Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones led the SEC in sacks with 13.5 last season.  But he wasn’t able to get to the quarterback in either of the Dawgs’ final two games, both losses.  Jones told The Athens Banner-Herald that he’s watched and re-watched the LSU (SEC Championship) and Michigan State (Capital One Bowl) games and that he’s “beaten myself to death because I can see myself making those plays.”

He didn’t get many opportunities to hit the QB against LSU because the Tigers put the ball in the air just 13 times.  But Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins dropped back 50 times to throw in Orlando.  So why did Jones go 0-for-50?

“I pressure him quite a bit, but came a second late.  They were cutting the mess out of me.  That’s something I’ve been working on.  They were cutting, chop-blocking.  It was crazy.  They were trying to tear my leg off.”

While that quote will no doubt rile up some Spartan faithful, UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham seems to think his star had better get used to more of the same this season.  “We watched tape and as a player he’s got to understand there’s a lot of good coaches in this league and they’re going to say, ‘All right, we’re not going to let this guy wreck the game.  We’re going to try to find ways to take him away.’  You’ve got to have answers for that.”

Even when someone’s cutting the mess out of you.

1. LSU makes raises official for seven assistant football coaches. Combined salary for LSU assistants? $3.87 million.

2. A Georgia BCS title will mean a $150,000 bonus for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

3. Minimum ticket price at Vanderbilt this year – $50 bucks.

4. Jatashun Beachum has re-enrolled at Arkansas – but is not on the football team.

5. Jon Solomon: “If it so desires, Alabama could become an SEC athletics powerhouse.”

6. A Columbia, Missouri group will spend roughly $350,000 on pre-game football parties this fall.

7. When it comes to certain schools leaving the Big 12, Kansas coach Bill Self doesn’t have a problem with it.

8. There are many reasons why Jelan Kendrick is no longer a member of the Ole Miss basketball team.

9. Tennessee’s Jeronne Maymon has surgery on his left knee but is expected to be ready when the Vols basketball team goes to Italy in August.

10. The number one college basketball player in 2011-2012?  Not a surprise.

11. Former Florida guard Bradley Beal could be a top three pick in the NBA draft later this month.

12. Former Gator Chandler Parsons is glad he stayed all four years at Florida.

Extras

13. “Anyone who really thinks college presidents will suddenly get religion and put education over sports is dreaming.”

14. Questions raised about I’ll Have Another’s trainer after horse pulls out of Belmont Stakes. “Checkered history..”

The University of Georgia and football coach Mark Richt finally agreed to and announced that new contract extension they’ve been working on since the end of last season.  Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham got a new deal, too.  It was even announced that AD Greg McGarity had had his contract extended, too.

But the most interesting part of all this news?  Richt’s buyout.  On Georgia’s end, the school would owe the coach $4.8 million if it fires him after this coming season, just $2.4 million after 1013, down to $1.6 million after 2014, and all the way down to $800,000 after 2015.  If the coach remains in place for that length of time — which means he’s had continued success — it’s likely the contract and buyouts will be changed.

That said, that’s even the most interesting part of the buyout portion of the contract.  If Richt leaves UGA on his own, he will owe the school nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Not a penny.  Through the life of the entire deal.

Under his previous agreement, Richt would have had to pay the school at least $2 million had he exited for another job.

“There’s no question that Mark Richt wants to be at the University of Georgia,” McGarity said of the new pact.  “He and I are in a great place.  This is a very positive deal… I don’t want anybody to read anything into that other than it’s all good on both side of the ledger here.”

Georgia’s AD added: “I think people are gonna twist it and say whatever they want to about it.  But I’m just telling you the truth.  I’m telling you how it is between Mark and myself.  There’s no monkey business here.”

Regarding that no buyout portion of the deal, Richt said:

“I think it’s Greg’s philosophy on the contract.  It’s not something that I was asking for.  It was something that he suggested and I said that would be fine.  I think the bottom line for me, gosh, I think I’ve been here long enough for everybody to understand… that Georgia’s my home.  Georgia’s where I want to be.  Georgia’s the only job I want.”

“At the end of the day, I’ve always believed that money should not be a determining factor that people stay,” McGarity said.  “I’ve just felt like that shouldn’t really be an anchor around anybody’s neck.  Life’s too short.  If someone wants to move on, I have no problem with that.  This sort of allows people to do what they really want to do.”

Richt — as expected — did not receive much of a raise, standing pat on salary at about $2.8 million per year through 2016.  His bonuses and incentives did double, as had previously been announced.  According to McGarity, Richt’s bonuses are “among the top in college football, if not the top.”

