Archive for January, 2011

In the spirit of the season — Signing Day is Wednesday, you might have heard — ESPNU and ESPN The Magazine have ranked the 20 best recruiters in college sports.

There’s a University of Georgia coach on the list, and you might guess the UGA rep would be a football coach, given that program’s recent roll on the recruiting trail.

But guess again.

Georgia gymnastics coach Jay Clark is the ninth best recruiter in all of college sports, according to the rankings compiled by a panel of three dozen “experts.” He is the only gymnastics coach -– and the only coach from a Georgia school –- on the list.

Clark is in his second season as the Gym Dogs’ head coach and was a long-time assistant and lead recruiter under former coach Suzanne Yoculan.

Here’s the ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine list of college sports’ top 20 recruiters:

1. Pat Henry, Texas A&M men’s and women’s cross-country/indoor and outdoor track

2. Anson Dorrance, North Carolina women’s soccer

3. Ed Orgeron, USC football …

Continue reading Who is UGA’s top recruiter? Not who you might guess… »

You’ve got a few more days to apply for Stacy Searels‘ old job.

The vacancy on Georgia’s football coaching staff was officially posted on the university’s employment website Friday. The posting says applications will close on Feb. 4.

(While no one expects the job to be filled by someone who learns of it from perusing the website, it nevertheless is required to be posted for five business days.)

The posting doesn’t provide much in the way of specifics about the job, defining it simply as a “replacement” position for an “asst football coach.” Among the lines left blank: salary range and work hours.

Job duties include “evaluating and recruiting qualified student-athletes … whose athletic and personal skills make them highly competitive in the SEC and nationally, and whose academic potential makes them good candidates for a meaningful academic experience and graduation at the University of Georgia….”

Interested, anyone?

And speaking of Searels, the offensive line coach got a …

Continue reading Help wanted: UGA posts vacancy on football coaching staff »

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The story on Georgia’s 66-60 loss to Kentucky — and the story basically was that Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie had dismal days — can be found by clicking here.

Elsewhere in the SEC on Saturday, things got pretty interesting, with the Eastern Division going 1-3 against the much maligned Western Division. Florida lost at Mississippi State. South Carolina lost by 15 points at home to Auburn, which previously was winless in the league. And Vanderbilt lost by 11 at home to Arkansas, the Commodores’ first home loss of the season. In the other East-vs.-West game, Tennessee won at Ole Miss.

The day’s results left the East closely bunched, with Florida still in first place and Georgia still in last. Here are the standings through Saturday:

Florida 5-2

Kentucky 4-2

Tennessee 4-2

South Carolina 3-3

Vanderbilt 3-3

Georgia 3-4

“I knew we would take our lumps in the conference because we have a great conference,” Thompkins said Saturday night.  “I’d definitely like …

Continue reading Sorting out the SEC East … »

Offensive line coach Stacy Searels got a six-figure raise when he left Georgia for the same job at Texas last week.

Searels will be paid $425,000 annually at Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman, which on Friday obtained the contracts of the Longhorns’ assistant football coaches through an open-records request.

Searels’ salary represents a $135,000 –- or 47 percent –- raise over the $290,000 annual pay called for in his last contract with Georgia. In addition, that contract included a bonus for bowl games ($19,400 for last season’s Liberty Bowl).

Georgia’s highest paid assistant coach, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, makes $750,000 per year. No other Georgia assistant makes as much as Searels’ new salary.

Texas will pay new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, hired from Mississippi State, and new co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, hired from Boise State, annual salaries of $625,000, according to the contracts obtained by the Austin newspaper.

– Tim …

Continue reading Searels got $135,000 raise to leave UGA »

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After a homestand that fell short of expectations, the Georgia men’s basketball team faces a daunting stretch on the road.

The Bulldogs, who lost two of three games on their longest SEC homestand of the season, play five of their next seven conference games away from Athens. The stretch starts with a 4 p.m. game Saturday at Kentucky, where Georgia’s all-time record is 5-54.

