Sometimes fans are right and coaches are wrong
Mark Richt has admitted the Georgia coaching staff was wrong to try and make Richard Samuel a tailback. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
OK, we’ve established that I’m part of the vast majority of Bulldogs fans who support Mark Richt and think hot-seat talk about a coach as consistently successful as him is ridiculous.
But, as also has been established many times in the past, that doesn’t mean I think Richt is always right. On matters ranging from Willie Martinez to directional kickoffs to various decisions over who should be starting and who should be riding the bench, I’ve been among many fans critical of Richt in the past (and, conversely, encouraged by off-season moves he’s made this year to address some of those problems).
This raises an interesting point, however, about college football fans discussing their favorite teams. Every time I write something even remotely critical about the Georgia coaches or players, not only do I get my loyalty to UGA questioned by a few unnamed folks, but someone invariably puts forth the idea that if you haven’t played or coached college football, you have no right to voice an opinion.
OK, besides being downright un-American, that premise ignores the fact that most sports columnists have never been coaches. Most movie critics have never acted on the screen. And so on. …
And fans, who support the programs with their money, should be able to critique what they see on the field.
Yet even Richt, generally the most reasonable of men, ventured briefly into this territory last season when he got all prickly about some media criticisms and made his infamous statement that “if you’re a leader or a player and you are brave enough to be in the arena, there’s going to be people outside the arena that want to throw things at you and say things about you. But there’s honor in being in the arena, and a lot of people don’t understand because they’ve never been in there.”
The main problem with that idea is that often the collective wisdom of the folks sitting in the stands proves to be on the money.
David Hale of Bulldogs Blog touched on this recently when he noted that Richt had admitted to mishandling Richard Samuel by insisting on trying to make him into a tailback when all evidence pointed toward him belonging on defense, one of a number of instances over the past couple of years where Richt and his staff seemed a bit wrongheaded and inflexible.
Summed up Hale: “For all the ‘never been in the arena’ talk from the head coach, it sure seemed like the folks on the outside had a lot right. The fans understood the defense was headed in a bad direction, and the result was five games in which UGA allowed at least 34 points. Fans knew the kickoff strategy was flawed, and the result was a loss to LSU because of a bad kickoff late in the game. (And, to be fair, a ridiculous penalty on A.J. Green.) Fans knew that personnel changes needed to be made, and while Bacarri Rambo helped save the Auburn game, far too many big plays also occurred while Bryan Evans chased futilely after a receiver destined for the end zone.”
It’s reasonable to conclude that had those changes been made, Hale said, Georgia might have won at least 10 games last year.
And, he noted, “the problem wasn’t so much that fans recognized those problems last year. It was that they recognized them in 2008, when Georgia actually did win 10 games. And like with the Samuel situation, Georgia’s staff knew better and stubbornly stuck to philosophies that utterly frustrated fans.”
Hale goes on to point out that just about all of those complaints now have been dealt with by Richt. Which means we have good reason to believe things are back on the upswing in Athens.
I’m not deluding myself into thinking that Richt was swayed in any way by what my blog or anyone else’s had to say about his decisions over the past two seasons, though I do think the overall fan consensus on Martinez needing to go was a factor in that decision.
But I do think it’s fair to say that there have been instances where those of us outside the arena have made valid points about changes that needed to be made.
So maybe there’s some value in what we do here beyond the obvious enjoyment we all get out of discussing them Dawgs.
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203 comments Add your comment
anotherdawg
May 19th, 2010
1:22 pm
I think everyone critical of Richt should coach a little league team, preferably an allstar version, so they can get a taste of what it feels like to bust your a$$ trying to make everyone happy. They would only have to deal with the players and the parents, but it would give them an idea of what it feels like to have constant advice and criticism of their every move.
The Zen Master says....
May 19th, 2010
1:22 pm
….we’ll see.
