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From the Editor

Last time out in late February I talked about how winter was soon to give way to better spring days ahead. Well, a meteorologist I am not, as March was brutal all across Georgia.

There will be no weather predictions this go round, but one thing that I am warming up to is a national title run for our 2013 Georgia football team.

To me when you’re looking for the final ingredients to be a champion, you go straight to the source, which is why I had to include this photo of me with UGA greats, Suzanne Yoculan and Jack Bauerle.

The two of them have won 15 national championships (Yoculan 10, Bauerle 5).

Enough said.

Of course for our football team to make it to the promised land, it will take more than a photo from this Bulldog fan publication. Thankfully, I’m able to report that this 2013 team performed at a championship level throughout spring drills.

From Coach Richt to his staff to his players, the focus was stellar. While 2012 was a banner year all involved have put that in the past and realize there’s a ton of work to be done to return to Atlanta, with hopes of winning a SEC championship and then play for the whole enchilada.

To capture the progress of spring practice, BI’s Murray Poole spent a week in Athens talking with Todd Grantham (page 6) about his young, but athletic defense; talked about the strength of Georgia’s offensive line with coach, Will Friend (page 14) and then got a handle on the youngsters (page 12) making the biggest strides.

Like Murray and I suspected, Grantham realizes his defense is green, but also relished in the depth and skill this year’s unit has in his fourth year at Georgia. The body types are about where Grantham wants them at every position, which should equate to great things in 2013.

On the other side of the ball, Will Friend didn’t bite on his unit’s experience making them championship worthy. That was last year and won’t be repeated without the proper dedication moving forward. However, his guys get it. I interviewed center David Andrews several times during spring and his focus is razor sharp. Without question under his leadership, our O-line should be beyond ready when the Bulldogs open at Clemson.

For sure, the most exciting part of spring practice is hearing the new names that the coaches and veteran players are raving about. I’ll let you soak all that up in Murray’s story, but a few garnering nasty status (in a good sense) were Tray Matthews, Reggie Carter, J.J. Green and Jonathan Rumph. The even better news is there were many more. Enjoy learning about them.

Now that I have your football juices flowing, you can’t get all the way there without some fandom. And like always, the BI camera has been extremely busy over the last six weeks. From the UGA Day events (page 13) cranking up to the historic Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan (page 18) concert in Sanford Stadium to the Circle of Honor Gala (page 6) the support of the University of Georgia is just as grand during the off-season as in the fall.

How neat that on one day, I get to take the photo of former Georgia quarterback Wayne Johnson in Columbus and then on another get to see former UGA greats Karin Lichey Usry, Saudia Rountree and Jon Stinchcomb obtain the ultimate recognition of their names being placed inside the Butt-Mehre building.

And for those who missed the concert, it was perfect. The weather was grand and all indications are everything went well with no problems to campus or the stadium. Kudos must go to the UGA brass for allowing the event to happen. I’m sure I’m like everyone in saying I can’t wait to see what music group will be next.

Well I better wrap things up, but also be sure not to miss Murray Poole’s interview with Lainie Bobo (page 5) and Rob Sherrell’s one on one interview with UGA golf coach, Chris Haack (page 17). And I loved Coach Richt’s solid answers to our five questions on page 16. Good stuff indeed Finally, I hope you will enjoy the new, fresh look of BI. Like our football team, we spent the spring honing in on looking our best for a title run. Also, I encourage you to spend some time on www.bulldawgillustrated.com for bonus spring coverage. And if you haven’t joined our social network at www.WeAreBulldawgs.com, please do so.

See you in another six weeks with our 2013 Season Preview. Until then, keep it real, like a champion!

Go Dawgs.

SPRING 2013 Cha Cha Cha Publishing Inc. Editor Vance Leavy Editorial & Ad Director Cheri Leavy Sports Guru Jeff Dantzler Sales Caroline Kinney, Holly Stanfill Sports Murray Poole Layout/Design Cheri Leavy, Vance Leavy Sports Photography Rob Saye Columnists Carlton DeVooght Al Hickson Rob Sherrell Loran Smith Chad White Interns Claire Channell, Anne Maxwell Douglass, Fan Hughes, Pierce Persons.

Mary Sloane Stribling, Annie Trice Delivery Hatton Abernathy, Martin Cameron Matt Clutter, Will Hayes, Frank Sinkwich IV, Champ Vance Spring 2013 issue, April 23

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4 • Bulldawg Illustrated

Georgia’s primary concerns for spring practice and the 2013 campaign were and are finding quality replacements for several departed standout defenders and stabilizing the place kicking department, which the last two seasons has been a major factor in at least half of the Bulldogs losses over that period.

As Georgia head coach Mark Richt and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo have pointed out, though, the offense still has plenty of room for growth. Though the unit is loaded with talent and experience, the Bulldogs did score just seven points in a loss at South Carolina and only 17 in a thrilling Jacksonville victory over Florida.

So while the offense to show the way in 2013, for a team that came oh so close to playing for the national championship a year ago, that unit and the entire team must continue to progress for the Bulldogs to go from the doorstep and clear the program’s final hurdle.

Headlining Georgia’s returnees is rising sophomore tailback Todd Gurley, who had a spectacular freshman season in which he was arguably the nation’s premier runner. He is in the class of fellow Bulldog greats from days gone by like Tim Worley, Rodney Hampton, Garrison Hearst, Robert Edwards and Knowshon Moreno. Gurley just may be the Bulldogs best since Number 34 himself, The Goal Line Stalker, Herschel Walker. With Gurley and big play, multi-purpose threat – and fellow sophomore to be - Keith Marshall, the Bulldogs standout ground attack also opens up, and makes much more dangerous, a passing game headlined by record setting quarterback Aaron Murray.

Back for a fourth season as Georgia’s starter, Murray will likely finish his career with numerous school and Southeastern Conference records. But to add those most important credentials to his resume, an SEC and national championship, Murray must eliminate the costly turnovers. The margin for error in the rugged SEC, and with this brutally tough schedule is just too thin.

Despite the loss of a pair of outstanding receivers, Georgia still has plenty of stellar passcatchers, highlighted by Malcolm Mitchell and a pair of match-up nightmare tight ends.

The final piece to the offensive line is the development of the line. It was young and thin last year, and it was solid. For Georgia to be great, a unit that returns its top six plus reinforcements, must go from there to strong.

Tackle John Theus, one of a handful of freshman sensations from a year ago, is one of the headliners, along with center David Andrews.

As stellar as the offense was last year, if the front can turn stalemates into pushes, wins and records aplenty will follow.

Especially if the defense can hold its own.

Jarvis Jones, two time All-American and one of the great defenders in Georgia history, leaves the biggest shoes to fill. He is one of seven starters on the unit that have moved on to the professional ranks. The good news / bad news is that last season’s unit – while excellent at times, like the 17-9 victory over Florida – didn’t live up to lofty expectations. If the defense was supposed to deliver an “A” performance, it was a “B.” So if the expectations this year is a “C,” a “B” performance could be a championship one.

There is front line talent back.

Damian Swann has an uncanny nose for the football and is one of the SEC’s best corners.

Garrison Smith is one of the league’s premier defensive linemen. Amarlo Herrera is a sure-tackling, run-stuffing middle linebacker. And Jordan Jenkins, another of the stellar freshman from a year ago, is the heir apparent to Jones, and a potential All-American.

