Good morning. I’m literally typing this up at 10:00pm for posting this morning. We’re having our floors redone in the house, getting rid of carpet and putting down hard flooring throughout out the house to make it more accessible for my son. Needless to say, it’s been a long, tiring day. So, I’m going to borrow points raised by thenewandimprovedtronan from yesterday. Feel free to pontificate on the following…
1) National signing day no longer meaning much, if anything. As a result, is it even going to be a thing anymore? What might signing look like in just a couple of years?
2) Turnover on the coaching staff. Has CFB coaching turned into such a shitshow that early retirement or the NFL are genuinely better options?
3) QB1 driving a Lambo. And can CFB players now expect more from NIL than they’d get in the NFL? (It seems that some of them can.)
4) The NLRB moving forward with its position that college athletes are bona fide university employees. It seems like we’re almost there already but a lot of legal issues remain. And if there is an employee-employer relationship, making CFB a de jure pro league (or several different leagues), how might this affect 1-3?
5) The competitive landscape, including some early previews of fall action. Is there anyone better than these Dawgs?
6) How might gamedays look on the new network?
Go Dawgs!
1) No.
2) Yes.
3) Possibly.
4) No more schollys.
5)No.
6)We’ll get used to it.
With the cfp/WWL marriage extension, what year does the expansion pool happen…2028?
Competitive landscape. Auburn and should be improved. Bama and Texas are loaded. Ol Miss should be about what it was last year. I expect the Dawgs to drop a game – the schedule, she is brutal.
I expect Ohio State to be the toughest non-SEC team but it would be lots of fun to watch Lanning’s Ducks surprise them. Ohio State is loading up like this year’s championship or bust. I’ll be shocked if the Dawgs don’t have to play Ohio State somewhere in the playoffs.
Good on the NLRB. Players are treated as employees in every way so, call them what they are. Let ‘em collectively bargain and through that maybe we can get some nice guardrails established for things like the portal, compensation, etc. I’d much rather see a deal the parties hammer out collectively than the way the NCAA is “handling” these issues now.
cowetadawg,
If the players join a labor union, I am afraid the first thing we will see is a team go on strike.
The NCAA does not know it’s ass from a hole in the ground, if they did, we would not be discussing the NLRB. This labor stoppage is what I fear most about a union in college football.
I guess I better get ready, because it is coming.
Regarding OSU, TX and Ole Miss, they are going deep in the transfer portal, but UGA still has the number one class. UGA still has Kirby Smart and his staff, these other teams are working hard, but they are starting well behind the Dawgs. Road schedule is tough, but I have confidence. Maybe false confidence, but it is still confidence.
GO DAWDS
I hope Carson’s making, and continues to make a whole metric shit-ton of money. When you buy a Lambo, you essentially have to buy two cars; the Lambo, and something to drive while the Lambo’s in the shop. And it will spend a lot of time in the shop!!
Oh, did I mention insurance??
Did he actually buy the Lambo though? I’m guessing most people lease them, and in his case, is the vehicle a comp from the dealer? Not that it really matters. I suspect he could buy one if he wants.
This is what I’ve heard too, that he didn’t buy it but it is a comp that he is paying the taxes. However, that horse is out of the barn and for all intents and purposes to the rest of the world, UGA bought a player a Lamborghini, so we cheat. 🙂
BC, you say tht like it’s a bad thing!
1) Signing day even in December has lost its luster because of the transfer portal. That’s something that’s never coming back.
2) I think BMac wants a head coaching job. No better way to position himself for that that to go get some X/O experience in the NFL rather than wait for an OC position to open.
3) Yes, some can. I only hope Ladd isn’t about to find that out.
4) I’ve given up on this. It’s going to happen, and the unintended consequences are probably going to start a great reset around college sports.
5) Ohio State looks like a force to be reckoned with. Bama and Texas aren’t going anywhere. It’s going to be a slog to win the big one this year.
6) The 3:30 game is going to be different without a doubt, but I also think we may get to be in prime time on ABC a lot: I can’t wait for the Myers Quad crowd to boo the living hell out of Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and Nick Saban the first time they are in Athens.
McAfee, Herbie, and Saban should feel like they are in a hostile away game the whole broadcast. I know the gameday crew will try to insulate them personally from interactions with fans, but we to give them the same treatment they’ve given us. Heck, let’s do more than that. Let’s make them miserable so they won’t want to come back – but certain as hell they know how we feel about them, AND why we feel that way.
(Not that I’d really ever expect them to GAS.)
Honestly, Saban has been nothing but gracious except the couple of times he mentioned Metchie and Williams. You can tell he has a ton of respect for his protege, Kirby. He even went out of his way to praise CMR after Mark’s firing.
McAfee and Herbstreit should hear it from the Georgia crowd unmercifully.
