Mark Richt had some notable comments at SEC Media Days – more on that later – but it was something he said before he took off for Hoover that really caught my eye.
As for the productivity of the defense, Richt added a little humor to the night.
“I think, statistically, it will be very easy to do better than we did last year,” he said as the crowd laughed in appreciation of his ability to bring positive light to the team’s subpar 2013 defensive effort.
In the space of a few months, Richt has managed to go from solemnly assuring everyone that Grantham deserved the chance to return to engaging in a touch of mockery over the mess Grantham left. For Richt, that’s a helluva conversion. Somebody sounds like he’s growing ever more confident in his decision to hire Jeremy Pruitt.
Let’s hope we enjoy the quip as much after this season.
Get The Picture 
CMR definitely feels comfortable with his team heading into camp. Not sure when the last time was that he seemed this comfortable with the defense.
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That last line of yours says it all! Reading the preseason positive talk this year has made me realize something. I’m completely numb to the talk. I appreciate it and I read it but I don’t get excited about it like I did 5, 10, 15, 25 years ago.
It’s the same every year. Every year I let myself get all jacked up by talk and then the team always find a way to lose a game it shouldn’t. No…I’m not talking about NC or bust. Just give me a complete season where we don’t lose a game we shouldn’t. Give me a season when we don’t find a reason NOT to win. Little less talk…a lot more action.
I realize I got off course but that line rang true with me. It made me realize where I am as Dawg fan.
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You are more mature and realize that football isn’t the be all end all of your life…that has a lot to do with your attitude…I’m the same way…it happens when you grow older in life.
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I agree with both of you. The Kool Aid doesn’t even tempt me any more. I was thinking it was because of the number of times I’ve been burned by it in the last several years, but you’ve cut right to the heart of the reason. I’m just gettin’ old. 🙂
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Good god. This guy is speaking some kind of Greek tongue. It’s a alien language. He sounds like the Vandy people.
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This from a fellow who goes by “Goat Balls”…..I’m overwhelmed.
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“…it happens when you grow older in life.”
What in holy hell? Step aside, string bean because this pre-season happy talk is not for us to judge or even acknowledge for the Mandelbaum line where any grievance they have is but is an old blood enmity which only they can comprehend, while us, not being Mandelbaums and not being all aboard the pain train, can’t even begin to plumb the depths of it. That is it. With them, it’s go time. They are Mandelbaums and we are not and, not being a Mandelbaum, we are not fit to regard them with anything more than sullen trepidation because if you want to live in a butcher shop, they’re going to treat you like a piece of meat with cream cheese.
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Gimme a helmet!
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You’ll need it to pick up that TV
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Eight seasons of mostly that will do that to a guy. But hang in there. There’s more evidence every day that we’re getting away from that. That the culture really is changing.
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The opportunity is nowhere for a motivational poster
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I want to see us play hard and smart for 720 minutes of regular season football. If we do that and stay away from the injury bug, I think we’ll all be happy with the results at the end of the season.
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720 minutes not to mention the extra time and/or a penalty shootout when a draw is declared
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+1 – but, hopefully, we don’t play any overtime games or my heart won’t take it very well. 😉
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“between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” Faulkner. I will drink the Kool Aid and be merry while the sweetness lingers.
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Can’t get to the linked story. Yesterday I noticed that The Macon Telegraph appears to now require a paid subscription (like many others in the newspaper biz).
Regarding your post … Good for Richt. I get the feeling that he’s more at ease these days and thoroughly looking forward to the upcoming season.
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Try clearing your cookies in your browser. I’ve found the MT tracks the number of times you visit in a month and then locks you out.
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CMR must have been watching replays of last year’s games. Looking back, I get a good chuckle watching CTG waving in plays with the ever-present towel sentinal nearby.
Naw, scratch that. CMR would be in a lousy mood if he watched those games from last year.
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If this is what they meant by “continuity”, I’m loving it.
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Pruitt schmuitt, it’s just good to rinse last year off IMO.
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Evermore confident + a spring in his step and a sharpened tongue. It is very refreshing to see.
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I am really looking forward to watching some Louisville games this year. Towel waiving, flapping arms and hands and alot of 52-41 shootouts.
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One of the post-season benchmarks for measuirng Todd’s success is that his Louisville defense will allow fewer points per game than Pitino’s Louisville defense will
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I’d believe Richt if he hadn’t given Grantham another year to right the ship. Most people have forgotten that Richt didn’t want to lose Grantham. So, forgive me if my excitement borders on numbness.
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If you really don’t want to lose an employee and said employee asks for a 17-18% raise which you could easily pay if you wanted to, you give the raise. If it wouldn’t bother you if the door hit the employee’s $ss on the way out, you don’t match.
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Understandable.
Keeping Grantham another year might have proven fatal to Richt. If it’s true he intended to, and that’s what he said, then Divine Intervention saved Richt from himself.
There’s no question we were headed into the toilet again, and FAST.
~~~
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Good flush from CMR then.
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It was certainly a good flush, Eric. Just not sure it came from Richt.
~~~
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I see it another way. I think McGarity wanted him to stay another year wheras Richt went to TG with an ultimatum for this coming season: Fish or cut bait. TG’s agent got him out of the cliff he was staring at with a lucky need. I think TG would have gone anywhere because he knew this was not going to be a banner resume year at UGA and he still didn’t have a solution to his 3-yr commo problems. Keeping it simple would not have his personal genius written on it since that could be done by any coach. TG hasn’t been perceived as just being stubborn and not about to change. We will now see if that perception rings true soon enough.
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Interesting. Certainly prefer your scenario to Richt’s wanting to “maintain stability”. Because that “stability” was a two-edged sword and the whole thing was headed South into a repeat of 2009 and 2010. And I want to think Richt had learned his lesson. The last thing we needed was stability.
What we needed was an total upheaval, a complete makeover of the defense, to the extent that it significantly affected the whole team. And thankfully, that’s what we got. IDK how it went down and probably never will. But I know we’re all thankful that we not only took another train, but uprooted and destroyed the track we were on and built a new one.
At least now we can head in the right direction on a trustworthy track.
~~~
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” we… took another train,” because the other one was
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I’m not so sure. I suspect CMR suggested that CTG start looking around and the “vote of confidence” was a ruse to not queer any potential deals. The fact that CMR hired Pruitt so quickly is evidence that CTG was on the way out and the Pruitt hire was arranged before CTG announced he was leaving.
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Mayor, obviously I didn’t read your post before posting with Ivey. I agree with what you wrote and apologize for duplicating it somewhat. It looks terrible posting above your comment, but it was unintentional.
Needless to say, we both see the situation similarly.
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Mayor, I knew Niccolò Machiavelli. I served with Machiavelli. In the Italian Campaigna. Nicco was a friend of mine. Mayor, Mark Richt is no Niccolò Machiavelli. (Prolonged shouts and applause.)
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Yeah, see reply to Cojones above. I hope that’s what happened.
~~~
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