‘free me, am leaving for Georgia’, Potential Candidates for Georgia Wide Receiver Coach cries out

A list of potential candidates that the Georgia football program could hire to be their next wide receiver coach.

The news recently broke that Georgia wide receiver coach Bryan McClendon was leaving the program to take a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be the organization’s wide receiver coach and the pass-game coordinator. The Bulldogs are now on the hunt once again for a wide receiver coach as McClendon was only with the program for two seasons. 

The question now begs of who could Georgia potentially hire. Spring practice is just around the corner so it can assumed that head coach Kirby Smart will want to fill the void rather quickly. With that said, here is a list of names that Georgia could potentially be named as the next wide receivers coach at the University of Georgia: 

Jimmy Smith

Smith is currently the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas under former Georgia coach Sam Pittman and served as the running backs coach for several seasons there. Smith has helped the Razorbacks running back room immensely not only on the recruiting trail but on the field as well. He is a Darlington, South Carolina native but has connections to the state of Georgia. From 2007-2018, Smith was on staff at Cedar Grove High School where he started as an assistant coach, offensive coordinator and then held the title of head coach for six seasons. 

The current SEC coach is a well-respected position coach and recruiter in the SEC and has produced commendable results at his landing spots. A culmination of traits that would fit in well at a place like Georgia. 

Josh Crawford 

Crawford is the current wide receivers coach at Georgia Tech and is about to enter year two. He has deep ties to the state of Georgia as he held multiple coaching positions at a litany of Georgia high schools such as Colquitt, Jefferson and Valdosta. Before joining the Yellow Jackets, Crawford spent two seasons at Western Kentucky where he spent one season as the outside wide receivers coach and the next as co-offensive coordinator while still helping coach wide receivers. In his two seasons at Western Kentucky, Crawford’s receivers combined for 10,339 receiving yards and 94 touchdowns.

Another intriguing piece of information about Crawford is if Georgia were to hire him, he would already be fairly familiar with the offensive system. Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner spent multiple seasons with the Bulldogs as a quality control and quarterbacks coach before taking his current job with Tech. 

James Coley

A name that needs no introduction to Georgia fans and while his time as the offensive coordinator may not be remembered with grace, there’s no ignoring what he has accomplished as a coach over the years on the recruiting trail. He was recently hired as the wide receivers coach at South Carolina and coached at Texas A&M for a few seasons before that where he coached tight ends, wide receivers and was co-offensive coordinator for a season as well. He has consistently recruited at a high level in the SEC, which is something that the Bulldogs could use at the wide receiver position. 

Another name that is worth keeping an eye on is Dameyune Craig. He is another former Texas A&M wide receiver coach who had spent the last six seasons with the Aggies but was not retained by new head coach Mike Elko. Craig has spent his coaching career at both the collegiate and NFL level, including stops at LSU and Auburn where he helped out with wide receivers at both programs. 

It also shouldn’t go without mentioning two fan-favorite names. Hines Ward and Terrance Edwards, former Georgia wide receivers themselves and both continue to come up in the conversation when the Bulldogs are in need of a new wide receiver coach. Edwards recently took a head coaching job at Mount Vernon High School after previously working with Milton High School. Ward recently served as the head coach of the San Antonio football team in the XFL. Both are Georgia legends and both would be welcomed in with open arms if the Bulldogs elected to bring in