Media All-SEC Picks Announced

Here's the full SEC release...

Defending SEC and national champion Florida Gators had a league-high 12 representatives on the 2009 All-Southeastern Conference Media Days Football Team, while defending Western Division Champion Alabama had eight total selections in a vote of media attending the 2009 SEC Football Media Days, held July 22-24 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala.

The 64 voters also selected the Gators to play the Crimson Tide in the SEC Football Championship Game on Dec. 5 in Atlanta.

The Gators were on 63 of 64 ballots for the winner of the SEC Championship Game and were on all 64 ballots to win the Eastern Division. Ole Miss was the only other team to receive an SEC Championship vote. Filling out the Eastern Division, Georgia was predicted to finish second, South Carolina third, Tennessee fourth, Vanderbilt fifth and Kentucky sixth.

Florida is the first team to be a unanimous selection to win a division since the league started divisional play in 1992.

Alabama had 33 first place votes in the Western Division, while Ole Miss had 16 and LSU had 15. Filling out the votes in the Western Division, LSU was second, Ole Miss third, Arkansas fourth, Auburn fifth and Mississippi State sixth.

Ten of the 12 SEC Schools had a member on the first-team All-SEC squad. Each SEC school had at least one student-athlete on either the first or second team.

Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss each had five student-athletes on either the first or second team followed by Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee with three each.

Florida had the most first-team selections with eight followed by Alabama with six. Arkansas, LSU and Ole Miss had two each.

There were no unanimous selections on the All-SEC team. The leading vote-getters were Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry (62), Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (61) and Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes (61).

The 2009 SEC Media Days Pre-Season All-SEC Football Team and predicted order of finish are listed below.

2009 SEC MEDIA DAYS PRE-SEASON ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM

OFFENSE

First-Team Offense
Pos. Name, Team
TE D.J. Williams, Arkansas (38)
OL Ciron Black, LSU (60)
OL Mike Johnson, Alabama (55)
OL John Jerry, Ole Miss (49)
OL Mike Pouncey, Florida (35)
C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida (39)
WR Julio Jones, Alabama (58)
WR A.J. Green, Georgia (53)
QB Tim Tebow, Florida (61)
RB Charles Scott, LSU (59)
RB Michael Smith, Arkansas (48)

Second-Team Offense
Pos. Name, Team
TE Aaron Hernandez, Florida (18)
OL Clint Boling, Georgia (12)
OL Trinton Sturdivant, Georgia (8)
OL Lee Ziemba, Auburn (6)
OL Zipp Duncan, Kentucky (4)
C Josh McNeil, Tennessee (12)
WR Brandon LaFell, LSU (9)
WR Dexter McCluster, Ole Miss (6)
QB Jevan Snead, Ole Miss (2)
RB Mark Ingram, Alabama (6)
RB Anthony Dixon, Miss. State (5)

DEFENSE

First-Team Defense
Pos. Name, Team
DL Terrence Cody, Alabama (55)
DL Greg Hardy, Ole Miss (53)
DL Carlos Dunlap, Florida (46)
DL Antonio Coleman, Auburn (32)
LB Brandon Spikes, Florida (61)
LB Rolando McClain, Alabama (50)
LB Eric Norwood, South Carolina (38)
DB Eric Berry, Tennessee (62)
DB Trevard Lindley, Kentucky (50)
DB Joe Haden, Florida (45)
DB Javier Arenas, Alabama (23)

Second-Team Defense
Pos. Name, Team
DL Geno Atkins, Georgia (21)
DL Malcolm Sheppard, Arkansas (12)
DL Jermaine Cunningham, Florida (10)
DL Charles Alexander, LSU (7)
LB Rennie Curran, Georgia (25)
LB Rico McCoy, Tennessee (4)
#LB Micah Johnson, Kentucky (3)
#LB Jamar Chaney, Miss. State (3)
DB Ahmad Black, Florida (20)
DB Chad Jones, LSU (12)
DB Myron Lewis, Vanderbilt (12)
DB Major Wright, Florida (7)

SPECIALISTS

First-Team Specialists
Pos. Name, Team
PK Leigh Tiffin, Alabama (31)
P Chas Henry, Florida (43)
RS Brandon James, Florida (35)

Second-Team Specialists
Pos. Name, Team
PK Joshua Shene, Ole Miss (26)
P Clinton Durst, Auburn (10)
RS Javier Arenas, Alabama (21)
# - Ties

By School
School 1st 2nd Total
Alabama 6 2 8
Arkansas 2 1 3
Auburn 1 2 3
Florida 8 4 12
Georgia 1 4 5
Kentucky 1 2 3
LSU 2 3 5
Ole Miss 2 3 5
Mississippi State 0 2 2
South Carolina 1 0 1
Tennessee 1 2 3
Vanderbilt 0 1 1

SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

64 total votes
SEC Champions – Florida (63), Ole Miss (1)

Eastern Division
1. Florida (64), 64
2. Georgia, 133
3. South Carolina, 217
4. Tennessee, 258
5. Vanderbilt, 317
6. Kentucky, 355

Western Division
1. Alabama (33), 109
2. LSU (15), 145
3. Ole Miss (16), 149
4. Arkansas, 245
5. Auburn, 309
6. Mississippi State, 387

Media Days '09: Mark Richt

Mark Richt discusses his approach to the season with Florida so heavily favored to win the East.

Media Days '09: Day 2 Highlights

Some video of the non-UGA moments of Media Days Day 2...

Florida coach Urban Meyer talks about defending himself against rumors of his eventual departure for Notre Dame.



Florida QB Tim Tebow discusses his thoughts about the media hype surrounding the lone missing vote from his first-team All-SEC selection.



Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt talks about how his team plans to handle lofty preseason expectations.



Alabama coach Nick Saban discusses the benefit to playing big-time opponents in Atlanta to kick off the 2008 and '09 seasons.

My All-SEC Ballot

ESPN's Chris Low was kind enough to post his ballot for preseason All-SEC, and since I don't want to be accused of potentially providing extra motivation for Tim Tebow, I figured I should post mine as well. The results will be announced Friday morning.

OFFENSE

QB -- Tim Tebow (Fla)
TE -- DJ Williams (Ark)
OL -- Cyron Black (LSU)
OL -- John Jerry (Miss)
OL -- Mike Johnson (Ala)
OL -- Clint Boling (UGA)
C -- Josh McNeil (Tenn)
WR -- AJ Green (UGA)
WR -- Julio Jones (Ala)
RB -- Charles Scott (LSU)
RB -- Michael Smith (Ark)

DEFENSE

DL -- Geno Atkins (UGA)
DL -- Greg Hardy (Miss)
DL -- Carlos Dunlap (Fla)
DL -- Terrence Cody (Ala)
LB -- Rennie Curran (UGA)
LB -- Eric Norwood (SC)
LB -- Brandon Spikes (Fla)
DB -- Eric Berry (Tenn)
DB -- Trevard Lindley (UK)
DB -- Joe Haden (Fla)
DB -- Myron Lewis (Vandy)

SPECIAL TEAMS

K -- Leigh Tiffin (Ala)
P -- Chas Henry (Fla)
Ret -- Brandon James (Fla)

SEC EAST

1.) Florida
2.) Georgia
3.) Kentucky
4.) Vanderbilt
5.) South Carolina
6.) Tennessee

SEC WEST

1.) LSU
2.) Alabama
3.) Ole Miss
4.) Arkansas
5.) Auburn
6.) Mississippi State

CHAMPION: Florida

Hey, I like to be original, but I'm not stupid. Florida deserves to be the preseason pick. I'm far from convinced they'll be the last team standing at year's end, but preseason polls are all about what's on paper, and the Gators are awfully good on paper.

Beyond that, I picked Tennessee last for two reasons: They have no clue about the quarterback position, and their coach has put a target on their backs. That's a bad combination, and I think the Vols will not only be overmatched on paper, but they're also going to get every team's best shot.

I think the SEC West could realistically go to any of the top four teams, but I think if each plays to their potential, LSU has the best team. I'd be surprised if any of them finished with fewer than two SEC losses, but I think there's a good chance that the winner is every bit as good as Florida.

Among the individual players, I doubt I created much controversy with my picks. I'm perhaps being a bit locally bias with my selection of Clint Boling on the offensive line, but given all he did last year, I think it's a spot well earned. And if he can settle into one position this season and be flanked by a healthy group around him, I have no doubt he'll make my pick look like a smart one.

So, what about you guys? Think I'm an idiot? Have other ideas? Let's hear 'em.

Media Days Notes: Lower Expectations For Dawgs

Joe Cox wasn't sure what to expect when he arrived at the Wynfrey Hotel for SEC Media Days on Thursday, but there was one question he figured he would hear early and often.

"I figured a lot of questions would just be about how we're going to come back this year after losing so many guys, about everybody's expectations," Cox said. "Our expectations haven't changed. We know a lot of people are probably overlooking us, and that's probably the best thing for us. It's made us have a good offseason."

Georgia's expectations may not have changed, but the perception of the program by the great majority of the media members in attendance Thursday had.

A year ago, Mark Richt and his Bulldogs contingent came to Hoover as the consensus No. 1 team in the country, fresh off an 11-win season and with star quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno the backbone of what figured to be an offensive juggernaut.

This year, Moreno and Stafford are gone – both were selected in the first round of the NFL draft – and so are the hefty expectations that Georgia failed to realize last season. The way Richt sees it, that's a good thing.

"Everybody expected us to win 'em all because we had two guys that everybody considered stars, and then maybe subconsciously our guys thought, we can count on these guys," Richt said. "Now that they're gone, I think our team understands the only chance they hace is to play together, work together, earn it as a team. They've done a great job of buying into that."

NO OFFENSE TAKEN

Beyond Florida's Tim Tebow and Mississippi's Jevan Snead – both of whom made appearances at Thursday's second session of SEC Media Days – there isn't a lot of experience among the SEC's quarterbacks. But that didn't stop one Arkansas columnist from slotting Cox, who has started just one game in his four seasons in Athens, at the bottom of the class in a well-publicized column recently.

The slight might come as a major insult to some quarterbacks, but not Cox, who admitted he probably wouldn't have ranked himself much higher.

"I'm probably the one with the least amount of playing experience," Cox said. "If I had to choose between all those guys, I wouldn't put myself up very high. It's something I'm going to have to prove to everyone, and I'm looking forward to doing that."

YOUNG AND RESTLESS

Richt spent a good portion of his time in Hoover hyping his new starting quarterback, but he couldn't avoid a question about the three players behind Cox on the depth chart.

Freshmen Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray both arrived in Athens in January and managed to impress coaches with their quick adjustments to the college game. While nothing is set in stone yet, Richt said there's chance one of the two will earn considerable playing time this year.

"When it comes to the true freshmen, if I feel one is the true second-team quarterback, we will play him, get him as much experience as we can," Richt said.

Of course, for that to happen, either Murray or Mettenberger will need to pass sophomore Logan Gray on the depth chart first. Gray looked sharp this spring, and his athleticism makes him an interesting change-of-pace on offense for Georgia's coaching staff. With that in mind, Richt said he expects Gray to see the field regardless of where he ends up on the depth chart.

"We may still have a kind of package for him separate from our overall package just because he is athletic enough to do those kind of things that people do in the wildcat (offense)," Richt said.

A WIN SOLVES EVERYTHING

After creating a bit of controversy earlier this offseason, Richt seems to have learned his lesson when it comes to discussing the future of the Florida-Georgia game.

This spring, the coach told reporters he felt Florida had an unfair advantage by playing the game in Jacksonville, but when posed the question again Thursday, Richt dodged any potential bulletin-board fodder.

"I want to focus on winning that game," he said. "That's all I want to focus on when it comes to that game. That will be my pat answer from now on."

QB CONTROVERSIES

Cox, Snead and Tebow appear to be among a select group of SEC quarterbacks with a firm grasp on the starting job this season, a trend that has grown during the past two years.

A year ago, only five quarterbacks in the conference started every game for their teams, and three are no longer with those programs. The fluid situations at so many programs may be a function of increasing impatience by SEC fans.

Cox thinks the same pressure to win early and often that cost established coaches like Tommy Tuberville and Phillip Fulmer their jobs last year has trickled down to the quarterback position, and potentially productive quarterbacks simply aren't being given the chance to develop.

"That comes with when people start recruiting different types of quarterbacks and two in the same year, and when something goes wrong or someone gets injured, things get shuffled all around," Cox said. "Then you get in a situation where people say they don't have a quarterback. Well, obviously they have one, you just need to find the one who can get it done."

DON'T BLAME RICHT

Day 2 of Media Days found most of the coaches a bit more prepared for the interrogation by reporters wanting to know who left Tebow off their All-SEC ballot. For his part, Richt assured everyone it wasn't him.

"If I had a vote on a national level, I'd have voted for him, too," Richt said. "I think that guy might be the greatest player/leader, maybe the greatest one ever in college football. When you take his ability, his productivity, his leadership, his ability to get everybody to rally around him, I don't know if there's been many like that."

For what it's worth, Nick Saban and Houston Nutt also said they had Tebow on their ballot as well. Urban Meyer, the day's fourth presenter, was barred from voting for players on his own team.

HANDLING THE HYPE

Tebow was the topic du jour Thursday, as he has been most of the week. While the Florida quarterback finally addressed media as the final speaker of the day, virtually every other coach and player in attendance were forced to answer at least one Tebow-related inquiry.

By the time Georgia's Jeff Owens was posed a few questions about the former Heisman winner, the Tebow hype alone had become its own story. But when a reporter asked Owens if he was tired of hearing so much about Tebow, the Georgia defensive tackle said the hype would only make a game-day matchup that much sweeter.

"He's a great football player and will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play college football," Owens said. "He's a great talent, great leadership ability. You don't get tired of hearing about him. You just want to get after him, that's all."

Wild Run on Recruiting Trail for Richt

Georgia grabbed headlines this week before Mark Richt even arrived at Media Days after Carver High School coach Dell McGee banned the Bulldogs from recruiting his school. The story slightly overshadowed what has otherwise been a remarkable stretch of recruiting for Georgia, and to hear Mark Richt explain it, the two issues are closely related.

"Our first camp in June, we might have had four or five (commitments)," Richt said. "I remember when I was on the Bulldog tour and people were like, 'My gosh, we're just not doing very well,' and I was like, 'It's OK. We're evaluating, we're offering the right people, and it's going to be fine.'"

In early June, the coaches began their vacations -- some rare time off throughout the course of the year. And that's when the wave of commitments began -- nearly a dozen in the past month, ending with defensive end T.J. Stripling, who became the school's 18 commitment of the season this week. To say it took the coaching staff by surprise might be an understatement.

"What happened was all kinds of things started flying," Richt said. "I'm laying on the lounge at the lake and the phone rings, 'Hey, I'm committing.' Or I'm in there working out, 'Hey, I'm committed.' Coaches are calling saying so-and-so committed."

Obviously things got a little confusing. While there were always one or two coaches in the office, rarely was the whole staff together during the past month-and-a-half.

"You're not sitting there at the table once a week saying this is what's happening," Richt said. "I'm on vacation thinking, this isn't a bad way to go, but it did happen fast, and it happened faster than we could really communicate sometimes."

Whether or not that's what eventually led to the confusion regarding Carver quarterback Devin Burns, whose scholarship offer was withdrawn shortly before he planned to announce his commitment, Richt wouldn't say. NCAA rules prohibit him from commenting on any specific players or schools, which makes getting his side of the controversy out a bit difficult.

"I can't really make a comment on it at all," Richt said. "There will come a day when I can, but right now I can't."

Richt said he wasn't surprised by the amount of attention the story got, but he said the issues surrounding the Carver story underscore the momentum that tends to occur on the recruiting trail -- particularly what has happened during the past month at Georgia.

"When you're a young man, you may know in your heart where you want to go, but you're just not ready to do it or you just want to have a little more fun with it or whatever it might be," Richt said. "There's only X amount of commitments, and when you start seeing a class fill up or a position fill up at the school that you think is in the lead or you know you wan to go to, it creates a sense of urgency, and that creates some of the momentum. Some of it is just, hey, so-and-so is going there, I want to, too. But a lot of it is, 'I know where I want to go, and if I mess around, I may lose my opportunity.'"

Although the numbers can shift should a player transfer or be dismissed from the program, Georgia is expected to have 21 spots available in its 2010 class.

Media Days '09: Back in Black?

Mark Richt addresses the potential of the team wearing the black jerseys again this year despite the debacle against Alabama last year.

Media Days '09: Richt on Tebow

The hot question of Media Days has been, "Who didn't vote for Tim Tebow?" The Florida quarterback was one vote short of a unanimous selection to the All-SEC team, and Georgia coach Mark Richt says he wasn't the culprit.

Cox's Quotables

I'm transcribing quotes a little at a time, and I'll post them along with some video throughout the day. Here's some words of wisdom from Joe Cox to get you started...

On his relationship with D.J. Shockley...
"I talked to him a lot and, I don't call him and ask him tons of questions, but it's just good to have someone who's been through the same thing that you can talk to. He always asks how things are going, and if I'm struggling with something or something’s been on my mind, I'll tell him, but it's not like we have an hour-long conversation every day."

On people's expectations of Georgia this year...
"I figured a lot of questions would just be about how we're going to come back this year after losing so many guys, about everybody's expectations. Our expectations haven't changed. We know a lot of people are probably overlooking us, and that's probably the best thing for us. It's made us have a good offseason, and we're looking to keep rolling on through into camp and through the season."

On adapting to his new role of starting QB...
"It's just been a little more responsibility, but as far as me feeling any pressure, being in a leadership role, that hasn't bothered me. It really hasn't changed that much. The one thing that has been different is that in the summer we have to do things on our own, and I've had to coordinate everything but that's just a lot of little things."

On whether he ever considered a transfer...
"I never thought about leaving. When I signed to come to Georgia, it was for good, and I love everything about the school. No matter what happened, even if Matthew would have come back, I wouldn't have regretted anything. I've made too many good friends, had too many good times and having been part of this team to just pack up and go somewhere else."

On beating Tim Tebow and Florida...
"Every team has a star, and you've got to find ways to win. He's going to go down as probably one of the best college quarterbacks ever, but you still have to play them, and we're going to try to find a way to win."

On the Oklahoma State game...
"A lot of people are saying that might be the toughest Georgia opener ever. We're looking forward to it. It's a great test for us, and it's going to be one of our biggest games of the season."

Media Days '09: Rich Brooks

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks talks about his team's quarterback situation in 2009.

Media Days Notes: Slive Calls for 'Renewed Vows'

Commissioner Mike Slive gave SEC coaches a cease and desist order with regards to public mudslinging when they met in Destin, Fla., in June, a necessary step, he felt, with all the coaching turnover since the league adopted a compliance manifesto in 2004. He reiterated that message Wednesday.

"We cannot sustain our successes, which is now our ultimate goal, unless we avoid self inflicted wounds," Slive said, "unless we avoid calling attention to ourselves at the expense of others, and unless we remain committed to the conference, and, finally, unless we realize that we are inexorably tied to each other's athletic and academic successes, and we are tied to each other's athletic and academic failures."

Slive also addressed the spate of secondary recruiting violations that made big news this offseason. While Tennessee drew the most attention, Georgia self-reported several secondary violations, including excessive contact with recruits it attributed to a miscommunication between coaches. Slive claimed such violations were nothing new to intercollegiate athletics but did not brush them off, saying the conference reviews each report to determine its thoroughness and accuracy and reacts accordingly.

"When trends are detected, the penalties and corrective actions become more severe," he said. "As we told our coaches earlier this week in our SEC new coaches orientation program, any time any time they commit a secondary violation, they place themselves, their program, and the institution and the prospect at risk. The risk may be lost recruiting opportunities, lost ability to interact with prospects, and additional scrutiny for themselves and their program."

WHO DUNNIT?

Only three players were unanimous selections by the conference's coaches to the All-SEC team and the conference's most heralded player wasn't one of them. So on Day 1 of SEC Media Days, several reporters set out to find the coach who didn't vote for Tim Tebow.

"I don't know if you all are going to find the culprit," Vanderbilt's Bobby Johnson said, "but you can tell him it wasn't me."

Four SEC coaches took to the podium Wednesday and none confessed to leaving the former Heisman winner off their ballot. Tebow received 10 votes, and his coach, Urban Meyer, was not allowed to vote for anyone on his team.

The omission by the one anonymous coach seemed so odd that Arkansas' Bobby Petrino assumed the offending coach wasn't altogether coherent.

"I voted for Tebow," he said. "I'm not crazy."

Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, who was Tebow's offensive coordinator a year ago, was asked the question, too, and not surprisingly he had the Florida quarterback on his ballot as well.

The fourth coach to meet with reporters, Kentucky's Rich Brooks, said Tebow had burned the Wildcats so badly during the past two seasons that he had no choice but to vote for him, too.

