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Friday, March 14, 2008
Felton’s fate mirrors Gailey’s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If this weekend has been perceived as some job-saving mission for Dennis Felton, the man is still sitting in his paddleboat.
Georgia’s opening game in the SEC tournament Thursday night (and Friday morning) was much different from most of their games this season: a lot of effort, occasionally interrupted by flashes of skill. Undermanned as ever, the Bulldogs fought for leads, played on fumes and overcame periods where they seemingly tried to give the game away, before finally beating Mississippi in overtime 97-95 at the Georgia Dome.
Hey, if a coach is trying to save his job, he might as well do it with a little drama.
The winning shot appropriately came from a senior, Dave Bliss, whose short bank shot behind the Rebels defense came moments after Mississippi’s Chris Warren made three free throws to tie the game with 5.5 seconds left. This came after the Rebels pulled the same hat trick at the close of regulation, sending the game in to overtime.
And in other news, Dennis Felton hasn’t been fired yet.
He was not immediately rewarded with a raise and a contract extension. He’ll have to settle for a second-round game with Kentucky. But it’s better than a Friday without a game and waiting for the phone to ring.
The Dogs won. How rare is that? They had won only two of their previous 13 games to close the regular season. An upset over Kentucky and they’ll match their victory total for the past seven weeks.
But for now, they’ll just enjoy the sigh.
“I proud of the way we kept going after the victory until we got it,” said Felton.
They showed something.
He showed something.
The days leading up to this tournament has seemed like some strange deathwatch. It may be new for Felton. But if it seems familiar to you, there’s a reason.
The backdrop of Felton’s situation is similar to the one that led to Chan Gailey’s firing at Tech. The two men coach different sports. They’re from very different backgrounds. But they must feel like blood brothers.
No, Gailey didn’t inherit probation or nearly the boatload of problems with the Tech football program that Felton did with the basketball team at Georgia. But he strung together seven-win seasons with second-tier bowl appearances, which was acceptable with his old boss, Dave Braine, became his undoing with new boss, Dan Radakovich.
Georgia athletics director Damon Evans is relatively new (four years). He has never hired or fired a football or basketball coach. But we found out how important basketball was to him a few weeks ago when he said, well, just that: “I don’t think people know how important this sport is to me.” OK, now we do.
Radakovich has higher expectations for Tech football than Braine did. Similarly, Evans sees what has happened to basketball programs at other traditional football schools in the SEC. Florida became Kentucky. Tennessee became Florida. He sees no reason why the same thing can’t happen at Georgia.
Felton and Gailey. Both good guys. Both good coaches. Both, suddenly, deemed as possibly not good enough.
Evans maintains he hasn’t made up his mind about Felton’s future. But I have this theory any time a boss says he hasn’t made up their mind: He has made up his mind, and it’s not good news. Otherwise, that same boss generally will give a public embrace, if for no otherwise than to mute the story.
Evans hasn’t done that. Similarly, Radakovich ducked several opportunities to publicly back Gailey in his final days.
If Felton still can save his job, it was a good, if not exhausting, start.
Asked afterward if this will quiet his critics, Felton smiled and said: “I didn’t know I had any critics.”
And as to whether he believed it would strengthen his chances of keeping his job, he said: “How can I possibly sit here and do Damon Evans’ thinking for him? That’s a question better suited for Damon.”
Felton remained confident before the Mississippi game, saying: “I expect to be Georgia’s coach for a long time.”
I think Chan Gailey said that. But maybe Felton still has a chance to save something.
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