ZOMG! Mark Richt has done gone Nick Saban, or something

UGA Coach Mark Richt placed Alexander Ogletree on a medical hardship waiver, effectively ending his football career with the Bulldogs. The program cited “undisclosed medical reasons” as the basis for the decision.

What’s the big deal with that, you ask? Well, Georgia pulled in 33 players in the 2013 signing class.

In other words, Georgia “oversigned,” a practice that the Atlanta area media have tried to slam Alabama coach Nick Saban on repeatedly.

So, I’m just going to leave this link right here, and give you a quote from it that drips with hypocrisy.

“We will not over-sign at Georgia, either," McGarity said.”

Oh, and then there’s this juicy little tidbit from Richt himself:

"We could always get into a situation where we oversign, but there's no way I could look at a kid and his parents and say, 'We had some room, but now we really don't.' I just think you have to be careful," Richt told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Signing Day. "I don't want to oversign, then tell one of the kids we've already got, 'You've got no value to us' and toss him aside. I'm not going to do that."

How do you like Mark Richt now, oversigning.com?

We eagerly anticipate the 700-word column in tomorrow’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, castigating Richt for following in the footsteps of the evil dark lord of roster management.

Alabama stud running back Kenyan Drake dishes about Nick Saban

By: @LivingCrimson

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution is at it again. Alabama pulled another top player out of Georgia and the Atlanta paper doesn’t like it. In a Q&A session with the AJC Super 11 running back, Michael Carvell uses leading questions in an attempt to create controversy.

However, the Alabama signee turns the tables and gives positive reviews about Alabama recruiting, then blames turmoil at Georgia for his going out of state. To spare everyone a frustrating click, here are highlights from the article.

• Even though Drake was a lifelong Georgia fan, UGA was not an option for him because of the program’s instability.

“With everything going [on] at Georgia and all the speculation about Coach Richt, and then realizing the stability at Alabama — it wasn’t a hard decision, at that point.”

• Nick Saban visited his school, which really impressed Drake. Even more importantly, Alabama was the only school to make a home visit.

“Coach Saban … really wanted to come over and talk football, and explain his expectations both on and off the field. It wasn’t like any big family gathering but more like a business meeting.”

• Drake really enjoys being around Kirby Smart.

“[He] is the funniest coach I’ve ever been around. He’s real laid back and down to Earth. You can talk to him about anything, whether it be school, football, or your girlfriend. He will have a conversation with you because he’s that cool and that’s type of person.”

• When questioned about which school’s coach is the “nicest,” of course it wasn’t Saban. Drake goes on to clarify that Saban is more businesslike than buddy-buddy.

“Well, I wouldn’t say not the nicest, but I would have to say Coach Saban. But I’m not saying he was not the nicest. He’s really straight forward. You know what I mean? I’m not saying he’s mean but I’m not saying he’s ‘buddy buddy’ with you either. He’s very businesslike. … And he gives it to you like this, and if it’s not like this, then there’s no other way.”

“At first, he can be intimidating because of the things you read or hear about him. And with his personality, he’s very straight forward. He tells you like it is. But once you get to really know him, it’s different. The chance I got to spend with Coach Saban and his wife during my visit … we got to joke around and have a couple of laughs. You know, people that aren’t really that close to him, or haven’t been in those type of situations, they wouldn’t really understand because they see him as being straight forward. Once you get to see the man, the husband Coach Saban is and the father Coach Saban is, you really get to see what type of person he is.”

• What do you think it will be like to play for a guy that many consider to be college football’s best coach?

“It’s like you really don’t want to disappoint him. You see how hard he works and how prepared he is, day in and day out, to be the best at what he’s doing. He’s a very good role model. Once you see everything he’s accomplished and trying to accomplish, it’s almost like all that success is going to rub off on you. Because Coach Saban is your coach, you’re definitely going to strive to be the best you can be, regardless.”

Chalk up another good get for Coach Saban and the Alabama recruiting staff. In his senior season, Drake rushed for 1,610 yards on 173 carries and scored 18 rushing touchdowns. He was also effective in the receiving game — hauling in 24 passes for 315 yards and five touchdowns — and special teams where he returned 10 kickoffs for 355 yards and two touchdowns. A grand total of 2,280 total yards and 25 touchdowns, which earned him the 2011 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Georgia. Hillgrove High School won a regional title and finished 10-0 in the regular season for the first time.

Kenyan Drake will arrive on the Alabama campus on May 27th, after his high school graduation. It will be interesting to see the 6-1 204 pound Drake compete for playing time against 6-2 210 pound T.J. Yeldon in Fall camp.

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Georgia makes early run at 2012 Fulmer Cup

Two days after National Signing Day, Georgia coach Mark Richt has dismissed three players for violations of team rules. DB Nick Marshall, WR Sanford Seay and DB Chris Sanders have been dismissed from the team.

All were freshmen. Two of the players—Marshall and Seay—have been accused of attempting to steal money from the dorm room of a teammate. There is no indication that Sanders was involved in the incident.

Georgia had a relatively quiet offseason in 2011 after pulling in a consensus Top 5 recruiting class, with few off-the-field distractions.

2012 isn’t shaping up that way.

In fact, going into National Signing Day, Georgia was locked in a three-way tie for first place in the annual Fulmer Cup race. With today’s developments, expect the standings to show Georgia and Mark Richt in sole possession of first place and the early favorite to take home the plastic.

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The Coaching Carousel’s Crazy Spin

We call this the College Football Silly Season© for a reason. Yesterday, a normally solid reporter at the Houston Chronicle wrote that Georgia coach Mark Richt had emerged as a legitimate candidate for the Texas A&M position. Texas A&M is one of a handful of big time college football coaching jobs. Big school, big budget and big aspirations usually draw big name candidates.

