For those of you who have been chomping at the bit to get into a discussion about whether Mark Richt deserves to remain head coach at Georgia, this Seth Emerson piece strikes me as an excellent jumping off point.
“That’s what people misunderstand sometimes: I’m highly motivated to win the national championship,” Richt said. “But just because I care about them beyond football they think, ‘Oh he’s more worried about that than he is winning.’
“No, that’s not true at all. Not true at all. I want to win, and we’re gonna do the best we can to try to win. But I feel like we truly are educators and we truly have a responsibility to help these guys.”
When Richt says things like that, and acts out on it tangibly with the Paul Oliver Network, Georgia fans say they’re proud he’s their coach.
But when his team gets thumped the way it did last Saturday by Florida, probably closing the door yet again on a national championship, many of the same fans bring the invective.
There is a divide between the Georgia fan base and the people who run the program, from Richt to his bosses.
The fans live in a world of championship or bust.
The program does not.
In the interest of debate, we’ll skip past that last point, which relates back to my post from yesterday about where some of you need to start pointing fingers, and focus on the coach. Seth sets up the parameters as follows:
… There’s a lot to be said for being good enough to at least be in contention on a consistent basis.
There’s also plenty to be said for winning a championship, no matter what else.
Get The Picture 
I want to not live in this world of false choices. Maybe I’m naive and maybe I’m wrong, but Richt’s religion and his desire to better his kids comes up year after year whenever we lose a big game. The Richt bashers (and I know more than a couple) scream that he doesn’t have what it takes to win because he spends to much time not being a mercenary.
That argument is arbitrary bullshit. Floyd not setting the edge on Saturday has nothing to do with Richt starting the Paul Oliver program. Jenkins getting his ass handed to him is not because Richt believes in Christ.
The bottom line is Richt may not be the best coach ever, though statistically he’s the best ever at UGA and has the 4th highest winning percentage of any active coach with over 100 games. But these false choices have to stop. Richt can care about his players and be a good coach, and he can care about his players and be a bad coach.
I get people want an explanation. But nobody seems to be picking apart Pruitt’s life to determine why his unit shit the bed Saturday, and I remain at a loss to understand why we must do this every damn year with Richt.
If you want to get mad at Richt, get mad at him for not telling Pruitt to stack the box when it was obvious no pass was ever forthcoming. Get mad at 4th and 1. Get mad at actual tangible things.
That’s all.
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I’m not in the Richt bashing camp, but if I can try to step in their shoes for a moment, I think their point is that the “tangible things” you reference that are worthy of discussion stem from an inherent lack of (fill in the blank with killer instinct, ruthlessness, too niceness, etc). The concern is that the edge was not set on the defense because the head coach failed to set an edge on this team. We know Richt is capable of getting them fired up to play, so why can’t he do it consistently?
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I agree. They’re searching for answers and Richt does something different than Jimbo and Gus. That “thing” they can point to is that he isn’t a dirty snake. Ergo, because he does it different, that must be why he doesn’t win as much as Jimbo. Thus people blame his lack of being a snake for losing to Florida.
In reality, the thing is that he doesn’t have a Heisman QB, a weak schedule, or the most ruthless offense developed in years coupled with insane luck. He does have a green defense that struggles against stronger players on the road. And he has a qb that isn’t going to bring the world to its knees. He’s not without blame for failing to have a better QB or a better defense. But it has nothing to do with the Paul Oliver program.
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I take it that you acknowledge that playing the Georgia-Florida game in JAX is “on the road.” Some on this blog are in denial about that. 🙂
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I don’t accept we’re ever the home team.
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+1.
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Or the visiting team, ever. Of course FU is neither home nor visitor either, hence the truthfulness of the word “neutral” in the descriptive sense of this game. Just a refresher because it hasn’t been a hot topic lately, and shouldn’t be now either. Had no impact on the game.
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Not only those comments yall have made are rational, but some complainers should hop onto the Saban bandwagon and get a dose of defeat. Frame the remarks against Saban for losing to MSU, of all teams. It’s in the eye and mind of the bholer as to what premise to rant about. I’ve never remembered names of posters for their comments (maybe a couple of asswipes). The moment is gone after a give and take session, but some bholers hang around the disturbed feeding at the doggie bowl like vultures trying to dissect a wounded animal. Individual wounds heal and team wounds take longer (see FU as reference).
Let’s hope that scab disturbers don’t continue the trash talk into the Ky game and keep the wound open. It’s cfb, bholers. Man up, fans. If you are a fan you have a team to support.
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+1
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I disagree with calling Auburn’s O the “most ruthless offense developed in years” when A. it’s basically a no-huddle single wing / veer with lots of window dressing and B. Even after the egg we laid in JAX, we’re putting up more points per game than Aubbie.
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Of course you do.
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I think the implication was that Auburn cheats. The O-linemen illegally down field is one part of it but the “go-fast” stuff is just a chicken-shit way to gas the D so the WarChickens can get cheap TDs. It is exactly the kind of BS you would expect from Auburn if you think about it.
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LOL. Sometimes you’re priceless, Mayor.
~~~
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Yes.
But also I think we should demand better than the “keep doing what we’re doing w/r/t off field stuff” or “be like FSU”. There should be a difference between not wanting Gurley thrown under the bus, but still supporting moves like kicking wannabe Rothleisbergers like Mettenberger off the team. Keep the high drug test standard, but don’t test right after spring break. That sort of thing.
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I don’t give a eff if Richt worships Jesus, Allah, the Festivus pole, a pagan sun god, or Budda. It is 100% not relevant to his job responsibilities. The fact is that his teams shit the bed at least once a year, his game management hasn’t improved in 15 years, and the last 10 years of his tenure have seen 37 losses with likely 2-3 more coming this year.
If without fail one of the first things his defenders bring up is his faith, then it’s not unreasonable for his detractors to bring it up as well. You can’t have it both ways–either his faith needs to be on the table when things are both good and bad, or it needs to be completely off the table. I’m fine evaluating him absent of what he believes, are you?
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Yes. I guess I’m a Richt “defender” (I guess) and I’ve never thought it should matter when evaluating his football coaching ability, though I think it helps with recruiting.
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You know what else helps recruiting? Winning when it counts.
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You keep seeming to try to argue with me by making points i entirely agree with. So, again, we agree.
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Nothing substantive to add here, but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you posting that top message. I’ve never been a CMR fan, nor have I ever been one of those calling for his head. But I’ve listened to far too many fervent Rich fans praise him for his faith who then berate the anti-Richters for bringing his faith into the equation. It seems they just can’t (or refuse to) understand that they can’t have it both ways. Thanks.
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I think you make too much of someone bringing up his religion as part of his coaching. It would be good to count numbers of posters using that as an excuse before posting in such generalities. I like that he is that way, but not as a part of coaching. A low percentage hang their hat on that fiat as a coaching quality. Most fans, whether critical or accepting of our losses, keep away from that as an argument about coaching.
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Is it ok to point out that Gus Malzahn is at least as religious as Mark Richt?
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Let me throw a monkey wrench into this love-fest. Richt’s religion is relevant because Richt makes it an issue himself. I, for one, am sick and tired of CMR, when deciding team matters, following his own ideas of right and wrong instead of the NCAA Rules and procedures and the SEC Rules and procedures. Gurley is a perfect example of this. Someone of dubious ethics and questionable veracity came out of the woodwork and alleged he paid Gurley $400 for a bunch of autographs. In support of this allegation he had a video of a black male signing stuff taken from behind so that person’s face was not visible. It later came out through investigative journalism that the guy is a vocal Gator supporter and anti–UGA football based on comments on his blog. This is a VERY weak case. What does CMR do? Does he protect Gurley’s rights, a person he has said publicly he feels towards “as if he were my own son?” Does he advise Gurley to get a lawyer before making any statements? NO! He questions Gurley about it and Gurley admits it to him. Remember, this is a coach who kicked Mett off the team for lying to him. At that point Gurley is put in a no win situation–tell CMR what he did or lie. One gets him suspended the other gets him kicked off the team. I’m just sick of CMR substituting his own ideas about morality for the law and the rules. If he played for any other team in college football Gurley gets, max, a 1/2 game suspension for this–or nothing happens at all. But not at Georgia where the HC has taken it upon himself to take action against the best interests of his players and the team he coaches. If I were a kid coming out of HS I would NEVER go to Georgia knowing that the HC has a consistent record of back-stabbing his own players like CMR has. I used to be a Richt defender but no more. This Gurley business is the last straw for me. I just want him gone. He’s an albatross around the program’s neck. I prefer that he retire gracefully but if necessary fire him at season’s end.
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You have wanted him gone forever. If you think they could stick their heads in the sand and ignore the Gurley matter you are mistaken. The NCAA wants to get back at Georgia for the court case that allowed colleges to have tv rights. They would love to do to us what they did to SMU. This will eventually bite FSU in the butt.
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Well, CMR certainly provided them with the ammo to do us in this time. You are right about one thing, though. I have been less than thrilled about CMR ever since that gutless wonder let the best QB in Georgia history get abused (and almost seriously injured) by Fairley in the 2010 Georgia-Auburn game and did nothing to stop it. I lost all respect for CMR then. Thank goodness Ben Jones had the guts to do something about it–on his own. I think that game is when Richt lost the team. The following year is when he had to purge the team of what he called “energy vampires” which were really just kids who had lost respect for Richt.
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“Gutless wonder?” Get a grip.
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Guy/girl is like a 12 year old throwing a tantrum after any loss, or less than dominating win. Maybe off his meds when any stress occurs. Incredible highs and serious lows.
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Don’t say that about Doggoned. He’s entitled to his opinion.
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Take your pills, you will be all better by 4 PM Saturday.
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Let me get this straight…Your last straw has nothing to do with coaching acumen, roster management, etc.; but rather you’ve constructed in your mind a hypothetical response to a hypothetical lie about accepting cash for autographs because of a previous non-hypothetical response to a non-hypothetical lie about sexual assault and THAT’s the reason you’re done with Richt?
If you seriously think that Richt running off a kid off that lied about sexually assaulting someone is “CMR substituting his own ideas about morality for the law and the rules”, then I don’t know what to tell you. Mett was going to be kicked out off the team regardless of who broke the news to him. Sexual assault (when they bother to investigate or in this case had another town do the work for them) isn’t exactly something taken lightly by universities.
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Mettenberger also lied to the coaching staff about the incident. Which is actually what cost him his slot at Georgia. Typical Mayoral dumbassery.
