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
GT Fan
January 6th, 2011
11:33 am
Mark, Almost everything you said also applies to Paul Hewitt and GT’s Basketball program. Would like to see more pressure put on Paul Hewitt to stop stealing the money and move on. (fired)
I also pull for UGA when not playing GT. I can understand the fans anger because I too am disappointed in Richt and Bobo.
I also hope Coach Johnson gets a passing game and special teams coach. God bless both schools.
GimmickRicht
January 6th, 2011
11:33 am
If nothing else works, er uh, if you can’t dazzle em with your brilliance, baffle em with your…. Richt says now I’ve tried black outs, I’ve tried changing helmets, I’ve tried rushing the field at Florida, now, I’ve got it, how about “dream team”. Earth to Richt, you do’t have it. Go to Amway or Fuller Brushes with you inane gimmicks. Did you think since adults aren’t buying your bull, that maybe 18 year olds would. Srike three Richt, you’re out, literally and soon to be figuratively.
Hey Richt, Your get worse by the year subpar seasons, coupled with this recruiting class, which is probably gonna be loaded with non physical, finesse, anemic, underperforming, troblemakers is not looking like you deserve to be around by next year’s end. But Georgia seems to have boundless tolerance with its loser coaches versus the Michigans of college football so you figure for $2.8 mil a year this is Shangri-La.
Mmm hmmm
January 6th, 2011
11:33 am
It’s telling that the kids don’t want to join Georgia and quite understandable. On the good side for Georgia, they have never been known to do anything with all their top ranked recruits anyway. So, I don’t see how this is really a negative for them. Especially when it comes with recruits whose names are spelled phonetically. Maybe Richt will finally have to wake up and be forced to coach up the kids he gets. I am astounded he is even still there in the first place with all the $ Georgia brings in. As usual with Georgia football it’s “Better luck next year!”. So glad I’m not a Bulldog fan.
Go Gators!
Tail tucked betwix legs
January 6th, 2011
11:34 am
I said it on Schultz’s blog I’ll say it again: WHY would any solid recruit committ to Ga when the SEC West is wiping the floor with the comp, SC returning its starters, Muschamp to Fl, and TN rebuilding???
Anyone care to answer?? Anyone?? Bueler??
Field Goal Jesus.
January 6th, 2011
11:35 am
Yeah Baby…. Central Florida !
jasont13
January 6th, 2011
11:35 am
Curious your a moron. Kids can not sign until February 2nd, therefore all he has done is committed to Notre Dame. UGA did look at the kid and asked for game film and for DeVaris to come to one of their camps. Guess what he didn’t want to come to their camp and they did not recieve game film that was requested. So what the heck are they supposed to do? Your probably the one who would have flipped saying Richt offers a kid from Illinois a scholarship and doesn’t offer a kid in Georgia. MORON!!
Tail tucked betwix legs
January 6th, 2011
11:36 am
“We’re a powerhouse, we’ll *for certain* be undefeated next yr, etc” and other delusional rants from dawg fans are not acceptable answers by the way…
Field Goal Jesus.
January 6th, 2011
11:37 am
Double whammy for pamby mamby ! You jack wagons !
team player
January 6th, 2011
11:39 am
Flipping a coin to see where you will attend school shows just how immature and unprepared this child is when it comes to making a life decision. Mentally he is not far removed from sitting in a baby chair and having his mother spoon feed him. Not that it matters at all…but I had heard this child say he would flip the coin 5 times and take the best out of 3 to determine his pick….I would have beat him to the punch and sent him a text saying that we flipped a coin and decided that there was
ATL is TigerTown
January 6th, 2011
11:41 am
I’ve been to Tuscalooza more times than I care to remember. It’s a dump. Dickson will probably regret his decision.
ATL is TigerTown
January 6th, 2011
11:43 am
Jason, when you say “your”, but you mean “you’re”, that means YOU’RE a moron, moron.
Curious
January 6th, 2011
11:43 am
jasont13….Please correct your grammar. Twice you used “your” incorrectly. It should be you’re.
Boo
January 6th, 2011
11:43 am
Looks like he posed for Halloween.
Buzz Belle
January 6th, 2011
11:44 am
As a Tech fan I shouldn’t be talking but as I recall, UGA always bragged about their “all-Star” recruits. Do you think your coach is good enough to coach up a middle of the road player and make him great? It appears the next few years will depend on this! Personally, I hope you keep Richt for a long, long time.
