SEC Preview and Media Days

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SEC Preview & Media Days JD picks Dawgs to win East • Countdown to Kickoff photos • The don’t miss games of 2010 • Birmingham coverage

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7/2010

From the editor : vance leavy Wow, where do I start? Our last issue broke at the end of June, right before our beloved athletics program made not so good headlines just a few days later. Yes I’m talking about the unfortunate circumstances that led to Damon Evans’ resignation as athletic director. In situations like these, all you can do is hope for the best for someone. That’s what all our teachings tell us. Damon loved Georgia and should be remembered for his contributions towards making the athletic program even stronger. And our president, Michael Adams, acted swiftly and got the University of Georgia off of page one in less than a week. Adams’ interim AD, Frank Crumley, is a tried and true Dawg and will keep things going strong at Butts-Mehre. Now the search is on for a new athletics director. Adams is sure to seek advice in all corners and find someone who knows the business and understands the Bulldog Nation. It’s a great task, but Adams’ handling of Evans’ departure bodes well for him landing the right person. Only time will tell, which certainly also applies to Georgia football. And thankfully the time between toe meeting leather is about to end. And as Gruff and Grump point out on page 30, the vibe about these 2010 Dawgs couldn’t be any better. The unofficial start of a new season certainly got rolling at SEC media days. And for the first time ever, Bulldawg Illustrated was there to cover the madness. My original idea was to join Murray Poole and Ryan Scates in Hoover, Ala., but reality set in as my plate proved to be too full. However, it was reassuring to know a veteran sports writing with almost 50 years of experience paired with a soon to be first year UGA law student would most definitely bring back an awesome array of coverage. And they certainly did. Throughout this issue you will find stories by Murray and photos by Ryan. Speaking of photos, how awesome does that shiny Georgia G helmet look on our cover? Beyond our printed issue, if you love the Dawgs, you need to go to our website at www.bulldawgillustrated.com and see all the multimedia snippets Ryan amassed

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during his time in Alabama. My favorite line from media day was Ryan saying that all the Alabama fans there truly believed the Crimson Tide had lost their last game. They are diehard over there, but how can you blame them the way Nick Saban’s squads have played the few two years? And since this is an SEC Preview, you have to give the Mighty Gators their due for winning national titles two out of the last four years. Jeff Dantzler touches on the two-team race between Alabama and Florida in his column. However at the end of it, he sneaks in that he believes the Dawgs will make it back to Atlanta in December. Now that certainly means something because he also precisely called a 7-5 record last season when everyone else was drinking the Kool-Aid. That would include me. I’m still not biting, but after spending a few minutes with Coach Warren Belin recently, I certainly do like our chances to play football the right way on every play in 2010. And when that happens, good things will blossom into something that could end up magical. I’m past my deadline, which is to be expected seeing as this is our first-ever SEC Preview issue. Take in every page. From games you won’t want to miss to loads and loads of fan photos, I think we’ve delivered on this inaugural effort. And my wife, Cheri, would bust my chops if I didn’t mention our interactive web issue on our website. By scrolling down each and every page, viewers can follow links to bonus information about our editorial and advertising content. Finally, the next time you hear from us at BI, our Dawgs will be midway through Fall Camp. We wish them much success as they focus on being the very best they can be. And to our coaches, we appreciate all the hard work that goes into helping them thrive as stalwart players and young men. 2010 should be a blast. Just need to somehow get to kickoff sooner. One last tidbit of support to our basketball coach, Mark Fox and his dynamic wife, Cindy who are hosting the inaugural Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers Gala on Saturday, Aug. 21 at the Classic Center in Athens. They are doing great things for our Men’s basketball program and need the Bulldog Nation’s support via attendees and sponsors. Check it out at www.suitsandsneakersga.org and make your plans now. Isn’t it great to be a Georgia Bulldog?

SEC preview/media days Cha Cha Cha Publishing Editor Vance Leavy Editorial & Ad Director Cheri Leavy Sports Guru Jeff Dantzler Public Relations Director Andrew Miller Sales & Marketing Kelley Blanton Andrew Miller Michael Santos Holly Stanfill Sports Murray Poole Layout/Design Vance Leavy Student Interns Chelsea Lipocky, Ryan Scates Alex McWhorter Ad Design Cheri Leavy Andrew Miller Cover Design Vance Leavy Columnists Carlton DeVooght Al Hickson Reg Murphy Rob Sherrell Loran Smith Chad White Web Maven Cheri Leavy SEC Media Days Issue, July 27, 2010 FOR ADVERTISING OR TO SUBSCRIBE: andrew@bulldawgillustrated.com

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SEC, two team race, agents, Dogs win east No conference has ever enjoyed the kind of ride that the Southeastern Conference is on. The list of accolades and accomplishment has blown past amazing. For the first time in history, a conference has won four consecutive undisputed national championships, with Florida winning in 2006 and ’08, LSU in ’07 and Alabama in ‘09. For the first time in history, three different schools from the same league won successive national titles. Dating back to 2006, three other SEC schools have finished in the top three nationally. LSU finished the ’06 season ranked third, Georgia was No. 2 in 2007 and Florida No. 3 a year ago. Over that same period, the SEC has produced far and away the most National Football League draft choices and some serious star power. For a third consecutive year, the SEC will have an active Heisman Trophy winner. Tim Tebow became the first underclassman to ever win the Heisman Trophy, capturing college sports most coveted individual award as a sophomore in 2007. Another sophomore, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford won the award in 2008, then last season, Alabama’s second year standout Mark Ingram had his name called in New York, becoming the Crimson Tide’s first ever Heisman recipient. So there is a college football rarity, though it was the case with Southern Cal and Matt Leinhart heading into the 2005 season, Alabama is the defending national champion with a reigning Heisman Trophy winner. What has made the SEC so great is both the power at the top and the depth of the league. Since 2004, when Auburn posted a perfect 13-0 record and won the league title, four West teams and three from the East have appeared in the SEC Championship Game. Compare this to the Big XII, where Oklahoma or Texas has won every conference title over that same period and the PAC-10 where USC won seven straight championships from 2002-08. But over the last two seasons, the SEC has been a two horse race. Alabama and Florida have met in the last two SEC Championship Games, which have served as de facto national semifinals. En route to the last two national and SEC titles, the Gators and Crimson Tide have combined for an astounding record of 52-4, with two of those losses coming to one another. Led by Ingram, Bama figures to be the consensus preseason No. 1 when the August polls come out. At SEC Media Days, Bama was the overwhelming choice to win the West, despite numerous personnel losses, particularly off of the nation’s best defense. Florida suffered even heavier losses, including Tebow and several stars from the nation’s second best defense, yet the Gators were also a heavy favorite to win the East. Florida became the first team from the East since Georgia in ’02 and ’03 to make it to consecutive SEC Championship Games, while Bama became the first from the West to go back-to-back since the Tide went to the first three from 1992-94. Gator coach Urban Meyer, when asked if the SEC had become a two team league, confidently

replied yes, but was quick to point out that falling asleep for just a second means getting passed. The door is open, maybe a little more so in the East. Make no mistake that the Gators and Crimson Tide will both be very talented, but along with the wealth of talent and experience both lost, the schedules will be more difficult – especially for Bama – in large part due to the fact that they meet in Tuscaloosa October 2. Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina, LSU, Arkansas and maybe even Kentucky (Tennessee figures to be a year or two away from contention) have their sights set at ending the two-year domination of the Crimson Tide and Gators. ‌.. Both Florida and Alabama were touched when the story of studentathletes involvement with unscrupulous agents broke. On a side note, Georgia star receiver A.J. Green has good grounds for a lawsuit towards at least one media outlet, as he was wrongly and irresponsibly named as the story broke. It was assumed that he was involved, even after the humble All-American said he had never been to Miami, where the infamous agent/athlete party took place. By the end of the week after NCAA investigators sent personnel to Athens, Green was cleared of any wrongdoing. Unscrupulous agents and point shaving are the two scariest issues surrounding college athletics, because there’s just no failsafe way to govern and monitor what young athletes – many to most of whom come from poor backgrounds – can be preyed upon with the lure of money and “no one needing to know or getting hurt.â€? Schools, conferences and the NCAA simply have no power to govern agents. It comes back to educating the student-athletes, and them ultimately making the right decision, as in not risking eligibility and millions of dollars for instant gratification and thousands. The ‘runners’ for unscrupulous agents don’t have that difficult a time with modern technology gaining access to many collegiate athletes. With limited practice times and the elimination of athletic dorms, there’s less structure and control for coaches to monitor their players. Quick cash for those who don’t have much. It’s a toxic combination. ‌..

2010 SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH SEC West 1. Alabama (11-1, 7-1) 2. Auburn (10-2, 6-2) 3. Arkansas (8-4, 4-4) 4. LSU (7-5, 4-4) 5. Ole Miss (5-7, 2-6) 6. Mississippi State (3-9, 0-8) SEC East 1. Georgia (10-2, 6-2) 2. Florida (9-3, 6-2) 3. South Carolina (8-4, 4-4) 4. Kentucky (8-4, 4-4) 5. Tennessee (5-7, 2-6) 6. Vanderbilt (1-11, 0-8) SEC Championship Game: Alabama vs. Georgia

Bulldawg Illustrated

poole shots By Murray Poole

First trip to media days most enlightening Although I’ve covered Georgia football for some 45 years now, I had never attended the event called SEC Football Media Days until this past week when I joined Bulldawg Illustrated intern Ryan Scates in Hoover, Ala. to gather information for blogs on our website and for the feature stories you’re now reading in this special SEC preview issue of BI. Prior to driving to The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, a southern suburb of Birmingham, I had heard all the stories about SEC Media Days, and I guess the primary comment from people who had been to this thing for many years went something like this, “It’s a circus,” or “It’s a zoo.” I guess, with those kind of statements, the media guys simply were alluding to the nearly 1,000 human animals that flock to the event, that flood every television room, radio and Internet room and print media room in scurrying about the hotel in attempts to secure every little newsy morsel they can about the football players and coaches in the Southeastern Conference and what’s going to happen on the field in the upcoming season. But, much to my relief, I didn’t find my first SEC Media Days to be any different, any more hectic than other big-time sporting events that attract an equal number of sportswriters, radio and television people. In fact, I would pretty much equate this to covering a Super Bowl, where all the working folks from all over stay in the official media headquarters hotel and sit in on steady press conferences while trying to come up with any new angles for stories that they can. The only difference in that and SEC Media Days, of course, is there is no football game to cap off the week’s activities. As for as any surprises in Hoover, nothing really jumped out at me last week. But I guess a mild surprise would be the actual amount of time each SEC head coach stayed up at the main podium while addressing the huge throng of writers in the print media room. After earlier holding “pressers” in separate rooms with the TV people and radio and Internet personalities, some head coaches would make their presentations and answer countless questions for up to nearly an hour. That’s drastically opposed to the time you’re going to get from these guys once their team tees it up in the season. Usually, it’s a 30-minute shot – or much less – once these coaches get the season underway. What I also found interesting was the contrast in speaking styles of the steady stream of coaches and SEC officials that took the dais last Wednesday through Friday in Hoover. First to take the podium early Wednesday morning was Bill Hancock, executive director of the BCS. As you might expect, Hancock extolled the virtues of the BCS setup, telling why a college playoff system would be detrimental to the game we have now “where every single contest matters” in the teams’ effort to make it to the BCS national championship game or BCS bowl game and where that wouldn’t be the case if there were a season-ending playoff format in place. Then came commissioner Mike Slive giving his state-of-the-SEC address and he talked in detail of the prosperity and accomplishments of a conference that most consider the finest collegiate league in the land. This was just one of Slive’s comments that leaped out at me: “For the 29th consecutive year, we have recorded the largest total attendance of any conference in the nation. A total of 6.6 million people came to our games, and we filled our stadiums to an astonishing 98 percent of capacity for each home game.” But, of course, the highlight of media days comes in listening to the head coaches and SEC players themselves. And what I discovered is that, this day and time, you hardly ever hear a coach moaning and groaning and downplaying their respective team’s chances concerning the upcoming season. Gone are the days when a Bear Bryant or Vince Dooley “poor-mouthed” their team’s potential in attempts to perhaps catch their opponents’ guard down when, in actuality, coaches in the Bryant and Dooley mode knew they had more than enough good football players to beat anybody they encountered. Nope, these days, all the SEC coaches that strode up to the podium Wednesday through Friday talked most optimistically of their team’s outlook this season and how they could accomplish great things if all the parts came together and major injuries were avoided. And, as for the players themselves, they are like