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So you approve of the UGA HC being a snitch on his players? Because that’s exactly what happened to Gurley. CMR basically coerced Gurley into confessing then turned him in. If you think that’s OK Scorp, you’re the dumbass, not me.
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Damn son, you are all confused, lashing out at everyone and spitting venom. Put some mattresses on the walls.
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“I remain at a loss to understand why we must do this every damn year with Richt”
I think this year hurts a little more when we look like the dominant team in the East, yet we lost games to bad USCe and FU teams. Seems to be a recurring theme that our team comes out unprepared to play at the level necessary to win championships.
I thought we had turned a corner on defense as well, so I am really wondering what was going on Saturday with Pruitt.
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other than being down ,oh….35 defensive backs? I am not sure what happened to Pruitt either. no offense dude, but Pruitt is coaching a cobbled secondary that has played admirably considering the attrition he went through since he got there. really, if we look back to the spring and summer losses, we all wondered how we would be able to defend anything after that bloodbath. those kids still there are great kids, but they are not the talent level of Trigga, JHC, et al…
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Pruitt with Toddy and Lacking’s recruits.
Passing D: #3 in the SEC
#19 in the nation.
Seems like only yesterday that we were 3rd and Grantham.
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Exactly. It seems that some of the Dawg fan base has lost a little perspective on our situation. This wasn’t a championship caliber team from the start of the season. If anything, Richt and the coaching staff should be lauded for having these kids playing above expectations in many previous games this season. We have always been a one-dimensional team this season, but we’ve had multiple threats in that one dimension. Eventually, someone was going to figure it out and eat us alive. And, without Gurley and Michel against a hungry Florida defense, we were sitting ducks. It seemed that without a second RB threat, we abandoned the run too early and did not have the QB talent to get cute like that, nor to keep up with our shitty defense.
The entire organization shit the bed on Saturday. But injuries and a lack of talent at both QB and on defense are what is ultimately killing us, in my opinion. It was the same story last year, but we had Murray to keep us going. That is not all on Richt, but some fans love to think so. Gotta have a scapegoat.
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+1
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The secondary didn’t come into play in Jacksonville. We were smoked in the box.
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Excellent post. I agree 100%.
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Or, get mad at Coach Richt for insisting on going for field goals when the actual statistical safer bet is to go for it.
Or, get mad at Coach Richt for punting on 4th and 1 when the punt unit has been hot garbage all year.
Or. get mad at Coach Richt for fielding a team that once again went into an emotional shell at the first sign of adversity on the field.
I agree with you about false choices, but your post read like so many others trying to deflect any and blame away from Coach Richt for his team’s performance.
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Sorry it didn’t read like a total takedown of every aspect of the man’s life. There’s plenty of coaching to criticize Saturday and I think I did that in my post.
The Senator’s post was about whether Richt’s off-field activities affect his coaching. I say that argument (not that The Senator was making it) is bullshit. Doesn’t mean I’m not critical of the turd I saw Saturday. Frankly, it doesn’t mean I’m not starting to have real doubts about whether he’ll get the job done and bring in a natty before he retires.
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It’s easy to be an arm chair QB after the fact. What if the punt unit pinned the Gators inside the 5 where we stuffed them and forced them to punt from their own endzone giving us great field position or a MacKenzie run back for a TD. I bet you wouldn’t be bashing him then. Those are calls he has to make in a split second during the game. I also wanted them to go for it; however the UF offense wasn’t really moving it on us yet. So, I kind of saw his point to play field position. It didn’t work out. My beef has to do with the lack of leadership on the defense. Why didn’t someone step up and rally the guys to stop those running plays? I would’ve been ok with allowing a deep pass completion or two…..just stuff those running plays. The coaches need to get in the ear of a few leaders to get the guys pumped up. Remember Gurley on the sidelines at USC? We needed that on Saturday. I think that CMR’s biggest fault. he needs more emotional leaders; the teams seem to take on his calm demeanor and that’s not good. Where was Shawn Williams on Saturday? He would’ve had those guys pumped and pissed off. That’s where we lost on Saturday. No emotional leaders on defense.
All this being said, we can and should win out. Mizzou will lose a game and the Dawgs should be in Atlanta. Go Dawgs!
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Your post is outstanding! Right to the target on the problem suffered for the first time this year. And I think you are spot-on correct.
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It’s fair to blame Richt for making bad split-second decisions. He’s the coach and he gets paid mega bucks to make them. Also, he’s in charge of developing leadership on the defense. If there’ s a lack, it can be blamed on coaching.
None of the above can be blamed on wanting to help football players deal with depression or going to church.
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My point was he has to make decisions during the game. We get to critique his decisions after we know the outcome. It’s a bad decision now that we know the outcome. Do you really think if CMR knew Morgan was going to miss the field goal that he would’ve sent him out there. NO!!! If Morgan makes the field goal, we have a 2-score lead and things are different. What if we go for it on 4th down and fumble it where they pick it up and score? then you would say that was too risky. My point is CMR knows how to coach and win games. We shouldn’t critique his decisions that don’t go our way. He’s definitely made a number of decisions that worked out just fine. My beef with him is he needs to develop more emotional leaders who can rally the team. Again, look what Gurley was doing at USC. that’s where and why we lost on Saturday. You could see the momentum turning after the fake field goal (Now I really have a beef with all the coaches for not seeing this one.) Someone on the defense needed to step up and get the guys pumped to stop their momentum.
As fans, we need to support the team. Let’s go beat Kentucky and welcome back the best player in college football on November 15 when we beat the tar out of Auburn. Go Dawgs
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Morgan mad the field goal I was sitting in that end zone.
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*Made
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But the problem is that he settled for kicking the field goal in the first place, not whether he actually made it.
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Americans love our bottom lines. Here’s mine.
Georgia fans think this program should win a National Championship every year. They look at the roster and regardless of personnel or circumstances they believe we will win the National Championship. It’s unrealistic and quite frankly borderline delusional. There’s absolutely no rational perspective analysis taking place within this fan base. In August I looked at the D and the overall make-up of the team and thought we’d go 8-4.
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I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s it at all.
I think UGA fans look around and see just about everybody else in the SEC winning the national championship, including some teams we absolutely loathe, and it’s driving us nuts. Hell, Mississippi freaking State is #1 this year.
I don’t expect to win every year. Never expected to win this year. But I see Auburn win one and play for another and I want to pull my hair out.
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This. I don’t expect National Championships at Georgia. NCs are not a great measurement of performance anyway.
But I do expect a competitive team. I expect Georgia to be competitive and occasionally in the mix for the big game.
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Every year….
The team goes to camp preparing to win. To win every game. To win a SEC East title. To win a SEC Championship. And to win a National Championship.
Are they delusional? I don’t think so. it’s the reason they paly the game!
What is EXACT science fourteen (14) years down the road is that it is delusional thinking that Mark Richt will bring a National Championship to the University of Georgia.
Deflect all rational thinking away from the real cause as much as you want – it is PROVEN and FACTUAL that Mark Richt cannot bring a National Championship to the University of Georgia.
That’s the bottom line.
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I expect to win an SEC title every few years. I also expect the team to not give up 400 yards rushing to a shitty Florida offense. In August I had no idea what to expect from this team. Then they played well for the most part, and they put themselves in a position to win the East and perhaps an SEC title. They proceeded to squander that Saturday in the worst performance of the Richt era. Against a Florida team that may not even go to a bowl. To treat people who are pissed off as if they are being unreasonable is fucking asinine.
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Didn’t know what to expect. Then they played well, but in no way could that be a credit to Richt. However, we shit the bed against our hated rival in a single game, and Richt has to go. Got it.
You guys do realize we were one play away from having the national title in our back pocket two years ago? Did Richt suck then? What more do you want? He can’t go out there and bat the ball down rather than catch it and let the clock run out.
A good portion of SEC fan bases are extremely delusional and it’s no different with the Dawgs. After what went down in the offseason with our defense and what you’ve seen so far from our QB, you really expected a national title with this team? We are a one-dimensional team that got hyped up because we were seemingly playing above our heads. Criticizing the man for the Florida game is completely justified, but using it as an argument to fire him? Where’s the credit for how well he prepared his boys to go on the road at Mizzou and Arkansas? Rational thinking is devoid of emotion. Getting embarrassed by the damn Gators brings out a lot more emotion than reason.
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First, Florida is a bad football team. I would have accepted a game where they had a little more success than expected, Georgia struggled offensively, and they lost. I would have accepted a 38-20 loss to Auburn where they ran for 400 yards. I do not think it is acceptable to give up 400 yards rushing and lose by 18 to THAT Florida team. Second, I think 2012 was an anomaly, and even that season they had a meltdown at South Carolina and played piss poor defense in the Championship Game despite having a roster full of NFL players. Third, the team playing well at times is going to be a constant under Richt. He’s a good coach. I just don’t think he’s a good enough coach, and I’m tired of these kinds of performances.
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Have to agree this loss is as bad as it gets. In any number of ways.
~~~
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Good points Spike, but I think it is fair to mention UGA’s disciplinary stance. I listened to the Seth and Gentry show yesterday and they went through a list of defensive players that could of stepped up and helped us stop the run if not for them being kicked off the team due to (in part mind you) a tough policy that very few other teams adhere to. Richt is on board with this policy and it comes before winning.
I’m not saying don’t discipline and pull an Urban Myer, but man the policy comes across as a little holier than thou.
And to answer Senators question, I am not that much into a NC or bust mentality. I am a rivalry guy. And us getting beat by the Gators in the fashion that we did–I am still pissed off.
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OK, but you will get over being “pissed off” about this game. Did you want to keep players that continued to break rules (demonstrating that they aren’t team people), stole from other players and lied about it? I don’t.
Mizzou kicked the #1 player in the land off their team for – marijuana? – no, it was for repetitively breaking the same rule against smoking, showing he won’t be disciplined and can screw up the team with his attitude.
I leave it up to coaches to determine who needs to be on teams and who needs to be kicked off. Implying that Richt is just being one-upmanship about his rules and moral behavior is not from an enlightened mind.
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Suggestions for me getting over this game? I think only time will heal this one.
My unenlightened mind suggests there may be a better way of handling discipline. I am not suggesting abandoning discipline or keeping bad apples.
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+1. God Bless You, Twisty, and no pun was intended.
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Richt just needs to grow a pair…2 pair, 2 offensive tackles and 2 defensive tackles worth a damn.
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I want a program that has integrity AND focus. a program that doesn’t lay an egg in a winnable game EVERY year….
