Georgia Bulldogs: Who Is Kirk Olivadotti?

Late yesterday evening, the news broke that coach Grantham was set to name his newest assistant—Kirk Olivadotti will be that guy. Olivadotti is a well-respected assistant in the NFL ranks, but isn't quite as well known to the avid college football fan. 

Even still, as news of his impending hire hit Twitter, several respected sports figures chimed in on exactly what Georgia would have in Olivadotti. Phillip Daniels—a former Georgia Bulldog—was one of those voices, said Daniels via his Twitter account, 

For those who may not have already checked Olivadotti's bio, here's the short and sweet of it: he's been a defensive assistant for the Washington Redskins for 11-years. He was promoted to linebackers coach in 2007 and has served in that capacity for the past three seasons. When Mike Shanahan was introduced as the head coach in 2010, Olivadotti was briefly considered as a candidate to take over as the Skins' defensive coordinator before being maintained as an assistant on the staff. He's had experience in the college ranks as both a tight ends and wide receivers coach, but has spent the majority of his career at the NFL level.

I was a bit more curious so I dug a little deeper to see what else could be found out about the new guy. It wasn't long before I ran across this one-on-one interview Olivadotti did with Matt Terl of the Official Redskins Blog that gave a bit more insight into Olivadotti's coaching philosophy.

Here are a few of the highlights:

On coaching linebackers:

"...everybody needs to know where they fit, coaches and players included. And, in a defense I think it helps that I know where everybody fits, and as a group we need to know where we fit as linebackers, and that's kind of what we talk about: where do we fit in this defense, where do we fit in this group, where do we fit in the form of leadership. All those kinds of things and you have to have a pulse of what that is, and it's an ever-evolving process."

On evaluating players:

"Really, to be honest with you, you look at what you got, and who your best eleven are, and you make your defense fit your best eleven, to be perfectly honest. And I know that's not the sexy answer that everyone wants, but that's what we need to do as coaches is, 'Okay, here is our best eleven, and that's who we are going to get on the field. This is what they're good at, these are their limitations,' and you go from there. What each guy can do differs from week to week. You just try to put guys in the best positions to be able to be productive."

His coaching philosophy:

"...you start from square one. You know, you can only eat the elephant one bite at a time; some guys are at a different level than other guys are. But every year you have to start like you are starting brand new, and you start with the fundamentals of how to do things, and the basics to be able to at least put a Redskins jersey where a Redskins jersey is supposed to be.

"Start there, and then teach them how to go from point A to point B, physically, and then start getting into C, D, E, and F, as opposed to trying to get all that stuff done. Alignment, assignment, you hear coaches say that stuff all the time, but to get aligned, you've got to know what to look at, and then you've got to know how to move. We try not to overcomplicate it, because if you are moving fast, you are moving better."

You have to love the feel of this hire, Olivadotti appears to be a solid addition to the staff and, given the improvement the Redskins have seen at the linebacker position over the last few years, it has to be exciting to think what he might be able to do with the young talent currently on Georgia's roster.

His players have had nothing but great things to say about his coaching/teaching ability and it's clear that he was a coach on the rise in the NFL. In fact, current Alabama coach, Nick Saban, tried to hire him away from the Skins' twice when he was the head coach for the Miami Dolphins—he was denied the opportunity of even speaking to him.

As for players, they love him. London Fletcher, had this to say about the man they called 'KO' in Washington,

In linebacker meetings, Olivadotti gives each player a review sheet of the unit's performance from the previous day's practice. How well, or poorly, the unit fared is explained in detail, and that's a new one for Fletcher. 

"This is my 10th year in the league, and in terms of where a coach does that, I haven't really seen that," he said. "He actually gives you something where you have it in your possession; you can look at it and visualize it. With other coaches, you only watch it on film. It makes a difference to have it in your hand." (Washington Post, 2007)

If Olivadotti turns out to be the find that he appears to be on paper, Georgia should see much better production from it's linebackers in 2011.

What say you?

 

Twist of Fate: Would Donovan McNabb Still Lobby For Vick Today?

Remember this interview given by McNabb just hours after the Eagles signed Michael Vick to a two-year contract?



Well, just a little more than a year later that whole there's "no threat to me, no threat to Kolb" comment is looking quite comical. I wonder if McNabb would have been as quick to lobby for the Vick signing if he knew that his career would be so negatively impacted by his arrival?

Think about it, Michael Vick is back to doing endorsements (sorta), leading a winning football team, and garnering league accolades (Pro Bowl and MVP talk), while McNabb has been relieved of his starting role, likely stripped of a $78 million contract, and heading towards unemployment.

I don't know McNabb personally, but you can be sure that this is not the outcome he was hoping for when he let it be known that the Eagles "made a mistake" by letting him go.

McNabb is now a punchline. A punchline so not funny that you almost want to weep for him.

Here he is, only a few seasons removed from being one of the most celebrated quarterbacks in the NFL, now suffering through the embarrassment of being benched in favor of a guy who has more fun throwing to defenses than to his own receivers—don't kid yourself—Rex Grossman is NO team's answer at quarterback and the fact that McNabb has been benched in his favor is just ugly.

Even more, it has to sting to see Michael Vick succeeding on his old team, throwing to his old teammates, and playing for his old coach. Quite frankly, he probably feels a lot like he did at his draft day when the Philly fans—allegedly—booed his selection.

Dude just can't catch a break.

At this point he probably does feel like he's been knocked out by Michael Strahan...



Ouch.

Is McNabb's career over? It's hard to say that for certain but, right now, it sure feels like it's heading in the wrong direction. 

Related articles

• Donovan McNabb Benched As The Shanahans Look To The Future (withleather.uproxx.com)
• Donovan McNabb "very disappointed," "I strongly disagree" (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)

Dan Snyder: The Washington Redskins Bust of The Decade

Today the Washington Redskins suspended Albert Haynesworth—a guy they signed under much fanfare just a season ago.

He was supposed to be the catalyst behind a burgeoning Redskins' defense that was going to be built for stopping the run and making opposing quarterbacks miserable.

Unfortunately for the Redkins, Albert Haynesworth proved to be just the guy that many thought he was—a 'take the money and run' guy (or in his case, a take it and sit on your backside one).

Haynesworth hasn't been effective at all this season, and his explanation is that he's better suited for a 4-3 defense than the 3-4 that Shanahan tried to force him into when he took over the head coaching job.

Haynesworth was uncomfortable playing nose tackle (a key position in the 3-4) and refused to be pushed into a spot he didn't feel built to play. After all, the Redskins knew what they were getting when they acquired him—their decision to change schemes and coaches a year after he signed was on them—Albert wasn't going to let anyone tell him how to play the game of football.

And, to be honest, with that kind of money going into his bank account, he had no reason to concern himself with things like conditioning, practice, or attending team meetings. He had better things to do with his valuable, and expensive, time. Most understood that Albert was about Albert. He wanted a big payday and he played to get it. Once he did, he became a useless pile of flub—fair or unfair—that's what happened.

Now the Skins' fans are forced to suffer through another idiotic move by their clueless owner—Dan Snyder.

Make no mistake, the most egregious mistake the Washington Redskins franchise ever made was in allowing a rich hack like Snyder to take over their team. He's done nothing but make bad decision after bad decision since his arrival.

Just to name a few: there was Steve Spurrier (the overpaid college coach who played more golf during the regular season than most people do in an offseason), Jason Taylor (just...wow), Deion Sanders (one-year blunder),  Jason Campbell (three draft picks and a lot of losing), Brandon Lloyd (bust with an attitude), Jeff George (Seriously?!?), DeAngelo Hall (No, really...he's not good), etc.

The list is long, and uncomfortable, and Dan Snyder has his 'John Hancock' on most of it—that makes him the biggest bust of the decade and, unfortunately, unless he decides to cut bait and move on, Washington is stuck floundering under his gross incompetence.

If the Redskins are ever going to return to their glory days, Dan Snyder has to go—soon. Otherwise, you can expect to see more pink slips in the near future...any bets on how much longer Donovan McNabb will be taking up residence?

Related articles

• Redskins suspend Albert Haynesworth for remainder of season (sportingnews.com)