SEC punishes players, but why no reprimand for coaches?
Vanderbilt coach James Franklin stated his case to Mark Richt after the game.
(Updated with SEC statement on coaches.)
Georgia’s attempt to achieve a rare exacta — 1) beat Florida; 2) win the SEC East — just got a little more difficult.
The SEC, in an expected move, has suspended two Bulldogs defensive starters — safety Shawn Williams and nose tackle Kwame Geathers — for their actions in last week’s victory over Vanderbilt. Each must sit out the first half of the Florida game. Also suspended for a half was Vandy center Logan Stewart.
Meanwhile, the conference chose not to act on the actions of Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham or Vandy head coach James Franklin. That’s odd. It sends mixed messages.
This is not to suggest either Grantham or Franklin should have suspended, and a conference spokesman wasn’t even aware if there is precedent for a coach being fined for an on-field action. But the minimum of a public reprimand certainly seemed in order.
I sent an email to SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom asking why there was no publish discipline of any kind for Grantham and Franklin. This was his emailed response: “Matter handled internally between league office and schools.”
Coaches should be held to at least as high a standard as players. Actually, higher. They are the adults in this scenario, at least theoretically.
As for the impact of the suspensions: The Dogs’ defense has improved this season — notwithstanding a poor second half against Vanderbilt — so the loss of Williams and Geathers, even just for a half, hurts. Williams has been one of the defense’s best players, but was flagged for a flagrant personal foul in the third quarter. Geathers drew two personal fouls, one stemming from a punch at Stewart, who clipped him from behind.
Williams reportedly also was one of the initial sparks to the post-game scrum involving the two teams. Various videos from news sites have popped up, the most recent indicating that Williams was popping off after the game to Franklin, who then returned verbal fire, which brought Grantham into it. Then things exploded.
WSMV television in Nashville released raw video footage on Tuesday that showed a post-game conversation between Franklin and Georgia coach Mark Richt, who apologizes to the Vandy coach for the actions of Williams and Grantham (while also calling each a name).
Suffice to say, Richt did not intend for those comments to become public, even if he probably was right.
Here’s the transcript from the news video:
Franklin: “36 comes up, after a tough game, talking **** to me!
Richt: “Okay.”
Franklin: “Rubbing our face in it right after the game!”
Richt: “He’s a dumb***.”
Franklin: “And then your coach when I tell him about it, then he goes after me and the fight starts.”
Richt: “That’s what I thought happened, I apologize. It’s horse **** horse ****.”
Then coach Franklin finds another coach to express his feelings to.
Franklin: ” Hey, 36 after a tough game, come over and going to talk **** in my face after the game. That’s NOT how my guys do it!”
This is two strikes for Grantham, including last year’s episode when he gave multiple choke signs to a Florida place kicker. But there has been no official statement from the school, and athletic director Greg McGarity has only referred to Richt’s post-game comments, in which the coach expressed regret for the way his team acted after the win.
On the field, the Dogs definitely will take a hit in the first half against Florida next week. But they take a hit off the field as well.
By Jeff Schultz
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724 comments Add your comment
5 Time National Champs Nebraska
October 19th, 2011
3:18 pm
I’m not a fan of Schultz for the most part…..Hell, he called me stupid without explaining why. Regardless, these attacks against him are unwarranted. This is an opinion based blog. He states his opinion,and in this case he is correct.
Each time you UGA fans post here, you just perpetuate the stereotype of being ill informed homers. Grantham should be held to a higher standard, as should Franklin. Real men can walk away from confrontation. These two did not. It was a mixed message to suspend the players and not take some action against the coaches. They are the leaders. They set an example to the players they coach. It should not be a bad example. Boo to the SEC for not understanding this and BOO to the UGA fans that are too obtuse to realize it.
Jeff
October 19th, 2011
3:18 pm
Schultz,
How can you report that Richt calls his player a dumbass? The video does not support what is transcribed.
Troof
October 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
S GA Dawg, how do you know we haven’t already?
Facts are still facts bro. Your anger, like Grantham’s, doesn’t change anything.
I’m actually pulling for UGA to win the East. That way Bama can obliterate the boys from Athens…..and then the chance to do the same thing next year in T-town!
Banned Poster
October 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
Not going to jump on Schultz to much here, but the legitimate anger is well placed. Ever since Saturday this paper and the local sports media have been tearing up Coach Grantham and Coach Richt, but not once until the UGA fanbase started calling them on it yesterday did they start to actually look at Vandy Coach John Franklin and his actions during and after the game. While Grantham went a little overboard in defending his players, he was justifiably mad from all of the reports and video I have seen of Franklin going after Williams and yelling obscenities at him. I am sorry, but why did it take until yesterday for the local media here to start actually questioning the Vandy coach and his actions? That is my problem with this reporting is that it was so one sided for 3 days before a bunch of fans started calling you guys (to be fair not just Schultz) on it.
And the “intelligent” GA fans comment is a slap in the face of those who actually read your blogs and take the time to comment but who happen to disagree with you and legitimately feel a bias in your blogs. And they’re a lot more UGA blogs out there with more readers than this blog who are UGA fans who simply disagree with you and we are no less “intelligent” than those who agree with you. Comments like that and you wonder why people call you out?
rally, please don’t start talking about thug and UGA. I understand another Florida player got arrested yesterday, just a few days after their coach went off on officials about bad calls and doesn’t get reprimanded (nice double-standard). And you people call UGA thugs and undisciplined?
Oh and finally, all of this firestorm and talk about UGA being undisciplined when this was the first real incident of this team being undisciplined this season. Quiet offseason with the off the field stuff and a nice run in the SEC by beating teams we should have (something we couldn’t do in previous seasons) and playing hard nosed, disciplined football and not one positive word about it. But the team gets chippy after being bush leagued around and all of the sudden they get the “thug” stigma attached to them again? That’s the reporting that people are talking about here.
Joel
October 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
Is this as bad as the UGA player getting a personal foul for humping a UF player a few years back. Most UGA player are sexual deviants.
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
October 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
Don’t let them calling you a maroon bother you, Jeff. Some are probably going to call you a looser, too. Remember that there are a lot of good Dawg fans that probably went to school there and care about how their coaches act after a game. These are the same folks that don’t approve of felons running the ball.
Troof
October 19th, 2011
3:20 pm
Intelligent UGA fans? Those must be in the same class as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.
Joel
October 19th, 2011
3:21 pm
Hey Bamaslam, youre right LSU is gonna run roughshod over UGA in Atlanta!
South Ga Dawg
October 19th, 2011
3:21 pm
is there anykind of “high standard” for journalists to be held to? IF there is such a standard, the AJC must demand that its journalists strive to live up to that standard. As it goes now, these morons are just taking up space.
BG
October 19th, 2011
3:22 pm
Jeff, Why does the AJC love to stir up negative news when UGA is involved?
Troof
October 19th, 2011
3:22 pm
Banned Poster, are you serious? UGA getting a reputation as thugs? Sorry but I think winning the Fulmer Cup a few years back clinched that rep. UGA HAS a rep as a bunch of thugs. Not UF class but striving to get there.
Boobie Bowden
October 19th, 2011
3:23 pm
Damn, can them dawgs ever cry….
Red-N-Black
October 19th, 2011
3:23 pm
Why no suspension for substandard columnists? Or for the coach who gave the thumbs up before Gathers was clipped. Or for idiot beat writers named Bill? Schultz you remind me of another Schultz and you both have something in common – your mottos are “I know nothing”.
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
3:23 pm
rally, Really?
Georgia is a backwards in-bred state and this coming from a Bama fan?
T3
October 19th, 2011
3:23 pm
I just read some posts where people are writing that that going to cancel their subscriptions.
I mean, WTH? The AJC still has paying subscribers ??
Who’d have thought it. Wow.
Jeff Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:23 pm
Russ, the Temporary Mascot — You rock. And if you ever need a job reference, let me know.
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
3:24 pm
Oh the haterz. Tech fans dressed up like unhappy Dawg fans, does it ever end?
NOT SO WELL DONE
October 19th, 2011
3:24 pm
What do you expect from a school listed as #386 out of 400? Open up another bar in Athens, that should solve the problem.Richt deserves better than Grantham. Don’t know how that hire came about.
Gefilte Fish Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:24 pm
You know, mainstream writers for print papers like the AJC like to moan about the “death of print media” due to bloggers and the interwebz, but reporting like this is exactly the reason why traditional newspapers are dying. The rancid garbage spewed from the putrid mouths of “journalists” like Schultz and Bradley is basically no better than blogs written by kids in high school. Schultz and Bradley think their “journalism degrees” give them some sort of preordained right to make a living from writing when they are no better than amateurs that blog in their spare time for free. I would suggest that anyone who is tired of the obvious anti-UGA garbage that is produced here on a daily basis go elsewhere to get get their news on the UGA football program. One of the best blogs out there is GET THE PICTURE, a blog written by a graduate of the UGA law school. Senator Blutarsky makes a habit of ruthlessly mocking the hackery of Schultz and Bradley. He copies and pastes the best of their moronic statements and routinely points out their fallacies and lack of football knowledge. So, you can kill two birds with one stone by reading GET THE PICTURE – you can laugh at the stupid things that the “Dynamic Duo” post on the AJC, and at the same time deny the AJC any ad revenue they might have earned by clicking on their website.
Jeff Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:25 pm
Noles Rules — Actually, the relationship with the school is fine. Don’t confuse angry fan comments with the AJC-UGA relationship.
Bamaslama
October 19th, 2011
3:26 pm
Joel, got your tickets to the Liberty Bowl yet? Central FL looks tough again this year.
Vain Jangling
October 19th, 2011
3:26 pm
If only Jeff Schultz would use his evil powers for the good of mankind. And when I say “mankind” I mean UGA.
Jeff Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:26 pm
Straitford — I’ll be happy to answer the question, right after you answer mine: Explain to me what I don’t know about football.
T3
October 19th, 2011
3:26 pm
I heard McGarrity’s interview on 790 this morning.
Pathetic. Really.
I can summarize all 15 minutes of it this way: McGarrity: “I wont answer that.”
I mean really. Just pathetic.
Thievish and Thughead
October 19th, 2011
3:27 pm
dat Vandie playuh dun tackled me belo de waist so I dun punched him like my daddy showt me. Das de way we does it at de Athens Plantation fo Drinkin and Remedeal Studies (APDRS). Holla!
neauxjoke
October 19th, 2011
3:27 pm
@ Herman Came what if the 3rd part of your 9-9-9 plan was the player has to learn to say “I’m an idiot” in 9 languages?
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
3:27 pm
Jeff Schultz
Pay attention demmit. Fix the sack Schultz page please. Who’s running things down there?
btgt69
October 19th, 2011
3:27 pm
Let’s see: you recruit scum, you hire scum, you become scum; you remain scum, a tradition unlike any other
Jeff Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
SouthGaDawg — He punched a guy in the head. There’s a rule against that sort of thing. Complain to the SEC if you don’t like the rule.
brian
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
Why are you so worried about coaches getting punished? It is not your job. As far as obscenities go have you watched a game with Will Mustcant yet? Get a life and a new topic.
McDawg
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
i hate bye weeks
Joel
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
Bama, UCF they are a beast. This thread should be talking about the national championship game on Nov 5.
Atticus
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
McGarity and Richt needs to grow some —- and challenge this!
This is crap, where is the precedent for this? You can’t suspend players for late hits like this (I have seen the slow motion tape) or you will be arbitrarily suspending players in every game. This is CRAP! Geathers I understand but not Shawn Williams, this is WRONG.
Jeff Schultz
October 19th, 2011
3:28 pm
Confused UGA Fan –”Can anyone tell me why we are not discussing the GA-FL game?”
Ha. give it a few days.
5 Time National Champs Nebraska
October 19th, 2011
3:29 pm
South Ga Dawg
October 19th, 2011
3:21 pm
is there anykind of “high standard” for journalists to be held to? IF there is such a standard, the AJC must demand that its journalists strive to live up to that standard. As it goes now, these morons are just taking up space.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
The above just proves my point about being ill informed homers. It’s OK if he writes good things about the program. but damn if he has a negative, yet true opinion.
You question his credibility, but what true journalist writes bogus fluff pieces? If that’s all Schultz did, then I would be on your side questioning his standards.
SC
October 19th, 2011
3:29 pm
Thanks for the good article, Jeff. It’s always fun to keep up with the crime reports at Uga. Go dogs.
South Ga Dawg
October 19th, 2011
3:29 pm
Jeff Shultz……can you tell me how Geathers was not justified in his actions? How would you have handled that situation if that type of lick and been done to you? I would love to hear this.
RNB
October 19th, 2011
3:29 pm
If this was not UGA this would have been a dead issue. What is it with the AJC keeping stories like this active? This should have been a non issue. It’s bib boy football not pee wee league. The AJC needs better writers.
Lakedawg
October 19th, 2011
3:29 pm
Schultz–Its a good thing that Dawg fans are tolerate of inept sportswriters that attempts to discredit the instate university at every opportunity. If you were writing in Alabama you would be hanging from those burned oak trees.
No mention of the thumbs up from Vandy coaching for the illegal block to knees after play over or Franklins comments that he not regreful of anything.
Dawgs got shafted here and you did your part to bring it on.
Why Slive suddenly starts handing out post game penalities when he has ignored for years????
Beat the gators and see what kind of remarks you can think of then Schliz.
5 Time National Champs Nebraska
October 19th, 2011
3:30 pm
Oh…..BTW…I haven’t subscribed to the AJC in over 15 years.
bjohndawg
October 19th, 2011
3:30 pm
Did Richt call Williams a dumba%$?
And something about horse pooh?
That Richt is a pottie mouth. LOL
All of these suspensions, why was a precendent not set last year with a certain cheap shot player?
Two words for you:
NICK FAIRLEY!
Noles Rule
October 19th, 2011
3:30 pm
Again Schultz,
Do you have the gonads to ask the SEC why B.J. Bostic of Florida was not suspended for his punch?
dawgman
October 19th, 2011
3:30 pm
Jeff
So all personal foul calls will now be handled with a 2 quarter suspension?
McDawg
October 19th, 2011
3:31 pm
they should of thrown both players out of the game and that be it
S. Williams should get a half game suspension
schools AD should deal w/ coaches
get ready for next game
done
AltamahaDawg
October 19th, 2011
3:31 pm
I think the difference is between physical harm and words. I understand the stories tie nicely together but it’s not really fair to ask, “if the players were punished why weren’t the coaches”
But you are comparing apples to oranges. If you wonder why the SEC handles improper coaching behavior the way they do, that’s fine. Maybe they need to look at thier policies. I agree.
But that is completely unrelated to the suspension of these players for on field events. (except that the football infraction probably got more attention because of the coaches. Which might be a sort-of punishment in itself).
Don Draper
October 19th, 2011
3:32 pm
Jeff — Have you confirmed, or attempted to at least, with Mark Richt that he called anyone a “dumb a..”? He very well may have said that, but his back was to the camera, the sound quality was not very good and it sounded more like…. “he shouldn’t ‘a’ done that”
The “media” (general sense, but you included) have done a very poor job in reporting this story. From initially ignoring the blatant cut block to the back of Geathers’ knee, to suggesting that Geathers “punched” number #60, ignoring Franklin’s pettiness and immaturity of being baited by a 20 year old, ignoring the fact that Franklin was quoted by press members who were taking pictures on the field as telling Grantham “f— you” and now just quoting as gosphel that Richt called his own players names without confirmation. Ironically, the media who often tries people in the court of public opinion has thinnist skin off all, so you I am sure you can’t even fathom that any of the cited criticisms may be true.
Language Teacher
October 19th, 2011
3:32 pm
I wonder how many of these so-called Bama, UGA, Tech, LSU, Gator fans actually went to the schools? You see…you are nothing but ‘fans.’ So stop using the ‘we’ thing to identify yourselves as part of the program or the school. Only players, coaches, students, or graduates should refer to themselves as part of the program or “we.” If you aren’t actually part of the school, please say “they.” ie: “I like Bama, they are a good team and I support them.” There is no ‘we’ about it.
Joel
October 19th, 2011
3:33 pm
Mark Richt is a Dumba**, but at least he has a Ford truck.
loran
October 19th, 2011
3:33 pm
I have seen much worse than this during this season with no suspensions. What the hell is going on?
kappellmeister
October 19th, 2011
3:33 pm
I am just thrilled that you, Schultz, are actually REPLYING to your readers! Most of the time it seems blogs are opened on ajc by writers who are never heard from again, at least beyond a ‘kudos’ for the asinine “first” comments.