Mark Richt thinks his program’s future’s so bright, he’s gotta wear shades.
“It’s hard to sit here and act all giddy about what happened,” Richt said of this season. “I mean we want to win the East and win the SEC. And we want to be a team competing and winning some national championships. Obviously there were some things that were a little different that we had to manage.
“I know we are on the right track. I mean I am so very excited about what’s going on here at Georgia and what’s happening with our recruiting and our staff and how we have established some things that have been outstanding, or will continue to be in some cases, and I think we’re getting our players to buy in 100 percent, and when we keep doing that and keep recruiting like we are, great things are gonna happen.”
Richt was then asked how close he feels Georgia is to again being a national championship contender.
“Well, I mean how close were we to going to Atlanta and having a chance to get in the thing?” Richt said. “We were probably closer than we think.”
This brings me to where I was heading with yesterday’s post about how B-M would ever go about replacing Richt, as some of you would like. The point being that most of you who want a change are willing to take a risk in the hope that an athletic department that has a shaky record at best with major hires would get this one right. And I don’t have a problem with that attitude. We’re all fans and hope is our fuel. But how is that kind of hope any better than those who hope Mark Richt is right? I don’t see it.
Or, you could just ask Bernie’s question.
Get The Picture 
Richt is supposed to say those things. The thing is, half the time this season, he’s been right. Half the time – I just don’t know.
I just want consistency. The good kind.
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Hell, we were right there THIS year! If CMR and Bobo hand off the ball to Gurley on 1st and goal from the 4 at the end of the GA-USCe game and CMR doesn’t do that stupid pooch kick-off against Tech at the end of that game, we’re 11-1 and playing for the SEC Championship this weekend, and probably ranked in the top 4 by the “Committee.” THIS was the year for us, just like 2012 was the year for us until “Spike the Ball-Gate.”
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I still think Pruitt will give us a great defense, which is what we have needed more than anything. Combine a great defense with Bobo’s offense and the future is bright indeed.
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+1.
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Also Richt is now 36-20 in 14 seasons against UT, UF, AU, and GT. In the 12 seasons between Dooley and Richt we were 14-31-1 against those same four teams. I hate losing to Tech as much as anybody but I think a lot of folks have either forgotten or are too young to remember what real pain is. Like Russ said, our problem since 2005 has been defense, I am encouraged by what Pruitt was able to do in Year 1. Our offense has been good enough to win the SEC every year since 2005 with the exception of 2006 and 2010 when we were breaking in freshman quarterbacks. Rarely is an offense going to win the SEC by itself however which is what we have annually been asking ours to do, our defense has given them no support, if we don’t score 35 we lose. You can’t win championships like that. I’ve got hope Pruitt is going to give us a defense that can pick the offense up and keep us in a game when the defense is having a bad day. If we could have done that 08-13, we’d have won an SEC championship or two at least during that period.
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Bobo is going to get a shot to run his own program pretty soon…all of this “who can we get to replace Richt” talk is great comment fodder, but if Bobo the OC/QB coach/Recruiter takes a job like Colorado St, I really don’t know who replaces him.
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Yep. And in his first year, with a less-than-ideal level of depth, he put up the best per-play numbers since the 2011 defense. (The per rush numbers were terrible, and I’d wager largely skewed by the serious failures vs. UF and the NATS).
Also; no one has a win streak against us, as we beat the hell out of every team to beat us in the regular season last year.
Given the circumstances of the season, the nice big picture numbers and a potentially historic class are far more encouraging than a ridiculous and inexplicable 3 quarters vs. Tech and a horrible UF loss.
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Yeah I think about the current #2 recruiting class that we have verbals on. I think about the start of the top class for 2016. I see the last 4 national recruiters of the year on the staff. I see 2 young stud running backs.
I also think that everyone was predicting an 8-4/9-3 type of season with a new QB, new DC, not a ton of depth in the secondary and all those things.
Moving forward, i would love to see UGA win a bowl game against a ranked team. I dont care who we play, but I do want to see UGA win a bowl game. I think that is important for moving ahead.
Win a bowl game, focus on closing out this recruiting class and get back to work.
The future is bright.
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I think about how many of the “dream team” were not on the field Saturday.
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Would you hold that against Richt, or factor it in as a reason for our struggles?
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A reason to not put too much stock in the 2015 class. Richt seems to put more emphasis on roster management which has helped LSU and Bama. Even Vandy and S. Carolina were better when they were oversigning. Now that the SEC has capped the signees at 25 all of those programs are not as good as they were. Bama is still very good but not the level of 2011/12.
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I haven’t been following the recruiting class as I only get into that once the season is totally over but is this highly ranked class actually filled with players at positions of need? Having 4 good RBs is great but if they don’t have an o-line that’s consistent you get what we saw in the second half on Saturday then the rankings aren’t worth a shit. Hopefully there’s some good corners and safeties coming in too that won’t get kicked off the team.
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Here you go.
http://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/commitments/2015/georgia-68
In case you wanted to take a look at it.
3 5 star guys.
3 OL
5DBs including a 5 star. 5 star DT 5 star ATh
the class is almost all defensive guys except for OL, WR, and 1 RB. It’s a good class and i think that there are still a couple of spots left.
This class is also the right size. 25 guys. Need to sign 25 guys every year.
Win a bowl game. Sign a top class of 25-30 guys and get back to work. About all we can hope for right now.
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We are in a position where we might be able to sign 30 this year (25 normal and 5 EE’s) which is why you saw a couple of guys walk on Saturday who still had eligibility remaining. I am as excited about the 2015 class and Jacob Eason and Ben Cleveland in the 2016 class as I have been in a long time.
Pruitt said when he got here last year that there was a talent deficiency on Defense, this recruiting class coupled with the underclassmen having a full year in the system is huge.
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“Great things are going to happen” = happytalk. Change occurs when the pain to stay the same is greater than the pain to change. B-M is feeling very little pain, 9 wins, boy scout image, and fat bank account.
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Rather depend on Richt than McGarity.
Bottom Line.
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Great point. Never thought about it that way. +1
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Absolutely!
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This is coming from the same guy that 365 days ago talked about how keeping the existing dumpster fire of a defensive staff together would be good for continuity. So maybe we ought to pump the brakes a little on postseason happy talk, no?
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Pretty sure it was handed down that due to money no one was getting fired. CMR was keeping the band together and happy. I never thought I’d say this, thank God for Bobby Petrino.
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Current players and recruits still believe in him and there is a lot to be said for that.
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We may have been very close….but losing to GT shot that in the ass, even if MO. had lost to Arkansas. A program that loses to GT on it’s home field, and does so when it had the game in hand at 18 seconds, needs to do a little more soul searching before the statement “we were close” is made. In retrospect, we were farther away than we imagined.
I love CMR..I know he can’t just adopt a faux-hyper-agressive coaching style..it ain’t “him”. But he needs to morph just a little bit in that direction.
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And Georgia Tech is legitimately having their best season in more than a decade. Whether we like it or not Georgia Tech has a good team this year and you can’t beat a good team if you fumble twice on the one in the same game I don’t care where the game is played.
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I was really into your comments until this one….GT was beat, even after two fumbles inside the five, until our shit for brains coach decided to SQUIB; which in essence is his legacy.
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Sorry to disappoint you, it won’t be the last time I am sure. If we kicked it deep and it was returned for a TD, 90% of the same critics would be saying we should have squibbed it. I personally would have kicked it deep but I’ve seen squibbing work for other teams before it just didn’t work out for us. My point is if we could hold onto the damn ball on the one yard line at least one of those two times this discussion would be academic.
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Agreed. 2 HUGE fumbles. Without those, the game is 21-0 and likely over as Tech can’t run their normal offense with that deep a deficit. Totally changed the game. The squib was not the best decision, admittedly, but that overlooks the other good ones (4th and 1 and the fake FG). The Richt haters are ridiculous.
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I still hate that we kicked at FG from the 2 or so after faking a FG. I think the defense spending 14 minutes of the 3rd quarter on the field made the whole staff a bit loopy and hungry for any points at that point.
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As to your last point – we did see aggressive coaching. Going for it on 4th for the 1st touchdown, the fake FG later. Sadly, once he got the lead at the end, Richt reverted back to conservative coaching. It can be said that after 14 years he ought to have the balance down. But he is what he is. Yes we are all tired of him falling on the sword for what seems to be obvious coaching moves. There are arguments to both sides of the keep him/fire him. All I can say is that none of us control the decision so we should all try to find a happy place about Georgia football. There aren’t enough people to pull financial support that wouldn’t be filled back in by people willing to pay. We all love the Dawgs – but I know the internet was made to argue about things too.
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Nice reality post BC.
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Perhaps the GT & UF losses cause enough pain to get the big contributors and coaches to pressure Jere to better align our athletic program with the rest of our conference on how off-field policies are implemented.
At some point, the frequent off-season public embarrassment the University brings upon itself has to eat at them, too.
