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SEC Media Days Issue, July 27, 2010

From the editor : vance leavyWow, where do I start?Our last issue broke at the end of June, right before our

beloved athletics program made not so good headlines justa few days later. Yes I’m talking about the unfortunate cir-cumstances that led to Damon Evans’ resignation as athleticdirector.

In situations like these, all you can do is hope for thebest for someone. That’s what all our teachings tell us.Damon loved Georgia and should be remembered for hiscontributions towards making the athletic program evenstronger.

And our president, Michael Adams, acted swiftly andgot the University of Georgia off of page one in less than aweek. Adams’ interim AD, Frank Crumley, is a tried and trueDawg and will keep things going strong at Butts-Mehre.

Now the search is on for a new athletics director. Adamsis sure to seek advice in all corners and find someone whoknows the business and understands the Bulldog Nation.It’s a great task, but Adams’ handling of Evans’ departurebodes well for him landing the right person.

Only time will tell, which certainly also applies to Geor-gia football. And thankfully the time between toe meetingleather is about to end. And as Gruff and Grump point outon page 30, the vibe about these 2010 Dawgs couldn’t beany better.

The unofficial start of a new season certainly got rollingat SEC media days. And for the first time ever, Bulldawg Il-lustrated was there to cover the madness. My original ideawas 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 al-most 50 years of experience paired with a soon to be firstyear UGA law student would most definitely bring back anawesome array of coverage.

And they certainly did. Throughout this issue you will

find stories by Murray and photosby Ryan. Speaking of photos, howawesome does that shiny GeorgiaG helmet look on our cover?

Beyond our printed issue, ifyou love the Dawgs, you need togo to our website at www.bull-dawgillustrated.com and see all themultimedia snippets Ryan amassed

during his time in Alabama. My favorite line from media day was Ryan saying that

all the Alabama fans there truly believed the Crimson Tidehad lost their last game. They are diehard over there, buthow can you blame them the way Nick Saban’s squads haveplayed the few two years?

And since this is an SEC Preview, you have to give theMighty Gators their due for winning national titles two outof the last four years. Jeff Dantzler touches on the two-teamrace between Alabama and Florida in his column. Howeverat the end of it, he sneaks in that he believes the Dawgs willmake it back to Atlanta in December. Now that certainlymeans something because he also precisely called a 7-5record last season when everyone else was drinking theKool-Aid. That would include me.

I’m still not biting, but after spending a few minuteswith Coach Warren Belin recently, I certainly do like ourchances to play football the right way on every play in 2010.And when that happens, good things will blossom intosomething that could end up magical.

I’m past my deadline, which is to be expected seeing asthis is our first-ever SEC Preview issue. Take in every page.From games you won’t want to miss to loads and loads of fanphotos, I think we’ve delivered on this inaugural effort.

And my wife, Cheri, would bust my chops if I didn’tmention our interactive web issue on our website. By scroll-ing down each and every page, viewers can follow links tobonus information about our editorial and advertising con-tent.

Finally, the next time you hear from us at BI, our Dawgswill be midway through Fall Camp. We wish them muchsuccess as they focus on being the very best they can be. Andto our coaches, we appreciate all the hard work that goesinto helping them thrive as stalwart players and young men.

2010 should be a blast. Just need to somehow get tokickoff sooner.

One last tidbit of support to our basketball coach, MarkFox and his dynamic wife, Cindy who are hosting the inau-gural Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers Gala on Saturday,Aug. 21 at the Classic Center in Athens. They are doing greatthings for our Men’s basketball program and need the Bull-dog Nation’s support via attendees and sponsors. Check itout at www.suitsandsneakersga.org and make your plansnow.

Isn’t it great to be a Georgia Bulldog?

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No conference has ever en-joyed the kind of ride that theSoutheastern Conference is on.The list of accolades and accom-plishment has blown past amazing.

For the first time in history, aconference has won four consecu-tive undisputed national champi-onships, with Florida winning in2006 and ’08, LSU in ’07 and Ala-bama in ‘09. For the first time inhistory, three different schoolsfrom the same league won succes-sive national titles.

Dating back to 2006, threeother SEC schools have finished inthe top three nationally. LSU fin-ished the ’06 season ranked third,Georgia was No. 2 in 2007 andFlorida No. 3 a year ago.

Over that same period, the SEChas produced far and away themost National Football Leaguedraft choices and some serious starpower. For a third consecutiveyear, the SEC will have an activeHeisman Trophy winner.

Tim Tebow became the firstunderclassman to ever win theHeisman Trophy, capturing collegesports most coveted individualaward as a sophomore in 2007.Another sophomore, Oklahoma’sSam Bradford won the award in2008, then last season, Alabama’ssecond year standout Mark Ingramhad his name called in New York,becoming the Crimson Tide’s firstever Heisman recipient.

So there is a college footballrarity, though it was the case withSouthern Cal and Matt Leinhartheading into the 2005 season, Ala-bama is the defending nationalchampion with a reigning HeismanTrophy winner.

What has made the SEC sogreat is both the power at the topand the depth of the league. Since2004, when Auburn posted a per-fect 13-0 record and won theleague title, four West teams andthree from the East have appearedin the SEC Championship Game.Compare this to the Big XII, whereOklahoma or Texas has won everyconference title over that same pe-riod and the PAC-10 where USCwon seven straight championshipsfrom 2002-08.

But over the last two seasons,the SEC has been a two horse race.

Alabama and Florida have metin the last two SEC ChampionshipGames, which have served as defacto national semifinals. En routeto the last two national and SEC ti-tles, the Gators and Crimson Tidehave combined for an astoundingrecord of 52-4, with two of thoselosses coming to one another. Ledby Ingram, Bama figures to be theconsensus preseason No. 1 whenthe August polls come out.

At SEC Media Days, Bama wasthe overwhelming choice to winthe West, despite numerous per-sonnel losses, particularly off ofthe nation’s best defense. Floridasuffered even heavier losses, in-cluding Tebow and several starsfrom the nation’s second best de-fense, yet the Gators were also aheavy favorite to win the East.

Florida became the first teamfrom the East since Georgia in ’02and ’03 to make it to consecutiveSEC Championship Games, whileBama became the first from theWest to go back-to-back since theTide went to the first three from1992-94.

Gator coach Urban Meyer,when asked if the SEC had becomea two team league, confidently

replied yes, but was quick to pointout that falling asleep for just asecond means getting passed.

The door is open, maybe a lit-tle more so in the East. Make nomistake that the Gators and Crim-son Tide will both be very talented,but along with the wealth of talentand experience both lost, theschedules will be more difficult –especially for Bama – in large partdue to the fact that they meet inTuscaloosa October 2.

Georgia, Auburn, South Car-olina, LSU, Arkansas and maybeeven Kentucky (Tennessee figuresto be a year or two away from con-tention) have their sights set atending the two-year domination ofthe Crimson Tide and Gators.

Both Florida and Alabama weretouched when the story of student-athletes involvement with un-scrupulous agents broke. On aside note, Georgia star receiver A.J.Green has good grounds for a law-suit towards at least one mediaoutlet, as he was wrongly and irre-sponsibly named as the storybroke. It was assumed that he wasinvolved, even after the humbleAll-American said he had neverbeen to Miami, where the infamousagent/athlete party took place. Bythe end of the week after NCAA in-vestigators sent personnel toAthens, Green was cleared of anywrongdoing.

Unscrupulous agents and pointshaving are the two scariest issuessurrounding college athletics, be-cause there’s just no failsafe way togovern and monitor what youngathletes – many to most of whomcome from poor backgrounds – canbe preyed upon with the lure ofmoney and “no one needing toknow or getting hurt.”

