Is it 1985 still? No? Then tell Bobby Knight to go away

Furman Bisher says Bobby Knight is interested in the UGA basketball coaching job. Bobby Knight is 68 years old. His antics would go over with local AAU coaches and recruits like a pregnant high jumper.

Regardless of Trey Thompkins' comment, this would not be a good thing.

If you want to see what happens when you hire tired old legends who are way, way past their prime check out exhibits A and B....Lou Holtz* and Steve Spurrier at SC. Knight would give us three years tops, and leave us with what? No recruits and right back where we are now...looking for a coach.

The guy left his own son with nothing to work with. They were 16-14 last year, and they are 11-10 now. What do you think he'd leave us with? We aren't even family.

Over their last three seasons both Felton and Knight each coached 86 games, and each left their jobs before the end of the season. Their records were:

45-41 for Felton
48-38 for The General

Knight won exactly three more games than DF, and they went to the same number of NCAA tournament games. Some upgrade that would be.

It'll never happen. Although, I did like the line from "SAWB" who sent this to me, it is nice to "see Furman Bisher write about something other than golf and hating people under age 74."

See Also:
-- Mike Adams discusses Bobby Knight rumor - AJC
-- Names to watch in UGA's search - ABH
-- Reminder; Furman Bisher is very old - EDSBS
-- Furman Bisher has a blog (seriously) - FurmanBisher.com

PWD


*As a point of comparison, Lou Holtz was 68 (Knight's current age) when he retired at South Carolina.

Is it 1985 still? No? Then tell Bobby Knight to go away

Furman Bisher says Bobby Knight is interested in the UGA basketball coaching job. Bobby Knight is 68 years old. His antics would go over with local AAU coaches and recruits like a pregnant high jumper.

Regardless of Trey Thompkins' comment, this would not be a good thing.

If you want to see what happens when you hire tired old legends who are way, way past their prime check out exhibits A and B....Lou Holtz* and Steve Spurrier at SC. Knight would give us three years tops, and leave us with what? No recruits and right back where we are now...looking for a coach.

The guy left his own son with nothing to work with. They were 16-14 last year, and they are 11-10 now. What do you think he'd leave us with? We aren't even family.

Over their last three seasons both Felton and Knight each coached 86 games, and each left their jobs before the end of the season. Their records were:

45-41 for Felton
48-38 for The General

Knight won exactly three more games than DF, and they went to the same number of NCAA tournament games. Some upgrade that would be.

It'll never happen. Although, I did like the line from "SAWB" who sent this to me, it is nice to "see Furman Bisher write about something other than golf and hating people under age 74."

See Also:
-- Mike Adams discusses Bobby Knight rumor - AJC
-- Names to watch in UGA's search - ABH
-- Reminder; Furman Bisher is very old - EDSBS
-- Furman Bisher has a blog (seriously) - FurmanBisher.com

PWD


*As a point of comparison, Lou Holtz was 68 (Knight's current age) when he retired at South Carolina.

Dave Braine will keep screwing GT...for eternity

I've often felt that GT's former Athletic Director Dave Braine was the best thing to ever happen to the UGA vs. GT series. He was like a one man wrecking ball of incompetence hell bent on bringing their program to its financial and athletic knees. He was in charge of such brilliant decisions as:

• Investing $65+ million for additional seats at Bobby Dodd Stadium for rival fans
  
• Monitoring GT eligibility requirements into a 4 sport NCAA violation
  
• Extending Chan Gailey's contract in the face of total mediocrity
  
• Announcing that GT would never be consistently good in football

But all of that compares to the contract Paul Hewitt signed before Braine retired which apparently makes him the defacto Georgia Tech Basketball Coach for Life...unless Tech is willing to spend over $9 million to terminate him.

The AJC reports that Hewitt is on an automatic rollover six year deal which must be paid in full if Hewitt is terminated. The contract's current value is over $9 million.

(Image Caption: "I'm Invincible Nerds!)

Tech is too cash strapped due to reckless brilliant financial decisions made by Braine to even consider biting into that buyout. If they do bite it into, they'll be further cash poor.

I wish Dave Braine nothing but the best of health and many more years of happiness. But it looks like long after he's gone, he'll still be giving Tech fans the business.

The Best Part of This Story:
Hewitt's agent is...wait for it...Mark Carmony, University of Georgia Class of 1991. Georgia Tech, home of the self-professed greatest minds in the Universe, got taken to the contractual woodshed by a Dawg. Outstanding.

Paul Hewitt, the Wizard of Techwood, is currently 0-6 in ACC play with #4 Wake Forest coming to town tomorrow. He's only 4-5 against UGA despite us fielding arguably 3 of our 4 worst teams in the past 30 years while Hewitt was at Tech.

Update: Bradley fixed his math. It's now at $7.175 million for the buyout instead of $9.5 million. Either way, it's more than GT can swallow right now.

See Also:
-- The Hive Reacts to the Contract

PWD

Dave Braine will keep screwing GT...for eternity

I've often felt that GT's former Athletic Director Dave Braine was the best thing to ever happen to the UGA vs. GT series. He was like a one man wrecking ball of incompetence hell bent on bringing their program to its financial and athletic knees. He was in charge of such brilliant decisions as:

• Investing $65+ million for additional seats at Bobby Dodd Stadium for rival fans
  
• Monitoring GT eligibility requirements into a 4 sport NCAA violation
  
• Extending Chan Gailey's contract in the face of total mediocrity
  
• Announcing that GT would never be consistently good in football

But all of that compares to the contract Paul Hewitt signed before Braine retired which apparently makes him the defacto Georgia Tech Basketball Coach for Life...unless Tech is willing to spend over $9 million to terminate him.

The AJC reports that Hewitt is on an automatic rollover six year deal which must be paid in full if Hewitt is terminated. The contract's current value is over $9 million.

