UGA Football

Georgia Bulldogs: An Interesting Note Regarding the Chris Wilson Hire

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New defensive line coach Chris Wilson could be the slam-dunk hire the Bulldog fans were hoping for after Rodney Garner’s departure. Photo: Keith Warren/Clarion Ledger

Chris Wilson—formerly of the Mississippi State Bulldogs—has accepted the defensive line coach position for the Georgia Bulldogs. And while it has not officially been confirmed by UGA as of yet (the hire has to go through the proper posting channels first), if all goes as expected, we should see an announcement sometime next week.

That said, there are still more than enough questions to ask about why Georgia would hire a guy with, presumably, no experience coaching the 3-4. I mean, this hire supposedly has defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s name all over it, right? So why wouldn’t Grantham try and bring in a guy with 3-4 experience; a guy who could step right in and take over without a learning curve?

It does boggle the mind a bit…it certainly boggled my mind. However, after doing some due diligence of my own on Wilson, I am totally on board; let me tell you why.

Beyond Wilson’s recruiting prowess (he’s noted as having been one of Mississippi State’s top recruiters on staff and has success recruiting in Atlanta-area schools) and defensive line experience, is his stint as a special teams coordinator when he was employed by the Oklahoma Sooners.

Georgia fans have been pining for a hire that addresses the inconsistent play of special teams. No coach, currently on this staff, has been able to fill the void left by former linebackers coach Warren Belin. Belin was the last assistant with success as a special teams guy, and his presence—during his one season at the helm—was much of the reason for Georgia’s improvement between 2009 and 2010 (the Dawgs rose from the bottom of the nation in opponent punt and kickoff returns in 2009 to nearly tops in the nation in 2010) was due to Belin’s experience and philosophy.

Since his departure in 2011, however, Georgia has again fallen into the depths of mediocrity in both categories and, at times, that has translated into more pressure on both the offense and the defense to make plays.

The hire of Wilson will, hopefully, be able to address those deficiencies and net some improvement in the areas of kickoffs, punts, and field goals. If nothing else, this hire has done wonders for addressing multiple needs all in one—special teams (potentially), recruiting (definitely), and defensive line.

Wilson should be a perfect fit with this staff with the level of experience and diversity he’s bringing in with him and I am excited to see how everything shapes up in 2013.

 

 

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Kimberley Nash

I am not a 'journalist' by trade, nor do I present myself as such. I am just a wife, mother, and Georgia Bulldog fan who likes to write about two of her favorite things: the Georgia Bulldogs and college football. I write. You read...it's a give and take experience.
  • AFD

    Below is a compilation of UGA’s Special Teams statistics this past season compared to Oklahoma’s from 2007-’09 when Coach Wilson was in charge of the Sooners’ special teams (it seems like he had his most success early w/ the kickoff return units and later w/ the punt return and punt return coverage units; however, I think it’s safe to say that he WON’T be the answer to UGA’s placekicking woes the last two seasons; ):

    UGA’s Special Teams – 2012 (FBS Rankings)

    Kickoff Returns: 22.16 yds / return (ranked #44), including 1 TD
    Kickoff Returns – Coverage: 20.20 yds / return (ranked #36)
    Punt Returns: 7.52 yds / return (ranked #82)
    Punt Returns – Coverage: 11.14 yds / return (ranked #103), including 1 TD
    Net Punting: 36.78 yds (ranked #57)
    FGs: 8 of 14 = 57.1% (ranked #132)
    XPs: 63 of 67 = 94% (ranked #133)

    ***

    Oklahoma’s Special Teams (FBS Rankings)

    2009:

    Kickoff Returns: 20.82 yds / return (ranked #83)
    Kickoff Returns – Coverage: 20.16 yds / return, including 1 TD
    Punt Returns: 16.26 yds / return (ranked #3)
    Punt Returns – Coverage: 1.76 yds / return, 0 TDs
    Net Punting: 40.27 yds (ranked #5)
    FGs: 18 of 28 = 64.3% (ranked #113); note: used 3 different kickers
    XPs: 48 of 50 = 96% (ranked #103); note: used 3 different kickers

    2008:

    Kickoff Returns: 25.17 yds / return (ranked #5)
    Kickoff Returns – Coverage: 23.84 yds / return, including 4 TDs
    Punt Returns: 8.29 yds / return (ranked #71)
    Punt Returns – Coverage: 5.00 yds / return, 0 TDs
    Net Punting: 33.84 yds (ranked #83)
    FGs: 8 of 13 = 61.5% (ranked #118)
    XPs: 94 of 99 = 94.9% (ranked #123)

    2007:

    Kickoff Returns: 28.27 yds / return (ranked #1)
    Kickoff Returns – Coverage: 21.75 yds / return, 0 TDs
    Punt Returns: 7.56 yds / return (ranked #78)
    Punt Returns – Coverage: 10.83 yds / return, 0 TDs
    Net Punting: 37.07 yds (ranked #24)
    FGs: 13 of 15 = 86.7% (ranked #16)
    XPs: 71 of 76 = 93.4% (ranked #133)

  • DawgByte

    This one is a bit of a head scratcher. Why was Wilson demoted? Demotions typically are do to a lack of performance. Just sayin.

  • AthensHomerDawg

    Love the blog.

    Unless CT”Damn” G went the pro route there aren’t that many 3-4 coaches available. I guess uT has one available. “In addition to Texas A&M and Texas Tech, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Notre Dame and Stanford all made the switch to the 3-4 Defense in 2010. Combining that with the already established 3-4 Defenses run by Alabama, Air Force, Army, Navy, BYU, California and SMU, there were a total of 14 FBS teams who used 3 down Linemen and 4 Linebackers in 2010.”

    Don’t expect much from Special teams emphasis as OU employed it’s special team approach the same as UGa. I see a fresh uptick in recruiting and maybe a fresh approach to special teams. No one else on the D staff is as familiar with the 3-4 as CTG and he has managed their learning curve.

    Although. Sometimes you can’t teach an “old Dawg” new tricks…. if you can catch my drift.

    just sayin

    • http://www.theladysportswriter.com/ Kimberley Nash

      Thanks for the “love”, first of all, I could hardly exist relevantly if not for the readership of yourself and others; much obliged!
      While I can agree that the 3-4 has become a hot scheme over the last couple, I’m not sure there’s such a glut on d-line coaches that CTG couldn’t nab one from somewhere in the college ranks. My guess is they had a set of criteria to meet with this hire and Wilson met those for ‘em.
      But that hardly diminishes the strength of your point as it’s still more than true that the 3-4 is more a scheme that you’d likely find an NFL coach than a college one. So, the quality is certainly an issue in this league now that so many are implementing the system…likely in response to so many teams using the spread option offensively.
      That said, I do hope Wilson leaves his “bizarro” ways (catch my drift ;) ) in Starkville and comes to the real Dawgs with an open mind and a willingness to accept CTG’s way of thinking.