Credit to Richt: A big recruiting yield at a big moment for UGA
Coming off its first losing season since 1996, Georgia is poised to sign the most illustrious recruiting class Mark Richt has assembled, which is saying something when you consider two 2006 signees were among the top dozen taken in the 2009 NFL draft. Obvious question: Who saw this coming?
Said Chad Simmons, the Southeast recruiting analyst for Scout.com/FoxSports: “I am a little surprised … but I’m not that surprised.”
If we’ve learned anything this past month, it’s that the Georgia program might be in a weakened state but that the Georgia name remains a powerful thing. Four different SEC programs have accounted for the past five BCS titles, and yet Georgia, at least on Signing Day 2011, seems positioned to stand with any of them.
Said Simmons: “I don’t think wins and losses make a difference. There’s a chance Georgia, which was 6-7, will outrecruit Auburn, which won the national championship.”
Said Jeff Dantzler, the astute Athens radio man: “This is the most important recruiting class coach Richt has ever had, and it’s one of the most important in Georgia history. And it’s not just because of talent — it’s because of the psyche of our people.”
We pause to insert the disclaimer: Recruiting isn’t an exact science; if it were, Georgia wouldn’t have been 6-7. But such was the discord in and around the program — fans in a tizzy, media (blush) in high dudgeon, the strength coach being re-assigned — that a diminished recruiting class figured to be the next falling domino. But no.
Scout.com ranks Georgia’s class the nation’s seventh-best, and Simmons said there’s a chance the Bulldogs could clamber into the top five. Still in play: The running back Isaiah Crowell of Carver-Columbus, the defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan of Asheville, N.C. and the massive defensive tackle John Jenkins of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Simmons: “If all the chips fall their way, this would definitely be the top class Richt has had. It would throw over the [2006] one with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno and Reshad Jones.”
Let’s recall: The calendar year began badly. Having lost the Liberty Bowl to Central Florida on New Year’s Eve, Georgia watched Xzavier Dickson of Griffin and Quan Bray of LaGrange use the Jan. 5 Under Armour All-America Game to announce for Alabama and Auburn, respectively. That prompted even more hand-wringing among Bulldog Nation — and much tut-tutting, it must be said, from this observer — but Richt and Co. have since gotten almost everybody worth getting. How?
“It’s a tribute to these coaches for not giving up, for selling Georgia as still being Georgia,” Simmons said. “They want these guys to be difference-makers, the guy who’ll turn it around.”
We say again: With Richt, recruiting has never been the overriding concern. At issue is how well assembled resources have been marshaled. Which leads to this: Should Georgia land Crowell and Jenkins to go with Ray Drew (defensive end, Thomasville) and Damian Swann (defensive back, Grady High) and Jay Rome (tight end, Valdosta), could the Bulldogs win the SEC East next fall?
Simmons: “These next few days [Crowell is announcing Wednesday, Jenkins not until Saturday] will be big for Georgia. Those are guys who can play for Georgia next year. They’re big pieces in this class. Jenkins is the 6-foot-4, 340-pound nose guard that [defensive coordinator] Todd Grantham needs for his 3-4 defense.”
Let’s see. Big interior lineman from a junior college: Didn’t Auburn just win it all with one of those? (The name was Nick Fairley, in case any Bulldog fans have forgotten.) And a hotshot freshman runner: Didn’t the arrival of Marcus Lattimore lift South Carolina to a breakthrough SEC East crown? Said Simmons: “Crowell can be that same type of player for Georgia.”
We pause here for breath, and also to remember: Georgia went 6-7 and didn’t beat a team with a winning record. But such is the promise inherent in recruiting, and no school knows better than this one. In 1979 the Bulldogs were 6-5. They signed Herschel Walker (running back, Wrightsville) on Easter Sunday 1980; on New Year’s Day 1981, they became national champs.
By Mark Bradley
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523 comments Add your comment
A.Bishop
January 31st, 2011
7:41 pm
Dan Mullen, MSU is a fluke program. You are a bunch of puppies. Fake ass dogs, go back to the reject capital of the world.
More and More
January 31st, 2011
7:45 pm
More thugs to UGA. Have the Athens police staffed up yet?
Grim Reaper
January 31st, 2011
7:47 pm
“The most important in Georgia history. And it’s not just because of talent — it’s because of the psyche of our people.”
