Da'Rick Rogers Update

The rumors are swirling like I have never seen in regards to the situation of Da'Rick Rogers. Rogers and Nash Nance arrived in Knoxville last night and will be attending the UT-UF basketball game tonight. Most people do not really what to make of this situation. Personally I think its about 50/50 right now.

To anyone that has not been following the situation here is what has happened. Rogers committed to UGA on 06/09/2009. Rogers did not waiver from his commitment for a year and a half. Within the past two weeks Rogers along with former Vanderbilt commit Nash Nance, Rogers unofficial brother, have started to take visits to Tennessee. Upon hearing of Nance's visit to Tennessee, Vanderbilt withdrew their scholarship to Nance. In the background, Nance's father is the ring leader of all this. He is wanting his son to play for a major D-1 program and has stopped at nothing to make sure that this happens. There have been rumors that Mr. Nance bought a car for Rogers, which has not yet been verified. Rivals and Scout have switched Rogers commitment status from Solid Verbal to Soft Verbal.

On Thursday night Calhoun High School had an awards banquet for the football team and stated which players had received scholarship offers and where they would be attending school. When it came to Rogers he was skipped and nothing was said even though Rogers keeps stating that he is a Bulldog commit. I really do not know what to make of this. Losing Rogers will hurt the class but it will not be the end of UGA football. I do know this pending if Rogers does decommit and goes to UT he will have a bullseye on his chest everytime he plays against us. This will not bode well  for Rogers when you have Jakar "THE HITMAN" Hamilton lurking in the secondary.

Georgia Gets Two 2011 Commits

On the first Junior Day for the Bulldogs this year they got some very good news as two of the recruits on campus committed today, with a third that needs to talk it over with his family before he officially commits. The two recruits that commited today are:

Chris Sanders: S 4 Star Tucker High School; 6'0 176 lbs ESPN 150

Corey Moore: S 3 Star Griffin High School; 6'0" 180 lbs

This is a great start for the Bulldogs with their 2011 class. The state of Georgia has one of the best recruiting classes they have had in years next year. The Bulldogs need to do everything they can to keep these recruits in state and out of the hands of Alabama and Florida.

Deon Rogers Decommits

Deon  Rogers has decommited from Georgia and officially commited to Louisville today. This is the second recruit that the Bulldogs have lost to Louisville. B.J. Butler also decommited from Georgia and then commited to Louisville. Mark Richt and the Georgia coaching staff did not put up much of fight for Rogers when he switched today. I believe this is because they are pretty sure that they will be getting Telvin Smith to sign a letter of intent on Wednesday. Smith is a ESPN 150 recruit while Rogers was not.

Junior Day Defensive Recruits

Here is the second part of the list which has all defensive recruits.

Grady Jarrett, DT Rockdale
Jalen Hunter, DT Seneca
Stephen Tuitt, DE Monroe Area
Jarquez Samuel, DT Valdosta
Kyle Champion, DE Americus Sumter
Demetrius Alston, DL Norcross
Brandon Chubb, DL Hillgrove

Clarence Jackson, LB North Clayton
Justin Garrett, LB Tucker
Edward Muldrow, LB South Gwinnett
Jefferson Ashiru, LB McEachern
Brandon McGowan, LB North Gwinnett
Seth Hinsley, LB Norcross
Cameron Lynch, LB Brookwood
Tanner Rogers, LB Eagles Landing Christian
Gionni Paul, LB Kathleen (FL)

Ronnie Harris, CB Westlake
Joshua King, CB Mt. Zion-Jonesboro

Damien Swann, S/CB Grady
Corey Moore, S Griffin
Chris Sanders, S Tucker
Brian Randolph, S Kell
Tyler Hunter, S Lowndes
Pat Martin, S J.L Mann (SC)
Ashley Lowery, S White County

Georgia's First Junior Day

Georgia will be hosting its first Junior Day of the 2010 year tomorrow in Athens. Mark Richt and the Bulldog coaching staff have been busy handing out offers to around 20 juniors already. The state of Georgia looks to have one of its best recruiting classes of all time. Here is a list of some of the juniors that will be attending tomorrow:

C.J. Uzomah, QB North Gwinnett
Austin Brown, QB Flowery Branch
Kent Rollins, QB South Gwinnett
Martay Mattox, QB Clarke Central
Price Litton, QB Providence Day (NC)
Tyler Clark, QB Grassfield (VA)

Tyler Cierski, FB Mill Creek

Watts Dantzler, OT Dalton
Xzavier Ward, OT Colquitt
Justin Floyd, OG Cartersville
David Andrews, C Wesleyan
Tarik Cook, C Stephenson
Hunter Long, C Briacrest Academy (TN)

Charone Peake, WR Dorman (SC)
Chris Conely, WR Dallas
Alex Chisum, WR Sandy Creek

B.J. Timble, ATH Sandy Creek
Justus Pickett, ATH Sandy Creek

I will have a list of the defensive prospects as soon as I know them.

