Category: UGA Football

The University of Georgia Athletic Association Forms Strategic Alliance With Todd Gurley

Multifaceted Partnership Includes Initiatives Across Athletics, Social Justice and Community

ATHENS, Ga. (Sept. 3, 2020) — The University of Georgia Athletic Association (UGAAA) is partnering with Atlanta Falcons running back and former Bulldog Todd Gurley across several initiatives.

Within the partnership, Gurley will be involved in a variety of aspects of on-and-off campus activities to meaningfully connect with the school, its students and alumni. Gurley will serve as a mentor and featured speaker for student-athletes on topics such as social justice, creating value beyond sport, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

“Athens is my second home, and playing for the Falcons will allow me to spend more time there,” said Gurley. “UGA fans embraced me as a young man, and that support has stayed with me throughout my time in the NFL. I am looking forward to getting to know the students and alumni, and making a difference in the community that has meant so much to me.”

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ATHENS —— Two Georgia football games this fall — Oct. 17 at Alabama and Nov. 7 vs. Florida in Jacksonville — were selected as part of the 7-game package of SEC games carried nationally by CBS in the 2020 season, according to an announcement by the league office Tuesday.

The Bulldogs’ contest in Tuscaloosa is slated for a prime-time, 8:00 p.m. (ET) kickoff.  Georgia’s annual clash in Jacksonville will kick off at its traditional time of 3:30 p.m. (ET).  Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson, along with reporter Jamie Erdahl, are CBS Sports’ lead college football announce team.  Gene Steratore will again serve as the Rules Analyst.

In July, the SEC established September 26 as the new kickoff for its 2020 football season to allow its universities to focus on the healthy return of their campus communities and the gradual re-introduction of athletics, as the 14 members of the SEC continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19.

CBS has selected games for the first two weeks of the SEC football season and four other games later in the fall.  Given the unique circumstances of this season, the SEC requested that its television partners make advanced game selections where possible prior to the start of the season to assist the Conference and schools with planning and logistics. For any games not chosen before the start of the season, the normal 12- or six-day selection process will be used during the season.

Additional kickoff times for early season games to be televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and the SEC Network will be announced soon.

The 2020 SEC football season will be comprised of a 10-game Conference-only schedule and the SEC Football Championship Game will be played December 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, rescheduled from the original date of December 5. The schedule will include one mid-season open date for each school and an open date on December 12 for all schools.

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

David Greene ended his great Georgia football career back in 2004, having won more games (42) than any quarterback in NCAA history and thrown for more yards (11,528) than anyone in SEC history. Both of those marks have since been passed — Georgia’s Aaron Murray now holds the SEC passing mark with 13,166 yards, with Greene third all-time — but Greene’s place in Bulldog and SEC history is secure. Few have done it better.

Now a married father of four in the commercial insurance business in the Atlanta area, Greene, who helped lead Georgia to the 2002 SEC championship and was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year that season, still follows the Bulldogs closely. He is also now coaching his sons, passing along what he knows to another generation.

During a Quick Chat this week, Greene talked about his playing days, coaching, his old friend and teammate David Pollack, being out of the spotlight and much more.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: What have the past five months or so been like for you?

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Georgia Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken offered the following comments Tuesday afternoon.

On where he starts when designing a new offense and combining Coach Smart’s goals and the direction he wants to go to launch his offense…
“First off, being three different places the last five years there’s a number of things that we’ve done in the past, So, you start with what you’ve done recently, and then what you’ve done the last few years that you liked and want to carry over. Obviously, the games are different, the NFL compared to college football, there’s different various or, you know, of what you want to accomplish from a tempo standpoint, from a personnel standpoint. But, we are still in the process of building that. We went through the spring and did that—then the summer and we’re continuing to work on that as we speak.”

On what he and Coach Smart envisioned UGA’s offense to look like once he joined the staff…
“Scoring points and not turning it over. I know that’s really simple, but obviously that’s—when we spoke about his vision of the offense, was certainly what I think every coach wants, which is take advantage of your personnel, the players that you can recruit here at the University of Georgia, doing a great job in terms of utilizing those people, putting them in the best position to be successful. Obviously, as coaches we are paid to maximize our players measurable skill sets, so that’s probably the first and foremost—the talent that we get here is finding a way every day to develop those players, and then utilize their skill set to the best of their ability. Obviously, the most important part is moving the football and scoring points, whether that’s running the football or throwing the football. Being explosive and not turning it over—it’s a pretty simple game.”

On whether he feels he has brought any concepts of NFL offense back to the collegiate level/his thoughts on the changes over time between the two levels…
“Well Seth, you’re right. You definitely see changes in the NFL in terms of spreading the field out, athletic quarterbacks, RPOs—that has changed, dramatically. The bottom line is as high school started doing more of that and then colleges did, then the players you are drafting—when you’re drafting certain players that’s what they’re accustomed to doing at quarterback. They’re more comfortable in [shot] gun—more comfortable with that style of system, trying to keep it as simple as you can. Obviously, it’s very difficult, the NFL level against the best in the world just like in this league. So there’s obviously things that we will take from a number of places I have been over the last 10 years, from Oklahoma State to Southern Miss, to the last couple of stops I’ve been in the NFL. There’s a number of things that I liked—the things I’ve done in the past and things that other people did. So, that’s really what you do. You put together what you think is the best way to move the football and score points.”

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