What a crazy few days, huh?
We obviously knew about Mel Tucker, but now that Jim Chaney has apparently decide to bolt for Tennessee, suddenly it has opened some brand new options for Kirby Smart.
Here's how things stand per our sources here at UGASports.
Offensive Coordinator
...Yes, James Coley's name is out there. As Georgia's co-offensive coordinator with Chaney, the former OC at Florida State and Miami is definitely in the running per my sources. However, a final decision - so I'm told - has not yet been made. Smart may look into bringing in a "name coach" as the offensive coordinator, with Coley as the fallback.
If Coley is promoted, Smart would fill out his offensive staff by hiring a tight ends coach.
...Everything points to Sam Pittman staying as Georgia seems prepared to make him the highest-paid non-coordinator in program history.
Defensive Coordinator
...Dan Lanning is looking more like a possibility to receive a promotion to become the Dawgs' defensive coordinator.
A source last told me that Lanning is "very optimistic," a decision that would make him one of the younger defensive coordinators in college football.
If Lanning is hired, Smart will hire a secondary coach to fill out his defensive staff.
...For those who have wondered about Tosh Lupoi, we're told that is not happening. It remains unclear if he was even offered the job.
More to come as news develops. When it does, we will update the thread here.
WEDNESDAY Update (11:38 a.m.)
- Tennessee names Jim Chaney it’s offensive coordinator. Tennessee will pay Chaney's buyout of $500K as previously reported by our Tennessee site, Volquest.
- Also, we told you on Sunday that Alabama would target Sam Pittman. That happened. And as we mentioned yesterday, Pittman is not expected to go anywhere. We do expect a raise and maybe a promotion for Pittman.
WEDNESDAY Update (1:08 p.m.)
Per Volquest, Chaney gets a three-year deal worth 4.8 million. Tennessee had to pay Georgia Chaney’s buyout, which was $500,000.
WEDNESDAY Update (3:30 p.m.)
Kentucky's Eddie Gran has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Chaney by two outlets in Lexington, but we have not confirmed that independently here in Athens. We have not heard from any of our sources that Gran is a candidate at this time.
THURSDAY Update (7:30 a.m.)
Derrick Ansley has been one of the first guys under consideration from Day 1 to join the defensive staff. Right now, I’m not expecting him to be the guy, but time will tell. He definitely checks all the boxes. He’s also a candidate for the Troy head coaching job.
THURSDAY Update (4 p.m.)
Matt Jones with KSR Radio reports that UK Offensive Coordinator Eddie Gran has been offered the OC job at Georgia. Football Scoop agreed. UGASports has not yet confirmed.
THURSDAY Update (5:30 p.m.)
Football Scoop walked back its story on Gran. Said he was not offered. Just as I had said.
THURSDAY Update (10:15 p.m.)
This from 11-Alive
FRIDAY Update (2:15 a.m.)
A reporter for AL.com says that Dan Enos is a candidate for the UGA and Miami offensive coordinator positions. UGASports has not confirmed this nor do we believe this to be the case at this time. Smart thinks highly of Enos and may have called him, but we would be surprised if there were any merit to this report.
FRIDAY UDATE (Noon)
Dan Enos reported to be the new OC at Miami. Was not an option at UGA.
FRIDAY UPDATE (12:24 p.m.)
James Coley has been named the Offensive Coordinator at Georgia.
Story: James Coley gets the nod as OC
FRIDAY UPDATE (1:28 p.m.)
In non-coordinator news, we heard that Georgia spoke with former Pitt offensive coordinator Shawn Watson about the vacant offensive analyst position. We know where it stands, but it was worth noting.
We also heard former Miami tight ends coach Todd Hartley had an offer in a quality control position at Tennessee and Georgia. Would surprise us if he did not land an on-field coaching position though.
FRIDAY UPDATE (2:04 p.m.)
Per our sources, we understand that former Ole Miss defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff was interviewed by Kirby Smart for a position on the defensive staff at Georgia, most likely as a defensive backs coach.