The Bulldogs (14-5, 3-3 SEC) beat Kentucky (15-4, 3-2) in Athens in both teams’ league opener on Jan. 8, but that remains Georgia’s only win of the season against an SEC East opponent. The Dogs subsequently lost at Vanderbilt and at home to Tennessee and Florida, dropping into the cellar of the closely bunched division.

“We’ve just got to get back up,” guard Dustin Ware said, “and just keep working and just keep trying to improve, like we’ve done all season.”

Granted, the Bulldogs are only ½ game behind the four teams tied for second place in the SEC East and two …

Continue reading After tough times at home, Dogs hit road to a town where they’re 5-54 »

First thing first: I don’t know if Ralph Friedgen would take the job, if offered it. Seems improbable, at first blush.

But it certainly has become a hot conversation piece in cyber-corners of Bulldog Nation.

Friedgen, the former Georgia Tech and San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator, the recently ousted Maryland head coach, as Georgia’s offensive line coach and running game coordinator?

Friedgen’s name was floated almost as soon as Stacy Searels left for Texas, although not as frequently as the names of Mac McWhorter and Hugh Nall. The buzz intensified Thursday, when Friedgen was reached by UGASports.com’s Anthony Dasher and declined to comment on the matter, and when the website footballrumormill.com, which specializes in rumors about the coaching carousel, said Friedgen “is in good position to land the OL job at UGA. He’s one of 3 candidates.”

Mark Richt hasn’t commented on the coaching search at all, not even on Searels’ departure. Richt is pretty busy, as you might …

Continue reading Friedgen as UGA’s OL coach? Hmmmmm… »

CineSport’s Noah Coslov chats with the AJC’s Tim Tucker about Georgia football:

Continue reading Video: concerns for 2011 »

ATHENS — This is the first January in three years that Trinton Sturdivant is not rehabbing from knee surgery.  Come March, he’ll participate in spring practice for the first time in three years.

“I’m actually really excited about it,” the UGA offensive tackle said Tuesday. “I’ve been dreaming about it sometimes.”

Season-ending knee injuries in 2008 and 2009 resulted in surgeries and long, arduous stretches of rehabilitation, but Sturdivant made it through the 2010 season healthy and looks forward to 2011, his senior season.

He said he considered “pretty seriously” the possibility of entering the NFL draft but “came to the conclusion it’d be best for me to stay here” for several reasons.

“I graduate in December with a degree in finance and management,” he said. “And my goal coming in to Georgia was to win, and I don’t want to leave on a losing note. . . . Another reason it’s a good idea I stayed [is] to make the GMs in the NFL feel more comfortable about drafting someone with …

Continue reading Healthy Sturdivant is ‘dreaming’ about spring practice »

Drawing its biggest basketball crowds in eight years, Georgia expects a fourth consecutive sellout at Stegeman Coliseum for Tuesday night’s game against Florida.

And just as the fans have responded to the team’s improved play, the team has taken note of the fans’ increased interest.

“When we look up in the stands, it’s a very packed crowd and we see a lot of red and black,” senior forward Chris Barnes said. “It’s not like previous years, when we look up and we see other teams have got more fans than us.”

The fans have “definitely been giving us that extra edge, giving us extra energy that we need,” guard Dustin Ware said. “That’s a big part of college basketball, and it’s something we’ve been taking advantage of here lately.”

The Stegeman crowd might be even more charged Tuesday night, when Georgia (9-1 at home, 14-4 overall, 3-2 in the SEC) will be playing on ESPN for a share of first place in the SEC East against the rival Gators. Florida (15-4 overall, 4-1 SEC) enters the …

Continue reading Georgia basketball is drawing a crowd; big game vs. Gators on Tuesday »

ATHENS – When offensive lineman Cordy Glenn decided last week to remain at UGA for his senior season, rather than enter the NFL draft, he didn’t know he’d soon be getting a new coach.

But that will be the case, with the departure this week of offensive line coach Stacy Searels for the same position at Texas.

“I’ve spoken with Coach,” Glenn said today. “He just told me he loved me, and he wished us the best. It was a business decision; he had to do what was best for him and his family. I respect him. It’s a business at the end of the day.”

Glenn said he has no inkling who might be hired to replace Searels, but “I’m positive Coach Richt will bring somebody great in for us. I just want to play football. I really don’t care who the coach is. I just want to play.”

Speaking of playing: Glenn, who started all 13 games at left guard this past season, said he expects to play “a little tackle” next season.   How much? “See how the season goes,” he said.

Glenn said he decided to return …

Continue reading Cordy Glenn returns, but will have new coach and maybe new position »

Georgia has promoted director of football operations Josh Brooks to assistant athletic director of internal operations.

In his new job, Brooks, 30, will assume many of the duties previously handled by Arthur Johnson, who recently resigned as associate athletic director/internal operations to take a job at Texas.

Brooks just completed his first year as football operations director after serving two years as the assistant director.

To replace Brooks as director of football operations, Georgia coach Mark Richt promoted Brad Hutcherson, who had been a graduate assistant.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity also amended the titles of a number of athletics department officials, although their duties remain largely the same as before.

Title changes include: Carla Williams from senior associate athletic director/senior women’s sports administrator to executive associate athletic director; Claude Felton from associate AD/sports communications to senior associate AD; Glada Horvat …

Continue reading Staff changes at UGA »

Here is the official — and quite lengthy — announcement from Texas late this afternoon on the hire of Stacy Searels as offensive line coach:

Jan. 20, 2011

Austin — Stacy Searels, the former offensive line coach at Georgia and LSU, and an All-America offensive lineman as a player at Auburn, has been named offensive line coach at Texas, head coach Mack Brown announced Thursday.

“When you’re in this profession, you want to coach at the highest level,” Searels said. “From afar, I had always been interested in The University of Texas because I thought it was one of the premier jobs in the country. You can win a championship, you have great leadership, great players, a great pool of talent to recruit from, and I think there’s no reason you can’t win and win big at Texas, and I want to be a part of that.”

Searels joins the Longhorns after coaching the offensive line at Georgia for four seasons beginning in 2007. He added the duties of running game coordinator in 2009. During his time …

Continue reading Texas announces hire of UGA’s Searels as OL coach »

(UPDATE:) Texas has completed its deal with Stacy Searels and plans an announcement later Thursday afternoon of his hire as offensive line coach.

8:45 p.m. Wednesday:

Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels traveled Wednesday afternoon to Austin, Texas, where a website covering University of Texas athletics, Orangebloods.com, reported Wednesday night that he accepted an offer to become the Longhorns’ offensive line coach.

Texas has not yet announced a hire.

Texas head coach Mack Brown has been seeking an offensive line coach since the December retirement of Mac McWhorter. Auburn O-line coach Jeff Grimes last week turned down the position.

Searels and his wife, Patricia, left Athens-Ben Epps Airport on a private plane to Austin shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday.  They were picked up in Austin by Brown’s wife, Sally, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Neither Searels nor Georgia officials have commented on the matter.

Searels, a native of Trion, Ga., has been the …

Continue reading Texas hires Searels as offensive line coach »

ATHENS –  Mark Richt returned a missed telephone call, thinking the number belonged to the mother of an East Hall High School football player Georgia is recruiting.

Instead, the number belonged to a younger football player at North Hall High School.

So what, you ask?

So the mistake constituted an NCAA secondary violation that resulted in Richt being banned from calling recruits for a week last September.

This glimpse into the minutiae — some would say silliness — of the NCAA rulebook was revealed in 40 pages of documents released Tuesday by UGA in response to an open-records request from the AJC.

The documents show that Georgia reported 14 secondary violations of NCAA rules in eight sports in the last six months of 2010.  (Secondary violations are defined as inadvertent rule-breaking that does not result in a significant competitive advantage. ) Richt’s phone call was typical of Georgia’s self-reported minor violations.

Here’s how it occurred, according to a Sept. 3 letter …

Continue reading ‘Wrong number’ rings up recruiting violation for Richt »

Previewing Georgia vs. Tennessee basketball:

The basics

• When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

• Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens

• TV: ESPNU
  

Records

• Georgia: 13-3 (2-1 SEC)

• Tennessee: 11-6 (1-2 SEC)

Three storylines

• 1. Home sweet home. The Bulldogs, who finally made it back to Athens on Saturday night after last week’s snow and ice kept them on the road for five days, open a three-game homestand. Following Tuesday’s game against Tennessee, Georgia plays Mississippi State on Saturday and Florida on Jan. 25.

• 2. An encore vs. the Vols? On Tennessee’s last visit to Stegeman Coliseum, the Bulldogs made a statement with perhaps their biggest victory under coach Mark Fox. They soundly defeated the Vols — ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time — 78-63 on Jan. 23, 2010, before a sellout crowd to end a 10-game Georgia losing streak vs. Tennessee. The Vols won last season’s  rematch in Knoxville on Feb. 17.

• 3. No Pearl on the trip. The Vols will be without head coach Bruce Pearl, who didn’t …

Continue reading Georgia-Tennessee preview: Can Dogs repeat last year’s big win in Athens? »

All-SEC outside linebacker Justin Houston will skip his senior season at Georgia to enter the NFL draft.

Houston announced his unsurprising decision Saturday, deadline day for underclassmen to declare for the draft.

“It was a very hard decision to make, but in the end I had to do what’s best for my family and me,” Houston said in a statement.

He became the second Georgia junior to enter this year’s draft, joining wide receiver A.J. Green. Three other UGA juniors who seriously considered the draft –- cornerback Brandon Boykin and offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Trinton Sturdivant -– decided to stay in school.

Houston is rated the draft’s No. 26 overall prospect by Scouts Inc. Draft analysts generally peg him as a late first-round or second-round pick.

Houston had 10 sacks and 18 ½ tackles for loss this past season, ranking second in the SEC behind Auburn’s Nick Fairley in both categories. Houston’s 20 career sacks rank seventh on the UGA list.

A graduate of Statesboro …

Continue reading Justin Houston heads to NFL »

The deadline for underclassmen to enter the NFL draft is Saturday, which means the clock is ticking for Georgia outside linebacker Justin Houston’s decision.

Of the Georgia juniors who said they would seriously consider the draft, Houston is the only one who hasn’t publicly declared his intentions.

Wide receiver A.J. Green announced he is forgoing his final season at UGA to enter the draft, in which he is widely expected to be a top-five pick. But cornerback Brandon Boykin and offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Trinton Sturdivant decided to bypass the draft and return for their senior seasons.

Houston, who led the SEC in sacks this past season,  is ranked as the draft’s No. 25 prospect by Scout.com.

It would be a surprise if Houston passes up the draft, although Georgia coach Mark Richt has made the point that Houston — like the other Georgia juniors aside from Green — could improve his draft stock (and thus his eventual NFL payday) by returning for his senior season.

Ten SEC …

Continue reading Deadline nears for Justin Houston decision »

Cornerback Brandon Boykin and offensive guard Cordy Glenn, Georgia juniors who had been considering entering the NFL draft,  decided to remain with the Bulldogs for their senior seasons.

The official word came Wednesday night in an announcement from UGA, which said there was “not yet” word on whether junior outside linebacker Justin Houston will enter the draft.

The return of Boykin and Glenn is welcomed news for the Bulldogs, though. The two players have a combined 58 games of starting experience over the past three seasons.

“This is exciting news for Georgia and for Brandon and Cordy,” coach Mark Richt said in a statement. “I think they have both made wise decisions for the right reasons and will be important senior leaders for us this coming year. We’re recruiting 24/7 right now, but these two are a big part of our ‘recruiting class.’”

