Bear Alexander's Mentor Explains Why He Left Georgia
Bear Alexander, one of the nation's premier defensive tackles in college football, left the University of Georgia for the USC Trojans on G Day of this spring. The decision seemed a bit unexpected at the time, coming off a true freshman season flashing major potential. But, in a recent article published by the L.A. Times, Alexander's mentor explains some of the reasoning as to why Alexander left Georgia.
At the beginning of the article, they explain Alexander's childhood upbringing and how there was a strain on his and his parents' relationship with each other. They explain how Alexander was dubbed the name "Bear" by people in his father's hometown, who was unfortunately arrested at birth, but how Alexander wanted to create a new path and meaning for the name "Bear."
Eventually, in eighth grade, he met Tony Jones, raised in a similar environment as Alexander, and offered mentorship to kids growing up in unstable environments. The article describes that Alexander moved in with Jones during his freshman year of high school due to a family incident and how Jones is someone Alexander refers to as "dad." His time in high school was spent bouncing from high school to high school because, as the article portrays, the state of Texas wouldn't allow Alexander to be eligible at each high school he went to because they felt it was "for athletic purposes," which led him going to IMG Academy, and eventually landing at Georgia.
Alexander played through his true freshman season in 12 of the Bulldogs' 15 games, even racking up a sack in the national title game. All signs pointed to Alexander becoming another great Georgia DT, following in the footsteps of Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. According to L.A. Times, Jones felt the same way -
"Jones had very specific expectations of where Alexander's trajectory should take him as a sophomore at Georgia. He was assured by Georgia's staff of the major role Alexander would play this season. But when he wasn't the clear-cut starter at defensive tackle in the spring, Jones felt betrayed.
'If I can't trust you with what you say, I'm out,' Jones said. 'That's what it got to [at Georgia].'"
- excerpt from L.A. Times article
The defensive tackle spot has experience with Nazir Stackhouse and Zion Logue, but the spot was open for competition going into fall camp if Alexander had stayed. Alexander is a Trojan nonetheless, but it seems he may have also been an Oklahoma Sooner at one point as well. The article describes how when USC head football coach Lincoln Riley was with the Sooners, he convinced Alexander to commit silently, "but Jones says he was worried at the time that Riley might leave Norman for the NFL."
Other Georgia News:
- Despite Injuries, Smart Bullish on Georgia's Running Backs
- Practice Observations - Georgia Priming for Second Scrimmage
- Preseason All-SEC Teams Released
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