(Image Caption: "I'm Invincible Nerds!)

Tech is too cash strapped due to reckless brilliant financial decisions made by Braine to even consider biting into that buyout. If they do bite it into, they'll be further cash poor.

I wish Dave Braine nothing but the best of health and many more years of happiness. But it looks like long after he's gone, he'll still be giving Tech fans the business.

The Best Part of This Story:
Hewitt's agent is...wait for it...Mark Carmony, University of Georgia Class of 1991. Georgia Tech, home of the self-professed greatest minds in the Universe, got taken to the contractual woodshed by a Dawg. Outstanding.

Paul Hewitt, the Wizard of Techwood, is currently 0-6 in ACC play with #4 Wake Forest coming to town tomorrow. He's only 4-5 against UGA despite us fielding arguably 3 of our 4 worst teams in the past 30 years while Hewitt was at Tech.

Update: Bradley fixed his math. It's now at $7.175 million for the buyout instead of $9.5 million. Either way, it's more than GT can swallow right now.

See Also:
-- The Hive Reacts to the Contract

PWD

A more professional process

There were many, many things about the Harrick termination that I didn't like. Don't get me wrong....I had no problem with actually terminating him, but I had a real problem with the aftermath of that decision because the players were treated with a total lack of respect.

In one case, they were treated as near criminals by Michael Adams during that process as he called the cops to have them removed from his lawn rather than this discuss their situation in person.

Chip Towers of the AJC says that this time, UGA got it right. They let the players know in a professional fashion before the media had the story, and they let Felton talk to his kids in an organized manner. Per the AJC:

As mundane as all that may sound, the order of events was really important to the players. Last time the Bulldogs had a change, the players found out via the media that their coach had been dismissed and the team yanked from postseason play. And lest we forget, the players are, after all, the ones most intimately affected by these changes.

We're clearly doing a better job of managing the blocking and tackling under Damon than we did in the past.

PWD

A more professional process

There were many, many things about the Harrick termination that I didn't like. Don't get me wrong....I had no problem with actually terminating him, but I had a real problem with the aftermath of that decision because the players were treated with a total lack of respect.

In one case, they were treated as near criminals by Michael Adams during that process as he called the cops to have them removed from his lawn rather than this discuss their situation in person.

Chip Towers of the AJC says that this time, UGA got it right. They let the players know in a professional fashion before the media had the story, and they let Felton talk to his kids in an organized manner. Per the AJC:

As mundane as all that may sound, the order of events was really important to the players. Last time the Bulldogs had a change, the players found out via the media that their coach had been dismissed and the team yanked from postseason play. And lest we forget, the players are, after all, the ones most intimately affected by these changes.

We're clearly doing a better job of managing the blocking and tackling under Damon than we did in the past.

PWD

Finebaum Ripped Into Kiffin

In case you missed it, Paul Finebaum tore into Lane Kiffin on Wednesday. My favorite paragraph:

Since arriving at Tennessee in December, Kiffin has gone on a spending spree that rivals the recent government bailout of Wall Street. He's been hoarding assistant coaches, making unprofessional comments about other schools, and, in the process, is well on his way to becoming public enemy No. 1 in the SEC without having coached a game.

The funniest part is that Finebaum says Lane Kiffin is such a nut that he's basically on the path to vindicating Al Davis' rant about Kiffin. After terminating Kiffin, Davis called him immature and a "flat out liar." Per Finebaum:

[Davis'] behavior at the news conference, which was carried live on ESPN, came off more like a You Tube video of the Unabomber than the man who owns an NFL franchise and has three Super Bowl trophies.

" I just couldn't go on much longer with what I would call the propaganda, the lying that had been going on for weeks and months," Davis said.

Most concluded a straight jacket was the only solution to Davis' problems.

Now...not so much per Finebaum. Here are some highlights from the Davis conference.



PWD

Finebaum Ripped Into Kiffin

In case you missed it, Paul Finebaum tore into Lane Kiffin on Wednesday. My favorite paragraph:

Since arriving at Tennessee in December, Kiffin has gone on a spending spree that rivals the recent government bailout of Wall Street. He's been hoarding assistant coaches, making unprofessional comments about other schools, and, in the process, is well on his way to becoming public enemy No. 1 in the SEC without having coached a game.

The funniest part is that Finebaum says Lane Kiffin is such a nut that he's basically on the path to vindicating Al Davis' rant about Kiffin. After terminating Kiffin, Davis called him immature and a "flat out liar." Per Finebaum:

[Davis'] behavior at the news conference, which was carried live on ESPN, came off more like a You Tube video of the Unabomber than the man who owns an NFL franchise and has three Super Bowl trophies.

" I just couldn't go on much longer with what I would call the propaganda, the lying that had been going on for weeks and months," Davis said.

Most concluded a straight jacket was the only solution to Davis' problems.

Now...not so much per Finebaum. Here are some highlights from the Davis conference.



PWD

Agent to Watch during the Coaching Search?

An agent to watch during this process is Mark Carmony, vice president of coaches and broadcasters at Career Sports & Entertainment. Carmony is an Atlanta-based agent who represents clients such as:

• Anthony Grant: VCU Coach (former Gator Assistant)
  
• Sam Mitchell: GA Native, Mercer Grad, Former-NBA Coach (out of work)
  
• Reggie Theus: Former NBA Coach, Former NMSU Coach (out of work)
  
• Mo Cheeks: Former 76ers Coach (out of work)
  

Oh...and Carmony is a University of Georgia graduate. I've heard but not confirmed that he also currently represents Mark Richt's interests from an endorsement standpoint.

