Would Richt be forced to make changes if Dogs struggle?
Mark Richt and Damon Evans look content, probably because this was taken when Georgia was ranked No. 1 in 2008. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
Mark Richt is facing more doubt about the direction of the Georgia football program than he has since arriving in Athens in 2001. So it follows that he may have to deal with situations he never has encountered before. Two in particular:
1) Deciding whether to fire (or significantly demote) one of his top assistants, specifically defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and/or offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.
2) If Richt remains fiercely loyal to Martinez and Bobo, how does he react if athletic director Damon Evans mandates change?
It might seem like this is getting a little bit ahead of the situation. Evans hasn’t indicated he ever would dictate coaching matters to Richt. And I suppose there’s always the possibility that things suddenly click for the 3-3 Bulldogs and this whole subject goes away. But let’s consider a few things:
♦ There are six games left on the schedule: two likely wins (Vanderbilt and Tennessee Tech), one likely loss (Florida) and three games that can go either way (Auburn, Kentucky, Georgia Tech). A sweep of those last three seems unlikely. So at best Georgia probably is looking at a 7-5 season and a lower-tier bowl game.
♦ The Bulldogs rank 75th nationally in total defense, 97th against the pass and 100th in scoring defense. In four SEC games, opponents have scored 37, 41, 20 and 45 points and totaled 1,752 yards, an average of 438 yards. This follows a season in which Martinez took a lot of heat for collapses against Alabama, Florida, LSU and Georgia Tech.
♦ The offense has failed to produce a touchdown in 10 of the last 11 quarters — the exception being two late scores in the loss to LSU — and ranks 97th overall and 74th in scoring. Richt expected a productive season even with the losses of Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Mohamed Massaquoi. Why? Because the offensive line was supposed to be signficantly better than a year ago. It isn’t.
Richt and Evans both are extremely competitive. But it’s always important to note in situations like this that Evans did not hire Richt.
Two other things are worth mentioning: The two appeared to be on opposite sides on whether to have the Georgia Dome rotate in as a venue for the Georgia-Florida game. (Evans was against it; Richt supported the concept). At one point, Evans also said, “Some people may say Florida is beating us because we’re in Jacksonville. I’m not an excuse guy.” (Stating the obvious here: Evans was referring to fans, not Richt.)
Evans also has sought to increase Georgia football as a national brand, leading to more difficult non-conference opponents. But Richt can’t like the fact that Georgia played Oklahoma State and Arizona State in the first four games this season, while Florida played early games against Charleston Southern and Troy, while Alabama faced Florida International and North Texas.
Regardless, this will be an interesting situation to watch.
Do you have any thoughts on how it might develop?
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461 comments Add your comment
stendec
October 11th, 2009
9:44 pm
I have been a rabid Dawg fanatic for over half a century! Overly optimistic to be sure. All that ended with the Knoxville Knockout! I see nowhere for this group to go but down under MR. I am not saying no Dawg team has ever intentionally quit. Those teams at least made an attempt to mask what was really going on. The Dawgs quit in Tennessee! They made no attempt to hide that fact. Anyone that denies that is lying to themselves. That gnaws at my insides even worse than an unacceptable lopsided point loss. College football is a game of emotion. I am totally sick of watching poker face MR walk the sidelines with a completely confused look on his ugly kisser! When other coaches have to defend his team after terrible calls (LSU) while he turns the other cheek it is time for a change. I, for one, do not want him back after Knoxville Knockout. I digress.
Only two things can save the phoney baloney job of MR:
1 – Fire Willie Martinez, Mike Bobo and whoever the special team coach is immediately, not tomorrow, not next week, but this instant!
Or
2 – Run the table which would require an upset of the top seed Florida Gators. Not impossible but highly, extremely, laughably unlikely! I have serious doubts this bunch of quitters can defeat Tennessee Tech. Hope that is right patsy.
There is something rotten in Athens with the stench drifting all the way to Atlanta. Perhaps MR is homesick for Tallahassee. If so, buy him a damn ticket to Florida! Better yet, let him motor there in one of his trucks. Just make sure a Bible is in the glove compartment. A disillusioned Dawg watcher. ++STENDEC++
@danweiner
October 11th, 2009
9:46 pm
This a program that has gotten too comfortable in the status quo. This is a results oriented business and Martinez has to go. The results have been sub par for him lately. It’s also time to make a switch at QB. SEC title is out of the question now, it’s time to start playing for the future. i respect Cox’s loyalty to the program, but it’s time for Richt to make the switch to give them a leg up for next year.
Herschel Talker
October 11th, 2009
9:47 pm
Schultzie:
What does it say that you have to write a column on whether he should be “forced” to make changes? Isn’t that saying that he doesn’t have the common sense or the ability to divest himself from his emotions to do the obviously right thing? How is a man like that fit to be the head coach of UGA? This entire situation is a disgrace. What the heck do these guys do during the week? Do they practice? How can they should up in Knoxville like that and expect anyone to believe that they actually practice?
uuugh....
October 11th, 2009
9:52 pm
Unfortunately Richt’s success has bought him enough good will from Evans and Adams that this situation will have to get much worse before it can get better. Which is the worst possible situation. If recruits see the way we just get abused, they have to believe that a change is coming. Would you listen to Willie Martinez talking in your living room about how it will be next year? I wouldn’t either. The type of kid that would sign thinking he could crack the starting line up after 2 weeks on campus might not be the type of kid you want either.
We need swift decisive action which has been lacking from the head coach for a couple of years now. Now we will find that same thing is missing from the AD and Administration. Egads.
Winterville Dawg
October 11th, 2009
9:55 pm
Oh my goodness. Will you people relax. Dooley struggled. Check 1974 Erk struggled. Are you there only in the wins
Sec observor
October 11th, 2009
9:56 pm
Richt is fired by end of next season. Florida owns him and if he is 2-8 against UF at the end of next season that alone is cause for dismissal.
The reality is that the other 3 rivals UT, Auburn, and Tech have all in 1 year caught UGA and are now competitive enough to beat UGA as UT demonstrated yesterday. These 3 programs are only going to get better and in the past few years these were games that almost always were looked upon as “should wins”. Not so anymore. These are now toss up games. Tech beating UGA last year, UT pounding the dawgs this year, and Auburn at 5-1 despite their loss to Ark. All 3 of these teams at the halfway point of the season are better than UGA. UT is also 3-3 but is better by virtue of a buttkicking head to head.
Dawgs are now wayyyy behind UF and Bama for the foreseeable future. Good thing they don’t play the Bammers.
