First, to be clear, Georgia has not played well this season for the most part. We know that. Can't lose to Vandy at home.
But, while the coaching staff and players continue to try to improve, we as fans are either at, or fast-approaching a crossroads. The crossroads consists of two choices, so it's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, for those who are old enough or young enough to get the referenced.
1) You decide that Kirby is in over his head, that Chaney is not a good OC, that Beamer cannot coach special teams, etc., and scrap this little "experiment" before it's too late.
2) You acknowledge that this is a transition year, rife with the characteristics brought by a whole confluence of events which include, but are not limited to:
- First year head coach
- New offensive system
- Undermanned/Under-talented offensive line
- True Freshman QB
- Departure of a (from what we know) beloved head coach causing some lack of 'buy in'
- Lack of senior leadership
- Significant minutes being played by underclassmen
- Lack of familiarity with personnel/Lack of personnel equipped to do what we're trying to do
Now, to be fair, let's all acknowledge that there is a fine line between a reason and an excuse. Those with closed minds who are fed up beyond reason will say these are nothing but excuses. Perhaps they are. I believe that they are legitimate reasons.
Many will go back to what I initially acknowledged, that "even with all this, you still shouldn't lose to Vandy." No, you shouldn't, but you did. So, what exactly does that mean?
The simple truth is that nobody knows. When you are dealing with a laundry list of problems related to newness and inexperience, there's no real bar set as far as how good you should be, or how bad you're "allowed" to be.
So, again, you're nearing a crossroads.
My preference, which is in line with what I believe, is that we're having to break down a lot of aspects of the program in order to build it back up better. That's not always a pretty thing (which is not to say there aren't exceptions). I know I wasn't alone in being weary of fruitless 9 and 10 win seasons. So, if we have to deal with a 6 or 7 win season to set up for better years in '17, '18, and beyond, then that's something I'm willing to deal with, and it doesn't matter to me that we suffer a few embarrassing losses this year.
Now, we lose to Vandy next year, and I'll start to see what the other pages of that Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book look like.
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Where's the coach-up, improvement from game 1 to game 7? Excuses or legitimate reasons don't explain the mysterious play calling or juniors and seniors making high mistakes.
ReplyDeleteThe coach-up/improvement is the point. It's about what you expect or don't expect during that time. Either you say, "I've seen enough out of this staff to know that they obviously can't coach guys up or get them to improve," or you say, "I'm going to wait and see how they do with a full year under their belts, more of their own players and system in place, etc."
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the seen enough crowd. I'm in the I expect by game 7 we're not losing to a bad team that's talent level is light years behind Georgia. I believe Mason would sell his soul to have Georgia's talent.
ReplyDeleteThen we move to the play calling. There are other examples but, the last two offensive calls were beyond explanation. I guess the actions of an insane person are perfectly logical to him?
OK, valid points. So, other than wanting to see improvement, which is the result, what would you like to see happen?
DeleteLook at what Tennessee went through when Fulmer left are we going to be that stupid? Every time we don't win a Natty we get our panties in a wad and fire a coach. 9 years later and they still can't compete with Bama. Is that what we want?
ReplyDeleteI would hope not. As bad as this season is going, I get a kick out of how this was supposed to be the year UT stepped up to be on par with the elite teams in the country, and then lose at home like THAT.
DeleteBottom line here for me is I guess I feel the way of lot of Dawg fans feel? There's a lot of apprehension after losing who I consider to be the most successful coach Georgia's ever had. I'm not going to debate the firing. He's moved on and everyone else has to do the same.
ReplyDeleteHowever as anonymous mentioned, the Tennessee dark days have been a warning that changing coaches especially an successful one is a huge roll of dice.
Agree with and understand the apprehension. Would hate to be "wandering the desert" as they have for 10 years.
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