Boy, this ought to piss off some of you.
Mark Richt has received a raise and a contract extension.
The head football coach’s contract has been extended two more years, through the 2019 season, and his salary is increased to $4 million effective this season. That’s an increase over Richt’s previous salary of $3.2 million, under a contract signed prior to the 2012 season.
We’ve come a long way from Belk Bowl retirement rumors.
By SEC standards, it’s a middle of the pack deal, but it sends a message of stability which is a good thing for the program and all I really care about. Now, focus on winning the East in 2015 and take things from there, Coach.
Get The Picture 
Time for the naysayers to get on or get off. The die has been cast with Richt and you are either a Georgia fan or not. Those empowered to decide have made the call and whining about the lack of a NC now becomes even more ridiculous.
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Why exactly does whining about not having a NC become even more ridiculous?
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When they talk about it for an hour on sports talk. I get it, but the conversation bores me now. Just hoping Richt gets it done now that the $$ gauntlet has been thrown down.
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THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
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Yup. Pretty much what they say. I just yawn and change the station.
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BECAUSE I SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY!
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Middle of the pack pay for middle of the pack coach.
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So middle of the pack coaches regularly win their division?
Not claiming he’s the best, but certainly your off a bit with your description.
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We’ve won it twice since 2005. It’s been a 6 team division for most of that time period with two of those other five schools being Vandy and Kentucky. Plus Tennessee’s been a dumpster fire for the past 5 years.
He’s a middle of the pack coach in the SEC, and a Top 15-20 coach nationally. He’ll be here until he retires and we probably wouldn’t get a better coach if we fired him, but he’s still a middle of the pack coach.
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+1
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Until he does win one. Then you people will be arguing.. he WAS a middle of the pack coach. Now that the ball has bounced our way a couple of times, he is truly elite.
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I like coach pretty good, but shouldn’t you wait to wag your fingers at everybody until he actually wins one?
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In reality he has won it 5 times in 14 years…about every 3 in my book .your definitions and mine differ….middle of the road teams never win it….they win 6-7 games a year.
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Uh, no, teams still get 3-4 gimmes a year against FCS opponents (although we didn’t this year), so winning 6-7 means they beat 3-4 out of the 8-9 legitimate teams. I’d say winning half against the legit teams makes you middle of the road, so 7-8 wins per year roughly. Plus half of your bowl games (since teams are usually matched up against comparable teams), so now we’re at 7.5-8.5 wins per year. I think CMR’s average is a tad higher than this, so I’ll concede that he’s a slightly better than middle of the road coach.
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There isn’t a single team in FBS that plays 3-4 games against FCS competition a year. Only one game a year against FCS counts toward bowl eligibility, so it wouldn’t make sense. I think you mean most FBS teams typically play 3-4 non-Power 5 conference schools a year.
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No sir, that is not what he meant. It doesn’t fit his tiresome meme.
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Buzz off weenie. If you disagree that’s fine but at least bring something meaningful to the conversation.
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Fair enough. My mistake. Not much difference between App St and UAB though.
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UGA plays more Power 5 teams than anyone in the SEC. You can look that up….
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That’s because App St is now in the Sun Belt. 😉
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Nonsense. He was one of the winningest active coaches with more than a nat’s hair of experience. Its pretty clear Richt took less to pay his assistant’s more.
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Really??? Crystal Clear!!!
It is amazing the spin Richtophiles will generate to protect their man.
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Whining about anything is ridiculous.
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Looks to me as though we get the winningest coach in program history for a middle of the pack price. Cheapskates are happy, Mark Richt is probably happy. Who cares what the whiners say?
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I’m more giddy about the extra money for assistants, and the analysts myself. (And suspect Richt may be as well.)
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Winningest coach in UGA history = mediocrity.
😉
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And small sample size.
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What sample size do you want? Going back to Wally Butts, who started coaching Georgia in the ’30’s, no coach has had a higher winning percentage at UGA than Richt. Pretty cut and dried.
