We are now inside of 100 days until the joyous return of college football.
{pause for celebratory gunfire}
But 100 days, as anyone who's ever served time in Tijuana for jaywalking can tell you, can pass very, very slowly. Ergo we must still find ways to amuse ourselves. You know, besides sneaking into the Alabama film room and replacing Nick Saban's oatmeal creme pies with mescaline-laced Twinkies. Hey, Steve Jobs said that Microsoft might have done a lot of cool stuff if only Bill Gates had dropped acid. So we figured it was our duty in the name of football science. But since they've now hired more security guards in Tuscaloosa, we present Free Form Friday. It's not just any weekend open comment thread. It's our weekend open comment thread. Maestro, cue the theme music for the basketball staffing news which sent waves of giddiness through the Dawg Sports staff room . . .
Mr. Sanchez already brought you the news that former Bulldog standout and Atlanta-native Jonas Hayes will be joining Mark Fox's regime in Athens. This is good news. Admittedly, Hayes will not as "program coordinator" be in a position to go on the road recruiting. But he will be there on campus when Atlanta prep standouts come around for a visit. Many of them will come with their coaches, most of whom know Jonas and his brother Jarvis. I'd like to give Coach Fox all the credit on this one but I think, when construed in pari materia with the hiring of Daryl Jones as football recruiting coordinator, we may be seeing a department-wide philosophy at work: hire coaches who have come up through the ranks and know the local scene for jobs behind the scene. I like this strategy immensely.
The hire also reminds me a bit of Mark Richt's decision to retain Rodney Garner prior to his first recruiting class. Here's hoping that Fox will see a result similar to the one we saw when veteran Atlanta-area coach Don Shockley's son, star quarterback D.J., decided to sign with Georgia. The bottom line is that recruiting is about relationships, and Mark Fox seems to have struggled building productive relationships in the Atlanta area. That's not a minor dent in his record as coach at the University of Georgia. It's a huge part of the job. Failing to capture at least a trickle of the river of talent that flows out of the ATL on a regular basis is a recipe for failure in the Classic City. Hiring Jonas Hayes doesn't guarantee that Mark Fox is going to get the talent he needs to bring the Hoop Hounds up to national prominence. But it damned sure doesn't hurt.
And while bringing alums home to momma doesn't always work (cough . . .Goff . . .cough) it helps where you need local knowledge, local presence, and local credibility. Jonas Hayes delivers that. You guys have a great weekend and talk amongst yourselves about . . .whatever it is you people talk about. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, and . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!