Ten@10: McGarity says UGA hopes to wrap up Columbus investigation by end of week
THE TEN AT 10:
1. It looks like Georgia is getting close to wrapping up its investigation into the eligibility issues facing football player Jarvis Jones and basketball player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Athletic Director Greg McGarity told reporters covering the Metro Atlanta Bulldog Club on Monday that UGA’s internal inquiry could be completed “before the end of this week.”
That’s the good news. The bad news is the Bulldogs will still have to wait for the NCAA to make a ruling. That tends to take a while. Georgia must first turn over its findings to the SEC office, which then forwards it to the NCAA, which will get back to UGA with a ruling after it has thoroughly reviewed the case.
Nevertheless, the Bulldogs remain hopeful the situation will get resolved before the season opener against Boise State on Sept. 3. Last year’s eligibility issues facing wide receiver A.J. Green did not get resolved until the second week of the season.
There is some hope that Jones can maintain his eligibility. According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Tony Adams, the man who paid for two round-trip flights to Los Angeles for Jones and his legal .guardian, Shelley Stephens, had been in a relationship with Stephens for some time. So there may have been a preexisting relationship that made paying for the trip permissible.
2. There has been all kinds of gossip this summer regarding Isaiah Crowell and how he might have be faring during Georgia’s off-season workouts. But nobody can be sure what’s truth or fiction since only players and strength coaches are privy to what goes on. The players, it seems, are very protective of the ballyhooed freshman tailback.
Probably the most enlightening comments on the subject came from quarterback Aaron Murray this past week at SEC Football Media Days. Murray’s remarks lead one to believe that work ethic may have been an issue early on, but that Crowell’s teammates made sure it didn’t persist.
Said Murray: “Oh yeah, we sat him down. One of the first weeks he was here, me, Ben [Jones] and Christian [Robinson] and a couple of other guys went to his dorm, took him outside, talked to him and ran him through some plays. Then we told him, ‘Hey, we’re here for you. We’re going to push you on this and on that but, in the end, we’re going to make sure you’re ready to go.’ He definitely took that well and has been working hard.”
Asked why they may have felt compelled to address Crowell in such a way, Murray said, “We wanted to make sure he knew we’re here for him and anything he wanted, we’re a call away. We’re excited about getting him out there and getting him to learn the playbook.”
Virtually every other report that has come out about Crowell has been glowing. His teammates have raved about the athletic potential Crowell has displayed in 7-on-7 work, pass skel and conditioning workouts.
“Oh, yeah, it’s a lot of talent,” Murray said. “Isaiah has all the speed and quickness in the world.”
Said Jones: “Very quick, very explosive. He can break it and he’s got power, too. I can’t wait to see how he is in pads because I heard he’s ‘The Man.’ I hope he is because there’s going to be some big-play opportunities.”
3. Speaking of summer workouts, the grueling regimen the players have been exposed to under new strength and conditioning coordinator Joe Tereshinski is already the stuff of legend. The Bulldogs have run more than they have in years as Tereshinski’s philosophy is to train to “win the fourth quarter” by being the better conditioned team. This has meant miles and miles of timed running at the crack of dawn and in the heat of the afternoons.
But it appears the players have gotten used to the routine and actually have started to enjoy it.
“It’s amazing how people’s bodies have transformed and how people are getting into shape,” senior cornerback Brandon Boykin said. “Everyday we’re running around the track, doing speed drills, running hills, tires, sleds, everything you can think of. We’re doing it all.”
The highlight of the week is when the players run from Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall down Lumpkin Street to Sanford Stadium and back to the football complex via East Campus Road.
“We do a morning run, usually on Fridays, where we run to the stadium, run through the stadium and then run back,” Boykin said. “It’s pretty nice to run with your team throughout campus. You’ve got your shirt off and girls are looking at you. Everybody wants to be seen and see the hard work they’ve put in. That’s actually something we look forward to on Friday.”
4. Coach Mark Richt has resurrected two-a-days for preseason camp this year. The Bulldogs scrapped them last year but will practice twice on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and again on Saturday, Aug. 13. Richt, following the trend of many teams in college football, scrapped them last year. Richt also said Georgia will hold several full-contact practices.
5. Richt told reporters before Monday’s Bulldog Club gathering that freshman eligibility issues for signees Devin Bowman and Kent Turene are still “up in the air.”
6. Three quotes from Richt at SEC Media Days last week told me there he is definitely re-invigorated for the coming season:
- On Georgia’s personnel attrition since spring practice: “Some guys have chosen to move on and a couple have gotten a little help from us.”
- On coming off a 6-7 season: “I know you walk into that Butts-Mehre Building and there’s no sense of doom and gloom in there. There’s only excitement.”
- On being at Georgia for 11 years: “The best is yet to come.”
7. Recently-graduated UGA All-American Harris English won the Nationwide Tour’s Children’s Hospital Invitational golf tournament on Sunday at the Ohio State Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. English became the third Bulldog to win a Nationwide event this year — joining Russell Henley and Erik Compton — and just the third amateur ever to win on American golf’s No. 2 tour.
English finished at 14-under-par 270. Since English has maintained his amateur status, the $144,000 first-place prize went to the second-place finisher. Earlier this month, English won the Southern Amateur in Palm Harbor, Fla. He also recently was chosen as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar for the second straight year by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
8. This one slipped by me this summer: Ray Lamb, the longtime director of high school relations for Georgia and legendary high school coach, retired last month. I first met Coach Lamb back when he fashioned tiny little Commerce High into a perennial football powerhouse. But I really got to know him on the sidelines of UGA’s Woodruff Practice Fields as he’d share stories about football and life as the Bulldogs’ practices were raged on. Lamb’s sons Hal (Calhoun High) and Bobby (Mercer University) followed him into coaching and now he has grandsons that are playing high school ball. So it seems Ray will still be involved in the game fulltime. UGA’s Loran Smith wrote a nice column about Lamb on georgiadogs.com.
9. Richt is asking for prayers for the 4-year-old daughter of linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti. Kasyn Olivadotti has Leukemia and has been in the hospital for more than a month.
10. THIS & THAT: Here’s a news release from Daktronics Inc. about the new LED scoreboard installed at Sanford Stadium.Morgan Leleux, a pole vaulter from New Iberia, La., who signed with Georgia earlier this year, took the gold medal at Pan American Junior Track & Field Championships in Miramar, Fla., this past weekend. Leleux cleared 13-7 1/4. Next she’ll compete in the USATF National Junior Outdoor Championships on Friday. She’ll enroll at UGA in the fall.
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223 comments Add your comment
B.B.
July 26th, 2011
12:35 pm
I’m just saying hiring a new coach for the sake of change, is a BIG shot in the dark.
Yes it pays off sometimes, but mostly not when giving up a proven winning coach.
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:38 pm
Richt at one point was an offensive genious for bowden. We wanted him to give up play calling to focus on the team as a whole.
I have never been a bobo fan even when he played QB at UGA. I thought it was a terrible decision to give him the play calling. He is a great QB coach (was making 95K a year doing that), but falls short of being a great play caller. And maybe Richt has a leash on him I dont know, but whatever it is isnt working.
AltamahaDawg
July 26th, 2011
12:39 pm
Why would he be retained as the QB coach? If you didn’t like the recognition of the TE option…… that’s on the QB,(and his position coach) not the OC.
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:40 pm
Im not saying they should do that. Obviously it depends on who is available, but every now and then you have to take a chance.
I wouldnt call him a proven winning coach by any means. The years he has been calling plays we have had down years in UGA standards.
1eyedJack
July 26th, 2011
12:40 pm
Maybe those 3rd and 20 draw plays would have worked had we had a running back with some heart.
B.B.
July 26th, 2011
12:40 pm
My guess is that any head coach worth his salt, that is available, had to be let go somewhere previously for probably some of the same reasons people are bitching about their current coach.
Or they cheated big time and got caught. Want that coach? NO
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:40 pm
OC draws up the plays there bug guy, not the QB coach. QB coach helps develop the players, OC tells them what to do.
JDawg1785
July 26th, 2011
12:42 pm
How horrible to see such positive news about the football program capped off by such terrible news about Coach Olivadotti’s daughter. Please pray for her and the whole family.
1eyedJack
July 26th, 2011
12:42 pm
“UGA standards?” Who set those standards?
