Danielson: ‘I would like to do it over’ but what was said was accurate
If Gary Danielson could do his call again, he would do it differently.
That stated, the CBS Sports color commentator stands by every word from his broadcast during the Iron Bowl, when he revealed that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart turned in what he thought were six missed defensive holds in the Bulldogs’ 40-17 loss against Auburn on Nov. 11.
Danielson made the call during Auburn’s win over Alabama last Saturday in relation to the physical play in the Tigers’ secondary. During a CBS Sports conference call Wednesday, Danielson said he would have worded his phrasing differently if given another chance at the line, although what he said was 100 percent factual.
“I went back and listened to it,” Danielson said. “I would like to do it over. There are a lot of things I’d like to do over in that game. That’s one of the things I marked down. But I will say, everything I said was accurate. Everything. Every word of it was accurate. I think I just could’ve said it a little better.”
On Monday, Smart was asked about what Danielson said, to which he offered no comment.
Danielson said he wouldn’t have said what he aired on the broadcast if Alabama was on top in the moment. With a rematch beginning to transpire, he felt the fans deserved to know what Smart said during their production meeting.
“I’m just going to say it, I don’t think it was off the record. You can stop me at any time,” Danielson said during the Iron Bowl broadcast. “When we talked to Kirby Smart following the Auburn game, he felt that Auburn got away with a lot of holds in the secondary against his receivers. He sent in six plays to the SEC. He was not happy about what he had happen in that game.”
Both Danielson and play-by-play analyst Brad Nessler said that coaches relaying their issues with the previous game’s officiating was nothing new from their standpoint. Nessler noted that when Smart did so, it was much ado about nothing in the meeting room.
“I hear it all the time,” Nessler said. “To me, it’s a non-factor. If I was Kirby, I’d send Gary a thank-you note. I’ve watched (Kentucky basketball head coach) John Calipari do this for his whole lifetime in coaching. He works on refs in the first half so he can get a call in the second half. If a broadcaster brings something up, I would look at is as a plus, not a negative, if I was him. But that’s just me.”
Having called Auburn’s games against Georgia and Alabama, Danielson said he isn’t sure if anything will change with how the back end is officiated in the SEC Championship.
Hearing a coach offer concern that a previous opponent got away with a little too much is something Danielson has heard plenty of times from coaches.
“I am aware that Auburn plays a lot of strong, bump-and-run, man-to-man coverage,” Danielson said. “But that’s not any different than the way Florida plays it, and people complaining about Florida. Or the way Alabama has played it in the past, and people complaining about Alabama. This is a common gripe that everybody has weekly.”
Danielson noted that he doesn’t have a personal relationship with Smart, nor does he with any of the SEC coaches he covers. But he said he doesn’t think Smart is upset over Danielson’s revelation.
If Smart is, however, Danielson isn’t concerned about it.
“I can only say that I’m comfortable with the information I presented during the game,” Danielson said. “I think Kirby will be too. If he isn’t, it’s really not my problem. I work very hard on developing a trust with the coaches with what they tell me is fair game and that the fine line of off the record and on the record sometimes gets uncomfortable, and I don’t think I crossed any lines and I don’t think Kirby thinks I crossed any lines.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Danielson: ‘I would like to do it over’ but what was said was accurate."