Idk about booing Saban. I’m not aware that he’s ever said or done anything disrespectful toward UGA, besides beat us. Nobody has enjoyed that, but it’s not really a reason to be rude to him. Quietly polite (unless he takes a shot at us first) seems the way to start out with Game Day Nick, to me. Likewise Rece Davis, who is a Gump, but has always seemed professional and fair to me. Now, McAfee? Kirk? Desmond? Different story.
I’ve actually thought a bit about the right way to handle a Game Day trip to Athens this year. Obviously, one way would be to boo the living hell out of them every time they open their mouths. But controversy sells, it makes them martyrs to the rest of the country. So maybe it helps them in a weird way. I don’t want that.
Another way might be to show up and ignore them. Read a paper. Turn your back when they talk. But don’t make a sound. Don’t cheer. Don’t boo. Don’t give the anything. I suppose that’s more clever, but you know a douche lihe McAfee would eat it up. Also, he has a microphone, so he’d be yapping away, much like a hillbilly Danny Kannell, trying to provoked a reaction. To be controversial is part of his schtick. It would take a lot of group discipline to make it work, and I fear in the end, the controversy ends up helping that douchebag. So, no.
What does that leave? I recall the admonition from War Games: sometimes, the only way to win is to not play. Just don’t show up. Make Myers Quad look like a ghost town. No signs. No energy. No fun. No fights. Don’t perform for them. Don’t talk to them. Don’t talk about them. Don’t be the band of monkeys to the ESPN organ grinders. Starve them of attention. Starve them of the reaction they so desperately crave. Sleep in. Go tailgate. Go downtown. Get ready for the game, save your energy and enthusiasm for what we all really care about: the game. Narcissists hate being ignored, they hate thinking they don’t matter to you. So the correct response is not to show up and boo, negative attention is still attention. They crave that like plants crave sunshine. The correct response is to ignore them. Go on about your day as if they didn’t exist. Give them nothing, not even a bored shrug. As we say here, FTMF.
Do I think this will happen? No, for a variety of reasons. Angry people want to unleash their anger. I get it. I’ve done it. But now? I want to win. I want to act strategically. It won’t destroy Game Day, but it will destroy THAT episode. It will make them feel us. We don’t have to be loud or hostile. Save that for the game. Douchebags like McAfee are below our notice. So dont go. Encourage your friends not to go. Make the point.
You’ve been studying how Kirby plays 4D chess. I wish we could actually make it happen…
well, we have several months to build a goundswell. Earliest they could show up is Labor Day at MBS. Let the Taters have them, if they want, though I imagine many of them also hate the crew. Why should we show up and promote them, help them make money by being loud and engaged? Whether it’s there, Tuscaloosa, Austin, Athens, where ever, who cares? There’s 0 points carryover from Game Day. I’d rather hang with my amigos, then go to the game and unleash hell as a fan.
I dont owe Disney, ESPN, or the 3 amigos a single thing. I like Rece, I respect Nick, but the other 3? FTMF. They dislike us? Do your show without us, then, douchebags. Honestly, if the word were to get around, I think it could be done. Especially if the fanbase wants to think tactically. What is any UGA fan giving up be declining to perform for them? Nothing.
Now, if SEC Network comes to town, I’m not a Finebaum fan. But Laura Rutledge and Alyssa Lang seem like the nicest people in the world, so I am all for being nice to them. The Game Day crew? Carry on without us, losers.
I hope we boo him off the stage. Don’t like the guy.
everybody will make their own decisions, of course. But it seems to me that giving them that sign that they pissed us off, that they got to us with their bullshit, that’s what they want. “Oh, aren’t they brave, going into hostile territory!” They are a bunch of douchebag talking heads, they arent storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.
What spoils their party more? Showing up and booing? Or just nobody showing up at all? I would argue the latter is more effective, but I could be wrong. Remember, the opposite of love isnt hate. It’s indifference. As a guy with a superpower of finding the way to piss people off with the least possible effort, (some of you old hand might attest) I believe the best way to give them the finger is to just not play their stupid game at all.
81Dog, I think you are probably right. If they come to Athen this year I’m going to park, walk right on by and head to the student center. Now the students wanting to get on TV might be a different story.
kids today. No sense of strategy, or the big picture.
These are all great questions, perhaps deserving of their own posts. Understandably you had more important priorities last night though and hope it all turns out ok today!
My focus remains on the WR coach, just based on the location on the calendar we find ourselves right now and where the position has been the last several years (no superstar, good but not great recruiting, good development, need for portaling with more frequency due to our preferred NIL structure of more $ going to established players). Who best fits this new world, who might be able to break through the WR recruiting ceiling created by UGA history, negative recruiting against it and the NIL reality? And is status quo just fine for us?
I’m fine with the status quo. In today’s NIL age, I would rather that money be focused on the LOS and on retaining skill guys we want to keep in the program.