Because of those connections and because he also represents Tom Izzo, Michigan State's uber successful coach, there have been rumors that UGA would try and talk to Izzo. Personally, I think we can talk to Izzo until we're blue in the face, but we're not pulling that dude out of MSU. I'd love to be wrong, but I think there's a very short list of folks that are out of reach. Guys like Donovan, Coach K, Roy Williams, Howland and yes....Izzo are out of our league right now. Regardless of how outrageously bullish I am about the short list rumors...I can recognize some reality.

Separately, Sam Mitchell was rumored to have made contact with UGA last week about the opening. Maybe he's the second coming of Wooden, but I don't get why we'd consider a coach with only 1 career winning season in the NBA out of 4+, and a guy that has never recruited a kid in his life. Hopefully he's on the C list.

That said...it'll be interesting to see if Carmony can get one of his guys into his alma mater.

PWD

Agent to Watch during the Coaching Search?

An agent to watch during this process is Mark Carmony, vice president of coaches and broadcasters at Career Sports & Entertainment. Carmony is an Atlanta-based agent who represents clients such as:

• Anthony Grant: VCU Coach (former Gator Assistant)
  
• Sam Mitchell: GA Native, Mercer Grad, Former-NBA Coach (out of work)
  
• Reggie Theus: Former NBA Coach, Former NMSU Coach (out of work)
  
• Mo Cheeks: Former 76ers Coach (out of work)
  

Oh...and Carmony is a University of Georgia graduate. I've heard but not confirmed that he also currently represents Mark Richt's interests from an endorsement standpoint.

Because of those connections and because he also represents Tom Izzo, Michigan State's uber successful coach, there have been rumors that UGA would try and talk to Izzo. Personally, I think we can talk to Izzo until we're blue in the face, but we're not pulling that dude out of MSU. I'd love to be wrong, but I think there's a very short list of folks that are out of reach. Guys like Donovan, Coach K, Roy Williams, Howland and yes....Izzo are out of our league right now. Regardless of how outrageously bullish I am about the short list rumors...I can recognize some reality.

Separately, Sam Mitchell was rumored to have made contact with UGA last week about the opening. Maybe he's the second coming of Wooden, but I don't get why we'd consider a coach with only 1 career winning season in the NBA out of 4+, and a guy that has never recruited a kid in his life. Hopefully he's on the C list.

That said...it'll be interesting to see if Carmony can get one of his guys into his alma mater.

PWD

The Short List? ESPN's Take on It

Mark Schlabach lists the candidates:

"Among the candidates believed to be high on Georgia's list of potential replacements are Oklahoma's Jeff Capel; Xavier's Sean Miller; UNLV's Lon Kruger; Baylor's Scott Drew; and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant."

That is almost the exact list I heard today from the same sources that told me about the termination yesterday. The only difference would be adding Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh much higher, and possibly swapping Mike Anderson of Missouri for Drew at Baylor. It's also very close to the same list I heard several weeks ago if a search were to start.

If I were putting together a list, those would be the names, and almost in that exact order. They all have pluses and minuses (which we'll explore later), and most will be tough to get out of their current jobs. BUT...it's not a question of "is Georgia a better job." It's a question of "How big a boy are ya?" It's a question of "Will UGA spend the money to get the type of proven candidate that will move the needle here?"

When asked about money during today's press conference, Damon Evans didn't say "money is no object." Which is true, because money is always an object. He said (paraphrase) that he wasn't going to "hold Georgia back" by being cheap on the hire. And that's the right message.

Compare that rumored list to the one from the last search when the three big names were Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger (who immediately withdrew his name) and Dennis Felton. Compare it to the rumored list to replace Jirsa which was Mike Brey and Buzz Peterson (Harrick wasn't even on the radar when he was hired by Adams).

Basically, I'm saying that if Schlabach is correct. That's one hell of a list.

Predictably, various candidates are already jumping to the podium to say they aren't candidates at Alabama and/or Georgia. Tubby was first to say that he's not a candidate at Alabama. He was immediately followed by Mike Anderson. If you deny interest in that job, you're going to deny interest in our job. Neither denial means much at this point in the season. It just means "don't screw up my season by publicly calling me."

The AJC's list adds Dayton's coach, Butler's coach and Marquette's coach alongside Mike Davis of UAB. I personally like Davis, and he's better than what we have. However, Dennis Felton is not the measuring stick for the next coach, and we can do better than Davis. They need to look at the upside of our next coach in comparison to Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan. Not the guy we just fired.

See Also:
-- Mark Bradley endorses Anthony Grant - AJC
-- Terrence Moore says "Give Tubby a Call" - AJC

PWD

The Short List? ESPN's Take on It

Mark Schlabach lists the candidates:

"Among the candidates believed to be high on Georgia's list of potential replacements are Oklahoma's Jeff Capel; Xavier's Sean Miller; UNLV's Lon Kruger; Baylor's Scott Drew; and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant."

That is almost the exact list I heard today from the same sources that told me about the termination yesterday. The only difference would be adding Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh much higher, and possibly swapping Mike Anderson of Missouri for Drew at Baylor. It's also very close to the same list I heard several weeks ago if a search were to start.

If I were putting together a list, those would be the names, and almost in that exact order. They all have pluses and minuses (which we'll explore later), and most will be tough to get out of their current jobs. BUT...it's not a question of "is Georgia a better job." It's a question of "How big a boy are ya?" It's a question of "Will UGA spend the money to get the type of proven candidate that will move the needle here?"

When asked about money during today's press conference, Damon Evans didn't say "money is no object." Which is true, because money is always an object. He said (paraphrase) that he wasn't going to "hold Georgia back" by being cheap on the hire. And that's the right message.

Compare that rumored list to the one from the last search when the three big names were Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger (who immediately withdrew his name) and Dennis Felton. Compare it to the rumored list to replace Jirsa which was Mike Brey and Buzz Peterson (Harrick wasn't even on the radar when he was hired by Adams).

Basically, I'm saying that if Schlabach is correct. That's one hell of a list.