That’s what I don’t get when people complain about Richt. He has had more success in our program than anyone else. If we want to see more success, we need to change the things around the coach, and it seems like we are. But history says we’ll have a hard time finding someone better as our coach. We have to look at the entire package.
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Yea well any other coach would have won about 3 natties by now#
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Yeah, well, they did not, did they?
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Because Richt will not be fired before at least 2017 or 2018 for not winning one and neither will about 75 other head coaches. Are we gonna’ continue to beat that horse to death until then now that he has been extended? To do so would clearly be ridiculous.
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McGarity’s gonna be sooooo pissed when he has to pay Richt’s successor $7 million per without having won a game at UGA yet.
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I have to admit I laughed at that. Well played.
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Congrats to Mark Richt! May he live long, prosper, win many national championships, and shut up all the haters.
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Amen and amen
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Hear hear! So happy for him😘
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Cold Blooded Sausage Makers where are you?
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Freaking hilarious.
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Sports & Grits must have really hurt your fee-fees at some point. You love taking shots at them.
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Have you posted here before Mad Mike? I don’t recognize the handle.
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Well sir, allow me to answer for you. No you have not. My…my. The last 4 words (count them) of a chest thumping intro from a dying blog and yet all here should be familiar with them.*SPORTS AND GRITS– Expert Bloggery on all things SEC, Southern,and Georgia. Georgia’s Number One Outlaw Site. Banned by a Few for Content, Hated by Many for its Realness, Feared by More for its Truth, Respected by All for its Balls. Hardcore Legends of Georgia/Southern Football Bloggery, and Cold-blooded Sausage Makers.
Oh I disagree Hijo. Shame on you. How are things at DawgsSports? Swimming I’m sure.
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I have, just not a whole lot. I just thought it was funny you have taken repeated shots at said dying blog.
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That faint pop you just heard was Thomas Brown’s head exploding
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I bet his head is whistling like a tea kettle from all the steam pouring out of his ears.
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It hasn’t been a good day for Mr. Brown.
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Au contraire. He definitely set a personal record for hits on his blog today.
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And helped Bluto do pretty well too.
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According to Mr Brown it is all Bluto’s fault.
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General question to the populace:
In light of all this new spending, where do you think McGarity stands right now, from a job security standpoint? In other words, have the reigns been taken away from McGarity, and these decisions are coming from higher up? (If so, I’d say he’ll be gone sooner than later). Or is it the opposite, has he just actually been given more reigns (i.e. more budget) by those above him, and he’s just doing what he would have done all along if he had been given the budget to work with?
The way this keeps getting framed is that this was a battle between Richt and McG, and Richt won. But if that’s truly the case, I have a hard time seeing how McG could really function with any authority going forward.
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I’m not convinced things are as strained as some have said. I think McGarity had his marching orders, and whether Richt came to him and said we’re falling behind, or there has been a recognition from up top that we need to be doing more to keep up and it’s trickled down through McGarity.. I don’t know… but what’s evident is the athletic board / admin / board of regents are all on the same page now, and I don’t think McGarity has been overridden here. He’s a smart guy and he knows how to navigate these things. I don’t think this was sudden.. I believe this is the culmination of a larger effort and despite any individual dissent any one person might have had, they’re all on the same page that this is the direction we’re going. I just don’t see McGarity stubbornly holding on to financial control in light of the arms race that’s going on if he has the clearance to open up funds… but I also don’t see him loosening purse strings without support from above, even if he did have that unilateral power, he wouldn’t go forward without making sure he did the internal PR work such a bold step would require. I just don’t think there’s any dissension.. there might be some messages being sent through the actions taken, of course.. not the least of which is for Mark Richt to go win big.
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This is a very good question and it’s hard to disagree with anything heyberto said above.
If I had to guess I’d say that McGarity and Morehead aren’t exactly happy with our conference mates astounding success compared to ours and are making sure Richt no longer has any excuses for not getting it done (be that winning the SEC or making the CFP).
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Right. They’ve got Richt right where they want him. 😉
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Butts-Mehre is all in on Mark Richt. Anything short of reaching the playoff within the next 4 years, and he’s gone. I certainly think he deserves it, but this allocation of resources says ‘we’re giving you what you need to win, time to make that happen’. I don’t think these resources are the missing pieces necessarily, but there won’t be any more excuses. Our offense is stabilized and our defense and special teams took a major turn in the right direction this year. I think the next few years could be special, but we’ll see. Either way, we’ve got so much to be excited about right now, and let’s all jump on board for what I hope is a great ride!
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Our offense is stabilized? Who is gonna be our QB next season? Has he shown you anything? And who is he going to throw too? And who is our backup tailback?
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I don’t want to knock a fellow/former Dawg, but it’s hard to see how the next QB could be worse than Handoff-Hutson. He was pretty much just a game manager most of the season so yeah, I’d say our offense is looking pretty good considering the real keys our mostly returning
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By real keys you mean the O-line and the The Chubb. I love every player who puts on the red & black. Hutson at least had 5 years in the system to manage the game. “no one could be worse..” Didn’t you watch Ramsey in the Belk? Or are you thinking next year’s starter played on the scout team last year?
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He’ll have a full spring, summer and fall getting first team reps so I’m thinking he’ll improve quite a bit.
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“Our” should say “are” at the end. Doh!
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Clearly you never watched Joe Cox or Joe T III play QB for us (or freshman Stafford, for that matter) if you think things can’t be worse.
Mason was extremely accurate and didn’t turn the ball over. That was huge for us.
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Fair enough. Mason had a much better backfield than Cox, as well as a defense that didn’t force us to score 35+ just to win. That’s hard on any QB when the offense is one dimensional like that.
I don’t anticipate anything as bad as Stafford’s first several games simply because Ramsey at least has a redshirt year.
Nothing to say about your Joe T III point except touche though 🙂
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People forget that for all of Murray’s DGD-ness, he would occasionally go to crazytown for a half and turn the ball over six times. Don’t read that wrong – I like Murray and Mason both quite a bit, but while Mason didn’t have games with gaudy good numbers, he didn’t really have any with gaudy bad numbers, either – that I recall, anyway.
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I’m going to say a fully healthy Keith Marshall or Sony Michel is your likely bet there, and feel pretty good about both. WR outside of Mitchel and JSW is a bit of a concern with a new QB coming in though. Here’s hoping Schott’s really big on 2-TE sets and using both Rome and Blazevitch.
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I think at least 2 of these freshmen WRs coming in will be starters or regular, significant contributors fairly early into the next season. The RB situation obviously will be as good as any team could hope, perhaps not the embarassment of riches we had going into last season but still pretty incredible; any team would trade for it (including bama).
I agree that we need to use more 2-tight formations, incorporating one as a h-back when appropriate.
As far as QB, is concerned, I know we have unproven guys waiting in the wings, but they have strong arms and solid athletic ability. In other words, we are in as good of a spot as any team would be that graduated its started QB. Hopefully, these guys will have the game management skills and judgment that Hutson had, coupled with arm strength somewhere between Murray and stafford.
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I just mean that we’re not undergoing any radical changes in philosophy, like we have on defense. Switching to the 3-4 under Grantham being a tough transition and Pruitt’s system not being as drastic, but both came with learning curves. I don’t think you’re going to see an offense that needs to adjust much because of a change at coordinator. We were always going to be breaking in a new QB next year, so there will be some ups and downs.. not a bad year to get a new Coordinator in so they get off on the same foot together.
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Is this your first season to watch college football? Kids graduate. Who is Oregon going to replace Mariota with? They’ll probably suck, right?
UGA has brought in highly ranked recruiting classes for the last several years. Some of those kids are quarterbacks, receivers, and tailbacks.
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I love all the Richt apologists on here with their classic straw man argument saying that the discontent is just b/c we haven’t won a NC. Pay no attention to the fact that we haven’t won the damn conference in 10 years! Pay no attention to the fact that his winning percentage over the last 6 years is worse than Jim Donnan’s was in his 5 years!
Long live the Georgia Way!
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“Pay no attention to the fact that we haven’t won the damn conference in 10 years”
You’re coming across like TB but I get your sentiment. I’m in the camp that’s bothered by no SEC championship since 2005 but most pretend I’m “MNC or bust every year”
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While I’m not a fan of no SEC titles in 10 years, it’s a bit disingenuous to bring up Donnan and not mention that the Dawgs have played for the SEC title twice in the past 5 years, something they never did under JD.
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Don’t cloud the issue with facts.
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Our disingenuous to bring up that NO SEC EAST SCHOOL has won the conference since Florida in 2008. The SEC West has been playing by a whole different set of rules the last 7-8 years. Now it appears that we are playing by their rules.
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That’s true. I’ll give you that Will.
Although, Florida and Tennessee have also been down quite a bit during those 5 years as well…something Donnan didn’t have the luxury of experiencing.
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That’s like saying, “well, yeah, but Richt has had to deal with a much better version of South Carolina.”
No Richt fan would ever say that, because LOSING to South Carolina has caused that problem. Just like BEATING UT and UF (in recent years) has helped cause their dumpster fires.
I’m fine with pointing out Richt shortcomings, but the whole “we should be doing more because UF and UT have been down” thinking has to stop.
He gets some credit for them sucking, just as he gets some blame for SC’s rise.
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Donnan hadn’t faced such a shitty division as Richt has.
Richt is owned by Spurrier and was owned by Meyer.
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5-5 (with one L while SOS was at UF) is hardly “owned” but don’t let that get in the way of a good rant. God I love the fact that you anti Richt assholes are pissing yourselves over this news.
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I really don’t think I’m being an asshole; I’m not trying to be. Really the emotion is stronger from people like you who think I’m insulting their own mother,
Christ dude. Spurrier came along to an inferior program and built it to the point that he now beats us more often than not. And thanks for giving me Meyer.
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Don’t leave out the fact that Richt beat Auburn 2 out of every 3 games.
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Richt isn’t top shelf. Meyer and Spurrier are, in my book. What in the hell does Auburn have to do with my point?
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Yeah, rocket, you’re being pretty disingenuous with that remark. Do you think they’d be 5-5 head to head if Spurrier got a 5 year head start building his program in a state with significantly more fertile recruiting grounds?
Didn’t think so.
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After the Senator’s enlightening poll I’ve quit acknowledging the fire richt crowd as more than a loud minority.
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Most don’t want him gone (and I’ve said before that I’m teetering back and forth on that line), but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have very real shortcomings
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Damn! I just gotta read your end of year evals. Must be some spectacular shit there.
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Much more spectacular than your boring, condescending posts for sure Homer.
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What the hell man?
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Gee I don’t know. No offense.
Richt has done a lot with a program that ties his hands in Sooooo many ways. I find it hard to sit by while some one complains/points out that the man’s has “shortcomings”.
It seems wrong handed. And i spoke up.
One of my shortcomings .
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Speaking up and making an ass out of yourself are two different things buddy.
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The senators poll is you guys
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A small sample for sure. However, I think the readership here is a good representation of the rational portion of the fan base.
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Yea this is the most rational group of fans that I’ve found online. That said, they do tend to take hold of the writers POV. That would skew towards a skepticism of the unknown future hire.
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I disagree with Bluto on a number of things (the endless battles over Lord Palmerston vs. Pitt the Elder) but I’d say that certain types of fans seek out this particular forum and feel more comfortable posting here than in the cesspools like AJC & Dawg Vent.
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As a fan I can only hope Richt wins the SEC and maybe even the national championship over the next few years. As a realist…..
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Unless Schott is a disaster, I think we will experience a great deal of success. I don’t think enough can be said about CJP and the job he has done already. I honestly don’t think we could have a better DC at this particular point in college football history. He has taken a weakness and made it a real strength. With this defensive recruiting class coming in, we are going to be dangerous next season, all the while developing worthy successors to the talent we will graduate or lose to the draft next season (JJ and FL, respectively).
