In less than a week, Mark Richt goes from announcing the program will look into pursuing players leaving the Penn State program, to submitting a list of nineteen players of specific interest to Georgia… to walking away from the whole deal.
In a statement released by UGA at 5:08 p.m. on Friday, Richt simply stated:
“Currently, Georgia is not pursuing any of Penn State’s football players. We wish Coach O’Brien and the players the best.”
Now, sure, you can read something into the word “currently”. I presume if a PSU player emerged who made it very clear that he wanted to jump ship for Athens, then Mark Richt would be attentive. But for all intents and purposes, it sounds like the chase is over before it really got started.
Get The Picture 
If Richt’s statement means what it appears to mean, that we looked but did not buy, that’s ok with me…..let the buzzards circle (see Lane Kiffin).
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The most glaring mistake I see from the NCAA regulations is not excluding schools currently on sanctions from the recruiting of PSU players. I didn’t like raising the limit above the scholarship limits but I am particularly angry about USC being allowed to poach until their sanctions expire. The situation was fluid enough to put a stop to that earlier this week but I have seen nothing about tweaking the rules to cover this gaffe.
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+1.
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Simple case of bad PR.
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Penn State rushed for more yardage on Alabama last year than Ole Miss, Miss State, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn and Vandy combined. They rushed for more yardage than any SEC team outside of LSU (1st game only). Not sure how many of those guys were coming back but it would have been interesting to find out.
But I agree with Richt on this. If they call us, let O’Brien know and talk to them. Otherwise, crap like the Illinois staff did is really BS.
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Georgia Southern rushed for more than Penn State against Bama.
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Well, Corch said he has a problem with other schools soliciting Penn State players, and Corch is a man of integrity, so it must be wrong.
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…and Urban is an honorable man…
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+ I
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How long does it take to call 19 people? We called, we got no interest, we moved on.
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Brother Mac, your post was spot on.
I agree (and stated so initially) that we should let the interest emanate from the players. I felt we were above plundering a crippled program and players who have to be asking how the hammer head got so big in it’s downward stroke so as to include their team and individual players in the reparations. A new coach shouldn’t have to worry whether there will be people to coach after marauding bands from opposing teams get through sacking his village while he stands with his hands tied. It is grotesque and leaves me feeling ill.
Linking the team with punishment in the athletic dept at PSU is a reach too far since it doesn’t prove any point to me. Plundering their sensitivities to the point of raping the program is draconian. Their coaches sin is not suitable as promoting a stigma for coaches and players.
If it is meant to punish the team and fans, God help our University and save it from what we all don’t know.
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You are finally getting it Balls. There but for the grace of God go we.
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If this was a preemptive AJC bs media spin good job
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Good move. Could be adverse to bring in a player from a troubled program and have issues this soon. After 2012 would be different for the player and UGA.. The AJC would be relentless if that happened.
Sometimes the small band of men is better. You see it in high school, but D1 is entirely different [consult with IC for an informed view]. I’d think a lot of those guys are going to get more in depth coaching than they have ever seen this season. For a multitude of reasons
Richt is sorta like the coach and team in Hoosiers…that is my team folks. For sure Coach, but please let’s pray there is no more attrition for any reason, we get a lot breaks and favorable calls..
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I’ve been following the “bad calls” situation closely for years even to the point of taping the most outrageous ones. 2009 was bad (remember the LSU fiasco?) but the worst year IMHO was 2010. That ended last season for some reason with the exception of the SECCG, which the conference had to have LSU win to be assured that 2 SEC teams would play in the BCSNCG . I’m betting McGarity acting behind the scenes is the reason the bad calls stopped.
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I feel the same way, Mayor, about the pre 2011 bad call situation and the post 2010 improvements. I’m just nervous about a relapse. Some of it was skullduggery, no doubt (from this quarter anyway) and some of it was ineptitude. The LSU call was maybe the worst ever because of what it cost the program. I still want blood from the JS phoney fumble against GT.
The “jumping” call against UGA on a AZST field goal attempt also comes to mind. While I guess every team suffers from this kind of crap from time to time (I remember Alabama getting screwed royally by a PSU official in the seventies or eighties), it got so bad against UGA that even unbiased announcers were questioning what was going on.
By the way, thanks for cracking the door so I could go off on my favorite rant. Many SEC officials should get coal in their stockings at Christmas.
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Hot coals, IMHO.
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How exactly are these players supposed to “let it be known” their twitter accounts? I doubt players from PSU have ever college coaches number in their iphone. letting these kids know there is an option is the only real break they got in all this. If all the coaches stand pat, seems like they took that option away. If a player wants out he has to go recruit him another school on his own?
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You’ve got a point. Should they ask the PSU atheletic dept to help them contact another school? Tell a sportswriter? You would think that most of them would be resourceful enough to know how to look up another schools atheletic dept. online. They could simply email corch…But what if they’re rejected for some reason? How will they be looked upon by whatever remains of the PSU team and coaching staff? Discreation is the key. Maybe that’s what we’re seeing practiced by CMR.
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