Schools, conferences and theNCAA simply have no power togovern agents. It comes back toeducating the student-athletes, andthem ultimately making the rightdecision, as in not risking eligibil-ity and millions of dollars for in-stant gratification and thousands.The ‘runners’ for unscrupulousagents don’t have that difficult atime with modern technology gain-ing access to many collegiate ath-letes. With limited practice timesand the elimination of athleticdorms, there’s less structure andcontrol for coaches to monitortheir players.

Quick cash for those who don’thave 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 East1. 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)

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SEC, two team race, agents, Dogs win east

jeff dantzler

Although I’ve covered Georgia football forsome 45 years now, I had never attended theevent called SEC Football Media Days until thispast week when I joined Bulldawg Illustratedintern Ryan Scates in Hoover, Ala. to gather in-formation for blogs on our website and for thefeature stories you’re now reading in this spe-cial SEC preview issue of BI.

Prior to driving to The Wynfrey Hotel inHoover, a southern suburb of Birmingham, Ihad heard all the stories about SEC MediaDays, and I guess the primary comment frompeople who had been to this thing for manyyears went something like this, “It’s a circus,” or“It’s a zoo.”

I guess, with those kind of statements, themedia guys simply were alluding to the nearly1,000 human animals that flock to the event,that flood every television room, radio and In-ternet room and print media room in scurryingabout the hotel in attempts to secure every lit-tle newsy morsel they can about the footballplayers and coaches in the Southeastern Con-ference and what’s going to happen on the fieldin the upcoming season.

But, much to my relief, I didn’t find myfirst SEC Media Days to be any different, anymore hectic than other big-time sporting eventsthat attract an equal number of sportswriters,radio and television people. In fact, I wouldpretty much equate this to covering a SuperBowl, where all the working folks from all overstay in the official media headquarters hotel andsit in on steady press conferences while tryingto come up with any new angles for stories thatthey can. The only difference in that and SECMedia Days, of course, is there is no footballgame to cap off the week’s activities.

As for as any surprises in Hoover, noth-ing really jumped out at me last week. But Iguess a mild surprise would be the actualamount of time each SEC head coach stayedup at the main podium while addressing thehuge throng of writers in the print media room.After earlier holding “pressers” in separaterooms with the TV people and radio and In-ternet personalities, some head coaches wouldmake their presentations and answer countlessquestions for up to nearly an hour. That’s dras-tically opposed to the time you’re going to getfrom these guys once their team tees it up inthe season. Usually, it’s a 30-minute shot – ormuch less – once these coaches get the seasonunderway.

What I also found interesting was the con-trast in speaking styles of the steady stream ofcoaches and SEC officials that took the dais lastWednesday through Friday in Hoover.

First to take the podium early Wednesdaymorning was Bill Hancock, executive directorof the BCS. As you might expect, Hancock ex-tolled the virtues of the BCS setup, telling whya college playoff system would be detrimentalto the game we have now “where every singlecontest matters” in the teams’ effort to make itto the BCS national championship game orBCS bowl game and where that wouldn’t bethe case if there were a season-ending playoffformat in place.

Then came commissioner Mike Slive giv-ing his state-of-the-SEC address and he talkedin detail of the prosperity and accomplishmentsof a conference that most consider the finestcollegiate league in the land.

This was just one of Slive’s comments thatleaped out at me: “For the 29th consecutiveyear, we have recorded the largest total atten-dance of any conference in the nation. A totalof 6.6 million people came to our games, andwe filled our stadiums to an astonishing 98 per-cent of capacity for each home game.”

But, of course, the highlight of media dayscomes in listening to the head coaches and SECplayers themselves. And what I discovered isthat, this day and time, you hardly ever hear acoach moaning and groaning and downplay-ing their respective team’s chances concerningthe upcoming season. Gone are the days whena Bear Bryant or Vince Dooley “poor-mouthed”their team’s potential in attempts to perhapscatch their opponents’ guard down when, inactuality, coaches in the Bryant and Dooleymode knew they had more than enough goodfootball players to beat anybody they encoun-tered. Nope, these days, all the SEC coachesthat strode up to the podium Wednesdaythrough Friday talked most optimistically oftheir team’s outlook this season and how theycould accomplish great things if all the partscame together and major injuries were avoided.And, as for the players themselves, they are like

they always were … expressing the confidencetheir team can whip anyone they play, which isthe way it should be unless that kind of confi-dence spills heavily over into the “cocky” realm.

I mentioned the contrasting speaking styleof the different coaches. By far the most enter-taining for the media this year was a guy weknew absolutely nothing about. Robbie Cald-well, who became Vanderbilt’s interim coachafter veteran mentor Bobby Johnson abruptlyretired in mid-summer, used his corn-pone,down-home-country style of humor to keepthe usually staid media bunch in absolutelystitches his entire presentation. The bald,paunchy Caldwell quipped about everythingfrom his virtual anonymity among SEC fellowcoaches, to turkey farming, to women’s lipstickand even tossed in a little Commodore footballtalk in the process.

Just a couple of Caldwell gems: “I gotasked on the radio, ‘What about all the coaches,have they congratulated you?’ I said, no, not aone. No offense to them, but they don’t knowme. They will.”

And these: “I can still walk in places andnobody knows me. Last night here I was open-ing the door for people and they give me a tip.I thought, hey, that’s great. How can you get itany better than that?” …. “I knew I was a fatguy (pulling his jacket out and showing his siz-able stomach), but I didn’t need all these heavyduty extra springs. This job has been good forme. I’ve lost about seven pounds in the lasteight days.”…. “You can tell by looking at me.I done it all, too. If I told some of these ladieswhat they put in that lipstick right there, oh,my goodness, because I de-beaked, bloodtested, vaccinated (while working on turkeyfarm). I done it all. It was pretty special.”

Alabama’s Nick Saban, who was the firstcoach to grace the podium Wednesday, madeprobably the longest opening statement beforetaking questions and along with Georgia coachMark Richt was among the most polished andrelaxed speakers behind the microphone. NewTennessee coach Derek Dooley though, by far,was the most elegant speaker on the dais,sounding in fact like the smooth-talking lawyerthat he was before plunging head-first into thecollegiate coaching ranks. But Dooley, likeRicht, Joker Phillips, Dan Mullen, HoustonNutt and some of the others, also weaved somewit into his presentation and was particularlyhumorous when discussing his flamboyantmom, Barbara. “She’s become an icon in thestate of Tennessee, so much that I had to kindof try to temper her back a little, “ Dooley said.“As you know, that’s impossible. Everybodyloves her because she subscribes to the theoryspeak first, think second, the exact opposite ofmy dad.”

And while Florida’s Urban Meyer, LSU’sLes Miles and Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino werepretty much all serious and business-like intheir talks, as was pretty much Auburn coachGene Chizik, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrierwas, well, Steve Spurrier. When asked aboutthe possibility of losing his title as “the SEC’smost-quotable coach” to new mentors Cald-well and Phillips, Spurrier replied with astraight face, “No, I’m not worried about that atall. I don’t think I’ve won enough games latelyto have any outlandish quotes. If you win abunch of games (like he did at Florida), it’spretty easy to give all the answers up here.”

In summary, I would call my first experi-ence at SEC Media Days most interesting, en-tertaining and enjoyable. But, frankly, all thisdid was make me glad that the SEC footballgames themselves are almost upon us, whenall the speculating will have ended and we’llknow who’s going to be the haves and have-nots in the Southeastern Conference this fall.

And, oh, a little dessert for myself at mediadays was excursions with three buddies to twoof Alabama’s landmark institutions, DreamlandBarbecue, and Legion Field. It was night-timewhen we pulled up into a parking lot at LegionField, which lies in an old Birmingham neigh-borhood. Lights were still on underneath thestands and as you sat and pondered the venue,you could nearly envision the ghosts still stir-ring inside the place … the man in the hounds-tooth hat pacing the sidelines with a rolled-upprogram in his hand, the “punt-Bama-punt”thing when Auburn blocked about three Crim-son Tide punts en route to upsetting powerfulAlabama and all the shouts of “Roll Tide” and“War Eagle” thundering down from the standsin all those Iron Bowl classics down throughthe decades.