We do not believe he is the only candidate for the position. We previously mentioned Derrick Ansley, but we do not think he is still in consideration at this time.
FRIDAY UPDATE (2:30 p.m)
UGA has added Austin Armstrong of ULL as a quality control assistant. It sounds like there will be a lot of turnover in the QC ranks.
FRIDAY UPDATE: (11:17 p.m.)
We understand UGA has lost its popular team nutritionist, Sidney Roberts.
SATURDAY UPDATE: (12:45 p.m.)
We expect Smart to interview at least one, if not two, other candidates for a defensive backs coaching spot at UGA over the weekend. As Trent mentioned on the Vault, UGA is not hosting recruits this weekend so Smart is free to take his time.
SATURDAY UPDATE (3:35 p.m.)
LSU coach Corey Raymond will be interviewed as well.
Story: https://uga.rivals.com/news/lsu-s-corey-raymond-to-interview-for-position-at-georgia
SATURDAY UPDATE (4:00 p.m.)
We mentioned Todd Hartley having an offer as a QC position yesterday and that we woudl be surprised if he did not get a on-filed position somewhere. We can now say he is getting an interview as a tight ends coach at Georgia.
SUNDAY UPDATE (10:45 a.m.)
We understand things look good with Todd Hartley. We originally mentioned him in as a candidate for an off the field position, but with Jim Chaney leaving and James Coley being names the offensive coordinator, that opens an on the field position for tight ends coach. Hartley is one hell of a recruiter and knows Georgia well, having been on staff here before.
We also expect Dan Lanning to become the defensive co-coordinator. If you will remember, he had an offer to go to Colorado and be the defensive coordinator but turned it down, just as James Coley turned down other offensive coordinator offers. Lanning has to be in the mix for some role, just as we reported Coley was.
Who the other co-coordinator will be the question. That explains why Smart has not mentioned Lanning as getting a promotion. It makes sense if Jimmy Smith's story about Corey Raymond interviewing as a defensive backs coach is true (Smith knows his stuff). We also believe Wesley McGriff interviewed as a DB coach. One name we have heard as co-coordinator? Glenn Schumann. As of this morning, we don't know it anything has been decided.
We told you that Georgia lost Sydney Roberts, the nutritionist. It was interesting to see Kirby Smart and his coached tweeting at Collier Perno, the coordinator of nutrition at the University of Florida, to come back to her home in Athens. She is the cousin of former UGA baseball coach David Perno. We do not know where that situation stands, but the public appeals were interesting.
One thing we have learned in hunting names and updates is that Kirby Smart is flexible, as evidenced by his moves last year. He shoots for the best and it won't surprise us to learn that he is still looking at some high caliber coaches in top-10 programs or in the NFL. He wants the best coaches and will scour the ranks to find them.
SUNDAY UPDATE (7:45 p.m.)
Per outlets from LSU, Corey Raymond will not be the one taking the defensive backs job. We are not sure if he turned it down or was not offered in the first place.
Nola.com confirms Raymond is staying with LSU
SUNDAY UPDATE: (9:00 p.m.)
The Corey Raymond turning down UGA talk was overblown. As stated as a possibility above, he was not offered the job. Smart still has some other interviews to conduct. Raymond could still receive an offer. This is coming from our LSU guy Jimmy Smith.
Smith wrote this on his board:
"As expected, Raymond wrapped up his interview with Georgia on Sunday and is headed back to Baton Rouge.
Sources at LSU feel good about their chances of retaining him as the team's cornerbacks coach, but the interview process is ongoing, so there are more developments to monitor in coming days.
First things first, Raymond did not receive a contract offer from the University of Georgia, as expected, with the Bulldogs scheduled to interview at least one more candidate before making their decision. The Bulldogs are expected to withhold any contract offers until the interview process is complete.
A source thought the interview with the Bulldogs went really well, with Raymond impressing the Bulldogs staff during Sunday's discussions.