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:42 pm
Im not calling for a new head coach, just a new OC
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:44 pm
UGA set the standards when we started winning 10 games every years. Before last year we averaged 10 wins every year for CMR. (only 9 year before last). Bobo has underperformed that mark that CMR had set for us.
Granted it is unreasonable to assume 10 wins a year but when you have the talent we do, 10 wins should be a minimum.
B.B.
July 26th, 2011
12:46 pm
Well at least we’re off the craziness of trying to get Mark Richt fired.
All that crap started by instigators outside of UGA ties.
Same instigators suckered some of you Dawgs into buying their crap.
1eyedJack
July 26th, 2011
12:47 pm
So, Mark Richt IS the standard bearer.
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
12:51 pm
I have never wanted Richt gone. He is a great coach and is responsible for getting this program to where it is today.
B.B.
July 26th, 2011
12:55 pm
We have underachieved at times…but all teams do.
Yes ALL. All big time programs have dropped off the map for periods. Vince had a crappy year before he won the national championship. And that team was a TEAM, not just Herschel. What? He was the crap coach in the bad years, but NOT the good coach in the good years?
Football is cyclical. And so are coaches. They bounce back, given the chance. And chances can be more than a couple years.
AltamahaDawg
July 26th, 2011
12:56 pm
So you think the reason that the ball goes to the TE is that the OC just tells them to? “throw the ball to the TE, I don’t care what the DB or the LBV are doing, throw it to him”. ?
It’s not the QB standing at the line, assessing the Defense, and deciding what he can do? What do you think ‘developing the player” involves? reading the defense would seem to be a pretty big part, IMO.
The staff was asked about this several times last year. They repeatedly said. “we have options for Orson Charles all the time, but for a number of reasons (and they listed several) it hasn’t worked out”. Maybe they were lying, and just didn’t know how to draw up a play for the TE. (or I guess, forgot, since they have a long history of knowing how)
Here’s a question: IF Charles does get the ball a lot more this year, do you really think the only reason will be that Bobo just learned how to draw up plays for the TE this past summer? Or will there be a lot more rational explanation involving circumstances?
What you you like to bet that Coach Bobo could sit in a film room and show you multiple times his position player missed an opportunity to hit the TE?
B.B.
July 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
UGA will have another national championship soon enough if they keep Coach Richt.
Once the talent learns to play as a team and not as me, me, me players, great things will happen.
GoForTwo
July 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
Lets be pro-active with Jarvis. Since a number of schools who commit infactions have placed themselves on probation which have no real effects on the team, we should do the same. We should go ahead and place Jarvis on probation. We could tell the NCAA that we will not let him have lunch during the football season. As Ohio State, Tennessee, LSU, USC and other universities have tried to make themselves look good before the NCAA, we should do the same. Or wait for the four game suspension like Green.
dawg from a distance
July 26th, 2011
1:02 pm
I’m a huge Murray fan but the reality is …. he has not beat a team of value yet. Great numbers (Yards, TD to int ration etc…) but the real number of value is wins.
Will he change that this year?
Looks like leadership is high and that is great now translate it to wins on the field.
What?
July 26th, 2011
1:03 pm
I think Boykin is more worried about the girls watching players run on Fridays than focusing on getting better ON the field.
gdawginkalamazoo
July 26th, 2011
1:06 pm
“Or will there be a lot more rational explanation involving circumstances?”
AltaDawg,
My guess would be that Bobo started reading the blogs and figured that we all know what is best. Then he would go to the program and figure out who this Orson Charles character we have all been talking about is.
What?
July 26th, 2011
1:07 pm
Jeez, it was Murray’s first year. He was definitely our best player out there (last year). What else did you want him to do with all the other me, me, me guys around him (Ealey, King, hope not Charles, etc.)?
What?
July 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
Just hope we can keep Murray till eligibility ends.
Russ the flawed bulldog
July 26th, 2011
1:11 pm
Those casting stones at the SC coach apparently have forgotten Evans and the red panties, and everyone seems to have forgotten the 6-7 season.
Dr.Dave
July 26th, 2011
1:25 pm
Thanks for sharing the prayer request for Kasyn Olivadotti. My daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at age 16. While in the hospital she got a signed ball from CMR. The dawgs then went on to beat Florida and my daughter went on to beat cancer.
Lowcountry bulldawg is a d---che
July 26th, 2011
1:27 pm
I am getting tired of making fun of UGAy… God they $uck.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 26th, 2011
1:28 pm
Glad I am in your head. It is flattering.
how2fish
July 26th, 2011
1:28 pm
Chip good article Coach Olivadotti our best wishes and prayers go out to you and your family.
how2fish
July 26th, 2011
1:30 pm
@Dr.Dave congrats to your daughter!
John Waynesworld
July 26th, 2011
1:32 pm
Russ, no one is throwing stones any more than you. Did someone mention that coaches are held to a higher standard than players? Well they are correct. No excuse for his behavior or others in his position.
My best to the Olivadotti family.
AltamahaDawg
July 26th, 2011
1:33 pm
Bobo’s problem have been in the spring and summer, NOT play calling on game day being predictable. There are reasons that things in the universe are predictable.
I could watch any team a few games, certainly a couple of seasons, and predict what basic play formation they are going to use on down and distance probably 50% of the time. Throw in a less than average running game, and I’d get it right even more. Stick thier freshman QB out there and I’ll be right 60-70% of the time. Any team, any OC.
It’s not knowing what a team with a very well know philosophy is going to do that is the problem. It’s the results of the play that’s the problem. Nobody has any complaints about doing the same thing during some of the better runs the past few years. And doing something completely unpredictable that doesn’t work (and has less chance of working) isn’t going to get any attaboys either.
Figure out who and how to DO the play better, and take that into the fall. That’s the answer.
nasty dog
July 26th, 2011
1:37 pm
calling the plays is one thing. Executing the play is what they need to do. Mike Bobo is an excellant play caller.The dogs did not execute.That will be the difference this year.They will execute.They will be in excellant condition so they will be able to execute.They will execute all the way to the sec championship game.
DawginLex
July 26th, 2011
1:51 pm
Who was the OC versus VT in the 2006 bowl game?
Who was the OC versus LSU when we hung 52 on them in Tiger Stadium?
Who was the OC when we hung 42 on Florida?
People, it is not the offense. You have to execute it. And, you have to stop someone on 3rd down and not give up 22 PPG.
Increase the stops on 3rd down and drop the PPG to 14 and Bobo becomes a non factor.
MD
July 26th, 2011
2:02 pm
DinLex, I was just about to call you out and find out where you were? You’ve been preaching “it’s not the Offense but the Defense”. Clear as a bell to me. I don’t like Bobo’s game management or he’s play calling but he puts points on the board (most of the time). Hold the opponents to under 20 and we win 10 games every year.
Prayers with Olivadotti and great story Dr. Dave
how2fish
July 26th, 2011
2:03 pm
@DawginLex I watched the USCe game last year and heard fan after fan screaming about our new DC..I went back and watched the game again and time after time we had players in the hole or a yard or two down field and they just didn’t make the tackle and Lattimore just ran amok. The DC’s and OC’s jobs are to put players in position it is the position coaches and more importantly the players that have to make the play……..
Latest Bama News 7/26/2011 - Page 5
July 26th, 2011
2:07 pm
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shankit
July 26th, 2011
2:13 pm
Think last season’s close losses was the result of not having the
right players to make the 3-4 defense work. This season will be
different, would not be surprised to hold a lot of teams to 3 points
or less. Got the right players at nose and linebackers to wreak
havoc with the opposing quarterback. Kellen Moore, as great as
he is, has not witnessed the onslaught of what he is to face with
our blitzing.
AltamahaDawg
July 26th, 2011
2:13 pm
I don’t know about excellent play caller. Although he has called some excellent plays that I guarantee NOBODY predicted from time to time. He is a very sufficient playcaller. Personally, I think the play “develops” at the line more than it’s “called” from the sideline, and that’s why we see Bobo’s approval rating so dramatically tied to the experience of his QB. Maybe one day he will have the years on the job and he can better compensate for shortcomings of the team, But he has proven that he can call plenty well when he has a team doing what it’s supposed to do.
I’d far rather have a team doing what it’s supposed to do than somebody new calling the plays.
But again it’s the preparing the team in the offseason, or recruiting, or whatever the issue is, that has been the problem, not the plays.
Damon Evans
July 26th, 2011
2:15 pm
The QB coach at S C is “Good People”. Lay off please!
Spanky
July 26th, 2011
2:17 pm
A heart-felt Georgia prayer goes out to the Olivadotti family…
Spanky
July 26th, 2011
2:19 pm
Shankit- Hope you’re right, buddy!
Big Dirty Dawg
July 26th, 2011
2:20 pm
Bobo has nothing to worry about…except birth control. Grampa Dooley will take care of those grandkids!! LOL
mgdawg
July 26th, 2011
2:29 pm
I just hope the NCAA speeds up this investigation, if he needs to sit out then fine, but don’t make UGA have to sit him out because they don’t know. If the ncaa wouldn’t take so long on these investigations then it would really clear up a lot of these scandals, instead some coaches take chances (tech) and some go the safe route.
Columbus
July 26th, 2011
2:37 pm
Ummmm they talked to Crowell that way because he JUST got on campus and he has NEVER played in the offense and he has a playbook to learn, he has to learn to pass block in the system, he has to LEARN everything! We NEED him and they KNOW what he does NOT know and they are there to HELP and get the offense ready and he is the BIGGEST addition and he just got on the team! That is the obvious reason. How do you take it as he has an issue?
Your perspective on this, if it is only that and you have no other basis to arrive at it, was OUT OF LINE. You should have stated as much instead of trying to stir the hornets nest. That is VERY UNFAIR to Crowell. What is your agenda? It was certainly negative. I hope Murray or Crowell NEVER give you the time of day in the future.
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
2:38 pm
OC calls the plays, and yes he can say this is for Orson. Obviously sometimes there are circumstances when he was covered and Murray checked down. But for him to only have like 2 catches a game??? give me qa break. Everyone knows Bobo’s play calling last year was throw it up to Green in any possible passing situation. He hasnt given Orsen a chance to prove that he can be a go to guy in a jam or that he can break off the coverage and catch the ball.
QB coach does help them to read the field and assess coverages no arguement there, but it is up to the OC on what play is called and what options are 1- W/E. There is no way that charles was covered entire game except for an average of like 2-3 catches. He is basically a wideout going up against LB’s. That should have been taken advantage of more.
How Bout Them Dawgs
July 26th, 2011
2:42 pm
Like i said earlier i never wanted Bobo there so its not me picking and chosing what games to give him credit for. I have had season tickets in my family since 68. Heck my basement, my parents basement, my brothers basement are all UGA shrines.
Im not one of the Fringe UGA fans shouting for change just for the sake of change. Im here voicing a big concern that has to be addressed or we will be 6-7 again.
The biggest problem is that we havent changed any plays over the past decade. Sure maybe a few additions here and there, but where is the Wild Dawg? We have run it 2 times since it was added. We have lots of speed and could use this 2 times a game.
cantondawg
July 26th, 2011
2:49 pm
BIGGADAWG,
I agree with you wholeheartedly on the “Fulmer” firing at UT. The year before he got fired he won the SECEast and should have won the Conference title game. I guarantee you that UT would not be in this situation if they had kept him.
shankit
July 26th, 2011
2:51 pm
Some good plays to introduce would be the use of Malcom Mitchell.
Line him up at WR, line him up in the Wildcat, line him up in the backfield
and send him in motion, a lot like Hines Ward did. He can be a play maker
and disrupt coverage on defense, opening up Orson and others. He will
require double coverage and I don’t think they can still cover him.
Chuck
July 26th, 2011
2:59 pm
Some people insist on an OC that takes less than 4-5 plays to score a TD on every posession – anything short of that, they want anybody fired that’s not them.
Yes, they know how easy it is to draw up an ESPN highlight-reel play every time the team breaks the huddle.
how2fish
July 26th, 2011
3:01 pm
@shankit those are some good ideas..now I have never been a OC heck I’ve never played one on TV…but you have to think I have a OL that dwarfs the Smurfs DL who by all accounts are good at getting after a QB. I have a TB that is over 220 lbs and a FB pushing 270lbs…two words jump out at me power running…..then a steady dose of Orson Charles and our WR’s..