Tag: Bama football news

Kirk Herbstreit on Georgia hiring Scott Cochran: ‘Significant loss for Bama’

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit offered a strong reaction to Georgia football hiring away longtime Nick Saban assistant Scott Cochran from Alabama.

Georgia football made the biggest assistant coach hiring of the offseason on Monday when it announced that Scott Cochran, Nick Saban’s longtime head strength coach, is leaving to become Kirby Smart’s new special teams coordinator in Athens.

Georgia fans erupted in excitement while Alabama fans quickly went into meltdown mode on Twitter.

According to these tweets from ESPN’s college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, both fanbases had every right to react the way that they did.

Herbstreit called this a “significant loss” for Alabama, adding that “assistants can come and go but not Cochran. This is a blow.”

Herbstreit ponders whether or not the departure of Cochran will be “the first real cracks in the Saban era.”

Here is more from our coverage on Cochran to Georgia:

[lawrence-related id=23036,23012,22990,22988,22985]

Georgia football officially announces hiring of Scott Cochran from Alabama

Georgia football officially announced the hiring of longtime Bama strength coach Scott Cochran.

On Monday, reports began to swirl that Kirby Smart and Georgia were expected to hire Nick Saban’s longtime head strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran away from Alabama.

After a few hours of both Georgia and Alabama fanbases holding their breaths, the Georgia Twitter account officially confirmed all reports with a tweet, announcing the hiring of Cochran as UGA’s new special teams coordinator.

You’ve likely seen videos of the high energy Cochran leading an Alabama strength drill in the weight room or getting his players energized on the sideline both during and before games.

Cochran and Smart have remained close since their time coaching together in Tuscaloosa, and Smart tried to bring Cochran with him to Athens when he was hired as head coach.

Cochran also worked with the New Orleans Hornets from 2004-06, where he assisted with the exercise and strength conditioning programs to help players achieve and maintain optimal fitness throughout the NBA season. With the Hornets, he worked with NBA standouts Chris Paul, Baron Davis, David West and Tyson Chandler.

Alabama fans have Twitter meltdown with news of Scott Cochran to Georgia

Alabama football fans had a meltdown on Twitter after news broke that Scott Cochran was likely joining the Georgia Bulldogs staff.

On Monday, it was reported by Cecil Hurt of Tuscaloosa News that Kirby Smart is expected to hire Alabama’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Cochran to an on-field coaching position at Georgia.

Chris Low of ESPN shortly followed up that report with one of his own, noting that Cochran would be Georgia’s new Special Teams Coordinator.

Cochran, who has served as Alabama’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach since 2007, is one of the most important assistant coaches in all of college football. He has been a member on each of Nick Saban’s six national title staffs, including 2003 at LSU.

When Smart left Alabama to takeover at Georgia in 2016, Cochran was a coworker that he tried to bring with him but was unsuccessful in doing so. Alabama fans praised Cochran for his loyalty to the program at the time, showing just how important he was to the Tide’s success.

Now, with the report out that he is leaving for Athens, Alabama fans took to Twitter to express their frustration over the change.

https://twitter.com/CrimsonClio/status/1232042211392528386?s=20

 

Twitter reacts: Georgia football adds Alabama’s Scott Cochran to staff

Scott Cochran is reported to join the Dawgs’ staff after turning down a 2015 offer to join colleague Kirby Smart in Athens.

Following the departure of strength and conditioning coaches Jamil Walker and Ed Ellis, the Georgia Bulldogs have reloaded the weight room staff in just about the most unbelievable fashion imaginable.

Scott Cochran, legendary head strength coach at the University of Alabama for upward of a decade, is reported to join the Dawgs’ staff after turning down a 2015 offer to join colleague Kirby Smart in Athens.

Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News was the first to report this story.

Known for his energy and audible-from-the-nosebleeds pregame hype speeches, Cochran once quipped, prior to 2008’s infamous contest at Georgia, “they’re wearing black because they’re going to their own [expletive deleted] funeral.”

Cochran and Smart previously worked together at LSU under Nick Saban before reuniting at Alabama in 2007.

It is worth noting that, following 2019’s coaching turnover, the Bulldogs have one on-field coaching slot remaining. If Cochran is named to a position outside the weight room, it is likely that he would be placed somewhere within Kirby Smart’s elite defensive staff.

Shortly after the news broke, Georgia fans on Twitter exploded with joy.

