Q&A: Brent Benedict confirms dispute with Georgia’s new strength coach
Q&A WITH BRENT BENEDICT
Benedict
Brent Benedict has packed up all his things and left Athens. The big offensive lineman has taken up temporary residence at a friend’s house in Roswell. But he won’t be there long. He’ll relocate to Blacksburg, Va., the first week of August. Benedict, who was granted an unconditional release by the University of Georgia after he abruptly quit the team on June 26th, settled on the Virginia Tech Hokies as his transfer destination on Monday. He chose it over Florida, Clemson and a few others. Benedict talked with the AJC on Tuesday in his first extensive interview about the circumstances that led to his decision to leave a program to which he’d been committed since the summer of 2009. He confirmed that it stemmed mainly from a disagreement with new strength and conditioning coordinator Joe Tereshinski over training methods and philosophies. At the same time, Benedict also allowed that what the Bulldogs are doing may work. He also expressed appreciation and gratitude to Georgia for getting him past a severe knee injury and insisted he genuinely wishes for success for the Bulldogs this season and from now on. Following is my conversation with Benedict in Q&A form. . . .
Q: So it’s official then. You’re going to be a Hokie?
A: “Yep, I’m headed up to Virginia Tech. Camp will be starting in August and I’ll be up there then. I talked to Coach [Frank] Beamer and he said that this year I’ll be able to practice but I won’t be allowed to travel or to play. So it’ll be another year and then I’ll have three years after that.”
Q: Did you visit Blacksburg before you committed?
A: “I was up there for visit this past weekend. I got to walk around and check it out a little bit. I actually visited there initially the first time I was recruited.”
Q: So what are your feelings as you leave the University of Georgia?
A: “The University of Georgia was very good to me and my family, Coach [Mark] Richt was good to me and my family and, obviously, Mr. [Greg] McGarity was also. I really appreciate how they handled my release and Coach Richt sticking with me after the knee injury. I’m very grateful for that.”
Q: It seemed abrupt. It seemed like things were fine, your knee was recovering, you were moving up the depth chart. What happened?
A: “It’s just like Coach Richt said and like I said, it was personal issues. And, you know, it just seemed like it was something we weren’t able to resolve. I talked to Coach Richt about it and we both felt it was best for us to go our separate ways.”
Q: Didn’t you actually make the decision first and then wait to talk to Coach Richt when he came back from his mission trip to Honduras?
A: “Yes. I wanted to talk to Coach Richt to see if things could be resolved before I decided to leave. I really felt that was the last-case scenario. That was the last thing I wanted to do was to leave the program. So I talked to Coach Richt and we weren’t able to work things out. So, unfortunately, that’s the way it ended up. But Coach Richt was very gracious and granted me an unconditional release and I’m very grateful for that.”
Q: I understand this mainly had to do with not seeing eye-to-eye with new strength and conditioning coach Joe Tereshinki about training techniques with respect to your injury. I know he’s employing some old-school philosophies with a lot of lower-body work. Is that what this was about?
A: “Coach Tereshinski came in and he has his own philosophy and he and the coaching staff believe that it’s going to work and there’s no reason not to believe that. So, there were a few things going on and I wasn’t able to resolve that. Of course I hope Georgia does well, extremely well. I’ve told all my buddies back there I wish them the best of luck and I really believe it will be successful.”
Q: Before your knee injury you projected as an elite-level left tackle. You were a backup at right guard before you left Georgia. Is your goal to get back to playing tackle at Virginia Tech?
A: “I will do my best to contribute anywhere I can for Virginia Tech when I head up there. If that’s guard, if that’s tackle, it’s fine with me. I think I’ll definitely be in position to [play either]. I’m just hoping they’ll need me to help and allow me to contribute as much as I can.”
Q: Florida was one of the schools to court you this time around. Was it difficult for you to consider the Gators given the intensity of the rivalry between them and the Bulldogs?
A: “The University of Georgia was an awesome place for me coming out of high school. I love the school, I love the people there, I love my teammates. It was very difficult for me to leave. You know, Florida was one of the schools that offered me a scholarship the second time. They’re a big-time SEC school and they’re as strong as anybody is. But, you know, the ultimate decision came down to I felt like Virginia Tech was the best place for me and that’s why I ended up there.”
Q: I know you’re close friends with a lot of your fellow linemen at UGA. How’d they take this news?
A: “I’ll still stay in touch with them. I’ll be lifelong friends with a lot of those guys. I hope they do well this year and I’m sorry I can’t be a part of it with them.”
Q: You know Georgia’s depth situation on the offensive line. Any part of you feel like you left them in a pinch?
A: “It is a little bit thin up there right now and that’s unfortunate. But I think those guys are strong enough that they’ll be able to get through it together.”