Now, back to McGarity’s comment that he doesn’t want anyone reading into the no-buyout thing.  Some already are.  For example, there’s already speculation among some Dawg fans that the lack of a buyout might allow McGarity — if faced with a tough situation in a year or two — to “encourage” Richt to find another job.  The coach, of course, could hold out, demand to be fired and collect his own small buyout from the school.  Or he could save face, say he made the move on his own, leave free and clear, and keep McGarity from having to oust a man who’ll someday be revered as a legend in Athens.

Well, that’s possible.  Doubtful, but possible.

McGarity himself received a pay raise from UGA’s board yesterday in addition to a two-year extension.

As for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the third year assistant will get a raise from $700,000 per season to $825,000.  In the age of million-dollar coordinators, that’s a darned good value for UGA.

At the end of last year’s Georgia-Vanderbilt game, there were some on-field fireworks between Commodore head coach James Franklin and UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.  Franklin didn’t like what a gloating Bulldog player said to him after the contest.  Grantham didn’t like Franklin bringing his complaint to him.

Franklin went on to deliver his now famous “we are not gonna sit back and take stuff from anybody” speech in the postgame presser.  Grantham was later told to tone things down by Mark Richt and AD Greg McGarity.

That episode hasn’t been forgotten.  Asked yesterday by a Dawg fan if Richt might send Grantham to the pressbox for this year’s matchup with Vandy, Richt laughed and said:

“Yeah, he may need to go upstairs.  You know what, I think the Bulldog Nation likes a little piss and vinegar…

We all as coaches have to set the right tone and that kind of thing.  But it was an interesting exchange, I’ll say that.  I don’t think we’ll have much trouble getting jacked up to play the Vanderbilt Commodores this year, I’ll tell you that.”

Here’s guessing Franklin would say the same about his team getting up for Georgia this year.

1.  Florida’s defensive players are more comfortable as they begin Year Two under coordinator Dan Quinn.

2.  Will Muschamp has allowed tight end AC Leonard to return to practice after a February arrest, but the coach says the player still has work to do before his fall status “is addressed.”

3.  Asked if he might have another emotional blowup on the field this fall, Georgia D-coordinator Todd Grantham said, “We’ll see.”

4.  This writer says “Georgia is back to having behavior problems.”

5.  Frank Martin’s recruiting ability gives South Carolina a chance to build in basketball.

6.  Stephen Garcia was back at USC for Pro Day voicing  regrets.

7.  New defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri is ramping up the tempo at Tennessee.

8.  Signal-caller Tyler Bray continues to show more maturity.

9.  Vanderbilt didn’t land ex-Maryland quarterback Danny O’Brien, but Wyoming transfer QB Austyn Carta-Samuels is at practice.

10.  There’s more competition for spots at Vandy this spring.

The University of Georgia has announced today that the contracts of head coach Mark Richt and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham have been extended.  Richt’s deal will be extended three years through the 2016 season.  Financial details of the new pact aren’t yet finalized.

“The extension is a statement that we are excited to have Mark as our coach and that he is excited about being at Georgia in the years to come,” AD Greg McGarity said via press release.

Richt makes $2.81 million per yer under his current deal.

Grantham has been given a two-year extension which takes him through the 2014 season.  Again, the finishing touches have yet to be put on his new financial package.

“I’ve said for many years that I wanted to be at Georgia as long as Georgia wanted me,” Richt said in the release.  “I’m excited about where we are with our program and looking forward to the years ahead.

With a 10-win season in 2011, Richt was able to turn around and walk back down from the gallows that many UGA fans had prepared for him.  But after more than a decade in Athens, the clock is still ticking for Richt.

That’s simply a reality of the current college football culture and the 24-hour media cycle.  Coaches don’t stay in jobs as long as they once did.  Fans tire of them more easily.  And with what fans are coughing up for tickets and parking spots and concessions, they want more bang for their buck.

We applaud Georgia’s extension of Richt’s deal.  He’s the tip-top best ambassador the SEC has, bar none and his track record of success at UGA would make him an instant-hire elsewhere if he ever departed.  But the next time his team loses four or five games in a season, the talk will once again be about letting him go, not about giving him extensions.  That’s just the world we live in today.

“… We’re also gonna fight.  I want to make sure everybody understands that.  We are not gonna sit back and take stuff from anybody.  Anybody.  No one.  Those days are long gone and they are never coming back.  Ever.” 

