•• We told you the other day that Bryan McClendon expected to be in the SEC going forward. Well it appears word started leaking yesterday that South Carolina and Will Muschamp are interested. That was the initial rumor we heard but now it appears to have a lot more reality to it.
•• 2017 quarterback Baily Hockman decommitted from Georgia this morning. Dan McDonald told us this was coming in early October and we have been waiting for the shoe to drop. Last Wednesday Hockman's dad told Dan to call at 9:00 p.m. to talk to Bailey. Rather unusual that. We thought it would be to decommit then but it wasn't. Smart move on Bailey's part to decommit on the first day of the dead period. Can't be hounded by coaches. Of course he can reach out to coaches. My money is on UNC as his best friend, wide receiver Tyler Smith, is committed to the Tarheels.
•• Georgia is going to heavily pursue Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville. Granted he is a 2018 recruit, but for many folks he is the best QB in the state regardless of class. Look for him to be a top-10 recruit in his class. I hate how often folks use the word freak so I won't, but savant might be a good description. Last summer, as Lawrence was competing at a 7-on-7, Hutson Mason came up to me and said, "Hey, that kid can really spin it." We watched Lawrence together and you could tell Mason was very impressed.
•• I hope I am not betraying a confidence from one of our insiders here, but this person told me that Kirby Smart is not into tag-a-long scholarship offers. In other words, it a top recruit wants his best friend or brother to be offered a scholarship as well, Smart will politely decline. Granted some of those additional offers net a quality player, but often times are a waste or only result in a special teams player that could be replaced with a walk-on.
•• We were told me that Kathryn Richt bought Kirby Smart's wife a "welcome gift" when she was buying the other coaches wives their gifts for the Gala/Christmas. Just speaks to the type family they are.
•• Be advised that Signing Day at he Blind Pig will be at the East Side location this year. MUCH better parking. Same great food.
•• It was interesting that Smart decided to offer Auburn defensive tackle commit David Marshall. This player committed once to Auburn, then decommttted. He re-committed to Auburn again later, but with Will Muschamp leaving for South Carolina, the scuttlebutt is that Marshall isn't as thrilled with the Tigers as he once was. In other words, this scenario has set up well for Smart to poach Marshall from Auburn. The official visit in January will be one to watch. We have spoken to folks that know Marshall and for now South Carolina doesn't appear to be an option. As we often say, just keep an eye on on.
•• BE SURE to read the Mecole Hardman update. This five-star athlete (and Brandon Boykin clone) really wants to play for Jeremy Pruitt. I mean really wants to play for Pruitt. So much so that a lot of folks in our business figured Hardamn would be headed to Tuscaloosa. And he might, despite the fact a lot of folks feel he have been a silent commit to Georgia. But he did give Kirby Smart a visit this weekend and had some positive things to say. That alone makes the story worth reading. But it was his take on Jacob Eason that will also catch your eye.
"Watching people come to Jacob," Hardman said. "It was surprising. That was the thing that stood out. People would just come up to this man like he's a damn celebrity. I've never seen a high school kid have his own security. It was crazy. It was like he'd been at Georgia three years already."
The five-star athlete believes he's got a good pulse on where the highly touted quarterback will head.
"I think Jacob is still one-hundred percent to Georgia," Hardman said. "I just feel like he isn't going to go somewhere else this late. I think he's just trying to find other options just in case something happened. I think he's committed to Georgia. I think he's going to follow through with his decision, and he's going to do big things at Georgia.
I have no doubt Eason told folks he was coming to Georgia. But then he also was reported to have told folks at Florida he was coming to Gainesville.
•• We got a chance to participate in a conference call with Kirby Smart this afternoon at 2:00. There was a lot of information there that we have broken up into several parts.
•• Smart commented on Jacob Eason's visit saying that he liked to think it went well. And as we had mentioned, Smart was not very familiar with Eason as he wasn't the one recruiting him to Alabama. Read Smart's comments here.
•• Smart says he will head back at Alabama on Tuesday morning ...said he and Jeremy Pruitt will probably be sharing an office and that he has no issues with that
•• Brian Schottenheimer has told the Georgia players that he will not coach in the Taxslayer Bowl. So neither of Georgia's 2015 coordinators will be there for the bowl game. Also, be on the lookout for Brice Ramsey to return to the field as a quarterback.