Raymond recently bought a house in the Baton Rouge area and his affinity for the LSU program will make it difficult for any team to pull him away from LSU. But if Georgia decides to make a push, with a strong offer being extended, things could get really interesting as Raymond enters the final year of his contract.
Stay tuned to Tiger Details for the latest as we monitor this ongoing story."
MONDAY UPDATE (2:00 a.m.)
Just some housekeeping notes -
1. Not sure why folks keep saying Derrick Ansley turned Georgia down. As far as we know, he was never brought in for an interview. Don't trust everything you hear.
2. The same goes for Florida defensive backs coach Charlton Warren. We saw his name pop up in some aggregation blogs as a candidate. We told you we didn't consider it true. Our an Corey Bender at our Florida site confirmed Warren was not a candidate and will not be interviewing with Georgia.
3. We saw Herschel Walker tweeting at Florida coordinator of nutrition, Collier Perno. He tweeted he was glad to hear she was coming home. Others have told us she did accept the job with Smart. She has not responded to request for comment. Which also makes me think she is set to work for Smart.
4. We wrote on Sunday morning that Smart was looking at top-10 programs and the NFL for coaches. He also looks for up and comers. Guys who are hungry who you may not know. We try to root out all the candidates, but I can assure you we do not know who all he has spoken to. When he is ready, he will offer someone the jobs.
MONDAY Update (8:00 a.m.)
Georgia announced Todd Hartley as its new tight ends coach, as expected. Story: https://uga.rivals.com/news/hartley-tabbed-as-new-te-coach
TUESDAY Update (12:30 a.m.)
With the announcement of Todd Hartley as the tight ends coach, there is only one on-field coaching position left to fill on Smart's staff. We are still trying to determine who else he is interviewing for the defensive backs (maybe co-DC?) position. In the meantime, we are also watching for support staff additions.
We were told Buster Faulkner, Arkansas State's offensive coordinator, was interviewed about an offensive quality control position. While we have it on good authority that the interview took place, we do not know if an offer was made. Link to Faulkner's bio
We previously mentioned Jules Montinar, who was most recently coaching cornerbacks and serving and the special teams coordinator at Texas State, also met with Smart about a quality control position on defense. He spent two years as a graduate assistant at Alabama while Smart was there. We expect a reunion in Athens. Link to Montinar's bio
WEDNESDAY Update (4:30 p.m.)
The hiring of Jules Montinar is official. He has taken a defensive quality control position.
The addition of Austin Armstrong is also official. He too is in a defensive quality control position.
Cody Kennedy, the Georgia offensive line graduate assistant, is heading to Tulane as the offensive line coach as posted on the Vent earlier.
THURSDAY Update (4:00 p.m.)
Smart has conducted quite a few interviews, but we have not been able to get secondary confirmation on some of the names so we will just have to go with 'multiple coaches.'
We think he is close to making an offer, either today or tomorrow. We are watching. Georgia has not been turned down by any coach as of yet.
As previously stated, we expect Smart to name Dan Lanning as the co-defensive coordinator and either Glenn Schumann or Smart's new secondary coach will be the other co-coordinator.
FRIDAY Update (4:00 p.m.)
- Interesting tweet from Ian Rapoport:
I don't see that happening.
- Speaking of the NFL, we previously mentioned that Kirby Smart would look at top college and NFL programs in his search. It is no secret that Smart is friends with Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. So of course there was speculation that recently fired Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel might get a recommendation from Quinn. I think Smart spoke with Manuel last week but not about being the defensive coordinator. If I am right, Smart was most likely asking Manuel for names of candidates. I do not see a scenario in which Smart would hire Manuel as a defensive coordinator.
- Regarding the Georgia quality control support staff, Blaine Miller has left Athens to join Mel Tucker in Colorado. If you remember, Miller used to coach running backs at UAB before joining the Bulldogs in 2016.
- Forgot to mention that Smart has been in the air the last two days recruiting, using a helicopter. He should be back int Athens tonight for the start of the official visit weekend.
Saturday, 5:45 p.m.
