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No kool aid necessary! I'm not suggesting they'll be contenders for the national championship this coming year or even in the next 3. However I do think I am being very realistic with Georgia going from 18th to a top 10 team. That is not that big of a jump when you consider they have more or at least as much talent as the teams that were ranked ahead of them at the end of this past year: Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, Denver, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, and Arizona State. And haven't a lot of people been saying for years that they’ve had the talent but it was coaching that was the problem? Roberts with Koltakov were very successful at Bama in 22. The gymnasts themselves wanted to stay for Roberts alone. And now add in Landi. She obviously is an excellent coach. Not to mention the fact that they are acquiring some additional talented gymnasts: Tomlin, a 5 star recruit, strong on the leg events. Backsay who came in 8th in the world on the vault last year and potentially Eaker who was the alternate for the Olympic team. Arkansas went from 17th to 7th in one year. I don't see any reason why UGA can't do the same.
If we are talking top 10 at the end of the regular season, thats a pretty big jump to make in 1 off season. Even just looking at it in a conference view, that would involve Georgia overtaking 3 conference teams or in a wider view, improving their NQS by 0.6 which is quite a big jump to make.
 
I think the Eaker thing is solely based on Landi having elite experience. The gymternet has created a narrative that Eaker wants to go back to elite and go for the 2028 Olympics and therefore transferring to Georgia makes perfect sense to go "train" with Landi who has all this elite experience. Even though as far as I know the last comment from Eaker was she was retired. But ya know the internet is going to internet.

I think a very optimistic outcome for Georgia would be a 9-10 type finish. That would be hugely over expectations but within the realm of possibilities. If you use UCLA as a case study of a team from a high-profile program that hired a new head coach and she had/has more head coaching experience than Landi/Roberts and look at the results it still shows a top 10 finish is still a stretch. UCLA went from 12 to 5 (this was with an uber talented Jordan Chiles roster) and then down to 17 this past year. So even with an very talented roster and a new (seasoned) coaching staff it was a jump of 8 spots. If Georgia sees a similar jump we still are looking a 10th, but I don't think Georgia has as talented a roster as UCLA did Janelle first year.
Wait, what? Where have you read anything about people wanting Eaker to return to elite? From what I have read, everyone is talking about her doing college gym again. Eaker has posted a few times on Instagram from Georgia. She has an apartment there and reportedly intends to transfer to UGA, but there are some academic credit issues.

I also wouldn't use UCLA as a case study of anything. That place has been a hot mess for a few years, IMO.
 
Wait, what? Where have you read anything about people wanting Eaker to return to elite? From what I have read, everyone is talking about her doing college gym again. Eaker has posted a few times on Instagram from Georgia. She has an apartment there and reportedly intends to transfer to UGA, but there are some academic credit issues.

I also wouldn't use UCLA as a case study of anything. That place has been a hot mess for a few years, IMO.

I think someone recently posted a picture of themselves and Kara in a gym identified as Gage. There was an implication that Kara was training again.
 
Wait, what? Where have you read anything about people wanting Eaker to return to elite? From what I have read, everyone is talking about her doing college gym again. Eaker has posted a few times on Instagram from Georgia. She has an apartment there and reportedly intends to transfer to UGA, but there are some academic credit issues.

I also wouldn't use UCLA as a case study of anything. That place has been a hot mess for a few years, IMO.


My thoughts exactly. But I do think a good team to compare Georgia to is Arkansas.

I was talking about the internet, like reddit and twitter. Which often gets confused as "its been reported". Checking Eakers last IG post in June 1 it was in Atlanta not Athens. Other than that, she has not posted anything about moving to Athens. Maybe on snap? Has she given an interview somewhere? Regardless, its irrelevant to the discussion. The comparison to UCLA is not on team culture, but on a team that has replaced their head coach and the results from hire. Statistically, it would be an anomaly for a new coaching staff to produce huge gains in one year. It would have to be explained by other factors. If you want to compare with Arkansas, Wieber was hired for the 2020 season in 2019 Arkansas finished 18, in 2020 (Wieber's first year) they finished 18. Iowa State might be what Georgia fans hope for and is an example of an anomaly, but I think they had much more room to improve than Georgia. As I said, finishing 9 or 10 is a possibility, a lower probability of outcome, but within the range of outcomes. My whole point is that I think its a great out of the box hire, but we have seen over and over again in college gymnastics that it takes 3-4 years to see the results translate to the outcomes that fans desire.
 
Kara follows exactly one college team on Instagram...UGA gymnastics. Believe what you want, but that's obviously where she wants to transfer.
 
