Fox Nabs Westlake Standout Thornton

For all the progress made by Mark Fox in his first year-plus on the job, Wednesday's announcement by Westlake forward Marcus Thornton might have been one of the biggest steps forward.

Thornton, one of the state's premier prospects, announced his commitment to Georgia at his high school Wednesday, snubbing Georgia Tech, Alabama and Texas.

"In the end, I liked the opportunity I had at Georgia, how I could be a big piece of something," Thornton said. "I felt in my heart that's what I wanted to do."

Thornton was originally committed to Clemson, but changed his mind after coach Oliver Purnell left for DePaul.

At Westlake, Thornton averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds per game as a senior, and he expects to play small forward at Georgia.

"They're looking for me to play a combo forward," Thornton said, "but I'll probably primarily be playing small forward."

Thornton is easily the most high-profile prospect signed by Fox since his arrival last April, and Fox's ability to snag the in-state standout so late in the game was indicative of the immense groundwork the coach has laid in the past season.

Thornton was rated as a three-star prospect by Scout and the No. 34 forward nationally. He will fit in the lineup alongside forward Trey Thompkins, an All-SEC performer last season in the frontcourt, and help complement an increasingly impressive backcourt that features Travis Leslie, Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson.

Tuesday Links (5/18)

Quick follow-up to yesterday's post on Mark Richt...

I know some people didn't like me even posing the question, but I felt it was a topic worth exploring. It's easy to discount the criticisms of Richt if you're a supporter of his -- and largely I've discounted them, too. But my job is to be objective, and so I wanted to gauge just how prevalent the notion really is among fans that Richt won't be able to turn things around. The best way to disprove something isn't to ignore it, but to expose it.

Based on the comments I read from yesterday's post, I'd say the following is probably about accurate:

70 percent of fans are optimistic and some reasonable level of faith in Richt.

20 percent of fans either like Richt but don't think he can get the job done or wish he'd been fired years ago.

10 percent of fans decided halfway through the post that I was an a$$hole and stopped caring.

(*Note: Results not verified by any legitimate accounting firm.)

Anyway, I think the experiment was worthwhile, and both Richt and I should probably be pleased to still have a solid majority on our side. I'd like to think in the future we can have similar discussions about popular subject matter, too. In the meantime, I can assure that my only goal was to foster a discussion -- and ideally a sane, calm and healthy one -- and not to focus a negative spotlight on Richt.

And, as a final addendum, I should have offered this: I applaud Richt's willingness to admit his mistakes from past seasons, in particular the handling of Richard Samuel. It takes a good bit of character to tell a room full of fans that you were wrong, and he's done that more than once this offseason. Good for him.

On to a handful of links...

-- Further discussing the question I posed yesterday, The Senator looks at the causes for optimism and concern might be this year -- and it's a pretty solid list.

-- Sic 'Em Dawgs writes that there are some rumblings of a possible Georgia-Miami showdown in the Kickoff Classic in Atlanta for 2012.

-- Marc Weiszer writes that there likely isn't much to the UGA-Miami rumor though.

-- Matt Hinton comes up with a good list of old-school rivalries that need to be revived, and Georgia-Clemson is at the top.

-- Mark your calendars for June 19's Dawgs for Kids Party, where Mark Richt, Matt & Jon Stinchcomb, David Greene and other Bulldogs will be meeting with fans for a worthy cause.

-- Tim Tucker has some UGA notes including Hutson Mason, SEC expansion and the men's tennis team.

-- I had assumed when Lane Kiffin bolted Knoxville, we'd heard the end of the "It's all part of the plan" shtick. But good for Bulldog in Exile for finding another use for the phrase.

-- Sad news... Auburn put the clamps on the Justin Bieber write-in campaign.

-- Pitchfork has a good interview with The Hold Steady. Two things on that: 1.) The new album is fantastic, and by far their most accessible work to date. I highly recommend picking it up (that is, if anyone actually "picks up" music anymore). 2.) The Hold Steady is playing at the 40 Watt next week. If you're in Athens, it's a show worth catching.

-- Interesting article in Playboy about the late-night war between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno written by perhaps the most informed journalist out there.

-- ABC Family has a sitcom scheduled for the fall starring... wait for it... Joey Lawrence and Melissa Joan Hart. (See... the job market really must be getting better if these two can find work!)

-- RealTVAddict offers 12 suggestions for possible replacements on "The Office" should Steve Carrell follow through on his promise to leave after next season.

-- And finally, with just two "Lost" episodes remaining, this article seems particularly timely. Boston.com looks at why series finales so often go awry.

Backcourt Depth Key to Dawgs' Revival

It was February -- midway through was proved to be a redemptive, yet unfulfilled season for Georgia's men's basketball team -- and Mark Fox decided to hold an impromptu pick-up game between the starters and reserves.

The game lasted just five minutes. The backups won by 10.

When it was over, one of Fox's student managers quipped, "Coach, I think we're playing the wrong guys."

"That may be true," Fox said, "But Gerald Robinson isn't eligible to play."

That's the type of impact Fox is expecting this coming season from Robinson, the transfer from Tennessee State who spent last season wowing teammates and coaches in practice but unable to see a minute of playing time in the games due to NCAA regulations regarding transfers.

In fact, when ESPN's Andy Katz listed Georgia -- a team that finished last in the SEC East in 2009-10 -- as No. 25 in his preseason top-25 ballot a few weeks ago, Robinson was one of his primary reasons.

"Gerald has a lot of respect from certain people," Fox said. "He's played well at the college level, and I think he turned down a lot of schools of this caliber out of high school, so I think people who are close to the game expect him to be an impact-type player. And I think he will make an impact on our team, and that's what we brought him here to do is really help us."

The help couldn't come at a better time or at a better position.

Fox estimates Georgia could easily have won five, six, maybe seven more games last season had Robinson -- a 6-foot-1, 165-pound junior, who averaged nearly 18 points and four assists per game as a sophomore at TSU -- been able to play last season.

More than anything, it was an issue of depth.

During exit meetings with players, point guard Dustin Ware confessed to his coach what had been obvious all season: He was exhausted.

"Dustin told me in our exit meetings, 'Coach, I wore down at the end of games,'" Fox said. "But he had to shoulder a ton of responsibility, and every team we played knew it, so they just came at him and at him and at him for 40 minutes. I have to give him credit for hanging in there like he did, but he was the first one to tell me, 'I'm going to invest the summer in my endurance.' But we have to help him out some, and I think Gerald will be a part of it."

Fox said he expects Robinson to play a hybrid role this season -- working at the 2 alongside Ware often, but playing his fair share at the point as well, with junior Travis Leslie getting an increased workload at the 2-guard spot, as well. Add in JuCo transfer Sherrard Brantley as another perimeter shooter along with the continued development of sophomores Vince Williams and Ebuka Anyaorah, and Georgia's backcourt could become a strength in 2010-11.

Brantley is a strong shooter, hitting 106 3-pointers Northwest Florida CC last season, while Williams showed some promise down the stretch running the point. Between Brantley, Leslie, Ware and Robinson, Fox expects experience to be a benefit as well.

All of that is huge in planning his scheme this season, Fox said. Last year was all about covering up weaknesses. This year has the potential to be much more.

"I played more zone last year than I played my first five years as a head coach," Fox said. "I don't want to sit in a zone the whole game, but when you're playing four guys 30-plus minutes per game, that's a way to keep them on the floor and keep them out of foul trouble. So we needed to continue to add depth and add perimeter guys because last year, that was a huge weakness for us."

Even with the lack of depth and hefty responsibility, Ware still finished third in the SEC last season in assist-to-turnover ratio, which speaks volumes about the junior's determination. But Fox said the key for this season is finding multiple players to rely upon, giving Ware a chance to be at his best for every minute he's on the court.

That's still a bit of a work in progress, but with Robinson's availability and the continued maturation of the rest of Georgia's backcourt, the prospects for 2010-11 are much brighter than the bleak situation Fox inherited last season.

