Former UGA All-American David Pollack weighs in on state of college football, his Dogs
In case you missed it, here’s the take of former Georgia All-American and new ESPN staffer David Pollack on the current state of college football, and his Bulldogs, of course. . . .
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242 comments Add your comment
moleman
August 26th, 2011
4:22 pm
gbal you were so close…
Joey
August 26th, 2011
4:26 pm
Come on Chip, you’re letting your UGA Sports blog turn into a bunch of buttholes insulting UGA Sports.
I actually like good debate, but these guys are just lying morons.
I’d greatly appreciate it if you would fix it.
moleman
August 26th, 2011
4:26 pm
gotta go..mom is making me cut the grass. see ya!
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 26th, 2011
4:29 pm
Name withheld..
Address your issues from the original post one by one…
1) Titles- UGA made a terrible hire after Dooley retired. That put the program behind the eightball for a decade.
2)Richt re-established the UGA brand. Two SEC Titles three BCS appearances, two victories.
3)Recruiting- In the Internet age and social media days we as fans have so much information at our disposal that when we see the “next big name” recruit not attending UGA it appears like we dropped the ball.
When in fact that if you have 25 scholarships to give in a state that produces 120 players annually then you are going to have opposing schools raid the state. Does UGA get beat on players they key on? Sure, just as every school in the nation.
4) Record Past two seasons and impact on recruiting- Of course this is used on the recruiting trail, but CMR has built plenty of credit during his tenure to right hte ship.
5) Resources and National Recognition- UGA is one of the largest revenue schools in the nation. UGA is sells I believe the sixth most amount of merchandise in the Nation. You have to be relevant to some degree to pull this off.
6) Is UGA where they should be with the amount of resources they have? No of course not. The program grew stale and flat over th epast two years. This has impacted the “beauty” aspect of the program. It takes one year to turn all the talk around.
If you are a sports fan you should know this. In todays sports it is always a what have you done for me lately mentality.
I am not going to further debate this with you. Just logical reasons as to why UGA is relevant in the National landscape of college football.
powerhouse?
August 26th, 2011
4:42 pm
Can you still win the NC if you start 0-2?
GT Joe
August 26th, 2011
4:44 pm
wow. UGa top 5 program in the history of college football?!?! HEE HAW!!! Where do I start:
Alabama
ND
Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
OSU
MIchigan
Penn State
Florida
FSU
Miami
and…. if we are talking real HISTORY…
GEORGIA TECH
UGA is top 20 for sure though.
GT Joe
August 26th, 2011
4:46 pm
UGA might be #6 in merchandise because it is a HUGE school with a HUGE alumni base.
Outside of georgia, nobody cares about UGA. Same with Tech btw.
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
4:47 pm
Well put Lowcountry .. The tough part as a UGA fan to swallow was not having an adequate QB ready to replace Matt Stafford. Shockley replaced David Greene. The DJ Shockley year went reasonably well (the year we beat BSU) considering it was his only year starting then Stafford replaced him. Then came Joe Cox and he was not the answer but neither was Logan Grey. And last year as a RSF, Aaron Murray really did pretty well. He is THE most talked about returning QB probably in the entire SEC. I know the Gators will have a good team this year bouncing back, but Brantley is aweful so that is everybody else’s equalizer.
As far as I can tell, this team has always revolved around QB play since CMR took over. During Greene’s years, his one big play receiver was Fred Gibson (not exactly AJ Green) and they won a lot of games still. During the Stafford years, he had Massaquoi (again, not an AJ Green, but a quality receiver nonetheless) and the won a lot of games. In comes Joe Cox and we couldn’t get the ship moving forward. Murray comes in as a freshman and everyone throws their hands in the air because we didn’t win 9 games but then again, how did Matt Barkley do at USC the last 2 years? And against much weaker competition overall and with lesser stats (mainly in the INT department). As Murray continues to develop and the defense does what most believe they will do this year, it will all be ok.
David
August 26th, 2011
4:53 pm
I feel sad for David, having to spend that much time with Jesse Palmer.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 26th, 2011
4:53 pm
Tampa,
Right also. Here is the thing, UGA fans could care less what anyone else thinks. Same should be said about opposing teams fans, who cares what anyone else thinks. I am a UGA fan regardless. Don’t like UGA? So, don’t follow the blogs. You come on the blogs to get your kicks, well that speaks volumes about your character IMO. I rarely take the fight to another team, but I will defens the program. It is worth defending for damn sure. It is my school.