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Listen, I know there is alot to be upset about but if we are being truthful, no one thought we were going to win it all this season. New QB, new defensive coaching staff, an exodus of egos from our secondary, new offensive linemen. There was alot to be worried about but the team did well (except for Florida, no excuse for that!) and finished 9-3. We have the 2nd best recruiting class for this year so far, and we have a great start on 2016’s class, so the kids are buying into Coach Richt. He’s got a few years left on his contract, so lets see what happens over these next few years. When his contract is up, if you don’t feel he has righted the ship, then you can talk about firing him. I also know that we could have won all 3 games we lost this year, and I think thats why people get so infuriated. BUT, our special teams were improved this year and our defense has improved somewhat. Lets see how these next few years play out with Richt and Pruitt before we throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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I also know that we could have won all 3 games we lost this year, and I think that is why people get so infuriated.
Yep. If we could have kept Gurley in play there is no doubt in my mind. Preseason there was a lot of 7-5 and 8-4 talk. 9-3 was ice cream and a cherry on top. We just installed a new D staff and lost some important players off that sad secondary. New qb that was gonna have to find his rhythm with his receiving corp. NO ONE was talking an SECC early on. If they were not many people were taking them serious.
Out of all our losses this season I felt like uSC and the refs stole one. I shake my head over the Florida loss. Dawgs on an emotional roller coaster over the Gurley mistreatment and didn’t get their heads right? I guess. Your guess is as good as mine. But I don’t think I ever went from so high to so low in such a short time after that Nerd loss. Sigh.
We wear our teams colors all year and its sweet to have those bragging rights. Neighborhoods are full of fans. I happen to have a uSC fan as a neighbor. He has this 3.5 foot roster in his front yard. He sometimes hangs a score around his neck and faces the bird toward my house. I have a uT neighbor across the street. He use to fly this bed sheet size Tennessee flag. I don’t see it much these days. Somebody’s kids made a Georgia flag and ran it up his flagpole once. Don’t know whose kids would do that. 😉 This Sunday I went for a neighborhood stroll with my bride. Ran into a neighbor walking. He was dressed out in full GT regalia. I didn’t even know he was a Tech fan. First time he ever talks sports with me and he wishes me good luck in getting a good bowl for my dogs.
Asshole!
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What AHD said…”I didn’t even know he was a Tech fan”… There’s a whole, whole lot of that…You’ve got to be a shallow and silly S.O.B. to put on Tech stuff and stroll the neighborhood after the rare win against UGA.
You should have asked him if he’d be wearing that baby crap colored stuff if Tech had lost. He’d have lied, of course. But then again…when you only get to wear something once every five or ten years you’ve got to get your money’s worth.
Went to Kroger in Sharpsburg after church yesterday. I wish I could have discreetly taken a picture of the nerds that were sporting GT stuff.
It’s soooo funny, really! That’s why we call them “Techmites”…like “Termites” they’re always around…but in damp dark places and you only see them on rare occasions…and they’re disgusting.
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They only come out of the woodwork when Tech is good–which means about every 7-10 years or so.
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If he wins 10 he will get renewed after next year.
1st year starting QB? He was a 5th year Senior. I think he did a solid job, Bama has won National Titles with less skilled. My questions are did the QBs behind him get a fair shot? Did Bobo hold him back not letting him throw it more? Was the game plan compromised by being a run 1st offense but running the shotgun to make a 5th year senior QB comfortable? Late in the Arkansas game stands out, everyone knew UGA was running it, why not get more blockers? If you need the QB out from center run a diamond formation (with Hicks, Douglas or other FB/TB) or pistol.
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Running out of the shotgun with 3 or 4 wide takes defenders out of the box and makes it easier to block. You are also showing a pass look so the safeties can’t cheat up. Essentially it is 5 (or 6 if you keep the TE in to block) vs 6 (4DL/2 LB or 3 DL/3LB). The RB has to make one guy miss to get a big gain. It also shows the blitz or coverages early as the defense is more spread out and has to lean toward where they are going once the ball is snapped. A spread look makes reading the defense very easy for the QB.
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Understood in theory, but late in the game Ark wasn’t taking the bait or anyone else watching the game. Bobo was running into a wall with fewer blockers than he could have.
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Bobo not embracing the diamond this season confuses me, particularly when he had a brief stretch of healthy Chubb and Gurley (who are big enough to block almost any linebacker and could chip nicely on a DE). But alas, we never got to see a Mason/Chubb/Hicks or Maxey/Gurley backfield.
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Special teams improved due to #16 and #3 returning kicks. Still had kicks blocked, can’t handle the pooch kick to #48 after 4 games, and the coach doesn’t trust the kick coverage enough to kick it deep. #42 on kick coverage was another bright spot, can’t wait to see him play more on defense.
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“….But how is that kind of hope any better than those who hope Mark Richt is right?”
As a program, we have displayed the behavior which Einstein described as the definition of idiocy. 14 years in, we know what we’re going to get from CMR football. I’ll trade a few years in purgatory for a repeat of the last 9 years….
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How many years has UT been in purgatory?
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Check that, hell, any Dawg fan who lived through Ray Goff has been there too.
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we’re fightin real hard and we’re gettin’ butter and butter.
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Ray Goff? Wasn’t he our All-SEC QB from 1975-76? Great option QB and a tough kid. What happened to him after he got out of school?
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🙂
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Or the Donnan years: where the recruiting classes got better and the results…didn’t really. (At least Ray beat Tech.)
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Dont forget that we managed to get here without the services of Todd Gurley for most of the season.
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“hope that an athletic department that has a shaky record at best with major hires would get this one right”
Surely you jest! The program that promoted the Tight Ends & RB Coach to HC? The same program that knew they were firing coach Goof and somehow whiffed on Gary Barnett, landed and lost Glenn Mason and finally turned to apparel huckster Jim Donnan? The same program that (reportedly) had a short list of Jeff Bower, Chan Gailey & Mike Kruczek to replace Donnan?
Noooo, they wouldn’t mishandle this.
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+1
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The Georgia Way.
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I am rather surprised to find that this pejorative usage hasn’t made its way into the esteemed lexicon yet.
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You can count on us to do the following things at least once a year.
-get blown out and/or look completely unprepared in an embarrassing loss
-lose to an sec east opponent
Those two things automatically prevent a team from controlling their destiny in the conference and national picture. Throw in the fact that we have had one loss or fewer after the sec championship game (essentially the pre-requisite for playing in the national championship) only once in mark Richt’s tenure and it’s no mystery as to why we’ve never played for a national championship. So no we’re nowhere close to being a national championship contender. What we are is the hope that one season we can be three standard deviations to the right of our mean.
Georgia can be a regular contender for the big prizes, we can even do it with Richt at the helm. But for that to happen he’s going to have to reinvent himself and completely change the culture of our program. That is very very hard to do when you’ve been in the role for fourteen years.
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For the most part, I agree. Though, he has pretty well reinvented himself over the past 5 years. He still lacks the relentless sense of urgency that I’d like to see (I think Pruitt most embodies that).
My quibble with the “FIRE RICHT!!!!” crowd is the refusal to look at the fact that B-M will not fire him if he more or less repeats the past few years season in and season out. You can clamor for Gruden all you want, but a winning record, dominating Tech, competing for the SECEast and running a clean program is enough according to HIS bosses. One critical caveat is Tech, though. If he repeats 2014 in ’15 and ’16 with good teams that derp a few and lose to Tech each year, he’ll be out. Beating Tech every year doesn’t get you a raise but losing to Tech consistently will sure as hell get you canned.
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It astounds me that people consider losing to Tech a “critical caveat”.
At the conclusion of CMR’s 13th year as head coach…
We have been SEC East champions six times (5 SEC championship game appearances). Three times as co-champions and three times as outright champions.
We have won the SEC Championship twice (2002, 2005). 2-3 record
Say what you will, but nobody at B-M is going to get rid of a guy that statistically gives us a chance at the SEC every other year. Nerd losses or not.
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And let’s not forget that Richt beats GT at an unprecedented rate for a Georgia coach.
Not to say I’m not as tired of the badly timed brain fart as the next guy.
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We’ll just have to disagree.
I’d wager money that if CMR repeats this year (9-3) two more consectuive years and ends each year with a loss to Tech, he is out.
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Depends if he wins SEC East. If he doesn’t win SEC East and does not beat GT, then I agree.
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I’d call that a fair bet. The previous two coaches who lost 3 in a row to the Trade School were rightly fired.
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No way. CMR will never be fired after a 9-3 regular season. Period.
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Same story every year.
We have a great recruiting class coming in….
We are making improvements……
We are going to fix the mistakes we made…..
Mistakes get repeated; improvements don’t happen.
A better head coach would win championships with the talent we have.
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Not necessarily. While Richt has stated that he supports the Puritanical discipline policies at UGA, he didn’t implement them. And the next coach would have to deal with them.
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Correct. Michael Adams left that legacy, and no one is going to backtrack and lighten strict disciplinary policies once they’re in place — certainly not his handpicked successor, and certainly not the athletic director he personally hired to maintain the status quo.
