I’m going to preface this whole post with two things: 1) If you couldn’t tell by the title, I’m pissed. I promised I wouldn’t post an emotional, pissed off entry at my usual haunt and 2) I’m pissed, so you can do your own research on this one. It’s my site and I pay the bills, so I can post emotional and pissed off posts and not provide links for a change.
Anybody who pay attention to college football in general, or Georgia football in particular, knows the drama. A quick synopsis for the unwashed – Mark Richt gave most of the Bulldawg Nation an early Christmas present by deciding not to rehire Willie Martinez as Defensive Coordinator next year. This was good. Then the drama started. We offered Bud Foster of Va Tech – he stayed for a 5-year annuity worth $1M. Then the word, which I’m still not sure whether or not to believe, is that Vic Koenning of Kansas State turned us down to go be Ron Zook’s coordinator at Illinois. Then former Tennessee DC John Chavis parlayed our offer into a healthy raise to stay at LSU right around New Year’s. Then things got QUIET. The only names seriously mentioned were Todd Grantham, a line coach for the Cowboys and Kirby Smart, the DC for Alabama.
The lull was understandable – the Cowboys were prepping for their Wild Card game against the Eagles and the Tide were prepping for their MNC game against Texas. Another name sort of surfaced in the lull – Travis Jones, who is a line coach for the Saints, who are also preparing for the playoffs. Anyway, it’s a lull – things happen when a fanbase has time to let their imaginations wander. So, during the pre-MNC pressers, Kirby states that he’s happy with Alabama and has no desire to leave. Okay, I can live with that – it’s honest and doesn’t waste anyone’s time. Attention is turned to Grantham and, hedging bets, Jones.
Then the MNC goes to the Tide. Kirby’s got his Broyles Award (top assistant coach in all of college football) and an MNC as DC. But lots of folks (Tide fans ESPECIALLY) are saying that it’s Saban’s defense and that all Kirby does is call the plays within the scheme Saban sets up. Hmmmm. Kirby even gets mentioned as a candidate for the recently vacated Texas Tech position by Brent Musberger during the broadcast. Hmmmm. Then the TT prez, who was in attendance at the MNC game, says “Nope. Sorry. Purely coincidental.” And hires Tommy Tuberville a few days later. So, Kirby’s still the DC at Bama making not quite $400k a year.
Then something happens right after the MNC – Kirby says that he hasn’t talked to Mark Richt “in weeks” which leads my silly mind to believe that he would have had to have talked to him weeks ago. I doubt Richt was asking a 34-year-old fresh DC for recommendations for applicants. Well, maybe Richt was asking for an extra donation from the alumni to help pay for the new guy. Then, this Saturday, news (and rumors) start flooding the web.
David Pollack gave me the first hint by saying that UGA made a SMART decision for their DC on his Twitter feed. Then Rivals.com reports that Georgia has formally offered the DC job to Kirby. A small charter jet leaves from Dekalb-Peachtree airport (Ben Epps in Athens was apparently closed) and heads to Tuscaloosa, stays for an hour, then returns Saturday night. The speculation builds. Pollack reiterates his stance all Sunday on Twitter. Interesting.
Monday morning rolls around. Footballcoachscoop.com reports that Smart has accepted the offer to become Georgia’s next DC. Rivals.com shortly reports the same thing. A small charter plane leaves Ben Epps airport in Athens, bound for Tuscaloosa, at about 0830. Holy crap, this might actually be happening!! The plane stays all day. Through lunch. Excitement and rampant speculation abound. Talk begins that Smart will actually get Jones to come onboard as part of the staff. Speculation about the contract says that it’s 3 or 4 years, worth $700k or $800k per year. Then IT happens.
Tide coach Nick Saban, at a press conference with one of his (former) players announcing his intention to turn pro, announces that Kirby is staying put. Shortly after, a statement is released by Smart himself, saying how happy he is in Tuscaloosa, how he has a great mentor in Saban, how Georgia holds a special place in his and his wife’s heart (she’s an alum, too), etc. And the collective blog and other internet pundits of the Bulldawg Nation (after picking their collective chins up) go to their corners.
