More Fun With Numbers: All the Right Moves

OK, I promise we'll be done with recruiting stuff after this. Well, probably.

Anyway, earlier today I talked about the relative value of a 5-star player over a 3-star player, long term. But those are pretty general evaluations, and obviously you can't get a 5-star guy at each position every year. So while the premise remains worthy (Georgia needs to go after the top athletes and be successful at landing a few of them each year), reality dictates that they also need to get the most out of the rest of the crop of players they land.

So, who's doing a good job with that? Let's go position by position.

Again, these are numbers for Georgia's recruits from 2004-2008, so really, this probably says more about UGA than it necessarily does about things on a macro level, although you could probably make a fair argument that players at a position like O line can be more easily turned from 3-star recruit into 5-star talent because less pure, measurable athleticism is needed than for, say, a cornerback to make that same leap. In any case, here's how UGA's players have developed...

Position	Recruiting Stars	Production Stars	Difference
DE	3.75	2.41	1.34
WR	3.82	2.55	1.27
OL	3.3	2.05	1.25
QB	4.0	2.75	1.25
LB	3.77	2.54	1.23
TE	3.2	2.0	1.2
DB	3.47	2.59	0.88
DT	3.86	3.14	0.72
FB/RB	3.7	3.0	0.7

Obviously there are a ton of different factors that go into determining whether a player develops as he is expected to -- injuries, effort, intelligence, luck and coaching come to mind as the primary ones.

Of course, if you look at those factors, the first four seem to me to be variables shared at each position. A linebacker is just as likely to get hurt as a wide receiver, for the most part.

What changes from one position group to the next is the coaching.

So while we can't rule out those other factors as potential reasons why an individual player fails, for the purposes of comparison, they should mostly cancel each other out when we're talking about a larger group.

If that's the case, then the chart above, which measures the difference between expectations of players and production -- or "failure rate," if you will, seems to me to be as good an indication of the relative ability of position coaches as anything, and what those numbers tell me is that things are pointed in a good direction at Georgia right now.

Hear me out...

If we look again at those position groups, there are a couple of external factors that should be considered:

-- The O line "failure rate" is higher -- and certainly higher than fans would like -- but that number is probably skewed due to a high level of attrition at the position in the year immediately following Stacy Searels' arrival.

-- The "failure rate" at QB is a bit on the high side, too, but that is due in part to the low number of QBs recruited. If one fails, it has a far more dramatic effect on the total than one failure in the linebacker group, for example. Same is true for tight ends. (Plus, in just a 5-year time span, it's hard for more than two QBs to be deemed a success, since only one can play at a time.)

So, keeping that in mind, we have six groups that we can compare fairly easily: DBs, DEs, DTs, LBs, WRs and RBs.

Look at those results: Three of those groups are doing a pretty lousy job, statistically speaking, at turning potential into production. Three have done a pretty solid job.

For all the talk of Jon Fabris' talent with defensive ends (his silver lining after destroying special teams), the numbers say that he's gotten less out of the talent at that position than any other coach on the staff. Of the 12 DEs signed between '04 and '08, only three -- Justin Houston, Demarcus Dobbs and Charles Johnson -- had production that matched their recruiting grade. (None dramatically exceeded their grades, although Houston certainly could still make that leap.)

Of course, Fabris is gone now.

Georgia has managed to produce a couple of very, very good wide receivers during this time period. In fact, two of the 5-star production guys were wide receivers -- Mo Massaquoi and AJ Green. And yet, there's a big group of WR recruits who have failed to live up to their promise, too. Sure, Israel Troupe could still blossom, but the track record of guys like Demiko Goodman and Tony Wilson and Walter Hill is hard to ignore.

Of course, Tony Ball would be the guy in charge of turning around Troupe's career. It was John Eason who presided over those past "failures."

When it comes to linebackers, it's hard to ignore the fact that Georgia has a former player who started on an NFL playoff team (Dannell Ellerbe) and another likely to get drafted before round 4 this year (Rennie Curran). But on the whole, this is an underperforming group, too. I like the futures for Marcus Dowtin and Christian Robinson... but what about Charles White, Darius Dewberry, Akeem Hebron and Marcus Washington? Heck, Darryl Gamble and Akeem Dent could have huge senior seasons, but so far, they've been more talent than performance.

Of course, that was John Jancek's department. And he's gone now, too.

So the position coaches who appear to have had the least success at turning promise into performance are all gone now, replaced during the past two offseasons.

I somehow doubt these are the numbers that Mark Richt was crunching when he made the decisions to let those guys go (or in Eason's case, move him upstairs), but that doesn't mean he didn't come to the right conclusion anyway.

It's still far too early to tell what type of impact Georgia's new coaches will have, but it's nevertheless encouraging to know that the problems were identified. Because if Tony Ball and Todd Grantham and Warren Belin can each take one guy per season who might have been a "failure" under the old regime and turn him into a success, that'll mean 12 more productive players four years from now. And that's a significant difference.

ADDENDUM: Rex Robinson brings up the interesting case of Tony Ball in a recent post on his blog, noting that Ball's resume could have been another factor in the loss of Da'Rick Rogers.

I lumped Ball in with the "successful" assistants in this analysis because the overall grade for running backs was solid during his tenure, but it's probably a bit more accurate to say that the jury is still out.

Ball developed two very good fullbacks in Brannan Southerland and Shaun Chapas, but Southerland was already a starter when Ball arrived.

Ball also presided over one of Georgia's biggest success stories in Knowshon Moreno. Of course, Ball was also the position coach who thought Knowshon needed a year to redshirt in 2006.

And then we have Caleb King's stunted growth during his first two years in Athens before blossoming under Bryan McClendon and we have Marlon Brown's lost 2009 season. Ball was in charge in both cases.

So... does Rex have a point about Tony Ball?

I think we'll have a much better idea of that after this season, when it will be incumbent upon Ball to make sure that Israel Troupe, Marlon Brown, Tavarres King and Rantavious Wooten -- each of whom has a high upside -- begin to reach their potential.

Home Is Where Your Helmet Is

A lot was made this week of freshman defensive end Montez Robinson earning SEC defensive lineman of the week honors, just a few weeks removed from some serious thoughts about transferring. That got me to thinking... Robinson certainly isn't alone in feeling a bit out of place at Georgia in his early career.

A handful of players who traveled the farthest to come to Georgia are getting minimal playing time, so I decided to look into how those players -- Brandon Bogotay, Arthur Lynch and Robinson -- have been coping. As a transplant to Athens, I know it can be a bit of a culture shock.

Anyway, my original version of the story came out pretty long, and with newspapers getting smaller, there just isn't room for 50-inch features anymore. So I had to make some cuts, and in the process, I think the story lost a lot of its color and detail.

You're free to read that version of the story online now, if you'd like. But, if like the Big Lebowski, you're not into the whole brevity thing, I figured I'd post the full version of the story here, without any cuts made to it.

Here goes...

