From OnlineAthens.com
February 26th, 2016 11:14 AM
The price tag for use of what some termed the “Kirby Copter” in the final stretch before national signing day probably can be considered a good value for all the publicity it generated for Georgia.
It cost Georgia $3,300 to transport Kirby Smart on Jan. 28 around suburban Atlanta, according to invoices obtained from UGA by the Athens Banner-Herald and Onlineathens.com through an open records request.
“Time is of the essence and time is money,” Smart said on signing day.
It was just a small fraction of what Georgia spent on its new football coach and his staff on recruiting in the two months between his hire and when prospects signed with the Bulldogs.
Georgia spent a total of $342,118.09 on recruiting travel by air and helicopter charter and the UGA owned plane from Dec. 7-Jan. 29. All but $43,381 were on charters. That's for less than two months. Georgia spent $1.314 million for all of its football recruiting expenses in fiscal year 2015 when Mark Richt was head coach.
On the 21 days, Smart and his staff flew, the flights averaged $16,291 a day in cost with sometimes multiple planes in use on the same day.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and staff in a 12-day stretch in his first month as coach in 2015 had jet travels of more than $10,000 a day in value, according to USA Today.
“Time spent going slow doesn’t work,” Smart said. “We had to get to a lot of places in a short amount of time. We want to use every advantage we can to try to get to see as many kids as you can. That was basically the goal there.”
Georgia paid $36,269 to Hill Aircraft of Atlanta for travels Jan. 24-27 from Lawrenceville to Montgomery, Ala. to Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas to Houston to Jackson, Miss., Norfolk, Maxton, N.C., LaGrange and to Atlanta.
Assistants Shane Beamer, Sam Pittman and James Coley rode a Georgia Jet charter plane on Jan. 18 that cost Georgia $31,100. It traveled from Athens to Hickory, N.C., to Beaumont, Texas to Houston to Frederick, Md., to Orlando to Titusville, Fla. to Savannah and Athens.
Georgia paid Flightworks of Kennesaw $45,306 for a plane used from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11. It flew to 12 different cities in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Assistant coach Glenn Schumann was listed as the “lead passenger.”
Smart flying to Washington state to visit quarterback Jacob Eason in December was not included in the invoices for charter travel, which means he may have flown commercial.
Five private air charter companies were used as well as Helicopter Express of Chamblee.
Smart called riding in the helicopter “a little nerve-wracking.”
He used the helicopter to fly from Athens to Lanier High School where defensive line coach Tracy Rocker drove him for a home visit with defensive tackle Derrick Brown (who signed with Auburn.) From there, he flew by copter to Norcross High which has several 2017 prospects, including outside linebacker Robert Beal. At 1:35 p.m., the copter departed for McEachern High for Smart to see wide receiver target Tyler Simmons. The school also has 2017 athlete Tyler Smith.
Simmons flipped on signing day from Alabama to Georgia.
Smart flew to Dekalb-Peachtree Airport and was driven to a coaching clinic in at an area hotel, where he was a featured speaker.
He was back on the copter to fly to Lawrenceville Airport and was driven to Lanier’s basketball game against Gainesville.
At 7:35 p.m., Smart was back on the copter to go to Fulton-County Airport where running backs coach Dell McGee picked him up to head to Simmons’ house for a home visit.
“People think it’s a gimmick,” Smart said on Atlanta’s 680 AM . “It was never a gimmick for me. It was a time issue. There’s a reason they do traffic from up there…I was able to get to more schools by doing that. It’s cost efficient.”
...READ MORE HERE...
February 26th, 2016 11:14 AM
The price tag for use of what some termed the “Kirby Copter” in the final stretch before national signing day probably can be considered a good value for all the publicity it generated for Georgia.
It cost Georgia $3,300 to transport Kirby Smart on Jan. 28 around suburban Atlanta, according to invoices obtained from UGA by the Athens Banner-Herald and Onlineathens.com through an open records request.
“Time is of the essence and time is money,” Smart said on signing day.
It was just a small fraction of what Georgia spent on its new football coach and his staff on recruiting in the two months between his hire and when prospects signed with the Bulldogs.
Georgia spent a total of $342,118.09 on recruiting travel by air and helicopter charter and the UGA owned plane from Dec. 7-Jan. 29. All but $43,381 were on charters. That's for less than two months. Georgia spent $1.314 million for all of its football recruiting expenses in fiscal year 2015 when Mark Richt was head coach.
On the 21 days, Smart and his staff flew, the flights averaged $16,291 a day in cost with sometimes multiple planes in use on the same day.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and staff in a 12-day stretch in his first month as coach in 2015 had jet travels of more than $10,000 a day in value, according to USA Today.
“Time spent going slow doesn’t work,” Smart said. “We had to get to a lot of places in a short amount of time. We want to use every advantage we can to try to get to see as many kids as you can. That was basically the goal there.”
Georgia paid $36,269 to Hill Aircraft of Atlanta for travels Jan. 24-27 from Lawrenceville to Montgomery, Ala. to Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas to Houston to Jackson, Miss., Norfolk, Maxton, N.C., LaGrange and to Atlanta.
Assistants Shane Beamer, Sam Pittman and James Coley rode a Georgia Jet charter plane on Jan. 18 that cost Georgia $31,100. It traveled from Athens to Hickory, N.C., to Beaumont, Texas to Houston to Frederick, Md., to Orlando to Titusville, Fla. to Savannah and Athens.
Georgia paid Flightworks of Kennesaw $45,306 for a plane used from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11. It flew to 12 different cities in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Assistant coach Glenn Schumann was listed as the “lead passenger.”
Smart flying to Washington state to visit quarterback Jacob Eason in December was not included in the invoices for charter travel, which means he may have flown commercial.
Five private air charter companies were used as well as Helicopter Express of Chamblee.
Smart called riding in the helicopter “a little nerve-wracking.”
He used the helicopter to fly from Athens to Lanier High School where defensive line coach Tracy Rocker drove him for a home visit with defensive tackle Derrick Brown (who signed with Auburn.) From there, he flew by copter to Norcross High which has several 2017 prospects, including outside linebacker Robert Beal. At 1:35 p.m., the copter departed for McEachern High for Smart to see wide receiver target Tyler Simmons. The school also has 2017 athlete Tyler Smith.
Simmons flipped on signing day from Alabama to Georgia.
Smart flew to Dekalb-Peachtree Airport and was driven to a coaching clinic in at an area hotel, where he was a featured speaker.
He was back on the copter to fly to Lawrenceville Airport and was driven to Lanier’s basketball game against Gainesville.
At 7:35 p.m., Smart was back on the copter to go to Fulton-County Airport where running backs coach Dell McGee picked him up to head to Simmons’ house for a home visit.
“People think it’s a gimmick,” Smart said on Atlanta’s 680 AM . “It was never a gimmick for me. It was a time issue. There’s a reason they do traffic from up there…I was able to get to more schools by doing that. It’s cost efficient.”
...READ MORE HERE...
