Tag: sec east football news

Potential landing spots for former Georgia DT Geno Atkins in NFL free agency

Former Georgia defensive tackle Geno Atkins is looking for a new home after the Cincinnati Bengals waived the 11-year veteran on Friday.

The Cincinnati Bengals released former Georgia football defensive tackle Geno Atkins on Friday. Atkins spent 11 years with the Bengals and will be regarded as one of the best players in franchise history.

Atkins helped change the way interior defensive lineman rushed the passer. He has posted 76 sacks since 2010 and according to Pro Football Focus, leads the NFL in quarterback pressures among defensive tackles since 2010.

 

Atkins also made three first team All-Pros, made eight Pro Bowls, and was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.

Now, the 32 year old is on the free agent market for the first time in his career. Where will he land?

Here are three possible destinations for the former Dawg.

CFB could have new overtime rules for 2021 season

The NCAA Football Rules Committee recommended changes to overtime play in a meeting on Friday. Details here.

College football’s overtime rules may be changing.

Per the NCAA, the NCAA Football Rules Committee recommended changes to overtime play in a meeting on Friday. The committee recommended the following changes for the 2021 season:

  • Starting with the second overtime period, teams must attempt a two-point conversion play after a touchdown.
  • If the game reaches a third overtime period, teams will alternate two-point conversion attempts

Traditionally, teams alternate possessions from the opponent’s 25-yard-line, a rule that has been in affect since 1996, and after two overtime periods, are forced to attempt two-point conversions after touchdowns.

The NCAA says the new rule proposal is meant to limit the number of plays from scrimmage and bring the game to a conclusion.

The new propositions will be discussed during a meeting on April 22 by NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

Whether or not the rules will be put in affect next season is up in the air, but I like the new proposal. Don’t get me wrong, of course I love a good six overtime game just as much as anyone, but I would love to see teams alternate two-point conversions and watch the pressure that situation would create.

We’ll keep you updated here on what the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Pane decides on April 22.

Georgia DC Dan Lanning tabbed as potential replacement for Les Miles at Kansas

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has tabbed Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as a possible replacement for Les Miles at Kansas.

Head coach Les Miles and the University of Kansas agreed to part ways last week due to reports surfacing of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment during his time at LSU (2005-2016).

Now, Kansas must find a new head football coach as spring football season approaches. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has included Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as a possible candidate to take over the Jayhawks.

“7. Dan Lanning, Georgia defensive coordinator: A budding star who has worked for Kirby Smart, Nick Saban and Mike Norvell. Texas and Florida State both reportedly took cracks at Lanning to be their DC in the last two seasons. Lanning knows the territory as a Kansas City native. He recruited Kansas jucos while at Arizona State under Todd Graham.”

As Dodd mentions, Lanning has received calls for other coaching positions for the last two seasons, most recently Texas. New Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian reportedly offered the defensive coordinator position to Lanning,  who elected to return to Athens and shortly after, received a pay raise of $450,000, which puts him in the upper echelon of assistant coach salaries at $1.7 million per year.

Lanning’s resume at Georgia is impressive. He led the 2019 Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking in scoring defense, while ranking No. 3 in total defense. And in 2020, led Georgia to the No. 15 scoring defense and the No. 13 total defense in the country with several key starters going down with injuries.

Although Kansas will probably not pull Lanning away from Georgia, it’s only a matter of time before the right job opens up for him and Lanning decides to move on from Athens. Until then, the Bulldogs have one of the top teams in the country in 2021 and focus now has to be on a championship.

 

 

Check out the “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” podcast here! J.C. is joined by Georgia legend Rennie Curran in this special episode.

 

Former Georgia football head coach Mark Richt is back in Athens

Former UGA football coach Mark Richt and his wife Katharyn are back in Athens. Details and reaction here.

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It looks like former Georgia head coach Mark Richt and his wife, Katharyn, have found a nice spot back in Athens, Georgia.

Richt spent 14 years as the leader of the Bulldogs, winning two SEC titles (2002, 2005) and playing for two more (2011, 2012) and finishing in 2015 with an overall record of 145-51. That’s a winning percentage of 74%, which was good enough to rank No. 8 among active coaches when Richt stepped down almost six years ago.