So how will the rest of the defense line up?

There are players who have been in the program, like redshirt freshman defensive tackle Johnathan Taylor, junior defensive end Ray Drew, sophomore cornerback Sheldon Dawson, sophomore strong safety Josh Harvey-Clemons,

photo by Rob Saye

junior linebacker Chase Vasser and junior outside ‘backer James Deloach. And there are a slew of newcomers, like highly touted front seven products Chris Mayes, John Atkins, Leonard Floyd (all three of whom played either prep school or junior college ball a year ago) Johnny O”Neal, Tim Kimbrough and Reggie Carter.

It has been well publicized that the Bulldogs recruiting class of 2013 included an astounding 13 early enrollees, who got to take part in spring practice. Amongst this record sized group are highly touted true freshman Tray Matthews, a front-runner to earn a staring safety slot. Newcomers could have a further impact in the secondary. A couple of highly recruited corners could certainly vie for the nickel job as the third corner behind Swann and Dawson.

On special teams, Colin Barber established himself as a legitimate Southeastern Conference punter, and was one of the league’s best in the second half of the season. But the place-kicking situation must be stabilized. In the Richt era, missed field goals have played a prominent role in heart-breaking, championship-costing losses.

Fortunately, a year ago, the Bulldogs didn’t have to rely on field goals very often because of the dynamic nature of the offense. But for this team to hoist that crystal ball, it’s essential to knock through the easy ones. Marshall Morgan returns for his sophomore season. He nailed some big kicks, like the one at the end of the half against Tennessee, but Georgia missed far too many field goals and extra points.

It takes touchdowns to win championships, but when you have to settle for three, you have to get the points.

The schedule is much tougher this year, but we’ll know after four games just how good Georgia is. If the Bulldogs are unbeaten or 3-1, there’s no reason that 2013 can’t be a special season.

••••• Four special coaches at Georgia enjoyed outstanding accomplishments in March and April.

Jack Bauerle, Georgia’s incredibly successful swimming coach since 1979, led the women’s team to the national championship, the program’s fifth.

Manuel Diaz, in his 25th year at the helm of the men’s tennis team, led the Bulldogs to the 35th SEC championship in program history and became the second winningest coach in SEC history, behind only the greatest Bulldog ever Dan Magill. It is college sports equivalent of Dimaggio to Mantle.

Jeff Wallace, in his 28th season as Georgia’s women’s tennis coach, led the Lady Bulldogs to a share of the SEC title and chalked up his 600th career win.

Andy Landers, in his 34th year guiding the women’s basketball team, led Georgia to the Elite Eight, highlighted by a thrilling Sweet 16 victory over top-seeded Stanford. Earlier in the year, Landers chalked up his 900th overall victory and 800 win at Georgia.

Congratulations to all of these magnificent coaches and men who have delivered countless championships and memorable moments to

Poole Shots

by Murray Poole

Lainie Bobo: Florida girl grew up loving Dogs

NE VER SE E T TLE FOR LLESS NEVER SETTLE YOU DESERVE MOORE

The Bobo Family - Olivia, Drew, Kate, Mike, Jake, Lainie, Ava Grace

Despite growing up in Sarasota, Fla., on the picturesque coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, Lainie Bobo never even considered going off to college at one of those Florida schools, say either the University of Florida or Florida State University.

For Lainie, the former Lainie Meshad, is the niece of Barbara and Vince Dooley and was raised loving all things red and black of the Georgia Bulldogs.

And as a student at the university, Meshad would meet a young Georgia football player, a quarterback from Thomasville named Mike Bobo. “Mike and I met and dated all through college and, yeah, that’s how we met,” said Lainie, who graduated from UGA in 1996.

The couple was married in 1999 and that union has today resulted in five children, ranging in age from nine to five. And today, of course, Lainie’s husband holds the title of Georgia offensive coordinator.

On now being a coach’s wife with five youngsters, Lainie says: “Everybody’s got their kids and their thing they have to do so I think we just try to balance what we have, all of us do the best we can.”

In the following question-and-answer session, Lainie Bobo gives the Bulldawg Nation a glimpse into her background and what it’s like being married to a football coach at a major university like Georgia: Years married, children?

We were married in July of 1999 so we’re at 12-and-a-half years now. Drew is our oldest and he’s nine. Then our triplets are Olivia, Jake and Ava Grace, they just turned seven. And our youngest is Kate and she’s five and a half. And Kate is our only fall baby so that was tricky for us. She was born at the end of September so there was a lot of planning when we were going to try induce and everything so Mike would be around.

The most gratifying part of being married to a college football coach?

It’s a very fun, exciting lifestyle. We get to participate in a lot of things that other people don’t since we’re on the inside of Georgia football. And so it’s fun and we get to do a lot of really neat things that we probably otherwise wouldn’t get to do.

The most challenging part of being married to a college football coach?

Mike is in a high profile, highly criticized position. We’ve talked about it often and I think a lot of times it’s harder on the family, the kids and the wives, because we hear more of that. He’s so entrenched in football he doesn’t often know what all is going on. And we know that it comes with the territory but that’s hard. I mean it’s just a crazy lifestyle. We’ve been fortunate to have stability here at Georgia but we know in general in this profession it’s not that way.

It’s performance-based so you’re always worried about that – it’s stressful.

Where did you grow up and what made it special?

I grew up in Sarasota. It’s beautiful and it’s home. I mean, my parents and my brother and my nieces, they all still live there. It’s the only home that I know.

It’s a beautiful place to go back to occasionally, one of the most beautiful beaches I think in the country is there. It’s called Siesta Key and it’s always written up on the Travel Channel. They talk about it all the time and I grew up right there on that beach. I’ve taken friends there who haven’t been to the Florida Gulf Coast and they can’t believe it. The sand is like baby powder there. It’s so fine and light and it’s just beautiful.

Other than rooting on the Bulldogs, what are some of your other passions?

I guess family, first and foremost. And I love running and playing tennis.

And we like to play cards together. We have a great neighborhood so we do card and Cornhole championships with our friends and within our family, like with his parents and brother and sister-in-law.

What do you like most about UGA and living in the Athens area?

I think Athens is such a great place to raise a family. It’s a great college town and there’s an amazing, supportive community within Athens. As a student, I didn’t even realize it existed because you’re just on campus and doing your thing but now, coming back, it’s just really great that people rally around you.

It’s just a great, family-oriented community so we love it here.

If your husband wasn’t a college coach, what career do you envision him having?

I can’t see him doing anything else but I guess it would be a high school coach. Because that’s what his dad George did and what he grew up around and I can see him being a high school coach as well. But really, I’m the same as Katharyn (Richt). Our husbands breathe, eat and sleep football.

Your favorite UGA football moment?

The touchdown pass Mike threw to Corey Allen to beat Georgia Tech (in 1997 with 8 seconds to play) was awesome. And beating Florida that year as well was awesome because we hadn’t beaten them in so long. There’s so many it’s hard to say. Of course, every time we beat Florida is great for me because of growing up there. But I would also say one of my favorites was the 2002 season when we won the SEC because that’s the first big SEC championship we were a part of, so I would have to say that and the Sugar Bowl (win over Florida State).

Just that whole year was wonderful.

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Circle of Honor Gala 2013 Circle of Honor Inductee Saudia Rountree with Greg McGarity and Andy Landers

2013 Circle of Honor Inductee Jon Stinchcomb with Mark Richt and Greg McGarity photo by Wingate Downs

photo by Wingate Downs

Jody Jackson, Pam DeVore, Evol Buonocove and Lisa Brown

Debbie Whittemore and Freddy Watson

Rob Sherrell and Chris Haack

photo by Wingate Downs

photo by Wingate Downs

Jon and Fran Cone, Karen Johnson, Lesley and Scott Grimes

Sonny Seiler and Don Leebern

2013 Circle of Honor Inductee Karin Lichey Usry with Greg McGarity and Suzanne Yoculan

Circle of Distinction recipient, Jim Nalley

Harvey Humphries, Beans Kelly, Martha White and Wendy Humphries

Steve Holeman, Shannon Vreeland, Julie Holeman and Allison Schmitt

Jack Bauerle and Sheryl McGarity

Ken Jackson and Steven Farmer

JoAnn Miller, Dagmar Bezecny and Rhonda and Trent Allen

Aron White and Jim and Claire Booz

Steve Jones and Griffin Doyle

Kelley Blanton and Suzanne Yoculan

Bill Stanfill, Stan Stanfill and Lewis Gainey

Greg Robinson and Allen Miller

Amy Sherrell and George Bezecny

Peggy and Charley Trippi

Barb Parks and Allison Schmitt

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6 • Bulldawg Illustrated

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Grantham breaks down 2013 defense photo by Rob Saye

By Murray Poole/BI ith most of the guys that comprised Georgia's starting defense last season now awaiting this week's NFL draft, many of the so-called college football experts are envisioning a tough season for the 2013 Bulldogs on that side of the ball.

But the players who will now be taking the field for coordinator Todd Grantham's unit don't actually see things that way. Sure, they realize they're lacking experience on the big SEC stage but at the same time, these Georgia defenders believe they have the proper talent base to not have any falloff whatsoever from 2012's veteran Bulldog defense.

Many of the new starters have been around Grantham's 3-4 system for several years now and during the recently completed spring drills, these players opened the eyes of their position coaches and opposing offensive players with sound defensive skills Junior inside linebacker Ramik Wilson, in fact, called the present Bulldog defense quicker and faster than last season's. "We're much faster and quicker," Wilson said. "They're (offense) throwing screens to Malcolm (Mitchell) and we’ve got our D-ends already out there.

It’s crazy, our team speed.”

And said sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins: “We’ve got young guys and everybody on defense is swarming and making tackles. Everybody is hyped up and energized, nobody is out there loafing around and everybody is out there trying to make plays.

We’re hungry for it.

“It’s definitely good being under Coach Grantham for a couple of years. It’s good for me knowing the whole defense and not having to learn five different positions trying to get me on the field. Now I know the buck and will, that’s the only two positions I’ve got, that’s it. I don’t have to worry about playing end – though I might later – and it’s definitely easier having a year in the defense and knowing it where I can play (hard) and not having to worry if this is the right call or not.”

“As a defense, we’ve got a lot to prove," offered

W

sophomore cornerback Sheldon Dawson, "but with a teacher like Coach Grantham, he’s a real teacher. He doesn’t care if we mess up as long as we play that next play even harder. We’ve got a lot of people to prove wrong this year and we’re definitely going to prove ‘em wrong. Football is competition and when you’ve got a coach like Coach Grantham, he’s going to make it where the best is on the field, regardless. Whatever he’s got to do, whatever strings he’s got to pull, whoever he’s got to get on, if he has to run us every day before practice or after practice, the best is going to be on the field and we’re going to be ready for Clemson."

But, obviously, the man who knows best what to expect from Georgia's new-look defense this fall is Todd Grantham himself and in this exclusive interview with Bulldawg Illustrated, which came the week before the G-Day game, the Bulldogs' coordinator breaks down his personnel and all areas of the Georgia defensive unit: “I think every year is a different year," Grantham said. "This year, we’ve got a lot of young guys. In fact, in spring practice we’ve got six guys that were in high school football in the fall and all those guys really are either in our two deep or rotating in there so they’re vying for playing time. I think when you look at our players, our front guys are young guys who have size and athletic ability. We probably have more body types than we’ve had the last three years; we’ve just got to continue to work and develop those guys. I’ve been pleased with their progress in the spring. They’ve flashed the kind of stuff I think you need to be a good defense, particularly in the SEC, so my thing with those guys is rotating those guys in and really just having a group to do some good stuff. Big guys, in my opinion, when their gas tank gets empty it’s hard to fill it back up so you want to keep their gas tank full and that’s what we’ll do with those guys.

"At nose (guard), Mike Thornton's obviously there.

Chris Mayes is a guy who's another transfer guy, a juco guy; he's been there and, really, after those two guys, Garrison (Smith) can play there if he had to. It's really

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been down to those two guys in base but in nickel all of them can really play it because of the way we're set up.

John Atkins has been at nose and end but the thinking now is we're going to keep him at end to minimize the learning for him so that way we can work to see if we can get him on the field quicker he's got athletic ability. Of course, we've got Garrison at one end and Ray (Drew) and Sterling (Bailey) at the other but they're all interchangeable we can actually play with Ray and Sterling at the same time and we've done a little bit of that. Josh Dawson is another guy I didn't mention at outside backer that can play some defensive end, too, kind of like Cornelius Washington did for us. And Josh has done really well. He made some plays the other day in the scrimmage, so he's kind of going back and forth.

Jonathan Taylor's behind Garrison, so you've got Garrison, Jonathan Taylor then you've got Sterling and Ray on the other side. But all four of those guys can play the other side and that's how you get your three deep. And then John Atkins is a guy that's coming along; of course, he's a really young guy. So we've just got to continue to work those guys and develop them but their energy's been good. I like their energy and effort and that's been positive.

“At inside linebacker," said Grantham, "we had quite a few guys leave due to graduation and obviously, Tree (Alec Ogletree) declared early. Amarlo (Herrera) is a guy that is going to be a junior but he played as a freshman. He actually called the defense as a true freshman and is back to his original position of 'Moe' linebacker.

The guy who really came on in the spring was Ramik Wilson. And he’s kind of been an inside, outside guy and the reason he’s been both is that we’ve always liked his athletic ability, his size and measurables and we wanted to try and get him on the field as quickly as possible.

And he actually started and played in the first two games last year; he started the first game against Buffalo at Sam and he’s done a good job at inside backer and I’ve been pleased with his progress. >>> next page

“And behind them is where the new guys are going to come into play. We’ve got two mid-year guys in Ryne Rankin and Reggie Carter – both of them had interceptions in our first scrimmage. They’re young, they’re physical, they have the movement skills you want for inside linebackers. We’ve just got to continue to work and develop those guys.

And really, come fall, we’ll add in Johnny O’Neal, Tim Kimbrough and Shaun McGee to see what those guys can do inside. “At outside backer," Grantham continued, "Jordan Jenkins is a guy who actually played for us as a true freshman and started from the Kentucky game on. He’s a guy who has a lot of athletic ability, he’s explosive and although he’ll be only a true sophomore, he can make plays. And you got to get some explosive type plays from your outside backer position when you’re in a 3-4. The guy who’s really worked as a senior is T.J. Stripling and T.J.’s a guy that has kind of spot played for us, really special teams more than anything. He’s a guy we’ll be really interesting to see what role he takes on. I see a commitment from him to work hard and do the things we ask him to do so what role he has will be determined as we move forward in August. Then on the other side, we’ve got another guy who played as a freshman last year only on special teams, James DeLoach, and he’s a guy that’s big and physical. It’s hard for tight ends to block him and he’s a guy that can play in our nickel package as an end and he’ll be a Sam for us in our outside backer stuff. He’s just got to play. Of course Chase Vasser was hurt in the spring and we’ll get him coming back and see the role he can develop for us. “And when you get to the back end, Damian Swann really is the only corner of note. And I think Damian’s kind of taken the role of leadership with our back end guys; he led our team in interceptions (with four) last year. I think he played really well and he’s a guy that played as a freshman and actually two years ago started the first half of the Florida game. He got a taste of it and I thought he played really well this past year. After that, we’re still competing ‌ it’s open-end competition and will probably be that for a while.

Sheldon Dawson is a guy that had two interceptions in our first scrimmage. He’s going to be vying for playing time. Another high school guy from the fall, Reggie Wilkerson, is a guy that’s really conscientious. He’s got a skill set to be a corner; he had a pick on the first drive the other day against the 1’s, against the first team offense. He’s shown the ability to improve every day. The mistakes he makes one day, he improves on them and is better the next day. And then of course, when Shaq Wiggins and Brendan Langley come in, when those guys get here it’s going to be a competition for corner and we’ll see what they can do.

So I think that we’ll be young at corner, we’ll have the skill set to play there, we’ve just got to develop them. “At safety this year, we’ll be young but I think we’ll be pretty athletic," said Grantham.

"Right now Josh Harvey-Clemons is playing both safety and outside backer. As a safety, he’s a guy that’s got range; he can cover any core guy ‌ tight ends, backs, he can do all that sort of stuff. He’s really athletic as a safety, he can tackle well in space and he’s got some physicalness to him, he’s got length to him and he’s really done a good job of playing both strong safety and the outside backer position.

He’ll play both of them and will be one of the 11 out there playing somewhere. But as a safety, he’s shown up and done a real good job

and as an outside backer he’s got length to have some man coverage ability to him. He’s a good edge blitzer and can create mismatches in the protection. He’s got some ball skills and has improved every day. “The other safety who is starting right now with the 1’s is Tray Matthews. Tray is another high school guy who came in at midyear. We’ve thrown a lot at Tray because free safety is a position where you’ve got to have good communication skills because you’ve got to communicate with the corners what we’re doing, and Tray has done a good job with that.

He works hard to know his assignments and what to do. He's a really good athlete, he can tackle well in space and has got good instincts.

Tray's got DB skills, meaning he can cover wideouts, he can play the ball in the air, he can leverage the ball, meaning knowing where his help is and doing those kind of things, so I've been extremely pleased with his progress and what he does.

"Behind him, we've got Corey Moore, who is in his third year. Corey is a guy who's worked hard to improve his skill set; how much he plays will be based upon how he does the rest of spring and in August, but he'll be a guy that's vying for time for a playing position. Then Connor Norman is a guy who we put on scholarship last year who actually played in the first four games for us. He's a heady guy who understands all the calls and is in the right spot and he's really done a good job for us.

"So I think when you look at our team defensively," Grantham concluded, "I think we're extremely young. We have athletic ability, we have size, I think it's a matter of mashing it together and jelling it together so we can play good as a unit. We've got to understand our fits in the run game, understand our fits in the pass game and that's why we're practicing every day. I've been really pleased with how the guys have worked, not only with us but on their own to try to make sure they're honed in on what to do. So we're just going to try to work and develop them, but I think we're young, we're probably the youngest defense in the country, I would bet! I don't know how many teams have six high school guys in their two-deep right now. But I think we do have talent, we've just got to continue to work it.

But I think we will be a team, as we move forward through the season and guys' roles are defined, you'll see improvement as we move and that'll be good to see. We do have more scholarship guys on defense this year; last year we had only 28 and had four of them suspended for the first four games. So guys had to mix and match and do the things you have to do to win ball games. I think, up front, we don't have the size of a Kwame (Geathers) or a John (Jenkins) but we're close. I mean, we're close and we definitely have more bodies, and I think we do have athletic ability. You do have to be able to get off a block and close gaps down and I think some of the young guys we have have that kind of ability."

(On his defense facing Clemson and South Carolina right out of the 2013 gate) "They're good. Clemson is dynamic and obviously South Carolina is a team that's really good in the SEC so we'll have to make sure we prepare as the summer moves forward.

Obviously, the way we've got to start and the challenges we've got are going to be exciting in the summer, so when you're working out there's kind of a goal there, there's a reason to continue and those kind of things so I think it will help our preparation through the summer."

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www.bulldawgillustrated.com • 11

Youngsters spring onto the scene photo by Rob Saye

By Murray Poole/BI

W

hen one dissects Georgia's 2013 spring practice and what Bulldogs made moves on the team's depth chart, you first have to take a good look at the 13 early freshman

enrollees.

And, in specifically, free safety Tray Matthews and inside linebacker Reggie Carter.

Matthews, the 6-0, 195-pound free safety from Newnan, in fact played to such a high level this spring that he's earned a starting spot heading into the summer workouts. All spring long, the Bulldogs' upperclassmen couldn't say enough about Matthews' talent and football savvy.

"He plays downhill every play even if it's thud," junior flanker Chris Conley said. "He's fearless. He's got a great sense of where the ball is going to be even if you can't see it. He'll be going the right direction even if there's a misdirection play. His sixth sense and his football IQ are out of the roof as a freshman." “Tray Matthews – he’s fearless," echoed junior inside linebacker Ramik Wilson. "He’ll hit anybody. He’ll deliver a nice hit to you, he plays hard and he just tries to help set the tone."

And this, from Georgia senior quarterback Aaron Murray on Matthews: “I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of closing speed. He lays the wood. I thought he killed (Justin) Scott-Wesley the other day. I really thought he was dead.”

“Tray's had so many hits, just those boom hits that everybody screams `Wow!’” offered sophomore tailback Keith Marshall.

But Matthews, who recorded four tackles in the Black team's 23-17 G-Day victory, is hardly the only incoming freshman who opened the eyes of fellow players and the Georgia coaching staff this spring.

Carter, the 6-1, 225-pound linebacker from South Gwinnett High in Snellville, also made a strong bid for considerable playing time this coming fall with his knack for always being around the football.

In the spring game, Carter notched seven tackles, a tackle-for-loss and also had an interception for the Red team.

Speaking of also freshman inside linebacker Ryne Rankin this spring, head coach Mark Richt said Rankin was like a "wild dog," a player "who just flies around trying to whack somebody." Then Richt added, "Reggie Carter plays with a better base and better football position, though. Reggie is a very good fundamental football player. Reggie plays downhill and he’s had an interception in every scrimmage we’ve had.”

Still other mid-year enrollees making their presence felt this spring were cornerback Reggie Wilkerson, tailback J.J. Green, nose tackle Chris Mayes, defensive end/tackle John Atkins, safety Quincy Mauger and wide receiver Jonathan Rumph.

Wilkerson, the 5-11, 163-pound product of

12 • Bulldawg Illustrated

Ocala, Fla., has shown he's capable of providing good depth to the Bulldogs' secondary, what with his nose for the ball (several interceptions this spring).

"Reggie Wilkerson has been making a good bit of plays in the flats and covering everybody," said sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins. "Him and Quincy (Mauger), all the DBs are making good plays and it’s hard to tell who’s going to get those slots, and I just know they’re going to be fighting back and forth all spring long.”

"Reggie Wilkerson, he’s learning," declared sophomore cornerback Sheldon Dawson. "He’s playing hard and when he gives up something, when he makes a mistake, it’s just some mental error, stuff we all make the same mistake on. He’s been playing great.”

"I’ve heard Coach Grantham mention Reggie Wilkerson a couple of times throughout the weeks of practice," said junior defensive end Ray Drew. “Chris (Mayes) and John (Atkins) both have a lot of the same attributes, they’re what you call country strong. I believe with a few more weeks in the system and getting the plays down, I believe they’ll be very good players, especially with the size that they have and what they bring up front,” Drew said, alluding to the 6-4, 315pound Mayes, a juco transfer, and the 6-4, 310-pound Atkins, a prep school transfer, both of whom are expected to provide immediate help to Georgia's defensive front. “It's already hard to block those two because of their body mass and their size but once they get everything down, assignments and technique, they’re going to have an awesome year," said Drew.

In the G-Day outing, Wilkerson recorded three tackles, a tackle-for-loss and a quarterback sack; Mauger notched eight tackles from his safety spot including a tackle-for-loss and, up front, Mayes totaled six tackles including a sack and tackle-for-loss.

The diminutive Green. the 5-9, 186-pound multitalented athlete out of Camden County, also impressed the Bulldog veterans with his running ability this spring.

“One of the new guys who’s really making a lot of noise is J.J. Green," related Chris Conley. "He’s done extremely well. He started out playing receiver with us but once we saw what he could do with the ball in his hands he started playing running back, and he’s a very hard-nosed, downhill runner. Even though he’s small he runs the ball with authority. He runs like he’s six foot, 210 pounds. He makes a lot of plays for us and we just expect him to keep making more and more plays because the coaches are giving him opportunities."

Rumph, a 6-5, 215-pound wideout from Cayce, S.C., who transferred to UGA after playing two years at Holmes (Miss.) Community College, wasn't talked about much during the four weeks leading up to GDay but, with a record crowd of 45,000-plus looking

on April 6 at Sanford Stadium, Rumph showed he may be a game-day performer by leading all receivers with four catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

"It was his best day, no doubt," Richt said. "It was good for him to have that kind of day. Today is the kind of day that gives guys confidence and helps him see that he belongs. It also gets fans excited, but he's got a ways to go, a lot to learn. But he's getting there."

In addition to the early Georgia enrollees making some noise this spring, the also young second-year performers were putting their foot in the door to glean starting berths in the 2013 campaign.

Redshirt sophomore Sterling Bailey (6-3, 295) was battling junior Ray Drew tooth-and-nail for one of the starting end slots opposite senior Garrison Smith and, in fact, started for the first-team Black defense on G-Day; redshirt sophomore Justin Scott-Wesley used his blazing speed and improved pass catching to thrust himself squarely into Tony Ball's receiver rotation this season and had two catches for 53 yards including a 16-yard scoring catch in the spring game; sophomore corner Sheldon Dawson nailed down a starting spot and had three interceptions in the opening two scrimmages before being sidelined for the remainder of the spring with a hamstring injury; sophomore outside linebacker James DeLoach also gained the inside track on a starting berth and recorded six tackles and a sack of Murray in G-Day while earning the following praise from his head coach: “DeLoach is a big kid (6-3, 270). He’s very athletic.

We were thinking when we signed him that he might be an inside linebacker, but he’s very good out in space and in the flat.”

And last, but by no means least, there's sophomore strong safety Josh Harvey-Clemons and redshirt freshman defensive end John Taylor. Harvey-Clemons, the 6-5, 220-pound athlete out of Valdosta, enjoyed such an outstanding spring he was named as the team's defensive MVP. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has said Harvey-Clemons will be "on the field" somewhere in the Aug. 31 opener at Clemson ... whether he's starting at strong safety, outside linebacker or at the "Star" spot in the Bulldogs' nickel package.

Taylor, DeLoach's prep teammate at Jenkins County in Millen, has successfully made the move to end from nose guard and, in the spring game, showed he's going to be a force to be reckoned with by making seven tackles and a game-high two sacks. “He’s very athletic,” Richt said of the 6-4, 335-pound Taylor.

“He can be a nose guard without question but he’s also athletic enough to be an end. He’s probably athletic enough to play tight end for that matter. … He’s either going to start or he’s going to get a boatload of playing time."

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www.bulldawgillustrated.com • 13

Will Friend cautious in O-line praise photo by Rob Saye

By Murray Poole/BI eorgia fans are already anticipating the 2013 football season and when they discuss the strengths of this year’s team, they quickly point to a talented and experienced offensive line, which is returning every single starter – and several top reserves – from the 12-2 team of last fall that established new school records on the offensive side of the ball.

But there’s one guy who’s not yet quite ready to call his unit a team strength. And he’s a guy whose opinion matters. That would be Bulldogs offensive line coach Will Friend. He says just because his linemen exceeded expectations and performed well in 2012, that won’t buy them a single yard of real estate when Georgia answers the opening whistle Aug. 31 in Clemson’s Death Valley.

“We do have everybody back but whether it’s a strong point of the team, I don’t know,” said Friend.

“That’s yet to be determined. But they are back and a lot of experience is back, guys who have played for a year or two now so that’s a plus. But we’re still nowhere where we want to be to be considered a strong point of the team and we’ve got to improve. The thing that this group of guys did do well last year is that they improved every day and if they’ll do that through the rest of this spring and through the summer and in fall camp and then as the season goes on, I think they can be OK, but every day is a new day and they’ve got to approach it and focus on that day and try to get better that way.”

Friend said the fact sophomore right tackle John Theus missed the early part of spring practice and senior guard Chris Burnette sat out all of the spring drills, made for opportunities for some of Georgia’s younger linemen. “Xzavier Ward really had a good spring and that was a pleasant surprise,” Friend said. “And really, to be honest with you, he could make a push to be a guy that we could count on to play or maybe push one of the starters. He did a good job this spring. David Andrews had a pretty good spring and Dallas Lee worked hard and had a better spring. And, right now, that’s about as far as I would go as far as saying whom I’ve been really happy with (laughing), not necessarily happy but they had some pretty good springs. But they’ve got to come on as a group and getting the other guys back will be a big plus for them, too. That adds to the guys you can count on in a game.”

Friend said the fact his veteran players can line up at different positions should add to the unit’s capabilities this season.

“Mark (Beard) has worked at left tackle and we’re going to work Kenarious (Gates) there,” he offered.

“They’ll both play there and we’ll see who the best fit is.

John Theus will probably get some reps there, too. (At

G

14 • Bulldawg Illustrated

the end of spring, Theus started at the left tackle spot and Ward was the starter at right tackle, and they lined up that way in the G-Day game). You’ve got to be able to maneuver some people around. The first thing you want to start off with is you want to figure out who your best guys are, your guys who are going to compete in the game and, after that, you kind of want to go ‘OK, these are the guys who can compete in the game and these are our guys who are ahead of the other players right now’ and now you’ve kind of got to go into what gives us the best chance to succeed, where I need to place them and that type deal. So that’s what spring is for, to kind of move some guys around … this guy may be a better fit at left tackle, maybe this guy’s a better fit at guard for our total success and that’s the main goal, for us to be productive. And so you’re kind of working now to get the best five and get the best five in the right spots, that’s what we do in the spring.”