----

It was the Fourth of July before Aron White’s freshman year at Georgia when he took a trip home to Columbia, Mo. for the holiday. He had been in Athens for a while, working out with teammates and getting ready for his rookie season, and the trip home was a welcome reward after a difficult start to his career with the Bulldogs.

Throughout the visit home, White couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to leave. Many of his friends were in school at nearby Missouri, and being home was like old times. He missed family, he missed friends, he missed normalcy. Being home felt right.

Nearly four months passed before White made another trip back to Columbia, this time during Georgia’s off week in 2007. He hadn’t played a down that season, instead redshirting while fellow freshman Bruce Figgins earned praise from coaches and fans for his early contributions. Life in Athens was still unconfortable.

But that second trip to Missouri was different. White was happy to see his brothers, but many of his friends were occupied with school. Most had made new friends he didn’t know. The bedroom he had grown up in suddenly felt foreign. The bed wasn’t as comfortable. The décor wasn’t his own.

He missed Georgia.

“It was home, but it was just like, I knew by the end of that weekend I wanted to go back, I missed people,” White said. “I went home and slept in my old room, and it wasn’t the same. You don’t have all those things you surround yourself with. It wasn’t my bed, it wasn’t my TV, I didn’t have my movies or my posters hanging on the wall. That was definitely the point I realized that if I were to leave Georgia, I’d definitely miss it.”

White’s story is hardly unique. It’s an annual right of passage for Georgia’s freshmen, but it’s never a simple process.

While some players are eased into life in Athens with routine trips to nearby homes and meals prepared by mom or nights out with old friends, players like White can only make the occasional trip home, planned far in advance and paid for with scarce funds.

While some players transition is overshadowed by success on the field and immediate praise from fans and coaches, players like White often have far more time alone on the sidelines to question the decisions they made that led them to Georgia.

It’s never simple, but for some players, the transition is arduous.

“You definitely second guess yourself sometimes,” freshman tight end Arthur Lynch said, his words tinged with a heavy New England accent. “It’s not the easiest thing, and it’s something you can’t really adjust to because it’s so different than where I’m from. But you get used to it after a while.”

Athens may be one of the most beloved college towns in the country, but for players like Lynch, it’s a world apart from where he grew up.

The 6-foot-5 Dartmouth, Mass. native came to Georgia this summer expecting to stand out, but it’s the accent that always throws people. He can’t hide it. He might as well be speaking a foreign language compared to the slow, Southern dialect prevalent throughout Georgia.

There are other differences, too. There are things Lynch finds utterly perplexing about the South. He’s learned to keep most of those opinions to himself. He's not yet comfortable enough with his surroundings to ruffle any feathers. Life is simply different here.

Kicker Brandon Bogotay knows the feeling. He arrived in July from San Diego, and while the weather was a few degrees warmer and the beach was no longer within walking distance, things seemed relatively normal.

And then the rain came.

“It’s been raining, and I never really saw much rain out there,” Bogotay said. “The scooter rides in the morning have been pretty cold.”

Bogotay joked that he owned just two long-sleeved shirts when he came to Athens, but he’s in the market for a new wardrobe now.

For other players, however, the culture shock isn’t so much about the weather or the slang. It’s about family and security. It's about knowing who to trust and where to find comfort.

Defensive end Montez Robinson grew up in Indiana, then moved to Alabama when he was in grade school. His family life was difficult, but he was always close with his brothers. His father died when he was young and he and his brothers spent much of their lives as wards of the state. After his sophomore year in high school, he moved back to Indiana and later committed to Auburn.

When Tigers’ coach Tommy Tuberville resigned at the end of last season, however, Robinson’s life was shaken up yet again, and he re-opened his recruitment, eventually settling on Georgia, where assistant coach Rodney Garner assured Robinson he would find a home.

Through his first few months in Athens, however, Robinson simply wanted to see his family again.

“At first it was hard being away from home,” Robinson said. “There’s a couple other guys that are far from home, and we were always talking about how much we missed our families.”

It happens every season. The initial thrill of college grows old, the lure of home grows stronger, and eventually they all ask the same question: Did I do the right thing?

“I don’t care if you’re from 15 minutes away or 15 hours away, you’re not at home anymore when you go to college,” tight ends coach John Lilly said. “I think it’s natural to go through an adjustment period, and probably a little bit of a homesick period.”

As many times as they’ve seen it happen, Lilly said there’s no universal solution to getting a player past that point. They’re all different, but there is support.

Lilly said the coaching staff tries to talk to players' families and friends, asking them to offer encouragement rather than reminders of what was left behind.

Head coach Mark Richt has worked hard to create a family environment around the team, too. Coaches wives and children are frequent visitors, with the team holding a weekly family night after practice when they all share a meal together.

But while encouragement is offered, the job of most coaches is to impart discipline and demand excellence. They rely on the other players to handle the role of friend.

“It’s a difficult thing when you’re riding someone and you’re pushing them, you can’t be their buddy,” said Jon Fabris, Robinson’s position coach. “Yet you understand that there are players that have been there and you can tell them, ‘Hey, keep an eye on this guy.’ I think you can get better support through their peers because, who hasn’t gone through that?”

The feeling of being an outsider in a strange place is only exacerbated for those freshmen who rarely see the field. That has been the case for Bogotay, Lynch and Robinson this season.

Game days provide some solace, but offer little playing time.

White sees plenty of parallels between his career and Lynch’s. Both came from another part of the country. Both joined the team at the same time as another, more highly recruited player at their position. Both knew their role early on would be mostly as an understudy.

“It’s hard to deal with not coming in and being the guy and feeling like somebody else is getting all the spotlight or that he’s the guy people want to see take over,” White said. “It’s tough to deal with sometimes, but we remember that we’re all working toward the same goal, and so you just have to work hard as a player so you can be a part of that.”

That’s the approach Robinson has tried to take this season.

He admits he considered a transfer. There were too many days when going home seemed a far better option than going to practice. But things change. They always do.

Robinson got his first serious playing time last week against Tennessee Tech. He finished the game with the first five tackles of his career, including two sacks. He won the SEC’s defensive lineman of the week award two days later, and his foster father cried when he heard the news.

“You know when you can do something like that and the gratitude that people give you and the feeling you get afterwards, it eases things down a little bit, and it makes you want to work harder for things like that,” Robinson said.

It helped that Robinson’s two younger brothers, Armonze and Elijah, his foster parents and one of his cousins were all in Athens for his big game last week. They added a bit of home to a place that suddenly didn’t feel so foreign anymore anyway.

“Having success makes him love this place a little bit more,” Garner said. “Hopefully a lot of positives that come out of him having success, and that’s my hope for him, too.”

It’s probably too soon to call the game a turning point for Robinson, but sometimes it happens that quickly. That was true for White when he visited Missouri back in 2007 and realized it wasn’t home anymore. It has been true for dozens of others, too.