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306 comments Add your comment
TD
July 13th, 2011
8:00 am
This was part of this kid’s plan back in 2009. Benedict had a serious knee injury coming out of high school. All the other schools backed away except for UGA. As the ol saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished!!” Never should have given the kid a scholarship from the start. How many injured linemen have UGA signed out high school?
Hines Ward
July 13th, 2011
8:00 am
Go Dawgs!
Tampa Gator
July 13th, 2011
8:01 am
Benedict must have had the same conversation with the Florida S&C coach that he had with the coach at Georgia…..”you come to Florida to play, you work you butt off in the weight room….or you don’t play.” Maybe he was told something different at Va. Tech. Sounds to me like this guy is NOT a team player….but a ME player. He is better off out of the SEC. He also sounds like a nice kid. Too bad he has a “my way or no way” attitude. Better get your degree, Mr. Benedict.
Florda needs more depth at OL (one/two depth is fine…but you need 3 deep quality on the OL in the SEC)……but Benedict was NOT the right fit at Florida either….obviously.
Trojan
July 13th, 2011
8:01 am
Committment: I noticed in the article, Benefict spoke of committment to Virginia. I wonder if he will honor that committment? Wonder if someone makes him mad.
Yellow Jacket
July 13th, 2011
8:02 am
I look forward to watching the Jackets push that big ole crybaby sissy around while he plays for VA Tech.
VA DAWG
July 13th, 2011
8:05 am
Wish him the best…the kid is a class act. Hope he wins big against the team on North Ave. Go DAWGS!
JB
July 13th, 2011
8:05 am
I STILL think the Dawgs ought to sniff out 2 or 3 lineman out of the Ohio St. recruiting area. They always have big, mean lineman, and the timing seems right.
JB
July 13th, 2011
8:09 am
Tide Roll must of worked the late shift last night. He’s normally on here telling UGA how to manage their OL and who to sign.
Dogs Smell
July 13th, 2011
8:09 am
Dawg Fan how would he be a winner and a Champion at a school that isnt either of those in over 30 years?
JB
July 13th, 2011
8:11 am
9 of 10 dogs smell. Live it every day. It’s not even a rivalry anymore, even with you guys having ” THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH IN AMERICA”.
Jingle Dingle
July 13th, 2011
8:12 am
Kid sounds like he’s a class act.
SOGADOG
July 13th, 2011
8:12 am
Did Coach Tereshinski work the poor wittle baby too hard? Here is a lolly pop now go play ACC ball.
Dawg '94
July 13th, 2011
8:21 am
The young man sounds SOFT to me. Ran to Richt to tell on the big meanie Coach T & Richt told him to suck it up or go to the SOFT ACC. BYE
Zebulon Dawg
July 13th, 2011
8:22 am
Glad you gone. What a wimp! Kids now a days don’t want to work hard for some reason.
You’ll fit in fine with Va Tech!
jerry
July 13th, 2011
8:22 am
Given Richt’s success in choosing his coaches, Tereshinski must be right.
Joey
July 13th, 2011
8:24 am
We’ll find out soon enough if Coach T was the man for the job. I sure hope he is.
It does seem strange that he has been an assistant for many years and only now becomes a S&C coach.
Oscar the Grouch
July 13th, 2011
8:24 am
My brother told me Virginia Tech has a much, much better Alphabet program than UGA does.
However, both schools seem to turn an exceptionally high number of felons per capita.
Why do you think Coach Saban doesn’t have that problem with his players?
1eyedJack
July 13th, 2011
8:26 am
If you ain’t running some people off then you ain’t working ‘em hard enough.
Ben
July 13th, 2011
8:29 am
Altamaha, how can anyone push anything with upper body without having a good leg and hip base? Try using the sled method of thrust similar to the old seven man sled with weights. Yes we used bench presses but did not waste too much time on the receivers doing UGA, Tech, AU, TN, FSU, and many to the smaller colleges. I know Strength and Conditioning is a science but GA needs every edge they can get, every second they can use, every idea they can evaluate. We are changing philosophies for a reason. Just be sure we are using every plus to our advantage. No there was not actually a weight program used then. They just worked their butt off all year and during practice.
JB
July 13th, 2011
8:30 am
Oscar……….You’re kidding about Saban , Right? These kids come from the same gene pool. The State of Alabama is Sooooooooo in the tank for that football program that the cops by pass the “system” and take these kids directly to Saban and avoid the press. Do you think for one minute your little darlings don’t drink, chase women,stay out late, bump a another car with theirs, cheat on a test????? Do you really think that?
BMDPD
July 13th, 2011
8:32 am
Sounds like we were shifted to the strength side. Now it appears we have shifted to the conditioning side.