JDawg1785
August 26th, 2011
4:56 pm
DawginLex, I heard about Smith possibly being injured, but I missed the news on Rambo. What do you think is up with him?
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
4:57 pm
GT Joe, I was almost on board with you (as a loyal UGA fan) until you put FSU and Miami up there. Hard to put programs up there with that much of a cloud surrounding their championships as those two do (FSU in 93, Miami in the 80’s and early 90s). I used to pull for Miami when I moved to Tampa but that program just lets corruption seep in regularly.
As a football program from the beginning to now though, GT has had some great years (I was in ATL for the 1990 season) but top to bottom they have been no where near as consistent a top program as UGA has. I know, GT has 15 conference titles to UGA’s 14, but 12 of UGAs were in the SEC.
Joey
August 26th, 2011
4:58 pm
GT Joe, how about 12th in all time NCAA Division I in wins. UGA.
Tech a few spots down.
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
4:58 pm
JDawg1785 === He is still listed as 2nd on the depth chart at rivals.com. Smith is probably more precautionary. The “Insider” info has to be verified before being justified.
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
5:03 pm
True that Lowcountry, especially ABOUT THE CHARACTER PART (hope a few certain people saw that). I went on to the BSU blogs, registered my name (Lord we should do that here), and got on there to do two things. Compliment them on having the best looking of the two uniforms on Sept 3 and to wish them look from Sept. 4th on. I didn’t bash them there. I just said hey, let’s have a good game. I state my opinion on BSU here and I am not shy about it. Good program but again, some of their “big wins” aren’t all that impressive when you look closer at them. The OK win was impressive but it was the same QB and defense in that game that UGA destroyed just one year earlier. There is always more to it than just the score when you are only talking a handful of games over a 4-6 year period of time.
JDawg1785
August 26th, 2011
5:04 pm
Very true, TampaDawg. I remember the day Caleb King was declared ineligible, the rumor mill was saying that Bean Anderson was out as well. Can’t read too much into the “insider info.”
LOL
August 26th, 2011
5:05 pm
“UGA might be #6 in merchandise because it is a HUGE school with a HUGE alumni base.
Outside of georgia, nobody cares about UGA. Same with Tech btw.”
And inside the state of Georgia, nobody cares about Tech either.
Bob
August 26th, 2011
5:05 pm
Chip…thanks for including Pollack in your blog. He was class on and off the field, and we all appreciate his many contributions. I agree with most on here that Donnan could recruit! Too bad he couldn’t coach and had terrible communication skills with alumni. I didn’t hear, but what’s wrong with Branden Smith and Rambo? Thanks.
Joey
August 26th, 2011
5:07 pm
A techie talking trash about UGA, when the Dawgs have won more BCS Bowl Games that tech’s entire CONFERENCE?
Deepest sympathies regarding the recent lobotomy . . .
Joey
August 26th, 2011
5:09 pm
…than…
Dammit.
BigRedandBlackDAWG
August 26th, 2011
5:11 pm
IDIOT going as “name witheld”
If you can read, read this. How many National Championships does your school (if you went to college) have???
UGA has won 673 games, which ranks eleventh in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record books. Five Bulldogs teams have been declared national champions, in 1927, 1942, 1946, 1968, and 1980
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1994&hl=y
BigRedandBlackDAWG
August 26th, 2011
5:12 pm
By the way, the Dawgs will win they’re SIXTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in the next three years. So get ready for it.
Bob
August 26th, 2011
5:18 pm
Thanks BigRedandBlackDag…BTW, a Techie must have installed your spellcheck. It’s “…will win THEIR sixth national championship”. I hope you’re correct. orry, just out of habit.
Bob
August 26th, 2011
5:20 pm
That Techie got me, too, s/b Sorry.
ugottobkidding
August 26th, 2011
5:31 pm
Harold, if Donnan was so good, why was he not able to win with all those good players he recruited?