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Majority of the fire Richt crowd hopes he will win despite their best logic that he will not. I try not to comment often because it is just not worth the fight. I disagreed with Bobo’s strategy running the ball out of the shotgun late against Arky as well as various other moments in the season. Many of us came to our decisions long before this game. Do we want to be a downer on good times? No.
Can B-M make a good decision on hire? That is certainly a good question. As posted yesterday I am not happy with many things they have done. From the way they have handled tailgating, to music, to the S&C program, out of conference scheduling, Gurley’s signatures, to UGA’s drug policy, I could go on. Is there a coach out there that can win the big game more often, and not let the games you should win slide away more often? I believe so. Can B-M blow the decision? Absolutely but if McGarity blows it, he could be out too. Which is just fine by me.
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Otto, your last paragraph is sort of where I get stuck. Are there other coaches that might be better than Richt? Undoubtedly. Someone is always better. But the odds of the administration finding them are fairly slim. They seem to want someone who will average about 9 regular season wins, occasionally get in position to challenge for something bigger, not rock the boat and say anything publicly opposed to the powers that be, and keep the money flowing without any complaining about how it gets divided up (meaning you’ll get an IPF when they’re damn good and ready, and we’re not overpaying any coordinators or hiring any number of football “consultants”).
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And I forgot to say that under the parameters mentioned above, Mark Richt isn’t going anywhere, so I hope that he can continue to tweak things and get better at what he does. The team is really close, but those last few steps are the difference between this year’s results and our biggest hopes, and they aren’t easy, no matter how many of us think that they can just work harder and get 85 kids to all do as they’re told every time.
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BMan, agreed with much of what you say. I highly doubt Richt will shake it up, and he is in Athens for at least 2 more years. How long have special team been a problem?? not just the squib this past week but giving up the pooch kick, GT should never recover that ball. I am willing to risk more even if it takes 7 years. If the coaching hire fails, it can be a chance to change B-M. I endured Goff, and am tired of enduring the SEC’s Mack Brown. I disagree it is working harder and doing what they are told. I think they are being told wrong by games called wrong, not using the talent on campus to their fullest, and strategy not adapted. .Richt also appears to have a problem motivating players as posted in the tweet quoted yesterday.
UT does not have the in state talent of UGA which should put UGA in a better place. I would like to see some of the old blood shaken out of the program, and the alumni power base. UGA is going down UT’s path of internal promotion. UT seems to be finally cleaning out the program, and possibly headed back up.
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I think Pinky stole Gus’s rabbit foot.
USC 6-6
UT 6-6
Florida 5-6
Vandy 3-9
Kentucky 5-7
Missouri 10-2
Georgia 9-3
Auburn 8-4
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He did. And then, after the Arkansas game, he gave it to Fish Fry.
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Les Miles has coached 10 years at LSU. He has a winning percentage of .727. He has two SEC titles, in 2007 and 2011. He has one BCS title in 2007, a season in which his team lost to Arkansas and Kentucky. LSU lost 3 games in 2013 and 4 in 2014 (before a bowl).
Does anyone believe LSU should fire Les Miles and look for a better coach?
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Lots of LSU fans do, just ask them.
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Oh yeah, they sure do. I’ve heard it all the time. Luckily, we’re not the only crazy fanbase.
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I forgot to add – Miles is 2-3 against the inept Mark Richt.
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Hey Bernie, you might want to get over youself first.
Second, you sight is subpar.
Third, how many hits do you get each week. About as many good decisions CMR makes in a game.
Fans and supporters have a right to say what they want. They are stakeholders. Guess, Bernie just wants you to hum along “row, row your boat gently down the stream, waiting for a SEC title with CMR is just about a dream”.
And Missouri takes back to back SECE title. UT is moving up. And for damn sure UF will. And it looks like the much maligned Paul Johnson [Dawg bloggers] coached a team headed to a ACC title game and the Orange Bowl.
Tell me when was the last time the Dawgs went to a major bowl.
But it is ok if we only win two thirds of our games against Tennessee, Florida, Georgia Tech [take those wins out and that percentage goes down], and Auburn.
Mediocre is the by line for finish the drill in Athens.
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You once said that Will Muschamp was going to win a BCS title at Florida.
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“you sight is subpar.” What’s the old saying? It takes an expert in subpar publishing to know one?
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Hey Will, Are you cross with Bernie? He would just hate it if you were cross. I don’t know if he could bear it.
Second, there is nothing wrong with Bernie’s sight. He doesn’t even wear glasses.
Third start your own blog if you got the balls and talent. You definitely got the mouth.
Fans and supporters have a right to say what they want. Exactly! And that is exactly what Bernie is doing!
And Missouri takes back to back SECE title. UT is moving up. And for damn sure UF will. Root for them if you’d like.
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He’s right. There’s no way that UF possibly blows a coaching hire. At all. Jeremy Foley is psychic.
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UT is “moving up” only in the sense that they’re bowl eligible for the first time in many years.
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Mark Richt has the best winning percentage of any UGA head coach, so maybe Mark Richt is not the sole problem. As others have said, the administration has to support it. Do you think The Honey Badger that beat us in the 2011 SECCG would have played for Georgia? We know Nick Marshall wouldn’t. Maybe we should have bid $190k for $Cam Newton? Do you think Gurley or AJ would have automatically been suspended at some of our competitor schools? I think we all know the answers here. My point is that it’s not just Richt that has to change.
And speaking of Richt, he has had seasons that equaled the championship seasons of Miles and Meyer, but didn’t have the pure luck of having a higher ranked team lose at the end of the season to put them into the BCS CG. 2002 was easily equal to 2006 Gators, and 2007 we actually were in place to move up when the teams above us lost, but then ESPN enacted the Herbstreit rule that says you can’t go if you don’t win your conference (later repealed for Alabama in 2011). In 2012, we were absolutely the second best team in the country, but just came up 5 yards short (and no, CJ Mosely making a great play doesn’t equal bad coaching decisions – you can’t be aggressive, but not aggressive in coaching.)
Finally, Richt is certainly not above criticism. His latest bone-head call to pooch kick undid some great aggressive calls on 4th down and with the fake FG. But I think if people watch other coaches with the same critical eye, they will see similar mistakes. I rewatched last year’s Iron Bowl, and the great Saban completely botched that game. And his inability to develop a place kicker (which has been his problem for years) bit him several times before the Kick Six. Also, remember how Saban totally mismanaged the clock at half in the 2012 SECCG? Saban himself even admitted to it. Of course, MIles’ gaffs are as legendary as they are fun to watch. Even the Genius loses it, going pass happy to give us games with regularity. All coaches make mistakes, and I submit that Richt makes no more or less than others, it’s just that we watch Richt.
So, just some food for thought.
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That was a good post. I don’t see our institutional will changing with regards to rules and such. Kids are gonna be kids. Even good kids zig when they might have zagged. Auburn and Alabama are much closer to semi-pro than anyone else. But the rest of the SEC has taken notice.
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As Charles Barkley said on national TV (I saw it and heard it): “Best $180 thousand dollars we (Auburn) ever spent.”
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We’re absolutely on the right track of continuing more of the same. To have a team that can talk about being in the National Championship picture, you need to figure on not losing or losing once. In 2002 we had an incredible defense and lost 1 regular season game. We repeated that ten years later in 2012 before losing to Bama in the SEC Championship with a loaded offense and the best QB in the school’s history. Every other year we’ve lost at least twice or usually more. We are the type of program that will lose 2-3 times or more every year and perhaps every ten years or so we’ll have a great season. Judging the talent coming back next year we’re in for another 3-4 loss season.
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I like Pruitt a lot. But something has to change on the D line.
Can not get trucked for 400 yards rushing by teams like Tech and Florida.
Will have to give CMR is due there. He did know what he was talking about after being steamrolled by the Gators. He just never figured out after that.
Three losses. All to big rivals and 2 in conference.
But it is ok for UGA. Newly added Missouri comes in and shows the SECE what it is all about…maybe your teams were overrated after all.
We get to play Nebraska again in some lesser bowl in the rain or fog.
And now we are at that point in the year where the attrition or mass migration out of another CMR roster begins. The man just can not maintain full employment of a team.
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“But it is ok for UGA. Newly added Missouri comes in and shows the SECE what it is all about”
34-0.
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“He did know what he was talking about after being steamrolled by the Gators. He just never figured out after that.”
Stopped Auburn’s run game a hell of a lot better than Saban did.
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Will..the D got trucked for all those yards against GT because the O so quickly went down the field twice and then fumbled. Tech got to hold the ball, and Georgia, with a better offense, moved quickly and then fumbled. It was the perfect storm. Even after a long, long GT drive that we stole at the end with a fumble runback…it meant the D stayed on the field. They just got winded and tired. Not many defensed could have taken that.
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The D makes three plays, they’re off the field.
