When the news broke about Mark Richt’s ouster at UGA, the fathers of UGA’s two biggest recruits for the Class of 2016 reached out to one another via text message.
It was brief, but that was all the time the fathers of Ben Cleveland and Jacob Eason needed to convey what they were thinking. Derek Cleveland, the father of the 4-star offensive lineman, shared a synopsis of his conversation with Tony Eason, Jacob’s father, with DawgNation.
What does the Eason family think about the Richt news and UGA right now? Derek Cleveland filled in a few blanks.
“He is like us,” Cleveland told DawgNation. “Upset and concerned. But as of right now we are both taking a wait-and-see approach before we do or say anything. Ultimately it is still our son’s decisions to make.”
That’s where they will have to trust in the job they’ve done in raising their sons.
“Both of our boys are smart enough to know that they need to sit tight and see who steps into this role and what changes, if any, that person is going to make before reacting.”
There is a tight timeline on the horizon. Cleveland and Eason have already signed their financial aid papers and were planning to enroll early at UGA in January. They were scheduled for their official visits the weekend of UGA’s end-of-the-year football banquet on Dec. 11.
The new staff would have to be in place by that point in order to retain Cleveland and Eason, along with priority targets like Willie Allen, Derrick Brown, Mecole Hardman, Jr., Isaac Nauta and Demetris Robertson, among others.
Read More:
- What went wrong for Mark Richt at Georgia
- Mark Richt’s dismissal was long in the works
- UGA moves ‘all about Kirby Smart’
- What does Mark Richt news mean for Jacob Eason?
- Richt’s firing confirms what many believed: It was time for a change
- Leading candidates to replace Richt at Georgia
- What do recruits think about Kirby Smart to UGA?
- Current Georgia player offers a message for Eason
- With Richt out, UGA’s next step is to get Smart
- Most of UGA’s coaches pulled off the recruiting trail
- Saban on Richt: ‘I hate to see these kinds of things’
- Current UGA players react to end of the Mark Richt era
- Richt’s former players ‘surprised’ by the news
- Hiring Mark Richt remains Vince Dooley’s proudest achievement
- UGA should think twice before hiring Kirby Smart
- National media reacts to Mark Richt being ousted at UGA
- Jeremy Pruitt with recruit Mecole Hardman’s mother when news broke
- UGA commits react to the firing of Mark Richt
- UGA targets react to Mark Richt’s firing
- Greg McGarity’s career will be defined by his first major hire
- A small vigil held outside of Butts-Mehre for Richt
Jeff Sentell covers UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.