“You realize that home changes,” Lilly said. “You have all these great memories of high school and those kinds of things, and then when you do get back, it’s nice to go home and see people, but as the years go by you realize that home really is where you go to school. That’s where all your friends are and where your life really is at that point.”

Lynch tasted a bit of success last week, too, grabbing the first two receptions of his career during a fourth-quarter drive. There were no SEC awards that followed, but it was a good starting point, he said.

And seeing Robinson enjoy the spotlight after an impressive performance – that helped, too.

“You hope to catch a break and get on the field like Montez did Saturday,” Lynch said. “You keep moving, keep working hard in practice, and hopefully your time will come.”

Bogotay has taken the field just once this season, which is one more time than he has visited home. But even he isn’t sulking.

“I’m looking forward to the next trip home, but I love it out here,” he said. “It’s a big change, but overall I’m having a great time out here.”

Things change. Home is wherever you make it. It’s a conclusion everyone comes to eventually.

In fact, while Robinson was considering leaving Georgia just a few weeks ago, he’s now busy recruiting his brothers to join him in Athens.

“I have two brothers getting recruited from here, and they just want to go wherever I go,” he said. “I’m trying to convince them.”

It changes that fast, White said. Sometimes it happens after a big play. Sometimes it happens after a few friends are made. Sometimes, like White, a new perspective suddenly arises.

“Early on, I didn’t know if I fit in around here. It wasn’t so much football, it was just really hard for me to cope, being away from home,” White said. “But I realized it was about more than just feeling comfortable. I made a commitment to be here. The coaches gambled on me, they gave me this opportunity, and I didn’t feel like I was giving it a chance. By season’s end, I knew this was the right place for me and I had made the right decision.”

It’s a story he has passed along to Lynch, Robinson, Bogotay and others. It’s a story that dozens of other players on the team could tell, too, with just a few of the details changed.

Everyone gets homesick, White said. But eventually they all decide that Georgia is home.

“They’ll come around,” White said. "(Lynch), Montez, Bogotay, they’ll all come around. Because there are guys who live 45 minutes away that don’t want to go home on weekends. It’s too much fun being here.”

Recruiting Big & Kicking Short: More Fun With Numbers

Here's a common complaint I've heard from fans recently: Georgia has a top-10 recruiting class every year, so shouldn't we always be a top-10 program?

On the surface, it seems logical, so let's look at exactly how the numbers stack up, courtesy of a bit of research done by Randy, one of the blog's fine readers...

Randy went back through the past five years (i.e. any player that would still be on a team's roster) and looked at the average star ratings by class. He then took the top 25 from each year and assigned a point value. The top-rated class each year was given 25 points, the 25th-rated class given one point, and so on. He then tallied the points to see, based on recruits, who should have the most talented teams.

The next step was overlapping those results with the current rankings. Here's the current AP top 15 and their "recruiting score," according to Randy's research.

Rank	Team	Score
1	Florida	221
2	Texas	204
3	Alabama	124
4	LSU	197
5	Virginia Tech	24
6	Boise State	0
7	USC	246
8	Cincy	0
9	Ohio State	202
10	TCU	0
11	Miami	149
12	Iowa	23
13	Oregon	40
14	Penn State	64
15	Oklahoma State	28
NR	Georgia	203

Now, a couple of problems with the study, some of which Randy also alluded to in his note to me.

For one, recruiting rankings are not an exact science. They're generally strong indicators of future success for individual players, but when you add them all up for a class, there can be wide variances. A few extra diamonds in the rough mean you can have a stud class with a low socre and a few busts means you can have a great score but a below-average class.

The other thing to take into account is how many players leave early for the NFL. Those big recruits also tend to be the guys who bolt school after three years, too. Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are helping Georgia's overall score here, but they aren't helping the Bulldogs on Saturdays.

And finally, a minor problem with the math. Randy used both Rivals' and Scout's rankings and added them together. What that means is that if you had the No. 5 class one year, you really got 40 points for that, and if you had the No. 20 class, you got 10 points for it. By adding them together, the variance between the top and bottom was essentially doubled. That's not necessarily a problem in terms of how we compare the rankings of each team, but saying Georgia's score of 203 is five times better than Oregon's score of 40 is probably overstating the difference in total talent by a bit.

Still, there are some obvious things we can take from this research.

For one, the great recruiting schools -- i.e. schools over 200 points -- do quite well.

Second, winning with a low recruiting score isn't likely unless you're in a non-BCS conference or the Big East.

Third, it's absurd how much of an advantage USC has in terms of recruiting compared to other Pac-10 schools.

Wait... you wanted discussion about Georgia? Ah, I figured you might.

Yup, Georgia is by far the highest score not to be ranked in the top 15 (or even the top 25) in the AP poll. The next closest competitors are Michigan (170), Notre Dame (155), Oklahoma (151), Florida State (142) and Tennessee (114). I'll give Oklahoma a bit of a pass since they've gone to a bunch of recent BCS bowls and they'd probably be a top-15 program if it weren't for their Heisman-winning QB sitting on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

But look at the rest of that list: Michigan and Tennessee are in either Year 1 or 2 of a new coaching regime. Notre Dame is a disaster, and, well, you've read the news on what's going on at Florida State.

It's not exactly a group Georgia wants to be associated with.

Of course, the other side of the coin is this: Georgia is in the same conference with three of those other top schools. It also competes against South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Auburn and Arkansas, which had reasonable recruiting scores and added Oklahoma State to its schedule this year. Meanwhile, as I mentioned, teams like Ohio State and USC are miles ahead of the vast majority of their competitors when it comes to bringing in talent.

But even when you add up compeition, attrition and margin of error in the rankings, it's hard to not come to a relatively similar conclusion. I'll let Randy give you his:

"Tossing out injuries, early departures, strength of schedule – hell just about everything – I have concluded either UGA is being coached down or the recruiting services are as clueless as Mike Bobo."

I'm not saying this is fair, but recruiting rankings vs. results is probably the most analytical measure we have of which coaching staffs get the most out of the talent they have to work with, and by that measure, Georgia really does not stack up well -- at least this season. Of course, it's also probably worth remembering that the Dawgs did finish No. 2 in the country just two years ago, and with those same high recruitings scores, LSU, Florida, Alabama and Miami have all had 4+ loss seasons in the past three years.

ADDENDUM: As many of you have pointed out in the comments, this analysis is little more than a snapshot in time. It's a rough approximation of the talent currently in Athens vs. the current ranking. That ranking was different a week ago and could be different next week. And the talent is certainly not necessarily evenly dispersed. Again, that's why I included so many caveats in discussing the research.

I don't know that we can make any absolute statements about Georgia from these results, but what we can say is that, given the talent that should be expected from consistently strong recruiting classes, Georgia should routinely play at or near the same level as other top programs, including Florida, LSU, Alabama, USC and Ohio State. In terms of sheer wins and losses, that has been the case. But I'd also be willing to guess from the vast majority of the comments I hear from fans, the program isn't necessarily viewed that way.

