Prominent media personality thinks UGA is the best job in the country
Where is the best job in college football? Is it at Texas? Alabama? How about USC?
None of the above.
The best job in college football is found at The University of Georgia, at least according to Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated.
Staples appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show Wednesday afternoon, and was asked to share his opinion on UGA.
"UGA is the best job in CFB & if they don't meet expectations they need to ask some hard questions" – @Andy_Staples pic.twitter.com/QTQ5ONPQWd
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) August 5, 2015
DawgNation reached out to Staples in order to learn a little bit more about why he had so much respect for the Georgia program, and he cited recruiting as a big factor.
“There’s such an abundance [of high school talent] in the state that Georgia can afford to lose a few top in-state targets and still field a team capable of competing for the SEC and national titles,” Staples explained. “My top criterion is access to players relative to competitors, and Georgia is in a really enviable position. With Georgia Tech running the option, the schools aren’t really going head-to-head on offensive players because of different needs, and Georgia is the bigger brand name.”
Of course it wasn’t all about recruiting.
“Add to this great facilities (now that they’re building an indoor), great tradition, a sharp athletic director, possibly the best college town in America and the fact that they play in the easier division of the nation’s deepest conference. That’s the recipe for a great job that just about every coach in America would crawl over broken glass to take.”
Staples also gave some insight as to some of the Bulldogs’ missed chances.
“If some things break differently in the 2012 SEC title game, Georgia has a national title under Mark Richt and we’re probably not having this conversation,” he said. “But the fact is, Georgia has been the best team in the east on paper for most of the years since Tim Tebow left Florida and has two east titles, and no SEC titles, to show for it.”
The Sports Illustrated reporter believes that “Given its advantages and the current state of the SEC East, Georgia should be in the national title hunt most years.”
Despite some of these opportunities that the Bulldogs let slip, Staples is extremely high on UGA coach Mark Richt.
“Mark Richt is on a very short list of coaches I’d want my kid to play for. He’s secure in who he is and how he wants to run the program.”
Of course there are arguments to be made for or against Staples’ belief, but given the abundance of talent that travels to Athens every year to don the red and black, he believes that UGA is a good place to be.
Besides, with Nick Chubb leading the offense and an improved defense in its second year under Jeremy Pruitt, Georgia may end up being the best job in 2015 when all is said and done.