Georgia fans jump off Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville next year, or put concrete cleats on Richt and push him off when the dream loses number 19 of 22! Now thats what I call “PSYCHE”!
Sold your souls for three years of Herschel, paid me ever since…
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
7:50 pm
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.
Same ole same ole.
georgia out recruits the world
Hahahahahaha.
Bet you do another Memphis Bowl
Bet we win or lose to you by less than a touch down.
Bet you still fear Central Florida
Paul N Destin
January 31st, 2011
7:50 pm
Crowell will be a dog instead of Bama but if you think this guy is going to lead you this year then you’re going to be disappointed. He can come in and give you some quality but he can’t take the pounding of being the featured back at this time. He was running vs children but that changes damn soon. Mark had a great year but as one poster commented Bama,LSU, and Auburn are ahead of the dogs with several more SEC teams right behind. You can be doing better but your still losing ground to the real big dogs. Nick is just getting it going with this class (arrives in fall) Bama will have four years of recruits on campus and that is 2 #1’s, #4 and whatever this calls ends (current #1). Bama failed this year because Nick’s 1st class wasn’t good and he ran many of those off over the past 3 years (some had injuries ..serious). You need coaching and recruiting and UGA is short in the coaching but it’s not all Mark Richt.
Jacket Man
January 31st, 2011
7:53 pm
greenjacket; what the ESPN re-ranking of the 2007 Class that moves GA Tech’s up to number six could prove a couple of things. One, GA Tech gets more out of their recruits than UGA (highly probable), and/or two, the services that establish the rankings of the classes in the first place are bias (also highly probable).
The most interesting thing about the re-ranking to me was the fact that some teams that had good recruiting classes and highly respected coaches tracked fairly consistent (i.e. Florida & Texas). There were also some teams that had lower ranked classes but coaches who are deemed superior that moved their classes way ahead of their original spots (i.e. Frank Beamer with Virginia Tech & Paul Johnson of GA Tech).
Mark Richt? Like I’ve said before, he does less with some of the best recruits in the Country. Until he proves otherwise, it’s the same old, same old and Bulldog fans will be calling for his head again come next December (or sooner).
Better Dawgs
January 31st, 2011
7:56 pm
Keep betting against CMR and CTG! You will see.
Cobb Dawg
January 31st, 2011
7:57 pm
Mel from Atlanta asked:
“Anyone know what kind of cash Au is throwing around this year?”
Mel, I would have thought that *AU’s payroll would be down this season with so many boosters in jail. But they’re coming up with the money somewhere. I guess they must have an endowment set up specifically for football recruits and players. God knows they sure don’t spend it on education!
kral
January 31st, 2011
7:58 pm
yeller pizz life would not be complete without your positive vibes
cooldawg
January 31st, 2011
7:58 pm
LAST! YAY ME!
I am a UGA Fan
January 31st, 2011
7:59 pm
we ain’t won crap in 30 years and i’ll say it again like we all UGA fans say every year. WE WILL WIN IT ALL ! ……hind sight we might go 7-5 at best.
Cobb Dawg
January 31st, 2011
8:01 pm
I love it that we’re putting this great class together, especially pleasing it the fact that so many other schools are represented here to try and cause us angst. Deal with it *AU, GT, UT, etc. My Dawgs are gathering strength!
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:01 pm
jac man I guess you should add mack brown and surbban meyer to your list of the get’ s less oout of more….check their recruiting..and their last year records
gt4ever
January 31st, 2011
8:10 pm
I have no idea how some of these journalists come up with these stories……. They have had top 10 recruiting classes for as long as I can remember…… What makes this class any different…
@AltamahaDawg
January 31st, 2011
8:12 pm
AltamahaDawg
Sorry, I thought this was a team sport. So, you’re telling me Murray having six games under his belt would not have had him ready for the 2010 season. That the coaches wouldn’t have know what Murray was capable of doing that year, instead if waiting for the past season. Also, remember Murray was just a freshman QB, as there was still Met and Logan G. to contend with. The coaches didn’t know how he would turn out. If, he showed the promise that year, instead of waiting, then OC Bobo could have know how to use him so much better and earlier. H3ll, the way CMB brought him along so slowly because he didn’t know what he was capable of doing. Bobo had the entire OL, not to mention the DAWG Nation convinced that he was the “weakest” link on a “veteran” offense that had “10″ returning players. Not a lot of confidence shown, or stated, about the “leader” of your offense. So, they go into the season (after coming off a poor season) with an untested QB, with a lot of questions about his size, arm, leadership abilities, team chemistry, etc. But, I digress here, because UGA is the team of wait until next year. How did that 6 and 7 season taste. How did it feel losing to Conf USA’s champion UCF. Alright, on the count of 3…1, 2 , 3 Let’s all get behind CMR, and those who don’t drink the kool-aid, well then “you aren’t true DAWG fans” and should just shut up and go root for someone else. Ignore the man behind the curtain.
gt4ever
January 31st, 2011
8:13 pm
Cobb Dawg,
Funny, they have been gathering strength for 12 years…… Should we annoint them MNC again…. What a JOKE UGA Football has become.
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:14 pm
I agree gt4 but dammmmm ain’t exciting when everyones talking about your recruits and your hoping there is a tebow, cam, or a walker in this class
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:19 pm
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:14 pm
I agree gt4 but dammmmm ain’t exciting when everyones talking about your recruits and your hoping there is a tebow, cam, or a walker in this class
Sort of the way I feel when I read these blogs hoping there is a kral, DawginLace or OneEyeJacked in the thread.
gt4ever
January 31st, 2011
8:19 pm
Kral,
I wouldn’t recognize the feeling…………We are signing all the Georgia Southern recruits…
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:21 pm
kral
January 31st, 2011
7:58 pm
yeller pizz life would not be complete without your positive vibes
kral: some day that koolaid just won’t get it done for you little man.
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:22 pm
Alt dawg you need to get you a new team..your never going to be happy…just critical..you call em likes you sees them….and that fine….but for you to ????? how coaches bring along or develop players is a joke unless you some famous coach I have never heard of….I’m thinking we may have the best qb in the sec next year so they really screwed up not burning him for 6 games by the way it did not taste good, but shiiitt happens and it can be overcome
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:26 pm
I am so happy you answered me my friend..I missed yoou yeeeelller pizzz in a plutonic sort of way because I know us little men need to be directed by you big men…who only look big in the mirror, but if you examine them deeply….you find out their tall and shallow….think about it pizzer
Constant refrain from UGA opponents
January 31st, 2011
8:26 pm
Observation from AJC posts:
Everytime a Dream Team topic appears, the recurring refrain appears: Richt can’t coach, Richt can’t coach, Richt can’t coach………….. It is almost like our SEC opponents are looking to each other for aid and comfort as they see the Dream Team coming to fruition. Note that at first, the idea of the Dream Team was ridiculed, then as the pieces started to fall into place, we get the Richt can’t coach bit. Is there insecurity showing from those who have to face the Dogs?
Let’s address the issue of Richt’s coaching. His first five years resulted in 2 SEC titles, and an SECE title. There have been six top ten finishes, and two top three finishes. The last couple of years have been bad (by UGA standards this decade, though some of our opponents see similar records for their team as signs of hope). What happened the last few years, since we know Richt CAN win when the conditions are right.
If you follow Georgia at all, you know we have had some coaching problems in certain spots, some say due to Richt’s loyalty to assistants. Everyone knows we have struggled especially on defense, and Richt has taken steps to remedy that situation. It now appears to most that we have had some serious problems with strength and conditioning that gradually came on, this has been addressed. This season will indicate how successfully these changes have worked out.
To sum up, the Dream Team is coming to Athens, and the Dogs are not going to be taking any prisoners. You can see the doubts and fears of our opponents revealed in their attempts to convince each other that the Dogs are not putting it back together. Oh, but we are, and you have every right to cringe at that thought.
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:29 pm
kral:
I’d rather be tall and shallow than small and swallow
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:29 pm
I will help you out pizzer…tall is high…shallow is low….is kind of an irony thing …get it
NCBulldog
January 31st, 2011
8:29 pm
TDA—-Yes UGA did have a lot of good classes—and they won 2 SEC championships and played for a 3rd one during that stretch but if you look back 4 years ago we had a poor class. Not even in the TOP ten——-most of these players will be the diff makers in 2,3, or 4 years from now with the exception of the 5 star players or JUCO transfers. That means if you have 1 year of bad recruiting you pay the price 3-4 years down the road. Hopefully we are back on top next year! Go Dawgs!
