Kirby's 680 Interview

Did y’all hear Kirby on 680 this morning?  I missed it but listened to it online.  Guys, I don’t want to be Mr. Happy Talk, but this guy’s going to kill it.  Alabama is going to miss him gravely.

 

I love Mark Richt, but the bottom line is recruiting is about hard work and long hours.  “Getting ahead of the other guy.”  He sees recruiting as a competition as much as the games on Saturdays.  He wants to beat the other guy.  That’s the edge I think Mark missed in the new era of recruiting.  When Meyer came to the SEC, everything changed, and Saban made it more crazy.  I’m not sure we put the work in.  Kirby said the coaches get an hour for lunch.  That’s it.  1 p.m. recruiting evaluation starts every day.  It’s February.  We just had signing day.

 

I think he’s on speed or Red Bull.  Or both.  And a lot of Surge and Volt Cola.  And I think we’re going to win a lot.

 

It’s a much different vibe than CMR.  It’s okay to love both guys.  But I think he’s got the thing to take that next step.  It’s an edge I, frankly, have never heard in a UGA coach, but it’s what I imagine it’s what Butts had.  It was in Dooley a little.

 

It’s gonna be a fun few years.

I've Got to Change the Way I Think About Football

The Super Bowl finally did it.  I’ve got to change how I think about the game.  I’ve seen the story too many times.  It’s all about defense.  If you can stop people, you can beat anyone at any time.  I’ve got to change what I think. 

 

Denver over Carolina

Seahawks over Broncos

Ravens over 49ers

Giants over Patriots twice

Patriots over Rams

 

Bama over Clemson

Ohio St. over Bama & Oregon

Auburn over Oregon

Bama over LSU

Bama over UGA and Notre Dame

Bama over Texas

Florida over Ohio St

Florida over Oklahoma

LSU over Ohio St.

 

You have to be able to score some points.  You have to, but good gracious, Denver ALMOST scored 24 points in a super bowl w/o an offensive TD if the cat scores on the fumble.  If you could point to a failure of Mark Richt, it’s that he didn’t learn ENOUGH from Bobby and he fell in love with himself as an OC and Offensive minded coach.  Richt didn’t win those titles alone at FSU.  He won them with the help of Mickey Andrews and monster DEs on almost every FSU team back them.  As dominant an offensive player as Cam was in 2010, they won the title game because Oregon couldn’t block Fairley.  Auburn scored 20 pts and won on a FG on the last play of the game.  They had 17 pts most of the game.

 

If there is a cultural change we’ve got to go through, this is it.  Goff’s hire of McDuffie in the early 90s and signing of Garrison, Hastings and Zeier issued a sea change in Athens.  We became known as an offensive powerhouse.  We hired Donnan, another offensive innovator, then Richt, the best OC for a decade in college football.  He groomed a record breaking OC in Mike Bob. 

 

Since 1991, we have set records offensively.  Garrison was a Heisman finalist.  Zeier set every SEC passing record imaginable.  Bobo set efficiency records under Donnan and Hines Ward became one of the most versatile players in the sport’s history.  Greene broke nearly all of Peyton’s records, and whatever was left of Manning or Weurffel’s records were smashed by Murray.  We had 1,000 rushers.  Nick Chubb did something not done since Herschel.  We signed the most unstoppable WR we’ve ever had in AJ.

 

But our best years under each coach were when we had elite players on defense, especially pass rushers.  Mitch Davis, Champ Bailey, David Pollack, Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree.

 

I want us to be sexy on offense.  It’s in my nature.  I’m wrong.  I need us to be sexy on defense.  Sexy offenses ALL get shut down at some point by a better defense.

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Interceptions

Just caught wind of Lambert’s stats and it brought something to mind.  The kid threw 2 INTs all year.  If you’d have told me before the season that Lambert is our starter all but 1 game and he throws 2 picks, I’d have said we were in Glendale.

 

Over the last 2 seasons, we have thrown 14 interceptions.  Six of those were thrown by Hutson Mason and Greyson Lambert, who started a total of 25 games in that span, playing at least the majority of 24 of them.

 

Faton Bauta and Brice Ramsey threw EIGHT of those 14 picks, with Faton starting one game and Brice starting none, playing about 2/3 of one game. 

 

It’s a remarkable stat.  It’s almost hard to believe.  I’m excited about the future.  I’m not glad we tanked this season in the most weirdly emotional way.  I’m not glad I spent a grand to go see us get rocked by Florida.  I’m not glad to see a good man in whom I believed get fired.  I am glad for new beginnings and the excitement around the program now.  But, one day, I want an answer for why in the world we started Faton Bauta in Jacksonville.  It’s just not hard to imagine us winning a tight game with Greyson playing.

