Nothing like reading a post (h/t MrSEC.com) from a guy doing his best Freud impression about a man with whom he’s never carried on a detailed conversation.
Is Will Newton an ass? Well, it’s a hunch of mine and it actually does not seem that farfetched.
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UPDATE: Of course, there’s always the possibility that Richt can channel his spirituality into the football program in a meaningful way, Sigmund.
Get The Picture 
If Richt stayed for 9 more years, which would make him 60, that would be 20 years at the same school. I would venture to say that if you count out any coach over 50. Then in 10 years 50-55 would be the retiring age for coaches. Coaches are being cut left and right for crap seasons or are kept, but have a coach in waiting on the staff. The time of the 20+ year head coach is over. I’m just glad this douche was smart enough to clearly link Richt’s faith to the reason for that.
Also guess he didn’t see that Les Miles video. Otherwise we would be reading an article about how Miles is done now that he spent a day doing a video instead of studying film.
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Oliver’s site is a joke. I stopped reading it about a day after it went online.
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Now, I’m not claiming to have any insider information but, when I look at the clues, I have to agree. He is an ass.
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Well played sir.
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I hate it when people pretend like coaches spend every second of their lives watching film and making plays. Auburn just won a MNC and their coaches just spent a week duck hunting. It’s not like these guys have zero down time. During the season they obviously don’t have much, but it’s not like Richt is jetting over to Africa mid-season either.
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Agreed, I just think it is a bullshit premise. Cmr spends his free time (yes coaches have that) serving a higher cause than football. This makes some uncomfortable. Thus you get articles with ‘maybe he should just spend all his time doing that, since it is obviously more important to him. The sec is brutal and while you are helping kids, nick saban is studying film and recruiting to beat you.’ is this really true?
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Quite frankly it would concern me more if our coach didn’t take some time off to do the things that interest him, whether it’s golf, beach, mission trips, whatever. For him to be effective during the season, he has to give his mind & body a break in the offseason.
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I’m no psychiatrist either, but some of these points are certainly possibilities. CMR does seem more tired these days. He seems to have a shorter fuse. He does not seem quite as patient with fickle fans as he previously has. At a certain point, does he ask the question, ‘why am I still doing this?’
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While we’re speculating, I’ll go out on a limb: I think the Good Coach has asked himself the question, “Why am I still doing this?” and came back with the answer, “Because it’s what God has called me to do.”
Some people sense a call to be missionaries or pastors and spend their lives doing ministry in that way. I think Richt realizes he has been called to coach a football team. (In a way, it’s not unlike pastoring, albeit much more hands-on. And a coach’s parishioners are no worse than the typical pew-sitter; they’re just less mature and need a stronger kick to the backside when they get out of line.) And just like a pastor or missionary can take a weekend off to enjoy football, a head coach can take time out to do a mission trip.
All that said: I’d rather have a coach who is grounded in the real world by things of an eternal nature than one who never thinks about anything but football.
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Logically, we might also conclude that Richt will, in fact, stop coaching when he senses God saying: “OK, you’re done. Time to move on.”
(Which I suppose was the point the writer was trying to make, though it did seem like he was trying to read more into than simply stating “Richt will quit coaching when he’s ready to quit coaching.”)
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+1 My thoughts the whole time this missionary thing has been around are that Richt will end up there at some point. I just hope that if God tells him it’s time to move on that he does, Jonah is a good object lesson for those who don’t answer the call. If he has another terrible season then I think he has pulled a Jonah and the Big Guy is not happy about it.
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I believe the lesson of Jonah was not simply a warning about resisting God’s general call. Jonah was willing to be God’s mouthpiece as a prophet. He resisted the specific call to the Ninevites because he did not deem them a people worthy of God’s grace. It was an old world version of self-righteous bigotry. Hence the dramatic humbling of Jonah by the great fish and his vomit. And, I don’t believe it’s “Theology Friday” in here, but I would be hesitant to link UGA’s 2011 success or failure as our clear indication of God’s sovereign plan for Richt (i.e. if Richt succeeds then God obviously has called him to continue coaching UGA or if he fails then he has obviously resisted God’s call to work elsewhere). If we hold to that line of reasoning, then any vocational shortcomings on our parts implies that we are being disobedient to God’s calling. That’s quite a leap to make.
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+5. Guilty as charged. I’m like an ant trying to do algebra here. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Theology Friday: A New Lexical Entry?
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Oliver also dismissed the story about the Auburn call girls… er, hostesses… as being a non-story the other day on the radio just because lots of schools have recruiting hostess programs. He didn’t mention that Georgia suspended ours a few years back, and that other schools have followed suit. Or the fact that he’s an Auburn guy carrying water for Gene Chizik.
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Regurgitated talking points that he heard from somewhere else. He’s not the first person to say Richt is going to leave to be missionary, and like all the others, it’s based on speculation instead of anything Richt has said. Richt wants to coach till he’s 60 and retire. He’s not going anywhere unless we send him away.
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Never read the guy before, but I think you all may be a bit hard on the guy. What is bloggerdom for if not speculation? If there’s anything to criticize here, it should be for his lack of original thought (I’ve seen the same speculation in the comments here and elsewhere). That being said, it seems entirely reasonable to me. If I had to put money on where Richt will be in 15 years, I would put my money on heading up, or at least being the face of, an international christian non-profit – not standing on the sidelines in Athens – or elsewhere.
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You’re talking about FIFTEEN YEARS. He’ll be 65 and retired in 15 years. Most coaches don’t coach 20 years at one school, much less into their 60’s. I, too, would be shocked if he were still coaching in Athens in 2026, but it won’t be because he left Athens to be a missionary.
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Speculation of the rankest sort without any basis whatsoever except the fantasies bouncing around inside the head of a fool.
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I don’t know Will Newton and I don’t know Mark Richt. With that disclaimer out of the way, I’ll say that if Mark Richt walked away from football to do mission work, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. It wouldn’t surprise me if he left, not because of fatigue/disillusionment/stress, but because he felt God’s calling to do so. As a Dawg fan I’d be equally sad and proud – sad because we were losing him as the head of our program and proud because the head of our program could act in such an unselfish way. That’s my $.02…
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The biggest issue that I have with it all is him comparing him to Urban. At least Mark has been man enough to stand by UGA during the tough times and not jump ship at the first sight of trouble. That is a true man. Coward is what Urban did.
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I am no fan of Urban Meyer, and I have been very impressed by Richt over the years for his personal convictions. But I think we have to be consistent here as Dawg fans – if we are quick to criticize Will Newton for abject speculations about the motives/thinking of Richt, then we cannot assume we know the motivations that led to Meyer’s resignation. Was his timing and behavior strange towards the end? Yes. But to claim that his primary motivation for walking away from the Gators was that he saw an impending down-turn in the program is also purely speculative.
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You’re right, let’s not speculate on Meyer’s reasons. The fact is, he was cheating on his wife with a grad student, so there you have it. Nothing like Richt.
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In my mind, coaching is in large part Richt’s “mission”. He is helping young men via sports. Yes, it’s at a big time college with a huge budget, but I’ve heard him say one of the reasons he likes coaching is helping kids, which in many aspects is similar to the ministry. All the other stuff (overly critical fans, constant second-guessing, etc) is an annoyance, but (so far) worth it to him.
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I am just curious how Saban spending all that time preparing for Marcus Lattimore worked out for him? If my memory serves me correctly not too well, guess he shouldn’t have taken those hour naps every night, slacker.
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