Redshirt freshman OL Brent Benedict leaving UGA for ‘personal reasons’
Georgia’s already-precarious situation on the offensive line just got more precarious.
Benedict
Brent Benedict, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Jacksonville and a former five-star recruit, left the team due to “personal reasons,” head coach Mark Richt said in a news release on Sunday. Benedict (6-foot-5, 312-pounds) was slated to back up Chris Burnette at right guard. He signed as a tackle.
Benedict did not return calls and texts seeking comment. Richt, who just returned from a mission trip to Honduras, was not available to comment.
Benedict was medically cleared this spring after a two-year rehabilitation of a major knee injury that occurred his senior year at The Bolles School. Indications are there has been some differences over how much and what kind of off-season training he should be doing as he prepared for his first active season on the field.
Georgia is now down to 13 scholarship offensive linemen, five of whom are true freshmen who just arrived on campus (not including Nathan Theus of Jacksonville, who signed as a long snapper). Incoming freshman tackle Xzavier Ward is also expected to miss the season with a knee injury.
Georgia already had a major reshuffle of the offensive line when starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant went down with his third major knee injury this past spring and tackle A.J. Harmon transferred to Alabama State. Redshirt sophomore Dallas Lee of Buford, who was listed as third-string left guard, will likely shift over to right guard.
Benedict’s departure is the second interruption of what had been a quiet offseason for the Bulldogs. A report out of Columbus on Sunday indicates there could be some eligibility questions for starting linebacker Jarvis Jones and five-star basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
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253 comments Add your comment
PeePants the hobo clown
June 26th, 2011
7:25 pm
@fpice. Where does Benedicts talent enter the conversation?….How is honoring a scholly to a kid who COMPLETELY shredded his knee INCLUDING nerve damage show a lack of judgement in regards to talent?…What ARE you TALKING ABOUT?!?!?!?…..You just want to say anything negative.So much so,that it doesn’t make any sense.SHUDDUP!
Noleone
June 26th, 2011
7:29 pm
Brent is a good kid. Let’s wait until we get the whole story before throwing he and his father under the bus. Amazing how much you “dawgs” sound like “whining gators”.
D Bag Trolls!
June 26th, 2011
7:33 pm
Keep in mind there are posers on this site. They are not Dawg fans, just posing.
Good Luck Kid!
Dawgs will be fine! Keep talking!!!
UCF
June 26th, 2011
7:34 pm
He wants to play for a real school, UCF!
UCF KNIGHTS 10 Big Money BCS Georgia 6
Lakedawg
June 26th, 2011
7:36 pm
I did not read that he would not accept a medical hardship and continue his education at UGA. Lets hear drom all before making accusations either way.
Paul in RDU
June 26th, 2011
7:36 pm
Either there is a lot of jumping to conclusions on this blog or most of the people on here are either members of the UGA football team medical staff or orthopedic surgeons. There are even people claiming that UGA has paid for his scholarship and his rehabilitation for 2 years – a little difficult since he was in high school in 2009 – 10.
Redshirt Freshman OL leaving UGA - VolNation
June 26th, 2011
7:40 pm
[...] [...]
Ga Peach
June 26th, 2011
7:49 pm
Still love Coach Richt and Coach T! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxg1I1jA29c
just the truth
June 26th, 2011
7:51 pm
Same ole post. If you don’t sign with us or you leave for personal reasons …….. we didn’t need you anyway and the hatred begins !!
tim
June 26th, 2011
7:56 pm
gatorbait has him meeting Mus and Weiss on Wed
u.g.a.
June 26th, 2011
7:59 pm
the way joe t is working these kids they won’t even make it to the 4th quarter… expecting these kids to rep 80% of their maxes for 30-40 reps on a daily basis is a great way to ruin these kids’ bodies. Benedict saw this and made the smart move to go to a program that actually cares about their players physical and mental well-being.
Business as usual
June 26th, 2011
8:02 pm
He didn’t work out as well as Richt expected, so Richt is running him off to open up a scholarship.
Standard operating procedure for Saint Mark.
ryan
June 26th, 2011
8:02 pm
Hey UCF your coach is being sued because a one of your players died on the field i don’t think Benedict is going to your school .
tim
June 26th, 2011
8:08 pm
ryan…get your facts straight O’Leary is not being sued the suit was brought against the UCF Athletic Assn so the 200k State lawsuit cap won’t apply…….Tim G, JD, UGA 76
ryan
June 26th, 2011
8:09 pm
No body has been arrested that stuff is getting old and stale it sounds he did not want work hard and fight his way into the starting job .
v dawg
June 26th, 2011
8:11 pm
no big deal—I heard he wasn’t that good anyway. The Dawgs are loaded on the oline and he probably didn’t see any playing time.