 

FWIW, the kicker of all those stats is that it is incredibly clear that Hutson and Greyson were our best options the last two years, and that’s why we were so incredibly uninspiring in many ways.  Chubb and Gurley were what was inspiring in 2014, and Sony and Isaiah in 2015.  We had no sort of inspiration in the passing game, as our most memorable pass plays of each season were thrown by a running back and a wide receiver.

Reflections

Well, another season is in the books, and I can’t say I’m not a little glad.  Watching my childhood nemesis play for a natty was no fun, especially a program we’ve beaten like a rented mule historically and recently.  6 of the last 7, including blowouts in ’94, ’03, and ’14.  In ’91 and ’95, they were better than us and it still didn’t matter.  We’ve owned Clemson, and they caught lightning in a bottle in the right league with #4.  It’s hard to believe we won 10 games and had such a forgettable season.  Looking at the schedule, that seemed impossible.  10 wins would mean beating 4 of SCjr, Bama, UT, Mizzou, UF, Auburn & Tech.  All that was true, but four of those teams stunk, 3 of them not making a bowl and one making a bowl by the hair on their Jacksonville State chin.  Those were the 4 we beat.  A strange, strange season.

 

Upon further review, the game looked like an October Saturday in the SEC.  It was ferociously physical and required Bama to make more plays because they simply had better players.  If you saw that game in mid-October, you’d just say Bama grinded out a win, winning it any way they could.  It wasn’t much different than Johnny Football’s last game vs. the Tide in College Station.  They couldn’t stop him, but they find ways to win games.

 

Deshaun is a special talent and he makes that team tick.  I think Dabo has assembled a really good program, but ask yourself these questions (and it’s my point of frustration):

 

·       What would Clemson’s record have been against our schedule?  Do you honestly think they don’t drop one against all those other teams ‘besides’ bama?  I think they go 10-2.  That’s the point.  Deshaun looked beat up at the end of that game.  He ran less and less as the game progressed.  Bama’s D is physical, but so is Mizzou’s, UGA’s, Florida’s, LSU’s, MSU’s, Ole Miss’s and Vandy’s.
·       How many rushing yards do you think Wayne Gallman would have in the SEC?  750?  850?  He’s really good.  Great backs in the SEC look like Jalen Hurd, Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry, Leonard Fournette and Alex Collins.  They are monsters.
·       The difference between Clemson and UGA is pretty simple.  #4.  I’d take Sony over Gallman in a heartbeat and I’m not sure that Malcom wouldn’t be the best WR on their team.  They don’t have a tandem of LBs that play anything like Jenkins, Floyd, Bellamy and Ganus.   Alexander is a stud, but the other three guys might not start in Athens.  Shaq Lawson is a beast, but I’m not sure that 7-8 of our defensive guys don’t start for that team.  They have an elite QB, best in the nation.  I like Dabo a lot, I think he’s done a fine job.  But there isn’t another Deshaun out there (on any other team), much less a high school team.  Tajh Boyd was a pretty good college QB, and they were a perennial 9-3 or 10-2 team.  It reminds me so much of Texas.  Everyone thought Brown was about to build a dynasty, but they just couldn’t replace VY, even with a fantastic college qb in McCoy.
·       Boy, 76 for Bama got worked all night.  It happens to the best teams.
·       Clemson is now 0-9 all-time vs. Top 2 teams.  You have to beat a top 2 team pretty much every year to win the SEC.  That stat blew my mind.
·       I’m not worried about Kirby and mobile QBs because Deshaun Watson plays for Clemson and John Football plays for the Browns, at least for now.  Nobody stops those guys.  You just hang on and win.
·       As I said, I like Dabo a lot.  He’s done a great job.  Since he took over mid-season ’08, they’re 8-8 vs. the SEC.  The last 10 years they’re 9-12.  They’ve beat some great programs in the last 4-5 years, but they’re also 3-3 vs. the SEC in the last 3 seasons, Boyd’s senior year (which included Sammy Watkins at WR), and Watson’s first 2 seasons.  His best 3 teams, essentially, are .500 against the league.  They tells me that’s probably a 5-3, maybe 6-2 team in our league, or, essentially – Mark Richt.  This is why I’m a proponent of a 6 team playoff and guaranteeing our champion a slot.  The regular season competition is simply fierce.

 

Overall, really the best game of the season between the 2 best teams, I think.  But I’d love to see Ole Miss and Clemson play.  I remain grateful the Tigers are not on our schedule as long as #4 is enrolled in classes.  BTW, it’s Hwy. 129 from Athens to Gainesville, right?  Asking for a friend.

