Second to None

In January, Steve Greer retired from the position as director of football operations at the University of Georgia. This prompted the promotion of former wide receivers coach John Eason into that role. The vacancy at wide receivers coach was filled by moving Tony Ball from instructing the running backs.

This shifting left Georgia head coach Mark Richt with a position to fill within his coaching staff.

As it turns out, Richt decided to pull from within the ranks and give the job to graduate assistant and former Bulldog standout, Bryan McClendon.

A 2005 graduate, McClendon was a receiver on a senior class that won 44 games in four years, the most in school history. Since, the Atlanta-native signed with the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 2006 and reentered the fold of Georgia athletics as a graduate assistant at the start of last year's season.

Just 25 years old, McClendon already has his hands full with the departure of All-American tailback Knowshon Moreno and the loss of Richard Samuel and Dontavious Jackson to injury.

The running back corps he oversees has not been depleted of all its talent, however, as highly-tauted Caleb King returns for his sophomore campaign and the undersized-but-not-overmatched Carlton Thomas take carries in the early weeks of spring practice.

Both Samuels and Jackson hope to be fully recovered by the fall, and the entrance of freshman Washaun Ealey will bolster the ranks and give the Bulldogs much needed depth at the position.

In addition, Ball looks to maintain the strength of the receiving group for the upcoming season. Although he looses Mohammed Massaquoi, Demiko Goodman, and Kenneth Harris to graduation, the retention of SEC Freshman of the Year A.J. Green, and the addition of recruit Marlon Brown should give Ball plenty to work with.

Bulldog fans should be glad that there was only one vacancy in the Georgia assistant coaches entering this year. Offensive line coach Stacy Searels was pursued by a number of other schools after the job he did last season holding together the UGA offensive line through injury after injury. Conversely, this season, the o-line looks to be a strength players begin to return from those injuries.

A head coach is only as good as his assistants allow him to be, and Mark Richt is no exception. He has surrounded himself with knowledgeable and respected men, who have also proved loyal to their leader and their institution.

This year's top-10 recruiting class is another attribution to their hard work. No doubt, the outcome of next year's football season will depend greatly upon the work of these coaches.