Boykin and Glenn were among the Georgia players who last month asked the NFL underclassmen advisory board for a projection …

Continue reading Boykin, Glenn pass on NFL draft, will return for senior seasons »

Georgia inside linebacker Marcus Dowtin has played his final game for the Bulldogs.

Dowtin, a junior from Upper Marlboro, Md., has been granted an unconditional release from his scholarship to transfer to another school, UGA said Tuesday without further comment.

Reports surfaced last week that Dowtin had faced a second-degree assault charge stemming from a Maryland bar fight last May. The case was resolved in December, but Georgia coach Mark Richt did not learn of the incident until last week. (See this AJC story for more details on the case.)

Dowtin, who appeared in 11 games and started two this past season, didn’t play in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 because of what was described a coach’s decision unrelated to the Maryland matter. He was fourth on the Georgia team in tackles for the season with 57.

Continue reading UGA linebacker will transfer »

For the first time in almost eight years, Georgia’s men’s basketball team is nationally ranked.

The Bulldogs are No. 24 in this week’s Associated Press poll -– the first time they have been in the Top 25 since the final poll of the 2002-03 season.

Saturday’s 77-70 victory over No. 10 Kentucky vaulted the Dogs (12-2, 1-0 SEC) into the poll. The win was Georgia’s ninth in a row, the program’s longest winning streak since the 1982-83 season.

Georgia, however, did not crack this week’s ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. The Bulldogs are fourth among teams “also receiving votes” there.

The AJC’s UGA basketball coverage from the past few days:

Game story: The win over Kentucky.

Mark Bradley column: In beating the regal Big Blue, UGA proves it’s big-time too.

Jeff Schultz column: Mark Fox succeeding in changing basketball culture at Georgia.

Next: Weather could ’severely’ impact Dogs’ travel to Vanderbilt.

Continue reading Dogs are ranked for first time in eight years »

Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox said his team’s travel plans for Wednesday night’s game at Vanderbilt could be “severely impacted” by the snow.

The Bulldogs customarily travel on the day before a game, and their original plan was to fly from Athens to Nashville on Tuesday. But that might not be possible because of the storm that dumped almost nine inches of snow on Athens.

Fox said four options are being considered: flying Tuesday as planned from Athens; busing to Atlanta on Tuesday and flying from there; busing to Nashville on Tuesday; or flying on Wednesday, the day of the game.

“We have talked about all of [those options] here this morning,” Fox said, “but really we’re waiting to see what the weather does before we make a decision.”

UGA is closed today because of the weather, but Fox is expecting his players at this afternoon’s practice.

“If they had to, they live close enough [that] they could walk down here to practice,” Fox said.

Georgia won its ninth consecutive game …

Continue reading Weather could ’severely’ impact Dogs’ travel to Vandy »

A.J. Green delivered the long-expected news Sunday: He will forgo his senior season at Georgia and enter the NFL draft.

For months, if not years, the star wide receiver had been expected to leave UGA after his junior season for the riches of pro football. And while he didn’t veer from the predicted course, he insisted that finalizing the decision came harder than many thought it would.

“Throughout the last couple of weeks, it was pretty hectic, just making a sound decision for my family and [me],” Green said from his home in Summerville, S.C.

He said he told Georgia coach Mark Richt of his intention on Friday but added that he wasn’t certain of the decision until Saturday.

Green is generally projected as a top-five NFL pick, with some draft analysts suggesting that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck’s decision last week to stay in school could put Green in contention to be the No. 1 overall selection.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me,” Green said. “This is a longtime …

Continue reading A.J. Green leaves UGA for NFL draft »

Georgia junior offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who had been considering early entry into the NFL draft, announced Friday that he will remain in school for his senior season.

Sturdivant was a freshman All-American in 2007, then missed almost all of the 2008 and 2009 seasons because of knee injuries before returning to action in 2010. He started seven games during the Bulldogs’ disappointing 6-7 season.

