It has been a while since I have updated my blog but not a lot of UGA news around, besides last weeks media days, Richt has been speaking in the metro ATL at the Bulldog clubs etc but nothing really coming out of those media events except two things that excite me-Crowell and Mitchell. I think those two guys will be play key roles with our offense this season. You don't often hear such high praise for a WR like I have heard for Mitchell. Granted, it is one thing to do it in passing drills, another thing to do it with pads on, but to hear Aaron Murray and Brandon Boykin praising him, he must be pretty special. Of course Crowell, he is the one that comes with the huge hype and expectations, only fueled by the departure of both Ealey and King, suspension of Carlton Thomas. I mean, we all expected big things from him but we didn't expect him to almost walk right into a starting spot. Richard Samuel will get many snaps on offense, that much is for sure. But, unless Crowell suffers an injury, doesn't learn enough of the playbook or simply is not as good as adverstised, he is likely our top running back. I know everyone is comparing him to Lattimore but I don't think he has to be as good as Lattimore to make a big impact. But, remember, Lattimore was listed at 6'0, 210lbs coming out of high school. Crowell basically the same thing, 5'11" 210lbs. I don't think anyone expected Lattimore to be as phyiscal as he was last year, I know I didn't from watching him run in HS. I currently don't expect Crowell to be the Lattimore type back based on his HS days but who really knows at this point. The SCarolina OL last year had the same type situation as we have this year, some returning starters but some questions, underachieving unit basically. Thing is, when you have a back like Lattimore, he makes the OL that was average before look really good. I think that is what happened with Moreno in Athens. We had a young line for him in 2007 and especially 2008, everyone ASSumed our OL was a lot better than they really were because Moreno was so darn good. So, my point is, a lot of folks have concerns about Crowell and our OL-especially depth. But, if Crowell can be as good as we all think, I believe we will have a solid run game. If Mitchell can step up and take some pressure off Tavarres King, that really helps our passing game. Between Marlon Brown, Mitchell, Wooten, Troupe, and Bennett, we really need a couple of those guys to not only play but play well as we know Charles and White are solid WR's at the TE position.
As for the defense, I read yesterday that reserve LB Brandon Burrows will have shoulder surgery and miss this entire year. Ok, so now we have some LB issues. We moved Samuel of course, Burrows is gone, as I will mention in just a minute, Turene is still not qualified for admissions, and Jarvis Jones remains a questionmark because of the Columbus scandal. I still have high hopes for this defense though, and I base that on a couple things. The impact of John Jenkins and Kwame Geathers just simply can't be overlooked. Those two guys are going to help our interior D so very much-a place that we got gashed last year time and time again. I think our secondary IS pretty strong and if we can get good play from our OLB's, and DE's, the pressure they provide from all angles will improve our secondary as well. Simply put, if the D can produce the turnovers as they did last year but also do better on 3rd down stops, this D will be very good. I have high hopes for sure but we need our guys healthy.
As I mentioned, still waiting on two recruits, Turene and Devin Bowman. For Turene, from reading quotes from him, he is VERY confident he has done everything needed for admissions, just a matte of time. He does not have a backup plan in case he doesn't qualify, he knows he should be in as his issue is just having the NCAA clearinghouse review and approve his HS transcript. For Bowman, he had to pass a portion of the Ga HS exit exam. He has said if he doesn't pass, he will spend a year at GMC but his coach said Bowman feels very confident he did well. Some might say, how can a kid be qualified on the SAT/ACT and not pass the exit exam, I can't answer that but will say, each case is different and some kids are just not great test takers. In both cases, they SHOULD know within the next week whether or not they can report to Athens and start practice. Speaking of practice, below is the tentative practice schedule.
Tuesday, Aug. 2 – Players report
Wednesday, Aug. 3 – On-field testing day/ First official day of practice
Thursday, Aug. 4 -- Media Day (lunchtime), first day of on-field practice (night)
Friday, Aug. 5
Saturday, Aug. 6
Sunday, Aug. 7
Monday, Aug. 8
Tuesday, Aug. 9 (two practices)
Wednesday, Aug. 10
Thursday, Aug. 11
Friday, Aug. 12
Saturday, Aug. 13 (two practices)
Sunday, Aug. 14 -- Off
Monday, Aug. 15 (Classes begin)
Tuesday, Aug. 16
Wednesday, Aug. 17
Thursday, Aug. 18
Friday, Aug. 19
Saturday, Aug. 20 – Fans Picture Day (morning practice at practice fields, mascot picture day, 1-3 p.m., player picture day 3-5 p.m. Sanford Stadium)
Sunday, Aug. 21 -- Off
Monday, Aug. 22
Tuesday, Aug. 23
Wednesday, Aug. 24
Thursday, Aug. 25
Friday, Aug. 26
Saturday, Aug 27
Mon-Sat., Aug 29-Sept. 3 – Game week
The interesting thing to note, two practices are listed on two different days. I could see another day added because it is so hot and also to break up the schedule a bit. I mean, only two off days scheduled, might not be a bad idea to break off another day. Of course some of the days will be lighter practice-picture day most likely, first day of classes most likely. Still, amazing that players report in less than a week and first official day of practice is a week away. My son started his first week of football practice this week, 7 year old football. I am assisting and I can tell you, even without pads yet, practicing at 6-8p is HOT. So for our UGA football players, I can only imagine how hot and intense it must be. Another note, of course UGA will be wearing the special Nike uniforms for the Boise game so that date of August 20th is picture day but also the general publics first look at the new uniforms. I am anxious to see what they look like, for the most part I prefer the traditional uniforms but I am certainly curious to see new design.
