Bulldog Bites: It was a good decade for Richt, UGA
David Pollack a consensus all-decade player. (Associated Press)
A host of all-decade SEC teams have been trotted out in recent weeks, and the only Dog who’s been pretty much a constant on them is David Pollack, though tight end Ben Watson also managed to crack Chris Low’s team for ESPN.com.
And yet despite not fielding as many consensus all stars as some programs, Mark Richt still managed to have a pretty good decade, as reflected by him finishing third, behind only Nick Saban and Urban Meyer (both of whom have two BCS championships) and ahead of Les Miles (one BCS title), on Low’s list of the SEC coaches of the decade. Said Low: “Despite some of the grumbling this past season in Athens, Richt’s consistency has been what sets him apart. He won SEC titles in 2002 and 2005 and has finished in the top 10 in the final polls in six of his nine seasons. He’s also won 10 or more games in six of his nine seasons.”
And from a national perspective, ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel ranks the Dogs No. 8 on his list of the 10 best college football programs of the decade, behind USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, LSU and Boise State, and ahead of Virginia Tech and TCU. I might quibble about Boise State’s placement, despite a couple of major bowl wins, but we’ll just note that the Dogs beat the Broncos in their one meeting.
Says Maisel of Georgia: “The Bulldogs’ success in the decade — two Southeastern Conference championships, a share of four SEC East titles — reflected the quiet, steely nature of head coach Mark Richt, who arrived after the 2000 season. They won 98 games while in the shadow of Florida. They won 98 games with a mixture of hard-nosed defense and two outstanding quarterbacks, David Greene, who set an FBS record with 42 victories (broken in 2009 by Colt McCoy), and Matthew Stafford. One other characteristic: Richt’s teams win close games. His Dawgs are 20-9 in games decided by five points or fewer.”
Yeah, a BCS trophy would have been great. But looking back on the ’00s, I have to say Richt has done a pretty fine job, despite losing some momentum the past couple of seasons.
You can argue about whether the 1940s under Wally Butts (three SEC championships, a consensus national title and another one with an asterisk) or the 1980s under Vince Dooley (three SEC championships and one consensus national championship) is the Dogs’ best decade ever, but I believe the past decade definitely ranks right after them.
Of course, the glass-half-empty folks might wish to concentrate on what Richt didn’t accomplish, but compared with the ’90s this decade has been paradise. What’s your view of the past 10 years of Georgia football?
A SWEET WIN IN ATHENS
A big congratulations to Andy Landers and the Lady Dogs for Thursday night’s tough, defensive-minded 53-50 victory over Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols, Georgia’s first home win over UT since 2000 and first win in the series since 2004. The Lady Vols are one of the most successful women’s basketball programs ever — the overall series record with UGA favors the Vols 39-15 — but those 15 wins by the Dogs are the second-most by any program over Tennessee, trailing only Louisiana Tech’s 17. And it says something for Landers’ tenure in Athens that the Lady Vols are the only SEC team with a winning record over Georgia.
It’s too early to say Landers has his program completely back on track, but the win over Tennessee is a big step in that direction.
YATA YATA YATA
David Hale of Bulldogs Blog talked recently with former UGA basketball mainstay Sundiata Gaines, now finally getting his crack at the NBA with the Utah Jazz. He put Gaines on the spot and asked which was a bigger moment for him, his game-winning shot to beat the Cavs or the Bulldogs’ SEC Tournament run two years ago.
Gaines’ reply: “Man, that’s tough. I love the NBA and all, and the last shot is great. But I’d have to go with the tournament run, just because, my team, I’d been with since the beginning. We had to work from the bottom and go all the way to the top. It was four games in three days, and that’s crazy and unheard of. And for us to go to the tournament — the last time Georgia won the SEC tournament was like 1983 or something, so to win it, that to me was probably the best moment of my life right there. Then comes the NBA shot.”
Once a Dog, always a Dog!
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83 comments Add your comment
MGySgt Grts
January 22nd, 2010
5:44 pm
Hey Goober….The Decade DOES NOT end until the end of 2010 not 2009! Typical of a BullDawwwg fan or however you spell it. Out
70 Dawg
January 22nd, 2010
5:50 pm
The decade starts when the third digit changes. The 90’s started in 1990, etc. It’s amusing when folks begin to call people names to try to prove their point by appearing highly intelligent
.
