New LB coach ‘looking forward to’ competing ‘for SEC and national championships’
Warren Belin
The Georgia football team’s defensive coaching staff is whole again.
The final opening on the staff was filled this afternoon, when UGA coach Mark Richt hired Warren Belin from Vanderbilt as a linebackers coach.
The addition of Belin, following last month’s hires of Todd Grantham from the Dallas Cowboys as defensive coordinator and Scott Lakatos from Connecticut as defensive-backs coach, completed the makeover of a defensive staff that was decimated by Richt’s Dec. 2 firing of three assistants.
Belin is a 20-year coaching veteran who spent the past eight seasons as Vanderbilt’s linebackers coach. He also was Vandy’s recruiting coordinator the past two years and special-teams coordinator in 2006-07.
“I’m looking forward to the next step in my career with Coach Richt and the opportunity to compete for SEC and national championships,” Belin said in a statement late this afternoon.
A former Wake Forest football player (1987-90), Belin coached at SMU, William & Mary, Cornell and East Tennessee State before going to Vanderbilt, where his work drew Richt’s attention.
“Warren has had some of the best linebackers and tacklers in the league for years,” Richt said in a statement.
Richt added that when he and Grantham interviewed Belin, “we were very impressed with his knowledge of the game, schemes and fundamentals. He’s going to be a perfect mentor for our players as well.”
Belin will share the linebacker-coaching duties with Grantham, who plans to convert Georgia’s defensive alignment from a 4-3 to a 3-4, meaning three linemen and four linebackers rather than vice versa.
Grantham said last month that he will coach either the inside or outside linebackers with the final hire –- Belin -– coaching the other. Georgia didn’t announce their specific assignments today.
The linebacker position added a player earlier this week when Richt confirmed that Richard Samuel will move there in spring practice. Samuel was Georgia’s starting taiback at the start of last season but had fallen well behind Caleb King and Washaun Ealey at the position by season’s end.
Grantham, Lakatos and Belin join the only holdover on Georgia’s defensive staff, Rodney Garner, who will coach the linemen. Garner also is the recruiting coordinator.
“I look forward to working with Coach Grantham, Coach Garner and Coach Lakatos in installing the new defensive package,” Belin said. “My wife and family are excited about the opportunity to become part of the Athens community, Bulldog Nation and the great tradition at UGA.”
Belin and his wife, Yolanda, have three daughters: 7-year-old Camryn and 4-year-old twins Morgan and MacKenzi.
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503 comments Add your comment
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:30 pm
Bring back Tubby, you obviously know how to manuever around the internet. Why don’t you put some use to your knowledge of the internet and look at the bio’s of all the coaches in the position coaches in the SEC and see where their last coaching job was. If hiring a coach from Vandy makes you scratch your head your going to peel the skin off your head after looking at these.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:31 pm
Please enlighten me, Leave Vandy alone, since you have resorted to name calling on a blog…lol
Leave Vandy Alone
February 6th, 2010
1:31 pm
Hey Ghost. Go eat something.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:32 pm
Oh I remember Tubby, also remember 26-14 and 41-14 and I will keep going if you want…..
Leave Vandy Alone
February 6th, 2010
1:33 pm
Who was name calling?
Leave Vandy Alone
February 6th, 2010
1:33 pm
Actually jasont, I think I misunderstood what you said, so all might be well.
Yellow Fuzz
February 6th, 2010
1:33 pm
xtenshun
February 6th, 2010
12:56 pm
Congratulations to the Dawgs lead by Coach Richt for their latest hire, Coach Belin. It’s so easy to caught up in the nonsense of writers and their target audiences of dolts, who together create the nonsense and trouble needed to create interest and circulation. You can’t always compare your program to others based on the occasional blip in wins/losses. How many Kiffinesque (and the obvious others)programs would have targeted a coach at Vandy and been willing to wait until AFTER Vandy’s recruiting was solidified to hire away that important cog in Vandy’s process. This is a telling and only small sample of the integrity and honor Coach Richt and his staff brings to UGA. All is well at our school and consistency is generally a good thing when managed by the right person. I would not trade the leadership at our program for any of the Kiffin, Saban, Carrol, Petrinos etc of the world. We will have a solid to really good year this year, be back playing in a New Years Day type bowl and all will be good. As a fan, be proud of our players and coaches ( and future recruits ). Go Dawgs!
