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
Heath
September 3rd, 2010
10:02 pm
All of the females posting on here about the thugs at UGA, I hope you asked Robert Hall’s permission first.
done
September 3rd, 2010
10:02 pm
Dawg fan for 30 days and haven’t missed a game in several seasons. I’ve always been a Richt fan. He fixes this now or I jump on the fire CMR bandwagon. Zero toleerance now. Coach, they are taking advantage of you and making you look stupid. Get some control here. Being a Dawg should be a privilege and if a player doesn’t covet that role and the responsibilities that come with it then he/she should take a look at Butler (KS) CC and you should lose scholarships for recruiting idiots.
Predictable tech fans
September 3rd, 2010
10:06 pm
Well Greta, Alicia, Marge, Hannah, Red Panties….and whatever else you call yourself on here….you are such a pathetic loser little boy. Please do us all a favor and never, ever, ever have children. Your rhetoric is so predictable…………..have you ever been laid? I’m guessing not. I guess you have an infatuation with girl’s names cause that’s about as close as you’ll ever get to the promise land. You get beat up a lot and never get picked for sports. People that put so much energy into telling you why sports are not important are the one’s that were not even close to being athletic…….but always wanted to be. I’m sorry for your lot in life and you are so unhappy with the way you turned out. But remember…..your parents are unhappy with you too.
Predictable tech fans
September 3rd, 2010
10:09 pm
Heath, all those “girls” posting on here are the same pimple faced little boy who probably sniffs his mom’s panties. Just leave him alone and he’ll get a juice pouch and go to bed shortly.
Red Panties
September 3rd, 2010
10:15 pm
Predictable tech fans
You can’t handle the true red neck.
Red Panties
September 3rd, 2010
10:17 pm
Bye creeps, you’re pathetic
guy
September 3rd, 2010
10:20 pm
Something isn’t right with this UGA football program.The tail is wagging the dog and it has to stop.CMR needs to get angry and lay down the law.Who’s in charge?
I'm UGA grad(pretender) & I love my new trailer
September 3rd, 2010
10:21 pm
What’s shaken boys and girls?
kaput
September 3rd, 2010
10:22 pm
15 pages? This column touched a nerve.
Fred
September 3rd, 2010
10:23 pm
That was one hell of a column Jeff. One of the best I have read in a long time. I take back 50% of the things I said to you, (maybe 70% if you include those I thought). I couldn’t find a thing to disagree with but I also couldn’t read through 1407 comments to see what others thought (not that I care). You nailed it.
PS: Thanks.
I'm UGA grad (pretender) & I love my new trailer
September 3rd, 2010
10:23 pm
You’re right guy, Richt is just too nice to be a head coach-it took him 3 years to fire Willie.
Tipping Point
September 3rd, 2010
10:31 pm
You are right. Richt is accountable. End of story.
New story. You, Finebaum, Barnhart, and the slobbering masses who consume your daily proctoscopic “insights” into this game are ruining it. That’s right. YOU are killing the golden goose because eventually, even the most ignorant peckerwood fan will grow tired of the aggrandizement of trivia, in the name of substance. Ask MLB how its working for them. You and blood suckers like you will eventually destroy the sport. You’re well on your way with me.
Predictable tech fans
September 3rd, 2010
10:40 pm
Red panties……that’s what I thought little boy. A retort that a 3rd grader would make. Go back to the tech blogs and wow them with your keen insight and life experience of a 15 year old.
kaput
September 3rd, 2010
10:40 pm
Gladwell, is that you? The Power of the Few . . .
DD795
September 3rd, 2010
10:41 pm
I wonder if Alec knows Georgia gives them a big red helment with a little red G on it.
Predictable tech fans
September 3rd, 2010
10:43 pm
DD795….I wonder if your mom knows you’re still up. You’ve got soccer practice tomorrow so you need your rest.
avolfan4u
September 3rd, 2010
10:44 pm
I remember when it was Tennessee with all the arrests. Actually we still have all the arrests! But we take crap over it and should. Richt should also. Waht you have in Athens is FSU Light. Bobby Bowden is alive and well and coaching in Athens. No crime can get you kicked off the team unless of course you do actual prison time and can’t get a work release to play on Saturdays.
76-DAWG
September 3rd, 2010
10:44 pm
Greta
You are an idiot . This is a blog concerning the UGA football team not how smart TECH students are or who will or want get a job at TECH or UGA.. My brother graduated from Tech and I spent many Friday and Saturday nights at Tech partying when I was going to school at UGA and there was a lot more mutual respect back in the 70’s. The way you mouth off I think it is very unlikely you have ever attended Tech yourself. I was a solid B student in a very hard curriculum at UGA but wouldn’t have dared attempted TECH . I know a lot of very intelligent genius types that washed out at TECH. If you are not a student at TECH multiply how hard you think it is by at least 3 times and you may come close to really hard it is. But you don’t have the right to rave about Tech unless you have earned it, getting a degree yourself.
Annie
September 3rd, 2010
10:45 pm
The solution to all of this is really quite simple: Mark Richt is a sleezy scumbag. Fire his ass, or this kind of humiliating crap will keep getting worse every year.
Fire Richt and run him out of town on a rail. Now.
Ed
September 3rd, 2010
10:46 pm
Mark, I’m not the biggest fan of yours or of your left-wing politics, but you hit the nail on the head with this article. Well done.
brian
September 3rd, 2010
10:47 pm
Well if we are just worried about suspending guys for “one” game against a cupcake school, then who should worry…… This is a joke. Why should any player worry about off season misconduct if this is the punishment.
Terry
September 3rd, 2010
10:50 pm
76-DAWG. Is trying to deflect the issue, which is the 44 arrests at UGA in the past three years, and the nine arrests this year.
How about dealing that little issue, Mr. 76-DAWG-TARD.
Ankle Tackle
September 3rd, 2010
10:51 pm
No, this article didn’t touch a nerve, it’s just 1 guy, posting, over 1000 times, under different handles. He likes ot blog to himself.
dawg gone it
September 3rd, 2010
10:51 pm
Here is the answer>
You must hold the WHOLE team accountable.
Next arrest equals “boot camp” type strategy——run run and run some more—the WHOLE team.
Then SENIORS run more—they are the role models.
Coaches are hit with fines immediately all the way up to CMR and make it hurt appropriate to their salary.
Community service work for all players and coaches. Habitat for Humanity project in Athens——University cleanup including Sanford stadium.
DO ALL THIS AND THE PROBLEM STOPS——I PROMISE.
ADAMS—-QUIT BEING WEAK AND BE A LEADER!!!!!!
The Sheriff
September 3rd, 2010
10:53 pm
I haven’t read all of the posts earlier but it is quite obvious that Richt, despite being a temdous individual, needs to be tougher on the Georgia players than he’s been. He was taught by the biggest enabler ever in Bobby Bowden so, hopefully, the new AD will make him finally take disciple seriously as it is quite apparent that he hasn’t so far. Love the man but he needs to be more of a disciplinarian.
Hooie
September 3rd, 2010
10:56 pm
Poor guy, he’s been typing since 11a.m. on this blog, posting every 2 minutes, over 1400 posts. He’ll try to get to 20 pages, probably a 6th grade kid.
Richt's milquetoast teams
September 3rd, 2010
10:56 pm
bulldogmaniac, judging my Georgia’s sissy performance in last year’s UT and UF games, I doubt the swimmer has much to worry about. The UGA players will growl at him, flex their muscles, and threaten, but if he punches ‘em once in the mouth, they’ll fold like a wet blanket. Ask any Gator, or Volunteer, or Mountaineer…
Ed
September 3rd, 2010
10:57 pm
Oops, I meant Jeff. Well done, Jeff.
Annie's an idiot
September 3rd, 2010
10:59 pm
Wow red panty annie……….so Richt is a sleezy scumbag huh? Here’s another simple solution: You need to stop taking up perfectly good oxygen and leave it for people that have a coherent thought. Please tell me you’re not a tech fan………..cause if that’s the best you’ve got………..you’re just making yourself look more stupid than the pitiful excuse for a sentient being you see in the mirror everyday.
hangman
September 3rd, 2010
11:00 pm
just put all the football players in a jail-like surrounding and not release them until the season is over. QUARANTINE!!!!
techengineer
September 3rd, 2010
11:00 pm
They should begin looking at character when they are recruiting as opposed to only looking at 40 speed and size…
Ed
September 3rd, 2010
11:01 pm
“But at least Richt suspends his players at all. Urban doesn’t even suspend them.”
True, Ghost. Starting Tony Joiner in ‘07 the same week he got arrested for a felony pretty much says it all. But since when did Florida become the standard for discipline and class? Georgia should strive to be better than UF, in all aspects. That used to be a given.
Vance Duuley
September 3rd, 2010
11:04 pm
This sleezy stuff has been going on at UGAy since Vince Dooley first came to town.
Since dawgtards seem to love living in the past, how about remembering the Jan Kemp trial, which exposed UGA and Vince Dooley for the jokes that they were. My favorite quote from the trial was this one:
O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for the defense, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
The best thing about the trial was that it completely killed Vince Dooley’s shot at Congress, since he was exposed as a fraud and a cheat during the trial. Make no mistake – Dooley knew everything that was going on.
Nothing has changed in the almost three decades since the trial. If anything, the abuses are even worse. Exhibit #1: Jim Harrick and son.
Today the players are even more illiterate and felonious and, well, just plain stupid, as evidenced by their arrest records and record number of penalties. Even Vince Dooley couldn’t have controlled this mob, much less Mark Richt. And now even the AD is a drunk debaucherer.
There’s a reason why UGA is known as The Cesspool of the South.
Hooie
September 3rd, 2010
11:06 pm
I predict the 24 hour typer won’t stop until 11a.m. tomorrow.
Let’s all see how many hours straight he can stay up and ttype a new post every minute or two.
My Jeff, you have a unique blog here, 1 poster under a bunch of fake handles, posting so far for over 15 pages.
Was it worth the article–you did get the hits, I guess this lone blogger likes negative pieces like this one?
Jo C
September 3rd, 2010
11:08 pm
richt is right, Jeff, sorry, you’re wrong here.
Bobby
September 3rd, 2010
11:08 pm
I don’t see how anyone could try and blame Richt for this kids mistake. that’s nuts.
Sug
September 3rd, 2010
11:09 pm
Don’t see this type of blog piece stopping the Dogs.
DOMINATE!!
Dawson Rusty
September 3rd, 2010
11:10 pm
Let’s Sic Em.
14-0 UGA.
GTmba, go dawgs!
September 3rd, 2010
11:10 pm
For all the Techie fans that are chiming in about how UGA is recruiting thugs, don’t pretend for a minute that Paul Johnson wouldn’t have given away the farm to get the talent that Richt’s team has brought to Athens. My guess is there is a good correlation between talent and team infractions, so your typical 5 star recruit is not likely an eagle scout. It’s a PR nightmare, but I’ll take that over losing record. When UGA drops out of the top ten recruiting classes, I’ll expect a drop off in arrests and higher GPA’s. As I’m packing my cooler for the game tomorrow, I pray that day never comes.
Schultz, you’re a hack.
Poulty Town
September 3rd, 2010
11:11 pm
Poor ole AJC, every week another rehash, “Richt’s prgram is outtta control”. Hmm, how’s that workin out for ya?
High Wire
September 3rd, 2010
11:12 pm
UGA is unstoppable in 2010. Undefeated, like it or not.
A $35 scooter helmet? Wow, what a story.
Smith
September 3rd, 2010
11:13 pm
Georgia is back.
Winning the SEC.
Kid didn’t mean no harm, just needed a hat.
Go Valdosta
September 3rd, 2010
11:14 pm
Look out now, last time I checked, there was another negative blog by Jeff about Mark Richt. Didin’t I read this last week, and the week before, and the week before, and the week before.
Nick
September 3rd, 2010
11:15 pm
I counted the posts here.
98% are for Richt, only 2% are with Jeff and the AJC.
Vol Criminals Rule
September 3rd, 2010
11:15 pm
UT will have more arrests by the end of the season—mark it down! Their program is way out of control. These arrests will not hurt UGA at all. These players will all be back for the big games—who cares about these creampuff games anyway. The Dawgs will blow out la lafayette by 50 with backups.
Phi Beta
September 3rd, 2010
11:17 pm
What’s new? Another “Richt stinks” article by the AJC. Nice. Come guys. Be creative. Need a new idea. How bout the 12 guys suspended at UNC instead of a kid supposedly stealing a $35 scooter helmet.
Orange Crush
September 3rd, 2010
11:18 pm
Jeff,
You’ve been writing this stuff now for years. Richt’s still here. I don’t think it’s working. And he keeps beating Ga Tech. 8-1, that’s gotta hurt.
comadore
September 3rd, 2010
11:20 pm
Schultz I am A Police officer and I am here to tell you that the Campus Police make arrest based on weak evidence. They jump the gun and you don’t always arrest everyone on every case in the real world on a misdemeanor. I remember last year an athlete was arrested because a Drunk female thatwas not a student said that he sexually asaulted her. No other evidece except she said so. YOU MADE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. The charges were later dropped for lack of evdence and lack of interest of the drunk girl. I didnt hear you apologizing?? Those campus cops would lose over half their cases if these college kids could afford attorneys..So back off Mark Richt Liberal
Abdullah the Bitcher
September 3rd, 2010
11:20 pm
Nick said: “I counted the posts here. 98% are for Richt, only 2% are with Jeff and the AJC.”
That means two things: 1) most UGA fans believe this incident isn’t part of a disturbingly growing pattern, but rather just a $35 helmet; and 2) you have entirely too much time on your hands.
Joey
September 3rd, 2010
11:21 pm
Mark Bradley, did a survey, of whether most people thought, when a UGA player was arrested:
Is is Richt’s fault? 15% agreed with Jeff.
Is it the player’s fault? 85% disagreed with Jeff.
Here’s the survey:
Here’s that survey that proved 85% agree with me:
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2010/07/12/blame-mark-richt-hes-not-the-one-whos-embarrassing-uga/
How does it feel to know 85% of people think you’re wrong?