UGA beats Vandy for their first solid win of the year and beat Tenn Tech. UF is a loss. That leaves UK which has been tough the last 2 years, a resurgent Auburn, and a solid Tech squad that beat the dawgs. If UGA wins 1 of those 3 its a 6-6 season and if they win 2 of those 3 its a 7-5 season.
Uga breaks in a new qb all over again next year as these 3 rivals continue to improve so we have no reason to believe the dawgs will be any better than 8-4 next year. 7-5 and 8-4 at best spell unemployment for CMR. Mark my words. He’s done at the end of next year.
juvenal
October 11th, 2009
10:04 pm
55k-u lost becuz u only got 90k, ut got 100k-bild a bigr place!(or mebbe u only dissapoint more people?)stendec, wutup?cmr IS joe kool…
pj
October 11th, 2009
10:04 pm
Remember the movie “Return of the Jedi”? Luke Skywalker and the Emporer have a dialogue. I imagine if Mark Richt and Urban Meyer had a similar dialogue, it would go like this:
Richt: “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”
Meyer: “Your faith in your friends is yours.”
Anyone get my drift?
juvenal
October 11th, 2009
10:06 pm
cpj changes anytime he dont win…
AJGREENFAN
October 11th, 2009
10:06 pm
This has been developing for at least 3-4 years now when Dawg fans gave Mark Richt pass after pass because he got us to a few Sugar Bowl appearances. We all thought when we got rid of Neil Callaway, Mike Bobo was a breath of fresh air and in the Chik-Fil-A bowl against Va Tech, he looked like he (Bobo) was. But with all the talent that UGA has at skill positions and experience on the O-line, I can’t think of a good reason for this team to stink offensively. One explanation is that you dont have to be too creative to plan for this offensive attack.
I know we aren’t very talented at QB right now. But my goodness: be creative on offense find a way to get momentum.
It may get uglier before it gets better
bali smith
October 11th, 2009
10:07 pm
changes should be made.
richt must get more involved I have never seen a coach show so little emotion during a ball game. The O C and the Dc really seemed over matched. Scouting must be re evaluated also. They Maybe 5 star athletes in High School, but what is their IQ. Alot of great high school athletes are able to coast before they get to college because of their superior talent. Also some star players in high school can be uncoachable.I was looking forward to this football season because I thought the team would come to the forfrount this season instead of the matt and marino show…………. geez what a team
Sec observor
October 11th, 2009
10:08 pm
Dooley struggled in 74 but we now live in an instant gratification society. Plus expectations were less back then as everybody was overshadowed by the big crimson elephant in the room back then Bear Bryant. Not so anymore.
If Tubberville and Cutcliffe can each be fired for one bad year then CMR can certainly be fired after 2 mediocre years. Fulmer was one year removed from winning the division when he got canned. Nutt had just 1 bad year I think when he was canned. Shula won 10 games in 05 at Bama, then regressed the next year and was fired. Donnan and Ray Goof were fired for consistent 8 win seasons.
The quick ascension of Bama from laughingstock to national power in 2 years with subpar talent from the Shula years has got people over here shaking their heads as to why CMR’s program is going downhill despite year in and year out top 5 recruiting classes for what seems like forever.
Oh, and I forgot. Even the chickens look like they caught UGA. If not for an errant 3rd down pass on the 3 by Garcia and a special teams 100 yd kickoff return by Boykin the chickens would have won that game.
Come to think of it in Georgia’s 3 wins the dawgs struggled mightily in games that just as easily could have gone the other way. Sure the LSU game could have gone UGA’s way and possibly even the Ok state game but in both of those games LSU and Ok state statisically dominated the dawgs and deserved to win.
9 years into his tenure CMR’s program should be at its peak. It actually looks like its descending quickly looking at these first 6 games. UGA in quick descent while the programs all around them are rising and rising quickly spells doom for CMR. Good will buys him one year. But next year? He’s done next year.
DP
October 11th, 2009
10:09 pm
“But Richt can’t like the fact that Georgia played Oklahoma State and Arizona State in the first four games this season, while Florida played early games against Charleston Southern and Troy, while Alabama faced Florida International and North Texas.”
Schultz conveniently leaves out that Alabama opened with and beat Virginia Tech, now rated #5 in the country, on a neutral site.
Oklahoma State lost to Houston, Arizona State is a mid to bottom tier Pac-10 team. Enough with the excuses. Nobody who watched the Georgia, Alabama and Florida games yesterday could confuse the level Georgia is playing at with Alabama and Florida. Georgia is playing much closer to the level of Vandy than to Florida or Alabama.
JaxGator
October 11th, 2009
10:09 pm
It is sad seeing the once proud Mutt nation become the laughingstock of the SEC. To be the first SEC football program to lose to kiffy boy should be an extreme embarassment for all the Dog’s fans.
Martinez and Georgia did somthing no one else could do; they made Crompton look like a SEC quarterback. We Gators are looking forward to the game in Jax. Wonder how many timeouts Meyer will save for the end of the game?It looks as if you dogs have a serious problem with underachieving and compacency among your coaching staff with that under achieving; only you dog fans can cure the problem.
MIKE ON LAKE HARTWELL
October 11th, 2009
10:10 pm
play aaron murray now so we dont have back to back 6 or 7 win seasons.
Bryan G.
October 11th, 2009
10:10 pm
I think how 2010 goes well determine the fate of the current regime. All the excuses that logically could exist this year will be gone next year.
BurtDawg
October 11th, 2009
10:10 pm
Too many good recruits in place for UGA to stay down long. Even if the staff stays, coach will be forced to change the schemes and toughness level. If his staff thinks the way they do it now, is the way it should be, then they may be gone. Coach just needs to make scheme changes and tell them to implement them or hit the road.
Sec observor
October 11th, 2009
10:11 pm
The absolutely incredible lack of discipline of this team in terms of turnovers, penalties, off the field arrests over the past 2 years tells you that CMR does not have a focused, disciplined team. They just aren’t and it is what it is and it starts with the head coach.
Dawghater
October 11th, 2009
10:14 pm
Dawg fans are a bunch of unrealistic whiners! Tell us how many National Championships UGA’s won. 1980? I know math isn’t you strong suit at UGA but that’s going to be 30 years old soon and I can bet the house UGA doen’t win another by 2010! You think way too much of your program and it truly showed last year. Ranked #1 in the preseason polls and ended up where. Yea, you guys would be dumb enough to fire Richt and we’d all love to watch it and see if you can come up with another Doonan. Hey, remember Richt wasn’t even your first choice. Remember Glenn Mason! Heck, all you Dawg fans thought Joe Cox would be fine because of all the “experience” he got sitting on the bench for 4 years. Enjoy your beat down in J’ville!
DDawg10
October 11th, 2009
10:16 pm
As a dawg fan I like CMR but after watching the disappointment in Tenn this past weekend by a poorly prepared dawg team, I admit am I’m beginning to staddle the fence on CMR. I would say I have never seen a poorer tackling team that we presently have but then there was last year’s team. Plain English, CMR you are the head coach and you need to make the touch decision to justify your position and salary. You kept Willie M last year and I expect it will cost you your job. I watch your demeanor on the sideline and wonder if the players playing with the same demeanor ie lack of fire the the head coach demonstates. It is time for change and CMR your and initiate it or be apart of it. Signed an embarrassed bulldog fan.
gumlogdawg
October 11th, 2009
10:16 pm
Not making excuses for where the program is right now, but here’s some food for thought–consider the following records: 7-3-1 (’64), 6-4 (’65), 5-5-1 (’69), 5-5-1 (’70), 7-4-0 (’72), 7-4-1 (’73), 6-6 (’74), 5-6 (’77), 6-5 (’77), 6-5 (’79), 7-4-1 (’84), and 7-3-2 (’85). By the way, these are Georgia teams coached by the legendary Vince Dooley, who also won 6 SEC titles and 1 National Title. I can’t help but wonder, could he have kept his job if it were today?
rainmaker
October 11th, 2009
10:18 pm
Richt should be upset about that killer early schedule. All Bama did was schedule two games on a neutral field which, if they lost, would likely end any chance of playing in the BCS Championship. Funny stuff. I guess we forgot starting the past couple of years out against Georgia Southern and Central Michigan (whoops, I forgot, they have more Top 25 votes as of today than UGA). Don’t get your panties in a wad CMR, enjoy TN Tech. You may or may not win it. What a joke. Keep making excuses Ole Mi….I mean UGA.
Gen Neyland
October 11th, 2009
10:19 pm
GBO…
Bama fan
October 11th, 2009
10:22 pm
DP,
UGA also plays Tennessee Tech. Bama played and beat by double digits Virginia Tech which is currently 4th in the country. VT has been destroying the rest of the acc in case you haven’t noticed. I would rather play unranked and mediocre ASU and an obviously overrated OSU which always finished 4th in is division than play VT which has won its conference 2 years in a row and is primed to do it yet again. UGA plays some okay mid level bcs conference teams but they do not step up and play the heavyweights of other bcs conferences, the teams that usually finish in the top 1 or 2 in their conferences. When is the last time ASU or OSU won their conference or division? OSU never. ASU probably 12 years ago.
Todd
October 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
I will give Coach Richt the benefit of the doubt; UGA finished ranked #2 in the nation less than two years ago, based mostly on a defense that was lights out (with the exception of the Tennessee game). Last year, the defense gave up an unacceptable number of points, especially in the big games against Bama, Florida, and Tech. I will assume that Richt gave Martinez a mulligan and hoped to see an improvement this year. That improvement has not happened, and I believe that Richt has the common sense to put personal relationships aside and make a change–at the end of the season. Demoting Martinez now will do nothing but cause dissension within the program. We need as little of that as possible right now. While he is at it, Richt should also find a tested OC and, for God’s sake, a new special teams coach. Fabris is a disaster, regardless of the special teams’ performance Saturday. I will always and forever stand by Richt. Georgia fans calling for his head are uninformed morons–the only reason we have these recruiting classes is because of him. Any parent in this country would encourage his/her child to play for the man. I know good people don’t necessarily make great coaches, but Richt is UGA’s X-factor in the recruiting wars. He is not the problem. Martinez, Bobo, and Fabris are the problems, and all three should (and will) be replaced at the end of the season. For now, let’s call this what we reluctantly knew it would be, Georgia fans–a painful, horrible, disastrous rebuilding year.
Lifelong Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
I remember the 5-6 Dooley year and the couple of mediocre years around that. And the fact that many fans were upset that we didn’t keep Russell and let Dooley go. If we don’t lose two players early to the draft, we are 5-1 at worst. Richt is an outstanding recruiter and brings in top recruiting classes. One of Richt’s strenghts has been the ability to adapt and I am confident he will figure this situation out as well. After suffering through years of Goff and Donnan, it is more likely the next coach would be a step down, not up. I think this is a rebuilding year a year earlier than planned and I am not at all in favor of dumping coach Richt at this point.
In the meantime, we need to do something on defense. Martinez cannot inspire or script the defense as well as Van Gorder could. We need to have the Junkyard Swagger we have had in years past and I agree we are not seeing it.
Also, not sure why people are calling for the head of the special teams coach. Other than covering kickoffs, that seems to be working better than most of the rest of the program. They had 9 points and a good punting game (again) against Tennessee.
Ed
October 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
As incredible as this would have seemed even a year ago, I agree that Georgia is headed for a 6-6 or 7-5 season and that Richt’s job could be on the line if he has a similar mediocre season next year. Look at what happened to Fulmer and Tuberville; things can go bad on a coach in a hurry in this conference. It should be obvious that Martinez needs to go, and if Richt doesn’t see that, then something’s wrong.
Speaking of folks who need to go – why is disgraced tax cheat Charlie Rangel (D-NY) still chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee? I though Nancy Pelosi was going to clean up the so-called “culture of corruption.” I guess Democrats are exempted. Tax cheats seem to be vogue this year. Check out this WSJ article on Rangel:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574300013592601036.html
45ACP
October 11th, 2009
10:27 pm
I am always optimistic. The glass is half full (until I finish my drink).
This team has some issues. Coach Richt has some hard decisions to make about some of his friends/family. I do not envy him or his situation. I wish the Dawgs the best and will always be a fan.
Frank Lane
October 11th, 2009
10:27 pm
I saw my first game in Athens in 1945 with Charlie Trippi and Choo Choo Charlie Justice from North Carolina, and have been a fan ever since.
I have also been a CEO of several companies and understand the tension sometimes between loyalty to your lieutenants and performance. One of the things best about sports is that you know exactly how you are doing. If you take accolades for winning, you must accept responsibility for losing.
Richt has no alternative but to change his coaching staff and his players or be seen as a weak-minded wimp. He must act. Or it will ruin his own reputation. He should start calling plays again himself, and set the guidelines for Martinez at the least. No more soft zones and daring the opponent to throw.
Lifelong Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:28 pm
Bama fan, the big non-conference games are scheduled up to 8 years in advance. Whether the teams are ranked or overrated when it finally comes to game time is more a matter of luck than planning.
BurtDawg
October 11th, 2009
10:29 pm
gumlogdawg :
Good point!! The big money, huge media coverage, the internet with blogs like this one, makes expectations at most any school hard to meet. Dooly probably would not be around for 1980 to happen. What tells on me, is I remember those teams. Since there was no internet, nobody was all that upset. My how times have changed…..
45ACP
October 11th, 2009
10:29 pm
Gen Neyland – Congrats on the win. The Vols played a great game.
buttcut loser
October 11th, 2009
10:30 pm
richt made a name himself on the back of brian van gorder. if he is just now realizing his team sucks than its already too late. willie should have been replaced by garner before the bowl game last yr at the very latest. bobo should be banned from playbooks and headsets. all uga fans can hope for is uga hitting rock bottom when they dont make a bowl. new coordinators next year…new head coach the following year. richts loyalty will drag him into the ground.
athensdawg
October 11th, 2009
10:30 pm
We are now in a situation with a man who must face up to the fact that his best efforts and decisions are no longer good enough. The emperor is marching down the street on national TV completely naked….
Lets just sit back and enjoy the drama as it plays itself out…..
Bama fan
October 11th, 2009
10:31 pm
Jeff,
Nice try buddy. As DP pointed out its kinda funny that you left out the fact that Bama beat down Virginia Tech in the opener. VT is now ranked 4th in the country and has been destroying acc competition left and right. OSU and ASU don’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Virginia Tech.
How convenient that you left that out of the equation when talking about how easy our early scheduling was.
You either purposefully omit important details which makes you not credible or you are incompetent. Now which is it?
Ed
October 11th, 2009
10:33 pm
Those of you who compare Dooley’s down years to what Richt is going through this year are missing a key difference – Dooley had great records against the teams that Georgia fans want to beat the most, mainly Florida and Georgia Tech. He played Auburn about even. While Richt has done well against Tech and Auburn, his 2-6 record against Florida has been a sore spot for Georgia fans, even in the SEC Championship seasons (we lost to UF in both). Barring a miracle, Georgia under Richt will slip to 2-7 against Florida. You can bet the natives will be restless this offseason.
DP
October 11th, 2009
10:34 pm
BamaFan, you might want to read more carefully. I was pointing out that Schultz intentionally downplayed Alabama’s early schedule by leaving out Virginia Tech.
Asheville Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:35 pm
I always wanted to go to Neyland and I did yesterday. Unfortunately . The Dawgs forgot to come out for the second half. Did the offense even get off the bus for the game? The effort given was pathetic and embarrassing for any UGA fan. The Tennessee fans let us fool hardy attendees know how bad it was to let Johnthen “Crapton” pick apart our defense If we continue to be coached with the same guys and the same schemes how will the results be any different. It’s time for CMR to “man up” and take hold of his problems before the program crashes and burns. The difference between Vol fans and Dawg fans is simple, they are happy to be at 3-3, and we are pissed at being 3-3. If we get great players recruited to Athens it is up to the coaching to mold them into some better than I saw on the field yesterday.
Bama fan
October 11th, 2009
10:36 pm
Lifelong Dawg,
You are correct that some interconference games are scheduled up to 8 years in advance. However, most are not. Bama took on 2 time acc champion VT and scheduled the game 1 year earlier. I sincerely doubt that the ASU game and Okay state game were scheduled 8 full years in advance. If I remember correctly they were scheduled only a couple of years in advance.
Also, whenever OSU was scheduled it was known at the team that this team is, was, and always has been the 3rd or 4th best team at best in their own division. They knew that when they scheduled OSU and I sincerely doubt that Richt or Damon Evans would have been expecting that OSU would be a top 10 ranked team when they scheduled them. At least be honest on that point. OSU is a team that has never even won their division.
Bama fan
October 11th, 2009
10:39 pm
DP,
I got that after re reading your post. My apology. You were dead on and I wrote to Jeff noting your notation of how convenient it was the Jeff left that point out. He is either intentionally deceitful in leaving that out or just flat out incompetent. I queried him “Which is it?”
NecUga
October 11th, 2009
10:39 pm
Blah, blah, blah………………..
GW
October 11th, 2009
10:40 pm
Lots of obvious problems but most obvious is Martinez, Fabris and Jancek. Perhap’s Garner’s ship has sailed too. Nothing will change before December 1, if then, so we have to hope the season does not totally tank and the speculation won’t help. I’m not there everyday but it is clear that CMR has gone the total delegation route and the staff ain’t gettin’ it done. That means CMR ain’t gettin’ it done. I sure do hate it. Goff was in over his head and Donnan made himself easy to dislike but we never dreamed Richt would let it get to this point so fast.
BobDawg
October 11th, 2009
10:41 pm
The parallels of MR to Bobby Cox are remarkable. Both are truly good people who are loyal to a fault. Both, therefore frustrate the heck out of their fans because of this trait. I think Willie Martinez is an excellent defensive back coach and an atrocious Defensive Coordinator. He is simply over his head.
The entire staff seems a little too analytical starting with Coach Richt. This works when there are fiery players, such as David Pollack or Thomas Davis. There seems to be no fire from this team at all, so I think a little fire is needed from the coaches. I still do not think the talent level on this team is as bad as they have played. And they goes directly to coaching.
dawgs-n-sc
October 11th, 2009
10:42 pm
First off, GO DAWGS! Just wanted everybody to know that I’m a loyal Dawg Fan as long as I’m on this earth! With that said, the state our Dawgs Football program is at a standstill. The Tennesse game shows, once again, that our coaching personnel and whole team attitude is comfortable being 2nd fiddle.
We need a coaching change. Whether offensive/defensive coordinators or whole staff, we need a change. I love Mark Richt but if he’s not going to get rid of Martinez/Bobo, then he is to hold the blame because he HIRED them. Mark Richt has been good to the Dawg Nation, but we want to win National Championships and compete for one every year.
After Ray Goooof, Donnan tooks us to a “Win a bowl game every year” attitude/state of mind. After Donnan, Richt has now taken us to a “Win and compete for an SEC title/top 10 finish” attitude/state of mind. Now it times to get rid of the boring vanilla coaching and get a staff that is aggressive and tough that can take us to a “Win and compete for national championships” attitude/state of mind.
That’s something that needs to be addressed after the season. But for now, bench Joe Cox, give Washan Ealey 20 carries/gm, punish players in practice for penalties, fix the kickoff coverage, and get out of that “easy to read even if I were Stevie Wonder” Cover 2 defense waiting for the other team to make a mistake all the time!
Still six games left so lets leave it all on the field. GO DAWGS!
thx
BigDog
October 11th, 2009
10:42 pm
Richt obviously needs to sacrifice Martinez this year. This season is done. Richt will be too if he doesn’t break in one or both of the freshman qbs NOW. Richt has earned one bad year but no coach is afforded two bad years back to back. Simply put, he can’t afford to go into next year with an inexperienced qb. Get the kids some experience now.
Big Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:43 pm
Richt had success when, Chan was at Georgia Tech, Phil was losing at UT, Lou Holtz couldn’t get it done at SC and Bama had Shula. There was only Saban at LSU at that time. Oh, and Florida had Zook and Richt had a losing record to him. Times have changed in the last four years. UF has Urban, Bama has Saban, LSU has Les, SC has Spurrier (two years ago we didn’t get into the National Championship because we lost to SC early in the season) GT has Paul.
Van Gorder is gone, and Richt no longer calls plays and we’re stuck with Bobo (which in Spanish translates into; dummy) and Willie, which in English stand for dummy. So, with dumb and dumber as our coordinators we’re left with no fire in our belly and zero creativity in our play calling. Oh, and by the way aside from a few kicks run back which is based on pure skill and speed by our players; our special teams are horrible!! We kick they run back to the 40. Plus some sort of penalty.
We keep blaming Willie and Bobo but this is Richt’s fault for a) hiring them b) not firing them. So if Richt can’t make the tough decisions on his personnel then Evans needs too. If Evans want to keep his program as one of the top 2 grossing football programs in the nation, things need to change now.
ozzfest
October 11th, 2009
10:45 pm
1. FIRE BOTH BOBO AND MARTINEZ.
2. HIRE AN EXPERIENCED OC AND DC.
3. KEEP SCHEDULING MAJOR OPPONENTS…THAT IS NOT AT ALL THE PROBLEM, AND GEORGIA FANS DESERVE MORE THAN IDAHO STATE AND TENNESSEE TECH. (FIRE AURTHUR JOHNSON, TOO!)
Lifelong Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:53 pm
Bama Fan, actually at Georgia they were. Just like Alabama has games with Michigan State in 2016 and 2017. The point I was making is that when Alabama scheduled VT, it was likely in the years that they were 8-4, 10-4 and 8-5 and struggling to get to .500 in their conference. Michigan State is an up and down team. They have an outside shot to win the Big Ten, but usually underpeform. But they could win it in 2014 and 2015 and come to Tuscaloosa as a powerhouse. I don’t have a crystal ball. That was the point.
Drive-Thru Trainer Dawg
October 11th, 2009
10:53 pm
At least he’s not Paul Johnson. Paul Johnson is a big fat meanie.
Jeff Schultz
October 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
Herschel – The performance in Tennessee was an embarrassment, no question. But I’m not ready to dump on Richt that much yet. The guy has a long record of success, so I want to see how he responds to this situation first.
SEC observer – Richt fired? I don’t think so. Just my opinion.
DP –I wasn’t making excuses. But Georgia’s non-conference schedule is significantly tougher. Very good point on the VaTech game though.
Brett
October 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
Martinez’s Defense did a great job of making Crompton look like a Heisman candidate! Bobo’s play calling makes any opponent’s Defense look Pro. And who on earth is coaching the kick returners on special teams??? How in the world do these guys not know to not field a punt on the goal line and run it out?!?! This is absurd!!!
If Richt isn’t capable to make the changes that need to be made, then I’ve got two words for him…Chan Gailey! Chan stuck with UGA’s best QB to never wear the red & black and never beat UGA. If Richt stays with these two clowns, and doesn’t get back to UGA’s winning ways, don’t be surprised if he finds himself standing in line behind Gailey.
tolduso
October 11th, 2009
10:58 pm
I have always been a big Georgia Bulldog Football fan. Way back since the 70s. UGA has always underacheived. Even when Herschel was there. This is something different. Worse than ever. I have never liked CMR. NEVER!! Even when the Dawgs won, something was missing. We have the top recruits, but they never play to potential. Richt was just killing time until he was asked to come back to FSU as the follow up to BB. Now that that is never going to happen, he just doesn’t give a crap. The main problem is that he is always trying to protect the stats of his QBs instead of playing all out. Games were close but he couldn’t risk his golden boys messing up their stats so he would alway run on 3rd and 8+ in hopes that the loss would be blamed on someone else other than the QB. When Greene was there, it killed him to put Shockley in because he was afraid Shockley might get more praise than Greene. Shockley still left with more SEC championships than Greene. Heck, we could have had Eric Berry but Richt was scared to that he might want to play QB so he wouldn’t recruit him strongly. He was afraid that another Shockley/Greene situation might arise. You all know what I mean. AJ is the best in the SEC but he’s afraid that Cox won’t get the praise so he just say’s “forget it” and runs on 3rd and long. I will be so glad when his unemotional “you-know-what” is gone.
Paul The Vol
October 11th, 2009
11:06 pm
This just shows how bad Georgia misses Moreno and the difference between him and Samuel running the ball was striking. With Moreno running the ball it forced teams to bring a safety down for run support and opened up the entire passing game. Now teams double Green and play the safeties over the top and force Cox to throw underneath. Georgia doesn’t need new offensive coaches, it needs new running backs.
Hawk n the Ham
October 11th, 2009
11:11 pm
Only Willie Martinez can make J. Crompton look like Peyton Manning. GEEZ.
Brett
October 11th, 2009
11:13 pm
Tolduso, I can’t help but think that you believe CMR is a racist.
DP
October 11th, 2009
11:15 pm
Georgia does have a good out of conference schedule this year but let’s not forget we’re talking about a team that hadn’t played a game west of the Mississippi in what, 40 years? Alabama has played home and home with Oklahoma and UCLA (down now but historically a good program) in this decade. In decades past they played home and home with teams like USC, Nebraska and Penn State. They played a 10 year home and home against Penn State but that was when there were only 6 SEC regular season games and no conference championship game.
With 8 SEC games plus a potential SEC conference championship game now, Saban says he wants to play one major out of conference game every year. For a program with national championship aspirations, I think playing one conference championship quality team like Virginia Tech is more dangerous than playing two traditionally middle of the conference teams like OK State and Arizona State. But the fact that Georgia has Georgia Tech on their schedule every year does add a degree of difficulty to their schedule now that Alabama doesn’t have.
Schedules aside, I think we all agree this Georgia team is not playing winning football and icould easily be 1-5 at this point. For those who watched the Georgia-UT, Alabama-Ole Miss and Florida-LSU games back to back to back yesterday, Georgia’s defense isn’t even remotely close to any of the other 5 and is light years from the type of defense Florida and Alabama are playing. Those two give offenses nothing. Georgia’s defense doesn’t take away anything.
Todd
October 11th, 2009
11:19 pm
tolduso, did you forget to tell yourself you’re an idiot? Greene and Shockley both won one SEC title. That’s a tie–not more. Also, how can you say Richt ignores AJ when he is the leading receiver in the SEC this year? You have quite an inroad to the mind of Coach Richt. I’m glad you chose to share with the rest of us.
dpvol4life
October 11th, 2009
11:19 pm
Ashville Dawg…Tennessee fans ARE NOT satisfied with 3-3…I don’t know why you are so surprised…we have owned you with the exception of about a three or four year stretch!!!!!
mdawg
October 11th, 2009
11:22 pm
ozzfest… in the coming years we have louisville in a home and home, oregon in a home and home and a home and home with clemson. so rest assured on that.
as long as we have to sacrifice money and lose 1 home game every other year to jacksonville. we will be forced to schedule a tennessee tech or idaho state. florida has to do the same thing because they also lose 1 home game. thats why the schedule weak.
CMR. i get the impression that the players play relaxed because you, the leader, always stay calm and never get upset. here is an idea. light a fire under their asses and see how they respond.
in the 1990’s jim donnon drove a steam roller to a game, then asked his team while standing on the steam roller, “are we going to steam roll them or get steam rolled”. btw we won that game 41-0 against miss state.
CMR, try another stratagy to get them fired up. this is another team from years past. differant players need differant motivation.
yes we still need to fire bobo…. when bobo was a QB, he had a quote that still bothers me…. he said, ’sometimes i do not know what im doing out there’. well bobo. you still do not know what you are doing. either quit or get fired.
oh willie, oh willie. i want you head on my totem pole
Alabama Jack
October 11th, 2009
11:31 pm
If you are going to recruit 5 star players, don’t complain when they come out early. That’s the price you pay for being an NFL subsidiary.
Brett
October 11th, 2009
11:36 pm
Todd, the only thing that Tolduso saig that was actually accurate was about Shockley having more SEC titles. Technically, that is correct, since Shockley was Greene’s backup when Greene was at the helm. And then Shockley captured one when he was at the helm…1 ring for Greene, 2 for Shockley. But he’s still an idiot.
BurtDawg
October 11th, 2009
11:42 pm
tolduso:
Your post is full of crap. I could make a list of rebuttables, but will list only one to keep it short. Eric Berry’s dad went to TN. He said from get-go it was TN as a the leader. Richt went after him hard, but he new this also, and he still commited resources to get him. Richt is not Stalin trying to keep his ego. Get a grip.
dan
October 11th, 2009
11:42 pm
Jeff,
To answer your points
1.) Willie is done. There is no way he stays in Athens after this season. He’ll be allowed to finish out, but he’s done. Bobo is on the chopping block as is Fabris. If both of these guys stick around, go 5-7 this season and then team goes 6-6 in 2010 with a third consecutive loss to Tech, then Richt might be gone. The Dawgs could very well tank and go 5-7 this season. I think this defense refuses to play for Willie. If they will pack it in vs. the Vols, I see no reason to believe why they won’t do the same against Vandy.
2.) I think Evans will talk to Richt at the end of the season. I think he will give Richt the option of demoting Martinez, and one year to turn the season around. If Richt offers Willie a demotion, then Willie can decide whether to stay or go. I think Bobo and Fabris will be evaluated as well, but Willie has had 5 years to get it right and he hasn’t done it. If you can’t figure it out in 5 years then you just don’t have it. But if UGA goes 5-7 this season, gets blown out by Florida and Tech then Evans will be forced to step in. Unlike Felton, Evans likes Richt and will let him do his job as long as the results are good-great. But I don’t think Evans would be out of line to pull Richt into his office and say ” Mark what the heck is going on here man?” I also don’t think Evans would be out of line to insist that Willie be demoted after this year. Richt has allowed Martinez 5 years to prove himself and now its time to move forward.
So that’s how I see this scenario playing out, and that’s how I would handle things if I were the AD
Ed
October 11th, 2009
11:45 pm
Tolduso, Georgia was 33-3 during the Herschel years, with 3 SEC Championships and a MNT. Herschel’s class went 10-1-1 and won the Cotton Bowl the year after he left (proving that Georgia was much more than Herschel during those years). 43-4-1. If that’s underachievement, I wish we’d start underachieving again.
ExecutiveStinger
October 11th, 2009
11:45 pm
The following comes from a Tech fan who knows a lot about UGA:
I still go back to the Florida game two years ago when Mark called for the excessive celebration. I am not sure what happened that day other than UGA winning, but in my mind, the dawgs have not been the same since. It seems like the coming of Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, and Les Miles to the SEC has added even more attitude, swagger, and intensity. On that day, Mark tried to step up his game as a coach but it seems like he lost his players. UGA has struggled with penalties and mistakes ever since then. I have to feel like Richt will figure it out somehow because of the success he has had overall, but at the same time, maybe he really has lost his team. You would think with new players and new leaders, he could regain control. But UGA beats themselves nowadays. Tennessee played great Saturday, but the dawgs made a ton of mistakes that cost them the game. Same against Ok. St. How does Richt account for all this when those types of things used to never be a problem?
I can’t say that Richt needs to go because he has had so much success, but I know something needs to change over there. We’ll see what happens, but that’s what I think about UGA’s problems.
Matt the Brave
October 12th, 2009
12:00 am
Ok folks, settle down. I agree, we need to look at our coordinators and see if they need to stay in those positions. However, look at next season’s schedule. MUCH easier than this year’s.
http://www.sicemdawgs.com/football/sched/fbsch_10.php
We open at Louisiana (W), at South Carolina (should be W), Arkansas (W), Mississippi State (should be W), at Colorado (W), Tennessee (either/or), Vandy (W), at Kentucky (W), Florida (either/or), Idaho State (W), at Auburn (either/or), open date, then Ga Tech (either/or). If we win all the games I think we will, we’ve got 8 in the bag right there. The other four that could go either way depends on the coaching and the will of the players. Let’s reserve judgment on Coach Richt until after next season and see how things go.
portcityslim
October 12th, 2009
12:03 am
A few years ago GA was playing FL, inside the 20 yd line with 3 min to go or less. And instead of trying to score a touchdown, MR played for a fieldgoal. Ga had a first down but the headcoach(Mark Richt) was afraid to go to the end zone. I thought he needed to go at that time and following all the underachieving seasons since that year i am sure he needs to go now.
rxdawg99
October 12th, 2009
12:04 am
Enter your comments here
flanker
October 12th, 2009
12:07 am
Georgia’s problems are managerial.
The dichotomy of “poor playing” v. “poor coaching” is a false one. Georgia players’ morale is low and they do not perform well, because they do not feel that they really have to. The do not perform or play with intensity, because they have learned, from the coaches, that our program tolerates mediocrity.
You cannot make a team play with intensity if you don’t expect that from the coaches as well. For four years, UGA fans have seen the team’s defense consistently deteriorate, yet CMR has refused to make the necessary changes. It is very difficult for well-to-do coaches to motivate non-paid players on a good day. It is even more difficult if the guys making big paychecks are not facing consequences of their ineptitude. Our team’s problems are fundamentally managerial problems – the same ones that many of us have in our daily jobs.
CWM has to be fired. Not only because he is a really bad defensive coordinator, but also because keeping him sends a bad message to our players. CMR fancies himself as a great and supportive boss. However, he is a nice boss to his immediate underlings at the expense of our floor-level workers (players) and his customers (fans).
I am a big fan of coaches who have had some experience in the real business world, or who have actually studied that field. CMR needs to learn some basic personnel-management skills, and not to think that his nice guy –shtick is good enough management.
richard cranium
October 12th, 2009
12:07 am
Maybe Georgie should come out of the tunnel “arm in arm” as a show of solidarity like FSU did for Bowden….
Pffffftt…..
rxdawg99
October 12th, 2009
12:16 am
Forget firing Bobo, remember we lost our star QB and TB to the draft, and a 1 year rebuilding on offense is always a valid excuse?? WM’s seat is alot hotter, but he will remain as our DC next year with the expectation that improvement is required to save his job going into the future. But what I do not understand is the special teams coach (is it Fabris? or a collection of several coaches?). Our kickoff and kickoff coverage has been the worst for the last SEVERAL YEARS. Why have we continued to keep this coach (or coaches)? Would it not make more sense to bring in a well known, hall of fame kicker to coach special teams? Somebody please call Kevin Butler.
Nashville Dawg
October 12th, 2009
12:20 am
Richt just doesn’t have it to be a great coach. No fire= No Desire. Just laid back attitudes.
Well, it was fun while it lasted, but Richt has to go.
Doc Holliday
October 12th, 2009
12:21 am
The cancer (Martinez) was not removed in a timely manner and now that cancer has spread to the entire team. Fans complain about no effort and lack of enthusiam. If you are a player and you know that Richt is covering for Martinez are you going to lay it all on the field? I think not now Richt can only blame himself for this sorry pitiful team.
Lance
October 12th, 2009
12:23 am
I am as big a dawg fan as anyone but let me say! We need to face the music we have always and will always be a average football team. I compare us to Clemson based on wins, titles, and choking in big situation. Richt has had 2 great seasons and several decent seasons. The only thing is when we finally won the SEC in 2002 we all got crazy, and forgot that we are who we are. Georgia will always compete to a respectiful level but we can not cross the border.
jp
October 12th, 2009
12:27 am
not making excuses ,but damon evans does not know what in the hell he is doing.ga is the only team that plays in a bcs conference that plays 3 teams from bcs conferences as non conf foes. oak st ,ga tech,arizona st.You can not play 11 bowl like games and be up for every one esp in the sec.ga played 4 straight road games last year and 3 this year, so we can ” increase our brand ” .does evans not know that there is an invention called a tv , and on that invention they show shows like all of our games.we don,t need to go to ariz st so they can see us out there. when was the last time florida ,bama, tenn, socal, texas lsu ect played 4 ,or even 3 road games in a row .fla plays 7 home games and 1 in jax. and 4 road games all season because foley, their a d knows what he is doing unlike evans.the gators non conf foes are chas southern,troy ,florida international and fsu. if and when they win it again do you think people are gonna say they only played 4 road games or their comp was weak. no they play in the toughest conf in football .Evans reminds me of obama,says abunch of sh?? that means nothing and does less than that . are we in the sunbelt conf .why dont we move the tech game to the dome and have 7 road games and 5 home games with a month between home games.and 5 in a row on the road.We must play and coach better but it is clear that if anybody needs to go it is damon evans and his travel agent
Damon's Rep
October 12th, 2009
12:30 am
It is worth noting that Damon Evans’ reputation is also on the line. He certainly doesn’t want to the AD during a rapid decline. Add to it the financial cost of lost booster enthusiasm and I think it add up to the fact that he will pressures Richt for changes (sooner rather than later).
45ACP
October 12th, 2009
12:33 am
They better get over Tennessee and get ready for Vandy.
We can not take any team lightly at this point in the season.
If they are not prepared they will get beat again.
And that is unacceptable.
Mike
October 12th, 2009
12:38 am
several decent seasons? 10 win seasons are much more than “decent”. That being said- Richt needs to stay and Martinez needs to go (maybe Bobo too), My problem is if we continue to recruit top 10 recruiting classes, why are we playing like a mid major conference bottom dweller? This team is in serious trouble this year-no fire, no discipline, and poorly coached.
……I will, however, continue to watch my Dawgs religiously and will do so in any bowl we make it to.
mdawg
October 12th, 2009
12:40 am
rxdawg. usc loses 2 heismans. the qb and rb in 1 draft and they still go 12-1. yes we lost ours. but we should still go 12-1 or 11-2.
if other teams get better when they lose their top players, then we have no excusses
ha
October 12th, 2009
12:41 am
Well mike stick your head in your toilet “bowl” that is where you will watch them at.
Lance
October 12th, 2009
12:48 am
I remember 2007 when georgia was lost and was heading out to pasture, then came vandy. We escaped by a turnover then preceded to go on a tear that included beating the Gaytors. We were the best team in the country over that span, Im not saying that we can repeat that this time but, anything can happen in College football. Go Dawgs!!!!!
jason
October 12th, 2009
1:02 am
Mike, the thing is…. 10 win seasons are mediocre now. We are playing 2 extra games a year, 3 if we are lucky. That turns an 8 win taem into a 10 win team with the extra cupcakes on the schedule.
KingfishStevens
October 12th, 2009
1:05 am
Instead of blaming CMR and his staff, why not blame TENNESSEE for just plain ole kicking your butts? GO VOLS!!!!!!!
Boise Dawg
October 12th, 2009
1:06 am
pj, Does that mean Bobby Bowden is going to throw Urban Meyer down a chute leading to deep space before he kills Mark Richt?
Ghost of Dooley
October 12th, 2009
1:12 am
it won’t be Damon who will be meddling. It will be Darth Adams.
archangeladidas
October 12th, 2009
1:14 am
What happen to that upset Jeffy in Death Valley? Let me guess…Arkansas is going to upset them GATORS! Riiiiight! There was talk of CMR being a great coach just this past summer. What happen uga?
45ACP
October 12th, 2009
1:16 am
KingfishStevens – I can’t argue with that. Y’all whopped us.
ButlerDawg
October 12th, 2009
1:17 am
This is it, folks. Richt is FSU bound after the season. Its far easier for him to coach like this in the ACC and get away with it…makes sense seeing as he is Bobby B’s protege.
Damon needs to start researching for replacements now, not December. Its going to happen, trust me.
archangeladidas
October 12th, 2009
1:18 am
I need to two losers to man up………………………………………
TigersNow
October 7th, 2009
9:04 am
Without Tebow, florida is an ordinary team. In Baton Rouge, with 95,000 drunken wild cajuns, the Tigers will roll baby!!! Brantley will throw 2-3 INTs, fumble 1 or 2 times and the lsu offense will get cranked up for some serious points! LSU 33 Fla 20—mark it down!!!
LSU Rules
October 8th, 2009
9:07 pm
Mark it down: lsu wins that game easy, with or without Tebow. At night, in Baton Rouge, the Tigers are unbeatable. Florida will fold like a cheap tent after a few early mistakes. Tigers 33 Gators 23
BuddyColtrane
October 12th, 2009
1:24 am
jp
bama has played neutral site games against clemson and vatech the past two years. they also play penn state home and home starting next year. usc (cali) anually plays notre dame and have just played osu home and home. osu have played texas and usc home and home and will play the vols in the future. fla schedules weak but they do play fsu every year and did play miami a couple years back. trust when i say that scheduling big time teams is the LEAST of uga’s problems.
and please, PRETTY please, leave obama out of this. after watching uga get its @$$ kicked the last thing i want to read about is race.
Johnny DangerDawg
October 12th, 2009
1:24 am
It’s way too early to attack Bobo. He’s the same play-caller who got us lots of points last year. Until the O-line and tailbacks start executing, defenses will not respect our running game and will put Joe Cox under lots of pressure every game. Bobo tried to deal with this problem against UT by throwing short, easy passes. Our receivers dropped those balls, which is unusual for them (and not Bobo’s fault). The O-line and running backs (and their position coaches) need to get their acts together. I don’t think there’s any offensive coordinator who could come in here and produce victories without good tailbacks and good run blockers.
THE CATHOLIC HAMMER
October 12th, 2009
1:25 am
Wake beat Stanford, Stanford beat UCLA, UCLA beat Tennessee, and Tennessee TROUNCED UGA.
That is, Wake Forest is better than UGA.
Deal with it, folks:
The SEC is a garbage conference, with two (or three, if LSU really is that good) great teams on top of the trash pile.
tim
October 12th, 2009
1:26 am
I think its great to be loyal to your coaching staff, but its time for a change at def. coord. The players do make some bad decisions but they look lost and overmatched each week. Georgia recruits way too well for this to happen. I wanna know who everyone thinks would be a good def. coord candidate. I guess its impossible to get Charlie Strong away from Florida. How about Kirby Smart coming home? Maybe out of the sec like they did with Van Gorder. I think Craig Bray does good at Ariz. State granted the 2 best teams they have played are Georgia and Oregon State (their 2 losses).
Johnny DangerDawg
October 12th, 2009
1:32 am
I don’t enjoy bashing Willie the way that many folks do. But I do think that a new DC could bring in some fresh energy to reinvigorate our defensive players. Richt talks a lot about how maintaining the same coaches is good for a program, and there’s some truth to that… BUT it’s also true that a new coordinator can give a team a shot in the arm. People sometimes say, “oh no, then the players have to learn a new system,” but the reality is that a lot of teams have great success in YEAR ONE of a new coordinator.
Arkansas is next
October 12th, 2009
1:36 am
How about that Gator D, 5 Games = 2 Touchdowns allowed. They go into a hostile enviroment on Saturday in front of a record crowd and hold the Tigers to 3 points, amazing.
Johnny DangerDawg
October 12th, 2009
1:45 am
If UGA is hiring a new coordinator this offseason, it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of money they want to spend. UGA’s coordinators are underpaid compared to what other SEC schools have paid their recent hires. If we fire Willie, the next guy will probably make double. That’ll be out of sync with our other assistant coaches, and guys like Rodney Garner might be saying “where’s my raise?” But after a disappointing season, I don’t know if Evans is going to want to approve much of a raise for anybody… There will be some ramifications that are hard to predict…
Michael
October 12th, 2009
1:46 am
Here’s a unique idea: Have the team wear white pants in the next game. Tell them they can wear silver britches again when they earn it. You could also do the same with the jerseys. They get to wear pink (it’s breast cancer awareness month anyway) until they earn the right to wear red again. Either that or bring out the black for the funeral that will be the Florida game.
45ACP
October 12th, 2009
1:48 am
ESPN – All of their college football commentators say the SEC is by far the best conference.
Go debate with them. We already know it.
BoboFett
October 12th, 2009
1:55 am
LifeLongDawg, the VT game was confirmed last year, not 8 years prior to. The Chic-Fil-A kick off picks team that are hot now. They picked us two years running and next year will host LSU-UNC(announced about a month ago).
THE CATHOLIC HAMMER
October 12th, 2009
1:57 am
Yes, let’s all believe in the ramblings of television commentators and not the facts of the matter.
Outside of the “Big 3″ (UA, UF, LSU), what is the stellar out-of-conference win for the SEC? Auburn over West Virginia (at Jordan-Hare, nonetheless) or Arkansas over Texas A&M?
Either way, that’s not very impressive.