"We're a lot closer if we'll continue to mature," Fox said. "We'll have the same number of guys on the team that we had last year, but it's the quality of the depth that's the issue. We need some guys to mature and continue to develop. Ebuka made some strides late in the year and we need him to have a really good summer. Brantley is a kid who understands winning. I think he'll help us. But we'll be a lot deeper team, and we'll be able to play more like we want to play and not be so worried about foul trouble and fatigue like we were last year."

Monday Links (5/17)

Couple quick things:

1. I assumed I could write my post from this morning without anyone saying I was pushing for Mark Richt to be fired, particularly since I actually wrote the words, "So for the second straight year, I discount much of the 'hot seat' talk about Richt."

But perhaps not. In any case, let me make it very clear: I'm in no way saying Richt should be in trouble. In fact, I don't think he IS in any trouble. While I used a quote from his meeting in Macon last week as the jumping-off point in that article, I also should have pointed out that Richt earned a standing ovation from everyone in the crowd. So despite Paul Finebaum's insistence, I just don't see a large-scale dissension among fans.

Richt addressed virtually EVERY problem fans had during this offseason -- which, I might add, included a three-year, $750k deal for a new DC that probably means no one was thinking about canning the head coach after just one of those years -- but I'm curious as to how much needs to improve in Year 1 of Richt 2.0 for fans to be content (if not happy).

On that front, The Senator offers his response, which seems like a pretty reasonable one.

2. Just an FYI... I'm having some email problems, so that could cause some response time delays on anything anyone sends me. Ideally, this one will be resolved a bit quicker than the last time I had email difficulties.

A handful of links for your Monday afternoon...

-- I have a story in today's Telegraph in which Mark Richt lauds the diverse leadership on this year's team.

I'm a bit torn on this. On one hand, I can't help but feel like the wide range of "leaders" cited by this year's squad stands in stark contrast to the handful of vocal, rah-rah guys from last year -- that were also praised heavily by the coaches. On the other hand, Richt makes some sense in his point that it's good to have a lot of leaders -- particularly at the positions that demand it. And on a third hand -- I'm not even so sure how important any of this is, other than for offseason stories.

I think I may lean toward believing that leadership does have some impact, but that impact is mostly felt when the other key components of a team are missing. No, "leadership" was not able to vault Georgia to the top of the East last year despite a lack of experience and, in some cases, talent. But while the 8-5 record was disappointing, it could have been much, much worse. There were so many games that could have gone either way in 2009, and particularly with all the public sentiment going against them late in the year, I do have to believe that some of that veteran leadership is what held the team together to beat Auburn and Georgia Tech and Texas A&M.

So perhaps what Georgia should be shooting for in 2010 is to win enough games by enough points that the "leadership" -- whether it's better or worse than last year -- doesn't really matter at all.

-- Despite falling early in the SEC tournament, Georgia's softball team will play host during the first round of the NCAA tournament.

-- The men's tennis team advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

-- Mark Richt landed a speedy recruit this weekend when Justin Scott-Wesley committed after dominating the state track meet.

-- And Todd Grantham seems to have made a sterling impression on another defensive recruit who offered a commitment to Georgia last weekend.

-- For all the enthusiasm about Mark Fox, it'd still be awfully hard for him to compete with North Carolina on the recruiting trail. Luckily when it comes to Marcus Thornton, he might not have to.

-- USA Today profiles some dearly departed characters from "Lost."

-- I still haven't seen "Shutter Island," but I'd definitely be excited if this was Martin Scorsese's next project.

-- And finally, here's a good story on former Major League pitcher Willie Banks, whose love of baseball likely saved his life.

Changing His Stripes

It kind of slid under the radar, but this comment from Mark Richt at last week's Macon Bulldog Club meeting caught my eye...

"Even his high school coach said, 'Coach, I think he's on defense.' He said it the day we got him. But we were smarter than that, and we thought, no, once he gets to do it more, he's going to be something else."

The quote is in reference to Richard Samuel, who pretty much everyone seemed to understand would be better suited for linebacker, but instead spent two full seasons -- including the first half of last year as the starter -- trying to play running back.

Now, to Samuel's credit, he did study hard and he did have breakaway speed and he was a big, bruising body -- so if things had clicked, perhaps he could have been a heck of a running back.

But the quote above strikes me as the biggest reason fans were -- and in some cases, still are -- so upset with Richt last year.

For all the "never been in the arena" talk from the head coach, it sure seemed like the folks on the outside had a lot right.

The fans understood the defense was headed in a bad direction, and the result was five games in which UGA allowed at least 34 points.

Fans knew the kickoff strategy was flawed, and the result was a loss to LSU because of a bad kickoff late in the game. (And, to be fair, a ridiculous penalty on A.J. Green.)

Fans knew that personnel changes needed to be made, and while Bacarri Rambo helped save the Auburn game, far too many big plays also occurred while Bryan Evans chased futilely after a receiver destined for the end zone.

For all the talk about turnovers and penalties and off-field incidents… it still seems like if the defensive strategy had been adjusted, slumping seniors had been benched, kickoffs had gone deep and the answer at RB had been found a bit earlier, Georgia might well have enjoyed a 10-win season (or better) last year.

And the problem wasn't so much that fans recognized those problems last year. It was that they recognized them in 2008, when Georgia actually did win 10 games. And like with the Samuel situation, Georgia's staff knew better and stubbornly stuck to philosophies that utterly frustrated fans.

On the upside, virtually every one of those issues has been addressed this offseason (along with a handful of others, including a renewed emphasis on recruiting the state of Georgia, constant talk of fundamentals, etc., etc.).

So for the second straight year, I discount much of the "hot seat" talk about Richt. But I can't help but wonder if much of that talk could have been avoided altogether if just a few of this offseason's concessions had been made a year earlier -- regardless of whether or not Georgia still finished with five losses.

So here's my question: Have all the offseason moves left you with as much confidence in Richt as you ever had? Or did two years of stubborn insistence on a largely unsuccessful approach shake your belief?

Or perhaps more to the point -- will you stick by Richt if Georgia finishes 8-5 again this year, but does it with a more fundamentally sound D, a better approach to kickoffs and a duo at tailback that understands how to play the position?

Key is Consistency for Murray

If you're looking for some Sunday reading material, I have a story in today's Telegraph on what Mark Richt hopes to see from Aaron Murray this season.

The lead to the story is one I thought was pretty interesting because, while fans would certainly love to hear some David Greene-Aaron Murray comparisons, I bet the play and the comparison in question isn't what most of those fans were expecting.

In addition to that, however, Richt actually thinks there's every reason to believe Murray might be a bit ahead of where Greene was at this point in his career -- and says it's simply on the coaching staff now to make sure Murray develops:

"David Greene had one spring when we got here, and then he started," Richt said. "Aaron's had a spring, a season, another spring, and now he's got his opportunity to play. So he's really got a whole other year ahead of David. So now it's got to be our job to start where he's comfortable and grow. We don't want to start too high and then he struggles and gets set back. You never want a QB to get set back. You always want him to feel comfortable and confident and maybe even bored with the material to where he's ready for the next level of information."

But since this is a blog and all... I'm also curious: What are your expectations for Murray?

Friday Links (5/14)

My inbox currently contains 216 messages, all of which require some sort of attention and response. Some date back as far as early March. This has been weighing on me for weeks, and today is the day I go through and clean the inbox up.

So while I know I promised a mailbag this week, I'm going to put it off just a bit longer and hopefully come across a few lost inquiries along the way today. (As opposed to inquiries about "Lost.")

In the meantime, some links and some TV discussion to keep you busy this afternoon...

-- The Senator offers a fantastic example of why you shouldn't take preseason polls too seriously.

-- UGA Blog wants fans to get behind the Bulldogs' lone legitimate option at QB.

-- Chip Towers writes that Logan Gray's decision to stay at Georgia likely means the Dawgs won't be signing another QB this year.

The obvious question some fans might ask is -- if Logan isn't going to play QB, why not still sign another? The answer, I think, is that the caliber of QB Mark Richt might land in the same class as Christian LeMay won't be as good as what he might get in 2012, and while Logan won't be practicing at QB, he'll at least be on the roster.

-- Of course, as Dawgs Online points out, Georgia's still not in the best position with QBs regardless.

-- A handful of soon-to-be Bulldogs didn't perform particularly well at the track-and-field state meet.

-- Dawgs Opinion came up with what seems like a reasonable evaluation standard for the 2011 recruiting classes so far and has Georgia ranked third in the SEC -- ahead of Florida.

-- If you're planning to head out to Boulder this season, Georgia Sports Blog reminds you that Colorado season tickets are now on sale.

-- Bulldog in Exile, at long last, reveals the winner of his WTF moment of the decade.

-- The Georgia softball team was upset by Tennessee in the SEC tournament.

-- Mile High Report looks at the challenge facing Knowshon Moreno in Denver this season.

-- If you're looking for some summer reading material, I'm going to highly endorse (before even reading) "Cardboard Gods." I read the Cardboard Gods blog routinely and it is fantastic. Essentially, it's a blog that revels in the mysteries of life through old baseball cards. Genius isn't a strong enough word.

-- Here's an interesting read if you've been watching "Treme"... It's a blog about the music of the show written by Davis Rogan, who Steve Zahn's character is based upon.

-- The original members of Big Star are reuniting this weekend along with several other musicians including R.E.M.'s Mike Mills for a concert honoring the late Alex Chilton.

-- "Top Chef" has announced its next cast of contestants for the upcoming DC edition.

-- Great news for "Chuck" fans... the show will be back for at least one more season. Thank God NBC is so bad at creating new shows or we'd have lost "Chuck" and "Friday Night Lights" a long time ago.

In other TV news, "V" got a second season, while "Flash Forward" was axed. I can't say that I've really loved "V" but it has at least been semi-watchable. I completely gave up on "Flash Forward" a while ago.

And with all that in mind, how about ending the week with my TV awards for the Fall 09 through Spring 2010 season...

Biggest Disappointment: "Flash Forward". Figured we'd start here. This show was "The Candidate" to replace "Lost," but proved to be about as useful and Nikki and Paulo. Terrible casting, poor writing, no action. I dumped it after about six episodes.

Runner up: I'm tempted to say "Lost" but, while I'm not entirely sold on the wrap-up, taken as an individual season, this year has been decent. Instead, I'll say "30 Rock" which has been continuing a downward trend all season.

Biggest Surprise: "Parks and Recreation". The first season of the show bordered on terrible, and I considered dropping it from my DVR schedule this year. But since I was recording the rest of the Thursday comedies on NBC, I gave the show a reprieve, and I'm glad I did. It's been a complete 180 from Season 1, mostly by making the lead character far less irritating and giving the suburb supporting cast more face time.

Runner up: "Survivor". I wasn't expecting much from an all-star season, but the heroes vs villains episodes have been great, bolstered by the immense stupidity of most of the contestants. Why is stupid so much fun to watch on TV and so intolerable in real life?

Best episode: "Modern Warfare" on "Community". If you didn't watch last week's episode about a paint ball war on campus, do yourself a favor and watch it now. Absolute perfection. (And followed closely by another episode a few weeks earlier spoofing "Goodfellas.")

Runner up: "The Son" on "Friday Night Lights". I don't want to give away any spoilers because the episode hasn't aired on NBC yet, but this episode is the epitome of what has made FNL great.

Second runner up: Couldn't leave this one out... "The Table Read" on "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Probably the most I've laughed during any half-hour all year, and revisiting so many of the old "Seinfeld" characters was absolutely awesome. The finale didn't exactly live up to my hopes, but the penultimate episode of the year was perhaps the best in the show's history.

Best character: Ron Swanson on "Parks and Rec". Experience. Leadership. Mustache.

Runner up: Trinity on "Dexter". I was getting a little bored with "Dexter" after Season 3, but John Lithgow injected so much into this recent season with his serial killer character that I'm 100 percent back on board.

Worst character: Shaw on "Chuck". Brandon Routh might be the single worst actor to continue to get screen time since Keanu Reeves. Just an utter miscast by a show that usually is exceptional in that department. I wanted to love this season of "Chuck," and for the most part I did, but Routh was just terrible.

Runner up: Nancy on "30 Rock". I've almost stopped watching the show because I just don't think I can tolerate any more of Julianne Moore's awful Boston accent. How can Maude Lebowski make me this angry?

Most Overrated: Betty White on "SNL". Call it blasphemy if you must, but I thought the Betty White episode fell far below what it could have been. The CSI: Sarasota sketch was good, but aside from that, the entire episode was essentially about an 88-year-old woman making lesbian jokes. I have to believe that Betty White is better than that, and it's one more example of how lazy the writing at "SNL" has become.

Runner up: "How I Met Your Mother". I hate to say it, but most of this season has been more misses than hits. I'm still excited to watch it each week, and there have been a few highlights -- last week's robots vs. wrestlers was pretty solid -- but for the most part this show reminds me of the comedy version of Season 2 of "Lost" -- just dragging out worthless storylines to avoid getting to an ending.

Happiest Drop from my DVR: "Family Guy." This show is absolutely worthless now. It's essentially an animated version of a pop-culture mad libs, with its plot points only derived to anger the easily offended and offer zero entertainment value. In other words, it's TV's version of Skip Bayless.

Runner up: "Glee". Watching this show is almost exactly like attending a bad karaoke bar and not being able to get drunk. Perhaps next time I'll learn not to get suckered in by one Journey song.

Sad to say goodbye: Conan. I didn't love the new "Tonight Show" but Conan's ouster was the perfect example of why, in a ratings-driving culture, appealing to the lowest common denominator will always win out over actual talent. Screw you, Jay Leno.

Runner up: "Scrubs". The new incarnation of the show wasn't terrible, but it was likely doomed from the start. In the end, it was a shell of its former self, but I'm still a bit sad at the prospect of a future without Dr. Cox, Turk and JD.

Best comedy: "Community". After a great start last fall, the middle of the season dragged a bit, but when the show returned in January it found its voice and has been pitch perfect since. Hands down the comedy highlight of my week. (And bonus points for their continued jabs at "Glee"...)

Runner up: "Parks and Rec". As I said, it's been great this year, although if I'd been smart and started watching "Modern Family" I probably would have that show here. But I promise... I'll get the DVDs and catch up for next season.

Best drama: "Friday Night Lights". I haven't even finished watching the season -- only about six episodes so far -- but I'm sold. This is easily the best season since the first, and possibly better.

Runner up: "The Pacific". I'm still working my way through some episodes of this, too, but so far it has come very close to living up to the lofty standard set by "Band of Brothers."

Show I wish I was watching but didn't: "Breaking Bad." I was going to watch this season but then decided I needed to go back and start with Season 1. So now I have a project...

Runner up: "Modern Family". I know. I'm dumb.

Looking forward to the most: "Eastbound and Down" Season 2. Let's see... take already awesome show about redneck former baseball player and set Season 2 in Mexico. I cannot wait...

Runner up: "Treme". Kind of a cop out, but I've really enjoyed the first few episodes, but I'm still not quite sure where all of it is going. I think it's an odd show because while "The Wire" had the obvious cops vs criminals dynamic, this show really is just about normal characters trying to do normal things in a very abnormal situation.

How about you guys? Any favorites for the year? Or are you just angry that I didn't write more about football this week?

Three Dawgs on Lindy's All-America Team

From UGA release...

Georgia juniors A.J. Green, Drew Butler and Blair Walsh have all been named to Lindy’s preseason All-American teams.

Green, a flanker from Summerville, S.C., is on the All-America Offensive First Team while Butler, a punter from Duluth, is on the All-America Defensive First Team. Walsh, a placekicker from Boca Raton, Fla., is listed on the All-America Offensive Second Team.

There are a total of 11 players from the Southeastern Conference on Lindy’s All-America teams. While Georgia has a trio of players, Alabama leads the league with four.

