It’s safe to say us Georgia sports fans don’t even feel losses anymore. Before the turn of the century, our trauma was limited to the on-field realm.
How Justin Fields can upgrade Georgia’s culture
On the field, in recruiting, and beyond, the No. 1 recruit choosing the Dawgs looks like a game changer.
Somewhere around 2007, though, the pain became cultural for one often-overlooked group of fans.
Losing Michael Vick in his prime was extra painful for the state’s black fans. Vick’s rise had coincided with Atlanta leading Southern rap’s breakthrough to the mainstream. The biggest, blackest state in the South was winning the sports lottery for once, then blew the check just as quickly. As an angsty teen (and dog lover) seven years into my natural-hair journey, watching a freshly shorn Vick walk to court three years after vowing to only cut his hair post-Super Bowl is easily the lowest I’ve felt as a sports fan.
In 2007, the culture took another loss, as Atlanta’s Cam Newton signed with the University of Florida. And after Mark Richt decided Cam would be better as a tight end, the Dawgs let fellow future national champion and first-rounder Deshaun Watson leave the state.
Forty-five minutes from campus lies Atlanta, the Black Mecca.
The 2014 UGA Fact Book stated only 6.8 percent of the school’s students were black at the time, despite the state being 31 percent black. The school integrated in 1961. Its football team was the eighth in the SEC to integrate, nine years later.
When you think of the average Georgia fan, your mental image is probably that of a Total Frat Move devotee. A lot of fans either aren’t aware of the school’s reputation within the state’s black population, don’t see the importance, or figure the program’s prestige can outweigh it.
While the state has long been recognized as prime recruiting turf, the city of Atlanta has become the Southeast’s epicenter of recruiting. Even the rappers were once high school quarterbacks.
Every Power 5 coach wants a foothold in the city, and for a while, it wasn’t that hard. In the late aughts, urban sprawl rendered the metro area a transient slush. Now, it’s not at all a surprise for a Generation Z metro kid to grow up cheering for a non-local team.
Since 2005, there hasn’t been a black signal caller the whole fan base could rally behind.
Aaron Murray won games and set records, but the fact that the Dawgs haven’t won an SEC title since D.J. Shockley gives some ammo to black UGA fans who’d like to see themselves more represented behind center.
In Richt’s defense, UGA did pursue some black QBs. In 2009, they offered Carver-Columbus’ Devin Burns, but after a miscommunication, Carver head coach Dell McGee banned Georgia coaches for two years. In 2011, they signed Christian LeMay, a top-five pro-style QB recruit. The 11th black Bulldog to take snaps under center, he attempted two passes and transferred to Jacksonville State.
Meanwhile, on-field or recruiting rivals Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee have been among the teams to win with more diverse QB rooms.
A little over a decade after Cam, that same Dell McGee might’ve changed Georgia’s culture.
The Dawgs’ new running backs coach served as lead recruiter for the nation’s No. 1 prospect, Harrison High quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields is one of the best quarterback prospects of the last decade.
I’ve compared his game to that of a taller Russell Wilson, another fellow excellent baseball player. At 6’3 and 221 pounds, Fields has a thick build. He is difficult to tackle in the open field because of his strength and his quickness.
But what makes Fields special is his throwing ability. Fields is a passer first. He finds his targets quickly and throws strikes. And like Wilson, he is able to move suddenly in the pocket to evade a defender, buy time, and deliver another strike. His scrambling ability is always on the mind of the defense, but he is first looking to throw.
I’ve been around Fields at many events, and both in speaking with him and observing how he interacts with other recruits, he does not come off as a prima donna QB prodigy. Other kids seem to enjoy playing with him, and I wonder if that stems from him not being a national superstar throughout his high school career, but bursting onto the scene in 2017.
— Bud Elliott
Forget the fact that he would be the third five-star to grace Georgia’s quarterback room in as many years (potentially joining injured starter Jacob Eason and current starter Jake Fromm). Nevermind his jump in the rankings, earned after completing 71 percent of his passes without an interception at The Opening. Fields says coaches have told him he could be something they’ve never had before.
That statement resonates beyond the football field, in more ways than one.
Landing Fields boosts Georgia’s recruiting even more than you might realize. Fields gives the Dawgs a prospect who just happens to be royalty on the camp circuit. He serves as a centerpiece and linchpin for two classes, not just one.
Six early five-stars in the 2019 class call Georgia home. Three will likely play receiver at the next level. Five-star junior receiver Dominick Blaylock picked Georgia on July 16, telling 247Sports’ Rusty Mansell that he wanted to get the news out early, just in case it helped the Dawgs’ chances with Fields. Before the Dawgs blew out Mississippi State, 2019 DE recruit Nolan Smith, another of three five-star juniors committed to the Dawgs, took a picture with Fields, an experience he described as “like meeting the president.”
Fields has expressed a slight concern with the Dawgs’ crowded QB room, but Fromm’s 2017 emergence opens up opportunities.
If Eason sticks around to reclaim the starting job, Fields could redshirt, learn the system behind the instantly beloved Fromm, and ease into the rotation with at least two years of separation. Should Eason transfer, Fields will get to Athens and start out with situational game reps and mop-up duty. (Considering the swath of Dawg Nation already packing Eason’s bags, Fields could use a year to get up to speed.)
I’m thrilled about the addition of Fields, even beyond what he can do in Jim Chaney’s offense.
A move like this was a no-brainer from a football standpoint, but it also throws an extra bone (sorry) to part of a fan base that’s been in need of one. Fields winning at UGA would drive home the culture change once and for all.