they always were … expressing the confidence their team can whip anyone they play, which is the way it should be unless that kind of confidence spills heavily over into the “cocky” realm. I mentioned the contrasting speaking style of the different coaches. By far the most entertaining for the media this year was a guy we knew absolutely nothing about. Robbie Caldwell, who became Vanderbilt’s interim coach after veteran mentor Bobby Johnson abruptly retired in mid-summer, used his corn-pone, down-home-country style of humor to keep the usually staid media bunch in absolutely stitches his entire presentation. The bald, paunchy Caldwell quipped about everything from his virtual anonymity among SEC fellow coaches, to turkey farming, to women’s lipstick and even tossed in a little Commodore football talk in the process. Just a couple of Caldwell gems: “I got asked on the radio, ‘What about all the coaches, have they congratulated you?’ I said, no, not a one. No offense to them, but they don’t know me. They will.” And these: “I can still walk in places and nobody knows me. Last night here I was opening the door for people and they give me a tip. I thought, hey, that’s great. How can you get it any better than that?” …. “I knew I was a fat guy (pulling his jacket out and showing his sizable stomach), but I didn’t need all these heavy duty extra springs. This job has been good for me. I’ve lost about seven pounds in the last eight days.”…. “You can tell by looking at me. I done it all, too. If I told some of these ladies what they put in that lipstick right there, oh, my goodness, because I de-beaked, blood tested, vaccinated (while working on turkey farm). I done it all. It was pretty special.” Alabama’s Nick Saban, who was the first coach to grace the podium Wednesday, made probably the longest opening statement before taking questions and along with Georgia coach Mark Richt was among the most polished and relaxed speakers behind the microphone. New Tennessee coach Derek Dooley though, by far, was the most elegant speaker on the dais, sounding in fact like the smooth-talking lawyer that he was before plunging head-first into the collegiate coaching ranks. But Dooley, like Richt, Joker Phillips, Dan Mullen, Houston Nutt and some of the others, also weaved some wit into his presentation and was particularly humorous when discussing his flamboyant mom, Barbara. “She’s become an icon in the state of Tennessee, so much that I had to kind of try to temper her back a little, “ Dooley said. “As you know, that’s impossible. Everybody loves her because she subscribes to the theory speak first, think second, the exact opposite of my dad.” And while Florida’s Urban Meyer, LSU’s Les Miles and Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino were pretty much all serious and business-like in their talks, as was pretty much Auburn coach Gene Chizik, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier was, well, Steve Spurrier. When asked about the possibility of losing his title as “the SEC’s most-quotable coach” to new mentors Caldwell and Phillips, Spurrier replied with a straight face, “No, I’m not worried about that at all. I don’t think I’ve won enough games lately to have any outlandish quotes. If you win a bunch of games (like he did at Florida), it’s pretty easy to give all the answers up here.” In summary, I would call my first experience at SEC Media Days most interesting, entertaining and enjoyable. But, frankly, all this did was make me glad that the SEC football games themselves are almost upon us, when all the speculating will have ended and we’ll know who’s going to be the haves and havenots in the Southeastern Conference this fall. And, oh, a little dessert for myself at media days was excursions with three buddies to two of Alabama’s landmark institutions, Dreamland Barbecue, and Legion Field. It was night-time when we pulled up into a parking lot at Legion Field, which lies in an old Birmingham neighborhood. Lights were still on underneath the stands and as you sat and pondered the venue, you could nearly envision the ghosts still stirring inside the place … the man in the houndstooth hat pacing the sidelines with a rolled-up program in his hand, the “punt-Bama-punt” thing when Auburn blocked about three Crimson Tide punts en route to upsetting powerful Alabama and all the shouts of “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” thundering down from the stands in all those Iron Bowl classics down through the decades.

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SEC ... SEC ... SEC A look at each 2010 team in the order they appeared at media days By Murray Poole

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lmost all of the Southeastern Conference football coaches and their leading players expressed optimism about their team’s chances this coming season, at this past week’s annual SEC Media Days at The Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. But, being realistic, all the teams in the SEC’s Eastern and Western Divisions won’t be contending for a championship this coming fall. That said, who are the true contenders to make it to Atlanta for the conference title game and, at the same time, who are the pretenders? Here is a brief 2010 preview of each of the Southeastern Conference teams … in the order their head coach and players appeared before the 1,000-plus media throng in Birmingham, actually Hoover, Ala. ALABAMA – Not only a contender for the SEC championship once again but, for a second consecutive national title as well. Nick Saban lost eight starters from the rugged defensive unit that paced the Crimson Tide to last year’s flawless 14-0 record (8-0 SEC) but on the other side of the ball has eight offensive regulars returning, including Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Mark Ingram, senior quarterback Greg McElroy and talented junior wideout Julio Jones. And as far as that Alabama defense goes, Tide fans shouldn’t fret too much. Alabama will simply reload here with a score of talented new starters and returning junior linebacker Donta’ Hightower and strong safety Mark Barron will make sure those young guys play defense in the manner that Saban absolutely demands. Commented Hightower on Media Day, “Losing that many defensive starters, it might be the foundation and motivation for the defense. We have a lot of talent, speed, and athletics, and we’ll use it for our advantage.” MISSISSIPPI STATE – Dan Mullen’s first Bulldog team went 5-7 last season but, most importantly, sounded a distinct warning for future Mississippi State opponents by playing the Florida Gators right down to the wire before falling by 29-19. And, against rival Ole Miss, the Bulldogs put everything together to whack the Johnny Rebs, 41-27. But even though Mullen returns a whopping 16 starters from the team that led the SEC in rushing yards in 2009, don’t look for the Bulldogs to challenge the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and LSU for the SEC West title this season. Just too many question marks concerning a defense that was porous last season and a depth chart that can’t survive any major injuries. Still, Mullen is most optimistic about the new season and the head coach’s excitement could carry over to his football team. “We’re excited about this upcoming season with our players,” said Mullen at the Media Days podium. “We had a great off-season. I think when you finish the season how we did last year, with a huge win over your rival, it catapults you into that next year.” KENTUCKY – There’s surely optimism in the bluegrass also as the Wildcats are returning 13 regulars from a team that won seven games last season … one of those victories being a 34-27 stunner over Georgia in Athens. Now with Joker Phillips succeeding veteran coach Rich Brooks at the UK helm, the Wildcats certainly have top skill people in the likes of do-it-all junior Randall Cobb and senior tailback Derrick Locke. Also, Kentucky has a pair of capable quarterbacks in senior Mike Hartline and sophomore Morgan Newton. But, question is, will the UK defense, paced by senior end DeQuin Evans and junior linebacker Danny Trevathan, grow enough fangs to become a viable player in SEC East this autumn? In Phillips’ first year at the controls, it’s difficult to see the Wildcats pushing Florida, Georgia and South Carolina very hard in the Eastern Division race. But Phillips is saying all the right things as Kentucky prepares for its Sept. 4 season opener at Louisville. “One of our program goals is to win the SEC East, not to win the national championship, but to win the SEC East,” stated Phillips in Birmingham last week. “If you win the SEC East, there’s a chance you’re going to be competing for a national championship.” FLORIDA – Yes, the mighty Gators lost six defensive starters and five offensive regulars – including legendary quarterback Tim Tebow – from the 2009 team that stormed to a 13-1 record with the only loss being the disappointing 32-13 setback to eventual national champion Alabama in the SEC championship game. But shed no tears for these crocodiles. Until someone proves differently, the Gators are a solid choice to capture the East title once again and make it to Atlanta for a third consecutive December. Indeed, Florida has so many athletes stockpiled in Gainesville, there’s no rebuilding at the University of Florida … just reloading. The Gators have speed to burn in the backfield in the form of junior running back Jeff Demps and in sen-

6

ior end Justin Trattou, junior corner Janoris Jenkins and senior safety Ahmad Black, have the nucleus on defense to make things tough for opposing offenses once again. And in his very first year succeeding the great Tebow, redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley should develop into one of the top passers in the conference. At SEC Media Days last Wednesday, head coach Urban Meyer didn’t seem too worried about things when he said, “It’s year six for myself and members of my staff. There’s a little bit of newness and freshness in Gainesville now with the loss of some great players, but I think we have some great players coming up through the ranks. There’s an air of excitement in Gainesville, and justifiably so.” ARKANSAS – In his third year at the Arkansas helm, Bobby Petrino is hoping his Hogs will be snorting in the upcoming 2010 football season. After struggling to a 5-7 record in his first year in Fayetteville in 2008, Petrino’s Razorbacks posted an 8-5 mark last season including a 20-17 win over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl. And from that team Arkansas returns a whopping 18 starters including junior quarterback Ryan Mallett, one of the finest passers in the land, senior tight end D.J. Williams, junior wide receiver Joe Adams and junior defensive end Jake Bequette. So, here in the preseason at least, you have to designate the Hogs as one of the solid contenders in SEC West. Still, with a road schedule that sends the Razorbacks to Georgia (Sept. 18), to Auburn, to South Carolina and to Mississippi State and lists home games against Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU (Little Rock), is anybody going to pick the Hogs to finish ahead of the Crimson Tide, Auburn … even LSU? However, speaking at SEC Media Days this past Thursday, Petrino said his team is embracing the high expectations in 2010. “We’re embracing it, we want it to motivate us and then do everything we can to make it come true,” he said. “Offensively, this season, it’s important that we continue to improve in our running game and defensively, we want to continue to emphasize what we did well last year … get turnovers, play better red-zone defense and obviously, we must eliminate the big plays that hurt us a good bit last year.” GEORGIA – No secrets here as almost everyone in Bulldawg Nation is aware that Georgia is going to be doing everything it can to snap back from last season’s dismal 8-5 finish and try to dislodge the Florida Gators from the top spot in SEC East. And with 10 starters returning on an offense that got back to a punishing running game at season’s end last fall, as well as a newly-revamped 3-4 defense under the guidance of new coordinator Todd Grantham, these Dogs look fully capable of finally overcoming a Florida team that lost Tim Tebow and six defensive starters and thereby make it back to the Georgia Dome for the SEC title game. While the offense has a veteran offensive line with all the Bulldogs’ starters returning intact plus All-America receiver A.J. Green and the kicking game is the best in the country with All-America punter Drew Butler and ultratalented place-kicker Blair Walsh, a couple of huge question marks are (1) how fast will the new-look defense develop under Grantham? And, (2) can Aaron Murray flourish in Georgia’s experienced offense despite being a mere redshirt freshman? Said head coach Mark Richt at SEC Media Days in Birmingham this past Thursday, “With the new scheme that we have and the excitement that it has brought, I think we’re going to get after it. We’re going to play hard and with a lot of energy. If we can do that and find a way to keep from beating ourselves, which I think we did to a certain extent last season with our turnover ratio and our penalty count, if we could find a way to keep from beating ourselves, I think we’ll be a pretty good football team.” Richt said Georgia’s entire team has a great deal of respect for its young quarterback. “I’ll say this about our team,” Richt said. “They respect this kid because he prepares, because he puts the team first, because he has talent. They know by virtue of the fact that he is the quarterback, he’s in the leadership position, he has to succeed. So they’re rallying around this kid.”

