College Football
Bad Rep
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Star defensive tackle Jalen Carter became the third member of Georgia’s 2022 national championship team to be charged with reckless driving.
A fourth bulldog was charged with a DUI and the fifth was reported to have gone 34 miles over the speed limit at the time of arrest.
In total, nine Georgia players have been arrested in the last 13.5 months.
These arrests don’t have to be blamed on Georgia. There’s nothing that’s come to light that suggests it is. With that being said, these incidents still reflect poorly on the program’s image, as a charge reflects poorly on all five player’s criminal records.
All of these are misdemeanors, but Georgia’s program is at their highest media coverage nationally in the history of college football. The microscope is more zoomed in than ever, and narratives will be longer if these habits continue.
The car crash that took the lives of Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy is a terrible tragedy. The other parts of the story have always seemed irrelevant: I don’t care about staffers socializing with athletes. I don’t care very much about a university car being used. I don’t care that they were at a strip club.
I do care what directly led to the crash. Now, Kirby Smart should talk with his program and take a leadership role in athlete risk aversion.
Smart needs to get a handle on street racing and reckless driving. Police report the cause of the car crash to street racing and reckless driving.
A coach can’t take away anybody’s ability to drive, but they can take away a starting roster position. An athletic director may set an example by suspending or dismissing players for criminal offenses while eligible.
Smart has indubitably built an athletic powerhouse in seven seasons in Athens, going for his third consecutive National Championship next season. However, after their latest title win, the team has been marred with bad morale and criminal news headlines.
The one thing that could bring down Smart and the Bulldogs’ dynasty is legal actions and a criminal reputation. Anybody remember the facelifting SMU and Miami have been doing after their debacles?
University of Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks stated that neither Willock, nor the driver of the car was on “athletic department business” at the time of the accident.
Brooks added that his department “[conducted] a thorough review, in coordination with appropriate legal counsel, to fully understand the circumstances surrounding this tragic event.”
This sounds like Brooks is trying to minimize sue damage. In a wrongful death case involving a motor vehicle accident, it is sometimes possible to hold an employer responsible if their employee’s negligence was responsible for the fatal accident. This is a vicarious liability under Georgia law.
Georgia follows a “comparative fault” standard in all personal injury cases, which includes wrongful death claims. Basically, this means that when the negligence of multiple parties led to an accident, a judge or jury must apportion the blame accordingly. The judge will then reduce the victim’s damages to account for their determined percentage of fault.
Willock’s family has not filed any legal action arising from his death. High-profile accidents like this one often raise a number of questions regarding the law in this area. Dave Willock, who is the father of the late Devin Willock, said that he was not planning a lawsuit at this time.
“Georgia is working with us,” Willock told the AJC. “We have no reason to do that (sue Georgia), because they are compensating us 100 percent.”
I have a feeling that in the near future lawsuits will be filed, but until then, Smart and Georgia’s athletic department have to clean up their public image.
In scenarios like these, a little bit of prevention is worth a whole lot of cure- Georgia got lucky, but it won’t matter if these incidents keep happening.
The New Reality
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the upcoming age of super conferences in college football, major brands who are not a part of the Big Ten or SEC are trying to position themselves to be able to compete revenue wise with the brands in those conferences.
Currently, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners are set to join the SEC in 2024, and the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins are set to join the Big Ten 2024. This is coincidentally the same year the 12-team playoff starts in college football, something that other Power Five conferences are likely happy about due to the massive changes happening in the landscape of the sport – with conference realignment.
Florida State’s latest board of trustees meeting gave insight to how teams are going to deal with this landscape going forward: Either the ACC gives more money to the teams that bring in more revenue, or those teams will do everything in their power to find a better situation for themselves.
Teams like Florida State, Clemson, Oregon, etc. will have to work out better deals for themselves. FSU AD Michael Alford pointed out that with the new television deals going into effect for the Big 10/SEC, schools like Florida State would be behind the curve by about $30 million annually.
