Mark Richt might need 9-1 finish to keep job at Georgia
Georgia coach Mark Richt is 0-2 for the first time in his career. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
ATHENS – Nobody is going to admit now what tight end Orson Charles acknowledged two weeks ago: “Our first two games will make or break our season.”
Because when a team is 0-2 after two perceived make-or-break games, players and coaches must nonetheless publicly cling to a series of improbabilities. Otherwise the rest of the season morphs into a three-month death march.
But reality is that it will take a miraculous finishing kick for the Bulldogs to have a successful season and possibly save coach Mark Richt’s job. What does that amount to? Try 9-1 in the next 10 games.
That may seem extreme. But Richt’s contract situation, the backdrop of the past two-plus seasons, the demands of coaching in the SEC, the divided fan base and a cryptic comment at a recent athletic-board meeting indicates if the Bulldogs do anything less than win the SEC East, which may take a 9-1 finish, Georgia may make a change.
Richt insisted Tuesday, “There’s not a cloud hanging over us” after losses to Boise State and South Carolina. Maybe he just hasn’t gone outside.
He said the attitude has been positive since Saturday’s 45-42 loss to South Carolina, adding, “If the game went the other way, then Georgia’s the front-runner in the East and everybody starts thinking about the positive possibilities.”
The problem being that Georgia didn’t win, and the SEC isn’t about “ifs.” The game actually just reaffirmed what many have suspected. The Dogs have talent. They can compete with most teams when they play hard and, for the most part, smart. But they seem to have forgotten how to win these kinds of games, either because of a turnover, a special-teams breakdown or a penalty.
Richt would prefer that the rest of the season not be about his job status. It’s not exactly a conducive atmosphere for wins and pep rallies. But it’s reality.
Consider:
• The contract: Richt will have two years left on an eight-year deal after this season. That’s basically death in recruiting unless Georgia extends the contract, probably by at least two to three years. To not extend the contract also would set up the extreme rarity, particularly in the SEC, of a coach potentially entering his third straight “hot seat” season and working on a contract that had not been amended since after the 2007 season (when Richt received a raise).
• The schedule: Every remaining game is winnable. To put it another way, there are no “good” losses left. Florida? Maybe. But how would Richt dropping to 2-9 against the Gators go over with athletic director Greg McGarity, school president Michael Adams and the fan base? Losing to Florida means losing tiebreakers to both the Gators and South Carolina in the East. Beating Florida could salvage division hopes, but only with a strong finish.
• The record: McGarity probably doesn’t have a specific number of wins and losses in mind. But let’s look at this logically. Going 9-1 the rest of the way means a 9-3 finish, while 8-2 means finishing 8-4. Two losses mean the Dogs probably will have lost to Florida again. And/or Georgia Tech (making Paul Johnson 2-2 in the series). Or Mississippi State (for the second straight year). Or Tennessee (to Derek Dooley).
• The backdrop: It’s significant that at a recent UGA Athletic Association meeting, board member Tommy Lawhorne stated, “There are many of us who are really concerned about the status of the football program. Yet we have confidence in Greg McGarity to get us where we want to be.” Note that he referred to McGarity and not Richt.
Winning this week over Coastal Carolina, an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school, won’t change the important numbers. If you take out wins over FCS (Tennessee Tech, Idaho State) and Sun Belt (Louisiana-Lafayette) schools, Richt is 11-14 overall since 2009. He’s 6-10 in the past 16 SEC games and 2-10 against ranked teams. To go 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the SEC the rest of the way is possible. But it would be a stark contrast to what we’ve been witnessing.
Richt said the South Carolina game “could’ve gone either way. Did we improve tremendously? There’s no doubt about that. I left the field sick about losing but encouraged about the team.”
Improvement is good. But winning saves jobs. Richt has left himself no room for error.