Recruits Still Undecided

With National Signing Day 5 days away there are still quite a few recruits that Georgia is going after that have not committed to a school yet. The Bulldogs have done a great job at trying to get some players that have given soft verbal commitments to school to seriously reconsider. Here is the list of current recruits that UGA still has on their board and where everyone thinks that they will end up.

 Da'Rick Rogers: This has become quite the drama lately since Nash Nance commited to UT yesterday. I personally believe that Rogers will wait until Nance has signed his letter of intent then Rogers will sign a letter of intent to Georgia. I would put our chances with Rogers at 90%.

 Jeffrey Whitaker: 50/50 between Auburn and Georgia. Supposedly Whitaker is having a really hard time with this decision. The one thing that is working in the Bulldogs favor is that Whitaker's mother want him to go to Georgia. I would have to agree here that mama knows best.

Telvin Smith: Smith was a verbal commitment to Florida State but everything seems to be pointing that Smith will be signing with UGA on Wednesday. Smith will be at FSU today but will be in Athens on Saturday. This should be a real plus that the last place he sees before Wednesday is UGA.

Micheal Thornton: Thornton should be Bulldog unless he pulls a major surprise on Wednesday, but all signs point to him signing. I am 99% confident that he will be signing with UGA.

Jordan Akins: Akins is another where all roads lead toward Athens. The last visit that Akins took was to Athens and this was the only visit he took all of Janurary.

Christian Green: Green recently narrowed his search to two schools, Florida State and Georgia. Green is leaning more towards FSU right now due to all the family ties he has there. The rumors that are circulating is that Green likes UGA more but is getting alot of family pressure to attend FSU. I say we have a 50/50 shot.

Adrian Coxson: Coxson was at one point a Penn State commit but has since gone back on that. Florida, Georgia and Notre Dame are left as his top three. Coxson most likely will stay in the SEC, with him leaning towards Florida right now.

David Beasley: Beasley says he still a Clemson commit put Georgia has been making a lot headway here. I would give UGA about 40% chance of pulling him away from Clemson.

Nickell Robey: Robey had a visit yesterday with Lakatos and Grantham. This was the first time that Robey had a chance to meet the coaches. Since the visit nobody from Rivals or Scout has been able to reach Robey. I would have to say it is 50/50 with him right now also.

Nash Nance Commits to Tennessee

It has just been released that Nash Nance has committed to Tennessee. This is very interesting for Georgia fans because Nance is the unofficial brother of Georgia commit Da'Rick Rogers. Rogers and Nance were both at Tennessee on an offical visit last weekend. The rumors flying around are that Nance and Rogers are a package deal. So one has to really wonder now that Nance is committed to Tennessee if Rogers will go back on his commitment to Georgia and switch to Tennessee. Their are some questions you have to ask now of this situation. Since Nance has already came out and committed to Tennessee why has Rogers not officially came out and switched yet? This is good for Georgia fans because hopefully Rogers is still committed and will not be switching. You have to wonder, Rogers came out and said that the reason he took the visit to Tennessee is that he never took any visits to any other schools after he committed and Georgia and was just wanting to see what he missed. So is this true or he is really thinking about jumping ship? Rogers might just be enjoying all the attention and his still committed to UGA but is relishing being able to keep both schools on the edge of their seat. Personally I have to question Rogers I am Georgia fan and am not sure anymore if I even want a recruit who is not 100% committed to UGA. If Rogers is doing this just to do it then you have to wonder about him overall.

2011 Offers

Mark Richt and the Georgia coaching staff have been working extremely hard already on the 2011 recruiting class. The Bulldogs have put more offers on the table to juniors then any year before. As a side note there have not been that many 5 star ratings given yet for the 2011 class. Once summer comes and the camps are completed more recruits will move up the list into the 5 Star category. Here is the list of each recruit that UGA has given an offer to:

Christian LeMay, 4 Star QB, Matthews, NC
Nick Marshall, 3 Star QB, Rochelle, GA

Quan Bray, 3 Star RB, Hogansville, GA
Malcolm Brown, 4 Star RB, Cibolo, TX
Chevelle Buie, 3 Star RB, Cocoa, FL
Isaiah Crowell, 4 Star RB, Columbus, GA
Aaron Green, 4 Star RB, San Antonio, TX

Chris Conley, 3 Star WR, Dallas, GA
Charone Peaks, 4 Star WR, Spartanburg, SC
Karlos Williams, 4 Star WR/S, Davenport, FL

Brandon Fulse, 3 Star TE/DE, Fort Meade, FL
Nick O'Leary, 3 Star TE, Palm Beach, FL
Jay Rome, 4 Star TE, Rome, GA

Watts Dantzler, 3 Star T, Dalton, GA
Brandon Shell, 4 Star T, Goose Creek, SC
Xzavier Ward, 1 Star T, Moultrie, GA
Christian Westerman, 4 Star OT, Chandler, AZ

