Thank you, Devin

The awful news that the Bulldog nation, media included, woke up to yesterday touched a deep place inside of me.

I spent most of the day wandering around in a haze in reaction to the reports and fielding questions from almost everyone I saw throughout the day, as they assumed I might have answers given my proximity to the program.

But, as you might expect, I didn’t.

There are no answers for this sort of tragedy.

No one has them. Certainly not me.

As someone who witnessed something quite similar in my personal life almost ten years ago, these sorts of situations are impossible to describe, irreparable to the heart, and calling them difficult to move on from is an understatement that lacks any degree of scope.

So, I won’t try to do any of that for you or for them.

I can’t.

What I can do, however, is try to tell a brief story of Devin Willock, a young man I got to know briefly in the respect that I would prior to his senior year of high school.

As someone who’s covered recruiting for many years now, there’s a personal tie to this team, these players, and their stories.

I know their hometowns, their backgrounds, and those oft-discussed ‘whys’. That’s my job, if I were to try to put a label on what it is I do.

And with Willock, some of that is true.

A former three-star recruit from Paramus, New Jersey football powerhouse Paramus Catholic, Willock was offered in the late spring of 2019, not by offensive line coach Sam Pittman, but by former wide receivers coach James Coley.

When I spoke to him following the news, he was clearly glowing, even through Twitter direct message.

“It meant a whole lot knowing that, not only would I know I’ll love being a Bulldog, butso would my family,” Willock told me in May of 2019. “I know that if I need anything, I’ll have relatives in the state that know and understand the game of football that’ll be real supportive throughout my career there.”

Willock would follow that offer up with a visit soon thereafter, and he felt the love in a major way during that trip.

“Knowing that they treat me as a high-rated recruit on their board and that the offer is committable was honestly astonishing,” he said following the trip in June. “Seeing the whole program in person and the conversations with the coaches definitely sold me on the school.”

He shared with me at the time that he was more than ready to make his commitment but that Pittman and the staff had promised to work out others, as well.

And they did.

And others committed.

The window seemed to pass, as often happens on both ends in recruiting, and Willock chose a school closer to home and ready to accept his commitment, opting to pledge his services to the Penn State Nittany Lions in September.

But changes happened, as they do in recruiting.

Sam Pittman accepted a job to lead the Arkansas Razorbacks.

As a result, Josh Braun, a Georgia commit at the time, opted to pull back and eventually land with Florida.

With a new coach, Matt Luke, in place on December 10, the Bulldogs suddenly found themselves with a spot open.

Who did they call but the gentle giant from New Jersey.

He wasted no time taking them up on the opportunity, decommitting from Penn State, following it up with an official visit to Georgia, and committing ahead of the early Signing Day in 2019, completing the first step of a journey he’d very clearly seen for himself all along.

Two National Championships and with 27 appearances in red and black under his belt later, he was among Georgia’s brightest rising stars on the offensive front.

But, I never understood fully what it was that brought Devin Willock to Georgia.

In the wake of loss, however, I think it’s beginning to dawn on me, as much as it could through the fog.

For whatever reason and thankfully, Devin Willock wanted to be a Georgia Bulldog above all else.

And Georgia?

Well, Georgia needed Devin Willock.

Why?

The outpouring of love, sympathy, compassion, and the insight that while trophies are nice, the people we love are so far superior are what’s felt everpresent from Athens and beyond over the last 24 hours.

I’m honored to have been able to tell a small part of his story, and while I’m crushed over his loss, I’m hopeful for where this may lead this program, this fanbase, the media, and those who’ve been touched by his story from a standpoint of empathy and grounding in the realization that much of this is just a game played by very real, very loved people as the days ahead come.

May God grant those that love him, as well as all involved in this tragedy, peace moving forward.

Here’s to #77, Devin A. Willock, a Dawg for life, no doubt, but more importantly, a deeply loved son, friend, and young man.

Thank you for this, Devin.

Thank you for everything.