I was a part of this. A huge part. In honesty, I was at the head of the charge of the cavalcade of crazy. I watched the private flight information on the web. I even setup an email alert for flight plans and advisories for the plane that flew down this morning. I engaged every source, real and imagined, that I had for information. I had my hopes set SO high for this hire, and the upcoming season. So, yeah, it’s personal. And in case you couldn’t tell yet, I’m firmly entrenched in the camp of “Kirby Smart has lost his Athens privileges FOREVER” and object to his being hung by the neck from a Sanford Stadium goal post until dead, dead, dead in only the most pedestrian fashion. And here’s why:
First, those of you who are taking his side by saying you can’t fault his decision to stay with a proven winner, etc only AFTER he turned us down are placating suckers. I’ll get to why, in this case, the medium is the message in a minute. Those of you who are suddenly saying that you weren’t that sold on him as a good candidate only AFTER he turned us down are either fence-sitters who didn’t say a word throughout this whole drama or, at worst, hypocrites – you were just as geeked up about this (potential) hire as I was. And being that I’ve never let tact or other people’s feelings get in the way of saying what’s on my mind……
There are myriad reasons why he could have decided to stay, but first let me get to why he could have said YES to his Alma Mater. First of all, it’s his Alma Mater. The place that traded his better-than-average skills as a defensive back for an undergraduate degree. The place that gave him a job in the football program not once, but twice. The place that needed him right now. Then there’s the whole “living in Saban’s shadow” thing. Richt offered him full control of the defense – play calling, scheme, assistants, EVERYTHING. A place he could really make his mark if he turned the defense around – not a terribly difficult task considering his predecessor. And then there’s the money – basically doubling your salary to work closer to home, at your Alma Mater, with full control. Pretty heady stuff, I’d think.
But that wasn’t good enough. Maybe, by staying, he’s saying that he doesn’t think HE’S good enough. I can actually get on board with that, schadenfreude-free. He’s a young guy, and he’s certainly riding Saban’s coattails to some degree, learning how to be a great coach. Had he said this last week, or even turned the job down without further comment, I would bear no ill will. But he’s known for at least THREE DAMN WEEKS that this was coming. And he did nothing to dispell the rumors. He embraced it. According to Pollack, he even signed a “term sheet” and then backed out.
So here’s the PERCEPTION of the thing, which in this day and age, is the REALITY: Smart used his Alma Mater, and the drama surrounding his potential hiring, to extort his current employer. How else can he spin it now? He’s getting a huge raise, which almost certainly deserved after this season, after a long dance with another school (have I mention that it’s his Alma Mater?), after reportedly coming to a gentleman’s agreement to work there. He’s put his Alma Mater’s fanbase in a huge tizzy, only to let them down. He’s made his Alma Mater look bad in front of the nation: He had a deal that would have made him the third-highest paid assistant in college football and, for some reason hidden behind his canned quotes, turned it down.
The only thing worse, after all of that, than him staying for a big payday is NOT getting a big payday. If his new contract at Bama is less than $600k per year for multiple years, that says to me that Georgia’s so effed up that it didn’t even take 50% to keep him away from the job. Now, any of the above would have been fine if he had just come out and said so earlier. Now he’s made his Alma Mater the schmucks of the college football world and left us STILL looking for that elusive DC hire. What about the guys we’re going to try to sell this job to (and that’s the point we’ve reached)?? Won’t they be wondering “What’s Wrong With Georgia” now that you got to H-hour and spit in our collective Dawg faces? Maybe he’s been working for Saban too long – I think he’s gone mercenary on us.
Well, I can tell you this much Kirby: One day, many years from now, you may come back to Sanford Stadium to celebrate the anniversary of one of the teams you were on, and MOST of the fans who have been the unwitting cast of this soap opera will cheer you for what you did as a player – me included. But know that from now until that day, when you step Between The Hedges you’ll be the enemy. I don’t care if you’re Bama’s DC or head coach, or a coach at the Armpit State School for Girl’s Basket Weaving, we’ll remember. And when Mark Richt retires? Forget it. Anyone who suggests you for the position will suffer hatred reserved only for Michael Adams. You took sides against the family. You’re nothing to us now. Not a brother, a friend, an alumnus, a potential coaching candidate. And no longer a DGD.
For my part, I’m going to be a huge Vikings and Cardinals fan this weekend. Maybe, just maybe, we can save some face and finally hire our DC. But somewhere, deep down, I’m rooting for another Van Gorder to be found. At a considerably cheaper rate than what we offered you. And I hope that your buddy Mike Bobo takes this personally and lights you up all the way until the triple zeroes show EVERY TIME you play us. I want to see you every year in Atlanta and I want to crush you and your SEC Championship dreams. And then I want to take you fishing, a la Fredo Corleone. You never take sides against the family. Ever.
