A Look Inside: Belin's ILBs Will Be Center Stage in 2010

I'm putting together a story for later in the week on the inside linebackers and new ILB coach Warren Belin. I figured I could share a few of the quotes I got for the story here though, for those of you sick of talking QBs and ready to hear more about the new-look D...

Warren Belin on Christian Robinson...
“Christian is improving each and every day. I’m very pleased with his progress. He’s playing multiple positions for us at the inside linebacker, and he’s a young man that’s a hard worker, works really hard at being the best he can be at doing the fundamentals and the little things right, and as he continues to grow into our defensive package, he’s going to make a great contribution to our football team.”

Belin on Marcus Dowtin...
“Marcus is very talented, and we’re excited about what he brings to the table as a student-athlete. Again, as he said and as I would also agree, we’ve got to consistently be the best, know our assignments, and physically do everything we’re asking him to do. Mentally he’s very, very close to where we need him to be right now. He’s had a few mistakes here and there. As a linebacker coach, the No. 1 thing that I’m going to ask is that he does things the right way all the time. And there are no excuses for missed assignments and missed alignments. There’s just none. We get beat if you don’t do things the right way.”

Todd Grantham on Robinson and Akeem Dent...
“Dent and Robinson have played both Mike and Mo, so they give you some flexibility there. We’re also working to progress Richard Samuel, because he does show up as far as his ability to run and chase and we’re trying to work with him to see if we can find a role for him as we move forward.”

Grantham on where Richard Samuel must improve...
“I just think the key and diagnose of blocking schemes. He has a feel for where the ball’s going, but is it a downhill run? Is it a wide play? I just think it’s more the recognition of the blocks and where do I need to fit based on the recognition of the call. That’s based on experience, but the guy was in here last Friday after meetings watching tape trying to get ready for the scrimmage because he wanted to get better. If our guys will do that and work to improve, I think we’ll be fine.”

Christian Robinson on the mix at ILB...
"To us, it’s really not a battle. We’re just trying to put the best guy forward. Everybody is working really hard. We have different groups for different situations. Coach [Todd] Grantham will take me and put Downtin in, or Darryl, or Dent. It’s a group of guys who are going to put our best foot forward every time. Some guys are bigger, some guys are faster. Whatever coach Grantham wants from his linebacker corps, he’s going to do it."

Robinson on the leadership of Akeem Dent & Darryl Gamble...
"Having Darryl and Dent, they’re just great leaders and great people. If we have a rough day, they’re the first ones to get on us and bring us up. They were just as influential as Rennie (Curran) was. They’ve been here, this is their fifth year, so everybody knows them, everybody respects them. They’ve earned their time, and they’ve been playing since they were freshmen. When they say something you listen. Coach comes first, but those guys are second.”

Akeem Dent on Belin's expectations...
"With him he just wants everybody to go out and play with great energy, have a great attitude, and give great effort. There are a lot of things that you can’t control, but you can your attitude and effort. He wants us to go out every day and just play."

Video Blog: Belin Talks Fundamentals

Two things on this video:

1.) Warren Belin is a guy who knows the difference between using what my mom would call "his inside voice" and "his outside voice."

2.) I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this will be hands down your favorite video of the spring.

So, if your boss doesn't like you watching football videos at work, tell him you think he's just being soft.

And for the record, No. 37 is Akeem Hebron.



*Video courtesy of the great Brandon Spoon, who if he's not the next Steven Spielberg, he's certainly as good as his Mexican equivalent.

(*"Non-union" Mexican equivalent... can't believe I screwed up the quote!)

Notes: Belin Brings New Plan to Kickoffs

For most of the past two years, Georgia fans have cringed and crossed their fingers with each kickoff. This season, Warren Belin aims to change all that.

The Bulldogs’ new linebackers coach and kickoff coordinator isn’t giving away any trade secrets just yet, but he said he’s made special teams a priority this spring, and he’s planning to tailor his philosophy on kickoffs to highlight the strengths of the players he has to work with.

“Each week, things are going to change as I look at film and see what the returns we’re facing – those returns may dictate what we do on game day,” Belin said. “So for me to come in as the coach in charge of the kickoff team, I’m just going to use the basic fundamentals and take advantage of our kickers, and use the speed that we have to cover the kicks.”