Nick Saban VANDERBILT – The Commodores may not have the greatest football team in the SEC but, most certainly, they have the best stand-up comedian in the person of interim coach Robbie Caldwell, who simply had the huge media contingent in stitches at the recent SEC Media Days in Birmingham. But things in Nashville this coming season likely won’t be so hilarious as Vanderbilt attempts to bounce back from last year’s dismal 2-10 finish – the Commodores’ final season under Bobby Johnson. To fight the SEC wars, Vandy has five returning regulars on offense and six returning starters on the defensive side of the ball. The Dores’ defensive leaders look to be junior linebacker Chris Marve and junior safety Sean Richardson and offensively, Vanderbilt is expected to be paced by a pair of sophomore tailbacks, Warren Norman and Zac Stacy. “Everybody is disappointed with last year,” said Caldwell, “and I think we’ve made adjustments to improve on that this year. Coach Johnson made a number of adjustments in the spring, we’ve done some tweaking and I think all our coaches and players are truly excited about this coming season.” Sad to say, though, excitement can only carry a team a portion of the way, and if Caldwell is able to steer the Commodores out of the Eastern Division cellar and enable them to finish above Tennessee or Kentucky, then he will have accomplished great things in the Music City. SOUTH CAROLINA – Could this be the football season that Steve Spurrier finally gets it done in Columbia, the year when the former legendary coach at the University of Florida takes the Gamecocks past Florida and Georgia and earns the long-suffering South Carolina fan base its first trip to the SEC Championship game? Certainly, with a total of 17 starters returning from the Gamecock team that started the 2009 season with a 6-2 record before dropping four of its last five outings including a 20-7 loss to Connecticut in the Papa Johns Bowl, to end up at 7-6, South Carolina appears to have enough pieces in place to seriously challenge the Gators and Bulldogs for Eastern Division supremacy. Even though the Gamecocks lost All-America linebacker Eric Norwood and standout end Clifton Geathers, Carolina boasts a solid defensive nucleus that features seven returning regulars including senior end Cliff Matthews, junior linebacker Shaq Wilson and sophomore corner Stephon Gilmore. Offensively, the Gamecocks are hoping junior Stephen Garcia turns out to be the quarterback everyone anticipated he would be coming out of high school. And Garcia has seven other returning starters surrounding him including solid senior fullback, Patrick DiMarco. Said Spurrier at last week’s SEC Media Days, “We’ve got excellent players. I think we’ve got the best group of athletes since we’ve been there. I know they have the best attitudes. Their work habits and so forth have been excellent. Now we need to get past seven wins. We need to win big at South Carolina.” Whether the Gamecocks can win big at South Carolina this season may well hinge on their first SEC outing on Sept. 11, when Georgia ventures to Williams-Brice Stadium. “The winner of that game just means you’re one game up for a chance to win the east,” Spurrier said. “That’s all that means. But certainly it’s a huge game for both of us as far as the conference is concerned.” Continued on page 8

Bulldawg Illustrated

Lorrie Morgan Concert Rialto Room Barry Rutherford, Jim Price, Lorrie Morgan, Rick Fine, Kristen Rachels

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SEC ... SEC ... SEC Continued from page 6

AUBURN – The Tiger Nation is excited as Auburn enters its second season under the tutelage of Gene Chizik. Succeeding long-time successful mentor Tommy Tuberville at the Auburn helm, former Iowa State coach Chizik steered the Tigers to an 8-5 record last fall. After taking eventual national champion and top rival Alabama down to the wire in a 26-21 setback, Auburn posted a thrilling 38-35 overtime victory over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. Chizik has no less than 16 returning starters from that 2009 team including all-star candidates Josh Bynes (Sr. LB), Mario Fannin (Sr. RB), Lee Ziemba (Sr. OT) and Wes Byrum (Sr. PK). But it’s a couple of newcomers that perhaps have the Auburn faithful the most excited, that being juco transfer quarterback Cameron Newton and talented freshman running back Michael Dyer. Newton, a 6-6, 247-pound Atlanta native who originally signed with Florida before transferring to Blinn (Texas) College, where he led the team to the NJCAA national title, possesses both a strong arm and the elusiveness to run Gus Malzahn’s. Also in the Tiger quarterback picture are senior Neil Caudle and sophomore Barrett Trotter. The 5-8, 201-pound Dyer, from Little Rock, Ark., was ranked among the top five prep tailbacks in the country last season. For playing time, however, Dyer will have to battle the team’s leading returning rusher, sophomore Onterio McCalebb. Of course, the Tigers’ big loss at tailback was Ben Tate, who rumbled for 1,362 yards and 10 touchdowns last year before coming a second-round pick in the NFL draft. But, offense aside, likely the key for Auburn challenging the likes of Alabama, Arkansas and LSU in SEC West is a defensive team that has eight regulars back from the unit that rode the up-and-down seesaw in 2009. “We think the win over Northwestern in the bowl game gives us momentum going into the season,â€? said Chizik, while speaking at SEC Media Days this past Friday. “We’re excited about the season, and we feel after last season, we have a team that’s going in the right direction.â€? Chizik is correct with that statement and it won’t be a great shock if Auburn upsets the entire applecart in SEC West ‌ including the mighty Tide. TENNESSEE – A Dooley coaching the Tennessee Volunteers? Derek Dooley, son of legendary Georgia coach Vince, standing on the sidelines in UT orange has to be a bit surreal to Bulldog fans. But that’s definitely the scenario up in Knoxville as Derek Dooley, who spent the past three seasons as head coach of Louisiana Tech – where he compiled a 17-20 overall record – succeeds the often-controversial Lane Kiffin after Kiffin bolted

Tennessee after one season for the riches of Southern California. With the Vols losing 11 starters from last year’s 7-6 squad – which was hammered by Virginia Tech 37-14 in the Chickfil-A Bowl – including All-America and first-round draft choice Eric Berry, not many folks are anticipating Dooley’s first UT team to seriously challenge the likes of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for the SEC Eastern Division crown. But with his good coaching genes, Dooley just might bring Tennessee back quicker than people think. He has solid All-SEC candidates in senior wide receiver Gerald Jones, senior tight end Luke Stocker, senior defensive end Chris Walker and junior tailback Tauren Poole. Likely the Vols’ primary question mark is this: Can either junior college transfer Matt Simms, who is the son of Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms and younger brother of Tennessee Titans QB Chris Simms, or true 6-6 freshman Tyler Bray take control of the UT offense after incumbent senior Nick Stephens chose to leave the team midway through spring practice? “I’m proud of where we’re headed,� said Dooley, while speaking at SEC Media Days this past Friday. “We certainly have had our bumps along the way and we’ll continue to have our bumps along the way. But anytime you have the transition that we’ve had at the head coaching level – three in three years – you’re naturally going to have more attrition than you normally would have and you’re naturally probably not going to have the kind of recruiting classes you can have with stability. So we head into the season with a lot of youth and a lot of inexperience at a lot of positions,� added Dooley. “But I feel really good about the young talent and senior leadership we have on our team.� OLE MISS – After guiding the Arkansas Razorbacks for 10 seasons, Houston Nutt has now directed the Ole Miss Rebels to consecutive 9-4 campaigns including Cotton Bowl victories after both of those seasons. But after losing eight offensive starters including multitalented flanker/running back Dexter McCluster, quarterback Jevan Snead and leading receiver Shay Hodge, the Johnny Rebs could struggle on that side of the ball this season. Defensively, Ole Miss seems a bit stouter with six returning regulars including senior defensive end Kentrell Lockett and senior defensive tackle Jerrell Powe, whom the Rebels are promoting as all-star candidates along with returning junior tailback Brandon Bolden (2nd leading rusher) and junior offensive tackle Bradley Sowell. Succeeding the up-and-down Snead at the Ole Miss signal-calling position is third-year sophomore Nathan Stanley. Stanley distanced himself from redshirt freshman Raymond

Cotton in the spring and heads into preseason camp as the starter. Bottom line, the Rebels simply have too much inexperience on offense to be a real player in the Western Division but, that said, Ole Miss just may rise up and play the spoiler in the division. “We’re excited about our program,� said Nutt, addressing the press at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. “Last two years, to win Cotton Bowl, to be Cotton Bowl champions, finish in the old stadium and go into Jerry Jones’ new stadium, that AT&T Cotton Bowl was something very special for our players. “Before we got there, Ole Miss had four previous losing seasons, hadn’t won a conference game, and they were so excited about going to that first bowl,� said Nutt. “That’s really helped recruiting the last two signing classes, they’ve been outstanding. But as you look forward to this year, we lost a lot. Dexter McCluster is the only person in SEC history to rush for a thousand yards, catch the ball for 500.� LSU – Everyone is saying the natives are getting restless down on the old Bayou. After following Nick Saban to the Tigers’ helm in 2005, Les Miles spoiled the LSU faithful by immediately going 11-2, 11-2 and 12-2 with that last mark resulting in the BCS National Championship in 2007. But in the past two seasons, that LSU win chart dipped to 8-5 and 9-4, finishes that have reportedly slapped Miles on the proverbial hot seat in Baton Rouge. As for starters lost and returning, the Tigers are split right down the middle. They lost 12 regulars from that 9-4 squad that fell 19-17 to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl but also return 12 starters from that team. Although LSU has leading rusher Charles Scott, leading passer Jordan Jefferson and coleading receiver Terrence Toliver back to spark the offense, the Tiger defense will line up with just four players who started last year. But included among that number is All-SEC defensive back Patrick Peterson. The LSU kicking game appears to be in good hands in the person of senior place-kicker/punter Josh Jasper. Here in the preseason, it’s difficult to envision the Tigers prowling past defending champion Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn in SEC West but then, with Miles and LSU determined to silence their critics, you’ve got to think that these Bayou Bengals rate as the definite dark-horse in the Western Division this autumn. And, as he spoke at SEC Media Days last week, Miles waxed ultra-optimistic about his team’s chances this coming season. Photograph by Ryan Scates

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Bulldawg Illustrated

Bulldog Park event for UGA Cheerleaders Kenneth Richardson and Joe Richardson give train rides to children

Billy Keel, Courtney Hewatt, David Greene, Jamie Dutton and Bryce Helsel

UGA Cheerleaders with the band

Shellie Bowser, Jamey Loftin and Brittany Norris

Brandy Hanson, Gage Hanson and Bree Hanson

Nate Reymundo, David Greene and Theresa Camp

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Paul Duncan, Jamie Dutton, Cheerleading Coach Ben Brian and Billy Keel present 10k check to UGA Cheerleaders

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9

Don’t miss 2010 games Doozies galore as teams within nation’s best conference try to advance to Atlanta, then Arizona By Jeff Dantzler

G

eorgia at South Carolina – September 11 This is annually the first big one of the year in league play, and this season it means even more. South Carolina has its best shot ever at making it to Atlanta. Following the Dogs, the Gamecocks next two SEC games are at Auburn and at home with Bama, meaning they have to beat Georgia to have a shot at the title. Georgia has a tough one at home the next Saturday with Arkansas, and as long as the Dogs don’t go 0-2, a recovery and Atlanta are still possible. Alabama at Arkansas – September 25 Through the years, the Razorbacks have had success with Alabama, Auburn and LSU, particularly at home. But Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide snarling unlike any time since the man in the houndstooth cap was prowling the sidelines on the capstone. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and potential No. 1 overall pick Ryan Mallett give this one huge star power – and the latter gives the Hogs a puncher’s chance.

