Dog Gone

The 5 Most Curious Coaching Departures in UGA Football History by Patrick Garbin—Twitter@PGarbinDT

As Radi asked in last night’s “The Georgia 3-2-1 Report,” why did defensive line coach Tracy Rocker leave? At this point, it’s anybody’s guess, and it appears to be a curious maneuver, especially the timing of it. Rocker’s move prompted me to ponder Georgia football’s most curious coaching departures of all time—whether head coach or assistant—and I instantly recalled a couple of defensive coordinators under Coach Richt—Brian VanGorder following the 2004 season and Todd Grantham after the 2013 campaign—who made puzzling departures from the program.

Still, although unusual, VanGorder, Grantham, nor Rocker’s retreats quite make my opinion of the top curious coaching departures in UGA football history. In chronological order (and, just in the last 100 years—before then, there were a few head-coaching exits which were absolute head-scratchers, to say the least), my top five:

1927—Head Coach George Woodruff: As was tradition, the Georgia head football coach addressed a Homecoming crowd of students just prior to the team taking to the gridiron. In this instance, head coach George “Kid” Woodruff—a star quarterback for the Red and Black for four years, and about to begin his fifth season as the Bulldogs’ head coach—added the unexpected while addressing the crowd before Georgia was to meet Virginia in the season opener by declaring the 1927 season would be his last. With the crowd in shock, Woodruff claimed he regretted “having to take this step more than anyone else” but his business interests in his hometown of Columbus, Ga., had forced him to “retire” from coaching as soon as the season was complete. And, what a season it would be—and, what a way to go out for Woodruff—as the 9-1 “Dream and Wonder Team” remains one of the greatest squads in Georgia history.

1938—Head Coach Joel Hunt: Just before Christmas of 1938, and three weeks after Georgia ended its season at 5-4-1, head coach Joel Hunt was interrupted while spending the holidays in Baton Rouge, La., where he had previously been an assistant at LSU, and informed by a newspaper writer that a rumor was swirling he would be fired. “I simply cannot understand it,” Hunt reportedly replied. And, when told he likely would be replaced by one of his very own assistants, ends coach Wally Butts, Hunt continued, “My three-year contract still has two years to run.” Georgia athletic director Dr. W.O. Payne refused to comment on the rumor until the athletic board was to meet on January 10th, but did state that UGA “never…had a three-year contract in athletics.” On December 31st, Payne made it official by announcing that Hunt, after just one season—a winning season—was fired, and Butts was his successor (what happened to January 10th?). Although Dr. Payne refused to comment on why Hunt was ousted, speculation was that Butts, as Hunt’s assistant, had caught the eye of some big-time boosters.

1963—DL coach John Gregory: Entering his seventh season as a Georgia assistant coach, John Gregory was likely head coach Johnny Griffith’s top assistant. Although his title was “Chief Defensive Line Coach,” Gregory was more like the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator, and had filled in as the team’s head coach for the season opener of 1961 when Griffith had to undergo emergency surgery for acute appendicitis. Nevertheless, only one month prior to the season opener of 1963, Gregory got a phone call from Griffith, whereby he was informed he was being relieved of his duties, and he was asked to “resign.” A staggered Gregory later said, “I told [Griffith] that I would not resign and he could talk to my attorneys.” As far as why Gregory was fired, Griffith would only say, “As head football coach, I have responsibility for selecting assistant coaches and assigning their responsibilities.” However, as for the reason why, it probably—I’m just guessing—had something to do with Wally Butts’ libel suit against The Saturday Evening Post, which had published an article indicating Butts and Alabama’s “Bear” Bryant and been in cahoots to “fix” the 1962 Georgia-Alabama game. The announcement of Gregory’s firing came just seven hours after Butts was awarded over $3 million by a federal jury—one in which heard testimony from Griffith, who had testified for The Saturday Evening Post, and Gregory, who had testified on the behalf of Butts.

1979—DB coach Jim Pyburn: In early November of 1979, it was reported by the Atlanta Constitution that Jim Pyburn, the Bulldogs' defensive backs coach who had played with Vince Dooley at Auburn in the early 1950s and had been on the head coach's staff at Georgia since day one in 1964, had handed Dooley his resignation effective at the end of the '79 campaign. Reportedly, Pyburn was upset with Dooley’s handling of the quarterback position, where his son, Jeff Pyburn, had started most of the 1977 season, all of 1978, and the first three games of 1979, before being benched and hardly playing under center during the month of October. A couple of days after the report, Coach Pyburn denied rumors he would quit, adding that “relating this to the quarterback situation, that’s stupid. I’ve been working here for 16 years and if and when I resign, I will say so. And why.” Five weeks later, the 47-year-old Pyburn indeed decided to resign following the Bulldogs’ conclusion of their season. As far as why, he simply stated, “we’ve just decided to get out of coaching.”

2000—Defensive Coordinator Kevin Ramsey: Ramsey was lured away from Knoxville in January 1999 by head coach Jim Donnan to coordinate the Bulldogs' defense, but mostly recruit—something he was supposedly very good at while at Tennessee. Turns out, during his brief stay in Athens, Ramsey could do neither particularly well. Despite all the talent, Georgia's defense was rather awful in 1999, especially against the pass (Ramsey personally coached the secondary). Spearheaded by Ramsey, Georgia's 2000 recruiting class finished ranked a lowly 29th in the nation according to Rivals, or just a single spot ahead of No. 30, and recruiting power, Mississippi State. Ramsey was officially one and done as the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator, and was notified as such by Donnan on February 14, 2000. Gary Gibbs, who had coached with Donnan at Oklahoma for five seasons but had been absent from the coaching profession for five years, was named Georgia's new DC. Ramsey was informed he could stay on with the staff, but be demoted to secondary coach. He was mad—apparently, fighting mad. Now, probably only a handful of people really know what exactly occurred in Donnan's office when Ramsey was notified of his demotion but, legend has it, he showed no love for the head coach by ending the confrontation with a thrown punch. Continuing to “stay classy” the following day, Ramsey took verbal jabs at Donnan on his way out of UGA, calling the head coach "deceitful" for demoting him after recruiting was over and going as far as referring to Donnan as "Pontius Pilate."

Anyone know of any others? I’m thinking, surely, I missed at least one or two…