This kind of gap will prevent these bigger brands from being able to compete for championships regularly, and in the coming months I expect more and more schools will start speaking about what needs to be done to stay relevant in college football.
This will, in all likelihood, create a very contentious relationship within conferences like the Pac-12, Big-12, and ACC. One way these conferences could help themselves out is by trying to create their own super conference.
The Big 12 is trying to lessen the impact of losing brands like Oklahoma and Texas by bringing in Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston in Fall 2023 – a move that will not make up for the brand loss that will come after the 2023-2024 season.
Notre Dame will likely be a big target for those three conferences, as it is the only independent team left with a brand that big.
Teams may even be poached from one conference to the other, something that would mean the death of at least one power five conference. A thing that may be inevitable in the coming years, and may even help some of these conferences stay competitive or become super conferences themselves.
This struggle is not going to be solved overnight and its effects on football will likely not be seen for a few years.
There will be massive restructuring in the way some conferences are run and the teams that are within those conferences. All we can do as fans is sit back and hope your school understands their value as a brand within the sport.
The future of college football starts with changes made today. How will other big brands respond to the inevitable? There will be some fascinating off-seasons in the next couple of years, that’s for sure.
The Dirty Dozen
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In 2024 College football expands to a 12-team playoff. Here are my top 12 teams going into the Spring practice for 2023.
Georgia: Back to national champions, and 29-1 in last 30 games. Where else do you expect the champs to be ranked?
No matter who wins the starting quarterback job Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff or Gunner Stockton, the Bulldogs will be strong on offense and have TE Brock Bowers. Defense will be nasty as always under Kirby.
Michigan: Yes, they have folded like a cheap tent in the last two college football playoffs, but this team is the established king of the Big 10, and owns Ohio State currently. The Wolverines land here.
Ohio State: Ryan Day is 45-6 but it feels like this team does not live up to its potential.
Michigan has the upper hand over Ohio State currently. Marvin Harrison Jr. is back, and he is the best WR in college football.
Alabama: Alabama is still Alabama. People need to remember this fact. Nick Saban must be stewing inside about how 2022 played out. Who will be the QB? Once that is settled then look out for this team.
LSU: The Tigers land here. Brian Kelly is an elite coach, and this team has elite talent. Alabama vs. LSU will be for the SEC West Championship.
Penn State: Drew Allar is the QB now. Nick and Kaytron Allen return at RB. Is this team ready to compete with Michigan and Ohio State for the Big 10 Championship?
Florida State: Jordan Travis is back with weapons all around him to use. Mike Norvell seems to have turned the corner in Tallahassee.
Can FSU handle the mantle of being the favorite in the ACC? We shall see.
USC: The Trojans were one win away from the CFP in 2022.
Can USC win a Pac-12 title in 2023 with Washington and Utah breathing down their necks? Team defense will provide that answer.
Washington: Michael Penix Jr. makes this team a contender and he will be a Heisman candidate.
The Pac-12 needs a team to make the CFP desperately. It has been a long drought.
Utah: The Utes are the two-time defending Pac-12 champions. This team does not get the respect it deserves. Great head coach and talented players define this program. The Utes play a physical brand of football.
Tennessee: Hendon Hooker is gone. Joe Milton is the man now in Knoxville.
Josh Heupel has done a fantastic job in a short period of time.
This time the Vols must improve on defense.
Road games at Alabama and Florida will be tough. They get UGA at home in November, which is good, but UGA has won their last three visits to Rocky Top.
Defense is going to be the key in 2023.
Oregon: Dan Lanning won ten games in year one.
Bo Nix is back.
The Pac-12 could be an extremely competitive conference this fall.
This is a dangerous football team. As with most teams out west can they play defense at a level that allows them to compete with the big boys from the SEC or Big 10?
Just on the outside looking in: Clemson, Notre Dame, TCU, Texas, Tulane, and Kansas State. Can you imagine these debates when the CFP expands to 12?