DawgInaTruck
July 13th, 2011
8:33 am
When the kid signed our S&C staff consisted of 3-4 coaches, now we have eleven. Obvioulsy there is a much different environment in the weight room now.
CMR had been lobbying former AD Evans for additional funding to expand the S&C staff but DE wanted to win championships in multiple sports and instead spread the money around that way. Naurally, when McGarity got here he saw a big difference in our S&C staff relative to what he had at UF. Thankfully, CMR and our new AD see eye to eye on this and we now have a staff that equals or exceeds our SEC rivals.
Benedict may not be the last to decide our new, larger and better organized staff makes things “too tough”. If so, I’m not about to wsh ill will on a kid that age but I also won’t mourn his departure. We need kids who ae willing to sacrifice for the team, realize what it means to wear that uniform, and be proud to do so. If not, they need to play somewhere else.
Joe T and staff are gonna make ‘em work but, for those that do, it is really gonna be worth it.
ratherBgambling
July 13th, 2011
8:36 am
I wonder if John Theus is paying attention.
RxDawg
July 13th, 2011
8:39 am
“Train them to be quick, agile, fast, explosive for a full football game. Not 1 rep.”
From what I understand, this is exactly what they are doing. Apparently the coaches didn’t like how the team fared in the 4th quarter. So they are training them to have more endurance and out last the other team during the 4th.
Dawg4Ever
July 13th, 2011
8:39 am
The kid is a great fit for the ACC — he obviously does not belong on an SEC football field. We wish him luck — the money we invested in him, Ealey, and King was a huge amount — little or no return on all of it. And you so-called “Georgia fans” who think you know exactly what happened and criticize the program with baseless, ignorant rants — go somewhere else and support another program. We don’t need or want you. Go ‘Dawgs!
jerry
July 13th, 2011
8:41 am
Wonder why UGA gave this “wuss” a scholarship to start with. Did he not indicate some sissy tendencies? I guess he fooled all the people below but he didn’t fool Tereshinski.
High School: The Bolles School, coached by Corky Rogers… SuperPrep All-America and All-Dixie teams…PrepStar Top 150 Dream Team..Sporting News Top 100….Scout.com Four-Star Player, #89 Player in the Country, #10 OT in the Country, #29 Player in the South, #13 Player in Florida…Rivals.com Four-Star Player, #76 Player in the Country, #12 OT in the country, #5 Player in Florida…#19 in the ESPNU 150… Mobile Press-Register Super Southeast 120…selected to play in Under Armour All-America game…Missed part of senior season due to injury
REALLY? QUITTER!!
July 13th, 2011
8:44 am
This guy is nothing but a little baby. Nothing but a QUITTER. Hey Benedict…you just quit on the guys that you say you will be lifelong friends with ya douche bag. I wouldn’t want to be a lifelong friend of a quitter like you. Glad he is gone because he obviously has no fight in him at all. See ya looser
GO DAWGS!
Douglas
July 13th, 2011
8:49 am
If Coach T uses the same techniques that George Mrvos used as the strength coach at UGA in the Dooley years, the strength on our offensive line will greatly improve. Remember how our lines used to open up holes for all the great RB’s during Dooley’s era…that’s because they trained under Mrvos.
Common Sense
July 13th, 2011
8:54 am
Quiter…
Plain and simple.
In the words of Bear Bryant ( a pretty good coach), “once you quit, it gets easier the next time”.
Jim Hummer
July 13th, 2011
8:55 am
What a baby. Gators were not willing to waste schlorship ion him. Remember Muschamp knows coach T well.
WONDERING
July 13th, 2011
8:55 am
Seems we just cannot keep our nose out of other people’s business. Let the kid alone. He probably made a mistake coming to UGA in the first place, bur he has made his choice.now get off his case.
Tide Roll
July 13th, 2011
8:58 am
Clearly Benedict would still be at UGA if allowed to Rehab an additional year, as he’s able to do at Va. Tech. This is what happens when your talent evaluation and Philosophy toward certain athletes you recriut for your offensive line is so poor. You end up signing players (like most of those in this year’s 9th rated offensive line class in the Conference, per rivals), that have no business playing SEC football. The attrition created by these recruiting mistakes then results in an incredible lack of depth. This lack of depth then leads Richt and Bobo to try to create depth by pressuring your S/C coordinator (whom they control because he doesn’t belong in that position to begin with), to get the kid ready when they know he’s not. The results are a disaster. The kid is forced to come back too soon, thus aggrvating the existing injury (See Trinton Sturdivant), and ruining his future. Benedict and his Dad saw what the UGA coaches did to Sturdivant, and wanted no part of it. He was right to leave. His football future and physical well being was at stake.