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This is spot on. It isn’t that complicated. I don’t see how the culture at B-M had anything at all to do with the bed wetting we witnessed on Saturday. If anything, we have shown the ability to overcome the self imposed hand cuffs we have on ourselves IF WE COULD ONLY STOP THE PREDICTABLE BED WETTING.
Despite the culture at B-M we have top 10 caliber financial resources, talent base, alumni/fan support, etc. there is absolutely no reason, even with the penny pinching, good ole boy culture at B-M that we can’t compete for championships most years, with a down year being the exception rather than the rule
B-M has nothing to do with not being prepared to play on Saturday, for chronically being well under the scholarship limit, or for poor in game coaching decisions
I am not saying we can easily go out and hire a better coach. There is clearly risk there. But this type of periodic head scratcher and consistently maddening mediocrity is what we are signing up for by keeping richt around. I have been saying this since the vandy game in ’07. I thought I was proven wrong in the balance of ’07 (then ’08 happened) and in ’12 (and was willing to give a pass for ’13 due to injuries) but unfortunately have been proven right again
I hate that’s where we are, but, that’s where we are
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Where is this “sign up” place? Someone didn’t send that in my alum periodical and I haven’t seen a sign up posted for the internet.
My God! We are fans because we want to be and to support our team because they represent our school. If you signed up, please ask for your money or megaphone or whatever you had to buy in order to cheer for your team.
We beat a team 34-0 that beat the team that beat us. So what? All of the coaches should be replaced because “On any given Sat….” ? Yeah, and with you pontificating SEC Coaching Standards and quality that only you and a few others understand; that oughtta fix the bad game from time to time. Some of you should go to all the other teams in the SEC and read up on their capabilities and how those change during the year. You may get an education.
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You want a unicorn with that?
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It’s not an easy task, either. UNC sold its soul to make its football team relevant. They hired a big money coach, committed all kinds of NCAA violations, and improved from terrible to mediocre.
USC took a similar path, won a championship, played for a second, and had both games nullified by the NCAA. They’re still not back to where the want to be.
Now, would one championship season make up for several following years of mediocrity? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But it’s not really a given. It would really suck to try to take the USC path and end up taking the UNC path.
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To be fair to USC, I think the fans still count those championships. Also, they might be in a better place now had they not hired Kiffin.
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True. But they had to hire Kiffin because Pete Carroll ran off. True, the NFL is considered a better job than college. But the looming sanctions certainly served as an incentive for him to leave.
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What about Auburn?
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Exactly! What the heck is going on there?
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=deal%20with%20the%20devil%20png&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=deal%20with%20the%20devil%20png&sc=0-22&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=36012686A040F5962DD0C1BD966E4361A37520C6&selectedIndex=48
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I’ll try again for effect.
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Auburn got lucky and recovered more quickly. Chizik was a mediocre coach who landed a transcendent talent in Newton. They got a championship, then went winless in the conference.
Lucky for them that Malzahn has worked out really well. Most programs are more patient with coaches who win championships. And most programs aren’t so fortunate with their next hire.
If Auburn established themselves as a dominant team in the conference for the next 10 years, or crashed and burned with sanctions and mediocrity, I wouldn’t be surprised.
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I’m not dumb enough to think that we should go undefeated for the next 5 years, but with all the money and emotional effort (I know, that’s my fault) dumped into the Georgia football program, it’s not too much to ask for a single year of consistently good football. It’s not to much to ask for a program that is quite literally the laughingstock of college football.
This year in and year out habit of always being soclose is just frustrating. Someone once said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sign of insanity.
I applaud Coach Richt’s attitude. I really do. But at the end of the day, he was hired to win football games.
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Woops, that should be “…not to much to ask for a program that is NOT…the laughingstock…”. I thought my raeg was under control, but apparently not.
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The disconnect as you pointed out is his bosses and the admin. There are two different issues. One those who are the morally superior types at uga and two the keep the money flowing types. That is what his bosses care about more than winning. Keep theone flowing and feel morally superior. They faIL to see that actually investing in winning can accomplish this. The asinne rules they play by and money types truly have hampered him the last 14 years.
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CMR is a good coach that brings respect to the program. You are either satisfied with that or you are not. The danger is that you have to go out and find another coach and start all over. That ain’t easy and we have seen teams fail. However, we have also seen teams succeed.
After the awful run in 2009-2010, I was ready for a change. The sentiment is always the same on GTP, “Where are you going to find a better coach?”. Well Auburn and Ole Miss seem to have found decent coaches. They exist, even today.
I think CMR does a good job representing the school, coaching football, and mentoring kids. He does not do a good job of creating an urgency and drive to win championships. Laying an egg in Jacksonville is just the most recent example.
We have seen his tolerance for mediocrity so many times over his career from refusal to hold coaches to higher standards to low team morale. I have learned to accept it as part of “The Georgia Way”. You should too, because he isn’t going anywhere unless he decides to leave.
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The problem for the “replace Richt” folks is not only do you have to find a better coach, you have to do it on the relative cheap. B-M isn’t going to offer Saban money, or even Bieliema money, more than likely. IDing those diamonds in the rough ain’t easy. Back in ’09-10 Freeze was still coaching HS, Malzahn was about to get his 2nd year as OC at Auburn, with only OK results in ’09, Sumlin was at Houston with Holgo as his OC, and Charlie Strong was still the DC for UF.
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Even in 2010, stupid me wanted Malzahn. No, it’s not easy to find these guys and I don’t think B-M can or would choose the right person. So I don’t want CMR to go anywhere.
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Me too. Made a lot of sense at the time. There is another Malzahn out there, he just hasn’t made the climb to visibility yet.
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I wanted to get rid of CMR after the 6-7 debacle in ’10. I advocated on this blog at that time that we hire Dan Mullen. In ’09-’10, Dan Mullen was coming off a 9-4 season at MSU. He’s had winning seasons every year since and has taken his team to 4 straight bowls, this year will be a fifth straight. He was being paid about $2 Mil by Missy State in ’10. I guarantee that he would have taken the job if he was offered the same amount he was getting from Missy State, which actually would have saved the University of Georgia over $1 Mil per year at that time–so I fell certain our cheap AD and AB would have gone for it. If we hired Mullen back then we would already be through the transition and Georgia would likely be undefeated and ranked #1 this season instead of Missy State.
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You say that now while Mullins is hot. This season is not over and last year his team stunk.
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I said it at the time. Look it up on the blog.
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I believe you said it two years ago but did you think it last year when MSU stunk. Mullins looks good at this moment but he has not had continued success.
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Wonder is Texas A&M is second guessing that 5 million dollar contract for their head coach?
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LOL. What a great point. Totally agree. I thought A&M was crazy at the time, and still think Sumlin is overrated, as I always have. Love it.
~~~
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Sumlin would be my first choice for UGA if Richt left us….and I wouldn’t blame him if he did. But we won’t get Sumlin if we had a vacancy, imo.
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Yeah… you’re probably right. If Sumlim lucked into another Johnny Football he would not survive the jersey signings. Even if we get a NCAA rule change it’s a different set of rules here in the Classic City. Point being is that Sumlim always found himself surrounded by talent. As a player and a coach. Sumlin has a 6 year deal and Richt ain’t going anywhere. Morehead will continue the policy of Adams and use football as a funding mechanism . Shipley will agree and it is business as usual. We are not Alabama and the tail does not wag the dog. We’re bulldogs… short tail.
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Respect that, Mac. Not me though. I would never consider him. Don’t want him here.
~~~
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Understand Ivy, we all have our choices. I said “first” really meant short list. I haven’t looked at the total landscape, he is just someone I have high regard for and feel he will get A&M to be a top contender with a total program, if he stays there for a while. Really like the way he handles himself with the media and in his game day demeanor.
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Sigh. Really?
CMR has been to 12 straight bowls. inc. 3 BCS bowls, (8 New Years Bowls ttl)
CMR has one losing season in 12 years at UGA
CMR has won 10 or more games 8 out 12 seasons
CMR has 6 division titles starting in his 2nd year at UGA
CMR has 2 SEC titles
CDM has never won 10 games as HC at MSU
CDM has been to 4 straight bowls, none on New Years day
CDM has never lost less than 4 SEC division games in a season.
I get that MSU is having a great year. Good for them.. It took them DECADES to get to where we have been for the last 13 years.
I would not trade CMR for CDM
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Yes, really. There isn’t many thinkers in this crowd of revolutionaries, but they are loud. Similar to what having a whole fan base of “Booms” would be like.
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We’re Disney Dawgs… we run this town. 😉
JK.
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Not me brother, Disney Dawgs are the ones who feel we should win the East every year, SEC most years, and a national championship every five. Realists know that Disney Dawgs are delusional and you cannot make your life miserable when you don’t win the lottery on a regular basis. You choose your team.
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A Great article by Seth, but I’d love to see him continue to ask questions about whether or not it’s fair to judge Richt when he’s not operating with a loaded gun. Because a new HC will have to deal with the same thing. We have a governance problem, see Harvey-Clemsons and Tray Matthews as the latest a examples. We also have a major facilities problem, coaches pay problem and recruiting problem. Frank Crumley, the man who was in charge of the money, gives his girlfriend raises and gives BMac, the best recruiter in the nation, a $15K raise? When Auburn has a major recruiting weekend, they have 15 new escalades lined up outside the football facility, but our coaches are questioned and have to justify renting 1 Yukon from Heyward Allen. Every other “winning championships” program has a jet to be as effective as possible in recruiting, we don’t. Our head coach is having to spend time trying to justify why we need an indoor and that it should be located where all the other football facilities are. Then he’s told he’ll have to raise dollar for dollar to build it. You think they deal with that at Bama, Aub, LSU? So why is this? Because we have a virtually non-existent athletic board full of professors? Is it designed that way? Who is watching McGarity and how he spends $ and sets policy? Moorhead? He doesn’t know the first thing about athletics and has never been anywhere else to compare. Who is asking why we do what we do? Or don’t do? Who has a sharp skeptical eye asking tough questions about policies and comparing them to other schools? Is there any accountability? The fish stinks from the head down.
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“The fans live in a world of championship or bust.
The program does not.”
If I may…SOME of the fans live in that world.
This is the essence of the disconnect between the fans who rage about Richt, and McGarity (although I still don’t get this).
And, you are spot on. If we had beaten Florida we would not be talking about anything but beating Kentucky, and I am really, actually worried about that.
I have been a committed Georgia fan 65 years. Being a Georgia fan has never been harder. Alabama and Auburn contribute to that, ESPN rolls it all in a ball and spits it at us all day, every day.
The SEC today is a far cry from when Dooley won the national championship.
