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Friday, February 5, 2010

Belin Rounds Out Grantham's Staff

UPDATE: If you're interested, here's a nice blog post with some background on Warren Belin.

From UGA release...

Warren Belin, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt, has been named a linebackers coach at the University of Georgia according to an announcement Friday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.

Belin just completed his eighth season with the Commodores coaching linebackers. The 20-year veteran also just completed his second year as recruiting coordinator after having worked as special teams coordinator in 2006-07.

“I want to thank Coach (Bobby) Johnson and the Vandy staff for eight great years competing in the SEC and everything they have provided me and my family,” said Belin. “I’m looking forward to the next step in my career with Coach Richt and the opportunity to compete for SEC and national championships. I look forward to working with Coach Grantham, Coach Garner and Coach Lakatos in installing the new defensive package. My wife and family are excited about the opportunity to become part of the Athens community, Bulldog Nation and the great tradition at UGA.”

“Warren has had some of the best linebackers and tacklers in the league for years,” said Richt. “I’ve always admired his work at Vandy and people have been talking to me about him for quite a while. When Todd (Grantham) and I interviewed him, we were very impressed with his knowledge of the game, schemes, and fundamentals. He’s going to be a perfect mentor for our players as well.”

During Belin's tenure at Vanderbilt, he developed numerous outstanding linebackers including second team All-SEC Patrick Benoist (2008) and Freshman All-SEC Chris Marve (2008), both of whom were among the SEC’s top tacklers; All-SEC Jonathan Goff (2006-07) and Marcus Buggs (2006-07), both of whom are in their second year in the NFL (Goff with the Giants and Buggs with the Bills); All-SEC Moses Osemwegie (2004-05); and All-SEC Hunter Hillenmeyer (2002) who earned the National Student-Athlete Award after leading the SEC in tackles.

Belin served in a similar role at Southern Methodist before coming to Vanderbilt. In five years at SMU, at least one of Belin's linebackers was named All-Western Athletic Conference each year of his service. Vic Viloria was named first team All-WAC as a junior. Another SMU pupil, Jason Simonton, was a two-time All-WAC selection. A third player, Chris Bordano, was WAC Western Division Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. Prior to joining the SMU staff, Belin worked as an assistant coach at William & Mary, Cornell and East Tennessee State.

A native of Marshville, N.C., Belin was a three-year starter and four-year letterman at Wake Forest from 1987-90. He earned a B.S. in Health and Sports Science from Wake Forest, graduating cum laude. He was named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 1990 and was a two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient.

Belin is married to the former Yolanda Taylor. They are the parents of three daughters: Camryn, 7; and 4-year-old twins Morgan and MacKenzi.

ADDENDUM: A few of you have asked my thoughts...

Truth be told, I don't know a ton about the guy, but he has an impressive enough track record. For the past two years, I thought Chris Marve was one of the more impressive linebackers I've seen, so that speaks well of Belin.

I definitely like that he's been the recruiting coordinator for a school that has brought in some solid talent even though getting those players to come to Vandy is a tough task. His ties to the south and to the SEC will be a nice balance on the recruiting trail with Grantham and Lakatos.

And lastly, it's a detail sort of snuck into the release, but he served two seasons as a special teams coordinator.

Sounds to me like he essentially fills every need Georgia was looking for.

12 comments:

ben said...

Sounds pretty good to me. Good coach and solid recruiter with SEC ties. Any word on whether he is ILB or OLB coach? My only question now is, who is coaching Special Teams? CMR???

David Hale said...

My assumption is duties will be split on special teams as they were before... but if you read Belin's resume closely, he was a special teams coordinator for two years at Vandy.

Will said...

Can't hate on the guy at all, but notice the backhanded slap he gave to Vandy? He's interested in competing for SEC championships and National Titles at Georgia, as if Vandy was completely locked out of either. While it's realistic, I'm sure some Vandy faithful probably didn't appreciate that.

BZ said...

Thanks for all your hard work Dave. I can't wait to see this defense in action. All we need now is a smart quarterback to take care of the ball and feed it to the Ealey/King combo

BZ said...

If we are thin at reciever then why not put dontavious jackson in the slot reciever position. He seems like a shifty back that could handle catching some quick slants.

brad said...

Vandy has had some of the most well coached LB's the past few years. I was at the UGA/Vandy game in 2008 and was extremely impressed.

Anyone who likes a tightly coached ship should really like the hires that have been made on the defensive side of the ball.

RE: special teams...I would hope since we have essentially two LB coaches in CTG and CWB, CWB would invest heavily in special teams.

Great stuff!

Dawgfan17 said...

I like this hire. The biggest weakness we have had on defense is lack of discipline and fundamentals. Vandy may not have always had the most talented lbs but they always seemed to play the game the right way. That combined with the fact he was the top recruiter at a school that is hard to recruit for and a special teams co-ordinator and this seems like a great hire. Can't wait for the season to get here.

Bill M. said...

literally every need filled. excellent hire

Anonymous said...

Vandy was 80 spots ahead of UGA in kick coverage last year. For that reason alone I say give the guy a job. Oh yeah, he also coaches linebackers and recruits pretty well too.

Brad M said...

Vandy gives us tons of problems year in and year out. I'm glad we have one of their smart guys coaching our young men. Kudos to Coach Richt and our new D-staff for getting Coach Belin. I like our quality and the way we conduct business.

Anonymous said...

what I noticed when I read the Vandy blog was that he recruited the Atlanta area very well. been reading all week about how UGA does not recruit ATL well. looks like a good hire.

don

Brock said...

David,
One thing somewhat overlooked is when this move was announced - after signing day. Coach Richt could have went after Coach Belin weeks ago, but that time frame would have jeopardized Vandy's class. By making this move now, shows exactly the type of man that is leading our program. I feel it's an important tidbit that was lost in all the hype surrounding national letter of intent day..