Those were the words spoken by James Franklin after Georgia had escaped Nashville with a hard fought win over Vanderbilt last October.  Four months later, they continue to resonate.  From Music City all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

At the time Franklin was hot over a postgame run-in he’d had with Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.  A month later he would again show his fiery side when video taken from inside Tennessee’s locker room after its win over Vandy hit the internet.  Also, there were rumblings from inside more than one SEC program that Vanderbilt’s players had mastered the art of the late hit and the clip.

Add it up and it seems clear that Vanderbilt’s football program is no longer your daddy’s Vandy football program.  And if you need further proof of that, simply take note of the fact that the University of Maryland and the Atlantic Coast Conference have filed a formal complaint with the SEC claiming that Franklin and his staff tampered with players on the Terrapins’ roster.

Franklin defended his program last week on a Nashville radio show but he did not deny speaking with the players in question.  Indeed, the ex-Maryland assistant admitted that he maintains relationships with lots of his former players.

Whether you believe Franklin tried to woo quarterback Danny O’Brien and others to Nashville probably depends on your fan allegiance.  But it really doesn’t matter if the accusations are true or not.  What matters is the fact that someone is making an accusation about Vanderbilt.

Vandy vice chancellor of athletics David Williams told The Tennessean that he could not remember anyone filing such a claim against his school in the past.  ”Everybody around here knows the level of integrity of this university.  I’m going to do the investigation (into the tampering charges) — that’s what I’m supposed to do.  At the end, I’ll be able to say, ‘yea’ or ‘nay.’  These are new allegations that arose to us.”

If Williams finds that tampering did take place — and we’re going to have to really trust “the level of integrity” of his university on that one — it’s possible that VU could be hit with a secondary NCAA violation over the matter.  That’s nothing to be proud of and you can be sure some academicians at Vanderbilt won’t be happy that accusations have been made against their fine institution in the first place.

But for Vandy fans who’ve grown tired of being the SEC’s football punchline, tampering charges and secondary rule violations are of little import.  Dores fans are simply thrilled that Franklin is delivering what he promised back in October — that “old” Vanderbilt is gone.

Now “new” Vanderbilt is getting national media coverage, getting higher-caliber recruits… and getting under the skin of other coaches, programs and conferences.  At this point there should be no doubt that Franklin has changed the culture of the Commodores’ program.

Defensive end Josh Dawson from Tucker (Ga.) High School hasn’t made a final decision between Georgia and Vanderbilt.

“I’m still 50/50 between two right now,” Dawson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’d probably say I’m still in the same place. I know I’m going to be doing a lot of thinking today and tomorrow. Hopefully, I will have my mind set on Tuesday and tell everybody on Wednesday.”

Dawson still considers himself a Vanderbilt “commit” but is very much undecided on his decision. Georgia is selling Dawson in the idea of staying in-state and playing different positions in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s defense.

“He talked about how he could use me, putting me in different areas and positions on defense,” Dawson said.

Mark Richt isn’t the only man on the Georgia staff who’s staring at a contract extension.  According to UGA athletic director Greg McGarity, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will also be rewarded for his work in 2011:


“We recognize the job that Todd has done leading our defense.  We’re talking about it, we’re working on it.  Recruiting is going on right now.  We’re working on making sure that Todd stays at the University of Georgia.  We want to make sure he knows he’s appreciated…

The focus to me is more or less longevity on the front end.  The salaries are things you can do periodically.  There’s no real urgency there. … With respect to Mark and with respect to Todd, I think it would be a hard argument to say we’re not being fair to them, judging from where they rank among their peers.”


Grantham currently has one year remaining on a three-year deal that pays him $750,000 per year.  In November, his agent leaked word that he wanted a multi-year extension for his client.

Georgia ranked 5th in the nation in total defense this past season, allowing just 277 yards per game. 

In the minds of most, Mark Richt has saved his job and will live to coach another year (at least) at Georgia.  But even if athletic director Greg McGarity concurs, he’s not saying so.

UGA’s AD was asked yesterday about possible contract extensions for Richt and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham (whose agent is publicly angling for one).  McGarity continued to sing the same tune he’s sung since the Dawgs fell into an 0-2 hole back in September:


“We don’t talk about anything like that during the season.  Our full focus is on our players and our opponent, and right now that is Kentucky.  We’ll deal with all that after the season.”


That’s a wise move on the part of the AD.  If he says that Richt and Grantham are in line for extensions only to see Kentucky pull a major shocker on Saturday, he’d likely have to do a whole lotta backtracking.  Those fans who’ve swung into Richt’s camp would like swing right back out again.

Has Georgia shown in improvement?  Clearly.  Would a trip to Atlanta seal that deal?  No question.

Does McGarity need to say any of that right now?  Not in the least.