This morning, Tony Barnhart asks:
So instead of its fourth straight win, Georgia absorbs a heartbreaking loss. So I ask you: If Georgia’s Blair Walsh kicks the winning field goal in overtime instead of Florida’s Chas Henry, are we even having this discussion today? If Georgia wins that game is everybody saying that Richt has things back on track and he’s good to go for the future?
… and then has this for an answer.
If the answer to that question is yes, if the line between keeping a coach and letting him go is that fine, then you have to keep him.
I get his point, but I’m not sure it’s that simple. And in the case of Richt’s immediate supervisor, I hope it’s not that simple. McGarity’s got two things to be concerned about. One is focusing on what Richt can do to make the program better and providing whatever reasonable assistance he can to achieve that goal. On that front, Richt himself indicated on last night’s Bulldog Hotline that McGarity has some ideas to which the coach is receptive.
“So what are we going to do? We are going to go back and make sure everything we’re doing is the very best it can be. I am very encouraged with our new athletics director Mr. McGarity, Greg McGarity. I think he is very intent and excited about looking at every facet of our program and helping me and us make any type of changes that can help us. Of course, him being at Florida for some time certainly gives him the credibility of knowing what the national championship team looks like . . . I am excited about some of the things Mr. McGarity and I have talked about.”
But there’s another factor in the equation McGarity can’t ignore. Barnhart can talk all he wants about making dispassionate decisions about Richt’s fate, but fan bases by their very nature aren’t dispassionate. At some point, if apathy sets in, the program starts taking a hit in the pocketbook. And that’s something McGarity won’t be able to afford to tolerate for very long.
Get The Picture 
Mark Richt is gonna have to learn how to be a ruthless SOB.
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In the end, as sad as it may be, it is all about the mighty dollar.
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Sure Richt hasn’t beat Florida regularly. Before Richt came however we had lost 10 of the last 11 to Florida though so it didn’t start under him. We had also lost 9 of the last 10 to Tennessee. We were 2-5-1 in our last 8 games against Auburn and we had just lost our third straight game against Georgia Tech. The last of those was a double digit blow out in Sanford Stadium that was much worse than the final score ended up being. That game ended with Tech’s nerdy white piece of paper pale QB prancing around the stadium with a piece of the hedges between his teeth like a rose holding up three fingers to memorialize Tech’s three straight victories over us. That was the end of the Donnan era. What is sad though was that Donnan’s tenure was actually a step up from Ray Goff had taken us in the mid-90’s which was the complete wilderness. In that place Vandy nearly hung half a hundred on us on homecoming. We are MORONS, complete and total MORONS if we get rid of Richt. Richt has the best winning percentage of any Georgia coach who has ever coached this many games at Georgia including Dooley, Butts, Mehre, people that have buildings and statues on campus. I agree with the Senator’s post from last night that Richt’s major sin in all this time is hanging on to Willie longer than he should. I think we should have fired him after the Sugar Bowl in 05′ because it was obvious he was no DC from that game and the Auburn game that year (“the original Fourth and Willie”) I argued as much on here and elsewhere for almost 4 years, regardless though that is now moot because he’s gone. I was afraid Richt didn’t have it in him, its true he’s a nice guy and that got the better of him, the fact that Willie was the best man at his wedding made it a thousand times harder for him. I get that, how many of us would find it easy to fire our best friend in the world. I posit there are few of us who wouldn’t drag their feet a little bit. But again Richt has done it now and having made that supremely hard decision, his next one will not be that hard. In my mind I’d be saying “hell I fired my best friend because he couldn’t get it done, I’ll fire you Joe Blow”. Richt is a good coach, but he’s offense oriented he (unlike Saban) depends totally on his DC to run the defense, that was where we are weak, but we’ve got a good guy in there now. We’ve lost a hell of a lot of close games this year, and that ain’t coaching that’s football.
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+100
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Damn straight.
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So your argument is that even though his record against FL is 2-8, he should be retained? He should be retained even though his last three teams have underachieved? Simply because we as a fanbase cannot name someone who might do a better job?
Consider Ohio State 10-11 years ago. They had a coach with 4th highest winning % in school history in John Cooper. He had won 3 conference titles and finished 2nd in the nation twice. But he was unable to beat Michigan. His players were undisciplined and had numerous off the field issues. His last two teams underachieved to 6-6 and 8-4 records. Cooper could still recruit – in fact most of the talent that won the NC two years later under Tressel was brought in by Cooper. But something was missing, the OSU AD understood that fact and replaced him with a well-respected successful D-1AA coach that the majority of the OSU fan base knew nothing about.
If McGarity does not want to replace Richt because he is scared he cannot find anyone that will do better than McGarity should not be the AD.
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No, I’m saying he should be retained because he has the highest winning percentage in school history. Is 22-16 against our four major rivals (UF, AU, UT, and GT) when his immediate predecessor was 6-14, and the guy before that was 8-17-1. He also has one two SEC Championships in ten seasons when we had one zero in the 19 years proceeding his arrival. John Cooper, yes, as a broken clock is right twice a day even a bad decision can sometimes have good results. Usually replacing a coach winning games at a .75 clip does not work out so well. Hello Tennessee, Hello Michigan. Boy Ole Miss really got on their high horse when they fired David Cutcliffe for going 7-5 the year after he took them to the Cotton Bowl, I think they had about 7 wins total under Ed Ogeron. I have seen other school’s fanbases commit institutional suicide to many times to count by getting too big for their britches and firing a winning coach only to then find out what true pain is like. If Richt was still clinging to Willie I’d be with you, but Willie WAS the reason for the downward trajectory now we are in recovery mode. Go back and look at our schedule from 2005-2010, assume we hold everybody but eventual national champions (UF 2006 and 2008) to 29 points or fewer (that is what Van Gorder did) our records are then as follows:
2005: 13-1
2006: 10-3
2007: 11-2
2008: 13-1
2009: 8-5
Really, who is complaining if that is the scenario? You guys are wanting to sell now when our stock is at its lowest but now that Willie, Fabris, et al. are gone our fundamentals are sound again, we will get better. We have played with heart and have had a chance to win every game this year, despite having a total defensive overhaul and rookie QB getting his first taste of life on the road in the SEC. That is a return to the 2001-2004 Richt squads, when we have lost but we were in every game. I hate to see all you hotshots run off the best coach we have ever had with this bullcrap what have you done for me lately attitude, mainly I hate it because I bled Red & Black through the Goff years and I know I’ll still be here when we suck but half of you trigger happy jackoffs will be wearing FSU, Miami, or whoever the new flavor of the month t-shirts are by then.