•• This story has come to us from two separate sources. We are told Kirby Smart apparently had a meeting with Brice Ramsey after texting him later at night to meet in Smart's office the next morning. Smart told Ramsey he had spoken with Mike Bobo and other coaches and had received conflicting reports. The new head coach asked Ramsey if he wanted to be a quarterback or a punter. Ramsey said he wanted to be a quarterback. Smart asked if he planned on sticking around and Ramsey indicated he didn't think he had a shot at being a quarterback if Brian Schottenheimer was still on staff. Smart responded that Schottenheimer wouldn't be around much longer. Smart also told Ramsey there was a reason he was meeting with Ramsey first.
•• With Schottenheimer out of the picture, it will be interesting to see how the Bowl shakes out at the quarterback position. Gut feeling here (speculation, no proof) is that Bobo feels Ramsey got a raw deal and that Smart agrees.
•• Wide receiver Darion Anderson has also decommitted. If you remember out Fall Camp War Room, we told you there would be at least one decommit. Anderson was it. We have been expecting Anderson to decommit for a while now. I think Georgia moved on and this is in the best interest of both parties. It also explains why Georgia kept offering wide receivers after having quite a few committed. I don't think the coaches saw Anderson in their signing class.
•• Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran is staying with the Tide per a press release on the official Alabama site. This is a tough loss for Smart who was trying to bring Cochran with him to Athens. The sources we spoke to close to Kirby thought Cochran was coming with Smart up until Saturday when they started hedging their bets.
•• Here is a story from our Bama site on what it took to keep Scott Cochran in Tuscaloosa.
•• Here is Dash's story on Kirby Smart talking about filling out his coaching staff and the timeline he has in mind. He mentioned he had spoken with the remaining staff recently and gave them some ideas about the direction he was going. The comments about trying to keep Thomas Brown make it sound as if that is not officially a done deal.
•• Jake spoke to Jacob Eason's coach. Here is the short version of what Coach Tri had to say after meeting with Eason today:
Tri said Eason had nothing but positives regarding the time in Athens.
He said he expects word to come by Wednesday, as Eason and his parents plan to sit down as a family, but Tri still feels that Georgia will be the landing spot. Nothing today indicated otherwise.
•• Here is the latest from Jacob Eason:
•• 2017 quarterback Baily Hockman decommitted from Georgia this morning. Dan McDonald told us this was coming in early October and we have been waiting for the shoe to drop. Last Wednesday Hockman's dad told Dan to call at 9:00 p.m. to talk to Bailey. Rather unusual that. We thought it would be to decommit then but it wasn't. Smart move on Bailey's part to decommit on the first day of the dead period. Can't be hounded by coaches. Of course he can reach out to coaches. My money is on UNC as his best friend, wide receiver Tyler Smith, is committed to the Tarheels.
•• Georgia is going to heavily pursue Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville. Granted he is a 2018 recruit, but for many folks he is the best QB in the state regardless of class. Look for him to be a top-10 recruit in his class. I hate how often folks use the word freak so I won't, but savant might be a good description. Last summer, as Lawrence was competing at a 7-on-7, Hutson Mason came up to me and said, "Hey, that kid can really spin it." We watched Lawrence together and you could tell Mason was very impressed.
•• I hope I am not betraying a confidence from one of our insiders here, but this person told me that Kirby Smart is not into tag-a-long scholarship offers. In other words, it a top recruit wants his best friend or brother to be offered a scholarship as well, Smart will politely decline. Granted some of those additional offers net a quality player, but often times are a waste or only result in a special teams player that could be replaced with a walk-on.
•• We were told me that Kathryn Richt bought Kirby Smart's wife a "welcome gift" when she was buying the other coaches wives their gifts for the Gala/Christmas. Just speaks to the type family they are.
•• Be advised that Signing Day at he Blind Pig will be at the East Side location this year. MUCH better parking. Same great food.
•• It was interesting that Smart decided to offer Auburn defensive tackle commit David Marshall. This player committed once to Auburn, then decommttted. He re-committed to Auburn again later, but with Will Muschamp leaving for South Carolina, the scuttlebutt is that Marshall isn't as thrilled with the Tigers as he once was. In other words, this scenario has set up well for Smart to poach Marshall from Auburn. The official visit in January will be one to watch. We have spoken to folks that know Marshall and for now South Carolina doesn't appear to be an option. As we often say, just keep an eye on on.