Lindy’s also has the Bulldogs at 21st in the preseason poll. Five teams from the SEC are listed in the publication’s top-25 poll.

Green was a semifinalist for last year’s Biletnikoff after earning All-SEC First Team honors. In just 10 games in 2009, Green hauled in a team-leading 53 catches for 808 yards and six touchdowns. He ranked second in the league in both receptions per game (5.3) and receiving yards per game (80.8). Green also blocked a field goal against Arizona State last season to help clinch the Bulldogs’ win.

Butler won the 2009 Ray Guy Award for being the nation’s top punter. The consensus First Team All-American posted a national-best 48.1 yards per punt average, becoming only the third Bulldog in school history to lead the NCAA in punting. In just his first season as a starter, Butler had 24 punts of 50 yards or more, including a career-long 75 yarder versus #9 Oklahoma State.

Walsh finished as one of three finalists for last year’s Lou Groza Award, which is given to the nation’s top placekicker. Highlighted by a 37-yard game winner against Arizona State, Walsh drilled 20 of 22 field goal attempts (90.9 percent, No. 2 in school history for field goal accuracy in a single season) in 2009. He connected on 11 of 12 kicks from 40 yards or longer and had a career-long field goal of 53 yards versus #9 Oklahoma State. Walsh is also 92-for-92 in PATs for his career.

Richt, Fox Round-Up: Schedules, QBs, Grades and More

A few tidbits from Mark Richt's meeting with fans in Macon last night…

-- First off, credit Richt for having a bit of a sense of humor. The highlight film they played at the meeting before Richt spoke to the crowd was of the 2008 season, to which Richt quipped: "We must not have had a very good season because we didn't show last year's highlights."

-- As I wrote yesterday, Logan Gray will practice primarily -- and possibly practice completely -- at receiver going forward. But that doesn't mean Richt has ruled out keeping Gray as his No. 2 QB, even if he's playing receiver. That will all depend on the progress of incoming freshman Hutson Mason.

"I don't know what (Mason) can do," Richt said. "If heís ready, heíll still play. If we don't think he's ready, I would be more than happy to have Logan continue to be our No. 2 and then just go from there."

-- As for Gray's decision to stay, Richt said he made it for all the right reasons.

"I asked him -- he called me this morning and told me, and I said, 'Tell me why you decided you want to stay.' He said, 'Because I love Georgia, I love my teammates, I think we can win, and I want to win. I want to be there.' That was all the right reasons to stay."

-- Of course, all of this is making it awfully hard for Richt to continue saying that Aaron Murray has yet to earn the starting job. While he still stopped short of outright naming Murray his starter, he admitted there's really very little chance of anything else happening.

"Aaron Murray is certainly in the driver's seat and more than likely will be the starter," Richt said. "There's always something that could happen between then and now that might change that, but he's really in good position to do that."

-- As for how much responsibility Murray will have at the line of scrimmage this season, Richt said that was to be determined, but it would probably be a gradual process of throwing a little more at Murray each week.

"We don't want to start too high and then he struggles and gets set back," Richt said. "You never want a QB to get set back. You always want him to feel comfortable and confident and maybe even bored with the material to where he's ready for the next level of information."

-- Of course, while Murray won't be given carte blanche from Day 1, Richt said he won't be toning down the offense too much to protect his young QB.

"If we don't throw the ball to A.J., we're not very smart," Richt said. "We better get the ball to A.J. Green, and I don't think it's a news flash to any defense that we're going to get the ball to A.J."

-- And Green won't be the only receiving threat. While Richt praised the progress of Tavarres King and Kris Durham, he also said the tight ends will play a much more significant role in the offense this season than they had in the recent past.

"For a while there, whether through injuries or recruiting, we didn't quite have the guys who could become a mismatch for a linebacker or safety, but we have that now," Richt said. "So we'll definitely use the tight ends, and I'd imagine we'll have more two tight-end sets than we have since the days of having Watson and McMichael at the same time."

-- Back to Murray for a second: Richt told wary fans to "do a little research on Aaron Murray, watch his high school tape" and said they'll be excited about having him at QB.

-- Describing Murray's skill set, Richt said: "You would take Aaron Murray every single year that you are recruiting a quarterback."

-- And as for what Murray needs to do to get ready for the season, Richt said there isn't a whole lot he needs to improve upon. "He's to the point, in my opinion, where he just needs to play," Richt said.

-- I asked Richt about identifying some leaders on this year's team. Last year, Richt took the stage and touted the huge number of votes for Jeff Owens, Rennie Curran and Joe Cox as the team's leaders during exit interviews. This year, things were much different.

"A lot of Chapas, a lot of Gamble, a lot of Dent," Richt said. "It was actually spread out quite a bit. Boling, Dobbs, a lot of people mentioned A.J. Green. Durham, a lot of people mentioned Durham. Ben Jones. It was a lot more spread out."

That's not necessarily a bad thing, Richt said. In fact, on a number of ballots, Richt said players simply wrote, "The Seniors" -- something he said had never happened before.

More exciting, he said, was the number of players who identified offensive linemen as leaders. That's a good sign, Richt argued, because the linemen have to be the least selfish players on the team, and they're the ones setting the tone for the offense.

-- On the defensive side of the ball, Richt confirmed that no additional position changes are scheduled for anyone.

"It was a good start for our coaches to learn our personnel and to try to get the pieces to the puzzle in the right spot," Richt said. "I think we've got the players to the positions they need to be at. And I've talked to the seniors a little bit, and they said it's not that confusing now that the dust has settled a little bit. But they know they've got a lot to learn still, but they've been exposed to a lot."

-- Richt said it was still very much up in the air whether Richard Samuel would redshirt in 2010, but he finally admitted the coaching staff outsmarted themselves in how to use Samuel during his early career.

"Even his high school coach said, 'Coach, I think he's on defense.' He said it the day we got (Samuel). But we were smarter than that, and we thought, no, once he gets to do it more, he's going to be something else. And he did have some special abilities at running back, but as it turned out, we had some other guys that just had more feel for the position and took his playing time."

-- On the academic front, Richt said the team is all good for the fall after finals wrapped up last week.

"Everything's good," he said. "I don't know if all of our final grades are in, but talking to our academic people, we don't have any fear of anybody having an academic issue right now."

-- And back to Richt's opening comments about playing 2008 highlights since last year was so bad: True, Richt said, that last year was tough. But he said most fans appear to be in the same boat as he is -- looking ahead to the future. And on that front, Richt offered some glowing endorsements for what could lie ahead in 2010.

"I don't do jumping jacks like some people do when they're excited, but I can promise you, I'm as excited about this season as I have been for any one since I've been at Georgia," Richt said. "I think we've got the right stuff."

***

A few quick basketball notes, too:

-- Mark Fox said he expects the backcourt to be much deeper this year with the addition of Gerald Robinson, who he said will play both guard positions and will ideally help give Dustin Ware some time off. Fox said Ware admitted he wore down in the latter stages of games last year somewhat consistently.

-- In regards to attitude this year, things are much better, Fox said.

"They don't have to accept the team rebuilding anymore, but that doesn't mean they're rebuilt. We have a positive culture in our locker room, and it's healthy right now. It's easier with that established for them to show up and do what we ask them to do."

-- Fox, too, said that his team is in good academic shape after grades came back.

-- Fox said he has not yet made a hire to replace Mark Pope, who left for a job at Wake Forest, but said he has already talked to several candidates.

-- On the scheduling front, Fox said he's finding it far more difficult to convince teams to come to Athens this year, where Georgia is no longer seen as an easy win.

-- And Fox also said he is in negotiations with Georgia Tech to move their annual game to late November or early December when students are still on campus. Although nothing has been finalized, Fox said he expects a deal to get done.

No More Tweets for Fox's Hounds

Trey Thompkins doesn't exactly overwhelm anyone's cell phone with his Tweets, but this one from Tuesday afternoon turned a few heads:

"Twitter World, don't expect anymore interesting tweets from me and @TLeslie... Don't ask why but there will be NONE ANYMORE!!!!"