KeepDreaming
June 26th, 2011
8:22 pm
So we basically paid the kid to come and receive top medical attention and rehabilitation on his leg and knee, then he left w/o ever playing a down. That pretty much STINKS!
7576DAWG
June 26th, 2011
8:31 pm
A few months ago it was reported that there seemed to be lingering nerve damage to Benedict’s leg.At that time I heard he was doubtful for this year because it wasn’t improving. He may think he can heal better at home or in a program that doesn’t demand the rigor’s of the SEC. Either way he doesn’t want to end up like another Sturdivant where he sits around 6 years and 3 operations latter an NFL career is only a dream. If he want to take it easy another year which may help get rid of the nerve damage I support his decision 100%. We are talking about NERVE damage. His decisions now will determine what quality of life he has in the future.If there is any nerve damage he wasn’t going to be very effective any way and CMR would probably not have played him very much if at all.
Any DAWG fans that would jump to the conclusions raised here by some are either 12 year old that have no business on a blog that need mature adults or they are insensitive jerks that need to find another team. If you are a GT fan or a fan of another one of or rivals and just want to make Georgia look bad you don’t want to know what I think about you and how much a coward you are.
ryan
June 26th, 2011
8:34 pm
So what now there not suppose to push these kids most of you haters kept saying that UGA was to soft now we have coach that is making these kids meaner and tougher so its not OK you haters are pathetic .
Brucerugby79
June 26th, 2011
8:41 pm
There is no sense in bashing Brent-he was hurt it is not working out–there is no sense in bashing -the player -s&c or CMR—lets stay positive my brothers under 70 to go
Chum
June 26th, 2011
8:47 pm
Here’s the deal…the kid could not hack the offseason condintioning and blamed his injury on the fact he is not man enough to play in the SEC.
guy
June 26th, 2011
8:48 pm
Asleep at the wheel,
There’s nothing wrong with this young man’s knee.He doesn’t have the guts and the fire in the belly to do the job. BYE,BYE mama’s boy!!!
Yellow Fuzz
June 26th, 2011
8:56 pm
lol……..lol. ANOTHER 5 star recruit vanishes. hahahahahah. Bet he plays at Alabama or Florida and makes you ah’s pay within 2 years. hahahahhaa.
Tide Roll
June 26th, 2011
8:58 pm
Unbelievable. We’ve been discussing the liklihood of these problems arising due to these pre-existing conditions for months now! Are Richt and Bobo even up there? Remember these are the two guye who were going to play an ahlete who turned out to be the greatest combo QB in the history of college football at tight end. They also have one of the best running backs in the Conference at Back up Linebacker! For Richt and Bobo to basically neglect what was going on on the offensive line and proceed to bring in the 9th rated offfensive line class in the CONFERENCE (per rivals) is criminal. Let the COOL AIDERS begin: “We’ll be fine with Dabell and Dantzler.” NEITHER ONE ARE PLAYERS. WHY CAN”T YOU SEE THAT!
FBFan
June 26th, 2011
9:00 pm
Another one bites the dust. We lose 8 or so players every year in the offseason. This makes what four so far? A linebacker soon to be lost? As long as we continue to lose this many players each offseason we will never compete for championships. No depth. You fans that think the Dawgs are ready for championship have your heads in the sand. These current rosters are nothing like our championship teams. At least third in the East.
John Galt
June 26th, 2011
9:01 pm
Paul in RDU
You’re right, my mistake.
This might just be a homesick kid-
Roll Tide
June 26th, 2011
9:07 pm
and every other SEC teasm over the dawgs. you georgia guys used to have a good program (once every eight-ten years). Right now Vegas is betting against you to win the SEC East until at least 2015, 2016 at best. In the mean time keep battling with central florida a & M, Ga Tech and vandy. Boise State will beat you like Alabama did (31-0). Bank it!
dawg time
June 26th, 2011
9:10 pm
he needs to go home to mama–he didn’t like the coaches yelling at him.
hunker down
June 26th, 2011
9:11 pm
Here we go again. Kid doesn’t like something about training but Dawgs kept word and kept his spot when many others lost some interest when he tore his knee up. Seems we are snake bit with off season difficulties.
Roll Tide
June 26th, 2011
9:11 pm
The followiung schools absolutelu OWN uga
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Auburn
4. Central Florida
5. Mississippi State
6. Tennessee
7. South Carolina
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ryan
June 26th, 2011
9:23 pm
OK fine as the REM song says ITS THE END OF THE WORD AS WE KNOW IT !
mgdawg
June 26th, 2011
9:28 pm
Seems like he was cleared to do more then he felt he was capable of doing, or probably what he wanted to do. To me it sounds like laziness on the kids part, but who really knows.
