People were floating Grantham’s name around almost as soon as WM was let go . . . but taking coaches from UConn and Vandy? Those seem pretty underwhelming at first glance. But since I was willing to give CMR a pass with Lakatos I think I’ll have to do the same for Belin. This hire makes more sense than Lakatos’ did; after all, he’s an SEC coach and recruiter and Richt has been coaching against him and his players for eight seasons now, so CMR has to be a least a little bit familiar with his ability.

Anyway, not a guy from a big-name school with a lot of visibility, but we all have to wait until September to see how things shake out. I’m willing to endure the trolls until then.

his time as Special Teams coordinator?

Also keep in mind Lakatos came to us b/c of his relationship with Grantham, and his UConn team did beat up on South Carolina in the bowl game, so that’s got to count for something.

CTG needs someone that can seriously work with LBs in his schemes. This hire is someone that can. If Coach Belin didnt get what CTG wanted to do, they wouldnt have hired him.

I am happy with everything minus ST now.

I was holding out hope that we were waiting on Travis Jones until after the Super Bowl, but that was probably a pipe dream (although I really hope the Gators don’t get him now; I swear, those guys fall so bass-ackwards into good fortune even in the midst of disaster that they’re like the Kramer of the SEC).

I’m good with Scott Lakatos, for the reasons podunkdawg gave, and because he can help us recruit New Jersey (three words: Knowshon Rockwell Moreno), and because his secondary shut down South Carolina, which, like, ours so did not.

I especially like the point podunkdawg makes about the new addition’s special teams experience. I originally preferred a full-time special teams coach, but Paul Westerdawg convinced me otherwise. If we want our best players on special teams—-and I think most of us do—-and 20 per cent of practice time is spent on special teams, then a full-time special teams coach spends 80 per cent of practice standing around talking to the kickers. Since our kickers are Drew Butler and Blair Walsh, that 80 per cent would be spent saying, “Attaway to kick, guys!”

The problem wasn’t the lack of a dedicated special teams coach; the problem was that Jon Fabris’s special teams coaching was deficient. The problem was quality, not quantity. Rather than have a guy who spends his practice time hanging out with the specialists, I’d rather have a guy who spends his practice time working with the linebackers. Outside of a few guys with non-stop motors who had the drive to overcome their coaching, our linebacker production hasn’t been the same since Brian VanGorder left.

I need more details, but, given the moves Mark Richt has made lately, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well, the moves he’s made lately, and, you know, 90 wins, two SEC championships, and three Sugar Bowls. It hasn’t all been 8-5 and Independence Bowls, after all.

. . . with a link to this Vanderbilt weblog post (with emphasis added, by me):

Who was Bobby Johnson praising two days ago when he announced his best recruiting class ever?

His recruiting coordinator, Warren Belin.

And now Belin, who is also the Commodores’ linebackers and special teams coach, is joining Mark Richt’s staff as linebackers coach at Georgia. You can read the entire press release and get some analysis on David Hale’s excellent Georgia blog.

Belin was with Bobby Johnson for the past eight years and helped develop linebackers Hunter Hillenmeyer, Marcus Buggs, Moses Osemwegie, Jonathan Goff, Patrick Benoist and now Chris Marve. If you’re a Georgia fan and don’t recognize those names, let’s just say that all those guys were two-star recruits who developed into All-SEC players under Coach Belin’s tutelage. Most of those guys are playing or will play in the NFL, and Hillenmeyer is the son of a stockbroker and the Bears linebacker who stripped the ball from Adrian Peterson in overtime of a late-season Monday night game to stun Farve and the Vikings.

Imagine what Belin can do with four- and five-star talent, if those guys are willing to learn and achieve their potential.

A couple of days after signing a subpar recruiting class by Georgia standards, Mark Richt reaches out and hires a guy who (a) can recruit for the future and (b) can get the most out of lower-star athletes in the present. Maybe it’s just me, but that sounds like a solid combination of fixing what’s broken and making lemonade out of lemons.

But we have coaches that can coach. These aren’t just X and O guy’s, these are guys that can teach execution. A solid D, O – Line and Run game are exactly what is needed with a new QB.

Now, if only Bobo can let the kid crawl, walk, run instead of throwing bombs all the time…..

he’s also Vandy’s Louisiana/Texas recruiter if I recall correctly. I dont know if that was a selling point for Coach Richt, but it can’t hurt to have a guy who’s fought for guys in that part of the country.

… but after reading everyone else’s comments, I feel much better.

Although, I don’t know if I should feel better or not. When Kyle and tankertoad are both on the positive side of the argument, I get very disoriented…