So then the question is: Are these rankings useless? Maybe. Is the value of a program simply derived from national titles rather than simple Ws and Ls? Maybe. Or is there more talent than results? Maybe.

Again, these numbers aren't a final solution to any questions. They're a piece to the puzzle, and a starting point for a discussion I'm sure will continue throughout the season.

OK, moving on...

We've talked quite a bit about kickoffs and kick coverage this week, for obvious reasons. But we've dealt with specific examples, like last week's debacle at the end of the game. What about more aggregate numbers?

Well, Bulldogs Blog MVP Jim F. looked at each kickoff this season and came up with some numbers.

The one problem with analyzing kickoff numbers from the stat sheet is that it doesn't tell us whether a kickoff was directional or deep or how the coverage unit looked or any of that. We get two numbers: How deep was the kickoff and where was the kick returned to? If someone wants to watch the film for all five games and do some better math, I'm all for it. Sadly, I don't have that kind of time right now.

But, thankfully for us, Jim applied a loose interpretation of the numbers that does a good enough job of approximating Georgia's kickoff philosophy on individual kicks. If a kick was 65 yards or farther, Jim considered it a "deep" kick. If it was 60 yards or less, he considered it a "directional" kick. (And, for good measure, there was also one poorly executed squib kick in there, too.)

Here's what he found (total 28 kickoffs):

Type of kick	Avg.Field Pos.
Deep w/touchback	Opp 20
Deep w/o touchback	Opp 35
Directional	Opp 34
Squib	Opp 37
All	Opp 32

So what does this tell us?

Well, for one, there is some evidence to support Jon Fabris' claim that directional kicking has merits, since essentially it does save Georgia an average of 1 yard per returned kick in field position.

But my guess is that one yard is not enough to overcome the likelihood that a deep kick for a touchback offers. Even if you figure that three-quarters of all of the "deep" kicks will be returned, the statistical difference between the average field position the opposition would get on that 75 percent of kicks would be just about four yards per game more than the directional kicks. Yet on that one out of four that went for a touchback, Georgia is gaining 14 yards of field position over a directional kick.

And how much of a difference does that make? A big difference, actually. Here's Jim's breakdown of field position:

Starting field pos.	Opp. Drives	Opp. Scores	Percent scores
UGA territory	4	4	100%
Opp. 40 or better	7	6	86%
Opp. 30 or less	16	4	25%
Touchback (i.e. opp 20)	6	1	17%

*Note: Two of the drives that started inside the 30 ended in turnovers.

So, what do we learn from this?

The obvious answer is, if Georgia forces its opponent to march 70 yards or more for a touchdown, the defense is going to be pretty successful. If they don't, there's a good chance points are going on the board.

So if we know that a.) your best chance at having the opposition start behind its own 30 comes from kicking deep, and b.) having the opposition start behind its own 30 drastically reduces its scoring efficiency, then shouldn't a + b = c.) kick the ball deep for cripe's sake!

But these are just numbers. They don't measure the heart of a walk-on or the excitement of a good challenge or the intensity of the defense when faced with adversity. Those are the intangibles you just can't account for with stats.

Kickoff Conundrum: Two Years of Momentum-Killing Mishaps

Let's take a trip down (bad) memory lane.

(NOTE: Before we begin our journey, you may want to read my story in today's Telegraph on the rollercoaster ride of Georgia's special teams this season.)

Now, I went back through Georgia's last 18 games looking for instances in which the Bulldogs made a big play or had momentum going in its direction, then had a disaster occur on a kickoff immediately afterward.

The following events are listed in chronological order, but please remember that this is ONLY kickoff-related problems since the start of the 2008 season that immediately followed Georgia touchdowns or started a half.

This is not a list of all of Georgia's bad kickoffs. This doesn't include the shanked punts against Georgia Tech last year, the special teams turnovers against South Carolina and Arkansas this season, the missed field goals in last year's Florida game or any of the other problems Georgia has suffered through on special teams in the past year-and-a-half.

These are examples only of problematic kickoff issues under very specific circumstances. All came either at the start of a half or following a Georgia touchdown or field goal.

Anyway, pour yourself a stiff drink and read on...

WEEK 1, 2008 vs. Georgia Southern

-- Georgia scores a touchdown with 5:55 left in the third quarter. The ensuing kickoff is returned to Southern's 47-yard line and GSU scores its first touchdown of the game 1:28 later. What had been a predictably dominant opening-week performance against a I-AA team ends with the Bulldogs allowing 21 points.

WEEK 2, 2008 vs. Central Michigan

-- Demarcus Dobbs picks off a Dan Lefevre pass late in the first half and returns it for a touchdown, breaking open what had been a relatively close game and giving Georgia a commanding 28-0 lead. The ensuing kickoff, however, goes out of bounds, giving CMU the ball at its own 40 with 1:02 left in the half. Thirty-five seconds later, they scored their first touchdown of the game.

WEEK 3, 2008 vs. South Carolina

-- Georgia's offense is sputtering, but the Bulldogs muster a field goal with 10:22 left in the second quarter to take a 3-0 lead. The Gamecocks return the ensuing kickoff 25 yards to their own 38, however, then score a touchdown 1:40 later to go up 7-3. That was the lone touchdown the Gamecocks scored in the game, and it was the best field position they had to start any drive.

WEEK 4, 2008 vs. Arizona State

-- Georgia scores its first touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run by Knowshon Moreno (you may remember him flying into the end zone) and the ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds. This time, however, the defense forces a three-and-out against the inept Sun Devils' offense.

WEEK 8, 2008 vs. LSU

-- Georgia is in command for much of the game but can't seem to put LSU away until Moreno takes a handoff and runs 68 yards for a touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 38-17. Walsh's ensuing kickoff, however, is returned 25 yards to the LSU 41. The Tigers score 1:58 later to pull back to within two touchdowns.

-- The Bulldogs once again appear to have iced the win over LSU when Darryl Gamble returns his second interception of the game for a touchdown to give Georgia a 52-31 lead late in the fourth quarter. The ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds and LSU tacks on yet another touchdown just 51 seconds later.

WEEK 9, 2008 vs. Florida

-- While the game was eventually a blowout, the first half was remarkably close. The Bulldogs booted a 35-yard field goal with 11:18 to play in the first half to pull to within 7-3. Rather than ride the momentum, however, Mark Richt calls for an on-side kick, which the Gators recover at the Georgia 41-yard line. Florida engineers a seven-play drive and scores a touchdown with 3:52 left in the half to go up 14-3 and never looked back.

WEEK 10, 2008 vs. Kentucky

-- Georgia looks dominant early, scoring touchdowns on each of its first two drives. Following the second touchdown, however, Walsh's ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds. Kentucky quickly goes 60 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-7 in what would be a back-and-forth game the rest of the way.

-- With 13:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, Georgia scores on a Moreno touchdown to finally regain the lead 35-31 in a game that was way too close for comfort. Walsh's ensuing kickoff, however, was returned 96 yards all the way to the Georgia 4-yard line. Three plays later the Wildcats punched in the score to retake the lead 38-35.