By Jeff Schultz
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698 comments Add your comment
JB
September 14th, 2011
12:02 pm
Lot’s of chatter about the upset special of the week being Navy over South Carolina. Navy is smart, tough, disciplined and hard to beat.
Hobnail Boot
September 14th, 2011
12:06 pm
“Navy is smart, tough, disciplined and hard to beat.”
True enough… if you’re facing them at sea. Some folks think MSU will pull off an upset against LSU.
That would be a signature win for your man Dan Mullen. Hey… Stranger things have happened.
Harold
September 14th, 2011
12:08 pm
Possible…not probable with the defense being trotted out.
http://coachesbythenumbers.com/should-richts-backside-really-be-on-fire/
Phil
September 14th, 2011
12:24 pm
“We simply got out coached but with even me yelling at the TV , WATCH FOR A FAKE PUNT, WATCH FOR A FAKE PUNT, WATCH FOR A FAKE PUNT, I can’t understand why CMR didn’t feel it was coming.”
Richt and his staff of buffoons never see this coming. This has been happening for years. We lost the Sugar Bowl to West Virginia because they didn’t have a clue the fake punt was coming.
Playing LSU a couple of years ago I called my brother and predicted LSU would fake punt BEFORE it happened, sure enough they did. You could see it coming.
Last year’s Auburn game, my brother called me at halftime and predicted Auburn would onside kick to start the 2nd half, sure enough they did.
If we can spot these things, then surely some competent coaches SHOULD see them coming. Not Richt and his staff of buffoons, not a clue. I bet if you go back the last 10 years, Georgia probably leads the nation in most fake punts ran against them.
JR
September 14th, 2011
12:31 pm
KungFuMaster
September 14th, 2011
11:18 am
@Funny and Dawg4Ever – Know about college football, I played college basketball and football at Alcorn State(place where the greatest football player every played – Jerry Rice). The last time you had on a uniform is when you were in the boyscouts. Oh, did the scoutmaster touch you. I’m a NFL fan first and foremost – college football doesn’t come close. You all upset over a BCS systems that’s the biggest ponzi scheme since ENRON. A championship system that is as arbitrary as a chocolate tomato. Coaches polls, ap polls, and bcs polls, and I dream of jeanie polls.
2002 – No National Championship(UGA)
2005 – No National Championship(UGA)
2007 – No National Championship(UGA)
2008 – No National Championship(UGA)
Even Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida don’t consider you as a real rival – HINT(You have to win in order to be considered a Rival)
Any thing before 1990 doesn’t count
I’m a PITTSBURGH STEELERS fan sucker, the yellow towel is everywhere. Even overseas, you see military personnel waving the yellow towel. You can’t even go to downtown Chicago and see a UGA T-Shirt. All I hear from Georgia fans is Herschel Walker, hell, I wasn’t born then. Neither was the internet, .com, GPS, FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, Keyless remote, wine in a box, cell phones, and the Cosby Show. By the Way – Michael Vick got a 2nd $100M contract, shows what you know about the business of football.
This guy knows so much about Alcorn State and played there. He said that Jerry Rice did too. So this shows just how much of a fraud he is. Jerry Rice played at Mississppi Valley State. Just another moron imposter on a newspaper blog.
harold
September 14th, 2011
12:41 pm
THE FACT IS RICHT IS 15-15 IN HIS LAST 30 GAMES. HE IS NOW 3-7 IN HIS LAST 10 SEC GAMES! THAT TRAILS ONLY VANDY??????
IT IS TIME FOR RICHT TO GO!
5150 UOAD
September 14th, 2011
12:48 pm
NAVY can run That Triple Option very well.
5150 UOAD
September 14th, 2011
12:49 pm
Where is the Blog TROLL COUNTER TODAY?
Magnolia Dawgg
September 14th, 2011
12:56 pm
What if Crowell gets hurt?
BeeBoppa LuLu
September 14th, 2011
12:57 pm
FIRST!
gt4ever
September 14th, 2011
1:29 pm
Navy and GT are experts in the triple flop, sorry, option….