Georgia hired Charlton Warren as its new DB coach
We obviously knew about Mel Tucker, but now that Jim Chaney has apparently decide to bolt for Tennessee, suddenly it has opened some brand new options for Kirby Smart.
Here's how things stand per our sources here at UGASports.
Offensive Coordinator
...Yes, James Coley's name is out there. As Georgia's co-offensive coordinator with Chaney, the former OC at Florida State and Miami is definitely in the running per my sources. However, a final decision - so I'm told - has not yet been made. Smart may look into bringing in a "name coach" as the offensive coordinator, with Coley as the fallback.
If Coley is promoted, Smart would fill out his offensive staff by hiring a tight ends coach.
...Everything points to Sam Pittman staying as Georgia seems prepared to make him the highest-paid non-coordinator in program history.
Defensive Coordinator
...Dan Lanning is looking more like a possibility to receive a promotion to become the Dawgs' defensive coordinator.
A source last told me that Lanning is "very optimistic," a decision that would make him one of the younger defensive coordinators in college football.
If Lanning is hired, Smart will hire a secondary coach to fill out his defensive staff.
...For those who have wondered about Tosh Lupoi, we're told that is not happening. It remains unclear if he was even offered the job.
More to come as news develops. When it does, we will update the thread here.
WEDNESDAY Update (11:38 a.m.)
- Tennessee names Jim Chaney it’s offensive coordinator. Tennessee will pay Chaney's buyout of $500K as previously reported by our Tennessee site, Volquest.
- Also, we told you on Sunday that Alabama would target Sam Pittman. That happened. And as we mentioned yesterday, Pittman is not expected to go anywhere. We do expect a raise and maybe a promotion for Pittman.
WEDNESDAY Update (1:08 p.m.)
Per Volquest, Chaney gets a three-year deal worth 4.8 million. Tennessee had to pay Georgia Chaney’s buyout, which was $500,000.
WEDNESDAY Update (3:30 p.m.)
Kentucky's Eddie Gran has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Chaney by two outlets in Lexington, but we have not confirmed that independently here in Athens. We have not heard from any of our sources that Gran is a candidate at this time.
THURSDAY Update (7:30 a.m.)
Derrick Ansley has been one of the first guys under consideration from Day 1 to join the defensive staff. Right now, I’m not expecting him to be the guy, but time will tell. He definitely checks all the boxes. He’s also a candidate for the Troy head coaching job.
THURSDAY Update (4 p.m.)
Matt Jones with KSR Radio reports that UK Offensive Coordinator Eddie Gran has been offered the OC job at Georgia. Football Scoop agreed. UGASports has not yet confirmed.
THURSDAY Update (5:30 p.m.)
Football Scoop walked back its story on Gran. Said he was not offered. Just as I had said.
THURSDAY Update (10:15 p.m.)
This from 11-Alive
FRIDAY Update (2:15 a.m.)
A reporter for AL.com says that Dan Enos is a candidate for the UGA and Miami offensive coordinator positions. UGASports has not confirmed this nor do we believe this to be the case at this time. Smart thinks highly of Enos and may have called him, but we would be surprised if there were any merit to this report.
FRIDAY UDATE (Noon)
Dan Enos reported to be the new OC at Miami. Was not an option at UGA.
FRIDAY UPDATE (12:24 p.m.)
James Coley has been named the Offensive Coordinator at Georgia.
Story: James Coley gets the nod as OC
FRIDAY UPDATE (1:28 p.m.)
In non-coordinator news, we heard that Georgia spoke with former Pitt offensive coordinator Shawn Watson about the vacant offensive analyst position. We know where it stands, but it was worth noting.
We also heard former Miami tight ends coach Todd Hartley had an offer in a quality control position at Tennessee and Georgia. Would surprise us if he did not land an on-field coaching position though.
FRIDAY UPDATE (2:04 p.m.)
Per our sources, we understand that former Ole Miss defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff was interviewed by Kirby Smart for a position on the defensive staff at Georgia, most likely as a defensive backs coach.