Xtenshun:
“Congratulations to the Dawgs lead by Coach Richt for their latest hire, Coach Belin. It’s so easy to get caught up in the nonsense of writers and their target audiences of dolts, who together create the nonsense and trouble needed to create interest and circulation”.
YOU INCLUDED, MY AH FRIEND!
“How many Kiffinesque (and the obvious others) programs would have targeted a coach at Vandy and been willing to wait until AFTER Vandy’s recruiting was solidified to hire away that important cog in Vandy’s process”?
NICE SPIN! HAHAHA. SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE PRETTY GOOD AT CREATING THE “NONSENSE” YOURSELF. MAYBE COACH BELIN IS NO BETTER THAN THE “MANY KIFFINESQUES” IN THAT HE CAN RECRUIT A KID WITH A STRAIGHT FACE AND BOLT ON HIM AFTER NATIONAL SIGNING DAY. HAHAHA. WHY DON’T YOU ASK THE BUTLER, GARNHAM AND WHITE’S THAT HE RECRUITED TO VANDY.
“This is a telling and only small sample of the integrity and honor Coach Richt and his staff brings to Uga”.
NOT BUYING IT. DO YOU THINK SABAN KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MANY TIMES RICHT FLEW INTO TUSCALOOSA?
“We will have a solid to really good year this year”
EXACTLY WHAT IS “A SOLID TO REALLY GOOD YEAR” MR. NO “NONSENSE WRITER”
“playing in a New Years Day type bowl”
AGAIN, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT AH?
YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WRITING NOTHING AT ALL HERE!
Bring Back Tubby
February 6th, 2010
1:36 pm
Jasont……. you are sounding like a gamec0ck fan now !!!!!
Chancie
February 6th, 2010
1:39 pm
Clemson has established a very respectible program for many years now. Maybe not in big bwin seasons, but at least we finally got rid of Tommy Bowden.Danny had run his course, put us on the national nmap. However, he got too big for his britches. What cost him his job was he wanted to run everything and the powers in charge held their ground. Today he runs his farm just outside of the Clemson city limits.
Clemson is on the rise I feel and can’t wait until we start playing UGA again.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:39 pm
Nope Tubby, I’m a UGA fan and graduate. I remember being in Neyland Stadium and seeing it half empty in the 3rd QTR when UGA beat the Vols 41-14. Tennessee beat UGA fair and square last year. We had an incompetent defensive cordinator who made zero adjustments in the second half. All that and to go along with a D-II QB who was horrible, should have put Murray in but he was hurt most of the season.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:40 pm
Chancie, you know Danny Ford was not running a clean program when was there.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:43 pm
Hey yellow fuzz, funny how you bring up Nick Saban, you know he did the same thing to NC State in 2007, he hired Curt Cignetti away from NC State (recruting cordinator) the day after signing day. Tells you about Saban’s integrity.
6 POINTS IS A BEATDOWN !!!
February 6th, 2010
1:46 pm
Do YoU rEmEmBeR 2008?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
AltamahaDawg
February 6th, 2010
1:47 pm
This guy ended up signing 3 of the top 50 players in the state of Georgia, same as TN, which some folks seemed to claim was a major recruiting accomplishment.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
1:49 pm
Well put AltamahaDawg.
6 POINTS IS A BEATDOWN !!!
February 6th, 2010
1:50 pm
LoOk At ThE sAnFoRnItEs LeAvINg ThE sTaDiUm.
brucemac
February 6th, 2010
1:58 pm
At least we filled it up to begin with. No techie needs to discuss fan support unless they are complete morons. I guess you qualify. We will show you beatdown this November and it won’t be 6 points. Good thing the game doesn’t matter to your head coach.
Will Meyer Lose 3, 4 or 5 Games in 2010?
February 6th, 2010
1:58 pm
i’m talking with my buds and I am hearing different things. Some say Gators lose 3, some 4, some say 5.
i see Gators losing in 2010 to Bama and LSU without a doubt. 0-2 there.
Then they get to face Georgia and Tenn. They’ll go 1-1 in those games.