I was talking about the internet, like reddit and twitter. Which often gets confused as "its been reported". Checking Eakers last IG post in June 1 it was in Atlanta not Athens. Other than that, she has not posted anything about moving to Athens. Maybe on snap? Has she given an interview somewhere? Regardless, its irrelevant to the discussion. The comparison to UCLA is not on team culture, but on a team that has replaced their head coach and the results from hire. Statistically, it would be an anomaly for a new coaching staff to produce huge gains in one year. It would have to be explained by other factors. If you want to compare with Arkansas, Wieber was hired for the 2020 season in 2019 Arkansas finished 18, in 2020 (Wieber's first year) they finished 18. Iowa State might be what Georgia fans hope for and is an example of an anomaly, but I think they had much more room to improve than Georgia. As I said, finishing 9 or 10 is a possibility, a lower probability of outcome, but within the range of outcomes. My whole point is that I think its a great out of the box hire, but we have seen over and over again in college gymnastics that it takes 3-4 years to see the results translate to the outcomes that fans desire.
I get your point, but when I say compare Arkansas to UGA I’m talking about their improvement over the past year. They were 17th in 23 and 7th in 24. Weiber being first year head coach in 2020 is not really comparable with Ryan Roberts and his present situation at UGA. He had success at Alabama (with Koltakov) and has done well at Georgia. Bama won the SEC in 21 and came in 2nd in 22. He's a great recruiter and the fact that none of the Georgia gymnasts chose to transfer says volumes about him. I heard some of them even told the AD at UGA if he goes, we go. Heck Lily Smith changed her commitment from Bama because of him. Some people have suggested that much of UGA's latest upward trend with recruiting as well as performance was due to him and not CKC. I get he is a first year head coach but not an unproven college coach as Landi will be and as Weiber was in 2020. It will be interesting to see how Roberts and Landi work together. It seems more likely to be successful than not as they have worked together in the past and therefore know each other’s coaching styles. Also it was Roberts idea to finally get Landi to take the UGA job. Roberts knows how college gymnastics works so he should be able to handle the things that will be new to her. Cecile should be able to come in and immediately focus on coaching- something everyone can agree she excels at. Why people think that it will take years for her and Roberts to be successful does not make sense, especially given all the talent on the team. They in all likelihood now have 5 experienced gymnasts who can legitimately do the AA: Smith, Wahl, Snyder, Howard and Backsay. They also will have a legit vault rotation of at least five 10.0 start values. Their beam will be insane even if Eaker does not join the team as they have about 15 gymnasts to choose from on this event. Floor should also be much improved with Tomlin, Aquino, and Backsay. On UB they return their best and most consistent routines from last year as well as gaining some promising ones with Mason and Berry. One final thing to consider- their upward trend at the end of last year. They were finally really putting it altogether posting some great scores in the 197s. Again I'm not suggesting national champions. I’m simply saying it is very likely they will improve to be a top 10 team this coming year for all the reasons I’ve listed and not over exuberant wishful thinking.
 
Cecile only coaches beam at WCC.

Landi, who focuses on Uneven Bars, Vault and Floor while his wife takes charge of the Balance Beam and choreography, is particularly enjoying one aspect of Biles’ Doha 2018 performances.
 
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I get your point, but when I say compare Arkansas to UGA I’m talking about their improvement over the past year. They were 17th in 23 and 7th in 24. Weiber being first year head coach in 2020 is not really comparable with Ryan Roberts and his present situation at UGA. He had success at Alabama (with Koltakov) and has done well at Georgia. Bama won the SEC in 21 and came in 2nd in 22. He's a great recruiter and the fact that none of the Georgia gymnasts chose to transfer says volumes about him. I heard some of them even told the AD at UGA if he goes, we go. Heck Lily Smith changed her commitment from Bama because of him. Some people have suggested that much of UGA's latest upward trend with recruiting as well as performance was due to him and not CKC. I get he is a first year head coach but not an unproven college coach as Landi will be and as Weiber was in 2020. It will be interesting to see how Roberts and Landi work together. It seems more likely to be successful than not as they have worked together in the past and therefore know each other’s coaching styles. Also it was Roberts idea to finally get Landi to take the UGA job. Roberts knows how college gymnastics works so he should be able to handle the things that will be new to her. Cecile should be able to come in and immediately focus on coaching- something everyone can agree she excels at. Why people think that it will take years for her and Roberts to be successful does not make sense, especially given all the talent on the team. They in all likelihood now have 5 experienced gymnasts who can legitimately do the AA: Smith, Wahl, Snyder, Howard and Backsay. They also will have a legit vault rotation of at least five 10.0 start values. Their beam will be insane even if Eaker does not join the team as they have about 15 gymnasts to choose from on this event. Floor should also be much improved with Tomlin, Aquino, and Backsay. On UB they return their best and most consistent routines from last year as well as gaining some promising ones with Mason and Berry. One final thing to consider- their upward trend at the end of last year. They were finally really putting it altogether posting some great scores in the 197s. Again I'm not suggesting national champions. I’m simply saying it is very likely they will improve to be a top 10 team this coming year for all the reasons I’ve listed and not over exuberant wishful thinking.
I certainly see your logic and it is a reasonable position. I am just presenting an equally logical viewpoint. Being a head coach is a lot different than being an assistant coach. There is a lot of other overhead to deal with, and just because Cecil and Ryan have coached together before doesn't mean there won't be hiccups in figuring out who makes what decisions. The only reason why Ryan and Cecile are the head coaches is because Jay Clark backed out of the deal and Georgia was left with a big unknown entering transfer deadline with Ryan being the only anchor for the gymnasts. He had the AD in a bind.

Its taken Wieber 5 years to start seeing the fruits of her labor, it took KJ several years to get OU rolling, it took Jay several years to push LSU to the top, still waiting on Jenny at UF. Thats why I am skeptical to say its very likely Georgia is suddenly going to become a top 10 team in one year. Your logic while not crazy is a Georgia fan's logic. Only time will tell. :)
 
I certainly see your logic and it is a reasonable position. I am just presenting an equally logical viewpoint. Being a head coach is a lot different than being an assistant coach. There is a lot of other overhead to deal with, and just because Cecil and Ryan have coached together before doesn't mean there won't be hiccups in figuring out who makes what decisions. The only reason why Ryan and Cecile are the head coaches is because Jay Clark backed out of the deal and Georgia was left with a big unknown entering transfer deadline with Ryan being the only anchor for the gymnasts. He had the AD in a bind.

Its taken Wieber 5 years to start seeing the fruits of her labor, it took KJ several years to get OU rolling, it took Jay several years to push LSU to the top, still waiting on Jenny at UF. Thats why I am skeptical to say its very likely Georgia is suddenly going to become a top 10 team in one year. Your logic while not crazy is a Georgia fan's logic. Only time will tell. :)
I agree with you- we shall have to wait and see. I just wish UGA wasn’t being compared to Oklahoma, LSU or Florida as they are teams currently at the very top of the rankings. And incidentally all three of the current head coaches at these programs inherited teams that were already in the top 10. Oklahoma was 10th when Kindler took over, LSU was ranked 6th when Clark took over and Florida was the number one team when Rowland took over. Again not realistically comparable to Roberts/Landi and the UGA situation.

I like Jay Clark and back in 2012 I thought the AD made a very foolish decision to let him go. However right now I’m glad he stayed at LSU as I think that’s what’s best for both programs. The UGA AD put himself in a bind because Clark said no, as did Weiber. Instead of viewing the reason why Roberts got the job by putting Josh Brooks in a bind, I prefer to see it as he was the coach the gymnasts wanted. If anyone put the AD in a bind it was them. From all I have observed of Roberts in the past two years and even before at Alabama, he appears to be an excellent coach and good recruiter. I feel confident UGA is in good hands with him and then you throw Landi into the mix… well you already know my prediction. 🙂
 
If we are talking top 10 at the end of the regular season, thats a pretty big jump to make in 1 off season. Even just looking at it in a conference view, that would involve Georgia overtaking 3 conference teams or in a wider view, improving their NQS by 0.6 which is quite a big jump to make.
It is a big jump. However, I have been hearing for years that UGA has a lot of talented gymnasts that are not performing to their full potential...and that this was due to CKC's coaching or lack thereof. I tend to agree with this point of view and I'm optimistic that Roberts/Landi with better coaching and an even more talented/experienced roster will get better results than CKC.
 
I would be careful using Arkansas as an example. Arkansas did finish 7th, but were 12th ranked going into regionals (which were at home) plus Kentucky opened the door. I think a goal for UGA next year would be to crack into the top 15 and make a regional final.

Arkansas and Stanford both peaked at the right time, got some beneficial scores, and took advantage of top tier teams making mistakes.
 
I would be careful using Arkansas as an example. Arkansas did finish 7th, but were 12th ranked going into regionals (which were at home) plus Kentucky opened the door. I think a goal for UGA next year would be to crack into the top 15 and make a regional final.

Arkansas and Stanford both peaked at the right time, got some beneficial scores, and took advantage of top tier teams making mistakes.
Well if you're saying Arkansas got some lucky breaks and that's why they were ranked 7th at the end of the year, I'll concede that. Unfortunately UGA was not getting any lucky breaks.

Considering UGA was one tenth away from making it to a regional final this year, I'd say that's not a very ambitious goal. On the day of the regionals they outscored 6 teams that ended up ranked ahead of them. Georgia returns 20/24 routines from that meet. (1V, 1UB and 2 Floor routines are gone). With the experience gained by the terrific freshmen class and the incoming talent especially on vault and floor (Tomlin, Backsay & Aquino) barring injury they shouldn't have a lot of difficulty making the regional final. I get some of the skepticism due to the fact that Roberts and Landi are both new to head coaching but Roberts is obviously very familiar with the UGA program. He has also worked with Landi, Koltakov and King in the past so adjustments to new staff will be minimal.

My over ambitious goal would be that Georgia makes it to the final 8 teams of nationals as Arkansas did. That would be awesome but they may need a lucky break to get there.
 
Anaya Smith (ASU) to Georgia:


Georgia's Vault lineup is going to be seriously competitive this coming year with Backsay, Wahl, Tomlin, Aquino, Battle, and now All American Anaya Smith! That's 6 vaults with a 10.0 start value.
 
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