So the mystery continues, whether or not anyone will actually admit to the snub.

A SCARY REPUTATION

A reporter asked Kentucky left tackle Zipp Duncan to name the toughest defensive linemen in the SEC to block. He didn't need much time to come up with his answer: Georgia's Geno Atkins.

"He's just a dynamic athlete," Duncan said. "He gets off the ball quick. He's got the speed to beat you and the strength to beat you, so he presents a really tough matchup."

PLENTY OF SEC ON ESPN

A new twist to the kickoff of SEC Media Days this year involved a special presentation by ESPN's John Wildhack, the network's executive vice president for programming acquisition.

ESPN and the SEC agreed to a new 15-year deal this year that will dramatically increase coverage of the league's sports, including football. Wildhack said 23 more SEC games would be televised this season than last year, including a regional game of the week, which will air on a newly launched platform called The SEC Network. Wildhack also said he expects SEC games to be featured more prominently on ESPN's regular Thursday night packages.

"Our goal is to serve the SEC football fan better than ever before," Wildhack said. "Last year, 77 million people watched SEC football on ESPN or ESPN2. We expect that number to increase significantly this season."

Each of Georgia's first three games will be carried on one of the network's platforms. The Bulldogs' opener against Oklahoma State kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, with the SEC opener against South Carolina a week later airing on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Georgia's road date with Arkansas in Week 3 will be carried by either ESPN or ESPN2 and is set to kick off at 7:45 p.m.

RETURN ENGAGEMENT

New Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen knows that selling his team on a new system is no easy task, which is why he's so happy to have senior linebacker Jamar Chaney back in the fold has been such a blessing.

Chaney, who was originally a Georgia signee, figured to be the anchor of the Mississippi State defense a year ago, but a leg injury suffered in the first game cost him the entire season. He accepted a medical redshirt and decided to return to the Bulldogs for a second shot at his senior season – this time with a new head coach and a new role as salesman.

"From Day 1, he walked into my office and said, 'Coach, I'm going to believe in everything you're doing,'" Mullen said of Chaney. "Having a personality back like that, especially when you take over a new program, to help build that foundation of what we wanted the message we're trying to get across to our team … it's just fantastic."

PREPS AREN'T PREPARED

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino thinks some changes need to be made in the way high school coaches are preparing quarterbacks for the next level. With more programs employing spread offenses, Petrino said many young quarterbacks aren't getting the necessary experience playing under center, and it's making the job of recruiting pocket passers a tough one for college coaches.

Petrino pointed to one of his own quarterbacks, Tyler Wilson, as a prime example of the problems of playing too much out of the shotgun. Wilson took every snap of his high school career in a no-huddle shotgun formation, and he has struggled since arriving at Arkansas with things as simple as the quarterback-center exchange or handoff placement on running plays.

The solution, Petrino said, might be mandating how high school coaches use their quarterbacks.

"I'm really happy that high schools are throwing the ball," Petrino said. "I just wish they would maybe put a rule in that they have to have at least 25, 40 percent from underneath center."

SLIM AND TRIM

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett has always been described as having an NFL body. It's just a little slimmer now.

Mallett, the strong-armed, 6-foot-7 quarterback who emerged from the spring as the Razorbacks' projected starter, weighed 265 pounds when he transferred from Michigan last year. Since then, he's slimmed down to 238 pounds, something head coach Bobby Petrino hopes will help him be more elusive in the pocket against the SEC's quick defensive fronts.

"In him losing the weight, being more mobile, we're not going to lose our movement game, our ability to run sprint outs, run the bootleg game, be able to move the pocket," Petrino said. "In this league, with the defensive ends we face, the speed and athleticism of the defensive fronts, it's important that you change the launch point, and you can set your quarterback at different spots, take some pressure off the offensive line and running backs at times."

* The Ledger-Enquirer's Andy Bitter contributed to these notes.

Media Days '09: Bobby Johnson

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson talks about what winning the school's first bowl game in more than a quarter-century last year did for the program's reputation on the recruiting trail.

Media Days '09: Bobby Petrino

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino discusses the progress his team has made in his second year in Fayetteville.

Wednesday Links (7/22)

Greetings from Hoover, Ala., where upon opening my laptop at the Wynfrey Hotel, I learned the the mouse clicker is no longer working properly. I swear, my computer waits for Media Days every year to have problems.

Beyond that, the atmosphere is pretty typical. I've always been amused that the lines to pick up your credentials are broken into two categories -- one for people who's employer's name starts with A through R, and one for S through Z. As usual, the A-R line was about five times as long. (Curse you, Savannah Morning News!)

The biggest change you'll notice right off the bat is the ubiquitous presence of ESPN. On a bright note, I ran into my pal Jenny, who handles media relations for the Worldwide Leader. She, no doubt, has her work cut out for her this week. The network's logo is everywhere, including being emblazoned across the front of all the media materials folders right underneath the SEC insignia. Flat-screen TVs are set up near the coffee and soda machines (a high traffic area, as you might imagine) with Colin Cowherd babbling on about something ridiculous (OK, I wasn't really listening, but it's a safe assumption). And of course, for the first time, commissioner Mike Slive's introduction will be followed by a presentation from ESPN, too.

I'm usually pretty down on a lot of what ESPN does, but I can only see this relationship benefiting Georgia and the rest of the SEC. The league was woefully undercovered by ESPN given its immense success, and if there's one thing we know, ESPN never undercovers a product it's in business with.

Anyway, I'll have updates throughout the day -- assuming my laptop remains functional -- so be sure to check back often and follow my Twitter feed. In the meantime, here are some links...

-- The new Georgia media guides are out, and the AJC's Bill King has plenty of info about it. To me, however, the most glaring thing to notice is the cover: No individual players. The star of the team is the team, Mark Richt says, and this year's media guide cover speaks volumes.

-- Georgia landed two more commitments, and the 2010 class is shaping up as very defense heavy. Of course, that led to some problems when the Dawgs rescinded an offer to a Columbus-area quarterback. The story has gotten a lot bigger than Mark Richt probably expected, and while this type of thing happens often, it certainly is a smudge on the otherwise pristine reputation Richt has enjoyed with high school players and coaches.

-- Had that info come about before Paul Finebaum wrote his latest column, I'm sure it would have been one more feather in his cap for why Richt is on the hot seat. T Kyle King manages to put sully that argument before it even gets started though.

-- Of course, the minor recruiting snafu doesn't look like that big of an issue when you put it up against the amazing work Georgia's coaches have done this offseason.

-- Marc Weiszer blogs that Joe Cox has some lofty goals set for himself in 2009.

-- Former UGA player and Auburn coach Hugh Nall is being sued by a former player who claims Nall forced him to participate in excessive workouts that led to injury. (h/t Jim Franklin)

-- A four-star defensive back who was set to go to Florida was dismissed from his high school this week. (h/t Catherine B.)

-- The Senator digs up a healthy dose of Lane Kiffin antics to whet your appetite for the Lanester's Friday throwdown in Hoover.