The @TLeslie is teammate Travis Leslie, and the new rule banning the pair -- and, supposedly, the rest of the Bulldogs basketball team -- came from Mark Fox.

But why weren't we supposed to ask why?

Thompkins' Tweet certainly sounded mysterious enough, but Fox, as it turns out, swears there's nothing to it beyond his desire to have his players focused on nothing but hoops.

"I want our players to focus on our team, and I told them I don't want to hear a bunch of Tweets," Fox said. "It's about going into the offseason and getting better."

Seriously? No one Tweeted anything that ticked him off? It's all about focus?

"That's just another distraction," Fox said of players' Twitter accounts. "We've got to focus on going to school, going to work, getting better and earning the respect back for Georgia basketball. I want more focus on that."

OK, I suppose that's understandable. But Fox isn't exactly the old man who doesn't understand these newfangled contraptions like Twitter. In fact, he won an award as the SEC's top Twitterer last year and continues to update fans on all kinds of goings-on, from golf outings to lunch at Weaver D's. The difference, Fox said, is motivation and resonance.

"I did it to get interest back in our program, and I'll still do it some," he said. "But I'm not going to Tweet that I got up and shaved in the morning or what time I went to bed. It's just too much information."

Given the number of Tweets I've read from players that made absolutely zero sense to me, I'm all for sticking to Tweets that either contain legitimate information, interesting tidbits or stinging sarcasm.

But how do Fox's players feel about the new edict? Ah, he doesn't really care.

"I don't know if they accepted it or not, but that's how it is," Fox said. "I haven't completely outlawed it, but I want them to understand the importance of -- it's one thing if you don't expect to be any good and I'm trying to rebuild some confidence in you. A year ago I was just trying to rebuild confidence and pick them up off the ground. OK, well, you're off the ground now, and I expect more. This is just part of it."

Fox's new rule was passed down just as his team started the summer and ended the spring semester, and Fox said he wanted a fresh start. Of course, it also coincided with a bit of love the Dawgs got from ESPN's Andy Katz, being listed in his preseason top 25.

So while Fox is probably being completely honest when he says his motives were to encourage focus on basketball, he may have also been thinking about the importance of reminding his players they haven't earned anything yet.

"Some people think you're going to be good, but you've still got to be good," Fox said. "The goal is to be ranked in the top-25 at the end of the year. I don't think they hang a banner up for the preseason poll."

Now, I subscribe to the Twitter feeds of a number of current and former UGA athletes from various sports, and indeed there are a few sent out that have made me cringe. Last year, Jeff Owens took some heat for his perceived poor eating habits, which were well known due to his routine Tweets about trips to Waffle House. I've gotten more than a few Tweets about players out downtown at rather late hours. I've read plenty of Tweets about players and the girls they've befriended -- though none particularly tawdry or revealing.

On the other hand, players like Mike Moore and Rennie Curran routinely post some exceptional comments that are not only an enjoyable read but provide some firsthand insight into just how hard these players work and how seriously they take their jobs.

All that is to say, I can see why coaches could see Twitter as a potential problem. I can also understand why fans would think it's a great way to feel a bit closer to the players they root for.

So what do you guys think? Do you like being able to read the thoughts of many of UGA's players via Twitter? Or do you think it's a scandal waiting to happen?

Gray Staying at Georgia

UPDATED w/ Richt quotes...

Logan Gray wants to play. But he wants to be with the Georgia Bulldogs even more.

While the possibility remains that the junior quarterback will get an opportunity to do both, he announced Wednesday that despite reservations about his role on the team, he’s staying in Athens for the remainder of his career.

“I have decided to stay at the University of Georgia because I truly do love being a Georgia Bulldog,” Gray said in a statement released by the school. “I want to be a part of this team getting back to the SEC championship game and winning it.”

Gray met with head coach Mark Richt last month to discuss a possible transfer after he finished spring practice as the team’s No. 2 quarterback for the second consecutive season. Gray was hoping for a larger role on the team and had openly considered a position change to wide receiver as far back as November.

Richt told Gray to think things over and said he would support any decision.

So when Gray called his coach Wednesday to reveal his decision, Richt’s first response was to inquire about Gray’s reasoning.

“He said, ‘Because I love Georgia, I love my teammates, I think we can win, and I want to win. I want to be there,’ ” Richt said, “That was all the right reasons to stay.”

While Gray’s motives were clear, his future still remains a bit murky.

Richt said Gray will likely work only at receiver over the summer, and that’s a possibility for the fall that Gray appears enthusiastic to pursue.

“I’m also looking forward to getting some work at receiver and am going to work hard to make the best out of my opportunity at this position as well,” Gray said. “I appreciate Coach Richt’s patience while I made this decision and his helpful advice. Now, I want to put all of this behind me and focus on getting to work on preparations for next season at UGA.”

Still, Gray remains the team’s No. 2 quarterback for now, with freshman Hutson Mason set to arrive on campus next month.

While Richt said Gray’s work at receiver would likely eliminate his chances of being the starter — and thus making Aaron Murray the de facto winner of the competition — the position change wouldn’t necessarily mean Gray would be dropped from the depth chart altogether.

“I don’t know what (Mason) can do,” Richt said. “If he’s ready, he’ll still play. If we don’t think he’s ready, I would be more than happy to have Logan continue to be our No. 2 and then just go from there.”

After spending all spring — and the first month afterward — assuring fans that no quarterback had won the starting job yet, Richt relented somewhat Wednesday, saying that it would be likely that Murray, a redshirt freshman, would be the starter and appeared ready for the job.

“He’s to the point, in my opinion, where he just needs to play,” Richt said. “The biggest thing though is he needs to understand that you don’t have to do anything spectacular. You don’t have to put the team on your shoulders. You’re not required to carry this football team. You’re required to do your job, and part of your job is to try not to be a hero.”

Richt, Fox & Marcellus Wallace

I'm a little light on both time and material this morning, but I'll be heading out to Macon in a few hours for the Bulldog Club meeting there.

In case your interested and in the area, here's the event information:

Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve
271 Stagecoach Road, Macon, Georgia
6:00 pm Social and BBQ Dinner
7:00 pm Program (Mark Richt and Mark Fox)
Contact: Stebin Horne, 478-474-5626

If you can't make the event, however, what burning questions do you have for Mark Richt and Mark Fox you'd like me to pose?

***

A few quick noteworthy links...

-- The baseball team earned a win yesterday by swinging some hot bats against Georgia State. They'll need to keep that up this weekend against powerful Florida (33-12, 17-7 SEC), which is averaging better than seven runs per game.

-- And Fox may have a little extra to brag about tonight. ESPN's Andy Katz has Georgia ranked No. 25 in his preseason poll, calling Georgia his surprise team. "Georgia will be taken seriously from the outset next season," Katz writes. "Don't sleep on the Dawgs."

-- Kirby Smart further alienates Georgia fans.

-- Music City Miracles interviews former Bulldog (and current Titan) Rennie Curran.

-- And Stuff of Legend offers some thoughts on last night's "Lost," which gave us some big-picture answers and some minor mysteries solved. The absolute highlight of Legend's post: "What is The Source? Source of WHAT? And is it the same thing that is in Marcellus Wallace's briefcase?"

Excellent question. Also, I'm assuming Smokey has a wallet that says "Bad Mother F*****" on it.

Tuesday Links (5/11)

As I noted in my post earlier today, I've been a bit thin on material the last few days. I'll be heading to Macon tomorrow, however, for the Bulldog Club meeting with Mark Richt and Mark Fox, so hopefully the latter half of this week will provide a bit more food for thought than we've had so far.

In the meantime, how about some links?

-- T Kyle King has been among the most vocal advocates to have Erk Russell elected into the college football hall of fame, and he offers some good insight into this year's oversight of Russell.

-- During my lack of recent posts, The Senator has gotten the first entries in the new football lexicon posted. It's an enjoyable read.

