Tag: Dawgs247

Report: UNC expected to hire longtime Georgia football assistant coach

UNC is expected to hire a former Georgia football assistant coach.

Per a report from Bruce Feldman of the Athletic, the North Carolina Tar Heels are expected to hire former Georgia tight end coach John Lilly to the same position in Chapel Hill.

Lilly, who spent eight seasons in Athens as the Dawgs’ tight ends coach and offensive special teams’ coordinator, left UGA in 2015.

In 2016, Lilly was the tight ends coach for the Los Angeles Rams. After taking 2017 off, Lilly joined Jeremy Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville as Tennessee’s Executive Assistant to Head Coach.

Most recently, Lilly spent the 2019 football season as the tight ends coach for the Cleveland Browns and was not retained when the franchise fired Freddie Kitchens.

Lilly will take over at UNC for Tim Brewster, who left to become the tight ends coach at Florida.

Assistant coaches live a bit of a nomadic life, and for Lilly to have eight years in the Classic City was a treat for DawgNation.

During his time with the Bulldogs, Lilly was part of several record-setting seasons: 72 touchdowns in 2012, 484.14 yards per game in 2013 and 41.3 points per game in 2014. All were the best marks in school history. He served as the Bulldogs’ interim offensive coordinator during the 37-14 win over Louisville in the 2014 Belk Bowl and the 24-17 victory over Penn State in the 2016 Tax Slayer Bowl. Both Louisville and Penn State had top 15 nationally-ranked defenses.

He coached star tight ends Arthur Lynch, an All-SEC First Team honoree and fifth-round NFL draft pick; Orson Charles, a fourth-round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals; and Aron White, the Most Outstanding Offensive Player at the 2009 Independence Bowl. He guided Georgia’s punt unit, which included Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler.

Lilly brings a wealth of knowledge to Carolina and may possibly be a secret weapon for Heels. He is highly respected and has a knack for exploiting a defensive team’s weakness.

Georgia football: Projected offensive 2020 depth chart

The Georgia Bulldogs’ offense will miss multiple familiar faces in 2020.

The Georgia Bulldogs’ offense will miss multiple familiar faces in 2020.

Offensive line guru Sam Pittman accepted the head coaching role at the University of Arkansas prior to Georgia’s Sugar Bowl victory over Baylor. With Pittman left starting offensive linemen Isaiah Wilson, Solomon Kindley, Andrew Thomas, and Cade Mays.

The first three declared early for the NFL Draft while Mays, the son of Tennessee Volunteer legend Kevin and brother of Vol freshman Cooper decided to return home to Knoxville.

In the backfield, D’andre Swift declared early. Jake Fromm declared early. Brian Herrien exhausted his eligibility.

On the outside, receivers Lawrence Cager and Tyler Simmons have also exhausted eligibility. Tight end Charlie Woerner, known more for blocking than catching, has also graduated. Transfer TE Eli Wolf’s one year of eligibility in Athens came and went.

This leaves the Dawgs with starters Dominick Blaylock, Trey Hill, and George Pickens.

Missing a myriad of starters, what will the Dawgs’ offense look like in 2020?

Following the departure of Swift and Herrien, the Silver Britches’ ground game will be left unto Zamir White, James Cook, and Kenny McIntosh. The two underclassmen played behind Swift and Herrien while combining for an average of 8.5 yards per carry in 2019.

For a team rebounding from an off-season ripe with attrition, White and McIntosh need major help from an unproven group of offensive lineman.

In the offensive trenches, center Trey Hill will be the only constant in between seasons.

Matt Landers, Kearis Jackson, and George Pickens all return in at receiver.

Without a proven threat at tight end, Florida State transfer Tre McKitty arrives in Athens predicted to be the Silver Britches best option at the position.

In the absence of Fromm, Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman enrolled at Georgia last month.

As of today, the Bulldogs’ 2020 offensive depth chart appears to be:

Quarterbacks:

  1. Jamie Newman (graduate transfer)
  2. Stetson Bennett IV (redshirt junior)
  3. D’wan Mathis (redshirt freshman)
  4. Carson Beck (freshman)

Running backs:

  1. Zamir White (redshirt sophomore)
  2. James Cook (junior)
  3. Kenny McIntosh (sophomore)
  4. Kendall Milton (freshman)

Z receivers:

  1. Demetris Robertson (redshirt senior)
  2. Matt Landers (redshirt junior)
  3. Trey Blount (redshirt junior)
  4. Makiya Tongue (redshirt freshman)
  5. Justin Robinson (freshman)

Slot receivers:

  1. Dominick Blaylock (sophomore)
  2. Kearis Jackson (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Demetris Robertson (redshirt senior)

X receivers:

  1. George Pickens (sophomore)
  2. Tommy Bush (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Marcus Rosemy (freshman)
  4. Arian Smith (freshman)

Tight ends:

  1. Tre McKitty (graduate transfer)
  2. John FitzPatrick (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Darnell Washington (freshman)
  4. Ryland Goede (redshirt freshman)

Left tackle:

  1. Xavier Truss (redshirt freshman)
  2. Warren McClendon (redshirt freshman)
  3. Owen Condon (redshirt freshman)

Left guard:

  1. Justin Shaffer (senior)
  2. Clay Webb (redshirt freshman)
  3. Devin Willock (freshman)

Center:

  1. Trey Hill (junior)
  2. Clay Webb (redshirt freshman)
  3. Warren Ericson (redshirt sophomore)

Right guard:

  1. Ben Cleveland (senior)
  2. Warren Ericson (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Netori Johnson (redshirt junior)

Right Tackle:

  1. Jamaree Salyer (junior)
  2. Warren McClendon (redshirt freshman)
  3. Owen Condon (redshirt sophomore)

Two former Georgia football players/coaches leave South Carolina for NFL

Two former Georgia football players and coaches have left South Carolina to coach in the NFL.

Two coaches are leaving the South Carolina program to take NFL coaching jobs.

Both of those coaches happen to be guys who played and coached at the University of Georgia.

Thomas Brown, who played running back at Georgia from 2004-07, has joined the Los Angeles Rams staff as the running backs coach, where he will coach former Dawg Todd Gurley.

Related: Thomas Brown hired to Rams

And Bryan McClendon, who caught passes in Athens from 2002-05, will be joining the Steelers staff as receivers coach.

Related: Report: Former Georgia WR Bryan McClendon hired to Steelers

After their collegiate playing careers, both players returned to Georgia to coach shortly after testing out the NFL.

McClendon coached the running backs and receivers in Athens from 2009-2015, after spending two seasons as a grad assistant at Georgia.

Brown coached at Georgia in 2011 as a strength coach and then came back in 2015 to coach the running backs, which at the time was Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

Both ended up on the same staff at South Carolina under none other than former Georgia defensive back Will Muschamp, who is head coach of the Gamecocks.

Georgia ties run deep.

Report: Former Georgia football player and coach hired to Steelers staff

The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly hired a former Georgia football wide receiver to coach.

According to the ABC television affiliate in Columbia, S.C., the Pittsburgh Steelers have pulled from the college ranks to find their next receivers coach.

The Steelers have reportedly worked out a deal with former Georgia wide receiver Bryan McClendon, who also coached in Athens for nearly a decade.

The Steelers have been on a long search for a receivers coach. This past season, interim receivers coach Ray Sherman handled those duties after Darryl Drake passed away during training camp in August.

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McClendon played at Georgia from 2002-05, finding a ton of success in Athens.

After college, he tried out the NFL for a year with the Bears but quickly found himself coaching at Georgia in 2007 as a graduate assistant and staying until 2015. In 2009, McClendon was promoted to running backs coach under Mark Richt, a position he held until 2014, before switching to wide receivers coach in 2015. He also added other titles along the way, such as assistant head coach and interim head coach after Richt’s firing.

In 2016, McClendon was named co-offensive and wide receivers coach coordinator at South Carolina and in 2019 was named the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator.

Oddly enough, McClendon is the second former Georgia football player to get an NFL coaching job today. And even more odd, the other, Thomas Brown, also left a position at South Carolina to do so.

Two former Georgia football running backs team up on LA Rams

The Los Angeles Rams have hired another former Georgia football running back to help improve the teams’ ball carrier position.

The Los Angeles Rams have added another former Georgia running back, but this time as a member of the coaching staff.

Thomas Brown, who played running back at Georgia from 2004-07, has been hired by the Rams to coach the running backs in Los Angeles.

That includes Todd Gurley, Georgia’s superstar back from 2012-14.

Brown last worked as South Carolina’s running backs coach in 2019 and was also Miami’s offensive coordinator from 2016-2018.

In 2015, he was Georgia’s running backs coach as well, one year after Gurley left for the NFL.

Though Brown never coached Gurley in Athens, the two of them are close friends, said Bruce Feldman, who first reported the news.

Both coached by Mark Richt, Brown (4 seasons) and Gurley (3 seasons) are two of the best backs to wear the red and black this century. During Brown’s career, he rushed for 2,646 yards and 23 touchdowns on 529 touches. Gurley’s career saw him rush for 3,285 yards on 510 carries. He also added 36 touchdowns.

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.

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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 assistant finishes high in 2020 recruiter rankings

Georgia football had an assistant coach finish in the top-5 of the college football recruiter rankings, given by 247Sports.

Georgia football finished with the No. 1 overall ranked recruiting class for 2020, so surely it had some coaches finish pretty high in the 247Sports Football Recruiter Rankings.

Each year, 247Sports ranks assistant coaches around the country for their job on the recruiting trail and releases their Recruiter Rankings,

Georgia football usually has a couple of coaches consistently finishing near the top of that list, and this year UGA has three in the top-50 and one in the top-5.

Running backs coach Dell McGee finished No. 5 in the nation. McGee was the primary recruiter on Georgia’s two running backs, Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards. He was also on the trail for 4-star wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who McGee was able to flip from LSU. Additionally, McGee gets credit for retaining 5-star offensive tackle Broderick Jones, who was wavering on his commitment after the departure of Sam Pittman.