Sterling Bailey, 3 Star DE, Sterling, GA
Jadeveon Clowney, 4 Star DE, Rock Hill, SC
Ray Drew, 4 Star DE, Thomasville, GA
LaMicheal Fanning, 4 Star DE, Auburn, AL
Stephen Tuitt, 3 Star DE, Monroe, GA

Shannon Brown, 3 Star ILB, Adel, GA
Denzel Perryman, 3 Star ILB, Coral Gables, FL
Christian Russell, 3 Star ILB, Fayetteville, NC
James Vaughters, 4 Star ILB, Tucker, GA

Stephen Anthony, 4 Star OLB, Wadesboro, NC
Justin Garrett, 1 Star OLB, Tucker, GA

Doran Grant, 4 Star CB, Akron, OH

Erique Florence, 3 Star S, Valley, AL
Brian Randolph, 3 Star S, Marietta, GA

Javorius Allen, 3 Star ATH, Tallahassee, FL
Chris Sanders, 3 Star ATH, Tucker GA
Damian Swann, 3 Star ATH, Atlanta, GA
C.J. Uzomah, 4 Star ATH, Suwannee, GA
Jabriel Washington, 4 Star ATH, Jackson, TN
James Wilder Jr., 4 Star DE, Tampa, FL

Gabriel Wright, 4 Star DT, Columbus, GA

Christian Green Down to Two

Christian Green, 5 Star WR, out of Tampa Bay  is officially down to two schools. Green marked Florida off his list today. Green is now down to Florida State, the front runner, and Georgia. Green had this to say about the two schools and his trip to FSU this weekend:

"I am starting to get excited about it, I am just ready to start the new phase of my life, my career. It will be either FSU or Georgia. Right now, I think I have a certain feeling of where I want to go. But I have one more visit to make first. I am really looking forward to getting up to Florida State this weekend. I just want to talk with all the players and coaches and see what they have to say. I want to get to know them better. Man, I have always liked Georgia, coach Richt and the players and coaches up there. They have a great work ethic and want to win championships. They are trying to bring in players that want to win championships."

Florida State has an advantage because Green's cousin E.G. Green played at FSU under Bobby Bowden. Now as with most of all the recruits we have to wait until next Wednesday. It can't get here soon enough.

Da'Rick Rogers Still Commited?

The top commit for Georgia Da'Rick Rogers has pretty much officially opened the door and is taking offers from other schools, namely the Tennessee Volunteers. Rogers took an official visit this past weekend to Knoxville and seemed like he was quite impressed with the staff the Derek Dooley has put together here is what he had to say:

“It was good, I enjoyed it. I learned a lot. They have a lot of new staff, so I learned a lot about the new coaches and got a good feel of them. I got to know a lot about new receivers coach Charlie Baggett and Coach Dooley.”

Rogers took the visit with his best friend and quarterback Nash Nance. Rogers is the unofficially adopted brother of Nance. Nance who is committed to Vanderbilt was the one who talked Rogers into going on the visit with him. Tennessee has figured out that if they can pull Nance away from Vanderbilt then they can probably pull Rogers away from UGA and let the two play together in Knoxville. On a side note it has been confirmed that Nance's father recently bought a car for Rogers. One has to wonder how much pull the father has over Rogers now. Rumors is that Nance's father is trying to get them both at UT. Now if this is true and Nance's father is trying to work out a combo deal with Tennessee where is the line drawn and when should the NCAA step in and say something about the car being bought for Rogers. These are just some thoughts on the situation.

Telvin Smith

The latest news about Telvin Smith is that he officially narrowed his list to two schools, UGA and FSU. Smith will not be taking anymore visits and will most likely spend this weekend at home with his family. Smith had this to say about his verbal commitment to FSU:

"I am still committed, but we will just have to see how things go, I am not sure when I will make the final decision. I could make it before Signing Day or I could wait until then, or even after then. It just comes down to when I know. I like a lot of things about Florida State and Georgia, It is just up to me where I am most comfortable at and where I like it the most. I have to figure that out."

Looks like now the waiting game begins......

Nickell Robey Still Committed

There had been speculation that Nickell Robey, 4 Star DB, is not committed to Georgia anymore and "probably" will not be signing a letter of intent. This was reported by Chip Towers of the AJC after he spoke with the Athletic Director of Robey's high school Charles Loveless. Loveless had this to say about Robey:

"Georgia’s listing him as a soft commit but I don’t think he’s going to Georgia, I’m a close friend of Mark Richt from our Florida State days. But basically he liked Coach Martinez a lot and wanted to play for him. He told them when all that happened he was not happy with the change. You have to realize, Coach Martinez was sitting in his living room one day and was gone two days later. That’s pretty tough on a kid.”

