Richt, Georgia have been hurt by too many recruiting risks
Mark Richt has seen several players arrested and suspended this offseason, including former tailback Isaiah Crowell. (AP photo)
HOOVER, Ala. – Mark Richt ignored the red flags and was among the nation’s coaches who lined up around the block for Isaiah Crowell.
He already has seen seven members from his vaunted 2011 recruiting class either kicked out, flunked out or never academically qualified to begin with (“Dream Team”? Anybody?).
Arrests and suspensions likely will lead to four defensive starters missing games next season.
There is a problem again at Georgia — and it matters little that it’s a different one from the past.
Richt, to his credit, no longer responds to players’ criminal or just plain stupid actions by merely making them run stadium steps or suspending their dessert privileges. He has come a long way from enabling Odell Thurman. He suspends players. He kicks them out. He tries to make them understand that getting four or five stars stamped on your forehead by a recruiting site and the ego trip of a signing-day news conference shouldn’t be accompanied by a sense of entitlement (even if it too often does).
The problem now is that too many of the players Georgia is recruiting should be red-lined. The line of risk needs to be pulled back.
Obviously, Richt and his staff are getting a lot right. The Bulldogs are favored to win the SEC East. They’re projected to open the season as a top-10 team.
But imagine if they actually had everybody there.
“We’re not recruiting bad kids,” Richt said in a private media session with local writers Thursday at SEC Media Days. “We’re recruiting a lot of great kids. Other schools are recruiting the same guys.”
Have the negative headlines of this offseason given him reason to pay closer attention to a recruit’s personal blemishes?
“We do find out as much as we possibly can,” he said. “There are rules on how many times we can call a kid and see him in person. We try to maximize those things.”
Sorry. But losing seven of 26 kids from one recruiting class in one year screams that there’s a need for a better filter.
Richt was accurate when he said, “To say that issues aren’t happening around the country isn’t really realistic.”
But losing at least five starters (Crowell plus four on defense suspended) is significant.
Crowell, after multiple suspensions and missteps his freshman season, was bounced following his arrest on felony gun charges. Cornerback Sanders Commings is gone for two games following an arrest for domestic violence. Safety Baccari Rambo (possibly four games), cornerback Branden Smith and linebacker Alec Ogletree all reportedly tested positive for marijuana. Three other freshmen (Nick Marshall, Chris Sanders, Sanford Seay) were kicked out for their reported involvement in a campus theft.
Some of Georgia’s problems can be attributed to having a tougher drug-and-alcohol policy than other schools. But that doesn’t explain everything. The recruiting mistakes will hurt.
The we’ll-be-better-off-without-him rallying cries regarding Crowell makes for a nice locker-room speech. But it’s just not factual. He was Georgia’s best running back — by a long shot — and the Dogs’ potential issues on the offensive line don’t suggest just anybody can be productive.
This will be a team that must rely on its defense and its resolve. The Dogs’ ability to rebound from a 0-2 start with 10 consecutive wins last season said something about the character of the players who aren’t getting arrested (even if that was followed by two more losses to LSU and Michigan State). It’s a team with a solid quarterback (Aaron Murray), strong leadership and several players who bypassed the NFL draft last season to come back for another season. But the suspensions and player losses will hurt.
“There’s been more attrition the last couple of years than there has been since we’ve been at Georgia,” Richt said. “But sometimes that happens. We’ll still have plenty of guys to field a team.”
Then again, if just having enough players was the criteria, there would be celebrations in Toledo and Ole Miss. The question now is whether the Dogs’ chances for a special season have been undone before they’ve even played a game.