Predictably, various candidates are already jumping to the podium to say they aren't candidates at Alabama and/or Georgia. Tubby was first to say that he's not a candidate at Alabama. He was immediately followed by Mike Anderson. If you deny interest in that job, you're going to deny interest in our job. Neither denial means much at this point in the season. It just means "don't screw up my season by publicly calling me."

The AJC's list adds Dayton's coach, Butler's coach and Marquette's coach alongside Mike Davis of UAB. I personally like Davis, and he's better than what we have. However, Dennis Felton is not the measuring stick for the next coach, and we can do better than Davis. They need to look at the upside of our next coach in comparison to Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan. Not the guy we just fired.

See Also:
-- Mark Bradley endorses Anthony Grant - AJC
-- Terrence Moore says "Give Tubby a Call" - AJC

PWD

Press Conference Available Free at Gxtra

Damon is in front of the camera.

Georgiadogs.com

Press Conference Available Free at Gxtra

Damon is in front of the camera.

Georgiadogs.com

Dennis Felton Terminated

Image: Georgiadogs.com
"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving,
you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.
And so today I still have a dream." - MLK

Today, the University of Georgia will announce the termination of Dennis Felton as head basketball coach. Rather than spend time kicking the guy when he's down, I'm moving straight ahead to what's next.

One of my core beliefs about sports boils down to this....

Fans want a winner, but they need hope.

If you lose hope for victory or even improvement/progress, then what is left as a fan? Ultimately, that's why I think Coach Felton had to go. Going forward, I'll be doing a series of articles called "Profiles in Hope" in which we look at viable potential candidates to replace Coach Felton and reasons for optimism going forward.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,
and no good thing ever dies." - Andy Defresne

The recruiting base in state is un-matched. In fact, there's no basketball talent market superior to Atlanta within 600-700 miles of Athens. It's one of the few jobs in America where you can recruit your butt off for this program and still tuck your kids in most nights.

We've also invested in THE world class basketball practice facility, and the Athletic Department has plans for renovating Stegeman on the table. There is no reason why we can't be successful.

At 11:00 today, Damon Evans should focus his time on the future. He should outline our reasons for hope.

Note: This is happening during "real-life" work hours, therefore I'm skeptical that I'll be able to post much about the press conference immediately following it. There will most certainly be coverage and commentary after work.


PWD

Dennis Felton Terminated

Image: Georgiadogs.com
"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving,
you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.
And so today I still have a dream." - MLK

Today, the University of Georgia will announce the termination of Dennis Felton as head basketball coach. Rather than spend time kicking the guy when he's down, I'm moving straight ahead to what's next.

One of my core beliefs about sports boils down to this....

Fans want a winner, but they need hope.

If you lose hope for victory or even improvement/progress, then what is left as a fan? Ultimately, that's why I think Coach Felton had to go. Going forward, I'll be doing a series of articles called "Profiles in Hope" in which we look at viable potential candidates to replace Coach Felton and reasons for optimism going forward.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,
and no good thing ever dies." - Andy Defresne

The recruiting base in state is un-matched. In fact, there's no basketball talent market superior to Atlanta within 600-700 miles of Athens. It's one of the few jobs in America where you can recruit your butt off for this program and still tuck your kids in most nights.

We've also invested in THE world class basketball practice facility, and the Athletic Department has plans for renovating Stegeman on the table. There is no reason why we can't be successful.

At 11:00 today, Damon Evans should focus his time on the future. He should outline our reasons for hope.

Note: This is happening during "real-life" work hours, therefore I'm skeptical that I'll be able to post much about the press conference immediately following it. There will most certainly be coverage and commentary after work.


PWD

Felton 0'fer 2009. Streak hits 7

As you know by now, the basketball team's losing streak hit seven games last night as they lost by 26 to the Gators in Gainesville. They really didn't look competitive in this one after about the 10 minute mark in the first half.

This is a bad basketball team with very little hope. Hope in sports is everything.

We've heard rumblings for about 18 hours that today is the end of Felton's tenure. How good are our contacts? Well...if he's gone, then they are pretty good. If not, then they aren't. That's about as transparent as I can be.

I think that we should know by around 2:00 today. If nothing breaks by then, he'll be the coach for the Bama game on Saturday. Beyond that who knows.

(UPDATE: Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com says that Felton has been terminated. Press conference at 11:00 am)

PWD

Felton 0'fer 2009. Streak hits 7

As you know by now, the basketball team's losing streak hit seven games last night as they lost by 26 to the Gators in Gainesville. They really didn't look competitive in this one after about the 10 minute mark in the first half.

This is a bad basketball team with very little hope. Hope in sports is everything.

We've heard rumblings for about 18 hours that today is the end of Felton's tenure. How good are our contacts? Well...if he's gone, then they are pretty good. If not, then they aren't. That's about as transparent as I can be.

I think that we should know by around 2:00 today. If nothing breaks by then, he'll be the coach for the Bama game on Saturday. Beyond that who knows.

(UPDATE: Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com says that Felton has been terminated. Press conference at 11:00 am)

PWD

Birmingham News on Anthony Grant

Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News says that Anthony Grant isn't coming to Tuscaloosa per his sources. If he comes to the SEC, it will be to coach the Georgia Bulldogs. He's much more interested in our opportunity because:

"Why would he prefer Georgia to Alabama, given the choice? Georgia has a better in-state talent base, and Georgia has proven it will hire a black head basketball coach."

Grant's agent, UGA alum Mark Carmony of Career Sports and Entertainment, was rumored to have informally asked that Grant be considered as part of UGA's search if the job had opened up last year.

Let's back up. Who is Anthony Grant?
Grant was Billy Donovan's top assistant from 1994 at Marshall thru 2006 at Florida. He is currently in his third year as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth where he is 67-20 overall and 39-7 in his league. In his first two seasons, he won his conference's regular season title; however, he only made the NCAA tourney once after his squad lost the Colonial League Conference Championship game in Year 2.