Bob
August 26th, 2011
5:36 pm
Donnan was a super recuiter, average coach, and a poor judge of character. Looks like he may have had other flaws, too.
alpha male
August 26th, 2011
5:44 pm
@BigRedandBlackDAWG
Litkenhous poll natiional chanpionship in 1968?? and you count that?? who knew that even existed… and another thing, enough with the name calling…because someone doesn’t agree with you, doesn’t make them an idiot..
BigRedandBlackDAWG
August 26th, 2011
5:57 pm
alpha male,
Let me see, some one insults me by saying I write like a 2nd grader and that my UGA degree is worth less then toilet paper and I’m not suppose to call them a name?
BigRedandBlackDAWG
August 26th, 2011
5:58 pm
and by the way – Litkenhous was a recognized poll and that quote is from the New Georgia Encyclopedia, so yes, we will count it. Thanks for asking.
Ringleader
August 26th, 2011
5:59 pm
ugottabkidding……
Donnan had his coaching staff hired away from him and did not do well in his replacements. As far as calling plays and organizing an offense there are none better. Special teams were comprised of starters, not scout team players. His ultimate downfall was he did not care for Adams or Leeburn and let them both know it.
Common Tator
August 26th, 2011
6:02 pm
Pollack is marginally qualified at best to be an ESPN commentator, but compared to most former UGA players, he’s a rocket scientist.
I wonder what his comments will be after UGA begins the season at 0-2. Will he be another one of those cloying Richt apologists, or will he be a realist and push for Richt’s unceremonious dismissal.
Buzzzzzzzzzz
August 26th, 2011
6:08 pm
You Dawg fans who keep repeating Tech-Georgia scores enjoy yourselves all you want. The thing is… Tech alumni and fans have lives that don’t depend entirely on what a bunch of kids does on Saturday afternoons. College sports are fun to follow, but the biggest reason for going to college is to get an education.
UGA fans don’t seem to care about anything but football, and they don’t care if their players are enrolled in silly majors that no parents who are paying the bills would send their kids to UGA for. The very few football and basketball players who graduate have no job opportunities and end up unemployed or working in menial jobs that hardly require a college degree.
Georgia Tech is a real school with serious academic standards, and that includes scholarshipped athletes. UGA has a long history of being a drunken party school, where parents send their kids for an easy degree, even if the degree itself is worthless.
Jan Kemp exposed the obscene sleazy crap going on at UGA with athletes being enrolled in courses a ten-year-old kid could pass. That was almost three decades ago, and nothing has changed. If anything, the abuses are more blatant today. Way too many illiterate morons are being recruited, and the very high arrest rate shows clearly that Richt does not care if his players have any morals or character.
The bottom line is that most Tech fans have very good jobs and productive lives that don’t depend on Tech’s football record for their happiness in life. It would be great to beat UGA more often, but when you put scholar-athletes up against moron-athletes, it’s usually no contest.
UGA, REIGNING WINNER OF THE FULMER-RICHT CUP.
Finally, possibly the last year for the staff IF ...
August 26th, 2011
6:09 pm
By not recruiting the sheer requisite number of SEC caliber offensive linemen and a great running back without the baggage of the last two ………….Washed Up and Caleb King, this year could be it by going say, 8-5. That won’t cut it with the alumni folks.
I am very, very concerned about an O line that will struggle badly, if we need to call up some back ups. This is really due to kids quitting, bad knees, bad shoulders and bad attitudes. It is also the fault of the coaching staff. Sorry, they know the needs in the SEC.
Win 9 or preferably 10, one of which MUST be Florida and compete to the very end for the SEC East, or be gone. Enough is enough. UGA will recover within two years with a kick a– coach and staff, if need be. There is talnet ehre now and with tow back to back great years, UGA with a new man would be fine and chomping at the bit. HOPE and CHANGE that WE CAN count on.
Go Dogs. It starts with SC and BS. Win em both.
UGA man
Class of 71 & 73
alpha male
August 26th, 2011
6:12 pm
the new georgia encyclopedia…ok…what about the 1966 national championship declaration by some group called the Massey Ratings…don’t sell the dawgs short…maybe the new georgia encyclopedia isn’t so accurate…uga already has 6 championships…
GTis ALSO ON SECOND TRIP NCAA probation
August 26th, 2011
6:14 pm
GT is on their second tour of duty on NCAA triple, secret CHEATING probation and their top players in B ball and football are not scholars. Stop with all of this GT is fabulous and our kids are all Mensa students. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH, Recreation majors they are.