Sounds simple enough, but for fans frustrated by two years of brutal kick coverage – Georgia ranked 117th nationally in kickoff coverage and lost to LSU due in large part to a botched fourth-quarter kickoff – that simplicity is music to their ears.

Gone will be the philosophy of directional kicking. Belin plans to use kicker Blair Walsh’s strong leg to his advantage. And gone will be the plan to play mostly walk-ons and underused reserves on kick coverage. Belin, a former special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt, wants the best players on the field at all times – including offensive and defensive starters when possible.

“I have a philosophy … of using a guy that does that particular drill or that particular scheme the best, whether he’s a starter or a back up or a young man who’s shown he can develop as a walk-on,” Belin said. “If he’s a guy that can cover and avoid blocks and go make tackles, we need to find a spot for him. I’d love to use all the starters we can, but if those starters aren’t ready to fit that position, I’ll use the next guy who does it the best scheme-wise.”

Of course, part of finding the right players for the job is making special teams a priority, even this spring. Belin said he and tight ends coach John Lilly, who organizes all the special teams meetings, have done their best this spring to make sure the players know that their work on kickoffs and other special teams units are going to be crucial.

“You have to have a third of your practice designed for special teams,” Belin said. “I think Coach Richt, when we come out at the start of practice – and we put it all at the beginning of practice – that’s showing our guys special teams are going to be very, very important.”

HAVE A NICE TRIPP

If there’s one constant in Kiante Tripp’s football career, it’s change. So while his teammates on Georgia’s defense have been busy adjusting to life in Todd Grantham’s new 3-4 scheme, it’s business as usual for Tripp, who spends virtually every spring learning something completely new.

The difference this time, he said, is that this new-look defense seems to be perfectly tailored to fit his skill set.

“Being 290 and being an athlete at the same time, the 3-4 is good because I can use my athleticism in the inside and use my size and power for the run,” Tripp said. “I like the defense because you don’t know what’s going to happen, it confuses the offense, and we’re doing damage out there.”

During his first four seasons at Georgia, Tripp’s versatility and athleticism actually hindered his career, as coaches moved him from the defensive line to the offensive line to tight end and back again, never quite sure where best to utilize his talents. Now, his versatility makes him an asset without having to leave the defensive line.

The majority of his work has been at defensive end when the defense is using three down linemen. In nickel situations when the scheme shifts to the more traditional four-man front, however, Tripp slides inside to tackle. His speed and athleticism matched with his hulking frame allows him to handle both jobs, and his work has impressed head coach Mark Richt.

“Kiante has done well,” Richt said. “He’s moved around a lot, as we know, positionally. Now we know we’ve got him in his final resting place, so to speak. I think he’s embracing it and he’s doing well. He’ll play. He’ll help us.”

BATTLE TESTED

A year ago, Bacarri Rambo was struggling just to earn playing time. Now, he’s embracing the role of veteran leader among Georgia’s safeties.

Rambo finished last season with 25 tackles, two interceptions and five pass breakups, mostly in reserve duty, but he learned a lot along the way from starters Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans.

Although Rambo hasn’t officially locked up a starting job now that Jones and Evans have moved on, he’s spent virtually all of spring practice working with the No. 1 unit, and he’s taken the opportunity to try to provide the same mentorship he enjoyed last year for the group of young safeties working their way up the depth chart this season.

“Last year when I was playing, Reshad and Bryan helped me out,” Rambo said. “It was my first season, and I didn’t know stuff like they knew. Since they taught me, I feel like I can help those other guys out on the field and be a great leader to those guys.”

Kicking It Old School

I think we pretty well established what a disaster the kickoff situation was at Georgia for the past two years under Jon Fabris. If you're unclear, read this.

And amid all the problems -- from the LSU debacle last year to the out-of-bounds kickoffs in '08 to Mark Richt promising to go to Poland to find someone who could do the job -- the man who was actually doing the job wasn't allowed to talk about it.

But among the many reasons fans are going to love Warren Belin -- who replaced Fabris as kickoff coach this year -- is that the muzzle is finally off Georgia's kicker, who shared some wisdom on the situation with us Thursday. Here's what Blair Walsh had to say...

On working with Belin so far...
“He’s a great guy. He’s real positive about stuff and when you hit a good kick, he’ll let us know we hit a good kick. He’ll let us know when we hit a bad one, but he’s not very high on the whole negative thing. He’s a good guy, and I like his philosophy and what he wants us to do.”

On the directional kicking...
“It’s not like it was here the past two years directional-wise. It’s a lot more use of my talent I would say. I was fine doing what they wanted me to do. I’m a team player, and I can go along with it. But it’s a lot more use of my talent, and I’m happy about it. I don’t feel like there’s a restraint on me anymore. Without giving too much away, it’s different.”

On improving the kick coverage...
“From what little I know about football, I know we’re going down there and trying to bust helmets up. We’re literally just trying to beat the guy in front of us and go get the guy. It’s not a lot of schemes. It’s a lot of old-school football involved in our kickoff coverage. I know (Belin) doesn’t like me to talk too much about what we’re doing exactly, but as much as I can tell you, the best hint your going to get is that you’re going to see a lot of guys hustle, a lot of fast stuff.”

On his goal for touchbacks...
“I think I had 17 last year, and I sort of figured out that with the new philosophy, I’m thinking about 25, I’m hoping. It just depends on how things go and staying healthy throughout the season.”

So… music to your ears or what?

Making Special Teams Special Again

Georgia’s special teams responsibilities have been officially divvied out among the assistant coaches.

Wide receivers coach Tony Ball will handle kickoff returns and tight ends coach John Lilly will be in charge of punting and punt coverage, just as they were last year. The Bulldogs led the nation in punting in 2009 and kick returner Brandon Boykin scored three touchdowns on returns.

The shakeups occur in the units formerly coached by dismissed defensive ends coach Jon Fabris.

Punt return duties will fall to second-year running backs coach Bryan McClendon, who returned punts and kicks for the Bulldogs as a player in 2003 and 2004.

Lilly will handle overall special teams coordination, setting up meetings and practice times, Richt said, but will not hold the title of special teams coordinator

The most notable change, however, comes on the much maligned kickoff coverage team, which will now be headed up by Warren Belin, who coached that unit for eight seasons at Vanderbilt. If last season tells us anything, this should be one of the biggest steps forward for Georgia in 2010.

To wit…

Last season, Vandy ranked second in the SEC in kick coverage and 29th nationally, allowing an average of 20.2 yards per return.

Georgia ranked last in the SEC and 117th nationally in kick coverage nationally, allowing an average of 25.71 yards per return.

How much of a difference was that really?

Vandy allowed 550 fewer kick return yards than Georgia for the season, and at five yards per kick, it probably made a difference of 20 to 25 yards of field position per game, which is hardly insignificant.

Of course, the other important thing to remember is -- Vandy was doing it with worse players.

I won't get into the coverage unit itself, since it should be fairly obvious that the backups at UGA should be every bit as skilled athletically as the starters for Vandy. There's absolutely no question that Georgia should be able to cover kicks as well as Belin's old squad.

But let's look at the kickers.

Vandy finished second in the SEC in coverage despite the fact that their kicker -- Ryan Fowler -- had just three touchbacks all season.

Georgia finished last in woeful fashion, despite the fact that its kicker -- Blair Walsh -- was a Groza finalist and led the SEC with 17 touchbacks.

So to be clear, Walsh had fourteen more kickoffs than Fowler in which the opposition wasn't able to return the kick, and Georgia still allowed an average of five more yards per kickoff return for the season.

Belin Teleconference Quotes

Georgia's newest coach, Warren Belin, answered questions during a teleconference with reporters today. Here's some of what he had to say...

(Note: Don't hold it against me if these quotes aren't 100 percent verbatim. The phone connection left a tad bit to be desired, but I think I've got them all correct.)

On how he ended up at Georgia...
"Coach Richt has been following my career for quite some time, and after he made the changes, a couple of people had recommended me to Coach Richt, and he followed through with that. After recruiting season was over, he contacted Coach (Bobby) Johnson to ask permission, and I came on the interview, had a really good interview with Coach Richt and Coach Grantham, and I'm excited to have a chance to be a part of this."

On which group of LBs he'll be coaching...
"I'm going to be coaching the inside linebackers here at Georgia. But that being said, Todd (Grantham) and I will both be working together with the linebacker corps. I'll be focused on working with the inside linebackers, but there will be times during drills I'll be working with the outside linebackers."

On whether he has ever shared position-coaching responsibilities with another coach…
"I have not been in a position like that, but I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with Todd. His 11 years in the NFL have been tremendous, and he coached a lot of great players, so I can learn a lot from him and Coach Garner. So I have no problem working with them. And at the same time, when you look at the scheme of a 3-4, the inside and outside linebackers are different. There are some fundamental differences that the outside linebacker is going to have to have, and we're looking forward to getting these guys ready this spring and for our first game in the fall."

On what the job has been like so far...
"I just completed my first week. I got in last Thursday night. Last Friday with the white out was my first day here. So it's been a whirlwind ever since, but I'm very, very excited about being here. I'm learning about the defensive staff, getting to know our defense. I've had a chance to meet with quite a few of the players who have come by during the winter workouts."

On his work recruiting in Georgia while at Vandy...
"Being the recruiting coordinator I had some other areas that I also recruited, but with some of the other coaches, I had the state of Georgia, and the state of Georgia has been real, real good at some of the previous schools that I've worked at, and I want to continue to develop the relationships with the coaches here in this great state. We feel like there are some really good players and good students here in this state that if we keep them all here, we're going to have a great chance to continue to build this program and to win championships."

On his approach to fundamentals...
"I think all of this follows the lead of Coach Richt as the head football coach and also Coach Grantham and what he brings to the table as the defensive coordinator, the demands that we're going to put on them as a staff. As a position coach, we're going to follow that lead, but there's also issues or things that I'll have to address with my players, the inside linebackers, and I'll put demands on those guys as well. My philosophy for my players, and I've sat down and told all of those guys the first day is honesty No. 1, fairness No. 2 and then 100 percent effort and attitude on and off the field. If you do those things and do them right every day, you have a good chance to be successful."

On how special teams will be handled...
"Coach Richt has spoken with our staff about how we're going to divide up the special teams, and we're currently working on some of those details and getting everything worked out with what we're all going to bring to the table to try to get better in the special teams area."

On the difference between his expectations for inside and outside LBs...
"We're going to coach all our linebackers, Coach Grantham and I both, we're going to work on the basic fundamentals we need to succeed in this 3-4 defense. Our philosophies are very, very similar, which is doing a great job with the fundamentals, and whether you're an inside or outside linebacker, just playing with speed, being great tacklers and being productive players, whether you're playing inside or outside. There is a difference. Obviously outside linebackers are going to be coming off the edge and bringing a lot of pressure, but we're also going to be bringing pressure with the inside linebackers as well. So I think if you look at the two positions, they're going to go hand-in-hand on a lot of things. But there is a scheme thing that's going to have to be separate for our guys to be fundamentally sound."

On his interactions with the players and what he knows about them so far...
"I'm definitely looking forward to meeting all the players on more of a personal basis. I'm still in the process of evaluating some of the players that I will be coaching at the inside linebackers spot as well as the outside to get a feel for where they are fundamentally. My goal and my job here as the inside linebackers coach is to work with those guys and get the best out of them. I've been blessed to have had the ability and opportunity to coach some very good linebackers in my years at Vanderbilt, and I'm looking forward to bringing that along with Coach Grantham here to the University of Georgia."

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.

Adding It All Up

Just a late FYI on new linebackers coach Warren Belin... he'll be making $190,000 this year -- about $27k per year more than John Jancek earned last year -- and is on the same one-year deal that all other non-Grantham assistants are on.

Here's the complete run-down of coaching salaries for 2010, assuming no raises for the holdovers from last year's staff (which is what I was told by UGA sports information).