Conference Breakdown:
SEC: 4
Pac-12: 4
Big Ten: 3
ACC: 1
Spring football is just a couple of weeks away. Let the debates begin.
Prospect AR15
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson, one of the hottest and most difficult-to-sort prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, has every athletic trait I can think of.
At 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, Richardson has a missile launcher for a right arm. He’s expected to flirt with a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at the combine. He’s even got a big, bright, Draft Day smile.
Richardson will be covered relentlessly for the remainder of the draft cycle, because the football world knows so little about him (and he has incredible skills). He made just 13 starts in college and threw fewer than 400 career passes. Teams will want to know more about his personality, football IQ and leadership.
Somewhere along the way scouts and coaches will learn that Richardson is a prospect who has been waiting a lifetime for this opportunity. Right now, he appears to be the most interesting man in today’s draft cycle.
In his only season as a starter, Richardson completed just 53.8% of his passes for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He also rushed for 649 yards and 9 touchdowns.
ESPN’s Todd McShay has Richardson going ninth overall to the Carolina Panthers in his latest mock draft.
From a draft perspective, the most pressing question on Richardson is; how high does his stock rise before late April?
Overall, reactions to Richardson’s pros and cons are mixed, but his ceiling is higher than any quarterback in this class.
When people watch his film, they’ll find the times where Richardson struggled (early 2022), where he progressed and where he improved as the season wore on. Is he closer to being ready than some think? I believe he is
Many wonder if Richardson will be a first-round pick. To me, the actual mystery is whether Richardson will climb into the top 10.
“The questions about his readiness are valid and his game needs refinement” is what pro quarterback coaches will say. On the other hand, offensive coordinators are gonna say, “Give me Anthony Richardson. I’ll give you a quarterback in two or three years who will win BIG.” That to me is a big-time look ahead. It’s a leap of faith in talent.
Physically, he is the most talented quarterback in this class, but he’s not developed yet. He’s not ready. Carolina needs an NFL ready quarterback.
Why not take a shot? In order to have success in this league, you’ve got to have a quarterback. Anthony Richardson has a chance to be a star or you could wind up drafting another quarterback in a year or two. That’s the most fascinating part about him.
Whether he goes to the Panthers or elsewhere, Richardson’s development will be interesting to follow over the next couple of seasons. He might need some time, and picking him before he blossoms could end up paying off in a big way.
So, he might stand as too big a challenge for a franchise without a foundation. For one with ground underneath it and a willingness to develop a QB, though? Richardson could be the lottery ticket it’s always wanted.
Anthony Richardson is an incredibly talented yet unproven prospect, with a heart the size of his frame. For NFL programs, he’s a guy who can either make your draft or break your heart.
The Bobo Sequel
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Todd Monken is no longer in Athens, headed back to the NFL ranks to join the Baltimore Ravens after leading Georgia’s offense for three seasons.
Mike Bobo is stepping into the role as offensive coordinator after having served as an analyst for the Bulldogs this past season and a quite well-traveled past before that, much of which took place in Athens.
What’s old is new again, with Bobo’s promotion to offensive coordinator being announced. There were two other options for Smart to go in replacing Monken, and each had its upside but also a downside.
Look outside the program. Smart may have operated quietly behind the scenes, the same way he did with Monken after the 2019 season for James Coley’s job. There may not have been a home-run hire available: Look at the trouble Nick Saban had finding a new offensive coordinator before landing Tommy Rees, who had an uneven and inconsistent past with his years at Notre Dame. Now, Notre Dame is having trouble finding a replacement for Tommy Rees.
Sources report that Monken played a big role in Bobo being named offensive coordinator.
Monken and Smart had more than one conversation about Bobo and his contributions in 2022, and Bobo was a big part of the game planning each week.
This isn’t to say Georgia has upgraded or downgraded, just because Bobo’s past two stints in the SEC didn’t go well. It’s best to label it a lateral move for the program, because fans still harbor reservations about Bobo’s early years at Georgia.
