The real question is how does Mullen get that talent? You're forgetting that if you don't recruit as good you won't get as good of recruiting classes. To say if you gave everybody equal talent is silly because half or more as we've witnessed lately, of being a successfull coach is being able to get the guys you need for your scheme. Give the man some credit as much as it makes want to vomit, he's built a talented ass team.
I'd take Mullen all day EVERY day with equal talent. If only Mullen could recruit he'd be the coach to beat. But, he would only last a few years (maybe less) if he had that kind of talent because he'd leave to coach in the NFL.
I see your point, and I give Kirby credit for buying/recruiting all that talent. I also credit him for not screwing it up. On a sad side note, during Kirby's tenure, how much talent flowed through UF without getting fully utilized? My point was I think Mullen is a better X&O's coach. He was obviously not a great recruiter. Kirby is a great recruiter but perhaps not a GREAT X&O's coach. I agree the premise is silly, I posed the hypothetical question to tease out if you think Mullen (a coach we fired) would have a better chance of beating a guy some people claim IS a great coach if you neutralize the talent differential. Also I hate UGA, I hate Kirby's smug arse, I hate they got away with buying players and kicking our arses with them.
The point was he wouldn't have that kind of ttalent up and down the depth chart because he doesn't recruit as well which is what has made the last few title winners.... winners. The reality is they're not all given equal talent and you won't make it in college if you don't recruit.
I don't really like the guy but define better X's and O's. You talking only offense? Because that would not be fair would it?. It would be as lopsided as if we were talking only defense where Kirby not only has excelled at while at UGA but was Bamas DC from 08-15, while they were dominant) before that he was a safety coach for the dolphins while Saban was there and the DB coach at LSU in '04. So Mullen is good at offense , Kirby is good at defense. So it comes to who they hire at the other side of the ball and if they do well or get replaced. Kirby has changed O coordinators a few times, we had Grantham, no replacements, ride or die hire. And that my friend along with the recruiting is what did him in. Just saying, I had mullens back till the end but he gave up on us. And now here we are.
I would think it would be drastically different. Hooker throws deep (#1 in yards per attempt), Richardson more short (#53). Turn and run vs. come up and tackle. Different how the LBs play coverage. Accuracy another factor. They both can run is about the only common factor.
By X&O's I meant game planning, and in game adjustments. I think the coach is responsible for both the offense and defense performance. I used the Mullen hypothetical to make you ask yourself about who you think is better at that specific part of coaching. The reason I used Mullen is precisely because he is flawed and one dimensional. But he is really damned good at single game planning / execution. Better than Kirby. And if you can say that, can you really say that Kirby is a GREAT coach? In my opinion this is what makes a great coach. recruitment (getting players) development (making them better) management (Hiring firing, infrastructure) game planning/execution (x&o's) sales (fan, alumni, admin support) I think Kirby has shown he is exceptional (like as good as it gets) in 1-3 & 5 4 well that's up for debate imho. also I'm sick of posting about dawgs... so consider this my surrender of the issue.
1. I don't buy the "they practiced for Tennessee during the week of the Florida game." Stupid coaches do that, and I don't think KS is a stupid coach. You might prep all season for the types of teams you will have to play, but the week before a game you better practice for the team you are playing on Saturday. Otherwise, you will have a lot of explaining to do after the game. Georgia came out in the first half against us looking like all they had thought about all week was Florida. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and some folks think Tenn was going to win that game, so if Ga wins --especially like they did--they must have been prepping for Tenn all season. Crystal balls are a lot clearer on Sunday than Friday. Of course, Georgia should have won that game. They are the defending NC with the best D in the country playing at home against a team that hasn't played much defense itself and hasn't played a D as good a Ga's. 2. Kirby Smart has proven himself to be an elite coach. Ga has recruited great and has played great for several years now. That ain't no mistake. They have a great program , as much as it pains me to say that. Any rival fan can nit pick the heck out of a play call here or there and extrapolate to "he sucks". There isn't anyone on this Board who, if being honest, would not have flipped if Kirby would have left Ga last year and called Florida for the HC job.
I mean I tend to look at evidence and kirby has lost 15 games in 7 seasons (5 the 1st year) with 2 championship appearances with one title. That hurts to type but there isn't very much evidence to support the claim that he isn't. Who's the worse team he has lost to in the last 6 seasons? A upset loss to USCe? It's just hard to argue against regardless of what team it is. And it definitely sucks its uga but he was given the time to implement his plan. It's paying off.
It's as if "what the hell, we're losing anyway, might as well try man + pressure... Hey it works!!!!"
Roster construction is part of coaching. Bill Belicheck is a legend for personnel management as much as for the defenses he designed. Alex Ferguson sold Christian Ronaldo, a top ten player in the world, just as he was about to become a top two player in the world, and used that sale to put together a team t o win the Premier League. IDK if Nick Saban is real adept at roster construction when resources (money) have to be divided up amongst the roster. In the NFL he was .500 and, somehow, the 'Phins picked Dante Culpepper over Drew Brees. He went back to college and built elite rosters at at time where carrying a five star on the roster required just as much resources as a three star (i.e. one scholarship; this had been the amateur model of college athletics for many many decades). Kirby Smart successfully applied that model for constructing elite rosters at Georgia, and has been tremendously successful on the field because of it. (Georgia had 25 five stars on their roster when they played Florida this year; Florida had three). College football may be moving into a new era where roster management will require more resource allocation (which, at this point, the school asks for third parties to pay out of a shared sense of identity and mission, which is also subject to changing trends). I don't know if coaches like Smart and Saban can continue to manage their rosters as they have in the past in this new era. I could see where they do by simply spending more on players (the "super club" model). I could see where the new era rewards efficiency in resource management in some kind of capped system (the "NFL model").
U don’t think he is a great coach ? When he wins it again this year and probably next will he then be in the rarified air of great coach . Geeze
Yes, and if we had played the first, second, and fourth quarter like the third quarter, we would have really pounded those dawgs!!!
