Is it ‘hot seat’ time already for Mark Richt at Georgia?
Mark Richt is coming off a 4-4 SEC season at Georgia. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
Sometime last season — probably between the 45-19 loss at Tennessee and the 41-17 loss to Florida — I lost track of the number of times I was asked on blogs, emails and radio shows if Georgia coach Mark Richt was in trouble.
My response now is the same as it was then: He’ll be in trouble if he has one more bad season. I’m not sure if that qualifies me as being among the “handful of anonymous Internet trolls,” that Bill “Junkyard Blawg” King referred to this morning.
Fact is, even most fans who wake up every morning in their Bulldog boxer shorts must understand that life in the SEC is different than any other conference in America.
This is a topic now because a few publications are compiling their coaches-under-the-gun lists. The latest came today: The Orlando Sentinel is running a five-part series on coaches on the hot seat.
Part I focused on Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez, and you can hear the laughter all over West Virginia from here.
Part II focuses on Richt.
An excerpt:
Two words: National Championship. It’s been 30 years since the Bulldogs won their last title and Georgia fans are getting restless. Watching Florida, LSU, and Alabama win the past four BCS titles hasn’t probably helped either. Or the fact that Georgia has gone 2-6 against the Gators during Richt’s tenure.
But problems have dogged the Bulldogs program in recent years.
In the offseason, Richt decided to shake up his staff, firing defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and two other assistants. The Bulldogs went after several big-name coordinators eventually settling on Todd Grantham, an NFL coordinator [sic] with the Dallas Cowboys.
Then the program was hit with a string of arrests culminating with starting [sic] quarterback Zach Mettenberger’s arrest outside of a bar in Valdosta, Georgia.
In many ways, Richt is under more pressure now than ever before. While expectations certainly aren’t meteoric like two years ago, when the offense included Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, Richt knows going 4-4 in the SEC again won’t cut it in 2010.
Because if that happens, folks, the seat would be very hot in 2011.
Agree? Or do you think Richt is on the hot seat already?
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736 comments Add your comment
Terry
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
Just because a QB has a bad G day game does not make him a bad QB, David Green had bad G day games and he was one of the Winn ingest QB in college football. Also, he started out with know experience, so who ever thinks just because you have know experience that you can not win games, does not know what their talking about.
superDawg
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
Coach Richt will be at GEORGIA longer than urban crier will be at uf.
Allow me to splain some things haters
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
When you apply for a job in your chosen field, you do not put on you resume that your ala mater won the SEC and went to such and such a bowl and won 234 NC’s while you matriculated. Get it?
NC /s Absolutely they are great and UGA has many, many many of them in football, baseball, tennis, golf and equestrian activity and etc. NONE MATTER on the resume gang. NONE.
Stop with all the childish NC taunts ………..you attend school to become a professional or educator or physician or attorney or chemist, pharmacist,etc. NCs? NIce bu they do not help beyond the age of 21 or 24 uin my case.
Kids should stay off of this site.
kevin
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
Clearly Tebow speaks to countless mindless, religious types–no question, there are plenty of them and businesses want to make money. Still, any guy who thinks God plays a role in his football games, references bible verses on his face and participates in an anti-abortion video with his mom put on by one of the sickest organizations in this country is my mind lame. You call it sour grapes. I call it superlame.
Mel Kiper
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
Fire Mark Richt Jim Donnan is available
Dawg1970
May 18th, 2010
5:44 pm
Hey Bama fan, you’d better hope Saban doesn’t violate your probation with the NCAA or you won’t have to see any jerseys for a while. Can you say “death penalty next time i.e SMU”? BTW what’s Bama’s record for the last 10 years and remember to deduct those 21 vacated wins.
superDawg
May 18th, 2010
5:45 pm
UGA will dominate tek and your chicken neck coach pj will be fired like all the rest of them.
Patrick Sulley
May 18th, 2010
5:48 pm
YELLOW HAMMER
May 18th, 2010
5:38 pm
sulley, as a bama fan i sure hope CMR’s not on the hot seat cause if he ’s gone the next time we play we wont get to see them black jersey’s . RMFT
===========================================
I guess you are forgetting that Richt has dominated ALA more than any other SEC school Except Vany and Arkansas and Ole Miss. Richt has a 75% winning record over ALA. THATS ownership of them.
.
I would quietly leave now
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.
.
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AND Chris Leak was the STARTING QB but Tearblow had a substantial role.
NC Dawg
May 18th, 2010
5:49 pm
Col Mustard… when did you start becoming the know it all? I believe that you may not be that big of a UGA fan! Poser for sure! Schultz, nice way to stir the pot! Did you see the article in the Bleacher Report on the comparison of CMR to others? The idiots on here say he is on the hot seat have no clue about athletics! They just want to have something to say to people they work with! It’s all about talking smack to other fans at UF, UT, Tech, Alabama, etc… CMR is a great coach and his record proves that. He hasn’t won a NC, neither did Dooley until what 15 or so years after he became the head coach. Before that is was what 40 years since we won the NC. Here is the article you all need to read! http://bleacherreport.com/articles/393096-if-mark-richt-is-on-the-hot-seat-then-someone-has-some-splainin-to-do. I think you just had nothing to write about and you wanted to get all the haters on here! What happened to the positive articles that the media use to do? Oh, that went out when society went to hell in a hand basket! Also, would the Orlando Sentinel be a Univ. of Florida bias paper? Would they or someone want to try to influence recruits not to go to UGA? Also, one average season doesn’t put someone on the hot seat! Give him several, more than 2, than he would be on it. I’ll take his character over Meyer and Saban any day! Don’t be fooled either, CMR wants and likes to win! He will quit all the crying fair weather dog fans!
Patrick Sulley
May 18th, 2010
5:49 pm
Now I really must leave…I have to mail a ‘droid to my daughter.
jesse james
May 18th, 2010
5:50 pm
Jeff, what a stupid topic to even bring up. Can’t you wait at least until late July to start this crap? Let the man enjoy some of the summer. Some people strive on controversy. This is kind of like cable TV and CNN, you don’t have enough to do.
ncbulldawg86
May 18th, 2010
5:55 pm
Hey Chicquita… are you a MORON? UGA is lucky yo be in the Top 25? Are you kidding me? Up until last year, UGA, yeah, the Bulldogs had the longest continuous streak of finishing in the AP Top 25 at 12 years straight. My Lord, you must be one dumb SOB to post such ignorance and then smile when you do such. Kinda like a little baby making a mess in his diapers.
UGA’s final AP rank since 1997, see if you can follow along:
‘97-10
‘98-14
‘99-16
‘00-20
Coach Mark Richt era:
‘01-22
‘02-3
‘03-7
‘04-7
‘05′-10
‘06-23
‘07-2
‘08-13
Not Florida, Alabama, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas or any other DIv. 1 team can claim such.
Your belief that UGA will be lucky to be in the top 25 is so filled with ignorance, you would be best to keep that stupidity to yourself instead of proving it for all to see.
Thanks for trying though.
The Grinch
May 18th, 2010
5:56 pm
Terry
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
“Just because a QB has a bad G day game does not make him a bad QB, David Green had bad G day games and he was one of the Winn ingest QB in college football. Also, he started out with know experience, so who ever thinks just because you have know experience that you can not win games, does not know what their talking about.”
Terry, it’s obvious that you don’t know the difference between the use of “know” and “no.” You must be a UGA alum. LMAO
Patrick Sulley
May 18th, 2010
5:57 pm
hi there
1980 Dawg
May 18th, 2010
5:58 pm
No, Mark Richt is not on the hot seat. Personally, if it were up to me, I would keep Mark Richt twenty plus more years. He is an excellent football coach with an accurate moral compass. Mark Richt is one of the most respected coaches in the United States, not only as a football coach, but also as a fine American. I know of no other coach anywhere that receives such respect. Granted there are some football fans that will disagree, but not everybody can be a Bulldog anyway. Go Dogs!
Dawg Whisperer
May 18th, 2010
5:59 pm
Seems Patrick more than held his on against a swampful of gators. UF fans have become ultra sensitive since the Meyer histronics. Life is way too short for football to consume you. Try spending more time with family and less time arguing every nuance of a point on a sports blog.
SILLY UGA FANS
May 18th, 2010
6:03 pm
As a GT fan I can’t see why anybody would be upset with CMR. He has done great things at UGAg and has had to deal with setbacks almost every season. The only two downsides he has was his loyalty to Martinez, which he took care of, and player conduct. The last he needs to get hold of because these players place a bad light on the program and him.
suwaneedawg
May 18th, 2010
6:03 pm
If true UGA fans can not have the patience that this coming year will demand, then change your alliegence to another team. Richt has a great thing going with the new assistants and the recruiting class for 2011. This year could be another 4-5 loss season based on the new defense and a new qb. If you can not stand the heat then the good news is GT is always looking for new fans. God knows they need them. By the way, tickets are always available for their home games.
Gillislee
May 18th, 2010
6:06 pm
“Not Florida, Alabama, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas can claim such.”
Oh no we can’t claim that one, I guess we will all have to settle for our National Titles. Darn!
Rabun Dawg
May 18th, 2010
6:07 pm
Have to agree with the post by Tide Rising earlier. Maybe we cannot win all of the time, but have to get better with the main rivals and not get blown out, such as UF, UT, and certainly not lose very often to Tech. We have done well recently with AU,and seem to win (although ugly) with USC East. That being said, 2010 sets up ok with the schedule we have, but with all of these so called blue chip recruits lined up (as commitments), 2011 might just be the year CMR would come under much scrutiny. Getting blown out to the Gators and Vols year after year is just not acceptable. Seat may get hotter in 2011, JMHO
ncbulldawg86
May 18th, 2010
6:07 pm
Is there really Florida fans on here talking OOC opponents? Strictly speaking OOC opponents, just let me know when Florida decides to leave the state of Florida just once. And how about a schedule that does not involve three cupcakes. Heck you only get two cupcakes when you buy Hostess Cupcakes. you think you could schedule “two” BCS opponents a year, instead of that rag tag team Florida State. I mean, and I am going to cough and gag when I type this, but at least Georgia Tech has played and won their CCG recently.
So yeah, I know UF has had UGA’s number, but please don’t talk about OOC games when talking about UGA. I mean, last year alone, three BCS teams, two on the road, both finished in the top 20 at end of season in the BCS, and 13th and “30th” in the AP. Traveled to Arizona State, Oklahoma State and will travel to Colorado. Just let me know when UF travels outside of Florida. Heck, maybe you all can venture outside the Southeast.
John Salley
May 18th, 2010
6:09 pm
Disagree
ncbulldawg86
May 18th, 2010
6:12 pm
Hey Rabun… I was very specific who my post was for, but thanks for chiming in. Certainly not living off of AP top 25 finishes, but it does show that UGA as a program has not had the pitfalls in that 12 year period that most every program goes through. Apparently, last year, the 13th year, the law of averages caught up with Georgia. It happens.
Now it is time to see what the changes that just occurred at UGA bring to the table in the next few years. I know I look forward to seeing what happens. One can only hope you will sneak a peek and see too.
Gatorbait 17-3
May 18th, 2010
6:13 pm
kevin
May 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
Sorry you are such a sad, unhappy person, this is a christain nation,
maybe you should give chur ch a try.
ncbulldawg86
May 18th, 2010
6:13 pm
My apologies to Rabum I meant Gillislee. Sorry, Rabun.
BDAWG
May 18th, 2010
6:16 pm
The seat is already warm and if the offense doesn’t perform from the start and Bobo stays CMR might not make it. He cannot afford to let the offense under acheive this year and he cannot wait till the end of the season to replace Bobo. He may have to assume the OC position if the offense under acheive. UGA is still a very talented team and as long as they play very physica and very smart they can win against anyone. There will be no excuses for Bobo. Murray is a very talented QB and I think he will perform very well as long as he is being coached properly.
Terry
May 18th, 2010
6:17 pm
NO Grinch, I am not a UGA Alum I quit school in the ninth grade went back got my GED and a degree in electronics you are one Dumb mama’s boy what does it matter if I use know or no you got the message.
Spoke
May 18th, 2010
6:18 pm
Anybody who wants to put Richt on the hot seat needs to go back and review Vince Dooley’s year-by-year record. That will be an enlightening exercise for you. Richt is far superior. Leave the guy alone and let him do his job.
WatsonOne
May 18th, 2010
6:21 pm
WOW! I am so tired of stupid a$$ comments.
Alex
May 18th, 2010
6:22 pm
enough with the [sic]’s you pompous fart!
Gatorbait 17-3
May 18th, 2010
6:22 pm
ncbulldawg86
Florida already recruits nationally without taking those dumb
trips the dawgs do. The Gators only signed the #1 player from
California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year with out
your wonderful trips.
PS
Year in and year out FSU could beat any of those schools
the dawgs play that you think are so great.
chazzo
May 18th, 2010
6:22 pm
Again, I say. Beat USC, UT, and UF. Put all of your eggs in that 3 tiered basket. Put those three games in your pipe and smoke it. that;s all there is. Live it. Be it. See it. All of your coaching should be on those games. the dawgs play three games this year: USC, UT, and UF. No other game on the schedule matters. Coach up those games, and all the others will fall into place. The dawgs need to win the east this year. there are your three hurdles. Yes. multiple losses to west teams would knock them out, but I don’t see that happening if the dawgs win head-to-head against these three teams.
I think Mark Richt is great. It would be an incredibly foolish move to let him go.
Howard
May 18th, 2010
6:25 pm
I am a Gator but I like Richt a lot and not because he hasn’t won a lot against the Gators. I would hate to see him get fired. He is a good coach and an outstanding person. I really think that UGA fans expect too much. There is a reason why they are not as good year in and year out as Florida, Alabama and LSU. Florida has a much better recruiting base. The State of Georgia has a lot of great players, unfortunately many of them are from outside metro Atlanta and are in inferior rural school systems. This means that some cannot be recruited because they will not be able to meet the academic requirements. Some who do get accepted have adjustment problems, both academic and social. That is why UGA continues to loose a lot of top players both in recruiting and in leaving the program. Prior to the Jan Kemp lawsuit this did not happen because UGA was able to keep those players in school and we know why. Alabama and LSU are still like that. In a nutshell, Georgia is not in the same position it was 30 years ago in terms of being able to compete. That doesn’t mean they can’t win the SEC or even a National title. It does mean that more pieces have to fall in place than used to have to fall in place many years ago. The UGA fans need to realize that. 8 and 9 win seasons are probably more the norm now and that does not reflect poorly on the coach. I think Richt will have some 11 win seasons but just not very often.
j dog
May 18th, 2010
6:25 pm
Richt allowed our defense to remain inept for years either because of a complete lack of ability to recognize the problem and fix it or because of a reluctance to fire personel ( friends) who were in over their head. Coaching is like a business, you replace managers who can’t produce or you loose money, or in the case of coaching, you loose games. He finally made needed changes, and if next season it becomes apparent more changes are needed, he better not wait like he did with Willie, he won’t survive the upheavel.
I think the world of Richt, but this is business. He better realize it.
SuperB
May 18th, 2010
6:27 pm
The Orlando Sentinel said Mettenberger was UGA’s starting QB? Who wrote that article…. Casey Anthony?
Boise Dawg
May 18th, 2010
6:27 pm
Jeff I agree.. he isn’t on the hot seat currently. I think most fans are cautiously optimistic with a new quaterback and a new DC. Also, who wouldn’t want Richt to continue to be successful… most rationale fans will give the program a couple of years to develop at quaterback and adjust to the 3-4. I think beating Tech last year went a long way to keeping him off the hot seat this year. Go 4-4 in the SEC again and lose to Tech, it will be a hot seat in 2011.
Chris
May 18th, 2010
6:28 pm
Mark Richt was brought to Georgia to do what Ray Golf and Jim Donnan couldn’t do. Beat Tennesee and Florida on a consistent basis, or atleast level the playing field, win SEC championships, and win a national championship within 5 to 10 years. Mark Richt started out good from 2002-2005 with the exception of Florida, but has failed miserably the last few years. Since 2004 we are 2-4 against Tennessee, and 2-4 against Florida (2-7 overall). This is unacceptable. Richt has a combined record of 7-11 against Florida and Tennessee. Even with Tennessee being down the last few years, they are still beating us. These two teams were our two biggest nemesis under Golf and Donnan, and Richt has failed miserably against these two teams since 2004. Dominating Tech doesn’t count. That should be a given at Georgia.
Richt has won two SEC championships, but his teams have underachieved since 2007. The 2007 team was arguably the best team in the country, but we didn’t even get a chance to play for the SEC championship because we didn’t show up in two games, which is another negative aspect of Mark Richt coached teams. How many times has Geogia had a HUGE game, yet they come out and seem totally lost???
Another negative aspect of coach Richt is his hesitation to pull the trigger. Willie Martinez should have been fired or at least demoted after the 2006 season. Our defense was in a very noticable decline under his lead, and changes should have been made before things got out of hand. Unfortunately, Richt did nothing, and we never reached our potential in the following three season. Bobo should have been fired after last year as well, but for some ridiculous reasone has been given another chance.
Mark Richt has a chance to right the ship, but improvement MUST happen this year. Winning 9 or 10 games could be enough, but there must be noticeable improvement in the defense, and Bobo’s bone headed calls have got to stop. If we win less than 9 games, and Bobo continues to struggle, then Richt will and should be on the hot seat. I don’t think anything will happen after the 2010 season, but if Richt has another sub par year in 2011 when everyone expects Georiga to be really good, then he’s gone.
I am sick and tired of hearing about 90 wins in 9 years. That is not what Mark Richt was brought to Georgia for less anyone forget.
Truckers Can't Blog & Drive
May 18th, 2010
6:28 pm
Some delusional blogger wants us to believe that a trucker (he’s even named him Pat Sulley) sits around and blogs 24 hours a day, changuing his name to Bulldawg at night, seriously, when would he ever drive his truck. No proof that Pat Sulley even knows about the AJC blog.
Remember:
Truck drivers can’t blog & drive.
Gatorbait 17-3
May 18th, 2010
6:28 pm
Sorry chazzo, but the dawgs have absolutely no chance against the Gators, and could very easily lose to SC, ARK, and AUB. If you can’t beat Tenn, then you will know you are really in trouble.
Uga dawg
May 18th, 2010
6:34 pm
We need Turner Gill our recruiting would be great!!! And he is a better coach.*****************************************************************************************************************************************
Coastal Dog
May 18th, 2010
6:35 pm
You’ve got to be kidding! Mark’s in town for a long time. He’s the man, and UGA is about to have the right chemistry on offense and defense to make a run. I predict two 1000 rushers this fall, a new found star at QB, and some bad dog D.
Rick
May 18th, 2010
6:36 pm
Way to go Shultz. Boring day in the world of sports and you decide to write something like this. Do you work for the AJC or GA Tech. Just what the guys were recruting need to see. Way to stir it up Jerk! Work a little harder and find a eal story.
The Realist
May 18th, 2010
6:39 pm
Pi$$onaDAWG,
The QB situation you are referring to at UGA is no different from Florida’s QB situation this year. And before you try to insult anybody’s intelligence, look at Brantley’s game experience. The only real game time he had last year was when Ole Timmy got knocked out. And by that time, the game was already won. Other than that, Brantley was doing what every other backup QB does, go in during the 4th quarter to hand the ball off the running back or in Brantley’s case, throw a screen to a fake running back. Brantley is no different than Arron Murray as far as game experience.
And that’s Real.
P. Bull Terrier
May 18th, 2010
6:39 pm
When the original story writer doesn’t even know enough about UGA to be aware that Mettenberger wasn’t the “starting quarterback”, you have to wonder how the writer would have enough insight to know if Richt is on the hot seat or not. It’s all usless speculation, but it generates the page views quicker than a real sports story.
Pointdexter
May 18th, 2010
6:42 pm
Jeff-
Thanks for having the guts of a true journalist, willing to write about what others avoid.
You sir are an American Hero!
CDAWG
May 18th, 2010
6:42 pm
Richt will not be on the hot seat, simply especially after all the positive moves that he has made to get this program back on track. New “D” staff; getting back involved with the “O”, the spectacular recruiting class that he has going. If we don’t have the year that many of us hope for, then I see a shakeup on the “O” side of the ball. Lemay has already stated that he is reserving the word “commitment” until he makes sure that Richt and Bobo stay in place. If Lemay jumps ship he could very well pull some other recruits with him, therefore Richt You make take a seat, you are safe for another season.
Beast from the East
May 18th, 2010
6:44 pm
No he is not on the hot seat. He has “Patrick” to defend him and remind EVERYONE AND ANYONE that he was born the same year as Snoop Dogg or Fifty Cent or someone like that! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alan
May 18th, 2010
6:49 pm
Here’s a BRAND NEW IDEA FOR COACH RICHT TO TRY OUT THAT’S GUARANTEED TO STOP THE QB FROM THROWING INTERCEPTIONS. WORKS EVERY TIME, 100% GUARANTEED.
SIT HIS BUTT ON THE BENCH and he can’t throw an interception from there.
Dot Dot Dash
May 18th, 2010
6:54 pm
Does the AJC pay this guy Patrick Sulley everytime he posts? Damn!
Notso Fast
May 18th, 2010
6:57 pm
He can recruit with the best. He bought more time with the defense changes and can buy more time with a change in the offense (BoBo) next year if he needs it. Needs to do more coaching than thinking about uniform changes. He still has several years before he will have to really worry.