WEEK 11, 2008 vs. Auburn

-- With Georgia trailing in the fourth quarter against an Auburn team with virtually no offensive firepower, A.J. Green finally gives the Bulldogs a lead and some breathing room, scoring with 8:24 to play in the game to put UGA up 17-13. The ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds, but the defense steps up and forces a punt.

WEEK 12, 2008 vs. Georgia Tech

-- Georgia jumps out to an early 7-0 lead, scoring on its first drive of the game. Walsh's ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds. The defense holds, however, after Georgia Tech goes for it on a fourth-and-2 from the Bulldogs' 33 and Josh Nesbitt's pass falls incomplete.

-- Georgia appears to take a commanding 28-12 lead with just 37 seconds left in the first half when Matthew Stafford hits Mohamed Massaquoi for a 3-yard touchdown. The ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds, but the Bulldogs are bailed out when Nesbitt throws an interception as time expires in the half.

-- The momentum of the interception didn't last long. Walsh's kickoff to open the second half goes out of bounds. Johnathan Dwyer runs 60 yards for a touchdown on the next play, making what looked like a blowout a one-score game.

-- With 4:04 left in the game, Stafford wraps up a monster performance, hitting Green for a 12-yard touchdown to pull Georgia to within three, 45-42. Roddy Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Tech 44-yard line, however, and the Yellow Jackets ran seven more plays and took the clock down to zero, never giving the Bulldogs' offense another chance to cap the comeback.

BOWL GAME, 2008 vs. Michigan State

-- A close game finally broke open with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter when Stafford connected with Aron White for a touchdown, giving Georgia a 17-6 lead. Walsh's ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds, setting MSU up at its own 40. While the Bulldogs' defense held firm and forced a punt, the bad kickoff helped swing field position. Georgia's next drive ended with a punt from its own 7-yard line and the Spartans got the ball back at their own 46. MSU scored on that drive to pull to within 17-12 -- their only touchdown of the game.

WEEK 1, 2009 vs. Oklahoma State

-- Georgia's offense had looked awful, but the defense kept the game close and the Bulldogs headed out for the second half trailing by just three. Walsh's opening kickoff, however, is returned 74 yards by Perrish Cox to give Oklahoma State the ball at the Georgia 24 to start its drive. Zac Robinson capped the drive with a 1-yard dive into the end zone to put the Cowboys up 17-7 -- effectively slamming the door on the listless Bulldogs.

WEEK 2, 2009 vs. South Carolina

-- In a game that had been back-and-forth throughout the first half, the Bulldogs finally seemed to put things out of reach when Michael Moore scored on a four-yard pass from Joe Cox with 9:04 left in the third quarter, giving Georgia a 38-23 lead. Chris Culliver returned the ensuing kickoff 57 yards to the Georgia 43, however, and the Gamecocks eventually booted a field goal on the drive.

WEEK 3, 2009 vs. Arkansas

-- Arkansas got off to a fast start, but Georgia answered with a 21-yard TD reception by White to tie the game at 7 with 9:56 left in the first quarter. Cobi Hamilton returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards, however, setting the Razorbacks up with the ball at the Georgia 48. Ryan Mallett threw a touchdown on the next play to regain the lead, 14-7.

-- Tavarres King's 50-yard touchdown reception with 7:51 left in the third quarter gives Georgia a 34-28 lead. The ensuing kickoff goes out of bounds and five plays later Arkansas is back in the end zone and back in the lead, 35-34.

-- Georgia scores on Cox's fifth touchdown pass of the game with 10:46 left to play in the game and goes up 49-38. The ensuing kickoff sails out of bounds and Arkansas kicks a field goal eight plays later.

WEEK 5, 2009 vs. LSU

-- After doing absolutely nothing offensively for the better part of three quarters, Georgia scores to take a 7-6 lead with 14:15 left to play in the game. Trindon Holliday returns the ensuing kickoff 49 yards and LSU takes over at Georgia's 46. The Bulldogs catch a break, however, when the refs throw a personal foul flag on the Tigers, moving them back 15 yards. The drive ended with a punt.

-- Do I really need to take us through this one again? Georgia scores what may well have been one of the most memorable touchdowns of the Mark Richt era when A.J. Green hauls in a go-ahead score with 1:09 to play in the game. An absurd flag for excessive celebration flies in, icing on the cake of what so many Georgia fans must have already seen coming at this point.

Despite all the problems on kickoffs that we've just mentioned, Jon Fabris and the Georgia kickoff team decide it's time to get fancy. They break the huddle and immediately sprint to the line, where Walsh boots a kick straight down the middle of the field that's fielded by Holliday at the LSU 17-yard line. The coverage is a disaster, and Holliday bolts 40 yards to the Georgia 43. Adding insult to injury, Georgia is flagged for an illegal formation because it sent just three players to one side of the kicker when it broke the huddle. That moves the ball to the Bulldogs' 35, meaning the Tigers took over already in field-goal range for kicker Josh Jasper, who had connected from 52 yards out just two weeks earlier. As it turned out, it didn't matter when Charles Scott rumbled 33 yards for a the winning touchdown two plays later.

Rubbing it in a bit, LSU was flagged for the same infraction as Georgia after its touchdown, but had little trouble covering its kickoff.

----

By my count, that's 22 miscues on kickoffs following either crucial Georgia scores or to start a half in just the past 18 games. Twenty-two! In 18 games! Loud noises!

What could possibly cause such a trend?

Surely there are issues with the game plan on kickoffs.

Surely there are issues with the personnel being used on kickoffs.

Surely there are some issues with Blair Walsh's ability to properly execute the types of kickoffs he is asked to make.

Surely there are some serious issues with concentration, given that both the special teams and, in many cases, the defense immediately collapsed following such important momentum boosts created by the offense.

Surely there are issues in terms of preparation, execution, and recognition.

Surely the coaches must know this.

And yet it happens game after game after game for two straight years.

ADDENDUM: I wasn't paying close enough attention on Blair's missed 37-yard field goal, but I got this email from Bill A.: "That whole play was hurried because UGA didn't seem to know who was on its' FG team. It looked like a fire drill with players running on and off the field with the play clock evaporating. We barely beat the 40-second clock."

Remember the debacle of a field goal at the end of the first half in Arkansas when the coaching staff rushed the field-goal team onto the field rather than simply have Cox spike the football on first down to give the unit a chance to get properly set?

And here's what Nick Williams, who is on the kick coverage team, told me about the illegal formation on the kickoff against LSU: “We know the rules, but guys sometimes don’t get a call or something and just lined up wrong.” This on the most crucial special teams play of the game -- and maybe of Georgia's season so far.

I'm all for giving Holliday some credit. He deserves it. He's a heck of a kick returner. But coming into this game, LSU ranked 117th in the nation in return average, and I think it's fair to wonder why Georgia couldn't do what Mississippi State and Louisiana-Lafayette could.

