‘Tree’ turns LB from position of weakness to one of strength for Dogs
On paper, Georgia’s linebacker situation appeared to be a weakness coming into spring practice. The Bulldogs were looking to replace three of the four starters, including career starters Akeem Dent and Darryl Gamble and All-SEC pass rusher Justin Houston. But what defensive coordinator Todd Grantham saw on the field over the course of 15 spring practices has him convinced the position will be a team strength come fall.
Todd Grantham pronounced the move of former safety Alec Ogletree to inside linebacker an unqualified success. (Photo by 247Sports.com)
The reason? Two moves, mainly.
Grantham moved rising sophomore Alec Ogletree from strong safety to inside linebacker. In turn, that allowed him to move Southern Cal transfer Jarvis Jones from inside linebacker to outside linebacker.
“Those two moves were definitely the right thing to do,” Grantham said following the G-Day game this past Saturday. “It gets us more linebacker-type guys on the field and, in a 3-4, those guys make plays for you.”
The linebacker corps definitely looks to be a more sleek, swift unit. Ogletree (6-3, 225), Jones (6-3, 234), Christian Robinson (6-2, 226), Richard Samuel (6-2, 234) and Chase Vasser (6-3, 225) all combine prototypical linebacker size with defensive-back quickness.
But make no mistake about it, Ogletree was the linchpin for the success or failure of this experiment.
“If you watch him on film, ‘Tree’s’ running around making plays everywhere,” said Jones, who also played outside linebacker for the Trojans. “He’s pretty much making a play on every down. You can see it on film. I saw it. Coach saw it. He knew what he wanted. This is definitely an improvement and we can’t do anything but get better from now on.”
Said Grantham: “There’s no question in my mind Tree is going to be an outstanding linebacker. It really started back when we started doing our [video] cut-ups [after last season]. When he played safety, sometimes we played him in the box, which really is no different than a linebacker. Just watching the way he could run and hit and the way he struck guys, I started having visions of him playing linebacker full time. With our line-backing situation, I thought it was pretty much a no-brainer. You’ve got a young guy who’s going to be very big, he’s very physical and he can run. I mean, I’m looking forward to seeing him play in our system.”
If Ogletree is a former AJC Super 11 selection and five-star prospect as a safety from Newnan. If he was resistant to the position change, he hasn’t admitted it.
“I feel pretty good about it,” he said after tying Vasser with a game-high seven tackles Saturday. “I knew there had been a lot of talk about it or whatever, so I just had to talk to my family about it. They felt like it was OK if I decided I wanted to go down there. I decided to do it and I feel like it’s going to be a pretty good move for me.”
Ogletree’s playing style has drawn early comparisons to Rolando McCain, who was all over the field in Alabama’s 3-4 defense two seasons ago. People often forget Grantham’s ties to Nick Saban. He was assistant head coach and defensive line coach for Saban in the late 1990s at Michigan State and shares his defensive philosophy. Chiefly that is to be strong and athletic — and smart — up the middle.
“Once I got to see Tree line up in the box and take on blocks and diagnose those plays, I felt good about it,” Grantham said. “He’s a smart guy; he’s got instincts. And, because he played safety, he kind of understands the fits with the coverage rotations and things like that. So that part of it gives him some insight. We’ve got to work him hard because he’s a young guy that’s just going to get better.”
The hope is, so will the Bulldogs’ overall defense.
By Chip Towers, The UGA Blog
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242 comments Add your comment
ryan
April 20th, 2011
3:25 pm
I have been hearing a lot about that with Kwame Geathers and John Jenkins and you add Tree in the mix this will be a scary defense i hope we can get the O Line straiten out UGA can be force .
RxDawg
April 20th, 2011
3:26 pm
Hmmm, this article pumps me up about the change!
But yeh, I’m reeeeeeealy worried about our secondary.
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 20th, 2011
3:28 pm
That preseason no 1 lost 18 players off the 2 deep that year too!Funny that fact is always overlooked.That was a pretty damn good coaching job Imo.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:32 pm
You’re right SSIgator. It’ll look like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona…
JB
April 20th, 2011
3:34 pm
Strange to see a representative from a 5 loss Gator Team on here. Meyer and 22 -5 star players and you lose 5 games. I’d say a coaching change was in order……And by the Way, even Gator fans admit that they wish Aaron Murray was a Gator.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:35 pm
SOUTHGADAWG88, Why do you think they lost 18 players of the 2 deep that year? A bad tarot draw? Bad alignment of Jupiter and Saturn? Don’t think so. Could it have been due to lousy S&C? Could it be the training regimen? Think these were components… Why don’t the other SEC teams have so many injuries prior to game one each year?
JB
April 20th, 2011
3:36 pm
Snoop Dawg….What’s up, you out of Meth?
