Richt gives no reason to believe he can turn Georgia around
Mark Richt finished with his worst record at Georgia (6-7) and the Dogs had their first losing season since 1996.
MEMPHIS – Mark Richt says he is disappointed. He says he has to make changes. He says the Georgia football program is not where it needs to be, and when a once-respectable SEC program ends its season by failing to score a touchdown against a team from Conference USA, nobody is going to dispute that.
Here’s the only matter up for debate: Does anybody believe Mark Richt can still get it done?
It didn’t look like it this season, when the Bulldogs finished with a losing record (6-7) for the first time in 14 years. It didn’t look like it at Mississippi State or Colorado or in Jacksonville (again).
It didn’t look like it Friday night, because if the average Georgia fan considers it humiliating having to win in the final week of the season just to become bowl eligible — and then get stuck with the Liberty Bowl — what do you call it when the Bulldogs lose to Central Florida, 10-6?
This is what it looks like: Mark Richt has lost control of this program.
At the very least, he has lost the benefit of the doubt. The win totals in the last four seasons: 11, 10, eight, six.
Before Georgia’s game against Tech, I stated that Richt’s early success in Athens (two SEC titles in five seasons) earned him another year and the right to fix the problems. A part of me still believes that. But there’s mounting evidence that’s not going to happen.
The Dogs open next season against Boise State. Is there any part of you right now that says Georgia will win that game?
Ten days before Auburn will play in the BCS championship game, four days before Arkansas is in the Sugar Bowl and on the same afternoon a story broke that new Florida coach Will Muschamp is on the verge of hiring Charlie Weis as the Gators’ offensive coordinator, Georgia lost a bottom-tier bowl game to a team from Conference USA, which is a hiccup ahead of the Sun Belt.
If the damage from this was limited, it’s only because Uga VIII stayed home with a stomach virus.
Hopefully, the dog wasn’t watching on TV when Richt sent the worst possible message to his team on their opening possession. The offense had just driven from their own one-yard line to the UCF three. But on fourth-and-1 — and in the first quarter of the Liberty Bowl — Richt opted for the field goal. He defended the decision afterward.
Is that how Richt now defines finishing the drill?
The Dogs didn’t necessarily look emotionless. They just looked pointless.
Central Florida, coached by the familiar George O’Leary, smacked them in the mouth. Georgia didn’t look equipped to smack back. They couldn’t run the ball. They couldn’t get tough yards. They couldn’t make a big play when they needed one. They were 3 for 14 on third-down conversions.
Aaron Murray completed his first seven passes. Then he went 14 for 31 with two interceptions. A.J. Green had eight catches but they covered only 77 yards (9.6 average, well below his 15.7 season average).
Say goodbye to A.J.: He didn’t make it official afterward that his next catch will be in the NFL but logic says that Liberty Bowl humiliation won’t be enough to keep him in college.
This is worse than Starkville, even worse than Boulder. It came at the end of a season, after a month of preparation, when Georgia should have worked out some of its problems.
Also, Colorado doesn’t play in a conference made by Fisher-Price.
In his typical postgame monotone delivery, Richt said: “We’re all disappointed. We didn’t want to finish with a loss. We didn’t want to finish with a losing record. Nobody would’ve predicted that. But it is what it is. There’s reasons why we ended up the way we did. We have to make changes. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future. We have to change how we go about our business. We’re going to improve. We’re going to get Georgia where it belongs.”
Do you believe him? Because from here, it looks like Georgia just turned into Kentucky – a school looking forward to basketball season.
Georgia loses almost annually to Florida. Now it loses to Central Florida. Get ready for 2012: Florida Atlantic is on the schedule.
Don’t laugh. It’s not that big of a step down. And things are headed in that direction.
– By Jeff Schultz
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2,265 comments Add your comment
football fan
January 1st, 2011
12:33 am
Should Mark Richt leave? Maybe, but some people act like he is public enemy No. 1. This is college football for Gosh sake. There are a lot worse problems to have then a coach who has had one losing season in 10. You could have a child in Irag or a loved one fighting cancer. Maybe you don’t have a job right now. Or maybe you have an aging parent with memory issues. That’s right, none of things things are as serious as having a struggling college football team every so often. Where are my priorites?
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
12:34 am
Yup, looks like you dawgs are OLeary’s bitches.!!!!
astrouga
January 1st, 2011
12:34 am
Dave from GT — are you kidding? Your team can’t beat the dawgs while we are sleeping. You guys have beat us once in a decade…don’t pretend you have forgotten that little fact.
Auburn/Delta
January 1st, 2011
12:35 am
I think it’s time to offer Bill Belichick about $3M to come coach at UGA. Given the prestige of the job he will make that move in a heartbeat.
GeorgiaDawg4Life
January 1st, 2011
12:36 am
Argue what you will but Mark Richt is the one and only man for the job. Yes he has lost control but it can be taken back by him just as quickly as he lost it. We have a team full of talent and needs to be pushed by every coach on the staff to show their full character to see if they buckle or fight through it and that will show whether we are a great team in the making or just another waste of recruiting or talent.
Ruprecht
January 1st, 2011
12:37 am
How much does he make? That should be reason enough to ask these questions. Lets leave the cure to cancer to Sanjay Gupta.
For this kind of money…expect excellence.
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
12:37 am
football fan Thanks friend- good post.
Stumpknocker
January 1st, 2011
12:38 am
Isn’t it about time the AD and board of dir at GA leveled with the fans ? Isn’t it about time the coaching staff quit the BS and went to teaching and enforcing some dicipline?
LoganvilleDAWG
January 1st, 2011
12:40 am
I am very disappointed with the outcome, but all anyone is wanting to do is fire Coach Richt. He has the best record of all the past coaches at UGA in a 10 year period. Yes we should of gone for the 1st down, it could have set the tone for the game. We DO NOT have a true stud RB, our OL had flashes of success but it was not what it was suppose to be. No matter what all the so called coaches on these blogs say about our defense, it did show improvement in certain areas, against the run it was very BAD. In order to have a good 3-4 you have to a 350lb NG & 2 or more 300 plus tackles. There does need to be some changes, OC is a good start. But if the OC is gone, who could and/or get. Well I hope Coach Richt is back & I am ready to get hammered about my comments.
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
12:40 am
Ha Ha Ha………. you all are really affected by losing to UCF. I got news for you…….. UCF has just as many students as UGA, has plenty of expansion room, and it funded by the Orlando business community aka Disney…..
They got is goin on over there in Orlando. Don’t be suprised if one day UCF is in a BCS conference, just like USF.
and…… I do appreciate OLeary and what he did while at Tech….. He Proved that UGA can be beaten on a regular basis and that is not a bad thing..
We will get back there soon. !!!!!!!! November in Atlanta is just the start, butt sniffers.
But again, Happy New Year.
Matt
January 1st, 2011
12:41 am
Bobo the clown needs to go. Hire David Greene as a offensive coordinator and David Pollack as a Defensive coordinater and UGA might win.
dawghater1
January 1st, 2011
12:42 am
plain and simple ugay sux!!!
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
12:45 am
LoganvilleDAWG Good for you.
Great night!
January 1st, 2011
12:45 am
Peterson receives Bobby Dodd (legendary GT coach) coach of the year trophy.
Cam Newton received Heisman (legendary GT coach) player of the year trophy.
UGA receives Wally Butts trophy for losing the toilet bowl, sponsored by Scott toilet paper.
Ray Goof to Mike BooBoo, all hail the georgy circus and ringmaster Mark Richt!
A Hopeful Dawg
January 1st, 2011
12:46 am
Rumor has it Urban Meyer may have left Florida to follow Greg McGarity to Athens. I think Richt is a great person and wonderful mentor to a lot of kids, but it’s obvious that he’s not MAJOR college coaching material. I hope the rumor is true and wish CMR the best of luck elsewhere.
we steal ruin this state
January 1st, 2011
12:47 am
The hangovers experienced by the thugas are going to be vicious in the morning. They will wake up thinking, “I dreamed we lost to UCF”.
Matt
January 1st, 2011
12:47 am
Imagine this scenario CMR gets fired next season and Urban Meyer comes in and is our next coach.
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
12:47 am
Meyer to Athens?? That one is hilarious.
Ruprecht
January 1st, 2011
12:48 am
A little too much muskatel
Matt
January 1st, 2011
12:48 am
Magarity uses his Florida connections and goes after Meyer and we finally start a streak of beating Florida
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
12:48 am
Imagine this. Tomorrow the clouds come in and it begins to rain thousand dollar bills!!! Odds about the same.
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
12:49 am
Urban will not move to Athens…… and his daughter goes to GT. Why don’t you get Mike Singletary.? or Randy Shannon? or….. Mike Leach? No…… check that…… don’t get Leach!
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
12:49 am
No more drinks for you Matt. Also give me your car keys.
Ruprecht
January 1st, 2011
12:50 am
Youre not drivin that ramblin wreck tonight!
BLUE
January 1st, 2011
12:51 am
only thing funnier than Meyer to Athens is people thinking CMR has a clue at coaching and blaming BoBo CMR is the problem
Matt
January 1st, 2011
12:51 am
I wonder if Bobby Cox knows anything about football
We Hit and Run This State
January 1st, 2011
12:53 am
Enter your comments here
We Hit and Run This State
January 1st, 2011
12:53 am
Two more words…YOU SUCK!
Buzz 2010
January 1st, 2011
12:55 am
Dabo Sweeney, he is the man to take over the mighty Dawgs.
t-bone
January 1st, 2011
12:56 am
CMR is right. Time for change, starting at the top. 4th and inches-chicken sh*t call, chicken sh*t preparation, chicken sh*t performance, chicken sh*t team, chicken sh*t coaching in a chicken sh*t bowl. It almost seems as if CMR wants to get fired so that he can get his pay-off and go to another team. That’s the only way to make any sense of this total disaster. How else do you explain that a team with so many projected NFL draftees can lose to Central Florida in a third rate bowl game? If Cam Newton had signed on with Georgia he would probably have been the best tight end no one has ever heard of. P-I-T-I-F-U-L
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
12:56 am
UGA VIII didn’t even show……. UGA 7.5 had to be called in. UGA VIII is smarter than Russ 7.5 !!!! Even if his ass is not white, y’all.
UCF will be ranked in the top 20 when this season is finally over. OLeary is a winner in the state of GA. Maybe you will get a rematch next year.!
monty
January 1st, 2011
12:56 am
Their guys were open, our guys for the most part were well covered. No time for Murray to get comfortable in the pocket.O-Line can’t protect QB or open holes for runners,3-4 defense is a bust,if there was a hole for the running backs to run through they would get tackled by a shoestring,why can’t we get a running back capable of taking it to the house? Ealy looks slower than Knowshon,Rambo whiffed on a few tackles,the other team was better coached.DId CMR have the flu or something? He looked miserable or uptight even before the game was very old? Rockbottom program right now. Sad day for the Bulldog nation. 2 programs going in different directions.
Wright
January 1st, 2011
12:57 am
And UGA wants to schedule Ohio State, maybe Valdosta State would be more like it.
BLUE
January 1st, 2011
12:57 am
CMR and Mike Vick both dog killers
Disappointed Dawg
January 1st, 2011
12:57 am
Dear Tech fans,
Please get off this board. You got your asses whipped by Air Force. Thanks.
Name a success story??
January 1st, 2011
12:57 am
Can you name one coach that has “turned his program around” from such a downward spiral? It’s an honest question and one in which I would like someone to BLOG or write an article about. I can’t think of one but maybe I just don’t remember. I could be wrong.
Richard Cranium
January 1st, 2011
12:57 am
Hey, you guys can always fall back on your education…..oooops, sorry!!!
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & Tired
January 1st, 2011
12:58 am
Can anyone explain why UGA’s football program is so bad considering they supposedly get top recruits year after year????? Can it be…..is it…….COACHING?????
Don
January 1st, 2011
12:58 am
I don’t even know where to start. I’m embarrassed. And, I feel for the kids who came to UGA and got snookered by a staff who will continue to waste the talent of these athletes who could showcase their skills and get and education at the same time. Is CMR a good man? Sure he is. But, my priest is too, and he has no business coaching football, either. CMR, you’ve turned into a multi-million $ disappointment. Do the dignified thing, the honorable thing and resign, and take that drunk OC and overweight foul mouthed DC with you. Greg, Mike: Enough is Enough.
TopDawg
January 1st, 2011
12:59 am
Look, it’s been a long, hard season. Richt needs to take those boys for a relaxing dip in the pool to reward their efforts.
Teresa
January 1st, 2011
12:59 am
Bobo’s gotta go.
Matt
January 1st, 2011
12:59 am
well next year when GT fires there coach maybe Meyer will go there since his Daughter goes there and then we wont be able to beat Florida we wont be Gt either.
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
1:00 am
@ BLUE…… I am speechless! Why didn’t I think of that ? One fine point of difference, however, Vick knows how to win………
Nurse Rachet
January 1st, 2011
1:01 am
Matt what are you about 15?
Ron Hyatt
January 1st, 2011
1:01 am
Let the drunken wife beating continue. hee hee hee
5150 P.O.A.D.
January 1st, 2011
1:02 am
Dude Where is My Offense?
Staring………Mark Richt
Co-Staring……Mike Bobo
Gaffe………..A Murray, AJ Green, W Ealey
BLUE
January 1st, 2011
1:02 am
@ Don I think the team needs more foul mouth a$$ chewing for lack of effort loving these guys dont work
luangtom
January 1st, 2011
1:02 am
First of all, maybe UGA should recruit players that do not have problems…..academic and legal. We should hope that the players next year will put their troubles on-hold and attend to the matters at hand, which is their football playing. It was supposedly their talent that got them to UGA, so let’s see them use it.
A little better investigation of recruits is in order. Do background checks and see if they may be a potential problem, academically and legally. The coaches work with what they have and it seems that currently UGA does not have a whole lot to work with. Imagine that………..someone did not do their home-work.
Marie
January 1st, 2011
1:02 am
It sure is easy to be a fan when your team is winning!!!!!
And i’m pretty sure CMR has totally forgotten how to coach – yeah, that’s it!
He just forgot how to coach – you people make me ill, along with this garbage AJC.
GO DAWGS!!!!!
Dave from GT
January 1st, 2011
1:02 am
This all started with those red panties !!!