First trip to media days most enlightening

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poole shotsBy Murray Poole

lmost all of the Southeastern Conferencefootball coaches and their leading playersexpressed optimism about their team’s

chances this coming season, at this past week’s annualSEC Media Days at The Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham.

But, being realistic, all the teams in the SEC’s Easternand Western Divisions won’t be contending for a cham-pionship this coming fall. That said, who are the true con-tenders to make it to Atlanta for the conference title gameand, at the same time, who are the pretenders?

Here is a brief 2010 preview of each of the South-eastern Conference teams … in the order their head coachand players appeared before the 1,000-plus media throngin Birmingham, actually Hoover, Ala.

ALABAMA – Not only a contender for the SECchampionship once again but, for a second consecutivenational title as well. Nick Saban lost eight starters fromthe rugged defensive unit that paced the Crimson Tide tolast year’s flawless 14-0 record (8-0 SEC) but on the otherside of the ball has eight offensive regulars returning, in-cluding Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Mark Ingram,senior quarterback Greg McElroy and talented juniorwideout Julio Jones.

And as far as that Alabama defense goes, Tide fansshouldn’t fret too much. Alabama will simply reload herewith a score of talented new starters and returning juniorlinebacker Donta’ Hightower and strong safety Mark Bar-ron will make sure those young guys play defense in themanner that Saban absolutely demands.

Commented Hightower on Media Day, “Losing thatmany defensive starters, it might be the foundation andmotivation 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 Bull-dog team went 5-7 last season but, most importantly,sounded a distinct warning for future Mississippi Stateopponents by playing the Florida Gators right down tothe wire before falling by 29-19. And, against rival OleMiss, the Bulldogs put everything together to whack theJohnny Rebs, 41-27.

But even though Mullen returns a whopping 16starters from the team that led the SEC in rushing yardsin 2009, don’t look for the Bulldogs to challenge the likesof Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and LSU for the SEC Westtitle this season. Just too many question marks concern-ing a defense that was porous last season and a depthchart that can’t survive any major injuries.

Still, Mullen is most optimistic about the new seasonand the head coach’s excitement could carry over to hisfootball team.

“We’re excited about this upcoming season with ourplayers,” said Mullen at the Media Days podium. “We hada great off-season. I think when you finish the season howwe did last year, with a huge win over your rival, it cata-pults you into that next year.”

KENTUCKY –There’s surely optimism in the blue-grass also as the Wildcats are returning 13 regulars froma team that won seven games last season … one of thosevictories being a 34-27 stunner over Georgia in Athens.

Now with Joker Phillips succeeding veteran coachRich Brooks at the UK helm, the Wildcats certainly havetop skill people in the likes of do-it-all junior RandallCobb and senior tailback Derrick Locke. Also, Kentuckyhas a pair of capable quarterbacks in senior Mike Hartlineand sophomore Morgan Newton.

But, question is, will the UK defense, paced by sen-ior end DeQuin Evans and junior linebacker Danny Tre-vathan, grow enough fangs to become a viable player inSEC East this autumn?

In Phillips’ first year at the controls, it’s difficult to seethe Wildcats pushing Florida, Georgia and South Car-olina very hard in the Eastern Division race.

But Phillips is saying all the right things as Kentuckyprepares 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 SECEast,” stated Phillips in Birmingham last week. “If you winthe SEC East, there’s a chance you’re going to be compet-ing for a national championship.”

FLORIDA – Yes, the mighty Gators lost six defen-sive starters and five offensive regulars – including leg-endary quarterback Tim Tebow – from the 2009 teamthat stormed to a 13-1 record with the only loss being thedisappointing 32-13 setback to eventual national cham-pion Alabama in the SEC championship game.

But shed no tears for these crocodiles. Until someoneproves differently, the Gators are a solid choice to capturethe East title once again and make it to Atlanta for a thirdconsecutive December. Indeed, Florida has so many ath-letes stockpiled in Gainesville, there’s no rebuilding at theUniversity of Florida … just reloading.

The Gators have speed to burn in the backfield inthe form of junior running back Jeff Demps and in sen-

ior end Justin Trattou, junior cor-ner Janoris Jenkins and seniorsafety Ahmad Black, have thenucleus on defense to makethings tough for opposing of-fenses once again. And in hisvery first year succeeding thegreat Tebow, redshirt juniorquarterback John Brantleyshould develop into one of thetop passers in the conference.

At SEC Media Days lastWednesday, head coach UrbanMeyer didn’t seem too worriedabout things when he said, “It’syear six for myself and membersof my staff. There’s a little bit ofnewness and freshness inGainesville now with the loss ofsome great players, but I thinkwe have some great players com-ing up through the ranks. There’san air of excitement inGainesville, and justifiably so.”

ARKANSAS – In his thirdyear at the Arkansas helm, BobbyPetrino is hoping his Hogs willbe snorting in the upcoming2010 football season.

After struggling to a 5-7 record in his first year inFayetteville in 2008, Petrino’s Razorbacks posted an 8-5mark last season including a 20-17 win over East Car-olina in the Liberty Bowl.

And from that team Arkansas returns a whopping18 starters including junior quarterback Ryan Mallett, oneof the finest passers in the land, senior tight end D.J.Williams, junior wide receiver Joe Adams and junior de-fensive end Jake Bequette.

So, here in the preseason at least, you have to desig-nate the Hogs as one of the solid contenders in SEC West.Still, with a road schedule that sends the Razorbacks toGeorgia (Sept. 18), to Auburn, to South Carolina and toMississippi State and lists home games against Alabama,Ole Miss and LSU (Little Rock), is anybody going to pickthe Hogs to finish ahead of the Crimson Tide, Auburn …even LSU?

However, speaking at SEC Media Days this pastThursday, Petrino said his team is embracing the high ex-pectations in 2010. “We’re embracing it, we want it tomotivate us and then do everything we can to make itcome true,” he said. “Offensively, this season, it’s importantthat we continue to improve in our running game anddefensively, we want to continue to emphasize what wedid well last year … get turnovers, play better red-zonedefense and obviously, we must eliminate the big playsthat hurt us a good bit last year.”

GEORGIA – No secrets here as almost everyone inBulldawg Nation is aware that Georgia is going to bedoing everything it can to snap back from last season’sdismal 8-5 finish and try to dislodge the Florida Gatorsfrom the top spot in SEC East.

And with 10 starters returning on an offense that gotback to a punishing running game at season’s end last fall,as well as a newly-revamped 3-4 defense under the guid-ance of new coordinator Todd Grantham, these Dogs lookfully capable of finally overcoming a Florida team that lostTim Tebow and six defensive starters and thereby makeit back to the Georgia Dome for the SEC title game.

While the offense has a veteran offensive line withall the Bulldogs’ starters returning intact plus All-Americareceiver A.J. Green and the kicking game is the best in thecountry with All-America punter Drew Butler and ultra-talented place-kicker Blair Walsh, a couple of huge ques-tion marks are (1) how fast will the new-look defensedevelop under Grantham? And, (2) can Aaron Murrayflourish in Georgia’s experienced offense despite being amere redshirt freshman?

Said head coach Mark Richt at SEC Media Days inBirmingham this past Thursday, “With the new schemethat we have and the excitement that it has brought, Ithink we’re going to get after it. We’re going to play hardand with a lot of energy. If we can do that and find a wayto keep from beating ourselves, which I think we did toa certain extent last season with our turnover ratio andour penalty count, if we could find a way to keep frombeating ourselves, I think we’ll be a pretty good footballteam.”

Richt said Georgia’s entire team has a great deal ofrespect for its young quarterback.

“I’ll say this about our team,” Richt said. “They re-spect this kid because he prepares, because he puts theteam first, because he has talent. They know by virtue ofthe fact that he is the quarterback, he’s in the leadershipposition, he has to succeed. So they’re rallying around thiskid.”

VANDERBILT –The Commodores may not havethe greatest football team in the SEC but, most certainly,they have the best stand-up comedian in the person ofinterim coach Robbie Caldwell, who simply had the hugemedia contingent in stitches at the recent SEC Media Daysin Birmingham.

But things in Nashville this coming season likelywon’t be so hilarious as Vanderbilt attempts to bounceback from last year’s dismal 2-10 finish – the Com-modores’ final season under Bobby Johnson. To fight theSEC wars, Vandy has five returning regulars on offenseand six returning starters on the defensive side of the ball.The Dores’ defensive leaders look to be junior linebackerChris Marve and junior safety Sean Richardson and of-fensively, Vanderbilt is expected to be paced by a pair ofsophomore tailbacks, Warren Norman and Zac Stacy.

“Everybody is disappointed with last year,” saidCaldwell, “and I think we’ve made adjustments to im-prove on that this year. Coach Johnson made a numberof adjustments in the spring, we’ve done some tweakingand I think all our coaches and players are truly excitedabout this coming season.”

Sad to say, though, excitement can only carry a teama portion of the way, and if Caldwell is able to steer theCommodores out of the Eastern Division cellar and en-able them to finish above Tennessee or Kentucky, then hewill have accomplished great things in the Music City.

SOUTH CAROLINA – Could this be the footballseason that Steve Spurrier finally gets it done in Colum-bia, the year when the former legendary coach at the Uni-versity of Florida takes the Gamecocks past Florida andGeorgia and earns the long-suffering South Carolina fanbase its first trip to the SEC Championship game?

Certainly, with a total of 17 starters returning fromthe Gamecock team that started the 2009 season with a6-2 record before dropping four of its last five outings in-cluding a 20-7 loss to Connecticut in the Papa JohnsBowl, to end up at 7-6, South Carolina appears to haveenough pieces in place to seriously challenge the Gatorsand Bulldogs for Eastern Division supremacy.

Even though the Gamecocks lost All-America line-backer Eric Norwood and standout end Clifton Geathers,Carolina boasts a solid defensive nucleus that featuresseven returning regulars including senior end CliffMatthews, junior linebacker Shaq Wilson and sophomorecorner Stephon Gilmore. Offensively, the Gamecocks arehoping junior Stephen Garcia turns out to be the quar-terback everyone anticipated he would be coming out ofhigh school. And Garcia has seven other returning starterssurrounding him including solid senior fullback, PatrickDiMarco.

Said Spurrier at last week’s SEC Media Days, “We’vegot excellent players. I think we’ve got the best group ofathletes since we’ve been there. I know they have the bestattitudes. Their work habits and so forth have been ex-cellent. Now we need to get past seven wins. We need towin big at South Carolina.”

Whether the Gamecocks can win big at South Car-olina this season may well hinge on their first SEC outingon Sept. 11, when Georgia ventures to Williams-Brice Sta-dium. “The winner of that game just means you’re onegame up for a chance to win the east,” Spurrier said.“That’s all that means. But certainly it’s a huge game forboth of us as far as the conference is concerned.”

SEC ... SEC ... SECA look at each 2010 team in the order they appeared at media days

By Murray Poole

Continued on page 8

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AUBURN – The Tiger Nation is excited as Auburn en-ters its second season under the tutelage of Gene Chizik.

Succeeding long-time successful mentor Tommy Tu-berville at the Auburn helm, former Iowa State coach Chiziksteered the Tigers to an 8-5 record last fall. After taking even-tual national champion and top rival Alabama down to thewire in a 26-21 setback, Auburn posted a thrilling 38-35 over-time victory over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.

Chizik has no less than 16 returning starters from that2009 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 theAuburn faithful the most excited, that being juco transfer quar-terback Cameron Newton and talented freshman runningback Michael Dyer. Newton, a 6-6, 247-pound Atlanta nativewho originally signed with Florida before transferring to Blinn(Texas) College, where he led the team to the NJCAA nationaltitle, possesses both a strong arm and the elusiveness to runGus Malzahn’s. Also in the Tiger quarterback picture are sen-ior Neil Caudle and sophomore Barrett Trotter.

The 5-8, 201-pound Dyer, from Little Rock, Ark., wasranked among the top five prep tailbacks in the country lastseason. For playing time, however, Dyer will have to battle theteam’s leading returning rusher, sophomore Onterio Mc-Calebb. Of course, the Tigers’ big loss at tailback was Ben Tate,who rumbled for 1,362 yards and 10 touchdowns last yearbefore coming a second-round pick in the NFL draft.

But, offense aside, likely the key for Auburn challengingthe likes of Alabama, Arkansas and LSU in SEC West is a de-fensive team that has eight regulars back from the unit thatrode the up-and-down seesaw in 2009.

“We think the win over Northwestern in the bowl gamegives us momentum going into the season,” said Chizik, whilespeaking at SEC Media Days this past Friday. “We’re excitedabout the season, and we feel after last season, we have a teamthat’s going in the right direction.”

Chizik is correct with that statement and it won’t be agreat shock if Auburn upsets the entire applecart in SEC West… including the mighty Tide.

TENNESSEE –A Dooley coaching the Tennessee Vol-unteers? Derek Dooley, son of legendary Georgia coach Vince,standing on the sidelines in UT orange has to be a bit surrealto Bulldog fans.

But that’s definitely the scenario up in Knoxville as DerekDooley, who spent the past three seasons as head coach ofLouisiana 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 Califor-nia.

With the Vols losing 11 starters from last year’s 7-6 squad– which was hammered by Virginia Tech 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl – including All-America and first-round draft choiceEric Berry, not many folks are anticipating Dooley’s first UTteam to seriously challenge the likes of Florida, Georgia andSouth Carolina for the SEC Eastern Division crown.

But with his good coaching genes, Dooley just mightbring Tennessee back quicker than people think. He has solidAll-SEC candidates in senior wide receiver Gerald Jones, sen-ior tight end Luke Stocker, senior defensive end Chris Walkerand junior tailback Tauren Poole. Likely the Vols’ primaryquestion mark is this: Can either junior college transfer MattSimms, who is the son of Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms andyounger brother of Tennessee Titans QB Chris Simms, or true6-6 freshman Tyler Bray take control of the UT offense afterincumbent senior Nick Stephens chose to leave the team mid-way through spring practice?

“I’m proud of where we’re headed,” said Dooley, whilespeaking at SEC Media Days this past Friday. “We certainlyhave had our bumps along the way and we’ll continue to haveour bumps along the way. But anytime you have the transitionthat we’ve had at the head coaching level – three in three years– you’re naturally going to have more attrition than you nor-mally would have and you’re naturally probably not going tohave 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 in-experience at a lot of positions,” added Dooley. “But I feel re-ally good about the young talent and senior leadership we haveon our team.”

OLE MISS – After guiding the Arkansas Razorbacksfor 10 seasons, Houston Nutt has now directed the Ole MissRebels to consecutive 9-4 campaigns including Cotton Bowlvictories after both of those seasons.

But after losing eight offensive starters including multi-talented flanker/running back Dexter McCluster, quarterbackJevan Snead and leading receiver Shay Hodge, the Johnny Rebscould struggle on that side of the ball this season. Defensively,Ole Miss seems a bit stouter with six returning regulars in-cluding senior defensive end Kentrell Lockett and senior de-fensive tackle Jerrell Powe, whom the Rebels are promoting asall-star candidates along with returning junior tailback Bran-don Bolden (2nd leading rusher) and junior offensive tackleBradley Sowell.

Succeeding the up-and-down Snead at the Ole Miss sig-nal-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 thestarter.

Bottom line, the Rebels simply have too much inexperi-ence 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 thedivision.

“We’re excited about our program,” said Nutt, addressingthe press at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. “Last two years,to win Cotton Bowl, to be Cotton Bowl champions, finish inthe old stadium and go into Jerry Jones’ new stadium, thatAT&T Cotton Bowl was something very special for our play-ers.

“Before we got there, Ole Miss had four previous losingseasons, hadn’t won a conference game, and they were so ex-cited about going to that first bowl,” said Nutt. “That’s reallyhelped recruiting the last two signing classes, they’ve been out-standing. But as you look forward to this year, we lost a lot.Dexter McCluster is the only person in SEC history to rush fora thousand yards, catch the ball for 500.”

LSU –Everyone is saying the natives are getting restlessdown 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 NationalChampionship in 2007.

But in the past two seasons, that LSU win chart dippedto 8-5 and 9-4, finishes that have reportedly slapped Miles onthe proverbial hot seat in Baton Rouge.

As for starters lost and returning, the Tigers are split rightdown the middle. They lost 12 regulars from that 9-4 squadthat fell 19-17 to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl but alsoreturn 12 starters from that team. Although LSU has leadingrusher Charles Scott, leading passer Jordan Jefferson and co-leading receiver Terrence Toliver back to spark the offense, theTiger defense will line up with just four players who started lastyear. But included among that number is All-SEC defensiveback Patrick Peterson. The LSU kicking game appears to be ingood hands in the person of senior place-kicker/punter JoshJasper.

Here in the preseason, it’s difficult to envision the Tigersprowling past defending champion Alabama, Arkansas andAuburn in SEC West but then, with Miles and LSU deter-mined to silence their critics, you’ve got to think that theseBayou Bengals rate as the definite dark-horse in the WesternDivision this autumn.

And, as he spoke at SEC Media Days last week, Mileswaxed ultra-optimistic about his team’s chances this comingseason.

SEC ... SEC ... SEC

Photograph by Ryan Scates

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eorgia at South Carolina – September 11This is annually the first big one of the year in league play, and this seasonit means even more. South Carolina has its best shot ever at making it toAtlanta. 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 shotat the title. Georgia has a tough one at home the next Saturday with Arkansas, andas long as the Dogs don’t go 0-2, a recovery and Atlanta are still possible.

Alabama at Arkansas – September 25Through the years, the Razorbacks have had success with Alabama, Auburn andLSU, particularly at home. But Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide snarling unlikeany time since the man in the houndstooth cap was prowling the sidelines on thecapstone. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and potential No. 1overall pick Ryan Mallett give this one huge star power – and the latter gives the Hogsa puncher’s chance.

South Carolina at Auburn – September 25Auburn hosts Clemson and South Carolina entertains Furman the week before a rareclash between the Gamecocks and Tigers. This will be just the third meeting betweenthe two schools in the last 12 years, and the Tigers are 4-0 since the Gamecocksjoined 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 2The last two national champions square off on the capstone, after combining to go52-4 (with two losses to one another) the last years and playing in national semifinal-esqueSEC title games. In the last game between the two in Tuscaloosa in 2005, Bama rolledto a 31-3 victory but lost Tyrone Prothro with a gruesome broken leg injury. These twohave squared off in seven of the 18 SEC Championship Games.

LSU at Florida - October 9With 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 Gatorshas obviously carried big ramifications. Les Miles has a toasty seat in Baton Rouge, andan 0-4 record the last two years against Alabama and Florida hasn’t helped. The Gatorswill be returning from Tuscaloosa, the Tigers from a home date with Tennessee.

Alabama at South Carolina - October 9What a dangerous game for the Crimson Tide. South Carolina could be riding high, de-pending on the outcomes with Georgia and Auburn. Most importantly the Gamecockswill be coming off an open date, while Bama will be coming off the Florida game. If SouthCarolina could pull this off, it would be one of the most monumental wins in programhistory.

LSU at Auburn - October 23In the first half of the decade, this was the biggest game of the year, and the most phys-ical. Both the Bayou Bengals and Plainsmen Tigers have their sights set on toppling Al-abama and getting to the SEC Championship Game. The winner of this one should bein 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 hasbeen the country’s best program to not win one since the turn of the century is what hashappened 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 6Since 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 Bearis the central figure. Both teams will be coming off of open dates, and no matter therecords, Tiger Stadium will be rocking. It figures that Les Miles needs to beat either theGators or Crimson Tide to prevent his coaching seat to escalate to scorching.

South Carolina at Florida - November 13Steve 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 secondtime ever. The Gamecocks have a flat out brutal schedule. With Alabama andAuburn on the docket from the SEC West and the usual murderer’s row down thestretch, no matter how talented the Gamecocks are, it will take a lot of breaks tomake a historical first appearance in Atlanta.

Georgia at Auburn - November 13Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have high hopes of making it to Atlanta. For so manyyears, this rivalry has more often than not been in the running for “best SEC gameof the season.” Georgia has chalked up an historic four consecutive victories overthe 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 27A year ago, the Tigers scared the daylights out of Alabama, until the Crimson Tidepulled out a last minute victory to preserve their perfect season which led to an un-defeated national championship. This could be one of the bigger Iron Bowls ever,with the winner potentially moving on to the SEC Championship Game. AfterTommy Tuberville led Auburn to six straight wins in the series, Bama has won thelast two under Saban.

SEC STEPS OUT

LSU vs. North Carolina in Atlanta - September 4With 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 bigshowdown with the Bayou Bengals in the Georgia Dome. LSU and Les Miles re-ally need this to kick-start a very important season for the Fightin’ Tigers.

Oregon at Tennessee - September 11Derek Dooley inherited one of Tennessee’s least promising teams and most chal-lenging 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 of-fensive attack. The Volunteers get the Gators the next week in Knoxville and itdoesn’t get any easier over the next month with Georgia, Alabama and LSU loom-

Penn State at Alabama September 11There is some great history between these two all-time powerhouses, fromthe ’79 Sugar Bowl goal line stand for the national title in a coaching match-up of Bryant and Paterno, to several meaningful regular season clashes. Nowit’s Saban and Paterno squaring off on the capstone. Bama’s schedule is muchtougher than the last two years, and to have another great season, it figuresthat the Tide has to have this one.

Clemson at Auburn September 18Clemson 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 NFLand Auburn could have its best team since going 11-2 in 2006. It’s a raremeeting between the two Tigers, both of whom are just a few miles awayfrom opposite Georgia borders.

Florida at Florida State - November 27Florida has won six straight over the Seminoles, with four of the wins com-ing by 27, 30, 33, and 27, plus a pair of touchdown victories. It’s JimboFisher’s first season, and the ‘Noles best shot at beating the Gators since it lasthappened in 2003. Christian Ponder is Florida State’s best quarterback sinceChris Weinke.

Tech at Georgia November 27On Tech’s last trip to Athens, the Yellow Jackets handed Georgia a devastat-ing, historical loss to spoil the Bulldogs season. Georgia put the bloom ona disappointing year in ’09 with an upset win at ACC Champion Tech.Whether the Bulldogs are a week away from playing for the SEC Champi-onship or just capping the regular season, Georgia can’t have an outstand-ing year when losing to the Jackets.

Don’t miss 2010 gamesDoozies galore as teams within nation’s best conference try to advance to Atlanta, then Arizona

By Jeff Dantzler

Photographs by Ryan Scates

Steve Spurrier

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One of the problems with college athleticstoday is that we make internet stars out ofyoung athletes when they are in junior high.Too much attention, no doubt, when immatu-rity holds sway.

Too much money others suggest is theproblem. I am ambivalent about the moneyissue, often concluding that it is not the moneythat is so bad, but the greed which surroundsour games today.

Recruiting issues are getting to be over-whelming. The latest has to do with agents.Before text messaging and email became partof the process, there still were issues, but noth-ing like today. What’s happening now ain’t sofunny, but you could find some humor in re-cruiting stories in the madness of yesteryear.One popular story a few years ago had to dowith the coach who felt that the best way to re-cruit a prized prospect was through his mother.The conclusion was that he did a fine job withmom who actually enrolled at the coach’sschool. The son? “He signed with our mainrival.”

A story I’ve always enjoyed had to do withmy long time friend Johnny Majors of Ten-nessee. During the fall season, most headcoaches host a serious of recruiting sessionseach week to establish personnel objectives andupdates on prospects. The usual routine is tostart with one coach and go around the confer-ence table with each coach updating the staffon the players in his recruiting territory.

An assistant coach explained to the Ten-nessee staff that he was scouting a back thatwould make the Volunteer team his freshmanyear, “the best back I have ever seen.” The as-sistant continued with his evaluation andbrought up something of a disclaimer at theend. “….but he comes from a bad back-ground,” the assistant said. “Very bad. In fact,he saw his daddy chop his mama’s head off withan axe.”

The atmosphere in the room becametense. Majors remembers in a few short sec-onds that it surely would be a liability for histeam to take a player coming from that kind ofbackground. The old head on the staff wasGeorge Cafego, former Tennessee star playerand a long time assistant in Knoxville.

Majors, who often deferred to Cafego forhis sage advice, turned and said, “What do youthink, Coach Cafego?” Without cracking asmile, Cafego said, “Hell, I think we ought torecruit his daddy.”

Moving from the light side, one of themost interesting recruiting campaigns for Geor-gia followed the 6-5 season in 1979. Herschel

Walker would be a freshman in 1980, andseemingly every school in the country tendereda scholarship offer to Herschel who kept theguessing game going on his decision. Signingday came and went. He didn’t sign in Feburary.He didn’t sign in March. Finally on Easter Sun-day 1980 he announced his decision. Hewould be a Bulldog.

There were some skeptics, believe it ornot, wondering that with Herschel’s straightahead speed, if he could run over linebackers inthe Southeastern Conference like he did inClass A competition. We know the rest of thestory.

An interesting vignette developed withTom Landry, when he was coaching the Cow-boys, who had gone from perennial playoffcontender to an also ran which often happensin the NFL. You can’t stay on top forever. Oneday I interviewed him in his office at ValleyRanch about Herschel. He had planned tobuild the Dallas team back into a contenderwith Herschel as the centerpiece of the offense.“If we can ever find a way to get him past theline of scrimmage, there is no telling how dom-inant a player he can be,” Landry said. Landrywas soon let go and Jimmy Johnson, who suc-ceeded Landry, traded Herschel to the Min-nesota Vikings.

While all the fuss was going on with Her-schel’s late signing episode, the Bulldogs, withone scholarship left, took their time evaluatinga tall, lanky defensive back from Huntsville, TX.Nobody gave Terry Hoage the big rush com-pared to that of Herschel, Buck Belue, andLindsay Scott. Hoage didn’t have great to speed,something he didn’t view as a liability when itcame to making plays. Coaches howeverwould look at his :04.6 speed and downgradeHoage’s rating. One Southwest Conferencehead coach said of Hoage. “He has just enoughspeed to get you beat.”

Vince Dooley, like all coaches, was alwaysconcerned about things like speed and quick-ness but Hoage had one redeeming quality.“We knew we wouldn’t have to worry about hiseligibility,” Dooley said, referring to Hoage’s im-peccable academic standing. Bill Lews, thendefensive coordinator, and Steve Greer, afterconsiderable time watching film of Hoage, rec-ommended him for a scholarship. In his ca-reer, Hoage made almost as many big plays ondefense as Herschel did on offense.

That was the story of the 1980 recruitingclass for the Bulldogs. They signed two Super-stars: The most sought after running back andthe least sought after rover back.

Stories along the recruiting trail

loran smith

ll coaches are going to harp on “taking one game at atime” when they’re asked to evaluate their opponentsin an approaching football season.

But in big-time college football today, a coachingstaff can hardly wait until Game Week to begin breaking downthe 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 de-fensive coordinator Todd Grantham – they will already haveclosely evaluated most of their SEC foes by the time the Bull-dogs kick off the 2010 season on Sept. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

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-depththan others,” he said. “Obviously, on offense we do a full break-down of the first six opponents and also a full in-depth look ofthe 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 latein the year. But we’ll break down every team, watch film onthem like it’s game week.

“It takes two or three days per opponent,” addedBobo.”We just try to have a base plan on paper, and that weekwe’ll pull it out and say, ‘hey, this is what we’re thinking.’ In thesummer, some of it might change, they might be doing somedifferent stuff defensively, and we might develop into some-thing different based off injury or who came out of fall camp orduring the season as playmakers. But we try to look at every op-ponent and try to get some kind of plan but be willing to changeit.”

New Bulldogs’ defensive chief Grantham said he’s alwaysworked weeks in advance on coming opponents, whether inhis different college positions or while serving as defensive linecoach for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I’ve always studied the opponents we’re going to see, fromthat standpoint just get a general overview of what you’re goingto see,” Grantham said. “Are they a four-wide team, does theirquarterback run the ball or are they a pro-style quarterback thatdoesn’t run the ball? Are they a heavy run team, do they playfrom an unbalanced formation, I mean just trying to get a graspon those things, because this time of year and the spring, you’vekind of got a little time to gather your thoughts and think abouthow you want to attack those things, too.

“So we have already gone overthose things and by installing themin training camp, even though wewon’t use them the first game, Ithink it kind of gives them some-thing to fall back on as the seasongoes along. So,” said Grantham, “Ithink that’s part of this preparation.It’s like situations are important dur-ing training camp. Working on allthe different situations that cancome up in a game such as redzone, two minute. You know there’stwo kinds of two-minute, there’stwo-minute before the half andthere’s two-minute at the end of thegame. They’re totally different in un-derstanding what people are tryingto do with those kind of things. So Ithink it’s important you do all thatduring training camp to give you afoundation for your season.”

Although he’s been in Athens only a few months,Grantham is well aware of the reputation of the SoutheasternConference, generally regarded as the finest football league inthe land. And he fully knows his Georgia defense will have tobe ready to step up to the plate each and every Saturday.

“I think this conference as a whole, there’s a lot of goodplayers, there’s a lot of good coaches,” Grantham declared. “Theone thing about coaching is you want to maximize the abilityof the players that you have. And that means some teams willbe running teams and some teams will be throwing teams.Some teams will run the quarterback, some teams won’t, and Ithink that’s smart on the coaches’ part because they’re trying tomaximize the assets of the athletic ability of the players theyhave – that’s coaching. I think, from a conference standpoint,there’s a lot of good players, good coaches in this conferenceand I think that it’s everything that I thought it was, which is ex-citing to me and I look forward to the challenge of playing inthis conference.”

Bobo, of course, has been around the SEC for many years,both as a player and a coach and well knows how efficient hisoffense must be to enable the Bulldogs to have the kind of sea-

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 goagainst one of the league’s top defenses.

“You watch South Carolina and watch their film and, tome, they’re scary to watch on defense,” Bobo said. “I thinkthey’re a very good defensive football team, they’ve always givenus a hard time here moving the ball offensively even before I wascalling plays. That’s just how it is. I think they’ve got good play-ers and it’s one of those games that’s usually going to come downto the end. Now, last year was a little bit different with the highscoring and it was the kickoff returns that helped us. But thatteam usually gives us some problems,” he said. “They’re veryathletic and they always play lights out defensively early in theyear.

“Then there’s some new (defensive) coordinators in theleague we have to watch,” Bobo continued. “The guy at Ten-nessee (Justin Wilcox) and then we have to watch some film onBoise State. The guy at Mississippi State (Manny Diaz), he wasat Middle Tennessee State and then you’ve got Al Groh (new co-ordinator at Georgia Tech) so you don’t want to try and breakdown all those teams from different places but you’ll try to getan idea of what they’re doing and then when we play them this

Bobo, Grantham talk SECOffseason filled with preparation and study asGeorgia coordinators prepare for 2010 docket

By Murray Poole

A.J. Green

he score could be 20 under, or it could be evenpar. The players could throw darts, or they couldhit 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 willplay the final PGA Tour event of the year come October.

“It all depends on the weather,” said Todd Ander-son, the Director of Instruction at the Sea Island Learn-ing Center and one of the Top 50 Teachers in GolfDigest’s rankings.

“If the wind blows, the course will play very diffi-cult,” he said.

Rains could change all that. If the greens are soft andreceptive from inclement weather, “the scores could below,” Anderson added.

Players familiar with the course already have notedthat the roughs have been expanded and that the fair-ways have been narrowed. While the grass in the roughwon’t be at U. S. Open length, it will be allowed to growto about two inches, more than adequate to increase thedifficulty. “Just enough to cause some little guesses,” hesaid.

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 thebest players.

“It will be comparable to a lot of the courses theTour plays,” Anderson said.

He should know. He has taught some of the best, in-cluding major championship winners Davis Love III(PGA Championship) and Lucas Glover (U. S. Open).One of the young players he is working with now, BrandtSnedeker, has been in the top 50 on the money list forthe past four years.

They and many other top players will be at theevent, lured there by that trio as well as St. Simons Is-land residents Zach Johnson, Jonathan Byrd and MattKuchar.

Some of the conditions the players could face inwindy conditions are formidable opponents of quality

scoring.Firm greens at a stimpmeter speed of 12 to 12.5

inches and gusts would cause balls to roll off onto theshaved surrounds and that would be about as treacher-ous as playing in leather-soled shoes. Putt, bump-and-run, flop—take your choice and take your medicine.

Narrower fairways and firm, dry conditions wouldcause drives to roll into the furry rough and produce afew scores that would look more like ours.

October usually is not a rainy month along theGeorgia coast, and that bodes well for the firm greensand fairways. Gusty winds can occur almost any after-noon.

But the rains do come on occasion and they wouldsoften greens and make them much more receptive.

In the event that occurs, looks for much lower scor-ing.

Since the course is not as long as many Tour ven-ues, and plays to a par of 70, some different circum-stances will be evident.

Anderson estimates that the longer hitters can reachthe two par fives in a couple of strokes. But that by nomeans assures birdies or even pars. The slopes on thegreens are deceptive and hard to hold. “They had betterbe under the hole and putting uphill,” he added.

As for the par fours, he thinks most of them can bereached with a good drive and anything from a seveniron to a sand wedge.

That leaves the par three holes, and they are neithershort nor forgiving. Some players think they are tougherthan 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 ona golf course that was just waiting for a quality event withgreat players and beautiful vistas.

Whatever the conditions, the course sets up nicelyfor spectators who like soft autumn afternoons. Whenthe sun winks goodnight over the glittery bay, and thetwilight tiptoes over the course, a bagpiper skirling hismusic will remind you that you have seen the best of golf.

It isn’t exactly linksland, but it is pretty close toheaven.

Sea Island’s Todd Anderson thinks Seaside will play tough for Pros if wind blows Reg Murphy

TSchedules 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-AmThursday, October 7 – First RoundFriday, October 8 – Second RoundSaturday, October 9 – Third RoundSunday, 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 relationshipsthan Sea Island. Now, The McGladrey Classic provides theperfect venue. Choose from an array of offerings designedto 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-AmMonday Pro-Am

Tickets

Wednesday $20 Pro-AmThursday & Friday $25 (Daily)Saturday & Sunday $30 (Daily)Weekly Badge $90 (Wed-Sun)Children 17 & Under Free with paid adultActive & Retired Military Free with military ID

Volunteers

Volunteers will be invaluable to the success of TheMcGladrey 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, goto www.mcgladreyclassic.com or email: nhildebrand@dlovefoundation.com

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OffenseSince the end of the 2004 season, here are some of the individual highlights

from SEC offensive players: Auburn had two tailbacks, Cadillac Williams andRonnie Brown, picked in the top five of the 2005 draft, Darren McFadden twicewas a Heisman runner-up, Tim Tebow won the 2007 Heisman, two quarter-backs (JaMarcus Russell in ’07 and Matthew Stafford in ’09) were the top picksin the draft, Mark Ingram won the 2009 Heisman and Percy Harvin went on toearn ’09 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

QB – Ryan Mallett, ArkansasPotentially 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. Arkansashas high hopes in 2010, and with Mallett behind center, every game is winnablefor the high powered Hogs.

RB – Mark Ingram, AlabamaFor what will now be three straight years, there is an active Heisman Trophy win-

ner playing in the Southeastern Conference. Ingram was the offensive star for the de-fensive dominant national champions a year ago and teams with super sophomoreTrent Richardson to give the Crimson Tide the country’s premier running back tandem.

RB – Trent Richardson, AlabamaHis 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 Cadil-lac Williams and Ronnie Brown, and Arkansas’s Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Inthe BCS Championship Game victory over Texas, Richardson was the most explosiveoffensive player on the field.

WR – Julio Jones, AlabamaAs 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 num-bers and shine until late in the season. With Bama having to lean more heavily on theoffense this season, with Greg McElroy having a full year under his belt, and the ne-cessity to focus on the tailback tandem, Jones could have a huge year.

WR – A.J. Green, GeorgiaOne 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 3-1despite a negative-11 turnover ratio. Without Green, the Bulldogs would have beenwinless. Green has the hands, speed, size, strength, leaping ability and instincts thathave rarely come in a singular package.

TE – Weslye Saunders, South CarolinaSteve 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 tar-get with great hands, made even more dangerous by a pair of outstanding outside tar-gets. Stephen Garcia loves Saunders on third down. Saunders is under the NCAAmicroscope 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-Amer-ican sidelined for the last two seasons with knee injuries – back at tackle, along withtwo 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 leftside of the line. Georgia’s best guard since All-American Max Jean-Gilles manned themiddle from 2002-05, Glenn was a huge part of the Bulldogs second half offensiveresurgence, which was highlighted by wins over Auburn and Tech.

C – Mike Pouncey, FloridaHis 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. TheGators will be going through a big transition after losing a wealth of talent and expe-rience, but Urban Meyer and new quarterback John Brantley have a rock to lean onup front.

JD’s all SEC teamAlabama and Georgia lead the waywith six selections, S. Carolina has threeBy Jeff Dantzler

Mark Ingram

OG – Barrett Jones, AlabamaAfter 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 ChampionshipGames. Jones earned first team Freshman All-American honors a year ago, and has alreadydeveloped into one of the league’s best.

OT – Lee Ziemba, AuburnA 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 abig level of comfort. And the running attack, with Onterio McCalebb, Mario Fannin and fresh-man Michael Dyer should thrive running left behind the big guy.

