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
lamar morris
September 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Schultz……….you a idiot…..never read your column again
Nate Dawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Jeff
1. You mention Bama and Tenn. But when have you EVER seen arrests there for some of the stupid things that you see here? Taking a helmet? I’m sure you’re gonna see a warrant for a football player issued for that anywhere else. And why 2 days b4 the opener when it happened in June?
2. Name one coach in the country who would suspend Washaun for more than the opener for what he did? Nobody would so it’s not right to expect Richt to, plus I bet a ton wouldn’t have at all.
3. We recruit the same top tier players as every other big program so u can’t act like we recruit thugs compared to other SEC schools bc last time I checked when we kick ppl off our team they seem to end up at other SEC schools a good bit of the time. How bout that?
Burdell
September 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Dr. Kenneth…why didn’t he return it in the past 3 months…did he really think it was his?
Joey
September 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Oh yeah, Smoke, NFL “punks” from your school and all others don’t showboat . . .
And Maybe
September 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Why does this fall on Richt. He’s not teaching them to be idiots. Why not blame their parents, or President Adams, or our new AD, or the old one for that matter. I think this says alot more about our society, than Mark Richt. You have a former president who “did not have sex with that woman”, and smoked pot but did not inhale. You have a former Heisman winner who got away with murder, a former superstar quarterback who did time, a superstar golfer who has screwed his life and game up, etc.,etc. Not saying that these kids shouldn’t be punished, but to blame Mark Richt is plain dumb.
James
September 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
Jeff:
So Richt should be fired form this, yet Dooley at Tenn is not after his players kick a man’s head in so bad and leave him to die? Please.
Phil Fulmer
September 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
Hey! You’ve already clinched the “Fulmer Cup”…this is like running up the score.
Andy
September 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
Schultzie,
What do you suggest Richt do? He has kicked players off the team and suspended others, based on the offense. He can not predict arrests. Ealy got suspended for the La-Laf game because that was the first game after the arrest. If he had gotten arrested next week, he would miss the SC game. Kids are dumb and make mistakes, unfortunately we just hear about it when they are football players. Let’s put the shoe on the other foot. When the AJC has an employee that gets arrested, what happens? Will you get suspended without pay or fired if you are charged with a hit and run? Will anyone even know if an employee gets arrested? Oh wait, no one cares or finds out because you’re not going to write about it.
Why is this such a big deal anymore when someone gets arrested? Let’s just assume that every major NCAA program will have between 4 to 10 off the field incidents on any given year. There is nothing the coach or university can do about this.
Hartdawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
No ideas Jeff. Sometimes the truth hurts. These articles should opens some eyes on our coaching staff.
Lee
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
Hey TIm, As of June 15 how many days of contact had CMR had with Ogletree? Do some actual reporting on that and then offer up your opinion.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
not sure Burdell- just think 3 months to realize something like a helmet that he/she requires to ride scooter is a lot of time between then and now.
Coolest in the Clutch
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
.
————————–
Nesbitt for Heisman
————————–
.
VolFan
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
Thanks for taking the Fulmer Cup from us. Maybe it is time to rename it the Richt Cup.
dawgfacedboy
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
Hotbobby- just because a couple of douchebag fans from other schools come on here and say we are the “laughing stock of college football” does not make it true. I assure you that fans of Texas living in Dallas aren’t laughing with their friends at the “state of UGA football”. Get a friggin grip!!
yo yo ma
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
“I’m sick and tired of this and I’m not going to take it anymore”. Finish the drink!
Middle GA Dawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
Has everyone, Shultz included, forgotten that in the United States of America everyone is PRESUMED INNOCENT until PROVEN GUILTY. I am certain that once Mark Richt investigates the incident he will make the right decision. To me he has made the right decisions with respect to player disipline in the 9+ years he has been head coach.
Ted M
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
The fact that most of these arrests are for somewhat trivial things is even worse for CMR those are the ones he should be able to stop by repeatedly impressing upon his players to stay out of trouble and reminding them that even little things will get you arrested.
Now if you beat the crap out of your girlfriend or stomp on cops head while he’s on the ground unconscious you are truly and bad person and nothing a coach says is going to make a difference.
Disagree
September 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
I disagree with you on this one. Bad police work and heavy handed pigs are to blame.
FireJimmyWilliamson.com
September 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
At least he wasn’t driving……..
juvenal
September 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
i am a tradition lover, but don’t like profanity-from now on, when i hear,”g-d”, or “hbtd”, i will reply,”lock’em up!”
James
September 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
The problem with Jeff’s article is not only is it out of sync with science, and quantum physics (atoms can’t be predicted, how can people?), it also assumes everything’s predestined, and 18 year old kids don’t have a free will, or choices. It’s an irrational position.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
Continued arrests and beat downs from FL
You can guarrantee Richt will not make it as coach many more seasons
Gatorman
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
First, I like Mark Richt because if you don’t have a little dirt around your program, you’re not doing your job. He learn that tact from master himself, Bobby Bowden, who made his career with questionable characters. What I don’t like is the smug choir boy persona he gives to the press, when he ain’t one and never has been one.
Disagree
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
Ted M. LOL. I like the subtle references.
Rock Hoover
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
Jeff, a great story idea would be to cover the high school athletics in South Georgia where no discipline takes place. Cops won’t arrest star players, and coaches lie for them, so they can attend UGA while the rest of the state expects them to be upstanding citizens. That’s a story worth reading. You would be shocked what you would uncover, and then you wouldn’t be surprised what happens when they get to Athens or elsewhere.
Wes
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
wow you go boy. hope you looked good in that helmet you THUG!!! Ga=’s THUGS!!! Next player will get arrested for stealing a piece of bubble gum out of the bubble gum machine. Mark Richt is a awesome man but come on coach do something!!! Have a come to Jesus Meeting with your team and say enough is enough. Do you see this happening at Ga. Tech? No Paul Johnson doesn’t put up with crap!!! Ga. Tech will destroy the PUKES!!!
Army Dawg in Iraq
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
I have one question for all you morale cops out there; what would you do if you were Ricth? Why don’t they ban scooters at UGA, they seem to get guys into a lot of trouble there.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
so let me guess- it was spotted in Ogletree’s dorm, 3 months later after it was reported missing, now the victim wants him arrested for a face value helmet of $35. pathetic- granted if he had stolen the scooter, a laptop, money or jewelry, by all means- send the police after him. but this is a little pathetic, IMO
FireJimmyWilliamson.com
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
Get rid of Richt, Jimmy Williamson, and Michael Adams! Starts at the top, right Schultzy?.
Jeff Schultz
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
Thanks Yep.
ryan
September 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
This is a total disaster Hurricane Earl its Hurricane Richt I have defiantly have had it with CMR i have defended all Summer but that is out the window .
Eligible
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
Hopefully, he’s eligible for the South Carolina game next week. The Dawgs will need a full roster of talent in that game. Just suspend him for the la lafayette game.
That Guy!
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
Other schools get in trouble they just do a good job of it not getting out. Such as these two UF players who were arrested back in July and August and nobody heard anything about it till now. And then on top of it these kids don’t even get suspended from a game for being arrested.
UGA just needs to get better at covering this stuff up like other schools.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gator_clause/2010/08/gators-freshmen-matt-elam-and-solomon-patton-arrested-for-possession-of-alcohol.html
Bones1968
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
Ogletree you idiot!!! We offer you a full ride and this is how you thank the DAWG Nation. Send him back to Newnan.
Eatcrackers/can'twhistle
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
UGA = U Got Arrested
Ybor City
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
ABAC’s north campus keeps getting all the headlines. What a con Mike Ricky is!
GeezusDawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:49 am
Warrant does not mean guilty or convicted. Perhaps you can wait a bit before you push out this opinion piece.
The Fulmer Cup
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Looking good UGA, looking real good.
Jeff Schultz
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Yo Yo Ma — You picked up on that, huh?
BG
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Jeff, Name one coach in the SEC more strict than Richt!! The next time a player at UT, UF,USC or bama gets arrested watch and see what happens to the player that got arrested. Usually the player never misses a snap!
Einsteindawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Like I said, the only way to end these arrests is one and done…you lose your $40,000+ scholarship/gift.
yo yo ma
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
And Maybe Wait wait I know- let’s blame this just where it belongs- on Schultz. Yeah that’s the ticket. If he didn’t plant these ideas in their little empty heads maybe they would not go all dufus on us. It’s all Schultz’ fault.
Bailey
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
If Richt’s fired today, which should be within hours if Jeff is correct, then Jeff was right.
If Richt’s not fired from this, Jeff, once again, overreacted, or sensationalized a $35 issue to try and get some hits on his blog.
Anyone want to guess which one will happen?
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
I agree, Jeff. Some people can’t handle the truth. Richt is too soft on his players and the program is coming unglued. This begins his farewell season.
Lonnie Outlaw
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Just wate till me and my Wilcox hom boy Nick Marshall get ups their. We gone tear A-town up!
Florida Dawg
September 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
About Ealey…if a second stringer or someone we could do without did what Ealey did…they would be OFF the team before the sun set.
There is a double standard and I wonder how healthy that is to a football program.
Don’t care what the legal nuts say….this guy “knew” he was not supposed to be out at 3AM and driving any vehicle..anywhere…for any reason. He did what the coaches said NOT to do and did it on purpose.
Again, if he HAD hit a “pedestrian” instead of a car, would he have stopped??? What do you think he would have done?
dap01
September 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
A helment 2 months ago? Sounds like a criminal act to me.
Thanks AJC and GT Jeff for your unbiased OPINIONS and investigation.
Jeff Schultz
September 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
Flyin’ Dawg — Actually, I’m sure this kind of stuff is fairly common with campus police departments. They generally don’t deal with major jewelry thefts. It’s more stuff like this.
Matt
September 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
This is pathetic. I’m a UGA grad, season ticket holder for 20 years. I can’t take this any more. I’m embarrassed by our program. No wins / titles can make up for how pathetic we’ve become. Time to make a change at the top.
NikkiFree
September 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
How about Dr. Adams do something? How about allowing Richt to lay down much harsher penalties without fear of losing his job?! The football record may suffer a little while he does this but the bottom line is the message. Criminal activity will not be tolerated at UGA!! I’m tired of the media saying RICHT IS RESPONSIBLE. These are grown frikkin’ men making dumb decisions. These are not minors. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE, DR. ADAMS, LIKE THEY ARE GROWN MEN!