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Open apology, I got a little angry their at the end, I certainly do not believe thoughtful criticism makes anyone a bad fan. I am just really worried that the irascible element of our fanbase is going to drive us off a cliff and I been there and don’t want to go back.
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No offense taken and your apology is accepted. However, for the record, I am a UGA graduate (1991) and have held season tickets for 10 years. I pull for no one else but our beloved Dogs. I would just as soon everyone else lose each week.
I do not disagree with you that replacing Richt is a risk. However, I firmly believe that it is risk that is now worth taking.
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Just as a hypothetical, what do we do next season if we’re staring 8-4 in the face with another loss to Florida and let’s say… Auburn?
Is it alright to start wondering if Richt is still the man for the job then?
When do we reach that threshold? There has to come a time when the most recent results take greater precedence than what was accomplished nearly a decade ago.
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I think its how you are losing (are you getting blown out or were you in the game), how good the teams you lose to end up being (not where they were ranked when you played), and whether the defense is hemorraging points left and right (i.e. regressing). If we are 8-4 next year and we start off losing the opener 28-12 to Louisville, Dan Mullen and his high flying (and eventual 9-3) Bizarro Dogs trot in to Sanford and beats us 31-10, Vandy scores 34 on you even though you win and then we get beaten 45-10 by Florida and 34-13 by Auburn, that’s one thing. On the other hand if we lose 20-17 to S. Carolina who rides Marcus Lattimore to 9-3, lose to the 9-3 Bizarro Dogs 27-21 in OT in a game where our QB throws a pick 6 and they get a special teams TD, lose 24-23 to a UF team that goes 11-1 and wins the SEC and then by less than a TD to a stout Auburn squad all the while trouncing Tech, Tennessee, and virtually everyone else on our schedule, that’s something else. In the first case, I’m probably with the fire everybody crowd then if the second I’m probably not. The difference is in the first case you are getting blown out, the losses have nothing to with the bounce of the ball, or an untimely mistake (missing a block or even a great play by an excellent athelete on another team, you are simply getting your butt kicked) and the defense is clearly not going in the right direction, it is time for a change. If however the second season happens you were in every game, you lost to some very good teams, that’s football and I’ll give a good coach the benefit of the doubt and another year.
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Thanks for taking the time, man….all I have to do is look up the road at Tennessee to know how much better off we are than when things were not going well in the past…..
I am also encouraged the new AD appears to be taking a more active role in the football program, and is proactive.
Even the smartest coaches need support and programmatic input from time to time.
I also can’t help myself from wondering if this stance by the AD is new…..and all that implies.
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I’m always surprised by Georgia fans who don’t think Georgia is a good job. They must be devotees of Stewart Mandel or something.
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Just look at the hard time we had filling the job the last two times before Mark. Not many coaches want to take over a team with a delusional fan base. We are going to have to get someone that we hope will be great, I for one have had enough of that hope thing.
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I brought up the money topic several weeks back to another UGA fan saying, ultimately, the fans (and their pocket books) will decide the fate of Richt. He looked at me like I had gone crazy.
But tell me in the next year or two (after another subpar season), if there’s 10k+ empty seats (not counting the students who only halfway show now) and less donations in the coffers, a change won’t be made? Apathy is worse than anger.
I know the economy has also affected the donation level and it’s falling three consecutive years, but I’d like to know how (if) the donation level has fallen at other large SEC schools. And I’m curious to see what the donation level is next year if we go 6-6 with another Shreveport trip.
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Well, Jason, there won’t be a Shreveport trip because Shreveport no longer has an affiliation with the SEC. Thanks for your attention.
10,000 empty seats? Ten-THOUSAND? That won’t happen next year. It never happened under Donnan, who never brought championships to UGA. And if Richt doesn’t turn it around, next year would be his final year. So, there ya go.
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And thank you for being an ass, Mr. Go Dawgs!
I was attending UGA during the Goff/Donnan years and there weren’t many empty seats but there was a different attitude w/ the fans too. UGA wasn’t as successful, but there was less negativity. UGA was bad, the fans knew it, but yet they still enjoyed the experience.
If McGarity is insistent on keeping Richt past the next year or two while the record hovers around 6-6 (who knows if he will/wont’), I bet there will be 10k empty seats. For better or worse, the attitude/culture has changed with the fans (maybe spoiled?).
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I just think it’s quite a bit premature to speculate about another year of 6-6, and certainly it’s premature to speculate about two more years of this crap. The pressing concern is what McGarity does this year. Assuming that Georgia has another 6-6 waiting for them if McGarity keeps Richt ignores the improvements made by this team from last year to this year. We all laughed at several national pundits who speculated that Georgia could be better this year with a worse record. I think if you look at the comparisons between common opponents from last year to this year, I think that prediction is certainly coming true. The defensive change is going to take time and recruiting. But as for what happens if there’s another 6-6 next year, I don’t think there needs to be much speculation. If it happens next year, I think Richt’s gone.
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It is premature speculation to talk about this year being 6-6, also. The year isn’t over yet. The Dawgs may win out and win the bowl game. That is 8-5, the same as last year. While I think there is almost no chance that the Dawgs will lose to Idaho State, the possibility also exists that the Dawgs could lose 2 of the remaining 3 games for a record of 5-7 with no bowl. What then?
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Less negativity? Seriously? What part of the ’99 Auburn or ’94 Vandy experiences did you see fans enjoying? Those were probably the most venal environments I’ve ever been a part of.
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Halftime at the ’99 Auburn game was particularly epic in the hatin’ department.
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And Donnan was fired after the next season, correct? Omen?
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Yeah, but not because of the Auburn game. Or at least not just because of the Auburn game.
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Hey…guess it’s just me or my myopic perspective, but as bad as the 90s were (and the 99 AU in particular…yes…I was there and the stadium emptied at HT), the negative attitude surrounding the program seems more pervasive now than back when the program was in worse shape. Maybe it’s because UGA has tasted success recently only to see it slink back to pre-Donnan (record-wise) days. I just remember showing up back in the mid 90s knowing we were bad…but still having fun.