This will be fully understandable if this is the reason that Robey does not sign with the Bulldogs, however everyone needs to realize that Robey has not meant Coach Todd Grantham or Coach Scott Lakatos. Both coaches are scheduled to visit Robey this week. Kipp Adams, State of Georgia Recruiting Writer for Rivals.com, posted on his blog that he spoke with Robey tonight and Robey stated "that is not true" and "I am fully committed to Georgia". Robey will be calling Adams to give him a full update tomorrow.

Recruiting Weekend Update

Georgia had a big recruiting weekend this past weekend in Athens with six recruits taking official visits and three recruits there on non-official visits. Ken Malcome, 4 Star RB recruit, was in Athens unofficially to help the Bulldogs try on lure two recruits away from their schools. Ken stated;

"I went down there to try and get David Beasley and Telvin Smith to come to Georgia, and talk to them about being a Bulldog."

Malcome met Beasley at the Offense-Defense All-American Game and they have been friends auncwe then and still keep in touch.

Garrison Smith, 4 Star DT recruit, had not been to Athens since the LSU game and has been looking foraward to coming back. Smith had a chance to meet Coach Grantham and had this to say:

"Oh yeah, I met him. He just explained to me the defensive scheme and everything he learned during his times in college and the NFL, Coach Richt got a great one, not that we should have doubted him in that regard."

Rumors had been circulating that Smith was taking an official visit to LSU next weekend, which Smith shot down and stated were completely false.

The top recruit that was on campus this weekend was Jeffrey Whitaker, 5 Star DT recruit. Whitaker had taken a visit to Auburn the week before and ranked the visit a "10". Whitaker stayed with DeAngelo Tyson who he has maintained a relationship with since his first visit. Whitaker made these statements about his visit to Georgia and about meeting Coach Todd Grantham.

"My official visit to Georgia was a good experience, and they helped themselves a lot, I got to meet the new defensive coordinator Coach Todd Grantham, and he is a very passionate guy who is well educated in what he is going to do. I just feel that Georgia is going to have a great defense, with or without me."

"Spending time with Coach Grantham was great, he showed me his defense, the 3-4, and how they would be sending somebody every play. The offenses know someone is coming, but you just do not know where they will be coming from. Playing that nose, and that five-technique and the four-technique, so basically I could play anywhere on the line. He told me I was very important to what they want to do, and they want to have a big guy like me who can be disruptive and cause penetration in the backfield."

Smith has one more visit to take which will be to Miami this weekend. Smith is scheduled to make his decision on Feburary 1st.

Recruiting Update

So far everything sounds good with the recruits being on campus this weekend. All the recruits were at the basketball game last night and seemed to be having a great time with all the dunks and the fans really getting into the game. The Bulldogs top prospect this weekend is Jeffrey Whitaker. Coach Mark Richt was able to get a lot of one on one time with Whitaker. Whitaker was really looking forward to this weekend and being able to meet and talk with Coach Todd Grantham he had this to say:

"I am just looking forward to meeting Coach Grantham. They told me I will be one of the first prospects to meet him. I talked to Coach John Lilly on Tuesday, and I also spoke to Coach Rodney Garner and Coach Mark Richt this week. They are all excited about the new coordinator, and they cannot wait for me to meet him. Coach Garner thinks I will fit in great in the 3-4, and he thinks Grantham is a nice guy,"

The Bulldogs were able to get a in home visit with Telvin Smith on Thursday night and from all the talk coming out of the Smith front it seems like Georgia is now the team to beat. Smith also has Florida high up on his list but Florida recently received a commitment from Micheal Taylor. The Gators are running out of scholarships very quickly and Smith has not setup an official visit to Florida yet.

Thursday afternoon Coach Todd Grantham and Scott Lakatos visited the Ogletree brother's in their house. Alec Ogletree had this to say about the coaches:

"I was a little bit concerned before I met them, but that was because I did not know who would be coaching me. It was a really good visit, and I hope to grow closer with them over time. I think they have built up a really good staff at Georgia. Now I am just ready to sign and get up there,"

"I let them know it was an honor to be the first prospect to host them in my house, but now they need to just get out there and see the other commitments and prospects we are after,"

Kipp Adams, recruiting coordinator for Rivals in the state of Georgia made a post that the Bulldogs are going to be going all out for their top targets in the next ten days (Kadrone Boone, Telvin Smith, Jeffrey Whitaker, Mike Thornton and Christian Green).

Jakar "Hitman" Hamilton

For anyone that has not been following the Bulldogs lately, Georgia had two recruits who enrolled in the spring to get a head start on school and getting ready for the upcoming season. One of these recruits was Jakar Hamilton.

Hamilton, a 4 Star safety, is junior college transfer from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, GA. The Bulldogs lost three of their four starters in the secondary. This included starting safeties Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans. Bacarri Rambo was the only safety that really saw any playing time last season. Rambo most likely will fill one of the safeties spots with the other being up for grabs. Highly touted incoming freshman Alec Ogletree will most likely be competing for the other starting spot against Hamilton.