Pre Head Coaching Experience - Not So Fast My Friend

Just look at the top 10 teams:

Clemson – Dabo, wasn’t even a coordinator at Clemson

Bama – Saban, had won NC at LSU

OU – Stoops, DC at Florida

Iowa – Ferentz, OL coach for Ravens (had been Maine HC before with a 12-21 record)

MSU – Dantonio, HC @ Cincinnati

OSU – Meyer, HC @ Bowling Green, Utah, Florida

UNC – Fedora, HC @ Southern Miss

Stanford – Shaw, OC @ Stanford

FSU – Jimbo, OC @ LSU & FSU

ND – Kelly, HC @ Grand Valley St., Central Mich & Cincy

So, of the top 10 teams, 5 had HC experience.  4 had never been head coaches, and 1 hade sort of been a HC, though a very unsuccessful one at a tiny program before heading to NFL as an assistant.

There is no formula.  Saban and Meyer were different animals.  They had won at the highest level at power 5 conference schools.  You already knew what they could do, which is the best indicator of what they would do.  There aren’t many of those available.  I’ll name them for you:

Jimbo Fisher

Gene Chizik

Les Miles

Mack Brown

Pete Carroll

Jim Tressell

Larry Coker

Bob Stoops

Many of those you don’t want.  Some you can’t get.  And the others would cost A LOT and would most likely turn us down.

That means it’s a crapshoot.  We don’t know.  Could Chip Kelly do it?  Could Dantonio do it?  Maybe. But there’s not guarantee.  If Kirby is the guy they think and we’re going to support him, let’s go for it.  I love Richt.  Adore the man, but I’ll take my chances with Cold-Blooded Kirby vs. Butch, Mac and Malzhan every year.  

Well, Here We Go...

Strange mix of emotions today.  It’s sort of like getting dumped but realizing you could now ask that other good looking girl in 3^rd period out.  But she could say no.  Or she could be a psychopath.  And maybe it was just about to get better with your ex, but you’d be dating since 9^th grade and she’s the only girlfriend you’ve had in high school.  That was the day.

But it’s over.  And I knew it.  I knew it in Jacksonville.  I went to every game this year, and what I can tell is that it just wasn’t fun.  You guys tha know me, know I live for it.  Saturdays in the fall are my vacation, and being a dawg fan, especially a road dawg, took more work than I can ever imagine.  We had almost nothing to cheer for.  We nearly let a terrible vandy team beat us.  We lost terribly to UT, after being up by 21.  We were embarrassed in Jax.  We couldn’t hardly do anything in Auburn, only to do less in Atlanta.  5 worst road games I’ve ever attended in a season.  All season long, we had one fun night against the cocks.  That was it.  1 game to cheer and feel really good.  And the fanbase knew it.  Our fans were listless and numb leaving Everbank.  It was a morgue.  We had been to a funeral.  My wife said it.  It felt different.  I knew after the other 50 losses we could turn it around.  After that one, I was finally not as convinced.

I wanted Richt to stick around.  I thought holding the team together was masterful.  I wanted Eason and the recruiting class and Chubb back.  I wanted him to get another shot.  But, I get it.  I’ve had enough staff members to know that if you know…you gotta make the move.

I’m not sure I trust McGarity, but we have to.  But, for some strange reason, I trust Kirby.  I can say that Herman is no different from Kirby.  He’s been a head coach for 1 season.  Would it make you feel better if Kirby had just finished up a one year stint at Houston at 10-2.  Probably.  But that doesn’t really mean anything.  Just because it’s an easy hire doesn’t mean it’s wrong.  If Kirby comes here, it’s because he wants to be here.  It’s because he WANTS to do at home.  It’s because he wants to build something we’ve never seen.  I think he knows how.  Listen, guys, he’s learned from the most remarkable coach that we’ve probably ever seen in SEC history.  From 2008-2015, this is Bama’s regular season records:

12-0

12-0

9-3

11-1

11-1

11-1

11-1

11-1

We’ve never seen anything like it.  It is a run only comparable in recent memory to Bobby at FSU and Osborne at the end at Nebraska (but even Osborne’s stretch wasn’t that long).  Kirby has seen first hand how to win in THIS LEAGUE up close and personal.  And he’s our guy.  We have seen the implants into the conference that are pretty good coaches that take a while to catch up.  Kirby won’t feel the pressure of 100,000 people in stadiums and Momma’s living room because he lives it every day.  I don’t know if he’ll be a good tactical coach on gameday, but I know he’ll load us up with talent like never before, have a mean, lights out defense and run a pro-style offense like the one that has produced the last two RBs to win Heismans (in about 2 weeks).  

How would I feel about Muschamp as DC?  I don’t know.  He’s an embarrassment, but I trust Kirby.  Kiffin was an embarrassment, but you haven’t heard a peep since he went to T-town.  That’s the kind of ship I expect Kirby to run.  Herman doesn’t excite me just because he’s got a year’s experience.  I have no idea if he can recruit South GA.  I know Kirby can.  Dantonio or Brian Kelly excites me, but I don’t think we’re going THAT expensive.  So let’s have mama call.  He might be our Spurrier.  It might bug him to no end to see us lose and he might do anything to fix it.

But I want it to be fun again.  And it just wasn’t fun this year.

Go Dawgs!