OEJ
May 19th, 2010
1:23 pm
The only problem I have had is Richt playing favorites towards upper clasmen. The best player should play, if he’s a true freshman, so be it. The past few years its been like if you are an incoming freshman be prepared not to play even though you are better than the guys that are here now. I think that has been his only problem, and I feel he is finally realizing this.
anotherdawg
May 19th, 2010
1:24 pm
And if you want to really experience criticism, try umpiring.
Paddy
May 19th, 2010
1:28 pm
Coraline, you don’t watch football do you? Those points you make fly in the face of facts. If you don’t like Georgia football just say so. If you make up things, people will laugh at you like they are doing today..
Standing on the sidelines
May 19th, 2010
1:30 pm
One way or the other, if Richt doesn’t pick up the pace the next couple of seasons, what the fans think won’t be worth a “bucket of warm XXss”.
Boise Dawg
May 19th, 2010
1:30 pm
I agree with the premise of the article, but I’ll defend Richt with his handling of Martinez. Friend or not I don’t think he acted too slowly in getting rid of Martinez. The end of 2007 the defense was fantastic… and I still say a lot (not all) of the defensive problems were caused by the offense continually putting them in tough situations. Too many turnovers and too many 3 and outs.
The reason we have two SEC titles in Richt’s tenure had much more to do with the defense than our offense.
UGADawg83
May 19th, 2010
1:31 pm
Dang Bill-first we get your opinion of road games from what you see on t.v. because you aren’t actually AT the game. Now we get a re-write of an article from the Macon Telegraph. Good thing I subscribe to that paper. Isn’t there some sort of rule about plagiarism and copyright infringement?
How2fish
May 19th, 2010
1:31 pm
Not so fast fwiw you sir are wrong, the 18 season ending injuries doomed the Dawgs in 08 nothing more and nothing less.And if anyone was screaming to fire CWM at the end of 07 I didn’t hear it..no we finished 2nd in the nation and MOST of the Bull Dog Nation were sure we were the best team in the country at the end of the season..no 08 was when the fire CWM got a full head of steam…but at the end of 07 we were loving life and looking forward to 08…and another thing my friend ..Thomas Brown was a proven player and team leader and Knowshon Moreno was a untested player…when do you bench the proven player for a untested one..when the known player is hurt.
Dawgs Run This State!
May 19th, 2010
1:37 pm
Play of the year had to be King’s 60-something yard run against gt… It was a nice sight after tech had scored the touchdown to put them back in the game.
76-Dawg
May 19th, 2010
1:37 pm
For someone to think they can comment on a sports topic only on the premise that “been there done that” is asinine. I was a good example . At 5′ 6″ and only moderate speed there was no way I was going to make Pro ball but I was told by more than one coach including , coach Whatley at UGA that as far as control was concerned very few pitchers could match me that they had coached in their live time. Even though I accepted my birth short falls that excluded me from playing Pro that didn’t mean I wasn’t as knowledgeable in baseball as anyone. CMR never played in Miami but because he was on the team he is more qualified than someone who was great in high school but couldn’t play college ball because they were too small or had a career ending injury, doesn’t have any merit. So for those of you who are delusional enough to think the number one criteria for commenting on a sports topic is that you would have had to play college ball to deserve or have the right to comment is just wrong.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
May 19th, 2010
1:43 pm
Right on 76-Dawg: I personally know some athletes that played college and NFL football and a few couldn’t find their a$$ with both hands in their hip pockets. Yep, one was from UGA.
What do you call a team without a QB?
May 19th, 2010
1:45 pm
bwell already talking 2011…daug funny…always next year.
LoveDawgs
May 19th, 2010
1:46 pm
This is not directed at any particular school or even sport, but to assume that all coaches are rocket scientists and make all the right decision is crazy. OF COURSE a large collective group can see things an individual or small group may miss. While coaches do have expertise in their field, most I have dealt with over the years as a former media rep, are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Also, I am not bashing coaches or going for the “dumb jock” argument. I just think we as fans sometimes assume our coaches are “brilliant” (some are), but many are just average at best in the intelligence department. There are some coaches who have achieved a great deal of academic success, and their are coaches that have an innate common sense regarding their sport, but let’s stop assuming they are Einsteins with a whistle.
Dawg Days
May 19th, 2010
1:52 pm
There is dissension among the ranks of the UGA assistant coaches. Grantham has that big time $750,000 salary yet the Dogs are not in the top 5 of the SEC in total salary for assistants. They are unhappy.
1. Bama – $3.215 million
2. Auburn – $2.931 million
3. Florida – $2.74 million
4. Tennessee – $2.725 million
5. South Carolina – $2.15 million
Bohgey
May 19th, 2010
1:52 pm
Bill, I don’t believe people understand that you are paid by writing your opinions. I’m not saying that you can’t be off base in some eyes. Then again, off base quit writing for the AJC didn’t he?
- i.e. Terrence Moore.
That being said, this summer will probably play hell on CMR. All of these major shakedowns and changes can either be fruitful or blow up in his face. As a Dawg, I’m obviously for the former, but it remains to be seen.
I’m going to compare this to an almost-mafia type situation. Rick has to take out his best friend for the good of the family. It is a hard decision but what the boss(es) like to see come out of it is a taste for blood and a cutthroat mentality that Richt appeared to lack.
Corch Urban Meyer has that down to an art. He may be a nice guy, in fact, I know he has some form of decency. He visited a friend’s daughter at Shands Hospital as she was recovering from surgery. She is a Gator fan and hasn’t recovered from that, but my point is that when Meyer gets to the field, that drops and he gets his game face on. Does Richt have that in him? I don’t want to see him go, so I hope the desperation from this past offseason has help mold that persona.
Dawgs downward spiral continues 2010
May 19th, 2010
1:55 pm
Enioy another loser season and loser bowl dawgs. It couldn’t happen to a more moronic fan base. 30 years since 1980. 18/21 for UF.
Keep talking like the fools you are. There is no need to save your money. Spend it on some redneck gear. You won’t be needed it for the dome in December.
7-5 again. How does it feel?
GeorgiaFan
May 19th, 2010
1:55 pm
Just hope you don’t join Jeff and Mark who have nothing but criticism when writing aboub UGA and CMR. It has been a couple of good months without so much negative from the AJC. I believe the average Georgia fan would prefer you report the news and get away from beating up on one of the finest coaches and programs in college football. With out a doubt, the AJC has made recruiting much more difficult.
Dumb Daugs
May 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
Freshman qb with no experience = bad season. Deal with it losers.
Gen Neyland
May 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
For CMR to make the statement above, he had to be fed up with factual reporting or fans that knew they had better than they were getting. Many of us here have been inside the arena CMR spoke of. We loved the praise and heaping accolades but were probably a tad po’ed if criticized loudly for our efforts. We probably eventually came to understand the criticism was accurate to a degree. Football teaches adversity in and out of the arena but people can only take so much when running a program. Here, a tip of the hat to Charlie Weis for basically constantly hearing and reading about flopping at Notre Dame. If any HC had a reason to fight back, it was Charlie, albeit in Charlie’s case, facts were facts…
AceDawg
May 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
Our opinions as fans DEFINITELY matter. After all, Football is entertainment. It’s not oxygen, H2O, a plate of food on the table, the way our government enforces its laws on us or taxes is. It’s just football, and when fans aren’t happy, programs are usually acting like fools to ignore them.
Richt has always had a human side, and I think he feels like he’s over a difficult hump in coaching, and everyone is going to be happy again this year as the Dawgs entertain us with a much better team then they’ve recently had.
Rings
May 19th, 2010
1:57 pm
The only rings on Richt’s fingers that mean anything are the ones he won while at FSU.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
May 19th, 2010
1:59 pm
Chris: Which Fortune 500 Company do you run/sort mail for? Oops! Sorry. See ya later. I hear your boss yelling for a fresh cup of coffee. Just ignore the sorry loser. With your insight and ability to solve all things football a new job should be a piece of cake.
Hehehaha
May 19th, 2010
2:00 pm
Stupid recneck dogs think a freshman qb is going to lead them to a great season. Hahahaha. There is no fan base in any sport as delusional as this bunch. Keep barking redneck losers. And keep waiting to beat the gators. We’ve won 85% of the games since 1991!!!
Nate
May 19th, 2010
2:02 pm
Nice post Chris. You are spot on.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
May 19th, 2010
2:03 pm
Gen. Neyland: What’s “po’ed”? and didn’t you use to post as “Gen. Kiffen”?
UGA Fan
May 19th, 2010
2:07 pm
I think people are making more out of the “areana” comment than they should. He basically said “it is better to have tried and failed, then never to have tried.” He was also saying it is easy to sit on the sidelines and throw stones and point fingers when you haven’t got anything on the line. Those are reasonable statements, and in my estimation, they’re accurate.
Richt’s comment was less about saying people don’t know anything, than it was a comment about the character of the participants. I think this is particularly notable since so many Georgia fans (and pundits, the the author of this very article included)were willing to point the finger at the players for this and for that. It is almost as if you’re suggesting players intentionally made mistakes. How about an example: mocking someone’s public speaking skills, even though you’re unwilling to stand up and deliver the same presentation.
Edd Cunningham
May 19th, 2010
2:09 pm
You are perfectly right in asserting that there should be no qualifications for stating opinions. My argument is that almost everyone on here telling Coach Richt what he needs to be doing or not doing (I include myself in that group) really have no basis for doing so because they do not have the skills or qualifications to be Head Football Coach at the University of Georgia or else they would have the job instead of Coach Richt. Since you actually played College Baseball 76 Dawg then you have a great deal more insight into how the game is played and managed to some extent than someone like me who never has played College Baseball. So therefore I would be in error if I pretended to know how a Coach should manage a college baseball team.
1eyedJack
May 19th, 2010
2:27 pm
Boy, the Gnats are really like….gnats! Just pesky and good for nothing. Well at least they’re helping to keep the AJC online with their moronic posts. So there’s that.
gomdawg
May 19th, 2010
2:27 pm
OK , ENOUGH IS ENOUGHT IF YOU YOU CAN’T WRITE SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT MY COACH AND MY TEAM THEN WRITE ABOUT OBAMA. NEW SEASON GOOD THINGS ARE COMING ARE WE PREFECT HELL NO BUT WE ARE GOING TO KICK SOME A– S. LOOKING FOR THE NEW SEASON GO DAGWS
JB
May 19th, 2010
2:36 pm
It’s like you and your wife and two kids appear and feel like you lead a “normal” life and someone comes and stays a week with you and tells you ” man, ya’ll have got some issues and problems”…….and you go…..huh………………. When you are not winning championships, there will also be this talk….as there is in Auburn, LSU,Tennessee and Carolina about right now. All these teams and Dawgs are chasing the prize…….. there will be critics.
Otto
May 19th, 2010
2:37 pm
Boise Dawg, I agree with your post. Offense and Special teams often put the defense in bad situations.
CWM caught more than his share of the blame. However, IMO he also was not the best man UGA could get for the job.
Kyle King also had an article of the Dooley, and Munson mindset:
http://www.dawgsports.com/2010/5/6/1460702/losing-my-religion-why-georgia#storyjump
IMO UGA fans get far to content with good but not great. It is amazing how to reactions to season between fan bases. If CMR was at some other programs he’d be the greatest and at another he would have been fired by now.
CMR is a great man. I am not for firing CMR at the moment but play calling must improve over the next 2 years in all phases of the game, and I don’t want to see any special uniforms. Bama, Penn St, and OU don’t change why should UGA? The first 2 blackouts were fun but the moment has passed and possibly resulted in long term damage.
Atticus
May 19th, 2010
2:40 pm
Certainly about Samuel and Brandon Miller. And the fact the ST SUCKED. I just hope fans aren’t smarter when it comes to Bobo because I think this team has not achieved anywhere NEAR where it should offensively. The running game schemes are terrible, no motion or misdirection….no flow or rhythm. Hopefully we are wrong….
gdawginkalamazoo
May 19th, 2010
2:47 pm
As I mentioned before, we all know that coach also had to deal with his wife’s health concerns the past couple of years. Football isn’t everything in life, the man had to look after his family too. I’ll give him the benefit of doubt and some room to make comments not characteristic for him. He has made the tough moves personally and made some right moves on getting some of the problems straightened out. Should he “listen” to the dribble on here? Maybe, maybe not. Having a lot ideas to work from never hurts. You just have to make it seem like they are your own.
$750K
May 19th, 2010
2:47 pm
No one’s opinion matters in a time when we hire a football coach for $750K while the instructional budget is being slashed.
Football is always 1 and 0 against academics, especially at a place like UGA.
We are just about set for a nice run
May 19th, 2010
2:53 pm
Richt has his new team of D coaches and i suspect that he is listenting to them and if they say we need to do this to re estbalish so and so, then CMR is very likely listening up. He knows that in the recent past, that he did not vary from the goofy input ( directional kicks,etc) and so it cost him some stomach acid. Now? He has a new, fresh team and teamwork and repoire are being re established by coaches and coaches with players. This is very healthy for long term growth.
Bobo is the link ………..can he elevate his game now? is he capable of doing so? Is Bobo ready for prime time big boy SEC ball? This year, he has a mobile QB and a stable of nice running backs and fullbacks and plenty of receivers, tight ends, not to mention the o line, etc
UGA Defense ought to look like a Junk Yard Dog defense. it will only get better in 2011. The three new coaches are what the doctor ordered three years ago. I know that the kids are responding to the new coaches.
Let’s tee it up and play ball. Shhhhhhh ……..no summer injuries, please.
gdawginkalamazoo
May 19th, 2010
2:54 pm
With Grantham in place (someone who can run a defensive scheme on his own) I think Richt will be helping with the game planning on the offensive side more so Bobo will have some help. After all Richt was the OC for all those great FSU teams so we know he more than capable.
Bulldog59
May 19th, 2010
2:55 pm
Sometime mid-to-late in the 2009 season, CMR turned the corner. He accepted the inevitable. If he wanted to continue as HC of UGA, he could no longer carry coaches that were not “measuring up.”
A UT friend of mine once told me, Richt is a top coach surrounded by average assistants, we at UT hope Richt stays the nice guy he is and stays at UGA for a long time.
Thankfully, things have changed for the better at UGA.
PMC
May 19th, 2010
3:00 pm
750K – you are talking about money is coming out of the state budget. That is money taken away from taxpayers and in the down economy there isn’t as much money coming into the states coffers. All football money is generated by football so people who care about football are spending thier money on football. Football is responsible for quite a bit of money coming too the school and into academic programs. They are not diametrically opposed unless you just hate athletics.
Anyone who wishes can donate money to various education programs or grants if they wish. Many athletes who have gone on to bigger and better things end up giving thier schools substantial fortunes to better the welfare of thier academic programs. In this very edition of the web version of this paper there is an article about Jack Nicklaus who has donated countless millions to various universities most of which was generated by his immense athletic talent.
Football
May 19th, 2010
3:05 pm
750K, IN YOUR FACE ACADEMICS! IN YOUR FACE! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!
Bulldog59
May 19th, 2010
3:05 pm
PMC thanks, you beat me to it. Football is not only self-sufficient, it pays for other sports that don’t make money.
Last year, UGA Athletics took in somewhere over $84M and spent around $69M. It pays it’s own way and then some.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
May 19th, 2010
3:08 pm
It’s perfectly OK for a fan to voice his opinion. It’s also OK for the coaching staff to ignore them. It is, after all their collective butts on the line. And frankly, as it pertains to Samuel, if you were not at all of the practices, then you cannot possibly know if having him at RB was the best decision for him or not. Hope the position change works out for him and the team. Opinions are just that, it’s when opinions and spin are repeatedly put out as absolute facts that they get very,very annoying.
PHIL
May 19th, 2010
3:09 pm
It’s a free country, Bill. You and every one of these other idiots have every right to make stupid comments. It’s no different than you telling a woman what she should be doing to handle her menstrual
cramps. If you or any other one of these brain surgeons that post here could do a better job than those that have been there they would have hired you. Sometimes you go for long stretches in your musings that make me re-think my first impression of you. Then you go and write something like this and remove all doubt.
chazzo
May 19th, 2010
3:11 pm
It is not a matter of right and wrong. It is simply a matter that we are not privy to what goes on in practice and behind the scenes. I don’t think that anyone has to coach or play a sport to make valid observations as long as they understand that his perspective is limited. It is equally important to realize that it can be hard to see ourselves from the outside… that is to say it is easy to get caught up in our own schemes. When fans become so critical, though, that it can become a contest of wills between a player or a coach with the fans, it just gets really detrimental. First and foremost, any team sport is about relationships and chemistry among players and coaches. Richt is a master of this. He admits his mistakes. He changes things up. He will work it until he gets it right, and he is not on any of our schedules. If anyone would have him fired, just watch him win somewhere else while we suffer through a few rebuilding years and coaching shuffles.
U R Right
May 19th, 2010
3:13 pm
For the guys who hate the articles SOOOO Much why do you read them? It’s so easy to talk SMACK when you are on the internet, What a bunch of losers.
Great Article Bill. Just one complaint. We need more stuff to read… until the season starts these articles are my crack!
PHIL
May 19th, 2010
3:18 pm
76-Dawg 5-6 and a pitcher? Are you the one they invented the mound for? Sorry, couldn’t help it. Anyway, there is a HUGE difference between knowing about a sport, as you put it, and running an SEC program. To think you know how because you know the game is just well, to quote you, wrong.
P. Bull Terrier
May 19th, 2010
3:24 pm
Imagine a world where fans ran the teams:
The Braves would have fired Chipper, Bobby Cox, and TP some time in the 1990’s and replaced them with the hot minor leaguers of the day. By now we would have grown tired of everyone in the minor league system and we would be pulling up 12 year olds from East Cobb.
Mike Vick would still be running around in circles in the Falcons backfield as the starting QB for half the Falcons games. DJ Shockley would start the other half because fans couldn’t decide which QB they liked better. The Falcons would have picked Glenn Dorsey instead of Matt Ryan. Roddy White would have been cut during his rookie season when it was clear he would never be any good.
The Hawks would have fired Mike Woodson, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams a few years ago and brought back Mike Fratillo, Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb.
David Green would never have held the record for career wins as a starting QB because Shockley would have been the starter. Matt Stafford would never have lasted through his freshman season because he threw too many interceptions. Knowshon would have been replaced by Caleb King on King’s first day as a Bulldog. King would have been replaced by Ealey, who would have been replaced by Carlton Thompson, who would be about to lose his job to Ken Malcom, who would be on the hot seat as soon as some high school kid gained 200 yards in the opening game of his season.
The Thrashers and GA Tech would have ceased to exist due to lack of fan interest. (Sometimes the fans do get it right.)
Vince D.
May 19th, 2010
3:25 pm
Is the IRS looking into Adams’ special relationship with Regent (Bulldog Water) Leebron? Shocking, simply Shocking.
Dan
May 19th, 2010
3:25 pm
I’ve never been a President of the United States so does that mean I can’t vote anymore?
shane#1
May 19th, 2010
3:31 pm
” Some coaches pray for wisdom. I pray for 290lb linemen. They make a coach look very wise.” -Lou Holtz. Bobo may look like Bear Bryant re-incarnated if the veterans on the O line stay healthy. He will look like an idiot if they don’t. If Richt is wise he will pay very little attention to what fans say. The arena talk does not bother me at all because Richt was right. 90% of the loudmouths that bash coaches and players never had the guts to strap on the pads and get out on that field in the first place. Most fans have no idea what they are talking about. Most sports pundits are just stirring the pot this time of year because there is nothing going on but recruiting.