He is best known for beating the 6th seeded Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Tourney in Year 1. He was also widely speculated to be Billy Donovan's successor at Florida if Billy had taken the Orlando Magic job.

While in Gainesville, the Gators and Grant landed:

1 National Title
2 Final Fours
2 SEC Tournament Championships
2 SEC Regular Season Championships
3 SEC East Titles
Dozens of obscenely talented players

He's a good basketball coach and a lights out recruiter with SEC and Atlanta AAU ties, but UGA may shoot higher at least initial when a search opens.

The biggest knock on his resume right now is the lack of longevity, and he's only won a single NCAA Tourney game. I will say that's one more NCAA Tourney games than Dennis Felton has won in 10+ years as a head coach, but Felton isn't the measuring stick for the next hire.

The other concern with Grant...the Duke win came with players recruited by Jeff Capel, Oklahoma's coach.

Regardless, Scarbinsky's article is interesting. Pat Forde of ESPN lists the other high-major conference jobs that may open this season. It gives you a sense for who UGA may be competing with.

See Also:
-- Anthony Grant Bio - Wikipedia

PWD

Birmingham News on Anthony Grant

Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News says that Anthony Grant isn't coming to Tuscaloosa per his sources. If he comes to the SEC, it will be to coach the Georgia Bulldogs. He's much more interested in our opportunity because:

"Why would he prefer Georgia to Alabama, given the choice? Georgia has a better in-state talent base, and Georgia has proven it will hire a black head basketball coach."

Grant's agent, UGA alum Mark Carmony of Career Sports and Entertainment, was rumored to have informally asked that Grant be considered as part of UGA's search if the job had opened up last year.

Let's back up. Who is Anthony Grant?
Grant was Billy Donovan's top assistant from 1994 at Marshall thru 2006 at Florida. He is currently in his third year as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth where he is 67-20 overall and 39-7 in his league. In his first two seasons, he won his conference's regular season title; however, he only made the NCAA tourney once after his squad lost the Colonial League Conference Championship game in Year 2.

He is best known for beating the 6th seeded Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Tourney in Year 1. He was also widely speculated to be Billy Donovan's successor at Florida if Billy had taken the Orlando Magic job.

While in Gainesville, the Gators and Grant landed:

1 National Title
2 Final Fours
2 SEC Tournament Championships
2 SEC Regular Season Championships
3 SEC East Titles
Dozens of obscenely talented players

He's a good basketball coach and a lights out recruiter with SEC and Atlanta AAU ties, but UGA may shoot higher at least initial when a search opens.

The biggest knock on his resume right now is the lack of longevity, and he's only won a single NCAA Tourney game. I will say that's one more NCAA Tourney games than Dennis Felton has won in 10+ years as a head coach, but Felton isn't the measuring stick for the next hire.

The other concern with Grant...the Duke win came with players recruited by Jeff Capel, Oklahoma's coach.

Regardless, Scarbinsky's article is interesting. Pat Forde of ESPN lists the other high-major conference jobs that may open this season. It gives you a sense for who UGA may be competing with.

See Also:
-- Anthony Grant Bio - Wikipedia

PWD

Freshman QBs talked to the media

Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger were made available to reporters this week for interviews. The most interesting quote comes from Zach:

“Last year I was around a lot and the leadership wasn’t too great last year,” Mettenberger said. “I’ve been here three weeks and I already can tell that the leadership and the seniors, they are trying to win a championship again. They want to win an SEC championship. They want a spot to play in the national title. So far the leadership has been outstanding in my opinion.”

I've been saying it for weeks. Get healthy. Develop leaders. Raise expectations. If Richt does those three things, most of the rest of the issues sort themselves out. On that front, the tone coming from the off season workouts continues to be encouraging (Hale).

See Also:
-- Cox's role vital for freshmen - Ching
-- QB Quotes - David Hale
-- Young QBs Learn Early - Hale

PWD

Freshman QBs talked to the media

Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger were made available to reporters this week for interviews. The most interesting quote comes from Zach:

“Last year I was around a lot and the leadership wasn’t too great last year,” Mettenberger said. “I’ve been here three weeks and I already can tell that the leadership and the seniors, they are trying to win a championship again. They want to win an SEC championship. They want a spot to play in the national title. So far the leadership has been outstanding in my opinion.”

I've been saying it for weeks. Get healthy. Develop leaders. Raise expectations. If Richt does those three things, most of the rest of the issues sort themselves out. On that front, the tone coming from the off season workouts continues to be encouraging (Hale).

See Also:
-- Cox's role vital for freshmen - Ching
-- QB Quotes - David Hale
-- Young QBs Learn Early - Hale

PWD

A blistering comparison between Felton and Gottfried

Image: Lindy Dugger
Darren Epps of the Chattanooga Times Free Press wrote an opinion piece in Tuesday's paper comparing Alabama's decision to terminate Mark Gottfried vs. UGA's decision to wait a little longer to address the Felton situation.

All of his points are valid. Earlier I wrote that there isn't much upside in terminating your head coach in the middle of the season if your in UGA's situation. That is to say a roster without a lot of talent won't suddenly become world class by simply removing the head coach.

However, the biggest positive that comes from a mid-season transition is addressed in Epps' piece. It gives you the time to get organized and properly research your replacement opportunities.

Closer to home, Chip Towers discusses the tough road ahead for Felton, and Mark Bradley asks which program is worse....Tech or UGA?

PWD

A blistering comparison between Felton and Gottfried

Image: Lindy Dugger
Darren Epps of the Chattanooga Times Free Press wrote an opinion piece in Tuesday's paper comparing Alabama's decision to terminate Mark Gottfried vs. UGA's decision to wait a little longer to address the Felton situation.

