Semi-OT: Georgia Decides Not to Give Starting K a Scholarship (TL;DR Kirby Smart is a ....)

Submitted by boliver46 on

I guess part of me is torn by this story.  Some devalue kickers calling them "idiot kickers", but this guy has been pretty good for a college kicker.  

It seems pretty apparent that Georgia is playing some numbers games regarding scholarships - as they've decided NOT to provide a scholarship for their starting kicker:

Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s decision not to give redshirt freshman kicker Rodrigo Blankenship a scholarship for the spring semester has rankled Blankenship’s parents. And it’s rankled them so much so that they’ve released a statement regarding the coach’s decision.

At issue is the kid is struggling to pay his way through school, and has now been the starting kicker at Georgia for two years:

That means the newbies will be cashing those weekly $200 maintenance checks (not to mention the free housing, tuition, books, etc.) while our son uses his debit card for weekend meals and incidentals; back home in Marietta there’s a dad who has to keep his son’s checking account balance on the plus side. Yes, our son is allowed to participate at the training table during the week —a godsend when meal plan costs are computed.Blankenship’s father told the AJC earlier in the fall his son may have to transfer because of financial reasons if he didn’t get a scholarship. Ken said in November he’s been using his retirement fund to help pay for Rodrigo’s expenses and the spring semester is the last semester he can afford.

I know there has been some chatter about Smart working the state legislature to change FOI laws, and we've seen some recruiting battles take a "sudden turn" at the last minute.

This just adds to my hatred of all that is $EC.  We reward WALK-ONS with scholarships - yet a 2-year starter cannot be guaranteed anything.

Link

Rodrigo Blankenship missed four kicks all season.

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AZBlue

January 5th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^

To be fair any promises of a scholarship when he first signed went out the door when Richt left. Kirby probably said "we'll see after the season" to avoid the hassle going into this year and hoped it would go away. Now he sees the chance to sign a 5-star EE or give this kid a spring scholarship and well...you know. To be fair this board has said similar things about specialists and walkons (like Glasgow) if a better player was available but scholarships - at least in the fall - have always come open.

Joined: 09/14/2008

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Wee-Bey Brice

January 5th, 2017 at 9:49 PM ^

From what i've read their fans dont appear to think he needs a scholarship either. They'd rather him and his dad just "stop crying" or apply for a loan. Apparently Kirby's philosophy is to never give a scholly to a kicker. They want all theirs to be PWOs.

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jalenwestman

January 5th, 2017 at 9:56 PM ^

Feel bad for the kid, but that's kind of the nature of the college football beast. Thankfully Michigan hasn't found itself in this position yet under harbaugh. If or when it does, the media will try once again to crush him.

Joined: 08/04/2016

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UMfan21

January 5th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^

feels wrong, but I had a bigger issue with the article. why is his dad draining his retirement to pay for his sons college? his son should be requesting financial aid and student loans like other students. seems like very poor financial planning by the dad.

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wolvorback

January 5th, 2017 at 10:11 PM ^

But both punters and both long snappers are on schollies? If you think that Kirby is a douche, share this on social media and encourage others to do the same. More people need to see how much of an asshole he is. I think Richt is a better coach, anyway.



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MichiganStan

January 5th, 2017 at 10:24 PM ^

Georgia is trying super hard to become the shitstain of NCAA football

Praying that the NCAA investigates them after this recruiting cycle

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SeattleWolverine

January 6th, 2017 at 1:41 AM ^

Hahahaha. Dad has his cumulative FG stats since 6th grade. Well, Kirby may be a pro-bag man douche, but this pretty much just destroyed the credibility of anything Dad has to say about Kirby. 

However, and despite the substandard coaching the team had to endure during Rodrigo’s tenure, the 6-1, 190-pounder was a veritable automaton regardless of how far out of position he was placed.

Even though his teammates were substantially outscored and outplayed, Rodrigo’s standards of excellence were never compromised. He finished the season averaging well under one error per game, his touch efficiency remained near-perfect at 99.8 percent and his pass completion percentage rose steadily, ending at more than 93 percent after completing more than 98 percent of his passes over the final three games.

 

It's Gold Jerry, Gold!

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WolverineinSB

January 5th, 2017 at 10:39 PM ^

I just looked and he was an army all American kicker coming out of high school. Just wild that he still hasn't been able to get a scholarship. Smart is acting like a scum bag doing this.



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I dumped the Dope

January 5th, 2017 at 10:42 PM ^

is tearing itself apart looking for some combination of personnel and scheme that can tear down the dark master in Tuscaloosa.  They used to be haunted by the evil genius of Spurrier and now this!

I feel like UGeorgiA doesn't really care as long as they can achieve that objective with Smart at the helm.

Joined: 09/22/2013

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UofM626

January 5th, 2017 at 11:44 PM ^

I don't care that the players dad is also a idiot. But your not gonna give a a scholarship to a STARTING KICKER but you will give some freshman kid and or 3-4 players who don't play or have any bearing on your season a scholarship just shows Kirby is a major deuche just like Saban... Wtf is Kirby thinking

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A Lot of Milk

January 6th, 2017 at 12:21 AM ^

They just realized they'll never have a potential late game fg attempt that'll have any significance on their season, so why not give a scholarship to a defensive player who gets schooled by Georgia Tech's triple option every year?

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