-- The Birmingham newspaper asked readers to vote for who was the top coach in the SEC, and Nick Saban wasn't the winner. Mark Richt finished third. The Lanester didn't fare so well.

-- For what it's worth, Bleacher Report offers up a preview of the SEC East.

-- And finally, it took me until last night to catch the new "Entourage," and it seemed to me like they went out of their way to take some cheap shots at Seth Rogen. Well, now we know why.

Video Blog: Boykin Talks 2009

Georgia corner Brandon Boykin talks about his first impressions of Orson Charles (you'll be impressed), Georgia's offseason attitude (he was impressed) and his own preparations for 2009 (he's ready to be the starting corner).

Georgia's Film Connoisseur

Hitting the books is an integral part of finding classroom success for every college freshman, but cornerback Brandon Boykin said his first year of Georgia taught him how important studying was to improving his game on the field, too.

After seeing limited action as a freshman last year, Boykin had a monster spring and is now slated to be the starting cornerback when fall practice begins next month. The drastic improvement, he said, is due in large part to all the extra study time he put in during the past year.

"Definitely spending more time in the film room," Boykin said. "Once I got to college, I realized that you couldn't just go out there and play. That's really what I'm doing right now, and I feel like the more film I watch, the easier it is to make plays. Just going out on pass drills every Tuesday and Thursday, I'm able to see things develop. It's coming easier to me now."

It's not that Boykin was averse to putting in some extra study time before, but it wasn't until he arrived at Georgia that he really saw how much the additional preparation helped. It was a lesson he learned firsthand from Asher Allen, the man Boykin figures to replace as Georgia's starting cornerback in 2009.

"That was one thing that separated Asher that I saw," Boykin said. "He was always prepared for every game, and he knew what the offense was going to do, and that allowed him to make a lot more plays. That's what I was trying to focus on this spring. Just getting more familiar with the playbook, and I feel like I have, and I feel a lot more comfortable at the position. I feel like I can see things developing earlier now, which allows me to be able to make plays."

Thanks for a Great Year

With the start of SEC Media Days right around the corner, I took a few minutes the other day to go back and re-read my first blog post. It was one year ago today that I wrote it, propped uncomfortably on a disheveled bed in a Days Inn in Hoover, Ala. with spotty Internet access. That seems like a long time ago now (although the Internet access is still spotty).

Looking back, I think my favorite post from the blog is still one of my first . Some people go their entire careers without getting material as funny as Dicky Lyons provided during my third day of work. I guess I'm sort of like Dan Marino -- I hit the pinnacle early and will spend the rest of my career trying to get back.

Sadly, Mr. Lyons won't be back at Media Days this year, and he's not the only one. Instead of Phil Fulmer being served a subpeona in the lobby, Lane Kiffin will be there to pick a fight with Steve Spurrier. Instead of Sly Croom babbling about the series of tubes, Dan Mullen will be talking about Mississippi State's new offense. And instead of Paul Dehner and I snubbing Tommy Tuberville, pretty much every non-Auburn media member will be generally disinterested in Gene Chizik.

But hey, people come and people go. At least three of last year's Bulldogs beat writers won't be back this year, and I guess I'm pretty lucky to be around for a second season.

When I wrote that first blog post a year ago, it wasn't just the first one I'd written for the Telegraph. It was the first one I'd written period -- save the occasional blurb on MySpace. But things have gone exceedingly well, mostly due to the great people at University of Georgia, the patience and assistance of the staffs at the Telegraph and Ledger-Enquirer, a lot of support from my fellow reporters and bloggers who have linked to my work, and mostly, the immensely passionate Georgia fans who come here regularly to read about their team.

In the past year, I've written 1,150 posts and the blog has racked up well over 1 million page views. To be honest, I'm not sure that's a lot, but it certainly has seemed like it thanks to all the kind words, insightful emails and hilarious comments you guys have offered since we launched. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

But, looking back doesn't get you very far, so I'm definitely excited to begin Year 2 which begins Wednesday with the start of SEC Media Days 2009.

So, to get you primed for what's in store, here's a run down of your need-to-know items for the week ahead.

SCHEDULE: (Note: all times CENTRAL)

Wednesday

12:30 p.m. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive
12:45 p.m. ESPN-SEC
1:10 p.m. Vanderbilt (head coach Bobby Johnson, cornerback Myron Lewis and center Bradley Vierling) and Arkansas (head coach Bobby Petrino, tackle Malcolm Sheppard and tight end D.J. Williams.
3:10 p.m. Mississippi State (head coach Dan Mullen, lineman Derek Sherrod and linebacker K.J. Wright) and Kentucky (head coach Rich Brooks, lineman Zipp Duncan and cornerback Trevard Lindley).

Thursday

8:40 a.m. Alabama (head coach Nick Saban, lineman Mike Johnson and linebacker Rolando McClain) and Georgia (head coach Mark Richt, quarterback Joe Cox and tackle Jeff Owens).
10:40 a.m. Mississippi (head coach Houston Nutt, defensive end Greg Hardy and quarterback Jevan Snead) and Florida (head coach Urban Meyer, quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes).

Friday

8:40 a.m. Auburn (head coach Gene Chizik, defensive end Antonio Coleman and tight end Tommy Trott) and South Carolina (head coach Steve Spurrier, wide receiver Moe Brown and linebacker Eric Norwood).
10:40 a.m. Tennessee (head coach Lane Kiffin, safety Eric Berry and running back Montario Hardesty) and LSU (head coach Les Miles, lineman Ciron Black and linebacker Jacob Cutrera).

OTHER NOTES:

-- Don't forget to follow all the up-to-the-minute action on Twitter. You can follow me HERE . You can also get running commentary from the SEC's Twitter feed HERE or HERE (the latter one will be updating quotes throughout). And since Jeff Owens will be Georgia's player rep, you might get a few nuggets out of his feed HERE.

-- I had originally planned on doing a lot more with Facebook when we started the blog last year, but alas, it never really developed. Perhaps I'll post some photos, etc. this week, however, if you're interested in befriending me. Otherwise, you can hitch your wagon the SEC's Facebook page HERE.

-- The media's preseason predictions and All-SEC Teams will be released Friday.

-- I'll have daily stories and notes at Macon.com and Ledger-Enquirer.com.

-- And finally, I want to know what you are hoping to learn from SEC Media Days. If you have a question you want me to find answers to, send me an email by CLICKING HERE.

ESPN, SEC Announce New SEC Network

From SEC release...

ESPN Regional Television, the new over-the-air syndication home for Southeastern Conference programming, and the SEC announced today a regionally syndicated college sports package that will air in more than 73 television markets, along with the branding of the syndication package as the SEC Network – all part of the groundbreaking 15-year agreement between ESPN, Inc., and the SEC.

Within the nine-state SEC footprint, the SEC Network will be delivered in markets by the local over-the-air carrier of SEC events. In markets outside the SEC footprint, the syndicated programming will air on either local, over-the-air television stations or regional sports cable networks.

Coverage will feature extensive football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball telecasts, produced by ESPN Regional Television.

“As ESPN moves forward in this landmark agreement with the SEC, ESPN Regional Television is thrilled to provide our viewers with a consistent window for Southeastern Conference football and basketball,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president & general manager, ESPN Regional Television. “With ESPN’s multimedia platforms, we anticipate SEC sports will touch an unprecedented base of college fans nationwide.”

The SEC Network will feature an SEC football Game of the Week regionally for 13 consecutive Saturdays, beginning Sept. 5. Those telecasts will kick off at noon ET/11 a.m. CT with the live SEC Studio show, followed by the matchup, generally determined 12 to six days in advance. The new kickoff time for the Game of the Week will be 12:21 p.m. ET.

Longtime SEC announcer Dave Neal will call the weekly SEC Network game on Saturdays, along with analyst Andre Ware and reporter Cara Capuano.

The SEC Studio show is produced by ESPN Regional Television at their headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., also the home of ESPNU. The SEC show will kick off Saturday coverage with host Rob Stone and analyst Matt Stinchcomb in the studio.

The regular-season SEC men’s basketball package on the SEC Network beginning in January will consist of Wednesday and Saturday games, including doubleheaders. The SEC Network will also offer regional coverage of multiple rounds from the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament as well as SEC women’s basketball games on Sundays, also beginning in January.

Two notes from me...

-- I'm thrilled to see Matt Stinchcomb attached to this. He'll be fantastic, as you can probably tell from the "Catching Up With..." feature he did with me last year.

-- Here's the info for the markets in Georgia that will carry the programming:

Albany, WALB (NBC)
Atlanta, WPCH (IND)
Augusta, WRDW; My 12 (CBS; MNT)
Columbus, WXTX; WTVM, WLGA (FOX; ABC; IND)
Macon, WGXA (FOX)
Savannah, WTGS (FOX)

Uphill Climb for D-Ends

I've devoted a good amount of cyberspace to talking about Georgia's pass rush recently.

Yesterday, I blogged about Demarcus Dobbs' hopes that the defensive ends are finally getting healthy (well, sort of).

I also blogged a few weeks ago about Rod Battle's plans for a big senior season .

In today's Telegraph, I have a story about Georgia's plan to employ a trio of linebackers as stand-up rushers this season, too.

Overall, the news there sounds good. Players are getting healthier. They plan to have big seasons. Happy times have returned to Athens.

Mmmm.... not so fast.

Yes, health alone should improve Georgia's pass rush exponentially. Throughout the 2008 season and then to an even greater degree this spring, the injuries have simply been too much to overcome.

Yes, the healthy return of Jeff Owens gives Georgia a push up the middle that will be one of the strongest in the SEC -- and maybe the country.

And yes, using Darryl Gamble, Darius Dewberry and Marcus Washington as occasional rushers makes a lot of sense.

But the problems with Georgia's pass rush last season -- particularly off the end -- were immense, and outside of Kiante Tripp (who moved from the O line in January) and Montez Robinson (a true freshman), the faces are pretty much the same. In fact, the unit lost its lone consistent contributor in Jarius Wynn, who was selected in April's NFL draft.

Just how bad could things be? Here are some numbers.

Georgia finished 10th in the conference in sacks last season with just 23, but even that number is a bit deceiving since six of them came in the team's final game against an overmatched Michigan State and four more came against a dismal Arizona State offensive line. In Georgia's other 11 games, the Dawgs had a whopping 13 sacks.

The worst numbers came in conference play. Georgia tallied just nine sacks in eight SEC games last season, and only 2.5 of them came from the defensive end position. Of that group, Justin Houston is the only player who recorded a single sack -- and he'll be sitting out the first two games of the season with a suspension.

To clarify, when Georgia takes the field against Oklahoma State's high-octane offense on Sept. 5, they will do so without a single defensive end who recorded even half a sack during SEC play last year.

Houston's loss isn't a big deal in terms of total games, but the timing is particularly problematic. First off, of Georgia's returning players, only Rennie Curran recorded more sacks last season than Houston's 2.5.

Secondly, there will not be another defensive end playing in those first two games who both played that position last season and didn't suffer through a spring injury.

Third, Houston had made a giant leap forward during spring and was widely praised for both his off-field efforts in the weight room and film room and his on-field performance. He was a prime breakout candidate and likely Georgia's best hope for a dominant force at DE, and now he'll miss the first two weeks of the season.

While that might not seem like a big deal, here's what Mark Richt said last year about Dewberry and Fred Muzenmaier missing time early in the season due to suspensions:

"It's not easy to watch your teammates go do their thing, and it's not easy to put all that work in and have to watch, and both those guys have been set back. They're not as ready as they would be Game 3, and they're probably not going to get as many reps as they would have got if they were playing all along. Sometimes it sets a guy back for half a season."

Half a season? Even if that's a liberal assessment, it's not hard to wonder if the suspension will undo a great majority of the development Houston made this spring.

Either way, Georgia will still face Oklahoma State without its best defensive end, and that could mean tough times for the rest of the defense.

"It's going to be rough not having him at defensive end because he offers a lot as far as run support and pass rush, so we're going to have to find some ways to get around that – especially against Oklahoma State because those guys have a real good offense," Washington said.

And that leads to the other big issue that the poor pass rush creates.

As we mentioned, Georgia finished 10th in the SEC in sacks last season. Similarly, the Bulldogs finished toward the bottom of the pack in turnovers, taking away the ball just 16 times all season. The relationship between the two is simple: Disrupt what happens in the backfield, make the quarterback uncomfortable, force him to throw early and the results tend to be good. Give the quarterback extra time or take away one (or more) defenders in order to bring the blitz too often, and you're asking for a big play to happen.

As it turned out, Georgia's defense was burned by veteran QBs like Tim Tebow and John Parker Wilson and struggled against even marginal quarterbacks like Nick Stephens and Randall Cobb.

Now look back to 2007, when Georgia led the conference with 42 sacks. That year the team -- which featured essentially the exact same secondary, only with a year less experience -- created 26 turnovers.

That's essentially the equivalent to having one extra possession per game, usually with prime field position. How much of a difference do you think that might have made against Alabama or Georgia Tech last year?

Sure, a truly great secondary can help ease the burden of a lackluster pass rush, and the Bulldogs certainly have the potential for a solid group of DBs this year. But gone are Asher Allen and CJ Byrd, two experienced veterans, and in their place reside unproven sophomore Brandon Boykin and Bryan Evans, who has been playing safety for just nine months (and who was burned by Stephens multiple times while playing corner a year ago).

Even in the run game, the poor pass rush creates problems. As the ends continued to struggle to get to the quarterback last year, their impatience became evident. Opposing linemen took advantage, and the ends fell victim to cut blocks repeatedly, opening up gaping holes for tailbacks who spent far too much time in the Georgia secondary in the latter half of last season.(Yes, Reshad Jones could have done a better job of wrapping up, but he's taken a lot of heat for those big plays that probably could have been stopped long before Jones reached the ball carrier.)

Of course, this is the time of year for optimism. Offensive linemen are never quite as strong in July, and quarterbacks are never quite so adept at avoiding pressure. The future always looks bright, and Georgia's D ends are certainly talking the talk.

