Tag: todd hartley

Update on Georgia star TE Brock Bowers’ status for Orange Bowl

Update on Georgia star TE Brock Bowers’ status for Orange Bowl

Georgia football faces many questions as it prepares to take on Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Saturday.

While we know a couple of star defenders will play in the game, we are still awaiting word on tight end Brock Bowers.

The two-time Mackey Award winner didn’t travel with the team to Miami on Tuesday, but he is expected to join the team later in the week. Whether he will play is not known.

According to tight ends coach Todd Hartley, Bowers’ surgically repaired ankle is what’s holding him back. Hartley didn’t completely shut out Bowers’ chances at playing during his media session on Wednesday.

“We don’t know. His status is still unsure,” Hartley said. “We know he’s still battling that ankle injury that has been nagging him it seems like forever now. He’s been great in his rehab. I hope he makes it; don’t know if he will. Still something that we’re up in the air on. He’s been great in the support of his teammates throughout the prep, every since the Alabama game. We’ll see what happens.”

Bowers’ future can’t be ignored here. He’s widely considered a top-10 NFL draft pick and aggravating an ankle injury that hobbled him throughout the latter part of the season would set him back for pro day and the NFL combine.

That said, it wouldn’t be a surprise for Bowers to make an appearance against the Seminoles. After all, he returned to action 26 days after undergoing TightRope surgery.

Whether Bowers plays or not, his name is cemented in UGA football lore forever.

Kickoff against Florida State on Saturday is set for 4 p.m. ET from Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The game will air on ESPN.

 

Georgia OC Mike Bobo’s thunderous high-fives look like they hurt — a lot

Mike Bobo’s high fives look like they HURT.

Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo got a little too amped up during the Bulldogs’ 43-20 road victory over Florida on Saturday.

As Georgia went into The Swamp and got the best of a solid Florida team, Bobo got particularly excited after one moment in the game and gave out high fives to his fellow assistant coaches.

Well, Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley was sitting right next to him and got a wallop of a high five from Bobo that looked like it stung a good deal.

Like, Bobo really went in for the sonic-boom high five of the century there on Hartley, who took it like a champ as he held his hand in the air just for a moment after to soak in his hand getting slapped so hard.

To top it all off, longtime CBS play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler provided a genuinely hysterical bit of commentary after the high five was done. His delivery of this was just priceless.

“I don’t want to take too many high fives from Mike Bobo; you could break a finger,” Nessler quipped alongside Gary Danielson as they broke down the super high five from Bobo.

That’s a heck of a line from Nessler, and well, that’s a heck of a high five from Bobo.

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Georgia assistant Todd Hartley named top recruiter in CFB

UGA TEs coach Todd Hartley named top recruiter by 247Sports…

Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley has put together an impressive resume for pulling-in top talent to Athens.

Junior Brock Bowers is coming off of a Mackey Award season and Darnell Washington was a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers this spring.

Hartley and the Bulldogs have sent a tight end to the NFL draft in four straight years.

247Sports recently named college football’s top recruiters and Hartley was named as one of seven on the list.

“I think he’s the best there is right now when it comes to identifying tight ends, going and getting those tight ends,” Andrew Ivins said. “And I know he lost five-star Landon Thomas this cycle, who flipped over to Florida State, but, I mean, you go through his track record, what he’s been credited for as a primary recruiter and, man, it’s pretty impressive. And I think what’s unique about Todd Hartley is he has not just been one specific position. Some of these big operations these days, they just recruit solely their position room. And when Todd Hartley was at the University of Miami under Mark Richt, he had the Jacksonville area — Jacksonville up into Savannah — so he went after some different guys and landed those guys at different positions — DeeJay Dallas is one of them, who was a key player for Miami, ended up with the Seattle Seahawks. Also got some other individuals — he was responsible for Carson Beck getting to Georgia. And then since he’s been at Georgia, I mean, Brock Bowers, Darnell Washington, what he has committed right now in Jaden Reddell. Had them in the conversation for Carter Nelson, Deuce Robinson.”

“The Georgia tight end room is loaded, and likely will be as long as Hartley, 37, remains on the Dawgs staff. A Georgia tight end was selected in each of the past four NFL Drafts — Charlie Woerner (2020), Tre’ McKitty (2021), John FitzPatrick (2022) and Washington (2023). Bowers won the Mackey Award last season as the nation’s top tight end in college football and is primed for another spectacular campaign in 2023. In just two seasons at Georgia, he already has 1,824 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns on 119 receptions. While Bowers is a natural talent, give credit to Hartley for ultimately getting him to Athens.”

The 2023 recruiting class was an important one for the Bulldogs at tight end with Bowers likely turning pro after this season. Hartley delivered with four-stars Pearce Spurlin (No. 2 TE) and Lawson Luckie (No. 5).

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