In all, McGee was responsible for bringing in six new Bulldogs.

Also finishing high in the rankings is defensive backs coach Charlton Warren, who closed out the 2020 recruiting cycle ranked No. 18 in the country. Warren, who has one year under his belt coaching Georgia football, was credited with bringing in four signees.

Also making the top-50 is tight ends coach Todd Hartley, who was responsible for four signees and ranks No. 46.

Also high on the list were a decent amount of former Georgia football coaches.

At No. 4 is Rodney Gardner, who was a Georgia football assistant for 15 years in Athens.  During his 15 seasons at Georgia, he was part of a staff that led UGA to 117 victories, two SEC Championships, five SEC Eastern Division titles, seven bowl victories and six Top 10 finishes in the final polls, including No. 2 in 2007 and No. 3 in 2002. He added the title of assistant head coach at Georgia in 2005 after serving as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator there since January, 1998.

Former UGA WR Tyler Simmons has strong opinion on Mark Dantonio abruptly leaving Michigan State

Former Georgia football WR Tyler Simmons has a strong opinion on Mark Dantonio leaving Michigan State abruptly.

On Tuesday, Mark Dantonio abruptly announced his retirement after 13 seasons as head coach at Michigan State.

The timing of his announcement, which came as a complete shock for everyone, could not have been worse for the program. Just one day before signing day and your head coach of over a decade steps down?

For recruits, the Spartans received 19 national letters of intent during the early signing period, with seven players enrolling early. These are all players who, despite placing their trust in Dantonio, will never play a down of football for the man they signed up for.

One of those recruits is Jordon Simmons, a 3-star running back out of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, who fortunately has not actually signed his name to paper yet.

Simmons is the younger brother of former Georgia wide receiver Tyler Simmons, who fans will always remember as the player who blocked an Alabama punt in the national title game but was incorrectly called offside.

The younger Simmons and his family were recently in East Lansing visiting with Dantonio and the Spartans.

Simmons has been committed to the program since October, however, after news of Dantonio’s retirement on Tuesday, Simmons tweeted that he will be delaying his signing until he has had more time to think about things.

“Due to the unforeseen retirement of Coach Dantonio and after discussing things with my family, I have decided to delay my signing with Michigan State University until further notice,” Simmons wrote. “I love everything that Michigan State has to offer and I appreciate the love and support that the fan base has shown me. However, with the uncertainty of the MSU program I have decided to take some time to weight out my options and think about where I will spend the next 4 years.”

Simmons told Rivals.com that other schools have already been calling. Some of those schools include Oklahoma State, Virginia and Washington State. At this time, though, Simmons said he is still considering Michigan State.

Tyler Simmons had his own thoughts on this, which he took to Twitter to share as well.

Simmons took issue with the timing of Dantonio’s retirement, saying he understands that coaches step down all the time but to do so the day before signing day just is not right.

Simmons is correct. It’s a shame that Dantonio could do so much good for a university for over a decade, but then to call it quits just one day before signing day shows no concern for any of the 20+ players who signed with Michigan State.

Twitter reacts to Georgia football landing No. 1 recruiting class

Georgia football raked in college football’s No. 1 class and here is how Twitter reacted.

For the second time in three years, Kirby Smart and Georgia football have landed the top ranked recruiting class in the country.

And that’s if you go by 247Sports team rankings. If you look at Rivals’ rankings, the Bulldogs have actually finished with the No. 1 ranked class three years in a row now.

That’s simply incredible. What Kirby has built in his short time in Athens is something that Georgia fans should never take for granted.

Before Kirby came, Mark Richt was doing a fine job in recruiting – consistently finishing anywhere between that No. 5 and No. 12 spot. But it just was not good enough, especially at Georgia, where even if you don’t want to leave your state to recruit you can still finish with a top-five class.

So Kirby came and he elevated recruiting to where we expect it to be. And look at Florida?

“We’re closing the gap! We’re closing the gap!”

Actually, no Gators, you’re not. Georgia is consistently finishing with the top ranked class in the country while in Gainesville they are celebrating the No. 8 ranked class. No. 8 is something to be excited about, sure. But think about the difference in talent between a No. 1 and a No. 8. The gap is not closing.

Recruiting is one of those things that get people so fired up that it’s actually hard to scroll through Twitter on big recruiting days. 50 year old men and women arguing with each other about where a 17 year old kid wants to go to college is…weird. But it’s college football. But man is it weird, too.

If you’re a Georgi fan, you’re loving every minute of Kirby on the recruiting trail. If you’re a rival, say Auburn or Florida, you despise Kirby for tasking your top recruits. Everybody will claim Georgia cheats, or whatever they’ll say to make themselves feel better.

But the reality of it is that Kirby and the Bulldogs spend the most money nationwide on recruiting expenses, they put in the most time and they build the best and quickest relationships with these prospects.

Following another day in which Georgia wrapped a ribbon on its No. 1 ranked class, elating DawgNation and pissing off the rest of America, I went through Twitter to take a look at the good tweets and the not-so-nice tweets.

The bad…