It took time before he grew into his position and became cutting-edge. For some reason, there’s a perception he was a run-first coordinator, but Georgia passed 57 percent of the time in 2011 and 2012, following 50-50 in 2013, then run-heavy in 2014 when it had the triumvirate of Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
Were there play-calling mistakes during the Bobo era? Sure (feel free to bring up not giving the ball to Gurley at the goal line in 2014 against South Carolina, even though Georgia scored on a goal-line pass earlier in the game).
Does being a good fit make Bobo the right hire? There are no guarantees; in the position that Georgia is in now — more talent, more financial support, everything in place that led to two straight national titles — the safe hire seems like the right one.
Airing It Out
By: Steve Norris
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
You don’t have to be a Georgia fan to understand the effect that Todd Monken has had on Georgia’s offense the last three years.
Monken recently was named Offensive Coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, ending his time in Athens, GA.
Monken created a balanced and creative offense that kept defenses guessing and got the ball to multiple playmakers throughout games. It’s was a thing of beauty to watch and as a Georgia fan, I hate to see Monken go to Baltimore, because watching Georgia’s offense in the past hasn’t always been a treat.
Georgia has historically been known as a running team and for good reason. UGA is known as “Tailback U’, mostly due to the incredibly talented running backs that have come through in the last few decades. Everyone knows about Herschel Walker, Garrison Hearst, Todd Gurley, and Nick Chubb, just to name a few.
However, when it comes to passing the ball, Georgia fans have had to hold their collective breath a lot over the years. When Georgia’s quarterback has had to air it out a lot in games, it usually hasn’t ended well.
I decided to check out the website sicemdawgs.com and found this category: Most Passing Attempts by a UGA Quarterback in a Game.
Here’s the Top Ten results:
Tied at 10th are Aaron Murray and Quincy Carter with 49.
Murray’s was against Auburn in 2013 and Carter against Florida in 1998. Both were losses. Georgia was pounded by the Gators 38-7 and every Georgia fan remembers how that 2013 Auburn game ended. A 43-38 loss where Murray deserved better.
Tied at 7th are Eric Zeier twice and Jake Fromm with 51 attempts.
Zeier’s were against South Carolina (a 24-21 win) and Kentucky (a 34-30 win) in 1994. Fromms’ was an ugly 20-17 overtime loss to South Carolina in 2019 that the Fromm-haters in the Georgia fan base have never been able to get over. While Fromm didn’t play well that day, that loss was a team effort.
At 6th is Zeier again (see a pattern here?) with 53 passing attempts against Auburn at home in 1993. Another ugly home loss (42-28) where Georgia’s defense failed to show up and give our quarterback any help.
At 5th is Zeier again with 54 in an awful Homecoming loss to Vanderbilt in 1994. I was there covering the game that day for 13WMAZ (Macon). It’s probably the worst, most “mailed in” game I’ve ever seen from a Georgia squad.
Tied for 3rd with 55 passing attempts in a game are Quincy Carter and Jacob Eason.
Carter’s performance was in 1999 at Georgia Tech. Another inexplicable loss that could have been easily avoided had Head Coach Jim Donnan just kicked a field goal at Tech’s one-yard-line in overtime.
Instead, he ran Jasper Sanks, who fumbled and Tech recovered. Had there been replay at the time, it would have shown that Sanks was down. Unfortunately for Dawg fans, Tech would hold Georgia scoreless on their next possession and then kick a field goal to win 51-48.
It’s still the last time Georgia Tech has beaten Georgia at Grant Field. Jacob Eason’s 55-attempt performance was in 2016 at Missouri. Eason’s final pass was a 4th Down touchdown completion to Isaiah McKenzie to give the Dawgs a last-minute victory 28-27.
In 2nd place is Cory Phillips with 62 passing attempts against Georgia Tech at home in 2000.
This was a 27-15 loss that sealed Jim Donnan’s fate as head coach. He was fired the next week.
