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SEC regular season coaches and assistants that won’t be involved in bowl play
By John Hollis
Published:
The Georgia coaching staff that takes the field for the upcoming TaxSlayer Bowl game against Penn State on Jan. 2 will have a decidedly different look from the Bulldogs’ staff this season.
Gone are former head coach Mark Richt, who was let go by the school before taking another job at Miami, and both of his coordinators in Brian Schottenheimer (offense) and Jeremy Pruitt (defense).
Alabama defensive coordinator and UGA alum Kirby Smart was the choice to succeed Richt, but Smart will remain with the Crimson Tide throughout the postseason before heading to Athens. Alabama is one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff.
Interim coach Bryan McClendon, who had been serving as the team’s receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, will lead Georgia against the Nittany Lions. However, it will be tight ends coach John Lilly calling the offensive plays while outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer calls the defenses.
Smart will be filling out his own staff, meaning there will be just two holdovers from Richt’s staff – Sherrer and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker – who will be coaching in the bowl and sticking around afterward. McClendon will join new coach Will Muschamp’s staff at South Carolina.
The rest of Georgia’s assistants will coach through the bowl game, but have new destinations in mind immediately afterward.
The Dawgs were one of three SEC teams to make head coaching hires following the regular season, but were the only bowl-bound one of the bunch. Neither South Carolina nor Missouri qualified following disappointing seasons.
Tennessee will soon lose tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Mark Elder, but not before he first helps coach the Volunteers against Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1. Elder was named as Eastern Kentucky’s next head coach in December.
Here’s a look at the other SEC regular season coaches and assistants who won’t be involved in bowl play.
Alabama: It didn’t take long for Pruitt to join Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as the defensive-coordinator-in-waiting following Smart’s departure to Georgia. Pruitt already is making a difference on the recruiting trail, but will not be coaching the team when the Crimson Tide face Michigan State in the second New Year’s Eve national semifinal.
Auburn: The Tigers are still in search of a defensive coordinator following Muschamp’s departure for the head coaching job at South Carolina. Tigers linebackers coach Lance Thompson will be calling the defensive plays when the team faces Memphis in the Dec. 30 Birmingham Bowl.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
