A DYNUSTY FOR YEARS TO COME!!!!! WITH UGA YOULL NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT NCAA JUDGEMENT DAY AGAIN!!! SABON WILL BE GONE IN A YEAR OR SO WHEN THE NCAA CATCHES UP TO HIS CRIMES. THEM BAMA PLAYERS WILL BE PLAYING FOR UGA. SO PLEASE COME ON NOW, AND SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE. UGA IS NOW THE FUTURE’!!!!!!! AS WELL AS THE CLASS OF THE EAST NOW!!!!! UGA 2012 SEC CHAMPS NO DOUBT!!!!!!!! HUGE BAMA FAN
AAAAA Athens Bail Bonds R Us
July 25th, 2012
5:51 am
Any more UGA players arrested today?
Dawg Goneit
July 25th, 2012
7:28 am
That’s just sick man. How low will the Dawgies go?
LogicalUS
July 25th, 2012
7:54 am
“Mitchell, Conley, Michael Bennett, King and Scott-Wesley and even Wooten.”
Who? I think you just made my point. Out of this bunch there are 3 intramural starters and two average SEC WRs. Geez, nobody in that group is scaring any DC around the country.
As for secondary, UGA will not have their entire returning starters together until the middle of the season and that is if, a big if, there are no injuries. The starters are decent but the backups are virtually nonexistant, hence the move to take one of the only SEC quality WRs and shuffle him over to CB.
AltamahaDawg
July 25th, 2012
8:06 am
Mobile is right about that. I have always thought the time for Richt to keep his mouth shut is anytime there is more than 3 people in a room. It doesn’t matter what he says, it’s always wrong.
Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
July 25th, 2012
8:33 am
Wow, I feel like I should have read “TIDE ROLLING JOINTS AND GETTING OFF FREE” post in crayon.
Flo-Ri-Duh
July 25th, 2012
8:53 am
The desperate cry for Penn State players to come to UGA shows the failure of recruiting the last two years – for OL and DL . This year is more of the same. All the top DL / OL are going out of state. UGA recruiters know that winning BIG games is the key to getting the top players and this year is crucial – UGA must win the SEC to regain their footing in recruiting in the state of Georgia.
Flo-Ri-Duh
July 25th, 2012
8:59 am
Tide Rolling Joints – If, If, If, If – a whole lot of excuses…. winners don’t need excuses. Ecuses don’t put a “W” on the board do they?
ole yeller
July 25th, 2012
9:04 am
UGA has a STUD team but a little depth would be fine. If the Penn State Player do want to join to DAWGS they will have to play their way on to the team. No one will feel sorry for them in respect to football playing time.
Joey
July 25th, 2012
9:26 am
LogicalUS, our wide receivers caught 25 of UGA’s 37 TD passes in ‘11. They probably got a LOT of attention by DCs, and will continue to do so, especially now that Murray’s favorite, Orsen Charles is gone.
6′5″ 220 Marlon Brown wasn’t on your list – I think he will have a big season.
evillurks
July 25th, 2012
9:35 am
You know your program and your head coach have hit rock bottom and are in serious trouble when they swoop down like vultures to pick the bones of another program just for numbers.
THuga fans don’t want to hear that….but richt is in desperation mode now.
Overrated Dogs
July 25th, 2012
9:46 am
Come on down “We have weed”!
Columbus Dawg
July 25th, 2012
9:47 am
Tide is rolling, No, what you should have done was jump off the tallest bridge in your area. FECES FOR BRAINS.
Overrated Dogs
July 25th, 2012
9:49 am
Excuses for losing is typical of a Dog fan. Once again when has uga last beaten a ranked team? Wont change this year because there isnt one on the schedule ! Uga will lose 4 this year.
Joey
July 25th, 2012
9:51 am
Wishful thing, techie. I doubt “desperation” never occurs to Richt. He’s laid back – who wouldn’t be with $20 Million + in the bank?
If McGarity fired him today, his blood pressure wouldn’t even go up.
But you go on insulting and wishing he was gone.
I guess that is what Richt’s 10-1 record will do to a techie.
wreckmaniac
July 25th, 2012
10:07 am
This is just a an admission by Richt that despite having half the nations 5-stars and 110 “schollys” he still can’t coach em up to the level he needs to compete for a nat champ. He has to look under every rock, consider every JUCO and still can’t get it done.
Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
July 25th, 2012
10:33 am
Columbus Dawg
July 25th, 2012
9:47 am
Tide is rolling, No, what you should have done was jump off the tallest bridge in your area. FECES FOR BRAINS.
About what I expect from someone from the classy town of Columbus, GA.
Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
July 25th, 2012
10:37 am
Seriously, I’m going to frame the post by “Tide Rolling joints.” This is the fuel I need for many UGA fan cracks for quite some time.
IF this, if that
We should have this, shouldn’t have that
We are a good program, We ARE a good Program! I just know it!
This is our year!
Our d-fense is awesome and excuses are a’plenty when they were lit up by the few decent teams we played.
Thank you for the ammo,
-The rest of the country
edumacated
July 25th, 2012
11:01 am
You Alabama fans need to chill out, quit being so intense about your college football, and expand your horizons. Try watching one of you major professional sports teams………….oh wait, your state can’t support one.
Jerry
July 25th, 2012
11:07 am
The active recruiting / solicitation of current Penn State players speaks to the total lack of character many of our institutions display today. It reminds me of the vultures circling the wounded wildebeast. First what does this say to the guys you already have on your roster. It says hey we think some of you guys are not good enough so we are going to go find some better players somewhere else. Second you are telling the world that winning football is a higher priority than being respectful of your fellow competitors.
These guys at Penn State are able to initiate a request to leave on their own. Things are bad enough for the school without having Georgia coming in and robbing the cupboard. The whole thing just speaks to the lack of character and intergrity with the current UGA coaching staff and administration.
LHarding Dawg
July 25th, 2012
11:41 am
Jerry – In response to your post, it is evident that you did not read the article. Coach Richt said we would welcome any player where we might have a need and who wanted to transfer. No one would make a player transfer. I also would guess that it is alright for Saban or Kiffen to get players but not for Georgia. As far as robbing the cupboard, I think the NCAA busted the cupboard all to hell last Monday with their sanctions.
Your sentence about character and integrity only shows how you lack the sense to know the difference.
It's all good
July 25th, 2012
11:44 am
alabama–the toothless bottom feeder capital of the world will not be seeing any former Penn State players stepping foot in “the trailer park state”. GA might get one or two. Maybe the Vols can grab a few.
ole yeller
July 25th, 2012
11:56 am
Bama WANT be the team they were last year. Lost too much to the NFL. Not enough AMMO RELOAD……. REBUILD more likely…..so get use to it…. Tide want Roll in 2012.
bucket
July 25th, 2012
12:37 pm
I guess all the Bama posters ridiculing UGA missed their Lord and Savior Saban on ESPN saying the exact same thing about PSU players that CMR said.
KingDog
July 25th, 2012
1:18 pm
georgia will upset alabama in the SEC title game–you heard it here first! Dogs 30 alabama 23!
Bama=home of the T-bag special
July 25th, 2012
1:19 pm
@Flo-Ri-Duh hey numb skull I think we got the best OL commit from FLA this year…
Bama=home of the T-bag special
July 25th, 2012
1:22 pm
@LHarding Dawg your post at 11:41 was spot on…well done.
SEC Observer
July 25th, 2012
1:23 pm
What is embarrassing is that Georgia has a head coach starting his 12th season who has mismanaged his roster and has at least 15 scholarships available.
Now Richt is taking advantage of another school’s misfortune. Classy.
Bama=home of the T-bag special
July 25th, 2012
1:36 pm
@SEC Observer lets forget Saban and Kiffin have said that they will do the same…that’s really classy !
Mobile Dawg
July 25th, 2012
1:42 pm
Saban’s response was “if a player shows interest in coming to Alabama we will talk to him”, not much difference in what Richt meant.
harold
July 25th, 2012
1:54 pm
SO NOT CLASSY BY UGA & RICHT.
AltamahaDawg
July 25th, 2012
1:56 pm
under his breath……”and we’ll figure out who to cut later”.
Mobile Dawg
July 25th, 2012
2:02 pm
Tough business, key word is business, unfortunately, these days.
Bama=home of the T-bag special
July 25th, 2012
2:30 pm
@harold BUT I GUESS SABAN SAYING THE SAME THING WAS CLASSY RIGHT TROLLBOY?
Dawg Haus
July 25th, 2012
2:31 pm
Remember, ONLY Georgia players do stupid things and get in trouble:
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2012/jul/25/tyler-bray-roommate-accused-of-throwing-beer-off/
Resident Georgia Fan @ Freddo
July 25th, 2012
2:32 pm
So how long have the Bama blogs and websites been down?
G-Dawg
July 25th, 2012
2:38 pm
Richt on ESPN radio right now!
william
July 25th, 2012
2:44 pm
Doug Dawg,
You are right. I hate seeing everybody turn their back on our team. Last year when I was at the Mississippi State game, there just wasn’t any enthusaism, and people were booing. No wonder the dawgs don’t win, there is no desire too. They are too nervous and afraid, because the entire season is all hot seat talk. I’ve played sports, and I can tell you the positiive effects your fans cheering for you can have. It’s like artifical adrineline.
This is very similar to what happened to the Braves in the 90’s. People started saying the sucked cause they kept losing the World Series….um they got there a lot. That should say something for the team. That’s what sucked the life out of Chipper….every once in a while he shows up again, and jacks one, but for the most part he’s just on cruise control.
DogSouth
July 25th, 2012
2:45 pm
the dogs don’t need any of those slow white players from penn state. Get the top players in the south, and win titles! richt needs to get with it, asap! I’m tired of alabama winning all these titles and ga going to minor bowls.
AltamahaDawg
July 25th, 2012
2:48 pm
Haus, the kid is just getting his throwing arm loosened up for camp.
Dawg Haus
July 25th, 2012
3:01 pm
That’s what I was thinking, Altamaha! Brilliant training strategy by Dooley.
AltamahaDawg
July 25th, 2012
3:53 pm
Now busting up a young ladies windshield, not sure what training strategy that would be.
AltamahaDawg
July 25th, 2012
4:05 pm
Ah, Bray “reached out”, its all good now. Case closed.
Tell your daddy to expect those tickets in the mail real soon.
TIDE ROLLING JOINTS AND GETTING OFF FREE
July 25th, 2012
4:08 pm
As for the 2 recent NATIONAL TITLES UGA NEEDS TO BE THE TOP SCHOOL RECORD WISE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS IN THE SEC? How about the 1 loss season where we lost the national title shot by loseing to Florida by a point or so late in the season? Why did we lose that game? Well maybe because a 3rd string QB that would not even be 4th most placed replaced our STAR QB DJ SHOCKLEY who went on to play well in the NFL until injuries finally put him down. Joe T had heart but NO SKILL AT ALL!!!!! EVERYONE KNOWS IF SHOCKLEY PLAYED, UGA WINS THE NATIONAL TITLE THAT YEAR WITH AN UNDEFEATED SEASON IN THE SEC. WE OFCOU RSE WON THE SEC, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER NATIONAL TITLE!!!!!!!!! Now what about the more recent 2 loss season? 2 early stupid losses caused by enjury and stupidity. Either way by seasons end we WON THE SEC BY DEFEATING LSU IN THE TITLE GAME SOMETHING LIKE UGA 45 LSU 10!!!!!! IT WAS TOTAL DOMINATION!!! WE GOT PLENTY OF VOTES TO PLAY IN THE NATIONAL TITLE GAME WE WOULD HAVE EASILY WON!!!!!!! Instead we played UNDEFEATED HAWAII WITH THE #1 OFFENSE IN THE COUNTRY AVERAGING 50 OR 60 PER GAME WITH A FEW 70 AND 80 POINT GAMES I BELIEVE. And a good defence to compliment the oftener with HIESMAN CANDIDATE COLT BRENNON. Yep UGA was going down right? UGA FINISHED THE GAME BY KNEELING DOWN 3 TIMES DEEP INSIDE HAWAII’S. 5 YARD LINE. FINAL SCORE SOMETHING LIKE UGA 50 HAWAII 3, I cant remember exactly. I just know it was a total massacre. Hawaii couldn’t wait to get off the feild. I believe there coach stated we were heated by the best team in the country. 2 Losses is why we didn’t deserve #1 right? WE ENEDED UP #2. Both FLORIDA and BAMA played in the national title game a combined 4 times RECENTLY with 2 losses on there record just based on winning the SEC!!!!!!!!!!! SO WHY NOT UGA WITH 2 LOSSES AND DOMINATING IN THE SEC TITLE GAME? OR HOW ABOUT OUR 1 LOSS SEASON, LOSEING ONLY BY ENJURY??????? I GUESS IF ITS UGA THEY HAVE TO BE UNDEFEATED TO BE CONSIDERED!!!!! HMMMMM WONDER WHY?????? IF LIFE OR THE NCAA WERE FAIR UGA WOULD HAVE 2 RECENT NATIONAL TITLES “MAKING UGA THE TEAM WITH THE TOP RECORD AND WINNING PERCENTAGE IN THE SEC, SECOND TO NONE, FIRST TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!” PENN STATE ROYALTY come on down to the truly best sec program, with the MOST INTEGRITY!!!!!!!!!!