Have faith.

One of the long-standing criticisms directed at Mark Richt from a certain quarter has been about his religious faith.  He’s made no bones about it and what kind of person that’s fashioned in him.  For some, while it’s not a character flaw, it’s certainly a coaching flaw.

And yet, in the Bible Belt, how much of a recruiting flaw is it?  Judging from this piece, probably not much.  But there’s a quote in there that leads to a bigger question.

But as 3-star offensive tackle Chris Barnes points out, “most schools believe in Christ.” It’s not an uncommon sight for coaches to pray with the team or speak at Fellowship of Christian Athletes events.

For those who think it’s a flaw, there’s a simple question to ask:  if Richt’s religious faith has hampered Georgia football, why hasn’t that been the case elsewhere?

Say what you will about the manner in which he goes about his business in that department, I’ve never heard a Georgia player talk like this about Richt or the program:

The separation of church and football — not to mention church and public education — blurred at Tennessee, Foster says. Coaches, led by head coach Phil Fulmer, scheduled trips to Sunday church services as team-building exercises. Foster asked to be excused. He was denied. (The school confirmed that these team-building exercises to churches took place.) Word spread: Foster was arrogant, selfish, difficult to coach. “They just thought I was being a rebel and didn’t want to participate in the team activities,” Foster says.

“I was like, ‘No, that’s not it. Church doesn’t do anything for me. I’m not a Christian.’ I said, ‘We can do other team-bonding activities and I’ll gladly go, but this doesn’t do anything for me.’

“So I went, probably five times. I don’t want to bring race into it, but we never went to any predominantly black churches. We went to a lot of those upper-middle-class white churches, which I always found interesting because the majority of the team was black, so I thought the majority of the team would relate to a black church. I would rather go to a black church, honestly, because the music is better to me. If the majority of your team is black, why wouldn’t they try to make them as comfortable as possible? But I guess when you’re dealing with religion, color shouldn’t matter.”

One of the things I’ve been impressed about with Richt is how Musa Smith was able to fit comfortably within the team.  And if you think that was no big deal for a Muslim player in the aftermath of 9/11, you have a short memory.  Would things have been so smooth in Knoxville?  I can’t say for sure, but using church attendance as a mandatory team-building exercise would seem to suggest perhaps not so much.  And I doubt Tennessee is the only program, especially in the South, that’s taken that sort of approach at times.

So, again, what is it about Richt’s form of religious observation that strikes the wrong chord in some fans and observers of Georgia football?  I’m genuinely curious.