Have you seen my jorts laying around?

Who do these high school coaches think they are? I mean I appreciate the fact that they’re trying to look out for their kids, but these universities are risking a lot of money and resources into the recruiting process and coaches jobs are on the line. Half the kids they recruit will turn them down. The kids and parents are clearly looking out for their best interest when they change their minds at the last minute, shafting the recruiters in the process. So why can’t the universities do the same? The recruiting process is chess, not checkers.

Chip – agree with you. CMR kind of reminds me of a cross between Vince Dooley – in that he will be UGA in the top half of the SEC and for the most part a very good coach – and – Bill Currey – who had the “total person” approach.

Coach Currey was really into developing good character – and took a firm hand on discipline – yet gave second chances. A very good man!

I thought he did a great job at Alabama – and set the table for Coach Stallings.

Coach Dooley – also a good man – a gentleman as well – seemed not “intense” enough to win a National Title – good thing Hershall came along – andhe was smart enought – and the supporting cast good enough – to win a National Title.

Which brings me to Richt – a good human being – a gentleman – will have very competitive teams – total person development – but lacks that “intensity” (see SABAN, MEYER, MILES, etc.) to win a national title – at least that’s my thoughts.

Chip – keep up the good work and remember this……

ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a person who volunteers with youths throughout the year, and have had 2 sons participate in the recruiting “game”. I have also conducted Q& A sessions and symposiums about the recruiting process. So much of the problem in recruiting is due to a true lack of understanding which results in parents and players leaving their future totally in the hands of coaches with varying interests. The business of college football recruiting is a GAME, however very few non-coaches know the rules. PARENTS NEED TO LEARN MORE BEFOREHAND, so that they don’t leave so much in the hands of high school coaches (who know only a little more than they do).

One of my sons was recruited by UGA, but did not receive an offer. But…before you jump to any conclusions that I am anti-UGA for that reason, stop. The process my son and I went through with UGA was great, primarily because of the communication and expectations established early in the process. I told the coach who was recruiting him that I expected from him the same honesty about where my son stood with them, as he expected from him if an offer was made. When the time was right, that coach was upfront that 4 offers were made at the position my son played…they planned on signing 2 (and felt they had them in the bag)…but that if something fell through, my son was “next” on the board. It was wonderful to hear that…nothing is worse than a “maybe”. At that point, we made the decision to move on, and not wait for a “possibility” that may not come. Thanks to the rapport the coach and I developed, and the honestly of the coach, we were not left on the fence. When my son told him that we were moving on, all partied parted with a great respect for one another. I consider this to be a good recruiting story.

On the other hand, another coach from an SEC school encouraged my son to come for an unofficial visit. It was “strongly suggested” that an offer was going to be made when he came. That was a day in our lives that we will never get back, ’cause we’re still waiting for the follow-up offer! LOL! A kid I have worked with did not have his scholly renewed by an SEC school because he didn’t gain enough weight! He was recruited as a DE, moved to DT, and released after Spring practice this year. The truth is, that school signed more kids than they had schollies, but thought several wouldn’t qualify. When they did, the school created schollies by “releasing” players! Those are bad stories.

Now…I must say that no college coach should be put on too much of a pedestal when it comes to recruiting. They are providing a sales pitch that was offered the year before, is being offered to others this year, and will be offered to some others next year. The head coaches are being paid millions of dollars, and hundreds of thousands are being paid to assistants, to #1 – WIN, #2 – generate revenue (through winning), #3 – make the alums happy (for the purpose of #2, and accomplished by #1), and #4 – avoid scandal. I have never seen a coach fired solely b/c of the graduation rate of his players. It’s all about getting enough talent to compete. Coach Richt is a very nice guy, but as competitive as they come. UGA has signed many kids with borderline academic and character concerns, but it’s naive to think they did that because they wanted to give the kids a 2nd chance. They felt the kids would help them win.

If a parent is not involved enough to learn more about the system beforehand, then they are voluntarily leaving their child’s future in the hands of others. If one of those people make it difficult to consider a school because of a rift btwn the high school coach and the school, so be it. The parent has nothing to complain about since they essentially turned it over to that coach to handle. I have no problem with what Coach McGee did, but I find his 180 degree turn in 2 months to be laughable. We must remember that it makes him look good to have 2 of his athletes recruited by UGA. More good athletes will now want to play for him, thus increasing his chances of keeping a winning program going.

As I said before…it’s ALL a game.

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Gators for Richt!

TO GERALD BALL:
I enjoyed your post and appreciate the passion.

However, I disagree in your arguement about win/loss being the only thing that is important.

1. These successful college coaches get paid millions to win games first (which is exactly your point). Nick Saban will now make $4 million a year coaching college. Do you think he would be making this kind of money being a 6-5 coach in the SEC. No he would be fired.

However – by NCAA rules – and just as important – pressure from alumni – and the Univiersities themselves. All (including the coach) do not want the black eye on the University by giving unqualified kids scholarships that do not have the ability to graduate. The tide has turned in that the majority of Universities and Alumni want the winning records with kids that can do the work – and graduate. And that is how it should be.

Examples:
- minimum academic requirements to be allowed to receive scholarships.
Defending UGA here – they have sent several kids to prep schools to get their act together for a chance to play D-1 ball and full scholarship.

By the way – where are the HS coaches that allow such athletes to compete on the field when they are not competing in the classroom? I suggest to you that they are more concerned about their own win and loss record.

Also – the primary group opposed to minimum standards was the NAACP.