TrueFan
September 14th, 2011
1:35 pm
SEC CHAMPS!
GO DAWGS!
gt4ever
September 14th, 2011
1:38 pm
It could happen TrueFan…. Then GT will be the SEC champs and ACC champs…..
TrueFan
September 14th, 2011
1:45 pm
Spoken like another true fan there gt4ever. However, due to my loyalty to my DAWGS, I must respectfully call that hogwash sir.
DrDawg
September 14th, 2011
1:46 pm
If we lose once again to Florida, he must go. Period. He must go. If he can’t beat Florida this year, he never will.
TrueFan
September 14th, 2011
1:49 pm
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2 OUT OF THE NEXT 2 YEARS
…WITH RICHT!
BeeBoppa LuLu
September 14th, 2011
2:01 pm
Columbus forgot that the vocal minority PAYS THE BILLS! You young internet savvy little creeps pay for nothing! Money talks, dipwad.
BillB
September 14th, 2011
2:06 pm
Was Richt off sides on that on-side kick?????? Was Richt the one who threw that interception????? Was Richt the one who put his head down and missed that tackle on the fake punt???? NO, NO, NO. Jees folks. We have played two very good teams. Now it is time to get our timing and start picking off teams one week at a time. I can see us going 10-0 from here on out. Why not???? We will only get better. But if all our kids hear is the negative comments that I see and hear, it will be a hard for them to feel good about themselves. Let’s look at the situation at the end of the season (hopefully when we are 10-2).
TrueFan
September 14th, 2011
2:07 pm
FLORIDA WILL GO DOWN FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 3 YEARS (including this one)
TAKE THAT TO THE BANK
PonGT
September 14th, 2011
2:11 pm
There’s an old southern adage that says “Only a Fool deem it necessary to state the obvious”. While I’ve been a fan of yours for decades … loved your articles during the Dooley yrs after Herschel… it is not necessary to swing a Damoclean sword over CMR and his job. Everyone who was paying attention surmised that CMR had to 9-3, win the SEC EAST and beat Florida [for which he was hired] in order to keep his job. You’re too good of a journalist to write about the obvious. We need you to stay motivated and objective, not bias and obsessed.
red hill
September 14th, 2011
2:11 pm
No way does Richt go 9-1 in the final 10 games of this season. “Death march” is an appropriate term for what is going on in Athens. Sad and depressing. Loads of talent and zero preparation. I hate it and wish I had been wrong but the cracks in the foundation have been evident for several years.
TrueFan
September 14th, 2011
2:17 pm
Y’ALL ARE BLINDED BY THE MEDIA.
BEFORE THE RECENT LOSSES, IT WAS SAID BY ALL THAT UGA HAD TO WIN BOTH GAMES TO SAVE HIS JOB. NOW THE MEDIA IS EXTENDING THE DRAMA AS LONG AS THEY CAN. THERE IS CURRENTLY ENOUGH TALENT ON THIS TEAM TO OVERCOME ANY COACHING DEFICIENCIES THAT MAY BE PRESENT.
UGAgirl4life
September 14th, 2011
2:19 pm
Have I been disappointed at our Dawgs’ record the past few years? Yes. Have I supported them any less? Absolutely not. It was so heartbreaking last season to lose so many games by so few points but the games were exciting to watch, and would have been amazing had we been on the winning end. Our players have so much talent and we got to see some of that against Boise St. and South Carolina. South Carolina is ALWAYS a tough team to beat because Spurrier can have the shittiest team…and somehow, he’ll coach his team to play the best game of their season against UGA. I think that Mark Richt is a great man and a really good coach but he needs to clean out some of the guys working for him. He also needs to find that fire in him that he had back in 2007/2008. We’ve got the men to beat any team in the SEC but they need the right direction and coaches need to call plays that aren’t always the “safest”…cough*BOBO*cough. Playing it safe in the SEC gets you a loss. Our conference is known for being a challenge and with the slack in coaching & play calls are ending up with us becoming the new Vandy of the SEC, and we’re better than that! My whole family got excited when we saw Todd Grantham come in and rough up his guys when there were mistakes made…we need more coaches like on the sidelines like that, rather than just seeing what’s going on the field and showing no emotion whatsoever. Right now, there’s a lot of potential talent’s just sitting there and not being utilized to the fullest!
Also, these UGA “fans” that get up and leave before the game is over need to wake up! If you are lucky enough to be able get tickets and be able to go to the game, you STAY until that clock runs out, traffic be damned. It just sends the players the message that you’ve given up on them! Fair-weather fans are for the birds…y’all might as well go on and cheer on someone else…like LSU or Auburn or something…if you can’t support our Dawgs when they need it, then you’re no fan I’d want to claim.
Peace out and GO DAWGS!
RR Time
September 14th, 2011
2:50 pm
Florida is down for 2-3 years. Ga should be able to finally beat them. In fact, fla should go down big to tennessee. Ga can still win the East if SC loses 2 games.
Big Dawg
September 14th, 2011
3:16 pm
Columbus
I ask you who is actually being unreasonable here? I played at Georgia and I can tell you Coach Dooley and Coach Russel would have never put up with the lack of focus that happens every year under Coach Richt. I respect and think the world of him as a fellow Christian and Mason, but the truth is how many times does it take to get beaten on punt coverage with our guys just touching and running down field? That he finally learns the lesson and holds people including himself accountable. How many games have we seen where the team just basically dialed it in before the game ever started such as UCF in the bowl game and Boise State 2 weeks ago? Do I think they made improvement in the South carolina game yes in some areas but others NO as they still tolerate players taking plays off, poor tackling and loosing focus which cost us the SC game with 28 points giiven up by the offense and special teams. Anyway I will still be rooting for my Dawgs to turn things around and YES I want him to stay but he has to get over himself and make some more tough choices such as demoting Mike BoBo and hiring a real OC, start putting the big ugglies first in recruiting and stop the finese football.
Go Dawgs
UGAgirl4life
September 14th, 2011
3:27 pm
One thing that would be nice…if we could start TRYING to block field goal attempts instead of having one guy just run up and do a little half-jump-skip with a hand up each time instead of in dire points of the game….just saying.
Ed
September 14th, 2011
3:36 pm
There’s no doubt that CMR is going to have to atleast win 8 if not 9 to get the fans back comfortable with him. I think there are some very winnable games from here on out on the schedule. Richt is putting together a pretty good recruiting class for next year and I’d hate to lose out on some of those defensive linemen that have committed.
RogerDee
September 14th, 2011
6:45 pm
I for one would like CMR to stay. Thanks, Steve Spurrier
Thomas Walker
September 14th, 2011
7:56 pm
First, to me to lose to a team stacked with a lot of fifth year college players is no shame, and thus far to lose to two higher ranked teams(5th and 12th) with a bunch of young guys as Georgia has as far as on field experience shouldn’t be any shame either. By that , I mean how many of the players on the field now has any stats on the offensive side of the ball to say that they’re not performing to expectations.
For that matter, how many kids on the defensive side of the ball has a ton of experience. And didn’t you just change the defensive scheme that exactly how many of the kids have played in.
Exactly how many kids bolted the of our starters decided to bolt to enter the NFL and how many of the players that had experience leave the program because they couldn’t or wouldn’t obey the team rules?
And really when you really get down to it look at the location of Florida and Athens, I can’t remember a time when I’ve heard some one say that I’d rather vacation in Athens over Florida. Of course, more of you better athlete are going to choose a Florida school. How many Div I schools do they have now?
I think you guys (the media) need to take a breath and spin the positives of the program rather than keeping the thought that the coach is on the hot seat. It does sound as if you guys have an agenda to me.
That said, I do wonder some time why the coaches in their scouting of their opponents don’t seem to pick a weakness or area of the opponent and just keep going back to it throughout the entire game.
The game play scheming seems to be disjointed to me. You have a good run on a play and the next thing you see is the ball being thrown all around the field.
Just my take, so far. Besides that if you fire the coach, then what? How long will we have to endure before you guys in the media decide that the next coach is not winning big enough national titles. How many did coach Dooley win? And he was the to me the best that we’ve had.
big don
September 14th, 2011
8:59 pm
How come nobody has mentioned Urban Meyer lurking in the weeds? If they can get him I say fire Rickt via email tonight. Otherwise, be careful what you ask for. Don’t let him go without having your new coach lined up ready to sign the next day. And how come nobody every mentions one reason for going to the game is those gorgeous lady dogs? Hell, that’s 80 percent of the reason this old bag of bones still goes. ARe you kidding? The one piece black miniskirt and cowboy boots made me forget all about viagra. Maybe the rest of you are gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Joe
September 14th, 2011
9:08 pm
Having played (pre-Herschel) for UGA, Richt has legs…..we can go 9-1 for the rest of the season, the SC game (which I was at) had a lot of spirit and a lot of penalties not called (includign the face mask on Aaron)…..you can’t win in the SEC giving up 2 TD’s and missing a FG on a turnover. A lot of talent on the team if we can open up Aaron and get Bobo to let him play. We had more plays that were not guessed by the defense when Richt called plays (also winning seasons). Bobo needs to go and get someone who can open up the offense. Really, running Samuel up the middle when Crowell actually reads his blocking and hits his routes???
PigIron
September 15th, 2011
12:00 am
Thomas Walker
September 14th, 2011
7:56 pm
“Just my take, so far. Besides that if you fire the coach, then what? How long will we have to endure before you guys in the media decide that the next coach is not winning big enough national titles. How many did coach Dooley win? And he was the to me the best that we’ve had.”
The media doesn’t create reality — it only reflects it.
Bear Bryant, Vince Dooley and Pat Dye all coached in a very different era. If your next coach is not an improvement, then what you do is you hire another. It’s not that complicated. Your Head Coach is not a family member, he is an employee. If you don’t care about L’s and W’s, that’s fine. Just be happy with whatever you have and don’t pretend to be a top tier football program. There’s nothing wrong with that. Happens every day.
starchips11
September 15th, 2011
12:15 am
I think Richt may be out but people need to look at Murray’s poor showings in big games.
http://www.footballnation.com/content/georgias-aaron-murray-inside-the-numbers/8804/
Joe Don
September 15th, 2011
9:22 am
Richt = Fulmer Light!
gcs
September 15th, 2011
10:46 am
9-1 ain’t gonna happen. Between Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn there is at LEAST two losses. And lose to Ga Tech??? That might do it in itself.
.
JCB 30338
September 15th, 2011
1:18 pm
I expect Chris Relf and his Mississippi State team mates to put the final nail in Coach Richt’s coffin in Athens. It has been a good run for Coach Richt but supporters will want a new coach before recruiting gets more adversely impacted.
Charles Ottl
September 15th, 2011
4:46 pm
I have always thought of Richt as being a good coach, but not a great one. He has been fortunate to get outstanding players in good recruiting and they will win a lot of ballgames, but the coaching edge has been missing to win them all especially the last couple years. A top-notch coach would have won most of those. Docotto
Can Richt meet his ultimatum? « College Sports and the Media
September 16th, 2011
1:36 am
[...] Schultz of the Atlanta Journal Constitution describes Richt’s current situation very bluntly: basically, Richt needs to lead the Bulldogs to [...]
imfocusedman
September 16th, 2011
1:31 pm
Thanks to UGA getting beat like a dog in their home state, the nation has to listen to the year-long Boise State love fest. So here’s hoping UGA loses the rest of their SEC games to help the conference save face. The cherry on top would be for CMR to lose his job after getting beat down in Jacksonville. GO GATORS!
Bagman
September 16th, 2011
1:57 pm
Richt supporters don’t care about wins and losses. They don’t care about Georgia’s football reputation. They don’t even care about football.
The only reason that they support CMR is because he chooses to wear his religion on his sleeve in public. They see firing Mark Richt as the equivalent of firing Jesus Christ.
Alabama Coverage Blitz | 9.15.11 | Alabama Crimson Tide Zone
September 16th, 2011
3:02 pm
[...] Mark Richt might need 9-1 finish to keep job at Georgia | Jeff Schultz [...]
Can UGA Come Back? « College Sports and the Media
September 16th, 2011
3:47 pm
[...] Jeff Schultz, from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, explains the complications with Georgia footbal… The team has not showed the type of team that people expect when they think of Georgia football. He believes that the team must go 9-1 with the remaining games of the season for Mark Richt to keep his job and for the Bulldogs to have a relatively successful season. With the games that are left, it seems possible for the team to have that record. This will be a challenging feat, but with the games that are remaining, it does look doable for this Georgia football team. [...]
Big D
September 17th, 2011
10:15 am
I feel bad for Mark. His problem is the AJC raises false hopes by fititiously inflating the talent in UGA recruiting classes. Fact: UGA is a medium to upper medium SEC team. It was under Dooley, and with the exception of the Goff years, which were terrible, it has been ever since. Another problem is Richt has been stuck with tough non conference games that Dooley never had to put up with because Dooley did his own scheduling. Dooley’s idea of a non conference game was Woffrd at home not Okie State on the road. Give Mark a break. He is as good as any UGA has had and better than some you would replace him with. Look at the record. 9 and 3, 8 and 4, has always been a good year in Athens.
LIVE: Georgia tries to remember what a win feels like | Jeff Schultz
September 17th, 2011
12:32 pm
[...] On Richt: I wrote earlier in the week that I believe Richt needs to go 9-1 the rest of the season to keep his job. That’s based in part on his contract situation, which will have two years remaining after [...]
Once More, for fun
September 18th, 2011
9:19 pm
Man Boobs!
Matt Websters
September 18th, 2011
9:21 pm
“And lose to Ga Tech??? That might do it in itself”
Methinks there will be serious drunken wife beating in late Nov. Offense looks great, and D isn’t that bad.
Rhall55
September 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
Valleyboy32 is correct!! CMR mismanaged his scholarship amounts / leaving lack of depth in key places / losing out on some kids who could start for UGA / and handing out to many walk-on scholarships!! I disagee w/ most (my opinion): Hire Kirby Smart; shut down the recruiting borders of the state of GA, retain Mike Bobo as QB Coach and recruiter, retain John Lilly as TE Coach and recruiter, offer CMR an Administrative Position to Football (you’ve got to pay him anyway; assist in Daily Life of Players / assist in Recruiting / etc; can seek other HC positions if desire) and allow Kirby to fill his remaining staff; keeps committed prospects in the fold, brings in a tough minded, great in-state recruiter, defensive dominating Coach, and puts the existing Coaches in correct postions!!!
Arx
September 19th, 2011
5:40 pm
The Dawgs will not go 9-1 and the problem is less about Richt and more about a team that saw several name talents leave the dawghouse early for the league and an AD who basically did the unthinkable and was forced to resign. Then there was the QB who assaults a woman, gets dropped from the UGA program only to land feet first in another SEC school.
The school and the team is recovering from shock.
Of course, this is the modern college game and winning the corporate and media approval IS the game. If you need proof, just look back of game 1 of 2011 when the Dawgs were outfitted like B-movie freaks for pleasure of the corpo/media.
I understand that Richt is ultimately responsible… but in this case, he’s not to blame.