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You should have been reading the Dawg Vent in the latter part of the ’90s. That’s when Rolo and Bassndawg made their bones. The “beans vs. bashers” debates then were as intense as anything you read today.
The difference is that there are more outlets for people to vent on now. And the media’s willingness to pander to that.
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Exactly. There was no message board culture in 1994. People just stood up and yelled “Fuck you, Ray” in the middle of the stadium, because, other than the call-in show, there was no other way to voice their considerable displeasure. Although it should be noted that those call-in shows were fairly epic in their own right.
And let’s correct one misconception here: Georgia did have a taste of success early on in the ’90s (1992, when we went 10-2), which made the 1993-6 seasons even more painful that what we’re experiencing now. Jason makes it sounds like we’d been happily wandering the wilderness without any successful precedent by which to base our subsequent disappointment. Not true. 1992 gave us hope and 1993 crapped all over it. People were pissed.
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Goff was 9-3 in ’91, too. Then in ’93 the Dawgs imploded with a 5-6 record (losing 4 out of their first 5) and the bloom was off the rose with Goff.
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Ah, Rolo Dawg, now I know you’re old school Senator. Respect.
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Ah, Rolo Dawg, now I know you are old school Senator. Respect.
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barnhart’s point was about 2011, not beyond. if next year sees us lose another 3 or 4 or more, i think everyone will be ready for some new blood. but this season has been about change. that comes with bumps in the road typically. give the changes time to work. if they don’t, then mcgarity will do what needs to be done. if they do, then yay! we all win and get to hang on to a good man.
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So the change is at OC, do you call 2011 THE last year? Or will that be a year of cgange as well? Essentially, if you make him hire a new OC then you give him two more years.
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i don’t think we need a change at OC. take a look at the scoring. we’re very competitive. in more conference games than anyone else has played this year, we’re third in points per game. wtf do you want?
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/911/team/offense/split07/category09/sort01.html
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I want a coaching staff that can give reasons why Carlton Thomas is tieing up a scholarship. Similar to Tyson Browning, why do they recruit such guys. Do they honestly think they are legit SEC tailbacks? Also, I want a coaching staff that uses personnel correctly. Don’t get caught up with numbers. To me, that is why Willie stayed too long. The w’s were still happening, while the defense continually went down hill. I also want a reason why Joe Cox and Joe T happened in the same decade. Don’t look now, but the O-line is going to be short staffed in the coming years. Stafford never had a good line, and watch Murray be a senior with a shitty line. I want to see some out of the box thinking, like Charles to wr, Branden Smith to strictly offense.
I really think Richt should go. He is responsible for allowing Willie Martinez to stay to long and think about why he didn’t correct the Kickoff team last year during the year. He is a poor CEO
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You want to evaluate Martinez’s defenses based on points, not wins, but you want to evaluate Bobo’s offenses based on wins, not points?
FWIW, Thomas is averaging 4.1 ypc. That’s not epic, but it’s not embarassing, either.
And if you really want to start cutting kids from the team, you should be an Alabama or Ole Miss fan. Those are the coaches you can get behind. I’ll stick with Richt, who offers a 4 or 5-year commitment to our kids.
And you can talk about the line, but every team goes through times of drought. Why doesn’t Florida have a center? Why don’t they have a running back behind Demps? Is Corch a poor CEO who doesn’t recruit?
And arguing that Richt should go because of Martinez and Fabris, after he’s fired them, is just silly. Do you think the next coach could fire them even more?
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It will be interesting to see what attendance looks like this weekend.
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I won’t be there, but that’s only because of a prior commitment.
But yeah, it’s going to be down because
a. noon-ish kickoff
b. glorified scrimmage
c. 4-5
Expect more of the same with the “upgrade” in scheduling.
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I’ll be there and am short a couple tickets for the group I have coming so anyone who plans on not using theirs feel free to send them my way.
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“I think he is very intent and excited about looking at every facet of our program and helping me and us make any type of changes that can help us.”…..see ya DVH.
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This year we are a team that finds a way to lose. We have yet to win a close game. Period. The truth is though, we have been on a downward trend for a couple of years. I love Mark Richt. I hope he is our coach for many years to come. I do not think we can find a better man for the job. But we play in the SEC. He’s only going to get one more year to right the ship. That’s a shame but it is what it is.
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“I do not think we can find a better man for the job.” Why would you think that? There are tons of great coaches out there besides the 5-10 “hot” names that everyone knows. Auburn took a chance on a guy that everyone thought would be a diaster…how’s that working out for them?
And spare me the UT argument….anyone that wanted to do a little research knew that Kiffin was trouble and that Fulmer was leaving a mess. Not a comparable situation at all. Right now, we are Ohio State, circa 2000. Not a great place to be, but burying our heads in the sand about the true state of things will only make it worse and prolong the inevitable.
What must be done eventually might as well be done immediately.
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Just don’t overlook the fact that there’s one man responsible for Auburn’s success, and it’s certainly not the head coach. It’s Malzahn. When he leaves, he’s taking the wins with him. And he will be leaving in the next two or three years, somebody’s going to make him a head coach.
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Agree, you think Mahlzahn’s gonna hang around for the next Chris Todd or Kodi Burns? It isn’t exactly Chizik’s D that is lighting it up right now. And I don’t think he stays two more years.
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Actually, there are two men responsible for Auburn’s success. Malzahn and Cam Newton. Without Newton, Auburn is no better than an 8-4 team and quite possibly .500. With Newton, Florida is quite possibly undefeated. Before anyone jumps on the Chizik or Malzahn bandwagon, let them coach with players that aren’t superhuman. One or two players in college football that make plays and are special talents can make all the difference.
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That’s a solid point.
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He better jump right away.
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in my darker moments, the situation just seems like a trap with no way out. i really want richt to succeed but have profound doubts about his abilities to succeed in today’s sec.
is he capable of the reinvention that seems to be required? he did fire three coaches last year and replace at least two of them with substantial upgrades (still not sure about lakatos). but does he have time now to replace some coaches and get back to winning? i don’t know: head coaches don’t get themselves indefinite extensions by firing asisstants if the wins don’t follow pretty quickly. in fact, that sort of merry-go-round is often a last gasp.
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You have to look past the record. Last year, we lost in blowouts. This year, we’ve been competitive in every game. Our defense is improving. After Grantham recruits some kids to fit his system, and coaches the current kids for another year, the defense will improve more. That’s when the wins will come.