Rapes, murders, professors stealing grant money or research money, drugs, drug related ODs and CHEATING are what is happening at GT AND THEY AIN’T WON ANYTHING FOR IT. NOTHING …………………NO titles no bowl wins. NOTHING to show for CPJ’s
era. He is a failure like THE JOKER, Barry Soetero.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA
RamboDog
August 26th, 2011
6:17 pm
Buzzzzzzzzzz
August 26th, 2011
6:08 pm
If it didn’t bother you, I really don’t think you would be on a UGA blog and spend 10 minutes writing a non football related essay. By the way, there are MANY GT “student athletes” (that was a joke), that don’t graduate and / or get a good job when they do. This is documented, GT is at the BOTTOM of the ACC on athletic graduation rates. Go do your calculus homework, or if not a student….get over to the Publix store and stock the specials. Out of here, you are a joke.
icedawg
August 26th, 2011
6:19 pm
A 6 win season would not be acceptable. I think Richt would agree with that. No one will have to run him off. He knows if it does not get done then he’s done.
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
6:23 pm
Buzzzzzzz— ok, let’s lose the holier than thou crap for your beloved Tech. You think because they graduate a bunch of engineers that they are so much better than UGA? PLEASE!!! I work with engineers and one thing they are taught is to speak with facts. So here’s some for you:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/data/spp+50
UGA is number 56 in terms of top schools academically. Funny, but I don’t see GT in the top 50. And if you techie fans don’t spend all your time following kids playing football, then why do so many of you not just spend time on college football blogs, but spend time on ANOTHER TEAM’S college football blogs (namely this one)? You’re worse than they are because you are trying to talk like it doesn’t happen. Get over yourself dude. Tech is not some superior academic school .. SPEAK WITH DATA, SPEAK WITH FACTS .. any engineer knows that .. or so I thought.
TampaDawg
August 26th, 2011
6:27 pm
Buzzzzzzzzz – “Georgia Tech is a real school with serious academic standards, and that includes scholarshipped athletes. UGA has a long history of being a drunken party school, where parents send their kids for an easy degree, even if the degree itself is worthless.”
——————————————–
I am sorry guys, I had to quote this. I can’t stop laughing at him. Ignorance is bliss, but in this case it’s just hysterical!!!
Name Withheld on Purpose
August 26th, 2011
6:46 pm
Red and Black Dawg
UGA has won 673 games, which ranks eleventh in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record books. Five Bulldogs teams have been declared national champions, in 1927, 1942, 1946, 1968, and 1980.
Like I said 31 years ago, 43 years ago, 65 years ago, 69 years ago, and 84 years ago. Speaks for itself..Yale …Claimed national titles 27
Harvard..Claimed national titles 12 …kinda blows that theory out of the water..like we said earlier…relevance.
As for my team…where I did actually attend school on an athletic scholarship…and worked on staff at three schools…. first school…acknowledged NC..13….and 3 National Championships..acknowledged……not claimed at either.
Now onto…
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 26th, 2011
4:29 pm
Name withheld..
Address your issues from the original post one by one…
1) Titles- UGA made a terrible hire after Dooley retired. That put the program behind the eightball for a decade.
True……poor hire…
2)Richt re-established the UGA brand. Two SEC Titles three BCS appearances, two victories…
with Donnan’s players……big ol, dl players who were tough due to Donnan….not CMR….
3)Recruiting- In the Internet age and social media days we as fans have so much information at our disposal that when we see the “next big name” recruit not attending UGA it appears like we dropped the ball.
When in fact that if you have 25 scholarships to give in a state that produces 120 players annually then you are going to have opposing schools raid the state. Does UGA get beat on players they key on? Sure, just as every school in the nation…Too many top players went elsewhere…and CMR recruited a ton of malcontents who never fit the program
4) Record Past two seasons and impact on recruiting- Of course this is used on the recruiting trail, but CMR has built plenty of credit during his tenure to right hte ship……How bout starting no.1 4 years ago only to get slapped around….not 2 years but 4 years..and beating a weak Hawaii team was a joke…not making it to the SECCG….
