A fan writes in:

I have read your blog on UGA football with considerable interest for several reasons. First of all, UGA football has consumed me since January 1, 1942 when Sinkwich and company waxed TCU 40-27 in the Orange Bowl. From then on it has been a devilish passion. In addition, I became a recruiting nut in the early 50’s when it was next to impossible to get information ahead of signing day. I went through the days when all I could get my hands on was the Joe Terranova recap stuff, then progressed through the Max Emfinger mailouts from Texas, 900 number calls almost every night from November through signing day, and now the wonderful but imperfect world of the internet.  Lastly, as one who fancies himself an informed and serious observer of what is really going on, I find you to be in that small and exclusive group of astute and insightful raconteurs of college football whose opinions have some real legitimacy. Keep up the good work!

This is all a bit too kind. First of all I had no idea dentists could type.  While obviously recruiting has a vast following among almost all of college football raconteurs, it’s really not my cup of tea.  My first exposure to recruiting (other than Herschel’s) was watching Larry Munson’s call-in show on local access cable in Athens as a student in the late eighties. The constant focus was Larry’s lament of lack of legitimate lineman (alliteration of the day, if you will) and Dooley’s inabiilty to recruit the same, as Pat Dye raided the state’s best linemen, year in, year out, and made us pay on the playing field.

Larry’s TV call in show was hysterical, mostly because the majority of “recruiting” calls were larks from people (like my friends) calling in asking about how Dooley should be pursuing so-and-so, the great punter at Deerfield-Windsor in Albany who had a 86 yard punt against Presbyterian last week.  The “recruit” in question was usually someone else in the fraternity watching the show in another room.  Larry: “I have no idea who you are talking about.  Let’s take another call…go ahead…’Larry, you need to tell Hugh Durham to go after that point guard out of Strattford Academy……..”

I became more interested in recruiting in the Ray Gump/Dim Jonnan era, which ultimately had the effect of turning me off of the enterprise. Ray and JD brought in outstanding classes in their first few years.  Then as these ostensibly great classes went on to be soundly defeated in every big game (and some not-so-big) throughout their tenure, naturally the quality of the recruits fell off steeply.  I guess that is because early on, you can recruit the tradition of the school, but as a coach builds a record, the record will take precedence over tradition.

So, when Donnan went two years and only recruited one offensive lineman, it was clear that he would be done, and I not only gave up on JD, but also following recruiting entirely.  In retrospect, the 2000 debacle against Tech, in the cold wet rain, was one of the more significant losses in Georgia history.  I don’t think it was by any means a done deal that Donnan would go until that game, and another poor recruiting class and disastrous 2001 season under coach Donnan could very well have set the program back far longer than the 2 seasons that it took CMR to get Georgia to the Promised Land.

Some bad coaches are great recruiters, and some great coaches are bad recruiters. But great coaches always get great recruits. In my view talent does not matter so much in college football, only the quality of the head coach and his ability to focus the team on his vision and philosophy, to wit: look at what Paul Johnson has done for the Northerners’ Engine Rebuilding and Distributive-education School. Think Tech will have any recruiting trouble this year? Great coaches always get the best talent out there (the University of South Carolina is the exception that proves the rule).  Run a poor program, and you won’t fool recruits for long.

So I tend to follow the coaching carousel much more closely than recruiting.  I don’t need to follow recruiting blow-by-blow to know that on signing day Florida will have a top 5 recruiting class chock full of the fastest guys on the planet.  Nor to find out Georgia will recruit one of the nation’s best classes, half of whom will never play a down between the hedges.  On the other hand, I’m absolutely fascinated to know who will be fool enough to take that Tennessee job.