-- Jim from Duluth has his 2010 SEC TV projections posted and... well let's just say my deadlines aren't going to be any easier to make this season. Ugh.

-- When Mark Richt says there was no timetable on Logan Gray to decide his future, he wasn't kidding. Meanwhile, Chip Towers takes a look at the walk-on QBs who could be the third-string options in 2010.

-- Paul Finebaum thinks Mark Richt is headed for a fall this year. On one hand, it's hard to argue with his point about the Georgia-Florida series. On the other hand, I think I deal with a lot more Georgia fans than he does, and I would hardly say Richt has "fallen out of favor" with the vast majority of them.

-- I'm always on the fence about how important a role "leadership" plays in a team's success. I bought in last year, and I was wrong. This year, there does seem to be a lack of senior leaders at Georgia, but Bubba N Earl says that might not be a big problem.

-- If you're in Newnan this afternoon and want a Vince Dooley autograph, here's your chance.

-- Former Georgia player Charles Grant got mostly a slap on the wrist after accepting a plea bargain on an involuntary manslaughter charge this week. (h/t Jim F)

-- I'm not at all surprised that Mohammed Massaquoi is already taking a leadership role among Cleveland's young receivers.

-- Herschel Walker is talking up the football at the University of... Tennessee?

-- While the baseball team has suffered through a dismal season, the softball team is raking right now.

And back to baseball for one second: Here's an interesting tidbit from today's game notes -- Georgia currently has a team ERA of 8.80. That is not only the highest in the program's history, it's a full two runs higher than the previous worst of 6.80 in 1998. (Oh, and the ERA in SEC games is even worse -- 9.11.)

-- A former Georgia basketball player is helping set up a new school in Atlanta.

-- For anyone whose ears bled during last year's Georgia Tech game, here's an interesting article on how colleges go about pumping the noise into football stadiums. (h/t Matt)

-- One point I referenced tangentially in my expansion post earlier today was the idea that more football doesn't necessarily mean more money for the parties involved. That's a notion the Senator writes about with regard to a college football playoff, too.

-- On the other hand, Tony Barnhart thinks it's time that the ACC gets the ball rolling on expansion, too.

-- I enjoyed reading this way too much... It's a "where are they now" on the cast of "Salute Your Shorts."

-- And speaking of where are they nows... It's Susan from "Seinfeld."

-- And the last of Erin Andrews' credibility is officially dead.

-- A food reviewer takes a trip through Athens.

-- Slate takes a look at the recent trend of colleges teaching a course on "The Wire." (I might have actually shown up for that class if it had been offered when I was in school.)

-- Sounds like it will be good news for "Chuck" fans when NBC announces its fall schedule later this week... but I'm still not getting my hopes up.

-- And finally, Philly.com does a point-by-point comparison of Jack from "24" and Jack from "Lost." No mention on whether the smoke monster was a more realistic character than Kim Bauer though.

How Big is Too Big?

I haven't written much in the last few days for various reasons -- a lot of accumulated vacation hours, little going on around campus, etc. -- but I've done radio the past two days and the topic of conversation in both cases was the same: Expansion.

I mentioned the idea of expansion -- both in the SEC and around the country -- last week and compared it to the fight scene in "Anchorman." The situation really escalated quickly.

Monday, we got -- potentially -- the first real step beyond speculation, however. Well maybe. But probably not.

A Kansas City radio station cited anonymous sources in a report that Nebraska, Missouri, Notre Dame and Rutgers had been offered invites by the Big Ten. Those schools have either denied the story or refused comment, as has the Big Ten.

The lesson? Well, for one, when is the last time an anonymous report by a radio station turned out to be true?

The other lesson? We're still far from getting any closure on what has quickly become one of the most hotly debated topics in sports.

But there's a reason it's being talked about so much. For one, it's fun to speculate about things like this the same way we do with other meaningless exercises like preseason polls and mock drafts. But more importantly, some of the scenarios being discussed have the potential to effect every corner of the college football landscape.

In the end, there may not be much change beyond the Big Ten and Pac-10 getting conference title games and a few schools swapping conference affiliations.

For now, however - while we're still in the speculation phase -- every school is potentially affected, which makes every fan interested.

It's hard at this point to even grasp the full range of possibilities and ripple effects from any significant shake-ups, but here are a few key questions pertinent to this forum:

1.) Is this good for college football?

That question might be better phrased: "Is this good for college football fans?" Because college football will do what's beneficial for itself financially, but I don't get the feeling most fans are clammoring for 16-team super conferences just yet.

(* Side note: I don't think we should assume that large-scale expansion is going to be as financially beneficial as many people think either. Keep in mind that the NCAA didn't expand the basketball tournament as many assumed they would because, at the end of the day, the revenue streams simply wouldn't support it. It's a down economy, schools are already tightening their belts on things like travel, and when we talk about conference expansion, we're not simply discussing football.)

But I'm also not sure that bigger conferences would be a bad thing for fans either.

For one, while fans all say they like the underdogs -- and Boise State, Utah and TCU have certainly proven worthy of late -- those are the rare exceptions. If you remember my look at the Mountain West a few months ago, the truth is that that conference hasn't gotten more competitive, but rather that the top three teams have gotten better while the rest of the league has been exceptionally poor.

Moreover, those underdogs aren't playing a lot of marquee games -- and what we're certainly seeing more of is a lack of great non-conference games. Yes, Georgia has played some interesting opponents the past few years, but what about Florida? Or Ole Miss? Or a big chunk of the entire Big 12? The upside to a 16-team conference might be more conference games -- which would mean, theoretically, less one-sided non-conference showdowns.

But there's also a lot to be said for tradition, and the idea of 16 teams playing in the SEC could mean Georgia saying goodbye to annual rivalry games against Auburn, for example, and seeing the Tigers just once every few years instead. Or it could mean Alabama and LSU visit Sanford Stadium just once every 12 years or so.

My guess is the fans against any large-scale expansion see the disappearance of tradition as the primary reason.

2.) How does the SEC fit in?

Right now, it doesn't. But that can change.

I spoke to Mike Slive about this issue and his bottom line answer was that the league is monitoring the situation, and will act when it needs to.

I have no doubt that is the case, but it also would surprise me if a league as successful as the SEC was reactive rather than proactive.

Of course, the bigger question is whether the SEC needs to expand in the first place. Mark Richt certainly doesn't think so.

"I’d be surprised if it happened any time soon," Richt said. "I could see the other leagues getting to the format we have which I think is a great format with six teams on each side and a championship game. There’s some leagues that might be trying to get to that. That would make more sense to me than trying to get these super conferences because you don’t get to play everybody if you do that. It’s almost like two different leagues when you do that.”

Richt sounds awfully reasonable to me. After all, why does the SEC need to expand? For the Big Ten and Pac-10, expansion gets them the all-important conference title game, but the SEC has already set the standard on how that's done.

Moreover, the league just inked a huge TV deal with ESPN last year and has produced the last four national champions. Revenue and competition is already about as high as it can go. Even the annual also-rans like Mississippi State, Vandy and Kentucky have enjoyed some measure of recent success (and in truth, expansion would likly hurt those programs the most).

So my bet on this is much the same as Richt's -- the SEC is already the best, and they don't need to overreact to the Pac-10 or Big Ten's rush to catch up. After all, it's the ACC that more realistically competes for the same dollars as the SEC, and the ACC's expansion hasn't done a thing to dent the SEC's armor.

The wild card, however, might be Texas.

The Pac-10 would love to hook the Horns. So would the Big Ten. And for that very reason, it would make sense that the SEC would at least kick the tires on the idea.

But that, too, seems like an unlikely scenario. Of course, all of this might have seemed unlikely even a few months ago, but now here we are, on the precipice of the biggest shakeups to the college football landscape in the past 15 years.

Because while things may not change much in the SEC, things are going to change. Expansion is a reality in the Big Ten. That is likely true for the Pac-10, too. And if those leagues grow, it has to come at the expense of someone else. And when those dominoes start falling, it's hard to say exactly where we'll end up -- which is what makes this debate so interesting in the first place.