He led his alma mater Miami from 2015 to 2018, which included a 16-game winning streak in 2016-17 and a No. 2 national ranking in 2017. That earned him the 2017 Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award.

Richt works for ESPN’s ACC Network as an analyst, but his popularity among DawgNation still remains. UGA Twitter reacted fondly to the news of Richt’s return home to Athens.

 

 

Check out the “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” podcast here! J.C. is joined by Georgia legend Rennie Curran in this special episode.

 

Major Georgia football target Mykel Williams moves commitment date

2022 Georgia football target, four-star defensive tackle Mykel Williams has moved his commitment date. Details and analysis here.

Four-star defensive tackle Mykel Williams is not committing on Monday after all. The No. 5 player in the state of Georgia has elected to move back his commitment date.

https://twitter.com/MykelW_50/status/1369345895708364800

 

Williams (6’5, 255 pounds) is rated as the No. 4 defensive tackle and the No. 42 player overall in the 2022 recruiting class. The Hardaway High School prospect recorded 20 tackles for loss and 12 sacks in 2020.

Georgia is predicted to land the Columbus, Ga., prospect, according to the 247sports Crystal Ball predictions but the decision not to commit as scheduled points towards some other players in the mix.

Williams is an All-American Bowl invitee and holds offers from some of the top programs in the country, including ones from Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M and Notre Dame.

You can heck out Williams’ junior highlight tape here.

 

Check out the “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” podcast here! J.C. is joined by Georgia legend Rennie Curran in this special episode.

 

 

UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton: S1, Ep. 23: UGA great Rennie Curran

In this special episode, J.C. is joined by Georgia two-time All-American linebacker Rennie Curran to talk Dawgs and his time in Athens.

Your friends at “UGA Football Live” and UGA Wire present your one-stop shop for all things Georgia football!

This offseason we will be releasing episodes each Thursday with interviews, news and rumors and more!

On this episode, I’m joined by special guest Rennie Curran. The two-time All-American linebacker led the SEC in tackles in 2009 (116) and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 97th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Curran talks about his recruitment and his time at UGA, including some of his biggest moments as a Bulldog.

Listen here, on Spotify:

Or here, on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uga-football-live-with-j-c-shelton/id1533295384#episodeGuid=Buzzsprout-8083363

 

Also I talk,

  • CFB Roundup

I touch on recent college football news and break down some Georgia football action in recruiting and in the NFL.

Curran is now a keynote speaker, author and engages in leadership coaching. You can get involved with Curran’s non-profit, the Game Changers Foundation, here. They try and help current and former athletes reach their fullest potential.

 

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review! And check out our other episodes featuring former Georgia greats like Tavarres King (Ep. 3)  Keith Marshall (Ep. 4) Arthur Lynch (Ep. 6) Malcolm Mitchell (Ep. 7) Drew Butler (Ep. 9) Aaron Murray (Ep. 17) and Brandon Boykin with Chris Burnette (Ep. 18).

 

 

Georgia CB Eric Stokes attending former NFL receiver’s combine event

Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes will attend former NFL receiver Brandon Marshall’s combine event. Details here

Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes is just one of hundreds of NFL draft prospects who won’t get to preform in the annual NFL Combine.

The event, meant to help showcase athletes to all 32 NFL teams, was cancelled earlier this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Typically, collegiate football players who declare for the draft, especially those without high draft grades, took the combine opportunity to showcase their skill and athletic ability to help boost their draft stock.

To vill the void this year, former NFL Pro-Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall introduced his own combine experience at his athlete training facility House of Athlete in Weston, Fla.

Stokes is among those who will be attending Marshall’s event, which is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. this Friday, March 5 and will be aired live on FoxSports.com.

Stokes was a lockdown corner during his time at Georgia, especially in 2020 when Stokes finished 2nd in the SEC and fourth in the nation in interceptions. He was named CBS Sports All-America First Team and earned First Team All-SEC honors after being named Second Team All-SEC the year prior in 2019.

In 36 games played in Athens, Stokes racked up 78 tackles, four interceptions, including three returned for a touchdown, along with 26 pass breakups.

Check out some of Stokes’ top plays as a Georgia Bulldog here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqjvw7k7PCg

 

Stokes will be desperately missed in Georgia’s secondary, but he should find no trouble in transitioning to the next level with his talent.

 

 

 

 

SEC preparing to play 2021 football season as scheduled

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey says the conference plans on playing the 2021 football season as scheduled. Details here.

The SEC is planning on playing the 2021 football season as scheduled, according to commissioner Greg Sankey via press conference. 

“We are preparing to play the season as scheduled on Labor Day weekend,” Sankey said. “I think we will be back toward normal. That is different than back to normal.”

The conference was put on by the Nashville Sports Council and was hosted by ESPN’s Laura Rutledge. Sankey detailed the different obstacles the COVID-19 pandemic presented during the 2020 football season and how restrictions may still be in place this fall.

“Some of the adaptations we had to put in place last year may have to remain,” he said. “Maybe not as dramatic as having to play conference-only football, but the potential for disruptions and readjustments of schedules may be there. The potential for having to continue to swab our nose.”

In 2020, the SEC switched gears to a conference-only schedule and went on to have four teams play nine of 10 scheduled games due to game-cancellations thanks to contact tracing and positive COVID-19 testing within programs.

This year, 13 of 14 SEC programs have season openers scheduled for Sept. 4, including Georgia with a high-profile matchup versus Clemson in Charlotte.

“We will be prepared to play the season as scheduled and I can pivot off of that approach,” Sankey said.

You can view the entire conversation here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRxSQUfaaSc&feature=youtu.be

 

 

A new episode of “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” is streaming now! J.C. talks the latest college football news and breaks down Georgia’s 2022 recruiting class and more. Listen here:

 

Alabama plans on full stadium capacity this fall, could Georgia follow?

Alabama has announced plans for a full stadium this fall. Could Georgia follow suit and fill Sanford Stadium in 2021? Details here.

The University of Alabama is planning on a full Bryant-Denny Stadium this fall, per an announcement by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne on Twitter.

Byrne’s statement followed Alabama’s announcement regarding plans to return to traditional class instruction for the fall semester.

Could the University of Georgia follow suit?

The short answer is we don’t know yet. UGA athletic director Josh Brooks spoke to reporters in mid Feb. about stadium capacity for G-Day, Georgia’s annual spring game that was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been working on logistics. But I can tell you the capacity will be similar to what it was in the fall,” Brooks said. “We intentionally kept those chair backs up. We kept those there knowing we could use them for now and potential commencement ceremonies.”

So at least Georgia’s spring game, scheduled for April 17, will have a limited capacity similar to the 2020 season. That puts capacity around 25% or approximately 23,000 people.

If schools begin to roll out more announcements like Alabama, opening the door for full stadium capacities in the fall, it’s safe to assume Georgia will follow as typically SEC schools work in unison when it comes to policies.

Vanderbilt was the lone SEC school not to allow any public access during the 2020 season.

 

A new episode of “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” is streaming now! J.C. talks the latest college football news and breaks down Georgia’s 2022 recruiting class and more. Listen here:

Watch: Georgia RB Zamir ‘Zeus’ White’s 2020 highlight reel.

Check out UGA running back Zamir White’s 2020 highlights here.

Junior running back Zamir White led the Georgia run game in 2020. It was the first time the former five-star recruit was tabbed as the work horse in Athens and White made the most of the opportunity.

He finished the shortened season with 144 carries for 779 yards and 11 touchdowns and is primed for a big year in 2021.

Check out White’s 2020 highlight tape here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0okJpoHamnI

You’ve got to love watching Zeus play so well. When he tore his ACL in his freshman year after coming off of another ACL tear out of high school, we weren’t sure if we’d ever get to see the Laurinberg, N.C., native on the field.

Now, he returns as a senior in 2021 and leads an elite Georgia backfield.

A new episode of “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” is streaming now! J.C. talks the latest college football news and breaks down Georgia’s 2022 recruiting class and more. Listen here: