Mike Bobo knows something about that.
Bobo, who worked under Richt at Georgia from 2001-14 as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, said Wednesday that feeling the heat is something any coach should expect. And after 15 years in the same job, it becomes harder to keep people happy all the time.
“That’s the nature of this business. You’re going to take criticism,” Bobo said. “The more you stay, the more you lose a percentage of your fan base because they get dissatisfied. That’s part of it. It’s hard to stay that long and please everybody. But he’s a good football coach and a good man and I hope they win this week, but that’s part of the business.”
When you get paid the kind of money an SEC coach gets these days, it’s not conducive to a long-term career. Especially when you don’t keep that in mind while doing your job.
Get The Picture 
Richt’s tenure has nothing to do with the current situation. It’s his team’s inability to defeat ranked teams and look unprepared and dysfunctional while doing so.
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Unprepared and dysfunctional have become the primary identifiers of a Richt coached team. And it gives me no pleasure to say that.
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Mark Scorpio FTW!!!!
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Sadly, the team has looked very unprepared and dysfunctional too much for my liking over the last several years. Then they will pull a super game out of their hat and crush a rival…like Auburn. One thing is for certain is they are consistently inconsistent.
Speaking of dysfunctional is anybody hearing rumblings about Pruitt being done as early as this week?
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Yes according to other message boards.
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I’m no looney tune Pruittite, but I hope this is not true, at all. If true, then the wheels really are coming off the program and I need a drink…or six.
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I saw an article about Fran Tarkenton that said no way in hell Pruitt would be a head coach at UGA or anywhere else
http://onlineathens.com/sports/college-sports/2015-11-04/former-uga-qb-tarkenton-tees-culture-uga-coaching-staff-bad
Fran sure does seem to pop up at these low points doesn’t he? I remember him calling for Richt’s head a few years back too.
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yeah no fan of fran. He loves talking to the guys on the radio though. Seems to really like it when he can take shots.
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Agreed. He loves to blast the program it seems, but at least he puts his money where his mouth is and has contributed to the IPF. Also looks like he has the ear of Morehead.
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Fran sucks. We worked in the same building for a few years. I spoke to him twice. He was a dick both times. DGD that one is not. Lighten up Francis!
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Fran Tarkenton….lives in a glass house, has a bag of rocks. The “old guard” in Athens did not receive Fran’s business practices well…apparently this pissed Fran off. Not saying Tarkenton does not know what he is talking about, just that an extra measure of salt would be advised.
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I know Franny took to the airwaves to bitch about him–other than that no.
I think that would be an enormous mistake–like way bigger than hiring Schottenheimer.
It would be the Georgia thing to do though. Keep the worst hire you have made in 200 years of football and get rid of one of the best. So Georgia.
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This was to be in response to DanJenkins.
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Fran:
“I think he has come over and been very boisterous, been very loud,” Tarkenton said. “I think he’s taken advantage of things over there. He personally has hired four of the assistant coaches over there including the weight guy. I’m not a great fan of Jeremy Pruitt. That has not been a good, workable solution.”
So how is that not a workable solution? Did Pruitt hurt someones fee fees?
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I like it. If you get beat after several solid defensive outings because of a totally inept offensive strategy and terrible execution–he should be loud and boisterous. Why should the defense keep buying in if the Offense doesn’t care enough to improve?
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Unless Pruitt is some sort of raging a-hole who shoots his mouth off whenever things go south, being boisterous is ok with me. Lets just hope ‘it takes one to know one’ principle is not in effect with Fran.
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They are worried about the Recruiting class falling apart if Richt is gone…I bet it would be just as bad if Pruitt left. This is turning into a huge nightmare. Plus–how many coaches would he take with him? “Oh Not many–just the ones that have made a positive impact this year.” Super.
If they would have fired Shottenheimer Sunday–much of this gossip noise would have quieted down. Instead it seems to be growing exponentially–and, inexplicably, pointing in the exact opposite direction it should be.
