Walk Through Friday

The aspirin is kicking in, time to get caught up on all the latest headlines of interest to the Dawg Nation.

As fans and bloggers we have a hard time with this time of the year, but not nearly as hard as the professional journalists. I imagine Tony Barnhart is ready more than most for the season to begin: Coaches should not be judged on national championships | Mr. College Football

Why? Because I believe coaches should not be ultimately judged on whether or not they win national championships.

You read that right. Having covered this sport for a long time I have concluded that national championships are not an accurate measure on whether or not somebody is a good coach or a great coach. Now if a guy like Urban Meyer has won two national titles in three years and is favored to win another, it’s a pretty good bet that he’s a great coach. But the absence of a national championship does not mean that someone is a lesser coach.

Scott has pulled together some eye-candy for the faithful, man I am ready for Stillwater: The Stuff of Legend: Freshman video

video of this year's freshmen available for embed, so in anticipation of these guys about to see their first camp I've pulled some video of the guys that I think are almost 100% likely to see the field this year.

No one can doubt Bernie bonafides as a Dawg, further proof: Bernie's Dawg Blawg: A Dawg Among Boys...and a Smattering of Men

But
one receiver I'd never want to face is Adriel Jeremiah Green. I
wouldn't have wanted to face him as a freshman. And I certainly
wouldn't want to face him in '09 with a healthy groin and another 15
pounds of muscle. Here are some of his highlights

Low is reminded Georgia plays in the SEC also: Heads still spinning from Georgia's recruiting spree - SEC - ESPN

Take a look at what Georgia has done the past seven weeks. The Bulldogs are making a strong bid to have the best recruiting class in the SEC, and that's saying something when you look at whom Alabama, Florida and LSU have committed.

Westerdawg reminds us yellow is never a good color but sometimes it is worse than others, a great read: Georgia Sports Blog: Hidden Yardage: Killer Penalties

the real problem is WHEN the penalties happened. Not just the total volume.

A sappy perspective on why Gatuh Corch Meyer is the best evah, that's right, "he don't take no jive!":
» The Key to Urban Meyer’s Success… Southern Football Insider

what distinguishes Urban Meyer and his approach to coaching from many of the other coaches he finds himself across the field from on Fall Saturdays. While it is certainly true that Urban Meyer is an excellent “ball” coach: having good tactical instincts on game day, understanding of substitution patterns to create mismatches, being flexible enough to abandon aspects of a game plan that aren’t working and to improvise a new one. These are all hallmarks of excellence in the tactical areas of game day coaching. But candor and understanding of the level of competence in the coaching ranks of the SEC would force us to admit that there are a number of coaches who do these things well -in some cases perhaps better than Urban Meyer. If that is the case, what is it that sets him apart as a coach whose success is now virtually predictable? Is the secret to be found in recruiting? Certainly this is partly the case, but it’s not all, nor even half the picture. Many programs in the SEC recruit and evaluate young talent at a very high level, as evidenced by not only subjective recruiting rankings from the recruiting entertainment services such as ESPN, but also on the field results, which is the ultimate measure of recruiting success.

But even the latter is not a consistent predictor of success. By way of example we might cite the case of the Georgia Bulldogs coach Mark Richt,

Is the "Master Plan" leading to problems filling seats in knoxville:
Tennessee and Lane Kiffin bringing their billboards to the ATL | AJC College Sports Recruiting

Two 14-feet-by-48-feet digital billboards will be seen along downtown Atlanta interstates early next week, Tennessee officials confirmed. The advertisements feature an image of Kiffin on the left and star defensive back (and Atlanta native) Eric Berry on the right with the words “It’s Time” in big block letters in the middle. It also says “Tennessee Football 2009″ and gives the web address to buy tickets, UTTIX.com. The billboards will be posted on I-85 North at Piedmont Road and on Cobb Drive at I-285 West.

Bill King examines solicits responses to learn what it takes to win a MNC: What does UGA need to win a national championship? | The Junkyard Blawg

What pieces do the Dogs need in order to win a national championship?

ThinkingBulldawg has an interesting take: The Prevent Offense: More Long-winded Thoughts on the Stafford Era « Thinking Bulldog

More insidious than the defensive meltdowns (okay, not more, but also) has been the inability of the offense to show up and put the hammer down on opponents when the defense actually did come to play. Has anyone ever been less thrilled about a victory over Tennessee than last year’s 26-14 slop-fest? Was I the only one desiring to claw out my own eyes at the 14-7 quaalude of a victory in Columbia? Clinging to a 4 point lead against a truly bad Auburn squad in the closing seconds?

BamaNation puts a floor under our season: Worst Case Scenario: Georgia Bulldogs | Bleacher Report

Worst Case Scenario is that Georgia opens with a loss at Oklahoma State, then goes on to lose against Florida, Georgia Tech and an additional team to finish the season 8-4. Richt is beginning to feel the pressure as the Bulldogs head into the postseason for the 9th straight year under Mark Richt.

Journalism Gatuh style: Kiffin’s new billboard plan | GatorSports.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FL

As for Florida, there are no plans to put up any billboards. Winning two national championships in the past three years has given the Gators plenty of exposure.