Former UGA LB Coach Mike Ekeler Exit Interview

[Canedog]

Richt made some bad coaching staff decisions at Georgia. I hope he's got it straight at Miami. M

 

[AllAboutDaU]

Richt made some bad coaching staff decisions at Georgia. I hope he's got it straight at Miami. M

I think this article proves he didnt make the coaching staff decisions. The rumors of the AD forcing Schottenheimer on Richt seem to be true.

 

[NVA CANE]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

 

[iLoveTDs]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

My guess is he's referring to letting go of Mark Hocke.

Neither Swasey or Hocke are the 2nd best SC in the country anyways. Not by a long shot.

 

[Brickell]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

My guess is he's referring to letting go of Mark Hocke.

Neither Swasey or Hocke are the 2nd best SC in the country anyways. Not by a long shot.

No, I think he is referring to Swasey given this quote: "Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move."

Which is total bull**** - Swasey is one of the reasons we're in our era of irrelevance.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

My guess is he's referring to letting go of Mark Hocke.

Neither Swasey or Hocke are the 2nd best SC in the country anyways. Not by a long shot.

No, I think he is referring to Swasey given this quote: "Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move."

Which is total bull**** - Swasey is one of the reasons we're in our era of irrelevance.

Is this Ekeler that is quoted above or are those comment from posters? Look, we all know that the UGA program has been dysfunctional for the past couple of years. It seems as though no one was on the same page and Richt was being undermined by the AD and being back stabbed by Pruitt. First of all I'm not so naive as to think that Richt wasn't at least partially at fault there. What I do know is the comment about the Swassey being the 2nd best S&C coach in the country and his during having our alumni up in arms is complete BS. He's probably referring to guys like Kacey Rogers and a few other dopes lighting up the twitterverse with their petty know nothing garbage.



To be 100% honest the comments about Richt only hiring devout Christians to be a bit concerning as he should be hiring the best coaches period. Also the comment about Pruitt being the guy much more focused on winning and practicing hard while Richt cared more about the players developing as men is also a bit unnerving. To be clear, I am a big supporter of Richt but am in no way interested in being a blind zealot. We will see what happens and Richt knows what mistakes he made and why. Richts 151 wins in 15 years buys him the benefit of the doubt however and I do think we are in good hands. The Grim Richter seems motivated to succeed big here and be able to give a big middle finger the UGA administration.

 

[CanesAreAble]

I'm curious about the Jordan Jenkins thing. He was one of the players that spoke up when Richt was fired:

https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/jordan-jenkins-on-richts-firing-it-aint-right


Who knows? I'm not terribly concerned. Those kind of stories always come out after a coach leaves.

 

[Big Sky Cane]

I'm curious about the Jordan Jenkins thing. He was one of the players that spoke up when Richt was fired:

https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/jordan-jenkins-on-richts-firing-it-aint-right


Who knows? I'm not terribly concerned. Those kind of stories always come out after a coach leaves.

In fairness he was talking about "the most intense bowl practice week" they've ever had. Those comments concerned me too so I had to look them up in context.

“I feel like we banded together, and I feel like for a bowl practice, I feel the last week of practice we had in Athens was one of the best or one of the most competitive bowl practices we’ve had in my four years here,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “We were competing. We had a couple of friendly brawls in the first two days of practice. Normally, the first bowl practices are pretty bad, and by four or five, you get guys back at it like they used to. But we hit it off from day one, just getting after it and competing with each other.”

Georgia ramps up intensity in bowl practices | The Telegraph

 

[Dacane]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

1. All of his hires are not devout Christians. 2. Jordan Jenkins loved Richt and Pruitt. This seems like a fabrication. BTW Pruitt's defenses were pretty pretty good, so practice must not have been all that bad. 3. There were rumors of dysfunction on the staff, but indications were that it was between Pruitt and other assistants. Pruitt apparently has a reputation of being a jerk. 4. You don't have as many wins as Richt does by not wanting to win. Richt can "raise boys into to men" and still win. He already has. The two are not mutually exclusive. He is top 4 all time in wins for coaches in FBS over the first 15 years of a career.

 

[jakeman1]

The fact that Ekeler even hints at it being difficult there, shows there were some serious problems. Coaches will never badmouth a job or other coaches, so just him letting that slip means a lot. I think that's why Richt almost looked relieved at that press conference when he was fired. He also knows he has complete control at Miami, which will give him a better opportunity to win than he ever had at Georgia. He'll have a built in recruiting advantage he never had there, a lot more control, and less interference from boosters.

 

[HurricaneVision]

For me, it isn't always about hiring the "best" coach on paper, it's about hiring the right coaches.

If you and your coaching staff aren't pulling in the same direction, with the same goals, things aren't going to work to the level they could.

There has to be buy in. There has to be a plan and everyone pushing to go that direction. That's not saying a bunch of yes men, but that's saying that once you have made a decision everyone has to be onboard and supporting that decision.

A cohesive coaching staff who each has the others back will outperform the coaching staff that doesn't trust one another and is out for their stats.

Richt is in control and is doing it his way. We've all said we need a culture change. Well, we are going to get it.

 

[Tad Footeball]

I might be missing something here but where did this guy throw shade at Richt? It seems like he was only referring to "in-house" issues which obviously was about discord on the staff but that very well could all be placed at the feet of Pruitt. I'm not kneejerk defending Richt here but it just seemed ambiguous at best as to who (if anybody) he was specifically blaming. It's not news that Richt had staff issues at the end at UGA as he freely alludes to not being on the same page with those guys but if you're going to criticize him over that then you have to at least consider what compelled or forced him to even make those hires.

 

[The Franchise]

Ekeler came off like a jilted chick talking vaguely in circles. Sounds like some vague Tweet from a chick who got dumped. If you're going to speak up then put it out there. Otherwise, just shut the fck up and move on.

And if he was the DC for Wilson at Indiana he shouldn't be talking about guys not being able to coach a lick because those defenses were some of the worst to ever take the field.

 

[The Franchise]

Richt made some bad coaching staff decisions at Georgia. I hope he's got it straight at Miami. M

That's what happens when coaches are on the hot seat. They wind up hiring guys they don't know and have no idea if they or anyone else on the staff can work with.

 

[The Franchise]

Is this guy suggesting that Swasey was the second best S&C coach in college football? This is from the comments section which has some interesting tidbits from various porsters as to what was going on there. Seems like the UGA program was a complete disaster this past season and probably for two maybe three years.

I think all of this was more about Richt hiring a certain type of person verse hiring the best coach available. Notice all his coaching hires were devote christians. I am a christian, but I also know to hire the best person for the job. Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move.

In-fighting happens when individual coaches care more about making themselves look good than doing what's best for the team. Notice that Ekeler points out all the freshmen on special teams. It seems to me that Pruitt refused to let his best defensive players perform special teams duties. Pruitt wanted to keep his best defensive players healthy and fresh for defensive duties. Pruitt knows that his coaching future is based solely on how well Georgia's defense performs, so that's what he cared about. Meanwhile, UGA's special teams coaches surely wanted as many great players as possible on special...See More

Christopher Brown how do you know all this? Are you an insider? I think it was more Coach Pruitt wanted to win and practice hard while Richt wanted to raise boys into men. After all, Jordan Jenkins said the best practices of his career at Georgia were after Mark Richt left during bowl prep week. That really says a lot, plus as head coach you should control your staff, if you can't control the staff, you can't control much of anything else. Maybe Pruitt was just tired of losing the games they should have won. I just want to know how you know this information.....

My guess is he's referring to letting go of Mark Hocke.

Neither Swasey or Hocke are the 2nd best SC in the country anyways. Not by a long shot.

No, I think he is referring to Swasey given this quote: "Richt just let go the second best strength and conditioning coach in college football to hire some no names from Georgia. Already has the alumni in Miami up in arms over that move."

Which is total bull**** - Swasey is one of the reasons we're in our era of irrelevance.

You guys are analyzing the comments of some nameless internet poster who doesn't know the difference between "devout" and "devote".

 

[MdCanesFan]

He went out like a ***** in my book.

He also said ****tenheimer was a good coach , so he's a ***** and retarded

My fault on DV..was definitely trying to +1 for that statement

 

[weownfsu]

On what if anything you’d change about college football coaching if you could …

“People talk about hiring great recruiters; I think that’s an absolute joke. If you’re labeled that, 99 percent of the time that means you can’t coach a lick. That’s a fact. There are very few exceptions. Ed Orgeron is a fantastic recruiter and he’s probably the best defensive line coach of them all. The guy is big-time. It’s great to recruit 5-stars, but then they come in and play like 2-stars. It’s too bad that’s how this profession is, but that’s part of the deal now.

“It’s not about recruiting, it’s about evaluating. That’s one of the things I learned from Ed Orgeron. It doesn’t matter if he’s a 2-star or a 5-star, it’s how you evaluate it and what you think you can do with him. That’s what I learned from him. Again, you recruit them. But there’s only about five players in the country that are totally different than everybody else. Everybody else can fall into a similar category. At that point it’s about developing and teaching. It’s about evaluating and developing your talent. And that’s a fact.”

I've been saying that for years. "great recruiter" is a euphemeism for absolute **** coach. That's why I laugh when all these dumbasses pitch these ****** coaches like Lane Kiffin as the UM head coach because he can "recruit."

 

[RVACane]

On what if anything you’d change about college football coaching if you could …

“People talk about hiring great recruiters; I think that’s an absolute joke. If you’re labeled that, 99 percent of the time that means you can’t coach a lick. That’s a fact. There are very few exceptions. Ed Orgeron is a fantastic recruiter and he’s probably the best defensive line coach of them all. The guy is big-time. It’s great to recruit 5-stars, but then they come in and play like 2-stars. It’s too bad that’s how this profession is, but that’s part of the deal now.

“It’s not about recruiting, it’s about evaluating. That’s one of the things I learned from Ed Orgeron. It doesn’t matter if he’s a 2-star or a 5-star, it’s how you evaluate it and what you think you can do with him. That’s what I learned from him. Again, you recruit them. But there’s only about five players in the country that are totally different than everybody else. Everybody else can fall into a similar category. At that point it’s about developing and teaching. It’s about evaluating and developing your talent. And that’s a fact.”

I've been saying that for years. "great recruiter" is a euphemeism for absolute **** coach. That's why I laugh when all these dumbasses pitch these ****ty coaches like Lane Kiffin as the UM head coach because he can "recruit."

^^^^^Exactly... and Wario Crystalball and Al Folden are perfect examples of recruiters who can't coach for sheeeet. Now sadly, there are some, like Mark Dorito, who can't recruit or coach, yet stay on our former staph for 5 years running our program down.