All of his points are valid. Earlier I wrote that there isn't much upside in terminating your head coach in the middle of the season if your in UGA's situation. That is to say a roster without a lot of talent won't suddenly become world class by simply removing the head coach.

However, the biggest positive that comes from a mid-season transition is addressed in Epps' piece. It gives you the time to get organized and properly research your replacement opportunities.

Closer to home, Chip Towers discusses the tough road ahead for Felton, and Mark Bradley asks which program is worse....Tech or UGA?

PWD

Georgia Basketball Myths, Vol. 2: Tradition

In our ongoing series about the perceived woes of Georgia basketball, today's installment is on tradition. Several people argue that Georgia will never have a consistently good basketball team because there is no precedent for a clean, sustained period of basketball excellence. It's another argument that does a disservice to our university and its goals of competing at the highest levels in all realms.

The first problem with this argument is that it presumes results based on past performances. In college athletics over the long term, such analysis breaks down fairly quickly. While it may be easier for Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, and Michigan to consistently win on the gridiron, that in no way prevents relative upstarts like Miami (Fla.), Florida, or Florida State, all of whom have won multiple national championships only in the past thirty years, from now beating the old guard consistently and winning championships.

Basketball is even more fluid than football. It requires fewer resources, so more schools can compete effectively. This has been proven by the sustained success of Gonzaga or Butler over recent years. Such results aren't limited to those two. Seven of the top 15 teams in this week's basketball poll have never won a national championship. If tradition mattered so much, UCLA and Kentucky should play for the national championship every year. Neither of those teams, by the way, are in the top 15.

There are two interrelated things that trump tradition: money and coaching. Here's a brief comparison. Before the 1990-91 season, Georgia basketball had two conference championships, cracked the AP top 25 in four seasons, and made four NCAA tournament appearances (although one was later vacated because of NCAA violations). Until that same season, Florida had won one conference championship, appeared in the AP top 25 four years, and had three NCAA tournament appearances. The two programs were virtually identical.*

So what happened in 1990? UF hired Lon Kruger to bring them from irrelevance to mediocrity. Kruger did just that. He also guided the Gators to a Final Four appearance. Kruger's results were spotty, but his hiring put UF basketball on a distinct upward trend. Then, when Kruger left, Billy Donovan came in and made the Gators a national power. All it took was good coaching hires and the commitment to the program that great coaches demand.

UF, a school with no appreciable basketball tradition, went on to win back-to-back national titles after their program's long history of losing. UGA, meanwhile, has remained stuck in its past, watching lots of upstarts with far fewer resources, a much smaller native talent base, and much less potential for national appeal pass the Dawgs by.

It doesn't have to be that way. We have already built a state of the art practice facility and there are talks of further renovations to Stegeman. It appears that the athletic department realizes our program has the same potential Florida has realized. No one is rationally demanding national titles in the short run. What I will demand, however, is a team that is competitive in the SEC. All it takes is money and coaching.

Quinton

*All my numbers came from the UGA and UF basketball media guides.

Georgia Basketball Myths, Vol. 2: Tradition

In our ongoing series about the perceived woes of Georgia basketball, today's installment is on tradition. Several people argue that Georgia will never have a consistently good basketball team because there is no precedent for a clean, sustained period of basketball excellence. It's another argument that does a disservice to our university and its goals of competing at the highest levels in all realms.

The first problem with this argument is that it presumes results based on past performances. In college athletics over the long term, such analysis breaks down fairly quickly. While it may be easier for Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, and Michigan to consistently win on the gridiron, that in no way prevents relative upstarts like Miami (Fla.), Florida, or Florida State, all of whom have won multiple national championships only in the past thirty years, from now beating the old guard consistently and winning championships.

Basketball is even more fluid than football. It requires fewer resources, so more schools can compete effectively. This has been proven by the sustained success of Gonzaga or Butler over recent years. Such results aren't limited to those two. Seven of the top 15 teams in this week's basketball poll have never won a national championship. If tradition mattered so much, UCLA and Kentucky should play for the national championship every year. Neither of those teams, by the way, are in the top 15.

There are two interrelated things that trump tradition: money and coaching. Here's a brief comparison. Before the 1990-91 season, Georgia basketball had two conference championships, cracked the AP top 25 in four seasons, and made four NCAA tournament appearances (although one was later vacated because of NCAA violations). Until that same season, Florida had won one conference championship, appeared in the AP top 25 four years, and had three NCAA tournament appearances. The two programs were virtually identical.*

So what happened in 1990? UF hired Lon Kruger to bring them from irrelevance to mediocrity. Kruger did just that. He also guided the Gators to a Final Four appearance. Kruger's results were spotty, but his hiring put UF basketball on a distinct upward trend. Then, when Kruger left, Billy Donovan came in and made the Gators a national power. All it took was good coaching hires and the commitment to the program that great coaches demand.

UF, a school with no appreciable basketball tradition, went on to win back-to-back national titles after their program's long history of losing. UGA, meanwhile, has remained stuck in its past, watching lots of upstarts with far fewer resources, a much smaller native talent base, and much less potential for national appeal pass the Dawgs by.

It doesn't have to be that way. We have already built a state of the art practice facility and there are talks of further renovations to Stegeman. It appears that the athletic department realizes our program has the same potential Florida has realized. No one is rationally demanding national titles in the short run. What I will demand, however, is a team that is competitive in the SEC. All it takes is money and coaching.

Quinton

*All my numbers came from the UGA and UF basketball media guides.

DawgSports interviews a Great American

Every so often the US House of Representatives votes on non-binding resolutions which honor this group or that group. In Jan. 2007 and 2009, the Florida Delegation sent a resolution to the House floor congratulating the Florida Gators for winning the National Title.

