Richt’s warning to players: ‘It could get worse’
"We are where we are," Mark Richt told the Touchdown Club of Athens. (Associated Press)
Mark Richt didn’t hang around long at Tuesday night’s Touchdown Club of Athens meeting, showing up late and leaving immediately after some brief comments and taking a couple of questions from the floor. But he didn’t skip the fan gathering, as some had speculated he would, and when he took the microphone he didn’t duck the issue of Georgia’s 0-3 conference start, either.
“We are where we are,” the coach said to the full-house crowd assembled to hear his mentor, Bobby Bowden. “We’re going to have to get better or it’s gonna get worse. It’s not going to stay the same. I told the players, you think it’s bad now; it could get worse.”
But no matter what, Richt said, “we’re not gonna lose our poise, we’re not gonna lose our integrity. We don’t want to take our frustrations out on anyone, except maybe Colorado. … We just have to keep working hard and keep together. We must stay together.”
Generally, Richt’s update for the club echoed what he’d said earlier in the day at his weekly news conference: The coaches need to work on helping the players correct their mistakes and teach them how to handle adversity while maintaining a positive outlook.
“That’s all we can do right now is keep grinding and keep it positive,” the coach said.
Richt didn’t get into a lot of specifics about the Dogs’ problems, but he did note that in the Mississippi State game it seemed that every time Georgia made a big, positive play, something happened to negate it, whether a turnover or “the penalties got us again.”
On the bright side, he said that the return of A.J. Green to the lineup is bound to open up the middle some for the Dogs’ tight ends as defenses double-up the celebrated wide receiver. “It’s nice to see No. 8 out at practice again and know that you might actually be able to use him this week.”
The Georgia coaching staff is hoping Kris Durham can play against Colorado. (Associated Press)
Even without Green, Richt said, the Dogs have been close to breaking several long touchdown passes with Kris Durham if only quarterback Aaron Murray had been able to hit Durham in stride. The problem, Richt said, has been Murray overadjusting after tending to overthrow receivers in the spring game. “We told him to keep it in play and give the guy a chance to catch it,” which is better than overthrowing, but “if he had hit Kris on the run I think he would have scored four or five times.” Richt also singled out receiver Tavares King for praise.
Durham, Richt said, was able to practice Tuesday in a noncontact jersey after suffering a stinger to the neck in Starkville, and “We hope he’ll be able to play” against Colorado.
Asked by a fan about dealing with the higher altitude the Dogs will face in Boulder, Richt said, “There’s not much we can do about it.” He said he consulted with UGA director of sports medicine Ron Courson and asked if getting out there 24 hours earlier would make any difference and Courson said no. Richt said Georgia will have oxygen available on the sideline but “we’re not going to make a big deal out of it.”
At that point Bowden interjected that Richt should just ignore the altitude and later during his own comments the former FSU coach said his teams’ experience playing at Colorado was that the only difference the altitude made was “the ball goes further,” which helps kickers. “They want you to think it’s a big problem and they try to psych you out,” Bowden said, but his advice on the subject is: “Don’t pay any attention to it.”
As for Georgia’s undersized defensive line, Richt was asked about additional playing time for redshirt freshman Kwame Geathers, the biggest of the Dogs’ nose tackles. The coach said that part of the problem has been Georgia’s opponents haven’t been playing two-receiver sets, which means the nose guards haven’t played much. Geathers, he said, “is coming,” though he’s still tending to favor the hand on which he had offseason surgery. “He’s not, in Coach [Rodney] Garner’s opinion, as ready to get as many reps as the other guys.”
After Richt left, Bowden, who regaled the crowd with amusing stories from his long career, assured the Touchdown Club, “I feel sure Georgia’s gonna pull this thing out” and said that frequently it just takes one player to make the difference. “It’s not like they need to replace all 30 players.”
HOPEFUL SIGNAL ON OFFENSE?
I thought it was interesting that in his news conference Tuesday, Richt talked about Georgia still wanting to run the ball and keep the play-action passing game that hasn’t had much success so far this season, but he also said, “We do have ways to get the ball to our receivers quickly on quick screens. We have screens to our backs. We have ways of throwing quick game if we feel like they have outnumbered the run and we want to get some one-on-one situations. We are still very multiple in what we do.”
Sounds like the head coach wants offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to mix it up a bit more. At least, I hope that’s what that means.
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427 comments Add your comment
Billy Jack DAWG
September 29th, 2010
3:18 pm
We lost 2 games we probably sould have lost (USC and Ak) but should have won the Miss. St game.Richt doesn’t know how to handle the boys from the HOOD
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:23 pm
pretty bad at Tech………The Tech blog had 40…maybe 50 hits on it over the “Greatest college football coach on earth” losing last week.
404's mother
September 29th, 2010
3:25 pm
That boy never takes that costume off and comes out of the basement anymore. You would think at 44, he’s look for work. The Tech Diploma of his on the wall has yellowed.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:27 pm
JD Tech fans enjoy hearing the dawgs bark & howl about the arrests, missed game, coaches being fired. On the Tech blog we mostly comment on wht the players did well how to inprove and support or coaches and team. Groh is making some of that hard right now.
jon gruden!!jon gruden!!
September 29th, 2010
3:29 pm
jon gruden!!jon gruden!! go get jon gruden!!jon gruden!!
