About UGA, Tech, press conferences and misTweetment
This energetic fellow is Kirby Sma ... er, SMART
I know it’s an anxious time for many of you. Heck, it’s an anxious time for me, because I’m not sure where I’ll be today. A brief explanation:
The Falcons are having their customary season-ending press briefing at Flowery Branch at 3 p.m. That was to be my destination until Georgia Tech announced a 1 p.m. session with juniors Derrick Morgan, Jonathan Dwyer and Morgan Burnett. So that’s where I’m going, as of this moment. I attach the qualification because there’s a chance — a “chance,” I said – something could happen in Athens.
Tech is also having a 9:30 a.m. session with Paul Johnson on Wednesday. It’s described as a season-ending wrap-up, and that could be all it is. But Johnson is believed to be attending the coaches’ convention in Orlando these next two days, and … well, last I heard, Tech needs a new defensive coach. A coordinator, if I’m not mistaken.
Yes, I know. Georgia needs a DC, too. And speculation is so rampant a guy could make an innocent little mistake — I swear it was innocent — and touch off a veritable Twitter-storm.
Last night I attempted to enter the words “Kirby Smart” as a personal Twitter search. But somehow I ended up Tweeting– meaning submitting for mass viewing — the message “Kirby Sma” instead. And within 10 minutes I was deluged both on Twitter and Facebook by Georgia fans wanting to know what I knew and why I was being so mean by teasing them like that.
(A brief aside: I would not advise anyone to follow me on Twitter. But if you’re tempted nonethless, I’m @markbradleyajc. I cannot guarantee you’ll be happy with the results.)
As I tried to explain/apologize, I wasn’t teasing anybody. I just messed up. But some folks weren’t buying it. Were I they, I probably wouldn’t have, either.
So, in the attempt to mend Twitter fences, I’m offering the very latest information this so-called journalist has at his disposal. Claude Felton, Georgia’s Hall of Fame publicist, told me late last night that there is no press conference scheduled. That doesn’t mean one couldn’t be arranged in 10 or 15 minutes, but I’m telling you what I know. Which isn’t as much as I’d like to know. But it’s all I have at the moment.
If things change, I’ll drop you a line on Twitter. And I promise it won’t read: “UGA has announced its new defensive coordinator and his name is … “
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401 comments Add your comment
louisville slugger
January 11th, 2010
12:22 pm
I think we can agree that Morgan is gone. Between Dwyer and Burnett, I’d say Burnett would be the bigger loss, only because of the relative lack of depth in the secondary. I agree that Allen would replace Dwyer, and I don’t think there’d be much of a letdown.
BTW, looking for more snow in Louisville this evening, you don’t know what you’re missing…
MikkUGA
January 11th, 2010
12:23 pm
Dunlap, Wright and 1 Pouncey gone.
MikkUGA
January 11th, 2010
12:24 pm
Maurkice
Mary Beth ST.
January 11th, 2010
12:29 pm
I loved the house I just looked at in Athens.
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
January 11th, 2010
12:30 pm
I sure wish ol’ Kirby Smart would make up his Dawggone mind.
yup
January 11th, 2010
12:31 pm
jarvis
January 11th, 2010
12:18 pm
Really ToothlessRedneckFleabag?
Talking smack about being #13 is pretty telling about your program.
Really? What does it “tell”??
Gen Neyland
January 11th, 2010
12:34 pm
Sure. It was a case of theft by taking in Knoxville yesterday as the Volunteers knock off, uh, steal one, hmm, mugged Kansas. Well, they won honest, how ’bout that..?
WonderDawg
January 11th, 2010
12:36 pm
Nice, birddawg92. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Saban is a great coach, but must be a royal a$$ to work for…
yup
January 11th, 2010
12:37 pm
Gen Neyland
January 11th, 2010
12:34 pm
Sure. It was a case of theft by taking in Knoxville yesterday as the Volunteers knock off, uh, steal one, hmm, mugged Kansas. Well, they won honest, how ’bout that..?
That was FANTASTIC!!! I was very proud of the Vols (as a UGA fan)! Go SEC!!!
Travel the USA and Say" I am from Alabama"
January 11th, 2010
12:39 pm
Beyond football and Lord knows Alabama is well respected in the NCAA ranks, the state of Alabama is a complete laughing stock. Some of that is well deserved and some is not but it is a fact and that is one of many reasons that KS would love to jump ship.