By Jeff Schultz
Previous SEC Media Days blogs
• Arkansas living with deserved humiliation after Petrino firing
• Muschamp getting heat but deserves some time at Florida
• Slive: SEC needs to be vigilant to avoid Penn State situation
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779 comments Add your comment
Carl Spackler
July 21st, 2012
9:18 am
The NCAA has rules for everything else…turn everything over to the NCAA and don’t leave it up to the schools…if a player(s) break into locker then there’s an automatic penalty, gun charge? there’s a penalty, drinking arrest? you know the outcome, everything is nice and neet…wow, wouldn’t you fans be screaming bloody murder then, when they “cut a break” (in your estimation) to AU or UF, but they don’t do so to UGA…don’t know about you, but I don’t want the NCAA in anything, nor the SEC big-wigs, but if the embarrassment continues, then someone will suggest this as a good idea…don’t know the character of a player? then just take a look at his Facebook,Twitter posts, etc…some, are just lost cases before they step foot in Athens…
Paul May
July 21st, 2012
9:18 am
What a bunch of bull. I’m a fan of UGA for some 45 years. Richt has lost control of this team and did many years ago. A team reflects the personality of the coach in any sport. UGA has consistently under performed and is a second rate team in the SEC. As Steve Spurrier has asked…”what happens to those kids when they go to UGA”? The NCAA needs to instill a “one and done program”. One infraction and you’re gone! Kinda simple. That will ensure head coaches actually look at a recruits history. When coaches are being paid the kind of money they now get, they will recruit any type of athlete to ensure their own livelihood’s. That has to end.
techismybeeotch
July 21st, 2012
9:42 am
I guess we should wait for the article on The Citadel. They had 3 of their starters arrested for breaking into a coaches home, tying him up, and robbing him…The Citadel! Lets be honest, most of these kids do not belonmg in college…college sports are the minor leagues for the pros….If they can’t get in based on academics, then they should go somewhere and form a minor league system…and let those who want an education get one…there are a lot of deserving kids who can’t get a college football scholarship because the scholarships were given to really fast or big kids, who very often can’t cut the academic requirements.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
9:46 am
techismybeeotch….True but then the SEC would SUCK.
Game Changer
July 21st, 2012
9:49 am
With McQuackity:
Things will continue to get worse before it gets better —-
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
9:50 am
This year the UGa v Auburn game has a different feel……
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=397799640280230&set=a.138766666183530.25347.138763606183836&type=1&theater
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
July 21st, 2012
10:06 am
JEFF:
Richt inored WHAT “red flags”???
He may have ignored the “Red Panties” deal but fill us in on the “Red Flags you speak of and name all the other schools that also ignored the “Red Flags”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tony
July 21st, 2012
10:08 am
OKUGA
July 20th, 2012
10:40 pm
If Richt will start letting players go, on their first offense, the junk will stop. As long as Richt keeps looking the other way for 4 and 5 star players, Richt will continue to embarrass the program.
_______________________________________________
Name a team in the last 20 yrs that won a national championship without 4 and 5 star players. I don’t believe teams like USC, Bama, Texas, LSU, OU and Ohio St would of won those championships without those 4 and 5 star players. Same thing in basketball – Duke, NC, Ky, UConn.
Until Mr Richt stop showing favortism toward certain players and hold his assistant coaches to a higher standard(top 10 ranking def/off/special t), the problems will not go away.
You can’t expect people to respect your leadership if you make poor decisions.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
10:25 am
@tony
So you can’t win the BCS without some cheating or players with questionable character?
Big Criminal Sport Championship Game!
If that is the case then you can keep your National Championship.
I’ll take the Roddy Jones’ and Sean Bedford’s of the world while trying to win the ACC.
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
July 21st, 2012
10:26 am
@ Reality dawg:
You reckon maybe if you DOUBLED your contributions to the Hartman Fund it would help UGA win the SEC East this year over USCe????
zbulldawg
July 21st, 2012
10:29 am
The real point here is UGA & Richt have a low tolerance for things that has contribute to these suspensions or being removed. This isn’t Richt deal This is UGA policies. This goes way back to the time of Jan Kemp’s days ! Our fans & foes have been misimformed ! The media has turned this against Richt ! Saying he’s to soft ETC. THAT IS A LIE !! It’s just the opposite. He does try to help them with their problems but the student body commitee makes the call when there is an arrest.Our rules are rules that have been in place for a long time.Before Richt Jim D. tried to make his own rules THAT”S one of the reasons he’s no longer there.The same goes for Harwick & son.Maybe in the past these players who are not with UGA any longer didn’t understand this before hand. NOW that needs to be addressed so it is clear what will not be tolerated. By these latest events UGA is making a statment THIS IS THE WAY it’s going to be NO MATTER WHO or WHAT period !! SO your writers , media and DAWG haters get it RIGHT cuz UGA IS !!!!!!!
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
July 21st, 2012
10:31 am
@ 5150:(10:25am post)
You are absolutely correct although I can’t even imagine ANY D-1 program without players that break the rules. Can you name one????
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
July 21st, 2012
10:34 am
@ Ed Pilcher:
You nailed it Bro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tony
July 21st, 2012
10:36 am
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
10:25 am
_____________________________________
5150 UOAD, if you believe that cheating is going on and the NCAA allow such behavior, why do you care to watch football at all? I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with corruption. Just asking.
sheepdawg
July 21st, 2012
10:43 am
make “student athletes” abide by same entry and academic standards as real students. that will thin out all the thugs who should be allowed to go directly to the nfl
kingdaddy
July 21st, 2012
10:48 am
Thomas Brown says “You people are the problem, I am the solution.” OMG!!!
DIDN’T HITLER SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT RIGHT BEFORE HE HAD AUSCHWITZ BUILT? Thomas, you are one of the major causes of GLOBAL WARMING! You pollute these blogs with venomous spew, then tell everybody what a great Bulldawg fan you are. You’re like a Step-Dad who pulls his belt and says “Pup, this is gonna hurt me more than it does you! “, then he sneers and snickers as he lights into your behind with the belt, and he’s never satisfied until he can’t swing the belt anymore. You enjoy trashing UGA, and then telling whomever will listen to you, “it’s for your own good.” Thomas, PLEASE DON’T REPODUCE…
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
July 21st, 2012
10:51 am
@ Thomas Brown:
You are running out of gas little boy. The reason your BS is so large is you keep repeating stuff you pushing months/years ago. Can’t you possibly come up with anything new or interesting?????
You, in your childlike fashion, try to portray various coaches in various lights that theoretically will make your uneducated points, I can use your style of thought and defeat ANY BS you want to throw out
.EXAMPLE: T. Brown = CMR hasn’t won a single game against ANY team that was ever, in its history, a top 25 team.
EXAMPLE: Brainiac = CMR, Saban, Miles, Spurrier, U. Meyer and Joe Paterno have never lost a game that was started at 2:00 AM on a Wednesday. nor were they ever nominated for President of the USA.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
11:02 am
KingDaddy….I think Hitler said we are All the Problem but I am smart enough to fix it. He started the program to genetically create the Master Race. LOL
bigal
July 21st, 2012
11:04 am
brandon smith did not test positive for marijuana he was in a car that was stopped that had traces of marijuana in it. please get your facts straight.
you know it, I know it, the world knows it
July 21st, 2012
11:05 am
Coach Richt was correct in saying UGA recruits the same players most all of it’s competition is recruiting….The difference may be how quickly and to what degree UGA will discipline those players that misbehave. Whereas other schools seem to sweep their problems under the rug.
Thereby all the media coverage for UGA and lack of media coverage for other schools problem players.
kingdaddy
July 21st, 2012
11:07 am
5150¢
Don’t make me take my belt off…
you know it, I know it, the world knows it
July 21st, 2012
11:07 am
Alabama and rest of SEC, amongst other schools in nation, wanted Crowell and many other UGA players.
Bashers act as if their teams didn’t offer scholarships to these players.
you know it, I know it, the world knows it
July 21st, 2012
11:10 am
And they wouldn’t be smoking pot if they signed with AL or any other school? What dreamworld do you live?
They just might not be disciplined for it at other schools…..that’s the problem of the other schools. UGA will acknowledge and discipline.
percentages are not correct comparing schools
July 21st, 2012
11:15 am
Jeff, they’re recruiting the same players as all the other schools….use your journalistic skills and dig deeper into all the behavioral issues that the other schools are hiding with their players.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
11:15 am
you know it, I know it, the world knows it………………….you are RIGHT.
Now IF he was at another school with another coach would Crowell been doing that same things? MAYBE
Did other teams back off recruiting him because they saw some issues? Maybe
Did some back off him cause it was evident UGa had him? Probably
Did coaches Know he was a dope smoker? Some might have.
Should coaches be able to make a kid pee in the cup before an OFFER and after the kid is Qualified? Hell Yes.
Should the NCAA force all members to have the same standards for all Students to get in college? yes
Should the NCAA have the same policies for rules infractions? HELL YES.
Should the NCAA stop a kid kicked out of one D1 school from enrolling & Playing a sport at another D1 school? YES.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
11:17 am
KingDaddy I am sure if you Take Your Belt Off Mustang Sally will be close by!
time to break that door down
July 21st, 2012
11:21 am
Biggest problem is geting someone to recruit more than just a couple stud OL every year.
Oh Really
July 21st, 2012
11:23 am
“Richt, to his credit, no longer responds to players’ criminal or just plain stupid actions by merely making them run stadium steps or suspending their dessert privileges.” Question: IS IT REALLY TO HIS CREDIT, OR WAS HE FORCED TO TO SAVE HIS JOB?
you know it, I know it, the world knows it
July 21st, 2012
11:25 am
5150…that would be good to have random drug tests for a kid in high school before being allowed a scholarship offer.
It’s a privelege and not a right to have a scholarship and play football.
Don’t want to do it? Don’t get a scholarship and be a stoner your whole life.
?
July 21st, 2012
11:27 am
Oh Really, what difference does it make….he’s changed with policy changes….where does your favorite school and coaches stand currently?
kingdaddy
July 21st, 2012
11:29 am
5150¢
I hurt my sides laughing at Jeff’s response to your response to me yesterday. Funniest thing I have read in many moons. I think Jeff got a kick out of it too, lol. You guys know I run the “razor’s edge” of opine anyway. Otherwise, I would be bored pretty quickly. Love a spirited debate and good banter and recognize and appreciate others who reciprocate in kind. Not to argue but to excercise a progressively lazy brain, lol…and every now and then, we get to talk football…
Vote No to T-SPLOST
July 21st, 2012
11:34 am
Braves doubleheader starts at 1…second game at 7….What a comeback last night! Wow!
I’m a bit tired of the Braves having to score 10 plus runs a game to win, though.
Redliner
July 21st, 2012
11:43 am
Possession of alcohol at UGA is an automatic suspension from sports, and could result in expulsion from the university. When Murray is photographed, with a beer can, at the FSU game, in his hand, with eye witnesses, that’s possession.
But there was NO REDLINE.
Murray, Richt’s favorite, got NO DISCIPLINE.
kingdaddy
July 21st, 2012
11:54 am
They need to do more “unofficial drug screens” with someone present in the room(CMR) and do the drug screens randomly and unannounced. I said unofficial so Coach Richt can keep it out of the news and reach these kids with preventive disipline. They test an unofficial positive, then CMR turns them over to Coach Armstrong for voluntary running. This will help clear the athletes mind and tune his body also. The athlete will be put on inhouse probation and drug screened regularly until off probation. A second unofficial positive is 4-6 game suspension. Any “official” NCAA positive will be by NCAA rules. Any second official positive results in being released from the team. Do you want to do drugs or play ball???
Redliner
July 21st, 2012
11:56 am
This article explains a lot. If Richt is relying on in person visits to determine a guy’s character, then no wonder he’s been fooled so often. Anyone can put up a good front during an interview. Comes down to how people understand and relate well to rules, standards, and authority, you can figure that out by 360 feedback systems.
Really?
July 21st, 2012
12:23 pm
@SSIgator, correct the article is about GEORGIA recruiting, yet a Gator fan continues to bash UGA. (1) What do you know about it? (2) why are you here, why do you care? (3) Have you ever said ANYTHING positive or constructive about the current SEC Eastern Division Champions? Sour grapes, sour grapes, sour grapes……..
Well, it’s logical to retort with a comparison to your school (UF), which placed where last year? That’s right, UF was middle of the East last year and no one is really talking about them anymore. But, they did have MANY articles written about their former coach, his recruiting practices, and total lack of discipline.
Nevermind, I’ve entered a battle of wits against an unarmed man!
Redliner
July 21st, 2012
12:52 pm
As a UGA fan, I am surprised Mark Richt, running a $100 million organization, hasn’t figured out how to properly assess risk when it comes to offering scholarships to potential personel. Crowell was found with a gun in his car, on a college campus. This could have been disastrous had Crowell gone on some kind of shooting spree while under the influence of drugs.
Crowell had already been in trouble numerous times, and had there been a redline, would have been kicked off before the gun incident took place.
Mark Richt needs to SOLVE THIS. He is paid $10,000 a day to SOLVE THESE TYPE OF ISSUES AND STOP THE RE-OCCURENCE OF ONGOING ISSUES.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
1:29 pm
Richt looks like Jack Nicholson as the JOKER w/o the make-up in that photo
Preston
July 21st, 2012
1:32 pm
If all the players that have been in trouble with the law had gone to Alabama, UF, Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina, etc., they would still be on the team and you would have never heard the first word about any of this. The local authorities would have brushed it under the rug and said “get your butt home and get ready to play ball”. Don’t you find it at least a little bit intriguing that they were all recruited by other big time programs? Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that UGA and Athens hold their players/citizens to a higher standard than the other schools in the conference.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
1:34 pm
Preston………….nice FANTASY statement, but you have NO PROOF that is the case.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
1:36 pm
Preston….Every school you mentioned have had players arrested.
Preston
July 21st, 2012
1:39 pm
And the premise of this article is ridiculous as well. ALL coaches are taking risks when they recruit these guys. Not just Richt. He is just successful in getting them w/o the luxury of the relaxed code of conduct that the other coaches enjoy in their environments. Even the drug testing is more relaxed elsewhere than UGA.
Preston
July 21st, 2012
1:39 pm
5150, just common sense. Plain and simple.
Preston
July 21st, 2012
1:41 pm
Not at the rate that UGA has endured. It’s usually felony stuff that can’t be hidden.
5150 UOAD
July 21st, 2012
1:52 pm
Well as we all know Common Sense isn’t even close to common anymore. You are making conclusions based on facts not present.
Redliner
July 21st, 2012
2:21 pm
Richt covers his behind by saying he punishes players.
But how SEVERELY does Richt punish his players?
Not SEVERE enough, because it keeps on happening, year after year.
Redliner
July 21st, 2012
2:23 pm
Without question
Mark Richt values talent more than character for potential recruits.
D
July 21st, 2012
3:24 pm
Incredibly misinformed article. College athletes across the US, including the SEC, are making illegal decisions all the time, but it is literally because 1) ACC police target college students and 2) UGA has a much more strict policy in regards to discipline, that UGA finds itself hurting. Richt is recruiting the exact same players as Saban, Chizik, etc. and I would be hard pressed to say that this headline would interchange with Saban, Miles, or Dooley’s name if they carried the same policies as UGA or their athletes were actually caught.
The culture we have created that praises 16 and 17 year old athletes and makes them lower case gods for playing a game has created a group of egotists who believe they are invincible, when in reality, because they are constantly in the spotlight, they are getting in trouble. My grandfather played for the Auburn baseball program back in the 1940s and I know damn well from his stories that his boys were cursing, drinking, and smoking the night before games, which was against team rules. But the difference is that no one cared back then. Today, a naive, practically-still-a-kid 19 year old wide receiver is expected to have the maturity of a 40 year old? Right…
Oasis
July 21st, 2012
3:43 pm
Jeff,
Nice article. Agree with most everything you wrote except the part about, how the 10 game winning streak in 2011, was because of character.
Not at all.
It was because of schedule.
Played 2 teams that finished top 25 to start, 0-2.
Played 10 teams who did NOT finish top 25, went 10-0.
Ended against 2 teams that finished top 25, went 0-2.
0-4 against teams that finished top 25, 10-0 against teams that DIDN’T finish top 25.
Finished 10-4.
Nothing to do with CHARACTER, all to do with LEVEL OF COMPETITION, and EASY SCHEDULE.
Oasis
July 21st, 2012
3:48 pm
Jeff,
2 other points of contention with your article.
1) Murray, isn’t a strong point of the team.
Murray had 3 turnovers in 75% of the 4 losses and has a career 0-9 record vs. teams that finish top 25. Murray finished LAST in the SEC in SACKS and INTERCEPTIONS. He’s the LARGEST LIABILITY on the team, the WEAKEST LINK.
2) Strong leadership?
Where? The team is in trouble with the law every season, and hasn’t beat a team that finished top 25 since 2009. There is basically WEAK leadership, PLAYERS & COACHES ALIKE.