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:37 pm
JB, the Gators may be slow, but they’re ahead of us. They went out and hired Will Muschamp, a UGA graduate while everyone was fawning over the Tan Man as we continued to drop like a lead balloon. We are the chumps…
WDE
April 20th, 2011
3:37 pm
SSIgator your HC’s record in the SEC is what exactly? And Bucky your bunch goes what a week with no new cheating news and you get awful bold don’t you…back to counting your sweater vest..we will wake you when the season starts..which for you will be about 5 weeks after the rest of us.
TTOUGH44
April 20th, 2011
3:38 pm
Could the Real JUNKYARD DAWGS be BACK!?! Dawgs That BITE! DAWGS THAT MAKE YOU AFRAID TO COME INTO THE YARD< DAWGS OFF THE CHAIN!!!!
GO DAWGS!
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:39 pm
JB, I’ve been on the wagon for over four years. I haven’t had a drop of Koolaid since we pounded that powerhouse Hawaii in our last glorious Sugar Bowl. I am stone sober so heed…
WDE
April 20th, 2011
3:40 pm
Snoop Dawg how many SEC titles does old mushy have at this point? How many NC’s? How about SEC wins? Always hearing how we have to “win something” to talk about Bama or the Gators…how about a he wins a game before you put him in Saban or Meyer class.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:41 pm
Actually, I swore off the Koolaid after watching the West Virginia smackdown in the Atlanta Sugar Bowl…
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:43 pm
WDE, One Mushy in the swamp is worth two Richts in the Hedge…
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 20th, 2011
3:43 pm
2It was a fluke year Snoop Dawg…plain and simple…some injuries were severe and some guys missed 3 or 4 games.Richt’s problem had nothing to do with S and C…it was more to do with the high number of signed recruits who either never got to Athens or got injured and never played since 06
JB
April 20th, 2011
3:44 pm
Who saw Auburn coming last year? Press to busy slobbering over a 3 loss Bama team. Line them up.
We’ll see. Florida could really be in trouble. I think Muschamp made a BIG mistake bringing in the Donut man. Bama will lose 3 or 4 this year. They will miss Parker and All their fans said last year on hear that UGA was dead with a new QB with no experience. You watch, that won’t matter this year from them. LSU will win the West. Dawgs could win the East.
D A DoubleU G
April 20th, 2011
3:45 pm
WOW,
ESPN COllege Football Live is on right now, and they just spent a couple minutes with the headline “USC’s Matt Barkley yells at teammate in practice”, then assessed the situation trying to determine if “anything is wrong at USC”
This is a prime example of the pathetic state the media and college football are at right now.
Reminds me of the ajc blowing up when Washaun Ealey missed a “punishment run” and was on Richt’s bad side for a few weeks, and everybody wanted to act like he was a criminal.
Can you imagine back in the 70’s and 80’s if the “much ado about NOTHING” stories that are so easily instantaneously leaked through twitter, facebook and these very blogs actually made the real print?? There would have been a lot of fired “journalists”.
DawginLex
April 20th, 2011
3:45 pm
Snoop Dawg, have a diet Coke and a valium and take a deep breath.
SSI, you don’t like the Dawgs or me and you are a gator.
Why torture yourself?
I’m not going to stop smarting off at you.
I have already got my sign ready for J’ville
CHARLIE WEIS-DESTROYER OF ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFETS AND MAJOR COLLEGE PROGRAMS
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:48 pm
Bulldog Nation, hear ye, hear ye-
Whether you love Richt or despise him and Bobo, you have to agree that UGA has the easiest schedule in memory. By his own admission, he landed his dream team. He’s changed out the majority of his assistants since his bilge pump stopped working. So let’s all agree that if he does not get UGA to the SEC championship game–AS A MINIMUM–then he is history.
Please acknowledge.
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 20th, 2011
3:49 pm
Depth is big in a conference with as much talent as the SEC….that’s why Saban oversigns
Higher mathematics...
April 20th, 2011
3:50 pm
“Our Defense looks 10 times better than it did at this time last year.”
10 times zero is still zero.
Boise State will feast on these bozos.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
3:51 pm
DawginLex, we don’t agree on everything, but I do see potential in you. I have a question for you. Who would you prefer as your OC: Charlie Weis or Mike Bobo?
ClinchCountyDawg
April 20th, 2011
3:53 pm
Buckeye
I know you don’t have the nerve to talk about scandals as UGA. That sweater vested, tattoed gang of misfits that you support has been in the headlines a lot lately. And for a lot of sleazy reasons.
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:54 pm
Lex…I think Weiss’ problem is the same as Richt’s. They would rather have an a+ grade QB with a C grade O-line. They’d rather have 6 a+ grade TE’s with a C Grade D-Line. They never think…”well, a C grade QB that is never under pressure is just as accurate as an a+ QB running for his life all season” or “you know, only 4 plays in our playbook call for 3 TE’s in the game at one time; so that means .05% of the time 3 of these guys will be sitting out, the other 99.95% 4 of them will be sitting out.”
Mona Moana
April 20th, 2011
3:55 pm
The UGA library burned down today. Both books were lost.
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:56 pm
HEY-O…and let me guess Mona, “Neither of them had been colored in yet?”
