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Friday, December 10, 2010

Mailbag day: Fire away

We'll do the mail a different way this week, at the suggestion of a few of you. If you have a question, or a comment, or an attack, that you'd like answered, fill it out below in the comment section, and I'll answer it there.

Let's see how it works this way, and maybe we'll continue doing it that way, maybe not. But don't be bashful: I know you've got questions about the offseason, recruiting, Dexter, and how cold I am after the heating system in my house conked out at 10 p.m. last night. Boy, has it been a fun time since then.

I'll start off with one question I got from several of you during the week: Why I left Cam Newton off my Heisman ballot? Well, I didn't cast a ballot at all, as I abstained. Here's the column I wrote explaining it.

OK, fire away. Warm me up. Please.

EDIT: Also, if a few of you can do me a favor and ask your questions on the Macon.com blog, I'd appreciate it. I know most people use this one, but the other one will look pretty lonely if all the questions and answers are over here.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who's your best guess to fill the UF coaching job and why?

Matt Daniel said...

Couple of questions:
Does it shock you that Urban Meyer resigns around the same time the Denver Broncos have a head coaching vacancy with Tebow on the team?

How is Georgia taking advantage of recruiting since Florida/Miami have no coaches and Spurrier choked at the SEC championship game?

Seth Emerson said...

Jeremy Foley has indicated he hopes to make a hire by Christmas, so that would lead you to believe it may not be one of the obvious picks.

Here's I think the order of calls that Foley makes, or has made:

1-Bob Stoops
2-Jon Gruden
3-Mike Shanahan
4-Chip Kelly
5-Bobby Petrino
6-Dan Mullen
7-Kyle Whittingham

Here's the order of likelihood of who will be the next coach at Florida (Based on a combination of whether they'd take it, and whether they'd be offered):

1-Mullen
2-Petrino
3-Gruden
4-Charlie Strong
5-Someone we're not even talking about right now

Seth Emerson said...

I think Meyer resigning right after Josh McDaniels was fired was a coincidence. I'll admit, it occurred to me too, but I haven't seen any indication that Meyer thinks he's an NFL coach, or the Broncos would be interested in him.

As for UGA recruiting to take advantage, the news is fresh, so I'm not sure if Georgia coaches have been able to change their schedules much. But rest assured that every Florida recruit is being poached at right now, and I'm sure Georgia is among the suitors.

I don't think South Carolina's SEC championship loss will have much of an effect on recruiting. It would've only helped if the Gamecocks had won.

Jesse in Byron said...

With your All-SEC team voting pretty much lining up with the rest of the media, do you feel any vindication over the folks on here who went crazy about AJ Green not being on your first team?

Anonymous said...

Seth,

First off, thanks for writing this blog. I know you catch heat, but it's a great source of news and we appreciate your work. Just put AJ on the first team.

Ok, my question is: can you give us an update on Rambo. He literally fell out in mid-run during the Tech game, and obviously he has a history of concussions.

I'd also love to hear more from Garner or CTG about substitutions on the defensive line and whether we had any issues with the actual act of getting players on and off the field (my friend at the Florida game said we couldn't get our subs in due to problems getting on and off the field).

Again, thanks!

Anonymous said...

I've noticed that some of the players have changed the way they Tweet about workouts since the Joe T announcement. I remember reading that JT wouldn't take over until after the bowl. Is that still the case? Have you spoken to any current players about the change?

Seth Emerson said...

Jesse in Byron,

I appreciate the question, but honestly it's not about vindication. I was confident in my ballot in the first place. It's all an opinion anyway. But thanks for the question.

NCDawg said...

Is anybody as worried about recruiting as much as me? If our defensive problems are not X's and O's, we need personel. I don't see a lot of blue chip DT's and DE's coming our way. Even if we got a windfall from Meyer's resignation, it probably wouldn't be on the Defensive front. Are we going to have trouble getting the right people for CTG 3-4?

Seth Emerson said...

Anon at 10:13 a.m.:

1. Thanks for the kind words.
2. We get our first chance to talk to players on Saturday. But I haven't heard anything about Rambo being in bad shape. He should be fine.
3. I think the substitution issues had more to do with the personnel available: The injury to Justin "Bean" Anderson got kind of lost in the shuffle this season, but that may have proved to be vital. Or maybe not, since they didn't play Kwame Geathers too much. In any case, they're on the trail looking hard at D-linemen that can play right away.

Seth Emerson said...

Anon at 10:13 a.m. (part two).

Tereshinski was always involved a little bit, so he may have taken on a larger role since the move was announced. But officially, Van Halanger is still on the job until Jan. 1.

Anonymous said...

Do you expect this weekend to be the coming out party for the "Dream Team"? If not do you see any recruits committing? If so, who?

heyberto said...

This is probably a throw away question, but did you ever get any info on Sam Jackson at the GT game? What his connection is to Georgia and what was his involvement in pregame / locker room? Or did I miss your post?

Seth Emerson said...

NCDawg,

They do have a couple four-star (according to Rivals) D-linemen commitments: DE Sterling Bailey and DT Chris Mayes. But they're also looking at some JUCO guys that would compete for playing time right away.

Don't get too ver-klemped until after signing day. There's still nearly two full months.

Anonymous said...

If the All-Conference players from the Big 6 conferences played the other conferences in a round robin tournament- what do you think the final standings would be?

PenIsMightier said...

Was there anything in wikileaks that indicated that Cam knew about the pay for play scheme?

Who do you have in the NC and why?

What's your favorite Bruce Willis movie?

Seth Emerson said...

Heyberto,

Yeah, I got to the bottom of it, so to speak. He has family that teaches here, or went here. There's a blog post from about a week ago about it.

Anonymous said...

How is Brent Benedict's rehab going? He might have been the best high school OL in the nation before he got hurt. Thanks.

Jesse in Byron said...

By the way I really enjoy the blog, and tweets during the game, and a sense of humor.
A couple of questions.

1. Is GA the leader now for Ray Drew after the coaching change at UF, or does this help Auburn and Clemson more?

2. I know expectation are always high for the season, but do you think 2011 preseason expectations will soar as high as they did this past season? Will that largely rest on the recruiting class that comes in?

3. Am I the only person that thinks abbreviating coaches names to "CMR" and "CTG" is weird.

4. You quote movies all the time. Favorite Christmas movie quote?

Seth Emerson said...

PenIsMightier,

(Incidentally, if that's an SNL Celebrity Jeopardy reference ... well done.

1-I haven't had a full chance to delve into the Wiki Leaks dump, but if there's anything in there about the Newtons, I'll let you know.

2-Haven't thought much about the title game yet. All I know is the final score may be 73-70.

3-Die Hard, the first one, has to be the choice. Pulp Fiction is even better, but that's more an ensemble feature.

Seth Emerson said...

Regarding the all-conference round-robin tournament, here'd be my guess:

1-SEC
2-Big Ten
3-Big 12 (as currently constituted, with Nebraska and Colorado)
4-Pac 10 (not 12, yet)
5-ACC
6-Big East

Seth Emerson said...

Jesse In Byron, again,

1. I don't have a good read on Ray Drew yet. A lot probably depends on who Florida hires.

2. Some of the expectations will depend on recruiting. But with Green and Houston expected to leave, I don't think anyone will be picking UGA to win the East.

3. No. I'm on record stating I hate the "CMR" and "CTG" abbreviations.

4. Favorite Christmas movie quote? I run the risk of forgetting a good one, but "Christmas Vacation" tends to be my favorite, so I'll go with the senile aunt, when asked to lead the pre-meal prayer, offering up the Pledge of Allegiance.

Seth Emerson said...

Regarding Brent Benedict:

He should be ready for spring practice. Whether he'll be a major factor, we'll have to see.

Seth Emerson said...

Regarding any major recruiting "pops" this weekend ... I'll have to plead ignorance on this. If any does - and it surely won't be Isaiah Crowell - you'll still have to watch it until Signing Day.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever been wasted on prison hootch?

Seth Emerson said...

No. Suffice to say it's one of my greatest regrets.

Rusty Shackleford said...

If there are no girls at Tech, how do the nerds keep repopulating?

Seth Emerson said...

Here's one thing I don't understand: I realize it's funny to call the GT people nerds, but UGA is a pretty good school too. (Tied for 55th in the US News rankings among all schools, I believe.) Why cede the academic prestige ground?

Anonymous said...

Seth. I like to see you Tweeting it up with current players. Having a relationship with these guys could really help the blog.

Chillbo said...

Any sense of on how UGA ticket sales have been, thus far, for the Liberty Bowl?

Do you know what the routine is when a recriut visits or perhaps any chance you could do a story in the next couple of months on what actually goes on when a recruit visits Athens for a weekend, like so many are this weekend? Kind of a day in the life thing maybe.

How have you found Athens compared to Columbia?

Unknown said...

Am I the only person that believes that AJ and Justin arent going anywhere? There will not be an NFL season next year and they know it but probly just have not admitted it yet. Are there any prop bets for them staying or going?

Anonymous said...

Seth, there is a distinct difference between being intelligent and being a nerd. Tech students are nerds and eat fart bubbles.

Anonymous said...

Nice job trying to get a twitter scoop on Boykin. His "next year" comment makes me optimistic.

Seth Emerson said...

Chase,

I'll be shocked if there isn't an NFL season. We're seeing a lot of bluster about that right now.
I wouldn't rule out Green, Houston or other underclassmen being scared enough by it that they come back. But I also wouldn't count on it.