“This last season is not how I wanted to end my career,” Sturdivant said in a statement. “I want to be part of a team that gets us back on track and plays for a championship. I also think I can improve my draft status and continue to work on finishing my degree.”

Coach Mark Richt said “we’re obviously excited” by Sturdivant’s decision. “He’ll be an important part of our team.”

– Tim Tucker

Continue reading Sturdivant says he’ll pass on NFL draft, return for senior season »

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity wants to see “improvement in all areas” from the football program this year. And he’d like the public to see more displays of coach Mark Richt’s passion for his job.

Those were among McGarity’s comments in a conference call that was held Thursday to answer reporters’ questions about the state of the Georgia football program, which last week lost to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl to finish with its first losing record (6-7) in 14 years.

McGarity previously had answered the biggest question, saying Richt would return as coach. Here are highlights of what McGarity had to say Thursday:

Q: What did you think of Richt’s end-of-season news conference on Wednesday?

A: I think he started to show the passion he has for the job. Mark is not the type who is going to get out of his skin, so to speak, as far as the way he handles himself. But I know in conversations we have had all through the season and especially in the last two or three days, …

Continue reading McGarity: ‘We are working as hard as we can to turn this ship around’ »

ATHENS — Mark Richt officially turned the page to 2011 at his end-of-season news conference Wednesday morning.

“Just want to start out by saying I’m glad 2011 is here,” Richt said. “I’m excited about that. Last season certainly was not anywhere close to what we expected or what we expect here, and it was certainly well below the standard of what Georgia football is all about. I understand that as much as anybody. I’m not happy with the way things went, but I do think in the process of going through what we went through, we’ll be better for it in 2011.”

Despite the team’s 6-7 record this past season, Richt said he has “a greater sense of excitement than I’ve had in a long time,” partly because of changes implemented in conjunction with new athletic director Greg McGarity that Richt said will free him from some administrative duties to spend more time focusing on football in 2011.

“In some ways, I feel like a first-year head coach,” Richt said. “Usually when you come in as the …

Continue reading What Mark Richt had to say at end-of-season news conference … »

Georgia distributed plaques to its senior football players at its annual awards gala last month with 7-6 inscribed as the team’s record, even though the Bulldogs were 6-6 at the time.

Central Florida heard about that and naturally took umbrage, considering it a sign that Georgia was taking the Knights lightly and presuming a Liberty Bowl victory.

Not so, according to Georgia, which says it routinely includes a bowl victory in the record on the senior plaques and then makes a revision in the event of a loss.

“Did not have anything to do with taking UCF lightly,” Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton said in an e-mail today. “Every year we present the senior plaques at our football Gala, which is always held before the bowl game. One line on the plate is the season record, and we always list it with a win in the upcoming bowl game.

“If we lose the game, we replace the plate. We’ve done that 14 straight years and only had to replace the plate three …

Continue reading Georgia will revise ‘7-6′ record on senior plaques »

A roundup of the AJC’s coverage of Georgia’s loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl:

My game story on another sobering loss in a lost season:

MEMPHIS — Georgia’s football season ended as it began. Badly. Very badly.

The Bulldogs, who started the season by losing four of their first five games, lost their finale here Friday, falling to Central Florida 10-6 in the Liberty Bowl.

The loss — to a Conference USA team that had never before won a bowl game — dropped Georgia’s record to 6-7, giving the Bulldogs their first losing season in 14 years and punctuating a dismal year on and off the field for the UGA program.

“It’s embarrassing to be part of a losing season. It absolutely is,” said kicker Blair Walsh, whose two field goals accounted for all the points the Bulldogs could muster against Central Florida.

Jeff Schultz’s column, which asks if Georgia’s coach can fix his broken program:

MEMPHIS – Mark Richt says he is disappointed. He says he has to make changes. He says the …

Continue reading Read all about it: UCF 10, UGA 6 »