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Everyone in CFB knows the feeling of not achieving their dreams, and all but a select few are examining their programs status going forward. Saturday, and Friday, has taken the air out of UGA’s fans but let’s apply a little perspective to the state of CFB’s programs nationally before throwing dirt on UGA’s status. Where was Auburn a month ago, ranked in the Top 3 and now ended 8-4 with another miracle finish at Ole Miss or they are 7-5. Notre Dame was claiming a spot in the playoff after a loss at FSU, now unranked and stumbling. Oklahoma was being called the best team in CFB before the Red River Shootout. SC began the year in the Top 10 and a favorite in the East. Ohio State had a schedule that looked as if they couldn’t lose a game if they tried, but got hammered by Va Tech and struggled with lesser teams often. Florida is looking for a new coach. A&M was in the Top 10 after playing SC off the field and lost 59-0 to Bama. Miss State was unbeaten and ranked #1 three weeks ago and now has two losses, same with Ole Miss. LSU was in the Top earlier in the year. Stanford was a Top 10 earlier, as was UCLA. Etc., etc. At half time in the Iron Bowl it looked like the SEC might not even get a team in the playoff because of the wild swings that can occur on any given Saturday. Everyone has some issues, and all successful teams need a few good bounces/calls. You can increase your chances if you play with focus at all the critical times, but chances are you will have some disappointments, and sometimes the other guy makes a great play. Some deal with that better than others but like all things in the universe, you aren’t alone.
So when our HC says he feels we have some things that look bright ahead and we should be competitive, why does the UGA fan base cower and focus on all we don’t have? Because some cannot accept that it takes a lot of things to go well to make it all the way without a stumble, or catching a team on their best night and prefer to take the “woe is me” approach. Nothing in perfect in Athens, but an objective analysis shows that we are in better shape than 20-30% of our fan base thinks they are. I hope we get a good bowl game draw and take momentum into the off season and signing period. I choose to think we are among the blessed programs in CFB so Mark Richt’s comments seem accurate at this time, we need to stand together and behind our program in good times and bad.
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+1
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Well said, Mac.
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What bothers me is not any one particular game, or season, or coach, or even athletic director. It’s the decades and decades worth of relative underachievement by Georgia. We’ve won one national championship since World War II. And if it weren’t for Herschel, we’d have none. It’s a terrible record for a program with our resources, and I think there should be a hair-on-fire urgency within the athletic department to change it. There isn’t.
This isn’t, strictly speaking, Mark Richt’s fault. But I do wish he’d use the position and the power he has to forcefully and publicly advocate for the things his football team needs. We should have the BEST strength and conditioning coaches, the BEST medical staff, the BEST nutritionists, and yes, the BEST indoor practice facility. Instead, we have an athletic department more interested in the appearance of good management than the pursuit of excellence. It’s going to take some hard pushing to change this “Georgia Way” mentality. Richt could do it. I just wish he could understand he should.
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I know UGA fans want, and expect, the BEST of everything but the truth is, we don’t have the very best, are not committed to that, and never have been. We aren’t under McFrugal, we weren’t under Dooley, and we never were under Adams. Richt has asked for the IPF for over a dozen years now. With all the success and enthusiasm in Richt’s early years before the divisive brigade came on strong, we did nothing regarding stadium expansion. Both Bama and A&M have expanded seating significantly and even TN and Kentucky are making, or have made, significant improvements in their stadiums while we worry about louder piped in music and expanding WiFi. Our policies on zero tolerance are a severe handicap that no other top program deals with.
I don’t worry about the beauty contests that have been called NC’s in the past, in my mind no one has any but I do want to get UGA into 2nd place with SEC titles and close the gap on Alabama, that is why this past weekend (Friday and Saturday) hurt a lot. Change Friday’s result, you may have changed Saturday’s giving us a chance to play Bama and who knows where from there. We aren’t winning all we want, but we are a player regionally and nationally almost every year. We all want more but it isn’t as bad as some would have you believe. But we don’t have the BEST opportunity as some would have you believe. That will take a major mindset change.
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Amen people can’t see the forest for looking at the trees. Thank you for saying what I feel.
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Well stated as usual, Mac.
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Agree with this perspective. One thing that stuck out to me was Richt’s quote that we were probably a lot closer to getting to the SEC and national championship than we think. I stepped back and realized that we were honestly one play away from getting to the SEC championship (let’s just pick the phantom hold call in the Carolina game negating Gurley’s TD, although you could probably pick any number of plays from that game). And add one more play in the Tech game (again, there are plenty of moments to choose from–turnovers inside Tech’s 5 yard line, not scoring a TD on another red zone possession, etc), and we would be ranked top 4 or 5 and poised to get to the playoff if we could beat Bama. So, in reality, occasional questionable coaching decisions aside, we were TWO PLAYS away from being a step away from the playoff. Two plays over the course of two games over the course of an entire season. The line between a fantastic season and a ‘disappointing’ one is so thin (just ask Auburn).
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^^THIS^^ With all his resources, focus, etc. Saban is not immune to this issue, he’s just able to minimize it more often than not (this is the essence of what “The Process” is all about). That’s a hell of a lot of additional effort/expense for such a small incremental change…but the impact is enormous and probably something that those in control at the UGA board level fail to truly appreciate.
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Senator:
Maybe it is time for a poll to see who wants to support the cost of change. As a season ticket holder for 25+ years i would like to know who is in and who is out. Where my seats are it is $400/seat/year minimum donation + ticket price. What would it take to buy out existing contracts and afford a new staff to go to the next level?
Perhaps a quick poll to see which readers/posters are season ticket holders and regular $$ contributors.
Then who is in favor of raising the minimum contribution levels? Maybe $1,000 per seat as a minimum?
Just wondering ???
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A $600 per seat increase would raise $40+ Million in one year. That is rather extreme. I can tell you that no one is in favor of that. Especially when you consider UGAA made enough profit last year to pay any potential buyouts.
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Basing head coaching decisions on recruiting rankings gets you Lane Kiffin. Georgia has had a number of great recruiting classes. Georgia has put a ton of talent in the NFL. Georgia doesn’t have much to show for all of that talent. I’m not suggesting anything change in regards to Richt’s employment, but it’s not like he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time either. His governing philosophy is not a winning philosophy. It is only when he maneuvers counter to his modus operandi (you know, Evil Richt) that Georgia shows the balls it takes to be a winner.
Here’s the reality: Tennessee has gone through a historically bad stretch – 39-47 over the past seven years. Florida has had seven years of Ron Zook and Will Muschamp out of Richt’s fourteen years on the job. Georgia has taken advantage to the tune of 5 division titles in Richt’s 14 years. He has two SEC titles, though they’ll be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the last one next season. Missouri, after just three years in the conference, has as many East division crowns as Georgia has won in the past nine years. Also, Richt has lost four of the last five to Spurrier. If Richt were an asshole like Bo Pelini, he would have been fired already. (Pelini’s record at Nebraska – 67-27 (39-17 in conf games)… Richt’s during Pelini’s tenure – 63-29 (38-18 in conf games).
But that is all backwards looking. We hope for the future, right? Well, it ain’t next year either, fellas. UGA is losing five seniors off both the offense and defense including Conley, Bennett, Andrews, Herrera, Wilson, Swann… guys with a ton of starting experience who have made a lot of plays over the past few years. The schedule trades Arkansas for Alabama and includes road trips to Tennessee (the week after Bama), Auburn, and Georgia Tech. If this season was a 9-3 season against what turned out to be a weak schedule, I don’t see how next year is any better.
There still doesn’t seem to be any depth along either line of scrimmage. A few of the players they’ll rely on to be contributors next year will get kicked off the team for something. They’ll be breaking in a new starting QB (again). The receiving corps will be decimated by graduations, and the running backs are an injury away from relying heavily on Brendan Douglas.
Is there any reason for hope? Sure. Lorenzo Carter looks like he’s a future first-rounder (but, wasn’t that said about Leonard Floyd?). Jeb Blazevich looks like the next great UGA tight end. Chubb looks like a great workhorse back, but he needs his offensive line to be better than average. Bobo continues to find a way to score points with less than ideal circumstances. Pruitt seems to know what he is doing, so there is hope there, too (especially with the commits that say they are coming). Marshall Morgan is pretty reliable for a college kicker. McKenzie has radically transformed the return game.
Is it enough to eventually make Georgia an 11-1 team that competes nationally instead of a 9-3 team that owns a timeshare in Tampa? I don’t know. I’m not sure the talent gap is as important to that outcome as the dumbassery gap. Or the do-as-little-as-it-takes-to-win philosophy. Or the roster mismanagement. Or the annual, inexplicable pants-shitting. Or the continued clock mismanagement. But, let’s go win ourselves a recruiting national championship. Because it certainly couldn’t hurt.
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Actually, Richt is the best Georgia coach of all time. Also, while I agree that Florida and Tennessee have been down, it can be argued that we contributed to them being down. I’ll guarantee you Muschamp losing 3 of 4 to UGA contributed to his demise.
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Take away the cupcake 12th game from Richt and is he still the best of all time? Compare the schedules Dooley played with those Richt gets. Does he have as many conference titles or national titles as Dooley? And I don’t think Dooley was one of the best of all time either.