Phillips was 36 of 62 passing, while throwing for 413 yards, yet Georgia only managed 15 points for the game. What’s more frustrating is that all 11 starters for Georgia on defense that year went on to play in the NFL in some capacity.
Which brings us to the game with the most passing attempts ever. The 1993 Cocktail Party. Better known to old school Georgia fans as “The Timeout Game”.
Eric Zeier put the ball in the air a whopping 65 times that game in a 33-26 loss. The field was a mess as it had rained for what seemed like forever.
With five seconds left in the game, Zeier hit Jerry Jerman for what looked like a touchdown and the opportunity to go for two and win the game.
Instead, the referees claimed that Florida defensive back Anthony Lott had called a timeout before the ball had snapped (replay showed he didn’t but it didn’t matter).
The Dawgs would fail to score afterward and suffered yet another heartbreaking loss to Steve Spurrier and the hated Gators.
Georgia went 3-8 in those 11 games, with the three wins coming by four points or less.
Yet, despite two straight national championships, I still hear some Georgia fans complaining that we need a quarterback with an NFL-type arm who can throw the ball around the yard on a regular basis.
Relax, my fellow Dawg fans. Monken and Stetson Bennett have proven that a strong running game along with a quarterback who understands and can run the system is all Georgia needs to be successful.
Kickoff
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At the end of the first transfer period, two teams stand at the top of the transfer portal recruiting rankings according to 247Sports: LSU and Florida State.
Florida State and LSU started the season last year in a Sunday night thriller that ended with an extra point blocked by FSU.
Since that 24-23 win, both teams went on to have great regular seasons and both wound up winning a bowl sponsored by Cheez-It in Orlando. (LSU winning the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and FSU winning the Cheez-It Bowl).
In an exciting week 1 rematch to start the 2023 season, both teams will pick up where they left off – in Orlando, at Camping World Stadium.
This neutral site matchup is sure to be another classic opening weekend game, with the winner having a great resume-building win for the final four-team playoff in 2023.
But how did these teams, who started the year unranked in 2022, become likely two preseason top ten teams? Good coaching and the transfer portal.
Names like Jayden Daniels for LSU or Jared Verse for FSU, both helped elevate the ceiling of the programs they transferred into in 2022.
Now heading into the 2023 season, with Florida State and LSU sitting on top of the transfer recruiting rankings let’s see who they brought in through the portal:
LSU:
Aaron Anderson (WR) from Alabama
Paris Shand (Edge) from Arizona
Jalen Lee (DL) from Florida
Bradyn Swinson (Edge) from Oregon
Denver Harris (CB) from Texas A&M
Jordan Jefferson (DL) from West Virginia
Zy Alexander (CB) from Southeastern Lousiana
Darian Chestnut (CB) from Syracuse
Jakailin Johnson (CB) from Ohio State
Ovie Oghofu (LB) from Texas
Omar Speights (LB) from Oregon State
LSU went hard after defensive lineman and cornerbacks, grabbing four of each during this cycle to help shore up holes. They also were able to grab a stud linebacker in Omar Speights to have in tandem with rising star Harold Perkins.
FSU:
Darrell Jackson (DL) from Miami (Fl)
Jaheim Bell (TE) from South Carolina
Kyle Morelock (TE) from Shorter University
Casey Roddick (IOL) from Colorado
Jeremiah Byers (OT) from UTEP
Keiondre Jones (IOL) from Auburn
Braden Fiske (DL) from Western Michigan
Fentrell Cypress (CB) from Virginia
Gilber Edmond (DE) from South Carolina
Tyler Keltner (K) from ETSU
FSU looked to add the lines of scrimmage, adding three offensive and three defensive linemen to their roster.
They were also able to plug a big hole at tight end, by bringing in two athletic college standouts.
They were able to secure the commitment from a transfer kicker, creating a competition there this offseason.
Finally, the biggest get for their class was likely Fentrell Cypress, a shutdown corner from Virginia – a piece the Noles have been missing since 2021.
