Take it for what it’s worth, but this is from Mr. Conventional Wisdom’s post today:
I don’t pretend to know what is going to happen with Richt. I do know the decision hasn’t been made and won’t be made until after the Georgia Tech game on Nov. 28.
The amount of background chatter from the athletic department to the media this season seems unprecedented to me. It’s another reason I don’t think the hire/fire decision on Richt is going to change much of anything at B-M, regardless of which way it goes.
Get The Picture 
CMR is safe if he beats tech and southern. As far as coordinators only GM or Morehead knows. The Eason visit/tweet was pure PR to hang on to the recruits,
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I could be way, way off, but I think CMR is feeling the pressure and/or realizes that his job isn’t guaranteed to be there next year. The fact that he hopped on a plane 2k miles away to Seattle right after the AU game was jaw dropping to me. I just don’t think he does that if everything is copacetic otherwise.
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If he loses Eason, then he could lose a lot more. Then, even if he stays, what would the outlook be for next year?
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More of the same, 3-4 losses.
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Count on it. And at least one of those losses will be a total blowout.
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But even that’s not created equal.
Losing by a blowout because the true freshman QB had a bad game but learns from it and plays better later in the season? A lot better than “almost the entire team looks unprepared, save Nick Chubb” blowouts from this season.
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“I don’t pretend to know if it is going to rain this week. But I do know that it will rain before the end of the year.”
You know if you look around the SEC there are plenty of fire the HC fans clamoring to “Get it done.” (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fire-les-miles). Les has lost to the Tide for the 5th consecutive time this season. And for only the 3rd time in his career at LSU has he lost two in a row. Interesting that all three of those consecutive losses came vs the Hoggs. (That Fact: came from a Hog fan. Don’t quote me.)
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The longer McGarity is athletics director the worse I grade his performance. If he is recommending firing Richt after the season, then do it and shut up until then. If he is recommending keeping Richt, or has not made a decision yet, then shut up. Even if he is not the one talking it is his job to control all those mouths that are running.
All this talk does nothing to help anyone, except those internet guys who now want Southern and Tech to beat us because they now think that losing gets Richt fired.
McGarity is in over his head big time.
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I strongly doubt it’s McG’s call to make. I see him as little more than a bean counter. Morehead has effectively neutered McG.
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My point did not require McGarity being the one making the decision. Even if he is a bean counter he is the boss of every suit at B-M, and it is his job to make sure no one is talking to the press with unattributed comments.
That is my point. .
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I think our team puts McGarity in a tough position most every year. What do you do when you win 10 meaningless games a year? You beat no one of consequence, get humiliated on national TV once or twice, but play in the East so you win 10 games. What do you do with that? It is not an easy call with a man as nice as CMR. I think he will continue to apply pressure for change and may even dictate change with CBS. The biggest challenge may be convincing CJP to stay.
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My point is that McGarity could have a staff meeting with the “unattributed sources inside B-M” and tell them to STFU and do not make comments to the press.
If you want Richt fired it does no good for unnamed folks to talk to the media. If you want Richt retained it does no good for unnamed sources to talk to the media.
If you want the decision deferred until after the season plays out it does no good for unnamed sources to talk to the media.
Whatever the decision, part of McGarity’s job is to make sure all the oars are paddling in the same direction. These leaks give the impression that whatever the decision someone at B-M will disagree with it. It will especially look stupid for McGarity if the unnamed sources suggest an outcome different from the choice McGarity’s boss makes.
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This is a fair point right here.
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Historically not even White Houses have been able to keep rumors quiet. I don’t see McGarity (or any other AD) being able to keep B-M quiet.
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I agree that, to the extent he can control them, McGarity should do all he can to stop leaks from within.
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It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if McGarity was the source of the leaks.
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Exactly.
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Oh, oh. They’ve figured it out. Better go underground for a while Greg.
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Gordon you IDIOT!! This is not a private email account. This is a Georgia fanblog. They can SEE the message that you sent me. Get offline NOW!!!
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Uh….um…What a joke I just made!! Ha, ha…….I was just…um…making something up to poke fun…..er…at all you blog guys. Yeah, that’s it. Just joking…….(backs away slowly from the computer)
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Good point from UGA85.
Terrible scenario for an AD: A veteran coach who had some early successes but now limps around to discouraging 9-10 win seasons.
You know he won’t win a championship. But firing him and replacing him with something better won’t be easy either.
Richt is just good enough to make the decision extremely difficult.
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Wait! So Richt flying out to see Eason was a desperation and PR move? Here I was thinking that coaches often did this with their most important players. Then again….that wouldn’t support the angle some are taking. Oops
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The tone of the article was clearly that UGA would be making a mistake by firing Richt, especially if we win out the regular season. I also think TB is blowing smoke about “knowing” that the decision won’t be made until after the Tech game. He doesn’t know diddly squat. He just wants everyone to keep clicking.
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That’s my take as well.
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I don’t pretend to know what is going on, but here is what’s going on…blah blah, blah.
Too many pundits needing to draw attention to themselves these days makes for very schotty journalism.
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Wow, I see what you did there. That was impressive.
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Mark Richt will be UGA’s HC in 2016. Get used to it, as I have. He’s almost a lock for 9 wins this season, maybe 10, and that’s more than sufficient to get a return ticket stamped. And I think Schotty returns also, baring the very remote chance he’s hired away (which has about the same odds as him defecting to N. Korea and taking up ballet). CMR is not going to fire him.
The only big question that remains to be resolved is whether Pruitt stays. Cause if Pruitt leaves we’re in for a very rough ride. Now if Mr. cfb had some real insight on that issue, his article might merit a read.
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I think if Richt stays, then Pruitt stays. He named Mark Richt specifically as THE reason he left a national champion FSU team after one year. He said he had decided earlier in his career that if he ever got the chance to work for Mark Richt, he would take it, and he did. I think the only way we lose Pruitt is if we lose Richt, and I think it would be a certainty that Pruitt would leave in that case.
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Pruitt is gone. Last year is old news is much has changed since.
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You got the inside skinny? Know someone close to the situation? Pony up 3&G!
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Not an ‘insider’ and never have been (nor will be in the future.) But concerning CJP specifically, I am privy to a few things that most aren’t. With that said, I’d put his chances at returning at around 5%.
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I thought much the same, but I am hearing rumors the staff is telling recruits Pruitt will be back next season.
Basically, I’m not sure there are very many people who really know what’s going on right now.
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Seems to me a lot of people on the staff got pissed off in October (as they should have), somebody said something about somebody else’s mama, and somebody was going to take their ball and go home.
Later, after the hurt fee fees soothed a bit, everybody decided to calm down and reassess. Even if Pruitt wants to go somewhere else, he’s probably smart enough to know that staying with this young defense another year, helping the team to a better season next year only helps his resume.
At least, that’s my inside info. From inside my head.
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As good a guess as anyone’s’ Russ. Kinda thinking along those lines too.
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I don’t think it’s up to Pruitt.
I think he’s getting run out of Athens in favor of the Georgia Way.
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^^This. If that happens and Pruitt is runnoft I will be really pissed off–not that such would mean anything or that anybody in B-M cares about what I think, or what anybody outside their little inner circle thinks for that matter. But Pruitt is the best coach on the staff. If they run him off that really means that they don’t care about winning–not really anyway.
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Well, to that I’d simply say that, while our staff is far more ethically sound that most SEC institutions, they also realize what a brutally dirty CFB recruiting is these days, in which they too must get a little mud on them too from time to time.
I’m not saying all of this definitively, but it would be my most sound guess given what I’m hearing.
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I know what rumour you’re talking about, but I think it’s just a rumour.
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That second paragraph can apply to a few things this season, sadly. (Though not prior to this season, so hopefully CMR connects the dots and sees what Rams fans were telling us almost a year ago.)
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IF the staff is indeed telling recruits Pruitt will be here next year, then I expect this to be the case, unless Pruitt is snatched up by another team. If anything, Richt and his staff have typically been honest with recruits.
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I don’t see Pruitt being fired so they are telling the truth. However, I could easily see Pruitt leaving for a better paying DC job or possibly HC at one of the many job openings,
I can hardly wait to see who Richt could get for his replacement. /sarcasm
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That may be the most GTPish comment I’ve ever read here.
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So you’re tellin me there’s a chance? 😉 Ok workin’ to prepare myself mentally if Pruitt is gone.
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Schott and another Martinez or CTG at DC please keep the fire extinguishers near the dumpsters.
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Martinez is only the secondary coach at UT, so a DC job would be a step up…
(I mean, if we’re going worst-case, that would be one.)
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I respectfully disagree.
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Duly noted, and frankly I hope you’re right.
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Well, I do too. We have an unbelievable defensive staff right now that is proving its worth both on the field and in recruiting. If that staff gets blown up, and the ’16 class with it, we are going to have a rough few years.
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Agreed.
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I would love to hear Shotty explain why he should be retained. What, exactly, can he point to as progress with the offense? You shouldn’t lose your top running back and the whole scheme become so tepid. He has not developed a quarterback to any new level of competence. Only out of desperation has he (and Richt?) incorporated “trick” plays into the play calls. He cannot return, IMHO. Hoping that McGarity and Richt have encouraged him to pursue other opportunities.
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Here’s Schotty’s excuses:
1) Gurley went pro & Chubb got hurt.
2) Didn’t know how fricken awful the QBs were when I took the job.
3) Didn’t take seriously the claims that CMR goes brain dead at least 2 games per year.
4) Didn’t know we’re the only team in the sec without an IPF – and it fricken rained for 2 months!
5) Didn’t know Pruitt was the de facto HC, and would come after me if I didn’t produce.
6) CMR said it was an easy gig. Terrific recruiting turf. Great pay. Tell some stupid story about farmers when the going gets tough. Said if we win 8+ games every year you’ll have a job for life.
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If Richt refuses to fire Schottenheimer then that should be grounds for firing Richt. And if Richt wants to fire Schottenheimer but McGarity won’t allow it then that should be grounds for firing McGarity.
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This makes perfect sense to me.