Andy In Blairsville
January 6th, 2011
11:45 am
UGA is a bottom-middle tier regional SEC program with a HC who has one foot out the door. Why would any recruit go there?
dawg2
January 6th, 2011
11:45 am
Hell..Tenn has more upside than we do. The Dooley kid has really got the fans and team fired up. Man the players have busted their butt for him…uga players have not busted their butt for Richt, thats for sure. Richt needs to go!!!
If you were a 5 star are any star…why would you pick UGA over Ala, Aub, FSU, MSU, UF, Tenn and CFU for that matter. Hell they wish to win in a win program and winning Coach. We have lost the edge. One more year..for what more of the same.
80 Dawg
January 6th, 2011
11:47 am
When did Dickson ,who cant even speak , and the Bray guy become Ga. season????? these would have been ok pick ups but they are the little fish.. If we dont pick up Crowell Rome, and drew the we have something to worry about.
Bradley you a true idiot if you really think Dickson and Bray are the best in Ga. and the DAWGS are finished next year because we did pick them up. How do you keep your job???????? I do believe these two players went where they went because they know who is going to Ga. ,Rome Drew Crowelly.
Quan Bray
January 6th, 2011
11:49 am
Of course I’m going to Auburn- they pay the most and if you haven’t heard the most recent news, the can fix grades too.
nauti-dawg
January 6th, 2011
11:49 am
By making out that UGA losing a couple of recruiting hopefuls is a program death nail your reporting has resorted to “tabloid journalism” level. Sensationalism to get blog response from a pitiful mix of out of work die hard fans and haters – this is what AJC has come to…no longer a valid newspaper, just AP rehashes and a weak online site that 24 hours behind the news cycle that demands instant response.
If the economy was better I would suggest you get a real job, but considering your skill set & the alternatives – I reckon you’d better milk this gig for all you can.
Andy In Blairsville
January 6th, 2011
11:52 am
UGA Football is the same disaster as University of Michigan Football. Minus the 11 National Championships of course.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
11:53 am
Damn I hate smart a@@ English teachers.
Curious must have never made a mistake..right jason13!
still@the bar
January 6th, 2011
11:54 am
I hear every team not on Crowells list just tried to recruit the Tropicana turf. That Tropicana Turf was tackling Crowell as good as any player on the other team. I want me some Crowell. He is the next Hershel for sure.
ylojkt
January 6th, 2011
11:54 am
Everyone please stop, Mark Richt is a great coach and he’ll have the best recruiting class in the nation and will win 12 games next year. He also has a great tan and sells the hell out of those Ford …………… BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sorry, I tried to keep it in, but I just couldn’t. Seriously, please stop, my sides are aching from laughing so hard.
Trade
January 6th, 2011
11:55 am
I think the SEC should kick out UGA and bring in FSU. UGA will continue to be irrelevant.
Carlton
January 6th, 2011
11:56 am
I don’t think many recruits will be calling Richt while he’s in his Ford this season..
Andy In Blairsville
January 6th, 2011
11:56 am
Not a bad idea Trade. Or the SEC teams should at least pay UGA to play them as their cupcake games.
Pago Pago Dawg
January 6th, 2011
11:57 am
4th and inches….and we kick a field goal. Game over…season over.
Ted M
January 6th, 2011
11:57 am
Look at the bright side the Dawgs are 11-2 and they play KY at home Saturday.
Dawgpound
January 6th, 2011
11:57 am
YOu can call UGA a mid tier team or whatever else but the fact of the matter is it is a premier school in a top notch recruiting state. Sure, they are down right now but ask any program if they fear UGA vs. Ole Miss, Miss State, Kentucky or any other mid tier team, getting a good coach and gettin it together then they would tell you UGA is the school that could and should be a perenial top ten team. Bandwagoners jump off the bandwagon now and haters keep on hating becuase just like in the early 80’s and early 00’s you are going to eat your own words.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
11:58 am
Keep my Ford F-150 out of it..I can’t help who drives one…. they are great trucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nauti-dawg
January 6th, 2011
12:00 pm
@Marvin Mangrum – good call out. + I have to agree on other recruiting call outs – there is plenty of good talent NOT being recruited & many that ARE that shouldn’t be.
Coaching up is another problem altogether but the recruiting one is huge.
BTW let’s not recruit anyone else that missed their entire senior year with injuries (i.e. King)
saban
January 6th, 2011
12:00 pm
So many recruits so few places to put them.
Imagine red-shirting all of them here in local high schools for a few years might work.
I might sell a few to Auburn.
Keep Richt.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
12:00 pm
Carlton..they call his wife..go dawg!
browndog
January 6th, 2011
12:00 pm
Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas,MSU, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee are now all ahead of UGA. Never thought I would see the day that UGA would be looked at regarding football the same way as Ole Miss, Kentucky and Vandy. I am still an ardent supporter of UGA, but the immediate future does not look too bright.
Jeff in Calhoun
January 6th, 2011
12:01 pm
Mark,
The problem for Mark Richt is he has lost his edge. Ever since Brian Vangorder left it has been down since. The next head coach at UGA should be a defensive specialist like Saban and Chizik. This reminds me of the Fulmer collaspe at Tennessee. It is sad for me to write this. I like Mark Richt and wish him and his family the best but, the time has come for him and UGA to move on separately.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
12:05 pm
Wait till next year!!!!!!!
No wait till 2012!!!!!!!!!!
Carlton
January 6th, 2011
12:05 pm
O-me-that one was good.
Matter of fact, Richt’s so delusional he probably missed that too-I mean, she does work on the sideline as the “watergirl” HAHA!
Curious
January 6th, 2011
12:05 pm
O-me, His name is not jason13, it is jasont13. I’m a reading comprehension teacher.
Andy In Blairsville
January 6th, 2011
12:06 pm
What makes UGA a premier national level school?
Because it’s simply in the SEC? FAIL
Because it won the SEC back in 2005? FAIL
Because Richt used to recruit well? FAIL
Because its a profitable program? FAIL
Because the last time it won on a national level was 1980? FAIL
GTBob
January 6th, 2011
12:06 pm
They lost two recruits and pulled a previous offer they made to another. UGA is going backwards in their recruiting.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
12:07 pm
ok..just shoot us both. Will that make up happy?
Nick Saban
January 6th, 2011
12:08 pm
I paid the coin’s father so he’d land on Bama’s side- but guess what, it isn’t against NCAA rules!
Oconeedawg
January 6th, 2011
12:08 pm
Mark what is this article about, trying to get Coach Richt fired or more of you negative “stuff” about UGA? Yes, the Dawgs lost out on the recuits that announced their decision last nite. But remember the big one are still undecided Cromwell, Rome, Drew, Swann. The Dawgs need Cromwell and Rome and it would be a plus if they got Drew and Swann.
Mark now I know why the organizers of the Chick-fil-a bowl don’t like you!!!!!
The coin toss dude is heading to BAMA that is where “thugs” go because they are protected but at UGA they would be arrested, jailed, and sent home!!!! Good thing Mr. coin toss is headed there.
O-me
January 6th, 2011
12:10 pm
O-me did I make a mistake? up=you happy.hahaha
Dan Mullen
January 6th, 2011
12:10 pm
I just lost my DC coordinator to Texas. Maybe MSU really is a stepping stone job. Hey Greg McGarity, let’s talk!
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 6th, 2011
12:13 pm
After having watched the ESPN 30 for 30 show, Pony Excess, it makes me wonder if the SEC is the 21st century version of the Southwestern Conference.
UGA76
January 6th, 2011
12:14 pm
It’s time for Mark to go.
Winners
January 6th, 2011
12:14 pm
I am Dawg, but we are in a drought. These kids want to play for winners. They want to most exposure for their talents. At the moment, we have no momentum. I hope we can land isaiah crowell. That will be a plus at least!
Thanks,
http://www.the404list.com
War Jacket
January 6th, 2011
12:15 pm
The problem is larger than Richt. Georgia has had maybe five good years since 1980, and most of those were under Richt.
And this record just doesn’t make sense:
- Top five high school football talent in the US.
- Practically unlimited resources spent on its football program.
- Located in a great college town and fun place to go to school.
- One of the best football stadiums anywhere to play a game in.
- Rabid, loyal fan base.
Georgia has been the most underachieving program in the nation sense 1980.
Why?
back atcha
January 6th, 2011
12:17 pm
Is there nothing else happening in sports in Atlanta for ya’ll to write about? How many of you ( arvill had his say last night) are going to pound this story about one kid who was never coming to UGA because he wants to play in a spread offense and another kid who was under intense parental pressure to go to Alabama and who said he was going to flip a coin to make his decision. Mark, you know that a commitment by a lot of high school seniors is as fleeting as the wind. Why don’t you wait until signing day and then attack, if there is any attack to be made.
I hope you are better than this article portrays you to be.