Antavious Coates (Photo: UGASports.com)

Antavious Coates was exactly what you wanted as a safety.  He had the prototypical NFL safety build.  He had good football skills.  He had a love for contact.  He had the kind of work ethic you want.  Unfortunately, what he didn’t have was the knees to play college football.  Coates had already missed his first two seasons at Georgia due to knee injuries, and for the fourth time in his football career, he has torn an ACL.

UGASports.com reported this afternoon that the injury occurred on Saturday and has all but ended his career.  It was one of those injuries that didn’t seem that severe at the time, but an MRI on Sunday confirmed the tear.  Georgia will apply for a medical disqualification for Coates.

Because Coates wants to get into coaching, he will serve as a student coach this year (similar to a graduate assistant).  “He’s going to get a really great head start in that area,” said Coach Richt.  “He’s still an inspiration to this football team.”

Richt summed up the most unfortunate part of the story for someone who was entering his third year at Georgia with a dream of playing for the Bulldogs.  “He never got to play Between the Hedges.  That really hurt.”