If these rumors are true, this really might be Richt’s problem as a coach. Instead of directly addressing the problem with the play on the field, he is more worried about the coaches’ relationships with each other and their feelings.
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I can see a grain of truth that Pruitt…being loyal to Richt (and we have plenty of evidence to suggest this is true)…is raising hell inside of B-M about the lack of institutional support he witnessed at Bama and FSU. That’s going to rankle a few feathers, and when you lose like we have, there’s a lot of finger pointing going on anyway. Tarkington clearly doesn’t like an “outsider Bama” guy pointing-out weaknesses at UGA and takes exception. Not a big deal on it’s own, but does add to the cumulative effect of everything else swirling around the program right now.
Again…FIRERICHT may or may not be the right thing right now, but it’s almost certain not to fix anything quickly until B-M commits to doing what needs to be done to compete at the highest levels in the SEC. No HC can fix that without negotiating terms up front…and I just don’t see that happening, so the best we can hope for in a new HC and staff is some better utilization of what we do have going for us. I personally think that version of “best use” puts us 5 yards away from the SEC championship every time, not enough to win it.
If Richt wins the next 5 games proving he can figure-out how to get the best out of what we now have, I’ll support him. Lose 2 or more in the same dysfunctional way we’ve been playing lately, then it’s time to move on. I think Richt might be a MNC winning OC somewhere, but when the HC has to fix so much dysfunction (UGA, Texas, Nebraska, Miami, etc.) I’m not sure he’s the guy to do that.
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Word. Hard to argue with much of that.
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Hell, Fran played for Wally Butts…talk about loud and boisterous. Again, with Fran, its hard to tell how much of his ire comes from a bit of personal rejection since a majority of the fan base was in diapers when he played. A little attention can be calming to old guys.
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I think by now the majority of the fan base was not even born when he played.
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Bobo is being loyal as is expected. He knows as well as we do that it ain’t familiarity that breeds discontent. Its losing.
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it’s the bad footballing that breeds contempt.
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exactly.
I wouldn’t be sick of CMR if we didn’t continue to have epic melt downs on special teams and come out completely flat and uninterested and proceed to lose at least one game a year
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Great Googely Moogely. If they fire Pruitt and keep Schotty then Georgia really will have lost it’s mind.
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Yup. Would you be surprised though?
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Just think what the staff has to endure! Pruitt is being “very boisterous and very loud.” WE CAN’T HAVE THAT!
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Lamont, I know, right! The sad thing is, no, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised by the insanity of such a decision.
Twisty, it’s funny because it seems like that’s probably what Georgia needs right now. There’s NO WAY he’s more obnoxious than Todd Grantham…..
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Speaking of Todd, he must be enjoying the view from behind his towel in Louisville.
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Really depends who the “they” is in this situation. Because if Richt is pushing Pruitt out, and Pruitt isn’t doing something illegal and it’s just a “didn’t get a long with staff/too critical of the offense” I’d say that’s a fireable offense on Richt’s part.
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Read Tarkenton’s comments on Pruitt.
Made me wonder if Tarkenton is not the problem.
Did he influence CMR to hire Grantham and now Schottenheimer?
Appears he may have because not too many D1 coaches want to bring a NFL coordinator or position coach into their ranks.
Grantham and now Schottenheimer have a history of failure.
Guess Tarkenton thinks he can run the show.
Now we know why the Dawgs are in the tank.
Be wise to let CMR go.
If I am Eason there would be no way I come to Georgia to sit in that style of outdated offense. CMR and Tarkenton have only set Stafford to the pros, and look where he is at now…pretty much like we saw with him with Richt.
Pruitt knows what a program looks like, no way Tarkenton does.
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It’s been re-hashed thousands of times before, but Richt is not embattled because he’s been here forever. He’s embattled because his teams get punked on the regular. The program was primed to take the next step in 2005, and through a series of unfortunate events the program sputtered and stalled. Hanging on to WillieMart too long, the undersigning problem, the disinterest in special teams (Logan Gray, Fair Catch Specialist and Bauta Forerunner)… those kept the team from advancing and becoming great. Instead, they just mired in the muck. We have even experienced years where you fell you gain a little traction here (2007) and there (2012) and you think you’re free, only to get stuck again (2008->2009->2010, 2013->2014->2015). It has been a decade, and UGA has nothing to show for it. We are still trying to find a way to even get back to where the team was in 2002-2005 where you were legitimately competing every year for the SEC title.
Hiring Grantham wasn’t the cure. Hiring Pruitt hasn’t been the cure, although the defense has played better under Pruitt than Grantham or Martinez. Hiring Schottenheimer has been a complete disaster… like Kevin Ramsey level of disaster.
However, I would like to see Richt get another year without Schottenheimer… even with the expectation that 2016 isn’t going to be any better than 2015 due to turnover, freshman QB, etc. But if there is progress of a sort, if the defense gets better with age and another recruiting class, if the o-line gets better with an infusion of talent, if Eason looks like he will live up to expectations, if the team just stops playing stupid… I think Richt can get the team out of this rut and become a real contender moving forward. I want him to get the team out of this rut. I won’t be too sad, though, if the decision-makers think it is time to go in a different direction.
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That being said, if Pruitt is out, burn the damn thing to the ground.
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Yep.
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If we are at “Kevin Ramsey” level, all might be lost……………
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If not for Missouri and Vandy (which is the gold standard for offensive ineptitude), UGA would be within spitting distance of last in the SEC in scoring offense. That’s not so different from when Ramsey took several future NFL stars to last in the SEC in scoring defense in 1999.
Here’s a macabre poll for you, Senator… the worst coordinator hire in the last 20 years.
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I’m done with the “one more year” stuff. Why? So he can fool you into thinking we’re good again? You just mentioned the years 2007 and 2012. So what if 2016 ends up being another one of those years? Do we wait until 2020 to have this same discussion again?
It’s an endless cycle. He’s out of excuses. It’s time to move on.
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My rationale for one more year is thus: I think Pruitt has changed the program. I think it will be 2016 to really start seeing the fruit of the change. The investments in S&C and the added QC personnel haven’t even had a full season yet. The sea change in recruiting philosophy hasn’t had time to really get rooted to where those recruits are upperclassmen. The offense is a complete shit show. The offense wasn’t a complete shit show in 2014. The biggest difference is Schottenheimer. Remove that cancer, and the offense might become competent. Combine Pruitt’s improving defense with a competent offense, and you are much better off than where you are today, and I think that is possible in 2016. Combine Pruitt’s improving defense with an SEC-leading offense, and you are where you want to be… I think that is still possible in 2017. That may not be a ringing endorsement for Richt, but removing Richt blows the whole thing up. Then you have to start from scratch. As a CEO, Richt is a wonderful face of the program. But a face-of-the-program CEO needs high quality staff to make things run well. Bobby Bowden had Richt and Mickey Andrews. They made him look great. When Richt left, things didn’t go so smoothly for Ol’ Bobby. It’s the same for Richt now.
That, plus buyouts are smaller one year from now.
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I’m moving more and more towards just moving on at the top. Partly because it doesn’t necessarily mean moving on from Pruitt. Charlie Strong stuck around at UF after Zook was fired (and Meyer kept the DC at anOSU too), so who’s to say a Brohm or Fuente couldn’t hold on to most of the defensive staff?
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Well said.
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Lots of ifs there Trey
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Well, is the sonuvabitch Richt leaving or not?
I guess if discussion irritates me I can always change the channel.
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Several sites with this Pruitt rumor and alleged dissension between Pruitt and multiple staff members, and perhaps some player issues with him. Have no idea if they are true but talk of some friction has been around a few weeks. It would be very surprising if Pruitt weren’t involved because he is the ultimate alpha. As such he would certainly be in the middle, or stepping in to be a peacemaker. No way he sits out a confrontation.
The issue isn’t Priitt’s ability to coach defense here, the rumors have to do with him being able to work smoothly as a team player. IF true, underline that qualifier, there is no choice of what to do here, as any of you who have ever managed an organization can attest. Interesting timing given the number of HCing jobs open, with more to come.
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I have thought all along that Pruitt never struck me as a head coach. He could maybe grow into it, but he doesnt seem like he could handle being a head guy right now. Could you imagine if he had to sit on the call in show this week? or do the rubber chicken tour every spring?
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Is Pruitt a problem child that nobody can get along with, or is Richt a wishy-washy, aw-shucks kind of a CEO that doesn’t command the respect of his underlings or administration? It took Pruitt’s nattering to get the administration to give Richt what he wanted, so maybe it isn’t as cut and dried as Pruitt being an insufferable jerk. Maybe having an insufferable jerk isn’t such a bad thing when he is the only one getting results.
Didn’t this same sort of thing happen in 2004-2005 when Van Gorder was an alpha who wanted his way, and Richt “helped” him out the door to ruin Georgia Southern? Was Georgia better off because they rid themselves of the fiery alpha DC?
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getting results is pretty relative. His defense only looks good when compared to the offense. It isnt like he is fielding one of the best defenses in the country. It’s a middle of the pack type of unit and it was middle of the pack last year.
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The offense isn’t exactly putting the defense in a good place.
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I mean as much with the administration as on the field, but with the exception of Tennessee (which was really bad), the defense has been pretty good considering what he has to work with.
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pretty except for when they are not. and pretty good is still not top 10. just top 50 or so.
Even Grantham had a top 5 defense his second year.
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It’s in the upper half of the SEC despite starting a ton of true freshmen, and no help from the offense (or special teams). He also lost a bunch of DTs/NTs and managed to improve the interior rush defense big-time.
As far as on-field results the defensive coaches are pretty much the only ones getting results (though the outside linebacking has been a disappointment).
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Sad but true Mac. I think the dude can coach, and I hope he is not poisoning the well.
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I have spent 12 of the last 15 years working with or leading a group Alpha’s and the one sure fire way to loss their respect is not being able to do the job as good as those you lead or work alongside of.
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I’ve heard Mark Richt’s salary brought up by internet fans and my friends alike more in the past three weeks than I have in the past 15 years. I don’t think that’s so much a function of the losses as the way we’ve looked in our losses. I was thinking about it this morning, and I think the reason that we were more willing to put up with the hiccups in the first half of his tenure was that the losses were potential wins. In the last year or so… and even further back, even to the gold-standard team of 2012, when we lose we absolutely get our teeth kicked in. Holy cow. Two straight blowouts against Florida where we look inept. A second home blowout against Alabama. Tech wasn’t a blowout, but it was just a day of ineptitude. The 2012 South Carolina blowout. There have been so many games where Georgia just seemingly fails to show up… and it’s unacceptable. When you look at what we put on the field Saturday against Florida, and then you consider just how much the University of Georgia has invested into the program and is paying the coaches this year, you really start to scratch your head. I love Mark Richt. But I don’t see how you can defend putting a team that has looked this inept onto the field back-to-back games (and back-to-back years in Jacksonville).
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Pruitt is an solid. He worked with Saban and Smart.
That alone makes him too strong for Richt and Tarkenton.
Pruitt has always been in top programs from high school coaching to D1.
His defense kept CMR from being 0-4 in October.
Guess that is too hard for some old dog like Tarkenton to see.
How did Tarkenton worm his way into all of this with CMR.
Could be because CMR is so passive, and his team plays like that.
No problem we alums have to suffer from the ridicule of CMR and UF beating the hell out of us for most of 15 years.
Say it again. This number is the number I put on CMR. 5-15.
You have to go thru Florida to get to the Dome. Like it or not that is your ticket path.
If you are not willing to understand that, too bad.
UF was down under Muschamp and CMR could not get to the Dome the last 2 years when he let upstart Mizzou kick him out.
Time for Tarkenton and CMR to go. They are the problem.
Bring in a Mullen or Freeze to run an offense with Eason…spread and see what your points will be like on the board.
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Pass on Freeze. Where that guy goes, NCAA sanctions will follow. No way.
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Also, has he done anything besides beat Alabama twice? When they go 8-4 again this year, will people finally stop talking about him as if he’s a great coach?
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Lots of rumors on the interwebs surrounding Pruitt right now. Lots of smoke
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Dream Scenario: After all the rumors of Pruitt’s departure, Richt and Schotty are fired and he’s elevated to Interim HC!!! YES!!!!!
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sounds like a nightmare.
but it would only be a for a couple of weeks. He would be out just the same after the tech game.
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Jeremy Pruitt has been fired. Now it all comes unglued…
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Physical altercations with other coaches or something to that effect
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Hearing the same thing among other things like being disrespectful to Richt at Richt’s home. I hope all this is not true but there really is too much smoke for this to be nothing. I guess we will all find out soon. I just don’t see how Richt can survive this either because I am sure that Shotty will be gone as well after the season. Time to give someone else a shot.
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There is ZERO chance Richt survives (thank God!). Perhaps McGarity will be out as well. Morehead will clean house.
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Well if this is Richt’s last ride then it is a shame. Not because I don’t think it is time but from the perspective that he really did do some good things for the University and I hate the fact that he may be going out due to a situation that is Jerry Springer esq.
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That is a fair comment.
With that said, much of it is his fault. He has no ability to lead, so dysfunction in the organization is an inevitable consequence.
He has no ability to appropriately revisit his decisions, thus dragging his feet on all bad hires and making changes as quickly as it takes to turn around the titanic. That is on him, and the natural chaos that is destined to follow is a result.
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I agree that much of this is on him. The staff, the poor roster mgmt, reoccurring team issues, etc. I really do feel that he should be shown the door. I was just hoping he would be able to leave in a more dignified way instead of all this turmoil. Oh well. Maybe he can some how rally the team to finish the season with all wins and just resign with dignity.
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Yeah, hate for it to end with fighting coaches and 3-TD losses that could have been much worse. His first 7 years was a great, great run.
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Somebody on 680 The Fan (I didn’t hear it, my buddy did) said Pruitt had to be asked to leave Richt’s home last night. Again, who knows what’s true, but there sure is a whole lot of smoke right now for there to not be a fire somewhere.
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Butts-Mehre Desperately Seeking Answers to Question of the Day:
“Ever had the house guest you just cannot get to leave? Maybe someone you thought you could share a relationship with and things did not work out, or a friend or family member who just cramps your lifestyle, eats your food, and does not contribute to the bills? Whatever the case may be, getting someone out who has overstayed their welcome can sometime be a very difficult task. So, how do you throw someone out of your house?”
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Oh yeah–like he is the only person that wanted to punch Schottenheimer in the mouth…
If this is true, they are getting rid of the only pair of balls on the staff.
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Link? Or are you guys hearing this through the grapevine?
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Based on my google search, it’s message board gossip at this point. There could be no more to it than the Kiffin rumors earlier this year. Taken with the reports on infighting with the coaches though, it’s not as baseless as that rumor was though.
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Or you could look at David Pollack’s twitter:
It is a done deal. Pruitt is out. The mess is imploding, with Richt on his way out at season’s end, at the latest, perhaps earlier.
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Well, McGarity better start calling agents now. Moonshot for Patterson or Briles, realistically get in touch with Brohm at WKU, Fuente at Memphis, and do not even consider calling Jimbo.
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His last tweet, which was recently deleted, is a parting shot. He, of course, is correct
“When one door closes another door opens. Those who are complacent with mediocrity are doomed to stay there.”
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Based on the delete icon, that tweet was probably fake.
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Great–maybe the Defense will play with the same fire the offense has been playing with. So Georgia. So So Georgia.
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That’s a rather drastic way to not have to build an IPF.
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Dumpster Fire.
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Well I know one thing. That goober strength and conditioning coach that Pruitt brought over hasn’t worked out at all. We were made to believe we were getting leaner/meaner linemen, instead, we’re just undersized and outmatched.
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Amen to that. For all the supposed improvements over the program under Joe T, I’ve never seen us legitimately look undersized before until this year.
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Pass the popcorn …
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Also, please tell me that the posted-then-deleted tweet from Pruitt is a real thing. “When one door closes, another door opens. Those who are complacent with mediocrity are doomed to stay there.”
Daaaaaaammmnnn …..
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Pruitt will end up coaching South Carolina.
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I think SC will try to get Smart. Smart will take Cochran and probably Cristobal (OL coach) with him and we will get our rears kicked in recruiting and on the field.
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Cristobal will get the Miami gig.
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I thought Chip Kelly was going to take the Miami Job…Plus Jon Gruden should be a shoe-in at every opening.
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Pruitt has probably ruined his coaching career. I really doubt he takes this opportunity to move up to a head coaching gig in the SEC.
He would be lucky to get a DC position at a lower level right now.
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That tweet is dead on regarding it’s meaning however if what is going around about Pruitt is true…the guy really seemed like a loose canon and will probably never be a HC due to his demeanor.
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I don’t know how to upload screenshots but my buddy just emailed me a screenshot of the tweet. It appears legit as best I can tell. If someone knows how to upload screenshots, I’m happy to forward to them.
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Some are saying it’s a hoax. Something about Twitter changing from a “favorite” button (the star icon) to a “like” button (a heart icon) earlier this week. I know basically nothing about Twitter, so can neither confirm nor deny.
But I hope it’s legit.
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Ah, I’m on twitter a good bit, but wouldn’t notice a detail that small. If that’s a hoax tho, it’s a darn good one.
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What if Richt is fooling around and just seeing if people can keep a secret again?
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If so, he’s got to get buttah at building better walls
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HO AXE
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Autocorrect with the hot take
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There have been better times at Georgia under Mark Richt, but never more interesting.
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Question for you guys who have caricatured anyone who has ever offered a fact or opinion that could be construed as modestly supportive of Mark Richt…
If those of us who are less enthusiastic than y’all are about throwing Richt out on his ass ASAP are guilty of “putting Mark Richt above Georgia football,” or whatever, why aren’t y’all just as guilty of putting Jeremy Pruitt above Georgia football for seeing his firing/voluntary departure/whatever-comes-to-pass as justification for dropping a daisycutter on Butts-Mehre?
Give me a measured, respectful, non-name-call-y answer to that question and I’ll gladly forget the fact that y’all wanted Pruitt to be our next head coach.
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The tweet is pretty much a fake.
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I really hope the whole damn thing is rumor-mongering.
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Welp… this is a relief: https://twitter.com/MarkRicht/status/662315365972709376
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https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/status-quo-for-jeremy-pruitt-and-the-uga-coaching-staff
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As long as Tarkenton and McGarity call the shots there will be no HC willing to walk into to the football program at UGA.
CMR just let the house burn down since 2008. Why did Friend leave with Bobo? He did not even try to keep Friend. Tarkenton wanted Friend out so his buddy Schottenheimer could come it. Is it not amazing how quickly these NFL times walk in the door at UGA.
How did CMR get so cozy with NFL rejects. Has two top coaches in Pruitt and Friend [Bama stock, the gold standard not only in SEC but NCAA] and they leave or will leave.
Did not take Foley long to realize that the much traveled Muschamp was a joke. McElwain steps in those players and they are SECECs. McElwain ran Saban offense before going to CSU. Foley knew what he was getting.
We do too. Tarkenton, Grantham, and Schotteheimer. They walk all over McGarity, Morehead, and Richt.
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Frankly, I am tired of 5-15 against UF.
I see what FSU and UF do in all their programs.
UGA is not even close.
Richt got by past two years due to SEC East down. That is changing at UT, UF, and USC.
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Charles November 5, 2015 @ 12:11 PM
Jared S.November 5, 2015 @ 12:13 PM
It’s only a drill? What a relief…
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