Here’s a look at Twitter reactions:

 

Report: Key Alabama staffer expected to join Georgia football

A key Alabama staffer is expected to join Kirby Smart and the Georgia football program.

One of Alabama’s most important staffers is expected to join Kirby Smart’s program at Georgia.

Scott Cochran, who has served as Alabama’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach since 2007, is one of the most important assistant coaches in all of college football. He has been a member on each of Nick Saban’s six national title staffs, including 2003 at LSU.

Per a report from Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Cochran is expected to join former coworker Kirby Smart at Georgia, where he is will reportedly serve in an on-field coaching capacity.

You’ve likely seen videos of the high energy Cochran leading an Alabama strength drill in the weight room or getting his players energized on the sideline both during and before games.

Cochran and Smart have remained close since their time coaching together in Tuscaloosa, and Smart tried to bring Cochran with him to Athens when he was hired as head coach.

Cochran also worked with the New Orleans Hornets from 2004-06, where he assisted with the exercise and strength conditioning programs to help players achieve and maintain optimal fitness throughout the NBA season. With the Hornets, he worked with NBA standouts Chris Paul, Baron Davis, David West and Tyson Chandler.

We will continue to update this story when more information is available.

Where Georgia football ranks in terms of returning production in 2020

Here’s where Georgia football ranks in terms of returning production in all of CFB.

Georgia football returns 10 starters from a team that came oh so close from making a trip to the College Football Playoff last year.

Unfortunately, the Dawgs ran into eventual national champ LSU in the SEC Championship and there was never really a question as to how that game was going to go.

But with 10 returning starters, the Dawgs are primed to make another run at the SEC Championship and hopefully the CFP.

With the returning talent that Georgia has, it puts the Bulldogs at 59th in the country according to Bill Connely of ESPN, who ranked the college football teams with the most returning production in 2020.

The offense returns 50% of its production (different than starters), which is 98th overall. The defense returns 80% production, good for 21st in America.

Connely explained how he differentiates returning production from returning starters.

I have for a few years been deriving what I call a team’s returning production percentage as an alternative to returning starters. It looks at the most predictive key personnel stats — percentage of your QB’s passing yards returning, percentage of your secondary’s passes defensed returning, and everything in between — and is weighted based on what correlates most strongly with year-to-year improvement and regression. It is a major factor in my annual SP+ projections, which will be released next week. (The other primary factors: recent recruiting and weighted five-year history.)

With 80% of production returning to a defense that ranked No. 1 in America last year, the Dawgs will be making life difficult for opposing offense next season. The losses of safety J.R. Reed, defensive tackle Michael Barnett, defensive linemen David Marshall and Tyler Clark and linebacker Tae Crowder hurt, but with the way Kirby Smart has been recruiting for the past three years, the defense will be just fine, likely even better, next season.

In terms of returning starters, Dawgs247 searched through players who started seven or more games in 2019 and came up with this list of returning defensive starters:

NG Jordan Davis

DE Malik Herring

OLB Azeez Ojulari

ILB Monty Rice

CB Eric Stokes

DB Mark Webb

DB DJ Daniel

S Richard LeCounte

The offensive guys include center Trey Hill and versatile offensive lineman Ben Cleveland.

There’s also George Pickens coming back, who was not on 247’s list as a result of their criteria, but he may make a bigger impact on offense than any returning player next season.

Back to ESPN’s list of returning production — regarding total production returning to the program, here are some notable rankings throughout college football:

(Out of 130 teams)

2. Georgia Tech

32. South Carolina

50. Tennessee

59. Georgia

61. Florida

78. Auburn

126. LSU

127. Alabama

Ref admits to blown call during Georgia vs Alabama national championship: ‘He wasn’t offside’

The ref from Georgia football vs Alabama in the national title game has admitted to the missed Tyler Simmons call.

The officiating during Georgia’s national title game vs Alabama has haunted UGA fans for two years now.

There were a number of missed calls by the Big Ten officiating crew that night in Atlanta, but none bigger than when Georgia wide receiver Tyler Simmons was called offside prior to blocking Alabama’s punt deep in Bama territory.

Georgia was leading 13-0 in the third quarter and it was the Dawgs’ game to lose. That blocked punt might have been enough to put that game away, but instead, even though video replay clearly shows Simmons was onside, the Bulldogs were flagged. That play has replayed over and over and over in the heads of Georgia fans on a loop ever since that night.

It was one we will never forget.

Someone else who is yet to forget it, and probably never will, is retiring Big Ten referee Dan Capron, who admits his crew did in fact get that call wrong.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Capron said:

We had a miss. Alabama was on the ropes. They were deep in their own territory and they’re punting. The punt gets blocked. There’s a flag on the ground because the line judge had Georgia offside. Oh, boy. He (the player, Tyler Simmons) actually had a running start and timed it (properly). He wasn’t offside.

But that wasn’t my call. The blocking backs, a split-second before the snap, moved. That was a false start. That should have been my call. It still wouldn’t have been a blocked punt but instead a five-yard penalty against the offense. You never want to make a mistake of any kind in such a high-profile atmosphere.

This blown call, though painful to rewatch, has become almost justice movement among Georgia fans, who have turned it into t-shirts and memes.

[lawrence-related id=1786]

I appreciate Capron owning up the mistake, but in now way is that enough to win over the DawgNation. The problem is, there were a ton of missed calls in that game, but yes, that offside penalty was the most memorable.

In the end, though, that’s just part of the game.

Here’s a compilation of some of the missed calls.

 

Georgia football highest SEC team in PFF’s 2020 Top-25; Florida Gators low

Georgia football checked in very high in PFF’s preseason college football rankings while the Florida Gators were low.

Georgia football will once again be one of the highest ranked teams in college football heading into the 2020 season.

There were some big question marks surrounding the 2020 Bulldogs, however, a big one was cleared up when Georgia was able to reel in Wake Forest graduate transfer quarterback Jamie Newman to replace Jake Fromm in Athens.

And that’s a big reason why Georgia checked in at No. 3 in PFF’s “Way-too-early” Top-25 rankings, the highest of any SEC school.

The two teams ahead of the Dawgs, according to PFF, are Ohio State at No. 1 and Clemson at No. 2.

Other SEC schools inside the rankings include: Alabama (5), LSU (6), Florida (19), Auburn (20).

Florida fans reading this cannot be happy with that low ranking, seeing as how the Gators have cracked a lot of top-10s in the past few weeks.

For Georgia, PFF loves the addition of Newman, saying:

And they were fortunate enough to land the biggest graduate transfer of this offseason in Jamie Newman. During Newman’s 2019 season at Wake Forest, he displayed traits that Jake Fromm couldn’t touch — such as tight-window accuracy and effective deep passing — while displaying far superior athleticism. His tight-window passing grade and deep-passing grade (20-plus yards) both were second to only Joe Burrow this season. That’s pretty good company. Getting him out of Wake Forest’s up-tempo, RPO system will allow Newman to do what he does best — beat defenses with his arm instead of his legs.

Georgia also returns almost everyone from what was college football’s most ferocious defense last season. Additionally, George Pickens is due for a big sophomore season at wide receiver along with Zamir White at running back.

There’s still some concern at the offensive line position. The five starters that Georgia fields on day one will be elite, but it’s the depth that concerns me the most. Georgia lost four of its five starters to the NFL Draft or to transfer.

Your complete college football bowl game, playoff schedule

A complete list of the college football bowl game schedule for this year.

From Nassau, Bahamas to Hawaii, the 2019  college football bowl schedule features some intriguing matchups, a few newcomers and some teams in unexpected territory.

LSU, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma round out the College Football Playoff. LSU makes its first appearance in the playoff while Clemson is in its fifth straight playoff. Ohio State, in the playoff for the third time, is hoping for a better performance after its beat down by Clemson in 2016. Oklahoma is in the field for its fourth playoff and third straight.

The state of Florida has the most teams in bowl games with six, followed by Michigan and Ohio with five teams each. California, Texas, Lousiana and North Carolina each have four representatives.

The states of Florida and Texas have the most bowl games, with seven each. Including the National Championship game, Louisiana is hosting four bowl games.

Ten ACC teams made a bowl this season. The SEC has nine teams going bowling, including three (Georgia, Florida and LSU) in New Year’s and CFP bowls.

Dec. 20 — Bahamas Bowl: Charlotte vs. Buffalo, ESPN, 2 p.m.

Dec. 20 — Frisco Bowl: Kent State vs. Utah State, ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — New Mexico Bowl: Central Michigan vs. San Diego State, ESPN, 2 p.m.