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I watched Dooley play plenty of cupcake. It’s a time-honored tradition. My points still stand.
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Georgia’s schedule in 1980.
Cupcakes were TCU and Texas A&M. They were still SWC opponents. They played both Clemson and Georgia Tech non-conference. That’s a far cry from Charleston Southern and Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette and Lousiana-Monroe, etc. Dooley played some guys like VMI and Temple and Richmond in some years, but there weren’t two of those games on the schedule every year. Only once (in 2009) has Richt faced three teams from major conferences in the non-conference slots with the 12-game schedule. Dooley did it routinely with 11-game schedules.
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You ignore the fact that there weren’t the plethora of wannabe Div 1 teams back then, just bad Div 1 teams, like TCU and (during that time) A&M. And yeah, VMI, Temple, Richmond, etc. were always bad. Lack of recruiting limits back then insured that those teams that were down, usually stayed down. The cupcakes were just as tasty back then, they just went by different names.
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Dooley had a 6 game conference schedule. They could claim ties for SEC championships…no conference championship games against top ranked teams to prove you earned it. UGA played 4 teams ranked in the top 10 last year and in 2009. 2011-2013 UGA played 15 ranked teams. 1980-82 UGA played 6 ranked teams. That includes the bowls…so 1 ranked team per year or 4 ranked teams per year…
Dooley’s Dawgs played a total of 34 games against top 10 competition in his 25 year career. Richt has had 28 games against top 10 competition in his first 14 seasons. Dooley’s record was 15-19 against top 10 teams (.441 winning %). Richt is 12-16 against top 10 teams (.429 winning %).
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I don’t know what you thought you were proving by citing those statistics but, whether you meant to or not, you just gave the most support to the “B-M isn’t committed to winning championships” crowd that I have seen to date. The real problem isn’t the HC, whether Richt, Dooley or anybody else past, present or future. It is inside B-M and it perpetually lingers like an odor around an outhouse.
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I wasn’t trying to ‘prove’ anything…just adding some factual data to support the idea that Richt isn’t playing an ‘easy’ schedule compared to other past coaches.
As far as the odor…what stinks to me is the folks seemingly setting standards for coaches without having any clue what is good. Winning games against top 10 opponents at a 43 to 45% clip after 30 games may not win you championships every time, but it sure will get you in the hall of fame.
Les Miles is 17-19 against top ten teams. (47%)
Stoops is 18-14 (56%)
Spurrier is 27-32-1 (45%)
Bud Wilkerson was 12-15-1 (44%)
Paterno was 35-47 (43%)
Ara Parseghian was 16-23-3 (42%)
Bowden 38-44-1 (46%)
I’d suggest to all to know your history before you make assumptions.
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More than anyone, Mark Richt sent UT spiraling. From his first day, that series flipped to UGA.
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And Auburn, both series records are now tied.
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Mark Richt sent UT spiraling? Tennessee won four out of six from 2004-2009, including beating two of Richt’s best teams in 2004 and 2007. Some spiral.
The hobnail boot game affirmed the Donnan win in 2000, and that might have righted the scales from the abysmal 1990’s, but it wasn’t until Tennessee made the Kiffin disaster in 2009 that led to the Dooley disaster in 2010 that Tennessee really fell apart. More than anyone, Kiffin or Mike Hamilton sent UT spiraling.
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The Donnan “win” in 2000 was one of the absolute worst UT teams ever (including the ones of recent history). I could have picked 10 buddies out of the stands and beat that UT team. Please!
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Did Donnan’s team not really win? I don’t understand the quotes there.
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Donnan’s team won in the sense that they walked out onto the field and kicked the ball off. That UT team sucked.
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And the past five Tennessee teams that Richt has beaten did not suck?
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Tennessee hasn’t won an SEC Championship since Richt stepped foot in Athens after winning 4 in the 12 year period prior. (Not to mention that UGA went 1-9 over that 12 span, too.)
You kill Richt for not winning championships but then prop up Tennessee for regular season wins? Sounds about right.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tzpTAL2iIM
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I don’t have a dog in this fight (no pun intended), but I think you’d have to be half-way nuts to get rid of Richt. (And I don’t mean that in the way that the Boogs used to pray that Bama would keep Shula.)
He’s won a couple of league titles, played for some others, just missed two national titles and is still recruiting well. Had it not been for a flukey loss to an in-state rival, this year’s team would finish in the top 10.
Is there another SEC coach you’d trade him for? Most of you would say nope.
I get the idea, as a fan, that you need to stay ahead of the curve and you want to pull the trigger before things trend down. I just don’t think now’s that time.
But then again, what do I know?
Have a good day,
BD
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Would he still be employed if he were hired in 2001 at Alabama?
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If he had been hired at Alabama, don’t you think he’d have several rings by now?
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Hard to say…but I’d say yes if he regularly beat UT, AU and LSU.
On the other hand, would he put up with the insane expectations? I dunno about that.
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Dammit, BD, your logic has no place here. This is the internet!
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BD – I also agree that we’d be pretty nuts to fire the winningest coach in our history after a 9-3 season. You aren’t the only non-Georgia fan who has said that either. I think if we did fire him, he’d be snatched up in a heartbeat. Saban is the cream of the crop, but he is undoubtedly the exception to the rule.
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Both you are our resident AU poster have said the same thing. If y’all agree then it must be right!
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I don’t know why anyone is even talking about firing Mark Richt after a 9-3 regular season. That’s CRAZY talk. Sure I’m pissed off that he blew another game last Saturday with another stupid end of game screw-up (actually 2 this season including the “not handing the ball to the best RB in the nation” foul-up in Columbia, SC) but he won 9 games and has a good chance to make it 10 in the bowl. You don’t fire coaches for that kind of season. I actually agree with what Mark Richt said at the presser. With the current state of Georgia’s coaching staff I feel better about the future of Georgia football than I ever have before–except for Mark Richt making end of game decisions for the team. Maybe the silver lining to this whole Tech fiasco is that it was so obviously stupid that even people with little or no understanding of the game of football (children, little old ladies, ballet dancers, etc.) can see how idiotic it was. People in the stands were looking at each other while it was happening and asking each other “why in the hell did he do that?” Then the OT loss came. It was VERY embarrassing to him publicly. We learn from our mistakes only when we suffer consequences. Public humiliation is definitely a consequence. Hopefully he will learn from this and become a better coach for it. If not, then the rest of us will just have to live with it because he’s not going to be fired. That boat sailed after the 2010 season.
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Same old, same old. Woulda, coulda, shoulda Georgia all over again. But we’ll bring in some nice toys in February and after Spring Ball everyone will get excited and then AUG will roll around and 2015 will be our year!!! Rinse and repeat.
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With the exception of Bama and FSU currently, most major programs do exactly what you’ve described on a yearly basis. Unfortunately only one school can win a natty a year.
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Uh, no, Richt’s @.300 win % vs ranked teams is 7th in the SEC.
Average.
This is unacceptable.
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Ranked when we played them, or ranked at the end of the season? Or whichever suits your analysis? Dawggrade much?
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Dawgs were 3-1 against ranked teams this season, those 3 wins being complete beatdowns.
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Richt’s wn % was .318 vs ranked teams over the last 5 seasons coming into the season. Let me guess, you think that’s just awesome??.
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Again, which Dawggrading method do you use? Ranked when we beat them, or ranked at the end of the season? Or just flip a coin?
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Figures don’t lie but liars figure. Give it a rest, man.
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Thanks, BD..Good neighborly advice.
“Never make an important decision while you’re mad”.
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I asked above if Richt would still be the coach at Alabama if he started coaching there in 2001. If Richt had all the resources given to Saban would Richt’s performance change?
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Nick Saban is the perfect coach for Bama, I doubt any other coach would better Saban’s record there. Frankly, I doubt Richt would have ever been considered for the Bama job. He was available when it was open before he came to Georgia.
But the straight answer to your question is probably.
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Scorp, they handed the keys to Saban when he stepped off of the plane. That’s the way he rolls and we were on our knees begging. From that standpoint, it was a match made in heaven.
There just aren’t a lot of guys that can pull that off and there are only a handful of places where it could be pulled off.
I think Chip Kelley might be one of those guys. I thought Harbaugh was, but now I doubt it. Jimbo might be. Where would it happen besides Tuscaloosa? Probably Texas, maybe LSU and possibly Auburn, if they could afford it.
I doubt Richt would make those types of demands.
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I’ve heard that Kelly hated recruiting which is one of the areas where Saban has been so successful. I don’t know what Harbaugh thought of it but I suspect he is the closest to Nick in wanting to compete and control every single step of “the process”.
Woe be to Georgia if Foley somehow pulled Harbaugh out of his hat.
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Woe to the entire SEC–particularly the East!
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BD am I wrong when I say that at Bama, playing championship football is an important part of the institutional culture? That this aspect of the way the University of Alabama views football makes it different from almost all schools?
One of Mark Richt’s problems at Georgia is a fan base who sees Nick Saban’s success without seeing the institutional commitment behind that success, it seems to me
They wanted to hand Nick the keys…were begging to hand him the keys.
