Scott Lakatos to Coach Georgia Bulldogs' Secondary in 2010
by T Kyle King on Jan 18, 2010 1:56 PM EST
in Football
44 comments
Although I was beaten to the punch by mdhenshaw, it bears repeating that Connecticut secondary coach Scott Lakatos has been brought in by Mark Richt and Todd Grantham to oversee the Bulldog defensive backs.
As noted by Kimberley Nash at the Bleacher Report, Coach Lakatos’s Husky secondary was last seen in the PapaJohns.com Bowl holding South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia to 16-of-38 passing for 129 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. The ‘Dawgs, by contrast, surrendered 313 aerial yards and two touchdowns to Garcia on his 31-of-53 night in Athens in September.
Coach Lakatos, who played his college ball under Paul Pasqualoni, is a 1988 graduate of Western Connecticut who has coached defensive backs at Rutgers and UConn for the last nine years. His ties primarily are to New England---Coach Lakatos coached at seven northeastern schools, including three in the Nutmeg State---but the new Red and Black assistant appears ready to take up this next challenge. Of his hiring, Coach Lakatos said:
I am now very excited to begin our next journey with the University of Georgia. We are excited to become a part of a great university community as well as a nationally respected program and an SEC power.
For all the benefits of having assistant coaches with Southern ties, there is virtue to hiring some staff members who aren’t from around here. Coach Lakatos is a native of New Jersey, the state that produced Knowshon Rockwell Moreno and Kade Weston. His presence on the Georgia staff may well aid in furthering the Georgia tradition of recruiting nationally.
This looks like another quality hire and I am beginning to become enthusiastic about the Bulldogs’ prospects for next fall. In the interim, though, we need to get to work on developing a new nickname for our secondary to replace the "break but don’t bend" moniker with which our defensive backfield was tagged.
I will leave it up to DavetheDawg to determine whether he will put butter on his morning Laka-toast, but, for me, I am hoping Bacarri Rambo leads a Georgia secondary that is Lakatos-intolerant when it comes to surrendering passing yardage.
Your superior suggestions go in the comments below.
Go ‘Dawgs!
0 recs |
44 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I seem to recall,
that CMR was quoted as saying the new DC would have a great deal of input as to who the assistants would be.
That said, i appreciate the reminder that sometimes it’s good to get some one that’s not from around here because my initial gut reactionary thought was, “But he’s a yankee!” Not that there is something inherently wrong with all of them, but I have been forced to live in New England (thank you US Navy) and I remain convinced that for the most part, their brains are frozen. I call this Frozen Brain Syndrome or FBS. We all know a sudden brain-freeze can be quite painful. Once you understand that most Yankee’s are suffering from Chronic FBS, you begin to understand why they do some of the silly things they do.
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
Small World...
Paul Pasqualoni, the coach Lakatos GA’d under at Syracuse was hired to be the Cowboy’s next D-line coach. He showed up to work immediately for Dallas. Wonder if Pasqualoni showing up triggered thoughts in Grantham’s head???
Random information
I looked up the meaning of “Lakatos” and found that it means descendant of Loukas which is the Greek form of “Luke” which means “light.” According to the Catholic Church, Luke is the Patron Saint of Students (among others.)
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
Already posted this in the other thread, but just to reiterate...
… this part of the analysis by Kimberley Nash at bleacher report warmed my heart (and it was written before he was hired):
Lakatos is a good coach with a great ability to develop talent, no matter what level it arrives in, into it’s max potential.
That is exactly what I want to see… hiring guys with a track record of getting the most they can out of the kids playing for them.
I find myself in the same quandary as you, Kyle… getting more and more optimistic about the 2010 season. Surely, we must find a way to curb our uplifting outlook and return to our pessimistic ways.
have no fear
TankerToad will save us!
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
I dont have any negative "realism" to add
not much time right now – but I am, again, just estatic. I posted over the weekend that based on CTG’s resume and skillset, we would need just one more hire that concerned me – a solid secondary coach.
And we got that. You simply cant ask for a better team than this. THe only thing I wondered was why it took CMR and our AD to do this sooner – but maybe it took the 1st decade to build up CMR’s pull enough to get here.
Lakatos is an outstanding hire – fueled by the outstanding DC hire.
Wonderful Bulldog news.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Stop this optimism - the Bulldog nation is counting on you! =)
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
The word Lakatos also means
Locksmith in Hungarian. There has to be some sort of witty pun involved in there somewhere…like only Lakatos holds the key. I’m not creative enough to come up with something good, but I’m sure someone here can.
To be honest, every time I see the word,
my brain processes it as La Tacos. So there ya go.
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
Tell you what...
I’ve eaten more butter in the past 7 days than since we beat the Gators in ‘07. This past week has been a boon for us regular contributors and some good insight from a few new folks. I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve read. Better lock up podunkdawg to a contract, by the way. She’s rollin’. And the whole Tennessee thing…better than Conan v. Leno…almost. What a week! (On a personal note, my band reunited after 12 years…and we pulled off a pretty good show after only 4 hours of rehearsal prior to the gig. Thinking about renaming it to “Dave and the Buttertons.”) Good Times!
I’m loving everything we’ve done this week coaching-wise…and it is going to be very interesting to see what impact GATA and LaTacos has on our remaining targets come signing day in early February. I’m also excited about the prospect of real change. I have no idea what kind of growing pains we’ll see when we shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4, but I do know that the true talent we have on the defensive side of the ball will not be held back. And make no mistake…there is a lot of good, young talent. Might see Kwame Geathers or A.J. Harmon or even Kiante play nose tackle? We will certainly see a few guys who rode the pine waaay too much last year from our secondary actually start. And from what I’ve read, if you aren’t flying to the ball every play, you’re not playing. If you can’t tackle, you’re not playing. If you aren’t hustling, you aren’t playing. I’m not being optimistic for optimisms sake…which is often called drankin’ the Red and Black Koolaid or wearing Rose Red colored Ray Bans. We are making a significant philosolphical change in how we play tackle football on defense with a young, aggressive coach who is getting his first shot at Coordinating a defense. I think he’s going to do great things.
And I’m so jacked about our offense I could…well, you know.
Anyway, dinner is on the table and I’ve got some dinner rolls in the oven. Gotta tend to ’em.
How ’Bout ’Em!
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
a redshirt freshman is a small concern at QB - but with a good line and running game, and a solid D, that should help balance it out
i agree with everything you wrote DavetheDawg, its a great step in the right direction. We cant expect everything this fall on D – but I do expect tackling. The 3-4 mods will take time. Tackling doesnt need too.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Youth at QB noted...
And I still think our Turnover margin will drastically improve. It can’t get worse, right?
Whoever starts at QB will be asked to take care of the ball, especially early in the season. Punting the football isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jan 18, 2010 6:25 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree with both of you
We won a lot of football games in the Vince Dooley era with stout defense, solid special teams, a ground-based offense, and quarterbacks who managed the game well. Come to think of it, we won quite a few in the Mark Richt era with David Greene under center and Brian VanGorder on the sideline, too.
Everyone knows Aaron Murray has enormous upside but zero game experience. The 2010 schedule sets up much better in the early going than the 2009 schedule did and he will be eased into the offense. Simply protecting the football will pay enormous dividends; with Drew Butler and Blair Walsh on the roster, fourth down is not a cause for fear.
The only thing Todd Grantham could have said when he was introduced that would have made me feel any better about the hire would have been this exchange:
Q: Coach Grantham, what’s your defensive philosophy?
A: My defensive philosophy is tackling.
Q: Coach Grantham, how do you intend to defend the various option-based attacks you will see?
A: I intend to defend the option by knocking eleven guys down at or behind the line of scrimmage. If we do that, which one of them had the ball will be a matter of statistical but not practical significance.
Go 'Dawgs!
i think if CTG sees tackling being a lacking fundamental this spring - he will address it, and likely painfully so for the players
i don’t anticipate him to let it slide.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
1 INT a game would be a stat improvement actually. That would be about a 50% improvement
and we have to realize Murray will throw an INT a game – especially early on. We just dont need 2 or 3 a game. We dont need Bobo calling dangerous plays when we are on our 20. We do have the best punter in the nation – flipping fields is critical in defensive games. Shootouts scare me although the media loves them. Shootouts mean your team is out of control and you can manage anything. Small passes, a great running game, fliping the field, tackling, STs, these are things we can definately do this season to achieve 10 wins.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Exactly
Simple discipline—-protecting the football on offense, maintaining lane integrity on kickoffs, and avoiding penalties on defense—-would solve a lot of problems.
Go 'Dawgs!
Ok boys answer me this
if we had the things you list last year, which additional games do you think we would have won?
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
kentucky for sure. i wont argue LSU
and a lot less pain against South Carolina
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Absolutely
With those things, we win the South Carolina, Arkansas, and Arizona State games fairly comfortably, we certainly take care of business against Kentucky, and we would have had a much, much better shot at Oklahoma State and LSU.
Go 'Dawgs!
Kentucky
Maybe Florida? We were moving the ball and showing signs of being a rival until we started donating to St. Urbane The Pompous’ Church Of The Perpetual Entitlement.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jan 18, 2010 7:50 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Lane integrity
Doesn’t exist.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jan 18, 2010 7:44 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Coach GATA & The LaTacos?
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
Thinking back to high school
our DBs were undersized for the teams we played, just like I expect our DBs to be this year. Seems that they called themselves the FLEAS, and since we are the Dogs, maybe that fits.
really, really hard to be a DB in the NCAA - the better players will go to wide out rather than DB, and there just isnt as much of a pool of talent.
its a terribly hard position to play all in all. The system is very geared towards protecting the WR, and well, running down a field following a guy who knows where he is going, while you are trying to track that and track the ball is damn hard. And you get about a split second to make a play on the ball, all without touching the WR basically ever. So, you got better talent all in all at WR, and then you have the difficulities of just playing the position. Solution: lots of QB pressure.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
SEC champs this year
Just sayin. It’s never too early to be optimistic.
AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
Dial back the crazy talk, dude! Do I have to remind you what unbridled optimism did for us in 2008!
(Shudder.)
Go 'Dawgs!
Agreed!
It won’t take much to get me incredibly fired up about our chances with this new coaching staff. But for the moment, I’m keeping it all under good control.
Besides, in order to be SEC Champs, we’d have to beat whoever wins the West. I believe Bama will win the West, and IF IF IF IF IF we were to make the SECCG, Bama will be darn hard to beat. I just am not willing to say today that we will win the SEC. I would be THRILLED if it happened and would gladly send care packages of brownies to the entire team & staff, but it’s simply way to early to make that call.
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
I just want to punish our opponents physically...
Good tackling, punishing licks, no dumb personal fouls and discipline. I think we are on thethe right With a new QB, I just want the offense to hold onto the ball and not lose it for us. I would like to keep our losses limited to top 15 opponents and end the year by beating the nerds. I will take 8-5 for sure. I
I think Erk Russell could have kicked Clint Eastwood and John Wayne's butts with a corn cob and one hand tied behind his back. GATA!
Well, since TKK is following this thread and I have wondered where to post it:
I am keying on the SC game. As much as I hate losing to Florida, we end up playing USC close every year and it sets a really bad tone. I would like to see a lights out game against the Big Cock and see how that sets a different tone for the year. We have better players, coaches, program, fans, et all than they do, there is no reason for that game to be so painful. And I am tired of catching flak about almost losing to them after they dial up a bunch of loses. I would realy like to see about a 24 – 3 win in that game.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Since Spurrier is the coach
I prefer 42-3. Probably just a typo on your part.
I'd love to see it, too . . .
. . . but I wouldn’t be too concerned about the tone it sets.
Beating the Gamecocks 13-7 in 2002 didn’t seem to put a damper on the season. Beating them 13-10 in 1980 didn’t seem to hurt, either. On the flipside, beating them 18-0 in 2006 didn’t appear to help a bit.
We have a very long history of very close games against South Carolina, both during the Mark Richt era and before. I think it has to do with it being the Palmetto State Poultry’s first early-season test, being a bigger “rivalry” game to them than it is to us, and being early enough in the year that injuries have not yet begun to take a toll on the Gamecocks’ depth.
I’m hoping for a big win. I’ll take a one-point win without complaint or fear of future consequences, especially if it’s 14-13 instead of 42-41.
Go 'Dawgs!
fair enough -
I have argued similar points. They are healthy, there is little tape available, and the evil genius will pull out the entire playbook and play the entire team to get a win against us at all costs. But we are so much better all in all – that we should win much more comfortably.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Boom Shalak Lak Laka...
Our new DB couch is about to lay down the Smaka…Get it…Lakatos, Laka, Smaka? OK…Ill stop.
Freedom is not free!
Ha...couch?
I think a “DB couch” could still lay down the Smaka though…Thanks for catch…
Freedom is not free!
Somehow, someway I would love for the "Junkyard Dawgs" to truly return.
Be hard to shake the “Dooley” in front of that expression though, but here’s hoping this group finds a way to earn it.
Run Lindsay Run!
Grantham's Junkyard Dawgs
does have a nice ring to it though :)
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
My Uncle
Ahh, Congrats to my Ucle (Scott) for getting this awesome job! Moving down to DAWG town should be different. Hope to make some awesome friends with you dawgs. Thanks for the support with this!
Thanks, laxkid
We’re looking forward to our new secondary coach’s contributions and we welcome him with open arms.
Welcome aboard!
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 18, 2010 11:51 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
Related FanPosts on Dawg Sports
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
