“The game was won before the game even started,” [Dustin] Ware said. We came out, and I could tell in warm-ups we were just energetic and excited. I hadn’t seen that in months. I could tell before the game we were going to have a great game.”
February 8, 1992 was the last time Pete Herrmann won a game as a Head Coach. That win was at the expense of Colgate and at the hands of his Navy team, 89-57. Since then Coach Herrmann has spent his years assisting other Head Coaches, namely his good friend Dennis Felton, and leading young men on the court and off to be winners in the game and especially in life.
When Coach Felton and UGA parted ways last month, I don’t think we as fans fully grasped just how difficult carrying on the season would be not only for our players, but for Coach Herrmann as well. Despite having a lot of talent on the team and on the sidelines, the Hoop Dawgs drifted through the tough waters of the SEC schedule like a ship without a rudder. Most fans, myself included, doubted whether the Dawgs would get another win this season. Eleven straight losses, some of them blowouts, speaks volumes. While watching the Dawgs get pounded by UT Wednesday night, I honestly hoped we could somehow just forfeit the rest of the season and move on to focusing towards next year. Sad, but true. It was clear to me, or so I thought, that they’d just given up on the team & on themselves.
As you can imagine, the locker room evidently wasn’t the picture of optimism either. Thankfully Coach Herrmann didn’t share that negativity and decided to pull out all the stops to inspire a comeback against the SEC East leader. He reached out to another Coach on campus that knows a little something about the Georgia-Floriduh rivalry - Coach Mark Richt.
“I called Mark and asked him if he’d come over,” Herrmann said. “He’s as respected a person as we have on this campus and I wanted him to, you know, say a few words about what he loves. He loves Georgia. He loves the coaches here at Georgia, he loves the athletes, and he talked about that. And he talked about playing it all the way through.”
Smart move Coach Herrmann. As David Hale reported, CMR talked to the guys about our 2006 season when the Dawgs lost 4 of 5 games, but rebounded to win the last 3, all against ranked opponents. I’m sure he talked about going down to #5 Auburn, defeated & unranked, only to beat the dogshit out of the barners. He had to have mentioned how sweet it was to upset Yech at home between the hedges. And he must’ve talked about what it was like to come back from near defeat at the Peach-fil-A Bowl to stun Virginia Tech in the second half.
“That really inspired us,” senior captain Corey Butler said. “He said ‘G.A.T.A.’ Wrote it on the board. I don’t want to say what that stands for but we all know what it means (Get After Their Ass). He told us about some of his experiences and how nobody believed in them when they went down there in play them [in 2007]. He said we have to play for us and that’s what we did.”
He was indeed the perfect person to call in for motivation; no one rebounds & pulls off the upset like Coach Richt! It’s a familiar refrain we’ve seen time & time again from Richt in his 8 seasons at UGA. And it reminds me of the cameo role he played in the movie Facing The Giants. In his scene he comes in to talk to his former player, now a Head Coach himself, and reminds him of how powerful it is to believe in yourself, your ability to face down a giant and WIN. It’s not a stretch to suggest Mark was made for that role. He was certainly made for the role he plays at Georgia, and I’m not just referring to his position as Coach of the Dawgs.
Well the Hoop Dawgs faced down their giant Saturday and walked away winners, that’s for sure. They came onto that court as the weakest team in the SEC – winless in conference play, and winless since December 31st, 2008. But they left Stegeman as a stronger team and no longer owning the title of the SEC’s whipping boy. Yesterday’s win was the Hoop Dawgs’ biggest since beating Ole Miss 89-82 Feb 26, 2002. Terrance Woodbury had a career night with 32 points. Albert Jackson, my favorite Dawg, had an incredible night as well with 9 points, 7 rebounds, several blocks, some bad-ass dunks, and aggressive play that epitomises GATA! Much like the miracle run last year for the SEC Tournamant Title, this team proved once again they have the talent, desire, and ability to win any given day. Congratulations to the boys in red & black for never quitting in the face of adversity. A heartfelt thanks to Coach Herrmann & his staff for leading this team through a difficult time & never giving up! Here’s to hoping a new day has dawned for the Hoop Dawgs in 2009 and beyond!
“I couldn’t even explain how big a weight this is off my shoulders,” [Corey] Butler said. “It’s been four years I’ve been here, and we haven’t beat Florida. We owned them (Saturday). It’s as simple as that. We owned them.”
GATA DAWGS!!!
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