We do not believe he is the only candidate for the position. We previously mentioned Derrick Ansley, but we do not think he is still in consideration at this time.
FRIDAY UPDATE (2:30 p.m)
UGA has added Austin Armstrong of ULL as a quality control assistant. It sounds like there will be a lot of turnover in the QC ranks.
FRIDAY UPDATE: (11:17 p.m.)
We understand UGA has lost its popular team nutritionist, Sidney Roberts.
SATURDAY UPDATE: (12:45 p.m.)
We expect Smart to interview at least one, if not two, other candidates for a defensive backs coaching spot at UGA over the weekend. As Trent mentioned on the Vault, UGA is not hosting recruits this weekend so Smart is free to take his time.
SATURDAY UPDATE (3:35 p.m.)
LSU coach Corey Raymond will be interviewed as well.
Story: https://uga.rivals.com/news/lsu-s-corey-raymond-to-interview-for-position-at-georgia
SATURDAY UPDATE (4:00 p.m.)
We mentioned Todd Hartley having an offer as a QC position yesterday and that we woudl be surprised if he did not get a on-filed position somewhere. We can now say he is getting an interview as a tight ends coach at Georgia.
SUNDAY UPDATE (10:45 a.m.)
We understand things look good with Todd Hartley. We originally mentioned him in as a candidate for an off the field position, but with Jim Chaney leaving and James Coley being names the offensive coordinator, that opens an on the field position for tight ends coach. Hartley is one hell of a recruiter and knows Georgia well, having been on staff here before.
We also expect Dan Lanning to become the defensive co-coordinator. If you will remember, he had an offer to go to Colorado and be the defensive coordinator but turned it down, just as James Coley turned down other offensive coordinator offers. Lanning has to be in the mix for some role, just as we reported Coley was.
Who the other co-coordinator will be the question. That explains why Smart has not mentioned Lanning as getting a promotion. It makes sense if Jimmy Smith's story about Corey Raymond interviewing as a defensive backs coach is true (Smith knows his stuff). We also believe Wesley McGriff interviewed as a DB coach. One name we have heard as co-coordinator? Glenn Schumann. As of this morning, we don't know it anything has been decided.
We told you that Georgia lost Sydney Roberts, the nutritionist. It was interesting to see Kirby Smart and his coached tweeting at Collier Perno, the coordinator of nutrition at the University of Florida, to come back to her home in Athens. She is the cousin of former UGA baseball coach David Perno. We do not know where that situation stands, but the public appeals were interesting.
One thing we have learned in hunting names and updates is that Kirby Smart is flexible, as evidenced by his moves last year. He shoots for the best and it won't surprise us to learn that he is still looking at some high caliber coaches in top-10 programs or in the NFL. He wants the best coaches and will scour the ranks to find them.
SUNDAY UPDATE (7:45 p.m.)
Per outlets from LSU, Corey Raymond will not be the one taking the defensive backs job. We are not sure if he turned it down or was not offered in the first place.
Nola.com confirms Raymond is staying with LSU
SUNDAY UPDATE: (9:00 p.m.)
The Corey Raymond turning down UGA talk was overblown. As stated as a possibility above, he was not offered the job. Smart still has some other interviews to conduct. Raymond could still receive an offer. This is coming from our LSU guy Jimmy Smith.
Smith wrote this on his board:
"As expected, Raymond wrapped up his interview with Georgia on Sunday and is headed back to Baton Rouge.
Sources at LSU feel good about their chances of retaining him as the team's cornerbacks coach, but the interview process is ongoing, so there are more developments to monitor in coming days.
First things first, Raymond did not receive a contract offer from the University of Georgia, as expected, with the Bulldogs scheduled to interview at least one more candidate before making their decision. The Bulldogs are expected to withhold any contract offers until the interview process is complete.
A source thought the interview with the Bulldogs went really well, with Raymond impressing the Bulldogs staff during Sunday's discussions.
Raymond recently bought a house in the Baton Rouge area and his affinity for the LSU program will make it difficult for any team to pull him away from LSU. But if Georgia decides to make a push, with a strong offer being extended, things could get really interesting as Raymond enters the final year of his contract.
Stay tuned to Tiger Details for the latest as we monitor this ongoing story."
MONDAY UPDATE (2:00 a.m.)
Just some housekeeping notes -
1. Not sure why folks keep saying Derrick Ansley turned Georgia down. As far as we know, he was never brought in for an interview. Don't trust everything you hear.
2. The same goes for Florida defensive backs coach Charlton Warren. We saw his name pop up in some aggregation blogs as a candidate. We told you we didn't consider it true. Our an Corey Bender at our Florida site confirmed Warren was not a candidate and will not be interviewing with Georgia.
3. We saw Herschel Walker tweeting at Florida coordinator of nutrition, Collier Perno. He tweeted he was glad to hear she was coming home. Others have told us she did accept the job with Smart. She has not responded to request for comment. Which also makes me think she is set to work for Smart.
4. We wrote on Sunday morning that Smart was looking at top-10 programs and the NFL for coaches. He also looks for up and comers. Guys who are hungry who you may not know. We try to root out all the candidates, but I can assure you we do not know who all he has spoken to. When he is ready, he will offer someone the jobs.
MONDAY Update (8:00 a.m.)
Georgia announced Todd Hartley as its new tight ends coach, as expected. Story: https://uga.rivals.com/news/hartley-tabbed-as-new-te-coach
TUESDAY Update (12:30 a.m.)
With the announcement of Todd Hartley as the tight ends coach, there is only one on-field coaching position left to fill on Smart's staff. We are still trying to determine who else he is interviewing for the defensive backs (maybe co-DC?) position. In the meantime, we are also watching for support staff additions.
We were told Buster Faulkner, Arkansas State's offensive coordinator, was interviewed about an offensive quality control position. While we have it on good authority that the interview took place, we do not know if an offer was made. Link to Faulkner's bio
We previously mentioned Jules Montinar, who was most recently coaching cornerbacks and serving and the special teams coordinator at Texas State, also met with Smart about a quality control position on defense. He spent two years as a graduate assistant at Alabama while Smart was there. We expect a reunion in Athens. Link to Montinar's bio
WEDNESDAY Update (4:30 p.m.)
The hiring of Jules Montinar is official. He has taken a defensive quality control position.
The addition of Austin Armstrong is also official. He too is in a defensive quality control position.
Cody Kennedy, the Georgia offensive line graduate assistant, is heading to Tulane as the offensive line coach as posted on the Vent earlier.
THURSDAY Update (4:00 p.m.)
Smart has conducted quite a few interviews, but we have not been able to get secondary confirmation on some of the names so we will just have to go with 'multiple coaches.'
We think he is close to making an offer, either today or tomorrow. We are watching. Georgia has not been turned down by any coach as of yet.
As previously stated, we expect Smart to name Dan Lanning as the co-defensive coordinator and either Glenn Schumann or Smart's new secondary coach will be the other co-coordinator.
FRIDAY Update (4:00 p.m.)
- Interesting tweet from Ian Rapoport:
I don't see that happening.
- Speaking of the NFL, we previously mentioned that Kirby Smart would look at top college and NFL programs in his search. It is no secret that Smart is friends with Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. So of course there was speculation that recently fired Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel might get a recommendation from Quinn. I think Smart spoke with Manuel last week but not about being the defensive coordinator. If I am right, Smart was most likely asking Manuel for names of candidates. I do not see a scenario in which Smart would hire Manuel as a defensive coordinator.
- Regarding the Georgia quality control support staff, Blaine Miller has left Athens to join Mel Tucker in Colorado. If you remember, Miller used to coach running backs at UAB before joining the Bulldogs in 2016.
- Forgot to mention that Smart has been in the air the last two days recruiting, using a helicopter. He should be back int Athens tonight for the start of the official visit weekend.
Saturday, 5:45 p.m.
Georgia hired Charlton Warren as its new DB coach
