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DEL.ICIO.USGeorgia responds to recruiting criticism from Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia coach Mark Richt and his staff appeared to take the high road on Wednesday to recent criticism from Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin said the grandmother of wide receiver Marlon Brown of Memphis prevented him from signing with Tennessee over Georgia. Kiffin also “denigrated UGA’s recruiting efforts in its home state” on a radio show, according to Rivals.
When asked by the AJC if he had a “direct” response to Kiffin’s comments on Wednesday, Richt paused for a moment, smiled and said “No thank you.”
However, Richt did, an indirect way, defend his recruiting efforts in the state. “We do our homework. We target the kids we want. We offer them and go after them. That’s all I can tell you.”
UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was also asked about Kiffin’s comments on Wednesday.
“Everybody has their opinions … I’m not going to change what he [Kiffin] or anybody else thinks,” Garner told the AJC. “I think there are more players in the state of Georgia [than Tennessee], so obviously there are going to be more players leave the state … that’s a given, just by the numbers.”
“The state produced 150-plus Division I kids this year. Georgia can’t sign 150 players per year. Say Georgia signs 25 and Georgia Tech signs 25, that’s 50 … there’s still 150 [total].”
“So I don’t know how accurate [Kiffin’s] statement is. But, of course, he’s entitled to his opinion.”
Kiffin criticisms of Georgia were made last week but overshadowed by his “cheating” accusations toward Florida. However, Kiffin’s comments about UGA are still generating a reaction within the state.
“The statement that I made [when I was hired] was that we were going to put a fence around the state of Tennessee,” said Kiffin, reported the Knoxville News. “Basically every kid that we offered that we continued to recruit in-state through this process we signed, except for Marlon.”
Kiffin was asked why he thought Brown signed with Georgia. “Marlon called [the night before signing day] and said that he loved it here, but his grandmother wouldn’t let him come,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know what you do about that …”
In other UGA recruiting news, tight end Orson Charles of Tampa said he called Richt about some concerns. Charles is ranked as the nation’s No. 62 prospect overall by Rivals.
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Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: UGA
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By Guyana Dawg
February 13, 2009 10:05 PM | Link to this
good ol’ rocky top…..it’s gonna be fun routin against them.
By David V Sports
February 14, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
I like to say something about the Tennessee Football Coaching mess. If he (Kiffin) accusses teams like Florida and Georgia of something before he coaches his first game at UT, he will not last too long in this football coaching business. Tennessee is a prode and great university, and those people deserve someone better than this, and I am a UGA guy and we have a great football coach. Kiffin needs to keep his mouth close while speaking to the media instead of saying something like they did this or that, (he should say I have no comment want they do only what we can do) and he needs to focus of UT stuff.
By David V Sports
February 14, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
I like to say something about the Tennessee Football Coaching mess. If he (Kiffin) accusses teams like Florida and Georgia of something before he coaches his first game at UT, he will not last too long in this football coaching business. Tennessee is a prode and great university, and those people deserve someone better than this, and I am a UGA guy and we have a great football coach. Kiffin needs to keep his mouth close while speaking to the media instead of saying something like they did this or that, (he should say I have no comment want they do only what we can do) and he needs to focus of UT stuff.
By Dawg Tired
February 14, 2009 3:05 PM | Link to this
Kiffin needs full time counseling.
By Red
February 15, 2009 12:29 AM | Link to this
Yes, that’s the way to gain some respect from your coaching peers, Kitten.
By Reality
February 15, 2009 11:57 AM | Link to this
Lame is going to find a warm welcome this fall from a number of different successful coaches. This conference will help him find humility…fast.