Steve Spurrier

South Carolina at Auburn – September 25 Auburn hosts Clemson and South Carolina entertains Furman the week before a rare clash between the Gamecocks and Tigers. This will be just the third meeting between the two schools in the last 12 years, and the Tigers are 4-0 since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992. It will be just the fifth game between the two since 1933. The winner of this one gets a big leg up in its respective division race. Florida at Alabama - October 2 The last two national champions square off on the capstone, after combining to go 52-4 (with two losses to one another) the last years and playing in national semifinal-esque SEC title games. In the last game between the two in Tuscaloosa in 2005, Bama rolled to a 31-3 victory but lost Tyrone Prothro with a gruesome broken leg injury. These two have squared off in seven of the 18 SEC Championship Games. LSU at Florida - October 9 With both schools winning a pair of BCS Championships in the 2000s (LSU in ’03 and ’07, Florida in ’06 and ’08), the annual showdown between the Bayou Bengals and Gators has obviously carried big ramifications. Les Miles has a toasty seat in Baton Rouge, and an 0-4 record the last two years against Alabama and Florida hasn’t helped. The Gators will be returning from Tuscaloosa, the Tigers from a home date with Tennessee. Alabama at South Carolina - October 9 What a dangerous game for the Crimson Tide. South Carolina could be riding high, depending on the outcomes with Georgia and Auburn. Most importantly the Gamecocks will be coming off an open date, while Bama will be coming off the Florida game. If South Carolina could pull this off, it would be one of the most monumental wins in program history. LSU at Auburn - October 23 In the first half of the decade, this was the biggest game of the year, and the most physical. Both the Bayou Bengals and Plainsmen Tigers have their sights set on toppling Alabama and getting to the SEC Championship Game. The winner of this one should be in great shape in the race, while the loser will be facing a big time uphill challenge. Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville (October 30) The biggest reason that Florida has won two national titles in the 2000s and Georgia has been the country’s best program to not win one since the turn of the century is what has happened in Jacksonville. The Gators are 17-3 against the Dogs the last two decades. Florida lost a ton of talent and experience, while Georgia brings back most of its starters. No doubt, the Dogs have this one circled. Alabama at LSU - November 6 Since Nick Saban’s talent pipeline ran dry in Baton Rouge, the Tigers have been eroding, while Bama has been flourishing. Storylines abound, but Bama’s best coach since the Bear is the central figure. Both teams will be coming off of open dates, and no matter the records, Tiger Stadium will be rocking. It figures that Les Miles needs to beat either the Gators or Crimson Tide to prevent his coaching seat to escalate to scorching.

South Carolina at Florida - November 13 Steve Spurrier should have his best offense since coming to Columbia in 2005, and the Gamecocks could have an opportunity to beat Florida for just the second time ever. The Gamecocks have a flat out brutal schedule. With Alabama and Auburn on the docket from the SEC West and the usual murderer’s row down the stretch, no matter how talented the Gamecocks are, it will take a lot of breaks to make a historical first appearance in Atlanta. Georgia at Auburn - November 13 Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have high hopes of making it to Atlanta. For so many years, this rivalry has more often than not been in the running for “best SEC game of the season.” Georgia has chalked up an historic four consecutive victories over the Tigers. The last time the Bulldogs won five straight over Auburn was 1944-48. The Tigers could be 9-1 heading into their big two. Auburn at Alabama - November 27 A year ago, the Tigers scared the daylights out of Alabama, until the Crimson Tide pulled out a last minute victory to preserve their perfect season which led to an undefeated national championship. This could be one of the bigger Iron Bowls ever, with the winner potentially moving on to the SEC Championship Game. After Tommy Tuberville led Auburn to six straight wins in the series, Bama has won the last two under Saban.

SEC STEPS OUT LSU vs. North Carolina in Atlanta - September 4 With all of the agent talk surrounding North Carolina and its star-studded defense, the Tar Heels will be sweating out whether they will be at full strength for the big showdown with the Bayou Bengals in the Georgia Dome. LSU and Les Miles really need this to kick-start a very important season for the Fightin’ Tigers. Oregon at Tennessee - September 11 Derek Dooley inherited one of Tennessee’s least promising teams and most challenging schedules in many years. The Ducks made it to the Rose Bowl a year ago, and even though they lost their criminal backfield, Oregon still boasts a potent offensive attack. The Volunteers get the Gators the next week in Knoxville and it doesn’t get any easier over the next month with Georgia, Alabama and LSU looming. Penn State at Alabama September 11 There is some great history between these two all-time powerhouses, from the ’79 Sugar Bowl goal line stand for the national title in a coaching matchup of Bryant and Paterno, to several meaningful regular season clashes. Now it’s Saban and Paterno squaring off on the capstone. Bama’s schedule is much tougher than the last two years, and to have another great season, it figures that the Tide has to have this one. Clemson at Auburn September 18 Clemson got good news that Kyle Parker will come back to play quarterback, but C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford – the fastest duo in the ACC – are in the NFL and Auburn could have its best team since going 11-2 in 2006. It’s a rare meeting between the two Tigers, both of whom are just a few miles away from opposite Georgia borders. Florida at Florida State - November 27 Florida has won six straight over the Seminoles, with four of the wins coming by 27, 30, 33, and 27, plus a pair of touchdown victories. It’s Jimbo Fisher’s first season, and the ‘Noles best shot at beating the Gators since it last happened in 2003. Christian Ponder is Florida State’s best quarterback since Chris Weinke.

Urban Meyer 10

Tech at Georgia November 27 On Tech’s last trip to Athens, the Yellow Jackets handed Georgia a devastating, historical loss to spoil the Bulldogs season. Georgia put the bloom on a disappointing year in ’09 with an upset win at ACC Champion Tech. Whether the Bulldogs are a week away from playing for the SEC Championship or just capping the regular season, Georgia can’t have an outstanding year when losing to the Jackets. Photographs by Ryan Scates

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Countdown to Kickoff Golf Tournament Athens Robert Edwards and Brandon Coutu

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Countdown to Kickoff Fan Day Athens

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Golden Getaways

Jekyll Island Beach Music Festival & BBQ Bash, August 20-21 Jekyll Island High School Cross Country Invitational, Sept. 11

Brunswick & St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island

Shrimp & Grits Festival Sept. 17-19 McGladrey Classic PGA Tour Sea Island Golf Club, Oct . 6-10 Georgia’s Colonial Georgia Coast Birding & Nature Festival, Oct. 7-10 Tri-Red Triathlon, October 10

STAY: FairďŹ eld Inn/ Holiday Inn Exit 38, Jekyll, King & Prince Resort, Ocean Inn & Suites, Sea Palms Resort

Georgia Florida Week Golden Isles, Oct. 24-30

SHOP: Maggie’s Boutique, Meo’s Suite, St. Simons Drug Company

Georgia Florida Golf Classic Jekyll Island, Oct. 27-30 Georgia Florida UGA Alumni Oyster Roast Jekyll Island, Oct. 29, 5-8 p.m.

DINE: Cafe Frederica, Bubba Garcia’s, Delaney’s, Gnat’s Landing, Locos

for discriminating dawgs with sand in their paws

3rd Annual Georgia Florida Bash for Charity SEABOARD Beach Club & Resort Brunswick. Oct. 29 & 30 Brunswick Rockin’ Stewbilee November 6 Holiday Island on Jekyll Island November 27–January 1

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loran smith Stories along the recruiting trail One of the problems with college athletics today is that we make internet stars out of young athletes when they are in junior high. Too much attention, no doubt, when immaturity holds sway. Too much money others suggest is the problem. I am ambivalent about the money issue, often concluding that it is not the money that is so bad, but the greed which surrounds our games today. Recruiting issues are getting to be overwhelming. The latest has to do with agents. Before text messaging and email became part of the process, there still were issues, but nothing like today. What’s happening now ain’t so funny, but you could find some humor in recruiting stories in the madness of yesteryear. One popular story a few years ago had to do with the coach who felt that the best way to recruit a prized prospect was through his mother. The conclusion was that he did a fine job with mom who actually enrolled at the coach’s school. The son? “He signed with our main rival.â€? A story I’ve always enjoyed had to do with my long time friend Johnny Majors of Tennessee. During the fall season, most head coaches host a serious of recruiting sessions each week to establish personnel objectives and updates on prospects. The usual routine is to start with one coach and go around the conference table with each coach updating the staff on the players in his recruiting territory. An assistant coach explained to the Tennessee staff that he was scouting a back that would make the Volunteer team his freshman year, “the best back I have ever seen.â€? The assistant continued with his evaluation and brought up something of a disclaimer at the end. â€œâ€Ś.but he comes from a bad background,â€? the assistant said. “Very bad. In fact, he saw his daddy chop his mama’s head off with an axe.â€? The atmosphere in the room became tense. Majors remembers in a few short seconds that it surely would be a liability for his team to take a player coming from that kind of background. The old head on the staff was George Cafego, former Tennessee star player and a long time assistant in Knoxville. Majors, who often deferred to Cafego for his sage advice, turned and said, “What do you think, Coach Cafego?â€? Without cracking a smile, Cafego said, “Hell, I think we ought to recruit his daddy.â€? Moving from the light side, one of the most interesting recruiting campaigns for Georgia followed the 6-5 season in 1979. Herschel

Walker would be a freshman in 1980, and seemingly every school in the country tendered a scholarship offer to Herschel who kept the guessing game going on his decision. Signing day came and went. He didn’t sign in Feburary. He didn’t sign in March. Finally on Easter Sunday 1980 he announced his decision. He would be a Bulldog. There were some skeptics, believe it or not, wondering that with Herschel’s straight ahead speed, if he could run over linebackers in the Southeastern Conference like he did in Class A competition. We know the rest of the story. An interesting vignette developed with Tom Landry, when he was coaching the Cowboys, who had gone from perennial playoff contender to an also ran which often happens in the NFL. You can’t stay on top forever. One day I interviewed him in his office at Valley Ranch about Herschel. He had planned to build the Dallas team back into a contender with Herschel as the centerpiece of the offense. “If we can ever find a way to get him past the line of scrimmage, there is no telling how dominant a player he can be,� Landry said. Landry was soon let go and Jimmy Johnson, who succeeded Landry, traded Herschel to the Minnesota Vikings. While all the fuss was going on with Herschel’s late signing episode, the Bulldogs, with one scholarship left, took their time evaluating a tall, lanky defensive back from Huntsville, TX. Nobody gave Terry Hoage the big rush compared to that of Herschel, Buck Belue, and Lindsay Scott. Hoage didn’t have great to speed, something he didn’t view as a liability when it came to making plays. Coaches however would look at his :04.6 speed and downgrade Hoage’s rating. One Southwest Conference head coach said of Hoage. “He has just enough speed to get you beat.� Vince Dooley, like all coaches, was always concerned about things like speed and quickness but Hoage had one redeeming quality. “We knew we wouldn’t have to worry about his eligibility,� Dooley said, referring to Hoage’s impeccable academic standing. Bill Lews, then defensive coordinator, and Steve Greer, after considerable time watching film of Hoage, recommended him for a scholarship. In his career, Hoage made almost as many big plays on defense as Herschel did on offense. That was the story of the 1980 recruiting class for the Bulldogs. They signed two Superstars: The most sought after running back and the least sought after rover back.

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Bulldawg Illustrated

Bobo, Grantham talk SEC Offseason filled with preparation and study as Georgia coordinators prepare for 2010 docket By Murray Poole ll coaches are going to harp on “taking one game at a time” when they’re asked to evaluate their opponents in an approaching football season. But in big-time college football today, a coaching staff can hardly wait until Game Week to begin breaking down the opposing team’s strength and weaknesses. Indeed, in the case of the University of Georgia’s coaches – and in particular offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham – they will already have closely evaluated most of their SEC foes by the time the Bulldogs kick off the 2010 season on Sept. 4 against LouisianaLafayette. Bobo explains the process thusly: “During the off-season, we do a summer breakdown of every opponent that we’ll play, some of them more in-depth than others,” he said. “Obviously, on offense we do a full breakdown of the first six opponents and also a full in-depth look of the guys in the East and Georgia Tech. Some guys in the West, like Auburn, we won’t do an in-depth on that because it’s so late in the year. But we’ll break down every team, watch film on them like it’s game week. “It takes two or three days per opponent,” added Bobo.”We just try to have a base plan on paper, and that week we’ll pull it out and say, ‘hey, this is what we’re thinking.’ In the summer, some of it might change, they might be doing some different stuff defensively, and we might develop into something different based off injury or who came out of fall camp or during the season as playmakers. But we try to look at every opponent and try to get some kind of plan but be willing to change it.” New Bulldogs’ defensive chief Grantham said he’s always worked weeks in advance on coming opponents, whether in his different college positions or while serving as defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys. “I’ve always studied the opponents we’re going to see, from that standpoint just get a general overview of what you’re going to see,” Grantham said. “Are they a four-wide team, does their quarterback run the ball or are they a pro-style quarterback that doesn’t run the ball? Are they a heavy run team, do they play from an unbalanced formation, I mean just trying to get a grasp on those things, because this time of year and the spring, you’ve kind of got a little time to gather your thoughts and think about how you want to attack those things, too.

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“So we have already gone over those things and by installing them in training camp, even though we won’t use them the first game, I think it kind of gives them something to fall back on as the season goes along. So,” said Grantham, “I think that’s part of this preparation. It’s like situations are important during training camp. Working on all the different situations that can come up in a game such as red zone, two minute. You know there’s two kinds of two-minute, there’s two-minute before the half and there’s two-minute at the end of the game. They’re totally different in understanding what people are trying to do with those kind of things. So I think it’s important you do all that during training camp to give you a foundation for your season.” Although he’s been in Athens only a few months, Grantham is well aware of the reputation of the Southeastern Conference, generally regarded as the finest football league in the land. And he fully knows his Georgia defense will have to be ready to step up to the plate each and every Saturday. “I think this conference as a whole, there’s a lot of good players, there’s a lot of good coaches,” Grantham declared. “The one thing about coaching is you want to maximize the ability of the players that you have. And that means some teams will be running teams and some teams will be throwing teams. Some teams will run the quarterback, some teams won’t, and I think that’s smart on the coaches’ part because they’re trying to maximize the assets of the athletic ability of the players they have – that’s coaching. I think, from a conference standpoint, there’s a lot of good players, good coaches in this conference and I think that it’s everything that I thought it was, which is exciting to me and I look forward to the challenge of playing in this conference.” Bobo, of course, has been around the SEC for many years, both as a player and a coach and well knows how efficient his offense must be to enable the Bulldogs to have the kind of sea-

A.J. Green son they’re shooting for. And Bobo says Georgia fans have to look no further than the second game of the season to see the Bulldogs’ offense go against one of the league’s top defenses. “You watch South Carolina and watch their film and, to me, they’re scary to watch on defense,” Bobo said. “I think they’re a very good defensive football team, they’ve always given us a hard time here moving the ball offensively even before I was calling plays. That’s just how it is. I think they’ve got good players and it’s one of those games that’s usually going to come down to the end. Now, last year was a little bit different with the high scoring and it was the kickoff returns that helped us. But that team usually gives us some problems,” he said. “They’re very athletic and they always play lights out defensively early in the year. “Then there’s some new (defensive) coordinators in the league we have to watch,” Bobo continued. “The guy at Tennessee (Justin Wilcox) and then we have to watch some film on Boise State. The guy at Mississippi State (Manny Diaz), he was at Middle Tennessee State and then you’ve got Al Groh (new coordinator at Georgia Tech) so you don’t want to try and break down all those teams from different places but you’ll try to get an idea of what they’re doing and then when we play them this Photograph by Ryan Scates

www.bulldawgillustrated.com

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Sea Island’s Todd Anderson thinks Seaside will play tough for Pros if wind blows Schedules and Events Monday, October 4 – Pro-Am (Closed to the public) Tuesday, October 5 – Practice Round (Closed to the public) Wednesday, October 6 – Official Pro-Am Thursday, October 7 – First Round Friday, October 8 – Second Round Saturday, October 9 – Third Round Sunday, October 10 – Final Round Hostitality/Pro-Am Packages Legendary for its renowned levels of quality and service, there’s no better place to cultivate business relationships than Sea Island. Now, The McGladrey Classic provides the perfect venue. Choose from an array of offerings designed to fit almost any budget. Hospitality Chalet Package – Hole #17 (Green) or #18 (Tee) Skybox Package – Hole #18 (Green) Skybox Package – Hole #17 (Green) Corporate Table Package – Hole #9 (Green) Champions Club – Hole #9 Official Pro-Am Monday Pro-Am Tickets Wednesday $20 Pro-Am Thursday & Friday $25 (Daily) Saturday & Sunday $30 (Daily) Weekly Badge $90 (Wed-Sun) Children 17 & Under Free with paid adult Active & Retired Military Free with military ID Volunteers Volunteers will be invaluable to the success of The McGladrey Classic. Needed are people who are dedicated, dependable, helpful, friendly, flexible and service-oriented. Email: volunteers@dlovefoundation.com for more info. For general questions regarding The McGladrey Classic, go to www.mcgladreyclassic.com or email: nhildebrand@dlovefoundation.com

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he score could be 20 under, or it could be even par. The players could throw darts, or they could hit 20-yard chip shots straight up a sharp incline. They could sing paeans to the course or they could throw curses at it. We’re talking here about the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club, where the McGladrey Classic will play the final PGA Tour event of the year come October. “It all depends on the weather,� said Todd Anderson, the Director of Instruction at the Sea Island Learning Center and one of the Top 50 Teachers in Golf Digest’s rankings. “If the wind blows, the course will play very difficult,� he said. Rains could change all that. If the greens are soft and receptive from inclement weather, “the scores could be low,� Anderson added. Players familiar with the course already have noted that the roughs have been expanded and that the fairways have been narrowed. While the grass in the rough won’t be at U. S. Open length, it will be allowed to grow to about two inches, more than adequate to increase the difficulty. “Just enough to cause some little guesses,� he said. Since the course never has hosted a PGA Tour event, there is great uncertainty as to the potential for scores. But there is no question that the test is adequate for the best players. “It will be comparable to a lot of the courses the Tour plays,� Anderson said. He should know. He has taught some of the best, including major championship winners Davis Love III (PGA Championship) and Lucas Glover (U. S. Open). One of the young players he is working with now, Brandt Snedeker, has been in the top 50 on the money list for the past four years. They and many other top players will be at the event, lured there by that trio as well as St. Simons Island residents Zach Johnson, Jonathan Byrd and Matt Kuchar. Some of the conditions the players could face in windy conditions are formidable opponents of quality

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scoring. Firm greens at a stimpmeter speed of 12 to 12.5 inches and gusts would cause balls to roll off onto the shaved surrounds and that would be about as treacherous as playing in leather-soled shoes. Putt, bump-andrun, flop—take your choice and take your medicine. Narrower fairways and firm, dry conditions would cause drives to roll into the furry rough and produce a few scores that would look more like ours. October usually is not a rainy month along the Georgia coast, and that bodes well for the firm greens and fairways. Gusty winds can occur almost any afternoon. But the rains do come on occasion and they would soften greens and make them much more receptive. In the event that occurs, looks for much lower scoring. Since the course is not as long as many Tour venues, and plays to a par of 70, some different circumstances will be evident. Anderson estimates that the longer hitters can reach the two par fives in a couple of strokes. But that by no means assures birdies or even pars. The slopes on the greens are deceptive and hard to hold. “They had better be under the hole and putting uphill,� he added. As for the par fours, he thinks most of them can be reached with a good drive and anything from a seven iron to a sand wedge. That leaves the par three holes, and they are neither short nor forgiving. Some players think they are tougher than your mother in law—or spouse in some cases. Think your longest irons or hybrids. What had been a distant vision is coming to life on a golf course that was just waiting for a quality event with great players and beautiful vistas. Whatever the conditions, the course sets up nicely for spectators who like soft autumn afternoons. When the sun winks goodnight over the glittery bay, and the twilight tiptoes over the course, a bagpiper skirling his music will remind you that you have seen the best of golf. It isn’t exactly linksland, but it is pretty close to heaven.

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23

JD’s all SEC team Alabama and Georgia lead the way with six selections, S. Carolina has three By Jeff Dantzler

Offense Since the end of the 2004 season, here are some of the individual highlights from SEC offensive players: Auburn had two tailbacks, Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, picked in the top five of the 2005 draft, Darren McFadden twice was a Heisman runner-up, Tim Tebow won the 2007 Heisman, two quarterbacks (JaMarcus Russell in ’07 and Matthew Stafford in ’09) were the top picks in the draft, Mark Ingram won the 2009 Heisman and Percy Harvin went on to earn ’09 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. QB – Ryan Mallett, Arkansas Potentially the top overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, Mallett has all the tools that pass-happy coaches and scouts drool over. With a huge arm and great touch, the 6-7, 255 Mallett is one of the most lethal threats in college football. Arkansas has high hopes in 2010, and with Mallett behind center, every game is winnable for the high powered Hogs. RB – Mark Ingram, Alabama For what will now be three straight years, there is an active Heisman Trophy winner playing in the Southeastern Conference. Ingram was the offensive star for the defensive dominant national champions a year ago and teams with super sophomore Trent Richardson to give the Crimson Tide the country’s premier running back tandem. RB – Trent Richardson, Alabama His Heisman Trophy winning backfield mate says Richardson is better. This is the league’s third great tailback tandem of the last seven years, along with Auburn’s Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, and Arkansas’s Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. In the BCS Championship Game victory over Texas, Richardson was the most explosive offensive player on the field. WR – Julio Jones, Alabama As a freshman, Jones burst onto the Houndstooth scene like no freshman receiver since Freddie Milons. He was solid as a sophomore but didn’t put up the big numbers and shine until late in the season. With Bama having to lean more heavily on the offense this season, with Greg McElroy having a full year under his belt, and the necessity to focus on the tailback tandem, Jones could have a huge year. WR – A.J. Green, Georgia One of the most talented players in the country, Green is a phenomenal big play and touchdown maker. In Georgia’s first four games last year, the Bulldogs were 3-1 despite a negative-11 turnover ratio. Without Green, the Bulldogs would have been winless. Green has the hands, speed, size, strength, leaping ability and instincts that have rarely come in a singular package.

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Mark Ingram TE – Weslye Saunders, South Carolina Steve Spurrier should have his best offense since coming to Columbia in 2005, especially if freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore has the goods. Saunders is a huge target with great hands, made even more dangerous by a pair of outstanding outside targets. Stephen Garcia loves Saunders on third down. Saunders is under the NCAA microscope now, and the Gamecocks are hopeful for a favorable finding. OT – Clint Boling, Georgia A four-year starter, Boling has been a rock at left tackle for the past year and a half. With Cordy Glenn at left guard and Trinton Sturdivant – a 2007 freshman All-American sidelined for the last two seasons with knee injuries – back at tackle, along with two other starters, the Dogs are expecting a stellar line. Boling is smart and athletic, and new quarterback Aaron Murray is the happiest that he’s back. OG – Cordy Glenn, Georgia One of the most dominating guards in the conference, Glenn plows the way on the run and is an iron fence on the pass. He and Boling give Georgia an awesome left side of the line. Georgia’s best guard since All-American Max Jean-Gilles manned the middle from 2002-05, Glenn was a huge part of the Bulldogs second half offensive resurgence, which was highlighted by wins over Auburn and Tech. C – Mike Pouncey, Florida His twin brother Maurice was the first round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the pair excelled blowing off the line to give battering ram Tim Tebow a head start. The Gators will be going through a big transition after losing a wealth of talent and experience, but Urban Meyer and new quarterback John Brantley have a rock to lean on up front.

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JD’s All SEC OG – Barrett Jones, Alabama After losing two-time first team All-American left tackle Andre Smith, Bama’s offensive line figured to slip a bit last season. And it did at midseason. But late in the year, it was awesome, as Alabama scored 32 against Florida and 37 vs. Texas in the SEC and BCS Championship Games. Jones earned first team Freshman All-American honors a year ago, and has already developed into one of the league’s best. OT – Lee Ziemba, Auburn A first team All-SEC selection a year ago, the 6-8, 320 Ziemba is one of college football’s top left tackles. With Cameron Newton taking over at quarterback, Ziemba gives the Tigers a big level of comfort. And the running attack, with Onterio McCalebb, Mario Fannin and freshman Michael Dyer should thrive running left behind the big guy.

Defense The league lost an incredible amount of star power defensively, with a slew of All-Americans and early draft picks moving on to the NFL. Among the best who are gone: Bama’s Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Javier Arenas and Kareem Jackson; Florida’s Joe Haden, Brandon Spikes, Jermaine Cunningham and Carlos Dunlap; South Carolina’s Eric Norwood; and one of the great players in SEC history, Tennessee’s Eric Berry. But there are a bunch of five star recruits ready to shine, while the league goes through a bunch of changes on defensive staffs, including new coordinators at Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. The secondary seems to have the most frontline players heading into the season, so we’ll go with a nickel for the 2010 Preseason All-SEC Defense. DE – Cliff Matthews, South Carolina Long and strong, Matthews is one of the premier returning defensive ends in the Southeastern Conference. He is stout against the run, creating the leverage to keep offensive tackles from getting the big push, and Matthews is a strong pass-rusher. Eric Norwood got so much attention from opposing offenses last year, now Matthews will generate more game-planning. DT – Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss A true anchor in the middle – picture a rhinoceros compared to Terrance Cody jumbo hippo – Powe could potentially follow all-time Ole Miss great Patrick Willis and Peria Jerry as the Rebels next great defensive star. Ole Miss has a favorable SEC East draw and will lean heavily on the defense to be the sleeper out of the West. DE - Marcell Dareus, Alabama A supporting actor on a fierce defense laden with All-Americans and first round draft picks, Dareus exploded onto the national scene with the big blow that knocked Colt McCoy out of the BCS Championship Game. Dareus and linebacker Dont’a Hightower give the Crimson Tide a potentially awesome front seven duo. OLB/DE – Justin Houston, Georgia The leading returning quarterback sacker in the SEC, Houston moved from defensive end to outside linebacker in Georgia’s new base 3-4 scheme. An All-American candidate, Houston could be the Bulldogs best front seven player over the last five years. No matter where he lines up, for the Bulldogs to shine, Houston must have a big time year and anchor the front. LB – Dont’a Hightower, Alabama A freshman All-American in 2008, Hightower quickly emerged as one of the top linebackers in the SEC. Rolando McClain’s all-star linebacking partner had his 2009 campaign cut short with a knee injury in the fourth game of the year, and received a medical redshirt. Hightower, at 6-4, 260, is a powerful force who could emerge as college football’s best middle linebacker if the knee is in good shape. LB – Kelvin Sheppard – LSU Though the talent level on defense isn’t at the off-the-charts level that was built by Nick

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Saban and led LSU to a pair of BCS Championships, the Bayou Bengals still have a lot of standout players. Sheppard is at the top of the list, and will again look to dominate the middle. A year ago, the 6-3, 240 All-SEC candidate chalked up 110 tackles. CB – Patrick Peterson – LSU A high profile recruit from the sunshine state, Peterson has lived up to the billing and could be LSU’s best corner since All-American Corey Webster, who starred in ’03 and ’04. He can go man-for-man with any receiver in the league, and is extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands. Peterson’s man coverage ability frees the Tigers to gamble in other spots. CB – Stephon Gilmore – South Carolina Over the last couple of years, South Carolina has put together two of its best classes ever and Gilmore is truly a gem. From the second he set foot on campus as a true freshman, Gilmore shined and showed that he is special. Like Peterson, he’s stellar in man coverage and a threat with the pigskin in his hands. South Carolina has a strong group of pass-catchers, but Gilmore could help on offense and in returns. S – Mark Barron, Alabama Javier Arenas was a first team All-American and Kareem Jackson a first round draft choice, and Bama must replace its dynamic pair of corners. They’ve recruited well and Barron will help with the cause as one of the country’s top safeties. His seven interceptions were tops in the SEC a year ago. Nick Saban has churned out a slew of stellar defensive backs, and Barron is on board as one of the best. S – Will Hill, Florida Last season, the Gators and Alabama were the two best teams in the country and they boasted America’s two premier defenses. The Gators lost a boatload of talent, but are flat out stacked at safety. Getting Hill was a huge recruiting coup for Urban Meyer, and he and Ahmad Black will be the SEC’s best pair of safeties in 2010. S – Ahmad Black, Florida He’s not real big, but Black is a fearless player and figures to be the leader of the Gators defense. Black is what coaches look for in safeties, he’s got ball skills and is tough against the run. The conference is loaded at safety, led by Barron, the Florida duo and Georgia’s Bacarri Rambo.

Special Teams PK – Blair Walsh, Georgia With a strong and accurate leg, Walsh could be Georgia’s best kicker since former AllAmerican and still current Panther John Kasay. He was 20 of 22 on field goals a year ago, hitting four-of-five from 50-plus, and has become a threat on kickoffs. P – Drew Butler, Georgia A unanimous first team All-American last season as a sophomore, the son of the greatest college football kicker ever, averaged 48.1 yards per punt with a net of 41.9. His father, Georgia legend Kevin Butler, was the first kicker inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He and Walsh give the Bulldogs tremendous weapons in the kicking game. PR – Randall Cobb, Kentucky This is a take your pick at this position. Florida’s Chris Rainey and South Carolina’s Stephon Gilmore excelled a year ago, and with all the speed in the league, more figure to emerge this season. But Cobb is truly special. On returns, at quarterback, at receiver, running, throwing, whatever it may be, Cobb is one of the conference’s most dangerous threats. KR – Brandon Boykin, Georgia Another great weapon for Georgia’s special teams, Boykin has excellent speed and vision. A year ago, he set a Bulldog record with three kickoff returns, all going 100 yards, for touchdowns. Photograph by Ryan Scates

25

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SEC foes dissect Dogs New 3-4 defense aside, Georgia respected for being formidable opponent on gameday

Derek Dooley

By Murray Poole

ith the Georgia Bulldogs making a number of off-season changes – including the hiring of new defensive coaches Todd Grantham, Scott Lakatos and Warren Belin – head coach Mark Richt’s football team almost has a, if you will, brand-new look for the fastapproaching 2010 campaign. And Richt thinks all this “new look� for Georgia talk is stemming from the defensive changes the Bulldogs have put in place. “There’s no doubt we’re starting over with the new scheme, just with a new leadership on that side of the ball,� said Richt, while speaking at SEC Media Days in Birmingham last week. “I think there’s a tremendous amount of excitement that goes with it and the anticipation of what’s going to happen. The fans are wondering what’s going to happen, I’m wondering, the offensive players are wondering what the defense is going to look like. I think everybody is really excited to see it and even a little anxious to see what’s gonna happen. “To have a bunch of guys a little bit anxious about where they’re gonna play, how it’s gonna unfold, guys that might have been veteran starters have got to prove that they deserve to be starters,� Richt said. “Guys that were sitting at third team have got to prove that they deserve to start. That has provided a lot of energy for our players and for our coaching staff, too. “Let’s face it,� Richt continued, “Coach Grantham is really the only one that truly understands what he’s trying to accomplish. I’m still learning it. Scott Lakatos is still learning it, Warren Belin is still learning it, Rodney Garner is still learning it. There’s an energy in knowing that you got to prepare and be out of your comfort zone a little bit. Offensively, I was just talking to (senior fullback) Shaun Chapas on the way in here. He’s like, I can’t wait to see what the defense does.� Opposing players the Bulldogs will be encountering this season are well aware of the changes that have

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unfolded in Athens since the 2009 season ended. But new Georgia look or not, they say the Bulldogs will be the same tough team to beat they’ve always been. “We know Georgia is a very talented team,� said Arkansas’ standout junior defensive end, Jake Bequette. “They have great skill position guys, a good backfield and a great receiver in A.J. Green. On the offensive line, they have a bunch of solid guys – I don’t know about their new defense yet. Last year’s game with Georgia (52-41 Bulldogs win) was a fun game and real battle, and I’m expecting another great game this year.� “Georgia has a pretty good offense and defense,� related Mississippi State junior defensive back Charles Mitchell. “Their secondary is good, they have good running backs and a great receiver in A.J. Green. But we want to win every game, including LSU and Alabama, and are taking one game at a time.� “Georgia is a great team and that game will be huge for us again this year,� offered Kentucky senior defensive end DeQuin Evans, whose Wildcats upset the Bulldogs 30-24 last season in Athens. “Really, I don’t think we get the respect we deserve after beating those kind of teams, but that keeps us humble,� Evans added. “It’s going to be a great dogfight with Georgia again this year,� said Kentucky senior tailback Derrick Locke. “But then, the SEC is like that every game. Georgia don’t want us to win, and we don’t want them to win. They’ve got a great running back in Washaun Ealey and A.J. Green is one of the best receivers in the country. With their new coordinator, I’m sure the Georgia defense will be stepping up, but I think our offense can put up points on anyone.� “Georgia is a great rivalry for us and we’ll have to go out and play our best,� related Florida senior center Mike Pouncey. “Georgia recruits some of the best play-

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SEC foes dissect Dogs “With the Georgia game, there’s another great opportunity there for us,â€? said South Carolina junior defensive end Cliff Matthews, whose Gamecocks welcome the Bulldogs to Columbia Sept. 11 for what will be both teams’ 2010 SEC debut. “Georgia’s got a good team and it will be a challenge but I think we’ll be ready. I just feel our defense will be much more mature than last year and I think we’ll be better.â€? Meanwhile, the Bulldog players themselves are well aware they have the respect of all their opponents this season. They know everybody will be gunning for Georgia and that they can ill afford to take anybody lightly. “I’m excited about us having a good team this season,â€? said senior fullback Shaun Chapas, speaking at media days in Birmingham last Thursday. “So far, so good but we have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, we have to keep working.â€? Chapas said it’s normal for Georgia’s opponents to feel like they can beat the Bulldogs this season. “Anytime a team lines up, it believes it can win,â€? he said. “That’s why you play the game.â€? “It is natural for a team to think they can beat us,â€? said junior All-America candidate A.J. Green. “But I feel real confident in our team this year. We’ve got the whole O-line coming back, three great running backs and a young quarterback (Aaron Murray) who’s ahead of his years and will really be opening some eyes. And I think our new defense,â€? added Green, “will really be exciting. They’re going to be really running around and having fun.â€? “Everybody has confidence in their own team,â€? remarked Georgia’s All-America punter and Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler. “But we’ve put in a lot of work for this season and if we just build on that team atmosphere, I definitely think we can win a lot of games.â€? Coaches like Florida’s Urban Meyer, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Tennessee’s Derek Dooley, Kentucky’s Joker Phillips and Vanderbilt’s Robbie Caldwell say the SEC East is one of the toughest divisions in the land each and every year and, at the media days last week, voiced the opinion that any one of the teams is capable of making a push for the championship ‌ including new-look Georgia, of course. The Gators’ Meyer, whose team has captured two consecutive Eastern Division crowns, thinks there’s a greater parity than ever in the division. “Yeah, I see some unproven quarterbacks taking over programs,â€? he said. “South Carolina (with Stephen Garcia) obviously has the advantage of having a guy, a returning starter back. I think it’s his third year playing. So I see a lot of parity. “I’ve seen it the last few years, the last several years,â€? said Meyer. “I don’t know if there’s ever been one much greater than the other as far as talent. It’s about staying healthy, getting chemistry going on your team. I think the east is completely wide open this season.â€?

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Drew Butler

Photographs by Ryan Scates

www.bulldawgillustrated.com

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Although II’ve Although ’ve ccovered overed G Georgia eorgia ffootball ootball ffor or some 4455 yyears ears n ow, I h ad n ever aattended ttended tthe he some now, had never event ccalled alled SSEC EC F ootball M edia D ays u ntil tthis his event Football Media Days until past w eek w hen I jjoined oined B ulldawg IIllustrated llustrated past week when Bulldawg intern Ryan Hoover, Ala. intern R yan SScates cates iin n Ho oover, A la. ttoo ggather ather iinnformation website format matio ation ffor or bblogs logs oon n oour ur w ebsite aand nd ffor or tthe he feature now feat fea eature sstories tories yyou’re ou’re n ow rreading eading iin n tthis his sspepecial preview BI. cial SSEC EC C pr review iissue ssue ooff B I. driving The Wynfrey Hotel PPrior rior ttoo d riving ttoo T he W ynfrey H otel iin n Hoover, Birmingham, Hoover, a ssouthern outhern ssuburb uburb ooff B irmingham, I had heard Media had h eard aallll tthe he sstories tories aabout bout SSEC EC CM edia Days, primary Days, aand nd I gguess uess tthe he p rimary ccomment omment ffrom rom people who had many peoplle w ho h ad bbeen een ttoo tthis his tthing hing ffor or m any years went years w ent ssomething omething llike ike tthis, his, ““It’ It’s a ccircus,� ircus,� oorr “It’ “It’s a zzoo.� oo.� with I gguess, uess, w ith tthose hose kkind ind ooff sstatements, tatements, tthe he media were nearly media gguys uys ssimply implly w ere aalluding lluding ttoo tthe he n early 1,000 human 1,000 h uman aanimals nimals tthat hat fflock lock ttoo tthe he eevent, vent, that that fflood lood eevery very ttelevision elevision rroom, oom, rradio adio aand nd IInnternet print media ternet rroom oom aand nd p rint m edia rroom oom iin n sscurrying currying about hotel about tthe he h otel iin n aattempts ttempts ttoo ssecure ecure eevery very llitittle newsy morsel tle n ewsy m orsel tthey hey ccan an aabout bout tthe he ffootball ootball players Conplayers aand nd ccoaches oaches iin n tthe he SSoutheastern outheastern C onference what’ happen ference aand nd w hat’tss ggoing oing ttoo h appen oon n tthe he ffield ield in upcoming in tthe he u pcoming sseason. eason. But, much myy rrelief, didn’ myy B ut, m uch ttoo m elief, I d idn’t ffind ind m first Media Days different, first SSEC EC M edia D ays ttoo bbee aany ny d ifferent, aany ny more hectic more h ectic tthan han oother ther bbig-time ig-time ssporting porting eevents vents that number that aattract ttract aan n eequal qual n umber ooff ssportswriters, poortswrite ters, ters radio people. would radio aand nd ttelevision elevision p eoplle. IIn n ffact, act, I w ould pretty much pretty m uch eequate quate tthis his ttoo ccovering overing ng a SSuper uper Bowl, where working Bowl, w here aallll tthe he w orking ffolks olks ks ffrom rom aallll oover ver stay media headquarters hotel stay iin n tthe he oofficial fficial m edia h eadqu dqu quarters h otel aand nd sit press while sit iin n oon n ssteady teady p ress cconferences onfe nfe ferences w hile ttrying rying to up with to ccome ome u pw ith aany ny new new aangles ngles ffor or sstories tories tthat hat they The difference they ccan. an. T he oonly nly d nly ifference iin n tthat hat aand nd SSEC EC Media Days, noo ffootball Media D ays, of of ccourse, ourse, iiss tthere here iiss n ootball game week’ game ttoo cap cap ooffff tthe he w eek’s aactivities. ctivities. Hoover, nothAs ffor As or aass aany ny ssurprises urprises iin n Ho oover, n othing mee llast week. But ing re rreally eally jjumped umped oout ut aatt m ast w eek. B ut I guess mild would guess a m gu ild ssurprise urprrise w ould bbee tthe he aactual ctual amount head amount ooff ttime ime eeach ach SSEC EC h ead ccoach oach sstayed tayed up main podium while up aatt tthe he m ain p odium w hile aaddressing ddressing tthe he huge writers print media huge tthrong hrong ooff w riters iin n tthe he pr rint m edia rroom. oom. After holding After eearlier arlier h olding ““pressers� prressers� iin n sseparate eparate rooms with people rooms w ith tthe he TV V pe eople aand nd rradio adio aand nd IInnternet personalities, head would ternet pe ersonalities, ssome ome h ead ccoaches oaches w ould make presentations make ttheir heir pr resentations aand nd aanswer nswer ccountless ountless questions up nearly hour. That’ drasquestions ffor or u p ttoo n early aan nh our. T hat’s d rastically tically oopposed pp posed ttoo tthe he ttime ime yyou’re ou’re ggoing oing ttoo ge gget et from from tthese hese gguys uys oonce nce ttheir heir tteam eam ttees ees iitt up up iin n the Usually, the sseason. eason. U sually, iit’t’tss a 330-minute 0-minute sshot hot ot – oorr much much lless ess – oonce nce tthese hese ccoaches oaches gget et tthe h hee sseason eason underway. underway. What was W hat I aalso lso ffound ound iinteresting nteresting w as tthe he cconontrast trast iin n sspeaking peaking sstyles tyles ooff tthe he ssteady tead eady sstream tream ooff coaches dais coaches aand nd SSEC EC oofficials fficials tthat hat too ttook ook tthe oo he d ais llast ast Wednesday Friday Hoover. Wednesday tthrough hrough F riday in in H oover. First podium Wednesday F irst ttoo ttake ake tthe he p odium um eearly arly W ednesday morning was Bill Hancock, director morning w as B ill H ancocckk, eexecutive xecutive d irector of BCS. Ass yyou might Hancock of tthe he B CS. A ou m igh ght eexpect, ght xpeect, H ancock eexxtolled BCS why tolled tthe he vvirtues irtues ooff tthe he B he CS ssetup, etup, ttelling elling w hy a ccollege playoff would detrimental ollege p layoff ssystem ystem w yste ould bbee d etrimental to wee h have now to tthe he ggame ame w ave n av ow ““where where eevery very ssingle ingle contest matters� make contest m atters� iin n tthe he tteams’ eams’ eeffort ffort ttoo m ake iitt to BCS national to tthe he B CS n ational cchampionship ati hampionship ggame ame oorr BCS where wouldn’ BCS bbowl owl gam ggame ame aand nd w here tthat hat w ouldn’t bbee the were playoff the ccase ase iiff th tthere here w ere a sseason-ending eason-ending p layoff format place. format iin np lace. Then Mike Th The hen ccame he ame ccommissioner ommissioner M ike SSlive live ggiviving hee ttalked ing his his sstate-of-the-SEC tate-of-the-SEC C aaddress ddress aand nd h alked in detail prosperity in de d etail ooff tthe he p rosperity aand nd aaccomplishments ccomplishments of most of a cconference onference tthat hat m ost consider consider tthe he ffinest inest collegiate collegiate lleague eague iin n tthe he lland. and. This was Th his w as jjust ust oone ne ooff SSlive’ live’s ccomments ommen ents tthat hat leaped me: leaped oout ut aatt m e: ““For For tthe he 229th 9th cconsecutive onsecutive year, wee h have year, w ave rrecorded ecorded tthe he llargest argest ttotal otal aattenttendance nation. dance ooff aany ny cconference onference iin n tthe he n ation. A ttotal otal of million people of 66.6 .6 m illion p eople ccame ame ttoo oour ur ggames, ames, aand nd we perwe ffilled illed oour ur sstadiums tadiums ttoo aan n aastonishing stonishing 998 8p ercent home cent ooff ccapacity apaacity ffor or eeach ach h ome ggame.� ame.� But, highlight media days B ut, ooff ccourse, ourse, tthe he h ighlight ooff m edia d ays comes head comes iin n llistening istening ttoo tthe he h ead ccoaches oaches aand nd SSEC EC players And what discovered players tthemselves. hemselves. A nd w hat I d iscovered iiss that, day hardly hear that, tthis his d ay aand nd ttime, ime, yyou ou h ardly eever ver h ear a coach moaning downplaycoach m oaning aand nd ggroaning roaning aand nd d ownpllaying ing ttheir heir rrespective espective tteam’ eam’ mss cchances hances cconcerning oncerning the upcoming Gone days when the u pcoming sseason. eason. G one aare re tthe he d ays w hen aB Bear Bryant Vince Dooley ear B ryant oorr V ince D ooley ““poor-mouthed� poor-mouthed� their potential perhaps their tteam’ eam’s po otential iin n aattempts ttempts ttoo p erhaps catch down when, catch ttheir heir oopponents’ pp poonents’ gguard uard d own w hen, iin n actuality, Bryant Dooley actuality, ccoaches oaches iin n tthe he B ryant aand nd D ooley mode had more mode kknew new tthey hey h ad m ore tthan han eenough nough ggood ood football players football pl layers ttoo bbeat eat aanybody nybody tthey hey eencounncountered. Nope, days, tered. N opee, tthese hese d ays, aallll tthe he SSEC EC ccoaches oaches that up podium Wednesday that sstrode trode u p ttoo tthe he p odium W ednesday through Friday most through F riday ttalked alked m ost ooptimistically pttimistically ooff their how their tteam’ eam’s ooutlook utlook tthis his sseason eason aand nd h ow tthey hey could parts could aaccomplish ccomplish ggreat reat tthings hings iiff aallll tthe he pa arts came major were came ttogether ogether aand nd m ajor iinjuries njuries w ere av aavoided. voided. And, players And, aass ffor or tthe he p lay ayers tthemselves, hemselves, tthey hey aare re llike ike