The idea of some 5-star high school WR coming in with his NIL deal and then flaming out because he can’t deal with the expectations and transfers after making a mess in the locker room scares the daylights out of me.
I agree, but in terms of finding a coach, at this point Kirby can get almost anyone he wants on the defensive side of the ball. Does that translate to offense as well?
Good question. I assume he can post-Monken.
Read in SI online that Coley might be on the list. Not sure how I feel about that. Dude can recruit, but his 1 year as OC wasn’t a highlight. I trust Kirby, but that might be a little jolt.
He did a pretty darn good job with the WRs before getting promoted. I want him nowhere near Carson Beck or Mike Bobo in general, so I would say no.
Yeah, I’m torn on Coley. My gut says run for the hills. My brain says, fight Mario in S Florida. But if T-Rob can help there, look elsewhere.
SI also mentioned Dameyuene (sp?) Craig. Again, I trust Kirby, but I wouldnt be an up front fan. That said, Dell McGee has turned out great for us. Maybe it’s just my imagination
Understand the accepting/signing/commitment of an offer with the be$t offer available is ideal, will a significant penalty be an option should a student/athlete accept an offer from an institution, only to pull a reversal, providing the individual who extended the offer, HC, hasn’t changed employment (or another type of extenuating circumstances)…GO DAWGS!!
I wonder if there is any mutual interest between Kirby and Terence Edwards about the WR coach vacancy? Edwards has been running his receiver academy or whatever for a while, so he would seem to have an inside track on recruiting.
Ya’ know, I just don’t always get warm and fuzzies about Great players like Hines and Terence who , if they have much coaching experience, don’t come with glowing accolades for their coaching achievements. Great players simply don’t always make great coaches.
Just an opinion…
Absolutely true. I love and went to school with Hines, but he hasn’t proven himself as a coach or a recruiter. Terrance has the coaching chops, and my guess part of the reason he’s moving from job to job in the HS ranks is for both his own growth as a coach, and to get to know more of the GA coaching network so he can have a shot at the college level. Not sure whether he’s ready yet, but it shouldn’t be too far off for him.
Terrance Edwards or Hines Ward would be electric names for the position. It would be awesome to have them if Edwards could use those receiver academy chops in recruiting. I’d be surprised if HInes has interest in the level of recruiting Kirby demands. If they don’t have that recruiting drive Kirby’s looking elsewhere.
OK – first, the whole employee bidness is what the NCAA hopes is their get out of jail free card. They won’t initiate it because, well, they favor (wink) amateurism, but they know that it is the one way that they can go back to some sort of enforceable rules like the NFL has and get some measure of control over the Wild, Wild West that we are currently experiencing. Get used to the idea – it’s coming.
Funny thing about Carson’s Lambo – a close friend of my wife was in the Mercedes dealership in Athens not too long ago buying her own Mercedes and Carson Beck was in there at the same time buying his sister a Mercedes. Salesperson helping my wife’s friend said that Carson had already bought his own for himself. This was just about 2 months ago. So, I really doubt that he actually bought the Lambo. I don’t understand why the Lamborghini folks would think that Carson’s promo will advance sales – I would think the market for a $300K fix or repair daily SUV would be pretty limited, but what do I know?
Coaches? Once upon a time I might have worried about this, but honestly, if Kirby hires someone that is good enough for me. As ee said, Coley was actually pretty good as a WR coach and no one questions his recruiting chops. Kirby knows what he is doing. I have no reason to question him.
We’re going to be great next year, but because of the schedule, probably not undefeated, Still think we are the best option for winning it all. ESPN? Meh, I hate it, but as long as the Mute button works I’ll live with it.
Finally, not much on the tube last night so I watched the first half of the Kentucky game from last year. Holy shit that first half was a seal clubbing and it made me sad that the Senator couldn’t watch it again.
Maybe….with a CBA and everyone truly just going about their business will settle everything down. Like trades and professions, education could still be a requirement as well as limited eligibility. So, if we squint, it may still look like college kids playing for Dear Old U…maybe.
Great move on removing carpet for hardwood flooring! I sold enough carpet for Mr. Shaw to cover the earth…raised three children and made great money but resilient flooring is the only way to go!
I would love to comment on all of your topics Otis but it really doesn’t matter any longer. Our passion for college football has been hijacked by an incompetent NCAA and the landscape as I see it will never be the same.
Saturdays in the fall will be completely different for me…
Smoking meat and listening to the ballgame on the radio will be on the menu. ESPN/Disney can shove it where the sun don’t shine…this southern boy has had enough woke bullshit to last a lifetime…I AM DONE
It’s nice to land on this blog and see some familiar screen names.
Popped by to see what’s up. The replacement for Bmac remains the top concern and also an opportunity. It seems to me that recruiting the WR position isn’t as important as development because of the portal.