It appears FSU, institutionally, for instance, is having a very difficult time, with their key-holding coach…or maybe that situation reflects the difference between Saban and Jimbo Fisher.
I firmly believe Winston would never be the bonehead he is at FSU if he had gone to Bama. I have also wondered if maybe Nick knew the bone headed aspect of Winston, which is why he is NOT at Bama.
The playoff deal is putting huge pressure on coaches all over the country to win, right now, no matter what.
Nick Saban must be giggling about all that pressure on other coaches, he’s been dealing with that since he stepped off the plane.
In case you have not noticed, I have tremendous respect for the way Saban has handled the keys.
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You are indeed right about the culture.
Our self esteem over here has a direct correlation to winning and, obviously, that’s not a good thing. I suffer from that as much as Phyllis or anyone else.
On the other hand, Saban has paid for himself many times over and the school has benefited in many more ways than just football. School-wide, the facilities are fantastic. Between Saban and Richard Shelby, there has been no economic slowdown in Tuscaloosa. Enrollment is up and, I think, over half of the new students are from out of state. So the educational wing is also benefiting. 🙂
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Enrollment is up and, I think, *over half of the new students are from out of state. So the educational wing is also benefiting. :)*
Yep. We are two different schools with two different missions.
Type of school: Public, Research Institution
Type of school: Coed
Setting: Suburban
Athletics: Division I, Club, Intercollegiate, Scholarship, Intramural Sports
Degrees offered: Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral
Size of undergraduate student body: 26,142
Percent out-of-state:10%
Percent international: 1%
Female to Male ratio: 55:45
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Actually, they were begging to hand Rich Rod the keys…he didn’t want them and they backed into Saban. Think about that turn of events before we make Bama’s athletic department into some calculating and all-knowing super-place that determined that Saban must be had at all costs to save the program. A coaching search is almost always blindly throwing darts.
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If Bama had hired RichRod I honestly believe that the results would have been pretty similar to what has gone on in Tuscaloosa the last 8 years. I actually feel sorry for RichRod for what happened to him in Ann Arbor. He didn’t have control yet got all the blame. Now it has happened a second time with another good coach–Brady Hoke. People are figuring out now that there is something wrong with Michigan, not the coaches. UM is going to have a lot of trouble hiring a first-rate HC this time.
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At least not giving Saban any credit for his accomplishments is consistent with not giving Richt any credit for his, too.
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G’s replacement……That’s hypothetical..so here’s my hypothetical answer. Yes.
Because CMR at Alabama would have had the most amazing recruiting success in the nation…and wouldn’t have been shackled by as much of that academic and behavioral nonsense they demand over at UGA.(it’s almost as if UGA considers itself an instituion devoted to higher learning and improvement instead of football, football, football. Priorites..sheesh!)
There would be no APD to deal with and besides, he wouldn’t have lost to Saban because..well because. Oh..and Penn Wagers and the NCAA would be non-factors to boot.
Yes. Any coach would be more successful at ‘Bama.
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Well, that guy back in ’99 won a league title, so anything is possible. 🙂
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When he wasn’t pinching butts in the front office.
As an aside, people have forgotten that Spurrier got tons of hell from Gator fans about losing to FSU (5-8-1) and having many other games he lost when he shouldn’t.
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One of the main reasons Spurrier left UF. The expectations (fans) had gotten out of control and he didn’t want to put up with it. After a failed stint in the NFL, Sackerlina was the best choice for him since expectations were so low. Anything he accomplished would be viewed as miraculous.
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It has been a long strange year, improbable wins, incomprehensible losses…and then there’s the haunting last Saturday.
I can remember when seven wins would have been a pretty good year for Georgia fans, so nine seems an improvement from that point of view.
I hope we get a decent bowl against a team we can beat, I hope we sign a buncha good football players who add quality depth on defense. I hope we don’t lose Mike Bobo or anybody else off the staff.
Hope is a dangerous thing, it can make a man crazy (as can be seen here), but I have learned to live with that cause I am a Georgia fan…hope is what I got.
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We’ve come this far… maybe you’re willing to come a little further. HOPE (unless it is followed by the word change ;-).) is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.
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Might be time for some how abouts. How about moving Quavon Hicks out of that spot on kick returns.
How about using our tight ends more in the passing game.
How about that problem every year with South Cakalacky? We could not even beat them with the best player in the nation on our team.
How about Florida or South Cakalacky ruining our season every year, year in and year out.
How about Trent Thompson. Is he the new Ray Drew?
How about defense in the SEC. Even Alabama can’t play it anymore.
How about the yea but Mark Richt is a nice guy thing? Think Nick Saban gives one little shart what anyone anywhere thinks about him being nice or not.
How about Alabama’s athletic director. Think he would be there long if he told Saban what to do? Or even their president.
How about that wait till next year thing we have going on at Georgia. Oh wait. That is the Falcons motto!
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How about rotating QB’s so you arn’t stuck with 1st year starters at Qb’s in 2014 & 2015?
Just terrible foresight, all in the name of winning 9 games? Seems a high price to pay.
2015? Another 1st year starter at Qb. Another 8 or 9 win season.
Some coaches never learn.
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I guess you weren’t around in 02-05 when people complained that Greene was taken out (spoiling the momentum) to rotate in Shockley.
I do agree that we could have played a backup a little more this year in some of the earlier blowouts, but that begs the question of which one. Do you know who’s going to be the starter next fall?
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Aren’t you the same guy that on a prior thread wrote that Bauta is our best QB based on….wait for it…the spring game?
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What I said was Faton Bauta looked better than Hutson Mason the time I saw him, which was the Spring game. Threw as well for as many yards, and more td’s, but also has the run threat for red zone and 3rd down situations, UGA struggled in the red zone with Mason vs GT, Bauta gives you more options in the red zone.
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Ah.
I see we’ve entered the Troll Zone.
You’re about one post away from being banned, sport.
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Is it all right if we bait him into it?
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Don’t you just love it when The Senator does that? I especially like it when he warns them. They just slide away like a snake in the grass.🐍
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Long, long ago…when Vince Dooley was the coach at UGA…a man named Bobby Dodd retired from Georgia Tech. BD was a pretty good coach, to say the least. Georgia Tech went into a semi-permanent face plant afterwards. They went through (I’m not going to be able to remember them all, but here’s a few)…Bud Carson, Bill Fulcher, Paul Rogers (may have been interim) Bill Curry (hired away by ‘bama in their post Bear trek through the wilderness), Bobby Ross (hired away by pros), George O’leary (hired away by Notre Dame and then rejected for faking resume), Mac McWhorter (interim?) Chan the man Gaily, Jon Tenuta and Fish Fry.
Alabama had their time in the berry patch too.
It isn’t an exact science…replacing a coach.
I remember an older GT man on talk radio saying…”someday, Vince Dooley will cease to be UGA’s head coach. Then you may very well find out how hard it is to replace him”. His words stuck with me….thru Goff and Donnan.
I remember how happy we were to get Donnan. He talked SUCH a good game….
Just be very, very careful what you wish for. We’ve got a program that is in good shape and improving. A coaching staff that is improving.
CMR makes some game mistakes, yes, but all coaches do. The goal is to limit them..
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And what was the guy who coached at Georgia for a while then wound up head coach at Tech for a year or so?
I say this below, but here it is again…from my very long view we are better off than we have ever been and ought to be damn glad of it.
Like Florida did not begin football in 1990, Georgia did not begin football in 1980….
But there is progress, for sure. I don’t recall any announcer-bum comparing Nick Chubb to Herschel.
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And now I’m having horrible Donnan-years flashbacks. Jasper Sanks and Patrick Pass both were called “the next Herschel.’
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Hell, we’ve had at least 10 “next Herschels.” Maybe more.
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Sad that Mark Richt feels not winning the SEC since 2005, or ever appearing in a national championship at Georgia, means the program is “on the right track”.
In terms of national championships, it was never on the track nationally.
In terms of conference championships, Richt hasn’t been on the right track since 2005. 9 years ago.
That’s a long time.
And Richt seems to like the “no championship” direction.
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“Richt hasn’t been on the right track since 2005. 9 years ago”.
t’s a long time for YOU because you were in the 4th grade.
We also played in the National Championship semi-finals 2 years ago (when you were in 11th grade)
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For God’s sake people IT ISN’T ALL ABOUT THE “NATTY” OR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! FTW!!!!!!
The goals at the beginning of every season should be (and I am sure that they are):
Beat our rivals (S.Carolina, Florida, Auburn, Tech)
Win the SEC EAST
Win the SEC
Anything after that is gravy because until this year it was one giant beauty contest. What if the Luckeys don’t beat Purdue on a last second TD in 2002 and we beat Miami for the championship? What if Shockley doesn’t get hurt in ’05 and we beat UF and Auburn to go undefeated? What if the UK or Vandy kicker makes a friggen FG in ’07 and we beat LSU and Ohio St and win the national championship? What if CJ Mosely doesn’t make a great play and Mitchell catches the TD from Murray in the ’12 SECCG? What if we don’t blow ACL’s like they are going out of style last year? Would you “FIRE RICHT $)W#(@)()@#)#)(##@” people change your tune? Because some or all of those things were very close to happening. Football truly is a game of inches and which team gets the breaks at the right time. More games are “lost” than are “won”.