The preparation just seems bush league. Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't figure it out, and the coaching staff doesn't seem to want to give a better explanation.

ADDENDUM No. 2: Got this great comment from an anonymous poster, who obviously watched the replay closely... "Check the replay of the final two kickoffs.

"Georgia had three walk ons and a backup quarterback covering the kick from a huddle formation. LSU fields the ball on the 17 and no Georgia player enters the picture until the returner had already returned the ball 15 yards to the 32.

"LSU had 10 first and second team defenders covering the kick and lining up in their lanes. Georgia fields the kick on the 22 and the first LSU player enters the picture when the returner reaches the 26.

"Yep. It must have been the wind."

You've Got Your Plan, I've Got Mine

We've talked a good deal about all the conflicting messages coming out of Georgia's locker room this week, but I came across another example last night that almost made me laugh out loud.

First, I suggest you check out the quotes from "Fifth Quarter Show" regulars that The Senator has on his blog regarding Georgia's kickoff philosophy. (Warning: If you're subject to sudden mood swings, violent behavior or you've already consumed more than six ounces of bourbon today, don't read this.)

"If you’re wondering what happened, former Georgia players A.J. Bryant and Kelin Johnson, now regulars on the “Fifth Quarter Show,” put it all into perspective. Both of them played on special teams for Fabris, and they said that it wouldn’t matter whether the Dogs had a kicker who could put it in the end zone or not; Fabris likes “the challenge” of directional kicks. That’s just Coach Fab, they said, get used to it."

So... Jon Fabris likes "the challenge" of directional kicking? Yikes.

Anyway, for obvious reasons the kickoff strategy is a hot topic of conversation for fans, which is why I asked Mark Richt whether the results last Saturday, which included a long run back by Perrish Cox to set up a touchdown, swayed his opinion any. Here's what he said...

“The fans want the long kick, but the longest kick had the longest return. The kicks that were a little shorter had the better hangtime and ball placement, and we covered those better."

So... long, line-drive kickoffs = easier returns for the opposition. Short kicks with lots of hang time = easier coverage for Georgia. Got that?

OK, flash forward to a question I posed to Tony Ball about why Branden Smith twice returned kicks that were deep into his own end zone. Here's what Ball had to say...

"After asking (upback Shaun) Chapas about it, he felt like with them being line-drive kicks, that kind of threw things off, so there was some dynamics there that he had to make some decisions. ... I felt like the one, in particular, he should have kept him in the end zone where he was really driven back, but even (Justin) Fields, my fullback, told me that the line drive kick kind of threw him off and there was too much separation between the returner and my fullback."

In other words, when Georgia is returning a kick, it's much tougher to field those long line drives than if, say, Oklahoma State had punted short with lots of hang time.

So the thought process among Georgia's kickoff coach is that short, high kicks are harder for the opposition to return.

The thought process for Georgia's kick return coach is that long, low kicks are harder to return.

I would love to hear Fabris and Ball discuss this with each other.

Fabris Talks Special Teams

I have a story in today's Telegraph about Mark Richt's plans to let more freshmen play on special teams this year -- a policy Jon Fabris, Georgia's primary special teams coach, hasn't always employed.

As a general rule, Fabris would much prefer an experienced walk-on to a talented freshman on scholarship. It's a mind-set that gets a few fans riled up.

The trickle-down from that is that Fabris also insists on directional kicking, and smart folks like Rex Robinson think that's because the coverage teams aren't getting the job done.

Add rule No. 1 and rule No. 2 and it's not hard to imagine how a new philosophy on coverages might help to change the philosophy on kicking. Or then again, maybe not.

Richt has said he expects all his skill-position freshmen to play this year ("Will I say not one of these guys will redshirt? There’s a chance that they do. But right now the plan is not to,” he said) and he's also told his special teams coaches (i.e. Fabris) to be patient with the freshmen in hopes that, even if they aren't ready to make an impact immediately, they might be able to do so down the road.

That said, Fabris is still calling the shots on special teams, and as you may or may not piece together from his comments here, major changes from the past are far from a certainty.

Fabris on whether he plans to play more of Georgia's scholarship freshmen on special teams...
"The bottom line is, can the guy get the job done -- whether he was a highly recruited player who is a true freshman or a player that doesn't have a scholarship or a fifth-year senior that's never really played a lot and all of a sudden says, 'Hey, I want to play my senior year. I want to get serious about this.' You get a little bit of everything. And you're trying to fuse all these different people into one unit, and they're all playing different positions. So it's not like they're in your room every day. They come together for drills or for a meeting, but then they disperse to their different places. So you want guys that want to be there or at least understand the importance of it for the team. So the bottom line is you want the best guys, and certainly freshmen do not have as much understanding or experience."

On why he tends to rely on walk-ons rather than developing scholarship players on special teams...
"They're are going to be growing pains, mistakes made, but if you can find one that makes minimal mistakes, by the end of their freshman year, they can usually become pretty good players. But the funny thing about that is, by the time they're becoming pretty good players, they're probably going to be a starter on offense or defense by then, and they say, sorry, you can't have him. He's ours now. So often times you find yourself dealing with players that are second-level players offensively or defensively or maybe even walk-on kids, and while they might not have as much physical talent as some of those other kids, because you're able to work with them and you get those repetitions over the span of several seasons, they learn more."

On whether the coaches are trying to instill more of a desire to play special teams among the scholarship players...
"Well, we do, but you say developing the want to, and there's ways of encouraging that, but the bottom line is, if a guy doesn't really have the want to, he doesn't have it. It's kind of like Bill Parcells said one time about aggressiveness -- if they don't bite you when they're a pup, they probably aren't going to bite you when they're the big dog. That's true. You can encourage it and praise it, but a guy's going to determine how hard he's going to play and how much it's going to mean to him. And I'll give up a little bit of talent to find a guy who, as Erk Russell would say, has a bad case of the wants. It means something to him."

On how the injuries last season had an even bigger effect on special teams...
"A lot of people don't understand that. They think, just throw somebody out there. You wouldn't just throw somebody out there doing something else. There's tricks to the trade, there's knowledge. Giving a guy his chance and his being able to do it are two different things. Sometimes the light bulb comes on a little bit earlier than others. Sometimes it comes on the middle of the season for guys working on scout teams."

On how much he thinks special teams experience can help skill players when they move to bigger roles on offense or defense...
"It certainly would be beneficial just to have the experience of being out on the field, but it's not going to help you technically because it has nothing to do with your position. Certainly getting the experience and understanding the jitters and all the things that go into that, that's good for you."

On how the special teams units have looked so far this fall...
"It really looks like an old spring practice out on the field where you have multiple bodies and it's just a tryout session. Our spring, we had 35 players injured and so many of them were young kids, there's so many of them that you don't even know if they can play because they've been hurt since they've been here. So you generally get a lot of your questions answered in the spring, but because we had so many people hurt, you have a bunch of redshirt freshmen that were hurt last year that are unknowns. You have a bunch of hurt guys that are unknowns. And you've got all the new freshmen. So eventually you have to start sorting things down, and it's not an exact science."

