Energy Vampires Moving East From Auburn To Athens

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Back in March we told you that Auburn’s Gene Chizik was no fan of people he termed “energy vampires.”  As he told ESPN.com at the time, Chizik wasn’t going to worry about people making allegations of wrongdoing regarding his football program.

“They’re going to say what they’re going to say and discuss what they’re going to discuss, and you have absolutely no control over that,” Chizik said.  “I call those energy vampires.  They’re not going to suck my energy out worrying about that.”

Now it seems that energy vampires have crossed the West Georgia border and have headed East toward Athens.  Or at least Chizik’s term has.

Georgia’s Mark Richt is using the “energy vampire” moniker as a means of keeping his players on a positive vibe.  “If you say something negative, if you’re not doing something positive when we’re doing activities as a team, you can be called an ‘energy vampire,” explains linebacker Chase Vasser.  “Anybody who hears you say something like, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ you can be turned into the coach and you’ll get your face on the board.”

Chip Towers of The AJC explains the rest:


“If a teammate (is) nominated by another player for the ‘energy vampire’ board and coach Mark Richt approves, he ends up with his picture plastered all over video boards in the weight room, usually Photoshopped to include fangs and other unflattering enhancements.”


Of his new motivational tactic, UGA’s coach just said, “We’re looking for guys who want to be positive.”