So Richt saw the need for improvement, addressed it, and is now seeing the needed improvement. Is there room for further improvement? Sure. Will Richt address it, probably.
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I just hope McGarity understands that you can’t just give Richt “one more year”. You either have to shit or get off the pot. Right after the Tech game, either fire the guy and move on, or extend his contract for four or five years and make a big deal about it to the public.
Either get someone new in there with some time to recruit before signing day and with the extra bowl practice to implement his system even before the spring, or tell the public that it doesn’t make a damn difference what any writers or message board fans think, Richt isn’t going anywhere for at least 4 years (even if you don’t mean it). Anything in between can only end up worse than those two extremes.
I personally think Richt can both coach and recruit extremely well, but the latter just gets more and more difficult the longer these recruits go having no idea how much longer Richt is going to be at UGA. Right now, for all we know, Richt can not honestly tell these recruits that knows he’s going to be at UGA for more than another year. And even if he does, they can’t possibly believe him. If that stays the same through February, 2011 signing day will be all but guaranteed to be disappointing, and after two sub par years recruiting, 2012 and 2013 will likely be lost causes on the field, regardless of how 2011 turns out.
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That’s a great point. I think that a lot of the problems Georgia is having in recruiting right now isn’t about the wins and losses on the field, I think it has to do with the never-ending speculation about the coach’s job.
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What was Florida’s class ranked this year f0llowing Myer’s “quit, no quit, maybe quit” stunt?
The recruiting problems have everything to do with on-field performance.
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There’s a big difference between those two situations: Meyer was making his own decision about his career, while Richt’s fate is being debated by others.
And if you read the quotes from kids like Crowell and LeMay, their decisions are very much tied into who will be coaching the team next year.
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And that is why the UGA bloggers that love recruiting are cutting their own throats as we speak. Our opponents are just as happy as hogs to see the UGA fan base tear the coach apart on the Internet. They couldn’t get better help in negative recruiting if they tried. We are setting the table for another 4 years of the typical UGA mediocre teams we have had per CMR. Our fans are delusional at best (we’re not going to win a MNC in my life time) and a bunch of pains in the butt mostly (bitching like a bunch of little girls). We don’t want the team to win bad enough to just STFU.
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I agree. Either come out in full support of Richt or decide to move on. I hope it’s the former. The ultimatum that some have suggested is essentially the first step towards the gallows and will do far more harm than good.
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2007 was one of Richt’s best years, and it looked like at the time he could write his own checks and decide his own fate at Georgia whenever he wanted. Yet, that season featured one of the worst recruiting classes he pulled in during his tenure.
By the middle of the 2000 season, Donnan was on some very shaky ground where his future was concerned, yet we still managed to pull in a class that featured some absolute studs that year.
Coaching stability clearly matters, but it isn’t the only thing.
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Heading into next year, Richt should be on the block if he can’t show improvement. However, I think he can. A lot of teams have gone from losing a bunch of close games one season to a high level of success the next. This season has sucked, but there are reasons to be hopeful. There’s also reason to worry, because I don’t know how effective the offense will be without AJ Green next year. Here’s hoping for a lockout.
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What makes you optimistic about the defense?
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Other than the 10 points per game improvement from last season in conference play in a brand new scheme?
Nothing.
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Jarvis Jones and Richard Samuel getting in the mix at LB next season.
‘Tree getting a full season under his belt.
Geathers getting another year in the weight room and getting more familiarity playing NT.
If Boykin and/or Houston come back, we could be fucking mean.
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We are hoping ‘tree’ is the man. Which I think he will be. That is 1 safety, 1 corner(Boykin), who is the LBer? Geathers? Is he really playing that much right now? And what makes you think the cat won’t elect for the draft or something after next year? Those Geathers boys don’t give a damn. Who are DE going to be? Houston’s gone with Green. Jarvis Jones is used goods. He ain’t gonna stick that busted neck in there right. Pete Carroll got the goody out of that one. Samuel will be lost to the talent wasteland. I hope your right, but neither have played a down at LB for Georgia and we already “expect” great things. Off of the defense, but why did it take so long to figure out Samuel was not a running back?
PUFFDAWG, SC will lose nobody (Lattimore as a sophmore), I don’t see anything stopping Florida from beating Georgia again. With this group, I don’t see anybody wanting to hit Relf or Newton.
This group is not special. Thing is, Ogletree is the only one I see that will be a legit Sunday player. Dent will go 3 or 4 round. Boykin probably goes somewhere. The 10 point thing had to go up, but wait til after Auburn. Newton will humilate these guys.
The talent is not there and the KILLER mentality is missing. Do you see anybody close to Fairley “or Farley” from Auburn on this roster? Whitaker at Auburn will end up being a miss just like Greg Reid. But hey we have Branden Smith and Deangelo Tyson right??
You want to see a legit player in high school, look at Clowney from South Point in Rock Hill, S.C.. He is better right now than any lb at Georgia. He will wind up at SC or Alabama.
Look man, athletes are alot like hunting dawgs. The real good uns are good young.
Moreno or AJ Green stand out to you. How about Pollock, Davis, Blue, Jennings?
The other guys you speak of haven’t proved shit.
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I have someone I’d like you to meet…
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Who is the linebacker? How about Christian Robinson? The guy has had flashes of greatness and has killer instincts from what I can tell. You’re making extreme judgements about kids you have never seen play. I mean, who thought Dent was going to be an impact player this year? Now he’s one of the leading tacklers in the SEC and playing his way into the draft.
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Clowney is better than the sack leader in the SEC? That’s really interesting.
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You also forget that..ya know…prior to this year Grantham had 0 experience vs these teams. Now that he has experience it will help out next year. You could take the best DC in any conferance put them in a new conference with the same players on D and watch them lose to teams becuase they do not face them. If all the game film you have is other D styles vs the team and your tryin to find your own style to fit whats needed it is easy to get figured out. Since you are clearly going to be leaning heavily on what has appeared to work before from other teams.
Grantham will have an entire offseason to improve his playcalling and D style. Also he will have tape of players in HIS system to scout through to show players how they can improve. This offseason will be huge for him and the D.
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I don’t think it is scheme. It is the lack of talent.
Clowney is a stud.
So I guess this coaching staff didn’t expect Stafford to go pro, or surely they would have groomed a qb?? Is there any big secret Green is gone? Who is the wr to step up? Watched Peake play this weekend, that was another miss for the dawgs. Who is the play maker on offense? Murray can’t do it by himself.
