Around the Dawg House will bring you daily updates from what people and publications are saying about Georgia,  from inside and outside of Athens.

Mel Tucker a hot name on the coaching carousel

When you’re as successful as Georgia has been this year, other teams are bound to try and hire away an assistant or two. It’s happened quite frequently at Alabama under Nick Saban, as evidence by Georgia hiring Kirby Smart from the Crimson Tide.

And with the coaching carousel already underway, one name that has been mentioned with multiple Power 5 jobs is Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. SBNation’s Steven Godfrey and Richard Johnson have reported that Tucker is on the shortlist for both the North Carolina and Louisville jobs. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman is also reporting that Tucker is a candidate for the Colorado job.

Tucker came over with Smart from Alabama and has been the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Bulldogs for the last three seasons. Prior to his time at Georgia, he served as the defensive backs coach with Alabama while also working as a defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars. Georgia has the nation’s No. 13 pass defense, as the Bulldogs have given up an average of 175 passing yards per game.

A move likely won’t be made with Tucker until at least after the SEC championship game, as that was the case with Smart in 2015. Smart coached as Alabama’s defensive coordinator in the SEC title game before moving on to Georgia. Smart was not asked about Tucker during his Monday press conference.

What the national media has had to say about Georgia after the Georgia Tech win

Before looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Alabama, a number of media types took the time to praise Georgia following the Bulldogs’ 45-21 win over Georgia Tech.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach pointed out that the Bulldogs are peaking at the right time heading into the SEC championship game.

“If Georgia beats Alabama, it will return to the CFP for the second straight season,” Schlabach wrote. “If the Bulldogs lose in a close game, they might still have an argument for grabbing one of the four spots with two losses. Georgia certainly seems to be peaking at the right time; it won its fifth straight game with one of the most lopsided results in its 113-game history with rival Georgia Tech.”

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit also bumped Georgia into his top 4 after the win. Though the move up was also due in part to Ohio State thumping Michigan this past week. The stay at the No. 4 spot will most likely be short lived given the match-up with the Crimson Tide. Should Georgia win it will almost certainly move up, while a lose would almost certainly drop them out of playoff contention.

Though it’s worth pointing out that Yahoo’s Pat Forde, and others, have raised the question of a two-loss Georgia getting into the College Football Playoff if it plays Alabama close and then Oklahoma and Ohio State both lose on Saturday.

The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide kickoff at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The SEC championship game will be broadcast on CBS and can be heard on WSB Radio 95.5 FM/750 AM.

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