SEC

Image: SI

Orson Charles, the Plant High School TE/WR has chosen to play his college football at the University of Georgia.

His choice ends a solid month of intense speculation since most other senior high school prospects chose colleges on February 5th, national signing day.

Charles figures to be a match-up nightmare with great speed and quickness to go along with his traditional TE frame.

All I got to say is… HOW ABOUT THIS 2009 RECRUITING CLASS? Where are we now? Top 5?

RELATED LINKS:

• Charles ends wait, signs with Bulldogs – Athens Banner-Herald
• Orson Charles is a Dawg – Bernie’s Dawg Blawg
• Orson Charles picks Georgia over Tennessee and Southern Cal – AJC
• Orson Charles picks UGA – Georgia College Football Examiner
• UGA’s other TE recruit Arthur Lynch, glad for addition - AJC
• Tampa TE Orson Charles Signs With Bulldogs – GeorgiaDogs.com
• Charles Picks UGA! – TotalUGA

Chris Low publishes his early schedule snapshot for the Georgia Bulldogs and gives us some props for the non-conference opponents.

Low also has a piece about how Lane Kiffin isn’t backing down. Thanks Lane, keep it up!

Bernie has some advice on how to survive the malaise of the off-season.

Georgia Sports Blog takes a look at the people running Georgia’s search for a new basketball coach. It will make you feel good about our chances to get the right guy.

Sports Illustrated on Lane Kiffin’s rocky start in Rocky Top.

Tennessee enters the Mack Brown sweepstakes.

It won’t be too much longer before Orson Charles makes up his mind.

Ching talks with Jeff Owens about his new blog.

Al.com columnist Paul Finebaum puts in print what everyone around the SEC is thinkging… that Tennessee should cut it’s losses and fire Kiffin to save their program a coaching debacle.

There is a simple solution to the anarchy at Tennessee. It doesn’t require committee meetings or deep analysis. It might be costly in the short term, but the long-term effect will be bountiful.

To maintain even a modicum of integrity and respect in the world of college football, Tennessee needs to fire Lane Kiffin as its head football coach.

Well, that didn’t take long. Paul Finebaum is a UT alumn, so he must really care. Right?

What do you do after you come to your senses and fire Lame Kiffin? You go after recently fired Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden.

Gruden would be the perfect replacement. He is available and anxious, having just shockingly lost his job with the Tampa Bay Bucs. His résumé is spectacular, with a Super Bowl championship ring. He actually won with the Oakland Raiders, going 38-26 vs. Kiffin’s 5-15. He would get Tennessee immediately back on track. Besides, if UT delays, Gruden will get snapped up by Notre Dame or another major school next year and be gone forever.

Gruden is such wishful thinking. Why would an NFL guy who will in all likelihood have plenty of NFL choices next year going to go to the train wreck previously known as the University of Tennessee?

His wife, Cindy, was a UT cheerleader.

Maybe she’d take the UT job. Unconventional for sure, but an upgrade nonetheless.

Plenty of links to cure your case of the Mondays. Enjoy the weather this weekend?

David Hale has a talk with Reshad Jones
about his decision to stay at Georgia and his emerging leadership role in the ‘Dawg defensive backfield.

Rodney Garner breaks down the 2009 Georgia Bulldog recruiting class.

Georgia is reaching out to all parts of the country to sign top football talent. Signed the number one ranked players from Tennessee, Indiana and Massachusetts.

Bobby Knight is tired of Georgia not kissing his ass so now he has extended an offer to Alabama to allow them to kiss his ass.

Chip Towers calls out the programs that are signing way more recruits than the 25 scholarship limit allows.

Georgia Sports Blog makes us aware that there are more attractive basketball programs than Georgia that could also lose their coaches.

Meet Kiante Tripp, the drifter who has hopefully made his last stop at DE.

Remember Michael Lemon? He has been invited to walk-on at South Carolina by Steve Spurrier.

Speaking of South Carolina… DE Eric Norwood calls Georgia his biggest rival.

Will the Marlon Brown/A.J. Greene receiving duo be the best in UGA history? Buck Belue thinks so…

UPDATE: And he apologizes:

“At an energetic breakfast with some of our donors and alumni I made a statement that was solely meant to excite the crowd,” Kiffin said in a statement. “If I offended anyone at the University of Florida, including Mr. Foley and Urban Meyer, I sincerely apologize. That was not my intention.”

———————–

Lane Kiffin officially reprimanded by the Southeastern Conference.

“Coach Kiffin has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics,” Slive said. “SEC Bylaw 10.5.1 clearly states that coaches and administrators shall refrain from directed public criticism of other member institutions, their staffs or players.”

“The phone call to which Coach Kiffin referred to in his public comments is not a violation of SEC or NCAA rules. We expect our coaches to have an understanding and knowledge of conference and NCAA rules.”

Lane Kiffin called out Urban Meyer at a signing day breakfast for a possible recruiting violation during the recruitment of Nu’Keese Richardson.

“I’m gonna turn Florida in right here in front of you,” Kiffin said, according to WVLT-TV. “While Nu’Keese was on campus, his phone kept ringing. One of the coaches says, ‘who’s that?’ And he said, ‘Urban Meyer.’ “

Yep, that’d be a violation, but before we start calling people names let’s make abso….

Kiffin told the crowd, “I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”

Ok, nevermind. Oh look, he saved a little for Saban too!

Kiffin also took aim at Alabama coach Nick Saban and suggested that Saban should “thank” new Tennessee assistant Lance Thompson for the Crimson Tide’s No. 2-ranked class. Thompson was one of Saban’s best recruiters at Alabama before leaving to join the Tennessee staff in January.

Thompson even got into the act and assured the crowd that Saban wasn’t going to get another one of his players.

Either Lane Kiffin is one USC O-Coordinatin’, Raider Head-coachin’ bad ass that is going to blow the doors off of the SEC next year, or he is headed for the biggest face plant in SEC coaching history.

Seriously, I don’t where this guy gets it. I mean, it’s one thing to be an arrogant jerk (Meyer, Saban) but Kiffin is just being a PUNK.

He does get Georgia at home but he has to travel to Florida and Alabama. I’m thinking Junior is going to be getting an education in SEC football sooner rather than later.

And, there is video.

Alabama has pulled the trigger on Mark Gottfried:

Gottfried met with athletic director Mal Moore at 2:30 ET to discuss his job status, according to a Birmingham News report. Gottfried has been under fire for Alabama’s declining basketball fortunes over recent years, and the Crimson Tide have struggled to a 12-7 record this year, 2-3 in the SEC.

If 12-7 and 2-3 is struggling what are the ‘Dawgs doing now?

Looking at this clip is like looking at a different era of Georgia football.

In those days, the defense was dominant and nasty. Being at the games with my brother we’d talk about how we actually looked forward to the D being on the field because they made things happen, and you could count on a big hit or two each game to make the crowd gasp.

Those days the offense tended to sputter and the D seemed to keep us in the games. It’s a far cry from Kentucky burning you for 38 and Tech scoring at will… on the ground.

Is it Willie? Is it the personnel? There are lots of guys that are playing in the NFL now from that team; Blue, Jones, Jennings, Thurman, Davis… that’s right off the top of my head.

In five years will we look back at this year and see that the personnel just wasn’t there?

Or will we see a lot of our D talent shining in the NFL and wonder why the defense wasn’t as dominant and fierce as the one shown in that clip?

Well, paulwesterdawg is predicting that 2009 will be Spurrier’s final campaign in Columbia, and in coaching for that matter.

The coaching defections plus the mounting losses further convince me that this is Spurrier’s last year coaching college football. The talent level in Columbia just isn’t strong enough to keep him there.

PWD refers to this article in The State about the fifth, and most recent staff defection.

Fact is, the ole ball coach’s carcass is starting to smell and the assistants are wising up and taking control of their own destiny before Spurrier throws in the visor and leaves ‘em hanging.

What about South Carolina though? This is the second consecutive college football coaching legend who has had their career end on a sour note trying to raise up the program to where common sense says it should be. Holtz’s high water mark was two consecutive 9-3 seasons. It looks like Spurrier’s may be 2006’s 8-5 mark.

Gamecock fans have to be wondering if it will ever happen for them if what seemed to be a sure thing flops worse than the last sure thing.

Where do they go post-Spurrier?

Georgia drops it’s fourth in a row in Nashville.

Georgia (9-8, 0-2) lost its fourth straight overall. The Bulldogs had leads in each of the previous three games, blowing big leads in the second half of two of those including last weekend’s loss to Tennessee. This time, they led only briefly in the opening minutes.

UPDATE: More links

• Ogilvy’s return boosts Commodores – Online Athens
• Cold-shooting Dogs fall to Vandy – ajc.com
• Bulldogs falter late against Vols – Macon.com