1. Credit his good friend Bryan McClendon for getting Thomas Brown back to Georgia.
Brown, the Bulldogs' new running backs coach, met with reporters in a brief interview session Monday at the Butts-Mehre football complex. Brown made it clear in during that 15-minute exchange that there won't be any tension between he and McClendon, who is being displaced by Brown's presence on the staff. In fact, McClendon made the first call to Brown at Wisconsin to gauge his interest for returning to Georgia.
You see, McClendon and Brown are close friends. They’re former UGA teammates who stayed in close touch even after Brown departed Athens to embark on his own coaching career after the 2011 season. Since then, McClendon has served as somewhat of a mentor for Brown.
“Obviously we played together,” said Brown, who gained 2,646 yards rushing from 2004-07. “He was two years older than me, so we played my freshman and sophomore years together. So we were around each other a lot. When I came back as a strength coach (in 2011), I always wanted to have the opportunity to be an on-the-field coach. So I hung around him and studied his process and his evolution from being a young coach like and working his way up from being a G.A. here to being a full-time coach.”
2. Of course, getting Brown to Athens meant McClendon had to be willing to move outside to coach wide receivers. And while that is a natural fit for McClendon – he played receiver for the Bulldogs and coached them for two years under Tony Ball as a graduate assistant (2007-08) – it meant he'd leave a running backs position that has been tremendously successful under his leadership. So there's some risk involved.
But it would appear to be a net gain for the Bulldogs. In McClendon and Brown, Georgia now has on its staff two of the rising stars in college coaching.
Everybody around here knows about McClendon's prowess as a recruiter. But Brown has been developing a similar reputation, especially in his short stint at Wisconsin. After national signing day earlier this month, Brown was described as "the recruiting MVP of the Badgers' coaching staff."
Brown was responsible for recruiting a couple of stars for their 2015 class. He's credited for landing Arrington Farrar, a 4-star linebacker/safety out of Atlanta's Woodward Academy, and Bradrick Shaw, a 4-star running back out of Alabama's Hoover High, among others. And he got a 2016 commitment from 4-star running back Antonio Williams of New London, N.C.
Understandably, folks in Wisconsin are bemoaning Brown's departure.
At Georgia, Brown’s recruiting territories will be Gwinnett County and Cobb County in the state of Georgia, South Florida, Maryland and Virginia.
3. There is also the potential for Brown to bring in some new offensive wrinkles for Georgia. Between his stints as an NFL player and four stops as an assistant football coach, Brown has been forced to learn a lot of new offensive concepts.
“I experienced a bunch from an X-and-O standpoint,” Brown said. “I’ve coached in different offenses under several different guys. There was some difficulty because there was never any familiarity. Every year there was a new offense and a new staff and a new group of players I had learn and grow and adapt to. So I think it forced me outside of my comfort zone.”
Now Brown is having to absorb the teachings of yet another offensive coach in new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. He said he has spent a lot of time working with Schottenheimer in his first week on the job and has enjoyed a free exchange of ideas and concepts.
“He’s unbelievable,” Brown said of Schottenheimer. “He’s a high-energy guy, extremely positive. I’m looking forward to having an opportunity to work with him and learn from him. He’s definitely open to guys voicing their opinions. … Obviously he has the direction and leadership and we’re going to follow behind him. But he definitely does a good job of allowing us to add our two cents in and give our own opinions.”
4. Meanwhile, the move allows McClendon to continue to build on his growing reputation as an all-star coach and add to his depth of knowledge on offensive assistant. He adds passing game coordinator to a resume that already included recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach.
Obviously, McClendon has been on the fast-track as an assistant coach for a while now. 247Sports.com once named him the recruiting assistant of the year and his haul includes the like of 5-stars Lorenzo Carter, Nick Chubb, Isaiah Crowell, Keith Marshall and Sony Michel (as well as 4-star Todd Gurley). And though only in his fifth season as a full-time coach for the Bulldogs, he's tracking to become an offensive coordinator at some point, not to mention a potential head coach.
McClendon also brings more than a token knowledge to the receiver position. He was a four-year letterman as a wideout at Georgia (2002-05). He was one of the Bulldogs' most dependable receivers as a senior, catching 35 passes for 529 yards and a team-best six touchdowns. And as a grad assistant in 2007 and '08, he was tutoring the likes of Mohamed Massaquoi and A.J. Green.