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:57 pm
..and “that dawg would biiiiite you!”
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
let’s keep the punchlines rolling in folks: “The police were driving.”
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
I don’t know if this schedule is so easy or not.I think 7 teams went a bowl game
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
“Hit him in the face with an axe.”
D A DoubleU G
April 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
Snoop Dawg,
You are a Techie. It’s quite obvious.
You prove this by actually believing that the “Dream Team” recruiting class has ANYTHING to do with the 2011 season.
When is the last time you saw a team starting all TRUE Freshman won more than 5 games. Can it, nerd, and go back to your Tech blag talking about “What if” Nesbitt didn’t snap his arm.
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:59 pm
“Boy my arms are tired.”
uuugghh...
April 20th, 2011
3:59 pm
“The aristocrats.”
1eyedJack
April 20th, 2011
4:01 pm
Hey Mona go brush your tooth.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
4:02 pm
If you want to think about something funny, think of those idiots of THE Ohio State University with the chain gang team led by Jim Tressel with that girl vest looking on at the sidelines motivating his team…
LMAO.
Richt might be dumber than a box of rocks, but he does look Hollywood…
1eyedJack
April 20th, 2011
4:02 pm
Western Carolina 222 GT 9.
WDE
April 20th, 2011
4:04 pm
Snoop Dawg really and you have exactly what to go on when your rate Mushy over CMR…and for the record I purely loved Weiss at ND..because I hate ND worse than any other program…I was hoping he stayed there forever…I cried like a Snoop with no weed when they fired him….but Lordy I have been grinning ear to ear since I found out he is now the OC for the 2nd most hated team I have the Gators…a unproved HC a failure of a HC for OC……my my my all this and heaven too.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
4:05 pm
D A DoubleU G , surely the University of Georgia did not bestow a degree on someone of your demonstrated intellect…
DawginLex
April 20th, 2011
4:06 pm
Bobo or Weis?
I’ll take………………
Bobo with Richt
I have a friend who’s kid went to ND. He confirmed that the persona seen in Coach Weis is real-a real obnoxious know it all baboon. He burned so many bridges in South Bend that he wouldn’t even stop and expect to get help if his car was on fire while he was driving through.
Bobo is getting better. He drives us all crazy but the problem is the execution more than the play call. LSU 2007, who called those plays that day? We lit them up and then turned right around and laid an egg vs florida.
There has been little consistency since 2007. Also, there has been no defense played in Athens since 2004. That is why I’m excited about 2011-the defense is going to be better and the offense will not be forced to perform like a video game.
1eyedJack
April 20th, 2011
4:06 pm
When Weiss arrived in Gainsville it sunk 5 feet below sea level.
SSIgator
April 20th, 2011
4:07 pm
DawginLex -
I do not know you so I really do not have an opinion of you as a person, but you are correct about labeling youself a smart a$$. I will look for your sign in Jax. Remember to color within the lines.
DawginLex
April 20th, 2011
4:08 pm
Only smartalec toward gators who TROLL UGA message boards and blogs……………..
WDE
April 20th, 2011
4:08 pm
SSIgator that HC of yours won a game yet?
WDE
April 20th, 2011
4:10 pm
1eyedJack since Weiss got to G’ville biscuits are on the endangered species list.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
4:10 pm
WDE, I base Mushy over Richt simply because one is an alumnus of the UGA and the other one went to the “U” school as a second stringer. Duh… Another small detail is that Mush was the head coach in waiting at the University of Texas, which is the most prosperous NCAA football program in the nation from a business perspective. They have the resources to buy the very best and do on a regular basis. Richt’s next gig will be somewhere like Wake Forest or maybe Climpson. Glad to clarify that issue…
D A DoubleU G
April 20th, 2011
4:10 pm
SSIgator,
I truly have never been on a UF blog in my life (not sure you have either), but I am curious as to how many UGA fans are there talking smack???
gdawginkalamazoo
April 20th, 2011
4:11 pm
Didn’t Texas go 5-7 last year? And that would be with recruiting classes rated a lot higher than Georgia’s has been over the past decade. Is that why Muschomp is rated over Richt? Or maybe it was because of Texas’ performance in their bowl game.
gdawginkalamazoo
April 20th, 2011
4:13 pm
WDE that 4:10 post was hilarious.
Snoop Dawg
April 20th, 2011
4:13 pm
Texas is a one year aberration. Richt is a four year graph…
DawginLex
April 20th, 2011
4:14 pm
I have a very close friend who is a gator. He went to Stetson but claims allegiance to Florida like a lot of GA folks who didn’t actually go to UGA.
He is not obnoxious. He is not a smartalec who waves stuff in my face.
He is very concerned about Meyer leaving, the new regime and the switch to the pro set. In his mind, the playing field has been leveled because the spread with Meyer/Mullen brought challenges for the defense.
He believes their defense is going to be very good too. He is not convinced that this combo of Muschamp and Weis is a long term marriage.