On who he's looking at as a punt returner this fall...
"We have three guys who are here right now who have actually done it in a game -- Prince Miller, Logan Gray and Reshad Jones -- so there's nothing like experience. We have played redshirt freshmen before at punt returner. I'm totally for speed, but that's not the most important thing. You've got to make good decisions. You've got to be able to catch the ball really consistently. We're not just going to put the guy with the fastest 40 time back there because there's nothing worse than the defense about to sit down and about the time they put that drink to your mouth, people are screaming for the defense to get back on the field. We're working with a lot of different guys to try to develop depth."

Catching Up With... Rex Robinson

It has been a little while since we caught up with a former player on the blog, but today's conversation was definitely worth the wait. I spoke last week with Rex Robinson, who in addition to serving as the kicker on Georgia's 1980 national championship team, is also one heck of a blogger. He launched his Bulldogs-related blog, Roughing the Kicker, a few months back, and regularly manages to write exceptional posts on subjects ranging from Georgia's special teams play to some great anecdotes about the good old days in Athens.

You can find Rex's blog HERE or follow him on Twitter HERE.

While Rex has done a great job talking about some of the most pressing issues facing the Bulldogs on his blog, he also was kind enough to take time out to chat with me about Georgia's kickoff issues, the biggest question marks facing the team in 2009 and, of course, we talk a little shop about the business of blogging.

This is probably one of the longer entries in our "Catching Up With..." series, but I promise this one is worth the read. (Perhaps you should print it out and take it someplace quiet. If you work in an office, feel free to leave a copy for the next person, too.)

Anyway, here ya go....

David Hale: OK, let's talk shop for a minute. I've really enjoyed reading your blog since you started it, but I read a post the other day in which you wrote that some of your friends were shocked you could even put two sentences together, let alone maintain a blog. So what got you interested in doing it in the first place?

Rex Robinson: When I was in high school, I did a little bit of writing, but it was usually what might be construed as poetry or lyrics for songs. It was always something that I just used as a way of getting my thoughts down or my feelings out on paper. I guess only one of them was ever really published, and that was in my junior year yearbook, which was a unique one because it was the bicentennial in 1976.

I never had really thought about it until very recently. I started my business in January, and I ran into a guy named Ron Tarpley. ... Ron had started a Web site called Prep News Report and had gone through that process of learning how to put together a Web site. As we talked about it, he said, 'You need to do a blog.' I had a couple other people say that if you're trying to reach people, you need to do a blog, but Ron was the one that really put me over the top in deciding I wanted to pursue it.

The first one I did was on Word Press, which was pretty easy for someone like me that's not really a computer type of guy, but it really took off. That really blew me away how, in the first month, particularly with the article on the kickoff situation over at Georgia, I had like 14,000 views my first month. In the big picture, I know that's not huge, but for me, that blew me a way to go from zero to whatever in a month's time.

It's gone, I guess well. I did get a lot of positive feedback. Out of the 10 or 12,000 people, unique visitors, less than half come back. So even though that's a decent number, I guess, that to me means a lot of people said, 'What is this crap?' and have not come back. So I haven't gotten a big head yet that it's that big a deal or that it's ultimately going to be a huge thing, but it's been fun and it's given me another way to communicate with fans.

DH: One of the great things about writing about Georgia is how passionate the fans are. What has been the response you've gotten from fans who have found your blog?

RR: It's been overwhelmingly positive, but I don't get a tremendous number of comments left on the blog, which leads me to believe there's a lot of people out there that don't agree with everything that I say or talk about. I'm trying not to be overly controversial, even though when I have written things that are critical of the coaching staff or something of that nature, it just blows up. But I don't want to go down that path intentionally. If it's really something I feel strongly about, then I will. I don't want to be one of those old-school reporters or tabloid type of deals where I'm just saying stuff for the sake of generating traffic. But occasionally I'll get someone who offers a little bit different slant on something, but I've gotten mostly very, very positive feedback.

What was funny is one thing I saw on another blog was actually a comment about one of my first blogs, probably one of the first three or four blogs. A guy said something about that I made Mark Bradley and Terence Moore look good as far as my sports mind and the way I looked at things. I've never been overly critical of those guys -- though I don't really care for Terence Moore too much -- but I knew what he was saying, and it wasn't good.

Then later on, two or three weeks later, he actually left a very positive comment on my blog. So I don't know that he's totally come around, but I had to tell myself that I had to be prepared for people to say negative stuff. With people being anonymous, a lot of them will say stuff that if we were standing face to face, they certainly wouldn't. So I prepared myself if I really wanted to go down that road, and so far it's been OK.

DH: A couple months ago, Urban Meyer made news by saying that he didn't want any former players to say anything negative about the Florida program, and if they did, they were no longer welcome in the locker room or at practice. You've written some things that have been at least a little critical of some of the things Georgia has done. What kind of feedback did you get from the team or the coaching staff?

RR: I have not been contacted and I haven't run into anyone. I haven't had the opportunity to go over to Athens for any reason. I almost went over last Thursday because I had gotten a call a few weeks ago from Blair (Walsh) just wanting me to come by when those guys kicked. He, Drew (Butler) and Ty Frix all get together and kick on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Anyway, I haven't been to Athens since all this started, but I probably will be going pretty soon, and I don't know what to expect. I don't know how much of this might have gotten back to the staff. I know some people on Twitter actually tried to get Coach (Mark) Richt to go to my blog when I was talking about all that stuff. I don't know that he ever did.

I'm of the opinion that -- I truly respect Coach Richt, and I really respect all of those coaches, and the fact that there might be one aspect of things that doesn't quite seem right or the best that it could be, I don't think that's anything to be that upset about. I don't call them names like some people do. Somebody left a comment on my blog the other day calling Coach (Jon) Fabris a numbskull. I had to answer and said, 'I don't think that he's a numbskull. I just think that he's possibly stubborn and maybe a little shortsighted on this one issue.' He's a great defensive ends coach, but they seem to really feel like they need to, what I would call, hide the weaknesses they have on the coverage team by putting all the pressure on the kicker, and that's a tough thing, particularly for a true freshman.

Anyway, I don't know what to expect. I doubt Coach Richt would ever take that position that Urban Meyer took. I think they're really pretty different people. And hopefully he has seen some of the other stuff that I've written, because I'm really not blowing smoke or anything. I truly believe all the positive things I've said about him, too, so hopefully he'll know where I'm coming from.

DH: I know kickers have to stick together, but you've gotten to be pretty close with Blair. How did that relationship develop, and what was it like for you watching his season unfold last year?

RR: I went over to Athens one day to watch practice and while I was there I met Blair that day. It was sort of like Brandon (Bogotay) when I talked to him on the phone a few weeks ago. They know enough about the history and tradition of Georgia to know who I was and was very respectful of that. He's a very nice guy. I had been watching him, and he's very serious about what he's doing, very focused. I had watched him kick some and he did well.