5. The "Road Dawgs" will put their strong reputation away from Stegeman Coliseum on the line Wednesday night when they take on Ole Miss at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford.
The Bulldogs are 6-4 on opponent’s home courts this season. That’s among the best in the SEC from teams not named Kentucky. Georgia is 4-3 in conference road games, with wins against Alabama this past Saturday, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. The Dogs other two road victories came against Kansas State and Chattanooga, who are ranked among the nation’s top 120 in RPI.
Coach Mark Fox, speaking on Monday's SEC teleconference call, said he believes the Bulldogs' veteran makeup has contributed to their success on the road. They start two seniors and two juniors.
“I think our experience certainly has helped us play away from home,” he said. “We have more upperclassmen playing than we’ve had in a couple of years and the advantage of having upperclassmen has shown when we’ve been on the road.”
6. The Bulldogs (17-9, 8-6 SEC) are certain to encounter a motivated Ole Miss squad when they arrive in snowy Oxford later today. Georgia beat the Rebels (19-8, 10-4) 69-64 when they visited Athens on Jan. 20.
That stands as one of the Bulldogs' most impressive victories of the season. Georgia withstood a late scoring barrage from all-star guard Stefan Moody, who finished with 26 points and was 10-of-10 from the foul line. It also earned respect from the Rebels.
"They're a good team, first and foremost," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said of the Bulldogs. "When you have five starters and they're all averaging in double figures, they're very impressive collectively. They've got size, they've got strength, they bring a physical aspect to their play. … I just don't think they have a weakness. I think overall from a team aspect they're good on both ends of the floor and they do very little to hurt themselves."
7. One last note on Georgia's win over Alabama: Lost in the all the late-game drama of the ending of that 66-65 affair was one of the best plays of the season by the Bulldogs.
As far as I can tell, Kenny Gaines' dunk over Alabama's Shannon Hale did not make ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day, but it should have. In case you missed it, or want to see it again, CLICK HERE.
8. Speaking of strong play, Georgia's doubleheader sweep of No. 12 FSU this past Saturday apparently carried some clout with college baseball pollsters. After taking two of three from the Seminoles, the Bulldogs (5-1) popped into the Top 25 of both the Collegiate Baseball rankings (No. 18) and the Perfect Game poll (No. 24).
The Diamond Dogs will put their newfound respect on the line this week against Presbyterian on Tuesday (4 p.m.) and Kennesaw State on Wednesday (5 p.m.). They’ll head south for a three-game series against Georgia Southern this weekend.
It's early yet, but so far Scott Stricklin's squad is playing well both offensively and defensively. The Bulldogs are hitting .349 as a team with nine home runs and 53 RBIs through six games. And Georgia's starting rotation of Robert Tyler, Ryan Lawlor and David Sosebee had 25 strikeouts in 16.1 innings with a 2.76 ERA against the Seminoles.
9. The Lady Dogs' NCAA basketball tournament streak looks to be in serious jeopardy. Georgia (17-10, 5-9) currently holds the nation's fourth-longest streak at 20 consecutive bids coming into this season. The Bulldogs have been in the Big Dance in 31 of the 33 years of the tournament's existence and haven't missed since 1994, when it went 17-11.
History appears poised to repeat itself. Thanks to an avalanche of injuries, Georgia is coming off a humiliating 44-26 loss to Auburn, which previously was winless in SEC play. It was, by the way, the seventh consecutive loss for the Bulldogs, which the longest losing streak under coach Andy Landers (there was a 14-game skid under coach Elsa Heimerer during the 1976-77 season).
Next up is for the Bulldogs is No. 6 Tennessee (22-3), which visits at Stegeman Thursday night at 9. The Vols were ranked No. 1 in the nation in RPI before Monday night's loss to South Carolina. The Bulldogs will again be without their leading scorer in guard Shacobia Barbee (broken leg) and best post player in Merritt Hempe (illness).
10. This & that: The men's and women's track & field teams head to Lexington, Ky., this weekend for the SEC indoor championships. The Lady Dogs head in with the nation's No. 2 ranking, having recently given way at Arkansas at No. 1. The men are ranked seventh. … Paced by tournament leaders Sepp Straka and Lee McCoy, the Georgia men's golf team remained atop the leaderboard heading into Tuesday's third and final round of the Puerto Rico Classic.