[...] This writer does have a problem with Kirby Smart’s decision [...]
Richt ain’t retiri’n. Next year he’s getting fired. Kirby will be employed next
year with TWO rings, Richt unemployed with none. You idjit. You haven’t
had a physical team since Donnan. It’s kamakizes like you that allows
you to be blind to the fact that year after year you take some of the finest
athletes in the nation and make them average. Keep whiffing your own
farts and telling everyone else how good the perfume is. By the way if you
check the records GT has more SEC championships than Georgia.
Go VOLS!
I’ma let you finish, but…. Okay normally I’d let this go as the moonshine-fueled ramblings of another Vols? fan, but I’ve got tons of this in the email today (along with lots of positive stuff too – Thanks!) and you were the first to be ballsy enough to post in public. You should be advised that I’m no longer pissed off about the whole Kirby Smart thing; that ended with the post. Since I’m back in the right frame of mind, you get the full experience – links and fact checking and good grammar and all. So in the words of my main man Jules Winfield: “Oh, you were finished. Allow me to retort.”
I’ll bet you $100 to our favorite charities that CMR doesn’t get fired next year. It would take a screw up of character, not anything on the field, to get him run out of Athens right now. And I’m talking Mike Leach stuff here, which the man isn’t capable of – he’s too moral and righteous. Firing One-Scheme-Willie bought him a couple of years, at least. If you sober up in the morning and want to take me up on my wager, you know how to get in touch with me. I will not argue about the rings because your scenarios with both CMR and CKS are very possible, if not even probable. Here’s where I start to argue.
You haven’t had a physical team since Donnan.
1a – Yes, we had physical teams under Donnan. When you run the Run-Run-Pass-Punt offense you have to. However, Donnan was also the guy left the cupboard bare at O Line for CMR after he got fired. Also, I’m pretty sure if you ask GIT they’ll tell you we were pretty physical this year.
1b – The 2001 Vols squad might agree with me, too. Something about a “Hobnail Boot”. Yes, I know it’s a play action pass play and not a bruising run for the TD. It’s called allegory.
It’s kamakizes like you that allows you to be blind to the fact that year after year you take some of the finest
athletes in the nation and make them average.
2 – I’m in no place to judge your grammar, since you probably wrote this comment like I did this post. As what you said, I just HATE having to look at these numbers. Only 39 players in the NFL? Wow, and to think that UT has 36!!!!!!111 Go look it up, I’ll wait………. Let’s not talk about Hall-Of-Famers, either.
Keep whiffing your own farts and telling everyone else how good the perfume is.
3 – They smell like Red and Black roses, thank you very much.
By the way if you check the records GT has more SEC championships than Georgia.
4 – Wait, WHAT??? I assume you meant football, right? So UGA’s 12 < GIT's 5?? You must have meant GIT's 4 to UGA's 3 before GIT tucked tail (stinger?) and ran out in 1964. Since then, GIT’s won 3 ACC titles and UGA’s won 9 SEC titles. That’s worth, like, 63 ACC titles right?
Go VOLS!
5 – Let me preface this by saying that I had NO IDEA Coach
Lame KittenLane Kiffin was bolting for USC any earlier than you did, and I didn’t wait until that announcement was made before writing this reply. That’s not the same thing as saying that if I knew it was going to happen I wouldn’t have waited, because I definitely would have – schadenfreude is a wonderful thing. That aside, I scarcely know what’s boggling my mind more. A Vols fan publicly declaring that an arch rival is going to win a second consecutive MNC? A Vols fan trying to get under my skin saying that GIT has more SEC Championships that UGA? Wait, is that because the last time you guys played in the Georgia Dome you got it handed to you in the Chick-Fil-A bowl? Sorry for the digression. Maybe what’s hurting my head the most is that you ended your comment by rooting for the team who had a “successful” and “improved” season had the same record as UGA who just had their worst season in a decade?I rest my case. And seriously, that bet about CMR stands open until Opening Kickoff 2010. And I’ll put forth a friendly wager on the game in Athens this year too, and I don’t care WHO our DC is.