It was very difficult for me to watch the whole season progress because I felt like they were putting all that pressure on him. If he'd been an upperclassmen and had been there a couple of years and was physically stronger and more mature, I don't think it would have been as big a deal. But to continually put that amount of pressure on him, and even in games when it was obviously very windy, they were still trying to kick over there to the corner and it went out of bounds.

I think it ultimately, that one aspect of things, the kickoffs affected him overall, confidence-wise and maybe even technique-wise. I think even Kevin Butler voiced that opinion in his postgame one time. What you're asking Blair to do, he sort of had to go to extremes with how hard he's kicking the ball. It got to the point where he was almost aiming it instead of kicking it, and I don't if you ever played baseball or any other sports, but when you start thinking too much, things go bad. I think that's where he went with that.

It was difficult to see. I went and saw him around December or January and had lunch. We talked about some of the issues. For guys like that that have sort of gone through a rough patch, I always tell them that during the offseason, they can sort of prepare themselves for anything. They may have gotten blindsided as a freshman, but you can't get blindsided twice.

I think Coach Fabris can really be kind of hard on those guys as true freshmen. I think that may have happened to Andy Bailey, and I think it may have happened with Blair temporarily. Blair started off well. Andy got off to a rough start and never really recovered totally from his experience as a freshman. Andy never progressed through his four or five years. Blair started off well but struggled late. But I think all the competition that's coming, Brandon and all those things, I think it's going to create a good situation. I think both of those guys will respond well.

DH: You mentioned on your blog a little while back that you had a chance to talk with Brandon Bogotay as well. What was your impression of him?

RR: He seems to be a very level-headed and good guy. I was very impressed. Both guys seem to have the right attitude in terms of not assuming anything one way or the other. I don't think Brandon is assuming he'll be the guy, and I don't think Blair is assuming he won't be the guy. I know he wants to be the guy to do the kickoffs and field goals. They seem to have gotten off to a good start in terms of their relationship, having a working relationship that will be positive and not have a lot of animosity in it.

I commented earlier this week, I don't think they are going to make any wholesale changes in the kickoff program. If Brandon wins the job, I think it will be because he's better at the directional kicking. He may be able to kick it a little bit deeper, but still with good height and into the corner. You probably know that I feel like they ought to just let those guys kick it as deep as they can, even if it's the goal line or two or three yards deep, and then just cover it. Brandon kicks it a long way, but if he doesn't kick it 100 percent of the time, Coach Fabris is not going to go for it. If he were to kick it -- this is maybe a little bit of an exaggeration -- but if he were to kick it out of the end zone 75 percent of the time, the fact that that 25 percent remains and the ball is coming back out, I don't think Coach Fabris would let him do it.

DH: One of the things I hear from fans quite a bit -- and this is probably a lot easier said than done -- but one of the biggest complaints I get is, if Georgia is struggling on special teams, why not hire a full-time special teams coach. Do you think having a coach that was strictly dedicated to that rather than splitting duties would make a real difference?

RR: In a perfect world, maybe. But the NCAA has limitations on the number of coaches that can be out there, and it's created a situation where you can't have a true kicking coach anymore, even if it's a volunteer. You just can't have that body out there, which is the craziest thing. I think most of them would say if they had somebody that could be on the field and devote their full time to that kind of thing, then maybe. But the thing is, all those guys are great coaches. It's not that they're deficient as coaches. It's just a difference of opinion as to what the best philosophy is. It's not like they're struggling because (Fabris) doesn't have the time or the focus. He's not deficient in his preparation or knowledge or anything like that. It's just a very strong opinion of his that that's the way it ought to be done. Lots of people disagree with it. His philosophy is one thing, and a lot of people think it should be different.

DH: OK, I'll stop hassling you about the kickers for a bit and go a little more big picture. I talked with Mark Richt a few weeks ago, and even he says this is one of the least predictable seasons he can remember. From what you've seen and heard about the team so far, what are your expectations for the upcoming season?

RR: I think that Coach Richt has been pretty open since the season that maybe they didn't do all they could to be all that they could be last year when everything was so hyped. I've heard through the grapevine that maybe from the top down they didn't prepare the same way they did in previous years when they had had so much success. It's one of those things where, maybe not so much the coaches, but the players had read their press clippings too much. I think they went back to the drawing board and have had a renewed focus that's probably going to mean they're going to be pretty doggone good.

I think that Joe Cox is, I don't think quarterback is a problem at all. The question mark to me is at running back. With the opportunities that Caleb (King) had and that Richard Samuel had, they really never showed that flash that you -- not even a Knowshon flash, but any kind of flash that they could be the every down guy if they were expected to be. That's the only thing that concerns me is whether one of those guys will be able to be the main guy.

It obviously won't be the end of the world if they have to do a committee type of scenario. As long as they're able to keep them honest with our receivers and everything and with Joe, I think they're going to be pretty good. I think the defense will be better, again after going back to the drawing board and really realizing, hey, this was not good last year. We've got to get better. And I think they'll be better.

To me there's no way to predict -- and I don't like predicting a record or something like that. I think the Oklahoma State game, with it being the first game could be one of those 45-42 games again, hopefully with us being 45. But if they do put it all together, when those guys are focused like in the Hawaii game or LSU a few years ago when they were in Athens, when they're focused, they're scary good. They just play with so much energy from beginning to end. It's just been the last couple years they haven't always done that, and it really hurts them when they don't come out totally prepared.

DH: Well, we're just a few days away from SEC Media Days and only two weeks away from the start of practice. I know I'm pretty excited about the new season. Do you remember what it was like during your playing days at this time of year?

RR: It was great because -- I have thought about it here lately because I've been coaching some college kickers and learning about what they've been doing to prepare. It always makes me think back to my mind-set going into a season. From May, maybe late May or early June, the preseason magazines started coming out. They'd have the predictions of preseason All-SEC, the preseason rankings and all that stuff. It was fuel to the fire as far as, it's close, it's coming. Coach (Erk) Russell always used it as motivation. He'd send out these letters during the summer. A couple different times he sent out this note that said, 'Athlon has Georgia ranked sixth in the SEC in their preseason poll. But you know what Dogs do to poles.' Just stuff like that to get you fired up.

I always set personal goals because as a kicker, you were always on an island anyway. So I felt like if I set personal goals that were pretty lofty and I reached those goals, then I was helping the team at the same time. I always had the attitude that I wanted to do my part and make sure that when the season came to an end nobody could say, 'Man, if we only had a decent kicker, we could've been good.'

I was sort of away from it for a while. In the past six or eight years, I've gotten more and more involved in high school athletics and then went on to college, so I've really gotten back into it. I don't always come to Athens, but I watch from 12 noon to 12 midnight every Saturday, and flip it to every conceivable place where there might be a game, so I'm very excited.