"Our unit has taken more leadership this offseason, and we've gotten more of the killer instinct mentality," Dobbs said. "We have everyone stepping up to the plate now and not just following an example. This year we plan on turning things around."

It's a nice sentiment, but the numbers say it will take a lot more than the desire to be better if Georgia is to turn things around this season. Maybe Gamble, Washington and company prove to be the secret weapon the Bulldogs have been looking for. Maybe Houston returns from his suspension even hungrier than before. Maybe Rod Battle and Demarcus Dobbs return to full health and take their games to the next level. Maybe Cornelius Washington or Montez Robinson become superstars in their first year of action. Maybe.

But that's an awful lot of question marks at this time of year at an integral position, and for all the concerns about Joe Cox's quarterbacking or who will carry the load at tailback, it seems to me that the pass rush will likely be the biggest factor in whether Georgia can complete another 10-win campaign or watches Tebow, Urban Meyer and the Gators enjoy another easy road to the Georgia Dome.

Catching Up With... Rex Robinson

It has been a little while since we caught up with a former player on the blog, but today's conversation was definitely worth the wait. I spoke last week with Rex Robinson, who in addition to serving as the kicker on Georgia's 1980 national championship team, is also one heck of a blogger. He launched his Bulldogs-related blog, Roughing the Kicker, a few months back, and regularly manages to write exceptional posts on subjects ranging from Georgia's special teams play to some great anecdotes about the good old days in Athens.

You can find Rex's blog HERE or follow him on Twitter HERE.

While Rex has done a great job talking about some of the most pressing issues facing the Bulldogs on his blog, he also was kind enough to take time out to chat with me about Georgia's kickoff issues, the biggest question marks facing the team in 2009 and, of course, we talk a little shop about the business of blogging.

This is probably one of the longer entries in our "Catching Up With..." series, but I promise this one is worth the read. (Perhaps you should print it out and take it someplace quiet. If you work in an office, feel free to leave a copy for the next person, too.)

Anyway, here ya go....

David Hale: OK, let's talk shop for a minute. I've really enjoyed reading your blog since you started it, but I read a post the other day in which you wrote that some of your friends were shocked you could even put two sentences together, let alone maintain a blog. So what got you interested in doing it in the first place?

Rex Robinson: When I was in high school, I did a little bit of writing, but it was usually what might be construed as poetry or lyrics for songs. It was always something that I just used as a way of getting my thoughts down or my feelings out on paper. I guess only one of them was ever really published, and that was in my junior year yearbook, which was a unique one because it was the bicentennial in 1976.

I never had really thought about it until very recently. I started my business in January, and I ran into a guy named Ron Tarpley. ... Ron had started a Web site called Prep News Report and had gone through that process of learning how to put together a Web site. As we talked about it, he said, 'You need to do a blog.' I had a couple other people say that if you're trying to reach people, you need to do a blog, but Ron was the one that really put me over the top in deciding I wanted to pursue it.

The first one I did was on Word Press, which was pretty easy for someone like me that's not really a computer type of guy, but it really took off. That really blew me away how, in the first month, particularly with the article on the kickoff situation over at Georgia, I had like 14,000 views my first month. In the big picture, I know that's not huge, but for me, that blew me a way to go from zero to whatever in a month's time.

It's gone, I guess well. I did get a lot of positive feedback. Out of the 10 or 12,000 people, unique visitors, less than half come back. So even though that's a decent number, I guess, that to me means a lot of people said, 'What is this crap?' and have not come back. So I haven't gotten a big head yet that it's that big a deal or that it's ultimately going to be a huge thing, but it's been fun and it's given me another way to communicate with fans.

DH: One of the great things about writing about Georgia is how passionate the fans are. What has been the response you've gotten from fans who have found your blog?

RR: It's been overwhelmingly positive, but I don't get a tremendous number of comments left on the blog, which leads me to believe there's a lot of people out there that don't agree with everything that I say or talk about. I'm trying not to be overly controversial, even though when I have written things that are critical of the coaching staff or something of that nature, it just blows up. But I don't want to go down that path intentionally. If it's really something I feel strongly about, then I will. I don't want to be one of those old-school reporters or tabloid type of deals where I'm just saying stuff for the sake of generating traffic. But occasionally I'll get someone who offers a little bit different slant on something, but I've gotten mostly very, very positive feedback.

What was funny is one thing I saw on another blog was actually a comment about one of my first blogs, probably one of the first three or four blogs. A guy said something about that I made Mark Bradley and Terence Moore look good as far as my sports mind and the way I looked at things. I've never been overly critical of those guys -- though I don't really care for Terence Moore too much -- but I knew what he was saying, and it wasn't good.

Then later on, two or three weeks later, he actually left a very positive comment on my blog. So I don't know that he's totally come around, but I had to tell myself that I had to be prepared for people to say negative stuff. With people being anonymous, a lot of them will say stuff that if we were standing face to face, they certainly wouldn't. So I prepared myself if I really wanted to go down that road, and so far it's been OK.

DH: A couple months ago, Urban Meyer made news by saying that he didn't want any former players to say anything negative about the Florida program, and if they did, they were no longer welcome in the locker room or at practice. You've written some things that have been at least a little critical of some of the things Georgia has done. What kind of feedback did you get from the team or the coaching staff?

RR: I have not been contacted and I haven't run into anyone. I haven't had the opportunity to go over to Athens for any reason. I almost went over last Thursday because I had gotten a call a few weeks ago from Blair (Walsh) just wanting me to come by when those guys kicked. He, Drew (Butler) and Ty Frix all get together and kick on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Anyway, I haven't been to Athens since all this started, but I probably will be going pretty soon, and I don't know what to expect. I don't know how much of this might have gotten back to the staff. I know some people on Twitter actually tried to get Coach (Mark) Richt to go to my blog when I was talking about all that stuff. I don't know that he ever did.

I'm of the opinion that -- I truly respect Coach Richt, and I really respect all of those coaches, and the fact that there might be one aspect of things that doesn't quite seem right or the best that it could be, I don't think that's anything to be that upset about. I don't call them names like some people do. Somebody left a comment on my blog the other day calling Coach (Jon) Fabris a numbskull. I had to answer and said, 'I don't think that he's a numbskull. I just think that he's possibly stubborn and maybe a little shortsighted on this one issue.' He's a great defensive ends coach, but they seem to really feel like they need to, what I would call, hide the weaknesses they have on the coverage team by putting all the pressure on the kicker, and that's a tough thing, particularly for a true freshman.

Anyway, I don't know what to expect. I doubt Coach Richt would ever take that position that Urban Meyer took. I think they're really pretty different people. And hopefully he has seen some of the other stuff that I've written, because I'm really not blowing smoke or anything. I truly believe all the positive things I've said about him, too, so hopefully he'll know where I'm coming from.

DH: I know kickers have to stick together, but you've gotten to be pretty close with Blair. How did that relationship develop, and what was it like for you watching his season unfold last year?