So what do you guys think? Are you all for expansion? If other leagues get bigger, would you want the SEC to follow suit, or stay with how things are? And if the SEC did get bigger, which teams would you like to see added?

Frix Gets Scholarship

From UGA release...

University of Georgia walk-on snapper Ty Frix has been awarded a scholarship by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.

"Ty has done an outstanding job with all our snapping duties," said Richt. "He's been an instrumental part of one of the top punt and field goal/extra point teams in the country. Ty is well deserving and we're very pleased to award him the scholarship."

Frix, a redshirt sophomore from Calhoun, is expected to start for the Bulldogs for the second consecutive season in 2010. A Biomedical Engineering major who was valedictorian at Calhoun High School, Frix snapped to two of the top special team performers in the nation last season in All-American punter and Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler and All-SEC placekicker and Lou Groza Award finalist Blair Walsh.

Frix is a second generation snapper for Georgia. His father, Dr. Mitch Frix , was the starting snapper for the Bulldogs in 1981 and 1982 and was a member of three SEC championship teams, one national title team and three Sugar Bowl teams.

Two-A-Days: Georgia Bulldogs

For the past two weeks, we've gone team by team looking at the SEC and the rest of Georgia's opponents in our Two-A-Days series. Now, we've reached the final post.

All along I've been asking you for some questions with plans to do a Georgia mailbag… but while I got some good inquiries, I felt the mailbag would fall short of giving a balanced look at where Georgia stands. I'll still get to it… but I think we'll save it for next week.

Then I thought about doing a straight position-by-position analysis of the roster, but it's Friday, it's been a long week, and that didn't seem like much fun.

And then I started reading about the mass confusion on when "Ghostbusters 3" might finally start filming and I got an idea…

Why don't I rip off one of my favorite bits from Bill Simmons' ESPN columns and use some quotes from one of the all-time great movies to help breakdown the current status of Georgia's football team?

Brilliant, right?

OK, maybe not so brilliant, and definitely less than original, my standards aren't that high during the offseason.

So, with that, I give you the "Ghostbusters" breakdown of Georgia's spring…

Ray: "Hey, Dean Yeager! Are you moving us to a better office on campus?"
Dean Yeager: "No, you're being moved off campus. The Board of Regents has decided to terminate your grant. You are to vacate these premises immediately."
Ray: "What?"
Peter: "This is preposterous. I demand an explanation."
Dean Yeager: "This university will no longer continue any funding for any of your group's activities."
Peter: "But the kids love us!"

To Mark Richt. Like it or not, the hot-seat talk is out there, and no matter how preposterous it seems now, it's only going to get louder if Georgia doesn't take a step forward this year. On the bright side, Richt seems to have taken every one of the complaints fans have made in the past few years and addressed them one by one this offseason. No more Willie Martinez, Jon Fabris or John Jancek. No more soft defenses. No more directional kicking. No more playing the seniors over superior younger players. Instead, it's healthy competition, deep kicking, focusing on fundamentals, playing to the team's strengths, aggressive schemes and an accomplished new defensive coaching staff that has changed the personality of the Bulldogs' D already. So, do I believe the hot seat talk? Definitely not… yet. But Georgia did lose five games last year. Richt did fire three assistants and was able to offer his new DC the richest contract for any assistant ever at Georgia -- and a three-year deal to boot. The East is winnable this year but there isn't a single player left on the roster who was a part of the last SEC title team at Georgia. And with the economy being what it is, another ugly season could start hitting the school's pocket book in a bad way. And then that temperature gets turned up. So while Richt deserves kudos for the work done so far, this spring was just the start.

"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'Yes'"

To Aaron Murray. With so much of Georgia's success riding on his arm this season -- including 10 returning starters on offense -- he doesn't need to be a god, but it wouldn't hurt to act like one. His performance during his first 13 months at Georgia has met with nothing but ringing endorsements, but the first time he was asked to really show his stuff in front of the fans -- the first time he was asked if he was a god, so to speak -- he looked average at best. So the next time Murray's asked to step up… he needs to say, "Yes!"

Ray: "I think we'd better split up."
Egon: "Good idea."
Peter: "Yeah... we can do more damage that way."

To Washaun Ealey and Caleb King. It took half-a-season before Georgia's coaches realized these two tailbacks were the key to a revitalized running game. Now they'll enter the season behind a veteran O line as co-No. 1s on the depth chart, and the question is… just how much damage can they do? King was banged up throughout much of the spring and has had some problems with injuries throughout his career. Ealey turned some fans off by taking a swing at teammate Nick Williams in the G-Day game and has gained a bit of a reputation for stirring the pot. So there are some questions… but if they can perform anywhere close to the way they ran against Georgia Tech last season, all the worries about the young QBs might seem inconsequential.

Dana: "You know, you don't act like a scientist."
Peter: "They're usually pretty stiff."
Dana: "You're more like a game show host."

To Orson Charles. Georgia has four tight ends on its roster that could probably start for half the other teams in the SEC, but it's Charles, who certainly isn't as stiff as the typical tight end, who rose to the top of the depth chart. After posting 23 catches for 374 yards and 5 TDs as a true freshman, Charles took his already impressive work ethic to the next level this offseason -- even training with the ROTC -- and looks poised to become one of the biggest tight end threats in the country in 2010. He just doesn't act like a tight end…

Ray: Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
Peter: You're right, no human being would stack books like this.

To A.J. Green. Because no human being can make catches like him. And if he stays healthy for 13 (and maybe 14) games this year… look out. The Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947 will pale in comparison.

Ray: "You know, it just occurred to me that we really haven't had a successful test of this equipment."
Egon: "I blame myself."
Peter: "So do I."
Ray: "Well, no sense in worrying about it now."
Peter: "Why worry? Each one of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back."

To Georgia's wide receivers. On a unit that was already thin, the late change of heart by Da'Rick Rogers before national signing day and the spring injuries to Marlon Brown and Israel Troupe were more than enough to wonder how the depth at the position would hold up this fall. But there's nothing Georgia can do about it now, so the Dawgs will go to battle with Brown, Troupe, a rejuvenated Kris Durham, freshman Michael Bennett and two improving prospects in Tavarres King and Rantavious Wooten. So add that to Green, and there's certainly enough talent there for Georgia's passing game to be very dangerous, but we won't know for sure how much the lack of depth might hurt until the season gets going. Just don't cross the streams.

"This magnificent feast here represents the last of the petty cash."

To the offensive line. It seems like every year there are more questions on the O line. In 2007, there was no experience. In 2008, the experience all got hurt. In 2009, things were supposed to be better, but when Trinton Sturdivant went down, things went pear-shaped quickly, and it took more than half the season to get it figured out. But now… now things appear to be figured out, and not a second too soon. With Clint Boling, Chris Davis and Josh Davis all seniors -- and Cordy Glenn potentially NFL-bound if he turns in a season as strong as some of his coaches think he might after a spectacular spring -- this particular incarnation could represent the last of Georgia's chances to have a dominant line for the next few years. With Sturdivant, A.J. Harmon and Tanner Strickland all missing the majority of the spring, there wasn't much of an opportunity to develop the backups.

"OK, who brought the Dawgs?"... seriously, how bad are those special effects?

"Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn't have to produce anything! You've never been out of college! You don't know what it's like out there! I've worked in the private sector. They expect results."

To Todd Grantham. Georgia's new DC isn't just some fly-by-night coach who grew up in the college ranks and has never been truly pushed to maintain his job. He's worked with Frank Beamer and Nick Saban and coached for more than a decade in the NFL, where yes, they expect results. While Willie Martinez certainly had his success stories at Georgia, his credentials don't come close to the impressive resume Grantham brings with him, and the Dawgs' new DC is already impressing his players, his fellow coaches and Georgia's fans with him immense understanding of defense.

Winston: "We have the tools, and we have the talent."
Peter: "It's Miller time!"

To Grantham's players. While Georgia's new DC has had the ears of his players so far, the question remains -- does he have the right players. Yes, Georgia has the tools and the talent, but with a new 3-4 defense, what it doesn't have is a single player specifically recruited to play in this scheme. Now, some of the returning roster -- guys like Cornelius Washington and Abry Jones -- fit perfectly already. But for plenty of others, particularly at linebacker, there are some big questions. So while Grantham would be hard-pressed not to make strides defensively this year, it may still be a year or two before it's really Miller time.

Here's hoping the 2010 season turns out a bit better than "Ghostbusters 2." "He's got Carpathian kitten loss... he misses his kitty."

Janine: "Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"
Winston: "Ah, if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say."

To Scott Lakatos and Warren Belin. While Grantham brought in the NFL mind-set, his two new assistants bring plenty of focus on the fundamentals to go supplement the impressive resume of the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator. And while the fundamentals seemed to be a tough sell throughout the past few years, Belin and Lakatos appear to have done a nice job of convincing their new pupils to believe… and the end result might be some impressive paychecks at the next level.

Egon: "I think this building should be condemned. There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone."
Ray: "Hey, does this pole still work?"

To Georgia's defensive line. After the departures of three senior defensive tackles -- all of whom were drafted in this year's NFL draft -- it might seem like the line should take a big step back and could be quite a mess this year. And that still may be true. But like Ray finding the fireman's pole, there are still a few reasons for excitement. Kwame Geathers looked like a new man this spring, slimmed down and very strong at the nose position. DeAngelo Tyson has two years of apprenticeship under his belt, and Rodney Garner thinks he's ready to take a big step forward. Justin Anderson didn't participate this spring, but he did swap sides of the football and I've heard a handful of rumblings that the coaches think he could be an absolute terror at nose, too. Add to that the fact that Kiante Tripp has finally found a home and gotten a chance to play and the fact that Abry Jones is my personal pick to be one of Georgia's break-out stars this year and maybe that unit that looked to be a shell of last year's D line could actually be a pretty impressive group.

Ray: "What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff."
Peter: "Exactly."
Ray: "Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!"
Egon: "Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…"
Winston: "The dead rising from the grave!'
Peter: "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

To Justin Houston. OK, there are some serious concerns at outside linebacker with the lack of depth behind Houston and Cornelius Washington. But assuming he can stay healthy, there's no telling how much damage Houston might cause. In just 10 games last season, Houston finished second in the SEC in sacks -- and that was before he moved from defensive end to OLB and before he was given the green light to make opposing QBs crap their pants in Grantham's new blitz-heavy defense. If Houston can stay on the field this season, there's every reason to believe that for opposing offenses, it'll be human sacrifice, fire and brimstone… mass hysteria.

"We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!"

To Richard Samuel. OK, perhaps I'm stretching this analogy a bit, but for as much as fans cringed every time Samuel was handed the ball last year, there seems to be a universal feeling that he's not such a bad guy anymore. See, he was just a sailor in New York… or a linebacker in the SEC, at the very least. He wasn't getting his needs fulfilled on the offensive side of the ball, but things could be very different now. Unfortunately a concussion at the end of spring practice meant fans didn't get their first look at Samuel in his new role on G-Day, and there's a good chance he still could redshirt. But for a player as talented as Samuel, if things go right, he can definitely do some damage.

"She's not my girlfriend. I find her interesting because she's a client and because she sleeps above her covers -- four feet above her covers. She barks, she drools, she claws."

To Brandon Boykin. With the ups that Boykin has, would it surprise anyone if he slept four feet above his covers, too? A stud on special teams last year, Boykin was also probably Georgia's most consistent defensive back, too -- which is saying something considering he was the lone first-year starter of the group. Yes, Boykin got burned a few times, but that was under the old system without much help and without much experience. Now, he's a year older, a year wiser and has a group of coaches anxious to turn him loose and let him use those impressive ball skills to bark, drool and claw a few opposing receivers.

"Gozer the Traveler will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg. Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor. Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you."

To Georgia's secondary -- and maybe a few linebackers. In the last few years, many of Georgia's DBs have knows what it was to be roasted by SEC receivers, I can tell you. It's been ugly, with big plays happening far too frequently and the likes of Bryan Evans and Prince Miller nowhere to be seen as receivers jogged downfield for a score. Grantham and Lakatos hope this year will be different, and it certainly could be. In the secondary, Georgia is ripe with talent. Boykin, Bacarri Rambo, Jakar Hamilton, Nick Williams, Branden Smith and incoming freshman Alec Ogletree all have NFL potential, and players like Vance Cuff and Shawn Williams had impressive enough springs to turn a few heads, too. Add that to Lakatos' new approach with waves goodbye to face guarding and says hello to playing the ball, shrugs off leaving receivers to run free and employs a physical approach at the line of scrimmage… and all of that adds up to what could be a pretty darn good defensive backfield. But there's a difference between spring hype and fall production, and when you add to it the increased coverage responsibilities of the linebackers, there's still work to be done before the rectification of the secondary.

Peter: "Ray, pretend for a moment that I don't know anything about metallurgy, engineering, or physics, and just tell me what the hell is going on."
Ray: "You never studied."

To Darryl Gamble, Akeem Dent, Clint Boling and all of Georgia's seniors. On offense, things should run fairly smoothly, but there are always worries when your QB hasn't ever taken a snap in a college game. On defense, things get much more troubling as the new 3-4 scheme is a mystery to everyone -- even the seniors. Add to that a bunch of new faces in starting jobs, veterans lining up at new positions, and no senior leaders with the types of credentials that Jeff Owens or Rennie Curran had last year and the biggest question of the offseason might be just who will step up to help ensure that, once fall camp opens, everyone has a decent enough understanding of metallurgy, engineering and blitz schemes.

Dana: "There is no Dana, there is only Zuul."

To Georgia's fans. I know it's been a rough couple of years, but boy have some fans been grouchy this offseason. Hey, things are pointed in a good direction, right? New QB, new DC, focus on the fundamentals, no more directional kicking… There will no doubt be a few reasons to be angry once the season starts, but for now, it's probably a good time to stay calm and relaxed rather than turning into demonic dawgs.

"I make it a rule never to get involved with possessed people…. Actually, it's more of a guideline than a rule."

To any players inclined to tip back a few too many this offseason. Since the regular season ended, there have been five arrests and three players dismissed from the team already. After taking a big step forward in the off-field-image department last year, it's been a turbulent couple of months at Georgia as Mark Richt waved goodbye to Zach Mettenberger and Montez Robinson -- two players who might have played key roles this season, both at positions without much depth. Their losses will have an impact at some point, but make no mistake, the real impact is that Richt isn't messing around anymore. Forget the "guideline" stuff. Staying out of trouble is the rule now… and fans need to hope they've seen the last of the off-field problems for a while.

Ray: "Where these stairs go?"
Peter: "They go up."

To the SEC East. The term "wide open" will be heard quite a bit this offseason and well into the fall, and the reason is that Florida, dominant for much of the past half-decade, is expected to take at least a small step back, meaning there's a chance for Georgia or South Carolina to climb the stairs to the top of the division. Of course, those teams have a few question marks of their own, too.

Peter: "Nimble little minx, in't she?"
Egon: "We're gonna go full stream."
Ray: "Aim for the flat top."

To Florida. After all, that Corch Meyers is a nimble little minx, ain't he? Sure, Tim Tebow is gone. And so is Charlie Strong. And so is Aaron Hernandez and Riley Cooper and Brandon Spikes and Joe Haden and Carlos Dunlap… but Florida can't be taken lightly, and there's every reason to believe that the game in Jacksonville will still be the line of demarcation between Georgia reaching its potential in 2010 and another ultimately disappointing season.

Janine: "You're very handy, I can tell. I bet you like to read a lot, too."
Egon: "Print is dead."

To me. Here's to hoping I still have a job this time next year.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend, and I'll have a full mailbag for you early next week.