In an age when questions are being asked about the sustainability of transfer portal recruiting, and whether or not it’s possible to win a championship with schools taking ten or more transfers a year – Florida State and LSU, teams using this newer model, will likely start the 2023 season in a top ten matchup that can have serious playoff implications.
Revamping NIL In Florida
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Less than three years after Florida enacted a law to help athletes and universities get a head start in the profitable NIL space, now the legislature is ramping up efforts to make sure those groups don’t get left behind.
When the State House and Senate convene next week for a two-week session, one of the main topics tackled will be revamping Florida’s existing NIL law.
“In 2020, Florida was proactive in creating legislation which governs how college athletes can be compensated for use of their names, images and likenesses,” House Speaker Paul Renner wrote in a Friday memo to House members and staff.
“However, the recent enactment of NCAA regulations regarding athlete compensation has put many states with such laws at a disadvantage, causing a need for Florida to revisit our current law. We recognize the need to address this issue in a timely manner so our collegiate teams can remain competitive.”
The 2020 Florida law made it permissible for college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, but it prohibited coaches, staff and other representatives of universities from being part of the process.
That became an issue when the NCAA subsequently ruled that all athletes could earn money from NIL deals as long as they followed their state laws, which meant those in Florida and a handful of other states would actually be at a disadvantage.
Several states promptly repealed their state laws once that happened, but two bills in Florida stalled during the 2022 session.
The new House legislation will be referred to the Education and Employment Committee, according to Renner’s memo. The Senate version will go to the Post-Secondary Education Committee.
Virtually, all college coaches claim it has led to widespread tampering and even more illegal recruiting than usual, and many programs worry about the effect it is having on locker room chemistry.
At the same time, people also believe it is long overdue that college athletes have the right to earn money through marketing agreements and other above-board business opportunities.
The proposal by Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, would align Florida law with those in other states with schools that compete with Florida universities, which generated $1.1 billion dollars in revenue last year, according to a House analysis.
This Bill would allow schools to set up space on campus for NIL entities to meet athletes and for university employees to introduce athletes to companies willing to pay them to use their name and likeness.
When the NCAA issued new NIL guidelines last October to allow schools to have a more active role in connecting athletes with NIL entities, Florida schools — such as the University of Florida, University of Central Florida and Florida State University — suddenly found themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
The Bill specifically states that a school is not required to identify or facilitate NIL opportunities for students, or that an NIL deal qualifies a student as a university employee.
Also, they amended the proposal shielding schools and coaches from liability related to damages resulting from routine decisions — like benching a player — because schools have sovereign immunity.
The proposal has two more committee stops before it is introduced to the House floor.
As always, the unintended consequences could be problematic. On its face, it’s much better they are in charge of managing the brand and not relying on outside or non-auditable parties.
You have to assume that this will lead to some sort of mutually agreed salary cap by conferences at some point down the road.
I believe this will have universities explaining why they are not using new TV revenues and other income sources to pony up for 5 stars, rather than asking their alumni/booster base to take on the additional burden of NIL.
Shuffling The Deck
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the ACC going division-less in 2023, the championship will now be played by the top two teams in the conference, instead of the winners of each division.
Since the conference is going division-less, teams will now play what is described as a 3-5-5 schedule.
This means that from at least 2023 to 2026, ACC teams will have three primary opponents and a rotation of the other ten teams in the conference.
The ACC guarantees that through this new scheduling format, each team will have a home and away game against all 13 other teams in this four-year window.
Though not all that common, this will prevent a championship game played by a 7-5 or 6-6 winner of either the Coastal or Atlantic division.
Once again, the divisions will not exist anymore but every team will be locked into three specific opponents.