RR: I went over to Athens one day to watch practice and while I was there I met Blair that day. It was sort of like Brandon (Bogotay) when I talked to him on the phone a few weeks ago. They know enough about the history and tradition of Georgia to know who I was and was very respectful of that. He's a very nice guy. I had been watching him, and he's very serious about what he's doing, very focused. I had watched him kick some and he did well.

It was very difficult for me to watch the whole season progress because I felt like they were putting all that pressure on him. If he'd been an upperclassmen and had been there a couple of years and was physically stronger and more mature, I don't think it would have been as big a deal. But to continually put that amount of pressure on him, and even in games when it was obviously very windy, they were still trying to kick over there to the corner and it went out of bounds.

I think it ultimately, that one aspect of things, the kickoffs affected him overall, confidence-wise and maybe even technique-wise. I think even Kevin Butler voiced that opinion in his postgame one time. What you're asking Blair to do, he sort of had to go to extremes with how hard he's kicking the ball. It got to the point where he was almost aiming it instead of kicking it, and I don't if you ever played baseball or any other sports, but when you start thinking too much, things go bad. I think that's where he went with that.

It was difficult to see. I went and saw him around December or January and had lunch. We talked about some of the issues. For guys like that that have sort of gone through a rough patch, I always tell them that during the offseason, they can sort of prepare themselves for anything. They may have gotten blindsided as a freshman, but you can't get blindsided twice.

I think Coach Fabris can really be kind of hard on those guys as true freshmen. I think that may have happened to Andy Bailey, and I think it may have happened with Blair temporarily. Blair started off well. Andy got off to a rough start and never really recovered totally from his experience as a freshman. Andy never progressed through his four or five years. Blair started off well but struggled late. But I think all the competition that's coming, Brandon and all those things, I think it's going to create a good situation. I think both of those guys will respond well.

DH: You mentioned on your blog a little while back that you had a chance to talk with Brandon Bogotay as well. What was your impression of him?

RR: He seems to be a very level-headed and good guy. I was very impressed. Both guys seem to have the right attitude in terms of not assuming anything one way or the other. I don't think Brandon is assuming he'll be the guy, and I don't think Blair is assuming he won't be the guy. I know he wants to be the guy to do the kickoffs and field goals. They seem to have gotten off to a good start in terms of their relationship, having a working relationship that will be positive and not have a lot of animosity in it.

I commented earlier this week, I don't think they are going to make any wholesale changes in the kickoff program. If Brandon wins the job, I think it will be because he's better at the directional kicking. He may be able to kick it a little bit deeper, but still with good height and into the corner. You probably know that I feel like they ought to just let those guys kick it as deep as they can, even if it's the goal line or two or three yards deep, and then just cover it. Brandon kicks it a long way, but if he doesn't kick it 100 percent of the time, Coach Fabris is not going to go for it. If he were to kick it -- this is maybe a little bit of an exaggeration -- but if he were to kick it out of the end zone 75 percent of the time, the fact that that 25 percent remains and the ball is coming back out, I don't think Coach Fabris would let him do it.

DH: One of the things I hear from fans quite a bit -- and this is probably a lot easier said than done -- but one of the biggest complaints I get is, if Georgia is struggling on special teams, why not hire a full-time special teams coach. Do you think having a coach that was strictly dedicated to that rather than splitting duties would make a real difference?

RR: In a perfect world, maybe. But the NCAA has limitations on the number of coaches that can be out there, and it's created a situation where you can't have a true kicking coach anymore, even if it's a volunteer. You just can't have that body out there, which is the craziest thing. I think most of them would say if they had somebody that could be on the field and devote their full time to that kind of thing, then maybe. But the thing is, all those guys are great coaches. It's not that they're deficient as coaches. It's just a difference of opinion as to what the best philosophy is. It's not like they're struggling because (Fabris) doesn't have the time or the focus. He's not deficient in his preparation or knowledge or anything like that. It's just a very strong opinion of his that that's the way it ought to be done. Lots of people disagree with it. His philosophy is one thing, and a lot of people think it should be different.

DH: OK, I'll stop hassling you about the kickers for a bit and go a little more big picture. I talked with Mark Richt a few weeks ago, and even he says this is one of the least predictable seasons he can remember. From what you've seen and heard about the team so far, what are your expectations for the upcoming season?

RR: I think that Coach Richt has been pretty open since the season that maybe they didn't do all they could to be all that they could be last year when everything was so hyped. I've heard through the grapevine that maybe from the top down they didn't prepare the same way they did in previous years when they had had so much success. It's one of those things where, maybe not so much the coaches, but the players had read their press clippings too much. I think they went back to the drawing board and have had a renewed focus that's probably going to mean they're going to be pretty doggone good.

I think that Joe Cox is, I don't think quarterback is a problem at all. The question mark to me is at running back. With the opportunities that Caleb (King) had and that Richard Samuel had, they really never showed that flash that you -- not even a Knowshon flash, but any kind of flash that they could be the every down guy if they were expected to be. That's the only thing that concerns me is whether one of those guys will be able to be the main guy.

It obviously won't be the end of the world if they have to do a committee type of scenario. As long as they're able to keep them honest with our receivers and everything and with Joe, I think they're going to be pretty good. I think the defense will be better, again after going back to the drawing board and really realizing, hey, this was not good last year. We've got to get better. And I think they'll be better.

To me there's no way to predict -- and I don't like predicting a record or something like that. I think the Oklahoma State game, with it being the first game could be one of those 45-42 games again, hopefully with us being 45. But if they do put it all together, when those guys are focused like in the Hawaii game or LSU a few years ago when they were in Athens, when they're focused, they're scary good. They just play with so much energy from beginning to end. It's just been the last couple years they haven't always done that, and it really hurts them when they don't come out totally prepared.

DH: Well, we're just a few days away from SEC Media Days and only two weeks away from the start of practice. I know I'm pretty excited about the new season. Do you remember what it was like during your playing days at this time of year?

RR: It was great because -- I have thought about it here lately because I've been coaching some college kickers and learning about what they've been doing to prepare. It always makes me think back to my mind-set going into a season. From May, maybe late May or early June, the preseason magazines started coming out. They'd have the predictions of preseason All-SEC, the preseason rankings and all that stuff. It was fuel to the fire as far as, it's close, it's coming. Coach (Erk) Russell always used it as motivation. He'd send out these letters during the summer. A couple different times he sent out this note that said, 'Athlon has Georgia ranked sixth in the SEC in their preseason poll. But you know what Dogs do to poles.' Just stuff like that to get you fired up.

I always set personal goals because as a kicker, you were always on an island anyway. So I felt like if I set personal goals that were pretty lofty and I reached those goals, then I was helping the team at the same time. I always had the attitude that I wanted to do my part and make sure that when the season came to an end nobody could say, 'Man, if we only had a decent kicker, we could've been good.'

I was sort of away from it for a while. In the past six or eight years, I've gotten more and more involved in high school athletics and then went on to college, so I've really gotten back into it. I don't always come to Athens, but I watch from 12 noon to 12 midnight every Saturday, and flip it to every conceivable place where there might be a game, so I'm very excited.