As many of you know, we've been on the camp tour around the southeast with our 9th grade son who kicks and punts. This week in Mobile was his final camp of the summer. He won a south Georgia camp, the UGA underclassman camp as well as this big Mobile camp (9th grade division). We also hit Auburn, Florida and a FAB 50 camp in Atlanta and finished top 5.
I might be looking thru red and black glasses, but I still have to say that UGA's overall facilities were better, but not by a lot over Auburn. I also have to say that the enthusiasm of the coaches at UGA was way better than what we saw elsewhere. UF's coaches were a distant second and I won't comment on Auburn.
We saw a LOT of different kids. There were 250 at Auburn alone and only 60 at UF. I know the Dawgs are looking for another kicker/punter and we saw a handful of JUCO and senior guys (at least 6-8) who were pretty elite. I'm talking punters who were hitting 55-60 yarders fairly routinely and kicking 50-60 yard FGs with relative ease. Tonight's final competition in Mobile produced three guys who were punting over 50 yards in the finals and with 4.8 to 5.1 hang times. This was an elite camp and guys flew in from all over, so it's not like there are a ton of these guys around the country, but I'm hoping UGA can take a look at them.
From a kicking standpoint, there were a couple of guys who were strong D1 guys in Mobile. One even made a trick kick during some down time that is going around the web tonight and I'm told ESPN.
I know some on here have talked about saving the scholarship and taking only walkon kickers/punters, but that's a mistake from what I'm seeing. The strong ones aren't going to walkon very often without the promise of something like Blankenship. The parents who I'm talking to are looking for the scholarship even if it means going cross country and playing at a smaller school. I know there are the occasional walkons like Coutu who come in and earn a scholarship, but I think UGA has a history of good kickers due to being aggressive with the offers.
I'll go back to my quiet and daily reading of posts (been addicted to this site for years) and let you guys do all of the talking unless you have a parking pass for sale. Go Dawgs!
I might be looking thru red and black glasses, but I still have to say that UGA's overall facilities were better, but not by a lot over Auburn. I also have to say that the enthusiasm of the coaches at UGA was way better than what we saw elsewhere. UF's coaches were a distant second and I won't comment on Auburn.
We saw a LOT of different kids. There were 250 at Auburn alone and only 60 at UF. I know the Dawgs are looking for another kicker/punter and we saw a handful of JUCO and senior guys (at least 6-8) who were pretty elite. I'm talking punters who were hitting 55-60 yarders fairly routinely and kicking 50-60 yard FGs with relative ease. Tonight's final competition in Mobile produced three guys who were punting over 50 yards in the finals and with 4.8 to 5.1 hang times. This was an elite camp and guys flew in from all over, so it's not like there are a ton of these guys around the country, but I'm hoping UGA can take a look at them.
From a kicking standpoint, there were a couple of guys who were strong D1 guys in Mobile. One even made a trick kick during some down time that is going around the web tonight and I'm told ESPN.
I know some on here have talked about saving the scholarship and taking only walkon kickers/punters, but that's a mistake from what I'm seeing. The strong ones aren't going to walkon very often without the promise of something like Blankenship. The parents who I'm talking to are looking for the scholarship even if it means going cross country and playing at a smaller school. I know there are the occasional walkons like Coutu who come in and earn a scholarship, but I think UGA has a history of good kickers due to being aggressive with the offers.
I'll go back to my quiet and daily reading of posts (been addicted to this site for years) and let you guys do all of the talking unless you have a parking pass for sale. Go Dawgs!