Finally, for those of you that don't view Seth Emerson's blog (you really should frequent his blog, GREAT source of information), he had an interivew yesterday with a writer from the Columbus newspaper that has been heavily involved with this scandal involving the Rec director using illegal funds to buy plane tickets for Jarvis Jones back when he attended Southern Cal. I will post below a little bit that I think is important and then offer my opinion.
Emerson: There is no dispute, presumably, that Jones was the recipient of the plane tickets. That leads to two key questions: Did Jones have enough of a pre-existing relationship with the man, whom you describe as a father-figure? And even if he is a father figure and satisfies the NCAA's definition of a pre-existing relationship, did the money come explicitly from him, or from a more general account, almost a slush fund?
White: The relationship between Jones and Adams, the former parks and rec director, goes back to at least Jones’ middle school years, as far as I know. Jones’ legal guardian was a 10-year employee of the parks and rec department when all of this became news, and so of course Adams was her supervisor and knew both of them. I haven’t been able to get a clear answer as to how Adams’ relationship with Jones began and whether it started as more of a personal mentor or strictly as a coach. But this late in the game it’s almsot a moot point arguing which came first or where the line is drawn. From my experience – and I used to deal with Adams regularly and talk to Jones whenever he was home on break – the two were very close. Wherever Adams went, I could find Jones hanging around. If I was trying to reach Jones for a story, I’d call Adams and two minutes later hear back from Jones. And seeing them interact it was clear, at least to me, that their relationship was deeper than the average coach-player relationship and more along the lines of a father-son relationship.
The issue with the source of the money definitely complicates things even further. The account was set up with an unauthorized city tax ID and in the name of the Georgia Blazers AAU program, and the outcome of the case shows it was used illegally as it funneled money away from the city and was used for some non-Blazers purposes.
So on one hand, the money for the flights came from an account set up and maintained illegally, and an athlete received benefits from an AAU coach and program, which the NCAA has cracked down on before. But on the other hand, could it be possible Jones simply assumed the plane tickets were simply the sort of favor or gift that many other athletes get from their parents, relatives or mentors and paid for legally? It seems impossible to guess all the motives of everyone involved, especially when the line between coach and father figure are so blurred.
To me, there is no doubt this man, Adams, was indeed a father-figure for Jarvis. The money he used to purchase the tickets, no doubt illegal. But, should Jarvis, then just out of HS, question this man that is his father figure, hey, where did you get the money to pay for these tickets?? A kid does not ask those type questions from an adult he trusts-he takes the ticket. Again, the issue here is the fact these guys took money-tax payer money to form an illegal account. Not that Jarvis Jones benefitted from it, because I feel sure he had no idea where the money came from to purchase his plane tickets.
Now obviously I know you’re not privy to UGA’s inquiry into the Jones case or the police report, and you also wouldn’t want to speculate. But based on what you know, does it seem like the plane tickets would be the main/only point of jeopardy for Jones?
White: This is definitely not the only concern for Jones in terms of an NCAA investigation, and police records from the parks and rec investigation show there were withdrawals made from this account by Adams that may be tied to Jones.
From my notes on the massive amount of police reports we received from the parks and rec investigation– and I only made it through about a quarter of the files – and our coverage, there are definitely some serious concerns that have yet to even be addressed.
In fact, we’ll have a story in Wednesday’s paper detailing a couple new bits of information in the police report.
This is of a bigger concern I guess, that this investigation could still drag out longer than expected. But, certainly we have to hope that this entire mess focuses on the plane tickets. But again, if this man was a father-figure for Jarvis Jones, a man that Jarvis had a long existing relationship with, what reason would there be for Jarvis to question where money came from to buy him stuff that a normal parent would buy for their child. A kid, even at 18, is less concerned with where the money came from than he is concerned about getting what he wants, when he wants it. I personally believe just as I did when this story came out, Jarvis Jones SHOULD be playing OLB when UGA lines up against Boise State on Sept. 3rd. With the STUPID NCAA involved, I wouldn't be surprised with anything that happens but on the surface, I think the fact Jarvis and this guy have had a relationship since middle school at least, because the guy that reported the story said, whenever I needed to speak with Jarvis during his recruitment or HS days, I would call this guy and he would have Jarvis call me right back, that to me is all I need to hear. Yes, these guys should be in some big trouble no doubt, but I just don't think a kid should be held responsible for these actions-and I would saying that if Jarvis was at Southern Cal, Auburn, Florida or GT.
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