re: The Official Coaching Search Thread- updates in OP

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Travis Williams

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I remember him very well, he went to Lake City Prep or somewhere like that. He helped recruit Leon (can't remember his last name, OLineman from Spring Valley), and ... wait, was it Leon Hart maybe? Anyways, he helped recruit Leon ???? a couple of years after that and the Richard Seymore thing played into the whole mess as well ... which had been a few years earlier but was being played as a similar slight by many of the local coaches.

I think Skip claimed Williams was not only too small but also of questionable character and he publicly stated Williams was too dumb to ever qualify ... which enraged a lot of people who knew Williams and really turned some HS coaches against Skip.

Well that's a step down

Another name to look at for the LB Coach, David Blackwell. He is the DC at Jax State, who had a good Def this year. He was a former LB Coach at clemson, and is from the upstate.

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We have a new Director of On Campus Recruiting. I don't think that was a position before. Jessica Jackson.

https://twitter.com/JessRecruitsSC

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She's a ... big hire, huge hire! And she's recruiting on campus.

Read my acronym backwards ...

CORSAHHHB

Sorry I had to be so vague but I was under penalty of death and dismemberment if I told anyone and y'all are just too good at figuring things out - I've learned that over time. I did give y'all the Alabama hint though ... but I think everyone was thinking it was going to be a male. That's why I was so careful to never make my hints gender specific. But I did give y'all the hint too ... that it would be another strong recruiter.

Couple of things. I was introduced to her several weeks ago, shook her hand, and she is absolutely beautiful in person, both looks and personality ... an Alabama girl, been working on that staff. She's a rising star and credited with landing, or at the very least helping to land, many a Bama recruit recently.

This is a big hire ladies and gentlemen. A huge hire. She was being courted by a lot of other big time programs and we landed her. She'll be doing the same job here that Asha Sowell is doing at Bama now and there are those that say Jess was a key part of Asha's success, her right hand girl so-to-speak. Plus she has strong ties in Atlanta, used to work for the Peach Bowl over there, and she went to HS at Sandy Springs I think she said - which produces a ton of talent. Reiterated that she graduated from Bama and has been paying her dues there before earning this opportunity to move-up.

Everyone wanted Jess. Smart at Georgia wanted her when he thought Jenna Jackson was going to follow Richt to Miami. Richt tried to get her while he was still at Georgia to work under Jenn, and he reached out to her again when he went to Miami for the same role she got here. (Jenn Jackson is one of Jess Jackson's BFFs, although I'm told recently that they are related ... I'm not sure about that yet though so don't quote that but Jenn Jackson is every bit the legend at the position that is Asha Sowell.) Bama offered her more money to keep her there. Auburn tried to get her, she visited there during the process as well ... but we got her and this is huge. This is a major major hire. There are a lot of happy people over at our football offices, happy that she chose us.

She comes so highly regarded, and highly recommended, it's incredible.

So anyways, we got her just in time for the January visits and all I can say is that our coaches are tickled pink that she is here, on campus, and ready to go to work. We should all be very excited about this. We really should. Getting her here is another sign that we are now stepping up to the plate with the big boys.

https://www.facebook.com/jessica.jackson.123829

Edited to add: What this hire does is take this roll, to woo recruits, outta the hands of volunteers and coaches' wives. It makes it a professional position and one that was pioneered by Saban at Bama. Her sole purpose is going to be wooing recruits, setting up the details of their visits, appealing to what is important to them in the process and learning everything about every recruit we are targeting before they reach campus. She's been an absolute homerun at Bama and we can fully expect her to be the same here. I cannot express how big this is, that we landed Jess. It's just huge.

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Ha I suppose we were all expecting someone to be on the field. This definitely looks great though! Can't wait to see what kind of impact she makes on the process!

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I know it may seem somewhat anticlimactic on the surface, but this really is a big, huge, hire. She is a key piece to the puzzle that was missing ... been missing around here for years. Spurrier refused to employ someone like her for the role, he didn't think we needed the role in the first place - he preferred to use coaches in the role, and their wives.

Think back to the mess that was made by Jenn Holtz (Skip's wife) during the recruiting season when she was here ... when she resigned her position right in the middle of recruiting season and left everyone hanging for personal bitchy reasons. It was all very public.

Spurrier was never going to allow that possibility under his direction - he wanted it to remain all men, all under contract, all the time. The girls we used were students - and I never liked it, not ever. They were a volunteer group and they were not very good at it.

We've even allowed SC State girls in the past ... to help us recruit (unofficially) as outsiders, being close to the campus and all.

Y'all understand what I am saying.

With this hire this puts us on a very professional approach to doing this in such a way that has proven ultra successful at other programs. And, again, this was all pioneered by Saban the moment he saw a crack in the rules. (As it was explained to me it has something to do with Article 11-2, or something like that, in the NCAA by-laws on recruiting.)

This young lady is just exceptional. I was really worried, as time dragged on after her interview, that we were not going to land her ... that's why I kept urging everyone to keep their fingers crossed.

After I met her, I saw the reaction from all the guys, including some players, and heard the stories from one who had visited Bama when she was there ... and I knew instantly why we were after her so hard.

Then I started hearing about her talking to other coaches at other programs and I started worrying. I really thought Auburn might get her, or she might end-up in Miami. And then when I heard Richt was trying to pull Jenn Jackson outta of UGA to Miami, I figured it was over because I figured she would definitely end-up at Georgia if Jenn left for Miami. But when Jenn stayed at UGA, well ... Richt came after Jess I was like, oh crap. Then we started hearing rumors that Florida had contacted her, then Ohio State (neither of which have filled their positions yet) ... and I started crossing my fingers even tighter. She's an impressive person to meet in person.

Jenn Jackson and Asha Sowell are legends at what they do at UGA and Bama respectively. I've known about them for awhile. They are so good at what they do that there have been attempts to get their positions eliminated by rival programs ... but the NCAA allows it. So with this hire we are really stepping up to the plate. And she was not cheap either, we really had to step-up to the plate to get her.

I hope she can assemble a fleet of hostesses to come to her aid. I would be happy to do my part and interview all the hostesses beforehand, to make sure they are the quality we need for such an important position.

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Probably means we'll have a full staff come Friday, so we must be close to getting that last spot filled.

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That makes me think Blackwell gets the last spot.

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It's actually scary and eye opening to see just how outdated, understaffed, antiquated, and poorly run our recruiting program was under the last staff. It makes me thankful we were able to have the success we did in spite of that fact, and a bit ticked off that we didn't take advantage of all the success we had over 5 years because our staff was asleep at the wheel. We should have been the shiny new program that everyone wanted to go play for, instead we got "we'll win with or without you" so we aren't going to work too hard at it.

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I agree 100%.

Then, when you throw-in the old recruiting budget, compared to the new one, .... we really were behind the times.

We're catching-up fast though.

That's about right because I'm pretty sure they have six new positions on the org chart.

But they're also doing more with some of the old spots ... filling them with better personnel.

New GA on Offense.

https://twitter.com/Coach_Symmes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw