Georgia fired Dennis Felton Thursday morning and nobody was really surprised. Felton is a class act and a fine coach but he never could recruit the talent-rich Atlanta area and that had as much to do with his demise as anything else. Already Georgia fans and boosters are making it well known that the man at the top of their wish list should be former Gator assistant and VCU head coach Anthony Grant. Grant is an outstanding recruiter and he is viewed as one capable of steering some of the Atlanta area talent to Athens.
Grant will have his choice of jobs when VCU’s season ends. Georgia isn’t the only team after him. Alabama mentions him but so do the folks at Maryland, where Gary Williams is expected to exit after this year, and Virginia, which also could be looking for a new head coach.
Felton is the second SEC coach to get the axe in a week. Last week, Mark Gottfried officially resigned at Alabama but make no mistake about it, he was forced out. Losses to schools like Mercer and Oregon were bad, but a bad loss to Auburn probably sealed it that Gottfried would be gone sooner and not later.
One name that you will hear at the top of the Alabama wish list is former Georgia and Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who is doing a marvelous job at Minnesota. While it’s highly doubtful that Smith will leave Minnesota, the fact that he’s on Alabama’s wish list should tell you the kind of coach they’re looking for. Don’t expect Alabama to go for a young hotshot but instead focus in on a coach with a track record. Bama has excellent facilities, a strong fan base and it’s close enough to talent bases in Birmingham and Atlanta to field very competitive rosters.
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