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I am happy that Richt was given the vote of confidence from the decision makers and now can operate more like our major competitors. But I am sorry the battle was so public, McFrugal has to take the blame for that. He took public positions that endangered the momentum the UGA program had going into 2015. Any collateral damage is on him, and there should be no sympathy for his fall.
I do wish we had made a larger commitment to CMR via a higher salary but if it were a choice of more for Richt or shoring up the pay for assistants, I am sure CMR stepped back and secured the staff first. When we win the East/SEC this year, there will still be time to move him up to the upper echelon of SEC HC’s pay where he belongs. I hope it doesn’t mean they are through addressing this, perhaps some major incentives are in this contract that we don’t know about yet. Either way, things look much brighter now than in late December.
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Well said, on all points..
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Without looking it up can even the most informed Georgia Bulldog fan name the athletic directors at Alabama or LSU? Do you think either Tide or Tiger coach has had to or would ever have put up with the crap Richt has put up with from our AD. Ours was like a parent doling out little pieces of candy to a begging child. I think McScrooge finally got put in his place by the president. Nothing else explains the money flying into the athletic department all of a sudden. Now the pressure is full on Mark Richt. Be a top 4 playoff threat every year or you will be gone. We are about to find out who wins. The Richt lovers or the Richt haters. And right after that we will get on solving that problem between Republicans and Democrats!
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I think McScrooge didn’t think Bobo was worth the salary being paid to the new guy, and in a clever way forced change in the program. Many Bobo loyalists also trashed the new hire, which puts the program in more of a position that if the AD feels the need for a change it will meet with less resistance.
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I agree. And Richt could have gently nudged Bobo towards his decision also. I believe Bobo was a Dawg for life and was hoping to be the coach in waiting. McScrooge can safely lead a lynch mob now if Georgia loses to Tennessee two weeks after beating Alabama this year.
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Not that upset, the buy out still appears to be nominal. McGarity will not make a move unless the big money boosters and a good portion of the fan base want it, which isn’t coming after 10 wins even if it is the new 9 wins just yet. The fans over at Dawgsports trashing the Shotenheimer sp? hire gives me more hope that if things don’t improve that major changes are more likely.
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Congrats to Coach Richt and staff. I’ve never been the championship or bust type and I’m not gonna be here. It’s not realistic. What I do expect is to continue the upward trend since the loss to Central Florida and maybe choke away one or two less of these close games. I also expect us to never again lose to Florida the way we did this year because that’s an pardonable sin, imo.
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Florida looked like UT ’07, Mizzou last year, USC the year before
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LOL! Senator trolls the 15%ers and sure enough…they be pissed bro!
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You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and believe in where you’re going and there’s no reason to apologize for any of that.
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Somewhere, Thomas Brown’s head explodes! Cause 10 win seasons just aren’t enough…
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Just 2 honest questions for both sides of this issue:
If UGA goes 8-4 next year and loses to Bama, TN, Aub and GT for instance, how would you feel about this extension? What is considered realistic for the team next year and where is the accountability?
Two, if the team has a great defense and Pruitt leaves and gets hired as a head coach, but we still don’t win the East how will you feel?
I like the commitment to the program and the staff and outside of the poor OL recruiting, this class is huge, but my fear is there is no expectation of results. Mizz won the East 2 years in a row, in years where TN and UF were historically BAD and this year SC was as well. But we did see improvement in several areas outside of a poor performance against SC, and EPIC egg laying against UF (which was primarily Richt’s fault at trying a FG into a 20 mph cross wind instead of going for it it and jumping on a team–see the Auburn 4th down timeout and subsequent blowout when he changed his mind) and an idiotic pooch kick against GT. Defense was much better and we hammered several teams.
What is the definition of success because I have never heard it out of McGarity’s or Richt’s mouth.
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Richt I believe typically says his goal is to win the East. Which is not to say he’d say 10 wins is a bad year. Just, that’s the goal.
For me, going into the last weekend of SEC play either having locked up the east or with a chance to lock it up is a pretty good year.
10 wins is definitely a pretty good year under any circumstances, even if we picked the three most annoying teams to lose to (outside Auburn).
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