Georgia’s new strength boss is already on the scene with the Bulldogs.
Hired less than a week ago from Alabama as UGA's new director of strength and conditioning, Mark Hocke was already on the job Friday as the Bulldogs continued their preparations for the Belk Bowl at Country Day School. Also on the scene Friday was the man Hocke was hired to replace, Joe Tereshinski Jr., and his assistants Sherman Armstrong, Gus Felder and John Thomas.
“He’s a very energetic guy,” head coach Mark Richt said. “He’s going to have a very good plan, I know that. He’s excited about getting started. But right now it’s just kind of a time to let him be around the players and the players to be around him just to get a little bit of familiarity. He’s not trying to change anything right now. Just finishing out our season with the way we handle our strength and conditioning. Then he’ll hit the ground running in early January.”
Tereshinski, 61, resigned as Georgia’s strength and conditioning chief on Dec. 1, two days after the Bulldogs lost to rival Georgia Tech 30-24 in overtime. He is now listed in UGA’s directory under “senior staff” as a “program coordinator.” However, his responsibilities remain undefined.
Hocke served for the past six years under Alabama’s highly-decorated strength coach Scott Cochran.
“He’s been around,” freshman tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “He just introduced himself to the team and said he was looking forward to getting to know each one of us personally. He said he was just here to observe. He’s letting the old staff finish their business and observe and get to know us this week.”
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