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Since Richt lost to key rivals, didn’t win the East, didn’t win the SEC, didn’t win the Natl Champ, but got his 9 wins, guess you and your ilk are happy as a lark.
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He beat Clemson, Tennessee and Auburn while losing to Tech, UF & USCe.
Soooooo, he sorta split the rivals.
But with Bauta at QB, he would’ve gone undefeated, eh?
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I really don’t appreciate your use of the word “ilk” when referring to posters on this blog. I don’t always agree with everybody here and indeed that is kind of the point of this blog–to get people with different opinions talking–but there is no need to talk down to or insult other posters. Now I think it is about time for people of YOUR “ilk” to STFU. I think I hear your mama calling you.
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Interesting and intersecting set of dynamics at work here.
Number 1, we’ve been fortunate enough to have had fairly easy (for the SEC) schedules the last couple of years.
Number 2, even though we had a totally rebuilt and leaky defense and a fifth-year senior replacing Aaron Murray at QB, we put quite a bit of talent (some of it untested) on the field.
Number 3, the SEC East was really weak this year, making it easier to win than in past years.
Number 4, the opening win over Clemson put us in the national spotlight (totally deserved or not).
All these factors came together to raise our expectations maybe too high for this team. Yes, we could have won all 12 games, but we could have lost more than the 3 we did lose. We were a team that could dominate at times, but were hardly a consistently dominating team. If the right UGA team showed up on any Saturday, we were as good as anybody in the country. If not, we weren’t even middle-tier. I’m hopeful we can be more consistent next year, even with another new QB starter and a lot of talented though new faces (hopefully) on defense.
Please, let’s don’t blow off this bowl game like we have so often in recent history. Mason has earned the start, but why not let Ramsey play the second half. Amp up the defense as much as Pruitt can. We need it to start getting ready for next season.
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Fact of the matter is, if we don’t fumble on the goal line (twice), that kid misses the field goal, or we score in OT to win, most of you aren’t in here talking about firing Richt. You’re happy we recovered after Florida to beat the snot out of Auburn and glad to beat a Tech team that made the ACC championship. You’d be glad we’re playing in a big 6 bowl. Hell, if Mizzou had lost and we were gearing up to play spoiler to Bama this weekend, I think losing to Tech like that wouldn’t have caused near as much outrage among the fan base.
The loss sucked, but get over it. When all is said and done, only three teams will have had a better record than us in the SEC this year: Bama, Miss St. and Mizzou. And let’s not forget Mizzou lost to freaking Indiana in the only thing resembling a decent OCC game they had and Miss. St. played four OCC games against the most delicious of college football cupcakes. Heck, there is still an outside chance that we land in a Big 6 bowl (assuming Mizzou gets murdered this weekend) this year.
All is not lost in Athens. We are close and we are getting closer.
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Re: the Big Six bowl outlook
There are 12 spots. The Pac 12 will get two (Oregon & Az/ASU/UCLA). The B1G may get three (Ohio St., Wisc & Mich St). The Big 12 will get two (Baylor/KSU & TCU). The ACC will get two (GT & FSU). The SEC will get two (Bama & Miss St – assuming Mizzou loses).
That leaves at least one spot. Here are the teams remaining in contention for that spot:
UGA – 9-3
Ole Miss – 9-3
Mizzou – 10-3
ASU – 9-3
UCLA – 9-3
Baylor/KSU loser – 10-2 (Bay) or 9-3 (KSU)
Boise St. 10-2
If KSU beats Baylor, then, potentially, the B1G and Big 12 both get three.
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Check that, Boise is pretty much a lock; a group of five team gets an automatic bid.
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I don’t care if they lost their last game but Marshall was undefeated for almost the entire year and only lost by 1 point. The Herd out to go.
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JP, please explain to me:
1- How we lost that game when we had a 99.8 chance of winning with 18 seconds to go according to ESPN?
2- How did we not get up for the Florida game, when the SEC Championship was on the line, how did we lose that game to such a lousy team and lousy head coach?
3- How did we lose to a terrible South Carolina team in a critical SEC match up?
How do you view those as getting closer? These were two 6 win teams we lost to in the same season? That’s a catastrophe to most fans. Hasn’t happened in a hile, really isn’t the direction any fan I know of wants to continue losing to two 6 win teams in the same season…I guess you’re the only one.
Granted, we got up for 1 of the big 3 SEC East matchups, the Mizzou game, but laid an egg in the other two, how do the coaches let that happen?
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USC? What can i say. We played poorly in bad weather, but could have won save for a botched holding call, a grounding call (horrible play and play call, mind you), or an extra chain link. We always get their best look.
Florida is essentially a seven win team – they missed a gimme win over Idaho in week one due to weather. And they blew it in the final seconds against South Carolina (worse than our Tech choke). And they dropped a game winning TD pass with seconds to go against LSU. And they just gave FSU all they wanted. Their loss to Mizzou really mischaracterized their season. They easily could have had three more wins, finishing at 9-3 with loses to Bama, Mizzou, and FSU (no slouches there). My guess: the players thought as poorly of them as you do and simply didn’t show up.
Tech? I explained that above.
Football is a funny sport. There isn’t a lot of margin for error and randomness plays a HUGE role in the outcome of every game (what are the odds we fumble twice on the goal line?). We were in position to win 11 of our 12 games. That would have had us in the SEC Championship and playoff contention. The offense is one of the best in the country and we have a load of talent coming back. I believe we have the right man leading the defense now too, and loads of young talent returning. Recruiting is better than it has ever been.
Call me crazy if you like, but I still think things are looking up.
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JP, looks like you’re a Richt backer regardless of his performance, in the “lack of execution” excuse pile.
Guess who teaches the players how to execute? How can you blame the GT loss on the players when Richt called for the pooch?
And no, even if UGA beats GT, I would still be upset are the 14th year in a row of not winning a national championship.
Richt is running out of excuses, some say, he doesn’t have any left.
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Maybe better to count me in the, “only one team out of 128 teams wins the NC, so I don’t get pissy when we aren’t the one” camp. Richt has given put us in the NC conversation more often than not, something that simply didn’t happen in my life time until he got here. Also, I genuinely enjoy beating our rivals for the sake of those games alone rather than for their utility in moving us toward a championship; Richt has done a hell of a job in that regard.
I am a realist. You, on the other hand, live in a fantasy world. This isn’t NCAA ’14. You don’t get to win every game and take home the Heisman every year. Likewise, you can’t turn off your xbox when your RB inexplicably fumbles on the one against your rival.
You may be better suited for some other school’s fan base. Here’s Finebaum’s number to get you started: 1-855-242-7285. I’m sure you’ll find some like-minded people over there.
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slow. clap.
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“How can you blame the GT loss on the players”
Because Chubb & Sony fumbled on the one, you idiot. That’s how.
“Richt is running out of excuses, some say, he doesn’t have any left.”
Yes. None of whom work at B-M.
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“Richt is running out of excuses, some say, he doesn’t have any left.”
That some there…none of them matter.
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Hey Sport, tell me, who teaches the running backs ball protection? Anyone responsible for that on the coaching staff, I mean how can you say UGA is coached well, when they have 2 fumbles in the red zone on the 1 yardline in the same game?
No Special Teams coach at UGA either, Richt is too stubborn, even though the pooch kick happens as Richt’s call who knows nothing about special teams, and the pooch kick of GT works too targetting the 1 guy who should not have been in Q Hicks, who erred yet again.
Sure, coaches have ZERO responsibility, all the PLAYERS fault, sure it is, sleep better thinking that? That’s why the same ole problems repeat at UGA.
Turnovers, special teams gaffs, poor strategic coaching calls, but it’s all the players fault? Wake up sport.
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Smith you have to be one of the most football ignorant people I have ever seen post on here (and that is saying something). Did you even play at any point in your life? Like the above poster said this isn’t NCAA ’14 on XBOX where you can put it on the easy setting (BTW my 8 year old can tear up a defense on the All-American setting). Fumbles sometime just happen, the Chubb fumble wasn’t due to ball security a helmet/shoulder pad hit right on the ball. If you have ever been a ball carrier you know it doesn’t matter how you are holding the ball when that happens it is going to come out. The Michel fumble was him trying to make a play by extending the ball to the pylon. I can’t fault him for doing that. Remember these are both FRESHMEN! They are going to make mistakes.
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Uh, yes, safe to say, I’m kind of familiar with the college football game.
Tiki Barber disagrees with you about fumbling.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/bob-glauber/tiki-barber-knows-how-to-fix-david-wilson-s-fumble-problems-1.6053702
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Tiki Barber was a fumble machine until someone finally told him to hold the ball point up and close to his chest (which BMac teaches all of our RB’s). There is a difference between fumbling because of poor ball security and fumbling because of a helmet or pad on the ball. Chubb’s fumble was one of those.