Truth be told, if Vincent was coaching with today’s competition and pressure he might never have won the national championship in 1980 because he may very well have been fired in 77 or 78.
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+1
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I think Richt wanting to be a “good” coach/father to these kids is exclusive to his coaching abilities. Even if Evil Richt were to take over and keep the kids around who break laws/rules I don’t know that it would matter. I still think he would be a better than average coach with the same winning percentage that he has now.
How many times have we heard from Richt that it was his fault for not calling a time out, or not having the QB spike the ball, or not getting the teamed amped up enough for their opponent? It’s ever friggin year thre are one or two ‘shit the bed’ games and ever friggin year we are left headscratching asking ourselves “What the fuck did I just witness”??
Maybe change is needed in B-M and perhaps it starts at the HC and moves up. It won’t happen though so it’s no use getting our hopes up….
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I want this team and this university to be successful.
If we truly care about our student-athletes beyond football, the best thing we can teach them is that it is a competitive world and things will go badly if you do not prepare yourself to give your best effort every day.
Teaching happens before and after you make mistakes. The best envrionment for teaching is one-on-one, not out in the public arena where every Bulldog Joe can distract you with cheap shots or excuses.
Dispense with that part of The Georgia Way and handle discipline in-house.
Quincy Carter, Jasper Sanks, Jim Donnan, and Michael Adams are long gone. There is no need to keep up this insanity.
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And there is also this one from the Macon Telegraph. Very critical of CMR. It may be worth a read. http://www.macon.com/2014/11/02/3399058_yet-another-big-loss-for-mark.html?rh=1
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Bill Shanks has had a personal vendetta against CMR since he was an ass interviewing him and CMR had enough and walked out. No one at the Macon Telegraph likes him…ask Seth Emerson.
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Do you disagree with his point in this article? He may be generally unpopular among his coworkers and have a personal vendetta against Richt, as you put it, but his argument is valid and supported by citation to specific examples annual bed shitting by Richt coached Georgia teams.
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I disagree with several points he brings up in the article:
College football is not a business. Even without the NCAA notion of amateurism these are still kids who are going to school to get an education. If you want it to be a business, pay them and stop making them go to class. As long as they’re going to class I feel like there’s a greater responsibility than just the wins and losses.
To me this is really sh!tty because what it implies is, “Richt doesn’t actually care about kids, he’s just saying it to get you off his back to save his job” when I think we can all say regardless of his coaching ability Richt does care about the kids he coaches. And for me personally, I don’t get the feeling he throws that out there to placate fans who are angry and save his job. I think he does it to remind people of the bigger picture that he sees. And the reaction of more than one person on Georgia blogs after the game on Saturday would validate the idea that maybe some people need to be reminded of the humanity that’s involved in football, not just the outcomes of the games.
This is just crazy to me, and really tells me this guy is an ass and makes it hard to listen to his argument because to me it comes across really biased. Richt’s coaching or non-coaching ability has nothing to do with his smiling. I don’t care how much any one person contributes to BM, no one is in charge of the man’s emotions. It’s not like he had a giggle fit at the post-game presser. He smiled at something someone said. If that’s really upsetting to you and you feel offended by it you probably ought to back off from football for a while.
Now, please note I didn’t challenge any of the on-the-field results he mentioned. I have problems with those too. But this guy really just comes across as someone who won’t be happy until Richt is fired and he’ll use anything he can think of to justify firing him. And because that’s the way he writes it makes me question the integrity of his whole argument.
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I would agree that those points are not strong points. But these three points can be disregarded without questioning the integrity of the argument that Mark Richt is a good man, but his program has underperformed/disappointed/embarrassed in multiple games per year for the last six seasons. This discussion thread wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t the case. I’m not saying the solution is to fire Richt, but I have to admit that I don’t believe in him the way I did in the early 2000s. So, I guess what I’m saying is that, if you take those three points out and put a different writer’s name on the article, would you still call the entire argument into question?
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Well, hitch up your pants and start cheering for the team even if they lose. Dawgwalker07 took your Macon reference and blew it to crap. The writer is a petty asshole who is manipulating your emotions with bullshit. Accept that and move on, please.
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FWIW after reading your post and the posts of others on this topic I totally agree with you on the smiling issue. That’s a bunch of BS and way out of bounds.
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I lived in Macon while going to grad school. Bill Shanks is not a fan of Mark Richt. I could have told you this when I was there in 2008.
As for what set it off to begin with, I have no idea. If it really was an interview gone wrong, then that doesn’t surprise me. Richt gets testy when someone sinks their claws in and makes him squirm (see the infamous Rome interview or the “Is that what you’re saying?” Chuck Oliver episode.
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So he has a vendetta? Please feel free to explain how that makes any of the FACTS he presents any less true. Not opinions, mind you, but the facts. Are you really saying that none of this really happened? That it really doesn’t count because the author doesn’t like the coach? Please.
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I’d love to see you continue to ask questions about whether or not it’s fair to judge Richt when he’s not operating with a loaded gun. Because a new HC will have to deal with the same thing. We have a governance problem, see Harvey-Clemsons and Tray Matthews as the latest a examples. We also have a major facilities problem, coaches pay problem and recruiting problem. Frank Crumley, the man who was in charge of the money, gives his girlfriend raises and gives BMac, the best recruiter in the nation, a $15K raise? When Auburn has a major recruiting weekend, they have 15 new escalades lined up outside the football facility, but our coaches are questioned and have to justify renting 1 Yukon from Heyward Allen. Every other “winning championships” program has a jet to be as effective as possible in recruiting, we don’t. Our head coach is having to spend time trying to justify why we need an indoor and that it should be located where all the other football facilities are. Then he’s told he’ll have to raise dollar for dollar to build it. You think they deal with that at Bama, Aub, LSU? So why is this? Because we have a virtually non-existent athletic board full of professors? Is it designed that way? Who is watching McGarity and how he spends $ and sets policy? Moorhead? He doesn’t know the first thing about athletics and has never been anywhere else to compare. Who is asking why we do what we do? Or don’t do? Who has a sharp skeptical eye asking tough questions about policies and comparing them to other schools? Is there any accountability? The fish stinks from the head down.
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Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post didn’t like Richard Nixon. That doesn’t mean Watergate didn’t happen or that there was anything wrong or factually inaccurate about what the Washington Post printed.
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Mr. Shanks schtick is pot stirring and negative reviews of sports professionals.
http://www.talkingchop.com/2013/7/8/4504196/how-not-to-be-a-journalist
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I firmly believe we can do things “the right way” without consistently witnessing what we did against Florida. I also believe we can do things “the right way” and win a conference championship about once a decade or so. I also somewhat disagree that we are so much more noble than our conference mates, though, with a few obvious exceptions.
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I just want to see the egg laying solved and stopped. This will lead to the better days we all want to see……….
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There are 3 types of FOOTBALL PROGRAMS in the SEC:
1)TOP TIER(elite teams with multiple national championships in the last 10 years) i.e. Alabama, Auburn and LSU. Florida would be there were it not for their rapid descent into the lower tiers.
2)CONTENDERS(great teams that can beat any other team but they often lose the most important games)i.e. UGA, USC, MIZZOU, both Msu and OLE MISS and Florida.
3) PRETENDERS AND REBUILDERS(teams working through multiple issues both on the field and off) i.e. Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida could be here as well.
GEORGIA SHOULD BE IN THE TOP TIER WITH TALENT WE GET EVERY YEAR AND THE MONEY THAT THE PROGRAM HAS TO GET WHATEVER RESOURCES THEY NEED. YET UGA LACKS THAT SPECIAL SOMETHING TO GET TO THAT TOP ELITE TIER. GO DAWGS!!!!
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“I want to win, and we’re gonna do the best we can to try to win. But I feel like we truly are educators and we truly have a responsibility to help these guys.”
I am not sure why the stated goals here are mutually exclusive — they are not and it is a false debate to try to suggest they are. I have no aspiration to be Oklahoma & Miami of the 1980s or Auburn & FSU of the 2010s, nor do I think you have to be. However, it is essential that EVERYONE within the University apparatus is truly committed to doing “the best we can to try to win.” Unfortunately, I am afraid, this is where we end up in the inevitable ditch every Fall. I trust that McGarity & Co. believe they are doing their best and sadly that is what robs me of hope that things will every be any better than they are now — which is a Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech tier program. There are folks in positions whose best is not good enough or their understanding what it means to do one’s best is not sufficient. It is a hard to accept for a following that likes to see themselves on par with Alabama (or insert other elite program of choice), but reality can be a real nut punch. To be clear, UGA is endowed with all the necessary gifts to be on par or exceed an Alabama, but there is a stubborn lack of will to maximize the potential.
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What specifically should B-M, McGarity and other leaders of our program be doing that you are aware they are not. Please be specific. I’m in no mood on Election Day to deal with the friggin’ generalities of politics, whether nationally or at UGA.
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They could start by dispensing with the half-assed approach to managing the athletic department — be it facilities (indoor practice, baseball, etc.,), personnel (on-going discrepancies — total extended/supporting staff headcount numbers and average FB coaching salary relative to other elite SEC programs), and the naive approach that was taken with the overly eager internal investigation of the Gurley affair followed up by the hat-in-hand approach to an NCAA that has made it blatantly clear they want plausible deniability and are screaming to those who will listen that if you won’t tell they won’t ask.
Feel free to disagree, that is what opinions are made for.
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Another critique, which is more for the coaching staff vs. administration, would be the on-going challenges with roster management. Not looking to run people off or do over-signing shenanigans. However, the approach used has not worked. For whatever reasons, there has been a lack of sufficiently accounting for x% of historically proven attrition (be it early draft, disciplinary, transfers, etc.,). Having critical roster voids continues to plague this program. How many seasons have been endured where the roster was otherwise equipped to challenge for titles if not for a gaping hole in a particular position? Whatever the reasons are (be it hyper conservatism that results in undersigning, not sufficiently getting class separation at key positions, or just failing to address a position in a class) the roster it too often suffering from a particular flaw that proves fatal over a 12 or 13 game season.
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Didn’t we play for the SEC championship in 2011 & 2012? For a coach that some feel is underachieving, thats pretty good.
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Yep and he did that after everyone was writing him off. After an 0-2 start, he went 22-4 over the next 2 years. That’s pretty darn good and the losses came to:
LSU – ranked #1 and we had them on the ropes after the best 30 minutes of defensive football in the Grantham era – turnovers and special teams execution killed us
Michigan State – at the beginning of their ascendency – turnovers turned that game
South Carolina – eventually a top 10 team on the road with the country’s best player in possibly the program’s best performance ever
Alabama – 5 yards from paydirt – everyone would have forgotten the USCe game in 2012 if we win this one and the national championship
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+1
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Based on what we’ve seen at Georgia during the past decade-plus, I’ve come to believe that there is a razor-thin — but impenetrably hard — line between “being good enough to at least be in contention on a consistent basis” and actually being good enough to WIN a championship.