Hamilton is built like a NFL safety coming in at 6' 1" 198lbs and runs a 4.5 40 yards dash. Since arriving on campus Hamilton has been making a name for himself already with his character and his intensity in the weight room. In a recent article Hamilton was quoted saying:

"On defense, you’ve got to be aggressive. I’m one of those players who just doesn’t care. I’ll throw my whole body even if I have to break something to do it. If I have to catch a concussion, I’ll do it. And having (Grantham) coming in, I’m real excited to see what he’s bringing to the table"

Due to quotes like this Hamilton's name is already being associated with former Bulldogs such as Thomas Davis and Greg Blue. This is something that Georgia has been missing in the past couple years. They have not had a safety that strikes fear into opposing receivers when they go across the middle. When speaking with former players from Georgia Military College they all talked about during practice you would hate to see Hamilton lining up across from you during drills because he would always leave a few bruises on you. Hamilton was nicknamed the "Hitman" during high school and never lets you wonder why this name was given. All is takes is one play and you realize that the name was appropriately given.

Two More Recruits Added to Weekend Visit

Their have been two more recruits added to the list that will be in Athens this weekend. The two recruits are Garrison Smith, a Georgia commit, and Telvin Smith, a Florida State commit.

1. Garrison Smith, 4 Star DT, Smith commited to the Bulldogs in July of 2009 and has taken a few visits since since then but their have been no signs of him wavering from his commitment. Smith is 6' 3" 255 lbs and runs a 4.7 40 yard dash. Personally I see him more as a DE in the new scheme then a NT. The only area of improvement that the experts see in him is his size.

2. Telvin Smith, 3 Star LB, Smith commited to FSU in August but it has been more of a soft verbal commitment nothing really to solid about it.  He has continued to take visits to other schools. Florida State, Florida and Georgia are his top schools. Smith is 6' 3" 205 lbs and runs a 4.85 40 yard dash. The biggest area of improvement that he has is his ability to shed blockers.

Recruits on Campus

Georgia has two recruits as of today that will be visiting Athens on the 22nd. These two recruits are:

1. Dexter Morant, 3 Star DE, Morant recently gave a strong verbal commitment to Georgia after hearing about the hire of Todd Grantham. Morant is known as a recruit that has a lot of physical ability and can potentially turn into an All American. He is 6' 6" 230lbs and runs a 4.8 40 yard dash. The weaknesses in his game are his strength and his first step off the ball..

2. Jeffrey Whitaker, 4 Star DT, Whitaker is down to 3 schools Auburn, Miami and Georgia. He was on Auburn's campus last week and everything points to that he has a great visit. He is also planning on going to Miami next week. Whitaker is 6' 3" 295lbs and runs a 5.32 40 yard dash, Whitaker could potentially turn into a good NT for the Bulldogs with them switching to the 3-4 next year.

Scott Lakatos Hired as DB Coach

The Georgia Bulldogs announced today that Scott Lakatos will be secondary coach next year. Lakatos has spent the past six seasons at University of Connecticut. Whie under Lakatos the UConn secondary has put up some good numbers Under the 6 seasons that Lakatos has run the secondary they have averaged giving up 187.2 yards a game. The team has picked off an average of 15.3 passes a season and given up on average 12.6 TD's a season. Here are UGA's numbers for the same catergories last year compared to UConn over the last 6 years:

Yards per game: UGA 200.8          UConn   187.2 
Interceptions:   UGA   10             UConn    15.3
TD's                   UGA   23             UConn    12.6

Recruits still undecided

Here is list of the recruits that Georgia has an interest in and who also have an interest in Georgia.

1. Christian Green, 5 Star WR, Green has his list down to three schools Florida, Florida State and Georgia. Green had a visit on 1/15 to FSU. Since he did not commit to FSU yet that is a good sign for the UGA. With the recruits taking more visits this upcoming weekend. Hopefully we can get Green on the Athens campus.

2. Adrian Coxson, 5 Star WR, Coxson had been commited to Penn State but decommited on 1/12. Coxson is down to Georgia and Florida.

3. Jeffrey Whitaker, 4 Star DE, Whitaker is down to three schools, Auburn, Miami and Georgia. Whitaker took a visit to Auburn this past weekend and is set to be in Athens this upcoming weekend.

4. Micheal Thronton, 4 Star DT, Thornton has narrowed his schools down to 5. Thornton just took a visit to North Carolina State this past weekend.

5. Jordan Akins, 3 Star ATH, Akins was in Athens this weekend for an official visit. All sources say that the visit went extremely well.

6. Ivan McCartney, 4 Star WR, Georgia is on the list of 10 possible schools. McCartney has nor visits planned as of righ now.

If Georgia could land two of these this would put a great end to a good year in recruiting.

Grantham is a Dawg full-time now

The Minnesota Viking beat the Dallas Cowboys handily 34-3. With this win Dallas Cowboys are now knocked out the playoffs. Todd Grantham can now start working full-time for the University of Georgia.This comes at a great time with National Signing Day only 16 days away.