5) Resources and National Recognition- UGA is one of the largest revenue schools in the nation. UGA is sells I believe the sixth most amount of merchandise in the Nation. You have to be relevant to some degree to pull this off. So we are testing the waters on merchandise sold to fans of a school. Poor excuse…and wrong answer to the question.
6) Is UGA where they should be with the amount of resources they have? No of course not. The program grew stale and flat over th epast two years. This has impacted the “beauty” aspect of the program. It takes one year to turn all the talk around. A dream team that in reality was just a decent recruiting class is not going to get you to the promised land.
Nice try..but sorry excuses are not going to win that argument.
moleman
August 26th, 2011
6:50 pm
nice…
a
August 26th, 2011
6:50 pm
Enter your comments here
Name Withheld on Purpose
August 26th, 2011
6:50 pm
Here was your 1927 National Championship you claimed..lost that last game to your arch rival..
10/01/1927† Virginia Sanford Field • Athens, GA W 32-0
10/08/1927* at Yale New Haven, CT W 14-10
10/15/1927 Furman Sanford Field • Athens W 32-0
10/22/1927 vs. Auburn McClung Stadium • Columbus, GA (Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry) W 33-0
10/29/1927 at Tulane New Orleans, LA W 31-0
11/05/1927 at Florida Jacksonville, FL W 28-0
11/12/1927 Clemson Sanford Field • Athens W 32-0
11/19/1927* Mercer University Sanford Field • Athens W 26-7
11/24/1927 Alabama Legion Field • Birmingham, AL W 20-7
12/03/1927 Georgia Tech Grant Field • Atlanta, GA L 0-12
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 26th, 2011
6:54 pm
You know it takes two to have a argument don’t you? See the questions you asked where one of interpretation. I provided you my interpretation so no matter what those are actually correct answers. If you fail to agree with it then that is a “you” issue. Like I said I will not debate view points any further on this blog as neither of us ar elikely to be swayed as we are already preset to our current positions. So have fun in baiting the rest of the bloggers, just know that you are th eone who has yet to say with what team you are affiliated with.
moleman
August 26th, 2011
7:02 pm
its a uga sports blog; that’s what he’s talking about…uga football, not his team…scroll to the top of the page..
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 26th, 2011
7:07 pm
I think though a UGA fan may take umbridge with a non UGA guy like yourself coming in and trashing our program without affiliating yourself with th erival school so a UGA fan can point out said schools very on shortcomings. Remember the saying,”What is good for the goose is good for the gander”? Again off to go watch some high school ball. You trolls have fun bantering about with yourself.
Name Withheld on Purpose
August 26th, 2011
7:16 pm
LowCountry Bulldawg….
I do not take anything personally. I take facts and work with them. Everyone has a right to their opinion. My very first retort was to a UGA fan for blasting another UGA fan who stated facts and backed up his facts. He took hits from several UGA fans and the trash talk started. The one big difference between being confident and factual is the Facts themselves. I hope UGA does well, I really do. My point is that with the talent that is availalbe to UGA since the Mark Richt era has miseralby underachieved and those are facts.
My second point is related to the merchandising comments. The biggest sales job was done by Mark Richt and his stafff in selling everyone on the fact that the Dream Team would save the program at UGA and folks bought it. What is going to save UGA is a very very weak Conference schedule.
Have at it..
Snoop Dawg
August 26th, 2011
7:17 pm
Sounds like David Pollack isn’t drinking that koolaid. He sees it as it is. All these Richt lovers are surely going to call him a hater now. or a troll… They must be Democrats as they share the same tactics of personal attacks for those who offer constructive and accurate criticism of the blinding obvious.
Snoop Dawg
August 26th, 2011
7:17 pm
Sounds like David Pollack isn’t drinking that koolaid. He sees it as it is. All these Richt lovers are surely going to call him a hater now. or a troll… They must be Democrats as they share the same tactics of personal attacks for those who offer constructive and accurate criticism of the blinding obvious.
Name Withheld on Purpose
August 26th, 2011
7:18 pm
sorry AVAILABLE ….should have been typed…