The Georgia Bulldogs are experiencing some issues right now that a lot of college football programs wouldn't mind having.
Georgia recently began on-campus workouts for its New Year's Day date against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl without outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer, who was helping new Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt recruit in Knoxville. Pruitt is working two roles and is now back at Alabama working as its defensive coordinator, and Sherrer is performing a juggling act as well.
Sherrer is expected to be named Tennessee's defensive coordinator, but that announcement has not been made official.
"When he got the opportunity he got, which I'm really proud of, the first thing he said was that he wanted to finish this out right, and we want him to," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Monday in a news conference. "He's done a tremendous job with our outside linebacker group. He always has. It's important for us to be at our best in this college football playoff, and he's been here and helped these guys develop.
"I've got a lot of respect for Kevin, and I'm excited for his opportunity. He was with Tennessee on their official visit weekend, so he wasn't here for a couple of practices, but he's here today, and he'll be here the rest of the way through the bowl prep."
Smart worked for a month after the 2015 regular season as both Georgia's head coach and Alabama's defensive coordinator.
The 44-year-old Sherrer is finishing his fourth year with the Bulldogs, having helped mold the starting tandem of Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter the past two seasons and the duo of Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins before that. He served as the defensive coordinator for Georgia's 24-17 win over Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl after the 2015 season, when the Bulldogs were transitioning from Mark Richt as head coach to Smart.
"I'm proud of him," Carter told reporters Monday. "He's been my coach for four years. I'm just excited he's getting a chance to go do what he does."
Having assistant coaches who are desired by other programs is a sign of success, and there are a lot of schools that would assume Georgia's current recruiting predicament as well. The Bulldogs, who currently have the top-rated class of commitments in the Southeastern Conference, have experienced a shorter window with this week's early signing period due to playing in the SEC title game earlier this month.
The inaugural early signing period begins Wednesday morning and ends Friday night, and Smart described it Monday as a great challenge.
"I don't think people anticipated - at least I didn't - some of the complications," Smart said. "You have to look at it from the perspective of us as coaches and also the kids. I'm all about it if it's benefiting them and for a better cause. I think it will be a beneficial process for 20 or 30 percent of the people who sign, but there are a lot of other kids who feel rushed and are making decisions amid a sea of coaching changes, and they're having to hurry up and make a decision and not get the chance to develop relationships with the people at the places they are going.
"The public perception is you choose the school, and everybody can say that until it's your son or your daughter and you're having to meet these coaches. You make decisions based on relationships, and the time frame with which we're having these kids make these decisions is really stressful on them."
Smart said the 2018 recruiting cycle has a 1-2 chaotic punch of the early signing period and the addition of a 10th assistant coach, which can be announced Jan. 9.
"You've got a lot of coaches who are going to be moving after all the kids sign, and that's a problem people complained about before," he said. "It's been a difficult process for certain, and it's been complicated for us by playing in the SEC championship game and losing a week of recruiting. I would like for someone to look into and see who it actually benefited and how many did it benefit."
Georgia will be beyond the early signing period by this weekend, but it is unclear when junior inside linebacker Natrez Patrick's situation will be resolved. Patrick was arrested along with junior receiver Jayson Stanley several hours after the win over Auburn in the SEC title game on Dec. 2, which was the third marijuana-related arrest of his career.
Patrick's marijuana charge was dropped last Thursday in Barrow County, but Athens-Clarke County solicitor C.R. Chisholm claims the 6-foot-3, 238-pounder from Atlanta violated his probation from his October arrest on marijuana possession with the incident earlier this month. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity told reporters Monday night that Patrick's probation violation was not applicable to the university's drug policy, which calls for a dismissal from the team following a third marijuana-related arrest.
Smart said Monday that Patrick and Stanley are still part of the team, and he was asked if playing Patrick in the Rose Bowl would send a bad message.
"I'm not allowed to talk much about this subject," he said. "A lot of it is confidential, and you've got to respect his confidentiality. I have a lot of respect for Natrez as a person, a student and a student-athlete, and he's done a lot of good things along with his mistakes.
"I can't sit here and outline and define everything that's happened, because of his confidentiality, so there's not a lot I can talk about."
Injury updates
Smart said Monday that a trio of seniors - running back Sony Michel, defensive tackle John Atkins and cornerback Malkom Parrish - are "bouncing back" from late-season ailments. Michel, who is just 52 yards away from a 1,000-yard season, injured his knee against Auburn and did not return.
Atkins suffered a toe injury against Auburn but continued to play, while Parrish missed the SEC title game with what Smart described as a lower-leg injury.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.