top of page

Dell McGee's influence creates Georgia running back culture unlike any other

247Spots

When you ask any of Georgia's three running back signees about the others, they light up.

Sometimes, it's better to let their words — so eloquently crafted — do the talking.

"Nate and Chauncey, it's one of the coolest running back rooms I've ever met. I'm so excited to get back down there with them when we all get down there," Dwight Phillipstold Dawgs247.

It's just a brotherhood. The brotherhood they already have there. The brotherhood me, Nate and Dwight have. You can ask any one of them, and we're all close. I love those guys. Looking at that and knowing we can do something great together," early enrollee Chauncey Bowens said last week. "It wasn't even a matter of how we complement each other's skill sets. It was these are two dudes I want to play football with."

"Man, we are close. One thing I can say for our running back room, and I know it's going to be good for us, is there's not going to be no hate. You know, it's a lot of running back rooms in the country that have a lot of hate, and that's the downfall for those people. In our room, there's no hate at all. We're all close to each other. We all talk to each other. We goof around. We have good relationships, and we hold each other accountable," Nate Frazier added. "I feel like we're really going to hold each other accountable and not take it personal. I feel like we're going to be good and be better and all eat. That's something I want to be a part of. I don't want to be a part of a running back room that's selfish. That's not what it's going to be at the University of Georgia."

That's because that's never what it's been at the University of Georgia, at least in the Dell McGee era.

Bowens got talking about the Georgia running backs and brought up something that hadn't occurred to this writer, at least. He said: Take a look at Georgia running backs under McGee's leadership. Nobody has transferred out, he said. Bowens added that you don't see that anywhere else in college football. In this day and age, he had to ask the question, why?

OK, technically, one back moved to DB before transferring out, but the point remains. You won't find a position group nationally with that level of production and retention.)

What is McGee's magic?

It goes back to a simple word.

"He's authentic," Bowens said. "I think that's why a lot of parents think highly of him because he's an authentic guy. "

That's not a word chosen at random. Bowens also isn't flippantly suggesting parents are taken by McGee's leadership. In fact, Frazier's mother Yomeisha Moore used the exact same word when explaining why she felt so comfortable sending her son across the country to play at Georgia.

"You can tell when you're meeting with someone when they're being their true authentic self. For me, especially with Dell and Kirby, you get authenticity," Moore told Dawgs247. "I like the fact Kirby has a relationship with these players. Sometimes you go out to these schools, and you meet these head coaches and they know players by numbers, not by names. He actually talks to them."

For all the RBU talk, which isn't lost on these guys, sometimes the culture McGee has created in this room is lost on folks.

It's why Frazier and Bowens couldn't believe it was even a question of concern when asked last week their thoughts on adding yet another running back to the room in Trevor Etienne. Their immediate response: Of course he wants to play at Georgia. He listened to what McGee had to say, too.

"Nick Chubb, Coach McGee developed him. Sony Michel, Coach developed him. D'Andre Swift, Coach McGee developed him. All those guys are who you want to be. I want to go to the NFL," Frazier said. "I want to be developed by Coach McGee. We all want to be developed by Coach McGee."


82 views0 comments
bottom of page