Saban is one more reason …………if he does not take the USC job this week, then he will jump ship there within two more years and Bammer will be back in the Liberty and Independence and losing to NWSWSESCentral LA of Monroe, Shreveport, Layfayette,Metarie.
Kirby’s wife HATES Bammer …………have you ever shopped at McFarland Mall or University Mall?
The most exciting thing to do there is drive past where The Bear owned a VW dealership in the 80s or go view the Indian mounds in fricking Moundville. Oh, yeah, um, there is always Dreamland Bar BQ or fist fighting in truck stops. ga tech men need not apply.
Most that write why KS ought to remain in Bammer have never been out of the state of Ga or certainly NOT to Tuscaloosa. Oh yeah ………they do have that Benz factory there where you get free tours. HAHAHAHAHA
Saban will get a tour of Holly wood soon. All the BAMER coaches know it is time to leave. See Tx Tech taking one of the Bammer LB coaches.Turbeville strikes again. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Goooooooooooooooo Dogs
sc dawg
January 11th, 2010
12:45 pm
Mark, is Grantham still, or was he ever, sitting on a contingency offer? Congtingent on Smart not taking the job . . . Do we know if he is a back up, or, whether or not we’ll be starting over in Athens? This is like a college version of high stakes poker in the middle of recruiting . . . I’d be fine with either, but, would like to see it done–one way or the other.
JSS
January 11th, 2010
12:48 pm
Thanks Mark, was mentioning the OC newspaper the reason for the hold? I just don’t see any non NFL or highly suspicious NCAA past suspects taking that job… Not even Mike Garrett can sustain another hit like that after Tim Floyd…
Ellen
January 11th, 2010
12:52 pm
Mark, you know you can delete a tweet on Twitter. A lot easier than having people question you what it really meant!
DirtyDawg
January 11th, 2010
12:57 pm
SGC88…I’m sorry but you’re not gonna entice ‘The Best Assistant Coach In The Country’ to jump ship for less than half what he’s making now. Careers are built on people moving from one place to the next – essentially to do the same job – for more money, and as for $800K being out of line, my point is that Monte Kiffin’s salary has blown that all to hell.
In an ideal world, pay for performance is wonderful, but who said we live in an ideal world. About the only people that are ‘paid for performance’ are golfers – and even they (and you now who I mean) can make more money on their endorsements than their performance. So, we’ll pay Kirby more money than we’ve ever paid an assistant and see if he gets the job done. If he doesn’t then other changes will be made down the line. As for Brother Saban, how long do you think it’ll be before he’s itching to get the next notch in his ego belt and moves on? Not as long as Tide fans think. The guy won’t be staying in Tuscaloosa forever…plus I don’t think he like hounds-tooth.
Mark Bradley
January 11th, 2010
12:58 pm
Ellen, that’s the thing. I didn’t even know I had Tweeted. It was a bigger surprise to me than to anyone.
dawg it
January 11th, 2010
12:59 pm
move to UGA and take a chance, or stay here and look like a constant winner. Hmmmm. money is the same,hmmmmm, My wife don’t care she never worked and never will ,she;s along for the ride. So as long as thats the deal I guess I’ll……hmmmmmmm…..stay
Mark Bradley
January 11th, 2010
12:59 pm
JSS, I have no idea why the spam filter does what it does.
ugabama
January 11th, 2010
1:02 pm
dawg it
January 11th, 2010
12:59 pm
move to UGA and take a chance, or stay here and look like a constant winner. Hmmmm. money is the same,hmmmmm, My wife don’t care she never worked and never will ,she;s along for the ride. So as long as thats the deal I guess I’ll……hmmmmmmm…..stay
She does work, she is an Elementary school teacher.
collegeballfan
January 11th, 2010
1:04 pm
From Ramblinwreck.com
Georgia Tech juniors Morgan Burnett (S), Jonathan Dwyer (RB) and Derrick Morgan (DE) will enter their names in the NFL draft, all three players confirmed Monday.
bigdawg88
January 11th, 2010
1:13 pm
Mark, for such a sorry, no good columnist/newspaper you sure do attract a lot of attention on these blogs.
How come you don’t sell ad space on the sports blogs? Gotta be like 50 times the traffic compared to the rest of the online AJC.
“Make that money mane, it says it right in the Bible!”
