A double whammy: Two touted Georgians spurn the Bulldogs
Xzavier Dickson dealt a blow to the Bulldogs by choosing Bama. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
Say what you will about the unseemly process of football recruiting, but the young men at the heart of it are expert trend-spotters. They know which program is Hot and which is Not Hot. On Wednesday two ballyhooed Georgians used the Under Armour All-America Game as the venue to announce they’d be making runs for the border, and there you have it.
The Georgia Bulldogs = Not Hot.
Xzavier Dickson of Griffin is bound for Alabama. Quan Bray of LaGrange is taking his talents to Auburn. According to ESPN.com, both rank among the nation’s 25 best prospects. We should also mention that ESPN.com has Georgia’s 2011 recruiting class rated No. 8 nationally. We should also mention that Rivals.com has the Bulldogs 23rd, while Scout.com puts them 20th.
Yes, rankings can and will change. (And yes, recruits have been known to reconsider. Ask Da’Rick Rogers, currently enrolled at Georgia … er, Tennessee.) But seeing Georgia ranked outside anyone’s top 10 always constitutes a shock. Rivals rated the Bulldogs’ signing class among the 10 best every year from 2002 to 2009; last year the Bulldogs were 15th according to Rivals, 21st according to Scout, 12th according to ESPN.
Even in lesser seasons on the field, Georgia under Mark Richt has always been able to point to its recruiting. Now, with lesser seasons running together, the program that controlled its state controls it no more. The buzz about this program has been downgraded to a murmur, and the murmur concerns the future of its head coach. Which grows more tenuous by the moment.
Four SEC schools have qualified for the BCS title game since 2005, Georgia not among them. Seven league members have qualified for the SEC championship game since 2005, Georgia not among them. This program of vast resources has been rendered second-rate.
The Bulldogs lost 19 times in Richt’s first 95 games as coach; they’ve lost 15 times over the past 35. Recruits know this better than anyone. Recruits can sense a program on the descent, even if it’s the flagship school in their state. Thus does the cycle of football spin onward: Win and you’re the place to be; stop winning and you’re the place to flee.
This isn’t to say Georgia can’t and won’t land an uncommitted player or two to bolster this class — Jay Rome of Valdosta and Isaiah Crowell of Columbus are still in play — but Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald offers this nugget: The Bulldogs’ last known public commitment was rendered on Aug. 22.
Put another way, not one recruit has been moved to pledge himself to the Bulldogs since the football season began. Talk about Not Hot.
By Mark Bradley
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571 comments Add your comment
680 Belue
January 6th, 2011
9:39 pm
If you fired CMR who is out there better????????????? So, stop being negative 8 games next year and we will be on track.
still@the bar
January 6th, 2011
9:40 pm
Calhoundawg
SO Dickson would be an Academic All American if he went to UGA. Then Tech people would be giving you crap and you would defend the kid. GIVE IT UP sour grapes don’t look good on you.
Jay
January 6th, 2011
9:46 pm
Uh kirby smart is better idiot
tide is in
January 6th, 2011
9:48 pm
Why are UGA fans letting Mark Richt hang around? The in state talent is going elsewhere. These kids are not caught up with the Richt persona. However thank you very much for all the Georgia blue chippers your loss is our gain. RTR
still@the bar
January 6th, 2011
9:48 pm
Miami of Ohio is in a bowl game and they have already fired their coach. UGA is draging their feet.
It is all Staffords fault. Fatt Matt should have stayed for his Sr. year. Fatt Matt probably would still have been #1 because Bradford went #1 and only played like 4 or 5 games his Sr. year. UGA would have been Killer last year and RICHT would not have been on the hot seat after this year if the COX season never happened.
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
9:49 pm
It is official that Wataboy is going to announce Friday where he is going. There are some problems though. He has a tattoo of a Gator, he cashed a Hurricaine relief check, he is part Seminole, and his mother asked for money from a neighboring state university to help get him out of the bayou. The NCAA is going to overlook all of this because he was a Katrina victim.
tide is in
January 6th, 2011
9:53 pm
UGA fans the rest of college football world is laughing at you. No stones to make the hard choice and let CMR go. If Allbarn or bama hard your record against our rivals the last 2 seasons our coachs would and did get fired. You are not and never will be a national power.
War Eagle
January 6th, 2011
9:58 pm
When I read Mark Richt would played Cam Newton as a tight end, I can understand the 15 loses in 35 games with top 10 top recruiting classes.
I wish dawgs the best except Auburb, but it seem he has lost his Mojo??