tthey hey aalways lways w ere ‌ eexpressing xpressing tthe he cconfidence onfidence were ttheir heir tteam eam ccan an w hip aanyone nyone tthey hey p lay, w hich iiss whip play, which tthe he w ay iitt sshould hould bbee u nless tthat hat kkind ind ooff cconfion nfififiway unless d ence sspills pills h eavily oover ver iinto nto tthe he ““cockyâ€? cockyyâ€?â€? rrealm. ealm. eal dence heavily Im entioned tthe he ccontrasting ontrasting sspeaking peeaking ng sstyle tyle mentioned ooff tthe he d ifferent ccoaches. oaches. B ar tthe he m ost eenternterdifferent Byy ffar most ttaining aining ffor or tthe he m edia tthis his yyear ear w as a gguy uy w media was wee kknew new aabsolutely bsolutely n othing aabout. bout. R obbie C ob aldnothing Robbie Caldw ell, w ho bbecame ecame V anderbilt’s iinterim nterim ccoach oach well, who Vanderbilt’ aafter fter vveteran eteran m entor B obby JJohnson ohnson aabruptly bruptly mentor Bobby rretired etired iin nm id-summer, u sed h is ccorn-pone, orn-pone, mid-summer, used his d own-home-country sstyle tyle ooff h umor ttoo kkeep eep down-home-country humor tthe he usually usually sstaid taid m edia bunch bunch iin n aabsolutely bsolutely media sstitches titches h is eentire ntire p resentation. T he bbald, ald, his presentation. The pa aunchy C aldwell qquipped uipped aabout bout eeverything verything paunchy Caldwell ffrom rom h is vvirtual irtual aanonymity nonymity aamong mong SSEC EC ffellow ellow his ccoaches, oaches, ttoo tturkey urkey ffarming, arming, ttoo w omen’s llipstick ipsstick women’ aand nd eeven ven ttossed ossed iin n a llittle ittle C ommodore ffootball ootball Commodore ttalk alk iin n tthe he p rocess. process. JJust ust a ccouple ouple ooff C aldwell ggems: ems: ““II ggot ot Caldwell aasked sked oon n tthe he rradio, adio, ‘‘What What aabout bout aallll tthe he ccoaches, oaches, h ave tthey hey ccongratulated ongratu tulat lated yyou?’ ou?’ I ssaid, aid, n o, n ot a have no, not oone. ne. N ffense se ttoo tthem, hem, bbut ut tthey hey d on’t kknow now Noo ooffense don’ m e. T hey will w ill.â€? me. They will.â€? A nd tthese: nd hese: ““II ccan an sstill till w alk iin np laces aand nd And walk places n obod bod ody kknows nows m e. LLast ast n ight h ere I w as oopenpennobody me. night here was ing tthe ing he d oor ffor or p eople aand nd tthey hey ggive ive m ip. door people mee a ttip. I tthought, hought, h ey, tthat’ hat’s ggreat. reat. H ow ccan an yyou ou gget et iitt hey, How aany ny bbetter etter tthan han tthat?â€? hat?â€? ‌ new I w as a ffat at ‌.. ““II kknew was gguy uy ((pulling pulling h is jjacket acket oout ut aand nd sshowing howing h is ssizizhis his aable ble sstomach), tomach), bbut ut I d idn’t n eed aallll tthese hese h eavy didn’ need heavy duty This has d uty eextra xtra ssprings. prings. T his jjob ob h as bbeen een ggood ood ffor or me. pounds m e. II’ve ’ve llost ost aabout bout sseven even p ounds iin n tthe he llast ast days.â€?‌. me. eeight ight d ays.â€?‌. ““You You ccan an ttell ell bbyy llooking ooking aatt m e. done Id one iitt aall, ll, ttoo. oo. IIff I ttold old ssome ome ooff tthese hese lladies adies what put w hat tthey hey pu ut iin n tthat hat llipstick ipsstick rright ight tthere, here, ooh, h, myy ggoodness, de-beaked, m oodness, bbecause ecause I d e-beaked, bblood lood working ttested, ested, vvaccinated accinated ((while while w orking oon n tturkey urkey done was pretty ffarm). arm). I d one iitt aall. ll. IItt w as p retty sspecial.â€? peecial.â€? Alabama’ Nick who was A labama’s N ick SSaban, aban, w ho w as tthe he ffirst irst podium Wednesday, made ccoach oach ttoo ggrace race tthe he po odium W ednesday, m ade probably pr robably tthe he llongest ongest oopening peening sstatement tatement bbefore efore with Georgia ttaking aking qquestions uestions aand nd aalong long w ith G eorgia ccoach oach Mark Richt was most polished M ark R icht w as aamong mong tthe he m ost po olished aand nd microphone. New rrelaxed elax axed sspeakers peakers bbehind ehind tthe he m icrophone. N ew Tennessee Derek Dooley T Ten ennessee ccoach oach D erek D ooley tthough, hough, bbyy ffar, ar, was most dais, w as tthe he m ost eelegant legant sspeaker peeaker oon n tthe he d ais, ssounding ounding iin n ffact act llike ike tthe he ssmooth-talking mooth-talking llawyer awyer hee w was plunging head-first tthat hat h as bbefore efore p lunging h ead-first iinto nto tthe he But Dooley, ccollegiate ollegiate ccoaching oaching rranks. anks. B ut D ooley, llike ike Richt, Dan Mullen, Houston R icht, JJoker oker PPhillips, hillips, D an M ullen, H ouston Nutt weaved N utt aand nd ssome ome ooff tthe he oothers, thers, aalso lso w eaved ssome ome witit iinto his presentation was particularly w nto h is p resentation aand nd w as pa articularly humorous when discussing his h umorous w hen d iscussing h is fflamboyant lamboyant mom, Barbara. m om, B arbara. ““She’ She’s bbecome ecome aan n iicon con iin n tthe he Tennessee, much had sstate tate ooff T ennessee, ssoo m uch tthat hat I h ad ttoo kkind ind her Dooley ooff ttry ry ttoo ttemper emper h er bback ack a llittle, ittle, “ D ooley ssaid. aid. Everybody ““As As yyou ou kknow, now, tthat’ hat’s iimpossible. mpoossible. Ev verybody her lloves oves h er bbecause ecause sshe he ssubscribes ubscribes ttoo tthe he ttheory heory sspeak peak ffirst, irst, tthink hink ssecond, econd, tthe he eexact xact oopposite pp poosite ooff myy d dad.â€? m ad.â€? And while Florida’ Urban Meyer, A nd w hile F lorida’s U rban M eyer, LLSU’ SU’s Miles Arkansas’ Bobby were LLes es M iles aand nd A rkansas’ B obby PPetrino etrino w ere pretty pr retty much much all all serious serious aand nd bbusiness-like usiness-like iin n was pretty much Auburn ttheir heir ttalks, alks, aass w as pr retty m uch A uburn ccoach oach Gene Chizik, Carolina’ G ene C hizik, SSouth outh C arolina’s SSteve teve SSpurrier pu urrier was, well, When w as, w ell, SSteve teve SSpurrier. purrier. W hen aasked sked aabout bout possibility his tthe he p ossibility ooff llosing osing h is ttitle itle aass ““the the SSEC’ EC’s most-quotable new mentors Caldm ost-quotable ccoachâ€? oachâ€? ttoo n ew m entors C aldwell with w ell aand nd PPhillips, hillips, SSpurrier purrier rreplied epllied w ith a not worried sstraight traight fface, ace, ““No, No, II’m ’m n ot w orried aabout bout tthat hat aatt don’ won aall. ll. I d on’t tthink hink II’ve ’ve w on eenough nough ggames ames llately ately have win ttoo h ave aany ny ooutlandish utlandish qquotes. uotes. IIff yyou ou w in a hee d did Florida), bbunch unch ooff ggames ames ((like like h id aatt F lorida), iit’t’s pretty up here.â€? pr retty eeasy asy ttoo ggive ive aallll tthe he aanswers nswers u ph ere.â€? would myy ffirst IIn n ssummary, ummary, I w ould ccall all m irst eexperixpeeriMedia Days most eence nce aatt SSEC EC M edia Da ays m ost iinteresting, nteresting, eennBut, ttertaining ertaining aand nd eenjoyable. njoyable. B ut, ffrankly, rankly, aallll tthis his did was make d id w as m ake me me gglad lad tthat hat tthe he SSEC EC ffootball ootball upon us, when ggames ames tthemselves hemselves aare re aalmost lmost u pon u s, w hen will have we’ll aallll tthe he sspeculating peculating w ill h ave eended nded aand nd w e’ll who’ haves havekknow now w ho’s ggoing oing ttoo bbee tthe he h aves aand nd h avenots Conference n ots iin n tthe he SSoutheastern outhea eastern C onference tthis his ffall. all. And, dessert myself media A nd, ooh, h, a llittle ittle d essert ffor or m yself aatt m edia days was with d ays w as eexcursions xcursions ns w ith tthree hree bbuddies uddies ttoo ttwo wo Alabama’ Dreamland ooff A labama’s llandmark andma mark iinstitutions, nstitutions, D reamland Barbecue, Field. was night-time B arbecue, aand nd LLegion egion F ield. IItt w as n ight-time when wee pu pulled up parking w hen w ulled u p iinto nto a pa arking llot ot aatt LLegion egion Field, which Birmingham neighF ield, w hich llies ies iin n aan n oold ld B irmingham n eighwere underneath bborhood. orhood. LLights ights w ere sstill er till oon nu nderneath tthe he pondered sstands tands aand nd aass yyou ou ssat at aand at nd p ondered tthe he vvenue, enue, nearly yyou ou ccould ould n early eenvision nvision tthe nv he gghosts hosts sstill till sstirtirplace man houndsrring ing iinside nside tthe he p lace ‌ tthe he m an iin n tthe he h oundshat pacing with ttooth ooth h at p acing tthe he ssidelines idelines w ith a rrolled-up olled-up program his hand, pr rogram iin nh is h and, tthe he ““punt-Bama-puntâ€? pu unt-Bama-puntâ€? when Auburn Crimtthing hing w hen A uburn bblocked locked aabout bout tthree hree C rimTide punts upsetting powerful sson on T ide p unts een n rroute oute ttoo u psetting po owerful Alabama Tideâ€? A labama aand nd aallll tthe he sshouts houts ooff ““Roll Roll T ideâ€? aand nd Eagleâ€? down ““War War E agleâ€? tthundering hunderin ing d own ffrom rom tthe he sstands tands Bowl down iin n aallll tthose hose IIron ron B owl cclassics lassics d own tthrough hrough decades. tthe he d ecades.

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29

Gruff & Grump By Chad White and Al Hickson

11 wins or bust for 2010 Dawgs

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30

Sky Valley, GA

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And so it is, the University of Georgia Bulldogs ready themselves for yet another season of the greatest sport known to man. The 2010 season will begin with quite the new look and a newfound excitement for what has returned to the hallowed grounds in Athens, Ga. Let us make no mistake, this excitement and optimism is born due to the much publicized coaching changes on the defensive side of the ball. Something this column has been begging to take place for many years now. The search to replace what had become an inept staff was not an easy nor a short one. The staff was not completed until well into the new year. Let us proclaim our excitement that we ended up with the staff we now have. While Kirby Smart is no doubt a great coach with proven credentials, we could not be happier that we instead will have Coach Todd Grantham storming our sidelines. The new defensive staff seems to have re-invigorated a football program that had become stale and stagnant amidst a world of excuse making for the product that was presented. From the head coach to groundskeeper, there is nothing but a positive vibe coming from the center of the college football universe. Feels pretty awesome again, don’t you think? For the first time in several years, Gruff and Grump feel the Dawgs have a legit chance to do some great things again on the defensive side of the ball. We never bought the line that talent was a problem that so many were trying to sell. Sure, David Pollack may be the greatest defensive player of our generation and he has been gone for a while now. But, we have had plenty of talent grace our roster on the defensive side. Count the two of us sick and tired of hearing about how minimal our talent was the past few years. We believe very strongly some of these same guys that have been taking a beating for not being up to par are about to show the value of real top shelf coaching. Our new look and much talked about 3-4 defense will have many pieces with which to work. There is speed and talent all over the field in Athens. We look for the defensive line to be a real strength. Some players who seemed just a bit undersized for the interior of our past 4-3 should be perfectly suited for the new D. Abry Jones and Brandon Wood are two guys we think will really thrive in this set. Deangelo Tyson will be expected to man the noseguard position and he should be more than up for the task. Again, look for the line to be an anchor. Not many are talking about them but they will be by season’s end. The back seven of the defensive side have been receiving a bit more fanfare this past off season. For good reason, the secondary has hogged the ink in the press . Branden Smith, last year’s freshman phenom, is having a hard time even cracking the starting lineup coming out of spring camp. That is a great sign Dawg fans. Brandon Boykin has high aspirations and he may just meet them. We are really pulling for Vance Cuff to do some big things in his final season as a Dawg. This guy really loves the Dawgs and would-

n’t it be great if he could find a place for his name in the Dawg’s annals. The linebackers are going to really surprise some folks. No one will benefit from these coaching changes like they will. These guys may be the most maligned by the no-talent crowd and Akeem Dent should lead them to great play. There is talent here. They will make plays. Justin Houston could just challenge for the SEC player of the year if he continues to improve at the rate he was improving. Also, look for the Dawgs D to actually go back to outscheming teams this year, something that we sorely lacked in the past. Coach Grantham is becoming something of a rockstar with his off season comments and we believe that will translate to the field. He is a no excuse making kind of guy and youth is not something he seems to be afraid of at all. Man, oh man are we excited to watch our defense again. It feels like Christmas. There has not been a shortage of ink for the offensive side of the ball this past season, either. That much heralded Aaron Murray gets his shot. The offensive line could be the best in the country. The running backs are exceptional and A.J. Green, of course, is one of the top talents in the land. If we can find 24 or so points a game, we could win a lot of them. That should not be hard to do. Even with growing pains, those points are definitely on the roster. Coach Bobo has that great line and AJ to work with along with all the other compliments. He should be able to find a way. That is what great coaches do. They accentuate their studs and cover up their weaknesses. Coach Bobo has the team to do that with. Two things we do not like about the off season, just to be fair. We like two-a-days and as of press time Coach Richt has opted against them. While we do realize we can accomplish what we need without them, there is just something that does not seem right about a fall camp with no two-a-days. Also, the decision to begin practice on August 2nd rather than the first possible chance on July 31st is really a maddening one to us. It flies in the face of urgency which we would like to see more of from the head man. Also, it gives yet another weekend night for problems. But, alas, we do not wish to complain very much. The fact we finally have the new coaches we have been dying for and the excitement is back will be enough to squelch the negativity for the time being. Look people, there is not a lot about our team that has not been written. Some around the country really believe in us and others really do not. That is all okay. The important thing is those in Athens really believe again. Not just in words. They really believe. That is what is most important. We have a staff of coaches that can lead this bunch to great things. The players are there. The defensive players really believe in their coaches again. The coaches are finally there. Make sure you are. Things are going to be back to the way they should be. We really expect great things. Eleven wins or bust. That is what we say. Eleven wins or bust.

Bulldawg Illustrated

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