An underdog story?

The 2010 edition of the Georgia gymnastics team must rely on depth

Well, these definitely aren’t your older sister’s Gym Dogs.

The legendary coach has retired after 26 season at the helm.

The greatest collegiate gymnast ever to compete has exhausted her eligibility.

Even though Suzanne Yoculan and Courtney Kupets are gone, don’t count out the five-time defending national champions just yet.

First-year head coach Jay Clark served as an assistant coach for 19 years. First-year assistant coach Julie Clark competed for Georgia from 1994-1998 and spent the last seven seasons as a volunteer assistant coach.

And assistant coach Doug McAvinn has been on the coaching staff for the last 24 years.

It is not as if there is a completely new coaching staff with new philosophies. The returning gymnasts are all familiar with the remaining coaches, and the freshmen don’t know anything else.

In the opinion of the editorial board, the biggest obstacle Georgia faces is the loss of Kupets, the winner of the Honda-Broderick Cup, awarded to the top female collegiate athlete, in any sport.

If Georgia needed a perfect 10 in any event, Kupets gave it to them. If Georgia needed a rallying force, Kupets’ recovery from a torn Achilles tendon in 2008 was it.

But no more. Georgia’s top two gymnasts, Grace Taylor and Courtney McCool, don’t compete on vault. Georgia will need a true team effort meet in and meet out.

This season, we will truly find out how deep the 2010 Gym Dogs really are.

- Michael Fitzpatrick for the editorial board