Representative Jack Kingston of the Georgia 1st Congressional District voted against the resolution both times. Both times, I raised a glass in his dawgly honor. Kyle King of DawgSports.com thought Kingston's refusal to salute the Gators was tacky or petty. Not me.

After Kyle's most recent complaint, he was put in touch with the Congressman to discuss his vote. The result is a very funny interview between Kyle and Kingston.

PWD

DawgSports interviews a Great American

Every so often the US House of Representatives votes on non-binding resolutions which honor this group or that group. In Jan. 2007 and 2009, the Florida Delegation sent a resolution to the House floor congratulating the Florida Gators for winning the National Title.

Representative Jack Kingston of the Georgia 1st Congressional District voted against the resolution both times. Both times, I raised a glass in his dawgly honor. Kyle King of DawgSports.com thought Kingston's refusal to salute the Gators was tacky or petty. Not me.

After Kyle's most recent complaint, he was put in touch with the Congressman to discuss his vote. The result is a very funny interview between Kyle and Kingston.

PWD

Butts-Mehre Expansion

Speaking of the facilities arms race. As you've probably read, UGA is expanding the Butts-Mehre building. Above is another rendering I found that shows it pretty well.

PWD

Butts-Mehre Expansion

Speaking of the facilities arms race. As you've probably read, UGA is expanding the Butts-Mehre building. Above is another rendering I found that shows it pretty well.

PWD

Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum Costs?

Ever wonder what Sanford Stadium actual cost UGA once you factor in all the renovations and then adjust for inflation? You probably haven't thought about it, but it intrigued me.

I started goofing around the cybertubes until I found an Inflation Calculator*. The site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to 2007.

I researched all the significant upgrades to Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum listed on Georgiadogs.com and other sources. Then I totaled the original expenses vs. the value adjusted for inflation.

It's not an attempt to compare what it would cost to build these facilities today. The cost of construction materials has exploded such that a comparison of that variety would need to be made by looking at recent peer investments. It's more of a discussion related to what that investment means in 2007 dollars**.

Sanford Stadium	Year	Cost	Inflation Adjusted
Original Structure	1929	$ 360,000	$ 4,321,237
Double Deck Both Sides	1967	$ 3,000,000	$ 18,440,513
Enclosed East Endzone	1981	$ 11,500,000	$ 25,917,591
Installed Lights	1982	$ 1,000,000	$ 2,122,131
Letterman's Club (East End)	1984	$ 386,390	$ 761,788
West End Lower Bowl	1991	$ 3,700,000	$ 5,566,676
Sky Suites	1994	$ 6,000,000	$ 8,293,229
Sky Suites Addition	2000	$ 12,000,000	$ 14,318,151
North 3rd Deck (600 level)	2003	$ 25,000,000	$ 28,137,004
North Sky Suites Under 600 level	2004	$ 8,000,000	$ 8,716,206
Sanford Total:		$ 70,946,390	$ 116,594,527
Stegeman Coliseum
Original Structure	1964	$ 4,200,000	$ 27,800,508
Reseating and A/C (Pre-Olympics)	1996	$ 3,000,000	$ 3,927,648
Lighting, Lockers, Sound, Etc.*	2001	$ 2,500,000	$ 2,935,973
Practice Facility	2007	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Stegeman Total:		$ 39,700,000	$ 64,664,129

So what conclusions do I draw from all of this? Well...

• Damn Good Deal - That initial 1929 investment in Sanford Stadium was one hell of a deal. Even with all the add-ons and adjusting for inflation, it's a steal at $116.5 million.
  
• We Ignored Hoops - There was no significant investment in Stegeman from 1964 until 1996. If you want to know why our b-ball program has faced such an up hill climb, that's it. Dooley simply ignored it. Within months of taking over, Damon signed off on the practice facility which adjusted for inflation is almost equal to all other b-ball investments in our 100 year history.

Just something that interested me.

PWD

*This was a staggered investment over a series of years.
**The site I used didn't have 2008 data.

Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum Costs?

Ever wonder what Sanford Stadium actual cost UGA once you factor in all the renovations and then adjust for inflation? You probably haven't thought about it, but it intrigued me.

I started goofing around the cybertubes until I found an Inflation Calculator*. The site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to 2007.

I researched all the significant upgrades to Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum listed on Georgiadogs.com and other sources. Then I totaled the original expenses vs. the value adjusted for inflation.

It's not an attempt to compare what it would cost to build these facilities today. The cost of construction materials has exploded such that a comparison of that variety would need to be made by looking at recent peer investments. It's more of a discussion related to what that investment means in 2007 dollars**.

Sanford Stadium	Year	Cost	Inflation Adjusted
Original Structure	1929	$ 360,000	$ 4,321,237
Double Deck Both Sides	1967	$ 3,000,000	$ 18,440,513
Enclosed East Endzone	1981	$ 11,500,000	$ 25,917,591
Installed Lights	1982	$ 1,000,000	$ 2,122,131
Letterman's Club (East End)	1984	$ 386,390	$ 761,788
West End Lower Bowl	1991	$ 3,700,000	$ 5,566,676
Sky Suites	1994	$ 6,000,000	$ 8,293,229
Sky Suites Addition	2000	$ 12,000,000	$ 14,318,151
North 3rd Deck (600 level)	2003	$ 25,000,000	$ 28,137,004
North Sky Suites Under 600 level	2004	$ 8,000,000	$ 8,716,206
Sanford Total:		$ 70,946,390	$ 116,594,527
Stegeman Coliseum
Original Structure	1964	$ 4,200,000	$ 27,800,508
Reseating and A/C (Pre-Olympics)	1996	$ 3,000,000	$ 3,927,648
Lighting, Lockers, Sound, Etc.*	2001	$ 2,500,000	$ 2,935,973
Practice Facility	2007	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Stegeman Total:		$ 39,700,000	$ 64,664,129

So what conclusions do I draw from all of this? Well...

