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
todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
9:59 am
Gee, i wonder if a criminal record would disqualify a UGA applicant with a perfect SAT score from admission? Doesn’t disqualify an athlete who can’t spell his own name.
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
January 6th, 2011
9:59 am
I am afraid its going to be a long two or three years before the dogs are respectable again 1 more year of Richt one year of learning a new system with a new staff heck it might take longer than two or three years.
Mark Bradley
January 6th, 2011
9:59 am
I once labeled the Chick-fil-A Bowl a third-tier bowl. (Which is different from third-rate, let me stipulate.)
They didn’t appreciate that, Curious George. Threatened to ban me from covering the game. (A threat not carried through, I should note.)
uuugh...
January 6th, 2011
9:59 am
Agree with EW…Pollack was a 2 star FB recruit. We need more 2 and 3 star guys that want to earn a win rather than a team full of 4 star guys that expect a win to be given to them.
todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:00 am
Richt’s career is a mirror of Bobby Bowden’s, only compressed in about a third of the time.
Bobby won big with thugs and gimmicks, but people caught up and he won no more.
Sound familiar?
Dawg Fud
January 6th, 2011
10:01 am
EW does make a point. I don’t recall Pollack or Greene being more than 3 stars.
However, we actually coached people up back then and our D was littered with NFL talent…Bailey, Bell, Davis, Jones, Blue, Thornton, Pollack…etc.
JB
January 6th, 2011
10:01 am
25,000 empty seats at the Liberty Bowl. The team didn’t want to get off the bus…and it showed. A month to prepare for Central Florida and we don’t score a touchdown. The best receiver in College football and you can’t score. Brookwood high could gain 150 yards up the middle on us. The head coach tells us that Bobo and Searles did not do a good job, but a great job. Haven’t got a high school’er to say yes since before the season started. Beat no one with a winning record. The blue chippers running away out of state. Yep, all’s well in Athens.
JTDawg
January 6th, 2011
10:01 am
” Last I checked a bunch of dudes that just play football and don’t feed into the hoopla just won the Rose Bowl.”
******************************************
matt r, that’s true, but if Auburn wins the BCS Championship, it will be the first team to do so in about a decade, without at least one top-ranked recruiting class.
Mark Bradley
January 6th, 2011
10:01 am
And I’d agree that recruiting rankings aren’t always a measure. (Georgia would seem to be Exhibit A.) But when even Georgia’s recruiting rankings slip … whoa, Nelly.
Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!
January 6th, 2011
10:01 am
I love how all of the writers on here bash UGA. Do you take pleasure in getting people fired? Do you like bad mouthing our coaches and their recruiting decisions, while it is against the rules to comment on the matter? I would like a paper with a little moral fiber. Good grief.
R.Samuel, W. Ealey, C. King
January 6th, 2011
10:02 am
Note to I. Crowell:
We were all 4-5 Star running backs out of High School and we came to UGA. Look at the success we have had running behind OLs coached by GREAT coaches. Why would you even have to think about that committment to UGA?
Dumbo
January 6th, 2011
10:02 am
UGA…the biggest problem is UGA is stuck with Richt. There aren’t very many good coaches available. I mean heck, we could do like Tech and hire a 1 trick pony act.
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todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:04 am
I noted in Richt’s press conference he said that McGarity had relieved him of some of his duties as head coach. Wonder what Richt will think when McGarity relieves him of ALL duties as head coach. heh
Isaiah Crowell
January 6th, 2011
10:04 am
Well at least I looked like the future Heisman winner in the Under Armour game last night. Richt should sleep well knowing that his future is in my hands. LMAO!!!
JB
January 6th, 2011
10:05 am
One more….Got the AD to take over my paper work so I can study football…..GEEZ
Isaiah Crowell
January 6th, 2011
10:05 am
Well at least I played great last night. CMR can rest easy because I was the best playa on the field.
Isaiah Crowell
January 6th, 2011
10:05 am
Wasnt I great last night?
Buzz Me
January 6th, 2011
10:06 am
crimeDAWGS are legends in only their own minds. Kids are finally starting to see it!
