My blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 6 seconds. If not, visit
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/bulldogs-blog/
and update your bookmarks.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

12 Players Earn Diplomas

From UGA release...

Twelve University of Georgia football student-athletes will receive their degrees Saturday at the annual spring commencement exercises. The graduation ceremonies will be held in Sanford Stadium beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The spring graduates bring to 28 the number of football student-athletes earning degrees this academic year. Sixteen received their degrees in December, 2009.

The dozen also represent ten different majors: Finance, Housing, Marketing, Risk Management and Insurance, Forestry, Economics, Child and Family Development, Middle School Education, Sociology, and Health/Physical Education. The 12 football players bring to 173 the number of football student-athletes who have earned degrees during the Mark Richt era (since spring, 2001).

Football players earning degrees Saturday include Geno Atkins, Housing, Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Marquise Brown, Finance, Lanham, Md.; Shaun Chapas, Marketing, St. Augustine, Fla.; Kris Durham, Middle School Education, Calhoun; Justin Fields, Risk Management & Insurance, Savannah; Devin Hollander, Forestry, Gainesville; Casey Nickels, Finance, Tignall; Christian Norton, Economics, Athens; Kevin Perez, Child & Family Development, Miami, Fla.; Vernon Spellman, Economics, Kennesaw; Coleman Watson, Sociology, Tucker; and Brandon Wheeling, Health/PE, Dallas.

6 comments:

Kaylen (Hershall Stalker on the track) said...

Congrats to all those great dawgs! notice, those aren't cupcake degrees, either.


oh, and david, i know you're looking for material to cover in the off season. it isn't strictly college, per se, but women's flat track roller derby is a great, exponentialy growing sport and there are teams all over the state of georgia. atlanta is damn good, and athens is competitive as well. it may be something your readers would find interesting.

Anonymous said...

Question: If Kris Durham is graduating Saturday, what are his school responsibilities in the fall? is he required to take any classes, or is football the only thing he has to do?

David Hale said...

He's working on his master's in education, which he plans to finish by this time next year.

TrboDawg said...

Excellent work Dawgs! Proving once again that we are STUDENT-athletes...

I was curious how the Gators compared, I found this on Gatorzone.com...

"Florida’s eight football spring graduates will join the 11 December graduates to tally 19 total 2009-10 Gator grads."

Anonymous said...

2 possibly 3 of those are football players. And, for in the latest NCAA Graduation Rates, UGA is number 9 in The SEC.

The 28 graduates have a combined 1-3 record vs the vols, 1-3 record vs Florida, 2-2 vs Kentucky and 10-10 the last 4 years against The SEC East.

Caleb King is not and was not last year, in my opinion the Starter at Tailback. More than half the games the entire Caleb King career, he has rushed for 1 yard or less. He has an injured knee from high school that should have had surgery long ago. Ken Malcome is also injured.

Quarterback. What can you say about Quarterback when we did not prepare a QB for 2006 and lost 4 games, did not prepare a QB for 2009 and lost 5 games, and now once again for 2010 have no QB prepared. How can this keep on happening for a team who 4 years in a row now has averaged 14 interceptions all 4 years, 21 fumbles all 4 years and threw in for good measure # 96 average ranking in penalties against us all 4 last years in a row.

Little Aaron Murray is 4.7 in the 40-yard dash, a dangerous combination in The SEC for a little guy 198 lbs. and clearly the shortest QB in The SEC. SEC linemen are faster than 4.7. And, it wasn't just the G-Day Game, but in all 3 Scrimmages Aaron Murray threw the fewest TD passes and most interceptions.

Hard to imagine discussing Hutson Mason and how he has never played under center and fail to mention that Aaron Murray never has, either.

I have been hearing how great our OL is for years. Just as I have about Caleb King. The proof is in the pudding and neither has done the job in the big games.

10-10 vs SEC East the last 4 years now.

We don't know if the fullbacks can run the football because even before we ripped the redshirt off Washaun Ealey in the 3rd quarter of the 5th game, we never did hand the football to the fullbacks.

Surprising you didn't mention we threw the football only twice to Marlon Brown and only twice to Branden Smith all season long.

It took us until the 12th game to figure out the 23 catches by Orson Charles his freshman season clearly should have made him the starter over Aron White (who defends Zach Mettenberger) when Aron had only 3 catches his freshman year by direct comparison.

But, then again, we redshirted Knowshon Moreno so that we only got to see him 2 years, too.

With 14 seniors and 5 juniors all leaving after this season, we will not be able to throw that label out there of young nor that label of this is a rebuilding year, not with 11 returning starters on offense.

A discussion about the offense and leaving off that 2 weeks ago Coach Richt announced that he himself is taking over all the Offense, is more than fairly hard to comprehend.

Clearly, the great Running Back coaching wide receivers, the former wide receiver coaching running backs and the quarterback coaching tight ends, have done one sorry job.

And, Mike Bobo. Discuss the offense and fail to mention his play calls ?

Anonymous said...

The only position you did not give an A to was Fullback, and you assigned them a B+.

That is really hard to imagine, although you copped out at Quarterback where the coaching staff has a well-deserved F.

It is certain that we feature the 2 best kickers in the nation on one team, and having just fired the entire special teams’ coaches, we will be great on special teams. It is clear to me that we have our best Defense in 30 years this season too.

But, we are discussing the totally failed offense of the last 4 years, returning except for the Quarterback only, and although we ran the ball at the end of the season, those were against the nation’s worst run defenses.

I would give this offense B - - including the “offensive coaching staff.”

C - at Quarterback, well-earned over the last 4 years by this coaching staff Coach Richt in essence demoted entirely with him taking over. 14 interceptions a year for 4 years in a row now. And, now, we have 1 Freshman QB who spent the entire year last year recovering from his high school injury only to miss 21 practices because our coaching staff had him throw his arm out. His deep route passes are just no good.

C - at running the football, and that only because of Washaun Ealey the 11th best Tailback recruit in the nation last year. How can we not put numbers to it at 21 fumbles per year every year the last 4 years. We cannot evaluate talent here.

B - at Offensive Line because we have failed to block for the pass or the run with all these guys too all these years. What they do accomplish is to get penalties. We are in this mode of having all these scholarships, yet we cannot for the life of them, put 5 out there and go.

B - at receiver because once again we what ? Taught AJ Green but cannot teach Marlon Brown or Branden Smith ? Now, this year we will ? I don’t think so. Sorry, you have 1 guy who will not be drafted 4th because he is injured half of the games. And, no one behind him.

B at Fullbacks because there we have 2 players, if the coaches would figure out to get them involved.

A+++ at Tight End because although it took us until the 12 game to figure out to start Orson Charles, he is the starter.

That is a B – for the offense, not counting the grade you must assign to the coaching staff as well. It is not just the players. It is their coaching and when the head coach says he no longer can count on the offensive coaching staff, then, well you have issues on offensive coaching, don’t you sir ?

We are an average football program in decline for the last 4 years. The reason is on offense and is the fault of the offensive coaching staff. They do not evaluate talent well, they play favorites. They do not call good plays. They do not any of them know the position they are coaching, having NEVER played the positions themselves, none of them.

And, our Offensive Coordinator we stole from Jacksonville State where he was the quarterbacks’ coach 1 year.

Yet we spend $750,000 a year on the Defensive Coordinator and he has to have 11 years NFL experience. And, we spend MORE THAN THAT on the rest of the Defensive Staff. What is wrong with this picture ? 9-4 or 10-3 in 14-game seasons nowadays.