Georgia has interviewed UConn DB coach Scott Lakatos for a position. People would have to assume that the position is for the open secondary coach position. Rumors have emerged that Lakatos has been offered the position but nothing has been confirmed with any certainty yet.

Solid Commitment

Dexter Morant is a 3 Star DE recruit who had given a strong verbal commitment to Georgia but had reduced that to a soft verbal commitment. Morant who was supposed to be going on a visit tomorrow to Clemson but has cancelled that visit after learning the Todd Grantham will be the next Georgia Defensive Coordinator. Morant has changed his commitment status to a strong verbal commitment and will take no more visits to other schools.

Derek Dooley to Tennessee

ESPN is reporting that Derek Dooley has been hired by University of Tennessee as their next head coach. Derek Dooley is the son former legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley. Dooley is currently the head coach of Louisana Tech.

Surprise Visitor to Athens

Kadrone Boone a 4 Star WR recruit out of Ocala, FL is in Athens today with three other recruits. UGA made a hard effort towards Boone and it paid off as he made a last minute decision to visit Athens. Boone has made a soft verbal commitment to Texas Tech. Boone is 6' 1" 195lbs and runs a 4.5. Boone also has a high interest in Louisville and LSU. He was on Louisville's campus on the 8th.

Todd Grantham Background

Here is a little background on Georgia's newest defensive coordinator

Playing Career: (1984-1988)
Played guard and tackle at Virginia Tech; earned second team All South; honorable mention All-American honors

Coaching Career:
Virginia Tech (1990-1995)
Defensive Ends and Linebacker Coach from 1990-1991. Coached defensive tackles from 1992-1993. Was promoted to Defensive Line Coach in 1994, in Grantham's last year the Hokies finished first in run defense and 10th in total defense. The VT defense amassed 50 sacks in 1995 and won the Big East.

Michigan State (1996-1998)
Served as the Defensive Line Coach for three seasons and was promoted to assistant head coach in 1998. The Michigan State defense ranked 19th in 1996 and 13th in 1997.

Indianapolis Colts (1999-2001)
Hired by Jim Mora to coach the defensive line in 1998. Helped to turn a 3-13 Colts team into a 13-3 team. The Colts defense compiled 56 sacks in two years.

Houston Texans (2002-2004)
Joined Dom Capers and Inaugural Houston Texansin 2002. 2004 the Texans has the 13th ranked run defense and had 76 recorded QB pressures. Todd Grantham accepts an offer from Romeo Crennell to become the Defensive Coordinator of the Cleveland Browns. After Grantham leaves the Texans they would fall to 2-14 and Dom Capers was fired the next year.

Cleveland Browns (2005-2007)
In his first year the Browns had the 4th ranked pass defense.  After finishing 25th against the pass, 27th against the run and 30th in total-yards-against Grantham was fired on Jan. 11th 2008. Crennel was fired from the Brown's the next year.

Dallas Cowboys (2008-2009)
Grantham was hired as the defensive line coach, at the conclusion of the 2009 season the Cowboys ranked 2nd in scoring defense, 4th in run defense, seventh in sacks and ninth in total defense.

Its Official Todd Grantham next DC

After more than 40 days and on their fifth try Univeristy of Georgia and Mark Richt have finally found their man. According to ESPN's Joe Schad, Todd Grantham will be the next defensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs. Grantham is still in the NFL playoff's with the Dallas Cowboys, so he will not be taking on his duties until after they are eliminated.

There has been no word yet from the University of Georgia or the Dallas Cowboys but the Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting that Todd Grantham has accepted the position of defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia.

Holtz to South Florida

It has been reported by ESPN that East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz will be the new head coach at USF The official announcement will be later today. Holtz is the son of legendary college football coach Lou Holtz.

Recruiting Weekend

Mark Richt and his staff have a big recruiting weekend coming up. Three UGA recruits that have soft verbal commitments are going on visits to other schools this weekend.

1. Deon Rogers, 3 Star OLB: visiting Louisville, Rogers goes to HS school qith BJ Butler who decommited from UGA last week and switched his commitment to Louisville. Rogers has expressed a very strong interest in Louisville.
2. Dexter Morant, 3 Star DE: visiting Clemson, Morant has expressed some interest in staying in state now that UGA has changed DC. It would not hurt Richt to try and have a DC in place in the next 48 hours before these recruits take their visits.
3. Nickell Robey, 4 Star DB: visiting South Florida, Robey is another recruit who has been shaken by the changing of the DC at Georgia. A plus in this situation is that Robey is visiting South Florida who does not have a HC as of today.

Georgia also has three recruits that will be on campus tomorrow for visits. Two of these recruits Georgia has commitments from one and one they are trying to get a verbal from.