Georgia clearly has “been in contention” — that is, the team has been considered to be one of the top three or four teams in the nation — at the end of several seasons. But there is always one slip-up (sometimes two) that keeps them out of the national championship game. In 2012, we clearly had one of the best teams in the country, a team which almost certainly would have rolled over Notre Dame in the BCS Championship Game…but then there was the SEC Championship game. In 2002, Florida kept them out of it. 2007 featured a couple of losses, one of them bad, before the team rounded into “national power” form at the end of the season.
With a margin of error as thin as what we’ve seen, I cannot help but believe that Georgia would have broken through and won at least one title under Richt if the team could shake even just one of the constraints that separate it from seemingly every other program around it. I’m talking about things like our unique (and uniquely damaging) policy of immediate suspensions for first positive marijuana tests; giving such tests immediately after Spring Break; constant identification and self-enforcement of NCAA bullshit (in contrast to everyone else’s effective policy of daring the NCAA to find or prove violations); turning a deaf ear to the coaching staff’s requests for things like an indoor practice facility; proudly maintaining one of the lowest-paid assistant coaching staffs in the conference; and allowing local law enforcement to “make examples” of players who ride their scooters improperly (and then suspending those players under our aforementioned unique athletic department policy).
in a vacuum, none of those things would matter. In fact, in a perfect world, all our rivals would toil under the same self-imposed constraints that Georgia does, thereby leveling the playing field. I am convinced that if that were the case, Georgia would have at least one national title under Richt, and probably more than that. We almost certainly wouldn’t have lost games due to the absence of key starters as a result of suspensions, if the teams around us were suspending their players as frequently and consistently (and for minor infractions) as Georgia does.
For further context, here’s something I posted here late yesterday:
In spite of the obstacles our athletic department (and university administration) insist on maintaining for the football program, Mark Richt has the 8th-highest winning percentage among active Football Bowl Subdivision (or whatever it’s called) coaches. Here’s the list:
Chris Petersen (Washington): .867
Urban Meyer (Ohio State): .839
Bob Stoops (Oklahoma): .802
Nick Saban (Alabama): .747
Brian Kelly (Notre Dame): .745
Craig Bohl (Wyoming): .745
Gary Patterson (TCU): .738
Mark Richt (Georgia): .737
I would suggest that most of those coaches’ winning percentages are somewhat inflated, as they include their records at lower-tier programs. Petersen played mostly inferior competition for years at Boise State; Meyer’s .839 includes stints at Bowling Green and Utah; Saban’s percentage includes Toledo; Kelly’s includes Grand Valley State and Central Michigan; Bohl’s is comprised almost completely of his career at North Dakota State; Patterson’s TCU schedule has been about on par with Boise State’s over the years.
Richt and Stoops are really the only coaches on that list who can claim to have earned their winning percentages against above-average schedules over the entirety of their careers, although an argument could be made for Saban.
By all metrics other than total wins (which would require a much longer career than he’s had) and national championships (in the history of the program, two prior Georgia coaches can each claim one), Mark Richt is Georgia’s most accomplished coach of all time. Based on the above numbers, this incompetent administration’s chances of hiring someone who’s going to do better — particularly with the systemic disadvantages that administration insists on imposing on the program — are virtually zero. That’s especially true in light of what we’ve seen from Georgia in the past hundred years: absolutely no track record of hiring sitting head coaches who have already been successful elsewhere.
Hiring a successful head coach and/or attempting to change the local culture (e.g., the ACC police department) or departmental policies (automatic suspensions for first positive marijuana tests; consistently self-reporting every rumored violation to the NCAA; never spending “reserve fund” money)? That just wouldn’t be the Georgia Way.
With that in mind, I simply cannot imagine some savior roaring into town and “righting the ship.” Under the constraints around the program now, I don’t think Nick Saban, Vince Dooley, Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant, or Vince Lombardi would do better than Mark Richt at Georgia. Equally important: no good coach with an ounce of self-awareness would TAKE the Georgia job. Who wants to work at a place where your bosses micromanage your job and flat-out refuse to provide the resources necessary to compete with everyone else you play? Can you imagine a Saban or a Meyer or a Stoops agreeing to work at Georgia, under those conditions? You don’t think coaches like those would insist on having some say over the athletic department’s suspension policies, or the local police department’s affinity for publicly jailing football players for minor offenses?
When Richt leaves Georgia, the administration will hire another “up-and-coming” coordinator, or maybe a smaller school’s head coach. And Richt’s successor will enjoy success on par with what we saw from Derek Dooley at Tennessee. Far too many aspects of the football program’s day-to-day operations are out of the head coach’s hands at Georgia.
Put simply, it isn’t up to the coach — at least not the way it is at those recent championship-winning programs to which we’re constantly compared (Florida State, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, etc.). If that list made you shudder due to those programs’ perceived unethical, “outlaw” ways…well, there you have it. Those are apparently the ways of championship-caliber programs in the modern era of college football, and they are not the Georgia Way.
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Good word.
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Excellent.
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Good post. And even though I gripe about our policies, I still hold out a sliver of hope that one year we can win with “The Georgia Way”. Really we don’t have a choice here anyway, so Go Dawgs.
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Well said.
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All those coaches’ records, including Richt’s, are inflated because when the NCAA went to a 12 game schedule more than 10 years ago every major team added a cupcake to its schedule. One more win each year–not to mention the other cupcakes that were already on the schedule. When VD, Bryant, Ara Parsegian, John McKay, guys like that, compiled their records they did it playing real teams. Yes, some of those teams were better than others but there were no cupcakes. They played other power conference teams. That’s why I gag when I hear people say that statistically CMR is a better coach than VD. Total horse-hockey!! CMR coached teams play 2-3 cupcakes every season.
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Compared to the six coaches I listed (five if you don’t count Saban), Richt has earned his winning percentage by way of a much more challenging schedule over the course of his career. As compared to CURRENT, modern-era college football coaches, Richt has amassed an impressive record against a difficult schedule.
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…a more impressive record, in terms of winning percentage, than the likes of current coaches Les Miles and Steve Spurrier (among others).
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Really? Spurrier has won 6 SEC titles and a national Championship. Miles won 3 SEC West Titles, 2 SEC Championships and a BCS National Championship. Plus, his overall record is almost exactly the same as CMR’s. Come on–don’t just make stuff up!
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CMR has 6 SEC East championships, 3 more than Les, and 2 SEC championships, same as Les. He is missing the big one.
Spurrier can coach no doubt, but he hasn’t won any of that at uSC.
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I’m making nothing up. Miles’ and Spurrier’s WINNING PERCENTAGES are lower than Mark Richt’s. That is a fact.
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Just to bring home the details here:
Saban 25 years .752
Richt 13 years .737
Miles 14 years .734
Spurrier 25 years .752
BTW CMR has the best bowl winning percentage of all f these coaches at .615.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/
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Richt has a winning percentage of .737 and Miles has one of .734 and you think that proves CMR is a better coach–what can anybody say to logic that powerful. 🙂 It does say that CMR is comparable, though. Touche.
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There is a healthy percentage of UGA fans who would rather be able to look down their nose at their Auburn friends than win championships.
UGA fans love the high ground, even if the high ground is just a slightly taller pile of pig shit.
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That doesn’t even make sense. Besides, Richt is 8-5 against them.
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Perhaps DawgPhan phrased it inartfully but I understand exactly what he is saying. We have a number of posters on this very blog like that. They would almost rather LOSE so they could harp on the moral superiority of the Georgia football program. “We have a fine man, a Christian man, as our head coach. We do not tolerate thugs being on OUR team. If players smoke pot, they are first suspended and if it continues, they get kicked off the team. It’s only right. It is for their own good.” These posters remind me of Judge Smails in Caddyshack: “I’ve sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber, Danny. I didn’t want to do it but I felt I owed it to them.”
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+1
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I think some fans look down their nose because that is all we have left after we take one on the chin. I think all fans want to win championships.
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This.
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Why can’t we have both? I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
For the “championship or bust” crowd, I think a lot of their problem is that we are envious of Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and LSU winning the crystal football since our last (remember 2nd national title in the history of the program) national championship. Therefore, this group takes its frustration out on the leadership of the program – McGarity & Richt.
For the “he’s a good man” crowd, they conveniently forget the last 8-9 years when we’ve had chances, but due to circumstances or poor performances, we didn’t get the job done. Coach Richt needs to understand those things and determine how he can get them fixed. This group tends to turn a blind eye to the shortcomings that are at the root of the problem.
I have stood by him due to his record (4th best winning percentage, great graduation rate, etc.), but he needs to determine what’s necessary to get to the next level. If there are financial commitments (contribution increases, ticket price increases, etc.), we need to make them if we want to keep up with the Joneses.
Now isn’t the time to turn our backs on the program like Tennessee did at the end of the Fulmer era. It’s time to redouble our efforts to support the program in all ways possible.
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McGarity took some of the administrative duties away from Richt upon his arrival, so he could get on the “cutting edge” of football. Which apparently translated into kick FGs into 40 mph winds, the. Being completely shocked that your opponent didn’t kick a FG into a 40 mph wind after getting a chance to see what said wind did to your better kicker’s attempt.
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Every coach makes errors in judgment (and those were definitely 2) during a game. I don’t see anyone crucifying Saban for his decision at the end of the Iron Bowl last year or talking about how his team didn’t show up at Ole Miss this year.
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Everyone mocked Saban for that. It was all over the blogosphere.
Bama lost a very close game on the road to a very strong ole miss team. Georgia was favored by two touchdowns over a dead man walking coached Florida team and got murdered. Absolutely destroyed. I’m sorry, but the Bama comparison is weak
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Fair statement on the Bama/Ole Miss question, but if you look at Bama lunatic fringe, they are starting the “once a year, we _____ the bed” stuff. This loss was terrible – no doubt.
On the special teams, I was using that as an example that every coach makes mistakes in wins and losses – even Little Nicky. Do you remember how Nick mismanaged the clock at the end of the 1st half of the SECCG? Everyone remembers Richt’s mismanagement of the clock at the end of the 2nd half because we lost.
