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Welcome to AU Mr. Tony Gilbert

bikeriderga

By bikeriderga
in AU Football Forum

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bikeriderga Founding Father

bikeriderga 137

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Tony Gilbert, Georgia Linebacker from the 2002 Georgia Championship team, will be leaving Georgia Bulldogs to become an AU Graduate assistance and will be back working with Coach VanGorder, who was his defensive coordinator at Georgia and Defensive Coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons.

Gilbert was a starter for UGA, for three years. He was an outstanding Linebacker for UGA and a team captain. After graduating from UGA, Tony Gilbert entered the NFL, playing six years for the Jacksonville Jaguars and two with the Atlanta Falcons. He was a beast on the field and should be a nice addition to the AU coaching staff, working once again with former GA and Falcons coach Brian VanGorder. With TG joining the AU staff, I can see a concentrated effort to once again create a fierce LB core at AU.

Coach Gilbert was a strength and conditioning coach at UGA. This should give our new coach a distinct advantage. Not only does he know how to practice and play at the highest level, he will also know how to coach our LBs in the strength and conditioning arena to work toward the strengths at the LB position.

Welcome Mr. Gilbert to the loveliest village on the plains. You got to play in our stadium wearing red and black, now you get to wear the heavenly colors of orange and blue.

Again, Welcome and WAR EAGLE!

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DWWD34 Proficient

DWWD34 0

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Anybody else see him as the heir apparent to Thig's job when he moves on?

^^I'm okay with this idea

But for the time being... With Coach Thig, CGBV, and now Coach Gilbert on staff... Our LBs will be stout  :thumbsup:

Rednilla Founding Father

Rednilla 5,469

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Anybody else see him as the heir apparent to Thig's job when he moves on?

My first choice to replace Thig, whenever that time comes, is Travis Williams, who is now coaching linebackers at Northern Iowa. Williams was a starter for Chizik in 04, a GA in 2010, and somehow I think Chizik is Williams' only connection to a random college program from Iowa. None of that means that Williams will be back, because it is common procedure for head coaches to help their assistants move forward in their careers, but he seems a more logical choice than promoting a graduate assistant.

bikeriderga Founding Father

bikeriderga 137

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Oh baby - I can See the defense getting better and recruiting getting stronger

Welcome to the next top defense in the SEC

Agree. BVG is not coming to the plains to play second fiddle. He is putting his staff in place and retaining the great AU has on staff already.. Not only will the players be better but this kind of staff (with real NFL experience) will make everyone better.

Going to be great seeing Pat Dye type defenses coming out of AU again. Any Defensive recruit should look twice at who will be coaching them if they come to AU.

Rednilla Founding Father

Rednilla 5,469

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I know this is a little off topic, and bash me if you like for the tangent, but projecting who we might like to see as Van Gorder's replacement, as I suspect he will be around for 3-4 years before getting a head coaching offer he likes enough to leave. I guess this becomes relevant to the discussion when thinking of how long until Thigpen gets a DC or even head coaching (I could see Thig in a FCS head coaching gig) position. If he leaves the same time Van Gorder leaves, then the replacement will be decided with input from the new DC rather than BVG, which could make a difference.

Like, let's just say hypothetically that Tracy Rocker takes the job as DC. This is a few years in the future, remember, so he has significant recent experience in the League, plus all the obvious AU connections. Would he be more inclined to hire Williams, with whom he worked in 2010 (and I think 2009 as well, but I'm not sure on that)?

Oh, the one other scenario I thought of that intrigued me: what if BVG doesn't want to be a head coach? Maybe he wants to stick to his role as DC indefinitely...and if he's doing as well as I expect him to, I would welcome it!

Regardless, it feels comforting to know that we have a guy at the helm who knows what he is doing when picking the coaching talent to go around him. Having the best assistant coaches means that they aren't going to be around too long for want of moving up in their career; having Gene Chizik means that we aren't going to skip a beat.

Ronald McDonald Founding Father

Ronald McDonald 0

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I don't see BVG pursuing a HC opportunity. I feel like if he wanted to go that route he would've done so earlier in his career (assuming he was given an opportunity). Auburn's version of Bud Foster?

augolf1716 Founding Father

augolf1716 22,280

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I don't see BVG pursuing a HC opportunity. I feel like if he wanted to go that route he would've done so earlier in his career (assuming he was given an opportunity). Auburn's version of Bud Foster?

BVG has been a head coach at Wayne State and Georgia Southern

Ronald McDonald Founding Father

Ronald McDonald 0

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I don't see BVG pursuing a HC opportunity. I feel like if he wanted to go that route he would've done so earlier in his career (assuming he was given an opportunity). Auburn's version of Bud Foster?

BVG has been a head coach at Wayne State and Georgia Southern

I was assuming red was talking about a major D1 position :thumbsup:
DyeEraTiger Mentor

DyeEraTiger 0

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I don't see BVG pursuing a HC opportunity. I feel like if he wanted to go that route he would've done so earlier in his career (assuming he was given an opportunity). Auburn's version of Bud Foster?

BVG has been a head coach at Wayne State and Georgia Southern

I was assuming red was talking about a major D1 position :thumbsup:

I don't know but I would assume that if enough money is thrown his way, he would take the opportunity. It is a business, no matter how much we want a lot of these coaches to stay with us forever. The days of 10+ yr coordinators are sparce. I am eager to see what CBVG puts on the field but it will be difficult for either of our coordinators to live up to expectations--which is a good thing, imo.

Tiger Growlin Founding Father

Tiger Growlin 0

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BVG said shortly after leaving the Falcons that he wanted to be a head coach. He said he felt like the time was right and that AU would give him the opportunity he needs. AU is a high profile enough job that it attracts coaches looking to make major moves in their career. BVG is no exception. If he just wanted to be a DC, he could have easily stayed in the NFL, earned a pension and made more money than he would at any college as DC.

IronMan70 Founding Father

IronMan70 3,322

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How long do you think coach VanGorder will stay?

He has a 2 year deal. If we do well I think he would probably be in line for a very good HC job somewhere. I am going to guess here, but I think that is what he had in mind.  He wanted to leave the NFL and be an HC at a major University and he needed to do something like this first to get re-established. So based on what I think the team will do, we have him 2 years unfortunately.
mustache eagle Founding Father

mustache eagle 2,511

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How long do you think coach VanGorder will stay?

He has a 2 year deal. If we do well I think he would probably be in line for a very good HC job somewhere. I am going to guess here, but I think that is what he had in mind.  He wanted to leave the NFL and be an HC at a major University and he needed to do something like this first to get re-established. So based on what I think the team will do, we have him 2 years unfortunately.

i think it is fantastic ... if he has HC options in 2 years, it means our defense has been good.  then we will get the next "greatest ever" DC.  BVG, muschamp, chizik ... we have had some pretty good DC's recently.
Rednilla Founding Father

Rednilla 5,469

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How long do you think coach VanGorder will stay?

He has a 2 year deal. If we do well I think he would probably be in line for a very good HC job somewhere. I am going to guess here, but I think that is what he had in mind.  He wanted to leave the NFL and be an HC at a major University and he needed to do something like this first to get re-established. So based on what I think the team will do, we have him 2 years unfortunately.

Pretty sure Malzahn had a two year deal to begin with as well, and despite breaking records both of his first two seasons, he came back for a third year. Not saying BVG necessarily will, but I think we have at least a fair shot of retaining him for three years regardless.

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