1.Da'Rick Rogers, 5 Star WR, their have been some rumors circulating that Rogers might switch his commitment however, Rogers has came out and stated that he is 100% commited to Georgia. Georgia needs to make sure that Rogers does not decide to jump ship as he is the top recruits they have this year.
2. Brent Benedict, 4 Star OT, Benedict had a really bad knee injury his senior year but he is recovering quickly.
3. Jordan Akins, 3 Star ATH, Akins was recently offered a scholarship from Georgia and is taking his last visit tomorrow to UGA.

Georgia will probably lose Rogers and Morant but should add Akins to their list of recruits. This will drop UGA a spot or two in the recruiting rankings.

Recruiting, a few points

As the Lane Kiffin saga continues, with his press conference at Southern California less than an hour away, lets look at the recruiting aspect of these past 24 hours.

First, the Tennessee recruiting class has lost four commitments already, with some more probably to come. They were ranked at number seven last night before Kiffin gave he resignation. Scout.com now has Tennessee ranked at number 24. This is quite a drop in less than 24 hours. Their is also a very good chance that Tennessee will lose more recruits before this is all over. Micheal Hamilton, AD for Tennessee, needs to make a choice, do you sacrifice the class you have now and take your time to make the right hire that could bring in good classes for years to come or do you make a quick hire to save the class you have now.

Second, it has not been totally confirmed yet, but supposedly some of Kiffin's staff were contacting recruits that had enrolled early at Tennessee and told them not to go to class yet, so they could transfer to Southern California. The way that the rules work in the NCAA are if a student-athlete enrolls in a school early they are not fully enrolled until they attend their first class. The first day of class for all of Kiffin's early enrolled students was today. Where is the line ethics crossed in coaching and recruiting? I firmly believe that Kiffin and his staff crossed that line by calling these recruits and telling them to not attend their first class. A coach should never tell one of their athletes to not attend a class. Education comes first.

Third, once a recruit is enrolled at an University they can not transfer to another school without losing a year of eligibility. If coaches can jump ship whenever they want why do the recruits who were promised things from these very coaches have to stay at school that they most likely came to because of the coach. The NCAA needs to lift this rule and institute a new rule stating that a student athlete can transfer schools without having to sit out a year as long as they were not coerced by another coach and as long as they do not transfer to a school where the coach they were playing for has gone to. If the player wants to go with the coach to the new school then yes, they should have to sit out a year. This rule would most help the student athletes who wanted to play for a certain coach but once they are at school the coach left or retired and now the student athlete can transfer to different school is they would like.

Lane Kiffin Fallout

Lane Kiffin bolted in the middle of the night for University of Southern California last night. This bring back memories of 1984 when the Baltimore Colts left for Indianapolis in the middle night in moving vans. Yes, Lane Kiffin did address the media last night, but this was only for about 2 minutes and did not take any questions. Their had been no rumors about Kiffin even being in the search in regards to the USC position. This announcement came as a total shock to the college football world and especially to Volunteer students and alumni. Once the rumors started about Kiffin's departure students started to congregate outside the football complex. Eventually this turned into a mini riot with things being set on fire and people yelling "F--- You Kiffin!!!" to any car leaving the complex.

The meeting with his formal players did not go over well with them interrupting him before he could finish and some even walking out. You have to feel bad for some of his recruits from last year and any recruits that has already enrolled in UT for spring classes. They bought into the Lane Kiffin hype and believed him when he sat on their couches at their home, when he was pitching his case as to why they should come to UT. Now all these recruits are at UT and are waiting to see who will be coaching them next year. This departure has caused a shakeup in the recruiting ranking as well as UT has fallen 2 spots already.

Kiffin is reinforcing what is becoming a common trend in college football with coaches lately, which is that loyalty and giving your word does not mean to much. anymore. The days of Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno type's are over. Coaches no longer will be at schools for 30 years. Most coaches it seems like now are always looking for a bigger paycheck or maybe a shot at the NFL.

Southern California has hired Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin as their next head coach. Kiffin will be bringing his father defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron.

Todd Grantham

According to Chris Low of ESPN, Mark Richt is starting to really go after Todd Grantham, DL coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Richt is starting to realize with National Signing Day coming up he needs to get a DC in place. Richt could name Grantham the DC before the Cowboys are done with playoffs.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/8165/richt-zeroing-in-on-cowboys-grantham

Kirby Smart, the aftermath

Now that the whole Kirby Smart ordeal is behind us all and we know that for a fact Kirby Smart is not coming to Georgia but will remain at Alabama lets look back.

I will be the first to state that I was totally for us signing Kirby Smart and bringing him back to the Peach State. However, you have to stop and think, would the entire Bulldog Nation have been so adamant to sign to Smart as our DC if he was not a Georgia alumni. Yes, Smart did just win the Broyles Award, but he also was working under Nick Saban who is a defensive guru and had a tremendous amount of talent to work with. Smart is the name of the year and would have helped us get some recruits this year and down the road, but you also have to think if he turned the Georgia defense around in a year or two who is say that we would not lose him to another school for a head coaching position sooner than later.

