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
5 stars equals 7 losses ,11 arrest, 3 pts
December 31st, 2010
10:18 pm
congrats on winning the biggest Buffoons award hands down
BC
December 31st, 2010
10:19 pm
J Dawg I don’t think that being moral and Christian wins football games but it help on the personal side for our players and coaches. How many of you complainers have ever sat down with Coach Richt and really know his heart and his desire for this program. There is not a harder working coach or staff. They are human just like you. When those of you that are sideline coaches have the same lever of knowledge and desire them maybe you can coach at the college and SEC level. Be positive. .
Go Dawgs
December 31st, 2010
10:19 pm
Woof woof
DawgsAwful
December 31st, 2010
10:19 pm
It’s up to McGarity to fix this mess, Coach Richt and staff have been working on it all season and you see the results.
Old Dawg Fan
December 31st, 2010
10:19 pm
If Lou Holtz said Richt can turn it around-remember 4 years ago he predicted Notre Dame would win the National Champtionship-they only won 3 games that year under Weiss-Holtz is as gone and CMR should be!!!
Bill Martin
December 31st, 2010
10:20 pm
It is all over. Finally Richt and Bobo and the defense have effectively destroyed the former
great dog program. I don’t care anymore and will not give any more money to U> of G. for anything.
This is just pittttttttttiful. If the president and AD cannot see this is goen then they need to go
as we.
Wandering Georgian
December 31st, 2010
10:20 pm
Losing to UCF (or any C-USA team) is unacceptable. I say give Richt one more year, but anything short of 9-3 and he’s gone.
I think Mark Richt is a good coach, and an even better man. But he doesn’t have this program where it needs to be. One losing season doesn’t mean he need to go. He’s earned the chance to fix this. That said, if he can’t get it done in 2011, it’s time for a change.
I would rather have a good man who recruits and coaches the right way than someone who breaks rules and wins with a bunch of felons, but this year UGA had eleven (!) players arrested. This is your last chance, Coach Richt. Fix it, or else.
HumbleU
December 31st, 2010
10:20 pm
Huuuuuuuuuuuuuumble! A losing Georgia team will become the norm. Great way for Georgia fans to enter the new year by getting: HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!
yuck
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
Yeah…Richt’s fault that Murray sucked tonight…that Sturdivant chop blocks…that guys miss blocks…you are all full of it…no one in this sorry country ever wants to take responsibility for anything…including sorry UGA fans that blame a guy not on the field…UGA players didn’t PERFORM…the PLAYERS lost the game because they are the one’s on the field PLAYING the game…you probably blame your kid’s teachers for his bad grades too…
JB
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
Giving Mark next year is the PC thing to do I guess. I know almost everyone on the campus loves the guy, and his family. But that’s my point, this is being looked at like family, and not a business, and at over 70 million in revenue, you can call it “school” all you want to, but it’s a product being charged a hefty price for. I don’t think they (Adams& McGarity) feel this late they can pull the trigger, But in the Real world looking at this program, McGarity will spend from Now until the Sunday after the Tech game next year preparing to hire Georgia a new coach. I just don’t see this team or staff beating ANY team other than a cream puff. 7-5 tops.
Happy New Year...
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
puppy fans, how does it feel to be the laughing stock of college football?
Becky
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
We are the worst fans in the world. We expect to win every game. Look at all of the teams who have have bad seasons this year. We played some of the hardest teams in the nation. I think that Mark Richt is a good coach and everyone just should stay off of the band wagon. I hope he stays and I’d like to see some of you have to eat your words. Give the man a break!!!!!!!! Bobo too!!!!!!
Brian
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
LakeDawg — I agree 100%. He is definitely a good man but his results on the field have been AWFUL the last two years. All aspects of the program are in decline and I absolutely think a change must be made.
Valtool
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
As a UCF Alumnus living in Dawg Country, I am obviously proud of my team. They are not strong enough to compete in the SEC, but they should certainly be in a BCS guarantee conference if UConn can get a BCS bowl spot. O’Leary has done a great job building the program at UCF (which BTW is now the 2n largest university in the country). If we can bring in some of the recruits that have traditionally gone to UF, FSU and Miami (which seems more likely as each of these teams flounder), we will continue to grow more competitive an show we deserve our top 25 ranking. As for Richt, I always thought he was a man of character and class until I read the ESPN recap of the game and learned that he refused the Runners-up trophy from the Liberty Bowl. What message does that sen to the school, its alumni an its fans? Is this the man you want representing you off the field?
Middle GA Dawg
December 31st, 2010
10:21 pm
I am a long time UGA fan, but I am also a realist and I do know that Georgia is not an elite program. We want to be but we aren’t and we aren’t gonna get there with Richt. But I do have say the”Nick Farley Scare’s Dawg Fan” earlier that said the elite programs were Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Nebraska? Notre Dame? are you serious? When is the last time Notre Dame won anything in Football? When is the last time Nebraska won anything? I agree Alabama is an elite program. Alabama and Florida have set the standard for what is elite in the SEC and the whole coiuntry for that matter. Georgia, alhough I love em, will never be an elite program until we hire an elite coach an elite staff that knows not only how to recruit elite players but to make them better.
Ruprecht
December 31st, 2010
10:22 pm
This just in from Macon Tattler…UGA extends Richt contract with hefty raise.
5 stars equals 7 losses ,11 arrest, 3 pts
December 31st, 2010
10:22 pm
time for a change, hahahahahahaha, uga would have to pay off roughly 7 million to get rid of Richt and his staff
Karen DeLamater
December 31st, 2010
10:22 pm
I am not even a Georgia Bulldogs fan, but it sounds like that team has a lot of “Fair weathered fans”. Mark Richt has done pretty well in recent years. He has had a rough year because so many on his team can’t quit partying long enough to stay out of trouble. Give the guy a break!
TheAntiMe
December 31st, 2010
10:23 pm
This is how it usually works in college football after a team starts to seriously decline:
First year – head coach fires defensive coordinator
One year later – head coach fires offensive coordinator
Two years later – athletic director fires head coach
It appears to me that the writing is on the wall.
GR82BAG8R
December 31st, 2010
10:23 pm
Becky, look at the talent you have. You should expect to win every game. Richt is an excellent recruiter, but he is not developing his talent.
GA WILDCAT
December 31st, 2010
10:23 pm
LASERBUDDY you are right,I am no dog fan,but i am embarrassed.
Keep drinking...
December 31st, 2010
10:23 pm
The Dawg Kool Aid thinking CMR will turn things around, joke! UGAly!
RT
December 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
Becky, have you ever heard of Alabama?
StingDoc
December 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
11 ARRESTS 6 wins 7 LOSSES .
BWAHAHAHAHA!
bravesfansince66
December 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
What an embarrassing predicament…and all CMR can muster is I am disappointed. We clearly need a change and it might as well start with the guy at the top. We need somebody that will peel the paint off the locker room when the team plays a game like todays.
muddiver
December 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
CMR should have graciously accepted the first losers trophy. He certainly earned it.
bad brad
December 31st, 2010
10:25 pm
I don’t like to comment on your site Jeff because I know you get paid by the number of hits you get, but I cannot disagree with your point.
When we didnt go for it on the opening drive, it told me we were not playing to win, we were just playing not to lose. That is the mentality that Richt is coaching with and it will cost him his job.
I am a Mark Richt fan, but I have lost confidence in his ability to run the GA program. It’s a sad day.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
December 31st, 2010
10:25 pm
Valtool,
UCF impressed tonight and I’ll say congrats to the better team. If UCF were in the BE this year you may have won it.
7576DAWG
December 31st, 2010
10:25 pm
CMR says that changes have to be made, but you have to give Grantham at least next year to turn things around and we were not blown out in any game and could have won all but 2 of the games. So if Grantham is safe then that only leaves Bobo. If UGA doesn’t have a a new offensive coordinator next year then all what CMR said is just a bunch of big talk and no real change is coming.We will see..
I have alway’s been a big supporter of CMR but I hope McGarity will make sure that we have some serious changes for next year because the dumbest football fan can see that the current status quo isn’t getting the job done and if we have the same coaches next year we will get close to the same results. You can’t lose the skill players that we are going to lose and improve unless a lot of changes occur.
Humiliated in Athens
December 31st, 2010
10:25 pm
Who suggested Aaron Murray should wear gloves? Probably hobo Bobo. Murray has been accurate all year except tonight.
Rothlesburger is the only QB with any talent that wears gloves and Murray is a far cry from Big Ben.
SuperB
December 31st, 2010
10:25 pm
Jeff, you hit the nail on the head.
Mark Richt has to go–NOW! And take that incompetent OC, Mike Bobo with you, and mistake for a DC too. Georgia has great talent, good enough to win championships– but the coaching is awful. I have been the biggest Dawg fan for 42 years– through thick and thin. But I will NOT waste one more minute or spend one more cent going to games as long as Richt is the coach. I feel sorry for the 92,000 other souls who have wasted their time and money the last 2 years! Richt can make all the excuses he wants– but kicking that FG in the first quarter sums up the last 2 years of losing FB!!!
Big Dawg
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
McGarity needs to get Malzahn on speed dial now while we still can! The man may coach at Auburn, but he’s won at every level and will show up somewhere else as a worthy adversary down the line if we don’t make the move. Let’s not prolong the inevitable and a year’s worth of agony. Recruiting is already badly damaged even if CMR stays because he’s now officially a lame duck.
JDawg
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
Imagine what this embarrassment is gonna to do an already horrid recruiting season . . .
If Mark Richt could really “turn things around,” wouldn’t he have started today?
USMC dawg
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
“How many of you complainers have ever sat down with Coach Richt and really know his heart and his desire for this program. There is not a harder working coach or staff. They are human just like you.”
Hey BC, we get that, but he is paid $3million plus a year to PERFORM a job.
I get fired if i don’t produce at my job as well, and I am a great guy as well; It’s not personal, it’s business.
Get over it!
Phil
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
5150 P.O.A.D.
Yes I’m watching the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Watching Greg Reid from FSU and wishing he was in Athens instead. But Richt wanted Brandon Smith instead. How is that working out Richt?? You Moron. Everybody in South Georgia knew that Greg Reid was the real deal at Lowndes County. Not Richt though, he wanted Brandon Smith, who has done nothing at UGA.
JB
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
BC@10:19…………………..You forgot to add a 3 MILLION DOLLAR per year paycheck to produce. I don’t need to get to know him…..I want my University to have a respectable football team. We are anything but that. You need to pull for Vandy…..Go get to know them.
Corch Myer
December 31st, 2010
10:26 pm
Billy
December 31st, 2010
9:56 pm
brantley blew his season for Meyer too, Meyer and Richt are great coaches, just both had super lousy QB’s in 2010.
NO- both Richt and Meyer had terrible coaching years. Meyer was the worst coach in America this year.
asa
December 31st, 2010
10:27 pm
GEORGIA HAS LOTS OF TROUBLE NUMBER 1 STARTS WITH RECRUITING WE LET SO MANYU GREAT PLAYERS GET AWAY AND WE END UP WITH VASSER FROM CHESATEE,BAILEY FROM EAST HALL AND OUR 1ST RECRUIT FOR 2012 CURRY FROM NORTH HALL WHO CAUGHT 11 PASSES THIS YEAR WE HAVEN’T HAD A COMMITTEE SINCE AUGUST WE ARE HOPING FOR ALL THESE SO CALLED 4 STAR RECRUITS BUT WE LET KIDS GO LIKE THE WIDE RECEIVER FROM SANDY CREEK, LINEBACKER JOHNSON FROM GAINESVILLE ALONG WITH OTHER KIDS FROM WINNING PROGRAMS AND GO AFTER THE KIDS I,VE MENTIONED THAT CAN,T PLAY DEAD IN A WESTERN
Katherine wears red panites
December 31st, 2010
10:27 pm
6 and 7! Let the whining begin. Georgia sucks.
Ruprecht
December 31st, 2010
10:28 pm
Again….This was U(C)F?
Coffee Bluff DAWG
December 31st, 2010
10:28 pm
bad brad,
Agree that UGA should have gone for it on 4th and 1. It didn’t lose the game for UGA but it sent a message of no confidence that our O line can create enough space to gain a yard.
Phil
December 31st, 2010
10:28 pm
BC,
I hate to tell you this, but Richt’s message is not getting through. 11 arrests this year. He’s failing even as a moral leader.
Katherine wears red panites
December 31st, 2010
10:28 pm
At least the mighty dogs got the signature win against mighty Idaho State!
True Dawg Fan.
December 31st, 2010
10:29 pm
Whats best for UGA ? I hope people that are in a position to decide that do it honestly in the near future. Mark Richt is a nice guy but he should be asking that question. The Bulldog nation deserves that question to be answered at the very least. My wife and I support UGA financially and love the dawgs. Please get the mess in Athens cleaned up and start playing every game to win like it was the last. Thanks for letting us comment, Go Dawgs !
bravesfansince66
December 31st, 2010
10:29 pm
I hope CMR is backing uo to the pay window to collect his pay. As for me I want a refund!
JDawg
December 31st, 2010
10:29 pm
BC, I like Richt the man, too.
But he has even lost the handle on keeping his players in line.
I see no way he can turn this program around.
Getting Old...
December 31st, 2010
10:29 pm
Hearing the same crap, ‘he’s a good man, etc etc, bull crap, 6 wins, 7 losses, 11 arrests should equal DISMiSSAL
Katherine wears red panites
December 31st, 2010
10:30 pm
The red panties didn’t help Thuga.
USMC dawg
December 31st, 2010
10:30 pm
“I am not even a Georgia Bulldogs fan, but it sounds like that team has a lot of “Fair weathered fans”. Mark Richt has done pretty well in recent years. He has had a rough year because so many on his team can’t quit partying long enough to stay out of trouble. Give the guy a break!”
Hey Karen,
how about going back to the COOKING blog and leave us guys alone.
You sound like a total jackass.
Show some class
December 31st, 2010
10:31 pm
Dr Phil and USMC dawg yall are both wrong. Although the break dance party in the endzone was disgusting, the stomping on the Vandy logo was the 1st sign of the inmates running the jail.