Whenever you take a “new sheriff in town” approach to change, there’s going to be some shaking out. You can’t expect quote after quote about the toughness of offseason workouts (even allowing for the same fluff we hear every year) without expecting a few guys to decide that it’s not for them. We’ve already seen a couple of players leave the program for a variety of reasons, and there still may be more to come as the offseason program continues.

So on one hand I’m surprised to hear about Washaun Ealey’s suspension, but at the same time I’m not surprised to hear that there are players on the wrong side of the program and its new taskmasters. Ealey reportedly missed a punishment run, and the consequences for missing disciplinary appointments usually don’t involve less discipline. It’s not a good situation, and the fact that Ealey is “looking at (his) options” leads us to believe that there are a lot of questions being asked and soul-searching going on about his future.

With the Ealey news we also have to remember that Caleb King sat out the bowl game dealing with his own issues. Missing scheduled runs and meetings is about effort and commitment, and those who lack in those areas are going to struggle in this new environment.

Judgment aside, the fact remains that Georgia is in a much better position with King and Ealey available to the team. They are capable, proven, and experienced tailbacks. This isn’t the time to get into the tiring circular discussion about the role of the offensive line vs. the tailbacks in establishing a consistent running game. Whether or not one or the other starts, the depth they represent is significant. Even if Crowell delivers, that’s only part of the puzzle.

We’ve seen Georgia have to turn to the fullback position in recent years to find that “just in case” tailback. A rotation of Crowell, Malcome, and Thomas wouldn’t be a much better situation. Whether for injury, endurance, or production, Georgia has frequently had to dip deep into its stock of tailbacks. I’d much rather that next option be someone of King and/or Ealey’s experience and ability. The receiver position is going to be thin enough next year; culling the roster of tailbacks isn’t going to help much.

The ball seems to be with both King and Ealey now. Ealey claims that he still wants to be a part of the program, but if he shows up for spring practice and beyond it will be because of positive steps he has taken in the meantime. If one or the other isn’t with the team come August, it will be evidence of their incompatibility with the program’s demands and standards. It won’t be cause for celebration. I’m hoping that both get their heads on straight and come with a renewed commitment to the program and their responsibilities because that seems to be the only way that they’ll be a part of the team next year.

This is a headline we’ve been waiting to read for a while: NFL teams may replace playbooks with iPads. It’s not just showy hi-tech bling. The tablets can replace volumes of paper documents, make use of and integrate multimedia, and aid real-time decision making for coaches.

So why not college? When we talked about this a couple of years ago, the context was the end of the road for the aw-shucks coach who played dumb and could get away with pretending that he had no idea what this computer stuff was. Some didn’t even have to pretend. Coaches know now that they must understand, if not use, all of the technology available to them from cell phones to social networking. A few years ago it was just a competitive advantage; any coach not embracing this basic level of technology now should be replaced.

We’re already seeing the technology spreading into several areas of the Georgia program. The recent unveiling of Georgia’s Butts-Mehre expansion was an Apple fanboy’s dream. iPads became an important part of the recruiting process over the past year. The “Dream Team” pitch was bolstered by custom presentations and videos that made good use of the tablets.

It only makes sense that the technology should find its into game management and preparation. There’s no reason for Georgia’s state-of-the-art video technology to be constrained to the film room. Why shouldn’t a coach on the recruiting trail be able to fire up his tablet during some downtime and request to look at all plays run by the next opponent on 3rd and 7+? So much of recruiting is contact management. Did you remember a birthday, make the right number of contacts allowed by compliance, or meet all of the prospects from the high school you’re visiting? There are opportunities for technology there too. Of course this discussion isn’t limited to tablets – good old laptops and netbooks can work just fine in this environment. But forward-thinking programs can invest in custom applications to make full use of the tablet’s capabilities.

The next step logically is on to the field and in the boxes upstairs. Scouting reports, game plans, even the play menu could be replaced by a tablet and customized for each coach and staffer on the sideline.