The most Interesting Man Alive
January 6th, 2011
10:06 am
Well at least Crowell showed he was the real deal last night.
todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:07 am
The Georgia team on the field at the Liberty Bowl looked completely lost on both sides of the ball. If UCF had had a decent offense it would have been a much worse loss. And a month to prepare.
Now Richt and company have 8 months to prepare. Makes one shudder.
JTDawg
January 6th, 2011
10:07 am
So Richt hasn’t studied football in . . .how long?
Boy UGA’s getting its money’s worth with this staff, huh?
McDawg
January 6th, 2011
10:07 am
we need OL and DL -so Dickson would have been nice-we have all kinds of ATH or whatever that position is but the lines win championships
Q. Bray
January 6th, 2011
10:07 am
Wa Eaga, Baby!
Buzz Me
January 6th, 2011
10:07 am
Hey dumbo…if CPJ said he wanted to coach at UGA, they would send a limo for him. Richt is a no trick pony!
JB
January 6th, 2011
10:08 am
Southern Dawg @9:53……………I think “coach’em up” IS the problem.
Dawg with bag over his head
January 6th, 2011
10:08 am
Despite what the dwindling set of blind homers and Buck Belue types think, you can’t put lipstick on a pig and expect everyone to think it’s anything but a pig. Poor coaching and on-field performance over the last 3 seasons coupled with a dreadful and embarrassing showing at the Liberty Bowl has turned the majority of Dawg fans and most potential recruits against the CEO MR regime. Fan reaction to the press conference and the lack of commits from the UA game last night bear this out. Stating that Searels and Bobo did “great jobs” last year shows just how delusional CEO MR has become. Most fans and potential recruits aren’t buying this or any other “lipstick” spin.
CEO MR’s record this coming season is irrelevant. We’ve rapidly gotten to the point where all faith has been lost and a head coaching change is the ONLY real solution that will change player’s and fan’s attitudes . Perception is reality. The SEC is full of recent examples of where change was extremely positive. Shula, Tuberville, Nutt, and Croom were replaced with terrific results in a very short time. Likewise, look at how the Cowboy’s players reacted to the replacement of Wade Phillips. CEO MR’s rearrangement of the Titanic’s deck chairs is just going to keep us in the death spiral of bad performance impacting recruiting which impacts performance which impacts recruiting.
kudzu
January 6th, 2011
10:09 am
I could not enjoy the game last night for having to sit through (watching these 18 year olds) being sold and buying into THE HYPE…most of these kids could not even share a coherent sentence…yet, they are capable of making good, wise, thoughtful, and life-altering decisions about their futures…and we CELEBRATE their decisions, and make so much of them…and applaude them and and cry and on and on…
I love football, but all this idol worship had got to stop…
Dumbo
January 6th, 2011
10:09 am
Buzz Me…..Right butthead, sure they would NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe they are waiting to see what ....
January 6th, 2011
10:09 am
McGarity must have some spoken or unspoken hurdles for Richt to clear in order to keep his job now, not later. The bowl game and game prep and team attitude was one such goal. Failed that test. Murray and his Batman gloves are the ugly memory of that debacle.
Next, is recruiting ……………..if Richt fails that test and ends up scrambling in Feb. to sign some kids that are just local players as fill ins ………….. that too would be another Mark Richt failure. Remember, in 2009 the frosh class was substandard and ranked about 17th.
Maybe the UGA administrators ( Adams and McGarity ) are waiting to see what kind of class UGA ends up with. Knowing now that it too is becoming a giant failure and what that portends for the future ( two years out ) they go ahead and fire him in Feb.
The reasons for canning Richt and his staff now are obvious. A new coach can come in and evaluate the squad ( Batman gloves must go ) and move the program forward NOW by rebuilding bridges in Georgia H Schools and start recruiting hard for 202 and beyond.
The Boise State game would be the target of a new staff and they could scheme in spring camp and the G Day game and come August, be ready and MOTIVATED. The team should be re energized then, as they now feel the pressure mounting on the coaches.
Fire Richt now. These things continue to unravel before they get better and it is looking bad for CMR and his losing staff. They had their shots and failed.