123456789
January 11th, 2010
1:20 pm
When the Decory Braynt case reaches the Federal appeals court,
its going to result in a multi-million jury award for Decory Bryant against UGA-AA.
The case will eventually be setteled for $5,000,000+.
And the UGA-AA will see to it that UGA fans will eventually pay that tab.
WonderDawg
January 11th, 2010
1:20 pm
Tech security should be on the lookout for mass suicides on the nerd campus …..
Jona
January 11th, 2010
1:25 pm
123456789 -
Decory, don’t spend it in one place. Now, drop it.
Hey Mark,
As soon as you hear anything on the Kirby Smart front, let me know.
Thanks
WonderDawg
January 11th, 2010
1:26 pm
Why would UGA “settle” when a judge dismissed the case last month? Go practice your 10s, dummy…
Clint
January 11th, 2010
1:28 pm
I have been a loyal Dawg fan for over 40 years and lived in Athens 5 great years, but, this situation is getting real old, real quick. I know CMR is looking for the right man, as this decision also puts his job on the line, but enough is enough. Two questions here,,,, Does KS want this position and does KS think he can handle this position, if no to either question, lets move on. I hope we are not begging someone to take this position ! Let’s do it, or move on to someone else. Really getting old.
Erin Andrews' Landing Strip
January 11th, 2010
1:34 pm
Now this is the Mark Bradley I’ve enjoyed in the past; opinionated, funny, smart, and not looking to artificially stir the pot. Well done, sir.
Scott "Flash" Norton
January 11th, 2010
1:35 pm
Kirby Smart cant be this dumb can he? Who wants to go to a 2nd tier program that no one cares about? He better ride Saban’s coattails for another year or two.
and what...
January 11th, 2010
1:38 pm
cherokee
January 11th, 2010
12:15 pm
and what… ……….depends who is on the return flight. I bet that same route is done several times a week
It’s actually been done only once in the past week.
Below is a list of all flights to/from Athens to Tuscaloosa in the last week.
http://flightaware.com/live/findflight/KAHN/KTCL
123456789
January 11th, 2010
1:41 pm
The UGA-AA…DEFINITLEY…does not want the case to reach the Federal Appeals Court.
But, it will.
And will result in a LANDMARK financial settlement by the UGA-AA to
Decory Braynt of $5,000,000+……AND…..a LANDMARK legal precedent.
Bad Moon rising in Athens. For sure.
WonderDawg
January 11th, 2010
1:41 pm
Must be a pain to have to register as a sex offender, “Flash”…… Yeah Kirby is really dumb. He’s about to double his salary no matter if he stays or goes. And the 2nd tier programs are in Atlanta!
SOUTHGADAWG88
January 11th, 2010
1:44 pm
If Smart doesn’t come some people are going to be upset
123456789
January 11th, 2010
1:48 pm
Uh-oh. Looks like the UGA-AA gots some ’splaining to do.
http://www.sportsagentlawyer.com/2010/01/when_a_judge_in_athensclarke.html
Should Decory Bryant’s Sports Lawyer Appeal? January 6, 2010
When a judge in Athens-Clarke County dismissed the sports lawsuit brought by former Georgia Bulldog Decory Bryant, the matter was mostly decided on what laypersons might describe as a technicality.
The court ruled that the Georgia Athletic Association is an arm of the state and therefore entitled to protection under the sovereign immunity doctrine. At first glance, this seems like a reasonable ruling, right? Bryant sued his athletic department for failing to procure insurance, and the court ruled that the athletic department is a government entity, and therefore protected from certain types of lawsuits.
Further investigation reveals that it is not quite this simple. The GAA is a non-profit organization. This means that it is not a division of the University of Georgia in the way that, for example, the school’s physics department might be fully encompassed within the institution.
Universities generally form non-profits such as the GAA so that they can evade the usual restrictions faced by public institutions. For instance, in some states, government employees have their salaries restricted by statute. The way to get around that restriction for coaches is to make the coaches employed by the non-profit, and not the state institution.
This means that the GAA is trying to have it both ways. They want to be a separate entity from the University of Georgia with the protections of a private non-profit, but they also want sovereign immunity, which is only available to government entities. It sounds to me like Decory Bryant’s lawyers will be appealing to a higher authority.
Jona
January 11th, 2010
1:54 pm
Mark,
Please start a Decory Bryant blog so 123456789 will have somewhere to go
Well...