January 22nd, 2010
6:20 pm
1980s started on? Jan 01,1980
1990s started on? Jan 01,1990
2000s started on? Jan 01,2000
365 x 10 = 3,650 days per decade. 3,649 was Dec 31, 2009.(Basic years for example purpose-no leap years)
Kool-Aid
January 22nd, 2010
6:21 pm
Georgia has a lot of players in the NFL, congrats. What did these guys do for Dawg Nation though? Not much, No National Titles and No National Title Appearances.
John
January 22nd, 2010
7:07 pm
Dream on if you think Ga will win against Urban or Nick either one. Saben makes his hoolums behave and is not scared of them as is Riche.
70 Dawg
January 22nd, 2010
7:33 pm
Hey Kool… those NFL players helped our Dawgs win a heck of a lot of football games and make the Bulldog Nation proud. It says a lot about our program to have 40+ pro players. To those few fans who think that a
football program is only successful if it plays for NC’s I would like
to say that you’re missing the point. College football is a great sport
played by amateurs. By your definition, 95% of the teams in America should just give it up since they have no chance to be NC’s. That would ruin a lot of great Saturday afternoons.and make those few remaining programs play a killer schedule. I guess Fl and Ala could play each other five or six times a season but that would be awfully boring.
GaGators
January 22nd, 2010
7:57 pm
Saban and Miles have a Natl Championships–they won the subjective popularity contest–but nobody beats Richt in the SEC with his 90 wins in 9 season. Nothing subjective about that. Richt has a higher winning % than either—and it’s all about the wins. Richt can’t control whether he’s an ESPN crowd favortie or not. Objectively speaking, he’s the #1 winningest SEC Coach over the last 9 season in the SEC, no one else has even been an SEC coach for the last 9 seasons.
Gator's Tator
January 22nd, 2010
8:00 pm
I bet Matt Stafford’s $40 mill doesn’t mind the NFL contract. tebow, if he makes the NFL, will get the minimum $100,000 for one year with n guarantees. Bad career choice. But he does have a Heisman for finishing as the #56 rusher and #22 ranked passer and a trophy Leak won him, and one other trophy.
$40 mill, or $100,000? Tough decision there….
Albert the Alligator
January 22nd, 2010
8:29 pm
30 Years and Counting Dawgies………………………………………………..
jesse james
January 22nd, 2010
9:04 pm
If we bring back discipline like we had for the Tech game and A&M game great things will happen. Coach Richt came in with discipline and expectations and I am afraid we got away from that. Like I said from the Tech game, the reaction from Coach Richt after the gatorade bath I knew Richt’s Dawgs are back. I know Coach Martinez, Coach Fabris, and Coach Janacek had their problems, but I feel alot of it was brought about because of lack of discipline. You don’t shut down Tech like we did at there place unless you know what you are doing. I am happy with our new coaches and am excited about the aggressive type of play they are bringing. I do wish the 3 coaches let go good luck and thanks for their contributions. There were alot of great memories from the decade. My big 3 would be the Hobnail Boot play, Run Caleb Run, and maybe the greatest defensive play ever made by Pollock made at South Carolina.
GaDawg
January 22nd, 2010
9:28 pm
Hey Bill,
Coach Dooley had six (6) SEC championships during his tenure at UGA.
GaDawg
January 22nd, 2010
9:35 pm
After re-reading the article, You were right Bill. he had three SEC titles during the decade of the 80’s.
jesse james
January 22nd, 2010
10:20 pm
i am soooo glad we have Mark Richt as a coach. He is soooo cute and really knows how to get the guys fired up. I can’t wait to see if he breaks out the black helmets again against that mean old Coach Meyer. That is sure to turn things in the dawgs favor.
DawgVoiceofReason
January 23rd, 2010
12:33 am
BigGAdawg,
Thank you for that very easy to understand explanation of why 2010 is really NOT the start of the new decade. I think people are getting confused by the change in digits in the tens position of the year. Also, the media apparently, sold that argument convincingly (and for whatever reason). Every 10 year period is a decade (by definition), and some people have chosen to believe that it starts with the change in the tens digit. You’ll notice, I’m sure, that no one addresses your point about years AD 1 through 9. Oh well, you can keep correcting them, but most will never get it.
DawgVoiceofReason
January 23rd, 2010
12:46 am
The last 10 years of UGA football have been very good by almost any standard. The two obvious exceptions are that we still can’t win consistently against Florida and the lack of a BCS National Championships. Despite those two flaws, you would have to be pretty ungrateful not to appreciate the many successes (i.e. Victories) we have had during this time.
I am proud of Coach Richt and the way he represents Georgia. I believe he is one of the best people we could have as a head coach. And, I think his approach will eventually pay off with a BCS National Championship.
G8TR
January 23rd, 2010
1:10 am
Our favorite measurement of Richt’s under-performance this decade is when UGA cites his “road win” record as successful but leaves out all of his Jacksonville losses. If this was considered a good decade for the Dawgs, we’ll take it. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, the UF-UGA rivalry actually meant something and was annually competitive. Now, on Richt’s watch, not so much. Kinda sad to see second-tier status in the SEC East embraced by a fan base as success. Can you imagine ALA accepting annual losses to AU, regularly placing behind LSU in the West and then somehow declaring the decade “good”? Not possible!
DawgJones
January 23rd, 2010
7:22 am
It was a good decade for win total…but you could count on one thing each year…a coloassal screw up from CMR (except in 05 when he coached at his best. Remember 01 on the goal line against Auburn? How about 02 in Jax when he had to play DJ and his inexperience led to a pick 6 for the Gators. I can’t even talk about all of the 03 talent that got beat by the Zooker. How about teams not even showing up against UT,,,see 06. 07 and 09. How about the Alabama 31- 0 and the Jax give up in 08 or the stupid black helmets in 09. A lot of wins, but key breakdowns means we are what we are. Oh by the way, the last four years we average 3.5 losses in a in 12 game season, Donnan did that and got fired…thank god Richt is at least 8-1 against Tech
"Last Call" Scott Hall
January 23rd, 2010
8:35 am
9 years with Mark Richt…
0 National Championship appearances
0 National Championships
0 undeated regular seasons
3 years with Nick Saban
1 SEC Championship
1 National Championship appearance
1 National Championship
2 Undefeated Regaular seasons
Glad to see you fleabags enjoy mediocrity.. more to come!
Bulldawg "REDNECK NATION" morons
January 23rd, 2010
8:57 am
When was the last time UGA ever fulfilled their so-called potential based on their incoming class draft rank or talent on their roster? They will once again fall short in the SEC, and to be honest, no one outside the state of Georgia will give a s**t.
The UGA Football program is a Legend Only In Its Own (small) Mind!!
AltamahaDawg
January 23rd, 2010
9:34 am
Appearantly they are a legend in your mind too.
Gator Nation
January 23rd, 2010
9:46 am
If you dawgs like Richt, we love him. We all hope he is the Head Coach at Georgia for a very long time. Might I suggest the black helmets again this October?
Florida Dawg
January 23rd, 2010
10:06 am
I base success on beating Florida…if you beat Florida, everything else will fall in place.
I know beating Florida was mention before Richt came on board.
I’m not trying to “dis” his accomplishments but this has got to change. It just has too.
Helmet colors have NOTHING to do with wins or losses.
BLACK is “one” of our official colors…Gators can’t decide if they are going to use white or Orange helment’s and if they are going to change their logos…Bama as we know, don’t care.
tbomachine
January 23rd, 2010
10:07 am
“last Call” you forgot to mention that embarrassing loss to that WAC team in the SUGAR BOWL–and Saban will be gone before 2011
AltamahaDawg
January 23rd, 2010
10:23 am
Nice omit of the 2 SEC titles too. And the 1-1 head on. And the Saban 6 loss season. But hey, whose counting.
Really?
January 23rd, 2010
10:34 am
Don’t compare Richt with Saban. Richt has been at Georgia for 9 years and has no national titles and Saban has been at Bama 3 years and has one. Plus that program is rock solid while Georgia is heading in the wrong direction. Plus Saban’s teams play with heart and discipline. But hey, if you like mediocrity and an occasional good season, that is fine by the rest of the league.
Really?
January 23rd, 2010
10:45 am
The only coach in the SEC that can compare with Saban is Urban Meyer. Just reality.
Krogunner
January 23rd, 2010
11:07 am
I for one am sick and tired of Richt. No one does less with more. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be right up there with the Floridas and the Alabamas. We recruit just as much talent and it really just comes back to a lack of discipline within the program. Get rid of the ‘black outs”, black helmets, and stupid dances and bring in a coach that teaches discipline. Imagine what the coach at Boise could do with our talent. Anyone watch them play? That is a well coached football team.
2007 delusions of grandeur
January 23rd, 2010
11:30 am
What is it with you crack smoking dawg fans that think Georgia should have had an invite to the 2007 bcs title game over LSU? You diddn’t even win your division.
Lets do a little analysis here.
LSU lost 2 games on the road in triple overtime in both against bowl bound teams. Now lets look at UGA’s 2 losses. One was a loss at home to a non bowl team in South Carolina. Championship teams do NOT lose at home to unranked teams that stay at home for the holidays. UGA’s other loss. They got blown out against UT. Championship teams may lose a game but true championship teams do not get BLOWN OUT! Why is this so difficult for you dawg fans to understand?
As a side note LSU beat that team that BLEW YOU OUT in the seccg and LSU did it with a freaking backup qb. LSU finished with 11 wins to UGA’s 10 in the regular season.
Nonconference. Georgia played no one of national consequence. Who did LSU play? LSU pounded VT 48-7 and before you belittle VT let me remind you imbeciles that VT won their conference, their bowl game, and finished #4 in the nation that year.
And lets not forget that UGA was dam lucky to beat Vandy. If Vandy doesn’t fumble the ball inside the 10 yard line while going for the winning score then the dores win that game. Your whole weakazz argument is that you were hot at the end of the season. Against who? You beat a Florida team playing with an injured Tebow and missing 3 d-lineman, you beat a vastly over rated Hawaii team. Auburn was the only impressive win in my book. So your sole argument was that you guys were hot at the end of the season. So what. Do you not understand that its a full season that counts??? Do you not understand that when you stack up LSU’s quality of losses vs UGA’s quality of losses, their win over VT, their win over UT with a backup qb that they are simply better to any objective observor? Why is this so hard for you guys to understand?
You guys are pathetic. LSU was flat out more deserving by any measure, quality of losses, quality of wins, nonconference schedule and a quality win over VT
The sooner you quit whining over the insane idea that you somehow got shafted in 2007 the better off your loser non bcs title program will be.
Nick Saban vs Mark Richt
January 23rd, 2010
11:39 am
Hardware is what counts. Me against Mark Richt??? Lets see. I resurrected an LSU program that had 8 losing seasons in 11 years and I won the sec in my 2nd year at LSU and won the national title in my 4th year at LSU. Then I took over a Bammer program mired in mediocrity and still suffering from scholarship losses and in my 2nd season went 12-0 regular season and came within less than one quarter of football from playing for the national title. Then I go undefeated regular season a 2nd year in a row and win a bcs title in only my 3rd year with what was a program in shall we say low tide? Sorry Bammers but I just couldn’t resist.
I’ll make it easier for you imbeciles touting Richt over Saban.
In 8 years Saban rebuilt 2 programs mired in mediocrity and won 3 sec championships and 2 bcs titles.
In 9 years Richt took over a talent laden Georgia team and has 2 sec titles. Mmmmh! 2 sec titles in 9 years vs 3 sec titles and 2 bcs titles in 8 years of rebuilding 2 down and out programs.
This one was easy. I’ll take Saban thank you.
DFWTX Dawg
January 23rd, 2010
12:59 pm
CMR is probably one of the most under-rated coaches in the sport. I guess Saban & Meyer have “outshined” him. That’s understandable given their accomplishments, but UGA fans should feel fortunate to have CMR running the program. Overall, this has been the most successful decade in the history of the UGA program IMO. Especially given the mediocrity of the 90s. To dub the 90s as the “decade of underachievement” is an understatement. We didn’t win the national title or as many SEC titles as the 80s, and there isn’t a class from the past decade that was successful as the class of 83, but no decade in the history of the UGA football program have UGA fans witnessed as many top 10 teams and 10 win seasons. CMR’s success is particularly outstanding when one considers how competitive the SEC was this decade. I hope UGA fans are patient in 2010. No rebuilding period comes without adjustments.
RED DOG 77
January 24th, 2010
2:47 am
DFWTXDAWG…….I am with ya brother ! Great post…keep up the good work….GO DOGS !!! GATA
kentucky cade
January 25th, 2010
7:26 pm
cats-34 pups-27…nuff said
Billy Donovan
January 28th, 2010
9:52 am
Very successful if you don’t count National Championships as a goal and as long as going to Shreveport is ok to finish out the decade.