UGA class of 71 & 73
Choke Grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:10 am
Why didn’t Helen Hunt say I did as good of job as Bobo?
Buzz Me
January 6th, 2011
10:11 am
Hey Dumbo…at least you named yourself correctly.
Falcsfan10
January 6th, 2011
10:11 am
Mark, Richt knew that his team needed to beat UCF in the bowl game to strengthen the relationship with potential recruits. Yet once again he plays ultra conservative and loses. The bowl loss resulted in losing Dickson & Bray. I’m sure both those guys said “Man UGA really sucks, they just lost to UCF…”
Dumbo
January 6th, 2011
10:12 am
Buzz Me….wow are’t we funny
Falcsfan10
January 6th, 2011
10:12 am
Richt better be visiting Crowell right now. Crowell is the diamond of all the recruits !
Hey Coach Richt
January 6th, 2011
10:12 am
I did as good of job as Bobo!!
signed Choke Grantham
The Real World
January 6th, 2011
10:13 am
I hope these players play pro ball because there life after football won’t be in Georgia. I hope they enjoy living in Alabama after football. As a business owner, there will be no opportunities for these young men in Griffin or anywhere else in Georgia.
Falcsfan10
January 6th, 2011
10:13 am
“Finish The Drill” McGarity.
Isaiah Crowell
January 6th, 2011
10:13 am
Johnathan did you see me play last night?
spider
January 6th, 2011
10:14 am
GT wasnt seen 1 time last night as a school someone was considering.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 6th, 2011
10:15 am
The only way to stop the bleeding in recruiting is to extend CMR contract. The programs are killing UGA in the parents home due to the programs downturn over 3 years and the upswing of other local schools. Hell, the coaches can pringt out the blogs and read the recruits our comments and tell the recruits that once the masses turn it will not be long before CMR is gone. It is all in the angles these recruiters are taking and it is killing CMR and staff.
McGarity had 3 options
1) Extend Richt
2) Fire Richt, and sacrifice 1 recruiting season
3) Keep Richt almost in a lameduck status and if 2011 goes sideways he will have sacrificed 2 recruiting seasons.
No win situation right now for Richt in Athens, its sinking and quickly.
Nick Saban
January 6th, 2011
10:15 am
Hey 5 star recruit, did you know that Richt’s gonna be fired after your freshman year?
JB
January 6th, 2011
10:15 am
Richt= Baghdad Bob ………………” Iraq is safe. There are no bombs dropping here. We are not under attack. The Kingdom is Safe. All is well. Pay no attention to those building blowing up. I do not know who’s bombers those are. All is well in Athe……..err I mean Baghdad………
Falcsfan10
January 6th, 2011
10:15 am
Griffin and LaGrange is Ga Tech territory to start with Real World…
Paul Revere
January 6th, 2011
10:15 am
My Bulldog family, Like many of you I am alumni and sickened by the last two days. Please take a moment to open another window on your computer and copy your coment to both McGarity and Adams. Crap rolls downhill so lets make sure every comment on these blogs fills their inboxes.
gmcgarity@sports.uga.edu
presuga@uga.edu
Jim
January 6th, 2011
10:16 am
You so called UGA fans and couch potato coaches are doing way more harm than good to the UGA program. How many of you have ever developed a game plan for a FBS football team? I know “none” Most of you probably were mediocre high school players at best. Give Coach MR a chance to turn things around. Your continuous negative bashing is disgusting. Either support the program or shut the h–l up.
todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:16 am
3) Keep Richt almost in a lameduck status and if 2011 goes sideways he will have sacrificed 2 recruiting seasons.
That’s the worst scenario but unfortunately it’s most likely to happen.
Buzz Me
January 6th, 2011
10:17 am
Dumbo…which is it, can’t type. can’t spell or both?
Falcsfan10
January 6th, 2011
10:17 am
I think McGarity went with option 3 Lowcountry.
todd grantham
January 6th, 2011
10:18 am
Georgia fans may as well take a deep breath and accept that the next 2 to 3 years are going to be humiliating on the football field.