Responding to a recent freedom of information request to disclose the exact number of football players currently on scholarship for the 2012 season, Georgia revealed that it had 72 student-athletes on football grants-in-aid. The school declined to specify the names of the individuals, claiming the information was protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
In any case, that means the Bulldogs are 13 below the NCAA's scholarship limit. To put that into perspective, that's three below USC, which is in the midst of three years of major NCAA probation.
Georgia recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was asked Sunday if the Bulldogs' low numbers were the result of misfortune or mismanagement.
"Well, we had a lot of attrition," Garner said. "But, you know, it's the way we run our program. I don't know what other people do, but I know we run a pretty stringent program and we've had some unfortunate incidents to pop up. I'm not saying it's a common occurrence, but there are probably other programs out there that are going through similar things, depending on what kind of structure they have."
Georgia has had nine players dismissed or transfer since the end of last season and brought in only 17 signees -- eight below the NCAA limit -- in the 2012 recruiting class.
"I do like the quality of the young men that we have in the program," Garner said. "Some of the guys that we've lost -- and we've lost a lot of guys -- you wish you could have been able to save a few of those. It definitely would have helped our situation. But a lot of those guys we made the decision to cut and move on. It wasn't a university decision or whatever. It was just, what do we want this program to be known as, what do we want it to be? It's a double-edged sword."
Penn State recruitment revisited
Garner laughed when the subject turned to Georgia's recruitment of Penn State players. The Bulldogs sent Penn State notification of their "intent to contact" 19 players, all of whom were identified.
"We didn't even contact probably a fifth of them," Garner said. "But [UGA's compliance office] told us, 'if there's anybody you think you may ever want to contact, turn the names in.' Next thing you know, Georgia is recruiting is all these names... . I'm like, 'where's everybody else's list at? Did they not have to do that?'"
This and that ...
The Bulldogs practiced for two hours Sunday in shorts and shoulder pads. It was their fourth of 28 preseason practices. They'll hold them first full-contact workout Monday morning... . Players have nicknamed senior linebacker Christian Robinson the "Honey 'Backer." He is sporting a dyed-blonde mohawk... . Sophomore Hunter Long is playing center with the No. 2 unit. However, coaches say guards Chris Burnette or Dallas Lee would be the next in at center if starter David Andrews is injured or is not getting the job done.
About the Author