Here are the primary opponents for each team in the ACC:
Boston College: Miami (FL), Pittsburgh, and Syracuse
Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech, and NC State
Duke: North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest
Florida State: Clemson, Miami, and Syracuse
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Louisville, and Wake Forest
Louisville: Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), and Virginia
Miami (FL): Boston College, Florida State, and Louisville
North Carolina: Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia
NC State: Clemson, Duke, and North Carolina
Pittsburgh: Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech
Syracuse: Boston College, Florida State, and Pittsburgh
Virginia: Louisville, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech: Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wake Forest
Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech
Notre Dame, though not an official member of the conference for football, will still play their contractually obligated five ACC opponents under this new system.
This move just makes sense for the health of the conference.
In the upcoming age of super conferences, with Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC and USC and UCLA making their move to the Big Ten, having the two best teams in your conference title game will only help with national perception for the top of your conference.
It will already be hard enough to convince teams like Florida State and Clemson to not look elsewhere during this era. Super conferences will only create more revenue, especially in the television space for their member teams.
This is a step forward, albeit small, for the conference, and could give fans some fun in-season rematches in the championship game for years to come.
The biggest problem the ACC has left is figuring out how to navigate college football in this upcoming era.
Convincing Notre Dame, whose contract with NBC expires in 2025, and another high-profile team to join the conference is the next big step the ACC has to take to remain relevant in the football space.
Checking All The Boxes
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Kirby Smart, arguably, is the most popular man in the state of Georgia currently.
The Georgia Bulldogs just won the 2022 National Championship to back up the one they won in 2021.
In seven full seasons in Athens, Smart has led his Dawgs to an 81-15 overall record with two SEC titles to go along with the national titles.
Many UGA fans are saying the 2023 team could be better than the current National Champions. I’m thinking how do you get better than 15-0 and a 65-7 rout in the title game?
It is called recruiting. Kirby Smart and Nick Saban are the best recruiters in college football. Year after year of top three recruiting classes allows a program to stockpile talent.
To Smart’s credit he recruits athletes that respond to hard coaching. Players get coached up hard at UGA. The results are stockpiling also.
Fifteen players were drafted by the NFL in 2022, which included 5 first rounders on the defensive side of the ball. Early projections for 2023 predict that UGA could have as many as 10 players drafted.
If Jalen Carter is the first player selected by the Chicago Bears, then UGA could have players in back-to-back drafts selected as the number one overall pick. Travon Walker was first overall by Jacksonville in 2022.
Kirby Smart develops his football players and gets them ready for the next level or ready for life.
It starts with practice. Nobody works harder than the Georgia Bulldogs under Kirby Smart. His teams are prepared physically and mentally for any opponent they face. The foundation of that is demanding work.
When you have four- and five-star talent that is willing to work and be pushed constantly you see the results start mounting. Look at the practice leading up to the TCU game.
Gunner Stockton took off the non-contact jersey at QB and replicated Max Duggan for TCU and took live hits from the best defense in the country to get them ready for TCU.
Kirby said this about his QB room after the title game:
“We got one that took a black (non-contact) jersey off and took hits all week so he could be Max (Duggan). “Gunner Stockton said, ‘Coach, take my shirt off. I’ll take the hits.’ ”
That is called total 100% buy-in folks. The is what Kirby demands and his roster year in and year old responds to it.
Kirby is already creating a narrative for the 2023 season: “The disease that creeps into your program is called entitlement. I’ve seen it firsthand,” Smart said. “If you can stomp it out with leadership, then you can stay hungry. And we have a saying around our place: We eat off the floor. And if you’re willing to eat off the floor, you can be special.”
Talking about leading by example just 48 hours after returning from the west coast title Kirby and staff were dropping in via helicopter on high schools all over the state of Georgia, and then heading out all over the country recruiting national recruits.
Kirby has turned UGA into a national brand now, and UGA has become a pipeline to the NFL. These are glorious times UGA fans. Enjoy this run while it lasts.
UGA has 13-14 starters returning for the 2023 season with a recruiting class that was ranked #2 nationally coming in.
Georgia signed seven of the top 20 recruits in the state of Florida. Florida signed none.
Kirby Smart is checking all the boxes in Athens, Georgia.