•• BE SURE to read the Mecole Hardman update. This five-star athlete (and Brandon Boykin clone) really wants to play for Jeremy Pruitt. I mean really wants to play for Pruitt. So much so that a lot of folks in our business figured Hardamn would be headed to Tuscaloosa. And he might, despite the fact a lot of folks feel he have been a silent commit to Georgia. But he did give Kirby Smart a visit this weekend and had some positive things to say. That alone makes the story worth reading. But it was his take on Jacob Eason that will also catch your eye.
"Watching people come to Jacob," Hardman said. "It was surprising. That was the thing that stood out. People would just come up to this man like he's a damn celebrity. I've never seen a high school kid have his own security. It was crazy. It was like he'd been at Georgia three years already."
The five-star athlete believes he's got a good pulse on where the highly touted quarterback will head.
"I think Jacob is still one-hundred percent to Georgia," Hardman said. "I just feel like he isn't going to go somewhere else this late. I think he's just trying to find other options just in case something happened. I think he's committed to Georgia. I think he's going to follow through with his decision, and he's going to do big things at Georgia.
I have no doubt Eason told folks he was coming to Georgia. But then he also was reported to have told folks at Florida he was coming to Gainesville.
•• We got a chance to participate in a conference call with Kirby Smart this afternoon at 2:00. There was a lot of information there that we have broken up into several parts.
•• Smart commented on Jacob Eason's visit saying that he liked to think it went well. And as we had mentioned, Smart was not very familiar with Eason as he wasn't the one recruiting him to Alabama. Read Smart's comments here.
•• Smart says he will head back at Alabama on Tuesday morning ...said he and Jeremy Pruitt will probably be sharing an office and that he has no issues with that
•• Brian Schottenheimer has told the Georgia players that he will not coach in the Taxslayer Bowl. So neither of Georgia's 2015 coordinators will be there for the bowl game. Also, be on the lookout for Brice Ramsey to return to the field as a quarterback.
•• This story has come to us from two separate sources. We are told Kirby Smart apparently had a meeting with Brice Ramsey after texting him later at night to meet in Smart's office the next morning. Smart told Ramsey he had spoken with Mike Bobo and other coaches and had received conflicting reports. The new head coach asked Ramsey if he wanted to be a quarterback or a punter. Ramsey said he wanted to be a quarterback. Smart asked if he planned on sticking around and Ramsey indicated he didn't think he had a shot at being a quarterback if Brian Schottenheimer was still on staff. Smart responded that Schottenheimer wouldn't be around much longer. Smart also told Ramsey there was a reason he was meeting with Ramsey first.
•• With Schottenheimer out of the picture, it will be interesting to see how the Bowl shakes out at the quarterback position. Gut feeling here (speculation, no proof) is that Bobo feels Ramsey got a raw deal and that Smart agrees.
•• Wide receiver Darion Anderson has also decommitted. If you remember out Fall Camp War Room, we told you there would be at least one decommit. Anderson was it. We have been expecting Anderson to decommit for a while now. I think Georgia moved on and this is in the best interest of both parties. It also explains why Georgia kept offering wide receivers after having quite a few committed. I don't think the coaches saw Anderson in their signing class.
•• Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran is staying with the Tide per a press release on the official Alabama site. This is a tough loss for Smart who was trying to bring Cochran with him to Athens. The sources we spoke to close to Kirby thought Cochran was coming with Smart up until Saturday when they started hedging their bets.
•• Here is a story from our Bama site on what it took to keep Scott Cochran in Tuscaloosa.
•• Here is Dash's story on Kirby Smart talking about filling out his coaching staff and the timeline he has in mind. He mentioned he had spoken with the remaining staff recently and gave them some ideas about the direction he was going. The comments about trying to keep Thomas Brown make it sound as if that is not officially a done deal.
•• Jake spoke to Jacob Eason's coach. Here is the short version of what Coach Tri had to say after meeting with Eason today:
Tri said Eason had nothing but positives regarding the time in Athens.
He said he expects word to come by Wednesday, as Eason and his parents plan to sit down as a family, but Tri still feels that Georgia will be the landing spot. Nothing today indicated otherwise.
•• Here is the latest from Jacob Eason:
