Few Tears Will Be Shed Over Geathers' Departure
posted by Scott Hood, Wednesday, January 13, 2010
His response was classic Spurrier.
He contended he wouldn’t beg any of the players to stay except for possibly DE Cliff Matthews, who emerged this season as one of the top defensive players in the SEC.
In short, Spurrier’s message to Geathers, TE Weslye Saunders and DB Chris Culliver was obvious – don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out.
Geathers, apparently, took him up on the offer. Culliver and Saunders will likely stay, though.
While Geathers has left to go play on Sundays, I can assure you that Spurrier and defensive line coach Brad Lawing are crying few tears about his decision to leave.
First, Geathers’ production on the field doesn’t warrant any weeping and wailing. He only started nine games in his career and made 72 tackles in three seasons.
After being suspended for the season opener following that infamous run-in with the Columbia police in late August, it took him half the season to finally overtake redshirt freshman Devin Taylor at the defensive end position opposite Matthews. Last year, he couldn’t beat out Jordin Lindsey and ended up starting just one game.
Make no mistake, though, Geathers is gifted with tremendous size (6-foot-8, 281 pounds) and athleticism, two traits that will make him attractive to NFL teams. However, he is too raw and undeveloped at this stage of his career.
As a well-known draft analyst told me last night, few NFL general managers would be willing to risk taking Geathers in the early rounds because he will be considered a ‘project’. Remember, those guys are judged primarily on who they select in the first three rounds and most of them like their million dollar salaries too much to take too many chances. Early-round players are expected to contribute immediately. If they don’t, they’re considered busts by the local media and the GM gets the blame.
Of course, it’s always possible Geathers could go to the NFL Combine and impress everybody with his physical skills, forcing a team to take him in the early rounds just like Johnathan Joseph did in 2006 when he ran a blazing speed in the 40.
The happiest person might be Lawing, since he dealt with Geathers and his family on a daily basis. About a year ago, Lawing told me a story about getting a phone call from someone in the Geathers family. They complained about the way Clifton was being coached.
Lawing furnished the caller with a reality of Clifton’s abilities and what he had to do to become a productive defensive end in the SEC. Apparently, the caller wanted Lawing to do what Geathers high school coach did – just tell him to line up and get after the quarterback.
Unfortunately, as Geathers quickly learned, it doesn’t work that way in the SEC when you’re trying to get around or push through some of the best offensive tackles in all of major college football.
At the SEC level, it’s about proper fundamentals and technique and being able to use your hands and feet to your advantage. But the Geathers’ family didn’t grasp that.
Lawing understood USC was simply a caretaker for Geathers on his road to the NFL. As someone said yesterday, playing pro football is the “family business” and things would be no different for Clifton.
But the trick to making it in the NFL is earning a second contract. That’s where most players get wealthy, especially those taken in the later rounds. Right now, I question whether Geathers will make it that far since he’s still raw. The key will be how patient the team that selects him decides to be.
In my opinion, Geathers’ reason for leaving early – fear of injury – is enough justification to wave goodbye. That excuse (the only proper description) leads to one reasonable conclusion – had Geathers returned in 2010 he would have played tentatively, not understanding, of course, that he would put himself at a greater risk of injury by playing half-speed.
Frankly, any player who says he’s afraid of being hurt shouldn’t be playing football especially at the SEC level. Those words could come back to haunt him in the NFL. He will certainly be asked about it at the NFL Combine.
Remember, Geathers initially committed to Georgia duirng the recruiting process but was denied admission. He ended up at Hargrave Military School with the hopes of earning sufficient grades to get into UGA. When he couldn't, he showed up at USC.
In fact, a week or so before he left Hargrave, Geathers wore his Georgia gear while being interviewed. In the video, he proudly boasted about how he was looking forward to playing for the Bulldogs. Thus, don't be fooled into believing he wore the garnet and black because he loved the school, the campus, Columbia or anything else.
Clearly, playing for USC was his second choice at the beginning of his college career. Now, staying in school is a distant second to playing for pay.
Clifton, good luck. You might need it.
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The seeds of defensive end Clifton Geathers’ departure for the NFL were sown the day after the bitter Papajohns.com Bowl loss when a still-angry Steve Spurrier was asked if he would speak with any of the draft-eligible juniors about returning for their final years.
His response was classic Spurrier.
He contended he wouldn’t beg any of the players to stay except for possibly DE Cliff Matthews, who emerged this season as one of the top defensive players in the SEC.
In short, Spurrier’s message to Geathers, TE Weslye Saunders and DB Chris Culliver was obvious – don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out.
Geathers, apparently, took him up on the offer. Culliver and Saunders will likely stay, though.
While Geathers has left to go play on Sundays, I can assure you that Spurrier and defensive line coach Brad Lawing are crying few tears about his decision to leave.
First, Geathers’ production on the field doesn’t warrant any weeping and wailing. He only started nine games in his career and made 72 tackles in three seasons.
After being suspended for the season opener following that infamous run-in with the Columbia police in late August, it took him half the season to finally overtake redshirt freshman Devin Taylor at the defensive end position opposite Matthews. Last year, he couldn’t beat out Jordin Lindsey and ended up starting just one game.
Make no mistake, though, Geathers is gifted with tremendous size (6-foot-8, 281 pounds) and athleticism, two traits that will make him attractive to NFL teams. However, he is too raw and undeveloped at this stage of his career.
As a well-known draft analyst told me last night, few NFL general managers would be willing to risk taking Geathers in the early rounds because he will be considered a ‘project’. Remember, those guys are judged primarily on who they select in the first three rounds and most of them like their million dollar salaries too much to take too many chances. Early-round players are expected to contribute immediately. If they don’t, they’re considered busts by the local media and the GM gets the blame.
Of course, it’s always possible Geathers could go to the NFL Combine and impress everybody with his physical skills, forcing a team to take him in the early rounds just like Johnathan Joseph did in 2006 when he ran a blazing speed in the 40.
The happiest person might be Lawing, since he dealt with Geathers and his family on a daily basis. About a year ago, Lawing told me a story about getting a phone call from someone in the Geathers family. They complained about the way Clifton was being coached.
Lawing furnished the caller with a reality of Clifton’s abilities and what he had to do to become a productive defensive end in the SEC. Apparently, the caller wanted Lawing to do what Geathers high school coach did – just tell him to line up and get after the quarterback.
Unfortunately, as Geathers quickly learned, it doesn’t work that way in the SEC when you’re trying to get around or push through some of the best offensive tackles in all of major college football.
At the SEC level, it’s about proper fundamentals and technique and being able to use your hands and feet to your advantage. But the Geathers’ family didn’t grasp that.
Lawing understood USC was simply a caretaker for Geathers on his road to the NFL. As someone said yesterday, playing pro football is the “family business” and things would be no different for Clifton.
But the trick to making it in the NFL is earning a second contract. That’s where most players get wealthy, especially those taken in the later rounds. Right now, I question whether Geathers will make it that far since he’s still raw. The key will be how patient the team that selects him decides to be.
In my opinion, Geathers’ reason for leaving early – fear of injury – is enough justification to wave goodbye. That excuse (the only proper description) leads to one reasonable conclusion – had Geathers returned in 2010 he would have played tentatively, not understanding, of course, that he would put himself at a greater risk of injury by playing half-speed.
Frankly, any player who says he’s afraid of being hurt shouldn’t be playing football especially at the SEC level. Those words could come back to haunt him in the NFL. He will certainly be asked about it at the NFL Combine.
Remember, Geathers initially committed to Georgia duirng the recruiting process but was denied admission. He ended up at Hargrave Military School with the hopes of earning sufficient grades to get into UGA. When he couldn't, he showed up at USC.
In fact, a week or so before he left Hargrave, Geathers wore his Georgia gear while being interviewed. In the video, he proudly boasted about how he was looking forward to playing for the Bulldogs. Thus, don't be fooled into believing he wore the garnet and black because he loved the school, the campus, Columbia or anything else.
Clearly, playing for USC was his second choice at the beginning of his college career. Now, staying in school is a distant second to playing for pay.
Clifton, good luck. You might need it.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.