Richt’s two main rivals are Urban Meyer and himself
Mark Richt must deal with the what-have-you-done-lately attitude prevalent in college football today. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
We don’t need to get into any of that silly “hot seat” talk about Mark Richt, a man who has averaged 10 wins a year in his nine years at UGA. I think it’s instructive that those stories usually emanate from writers in Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. Some of these folks cite “widespread” concern about the state of the program within the Bulldog Nation, but from what I’ve observed more often than not the talk about the need for a new coach at Georgia is mainly confined to a handful of anonymous Internet trolls.
It is a fair statement, though, that just about nobody at UGA or in Dogs fandom found last year’s 8-5 record satisfying, and that includes Richt himself. In fact, he was so unsatisfied that he fired three of his staff members, including one of his closest friends.
But what faces Richt is more than just coming back from one relatively disappointing season. As the Chattanooga Times-Free Press pointed out recently, while Richt got off to a very fast start in Athens, his two SEC championship trophies “are beginning to gather dust in a league now dominated by Alabama and Florida.”
It’s particularly the situation with Florida, our main SEC East rival, that rankles. A couple of particularly disheartening losses in the past couple of years dramatically increased the frustration already there from the Gators’ domination of the series over the past two decades and Urban Meyer bringing two BCS national championship trophies to Gainesville.
But Richt is competing not just with Meyer, but also with the Mark Richt of 2001-2005.
Vince Dooley summed it up nicely in the Times-Free Press when he said Richt set a high standard of success for himself. “Once the bar is set that high, then the expectations go right along with that, and anything less than that is judged by what happened last year or the year before. It’s about expectations, and expectations are built on success.”
Back in Dooley’s day, a couple of conference championships was more than enough to tide a coach over through a down cycle. Nowadays, you go four years without winning the conference or underachieve compared with expectations, even if you have winning seasons, and media types start speculating about how warm your seat is.
I don’t think most UGA supporters believe Richt needs to be on the hot seat. As for those folks who would entertain the idea of dumping the third-most-successful active coach among major programs at the prospect of maybe getting the latest fast-rising assistant to have created a buzz, well, they are talking about taking a big gamble.
Richt has been a consistent winner at Georgia, and he’s done it with class.
It’s all about perception, though, and the toughest challenge facing Richt is matching that guy in Gainesville and the younger version of himself.
I don’t have any doubt he’s up to the task.
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262 comments Add your comment
delaGATOR
May 18th, 2010
8:59 pm
No doubt about it, this is CMR last chance
What Role Will WR Meier Play? | Atlanta Falcons: Bird Cage
May 18th, 2010
9:40 pm
[...] -Bill King Talks About Richt’s Rivals [...]
fayncdawg
May 18th, 2010
10:02 pm
I for one do not take successfully recruiting Christian LeMay lightly. Remember, his father was Urban Crier’s team chaplan. It’s very refreshing to sense that we got this kid MOST LIKELY because we have a coach who puts God, family, and health ahead of wins. And seems as though the Gator’s were NEVER in the recruiting picture for LeMay! Great job CMR! Now let our bowl victory (ON NEW YEARS DAY PREFERABLY) be win #10 or 11 and NOT win #8! NO MORE EIGHT WIN SEASONS!
Crimson Crush
May 18th, 2010
10:10 pm
My hope is that Richt stay’s in Athens for another decade . The longer he stays put the longer Bama gets to enjoy the services of Mr. Kirby Smart
Crimson Crush
May 18th, 2010
10:15 pm
And to the nut trying to pretend Richt is even on the same college football planet as a Meyer or Saban … get some diginity .
At LEAST the Dawg fans who pretend they prefer Richt’s so called “class” over winning championships acknowledge the obvious … he ain’t no Saban .. Meyer … he isn’t even a Les Miles caliber coach and that is starting to set the bar pretty low
Flo-Ri-Duh!
May 18th, 2010
10:19 pm
It was not only losing 5 games – it was how uncoached the DAWGS looked. Worst turnover ratio in the SEC by far….. penalties and more penalties. Then finally Tennessee, far less talented than UGA, made UGA look like a division II team and UGA gave the game to Kentucky. Losing close, well played games is one thing but UGA won several close games they could have lost and lost games when they were totally outclassed in the coaching department. No use sugar coating it….. this was by far Richt’s worst team since being at UGA.
fayncdawg
May 18th, 2010
10:27 pm
CRIMSON CRUSH, YOU FOOL! LES, AFTER SUCH A PROMISING START IS VERY PLAYED OUT!! LAST I CHECKED CMR HAS A WINNING RECORD AGAINST HIM! CMR IS EVEN (IF NOT BETTER) AGAINST YOUR BELOVED NICK SATAN!! CMR WILL CATCH UP W/ MEYER BECAUSE MEYER WILL BURN HIMSELF OUT! (OR WORSE) In a few years, all the aforementioned will be winning 7-8 games a year. CMR winning 9-10 a year! BTW, Satan might be taking a job in Columbia, SC in a few years (good fit for a never stay in one place coach).
Crimson Crush
May 18th, 2010
10:31 pm
Yah … sure sure fancy
… whatever helps you sleep at night … and whatever keeps Kirby Smart from getting that “come rescue us immediately … we need a real head coach ” call 
Honest Lee
May 18th, 2010
10:38 pm
Richt’s “early” success came while Ron Zook was the coach at UF and Chan Gailey was at GT. Face it mutts, the competition has upped their talent level, so UP YOURS!!
jim
May 18th, 2010
10:40 pm
I live in Tennessee and I get asked all the time about CMR being on the hot seat. I just tell them “NO WAY” They just don’t know what haveing a good coach feels like!
fayncdawg
May 18th, 2010
11:01 pm
Yeah Crimson, CKS COULD HAVE rescued the Dawg’s D. CKS on anybody’s head coaching radar? NOT FOR ANOTHER DECADE! Just remember, your Tide will be needing a HC in five years (or less). Hope Les Miles is a good fit for y’all! Hope the 5+ years of underachievement to follow will make y’all Tide fans happy! PS I like CKS! JUST HOPE HE DON’T CRASH AND BURN LIKE MEYER IS ON THE BRINK OF DOING!
Top Dawg
May 18th, 2010
11:07 pm
No, he should not be on the hot seat, but it should be warm. Firing Willie Martinez cooled it off considerably.
Having written that, the big contracts are part of what is driving this “what have you done for me lately?” attiude on the part of fans. Back in the days where coaches stayed at one place for decades, they were making at best 10% of what these guys make today.
The pressure comes with the multi-million dollar annual salaries.
fayncdawg
May 18th, 2010
11:31 pm
GOOD POINTS ALL-AROUND TOP DAWG! Actually with CMR seemingly recruiting a top-5 2011 class, his job is probably not even warm at the moment! Now if this 2011 class doesn’t bring back a couple (MINIMUM) of 11-12 win seasons, then Richt hot seat will become an ejection seat!
Jay Smith
May 18th, 2010
11:33 pm
The Mark Richt form 2001 – 2005 did not appear on Dalton carpet cpmmercials, Wheaties boxes and movies.
SEC Observor
May 18th, 2010
11:54 pm
Come to think of it Richt was at his best when the Zooker was at UF, Mike Shula at Bama, and Gomer Gailey at Tech. Things are different now. Everyone around Richt is better, especially Alabama and Florida. Tech is now a game to legitimately worry about every year. Even Kentucky has gotten better and South Carolina is never a gimme like it used to be with Spurrier there.
Crimson crush is a little nutty in saying Miles is better than Richt although Miles does have a bcs title. But there is no question that over the last 4 years 10-10 in the sec east that Richt is clearly not in the same stratosphere as Saban or Meyer. No rational person would like at what Meyer has done at UF with 2 bcs titles in 5 years or what Saban has done at Bama in 3 years with 2 perfect regular seasons and one bcs title at a program that was in total disarray when he got there. To say that Richt has been the equal of those 2 over the last few years is to completely ignore reality.
Hilarious
May 19th, 2010
5:52 am
It’s amazing how much the UGA fans here spinning, rationalizing, excuse making to flat out delusional babble sounds SO MUCH like Tech fans trying to do the same to them.
You people are an embarrassment to your University and REAL dog fans.
Florida and Meyer own you. Meyer is a better coach than Richt. It’s not all because of Tim Tebow. Anyone who even states such a ludacris thing should get their head examined.
Serious
May 19th, 2010
7:00 am
Hilarious- You are an embarassment to your own mother, so save your jaded observations for someone who actually cares what you say. You are a non-event. Hopefully, you sent your Census in because that is the only way anyone knows you exist.
Meyer is not a better coach than Richt. The only reason Meyer had ANY success was due to Tebow and a whole lot of good luck.
Gen Neyland
May 19th, 2010
8:13 am
I understand that C-UM and UF have been a thorn in the side of CMR and the rest of the SEC East but now that we enter the post-Tebow years, CMR has a window of opportunity ahead. The next 4 years will tell the tale…
AltamahaDawg
May 19th, 2010
8:26 am
You know, when you start your argument, and in fact the entire point that you have to make is that somehow YOU have so much higher standards than some other fans, or that somehow your demands give you more standing than the next guy, everything you say past that point gets tuned out. Nobody believes that, including yourself. (and I have a feeling that your standards are direclty proportional to how much somebody else is doing the heavy listing.) How about saying something concrete like, “we need to do this specifically”? The winning every game theory, or the ever so helpful beat X team, isn’t really that interesting. How about why that team has an advantage, where, and what we need to correct? How about something like that?
Because the whole worn out “I guess you like being a 10 game, second best…bla, bla bla” isnt really what I would call a score. In fact based on the inability to record an actual point in that, I would say that you most definetely do NOT have any higher standard than the rest of the room. That ain’t exactly championship debate material.
I am a (school) fan and I demand more from my team/coach than the other 100 million fans! yea, that felt real convincing.
Phillip Hayes
May 19th, 2010
8:57 am
I wouldn’t trade Mark for anybody. He is a good coach, great leader of young men, and the best Southern Christian gentleman of our age!
Gator lover
May 19th, 2010
9:39 am
No. No hot seat yet. Another embarrasing loss to UF and it will get hot regardless of the rest of the season.49-10 AND 41-17 is pretty embarrasing. Although i’m sure most dog fans expected it last year. 8-5 wasn’t that bad considering Cox was running the show, and you guys had pretty much one guy (Curran) playing defense. I think UGA goes 9-3 this coming season with losses to UF, UK and either Auburn or Arkansas.
BurningRedBleedingBlack
May 19th, 2010
9:41 am
Well put Bill, Richt will be fine. GO DAWGS
Meta V
May 19th, 2010
10:34 am
Richt’s dreaming of the days when Ron zook and mike shula were in the SEC—when he could win a title. Those days are long gone–no more titles in athens.
JB
May 19th, 2010
10:51 am
I really think the problem is not so much going 8-5 last year….it’s how we did it. Dawg fans are not happy because the ” brand” has been tarnished. Say what you will about what the Dawgs have or have not done, but know that you were always in a war with a pretty good, well coached team when you played Georgia. That has not been the case the last two years. Blow outs in big games on National TV and getting blown out by average teams ( Tenn. last year) has left a sour taste in a lot of fans minds. Giving up 40 points 5 times in a year is not Georgia football. When Dooley had ERK, he could score 14 points and win most games. Grantham has no idea how much he will determine Mark’s future in Athens.
DawgsOnline » Is Mark Richt on the hot seat? Should he be?
May 19th, 2010
10:58 am
[...] you consider it silly pot-stirring or a legitimate question, the topic is unavoidable. I suppose the fact that we’re even batting [...]
Richt Isn’t On The Hot Seat, But He Better Not Go 4-4 In The SEC « MrSEC.com
May 19th, 2010
11:03 am
[...] to run out. That could mean tomorrow or it could mean next year. But if talk show callers and “anonymous internet trolls” are calling for your skull and there’s a loud, heated debate over whether or not you’re [...]
Dawg 3/20
May 19th, 2010
11:13 am
“The only reason Meyer had ANY success was due to Tebow and a whole lot of good luck”
Ha Ha, Tim played defense when we held a Oklahoma team that was averaging over 50 a game to 14? Sooners score half their season average perhaps we don’t win that game?
ugaclassof2004
May 19th, 2010
11:14 am
Let me ask all you Dawgs fans this: If UGA goes 5-7 this season, will Richt be fired? If the answer most of you give is NO, MAYBE, or “They will give him one more year to turn it around”, then we will know for certain that Richt’s job is safe and we as Dawg fans will have to accept mediocrity.
I think better questions to ask are: Is Mark Richt still hungry? Is winning a National Championship even an actual goal for him? My answers to these questions are ” I don’t know?”. I will say that when I, as a current Dawg fan; in year 10 of the Mark Richt era can not accurately gauge the current condition the football program, that is rarely if ever a good thing!
Paul's Johnson
May 19th, 2010
11:21 am
Suntan continues to get a pass for his failure against Jorts U. Why? I think its because the streak of futility began long before Richt came on the scene. Georgia’s football inferiority to Florida is now an institution. The Mutts expectations of success are so low, that if he can beat the Gators once every three or four years, that’s fine and dandy.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
May 19th, 2010
11:22 am
classof2004, CMR fired his best friend (he is hungry) and is working on one of his best recruiting classes ever (he wants a MNC) any more ?’s
ugaclassof2004
May 19th, 2010
11:40 am
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
Richt fired Martinez after his defenses gave up the most points in UGA history in back to back seasons! He should have fired Willie after 2008, but he kept him around another year. That doesn’t represent hunger to me, that represents apathy. And it wasn’t like this was Willie’s first year as DC. It was his 4th year on the job!
Gillislee
May 19th, 2010
2:04 pm
“Richt is working on one of his best recruiting classes ever”
Ha Ha, keep dreaming. The top…top players in the state and the country want to go elsewhere. 10 of 14 All Americans from the state of Georgia this past year are going to be freshmen at out of state schools in September. Look at these numbers of the upcoming freshmen class at UGA..
4 All Americans signed with UGA in February
16 All Americans signed with Florida in February
messin with sasquatch
May 19th, 2010
6:59 pm
wow. wish we had cmr.
A Blackmon
May 19th, 2010
8:19 pm
coach richt is one of the top coaches in college football today ! period !! and with the class this coach conducts himself with he will only get better ! you can carry that to the bank !!
rolling tide 73
May 19th, 2010
8:58 pm
There’s only one true SEC Team ALABAMA, so hot seat he deserves to be in! Oh yeah don’t count on his getting the job done, it won’t happen!
sminingsgator
May 19th, 2010
9:04 pm
Fact of the day. Richt has achieved his success with class while leading the SEC in arrests?
UCDAWG4714
May 19th, 2010
9:08 pm
I wonder if that yea whatever fella and the people arguing with him realize they wasted about 2 hours of their time arguing about a moot point.
If Richt is on the “hot seat” then all fans who want to see our team do well, and do things the right way should be on the hot seat with him, if Mark Richt gets fired for going 8-5 or whatever once every nine years then I refuse to support them.
Lane Pimpin
May 19th, 2010
9:11 pm
Love to read how the Poodle posters can conclude that Richt and Urban are even. Let’s see: Urban won a national championship two out of three years, graduated the classiest football player in history, had nine guys drafted this year.
Mark Richt = Jimmy Swaggart without the sex, speaking ability, alcohol, and personality.
Tom
May 19th, 2010
10:01 pm
The Richt of 2001-2005? Who cares? Still no NC. Urban Meyer has already won 2 NC’s in less time. CMR has taken us as far as we’re gonna go.
Rich
May 19th, 2010
10:46 pm
I would like to see Richt replaced, but I am a Tech fan.
If he can not keep his job, no college coach will ever be safe. Bobo may not be up to the task, yet.
east side
May 19th, 2010
11:12 pm
slick richt..how bout that yall? whats this cmr bs??
east side
May 19th, 2010
11:14 pm
sminingsgator
May 19th, 2010
9:04 pm
Fact of the day. Richt has achieved his success with class while leading the SEC in arrests?
somebody’s never been to athensss
Gatormeat
May 20th, 2010
3:48 pm
2-7 and richt and georgia is supposed to be a rival to Meyer and the Mighty Gators?! You are not a rival, you are scrimmage. georgia will always be second rate compared to Florida and you dog fans just need to accept that fact. See you in Jackonsville to give you yout annual beating
papadawg
May 20th, 2010
4:57 pm
Hey gatormeat ya’ll going to have a coach this year or not
Paul (You doesn't have to call me Johnson).
May 20th, 2010
6:51 pm
Gatormeat Florida has a loosing record to Georgia, Georgia Tech (What?) Yes! And most of the teams in the SEC. You’ve had a nice run for the past 20 years. It’s time for the established teams in the Conference to re-establish themselves.
Alabama may if they don’t get caught again by the NCAA for Recruiting violations and Rules Infractions.
LSU, Auburn , Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss will once again rule
Racine Dawg
May 21st, 2010
10:21 am
Richt beats UF in 2010—mark it down. Ga starts a long winning streak and meyer will leave again after a beatdown.
Half Century Dawg Fan
May 21st, 2010
11:04 am
Gatormeat, If the Dawgs are not your rival, what are you doing posting on a Dawg blog?
KBank
May 21st, 2010
5:13 pm
>>>>>>>>>>.Why does richt always act like the underdog in this series. I owuld go in like the top dawg and blown them off the field. Break their will, scoring margin so high they start to feel their “fate is sealed”.
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1st Qrtrt sets the tone
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Fandemonium
May 21st, 2010
5:16 pm
coach richt needs to quit obsessing about bad calls—penalties—turnovers—lock in on scoring margin—don’t lose focus—it’s all that counts.
King Gator
May 22nd, 2010
9:11 am
Don’t worry about the Gators. We’re going to field team, probably have a coach, mix it up on Saturdays, show up in Jax (and probably win as usual), compete for the SEC East, fight to play in ATL in the SEC Championship in the Florida Dome (we’ve played the more, sorry pupps) and just maybe compete for a National Title in ‘10 (but for sure in ‘11). Go Gators. Leave CMR alone, he’s a good coach – maybe a little to loyal to his upperclassman and asst coaches; but still a top 10 college football coach.