Once again, I am indebted to an alert Dawg Sports reader---in this instance, the credit goes to Watson---for directing us to a news report that Florida State tight ends coach John Lilly will be joining Mark Richt's staff as the successor to David Johnson, who was hired as the offensive line coach at West Virginia.
Coach Lilly, who worked with Coach Richt during the Georgia head coach's tenure as offensive coordinator for the Seminoles, also serves as F.S.U.'s recruiting coordinator, which cannot help but bolster the Bulldogs' already impressive efforts to persuade prep players to sign letters of intent with the Red and Black. Coach Lilly has led Florida State's recruiting efforts for the last decade.
Like so many other members of his profession, Coach Lilly sprang from the fertile coaching soil of West Virginia, joining the Seminole staff as a videographer in 1995 after four seasons as an assistant coach at Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, N.C. Coach Lilly was a graduate assistant before becoming a full-fledged member of Bobby Bowden's coaching staff in 1998.
It is hard to gauge the performance of an F.S.U. offensive coach in the post-Mark Richt era, but, if Coach Lilly has spent the last ten years hauling in blue-chip recruits for the Seminoles and has worked with Coach Richt in the past, it is not difficult to view this as a quality hire for the Red and Black. We welcome Coach Lilly to Bulldog Nation.
As always, keep your eye on the Dawg Bone and the Georgia Sports Blog for ongoing developments. For the Florida State fan reaction, be sure to check out Tomahawk Nation.
Go 'Dawgs!