Personally, I think sticking with Grantham would be a good choice. He has something to prove since he has was terminated from his last coordinator position, but let's also remember that was with the Cleveland Browns and they have stunk for about 10 years now. Grantham also might turn into a great recruiter, he already has NFL contacts and can pitch to all defensive recruits he has coached in the NFL for years and knows what it will take for these young men to make it there.

Rolando McClain

Alabama junior linebacker Rolando McClain, the anchor of the Alabama defense, declared for the NFL draft today. The leaving of McClain will surely set back the Alabama defense for next year.

Official Kirby Report

Per Nick Saban, Kirby Smart will be staying at Alabama. The press release should be out shortly.

Georgia Tech Juniors

Georgia Tech lost three juniors today, who all decided to declare for the NFL draft. RB Jonathan Dwyer, S Morgan Burnett, and DE Derrick Morgan all stated in a press conference today that they will be entering in the draft. Derrick Morgan was GT's top defensive player. Dwyer lead the Yellowjackets in rushing with 1395 yards and 14 TD's.

Florida Juniors

ESPN's Joe Schad has reported that Florida center Maurkice Pouncey will be turning pro, however his brother Mike Pouncey will be staying for his senior year. Florida has already lost juniors TE Aaron Hernandez and CB Joe Haden. It is being reported that DE Carlos Dunlap is holding a press conference today to report that he will also be turning pro.

Mike Riley staying put

Mike Riley has officially turned down University of Southern California and has agreed to a 3 year extension with Oregon State. Riley's updated contract has him as the coach of the Beavers through 2019.

Pete Carroll resigns

According to the LA Times Pete Carroll has resigned as the head coach of Southern California. Carroll will be the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, numerous reports have come out as possible replacements for Carroll. Mike Riley the head coach of Oregon State was the leading candidate, however, OSU has offered Riley a lifetime contract. This should definitely offer a changing of the PAC 10 power structure.

Rennie Leaves

Rennie Curran held a teleconference at 4pm today to announce his decision to either stay or leave for the NFL. Curran has decided to forgo his senior year and enter the NFL draft. Curran said that it was tough decision but thinks it is for the best.

Smart Deal

The contract offer for Kirby Smart from the University of Georgia is being reported to be a 4 year deal worth $3 million. I would have to say that this would make Smart one of if not the highest paid assistant coach. If we do not get Smart we should start serious talks with Will Muschamp as I do not see Mack Brown stepping down for some time.

Rennie Curran Gone

Rennie Curran has dinner with Mark Richt last night and told the coach that he is leaving school. Curran will make the announcement Monday. Coach Rodney Gardner is still trying to convince Curran to wait until the DC is named. However, Rennie said he is 99.9% sure he is gone even if Kirby Smart is hired.

Kirby Smart

David Pollack through his twitter account has stated that Kirby Smart will be the next defensive coordinator for the University of Georgia. Smart was in Athens, Ga the day after the national championship game. Supposedly Mark Richt has officially offered the job to Smart and has provided him with a contract, but the contract has not been signed.

Orson Charles

For a second year in a row, a Georgia offensive player was named to the Freshman All-American Team with TE Orson Charles being selected. WR AJ Green was selected as a Freshman All-American last year.

Florida Recruiting

The Florida Gators landed some big names today on the recruiting trail. Ronald Powell a 5 star DE out of California, Matt Elam a 5 star DB out of Florida and Sharriff Floyd a 5 star DT out of Pennsylvania all chose Florida today at the Army All-American High School Game. This should land the Gators with the number 1 recruiting class as of right now. National Signing Day is on Feb. 3rd.

Tommy Tuberville

Tommy Tuberville, the old Auburn head coach, will be announced as the head coach of Texas Tech in a press conference on Sunday. The deal is supposedly worth 10 million over 5 years. Tuberville is looking at James Willis as his DC.

Pete Carroll

To everyone that has not been watching the sports world the past 36 hours it look like that Southern California coach Pete Carroll has agreed in principle to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll coached in the NFL as a head coach for 4 years and had a record a little better than .500. The biggest effect that this will have is in the PAC 10 and in recruiting. Many of USC's recruits that had made verbal commitments and were stunned by the recent changes and are now considering going back on there verbal commitments. This should really help out the PAC 10 teams not to mention the whole NCAA as USC would normally pull recruits from all over the country. As of now Mike Riley, the head coach at Oregon State, is the front runner to replace Pete Carroll.

Marcus Lattimore

Marcus Lattimore the #1 rated RB out of Duncan, SC has taken Georgia off of his short list for potential schools he will sign with. South Carolina, Oregon, Auburn and Penn State are the remaining schools. He still has visits to Oregon and South Carolina before the signing day.

Reshad and Rennie

Reshad Jones today made an official announcement that he would be forgoing his senior year at Georgia to enter the NFL draft. Jones is rated as one of the top 5 safeties in the draft this year.

Rennie Curran was suppose to make his announcement today, but has decided against it and is still undecided. However, most people strongly believe that Curran will be leaving as well.