Security remains a big issue – both in terms of the networks used to connect these devices and also the devices themselves. If “spying” on a guy making hand signals in front of tens of thousands of spectators is already taboo and a big deal, how scandalous would this kind of cyber-warfare be? We can even add fans to the mix now – whether it’s overriding your coach’s tablet to flash “GO FOR IT” or launching a denial of service attack to shut down a stadium’s network, the security concerns aren’t just limited to the other team.

One concern remains somewhat valid in the college game: “an onslaught of technology might give richer colleges a competitive advantage.” Few schools can put into place the kind of system Georgia just introduced. But certainly these larger programs already enjoy other advantages by virtue of the size of their budgets. Indoor facilities, state-of-the-art weight rooms and staff, access to aircraft for recruiting, academic resources – these are all things that larger programs can provide that many D-1 schools can’t. Those smaller programs struggle to operate much more than a baseline program, and even then it’s often done in the red. It’s true that adding rapid adoption of mobile technology to the list would only add to the burden of keeping up, but that list is already pages long. For smart smaller programs, the adoption of this technology could even be a cost-saving measure in both game preparation and recruiting.

Are you ready for the national holiday? I’m putting up these links to help me while I’m on the ground in Athens tomorrow, but hopefully some of you will find them useful too.

Official Word

Georgiadogs.com is expanding their Signing Day coverage again. 

• The official list of signings
• They’ll also have free video coverage hosted by Chuck Dowdle.

On the Web

• If you need a quick mobile-friendly list of signings, check this list from UGASports.com.
• Bernie’s Live Blog promises to be a fun way to follow the day.
• List of announcement times from UGASports.com ($)
• If you want national news, go to Rivals.com’s Signing Day Central.

On Twitter

We’ve been following NSD on Twitter for a couple of years now, and that won’t change tomorrow.  Most of our time will be spent checking these Twitter resources:

• Our UGASigningDay11 list follows many local and regional media and recruiting sites as well as Georgia’s official Twitter feed. Follow it as you would any Twitter user to pick up all of the flow.
• We’ll also give a plug to our own @dawgsonline account
• #nsd hashtag
• #dawgs hashtag

While we’re all anticipating good news tomorrow on Signing Day, Dr. Saturday asked a good question over the weekend. Georgia often has Top 10 recruiting class, so what’s so special about this one?

It’s a fair question. Blutarsky’s response captures the context: this class stands out because it comes from a program all but left for dead by the media and even many of its own. That helpless throw-in-the-towel mentality when it comes to recruiting (and the program in general) was alive and well less than a month ago. In his infamous rant against Mark Richt, Fran Tarkenton shared his angst.

In the meantime Alabama and Auburn and Tennessee are working and kicking our butts and recruiting people and getting coaches that have spread offenses…We’re going to lose the elite players this year. We haven’t in the past — we’ve gotten the elite player.

(Aside – former players like Pollack, the Baileys, Godfrey, and others have jumped in with a “how can I help?” attitude to do whatever it takes to bring this program back. Tarkenton? Well, he’s gone on the radio to attack the faith of the coach.)

But in less than a month it’s come full circle to the point that Mark Bradley, who shared Tarkenton’s words with the AJC audience, now senses that the wind is blowing in the other direction. Georgia isn’t going to lose the elite players. Other schools are recruiting harder than ever, but so is Georgia. They’re not “kicking our butts” on the recruiting trail. It’s important that Georgia is having success with its recruiting, but it’s equally important in the eyes of fans that Richt and the staff seem to be putting up a fight and won’t concede recruiting battles, especially for the state’s top talent, to the likes of Auburn, Alabama, and others who might be riding a little higher right now.

Beyond that, there are some other things going on with this class adding to the hype. I’m hesitant to count uncommitted players, but it definitely does have a different kind of feel than any class since that 1998 group that went on to form the core of the 2002 team. What else is there?