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Actually, the consistently bad play of the STs over a period of years and CMR’s failure to take action to remedy that is grounds for firing right there. Year after year we have bad STs and he does nothing about it. If I were Morehead I would make the hiring of a ST Coordinator (or the reassignment of an existing staff member to ST Coordinator, possibly CMR himself) a condition of CMR’s continued employment as HC. If CMR refuses, I’d fire him for cause–and not pay CMR the contractual severance. After all, he was fired for refusing the direct order of a superior. Let him hire an attorney and see if he can win that case.
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” (which has about the same odds as him defecting to N. Korea and taking up ballet).”
Schotty would be an automatic with their ballet, which is different
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Golly DIF…girls in skirts…with guns…
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Change is extremely hard for DiF
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why change?
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Change is extremely hard for CMR. Knowing that, I think he needs “help” with the firing of CBS and the hiring of someone else. He also needs help with the handling of CJP. Best scenario, aside from firing CMR, is firing CBS and keeping CJP, IMO. I don’t think this happens unless the powers at be step in.
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Maybe Pruitt will volunteer to do the dirty work for him (CMR).
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Well, there is the financial issue if Schotty goes. We all know how cheap B-M is and they won’t want to pay Schotty and another OC, too.
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Unless BM is blown up it will not make any difference whether CMR goes or stays. That is what is so depressing. The old guard has got to go.
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Why is our administration responsible for the product we put on the field? The primary responsibility for the success or failure of the team is our coaching staff, IMO. Not administration, not the fans. Why not acknowledge this?
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I happen to have a different opinion than you do. If we fire CMR, BM as is stands now is not going to spend $ 4 or $ 5 million to hire what our folks think is a big name coach. Those big name candidates are not going to come once told our drug policy and local police are not going to change. Al lot of competition from good programs this year to hire a new coach. We will end up with a cheap coach. Now he might be a good coach. But I have no confidence in McGarrity to make a good hire. Maybe you do. You are entitled to your opinion. And I am not saying whether CMR should stay or go. I just do not see things getting demonstrably better overnight if we make a change this year.
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Precisely.
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If there was any truth to that “list” in the USAToday article, I don’t like the idea of McGarity making a hire either.
So what’s the best- and worst-case here?
Best: 10 wins, Schotty and Sale gone and replaced with better coaches who are “pro-style” but maybe more open to modern pro-style (they’ve done tempo before, and pistol, etc. and won’t be learning how to do it at this gig), Pruitt and entire DC staff stays, top 3 recruiting class comes in.
Worst: no changes to the offensive staff, Pruitt leaves and the recruiting class falls apart.
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Because they control if UGA will provide the resources to the coaching staff to compete with the top of the SEC.
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This so much. People act like pointing out that little tidbit somehow means you’re completely excusing the performance of the coaching staff. We’re all well aware that the coaching staff has underperformed and nobody is making excuses for that. However, to not acknowledge that the tight-sphinctered culture with money at B-M is part of the big picture problem is being a little intellectually dishonest with yourself.
I got no problem if your prerogative is to clean house with the coaching staff cause that’s a completely defensible position to take at this point. However, don’t just assume that the powers that be at B-M are just going to drop a dump truck of cash for Herman, Smart, or Fuente. We’re more likely to end up like Nebraska and hiring somebody like Riley because we don’t like to spend money. THAT’S what we mean when we refer to the Georgia Way.
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This is accurate.
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Agree. God forbid B-M have to pay one-tenth of one percent more in interest the next time they decide to borrow money.
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I’ve seen several references to the “old guard” at BM… Who are these folks? McGarity is sorta, kinda, by extension, old guard…most everybody else who was in an “executive position” is gone either hoisted by they own petard or retired or died.
Could it be some of us are confusing “old guard” with institutional attitude?
If the president is willing to fire Mark Richt, does that not mean he is putting his job on the line with the replacement? Trust me when I say this would be a change in institutional positions along the lines of the parting of the Red Sea.
I don’t know any more than anyone else, including Tony Barnhart, but I can read tea leaves as well as anyone else.
The willingness to extend one’s neck below the guillotine generally goes down as the executive level of the neck goes up.
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I think you’re right in that for a long time it was Michael Adams, through his chairmanship of the Athletic Association Board of Directors, who most wanted to keep spending down in the athletic department. But even after Adams retired, McGarity seemed to stall on spending money for the football program until A) Pruitt complained, and B) Bobo left. As you say, even though Morehead has approved more spending, there still seems to be an institutional memory of cheapness, at least in McGarity.
I don’t know if that’s because that’s just his disposition, or because of some of the members of the Board,or because McGarity was trying to use a “starve the beast” strategy toward the football program in order to maneuver Richt out.
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I think you are talking about long time members of the AB, some BOR members, some long time Asst ADs plus employees deep in the bowels of B-M (sort of like UGA “civil servants” who gum up the system with passive resistance to get their way like Washington, D.C. Federal employees do) and some influential alums, when you say “old guard.” That’s who needs to go for the “Georgia Way” to change.
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Have you considered the changes made in this last off-season? Spending is way, way up. IPF on the way. Coaches’ salaries are very good. IMO, we are spending way more money on the team and getting a poor return on the investment.
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The fact that it took until last season AND after an overblown self-inflicted crisis tells me a lot. Have you considered that a battle ship doesn’t just turn on a dime?
Before you go there – this isn’t an endorsement of Richt. and I’m not saying he has earned any sort of longevity to see if this new commitment will pay off. I’m just not entirely convinced that anything has really changed at B-M. I think that what happened had to be done by Morehead to shut down the howls coming from the self-inflicted crisis that started with McGarity’s handling of Gurley-gate and the ensuing interview he flubbed with Mark Bradley.
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Well, our spending rate is now on par with our peers. We have to agree on that. Whatever past issues you have had with B-M, they have now changed objectively. Nothing on the field changed this year, basically. I don’t know how long this “battleship” takes, but I for one don’t expect on the field changes until I see good on the field coaching.
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Aren’t those two inherently tied together though? One must cough up the dough to hire the best available coach? I’m glad you have faith that things have objectively changed on that front and aren’t just temporary to quell the storm that brewed up internally. Pardon me if I’ll take the last 50 years of operations as the norm from B-M and that what happened in January as the outlier that was necessary because of an unnecessary crisis until proven otherwise.
Spending and support from the top down are also two separate things as well. You can throw money at staff and facilities, but still shoot yourself in the foot with internal policies. I think any top flight coach that we would consider is going to take one look at our stupid drug policy and not want to deal with that nonsense. B-M needs a house cleaning from top to bottom before I’ll ever believe that it’s as simple as just changing coaches to get better results. I wish I could believe otherwise and I applaud you for that. You may very well be proven right at some point, but I’m not jumping on that ship just yet. While we all agree the coaching on field has left something to be desired; I believe the problem runs much deeper than just the head man.
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Man, I am soooo happy that so many of you understand this and are advocating for a change at B-M. For years I was alone on this.
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Define “peers”.
The most recent Dept. of Ed. numbers (2014-5) show Georgia seventh in the SEC in football spending. Alabama spent almost twice as much as Georgia.
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I have been admonished and told countless times to not compare UGA to Bama. So I don’t. What are our numbers, then, compared to our peers? Do we spend like Auburn and Florida and Tennessee? How about Ole Miss and Mississippi State and Arkansas and LSU? I suspect we are somewhere in the middle of that group and that not a lot of dollars separate us. But I would like to see the numbers if you have them.
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11.Vanderbilt: $24,136,525
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Do the numbers below include sunk costs (like paying staff members who are no longer coaching for the teams) or not?
Either way, I’m guessing the cost difference is between support staff and non-coordinator coaches.
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Thank you for the numbers. I think we are about where I thought we would be. Surprised that Auburn and Florida spend so much and that Mississippi State spends so little. Will be interesting to follow these over the next few years.
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And to repeat for the eighty billionth time to ya’ll that don’t seem to get it, the dismay with B-M is a separate discussion from the merits of whether Richt should remain coach. I’m just saying that I don’t trust B-M one iota to actually make the right hire because they’re not going to want to pay going rate on the market for the type of guys I already mentioned that would be the home run hire. I don’t think that should be a reason to not make a change if they feel it is warranted, but I have zero confidence that they won’t cheap out and cock it up.
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I’m split on the spendthriftedness of B-M.
I think they’d pay the going rate, but not be happy about. They simply won’t pay a penny more than that (which, in a market like this coming off-season, might not be great for them if they have to find a coach.)
I remember there was a lot of worry when Adams was still in charge, funneling money to his son’s graduation party and all, that B-M would be too cheap to keep CMR, but 7 figure salaries became an SEC norm, and not just something Spurrier earned, and it happened. Ditto 7-figure coordinator contracts on multi-year deals (though it took until very recently for them to get there.)
There’s just very little chance they’d come out ahead in a bidding war for a coach.
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i don’t care who’s manning the boat, just get eason to affens.
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Eason will help but CMR needs to recruit offensive lineman with the same urgency as Eason.
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yep. I’m wondering if any of the 5*s we have a beat on can come in and start quickly.
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While I agree we could always use more tough linemen, I’m wondering if this year isn’t on the coaching change. As much talk as there was about “staying the course” on offense, it seems like there have been many significant changes. We have been lucky with the lack of injuries on the OL, meaning this line should have gotten better through the season. But it’s regressed. Same with the passing game. I guess Nick Chubb hides a lot of holes on the offense.
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“Many significant changes”…and not a single one for the better.
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I agree 100%.
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During his sideline interview, Aaron Murray called it “a new offense” which is counter to what we were told when Schotty was hired. Plus for some reason the OL is doing more zone than man blocking — why make that change after the results last season?
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I agree Richt needs Eason to make the O go next year, my question is this; Is Eason better than Stafford? What did Richt win with Stafford? How much will Eason struggle as a Freshman QB next year in the SEC? If he struggles and losses 3 to 4 games will Richt be given his Sophomore year to turn it around?
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I hope that our D will be better than under Stafford. I hope we ease Eason in a little better than we did Stafford. We need stability, consistency from the position with a deep ball threat. Hopefully we can get that without forcing too much on the freshman. I have no idea if we hold on to Richt with another 3-4 loss season next year.
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It likely depends on how the team looks in losses. And the real key is the other side of the ball. Stafford had a Willie Mart defense his 3 seasons in Athens. If this season’s D staff returns, Eason should have a better defense (though the pressure has been spotty enough this season that I wonder if Floyd thinks about returning.)
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For that matter, is Eason better than Murray? Murray holds virtually all the SEC passing records. What did CMR win with Murray? A couple of trips to the Georgia Dome and a couple of losses.
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“Here, almost 15 years from the start, one of several supporters of a rich and Evil Richt accosts and wrestles a fractional one of the whimpering 15% of the non-arena based fans emerging from a bowling alley in search of light and contentment. Yes, a bowling alley. But this is not before hobbling around like a demented Richard III in tightly-fitted bowling shoes, pointing his finger into a straw shape and yelling a slightly confused metaphor about dairy-based beverages, ending with the infamous, much-mocked line,
‘I drink your milkshake!’
It might not be the very worst scene in the history of recent Oscar-garlanded head coach coup cinema – Randy Edsall still has that Locksley up – but it’s perhaps the one most inflated with its own delusional self-importance.”
(h/t “There Will be Blood: My Most Overrated Film”)
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/nov/12/there-will-be-blood-my-most-overrated-film
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Oh well…9-3 and a bowl game…CMR gets to keep his job a little longer. The more things change, the more they stay the same…
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Yes because being third in going to consecutive bowls is so mediocre. Y’all are a bunch of Eeyores.
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18 years in row going to bowls only two teams top that and one probably won’t make it. Alabama has 11.
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…and the Tide only have 3 National Championships in those 11. Boy do those guys ever suck compared to us. Look at OUR streak!!!
I don’t think 18 straight bowl appearances is totally meaningless and I don’t think National Championships should mean everything either. But you and I both know there are entirely too many bowl games and way to many bad teams make them.
I would trade that streak for 1 season of zero ‘just not showing up games’…or 2-3 wins over Florida in a row.
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Amen to that.
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You mean like the 3 in a row from 11-13? 😉
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Yes, like that. Considering we have beaten UF six times in a quarter century, I think we are still a few “3 in a row” streaks behind.
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You are aware, are you not, that FU is bleating out the Gators “are now 20-6 over Georgia over the last 26 years” mantra again. Heard Mick Hubert say it TV.
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Oh didn’t know bowl games were the target, I thought it was ore, my bad.
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Considering the extremely low standards for getting a bowl game , I’m not sure why that’s a bragging point.
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Of course you aren’t.
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But surely you recognize the declining significance of bowl appearances as a metric of success……?
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Yes, but we have met the metric more than almosy every team, including the biggest of the big boys. Our peaks aren’t quite as high, but our valleys barely qualify as valleys.
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So UGA has flatlined, great.
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just being a SA or DA depending on your outlook
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What is the metric? To not be bad? If so, we should get a trophy or two. Of course, our East schedule has had a lot to do with our not being bad. Mediocrity is one step up from being bad, I guess, but it sure doesn’t feel much better to me. And “bad” seems to describe our play against most of the top tier teams we play.
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Random contemplation on Richt and Georgia’s future…..
Two of Georgia’s three losses were to Top 10 Teams… teams that “control” their own destiny, and in a position to claim a CFP Championship if they win out. In hindsight – and when considering Georgia’s youth, brand-spanking-new OC, 3-QB=No-QB situation, etc. – that leaves Georgia with just one “inexplicable” loss so far this year to Tennessee. But the Tennessee loss wasn’t even inexplicable, really. It came after they lost Chubb in the opening moments of the game. He wasn’t just the emotional leader of the offense, he was arguably the best player in the nation.
I totally understand wanting to fire Richt for underperforming in his almost 15 years as Georgia’s HC. However, I feel like people are trying a little too hard to shoe-horn this season into a convenient narrative that this season is just another in a long-string of run-of-the-mill disappointments.
This season has a different feel for me. I don’t think it’s the same as the other seasons and I think Georgia really is turning things around, albeit slowly. I like the direction in which things are heading. I assume Richt/Schottenheimer/Pruitt will all be back next year, and Georgia will be a much better team.
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I suspect you’re right about the staff remaining intact. However, Richt has to reassert control over the offense (and I think he realizes it now with his seemingly greater involvement with the game day playcalling). The mantra with Schotty was that things weren’t going to change much. But to me, the offense is different, and the staff obviously wasn’t able to wrangle a decent passing game out of three different QBs. The OL, while healthy, has regressed due to what I can only figure is changes in scheme or strategy.
Yeah, we’re very young and were overrated to start the season. We probably thought the change would be seamless. And Chubb hid a lot of offensive problems. I can see us improving next year. How much (and will it be “enough”), I don’t know.
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If Schotty is back the offense will not be improved. He is horrid and worse than I had feared.
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Agreed…I think we have seen the total sum of his creativity in employing the Wild Dawg. That is the one change to me that is absolutely necessary.
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I don’t want Schotty back AT ALL, but if he does return, I won’t give up on the idea that this season might be a learning experience for him.
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What this ignores is the fact that those two losses to top-10 teams were not mere losses. We “lost” to Alabama just like that ant “lost” to the bottom of my shoe. The problem is not that we “lost,” rather, the problem is that it wasn’t even a game. And that was with a healthy Nick Chubb.
And the other loss, to Florida, was against a 1st-year coaching staff with one of the worst offensive units the Gators have had in a long time. And not only did they have a 3-TD lead by halftime, but we hadn’t put a single point on the board by that time.
So, simply counting those two games as a couple of losses ignores what the nature of those losses implies about the current state of the program.
And for the record: yes, the Tennessee loss was inexplicable. The loss of Chubb was devastating, sure. But unless he’d secretly been playing defense as well, it doesn’t explain the fact that our defense gave up a 21-point lead.
Also for the record: go back and search the archives of this blog. Basically every single year, around November, the comments sections are loaded with people saying exactly what you say here — “… but I swear it feels different this time. I really think we’re turning it around. Next year could really be special …” Etc., etc., etc. Hell, I was guilty of it myself many times. Some of us just lost a taste for the kool-aid.
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I’m not predicting anything special for Georgia next year, I just think they’ll be better than they were this year.
And I guess my point is that I think people are making a mistake if they think firing Richt is the answer to Georgia’s perceived problems. And I say “perceived” because even though a lot of us think we’re really well-informed, none of us really know what goes on in B-M, or what it’s like to be in Richt’s position. That fact that he’s averaged almost 10 wins/season since being at Georgia while building the kind of classy reputation that he has is nearly miraculous in the win-at-all-costs climate of college sports today.
I know I’m in a shrinking minority of fans who thinks that sports should be about something bigger than simply winning. But I’m not going to decide to turn my back on that just because I wish we could compete with the Bama/OH State/FL States.
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I can respect your last point. And frankly, I’m not sure what to say about it. Both sides of that argument have both always made complete sense to me.
But re: Richt: There’s a subtlety that I think people on your side of the debate are missing. And it’s this: there is an important difference between (a) believing that “firing Richt is the answer to Georgia’s perceived problems,” as you put it, and (b) simply not believing that keeping him is the answer our problems.
The first view, (a), implies that things will definitely improve once Richt is replaced. But that’s not what anyone actually believes.
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Agreed with paragraphs 2 and 3.
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The flawed logic that Richt is classy and no one else is rears it’s head again. I’ve yet to hear a single one of Saban, Miles, etc. Players say a bad word about them. Those guys are family men who go to church too. Why is it only Richt we talk about being a good guy?
Oh yeah , because that’s the only thing he has going for him.
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Perhaps not all family men that go to church are good men.
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And maybe Richt isn’t any better then the others, he just hems and haws and has the “aw shucks” attitude tha everyone loves in their favorite grandpa.
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4 more years!
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Here is one: http://spartanavenue.com/2015/07/15/former-spartan-wr-plaxico-burress-calls-out-nick-saban-in-twitter-rant/
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Oh, snap.
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I wasn’t talking about whether Richt is a “good” guy or whether he’s nice to his players. I mean he seems to be worried about character development and protecting the reputation of his university first, and then treat winning as “gravy.” That doesn’t bother me, in fact I rather like it. But I know it drives most everyone else crazy. Ha.
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The flawed logic that Richt is classy and no one else is rears it’s head again.
How did you get that from the statements made? No one said that.
And, by the way, how do I get down there to where you’re at? I figure you have cost me about $237 worth of wasted time reading your comments and I’m coming down there to whip your ass….(spoken Oklahoma style)
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How big a boy are ya?
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Same damn thing every year, Turd. These people need to start recording their thoughts every November and then reviewing them annually to see just how little has changed.
We called it in October though didn’t we? Inevitably everyone would get lulled back into complacency. Happens every year.
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I said all off season that we would rise and fall on the qb position. If we didn’t have a qb we’d struggle I said. No one listened, but only you wanted auburn to beat us.
This is a good team with a serviceable qb. Don’t have one.
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Derek, don’t you think it is a little more complicated than just QB? (ok, ok, ok…no “too big” snarks, really.)
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Not really. Are there other issues? Of course. The glaring problem is QB. Just like great defense covers up issues for a weak offense (like vs. Auburn), a serviceable QB allows you to overcome an occasional TO, an occasional brain fart on ST, a bad day at the office tackling and as Alabama repeatedly shows you’d better be able to challenge them deep or you are in deep doo doo. LSU has a pretty good o-line and a great back and did not jack with their offense. They needed a QB to open things up. So did we. I truly believe that what ails us most is being totally awful at QB. Chubb going down has magnified the problem.
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” Chubb going down has magnified the problem.” Exactly, although its problems not problem, I think…kicking game, thin at receiver, young defense, etc, etc, etc…and don’t forget Barber’s back. 😦
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Keeping Schotty around is a helluva hill to go die on. There is no defensible position around why should be coaching in Athens next year.
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As long as Eason can also call the plays, run-block with the OL, catch his own passes, and coordinate the defense, we’ll be just fine.
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We do have some young talent on the offensive line that may improve the run blocking. We are redshirting:
Pat Allen, 6′ 4″, 297, 4*
Sage Hardin, 6’6″, 281, 4*
Mirko Jurkovic, 6’5″ 285, rated by one service as the number 2 OG in Florida, and originally an Ohio State signee who did not qualify,
and Sam Madden, 6’6″, 346, 3*
Also, Kendall baker, 6’6′, 310, 4 * has been getting reps with the 2nd team.
Also, Ben Cleveland, 6’7″, 325, rated by at least 1 service as the number 2 OT in the country, has signed his financial aid agreement.
Also, Chris Barnes, 6’3” 278, 4 stars committed in April.
Also, Aaron Dowdell, 6’3” 299, 3* committed in February.
We have some talent in the OL pipeline.
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Talented OL? You mean, like former 5-star John Theus?
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No, I mean like Max Jean-Gillis
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I cannot believe there are people who have watched Georgia football longer than 3 years who think that Jacob Eason is going to change anything.
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Jacob Eason alone, no. But, we will sign more guys than just Jacob Eason. Depends upon how well the big guys on the OL play, along with Staley and Chigbu learning how to get open in the SEC.
Look at the depth chart for the juniors and redshirt sophomores that should be a significant part of the foundation of a college team. We signed 32 guys in 2013. Over half (17) have left. Some, such as Wiggins, Harvey-Clemons, Matthews and Langley were starters. We have just 1 offensive starter from that class (Kublanow) and just 3 defensive starters from that class.
The number of experienced starters , especially on the defense, will be much higher.
We got caught this year with a mediocre QB, a mediocre run blocking OL and poor depth at WR. We most likely will be better at run blocking with bigger OLmen, have more depth and size at WR. It is up to Eason to make the QB posiiton better.
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It’s been 15 years. Long enough for you to know that we will never have it all align perfectly for Richt. He’s not capable of that kind of roster management. You can say “we should be better here” all you want but should and will are two different things and at this point you’re betting against overwhelming probability.
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Do you ever actually make a legitimate, substantiated point or do you just keep spouting the same generic shit over and over and over and over and over until people get tired of arguing with you?
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How is my point illegitimate or unsubstantiated? Has it not been 10 years since our last SEC title? Has Richt not been in charge of roster management/coaching staff the entire time? All of this talk about how “we just need to wait till next year when we have _____” willfully ignores the inarguable fact that Richt cannot put it all together. It’s ALWAYS something. This year were blaming lack of a QB and the offensive coordinator. But who’s responsible for both of those things?
Just because you refuse to acknowledge it does not make it an illegitimate point. And at year 15 in his tenure there’s damn sure a lot to substantiate it.
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I may be betting that Richt can do better with a better roster. He does have a track record of getting us into the final top 4; he has done it before. You, however, are betting that anyone we likely can hire can achieve something that no other coach in UGA history has done without the presence of the top 3 players in UGA football history.
I understand that you want UGA to fire Richt. You do not have to remind us hundreds and hundreds of times a day.
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Didn’t you intentionally dance around that or are you pre programmed to spit bullshit? I’m not asking for anything no Georgia coach has done. I’m simply asking for better than no SEC title in a decade and a decade of underachievement. Playoffs??? Playoffs?!! Don’t talk about playoffs.
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Honestly, after reading your response, I’m still not even sure exactly what point you are trying to make other than just general bitching about Mark Richt. Do you actually have a specific point you are trying to make?
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You know we talk about Eason like they talked about Vad Lee over on StingTalk–right?
I think we have to put a stop to it. Immediately.
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No, we talk about Eason the way Florida fans talked about that recruit from Neese High. Kid named Tebow.
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“a mediocre run blocking OL ” looked ok before the first play from scrimmage in the UT game.
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Really?
You must have missed the Alabama game.
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No offensive line looks good against Bammer, Bluto, not this year anyway.
Ours did not look any worse than any other offensive line vs. Alabama’s defense…this year.
Pardon me, I have to go tighten my drumhead.
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Oh…we did have 193 yards rushing against Alabama, sir.
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Of which a major part came on a single run when the team was down by 5 TDs. Garbage time, in other words.
I was kinda waiting on that one.
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So they looked okay before the first play at UT, or they didn’t?
I’m having a hard time keeping up with your Chubby.
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LSU had 54 yards rushing against them Bluto…so yes, the offensive line looked decent before the first play at UT. 193 yards rushing is ok, even if 83 was on one play. Seems decent to me.
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My point is that losing Chubb changed the whole equation for the offense.
Made problems at QB more obvious, made offensive line blocking, which was decent for Chubb, not so hot for running backs not named Chubb.
Losing Chubb may have even made Lambert’s footwork worse.
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Oh…offensive line on Chubb’s run against Bama…second and third team players…it was garbage time, you know?
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I’m convinced. Georgia’s in the CFP if Chubb never gets hurt.
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Plus, it’s not like Georgia won anything with no tailbacks and a mediocre o-line before… oh, wait.
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Nice deflection. If this team had Gibson, Gary and McClendon and Ben Watson we might be better than 7-3, and Bammer mighta been closer.
Ok, I give up, Bluto, losing to Bama, Ut and Florida…its all because Lambert’s footwork is bad, he stares down receivers and Ramsey is a helluva punter.
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Dude, Chubb goes down and the coaches eventually decides the best course on offense is to stop throwing the ball. Does that sound like a vote of confidence in the quarterbacks to you?
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Oh…nice work on the spending numbers, hopefully enlightening.
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Huh?
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Unless Eason shows up and is a compete meltdown disaster at QB…and Chubb can’t get back in the lineup…..and a UNC fan runs out on the field in our first game and kneecaps Sony….this team will still manage to go 8-4 or better next year with that schedule. The SEC East is joke right now. You could literally dig up Bear Bryant, prop his bones upright on the sidelines, put a hat on him…….and expect to win at least 6 games next year. If Pruitt were to stay he and Bryant’s corpse could probably compete for the East.
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Chubb may not be the same player when he returns. He cant be better than Gurley whatever the case. How did that end? Eason will be a true freshman. Lots of players will leave and we’ll discover glaring gaps like we do every year.
East has been a joke the past three years at least and we’ve seen how we’ve done with it.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
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“I don’t think the hire/fire decision on Richt is going to change much of anything at B-M, regardless of which way it goes.”
Sadly, this is right on the money. For us to see the kinds of fundamental changes everyone seems to be clamoring for, we’d need to see a complete overhaul of the institutional culture — throughout Butts-Mehre and possibly beyond (i.e., the Board of Regents).
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How much does the Bear want?
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I’m to the point that I don’t really care what happens with Richt. If he goes, then it’s all about finding the right coach that can competently hire the right coordinators. If he stays, it’s all about him managing to hire the right coordinators since I think he’s going to be looking to replace both (if the infuriating scenario of Pruitt leaving and Schotty staying plays out, then Richt’s managing of the program will officially be in the territory of malpractice and he could be fired at any point without any argument from me).
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Ditto.
To your second sentence though – I just have little faith that B-M will do that if because I don’t believe for one second that they are willing to pony up the cash to procure the right coach. They got lucky with Richt not leveraging every new job on the market for a pay raise and that he’s so likeable to work for that they didn’t have to spend like drunken sailors on assistants (like everybody else is doing now).
The market for coaching salaries has changed significantly since 2001 (hell – significantly in the last four years). Everybody seems to get that except B-M and whenever Richt leaves (whether on his own accord or not), and I’m afraid that’s when we’re going to see the Georgia Way at work when it rears its ugly head at us and we end up with like our 10th option at coach.
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Note that over the course of Georgia’s entire football history — since 1892 — they have hired a total of ONE head coach with previous head coaching experience: Jim Donnan.
Everyone else they’ve EVER hired has been a coordinator at the time of hiring, with the exception of a handful of player-coaches around the turn of the 20th century.
The Georgia Way, in this regard, goes all the way back.
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Now wait just a dern minute…Vince coached the freshman team at Awbun. 🙂
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and Johnny Griffith head coached the UGA freshman team.
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Apparently Vince learned more at Awbun than Johnny did at Georgia, or something like that, there.
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I’d quibble a little with the idea that B-M isn’t aware of coaching salaries skyrocketing. They pay both coordinators over $1 million a year, which is very competitive. In fact, I’d say you could argue that they are so keenly aware of coaching salaries that they’d be inclined to look long and hard at if Richt really is a lost cause before going out and having to spend massive amounts of money for a new staff (plus buyouts of the old staff).
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Who’s got you believing Pruitt is leaving? That mess the week after the UF game? It was all horse hockey. All of it.
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Y’all realize we are talking about the possibility of keeping a coach who will finish the season without having beaten a team with a winning record?
9 wins is a hollow number.
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If we beat Georgia Southern we will! They’re 7-2! Wooooohoooooo! Haha.
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My bad. I didn’t think of them. But we aren’t sure we’ll best them yet either 🙂
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I don’t think it’s mathematically possible for GASouthern to finish with a losing record (but as far as SEC teams, yeah 6-6 Auburn and either a 6-6 Vandy, Mizzou, or Kentucky will be it.)
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Doesn’t matter who the coach is until the “Jan Kemp syndrome” is cured at the Board of Regents and the athletic department.
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You mean expecting athletes to be literate is what holds Georgia back?
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+1
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That’s good Mike. me too +1
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Putting a higher priority on football. I didn’t say lower academic requirements.
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Dr. Kemp’s point was don’t place a higher priority on football than academics.
just sayin’
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Obviously a change was needed but that situation was the ammo that Adams used to neuter the football program. To me a NC is a hat and T-shirt. I’m glad that our program does things the right way. Some of these people think that UGA will start behaving like the elites with a coaching change. Those of us who have been around awhile know better. That’s all I was saying. Geez.
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In keeping with my policy of not reading the comments on a thread like this, I haven’t. However I would like to say that you must consider the source of the source. Tony Barnhart can say less with more words than anybody I know. His statement that he does not know what CMR’s future is would have been correct but his sportswriter ego could not stop there he had to say but he knows they will not do anything until after the Tech game. LMAO does anybody in their right mind think they are going to fire the coach after he beat Auburn? If Coach Richt was not the easy going guy he is he would have told UGA to go to heck years ago. He may not be the greatest coach in college football but he the greatest coach in UGA history. So yea kets all cut off our noses to spite our faces, that’ll show the college world we mean business. It will also show them we are too crazy to work for if you are a coach.
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Damn fingers. So we can all cut off our noses to spite our faces….
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“Tony Barnhart can say less with more words than anybody I know. ” Outstanding observation 69 I am still giggling.
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Things are gonna be great guys. Next year it’s all going to get better. Or the year after. Or maybe the one after that. But mark my words, good things are coming.
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I can feel it too!
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Happiness is coming!
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