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
9:59 pm
Hey Tide is in – I am glad you are worried about us Dawg fans. We appreciate your concerns. We will be fine. I am just wondering how much your secondary was paid off in the Auburn game?
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:01 pm
War Eagle – His daddy wanted $300,000 to play QB and we could only guarantee him a TE’s pay. Worry about Oregon!
tide is in
January 6th, 2011
10:04 pm
Mud slinging is all you dog fans have left is’t it. Lets face facts next year will be wasted then you have 3 or 4 years to repair the damage. Just taking local college football. Under CMR the Ga. progam is sliding downhill. Truth hurts don’t it. RTR
joe taxpayer
January 6th, 2011
10:05 pm
CMR please resign. PLEASE
Billyboy
January 6th, 2011
10:06 pm
Come on Mark, you are as bad as politicians in spinning why they voted to increase your taxes. Both of these boys for several years had Alabama and Auburn as their #1 choice. Check your sources better and give a true picture. You act like this decision was changed recently because of the bad year for the Dawgs.
According to your research, you are going to go to the Macon Gazaette . . . probably a good move for you.
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:06 pm
tide is in – I am sorry Coach Richt didn’t give your boy a scholarship.
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:07 pm
Tide is in – you just wanted him to be able to flip a coin.
joe taxpayer
January 6th, 2011
10:08 pm
Well he is not a choir boy. 5 years before UGA is a player again in the SEC East.
joe taxpayer
January 6th, 2011
10:10 pm
Your AD is a stoneless wuss.
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:11 pm
joe taxpayer – I checked the records, you ain’t paid taxes since 1990.
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:11 pm
Joe taxpayer – you ain’t no choir boy!
Fan of the Game
January 6th, 2011
10:12 pm
This funnier than the half time of the Under Armour game. What a joke!
bitter CHILDREN OF THE CORN
January 6th, 2011
10:23 pm
Serously yaaaaw, Bray family were eating corn on the cob on T.V., thank god he chose auburn he will fit write in with those blac–red necks at auburn!!!.
howl dumb pick a school that is sure to pick up 5 years of probation, how dumb can one be. hahahahahahahah
his dad did have a key ring danggling from his belt with new truck keys, dang allburn rouge booster.
dickerson is the real deal, all of georgia looses, this guy is a class act, no red neck in him and class family!!!!!
maybe ill support ala—- f—k no, you su—-x dickerson
Terrell
January 6th, 2011
10:48 pm
No way Quan finished the 8th grade.
Still wondering
January 6th, 2011
10:55 pm
Talk about what is NOT HOT AND IS A DULL NERD — Jeff Schultz and Mark Bradley, plus the rest of the AJC sports writers.
Honestly, how can you always write negative comment about UGA? Why don’t you concentrate on GA TECH and Georgia State University that are in your city of Atlanta? No one likes you, and they only read you to see if there is any important sports news, but it’s always negative UGA.
You guys are all sick — let’s see if I can remember the psychological term…..sociopaths, maybe??? I know you are something weird and abnormal, for certain.
still@the bar
January 6th, 2011
10:56 pm
Terrell
Then he will be one of the First Engineers to Graduate from UGA for sure. You know if he picked UGA you would be all up his butt loving on him and how he would never have issues at UGA. More sour grapes.
FLA DAWG
January 6th, 2011
10:59 pm
I don’t know what the he!! it takes for McGarity to understand the picture here. He could really make a name for himself if he stood up like a man and made the tough decision to unload Richt and his losing coaching crew.
Recruiting results are the bottomline. Those top recruits who bail have had advice from multiple sources. They know The Dawgs will stink on ice next season. And for Dawg Nation that means TWO MORE YEARS before we begin to rebuild.
SICKENING,
FLA DAWG
Class of ,79
Deputy Dawg
January 6th, 2011
11:40 pm
The sun is setting on UGA!
Since the recruits aren’t coming let’s blow this up now. The next few years will clearly suck.
Brian
January 7th, 2011
12:10 am
Seriously, how many different ways can you say the same thing? UGA is going down hill in your opinion, they’re irrelevant (your obsession not withstanding), Mark Richt is a hopeless loser who probably isn’t even fit to coach Parkview or Brookwood. WE ALL GET IT. The horse has rigor mortis, cease the beatings…please…
georgiagirl
January 7th, 2011
12:24 am
All these Auburn and Bama fans forgot that their teams where down to 2 and 3 years ago and look now WOW. But before that you could not find their fans. Georgia will be fine.
Hairy Dawg
January 7th, 2011
12:39 am
We goning make the kids that leave state pay on field for choosing looser programs over Dawgs.
Jonkdawg
January 7th, 2011
2:09 am
Who cares if the kids wanna pick Bamar and Auburnt
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
3:38 am
Here are the Top 10 Football Recruits in the state of Georgia :
Scout.com Top 10 state of Georgia :
TE 1 Jay Rome (Valdosta HS) Valdosta, GA 6-6/240/4.68
RB 2 Isaiah Crowell (Carver HS) Columbus, GA 6-0/210/4.43
CB 5 Malcolm Mitchell (Valdosta HS) Valdosta, GA 6-1/190/4.40
CB 6 Damian Swann (Grady HS) Atlanta, GA 6-0/175/4.50
DT 7 Gabe Wright (Carver HS) Columbus, GA 6-4/300/4.98
MLB 7 Shannon Brown (Cook County HS) Adel, GA 6-2/237
DE 8 Ray Drew (Thomas County Central HS) Thomasville, GA 6-5/248/4.74
MLB 9 James Vaughters (Tucker HS) Tucker, GA 6-2/232/4.55
DE 10 Xzavier Dickson (Griffin HS) Griffin, GA 6-4/248/4.90
We have zero -0- of them.
NONE.
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
3:39 am
#1 Alabama 22 2 15 5 3.86 2,482
#2 Texas 23 1 16 6 3.78 2,410
#3 Florida State 22 2 9 11 3.59 2,074
#4 USC 23 2 7 9 3.09 1,822
#5 Oklahoma 17 2 8 7 3.71 1,805
#6 Ohio State 20 0 9 11 3.45 1,787
#7 Oregon 20 0 10 10 3.50 1,703
#8 Clemson 23 1 7 12 3.26 1,687
#9 LSU 19 1 7 10 3.42 1,669
#10 North Carolina 21 0 8 12 3.33 1,577
#11 Stanford 22 0 8 12 3.27 1,450
#12 Texas Tech 21 0 6 15 3.29 1,445
#13 Nebraska 16 0 10 5 3.56 1,414
#14 Mississippi 24 0 5 19 3.21 1,370
#15 Florida 16 0 8 7 3.44 1,366
#16 California 15 0 9 6 3.60 1,342
#17 Notre Dame 19 0 6 12 3.26 1,336
#18 Auburn 16 0 7 9 3.44 1,326
#19 Georgia 16 0 8 7 3.44 1,261
This is the “DREAM TEAM”
legionaire
January 7th, 2011
6:05 am
No bluechipper wants to go thru rebuilding at the SEC level. They are searching for teams that will showcase their skills, more primetime tv, more wins and championships. To be a #1 draft pick is to hit the lottery. These kids see blood in the water at UGA and choose to not go there.
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
6:19 am
Mark Richt vs SEC
LOSS Auburn
LOSS Florida
Win Kentucky
Win Vanderbilt
Win Tennessee
LOSS Missy State
LOSS Arkansas
LOSS South Carolina
LOSS Kentucky
Win Auburn
LOSS Florida
Win Vanderbilt
LOSS Tennessee
Out of the last 13 SEC games, Mark Richt has Won 5.
legionaire is correct. They don’t want to come play here.
The Hedge
January 7th, 2011
6:58 am
This is not NEWS! Dickson was always going to Alabama since his Junior year – anyone that follows recruiting knows this – the coin flip was just a ploy for attention – Bray was commited to AU – UGA gets its share…
Thundering Flea
January 7th, 2011
7:11 am
Years ago at my office we had a manager who was incompetent and was constantly making mistakes with everything he touched. I finally went to the big boss and laid it out and said the guy needs to be fired. The reaction from this wimp of a boss was “But he is a hard worker. He stays late every day and is always the last one to leave”. My response back was “Yeh, and the later he stays and the more he works on, the more things he screws up”.
Somehow I feel the same way now about McGarity’s avoidance of taking the real steps that are needed to fix the problems at UGA. Richt cannot fix the problems because he is the problem. The longer he is left in the job, the worse things will get.