Witchett gets put off team(reinstated) and Lemay isn’t playing his senior year( BJ in classroom). Look I know you can’t get them all but that is what seperates the good teams and well….Georgia. One recruit will make a huge difference. Greg Reid would have been a huge get and made this defense better.
Clowny will be a beast his freshman year.
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Senator, you are absolutely correct in your assessment. To summarize this decision is about MONEY. If the fans turn their back on the UGA program then Richt will be sent packing….after next season.
This off season, I am sure that there will be major changes (and I did not say minor), in the UGA football program in the off season. Most of these will revolve around discipline, renewal of assts contracts, and likely expectations for Richt for the 2011 season.
My gut tells me that McGarity will be patient with Richt, but only to the degree that the money continues to flow into the UGA coffers.
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If Richt is let go it will happen when his contract is up. No sense in wasting money on a buyout when no renewal accomplishes the same thing. That said if all of these changes begin to take hold next year and there is a much better team what happens then? Long extension?
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Barnhart’s main premise, that the margin (on the field) between incredible joy and complete misery for a fanbase is very slim… and that decision makers can’t be caught up in that is very intriguing to me. If Georgia pulls it out in OT then Mark Richt is a hero who has rallied his team and is turning the ship. And the difference between hero and goat came down to one play. The AD can’t fixate on one play.
I think the situation at Tennessee in 2007 perfectly illustrates the dilemma for an AD. I was watching the Vanderbilt game that year thinking that it was Fulmer’s last. I was sure he was going to get fired. Although TN had a winning record at that point, they had been blown out by major rivals FL and AL and were also embarrassed by Cal. Vandy got out to a couple of scores lead on TN, but TN came back in the 4th Quarter and took the lead in the waning minutes. Vandy was down by 1 or 2 points. Vandy drove the field and attempted a FG on the last play of the game. It occurred to me after that season that Fulmer’s continued employment had ridden on the kicking ability of a Vandy player. Had he made it the last embarrassing nail would have been driven in the coffin of the 2007 season and Tennessee wouldn’t have won the SEC East. Instead the Vandy kicker missed and Tennessee went on to win the East despite being humiliated by major rivals (except Georgia).
Whoever the TN AD was at the time couldn’t fire a coach that had just won the SEC East, even though he would be fired after the next season. it turns out, SEC East or not, there were real signs in 2007 that Fulmer was never going to get it done against real competition and would eventually need to move on, and of course it would have been better to start rebuilding earlier rather than later (and lets not even consider who the coach might have been in 2008 and how that would have altered Tennessee’s fate without Kiffin).
Bottom line, and AD can’t be a fan. He has to see through wins and losses. Like looking at Auburn’s 2008 3-2 win over Miss St and recognizing that as the crappy coaching and recruiting it represented, rather than as just a ‘W’. Its the same when evaluating a hard fought loss where a number of freaky things occur.
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It wasn’t just that Fulmer didn’t get fired – Hamilton extended his contract, which increased the buyout amount when Hamilton sacked him after the following season.
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Every time someone references something Hamilton did, I feel it’s necessary to ask, ‘how does this man still have a job?’
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You and me both.
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Same can be said for ‘ole Terry Don at Clemson.
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‘how does this man still have a job?’
It’s must be because of Mike’s robust flair.
“UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton’s flair for fundraising contrasts with players’ troubles off the field and court”
“But set against those issues is the robust success of Hamilton’s fundraising – turning an athletic department deficit into a fat surplus and funding major improvements to the football stadium and other building projects…. Hamilton has won the support of key allies, including UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, to whom Hamilton directly reports.”
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=135769&provider=rss
Click to access 09252010graphicone.pdf
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What’s interesting to me is that there is an assumption that Barnhardt makes that we all would have been fat and happy in UGA-Land if we beat FL and we were all going to think the program was back on track. I for one would not have thought that. I would have thought there would have been a nice monkey off of our back and had we beat Auburn and Tech then I would have thought the program was back on track. But, blowing through (not blowing) four mediocre teams (yes, Florida is included in this) does not maketh a Big Machine in Red and Black comin’ down the track. Would it have set us in the right direction? Definitely! Would we have gained the respect of Herbstreit AND Desmond Howard, probably not.
What also struck me in those comments was how much credence Richt was giving to McGarity and the ideas he has for the program. I never heard him say that about Evans. So, he’s either sucking up to someone that is carrying a big stick or McGarity knows what the phuck he is doing and Damon did not. Either way, it looks to me like a pair of red panties will end up being just what the program needed to get it back to the stature it deserves.
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Damon Evans was the politically correct Atlanta crowd hire.
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What? The politically correct Atlanta crowd hire! For real? What the heck? That was a Dooley recommendation hire, pretty conservative guy. Atlanta crowd indeed. So, everyone from a city thinks alike and we were trying to achieve political correctness, how?
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Florida ……Atlanta…same thing. Clean cut black guy was the politically correct hire. HELL, he had no experience. Do I need to point out to you why Charlie Strong hasn’t been offered a head coaching job in the SEC? He has a white wife. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but Damon Evans was a quota hire and the trendy one at that. Look no further than our Prez.
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You’re dead wrong on this. I graduated with DE (same major, so we had several classes together).
All DE ever wanted to do after college was be an AD, preferably at UGA. I was surprised he got his shot so early, but I know he only wanted what was best for his alma mater.
To me, he definitely was not a PC hire.
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Dont think I usually have a problem with what you say, Todd, but this current line of “logic” is ignorant, presumptuous, and borderline racist at best.
Quota hire? Jesus Christ, man. What are you even talking about?
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Thanks for some sanity! Borderline, you think!
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Let’s take the race issue out of it. I do not for one second question DE’s motives or his dedication to UGA. I question his competence, at the age of 34, for the job. I never thought that VD’s endorsement of DE was sincere. I always thought that VD held (and still holds) a grudge about how he was run off and that endorsing someone that he knew could not do the job right was his way of getting back at Adams.The real problem was with who hired DE. Is it really doing someone a favor putting him into a position for which he is not qualified? All that Adams did was set DE up for failure and then wash his hands of him when the sh!t hit the fan. The guy who really should have lost his job over the DE situation was Adams, IMO.
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Mayor who do not know what you are talking about.