Then they get FSU, & South Carolina. Go 1-1 there too.
4 losses in 2010.
Papadawg
February 6th, 2010
1:59 pm
Shut up Tech nerds, you lost 2 of your last 3 including Uhh 30-24
AltamahaDawg
February 6th, 2010
2:04 pm
Some will interested to know that Vandy was tops the league in KO yrd defense last year.
Will Meyer Lose 3, 4 or 5 Games in 2010?
February 6th, 2010
2:04 pm
Forgot about Miss. St. Add them to the last gorup of FSU & Tenn so:
Group 1: 0 wins-2 losses
Bama & LSU
Group 2: 1 win-1 loss
Georgia & South Carolina
group 3: 2 wins-1 loss
Tenn, Miss St. and FSU.
Larry Munson
February 6th, 2010
2:05 pm
Look there are losses falling from the sky!!!
Moving players around
February 6th, 2010
2:11 pm
I like the fact that UGA HAS athletes that can be moved around to better the overall effort. Samuels moving to line backer is a great example. If he can put on say 15 or 18 pounds and retain his speed, he can really be a force. With great coaching and for sure we have that now with the new D coaches, he will do well. This is like getting a top notch, and FAST JC kid and installing him into the D.
Imagine Tech taking their new itty bitty incoming frosh running back all 5′5″ and 155 pounds and moving him to linebacker in two years. Sort of a drop off there. HAHAHAHAHA
Go Dogs!!!
shane#1
February 6th, 2010
2:18 pm
Alt, Richt has hired Lilly, RC at FSU, and now Vandy’s RC. CWM was a very good recruiter so Richt needed to make a move to replace him. With these guys and Garner I look for the 2011 class to be much improved. I really kind of like this years class because of all those big ‘ol linemen. I believe that winning teams are built from the inside out.
Florida Faces Four Top 25 Ranked Teams in 2010
February 6th, 2010
2:20 pm
no wonder 5 coaches quit Florida.
Seen their schedule? Brutal. Toughest in the NCAA.
Face four top 25 ranked teams:
Bama, LSU, FSU & Georgia
Then they get South Carolina, Tenn, & Miss St.
Brutal.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
2:20 pm
I think Belin is going to coach mainly outside linebackers and special teams. In regards to recruiting I think he will help out but mainly more of intoducing himself as a special teams/outside backers coach. Grantham is running the show and that is what I like best. Willie seemed to let his defensive coaches do whatever and not follow a particular agenda.
jasont
February 6th, 2010
2:22 pm
Kind of like UGA’s schedule last year. But it also included a top ten team for their ooc.
dawg85
February 6th, 2010
2:27 pm
Belin’s a good hire. Using recruiting as the benchmark Vandy has over achieved defensively for years. Winning is a combination of coaching and talent. The loss of BVG began to show in the first year and was more and more telling as time went on. The first half of CMRs time at Georgia and the second half have both been heavily influenced by the play of Georgia’s defense. The head coach can’t do everything. He has to have the right staff around him. It would appear CMR is getting that staff in place. We shall see but the prognosis on these guys seems to be really good.
Florida Faces Four Top 25 Ranked Teams in 2010
February 6th, 2010
2:35 pm
No, it’s NOTHING compared to Georgia’s BRUTAL 2009 schedule.
Georgia played 4 TOP 10 teams in 2009:
Ok. St.
Florida
LSU
Ga Tech
Florida plays 4 TOP 25 teams in 2010.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4804655
.
February 6th, 2010
2:42 pm
chancie….sorry to break it you bud, but clemson is a side note, an asterik*, to UGA after Ford pulled his shenanigans. Those WERE some good gomes in the eighties, but not so much anymore. Iwas actaully embarrased for y’all the last time we met a few years ago in death valley….to the tune of 30 to zip.
jayjay
February 6th, 2010
2:48 pm
I wish we would hire the University of Oregon cheerleading coach. Improve the “quality” of that squad too. Sex it up a bit. Screw the gymnastics…..