2. Again – defending UGA as this is a primarily a UGA blog – they have not admitted several kids that were academically qualified – but had a troubled past. This is UGA standards. Richt has personally found scholarships for two kids at Mississippi State and Arkansas – in helping out a kid – giving them opportunity as they failed to meet UGA admission requirements.

3. I do agree that Coach Dell McGee is doing his best to look out for kids that he has nurtured and he wants the best for them. However, like most coaches out there – they have huge egos – which is what makes them successful. Problem is – they get a false sense of self importance.

Coach McGee stated that he never meant for this to get the publicity it received – yea – right! If this was the fact – he would have had private conversations with UGA staff – not gone to the figging media and lambasted that particular school.

I do not know all of the facts – but apparently there was a huge communication issue. I hate it that the kid and his family were embarrassed and hurt – just hate this happened. However, this is a great life lesson – one door closes – make another open up. This kid now has a scholarship at a good academic university. I wish him the best. If this is the worst thing that happens to this kid in his life – then he will turn out in great shape.

One last thought. We all root for these kids on game day – but more of us than you think root for the kids in the classroom as well.

The hypathetical kid that you mentioned eventually living under a bridge on herion and nobody cares. I would say we all care – but we also realize that this kid has a huge degree of responsibility of his own actions as well.
– Did he attend class?
– Did he chose a major that would give him an opportunity to compete for a good job after graduation?
– Did he graduate?
– Did he go to the big university to play football only and not pay any attention to his future?

I believe there must be minimum requirements in academics and moral and ethical standards. IF a kid messes up and is a thug – then he can go to a Junior College and get his life in order – there is nothing wrong with this path.

We all have issues with these situations – these scholarships are not entitlements – but opportunities that should be given to the best athletes that also meet academic standards.

Again – this is primarily a UGA blog – so we will speak specifically about UGA. I firmly believe that UGA gets it – and wants these kids to graduate. They give out these opportunities – and the players also have responsibility to do there part as well.

ROLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!

Of course, this is hypothetically speaking. So, if there was a coach known to mistreat and abuse his players, a university known for exploiting and failing to educate them or properly treat their injuries, and an athletics department known for failing to honor scholarships i.e. refusing to renew them on a year to year basis, would you oppose a high school coach’s refusing to allow that program to recruit his players? A high school coach does not have the right, no, the MORAL RESPONSIBILITY to try to do everything in his power to prevent his players from choosing a situation that the coach knows is bad for him?

What is it that you people care about anyway? Wins for the Georgia Bulldogs above all else? You are willing to throw everything away just to beat Florida once every four years? McGee is an educator, leader, advisor and authority figure of young men, and he is so by choice. The guy could be doing something else if he wanted to, including being a runner for those sleazy agents, and making a lot more money. So do you want him to act as a mentor, guide and authority figure? Do you want kids to respect their parents, teachers, coaches, and pastors so that we will have a strong, healthy functioning society regardless of what happens on the football field? Or do you want people like McGee to abdicate their responsibility and authority and just hand kids over to people who to be perfectly honest could care less about these kids as people?

That’s right, I said it. If UGA doesn’t get one of those Carver kids, big deal, they’ll just go recruit somebody else. UGA’s responsibility to these kids begins when those kids actually get on campus. Even after a kid signs a letter of intent, Richt has the prerogative to rescind it, like Oklahoma did to that Jarboe kid over a Youtube video (Jarboe is now at Troy State) last and Richt did to a player who got arrested this year (he still hasn’t been able to find a school). There is absolutely no point in pretending that these college coaches are looking out for the best interests of these recruits because they aren’t. You said it yourself … it’s a business, and if these coaches have to choose between their million dollar salaries and the future of any one of these kids, they’ll look after themselves, and justify their actions by saying “hey, I am not that kid’s mother, father, teacher, guidance counselor, pastor, OR HIGH SCHOOL COACH. I look after my own business, and this kid and the people who know and love him and have a stake in his future should have been looking after his.” And you know what? That coach would be 100% right. It isn’t the job of Richt, Saban, Spurrier, Miles or anyone else to look out for what is best for these kids in what you well know is a billion dollar industry that chews kids up and spits them out right and left. That is the job of the kids and their support systems, and this support system includes high school coaches like McGee. So back off, let McGee do his job guiding and advising his players, and you stick to your own job with your own kids (assuming that you have any) or the players of your own team (assuming that you even coach a team).

MOst of you folks sitting back trashing the parents of these prospects have never so much as had a kid be recruited to play for some basketweaving junior college tech, let alone Division I-A major program. Most of you who trash coaches never even so much as put in 4 or 5 hours a week as a volunteer coach at a YMCA or church league. Yet you have the nerve to trash parents and coaches of kids that have to make one of the biggest decisions of their lives, people who UNLIKE YOU are actually involved in the lives of these kids and know and care about them. If these kids were to wind up living under some bridge strung out on heroin you could care less so long as UGA still has 85 guys on scholarship that are better than most other schools. Admit it. You don’t care about these kids, you have nothing invested in them, you have no stake in their future, so stop criticizing those who do. Seriously, you people disgust me. You really do. The vast majority of these kids whose names appear in these recruiting columns and on signing day, you will never hear of again. Yet those are real people who have to live their lives the best that they can, and I hope that these kids listen to authority figures and get good advice from them that will help them later in life. If this coach’s stand against UGA teaches these kids a lesson on how to stand up for themselves and not let the government or their employer take advantage of them, then he has done his job. Then again, you could care less about his job as an authority figure and life teacher to these kids because you don’t care about these kids anyway – only UGA victories – so my time was wasted on you anyway.