For those of us that had worked in sports and sports marketing with the SEC, DE was a rising star. He was highly-thought of when he was in the league office.
He was hand picked by Vince Dooley to handle some of the most important roles within our athletic department’s administration during Dooley final years.
Professionals at all levels of the industry held him in high-esteem when he was hired.
If DE had continued in his role and the department kept printing $$, DE had a REAL chance to be running the conference if/when Slive leaves his post.
I have been out of that industry for about 6 years now, so I do not have nearly as many contacts to draw on about Damon’s level of work. But the few folks that I do keep up with were surprised.
But they did not know DE on a personal level and were not closely associated with the day to day operations of our Athletic Department.
DE’s hire was not politically correct – it was a good, smart move at the time.
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What drugs have you been taking? If legal, the meds need serious adjusting. I do not want to kick the guy when he is down but the conduct DE got canned for had been going on for years. The business about trying to get the Atlanta cops to cooperate and let him go was tried by him because he had pulled that off before in Athens. The players all knew about DE and what he had been doing, too. A friend of mine has a kid who played at UGA and told him all about it. You work in sports and/or sports marketing, eh. I’ll look for you at the next game to order a Coke. Rising star and future SEC Commissioner my ass! Look what happened for crying out loud! Talk about being in denial.
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PS-I’m not the guy who said his hiring was politically correct. Learn to read.
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Sad, but true.
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Yes the old friend of a friend who knows the true story. You jack. So you knew about the fraud DE, but TBTB chose to ignore it?
Perhaps you did not call the hiring politically correct, but you questioned his competence to be hired in the first place.
Show me one press report from when Damon Evans was hired where a legitimate source went on the record to question his hiring? I doubt you will be able to come up with it. But the almighty Mayor of Dawgtown was prescient enought to realize that DE was going to lose his job due to a DUI and extra-marital incident 6 years later?
The fact is that when DE was caught for the DUI, the athletic department was one of the most profitable in the country.
I flat-out stated that I had not been directly involved with sports marketing rights for six years. I offered my perspective on it from a professional level.
But when you would like a Coke, please come by and see me at North Ave. There are lots of free beverages available in my building.
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Good Lord! Get a grip. Are you the guy’s dad or older brother? Running buddy from Buckhead? DE made UGA into a national laughingstock. He made “don’t drink and drive” commercials and then did it himself. He was a shameless philanderer who exposed his innocent wife and children to public ridicule. The guy was an embarrassment of galactic proportions to your alma mater and you are still defending his hire. What I (who am NOT–thank goodness–in the sports/sports marketing business) found out is that the guy was doing this stuff so openly that it hardly could even be called a secret. That opens the door to what was really the main thrust of my post, the culpability of our illustrious President of the University of Georgia. If this behavior had been going on for so long, how in the hell did Adams not know? He either did know and did nothing in which case he is a liar or he is so out of touch that he is incompetent to handle the duties of his job. Either way, Adams should have been axed at the same time as DE. But Adams is made of Teflon and nothing seems to stick to him.
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PS-Which snack bar in the Coke building to you work in? I’ll take you up on that free Coke, my favorite brand of soft drink.
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The Prez who was elected by a majority of eligible American voters?
Perhaps he was appointed by a PC committee, and we missed it.
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I can’t be sure NRBQ but I thought he was talking about Adams when he said “Prez” not Obama. In any event, the President of the United States is now referred to as “Dude”, don’t you watch Jon Stewart? LOL.
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Adams wants to look politically correct and show that Georgia is not like the rest of the SEC. Thus the reason for the Charlie Strong reference. As far as Vince Dooley’s recommendation goes, shit he recommended Ray Goff too. How did that turn out?
Do you think a 34 year old white guy with no experience would have gotten the job at Georgia? No, because that doesn’t make a splash in the correct circles. By hiring a minority with no real experience, it shows willing ness to knock down barriers and open mindness. In certain circles
If the state of Georgia didn’t have Atlanta, they would be another Mississippi. Throw back to 1960’s
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DE had far more experience than either you (or me) to run the athletic department.
He had worked in the League office. He had been Dooley’s right-hand man in the same athletic department.
You make it sound like Dooley and Adams just got together and randomly decided to hire this guy like Duke brother hiring Billy Ray Valentine?
What does that make McGarity? Winthorpe?
I guess if DE would only have been able to intercept the crop report from Clarence Beeks the football program would be be on its way to its third national championship in a row.
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1. Richt will return in 2011 but another 5 loss season will cost him the job. Is Richt really worried about it one way or the other?
2. Adams, as long as he is Prez., not McGarity, will determine if and when Richt gets fired or gets a contract extension. Am I the only one that thinks that?
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I would say a 4 loss season would even cost him his job… if they’re the ‘right’ four losses.
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Totally agree … if we lose to both Auburn and Ga Tech, fans will be up in arms. Adams and McGarity will sit down to assess the state of the team. Adams will ask McGarity the same question Adams asked Dooley about Jim Donnan in 2000 – “Can you guarantee that if we retain the coach we will be more successful next year and not lose games to our three biggest rivals?”
If McGarity’s cannot guarantee it, Adams will check the fundraising levels and determine if the University can weather it. If so, Richt will be retained and if not then Richt will be let go.
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I agree somewhat with Barnhart’s premise, although it should rightfully be extended to all the losses and not just Florida (ie, without the last minute fumble we beat Colorado, ad nauseum). When we hired Richt, he was a good assistant coach and a good man, and several FBS schools recognized his potential to be a good head coach. He underwent some on-the-job-training his first year, and eventually went on to great success. This success was achieved while his staff was stable. We now have the gift of hindsight to inform us as to the damage wrought by VanGorder’s departure. At the time, Richt had seen staff upheavals under previous regimes cause nothing but trouble, and so he promoted from within to maintain that elusive stability, hence Martinez. This past offseason was the most turbulent in Richt’s tenure due to the coaching carousel, and it has resulted in a team that has lost five close games by a total of 35 points. In Richt’s first four years, his teams were characterized by being within a score at the end of every ballgame with at least a slugger’s chance to win. I see that from this team this year, so I hope that the powers-that-be see fit to wait and see how this new coaching staff develops.
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A thoughtful post. Another argument could be made, however, that the success of 2001-2005 was because of Van Gorter and Callaway and that it just finally took until last year for their departures to manifest because of their players working themselves out of the program through graduation, too.