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:32 pm
now you proved your not much of an intelligent man ..big or small you just went juvenile..and reallly hurt my feelings..now go to the bathroom and say 10 times I am better man than that
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:34 pm
What’s that? georgia lands another top 5 recruiting class nationally?
Glad those previuos classes got you back to back Shreveport and Memphis bowls not to mention a humbling 45-42 bitch slapping between the bushes.
(((((((((( forty freaking five – forty freakin two )))))))))) hahahahahaha
glad it still stings some og you die hard red koolaid drunkards!
Hahahahahahahahahahahhahah
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:36 pm
kral:
You’re right little man. I had know right to hurt your feelings. I am retiring for the evening.
AltamahaDawg
January 31st, 2011
8:37 pm
I’m sorry guys. I dont really understand your point (guy who is using my name) and kral, not sure which one you are talking to.
Field Goal Jesus.
January 31st, 2011
8:40 pm
“Said Chad Simmons, the Southeast recruiting analyst for Scout.com/FoxSports: “I am a little surprised … but I’m not that surprised.” This guy has seen this movie too. Much ado about nuthin. Could be something though for the new coach in 2012.
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:41 pm
There you go running away …know wiser than yoou were when you got here and do not worry big little man I will get over it quickly
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:41 pm
AltamahaDawg:
How’s it going little man?
Yellow Fuzz
January 31st, 2011
8:43 pm
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:41 pm
There you go running away …know wiser than yoou were when you got here and do not worry big little man I will get over it quickly
That’s true little man. If I knew anything I sure as HECK wouldn’t be here!
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:43 pm
FGJ tell something about ND, helll ll they would probably salivate over MR record at GA
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:46 pm
oooo yo know things but you come on here an act lick and asssshoooole..an then call your self a big man you need to learn what it takes to be a big man
King Gator
January 31st, 2011
8:47 pm
Just reading up on who will be playing for the losing side the next 4 years in Jax. Go Gators!
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
8:49 pm
King Gator: get a life.
The Trurh Hurts
January 31st, 2011
8:51 pm
A few salient comments:
1. Four different SEC teams have won the last five BCS championships.
2. UGA was not one of those teams.
3. During that period, UGA did not win the SEC championship.
4. During that period, UGA did not even win its SEC division.
5. Red panties.
In other words, UGA has sunk into total irrelevancy both regionally and nationally.
So why is UGA paying Mark Richt millions of dollars a year?
UGA is a total joke in every way.
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
8:54 pm
UGA has been irrelevant one year. How many coaches have gone their entire careers at one school while competing for a championship EVERY year?
Mick
January 31st, 2011
8:55 pm
you guys crack me up
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:56 pm
I love when someone tells me the truth,,,like last season did not hurt enough…you TTH are amazing..can you please tell me what is going to happen in Egypt..Irag.. and Afganistan
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
mike: kral:
Just because the internet is anonymous doesn’t mean it excuses you from making immature and inappropriate comments in the middle of a college football article response forum.
I’m a UGA fan, but I have ten times the respect for any Florida, Auburn, or GT fan who can at least refrain from those childish comments than I have for either of you.
Please do the rest of the UGA fan base and either shut up or grow up. You’re embarrassing us.
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
yyou sound like that movie …” You don’t want the truth, you can not handle the truth are you Jack Niclelson hurts
Mick
January 31st, 2011
9:00 pm
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
mike: kral:
Just because the internet is anonymous doesn’t mean it excuses you from making immature and inappropriate comments in the middle of a college football article response forum.
I’m a UGA fan, but I have ten times the respect for any Florida, Auburn, or GT fan who can at least refrain from those childish comments than I have for either of you.
Please do the rest of the UGA fan base and either shut up or grow up. You’re embarrassing us.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
9:00 pm
kral:
Do you even read what you’re writing?
Mick
January 31st, 2011
9:01 pm
kral
January 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
yyou sound like that movie …” You don’t want the truth, you can not handle the truth are you Jack Niclelson hurts
You sound like that movie….”squeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
9:01 pm
Thank you for your support Mick. Greatly appreciated.
Thuga's incoming Convicts
January 31st, 2011
9:02 pm
More Thugs coming!!!! Someone alert the National Guard
Mick
January 31st, 2011
9:02 pm
Swarles Barkley
January 31st, 2011
9:00 pm
kral:
Do you even read what you’re writing?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH