ATHENS, Ga. -- Jim Chaney walked into the press room, looked around and asked, “Where’s the drumb roll.”
He stepped up to the podium and introduced himself to a room full of reporters, even though every single one knew exactly who he was.
He made jokes. Smiled. And rattled off a myriad of sound bytes, such as one about being a "damn fool" if he didn't listen to his support staff.
Or the one about Justin Fields, Georgia’s incoming 5-star quarterback:
“He’s a competitive son of a f…,” catching himself, “gun.”
Chaney was happy to answer questions about Fields and the status of a so-called quarterback battle as Georgia’s fall practices get underway.
“We all know how polarizing the quarterback position can be,” Chaney said. “Right now, Justin’s battling at the quarterback spot as is Jamaree Salyer at the guard spot as it Luke Ford at the fourth tight end spot. All that young group of kids we brought in, they’re all competing.”
Chaney said the future is bright for Fields, but as far as who’s getting the playing time, Chaney defers to Kirby Smart on that one.
Perhaps both quarterbacks play, but the two-quarterback system is rarely a popular one. Chaney couldn’t recall a time in his coaching history where he’s worked in that type of system.
Fields is talented not only with his arm, but with his legs. He came out of Harrision High School as the top dual threat quarterback in the nation. In his final two seasons at Harrison, he had 41 touchdowns through the air and 28 on the ground.
Chaney is excited about having a quarterback who is able to run, but he's not going to change the playbook because of it.
“We don’t have a vast amount of depth at that position, so if we start running quarterbacks, we’re putting them in a little more harms way,” Chaney said. “Designing a playbook directly because he can run I think would be distorting who we would be as a football team, but it does give up some things we can open up in the playbook.”
As for Fromm, Chaney does see a difference in the rising sophomore quarterback who led the Bulldogs to a national championship appearance. He sees confidence, but not a change in his personality.
He’s not concerned about Fromm’s injury-filled summer.
He’s more cautious about the hype around the running backs. With 5-star running back Zamir White cleared to practice after tearing his ACL during his senior season in high school, the depth at the running back position is as deep as ever.
“I still look for those two kids that we had last year walking down the hallway, and they haven’t showed up yet. They’re gone,” Chaney said, referring to Nick Chubb and Sony Michel who were each drafted to the NFL. “The kids we have, we like. We think they’re going to be good football players. But to do out and perform, they’ve yet to do that.”
White, James Cook, D’Andre Swift, Elijah Holyfield, Brian Herrian will continue to get chances to show Chaney and the offensive staff if they can fill the void. Saturday is the team’s second fall practice, but it will be opened to the public at Sanford Stadium.