2009	Salary	2010	Salary
Willie Martinez	325,815	Todd Grantham	750,000
Mike Bobo	325,000	Mike Bobo	325,000
Stacy Searels	290,000	Stacy Searels	290,000
Rodney Garner	290,000	Rodney Garner	290,000
Jon Fabris	202,241	Warren Belin	190,000
John Lilly	165,480	John Lilly	165,480
Tony Ball	165,480	Tony Ball	165,480
John Jancek	163,000	Scott Lakatos	180,000
Bryan McClendon	90,000	Bryan McClendon	90,000
Total	$2,017,016	Total	$2,445,960

Overall, that's a 21 percent increase in coaching salaries for Georgia's assistants over what they were making in 2009, which is certainly none too shabby. Of course, that number is almost entirely based on the fact that Grantham is now earning double what Georgia's highest-paid coach was a year ago. All of that should be a reminder that Grantham's hiring represented an exception, not a large-scale change in how UGA does business.

*Note: All salaries listed are base salaries, not including any bonus or endorsement money. You can find all coaching salaries from the 2009 season HERE.

Belin Rounds Out Grantham's Staff

UPDATE: If you're interested, here's a nice blog post with some background on Warren Belin.

From UGA release...

Warren Belin, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt, has been named a linebackers coach at the University of Georgia according to an announcement Friday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.

Belin just completed his eighth season with the Commodores coaching linebackers. The 20-year veteran also just completed his second year as recruiting coordinator after having worked as special teams coordinator in 2006-07.

“I want to thank Coach (Bobby) Johnson and the Vandy staff for eight great years competing in the SEC and everything they have provided me and my family,” said Belin. “I’m looking forward to the next step in my career with Coach Richt and the opportunity to compete for SEC and national championships. I look forward to working with Coach Grantham, Coach Garner and Coach Lakatos in installing the new defensive package. My wife and family are excited about the opportunity to become part of the Athens community, Bulldog Nation and the great tradition at UGA.”

“Warren has had some of the best linebackers and tacklers in the league for years,” said Richt. “I’ve always admired his work at Vandy and people have been talking to me about him for quite a while. When Todd (Grantham) and I interviewed him, we were very impressed with his knowledge of the game, schemes, and fundamentals. He’s going to be a perfect mentor for our players as well.”

During Belin's tenure at Vanderbilt, he developed numerous outstanding linebackers including second team All-SEC Patrick Benoist (2008) and Freshman All-SEC Chris Marve (2008), both of whom were among the SEC’s top tacklers; All-SEC Jonathan Goff (2006-07) and Marcus Buggs (2006-07), both of whom are in their second year in the NFL (Goff with the Giants and Buggs with the Bills); All-SEC Moses Osemwegie (2004-05); and All-SEC Hunter Hillenmeyer (2002) who earned the National Student-Athlete Award after leading the SEC in tackles.

Belin served in a similar role at Southern Methodist before coming to Vanderbilt. In five years at SMU, at least one of Belin's linebackers was named All-Western Athletic Conference each year of his service. Vic Viloria was named first team All-WAC as a junior. Another SMU pupil, Jason Simonton, was a two-time All-WAC selection. A third player, Chris Bordano, was WAC Western Division Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. Prior to joining the SMU staff, Belin worked as an assistant coach at William & Mary, Cornell and East Tennessee State.

A native of Marshville, N.C., Belin was a three-year starter and four-year letterman at Wake Forest from 1987-90. He earned a B.S. in Health and Sports Science from Wake Forest, graduating cum laude. He was named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 1990 and was a two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient.

Belin is married to the former Yolanda Taylor. They are the parents of three daughters: Camryn, 7; and 4-year-old twins Morgan and MacKenzi.

ADDENDUM: A few of you have asked my thoughts...

Truth be told, I don't know a ton about the guy, but he has an impressive enough track record. For the past two years, I thought Chris Marve was one of the more impressive linebackers I've seen, so that speaks well of Belin.

I definitely like that he's been the recruiting coordinator for a school that has brought in some solid talent even though getting those players to come to Vandy is a tough task. His ties to the south and to the SEC will be a nice balance on the recruiting trail with Grantham and Lakatos.

And lastly, it's a detail sort of snuck into the release, but he served two seasons as a special teams coordinator.

Sounds to me like he essentially fills every need Georgia was looking for.