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Your first sentence says it all Rocket, although I doubt anybody is quite that dumb about football, just another pot stirrer. Any mistake, any at all, is the coach’s fault. You have to be pretty simple minded to blame every action on the field on a coach…..player has no responsibility. Jeez, what a waste of oxygen and band with. Typical joker that shows up to throw gas on any flame. One thing is apparent, these two young men take full responsibility for their mistakes, and they haven’t made many this year. Said it before, I wish our fans could live up to the players and staff we have.
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Damn Straight Bro!!! Poor coaching is why we lost 6 fumbles!!! Tell ’em man!!!
I’m at a loss for who is responsible for the 13 fumbles we recovered. Any suggestions?
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Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat until calm. Center your ch’i.
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Stipulated: the following is academic, because I don’t trust Butts-Mehre with a hiring decision of this (or any) magnitude.
With that said…
Over on Dawg Sports, Macon Dawg rhetorically asked what the past 9 years have been building towards. The future has been bright coming out of each of those years. Each year, we were well assured that whatever barriers to championships existed for this program had been removed. And yet here we still are, with it looking not a day past 2008.
Similarly to Macon Dawg’s question, the question I find it increasingly difficult to answer is what championship-correlated things (either individually or in combination) that Richt does at Georgia that no one else could do? In earlier years, I realize that would be an excessively pointed question, as it could be asked of anyone not named Saban. But we’re now looking at a 14-year body of work, where the tendencies that cost us games in year 1 are still present in year 14. The question doesn’t seem as unfair to me now as it might have in 2008.
As with the ends of the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 seasons, I’m not going into this offseason with a lot to hang my hat on, beyond the promise of yet another epic recruiting class. As much as I believe in the fire and the potential of Bobo and Pruitt, both are still throttled by Richt’s Hamlet routine.
I guess what I’m saying is that, while Jim Boeheim and Mack Brown finally had their moment, I’ve lost faith that Richt’s is coming.
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I, personally, have great confidence in the DC. The first time since BVG left.
Nobody thought our D was well coached by 2008. The “CMR waits too long” meme is accurate when it comes to War Willie.
Most reached the same conclusion about Towelly by 2013.
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Grantham put up lower scoring averages in 2011 & 2012 than Pruitt did in 2014, so I’m not sure Pruitt’s seen as an improvement by anyone
Grantham forced 26 turnovers in his first year in 2010 and averaged 22.1 pts per game and 328 total yards per game.
Pruitt forced 26 turnovers in his first year in 2014 and averaged 21.3 pts per game and 334 total yards per game.
Just looks like a Grantham lookalike to me if you compare 1st year 2010, to 1st year 2014, which is fair.
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Ignoring the total lack of talent in the secondary this season, and that college football scoring has increased on the whole every year since 2010…yeah, exactly the same.
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Guess why the secondary talent quit on Pruitt in the summer? Some of the departed explained they couldn’t relate to his negative coaching approach.
Pruitt can’t coach great players correctly, that’s why they all left.
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Are you fucking serious?
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Stupidity is truly an amazing thing. Smith wants you to know that Alabama’s National Championship defensive backfield in 2012 had no talent. Here was the db depth chart at Alabama in 2012. Note the total lack of any appreciable talent:
CB 13 Deion Belue 5-11 179 Jr. Tuscambia, Ala.
24 Geno Smith 6-0 182 Fr. Atlanta, Ga.
CB 28 Dee Milliner 6-1 199 Jr. Millbrook, Ala.
10 John Fulton 6-0 187 Jr. Manning, S.C.
S 37 Robert Lester 6-2 210 Sr. Foley, Ala.
3 Vinnie Sunseri 6-0 215 So. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
S 6 HaHa Clinton-Dix 6-1 209 So. Orlando, Fla. OR
27 Nick Perry 6-1 208 Jr. Prattville, Ala.
26 Landon Collins 6-0 202 Fr. Geismar, La.
I mean that’s scrub central right there, Not a draft pick in the lot. The good news is that Bama won a National Title with these castaways in the defensive backfield so we can always hope that our db’s can be this lacking in merit.
Smith, I think this sums it up:
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Pruitt ran off the 3 most talented db’s, and said Aaron Davis was the best one back there, yes, THAT A Davis who did not make All American and wound up with 1 interception for the year. Guess Pruitt’s gauge on picking talent was a wee bit off on Mr Davis and 3 departed db’s..
Boy was Pruitt wrong about Aaron Davis!!!
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He coached FSU’s defense the year before he came to Athens, and the ‘Bama secondary before that.
Perhaps he wasn’t the issue this year. Perhaps it was the kids who couldn’t follow team rules after being given second and third chances to do so. Or are you suggesting Pruitt drafted Georgia’s drug and crime punishment policies?
Again: are you fucking serious? This time, that was a rhetorical question.
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Senator, Grantham inherited a situation in 2010 and ranked about the same or better in total yards, scoring, and turnovers. I just don’t see why anyone thinks Pruitt’s a great coach when he didn’t even beat Grantham’s 1st year numbers.
It’s a fact some players are on record saying they did not like Pruitt’s negative vibe and the way he coached. If Pruitt was as defensiveas the people here, UGA would be Natl Champs.
Pruitt laid 3 turds vs SC, how many pts, how many yards rush vs UF, how many to GT?
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Just because his name (Wiggins) is plural doesn’t mean there are three of them. Your conclusions are stupid enough without the made up facts “supporting” them. Clemons and matthews were not “run off.” Their behaviorial issues were addressed and those issues were widely publicized. Suggesting that pruitt ran them off to support some argument against pruitt is just painfully stupid. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with the first rule of holes and move along.
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Here was what Pruitt THOUGHT would work.
1- Give reps to walk ons like A Davis
2- Don’t let 5 stars get reps
3- they’ll really respond to this in a wonderful positive way
Unfortunately, his plan backfired, and he wasted all those reps on lousy players like A Davis who didn’t produce. And the 5 star players split and left the team.
And other 5 star talents like Ray Drew never blossomed under Pruitt.
You don’t manage a 5 star like a walk on, doesn’t work like that. Hopefully, Pruitt will someday learn how to coach 5 stars.
That’s what happened and you know it.
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I know that the voices in your head tell you that Matthews wasn’t listed as a starter coming out of the spring, but he was.
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This is as stupid a point as the one you made yesterday that Pruitt left FSU cuz he couldn’t handle the “championship expectations” in Tallahassee. The same program that crapped it’s pants and stumbled around the ACC for a decade after short bus dim wit Mark Richt left them.
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I think that’s exactly why Pruitt left the No 1 ranked team, he couldn’t handle the expectations that went along with being ranked No 1, and it’s a problem he won’t have to face under Richt, who has never even appeared in a natl champshp at UGA. I also think he knew Richt puts up with being average for asst coaches, so that’s great job security, Richt calls it “staff continuity”, another phrase for “we don’t fire average coaches around here”.
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I’m pretty sure you lost us all at “I think.”
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Who? Trigga? He left because he got kicked out for disrespecting a professor and for likely being the head instigator of CheckGate. JH-C? He left because his desire to smoke weed was more important than complying with the team’s rules. Wiggins? He left because he couldn’t mess around and sing while he was waiting for his next rep in practice.
Common thread – they all thought of themselves over the team, but don’t let the facts get in the way.
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WOW I sure hope you’re not in charge of anything because I’m pretty sure if you cant find an answer you’ll make one up.
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Todd, shouldn’t you get off the Internet and start prepping for Louisville’s bowl game?
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I’m picturing an intern holding a towel over the keyboard as he types.
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I totally agree with Tommy & N.M.
I fear what’s closer than any of thinks is Pruitt’s exit for his true calling as a head coach. Five years (or less) from now it won’t surprise me at all if CJP is HC at a championship contender, and likely somewhere in the southeast. CMB is a UGA alum with deep roots and is understandably reluctant to leave. Guys like CMB, Smart, and Chavis are the exceptions to the norm. But CJP doesn’t seem to be the kind to stick around very long as a DC. Most capable coordinators (who do much of the heavy lifting in a program like ours) are going to move up to HC’s after 2 or 3 years.
If not for CMB and CJP BOTH staying put and essentially casting their futures as HCs aside, I don’t see the promising picture CMR talks about.
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Note:
Recurring problems = Management repsonsibility
Special teams, and turnovers have been problems under Richt that costs him big games for at least 5 years now.
Why can’t he fix it? Sure these problems are the players fault? They sure do seem to re-occur a whole lot.
Then again, maybe Richt is just the unluckiest coach in America, maybe he’s cursed.
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Bauta won the spring game, didn’t he?
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Yeesh. A choice between an Athletic Dept that I also have zero faith in to make important hires and a coach with 30 years experience who can’t seem to put it all together for a whole season and squib kicks it with 18 seconds to go?
Where is the pills and booze option?
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That dang Dawg Vent is leaking again!
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