Gator Trey
June 26th, 2011
9:52 pm
No aj weak offensive line and the usc transfer issue spells disaster for the uga offense. Gators rip you again in 4 months and it goes to 19/22. I’m waiting for your idiotic dream teamers to get arrested or booted off. Columbus carver produces some real quality fellas. NOT
Old Boy
June 26th, 2011
9:55 pm
This sucks. A lot. We need to rebuild our line ala 2006 or we will be in a hurt box soon. I love Richt but he has been under-recruiting the O-Line for a long time and it is going to come back to bite us in the tail. It seems like we have to wait until we have a crisis before we put any emphasis on our O-Line. Coach, consider this crisis time.
BG
June 26th, 2011
9:58 pm
It’s funny how the stupid Columbus paper can dig up information on the UGA players but they NEVER tried to find out anything on Cam and Daddy!
Spike 80DF
June 26th, 2011
9:59 pm
@RollTide, apparently you’re retarded because bama didn’t beat the Dawgs 31-0, they won by 11 if my memory serves me. Also, what is Richt’s record vs Saban head to head?
UCF
June 26th, 2011
10:08 pm
We own Alabama too! UCF defeated Alabama at their homecoming in 2000, 40-38. UCF is 1-0 against Alabama!
Truth and Facts
June 26th, 2011
10:20 pm
granger35,
Do not embarrass LaGrange with your less than factual post. No facts, all excuses and in the end the kid and the staff had differences and he decided UGA was not the best fit for him. Honoring scholarships and honoring word has nothing to do with this story, that is you making a better case for an Offensive depleted line at UGA.
Mobile Dawg
June 26th, 2011
10:25 pm
Snakebit? Nah, my belief is good planning and hard work equal success. Let’s hope some of the changes we’ve seen lead to better planning and a better work ethic. If so we should see some of the result this year. We’re hearing a lot of stuff from Athens, but haven’t we heard the same type stuff every year? As for Benedict, I agree with the sane here, give it some time and the truth will present itself, not that it will change anything.
Pitbull
June 26th, 2011
10:28 pm
The boy is a quitter evidently. Good riddance!
Mobile Dawg
June 26th, 2011
10:30 pm
Pitbull, your post is classically “ignorant”.
Bobo is Gollum
June 26th, 2011
10:42 pm
The first thing Saban did when he got to UA, and feel free to fact check me, is start recruiting monster lineman. Nothing happens without them. For some reason Richt hasnt fielded a decient O-line in several years. The party is at my house when Mcgarity fires him. I just prey he has the sense to hire Kirby Smart.
sportzfan
June 26th, 2011
10:48 pm
How many of you so called Dawg Fans have ever played college football; how many has ever had “major” knee surgery….and weigh 300 pounds while rehabing? How many know what “personal reasons” means? Did you really read the article…..it said “indications”… which means speculation. And for those who called this kid gutless…..why don’t you stand toe to toe with this kid and tell him that….then lets see who is gutless?
Also noticed we must have a couple doctors on here, since they know how long it takes for someone else’s injury to heal…..and exactly what the kids doctor told him when he was cleared to play.’
If you’re a real fan, rather than loud mouth, you would wish this kid the very best regardless he does…..looking for a great season!
PJ's Saucer Nipples
June 26th, 2011
11:03 pm
Two pages of the same ole garbage.
THE ARTICLE CLEARLY SAYS HE LEFT FOR PERSONAL REASONS.
Why don’t we leave it at that. Stay classy LOSERS.
sports
June 26th, 2011
11:21 pm
More gloom and doom from “chippie techie”…get a life!
Rumbo
June 26th, 2011
11:40 pm
Looks like Richt has run off another one.
SickandTired
June 26th, 2011
11:50 pm
This sounds totally like all the heat the Dawg Fans were giving Saban for oversigning then running off kids that didn’t pan out……I’ll hang up and listen.
dawgfan4ever
June 26th, 2011
11:53 pm
The word I here from someone in the know is that the damage was very severe when he tore his knee up and that he has a “dead foot” where the foot just kinda flops down with no control over the movement of the foot. That something like this is very difficult and takes a long time to rehab. So CMR did the right thing when they offered him a scholarship and did the right thing to honor that and give him a chance to play.
An Old Violin
June 26th, 2011
11:59 pm
I’ll wait and see what all this was about before I drive in the final steak ! Right now I’m too busy trying to find out who’s winning the Braves daily golf games ? If I couldn’t hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle, I’d be trying to find someone willing to throw me some real pitches instead of that batting practice junk ! And I wouldn’t be on a golf course, I’d be in a batting cage somewhere !
macrotech
June 27th, 2011
12:08 am
Richt did the right thing honoring the scholarship after this kid got hurt…sadly, he was not repaid in kind! THIS kid should repay the tuition used!