Friend said seniors Lee and Burnette will be at the guards and they’ll also get some work at center. “And we signed two new guys who will work at center also.

But again, it goes back to finding the right combination and you’ve got to have a plan on if so and so goes down … you can’t just go and say, ‘this is my best five,’ we have to have an idea and guys have to be able to play a couple of different spots and if somebody goes down, now, what’s my best five? So you have to be able to deal with all that.

“Xzavier, Austin (Long) … those guys have had the best spring of the guys I guess you could say who weren’t starters last year,” said Friend, speaking prior to Long sustaining a fractured hand in a workout. “And we’ll kind of go and see from there. We hope Watts (Dantzler) will come on and we’ve got two mid-year guys that are spinning, (Josh) Cardiello and (Aulden) Bynum. Right now they should be back at the prom so they’re spinning a little bit but we’ve just got to keep our foot on them and keep going.”

Friend said his linemen are fortunate to be run blocking and pass protecting for such players as Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall and Aaron Murray.

“I think our guys understand that if they give some of the skill players we have a chance, they can make big things happen,” Friend said. “You know, last year we had a lot of big plays and a lot of them were because we gave some guys some opportunities. And then we’ve got the players to do it. The backs (Gurley and Marshall), they do a great job of taking a 5-yard run and making it a 30 and you know we want to get them to that next level and give them a chance to do that. And Aaron, he does such a great job of putting us in the right play and some of the checks and some of the

things Aaron does gives our guys a chance to be pretty good so he’s a good handler of the line and Hutson (Mason) does a good job with it, too. But I think the guys do understand it. We do have a smart group, I think they understand the situations the quarterback is trying to put us into and Mike (Bobo) does such a good job of coaching up the quarterbacks that I think it’s a big plus to have those guys. They can, I don’t want to say take care of the linemen, but they can give us an opportunity to give us the best chance to succeed, and I think the guys understand that and enjoy playing for a guy like Aaron because of that.”

Friend feels, with continued work and dedication, his O-line can be equally proficient at run and pass blocking this coming season.

“I think our linemen are so balanced we kind of pride ourselves in being able to do multiple things,” he related. “Certain times, you feel like the run blocking is pretty good, sometimes you think the pass blocking is pretty good … it’s different times. We have our messups on both of them and we’re having some good things in both of them but we’re going to be balanced – we always will be.”

Bulldogs junior center David Andrews thinks the offensive line is the best, depth-wise, he’s witnessed in his three years in Athens.

“The guys are doing some good things as a unit but I think we’ve got to do a lot better,” he said. “We’ve just got to forget about last year and stop resting on our laurels and come out with more hunger. I think we’re all showing leadership but we need to show more as team leaders. When guys see us working and going out and doing things, it’s not only going to help the young guys but those skilled guys are going to be more encouraged to see the big guys working as hard as we are. We’ve just got to step up as a unit and lead this team.”

Andrews echoed his coach about the offensive front being blessed with such outstanding skill players.

“Aaron’s a very smart guy. He’s got a very good grip of this offense that allows us to do a lot,” Andrews said.

“It enables Coach Bobo to trust him with a lot of things, and I think we’ve got a very smart offensive line, too. As an offensive line, to have someone like Aaron back there who you know is going to put you in the right position off a check or off a check in the protection, that means a lot and you know if you give him time he’s going to make big plays for you. And with two backs like Gurley and Marshall if you give them a crease and get them to that second level, they’re going to make the third guy miss and go. They’re special people and they make our job a little bit easier but at the same time, we’ve got to open the holes for them and do a lot better job of that.”

All proceeds benefit:

Join former UGA Bulldogs Matt Stinchcomb, Jon Stinchcomb & David Greene as they host the 8th annual Countdown to Kickoff Fan Festival

saturday, july 13 12pm-3pm uGA PRACtice fields $25 individual ticket or $75 family pack (family pack includes 4 tickets to the event & pennant for autographs)

THIS IS A DAY FOR FANS OF ALL AGES TO GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THEIR FAVORITE DAWGS. THIS YEAR’S EVENT WILL FEATURE THE 2002 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM, NFL DAWGS, GEORGIA FOOTBALL LEGENDS, AND THE 2013 TEAM WILL ALSO BE ON HAND TO RUN DRILLS, PLAY GAMES, THROW PASSES, SIGN AUTOGRAPHS, AND TAKE PICTURES WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S GREATEST FANS DURING A DAY OF FAMILY FUN! FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO PURCHASE TICKETS, PLEASE VISIT:

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Five questions for Mark Richt ... by Murray Poole

1.

As a whole, what does getting so close to playing in the national championship game in 2012 mean to you, your staff and this team? Is winning it all in 2013 the number one goal?

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s the goal. We want to be champions, no doubt about that. But I think that at this time of year we better spend time preparing to be a champion … doing the things you need to do in the weight room, in the classroom, doing our mat drill program, spring ball, do all those things. Even in our character ed, our community service projects, just all those things I think help us grow together as a team. You’ve got to be together, you’ve got to be united because there’s always going to be things that come up that you’ve got to overcome as a team. So the stronger we can become as a team, the stronger they can become individually, the better off we’re going to be. I think this is a team that is hungry.

They’re very coachable, very teachable and I think they’re excited about becoming the best they can be. There’s been very few issues we’ve had to manage as far as guys needing a little extra motivation. We really haven’t had much of a problem with that at all. We’ve got a bunch of guys that have been very enjoyable to work with at this point because they are motivated.”

2.

During the 2012 season you said you would be spending more time in the off-season sharpening your special teams knowledge. How’s that going and how has that been implemented during spring drills?

“That’s going to be more an over-the-summertime event. I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to look but I definitely want to get up with some people who are very good technicians and can help me help our young men from a technical standpoint. I’m talking about our kickers and our punters. I don’t need to coach a special team but where I’d like to become more knowledgeable is in the fundamentals of kicking and punting the ball and so by having better knowledge there I think I can help keep our guys on track. And I also want to talk to some people about what they think are good, healthy routines for guys in-season because you don’t want them to do too much, you don’t want them to do too little. You want them to stay focused but you don’t want them to kick their legs out. You want to give them the best chance of staying focused and staying strong fundamentally because that’s the big thing with that position, probably as much as or more as any position. It’s a very limited function. Kicking the ball and punting the ball, it’s not like they’re doing a lot of different things. They’re doing one thing extremely well whereas when you’re playing another position, there’s so many things you’ve got to learn, so many fundamentals, so many things that go through your mind whereas kicking is very, very small in your focus and you’ve got to make sure they stay on track.”

3. photo by Rob Saye

What about the contributions that Georgia’s coaches’ wives make to the program? It seems, for instance, very significant when you see Coach Scott Lakatos’ wife on the sidelines during Pro Day watching and supporting the defensive backs.

“It might be one of the most underrated things that there is in coaching football – the support of the wife. And our wives are phenomenal; our coaches’ wives are great.

They’re the ones holding down the fort when we’re spending a lot of hours here. They do it with a great attitude and not only do they do a great job raising their children and supporting their husbands but, like you say, they’re here supporting our players. They get involved quite a bit, they get involved in recruiting, they get involved in so many things that are so crucial for our success and they do it because, number one, they love their husbands and want to support them. And not only do our wives get involved I think we do a pretty good job of having our children around our program and involved as well. We want them to enjoy the benefits of being a coach’s kid. Some people look at it as a negative because of the time but we look at it as a positive because there’s a lot of pretty cool stuff they need to do as well.” (Enjoy Murray Poole’s ongoing Q&A feature with the wives of UGA football coacheson page 5)

7th Annual FCA Gala 4.

What does it mean to this season to have Aaron Murray back for his senior season at quarterback?

Mark...the Date

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7th Annual FCA Gala

Mark...the Date Saturday, July 13th at 5:30pm at our new venue, the Butts-Mehre football building, indoor facility.

“Well, the quarterback I’ve said a lot of times, he is one of the leaders of the team just by position. Whoever the quarterback is, he’s the leader. Now what type of leader is he going to be? Is he going to be a good leader, a mediocre leader, what kind of skills does he have as a leader? To have a guy coming back for his fourth year as a starter, for his fifth year in the program, and knowing Aaron’s leadership abilities and what he’s already proven on the field, what he’s proven as a leader in the off-season, it’s comforting to know that he’s back and he’s able to continue to do the things that it takes to rally the rest of the team in a positive direction. He’s not the only leader on this team, obviously, but he’s right up there at the top. No (quarterback I’ve coached) would succeed him in his work ethic but there’s been a couple of guys pretty dedicated to the game. But Aaron’s a 365 guy because 365 days of the year he’s doing the right things to help himself and help the team do well. Even not being at practice one day (on March 26 when Murray received the Peach of an Athlete award in Atlanta), it killed him not being at practice but you know what, to receive that award it was a very prestigious award and it just happened to be on a day we practiced. The practice turned into a scrimmage and he hated missing it but he did something that I think was very valuable to the University of Georgia and to the team, and he’s always put the team first and I’m just real proud of him. And going out to the University of Oklahoma to sharpen his skills during his spring break, no question, there’s another example: ‘What can I do this week to get better?’”

Saturday, July 13th at 5:30pm

5.

What are your biggest concerns for the 2013 season, offensive and defensively?

“I don’t like to talk in terms of concerns. There’s some things we have to get better at.

Offensively, one thing we’ve got to make sure we understand is that it’s a new year. Just because we had success last year doesn’t mean it’s going to happen this year. We got to earn that again, we’ve got to play very well at all positions. We can’t be complacent in any way, shape or form because of the past success. And it was a very fine year last year, obviously. The guys have got to keep earning it and706.227.9000 have to keep trying to reach a new level of excellence because you can easily go backwards. It happens all the time and we don’t want that to happen. And, defensively, there’s just so many new faces you can’t really pinpoint one thing. I think the whole defense has got to rally and guys have got to step up and I got a feeling we’ll be using more guys than we did a year ago and relying on some of our depth to help us stay playing fast, to help us play physical, to help us down after down play with a relentless attitude because it’s hard for just one guy at one position to do it. Not that we didn’t sub last year but I think we’ll have a bigger substitution pattern this year, more of a defense by committee. I think we are (a quicker and faster defense than last year). Individually, there were some guys last year who were certainly extremely quick and athletic but as a unit, when you look at 11 guys or even 22 guys, I think these guys – now, they’re not as big – but they are very quick and agile and if they keep playing hard and relentlessly, I think we’re going to have a chance to have a pretty good bunch. But we’ve got a lot to prove, really, on both sides of the ball.”

Join Mark and Katharyn Richt, For more information contact, jcamp@fca.org UGA Coaches & Athletes, and the FCA Staff or call for an evening of fellowship, dining & inspiration at the place where the Dawgs practice and get ready for gamedays.

For more information contact, jcamp@fca.org or call 706.227.9000 16 • Bulldawg Illustrated

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Rob Sherrell : Haacking it Up!

The University of Georgia is blessed with several really good coaches that fly under the radar. Golf coach, Chris Haack is one of those. With multiple SEC and national c championships, Coach Haack has been supremely successful during his tenure at UGA. Also, I would be willing to bet no other NCAA coach currently has more players competing professionally. At present, Coach Haack has eight guys competing on the PGA Tour and another seven on the Web.com. If you ever have a chance to talk to any of his former players, you'll hear nothing but superlatives about how much they appreciate what all Coach Haack has done for them. I don't think there is any way UGA could do better. Also, don't miss out on the last question about Coach Haack's sense of humor. It just proves you can have a good time and still win at the highest levels.

I don't want you to divulge any secrets and like you just said not everyone is going to play professionally, but your success at putting guys on tour is uncanny. You have 15 former players on the two main professional tours right now. How do you do that?

Well, when I got here there was a very good foundation laid

by Howell Hollis and Dick Copas. I get to see their former players quite frequently. I had a great foundation from guys that came before me. And really, all I tried to do was take what I knew about golf and enhance that. I looked at it from a standpoint of we've got such a rich history here, we've got to show this off and let people see this. And through their help of building the practice facility and building the Boyd Center, and really putting it out there in front for people to see. That's what really attracted the kids. I mean I could've brought a kid in here that liked Athens and so forth, but they didn't know anything about the history of the program. So being able to see the history, lets them see the future. As I've always said, I'm just kind of the steward of the program now. They'll be someone who comes in behind me and keep going what I was able to do. As long as you get someone with that mindset, you're going to have success because Athens and UGA are going to always breed good things. One of the biggest parts of our success is finding kids that grew up loving UGA. Whether it's Brian Harman who I saw at age 11 wearing UGA gear, or Adam Mitchell whose dad played baseball at Georgia, or Brendan Todd who had an aunt that loved the school. I mean Russell Henley, Harris English, those guys grew up Georgia fans. So there's an allegiance to this school like no other and that helps build the success. I just think you player harder when you have that love.

Let's talk about one of your most famous pupils Bubba Watson. I saw the other day where Bubba has moved from 112th in the world in ball striking to 11th now on tour in a four year span. How can someone make a jump that big in that short of time playing against the world's best?

Well, with Bubba it's more about his confidence, him being comfortable. Most of those guys go into their careers great ball strikers. And Bubba's no exception. Bubba's probably got the greatest hand-eye coordination of anybody I've ever had. He can hit them high, low, or curve them as we saw in his playoff. So from a talent standpoint, he's got all the tools. So with Bubba, he's gotten more comfortable. A lot of guys that get in contention on Sundays get uncomfortable. With Bubba, he's going to put himself into contention a lot and I think has just gotten more comfortable when he's in those situations. You know he was able to translate that into a win, then more wins and then into a major. So I believe it's just getting more comfortable. And I think we even saw that some with Adam Scott this past weekend.

I think we're ranked second in the conference right now.

What's your feeling on where we are right now with your trying to capture your eighth title for the program?

Well, thanks for the segue on that because I'd like to talk a little bit about the Masters. First, give me your thoughts on how great of a finish that was this year. That's three playoffs in the last fives years and the other two finishes were wild as well with multiple players in contention. Is there some magic formula they have?

You know the old saying "It's a game of inches"? It showed it right there. Cabrerra's putt on 17, his chip on the first playoff hole at 18 and his putt on the 10 all looked like they were going in. And then Adam Scott, making those great putts on 18 and 10. I mean it was great theater because the shots that these guys were hitting were world class shots. For Cabrerra to stand back there in the fairway in the pouring down rain watching Adam Scott make that putt, then knowing he's got to make birdie and he stuffs it in there three feet.

That's why these guys are the best of the best. It is high quality golf at its best. I tell you they have created the magic formula for drama, excitement, and everything that's great about golf. As Jim Nantz says "It's a tournament like no other" and that is the truest statement you could possibly give.

What are your thoughts on the Tiger Woods situation? Do you think he should've DQed himself?

I think in light of the rule they put in two years ago, that's the whole reason they have that rule. That way you can rectify a mistake without a disqualification. If they didn't have that rule in place, then I would've said yes. There needs to be a disqualification. But that was the whole purpose of the rule. He got the appropriate penalty. I don't have a problem with it based on the new rule. That allowed him an escape clause basically. I think they did the right thing.

Well let's move on to UGA golf and talk about all the success you've had. It obviously starts with bringing in talent.

When you're recruiting a kid, what are the intangibles you look for most?

Obviously you look for kids that shoot low scores and win tournaments. Those are the guys you look for first. And we get results so we know who's been putting up numbers who's been winning tournaments and who are the higher ranked kids. So we already know those kids. But I actually go and look for other things like watching their attitude. One of the tell-tale signs I look for is how a kid's bag stands. I look to see who's got the big indented bag stands where a kid's been banging on them with his clubs. How does he treat his fellow players when he comes off the course? How does he treat his parents? I like to see a really good player on a day when he's not playing good because that's when you really find out the character of a kid.

In my opinion, a good attitude can translate into one or two shots saved a round where a bad attitude can cost a shot or two. So if it's a really good player, whose attitude you can improve if you can get through to him, then that's a guy you can really improve if you can teach him that aspect of the game. Some kids are just lost causes. I also look at what kind of student a kid is. So shooting low scores is where you start. And then it sort of filters on down from there.

If we took a survey of all past and present players under you what would they say the love and hate about you?

Oh, gosh! Um, what they would probably say they love about me is I'm fair. I give them all the same chance. I don't treat any of them differently than the other. It doesn't matter who's a walk-on and who's on the big scholarship. They all get the same equal opportunity to play. So I would think that's one thing they've always appreciated about being part of this program. On the flip side, the thing they probably hate about is, again, I treat them all the same. We've got a standard rule, if someone's late, if someone misses a workout,

photo by Ryan Scates

throws a club or whatever, they all run at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. It doesn't matter who the player is. There've been some really good players and some guys on the other end of the spectrum, but they all get treated the same. And at 5:30 in the morning when they're all there because of one guy, that guy feels horrible and that's the biggest deterrent to doing it again. It's one thing to just make him run, but when he makes his teammates run. That's when he realizes he can't let those guys down.

Well you've been a huge get for the University. I don't think anyone's better. But amid all the success, there's always some heartbreak. Just talk about the highs and lows of coaching at such a high profile program.

That kind of hits the nail of the head right there. There are the highs and there are the lows. You just try to figure a way to kind of balance them. You've got to just realize it's a very difficult game. All you have to do is watch the PGA tour. Every week it's a different winner. Every year they pick Phil or Tiger to win the Masters and more times than not it's somebody else. So it's a very difficult game to be on top every week or every year. So you learn to balance the highs and lows and you don't let the lows get too low or the highs get too high. One thing I will say about our program, it's not one player or one person. It's a whole department of people. It starts with the academic counselors, our trainers, nutritionists, strength and conditioning people, and then obviously the administration. And fortunately or unfortunately, I'm the one that gets all the credit when the credit should get spread around to a lot of people. But I'll also get all the criticism when things don't go well and that goes with the territory. It's a collective effort and everyone has a piece of that success, Well I know your players all feel very strongly about what you've done for the program and for them individually. I spoke to one of your star players Lowery Thomas last night. He was emphatic in his praise about how you really helped him and other players through tough times. You are considered a mentor and father figure to many of the guys. So have you learned more about handling that part of it than the coaching aspect?

Well, I think most coaches will tell you this. We're not just coaches, we're mentors, we're sports psychologists, we're parents, we're best friends, we're the shoulder to cry on, and we wear a lot of hats. And I think the coaches that have the best balance with all those hats are the ones that are successful. I've never been one to think dictatorships are the way to go. I basically tell my guys it's my program and we're going to do it my way. But, I listen to them. I hear them. I don't have a preconceived notion that I'm all knowing. I try to treat each one of them in a way I think they will not only become a good player, but also a good person, a successful, person. That's where I'm equally proud of guys that have gone on to successful careers other than golf.

I love seeing those guys when they come back. Not everybody is going to play the PGA tour.

We're actually third behind Alabama and Florida. Alabama is the cream of the crop right now. If they're not the best team in the country, then they're one of the best two with Cal. They're both not only winning tournaments, but winning them by big margins. They do have a very talented team and I know how they feel because I've had some teams do the same things for a lot of years. But the one thing I also remember is we didn't win all those years. So I think that's the beautiful thing about golf. Every week something different can happen. That's one of the reasons we tee it up and play the game. Because it is a game. So we're going in with the mindset that we can win it just as easily as anybody else.

We just have to go play. I think my team this year, even though I only have one senior on the team, every week we've had a couple guys play well. Then the next week a couple different guys played well. And so on. So all throughout the year, everyone has played well. So we're at the time of the year where it all has to start coming together and have all the guys play well at the same time. At this point, we are as good as anybody. If that can happen, good things will happen.

I would have loved to watch the SEC tournament on TV. But there's very little college golf on TV. Do you think it would be advantageous for the game to get some adequate TV coverage or would it even make a difference?

I think if you had TV it would be awesome because these kids are really talented. I saw a Web.com Tour poster downtown yesterday and it's a picture of Bubba. The slogan said "We have 330 winners on tour". So it's the same thing. So many good players have come off the Web.com onto the PGA tour. And you're seeing a huge youth movement right now in Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Speith, et al. These guys are leaving college early. And the guys that are staying four years are really competing. We've seen it here with Russell Henley winning as an amateur. Harris English winning as an amateur. These kids are really talented. So if I'm a real golf fan, a golf junkie, the best place to watch these future stars is college golf.

Well some of the things that'll never make TV are the things you and the team do to each other. UGA golf breeds a culture of tomfoolery if you will. I know Lowery told me one time you made him clean a grill for no reason. He was a little miffed and tried to figure out what he had done wrong to merit the punishment while walking to the grill. Then when he opened it he nearly had a heart attack because someone had caught a snake that day and tied it up in the grill. He realized what was going on. Do you try to keep the practical jokes coming because that's your nature, or is it something you've learned to do in order to keep the team loose?

I think it's more human nature because I don't really think a lot about it. I do like to have fun and tell these guys all the time when this ceases to be fun, I'm going to get out. I think sometimes we all take things too serious in life. I think you have to have fun. I think there are times when you have to be serious but they're also times you have to be able to laugh. One of my favorite sayings from Thomas Carlyle's book is laugher is the cipher key of life. And just so you know as we're talking, our true freshman Lee McCoy is going to show up today to head down to the SECs on the school plane, while everybody else is going casual, he’s going to be in a coat and tie because we told him that's how the team travels for this event. So again, it's just one of those little tricks we try to play on the freshmen or whoever. We're always trying to keep thing loose and fresh. It just makes everything we do that much more fun.

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