DefenseThe league lost an incredible amount of star power defensively, with a slew of All-Amer-

icans and early draft picks moving on to the NFL. Among the best who are gone: Bama’s Ter-rance Cody, Rolando McClain, Javier Arenas and Kareem Jackson; Florida’s Joe Haden, BrandonSpikes, Jermaine Cunningham and Carlos Dunlap; South Carolina’s Eric Norwood; and oneof the great players in SEC history, Tennessee’s Eric Berry. But there are a bunch of five star re-cruits ready to shine, while the league goes through a bunch of changes on defensive staffs, in-cluding new coordinators at Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. The secondary seems to have themost frontline players heading into the season, so we’ll go with a nickel for the 2010 Presea-son All-SEC Defense.

DE – Cliff Matthews, South CarolinaLong and strong, Matthews is one of the premier returning defensive ends in the South-

eastern Conference. He is stout against the run, creating the leverage to keep offensive tacklesfrom getting the big push, and Matthews is a strong pass-rusher. Eric Norwood got so muchattention from opposing offenses last year, now Matthews will generate more game-planning.

DT – Jerrell Powe, Ole MissA 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 asthe Rebels next great defensive star. Ole Miss has a favorable SEC East draw and will leanheavily on the defense to be the sleeper out of the West.

DE - Marcell Dareus, AlabamaA 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 McCoyout of the BCS Championship Game. Dareus and linebacker Dont’a Hightower give the Crim-son Tide a potentially awesome front seven duo.

OLB/DE – Justin Houston, GeorgiaThe 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, Hous-ton could be the Bulldogs best front seven player over the last five years. No matter where helines up, for the Bulldogs to shine, Houston must have a big time year and anchor the front.

LB – Dont’a Hightower, AlabamaA freshman All-American in 2008, Hightower quickly emerged as one of the top line-

backers in the SEC. Rolando McClain’s all-star linebacking partner had his 2009 campaign cutshort with a knee injury in the fourth game of the year, and received a medical redshirt. High-tower, at 6-4, 260, is a powerful force who could emerge as college football’s best middle line-backer if the knee is in good shape.

LB – Kelvin Sheppard – LSUThough the talent level on defense isn’t at the off-the-charts level that was built by Nick

Saban and led LSU to a pair of BCS Championships, the Bayou Bengals still have a lot of stand-out players. Sheppard is at the top of the list, and will again look to dominate the middle. Ayear ago, the 6-3, 240 All-SEC candidate chalked up 110 tackles.

CB – Patrick Peterson – LSUA 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. Hecan go man-for-man with any receiver in the league, and is extremely dangerous with the ballin his hands. Peterson’s man coverage ability frees the Tigers to gamble in other spots.

CB – Stephon Gilmore – South CarolinaOver 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, Gilmoreshined and showed that he is special. Like Peterson, he’s stellar in man coverage and a threatwith the pigskin in his hands. South Carolina has a strong group of pass-catchers, but Gilmorecould help on offense and in returns.

S – Mark Barron, AlabamaJavier 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 helpwith the cause as one of the country’s top safeties. His seven interceptions were tops in the SECa year ago. Nick Saban has churned out a slew of stellar defensive backs, and Barron is on boardas one of the best.

S – Will Hill, FloridaLast 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 outstacked at safety. Getting Hill was a huge recruiting coup for Urban Meyer, and he and AhmadBlack will be the SEC’s best pair of safeties in 2010.

S – Ahmad Black, FloridaHe’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 therun. The conference is loaded at safety, led by Barron, the Florida duo and Georgia’s BacarriRambo.

Special TeamsPK – Blair Walsh, GeorgiaWith a strong and accurate leg, Walsh could be Georgia’s best kicker since former All-

American and still current Panther John Kasay. He was 20 of 22 on field goals a year ago, hit-ting four-of-five from 50-plus, and has become a threat on kickoffs.

P – Drew Butler, GeorgiaA 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, Geor-gia 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, KentuckyThis 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 toemerge 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, GeorgiaAnother 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 touch-downs.

JD’s All SEC

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UGA Alumni Educator Dayat the Bookstore

August 6, 20108 a.m. - 5 p.m.

University of Georgia Bookstore

Educators (k-12) receive 10% off with a valid school ID.

Grace Dykes and Audrey Dykes

Bill Andrews, Tony Barnhart and Lee Baker

David Paschall and Murray Poole Chuck Oliver and Chadd Scott

Paul Finebaum

David Pollack and Mike Bell

Spencer Hall Head of SEC officiating, Rogers Redding

Alabama QB Greg McElroy

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UGA alumnus and loyal Bulldog

ith the Georgia Bulldogs making a num-ber of off-season changes – includingthe hiring of new defensive coachesTodd Grantham, Scott Lakatos and

Warren Belin – head coach Mark Richt’s football teamalmost has a, if you will, brand-new look for the fast-approaching 2010 campaign.

And Richt thinks all this “new look” for Georgiatalk is stemming from the defensive changes the Bull-dogs have put in place.

“There’s no doubt we’re starting over with the newscheme, just with a new leadership on that side of theball,” said Richt, while speaking at SEC Media Days inBirmingham last week. “I think there’s a tremendousamount of excitement that goes with it and the antici-pation of what’s going to happen. The fans are won-dering what’s going to happen, I’m wondering, theoffensive players are wondering what the defense isgoing to look like. I think everybody is really excited tosee it and even a little anxious to see what’s gonna hap-pen.

“To have a bunch of guys a little bit anxious aboutwhere they’re gonna play, how it’s gonna unfold, guysthat might have been veteran starters have got to provethat they deserve to be starters,” Richt said. “Guys thatwere sitting at third team have got to prove that theydeserve to start. That has provided a lot of energy forour players and for our coaching staff, too.

“Let’s face it,” Richt continued, “Coach Granthamis really the only one that truly understands what he’strying to accomplish. I’m still learning it. Scott Lakatosis still learning it, Warren Belin is still learning it, Rod-ney Garner is still learning it. There’s an energy inknowing that you got to prepare and be out of yourcomfort zone a little bit. Offensively, I was just talkingto (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 encounter-ing this season are well aware of the changes that have

unfolded in Athens since the 2009 sea-son ended. But new Georgia look or not,they say the Bulldogs will be the sametough team to beat they’ve always been.

“We know Georgia is a very talentedteam,” said Arkansas’ standout juniordefensive end, Jake Bequette. “They havegreat skill position guys, a good back-field and a great receiver in A.J. Green.On the offensive line, they have a bunchof solid guys – I don’t know about theirnew defense yet. Last year’s game withGeorgia (52-41 Bulldogs win) was a fungame and real battle, and I’m expecting another greatgame this year.”

“Georgia has a pretty good offense and defense,”related Mississippi State junior defensive back CharlesMitchell. “Their secondary is good, they have goodrunning backs and a great receiver in A.J. Green. Butwe want to win every game, including LSU and Ala-bama, and are taking one game at a time.”

“Georgia is a great team and that game will be hugefor us again this year,” offered Kentucky senior defen-sive end DeQuin Evans, whose Wildcats upset the Bull-dogs 30-24 last season in Athens. “Really, I don’t thinkwe get the respect we deserve after beating those kindof teams, but that keeps us humble,” Evans added.

“It’s going to be a great dogfight with Georgia againthis year,” said Kentucky senior tailback Derrick Locke.“But then, the SEC is like that every game. Georgiadon’t want us to win, and we don’t want them to win.They’ve got a great running back in Washaun Ealey andA.J. Green is one of the best receivers in the country.With their new coordinator, I’m sure the Georgia de-fense will be stepping up, but I think our offense canput up points on anyone.”

“Georgia is a great rivalry for us and we’ll have togo out and play our best,” related Florida senior centerMike Pouncey. “Georgia recruits some of the best play-

ers in Florida and of course in their own state, too.Georgia has a great coach, and I’m real glad those bigguys (Jeff Owens, Kade Weston, Geno Atkins) are gonenow.”

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

By Murray Poole

Derek Dooley

Joker Phillips