Coaches make mistakes in their jobs just like we all do. The difference is their mistakes get seen live by 90,000 people (or 30,000 if you’re at the NATS) and broadcast to millions.
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ITS A GAME… yeah one that makes bookoodles of revenue and is wildly popular but bottom line is IT IS A GAME played by kids in school. If you would rather get rid of a head coach that actually cares about the futures of his players and upholds some integrity for the University that provided your education all just to win some more football games…… there is a place for you one state to the west.
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I think this is why the observation about BM was so pertinent yesterday.
I don’t believe that Richt is disinterested in winning. I don’t think he would put up with the amount of crap he deals with from us if he didn’t have something to prove. He could move to Kennesaw State and still be able to impact young men’s lives if that was all he was interested in.
I do believe that BM is more interested in putting out the most cost-efficient product on the field. If you don’t see the connection in football, perhaps baseball is a better indicator of the philosophy of BM when it comes to investing in its sports programs:
The baseball facilities are at the bottom in the SEC. Foley Field has needed a major overhaul (which is finally beginning to happen). It has nearly the lowest capacity in the SEC, and has all the charm of a Nicholas Sparks novel. The program is located a mere 65 miles from one of the hottest baseball hotbeds in America, yet Georgia baseball is, on the whole, non-competitive. Perno got the Dawgs to a few CWS, but all that did was extend the tenure of a mediocre coach (WHY DO YOU KEEP PITCHING TO DETWILER, YOU STUPID FFF…?!). As long as the team had occasional years where they were moderately successful, all was well in BM. They were getting a reasonable return on the bare minimum investment.
Perno was the head coach for twelve years. He took three teams to the College World Series. But, he wasn’t a good coach that had three great teams. He was a bad coach with three great teams. His combined record in the other nine years was 253-262 (.491 win %). His SEC record was 105-158 (.399%). But, he was able to do just enough in those peak years to appease BM. To put it in perspective, imagine if Mark Richt lost the BCS title in 2008 in the most inexplicable fashion. Then, in 2009 he went 8-4 and won a bowl game. He went 4-8 in 2010, 6-6 and another bowl in 2011, 7-5 in 2012 but no bowl, and finally 5-7 in 2013 before he was fired. THAT is David Perno’s tenure. And THAT is the over-arching philosophy of BM.
They strive to get the most bang for their buck, and their idea of bang is not the same as yours or mine.
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Then why did they fire him?
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Five years of being non-competitive with little hope of returning to even a small measure of success. They had no choice. They waited as long as they possible could to see if Perno could manage one more miracle season. He couldn’t. If he had, he would still be the coach despite the gross underachievement under his tenure.
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The problem I see this year is that the fans thought we were better than we were primarily because of the Clemson game. We then don’t play our best game and have a few bad breaks and lose at SC. We trounce Troy which is a terrible team. We then barely get by, at home, against TN, a team that is not that great at all. We go to Mo, that again is not that great, and Stomp them. But if one really looks at that game they basically gave it to us. The same thing happened the next week in Arkansas except we tried to give that one back so it was close at the end. Then the debacle this week. So in reality we have beaten 2 teams with a winning record (Clemson and Missouri). In my opinion MO is not very good and will lose to Arkansas.
Without a good (not great) quarterback and playing defenders that, some of which would not start for other top teams, we’ve gotten as good or better than one would expect. Should we have looked that bad against FL no. It was bad coaching as we were not prepared to play that game that day. But every coach has had games that they did not have teams as prepared to play as they should have. But when you factor in our deficiencies noted above we get a beat down.
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I want CMR to have a sense of urgency in his coaching and game day performance or (assuming he DOES have a sense of urgency) I want him to impart a sense of urgency in his players.
Either he’s not concerned enough or he doesn’t know how to get his team to buy into his concern. It’s one or the other.
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this really brings out the wordy replies as well.
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Mine request has nothing to do with off the field issues, or general poor management in B-M. All I want is for our coach to be on top of clock management. I cant stand to see us waste 30 seconds and then call a timeout with under 2 minutes to go when we could get the ball back and attempt to score at the end of the half. This has been an issue with Richt since the beginning. Just want someone on top of all the little things, because if you waste time/dont manage time well at the end of halves you get put in a position where you catch a ball on the 2 yard line and the clock runs out on your NC hopes (still too painful).
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I’m a Richt fan and a Seth Emerson fan. But this article is drivel. Absolute drivel. It’s as if B-M had minutely planned its propaganda for dealing with bedwetting losses, but can’t put together a plan to deal with an outside run game.
As many have said, there’s a false dichotomy here. “Well, gee, I sure would love to give you folks a championship, but golly … that educating and helping sure does trip us up.”
Implied in this idiocy is that Nick Saban doesn’t really want to educate or help his players. I’d wager he’d take umbrage at that. Incidentally, his players kick ass in the NFL — and he also had a quarterback in the running for a Rhodes scholarship.
Moreover, this drivel about education is purely for you old farts who will pay good money for a veneer of integrity. Want to know what our “education” for players looks like? They’ve got tutors for everything. Everything? Everything. Their “education” takes place entirely on nights (or mornings) before tests, and you should hope to God the tutors haven’t found copies of the tests in advance. Think they’ll be ready for the real world?
And then there’s where the drivel meets the road. There’s NO reason why faith, integrity, and true player care should = we suck at big games. None. In fact, the REVERSE should be true. Those players with a supportive AD, their guaranteed 4 years’ free ‘education’, their indefagitably moral coach — they should be freed to put out the best performances college has yet witnessed.
Yet we suck big time, yearly. And what’s maddening is that it’s RICHT who then appears to remind us that we should just forget about it. Because we’re “educating” our athletes, or because there’s more than just winning in life, or or or — it’s almost like a mommy blog magically takes flesh and starts spewing platitudes.
I used to buy in. I used to think Richt was a sort of conscience in a cutthroat world. I’m now turning the corner. You old farts — keep those checks coming. The Only Big 5 Program With Integrity might not trouble itself to appear at every game, but INTEGRITY! And THE CHILDREN!
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You failed to mention one other thing. All these kids who CMR puts on the street–they don’t get their four years of education. They don’t get their nightly tutoring. They don’t get their degree. I fail to see how it is “moral” or “right” or the “Christian thing to do” to suspend kids from playing or kick kids out of school rather than do some other sort of internal punishment that saves them from themselves and tries to turn their lives around. How does that make them better people or “better citizens,” a favorite Richt phrase? If I did something wrong when I was a kid my father tanned my hide–but he didn’t kick me out of the family. I think the way CMR handles “discipline” is the most hypocrisy I have ever seen anywhere.
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If I did something wrong when I was a kid my father tanned my hide–but he didn’t kick me out of the family.
These players aren’t kids. A lot of them didn’t have the support of father when they were. And your father never tanned your hide when you were in college. Least I hope he didn’t!
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Saban made a similar point in response to Richt at SEC media days. Saban’s argument seemed to be that you help the players more effectively by keeping them in the fold and punishing/rehabilitating them there.
I can’t say which approach works better, and I can’t judge whose policy evinces higher “standards.” You’re right that there’s a tension between claiming to educate athletes and instituting policies that boot them out of college for pecadillos everyone else is doing on weeknights. But that’s in Richt’s discretion — if he wants to run the program that way, it’s his call.
What I see as more problematic is the fact that we usually seem unprepared to deal with the consequences of our self-imposed standards. After 14 years, we’ve had enough time to have a backup safety or two ready when Trigga can’t shut up during Children’s Lit.
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“But that’s in Richt’s discretion–” No, it is not. It is in the University of Georgia’s discretion, his employer. I wish Morehead would just call CMR into the President’s office one day and tell him face to face–“No more. No, we are not kicking kids off the team for 3 minor infractions anymore. No, we are not suspending players from playing in games for minor infractions any more. YOU, Coach Richt, are responsible for disciplining players internally instead of taking the easy way out and just sitting them or kicking them off the team. Do your job.”
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Really? Nick ‘grey shirt’ Saban said that? 😉
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Never expect to win the national championship. If we do, great. I do expect a team to show up in a game, and I expect the HC to prepare them to excel against far inferior teams and not get blown out. If you demand excellence you will get it. If you do not, the result is a few losses every year that are inexplicable. His interviews are honestly embarrassing.
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Mark Richt’s my head coach. I wouldn’t have anyone else and I hope he retires as Georgia’s coach whenever he decides that it’s time. Saturday was embarrassing. But I’m proud to be a Bulldog and I’m proud that Mark Richt’s the man in charge of my alma mater’s most visible program.
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Mrs. Richt is that you sneaking on this board again?????
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I hope he decides it’s time after this season.
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What I want is a team that gives 100% for sixty minutes week in and week out. I want to see everything they have, whatever that is, left out on the field. No one can win them all. But you can give your best effort. It seems we’ve gotten into a very predictable pattern over the past few years where we are going to mail it in at least once or twice a year. Usually against a conference rival. I want that to stop. That’s what I want. Will that get us a national championship? Maybe, maybe not.
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+1
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Most of us can’t see the forest for the trees. All I expect from the football program is to be competitive. I expect them to beat the teams that the majority of experts say our team should beat. I expect them to lose to better teams and occasionally beat some of them. My expectations are not being met and I want to know why. Our coaching staff have to know that we have been getting beat by bad teams on an annual basis. Someone posted we have had one of these loses each year now for seven years. Why then do we continue to let it happen. The team had a great week of practice but apparently expected UF to lay down and roll over. When UF didn’t we basically lost control of the game. Was this the coaches fault, yes. The beginning of the end was not going for it on 4th and 2 that let the O know he did not trust them or Bobo. The acceleration occurred with the UF fake. Now we have been rearranging the deck chairs on the ST Titanic for years. No one was charged with noticing that the holder was different? This is just sloppy coaching. The wall was hit when “The Boss” got hurt. Hunter Long did a great job, if your job is being a matador. He did not even slow the DL down. He would have been better off just falling down in the hopes somebody would trip over him.
CJP has shown he can adjust during a game but for some reason he failed miserably in this game. Tracy Rocker must have been beside himself to see his guys get totally dominated. Maybe CJP couldn’t scheme around the lack of fight in our DL and LBs. I felt embarrassed for them. These guys thought they were good and they were exposed. This game showed me that this team was a lot of smoke and mirrors the first half of the season. If this team shows up for the KY, AU and GT games with the weak stuff they brought Saturday we may will set a record for most rushing yards given up by a UGA team ever.
So how should we deal with a problem we recognize but can’t do anything about? Chill I guess and wait until next year when the Kool-Aid will flow and the expectations for a MNC will come again. Damn now I know what USCe fans feel like ever year.
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+69 – well stated
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I am pretty sure you don’t know what it feels like to be a South Carolina Fan.
This is what it feels like to be a uSC fan
South Carolina
Championships and notable seasons
1933 Southern Conference champions
1969 ACC champions
1984 – “Black Magic”
2010 SEC East champions
2011 – “First 11-Win Season”
2012 – “Back-to-Back” 11-Win Seasons
2013 – “Three consecutive” 11-Win Seasons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Gamecocks_football
This is what it feels like to be a Georgia fan
Georgia
Conference championships
Georgia has won a total of 14 conference championships, including 12 SEC Championships.
Georgia has won 7 SEC Eastern Division championships, and has made 5 appearances in the SEC Championship Game, most recently in 2012. The Dawgs are 2–3 in those games. Twice, in 1992 and 2007, Georgia was the Eastern Division co-champion, but lost a tiebreaker to appear in the championship game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Bulldogs_football
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This isn’t about winning a MNC. This is about being so completely unprepared that you not only lose to an inferior team, you get embarrassed by them. It reminds me of a game we lost to Ole Miss when Donnan was coaching. I never hated Donnan but that game made me think he was wrong for head coach. One of the things we (not me, but the program) should be installing in our players is that you prepare and play every damn week. I am mad because he apparently just decided he could take a week off and that is a bad example. I can accept a loss if I thought we were ready and just got beat. This wasn’t one of those and neither was South Carolina. Why are we so schizophrenic, and what does that teach our players?
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I feel ya.
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So coaches who win national championships are by definition less concerned about their player’s welfare than Richt. That’s a bunch of b.s.
CMR was unprepared, and his game management was lousy on Saturday. To paraphrase Munson – “Whatcha got Mark?” Show us you can come back strong by winning our remaining games.
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You either want to be relevant as a “major college football power” or you don’t. If Richt is good enough for you, then fine. But to any fan who aspires to an occasional SEC Championship or better, Richt is not your man. You will have to look elsewhere. I think a lot of fans would like to look elsewhere and who can blame them?
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What you suggest the fans who would like to look elsewhere do?
Enroll in grad school in Tuscaloosa?
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No. Look to the University of Washington.
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Richt has won multiple SEC championships.
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UGA hasn’t won a SEC title in almost a decade, dude.
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He has won multiple SEC titles. The post I’m responding to indicates that he is incapable of doing so, even “occasionally.” That post is, by definition, inaccurate in that regard.
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Not since 2005 when the SEC coaching landscape was vastly different.
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I think Spence’s comments about this subject most closely match my thoughts on this subject. I think we have the right man at the Top of our program and consider him to be among the best in the nation. Other don’t and that is fine to feel differently. I do think way, way too much blame, and credit, is assigned to coaches for individual wins and losses by fans anyway. The only game in Richt’s 14 years that I assign more than 90% of the blame/credit for was the loss to Auburn in his first year. Teams and program results are so intertwined with players and coaches that they are mutually shared. I like the way Mark Richt manages this program; I do wish it were a level playing field.
The whole religion issue is much overblown but both lovers and haters. I think he is a great man but not because of his faith. I know really good people that believe in virtually every religion, whether casually, or passionately. I don’t belong to any organized religious group but respect the principles of living a good life as it relates to how you treat other people. Folks who know Mark Richt, and have played for him speak of how fairly he treats his players and how intensely he works to win. You don’t have to be a head banger to care about succeeding on the field of play. And no teacher/coach, regardless of how great, can reach every player or student with all their messages and that is why there will always be uneven performances relative to potential.
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I’m not in the NC or bust camp. I’m in the camp that says we should NEVER lose a game the way were lost Saturday. I’ve never been more ashamed and more embarrassed leaving a Georgia game. The most frustrating part is that CMR got the program to a point that it’s too good to lose like that.
No….I can about accept losing and, no, I don’t want to be like Auburn or Alabama to win title as it looks like that would take something ethically questionable. I support the man and what he stands for and for remaining true to who he is. Still, Saturday is unacceptable and I find myself on the fence. I know Richt lost a lot of supporters Saturday. It was obvious in the stadium. Honestly, it’s obvious that our handling of Gurley combined wit the Florida loss realty alienated a large portion of the fan base. Even the fact that we agreed to let Florida wear their home colors when it was our home year. Wtf?? All this does is scream image is most important. We’re trying to have the world’s nicest cocktail party. Meanwhile….Florida is in the pile talking trash and squeezing our nuts and punching us in the mouth. Bullshit…
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There is being the good guy and then there is trying too hard. We’re try way too hard and I’m not even talking about CMR.
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Richt certainly has not measured up in the SEC. Since his first season in 2001, he’s only led UGA to the SECCG 5 times. (I know, I know…he’s only done it twice in the last 5 years though.) In that same timeframe, that pales in comparison to Saban/Miles getting LSU to the SECCG…5 times combined. Well, Alabama has been…3 times. Hmmm..Auburn? Nope…3 times as well. Let’s switch to the East. Florida has been…3 times, same as Tennessee.
Richt = Saban…? SABAN WINS PAAWWWWWLLLLL!!!!
Ok, so the REAL problem is Richt is TERRIBLE at winning the SECCG…he’s only 2 & 5. LSU is the gold standard at 4 & 5. First two times were with Saban (who was his OC???) Last 3 times was Miles (who were his DC’s?). Only team to beat LSU in the SECCG?
Bama is 2 – 3, same as Florida. Urban = Saban head to head?
Auburn has gone 3 – 3 with 3 different HC’s. That’s impressive no matter who you pay for!!
So in the face of one of the greatest runs by any conference in the history of CFB, Mark Richt is being asked to win more SECCG’s because everybody else has been doing SOOOO much better. So let’s hire a new coach who will be given the same simple task….out-coach, out-recruit, out-spend and out-play Saban, Miles and the flavor of the day at Florida and Auburn, while not sleeping on Spurrier and newcomers like Mizzou and TAMU. Oh, and don’t forgot that the Mississippi teams have decided to be relevant too. And Arky was once real good, could be again someday.
Cause it’s NOT about the NATTIES!!! It’s because Richt can’t get Georgia to the SECCG and WIN!!! God Almighty can you imagine the heads exploding if he goes 2 – 6 after this year? The horror!
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Thank you for pointing this out.
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What is troubling to we alums, supporters, and fans sits outside Coach Richts personal life and faith. I admire and respect him for his conviction and his faith. He uses it as a base for his decisions and actions. Good.
But I ask this. If he was at the well drawing the water, do you think the bucket would come up full or empty. Or would the bucket even get to the water level. Or would he be able to pull it up.
Gurley and all the other players who have had suspension or transferred out of the program the past 7 years. From Mettenberg to Green to Crowell, to the remainder of that long list. It should not happen. It happens because the players do not respect the coaches, their team mates, and the University. When you practice and play with another player you make a commitment to them and the team. To be there at every damn practice and game. That is what you signed up for. You can not plan a season, a practice, a game, or during the game if you are missing players on a roster who are out due to discipline. At UGA this has become a major factor in the team wins and losses.
Now was the team not focused due to players not being on the roster. Do some of the players hide their feelings to the Gurley affair. If I am on the team I have an understanding of the circumstances of how it happens. But on the same token, I feel like Gurley walked out on us and the program because he was not disciplined to do what we were willing to do. Good thing that 4-5 others did not do that. But that was the number in the phone situation.
Players do not respect Coach Richt. They do not fear him. He is willing to let a kid transfer to another program. He thinks they will learn something from it. Really. First what he did was give up a roster position that some else will now have to work into. Second when they transfer they come away saying…”well, hell, that was not so bad, I’m the starting QB at Auburn and played for a national title and the SEC championship”. Now if you are still on that roster at UGA, how do you feel. Probably think, I was disciplined to the rules [and to my assigments in the game –teaching moment re CMR]. What did it get me. An embarrasment in a SEC game before a national TV audience.
So if you are a player, do you want Gurley to come back? Do you want a coach who is inconsistent in drawing water from the well.
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I, like the Richt bashers, find his overt religiousness to be off-putting, but I like the way he runs the program. I have a few general rules for a coach:
He needs to find a way to prevent the annual derp, but overall, I support him and am glad that he is our coach.
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Ok, I lost the WordPress formatting battle.
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Good comments.
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Your comment seem balanced, and very fair. As stated above, I have no religious doctrine that I subscribe to, but I am puzzled by how his “overt religiousness” is off putting? Since his arrival in Athens, he has coached Christians, Jews, Muslims, and agnostics, some of each have played starring roles for his teams. From all accounts, he has loved them all, and probably treated them all equally. What could possibly offend you about his choice of lifestyle or belief?
I ask the next seriously: Do you wish to control everyone’s beliefs and way of life? Are there other lifestyle choices that you find “off putting” just because they may not align with yours? I haven’t heard that Richt is trying to convert the players who believe in different religions than he does, nor have I seen where his beliefs have hurt UGA, or our recruiting. In fact, it seems just the opposite based on comments by recruits and their families. I know you are the only one who seems to have this dilemma because the undertones in many posts seem to reflect the same feelings. Many here even attack openly and I have to wonder why? Is someone having a belief in something, and never denying it publicly a danger to others who don’t subscribe? It must hit a nerve of insecurity in some, it doesn’t trouble me in the least and that makes it hard to understand.
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I’m not sure if you meant to post this as a reply to my posting, but I will repond. I will preface this post with the simple comment that I am not religious, and I am a libertarian.
I never said anything in judgement of his beliefs. I am not offended by them. I do not have the desire to control anyones beliefs or way of life. I am decidedly committed to freedom of conscience. I never accused him of unjust or pressured proselytism with his players. I never said anything about whether his religousness helps or hinders recruiting or has any impact on his ability to coach.
I made a very simple statement. More correctly stated, I find the overtness of his religous beliefs to be off-putting. By that, I mean that I find it annoying that he is compelled to talk about his religous beliefs when asked questions about football. I also find it annoying when scientists go on anti-religous rants when talking about science.
I find your statement, “I know you are the only one who seems to have this dilemma because the undertones in many posts seem to reflect the same feelings” to be quite odd. I am not a frequent poster. When I do post a comment, I usually write about X’s and O’s. I believe that today was the first comment I have made on this site about his beliefs. I do not post on any other Georgia blogs. The only reason I commented on them today was because it was directly related to the question the Senator posed to the commentariat.
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Thanks for the response. First I missed a word in the statement that confused you, should have been ststed “you are NOT the only one”. Sorry.
It was the “off putting” that brought about my response. While I was raised a Christian, I don’t totally believe in all the necessary tenants of that faith to consider my self one, and rarely have entered any church for decades,except for weddings/funerals, etc, In other words, I am not religious either. I do believe the Ten Commandments are a pretty good foundation for a belief system of how civilized folks should act and treat one another, but that philosophy isn’t because of religion, just happens to be where I was exposed to it.
The reason for my question is that I rarely, if ever, have seen Mark Richt, in his position as the HC of Georgia’s football team initiate his Christianity in an overt way. It most certainly comes up a lot on discussion boards, it is clearly something he does not, and will not ever, deny, and it is something he will respond to when asked. We all know it, the public knows it and sees it away from football, but I don’t see him as one sticking it in anyone’s face. Therefore, I am not “put off” by it as I would be if he were an evangelist pushing on everyone to adopt his philosophy. I am sure he is more “overt” in other phases of his life, and I respect that because his a strong believer in a faith that asks you to be a “witness” to others. What he does on his personal time isn’t my concern. Either I am missing a big dose of something you see, or you may be overly sensitive for reasons of your own. As I said in my prior post, he seems to welcome people of all faiths, or no faith at all, and doesn’t run them off with any harassment based on religion. That tells me that, like me, he is more concerned with people living a good clean life, and playing by the rules. That is more important than where they worship, or if they worship. And that doesn’t “put me off” at all. I honestly think the observation of him being over the top in his professional duties is erroneous based on what I see or know, but that is just my opinion.
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You know, I don’t think wanting to do better than going a decade without an SEC title makes me a “championship or bust” guy.
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OK, you aren’t one. Feel better?
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“Being in contention on a consistent basis” is a lie to yourself that you are actually committed to winning a championship. Everyone is in contention technically until the middle of the season when mathematically eliminated. Your real goal is: “we want to be one of the last teams that loses.” If your goal is to be “in contention” for a championship, then you will never really make it. Don’t cheat, but go “all in” or go home. The AA should either go all in or just admit that it would rather be a UVA, Wake Forrest or Vandy type of school. Stop living a lie to try to hustle people out of their money.
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Blame Richt because before him UGA had won so many Championships. He is passionate about winning football, I noticed how he ran on the field to get the time out when Mason fumbled the snap at the goal line and didn’t wait until the ref looked his way. Just because he is not consumed by it “fans” dismiss him.
My only issue with Richt is his teams loose to teams they should beat at least once a year, but guess what LOTS of teams do this. These are still 18 -22 year old kids/young men that hear all week how they are going to lay it to UF or Vandy or SC or Kentucky and they believe all they have to do is show up. How many of you have young boys or were young boys? No matter what you tell them they just don’t always listen. Why did they lay it to Ark, they were told they were going to get beat. Why did they lose to UF because everyone said they were going to put 50 on the board.
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Muschamp prepared all week for the fake.
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When it comes to football, I have a simple mind. Simple minds make simple calculations. Here’s mine: 100% of every player’s talent + 100% of every coach’s talent + 100% of every player’s effort + 100% of every coach’s effort = the best possible result. Every team can’t have the most talented, most effortful players and the most talented, most effortful coaches. Every team can’t win every game. When a head coach gets 100% of every player and every coach’s talent and effort, he does his job. Win or lose. I don’t claim to know how much talent every UGA football player has, or every coach, or how much effort all the players and coaches can give. Did Richt get 100% from everyone last Saturday? Did he give 100% himself? How often does he get and give less than 100%? Maybe only he can answer these questions. He won’t, but I’d like to hear him try.
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Hope you fans can stomach 7-5 next year. Lose 5 offensive lineman, a couple of recievers…starters….lose 4-5 defensive players….breaking in a first year quarterback. You people think this year is bad. Were going to be having this same discussion times 100 next year.
•09/05 – ULM (Tickets)
•09/12 – at Vanderbilt (Tickets)
•09/19 – South Carolina (Tickets)
•09/26 – Southern U. (Tickets)
•10/03 – Alabama (Tickets)
•10/10 – at Tennessee (Tickets)
•10/17 – Missouri (Homecoming)
•10/24 – Open Date
•10/31 – Florida (at Jacksonville, FL)
•11/07 – Kentucky (Tickets)
•11/14 – at Auburn (Tickets)
•11/21 – Georgia Southern (Tickets)
•11/28 – at Georgia Tech
Brice Ramsey and Footon Bauta have had no real game experience yet. I see 5 losses easy next year.
Richt may have this year and next year. If he has a 7-5 or 8-4 year I think he’s done. Just being realistic.
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Yes, because only Georgia loses players each season.
Thanks for the in-depth analysis.
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MSU will graduate almost it’s whole team. I guess they should go ahead and fire Dan Mullen.
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That would save UF any buy out.
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Mullin won’t go to UF unless Foley is gone. Interesting conundrum for the AD there.
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Damn, I didn’t know there was bad blood between Foley and Mullin (only one of millions of things I admittedly don’t know).
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I’d love to win with Richt but I’d also be happy with Jim Donnan still being here if could’ve won a National Title. Even in the Goff years, I felt (at least the first couple years) that he might get us a title. I’m a UGA fan for life and I want a National Championship.
Like other people here have said, there is a middle ground from playing rapists and woman beaters and being so strict that you hurt your program.
So, I guess I want a title.
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IMO, Seth Emerson and Gentry Estes are the best writers on the Georgia beat. Head and shoulders above the others, though there’s a few other good ones, like Chip Towers.
But I totally disagree with Emerson that the marijuana policy, and Richt/Georgia’s ethical standards, had anything to do with the humiliating embarrassment in Jacksonville. Because it just didn’t. Didn’t have a thing to do with it.
Nor did it have anything to do with the loss to SC in 2012. And, to further illustrate, the loss to Tennessee in 2004.
Georgia lost to Florida, and got beat up the way they did, because they were not ready for the fight they entered. That’s it. It’s a simpleton answer, I know. But it’s quite complex when you break it down, and everything – everything, IMHO – is a subset of that, and fits nicely in place under it.
We’re better off without JHC, Trigga, Wiggins, et.al. There’s a lot of talented players. But there’s a lot more to being a good player – that’s CONSISTENT, dependable, and valuable to his team – than physical talent alone. It takes a good mind, the right kind of mindset, to be that kind of guy.
Georgia’s recent past is literally littered with a few dozen highly talented players who were that way – big talent, but small everything else. And they were all inconsistent, and often as not, a liability as much an asset. In general, they contributed to as many bad/killer plays as they did to big plays that helped us win.
They were not winners. And they didn’t play winning ball. Some of them went on to play in the NFL, their talent buying them the opportunity, and some are still playing. But they didn’t play the same kind of ball they played at Georgia. They had to change to survive. Or they didn’t survive, or last very long. Many couldn’t handle the change at all (why they didn’t change at Georgia is yet another question).
Anyway. Now the reason we weren’t ready for the fight? That IS a complicated thing, very difficult to explain. But suffice to say it comes down to Richt. Not the administration, or anything else, though those things are real issues. And it is something, an issue with him I believe, that has never been addressed. And it has nothing to do with his personality. Zero.
But looking at personnel losses, in an effort to get a handle on why this happened, is simply looking in the wrong place.
~~~
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Anyway. Now the reason we weren’t ready for the fight? That IS a complicated thing, very difficult to explain. But suffice to say it comes down to Richt. Not the administration, or anything else, though those things are real issues. And it is something, an issue with him I believe, that has never been addressed. And it has nothing to do with his personality. Zero.
Whaaaa? You kinda wondered all over the page with thta thought. Not to say that with a little more focus you could shed some light on the situation. All I got was…*Hmmmm…. well I don’t know why, its complicated but—-> CMR!
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You’re right, of course. The reason I didn’t is because it’s a long post to do it right. I’ll do it, but likely won’t have time today. Just can’t do it at all if I can’t be thorough about it. I think you know me well enough to understand that.
Sorry about leaving it hanging. I want to do it, and will, just a lot of work to do it right. I’ll say this. It’s nothing really illuminating. And it’s nothing that hasn’t been talked about, at least by me, multiple times on this blog. Just not during the season, that I can recall, because it hasn’t come up until now.
Again, sorry about it, I hate doing that.
~~~
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One day, I’ll read all the comments.
Now, I’m in the former group. Be in contention more or less every year. Eventually, you’ll win it.
Tom Osborne, anyone?
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One thing when you look at it… Osborn,Brown,Chiz, Cryer, Malzhan they all had that one special player that led them to the promised land. Heck #34 comes to mind and he didn’t play QB. $Scam and Slick Nick were recruited for other positions at Georgia. Damn.
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Sunday the Senator pushed his blog towards blaming the B-M administrators for the most recent humiliation on the field. Yesterday it was a post to point out a fault in how the players took the game lightly. Today we get the “but Richt cares for their well-being more” excuse. Incredible. Keep it rolling Senator!
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Your reading comprehension skills could use a little work, brother. But don’t let me get in the way of your agenda. Keep it rolling, indeed.
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I read just fine, even between the lines.
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Our capacity for lack of perspective as a fan base is amazing. And sometimes – though not following losses to Florida – entertaining. I bleed Georgia red as much as the next guy . . . yes, that was me petting UGA II in the end zone on picture day in 1969. Here’s some perspective: as a program, we are historically an 8-4 football team, and anything better than that is icing on the cake. In the modern era (which, for the sake of this conversation, I define as everything from Wally Butts forward), we have a 66% winning percentage: we have 552 out of 832 football games played. Against that standard, our coaches can be measured: Butts – .615; Dooley – .715; Goff – .574; Donnan – .678; Richt – .737. In terms of total winning percentage, Richt is the best coach we have had in the modern era. In terms of winning percentage in the conference, Richt (.701) and Dooley (.707) are virtually tied. But here’s the deal: Dooley did that with arguably the greatest player in college football history. In the three years immediately preceding Herschel’s arrival on campus, Dooley had a 5-6 season and a 6-5 season. After the vaunted class of ’80 graduated, Dooley never again won 10 games. If we take the Herschel years out of Dooley’s record (he ain’t coming back, ya’ll!), Dooley had a total winning percentage of .677.
We are historically an 8-4 program. Can we become an historically 9-3 program? Or even 10-2? In all honesty, probably not. But it’s nice to dream. In the mean time, I’ll take a coach who betters that historical average better than any other coach we’ve had. And I’ll continue to suffer bouts of depression after painful Saturdays like the one past. That is, after all, the Georgia Way. And it has been since long before Richt arrived.
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🙂
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