• Damn Good Deal - That initial 1929 investment in Sanford Stadium was one hell of a deal. Even with all the add-ons and adjusting for inflation, it's a steal at $116.5 million.
  
• We Ignored Hoops - There was no significant investment in Stegeman from 1964 until 1996. If you want to know why our b-ball program has faced such an up hill climb, that's it. Dooley simply ignored it. Within months of taking over, Damon signed off on the practice facility which adjusted for inflation is almost equal to all other b-ball investments in our 100 year history.

Just something that interested me.

PWD

*This was a staggered investment over a series of years.
**The site I used didn't have 2008 data.

Developing: Mark Gottfried may be out at Bama

MikeMark Gottfried (sorry....I habitually call him Mike) entered a meeting with Alabama athletic director Mal Moore at 2:30 EST today to discuss his future with the basketball program. Gottfried has been under intense pressure over the past few seasons, and his time may have finally run out.

This is relevant to Georgia as the Dawgs will face Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. It's also relevant in that we may be in competition with Alabama, Auburn and possibly Georgia Tech to hire a new basketball coach following the season.

Tech's Paul Hewitt looked to be on solid footing following the commitment of high profile basketball recruit Derrick Favors. However, the Yellow Jackets are now 9-10 overall and 0-6 in the ACC. With an 0-8 ACC start looming, how much longer can he survive?

Anyway....If you see confirmation of Gottfried's termination, feel free to link it in the comments section.

UPDATE -- Confirmed by Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. Gottfried has been fired.

PWD

Developing: Mark Gottfried may be out at Bama

MikeMark Gottfried (sorry....I habitually call him Mike) entered a meeting with Alabama athletic director Mal Moore at 2:30 EST today to discuss his future with the basketball program. Gottfried has been under intense pressure over the past few seasons, and his time may have finally run out.

This is relevant to Georgia as the Dawgs will face Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. It's also relevant in that we may be in competition with Alabama, Auburn and possibly Georgia Tech to hire a new basketball coach following the season.

Tech's Paul Hewitt looked to be on solid footing following the commitment of high profile basketball recruit Derrick Favors. However, the Yellow Jackets are now 9-10 overall and 0-6 in the ACC. With an 0-8 ACC start looming, how much longer can he survive?

Anyway....If you see confirmation of Gottfried's termination, feel free to link it in the comments section.

UPDATE -- Confirmed by Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. Gottfried has been fired.

PWD

Toby Jackson to GMC?

UGASports.com is saying that they have confirmed that Toby Jackson, elite defensive end recruit for the Bulldogs, will enroll at Georgia Military College (JUCO) instead of UGA.  This isn't a scoop of their premium content as they have that info in their front page teaser. 

DawgPost.com's Chad Simmons also has Toby Jackson news; although, they've asked that more of the details around their story not be posted beyond their site yet.  Regardless, both agree enough for me to be confident that Toby is unlikely to be at UGA in the Fall.

The "why not?" doesn't really matter, and neither have posted on that.  I doubt it's anything sinister beyond the fact that his grades or test scores just aren't good enough.

All that matters is that a position of extreme need in terms of a production, talent and depth upgrade just took a blow.  The mostly injured defensive ends from the 2008 and 2007 recruiting classes will need to have an enormous Fall Camp to help out at this position.

PWD

Toby Jackson to GMC?

UGASports.com is saying that they have confirmed that Toby Jackson, elite defensive end recruit for the Bulldogs, will enroll at Georgia Military College (JUCO) instead of UGA.  This isn't a scoop of their premium content as they have that info in their front page teaser. 

DawgPost.com's Chad Simmons also has Toby Jackson news; although, they've asked that more of the details around their story not be posted beyond their site yet.  Regardless, both agree enough for me to be confident that Toby is unlikely to be at UGA in the Fall.

The "why not?" doesn't really matter, and neither have posted on that.  I doubt it's anything sinister beyond the fact that his grades or test scores just aren't good enough.

All that matters is that a position of extreme need in terms of a production, talent and depth upgrade just took a blow.  The mostly injured defensive ends from the 2008 and 2007 recruiting classes will need to have an enormous Fall Camp to help out at this position.

PWD

If you only read one article today....

...and I have only read one article today, read this one. David Hale talks about the players reacting to new coaches at RB and WR, the Joe Cox to AJ Green connection, and Jeff Owens recovery.

PWD

If you only read one article today....

...and I have only read one article today, read this one. David Hale talks about the players reacting to new coaches at RB and WR, the Joe Cox to AJ Green connection, and Jeff Owens recovery.

PWD

Off Season Workout News

The Banner Herald's notebook article includes an update about some changes with the off season conditioning programs. The biggest adjustment seems to be going from two large groups of players to three smaller groups. Within those groups they are also breaking down into more manageable sub-groups.

The goal is to provide more individual attention and accountability with a faster tempo.

This is good to hear. It was rumored that expectations within our strength and conditioning program had slipped a little last year, and some players were coasting through the process.

Smaller groups provide more opportunities for leaders to emerge and fewer opportunities for slackers to hide from their peers. Regardless of the validity to the rumors regarding the past, it's a positive move forward for a team that's in need of more toughness and player driven leadership.

PWD

Off Season Workout News

The Banner Herald's notebook article includes an update about some changes with the off season conditioning programs. The biggest adjustment seems to be going from two large groups of players to three smaller groups. Within those groups they are also breaking down into more manageable sub-groups.

The goal is to provide more individual attention and accountability with a faster tempo.

This is good to hear. It was rumored that expectations within our strength and conditioning program had slipped a little last year, and some players were coasting through the process.

Smaller groups provide more opportunities for leaders to emerge and fewer opportunities for slackers to hide from their peers. Regardless of the validity to the rumors regarding the past, it's a positive move forward for a team that's in need of more toughness and player driven leadership.

PWD