January 11th, 2010
1:57 pm
There is another flight from Athens in route to Tuscaloosa. Maybe they are bringing a second suitcase of money…
willie martinez
January 11th, 2010
1:59 pm
Mark, you’re just not gonna believe me about K Smart, are you?
atldawg
January 11th, 2010
1:59 pm
I laugh when Saban talks about loyaty.
1st – He owns his own moving van with 4 Head coaching jobs in 8 years 199-2007.
2nd – Here was Nick’s quote days before the left the Dolphins for Alabama. “The best way to disrespect somebody is to just walk away from them. But that is the show business part of what we have to deal with, and to me it’s wrong. It’s a bad example for young people to see and it’s not the kind of character and attitude that we want our players to represent this organization in, our owner, the Miami Dolphins … or the people on the team who all have to suffer because of that.”
Clint
January 11th, 2010
1:59 pm
SOUTHGADAWG88….. I totally agree with you but,,,,, if we don’t do something soon,,,, a lot of people are also going to be upset ! Someone should at least make some kind of announcent as to what is going on , but that is just my opinion I guess.
Well...
January 11th, 2010
2:01 pm
Actually it will be en route at 3:40….
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 11th, 2010
2:01 pm
good luck to the GT players going pro. IMO, Dwyer and Burnett will make immediate impacts- i can see Burnett going late 1rst round- maybe the falcons will pick him up. Lord knows we need help in the secondary.
D. Bryant
January 11th, 2010
2:04 pm
Hey, numbers guy, you’re not helping. I know you’re the law firm intern, but you’re really not helping.
SOUTHGADAWG88
January 11th, 2010
2:12 pm
Clint the stuff I’m hearing leads me to think it’s all going to be settled by 6pm one way or the other.
suwaneedawg
January 11th, 2010
2:13 pm
Please, no jackets in the Falcon’s secondary. We need help and after the way they were torched this year we don’t need that sort of help.
There is no way Kirby Smart will come to UGA
January 11th, 2010
2:16 pm
the Wal-Mart tour was part of a sponsorship deal with Dr. Pepper and the actual Coaches’ Trophy, meaning had Texas won the game, you’d have seen the crystal football at a Wal-Mart near Austin.”
I’m seriously relieved. I wish this were more publicized. It just seemed too Alabama to be a coincidence, but the point is if USC or Notre Dame had won the BCS, Walmarts in California or Indiana would have the same Walmart tours.
woohooo!!!!
January 11th, 2010
2:21 pm
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 5PM TODAY TO ANNOUNCE KIRBY SMART AS GEORGIA’S DC!!!! FINALLY!!! I’M NOT SURE WHY AJC IS SO SLOW….
Jimmy John
January 11th, 2010
2:22 pm
I heard a ridiculous rumor that Kirby Smart is interviewing at Tech. This can’t be true – I’d rather him be at ‘Bama.
Anyone hear anything about that?
Smart Kirby
January 11th, 2010
2:22 pm
Why would Kirby want to leave the defending champions to come and re-arrange deck chairs on the SS Titanic? He is better off staying where he is with a raise, getting credit for a TOP 5 Defense next yr, and hope for a head coaching position within the next two years. Maybe Richt will be gone and the top spot will be available.
law dawg
January 11th, 2010
2:23 pm
123456789
that’s great, pal, you pointed out that this case can be appealed. but that’s all you pointed out, it can be appealed just like any other case. good job. i seriously doubt you have even the faintest concept of sovereign immunity, but, if you did, you would understand that, once found to be present (at the trial court level), it is an extremely hard obstacle for any would-be plaintiff to overcome. but, as you pointed out, they are welcome to appeal.
tech lost all four juniors that were up in the air. gotta think nesbitt is a little upset right now. i gotta say, eventhough i am a dawg fan, i was wanting them all to come back to see how good they could be next year. good luck at the next level to burnett, dwyer, morgan, and bebe.
Jona
January 11th, 2010
2:24 pm
What is your source woohoo?
dc
January 11th, 2010
2:25 pm
woohoo is the same one that posted Curran was staying. Smart may well come, but I’d trust Rosie O’Donnell guarding a plate of brownies before I trusted the word of woohoo.
NEWNANDAWG
January 11th, 2010
2:31 pm
seriously woohoo how is that you have info that NO ONE ELSE has??