Paul said...

Bacon, sausage or both?

Seth Emerson said...

Chillbo,

1. Not sure on ticket sales. I'm sure you'll be able to get some now if you haven't yet.

2. Good idea. I'll think about it.

3. Athens is smaller, but much homier, and laid-back, than Columbia.

Anonymous said...

Seth, you've been able to watch the practices. Which coach gets after the players the most? Also, did you notice any underclassmen that appear to be vocal leaders on this team?

Anonymous said...

I'll assume that, in your previous reply, by "homier", you meant "better" and by "laid-back", you meant "awesomer".

Are you looking forward to the trip up to Memphis? Do you eat barbecue (almost abbreviated it)? What's the travel schedule for the Dawgs? Any chance for fans to hang out with the team at various events prior to the game?

ChrisDawg said...

What NFL team are you the biggest fan of? How would you rank the top five NFL teams right now? Also why don't my Falcons get any respect no matter what they do?????

GreenDawg said...

Overall, I'm over this Cam Newton business. But something struck me from his interview the other day. He said, "I never received any benefits... from Mississippi State." You read anything into this? I'd love to see how this kid would handle a polygraph test.

Seth Emerson said...

ChrisDawg,

Born and raised a Redskins fan. A little down on them lately because of the Snyder factor. My current ranking of the best in the NFL

1-Patriots
2-Steelers
3-Falcons
4-Saints
5-Jets

Robert K. Burnham said...

Seth, who if anyone do you think Coach Fox will rely on as our three point threat ? McPhee was great last year, anybody like him on the team this year ? Dustin was on fire the other night, and Brantley seems to do a good job. And Marcus Thornton needs more minutes, what's happening there ?

Seth Emerson said...

Yearofthedawg,

I've been to Rendezvous before, but planning on going again.

The team will fly out to Memphis on the 26th, then presumably return right after the game, as normal. I'm sure the players and staff will see plenty of Memphis. The nice thing about going to the Liberty, rather than Music City, is they get to see a city they wouldn't otherwise.

Seth Emerson said...

Paul,

Bacon, all the time. Archie likes bacon too. Too bad it's so bad for you.

ChrisDawg said...

Do you see Aaron Murray as a leave early for the NFL type? I have heard from a lot of places he could leave after next season. I think thats ridiculous. With his height I see him playing three more years.

Do you see him as a serious NFL prospect? Like possible first round in the future? He reminds me of Drew Brees.

Seth Emerson said...

It's hard to project out Murray, considering he's a freshman. My inclination is his size makes him a probable four-year guy, but the fact he redshirted, and had such a good rookie campaign, leaves it a possibility.

ReservoirDawg said...

What's the status on the facility upgrades?

Unknown said...

Seth,
did you ever find out what our coaches were thinking by letting Ealey score the last touchdown in the Tech game instead of running out the clock. I'm not so concerned about this one instance as a repeated lack of common sense in some of the game management by Richt and his staff. While I recognize this is one of Coach Richt's weaknesses, I still support him and really just want it brought to his attention so that perhaps one day he'll simply hire a "common sense/game management coach" as proposed by Bill Simmons

Seth Emerson said...

Charles,

Richt said right after the game that, essentially, they screwed up. Paul Johnson told the Tech defense to let UGA score so they'd have a chance to get the ball back. "He got us," was Richt's quote. Just one of those things.

Seth Emerson said...

Resorvoir Dawg,

Depends on which one you're talking about. I still see a lot of construction around the facilities, but stuff seems to be coming along fine. Stegeman looks good around the concourses.

Anonymous said...

I'm interested in the Butts-Mehre addition and the indoor practice field

what'llyahave? said...

Seth,

I've enjoyed your commentary on the dawgs so far, however, I've got to voice some opinions. One thing I really liked about your predecesor was the inclusion of daily links. There were usually around 10 or so that related to the dawgs, cfb, and then general knowledge and humor. I also wouldn't mind if you included local stories going on in athens. recruiting would be another area you could further explore. again, these are just a couple of suggestions to keep folks like me constantly checking the blog.

As for questions:
1) can you get a feel for what they guys are thinking as far as s&c goes? positive? negative? the few that I've had a chance to talk to have had mixed reactions.

2) what do you think of the athens bar scene? any favorites? tried to pick up some freshmen at bourbon street or sideways yet? I know Hale was a fan of the beer card at Pauley's...I think you can do it faster

3) what other blogs do you check daily?

Anonymous said...

Seth,
Do you know Rick Schwarz? He likes Bourbon Street?

Anonymous said...

Still cold in your place? Maybe some of your old friends at USC can get youa cheap rate at the Whitney.

Moggs said...

Jesse in Byron-

As far as the coaches references being abbreviated, I find it very sad that CUM will only be UM soon
Just a glob of dried up UM :(