It’s not hard to believe that they’d be interested in the longest serving head coach in the SEC. What is hard to believe is that the interest is mutual, especially after Richt coached himself from hotseat to SEC East Champ; from imminent termination to contract extension. The same report, citing an Texas A&M “insider,” also said that Richt moving to take over the Aggies would also send Alabama DC Kirby Smart home to coach the Bulldogs. Call me silly, but I have a hard time believing that any Texas A&M “insider” has knowledge of who Georgia would tap as a replacement. I also have a hard time believing that Georgia would hire an assistant as its new head coach. After 11 years of relative success, UGA goes with a proven head coach, or you can label that coaching search a dismal failure.

The Penn State job remains open as well, but whoever takes that job in the wake of the revolting Sandusky scandal would have to be insane, unless his name is Jay Paterno or Scrap Bradley. Both have reportedly interviewed and the Football Alumni are said to be firmly insisting on a Penn Stater as Joe Paterno’s replacement. Indeed, I’ve been told by business contacts within that community that “it’s either a Penn Stater, or else.” There had been heated speculation that the Nittany Lions would turn to Al Golden, but that seemingly came to an end when Golden signed a contract extension last month.

Out west, UCLA and Arizona State are still both looking for head coaches after firing Rick Neuheisel and Dennis Erickson, respectively. ASU appeared to have their search wrapped up early this week as reports surfaced that SMU’s June Jones was set to take over. That all fell apart only hours later when negotiations were abruptly broken off. UCLA’s search appears to be only slightly less clueless.

With four BCS automatic qualifying jobs open, there’s real potential for an entertaining spin on the carousel. The hires made by those four programs will create openings elsewhere, setting off new rounds of coaching searches, new rounds of speculation and “insider” reports and more silly season enjoyment.

A few entertaining names to watch: Kevin Sumlin, Houston Nutt (seriously), Phil Fulmer (no, seriously), Kirby Smart, Gus Malzahn, Charlie Strong and Ellis Johnson. Chris Peterson’s name comes up every year, and every year he returns to the Smurf Turf. Could this year be different?  Spin, baby. Spin!

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Kirby Smart, or Gus Malzahn?

A caller on WNSP 105.5’s Sports Drive yesterday afternoon had an interesting question for show hosts Pat Greenwood and Randy Kennedy. The basis for the question was the assumption that the Georgia Bulldogs have a subpar season (again) in 2011, leading to the departure of Mark Richt and a coveted opening at one of the big schools of the SEC.

It’s just as likely that Ole Miss lays an egg in 2011 and the Right Reverend Houston Nutt is shown the door. I didn’t hear whether Greenwood and Kennedy addressed a possible opening at Ole Miss, but even before these two teams face stiff nonconference opponents—BYU visits Oxford and Boise State travels to Atlanta—I see the odds at better than even that at least one of them will be in the market for a new head coach about four months from now.

The question: If you’re an SEC school looking for a head coach, do you hire an up-and-coming assistant and if so, which of the two most talked about assistants in the SEC do you go after: Alabama’s Kirby Smart, or Auburn’s Gus Malzahn?

For me, the answer is Gus Malzahn and it’s not even close.

Bulldog fans would likely stage a partial revolt if Athletics Director Greg McGarity tapped Malzahn over Smart, a Georgia alumnus and Broyles Award winning assistant coach. But if you’re looking to add excitement and pizzazz to what’s been a moribund football program over the last several seasons, Malzahn is the no-brainer.

Bama’s Kirby Smart is ready to be a head coach, too. His career includes stops at Georgia, Valdosta State, Florida State, LSU, the Miami Dolphins and Alabama. The LSU, Dolphins and Bama stints have all been with Nick Saban, arguably the best head coach in college football today. Saban has disciples coaching at Florida, Florida State and Tennessee in the SEC and Michigan State in the Big Ten. Clearly, Smart’s resume is right and he’ll be a solid head coach wherever he decides to plant his flag. But he’ll be a first-timer in the corner office.

Malzahn has been a head coach, and while it was at the high school level, he transformed programs from also-rans to offensive powerhouses. He knows how to run an organization. He’s won everywhere he’s been when he’s allowed free rein over the team’s offense. He took a woefully thin, talent-starved 5-7 2008 Auburn team and transformed it into one of the most productive attacks in the SEC. In 2009, Auburn won eight games and had undefeated Alabama on the ropes until the fourth quarter in the Iron Bowl. Few people can make chicken salad out of chicken scat like Malzahn did that year. And 14-0 last year wasn’t bad either, was it?

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated called Malzahn “one of the sport's most innovative offensive minds, not just in the college ranks, but in all of football.” Mandel wrote that line in October 2009, getting on the Malzie bandwagon before it was trendy.

Both Malzahn and Smart are recruiting machines. Both are disciplined, experienced coaches who have won at the highest level in college football. Smart’s implementation of the Saban school of defense is crisp, physical and absolutely ferocious. But Malzahn’s offense is his offense.

Auburn faces an absolutely brutal schedule in 2011. They have away games at Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia. They will likely be underdogs in every one of them, and are likely underdogs hosting both Florida and Alabama. They have a wealth of young talent but a dearth of experience and senior leadership. If they can fashion an eight- or nine-win season out of that slate, it will be because Malzahn worked his magic on the offensive side of the ball and his stock will be sky high.

Smart would be a good choice for almost any program. But if Gus Malzahn is available and I’m shopping for a coach, I’m going with the wizard.

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