The Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry may be venturing into new ground.
When the Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs baseball teams meet Tuesday night at Foley Field in Athens (7 p.m., CSS), Georgia will be led by new coach Scott Stricklin, who merely played for Tech coach Danny Hall at Kent State and then got his coaching start at Tech with Hall’s help.
“I’m not here today if it’s not for Danny Hall, oddly enough,” Stricklin said Monday.
Crossing such lines is not unprecedented. A number of football coaches, including Bill Lewis, Johnny Griffith, and Mac McWhorter, served on both sidelines. Former Tech softball coach Sharon Perkins was hired straight from Georgia for the 2007 season after six years as an assistant in Athens. Tech swimming coach Courtney Shealy Hart is among Georgia’s most decorated athletes.
But Hall and Stricklin’s longstanding friendship, Stricklin’s job history and the fact that they will be competing against each other as head coaches makes this chapter unique.
“We grew up in the same county in Ohio,” Hall said. “His parents and my parents are very close. So there’s a lot of things that people don’t know.”
Stricklin grew up in Athens, Ohio – speaking of oddly enough – and was planning to play in his hometown at Ohio University before a high school coach suggested to Hall, then at Kent State, that he take a look at the catcher from Athens High. Hall dispatched his father to scout. Danny Hall Sr.’s report: “I don’t know how much he can hit, but he can definitely catch and throw,” the younger Hall recalled. “We ended up recruiting him and that’s the story.”
Stricklin played for Hall for three seasons and then the former went on to play pro ball while Hall left for Tech. In that time, the parents of both became close friends as they all traveled to watch the Golden Flashes’ games.
As Stricklin’s playing career ended, Hall brought him in as a volunteer assistant at Tech for the 1998-99 seasons, then hired him as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator starting in 2002. The 2002-2006 run was arguably Tech’s peak — College World Series appearances in 2002 and 2006, sandwiching three seasons in which the Jackets either won the ACC regular-season, the tournament title or both.
Stricklin returned to his alma mater prior to the 2005 season and took the Flashes to the College World Series in 2012. When Stricklin was in the mix for the Georgia job following David Perno’s dismissal last May, he thought about the dimension it might add to his relationship with Hall, but didn’t consider it a factor.
Hall said he was “very, very happy for him, because it’s a great opportunity. But certainly, I think it increases the rivalry, for sure.”
The first time they crossed paths after Stricklin’s hire was at a tournament in Cincinnati last June. Stricklin showed up directly after helping his family’s move in a Georgia polo shirt.
“He kind of chuckled and says, in a roundabout way, ‘You don’t look very good,’” Stricklin said.
They went to dinner after the game — Hall stipulated that Stricklin buy because he was now making more money than his old coach — and had a server take a picture of the two, Hall in his white and gold and Stricklin in red and black.
The two teams will play two more games this season, April 15 at Tech and the annual game at Turner Field May 13. A friendship endures, although, Stricklin said, “Recruiting conversations are a little bit more guarded now.”
About the Author