Momentum. Georgia’s recent stars like Murray, Green, Stafford, and Houston committed early in the process. Georgia’s biggest Signing Day commitment in recent years was probably Marlon Brown in 2009. The Bulldogs put a lot of their eggs in the Dream Team basket, and it was a big risk. The state of the class just a month ago was such that opinions like Tarkenton’s could be taken somewhat seriously. Rome and Mitchell turned it around, and Georgia has been on an incredibly hot streak since. Georgia isn’t just adding more commitments late. They’re adding some of their best.

Early contributors at positions of need. Every class has a few players who can or have to contribute right away. But this class is meeting immediate needs that even casual fans can appreciate. Some of the biggest needs have yet to announce, and that’s why there’s such anticipation over guys like Crowell and Jenkins. It might be unfair or unwise to do so, but fans have already plugged four or five guys from this class into the depth chart.

The Dream Team concept works. It’s an obvious concept and maybe even a little gimmicky. There was also a good deal of risk – such a public campaign had the potential to backfire on Richt. The class, even considering the significant contributions from out-of-state prospects, would be judged on Richt’s ability to deliver in-state. If Isaiah Crowell chooses Georgia, the Dawgs will have landed seven of the top 10 players in the state. Few schools can make their homegrown talent such a key part of a successful recruiting class, but it had to happen for Georgia this year. And it has.

Recovery from 2010. A repeat of the 2010 class, ranked 15th nationally by Rivals.com, would have been a bad sign for Georgia and Richt. Programs can survive the occasional sub-par class, but the recovery of the program has to have something to work with. Georgia hasn’t had an impact class in a while. Though the 2009 class was rated 6th in the nation, many of the top prospects in that class have yet to contribute – whether due to injury, transfer, or a failure to break through on the depth chart.

Magnitude. Georgia signed only 20 players in 2009. They added 19 last year. In the four recruiting classes since 2007, Georgia has signed just 86 players. That’s before you account for transfers, medical hardships, and others who no longer count towards the total over those four years. There will always be those who fret over the numbers, but my response is always the same: the folks in Athens can count to 85. The numbers always work out. If Georgia signs over 25, there will be those who lump the Dawgs among the bad guys who oversign, but Georgia has actually been dealing with the opposite problem lately. In recent years, Georgia has played its numbers close to the vest. That’s caused some Signing Say anxiety as some prospects have had to be turned away. The door seems wide open this year.

In other words, Georgia is due a haul. Combine the items above, and you are looking at 1) a large class 2) making a big push towards Signing Day 3) with several marquee prospects 4) that’s meeting urgent needs. And, yes, all that’s being done after such a downer of a season. This being a recruiting post, you always have to remind yourself of a few things:

• You still have to coach ’em up, right?
• A class is only as good as those who 1) enroll and 2) stick it out. If 2/3 of your great class flunks out, transfers, or ends up injured, that’s a thin senior class in a few years.
• It’s still just keeping up with the rest of the SEC. Even with three national top 10 classes since 2007, Georgia never had better than the third-best class in the SEC. The 2007 class that was rated #9 in the nation was only the 6th best in the conference. Insane. A single top haul doesn’t even mean that you have the personnel to compete in the Thunderdome of the SEC – it takes a string of good classes.

But for now, we’ll take it. It’s a good shot of success when the program really needs it. And if Georgia can add a few more pieces over the next week, we’ll be looking at an unprecedented class at Georgia in the face of great odds. Not a bad start to a critical season for the program.

Taking advantage of an NCAA rule that allows postgraduates to play their final season at another school, Georgia receiver Logan Gray will transfer after he graduates this semester. Gray, a 4th year junior from Missouri, will presumably look for a graduate school closer to home. Gray has served as a returner, a backup quarterback, and finally got to try his hand as a receiver during his junior season. We wish him the best of luck.

Gray moved from quarterback to receiver in 2010 and saw limited action hauling in nine catches for 105 yards and one touchdown. Though still relatively inexperienced at receiver, only three returning players (and just two wide receivers) had more receptions in 2010. His departure does free up another scholarship in 2011, but it also leaves the receiver position even more thin than it was.