A great head coach has to be able to see reality and see where their program ranks. Richt can’t seem to do that. A head coach has to be able to objectively evaluate talent of the coaches on his staff. Richt doesn’t seem to be able to do that. A head coach must be able to evaulate talent of high school kids and recruit the right ones. Richt doesn’t seem to be able to do that. A head coach needs to be able to coach up and improve the skills of the players he does recruit. Richt and his coaching staff don’t seem to be able to do that. A head coach needs to have passion for his team and be able to fire up his players. Richt doesn’t seem to know how to do that as he seems totally emotionless. A head coach needs to be able to assure that the scheme of offensive and defensive plays called in the game aren’t stale and predictable. Richt can’t seem to do that. A head coach has to have the ability to assess and see what steps need to be done and not take corrective measures only after all of the fans (who figured it out a long time before him) demanded it so loudly that he felt like he had to so something. On and on and on………..
ugahedges@aol.com
January 7th, 2011
7:14 am
i remember when jabrai davis betrayed uga to go to tennessee thinking it was better,the dawgs ended up wining the sec, tennessee ended up in smaller bowls.cam will leave auburn and they will fall back to a 6 or 7 win team and uga will be back ,so betray your state and see the dawgs walk on you! go dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!
ValdostaGuy
January 7th, 2011
8:14 am
Georgia about to crash and burn. They will not be getting the best players in the state this year. Sad.
Crumpy's dogs need to be put down
January 7th, 2011
8:32 am
georgiagirl – Georgia will be fine ????? They have been irrelevant for 30+ years.
Go back to the kitchen and cook your man something… sweetie.
Bucky
January 7th, 2011
8:40 am
This is not a big story. It simply means that two high school players chose to not go to Athens and play on a team of undisciplined goons and jerks for coaches who are clueless idiots.
Vance Duuley
January 7th, 2011
8:44 am
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking three years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get every year. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 8-4 or even 9-3 occasionally, but Florida or another team will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
Ok, we get it Bradley and Shultz!
January 7th, 2011
9:12 am
Ok, we get it Bradley and Shultz. You guys don’t like Richt and want to see him get fired even though neither of you have the guts to call for it. Are you going to write an article every time a UGA target signs with someone else? The piling on is beginning to have a very juvenile feel to it. BOTH of you guys wrote articles at the end of the season talking about how Mark Richt should be allowed to have another year and now we have an almost daily barrage of articles from you guys saying he can’t do it. If that was your opinion then you should have written it then. Your petty vendetta against Richt is starting to look real pathetic.
Crumpy's dogs need to be put down
January 7th, 2011
9:39 am
Just a reminder.. Coach Richt is a christian. They can’t fire him or they will go to hell.
TruthSeeker
January 7th, 2011
9:40 am
I agree with the above poster @ 9:12 AM. How many times can you write the same article? It’s been clear since the Colorado game in early October that 2011 is going to be a make-or-break year for Mark Richt. Why we need these daily manifestos on Mark Richt’s job security is beyond me. I think everyone’s figured it out by now that his situation is tenuous, so let’s just wait and see what happens next year.
crossdawg
January 7th, 2011
9:45 am
I’m sure MR will find a couple of thugs somewhere that other teams don’t want.
Autiger83
January 7th, 2011
9:45 am
ugahedges, I’d stop with the “state betrayal” nonsense. UGA can only sign so many players, and keep in mind kids choose schools based on THEIR needs and wants, not yours or anybody else in this state. Georgia is a fine school. My daughter goes there and is in the redcoat band! But its not the right fit for everybody.
Win some lose some. Deal with it.
Bradley nemesis
January 7th, 2011
9:57 am
Mark Bradley – when the Dawgs win the SEC East next year, you owe a big apology to Mark Richt. Don’t know what he did to set you off so badly, but your treatment of him has been unacceptable. If his coaching was 1/2 as bad as your sports writing, then maybe he should go. But clearly, he has a long way to go to be at the depths of your incompetency. Go away.
Mark Richt
January 7th, 2011
9:59 am
Hey Bradley – Did I piss in your Cheerios or something?
Fire Bradley!
January 7th, 2011
10:00 am
Here’s a better idea. Let’s all pull to get Mark Bradley fired!
He has his nose so far up Bobby Cox’s butt that he’s lost in there.
He has so much hatred for Mark Richt that he clearly can’t write anything unbiased.
FIRE BRADLEY!!!! HE STINKS!
Let's Not Panic
January 7th, 2011
10:34 am
Looks to me like we’re doing pretty well…
ESPN Top 10 Recruiting
School ESPNU 150 Commits
1. Texas 8 23
2. Alabama 6 20
3. FSU 11 22
4. Florida 5 15
5. Oklahoma 6 18
6. Ohio State 5 19
7. LSU 4 19
8. Georgia 5 16
9. Clemson 5 23
10. USC 5 22