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:00 am
WONDERING…………….Then you need to write the Editor of the AJC and tell them to discontinue these blogs……….GEEZ…… ask yourself what a blog is.
claytondawg
July 13th, 2011
9:00 am
There is nothing else to say other than to wish this young man well. It is now a dead issue for UGA. MOVE ON, everyone. This situation happens at many many colleges and not limited to just a few. Ok, ‘Dogs…let’s work toward our first game and make the Bulldog Nation cheer again. Let’s see some good attitude for a change.
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:01 am
HERE WE GO…TIDE ROLL at 8:58….THE expert on UGA’s line woe’s
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:02 am
Tide roll………Kind of like Bammer between Stallings and Shula I guess
DoubleDownDawgFan
July 13th, 2011
9:02 am
IT LOOKS TO ME LIVE EVERYONE IS RUNNING FROM OUR PROGRAM….I CAN’T SAY I BLAME THEM THOUGH! COACH RICHT AIN’T THE MAN FOR THE JOB ANYMORE! THESE KIDS ARE LEAVING AND DON’T WANT TO PLAY FOR HIM. CAN’T REALLY BLAME THEM THERE EITHER….AFTER LAST YEAR’S RECORD! FIRE RICHT AND BRING IN A REAL COACH BEFORE EVERYONE LEAVES OUR TEAM!
jerry
July 13th, 2011
9:04 am
Why don’t the people who tout Richt’s 10 year won/lost record also tout the fact that Van Halanger was the S&C coordinator?
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:06 am
” everyone is running” ???? Is that fair to the 70-80 players up their busting it in this 100+ heat preparing for Boise? No it’s not. don’t paint with a broad brush. You go to war with the guy in the fox hole fighting with you, not one deserter.
Dawgs
July 13th, 2011
9:07 am
Benedict has a special situation with his knee which requires special training protocols, just like any injured athlete. Let it go folks. Joe T is doing things like he did in 1983, but the game has changed, so the training needs to change. I heard they arent doing any explosive training, agilities or plyometrics; isnt that the “football training” he bragged about doing in December? But they didnt do it in ‘84, so they arent doing it now. Mat Drills were legendary because they were hard, and related to football. Now they apparently run distance all week long, what does that have to do with football?
Chop Block
July 13th, 2011
9:08 am
The kid is one chop block away from retirement. Let him go play for VT so he can legally date his sister. I’m more worried about Boise St coming into Atlanta with the great quartback. Anyone watch the NFL vs NCAA comparison??? Tom Brady = Boise state QB…
DawginLex
July 13th, 2011
9:08 am
doubledown
One kid leaving because of differences with the S&C program does not equal everyone is running away.
King flunked out
Harmon flunked out
Ealey was asked to leave
Gray quit because he is delusional enough to think he is a college QB
Mett was asked to leave
The #5 rated recruiting class in the country just signed also doesn’t agree with your statement either.
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:08 am
Dawgs……..I’ll take my chances. What we WERE doing obviously was not working.
Chop Block
July 13th, 2011
9:09 am
“Now they apparently run distance all week long, what does that have to do with football”…. Duh, conditioning… You know, play all 4 quarters and not running out of gas.
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:10 am
Chop Block………now that’s funny……
JB
July 13th, 2011
9:12 am
My guess is this team rally’s tight and punch’s Boise in the mouth and wins. Go Dawgs
dawgfan
July 13th, 2011
9:14 am
Doesnt VT have one of the best strength programs in the country? They seem to discuss this every time they are on tv; maybe that is what attracted Benedict, working with someone who does this as a profession, not a former video guy.
Tobias Funke
July 13th, 2011
9:15 am
If you’re not RUNNING a few off each year, then you’re not pushing them hard enough. I love what jt2 has done. Think about how jacked the players will be in the Dome in the first game. Boise State is gonna get their butts kicked over and over again. Hard conditioning makes players mean and grateful… especially mean.
Go Dawgs!!!
AltamahaDawg
July 13th, 2011
9:15 am
I’m sure they do need good legs and hips, pretty sure they are familiar with that requirement, and that why I questioned why you assume they ONLY work on upper body with a bench press.
As I said I’m not expert on kenesiology, but I know when we build machinery in my plant, we do it one component at a time, where we can control the process, THEN asesmeble it to ultimetely works as a whole. We don’t throw every part on the floor and have at it. And if you just picked up one piece you could certainly say, “THIS is not all it does” and you would be correct.
I’m guessing they have quite a few tackling dummies, use them all the time, but maybe don’t think it’s the most effective way to develop the parts of human machine to just push them around for 6 months.
Hit A Single
July 13th, 2011
9:15 am
I wish Benedict the best. Coach Joe T. is exactly what this program needed. Now we will find out who truly wants to be a Dawg and players that will put the program first.