SB Nation Atlanta - Brent Benedict Leaves UGA Football For Virginia Techhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2011-07-13T14:01:30-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/20092852011-07-13T14:01:30-04:002011-07-13T14:01:30-04:00Brent Benedict Affirms Virginia Tech Transfer Was Due To Georgia Strength And Conditioning Coach
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<p>When Brent Benedict was first reported to be leaving the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/georgia-bulldogs">Georgia Bulldogs</a>, two theories presented themselves: either he'd not seen eye-to-eye with strength and conditioning coach Joe Tereshinski, or something else entirely. The latter is a really poorly formed theory.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2011/07/13/qa-brent-benedict-confirms-dispute-with-georgias-new-strength-coach/">Chip Towers spoke with Benedict</a>, discovering the problem was indeed an issue with Tereshinski. The player seems to feel he was being pushed into strenuous activity sooner than his knee was ready for. He says he made the decision before Mark Richt had returned from Honduras, but waited for the coach's return to make it official. You won't find any inflammatory quotes, however, as he's a pretty diplomatic young man. </p>
<p>In addition to mentioning he visited Blacksburg during his recruitment out of high school, the Jacksonville native also says the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/florida-gators">Florida Gators</a> offered him a scholarship once he left UGA.</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/7/13/2274174/brent-benedict-virginia-tech-transfer-uga-footballJason Kirk2011-07-11T19:44:41-04:002011-07-11T19:44:41-04:00Brent Benedict Confirms Virginia Tech Transfer Reports
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<p>After scattered reports indicated former <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/georgia-bulldogs">Georgia Bulldogs</a> OL <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113411/brent-benedict">Brent Benedict</a> would take his business to Blacksburg, the former four-star recruit made the news official: <a href="http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/georgia-bulldogs/2011-07-11/story/brent-benedict-transferring-virginia-tech">he's headed to play for the Virginia Tech Hokies</a>. He likes the program's stability and success, plus the fact that he'll have a chance to contribute once four Hokies linemen graduate during his mandatory year off due to transfer.</p>
<p>Also, despite VPI not showing up on <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/rutgers/football/recruiting/player-Brent-Benedict-79851">Benedict's Rivals profile</a>, apparently Frank Beamer did recruit Benedict the first time around:</p>
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<p>I liked Virginia Tech the first time around [in the recruiting process]," Benedict said. "It's a great program with a coaching staff that's been there awhile. They win games and do well in the ACC. I'm really excited to get up there.</p>
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<p>Might the ACC be a better fit for Benedict?</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/7/11/2270780/brent-benedict-virginia-tech-transfer-uga-footballJason Kirk2011-07-11T18:02:43-04:002011-07-11T18:02:43-04:00Brent Benedict Transferring To Virginia Tech Football, According To Reports
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<p>Departed <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/georgia-bulldogs">Georgia Bulldogs</a> OL <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113411/brent-benedict">Brent Benedict</a> may have found a new home, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/MichaelWarchant/status/90537359925452801">according to various Rivals.com writers</a>. Benedict is known to have visited the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/virginia-tech-hokies">Virginia Tech Hokies</a> over the weekend, and based on Monday's buzz, he may have liked what he saw in Blacksburg.</p>
<p>It's still not entirely clear why Benedict opted to leave the UGA program, though speculation ran from his lingering injury to his disdain for Georgia's new strength and conditioning program. He wasn't recruited by Virginia Tech out of high school, <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Brent-Benedict-79851;_ylt=An4fBx4NTmzwfV9l6epV0JxDPZB4">at least according to Rivals</a>, though five other ACC schools tried to sway him.</p>
<p>Taking a year off due to transfer might end up being the best thing for Benedict, who probably wasn't going to be able to provide much playing time in 2011 anyway. </p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/7/11/2270665/brent-benedict-transfer-virginia-tech-football-2011Jason Kirk2011-06-28T07:39:20-04:002011-06-28T07:39:20-04:00Brent Benedict Leaves UGA Football Team; Remaining O-Linemen Encased In Bubble Wrap
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<p>An already shallow corps of offensive linemen at <span class="caps">UGA</span> has been reduced to kiddie-pool depth with <a href="http://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/6/26/2245244/brent-benedict-uga-football-offensive-line">the departure of redshirt freshman Brent Benedict</a> on Sunday. <a href="http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/when-the-musics-over/">The Dawgs are now down to 13 scholarship O-linemen,</a> five of whom are brand-spankin’-new freshmen, one of whom (Xzavier Ward) won’t be available this season due to a knee injury.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.buckbelue.com/2011/06/26/dogs-take-another-o-line-hit.aspx?ref=rss">Rumors indicate</a> that Benedict was unhappy with the workout regimen installed by first-year strength and conditioning coach Joe Tereshinski II. And the message boards will certainly be full of acrimonious debates over whether the responsibility for the current situation lies with Tereshinski, previous S&C coach Dave Van Halanger, former O-line coach Stacy Searels, or some combination of the three.</p>
<p>But that speculation doesn’t do much to help current line coach Will Friend, who will more than likely end up drafting the O-line contingent of this year’s “Dream Team” recruiting class into service much more quickly than he expected. True freshman Watts Dantzler, a tackle whose dad played O-line at Georgia in the early ‘70s, is now a virtual lock to get some playing time this season; at 6’7", 330, he’s already got the size the Dawgs need and is in good shape as well. Fellow tackle recruit Zach DeBell, meanwhile, goes from “redshirt candidate” to “likely to see playing time” himself; at only 265 pounds, DeBell definitely has some bulking-up to do before he can take the field, but the Bulldogs’ coaching staff now has more incentive than ever to bring him along as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>The situation isn’t utterly hopeless: Georgia faced a similarly dire depth situation in 2008 — which, like 2011, involved <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10348/trinton-sturdivant" class="sbn-auto-link">Trinton Sturdivant</a> being taken out of the equation early — and still managed to win 10 games, giving up only 17 sacks all season and paving the way for a thousand-yard season from <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10294/knowshon-moreno" class="sbn-auto-link">Knowshon Moreno</a>. The difference, of course, is that the Dawgs don’t have any proven Knowshons on the roster this year, and Mark Richt was no doubt hoping for a strong performance from the line to give blue-chip RB recruit Isaiah Crowell a chance to succeed early. For his sake, let’s hope the “big uglies” from the Dream Team manage to grow up in a hurry.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2011/6/28/2248118/brent-benedict-leaves-uga-football-team-remaining-o-linemen-encasedDoug Gillett2011-06-27T14:52:29-04:002011-06-27T14:52:29-04:00Brent Benedict Not Giving Up Football After Leaving Georgia
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<p>Did <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113411/brent-benedict">Brent Benedict</a> elect to leave the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/georgia-bulldogs">Georgia Bulldogs</a> due to <a href="http://georgia.247sports.com/Article/Benedicts-brief-career-at-UGA-ends-29800">an injury that's harassed him since high school</a>? Or is he, as has been rumored, <a href="http://leatherhelmetblog.com/2011-articles/june/benedict-the-scoop.html">not interested in participating</a> in UGA football's new strength and conditioning program? </p>
<p><a href="http://dogbytesonline.com/benedict-hopes-to-play-elsewhere-after-leaving-georgia-46604/">Benedict and family would prefer not to specify</a>, leaving his explanation for leaving as the nebulous "personal reasons" Mark Richt first announced. Benedict does say he hopes to play college football somewhere else.</p>
<p>Where might he end up? Out of high school, <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ucla/football/recruiting/player-Brent-Benedict-79851">Benedict had offers from at least 15 other schools</a>. If I may talk out my a--, keep an eye on Texas as well, the new home of Stacy Searels, who recruited Benedict to Georgia to begin with. Though as the big fella is from Jacksonville, many are going to keep an eye on a potential Florida transfer. </p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/6/27/2246921/brent-benedict-transfer-uga-football-newsJason Kirk2011-06-26T16:27:20-04:002011-06-26T16:27:20-04:00Brent Benedict Leaving UGA Football, Further Shaking Up Offensive Line
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<p>Scratch yet another offensive lineman from the 2011 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/georgia-bulldogs">Georgia Bulldogs</a> roster, as rising redshirt sophomore OT <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113411/brent-benedict">Brent Benedict</a> will leave the program for personal reasons, the school announced. It's not yet clear where the Jacksonville native, four-star recruit and 2010 scout teamer will wind up, but <a href="http://georgia.247sports.com/Article/Benedicts-brief-career-at-UGA-ends-29800">his injury troubles may have discouraged him</a> into taking a prolonged break from football.</p>
<p>Though <a href="http://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/2/10/1985861/2011-georgia-football-roster-trinton-sturdivant-leads-hopefully">we hadn't pegged him as a starter</a>, a healthy Benedict would've had a chance to compete for at least a backup spot considering the loss of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/36179/a-j-harmon">A.J. Harmon</a> to Alabama State and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10348/trinton-sturdivant">Trinton Sturdivant</a> to yet another injury. Put it this way: we profiled five offensive tackles in that story -- two are left. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113409/kolton-houston">Kolton Houston</a>, who's competed for a starting guard job but may need to play tackle, and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/86130/austin-long">Austin Long</a>.</p>
<p>New offensive line coach Will Friend's creativity will be put to as much of a test as his actual coaching acumen. Think a true freshman like Watts Dantzler or Hunter Long might need to see more playing time than anticipated?</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2011/6/26/2337080/brent-benedict-leaving-uga-football-further-shaking-up-offensive-lineJason Kirk