No more excuses — Georgia’s arrests fall on Mark Richt
Mark Richt has been buried in police reports since March.
(UPDATED at 3:30 p.m. with booking and suspension.)
Before you dismiss this as just another trivial arrest in a 24-7, TMZ flip-cam media world, ask yourself this:
What would you be thinking if this was Florida or Alabama or Tennessee? Would your first reaction be, “This is no big deal. Everybody is picking on us”?
What if this was Nick Saban or Urban Meyer or Houston “I’m Just Trying To Save The World One Quarterback At A Time” Nutt? Would you really be absolving the head coach — in this case, Mark Richt — of any responsibility?
Georgia’s football program has hit nine on the arrest chart. That’s nine since March.
Kickoff is Saturday. There’s still time to run out of fingers.
Here’s the latest: Campus police have booked freshman safety Alec Ogletree on misdemeanor charges of theft by taking and he has been suspended for the season opener. Ogletree, a prized member of their 2010 recruiting class, is charged with stealing a $35 scooter helmet from the Rankin Smith Center on June 15 (police discovering only this week that the helmet was in his possession).
Forget that we’re only talking about a $35 helmet. There’s no such thing as a minor incident any more. There’s a cumulative effect.
I realize this is difficult for some people to accept. We live for this time of year, not just because of our obsession with college football but because, as Richt said this week, “It’s good to be undefeated.” What you feel in Athens, they feel even in Starkville.
But when nine players get arrested between spring and opening kickoff, something is wrong.
Please, no more apologies.
I’ve had it with apologists. They live among the fan base (who claim police are just out to get athletes). They live among the coaching fraternity (because to blame another coach sets themselves up for higher standards). They live among the media (some of whom are too afraid of burning bridges with the program and not having the coach smile at them any more).
Bottom line: This falls on Richt. It’s his program. It’s his responsibility. It’s on his watch.
He doesn’t have to be the one drinking-and-driving. Or hitting-and-running. Or drinking-and-groping. Richt recruited these players, signed these players and ultimately determined, “They will represent the University of Georgia well.” Either he is picking too many of the wrong guys, or he’s not saying or doing enough of the right things when they get here. Regardless, don’t deny the problem.
Richt said Friday he was “disappointed” and that Ogletree is “responsible for a poor decision and will serve a minimum one-game suspension.” He was so angry when running back Washaun Ealey was arrested for a hit-and-run — which occurred while he was driving with a suspended license — that he didn’t even want to speak to Ealey. That anger is justified. The question is whether his suspension of Ealey will last beyond the Louisiana-Lafayette game — because that’s a small notch above running steps in Sanford Stadium.
Forcing Ealey to miss the South Carolina game — that would hurt. Of course, that also would hurt Georgia, and the South Carolina game is really important, right?
When asked at his news conference this week if, in so many words, there was a flaw in his discipline structure, Richt responded: “The flaw is if a guy does something that deserves to be disciplined and you don’t discipline him. That’s where the flaw is. The flaw is in us as humans. We’re flawed, we’re human, we make mistakes. When we make a mistake, then we get disciplined for it. As long as we have 18- to 22-year old guys who are human beings, they are going to make mistakes. That’s just all there is to it. If you don’t discipline it, you have a problem. If they don’t learn from it, then they have a problem.”
Actually, it goes beyond that. If players don’t learn from it, Richt has a problem. And he does.
No more excuses. This falls on him.
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1,737 comments Add your comment
Lefty LaRue
September 3rd, 2010
1:51 pm
“Wrong Schlutz: It belongs on the parents. Richt didn’t father these kids.” – blogger
Right, it was Damon Evans. HAHAHAHAHAHA
DawgDad
September 3rd, 2010
1:51 pm
I disagree with the whole tone and premise of the article. The handles and headlines blow this incident completely out of proportion AND out of time context, as if some majore transgression occurred last night. Shame on the kid for stealing, but BIGGER shame on the AJC for reporting out-of-context and sensationalizing this.
BeefATL72
September 3rd, 2010
1:51 pm
@ Jeff
Ealey didn’t get charged with “hit-n-run”. It was “failure to report” (an accident). Why… WHY do you have to sensationalize it??? He bumped into a truck backing up going 2 MPH, parked, got out, then walked to his dorm. He wasn’t DUI. He didn’t slam into someone on the road & speed away. WHY DO YOU EXAGERATE???
No need to answer that, we know you are a grudge barring crybaby for Richt & UGA because he hurt your poor feelings.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 3rd, 2010
1:51 pm
was that too wrong Jeff? Sorry just channeling my innerHood DAWG.
Soggy Bottom Boys
September 3rd, 2010
1:52 pm
They’re in the jailhouse now
They’re in the jailhouse now
I told those UGA players once or twice
To stop their thuggin and committing vice
They’re in the jailhouse now!!
Man….if this keeps us they will have to install a practice field behind the Clarke County jail. ROFLMAO!!!!!
AltamahaDawg
September 3rd, 2010
1:52 pm
Appearantly the Saban rules were put into place 4 coaches before that too.
Rodney Dangerfield
September 3rd, 2010
1:52 pm
The problem is most of these kids are from small towns. They are football gods in their little town, especially if the town is located in S. GA. In little towns you can get away with underage drinking or DUI, the cop actually drives you home. The star is not held accountable. So the star goes to college where things are different. The Good Ole Boy system is not quite as good. There is accountability within police depts under the microscope. They cannot drive a star athlete home after DUI and then arrest joe fan for the same offense, they must be treated as equals. Hence the problem – the star athlete has never been treated as an equal. He has always been on the pedestal.
BeefATL72
September 3rd, 2010
1:52 pm
@ Jeff
This artical is way over the top inflamitory. Why are you not asking these questions:
-Why did it take 2.5 months for the alleged “victim” to change his mind & decide to press charges?
-How did they know Ogletree took the guy’s bike helmet & if they knew for 2.5 months why did they wait until the day before the season started to press charges?
-Did the UGA police know about this for the past 2 months, hold it in their pocket, & conveniently plan to wait until the last minute to do something?
-Why aren’t you asking why this is being so sensationalized over a $35 bike helmet that could have just been handed back to the guy?
-And most of all, is there any confirmed evidence or have you already determined he’s guilty without knowing all the circumstances?
And what exactly do you expect Richt to do? He’s kicked people off the team for goodness sakes. He’s gone to the most ultimate extreme of punishment to set previous examples. What else can he reasonably do? Nothing, that’s what. He can punish them according to the severity of the offense & THAT’S IT! Ealey’s offense was ridiculously minor. Only blowhards like you & UGA haters are making it out to be more than it is. The 1 game suspension & a ton of running fits the minor offense. And this little $35 helmet nonsense doesn’t even warrant any suspension it’s so little. But I’m sure you’ll call for his dismissal from the team or something insane.
You’re not supposed to wear bias on your sleeve as a journalist, yet you wear it like a bright red billowing cape.
Well guess what, you’re field is going out of business. This job you have, embrace it while you can. Print media is a dead man walking the green mile & you’re just another horrible blogger on the free interwebs & i’m happy to say, nobody is going to subscribe to your nonsense. I hope you’re saving your money, you’re gonna need it.
Idot
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
Shultz……….Do you have a solution to the problem that you have pointed out? Or do you just have the finger, to point out the problem?
BeefATL72
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
@ Jeff
This artical is way over the top inflamitory. Why are you not asking these questions:
-Why did it take 2.5 months for the alleged “victim” to change his mind & decide to press charges?
-How did they know Ogletree took the guy’s bike helmet & if they knew for 2.5 months why did they wait until the day before the season started to press charges?
-Did the UGA police know about this for the past 2 months, hold it in their pocket, & conveniently plan to wait until the last minute to do something?
-Why aren’t you asking why this is being so sensationalized over a $35 bike helmet that could have just been handed back to the guy?
-And most of all, is there any confirmed evidence or have you already determined he’s guilty without knowing all the circumstances?
DawgDad
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
Thankfully the games start tomorrow. Jeff can stop digging through the dumpsters looking for stories and report on the happennings ON THE FIELD.
MW
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
Something is rotten, true but it’s not just in Athens. There’s something rotten at the heart of major college football programs in general. As long as winning trumps character, we’ll continue to the same names in both the media guide and the local arrest report.
Deepak
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
Just another example of quantum randomness in the unlimited field of pure potentiality and unlimited possiblities. In the subatomic realm, which everything operates from, the helmet is not solid. It’s made up of waves of potential electrons and only becomes one possible reality when observed. There is no right or wrong or up or down……..just potential. If the helmet is not solid…..it can’t be taken or even touched. It’s only a helmet to the observer based on past experience…….which is not necessarily true at all.
Oh well………it’s all pointless………..let’s just play some dam football!!
juice sourcer
September 3rd, 2010
1:53 pm
It’s both the coaches and the players fault. The coaches recruit them and they only recruit for talent…not class, intellect, or character….Duke basketball does all three and they never have problems…it’s that simple.
DawgDad
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
Jeff: I really like your writing, don’t take it personal.
Ed
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
It’s time for Richt to go, for on-field as well as off-field problems. The off-field problems are well documented: too many player arrests in recent years to keep track of. It can’t be a coincidence; either Richt recruits the wrong type of player, he doesn’t have the respect of his players or inspire fear (the healthy variety) in his players, he says the right things to the press but gives the bad boys a wink and a nod when no one is looking, or all the above.
ON the field, Georgia is a team without heart and character under Richt. That wasn’t the case from ‘01 through the ‘05 SEC Championship game, but since then that has been the case. It started when an obviously uninspired and unprepared Georgia team failed to show up at the start of the Sugar Bowl game against West Va. We’ve suffered two humiliating beatdowns at the hands of average Tennessee teams in the last 4 years. Florida has completely taken our lunch money and slapped us around the playground the last two years. Alabama almost looked bored running up a 31-0 lead on us, in our house, in ‘08. Two losses to Kentucky in 4 years. A loss to Vandy in ‘06 and a lot of luck to escape them in ‘07.
Bottom line, Georgia under Richt has become a team that beats teams of lesser talent most of the time but folds like a wet blanket when faced with a team of equal or greater talent that can punch back. We’ve officially become the 1980s version of UF – talented choke artists.
Surely there is a coach out there who can take the tradition, resources, and talent of UGA football and compete consistently with Florida and have guaranteed yearly wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt. I’d settle for playing with heart and passion each game, win or lose. We used to have that in Dooley – even in mediocre years, his teams played hard.
Let’s not wait another 2-3 years to find out that Richt is no longer the guy. If Georgia loses 4 or 5 games this year, then try someone else.
BeefATL72
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
@ Jeff
And what exactly do you expect Richt to do? He’s kicked people off the team for goodness sakes. He’s gone to the most ultimate extreme of punishment to set previous examples. What else can he reasonably do? Nothing, that’s what. He can punish them according to the severity of the offense & THAT’S IT! Ealey’s offense was ridiculously minor. Only blowhards like you & UGA haters are making it out to be more than it is. The 1 game suspension & a ton of running fits the minor offense. And this little $35 helmet nonsense doesn’t even warrant any suspension it’s so little. But I’m sure you’ll call for his dismissal from the team or something insane.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
BeefRTL72 how do we know Ealy was not Stoned or Drunk. He was arrested 4 hours after he HIT and Ran from an accident. The police may call the cahrges less than what they are, but it was a HIT-n-RUN. Let me do the same thing to your car and we will see how you feel.
Old Ball Coach
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
Why is Schultz getting all the grief from you people? He did not recruit these criminals. He did not explain expected behavior to them.
Who is there to straighten out this embarassement? Mike Adams can’t do it. Damon Evans could not do it. Mark Richt can’t do it. I know you non-contributing, non-alumni sidewalk fans will not even be asked, but someone must step up.
PMC
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
Couldn’t he just get the DOT to approve his football helmet?
Also. The Bus and Walking and or riding a bike are available.
muttsuk
September 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
masivatack
You fail to mention, the charges were dropped.
Coach Mark Richt
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
OK…I admit the inmates are running the asylum. Yes, I have lost complete control of the team. However, in my defense, I have gotten rich coaching UGA and am able to keep a permanent tan going. If I can just hang on a couple more years and collect a few more million $$, then all will be fine. On a side note, I do expect a turn-around season over here in Athens. Book your plans for Shreveport now. Its great to be me!!!!!!!
Rodney Dangerfield
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
And I just love the “boys will be boys” excuse the UGA fans give for these arrests. I must be living a sheltered life since I never got it on in the classroom, beat the hell out of some guy with a group of my buds at a park, drove my scooter drunk and on a suspended license, groped some females at a bar, and hit vehicles and drove off.
I guess most UGA fans have done these things since they so easily write it off as youth.
BeefATL72
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
Hey Jeff
You’re not supposed to wear bias on your sleeve as a journalist, yet you wear it like a bright red billowing cape.
Well guess what, you’re field is going out of business. This job you have, embrace it while you can. Print media is a dead man walking the green mile & you’re just another horrible blogger on the free interwebs & i’m happy to say, nobody is going to subscribe to your crap. I hope you’re saving your money, you’re gonna need it.
Lefty LaRue
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
The bloggers are right. A $35 helmet is no big deal when you consider all the other things going on in Athens. That $35 helmet might have been hard to replace if you were a student but hey, since it was a football player that got it he should just be happy to contribute something to the program.
Running this state from the jails. HAHAHHAHAHHA
Birrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd Man
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
I love the Dawgs; I love Richt, but something has got to give. We’re making VA. Tech look like Vanderbilt. I am embarrassed.
meh
September 3rd, 2010
1:55 pm
All you people calling UGA players thugs can bite me. If underage drinking makes you a thug then every college kid in the world must be a thug. Granted, Mettenberger and Robinson did some pretty bad stuff, but you can’t lump the rest of the team in with them. And Richt kicked those fools off the team.
mambo
September 3rd, 2010
1:56 pm
CMR needs to enact a ZERO TOLERANCE for the BS from his athletes. Alec Ogletree and Waushawn Ealey should be kicked off the team. They disgrace the team, their families and themselves. It’s time for CMR to get tough and earn some respect.
Idot
September 3rd, 2010
1:56 pm
Beef@151pm……..Why does Shultz “sensationalize and exagerate”?
Answer: To get hits on this rag he calls a blog.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 3rd, 2010
1:56 pm
DawgDad Jeff don’t have to dig throught the TRASH because UGA fan Leave it all over the campus after the games.
doug dawg
September 3rd, 2010
1:56 pm
please, please all of you. if i had been caught shoplifting when i was a kid, i still, at the age of 66, would not be able to sit down; and i’d probably still be smarting from the beating i got from my dad. i just can’t imagine anyone, anyone condoning such behavior as ‘just normal, just kids’. the same with drugs — well, they are just kids. i grew up being taught that stealing was wrong, just plain wrong. no exceptions. damaging another’s property was wrong, and running away was worse. breaking the law was wrong, and you had to pay the consequences. cheating was wrong, under all situations. and telling lies was the worst. is this all now to be accommodated in the name of winning football games? is this the standard of a great university? mom used to say, ‘if every other kid shits in the middle of the road, are you going to think it is right and do it?’ bless you, mom
South Georgia
September 3rd, 2010
1:56 pm
You are completely out of line! Mark Richt punishes every player appropriately and parenting by these players parents is more of a concern! He did not teach them to break the law. He is a man above reproach.
ugag ruins this state
September 3rd, 2010
1:57 pm
SUCK IT MUTTS
NOTSO FAST
September 3rd, 2010
1:57 pm
I expect that the young man that owned the helmet will decide he would like to have season tickets and forget about any charges. Coach R does have bad luck. He gives scholarships to 2 brothers. One is really good the other just ok. The one charged is the really good one.
Gator Bob
September 3rd, 2010
1:58 pm
I am not going to point fingers in laugh – both Florida and Alabama have had our moments in leading Fulmer cup standings….. along with many other schools.
Here is a thought:
After the first player is arrested – for whatever – instead of making that player run steps – make the entire team run the steps at 5:45 am with him. This is a team sport – and a message is being sent.
This will not stop all of the stupid decision making – but I guarantee you it will make a lot of those players think twice before they do something stupid – knowing that if they get caught – the entire team will suffer. Peer Pressure!!
General Neyland
September 3rd, 2010
1:58 pm
There is no way thUGA will win enough games to even equal the number of arrests.
I agree that while the Fulmer Cup is in possession of thUGA it should be renamed the Richt Cup. Philip Fulmer never had results this impressive.
Crime on, dawgs.
Dee
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
what Richt’s not fired yet? But Jeff says this is a huge problem. Doens’t anyone agree with Jeff?
Red Panties
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
THE DAWGS TRYING TO RATIONALIZE THIS THIEF ARE PATHETIC
Billy Ray Valentine
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
ABAC….who raised these players?
You’re suggesting that a man who has known this kid, with the recruiting process included, maybe 18 months should be more responsible for this kids actions than his parents.
I bet you think it’s the teachers fault if your kid fails a test too.
Cause it damn sure couldn’t be that your kid farts around in class and doesn’t pay attention. No sir, not your little angel.
my mother and father taught me right from wrong, taught me that if I want to $35 scooter helmet, go to the store and buy one. I mean hell, do we really believe he didn’t have $35 in his pocket?
Fact of the matter is, he made a wrong decision. The blame falls soley on him. Richt wasn’t there helping him steal the scooter helmet.
When are people going to learn that it’s ok to hold kids accountable for their actions, especially a 19 yr old college freshman. It’s called being an adult.
It ain’t cool to be no jive turkey so close to thanksgiving.
Calm Down
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
If this kid or any kid can’t learn “Thou shalt not steal” in their first eighteen years of life from their parents and aunts and uncles or from watching thousands of old cop show reruns, then CMR is not going to be able to do it in three months time! One out of every one-hundred males in the state of Georgia is in a Georgia prison. That number is only going to increase as long as we spend more on housing prisoners than we do on education. There is a problem and WE are it.
STUDENT ATHLETE
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
And they gave Rodney Garner an extension??? Garner recruits the “4 Star” thugs that Florida and Bama won’t touch.
senoiadawgs
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
While it is not Mark’s Richt fault these players got arrested, he sure as heck can make it very unpleasant for anyone else to even think of doing something stupid enough to get arrested. I for one blame the mom’s and dad’s. In my days I could have cared less what the coach’s punishment would have been it would have been far worse what mom and dad would have done. Left me in Jail, drug my sorry butt home, etc… Coach wouldn’t have had to worry about kicking me off the team.
What Ealey and Olegree did show an extreme lack of character on their part. Both of them just about could not have done something more stupid and meaningless.
Idot
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
What should Richt do, have FBI background checks on all potential recruits ane give them lie detector tests?
the arm of justice
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
player at uga taking a 35 dollar helmet — public flogging
player at bama accepting monetary gain from an agent—– slap on the wrist by ncaa his coach defends him
player arrested for assault at tech—- not reported
depending on who you cheer for
reading a shultz column—— PRICELESS
Phil Fulmer
September 3rd, 2010
1:59 pm
May I have the envelope please……and the winner of the uncoveted 2010 Fulmer Cup is……………(insert drum roll)……………………..
Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs!!! A big round of applause for a coach and a team that so richly deserves this honor. Coach Richt, you must be so proud…..is that a tear I see in your eye? Don’t cry too much in case your self-tanning lotion is not completely dry.
Charlie Dalton
September 3rd, 2010
2:00 pm
I like the passion Jeff! I think the responsibility ultimately falls on Michael Adams though. He hired a new AD so we will see if this decreases or even ends the crimet issue. Stealing is stealing regardless if it’s an automobile or a pencil. Just don’t do it…or else face the consequences. We don’t seem to care too much nowadays about morals and principles. It’s all me, me, me. I hope this is the last arrest we hear about for a long time. Best of luck UGA!
5150 P.O.A.D
September 3rd, 2010
2:00 pm
meh: EVERY COLLEGE STUDENT? I think there aa few THOUSAND BYU students that disprove your statement. Never speak in ABSOLUTES it just proves you are a stupid a…
Berry
September 3rd, 2010
2:00 pm
So 15% of people in the AJC survey agree with Jeff, that when players get arrested, blame the coach.
85% agree with me, blame the player.
DawgNation
September 3rd, 2010
2:00 pm
Gator Bob,
I like your thinking on that. Couldn’t agree more.
David Slagle
September 3rd, 2010
2:01 pm
The phase known as adolescence is a relatively new phenomenon that is little more than an excuse to excuse bad behavior. We do ourselves a further disservice as a culture when we allow adolescence to continue to reach into college and beyond. Blaming Mark Richt or anyone else for the behavior of an 18-22 year old man just validates the notion that we can’t expect more. People in the recovery community call this enabling.