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Callaway? The worst talent evaluator on the staff?
Every time I think of Marcus McNeill vs. Dan Inman, I get more pissed off.
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Wasn’t Bartley Miller and Josh Brock part of the shoulder surgery mafia that was recruited by Callaway?
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+1
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Are we now to the point that we make fun of DGDs because they got injured? Miller played as a frosh and was a part-time starter much of his career. Yes, he had shoulder surgery. Brock had to give up football because of repeated concussions. I hope you jokers are proud of yourselves.
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-5 (only because of an Inman false start)
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+1
Made me laugh out loud in my hotel room…
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Not disagreeing with any of that but Callaway’s gone. Right now the issue is the guy who red-shirted Moreno and in 2009 decided to start Richard Samuel at RB.
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Could the same argument not be made that Todd Grantham is our new BVG?
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I sincerely hope that he is.
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This years Georgia team would be incredibly difficult to evaluate. Lots of close losses to good but beatable teams and beat-downs of bad teams (I have no idea what to make of Colorado other than the elevation change affecting the Dawg’s performance). Georgia could easily be a 1 or 2 loss team right now and in the SEC East driver’s seat. I think McGarity has to consider that and see a team with potential and not a coach losing his grip. If he fires Richt then he is firing him for not being dominant, which might be a reasonable expectation for Georgia given the in state talent. But if that is his reason then it wouldn’t matter how many losses Georgia had right now, because that haven’t been dominant against competent competition.
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That’s kinda the point, though. Fla is down. UT is at rock bottom. SC is better than normal but only slightly (they still should lose to ARK and FLA and end up 4-4 in the SEC East). Vandy and UK were, well, Vandy and UK. The SEC East was there for the taking. No wonder so many people are pissed off, particularly with the way the losses happened. What a waste of talent-the best WR in college, the best freshman QB in college, the best linebacker in the SEC, the best punter and the best placekicker, on and on. AJ in particular has been a total waste and is one of those rare talents that comes along once in a generation. Who is responsible? Nobody? Luck? God? Or the guy on the sidelines?
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I see now that you are on the “other side” you are all in. Nice. So just one game ago you believed in Richt, and now you are a crusader against his existence?
If the schedule is so screwed up against our favor due to sorry Damon Evans, and the officiating is a vast conspiracy against UGA, don’t you think Richt should catch a break in there somewhere? Or was he in on both of those?
To your question, I’d say a vast transition in defensive schemes, coupled with a lack of the best WR in the
SECcountry for 3.5 of the 5 losses, coupled with the best FRESHMAN QB in the country having the worst half of his career in the 5th loss is responsible.Count me in the group making excuses for Richt. I am dejected and I feel like we might not ever beat UF again. But then I think about (a) the odds of us hiring Ron Zook instead of Jim Tressel and (b) the fact that Richt knows how to win and has proven he can do it in the SEC and (c) I see positive signs, even in defeat, on this team that I did not see last year and think maybe, just maybe, things will be ok.
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Right. I am all in. The FLA -UGA game pushed me over the edge. CMR almost blew getting into OT by going for 2 at the wrong time. Now knowing that we lost I wish that the Dawgs had failed on the 2nd 2 point attempt. We would have lost by 2 in regulation and the entire world would have seen that the emperor has no clothes. Richt might have been gone on Monday.
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But the team bailed him out. Mark Richt’s record against FLA: 2-8. How’d he ever win 2?
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If CMR would’ve gone for one there and we lost by one, the fallout would’ve been even worse than it is now. He would have been lambasted for not having enough balls.
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I can’t imagine the crapfest that would happen if we hired a I-AA coach (again).
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Puff, you can’t live life and make changes for fear of what might go wrong, or for fear of a mistake.
Identify the problem, act to correct it, and move on. But don’t be scared to act b/c you’re scared to fail. That’s bullshit.
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To me, it is not just this year. It has multiple decisions that Richt has made or allowed to be made the last 3 years. I could list them but everybody knows what they are.
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Did CMR not identify the problem(s), act to correct them, and is currently moving on?
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Why does it have to be in the ditch before actions are taken? He has repeatedly said and still stands to the theme that there is nothing wrong with the S&C program too. I don’t think it will be his choice to do something this time. There will be a scapegoat.
Just like putting somebody other than Logan Gray to field punts, he didn’t make a move until the heat was brought up. Why does it take people pointing out obvious things for them to be corrected. Being late identifing the problem, sets programs back by years.
Mark Richt can’t beat a team he is his not supposed to beat.
Look, both of us like the same team. I am of the point of view that this program has been in decline for the last 3 years and it isn’t getting better. The talent isn’t here and the University of Georgia is paying way too much for a product that isn’t exceptible. I don’t believe Richt can turn it around, because I don’t believe he has a clue how to win without the superior talent. You, seem to believe in Richt and want him to stay around. Where is the bottom for you? What will be the straw that breaks the ‘dawgs” back for you? When do you say “thanks coach, we have some nice parting gifts in the back for you”
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“Mark Richt can’t beat a team he is his not supposed to beat.”
Sadly, this was one of your most reasonable posts to date. The problem is you are looking purely at the win loss column for improvement rather than at the team itself. There is improvement in this team.
As for the “straw,” I am going to let the Grantham experiment play out a little bit before I say Richt should be gone. I see improvement there. The screw ups are a result of the learning curve, IMO. I know I am probably the only person in the entire Bulldawg Nation with this sentiment, but I thought Richt was fair in giving Willie 2009. 2007 D was pretty damn strong (2nd in SEC in scoring in conference games). The 2008 defense was so hampered by injuries it was sickening. So, yea, I thought it was fair to give him another year. I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’m not one to jump to rash judgements/conclusions. I am not one of the fine Fortune 100 CEOs we see commenting on here frequently who know how to run a business and know Mark Richt is lost in the wilderness and should be fired like any underperforming employee.
I know what Mark Richt has done for our program, and I think we owe it to him to right the ship. And he made a big step in the right direction last offseason, and I’m going to let those decisions manifest before I scream that we ought to fire the winningest coach in school history the winningest coach in school history the winningest coach in school history. Let that sink in. I would rather have faith in a guy who has proven he can win that some asshole who will let a guy back on the team who just threatened to kill his girlfriend so that he could beat his rival. Or some other asshole who treats the program like an NFL franchise where a scholarship is nothing more than an audition. Or some clown from Boise Bumblefuck who has mastered the art of beating South San Jose School for the Arts. Or Big Game Bobby Stoops, who just hired who? CWM.