Papadawg
February 6th, 2010
2:50 pm
I think Coach Richt has finally asked himself, do I want Friends as Coaches or a winning football team. It’s ok to be friends with your staff but only if they are doing their job and the past staff were not doing their jobs. I’m glad he realized that and took action which I’m sure hurt since they were his Buds.
big boy josh
February 6th, 2010
3:41 pm
hopefully the dawgs defense will be better
Buckhead Bulldog
February 6th, 2010
3:47 pm
jayjay….no doubt. what IS up with our cheerleaders? there used to be serious, hot, babes on the squad.
David
February 6th, 2010
4:10 pm
Great hire, now let bring our win level from 8 wins to 12 to 13 wins a season, and beat some teams that we did not do last season!!!!
Finally
February 6th, 2010
4:32 pm
A return to smash-mouth football and the Junkyard Dawgs!!! Defense wins championships and this defensive coaching staff will get us where we want to be regarding limiting ppg to 15 or so average. The only missing piece of the puzzle is when Richt realizes that he needs to get a qualified OC; Bobo is waaaaaay too predictable and all of the SEC and ACC teams’ coaches know it. It’s not against NCAA regulations to adjust your offense when it doesn’t produce or keep doing what is productive until the opposing defense figures it out!
10 a year with Willie, 12-13 a year with Grantham
February 6th, 2010
5:10 pm
Richt has averaged 10 wins a year in his 1st 9 seasons with a sub-par set of defensive coaches. 90 wins in 9 seasons.
the new defensive staff should be good for 2-3 more wins per year, so we’re looking at 12-13 wins per year, instead of 10.
SOUTHWEST GA. DAWG
February 6th, 2010
5:12 pm
GREAT HIRE, I LOVE ALL OF THE HIRES NOW LET’S BACK OFF AND GIVE THESE PROVEN GUYS TIME TO MAKE UGA BACK TO A TOP PROGRAM……… GOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS WHOOF WHOOF
ECB
February 6th, 2010
5:56 pm
its almost like all you put the firing squad up before the jury has made its verdict. You call your self a UGA fan???
charleston dawg
February 6th, 2010
6:00 pm
Good question jaxdawg. He must wear the tight fitting jorts…if you know what I mean.
Flowery Branch Dawg
February 6th, 2010
6:47 pm
Warren Belin is a great hire. Richt and Grantham did their homework on this one!!!! Excellent!
colorado bulldog
February 6th, 2010
6:51 pm
I’m a UGA Grad with a seven-year old son and twins four-year boys. So if he turns out great LBs at UGA, we might need to do some matchmaking.
Louie
February 6th, 2010
6:55 pm
Well, where do I start.
Had to leave for a while, but now I’m back.
Checked earlier posts to catch up, still no word from ‘jackhammer.’
jackhammer, get your but back in here.
The whole num-mutt nation is ga-ga over a Vandy (yes Vanderbilt) hire on there defense.
How much begging did it take to pull this off.
Bet Damon made the final call.
Tomorrow we can read his Obama-like message here on mutt central.
Well, I’ll check back in a little while.
I’m sure Louie Jr. will check in also.
Such a bright boy he has turned out to be.
STILL L M F A O
mason
February 6th, 2010
7:24 pm
(( 30-24 ))
hahahahahahahahaha
(( 46th rank nationally class ))
hahahahahahahahahahahaahhaahhahahahaaaaa
L M A O
Dilly Dally
February 6th, 2010
7:28 pm
Why did coach belin come to Cow Town USA if he is ” Looking forward to suc and national championships”.
Me think he took a wrong turn.
He’s nowhere near Birmingham, Gainsville, or Knoxville.
GA Tech Insider
February 6th, 2010
7:30 pm
Andy McCollum has agreed in principle to become the GT defensive line coach. You heard it first here. Will be announced Monday or Tuesday.
WHO DAT !!!!!!!!!!!
February 6th, 2010
7:32 pm
WHO DAT COACH FROM BOTTOM DWELLING SEC TEAM ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Hat turnt sideways
February 6th, 2010
7:34 pm
Dat be me coach belin
AltamahaDawg
February 6th, 2010
7:41 pm
Heard (told) it here first? Here? In the UGA football blog?
You tech fans have some real identity issues.
Louie
February 6th, 2010
7:48 pm
Gotta go.
Catch the mutters in the am.
STILL….But you knew that.
jackhammer….get in here!