New OL coach

[Dmldawg782]

Coach Richt hired a new OL coach today. To somewhat of a suprise, the OL coach from LSU, Stacy Searels, is now our coach. He's produced some good OL. I remember a few years back, the year they won it all, they had 3-4 drafted that year. They looked good in the games I can remember this past year as well. I hope he is a good recruiter.

[hmsdawgs]

THis is a great pick up for the dawgs. We may be slipping in the recruiting rankings, but this will cap off our year just as nice as a top 5 class.

[Bburton86]

AnyTHING is better than Callaway.

[DanielW4444]

Maybe he can talk some sense in that boy that commited to Florida State and get him to come to Georgia. Chris Little is his name, right?

[gatorhater]

Good pick-up for us! By the way, I haven't had time to keep up w/ scout and rivals. Is our ranking really slipping? If so, why..??

[DanielW4444]

We were #4 but we have fell to #11 or #12 last time I checked. Kids like Eric Berry going to Tennesse and Chris Little going to FSU hurt. I really wanted both of them.

[Dmldawg782]

We haven't had a commitment in awhile, while other schools have picked up several good commitments. Plus, OL's don't help raise you in the rankings unless they are the elite group. Skill players really are the measuring stick.

[Jay Bee]

Coach Richt hired a new OL coach today. To somewhat of a suprise, the OL coach from LSU, Stacy Searels, is now our coach. He's produced some good OL. I remember a few years back, the year they won it all, they had 3-4 drafted that year. They looked good in the games I can remember this past year as well. I hope he is a good recruiter.

I think it's a great pick up for you guys. Lots of folks around here would like to see Coach Searles back at Auburn.
Not only is he supposed to be a good coach, he's also a real life hero. Check out this article from his coaching days at Appy St (this happened in 2000)

Mountaineer football coaches and players face flames, become heroes at accident scene

Gerald Witt - Editor-in-Chief

In the wake of Appalachian State University's football win over East Tennessee State University was a trip back to Boone swirled with tragedy, heroism, and death.

En route from Johnson City, Tenn. was the entire Appalachian State University football entourage: trainers, managers, and offensive and defensive players and coaches; all caravaning north on Highway 105 when a van of trainers was hit by a car traveling at a high rate of speed in the southbound lane. A 1989 white Audi station wagon, driven by John Vincent White III, 38 from Banner Elk, burst into flames immediately upon striking the front driver�s side of the van and subsequently catching it on fire.

"I heard people inside the van screaming 'Help me, help me;' there were blood curdling screams," said sophomore witness Andrew Weinkle.

The offensive bus, named so because it carries coaches and players on the offensive side of the football team, got to the scene first. "The othe vehicle (White's car) was totally engulfed in flames," said Rob Best, assistant football coach.

"The biggest thing was making sure everyone was out of the van," said Joe Hamilton, a wide receiver on the Mountaineer football team.

With the impending danger and the possibility of flames engulfing the van, time for action was dwindling. "We were working pretty fiercely, nobody wanted to stay close to the van," Best said.

Assistant coaches Shawn Elliot, Stacy Searles and Rob Best took the initiative to remove most of the victims from the wreckage. "They had to break seats and windows to get people out," Weinkle said.

As the coaches went to move the van's driver, he did not come out initially. The left-front section of the van was the location of the epicenter of the flames as the Audi slammed into the front of the van, according to Best. "We were all standing right there at the door of the van... I was beginning to get a little concerned," said Coach Jerry Moore.

"I couldn't even see the car or the front half of the van. There was just a fiery blaze," Weinkle said.

Once the driver was pulled from the wreckage, everyone alertly moved away as flames engulfed the van. "About four to six minutes after we got them out, the van ignited. (The fire) spread pretty rapidly," Best said.

After the passengers were out of harm's way, the entire football team went to tending wounds, handing out blankets and providing help.

"The players did an unbelieveable job of consoling," said Moore. Some of the more medically-qualified team members helped with applying pressure to wounds and stabilizing injuries, while the rest provided support in various form, while the van and car burned in a plastic, vinyl, gasoline, and rubber blaze.

Joey Gibson, an ASU wide receiver, went ahead with other team members from the bus to help the injured. "I saw somone (from the accident) walking back toward where the vehicles were and (I) went and grabbed a blanket for her," said Gibson, "Then I went down to a gentleman that was down the bank and just pretty much prayed and held his hand."

"When we first ran up, there were poeple just kind of lying on the ground... we grabbed a couple of the people and moved them away from the scene," said Hamilton. "One individual, the worst one, a coach grabbed his legs, one had his shoulders and I held his head (stable)."

A few passengers sustained broken bones while many received sprains and cuts. One injured student was flown to the intensive care unit at Johnson City (Tenn.) Medical Center Hospital in critical condition.

Abmulances and emergency workers soon swarmed the scene, backing up traffic for at least two hours in both directions on Highway 105. Workers stayed throughout the night until nearly 4 a.m., one report said. The Mountaineer football team arrived outside Owens Field House at approximately 3 a.m., according to Gibson.

The team found two battles to fight that night; one on a field of play, and another against a miriad of flames. As coaches became rescuers and players turned into counselors and gauze or hand-holders the distinction between game and life was shockingly clear.

In light of the events of early Sunday morning, Moore had a team meeting later that day, discussing the events that occured. "We love football, but he (Moore) also tries to extend it to life skills," Best said in reference to the meeting. "He (Moore) talks in tems of how precious life is and this just personifies it."

[TPM]

Stacy Searels is def. a good pick-up for yall. From what I hear he is a very upstanding guy. I also heard that he called all of the players he was recruiting to LSU and told them that they should still pick LSU even though he was leaving. Sounds like a very good guy. Congrats to the dawgs on this pick-up.

[Dmldawg782]

He sounds like a great guy. Hopefully, he can do something with our O-line and make them dominating.