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You know, I get all worked up about this stuff, and I certainly was ready to rip the head off of a grizzly bear on Saturday as I endured the taunts of Gator fans walking out of the Gator Bowl on Saturday.
Then something always happens to bring me back to reality. Just read five minutes ago that Mississippi State sophomore football player Nick Bell passed away during the night, dying of cancer. The news started to get really bad for him in the past two days, and he lost his battle last night. Rest in peace, young man. I love the boys that play for our school, I love the men who coach them, and I love the school they play for. If someone else comes in and does a better job, fine, that will be the way it is. But, I just wanted to say it.
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Read that myself this morning. This past year dealing with the early deaths of friends and family due to cancer and reading stories like this always put things into perspective for me. I love football, but honestly, I could care less who is/isn’t the coach and how the Florida game ended. UGA football is a way for me to forget troubles so I don’t get worked up about things out of my control.
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Well, now I’m reading that he’s apparently still alive, but on life support. I’m sending prayers his way.
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You know, I was just thinking, that the bottom line with us fans is that we expect, no demand, that the coaching staff care as much as we do about Georgia football.
There is a lot of difference between “professional concern” and feeling the way a Dawg “of the blood” so to speak, does.
Supporting your hired head coach is not a simple thing to do, especially if you are not doing very well on the field.
But I am pretty sure I know how Mark Richt would react and respond to Nick Bell’s situation.
It has to be about more than winning and losing, but its hard to see that sometimes.
Personally, I hope Mark Richt is able to turn the boat around because I AM pretty sure I know what his reaction to a Nick Bell situation would be.
But if he can’t or doesn’t or decides to go build houses in South America, so be it.
In the meantime, I am going to trust Mark Richt with something that means probably too much to me, and to all of us….the football team.
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We are only as good as the next coach we can hire. No use firing Richt unless you have a top of the line coach in mind to come in. Firing Richt, hiring a no name and regressing further is not an improvement.
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I disagree and think McGarity should throw a big public temper tamtrum, fire the shit outta Richt, all without having an inkling as to who should be our next coach.
That strategy would lead to substantial improvement and guaranteed success over Florida.
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I think Dan Mullen wouldn’t even bother to rip his MSU contract in half as he hustled out the door. We had better hire him before UF does.
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Jeesh I can only imagine what he could do with this team’s talent, and the talent in this state.
We’d never lose to Fl again.
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+1. Mullen was the real brains behind CUM all along.
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“So what are we going to do? We are going to go back and make sure everything we’re doing is the very best it can be.”
This is third year in a row Richt has said this when asked what he was doing about the program’s under-performance. It’s become the Ray Goff equivalent of “work hard to get better.”
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“work hard to get butter”
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wer fightin’ hard.
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You know it makes for some interesting speculation but unless any of you guys donate a million to the UGAAD then what you think means absolutely nothing and I am beginning to think that all of this BS is a waste of time. Sorry Senator but as Lewis said “life’s too short to wrestle with pigs, you both get dirty and the pig loves it.
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I agree with you to some extent. But if fan unrest/apathy grows widely enough, that can move athletic directors as well.
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The hell you say!
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Stafford + Moreno + AJ Green = 0 SEC Title Appearences
Pathetic
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Stafford + Moreno + AJ Greene + Willie Martinez + John Jancek + John Fabris = 0 SEC CG’s.
Should CMR have given Willie the 2009 season? No. It might well cost him his job. But don’t hang the lack of a championship around the neck of that Offense (which played together for one solitary season).
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Damn right, offense generally has not been our problem, it has been the lack of our ability to stop anyone. A lot of the armchair experts have become fixated on the offense because our defense was so bad the offense was having to score every time they got the ball for us to have a chance to win. Case in point the Tech game last year, no punts, yet we still had to depend on Bay Bay Thomas gift in dropping of first down catch he was wide open on in order to win, if he catches and scores though people would have railed Bobo. A lot of fans pay far more attention to the offensive side of the ball, I think it’s just more sexy, I guess that’s why they say offense sells tickets but make no mistake DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.
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This came from the whole spread crap. The spread teams put up pts. People look and see a team puttin up 50+ pts running the spread. Then they expect UGA’s O to do the same. UGA’s will score pts quick, but its main power is clock management. The pro-style off is about clock control. Use the running game to eat the clock, but still have big play threat.
In order for UGA’s O to work the D has to be solid. Because its not going to be putting up 45+ pts unless the other teams D is just pathetic.
UGA’s is built to score 20-30 pts., eat up clock, and the D hold the other team to 20 or less pts. With the D having the clock as a weapon against teams, thus forcing them into more gambles which allows for more mistakes and pushes them outta gameplans.
Our past D was killing us because it was allowing 30pts + and expecting the O to put up 40pts. That happened a lot last year and we won, but that was due to most those teams having crap D.
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One of the most well said points of where we are and why. Bobo leads the league in scoring, but he’s an idiot. People Luke to point fingers and I guess he’s the easy target.
A team is a team. Exactly why we never won shit with Stafford, Moreno, Green, and MoMass. A chain’s only as strong as its weakest link, especially in the SEC. Lucky for our future that link is now coaching DBs in Oklahoma.
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I still can’t decide which was a weaker link: Willie, Jancek, or Fabris. They were all pretty bad.
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Or the Tech game the year before with Moreno and Stafford couldn’t out score them in Athens. Oh yeah, the LB fumbled because he was returning kicks.
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I think the one big change that might be made during the off season is the S&C coach. I don’t think that it is as bad as some people think but I think that some change needs to be made in the program to mix things up on the team. The defensive side of the ball has been changed and is much improved over last year and should be even better next year with the players (and even the other defensive coaches outside of Grantham) in their first year playing a 3-4. With Richt not being able to wait another year for a change in scheme of the offense that would be brought if he hired a new OC Bobo is most likely not going anywhere. That leaves the S&C coaches. A new staff in this area can come in and get the players energized for their off-season work outs as well as maybe just a different way of doing things pushing players in some areas that might balance out their conditioning as everybody has a slightly different way of doing things. It is a change that can be made that provides energy but without the disadvantage of going backwards that comes with having to learn a new scheme when you change the OC. Just an idea even though I don’t think the conditioning program is a problem overall.
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