Dec. 21 — Cure Bowl: Liberty vs. Georgia Southern, CBSSN, 2:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — Boca Raton Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. SMU, ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — Camellia Bowl: Florida International vs. Arkansas State, ESPN, 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Washington, ABC, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — New Orleans Bowl: Alabama-Birmingham vs. Appalachian State, ESPN, 9 p.m.

Dec. 23 — Gasparilla Bowl: Marshall vs. Central Florida, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.

Dec. 24 — Hawaii Bowl: BYU vs. Hawaii, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Dec. 26 — Independence Bowl: Miami (Fla.) vs. Louisiana Tech, ESPN, 4 p.m

Dec. 26 — Quick Lane Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Pittsburgh, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Dec. 27 — Military Bowl: North Carolina vs. Temple, ESPN, noon

Dec. 27 — Pinstripe Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Michigan State, ESPN, 3:20 p.m.

Dec. 27 — Texas Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M, ESPN, 6:45 p.m.

Dec. 27 — Holiday Bowl: Iowa vs. Southern California, FS1, 8 p.m.

Dec. 27 — Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs. Washington State, ESPN, 10:15 p.m.

Dec. 28 — Camping World Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Iowa State, ABC, noon

Dec. 28 — Cotton Bowl: Penn State vs. Memphis, ESPN, noon

Dec. 28 — Peach Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma, ESPN, 4 p.m.

Dec. 28 — Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Clemson, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Dec. 30 — First Responder Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Western Kentucky, ESPN, 12:30 p.m.

Dec. 30 — Redbox Bowl: Illinois vs. California, Fox, 4 p.m.

Dec. 30 — Music City Bowl: Louisville vs. Mississippi State, ESPN, 4 p.m.

Dec. 30 — Orange Bowl: Virginia vs. Florida, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Dec. 31 — Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky, ESPN, noon

Dec. 31 — Sun Bowl: Florida State vs. Arizona State, CBS, 2 p.m.

Dec. 31 — Liberty Bowl: Kansas State vs. Navy, ESPN, 3:45 p.m.

Dec. 31 — Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Georgia State, CBSSN, 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 31 — Alamo Bowl: Utah vs. Texas, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 1 — Citrus Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan, ABC, 1 p.m.

Jan. 1 — Outback Bowl: Minnesota vs. Auburn, ESPN, 1 p.m.

Jan. 1 — Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon, ESPN, 5 p.m.

Jan. 1 — Sugar Bowl: Baylor vs. Georgia, ESPN, 8:45 p.m.

Jan. 2 — Birmingham Bowl: Boston College vs. Cincinnati, ESPN, 3 p.m.

Jan. 2 — Gator Bowl: Indiana vs. Tennessee, ESPN, 7 p.m.

Jan. 3 — Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs. Nevada, ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

Jan. 4 — Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Tulane, ESPN, 11:30 a.m.

Jan. 6 — Mobile Bowl: Miami (Ohio) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 — College Football Playoff title game: Semifinal winners, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Paul Finebaum gives his top-six following Week 13

Paul Finebaum released his new top-six after Week 13. Where is Georgia football?

Following a Week 13 that saw Georgia’s offense struggle in a win over Texas A&M, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum released his new top-six teams as we creep closer to the College Football Playoff.

This weekend, the CFP’s top five teams all took care of business, but No. 6 Oregon’s CFP dreams came to an end with a loss to Arizona State.

1) LSU beat Arkansas by almost 40 points, but the Tigers defense managed to allow 20 to Arkansas, which has the nation’s 106th ranked offense.

2) Ohio State looked good again in a win over top-ten Penn State, but Justin Fields did fumble three times.

3) Clemson took a bye week ahead of its game vs South Carolina next weekend.

4) Georgia, No. 4, looked like, well, Georgia. The defense played great as it usually does, but the offense continued to show its inability to find the end zone yet again. The thing is, we can’t blame offensive coordinator James Coley for this one. Jake Fromm missed two, maybe three touchdown passes vs the Aggies. Coley called a game that should have yielded 30+ points. They just need to execute better.

5) Alabama looked fine in a big win over Western Carolina.

6) Oregon went down to Arizona State 31-28.

Finebaum, who said that he thinks Georgia can still win it all, left the Bulldogs in his top-four and seems pretty high on the Dawgs and their style of play.

Utah found its way into the top-six thanks to the Oregon loss.

Here is his new top-six.