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:30 pm
404’s mom well you don’t have to worry about a uga diploma yellowing. they are limaniated and you hang them from your rearview mirrow. and don’t forget it allows you the best parking spaces right up front.
Dogs Smell
September 29th, 2010
3:33 pm
JB “Homer” First of all , have you ever been to UGA on a weekday? Secondly did your parents produce any children that lived?
Reality Check
September 29th, 2010
3:33 pm
The UGA program is an embarrassment to the State of Georgia. Any non redneck in the state would admit that. UGA= No character off the field and now the only thing UGA fans can typically brag about is gone. UGA fans will jump on board their BB program this winter in droves if UGA actually wins some games in that sport and then they will tell us how all along they supported the BB team that plays in the Barn. At least no players have been arrested this week (last 3 days).
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:34 pm
Do you really think Jon Gruden wants to coach college? I don’t know, but he is making good money talking football. He doesn’t have the headache of Alumni, college kids, and boosters. Pro coaches don’t have that kind of crap to deal with.
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:35 pm
just went over to the “NETBUFF’s message board……..The whole conference is rooting them on to knock off a “wounded” SEC team……They feel pretty good about it…..one blogger wrote I think 17 points wins it…….
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:36 pm
JB that sounds about right. UGA is having trouble scoring TDs.
Tell it like it is.
September 29th, 2010
3:38 pm
258 dawg——–Hey dumb azz,i an’t no tech fan! I am a dawg fan,allways have been.Just get tired of the coach killers on here stering the pot.Eather be a fan or get off the bandwagon!
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:40 pm
Keep it about football DOGS SMELL……………. And tell your sister to bring her on protection next time. I really don’t what a Dawg and a pig would produce……………….now see, keep it from being personal, and we don’t/won’t get nasty…………..But by reading your post today, insults was your major.
Richt ties Goff with 0-3 SEC start
September 29th, 2010
3:40 pm
Here’s what’s really going to get worse, the dawgs are well on there way with Capt Richt at the helm to never playing on National TV for the next several years. The only annual exposure will be in Jax, because the Gators are almost always on National TV, hope we can beat them soon cause the recuiting is already taking a hit.
Case in point Bama-Gators National broadcast, Georgia-Colorado regional telecast. It won’t be long before the regional folks drops us too.
Gotta get rid of Richt and his sinking ship——–all he’s doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Reality Check
September 29th, 2010
3:40 pm
Jon Gruden might want to coach a Notre Dame, Florida, etc or any other real top program but not a second tier school like UGA. Also, I would feel pretty good if I were Colorado too since they will probably win the game and keep the Dswgies in their spiral. All the bragging about how many UGA fans you have at games will be laughable by the time you play the cupcake near the end of the year the stadium will be half empty with all the bandwagon sore loser fans gone.
a Big Dog
September 29th, 2010
3:40 pm
ATL Bama Fan – personally I liked Dumbo’s comment about the alabama state law and wrastlin’ better
Top Dog
September 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
Sounds like Coach Richt finally stepped back and looked at the situation and was being honest with all. By his comments, he is basically saying we are in a mess and many of the critics are correct in their assessment. By getting worse, I wonder if he was talking about heads rolling?
Oh Happy Day
September 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
UGA should be able to beat Colorado even in a bad UGA year. If you can’t, then you know things are bad.
a Big Dog
September 29th, 2010
3:43 pm
Reality Check- please keep your cold Nose out of my rump….dang people sniffin’ and Dog down here on North Ave…..keep it up, I feel the urge to pretend you’re a fire hydrant….
Dirty Dawg
September 29th, 2010
3:44 pm
Finally had the nerve to watch the replay – at least a lot of it – of the Miss State game. Hadn’t been able to see it live and was too disheartened to watch it until now. Got to say that, frankly, we didn’t look as bad as I thought we would. Sure the turnovers and penalties didn’t look particularly good, but it seems to me we moved the ball – at least until the last five minutes (I didn’t bother to watch MS’s final score). Having said that, and assuming AJ will have an impact on this Saturday’s game, we should at least come home with a win.
What else can Coach Richt say except work to correct mistakes and be as positive in your approach as possible. We’ll see.
Dirty Dawg
September 29th, 2010
3:46 pm
Oh yeah, meant to add that we need some more help at running back – move Samuels back to running back…run Chapas and/or Musenmier (spelling on both?) at tailback some…the little kid doesn’t have any business running the ball between the tackles unless it’s on a cut-back.
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:47 pm
Maybe Coach Johnson could help us with our passing game………………Whoops, sorry.
WV
September 29th, 2010
3:47 pm
Georgia will clobber Colorado. They are not as good as even the worst SEC team…nuff said.
Richt ties Goff with 0-3 SEC start
September 29th, 2010
3:47 pm
I wonder if Mark Bradley is working on his, ” What if Georgia really loses to Colorado” That could get really nasty———————–just saying
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:48 pm
The thing I don’t understang is how is AJ going to be such a big factor? Has he been able to practice all year? If he has I would think it was limited so the players that were playing could get most of the reps. I wouldn’t think Murry and AJ have their timing down so well. Murry has had trouble hitting the WRs in stride all year. So, why will that change now?
Top Dog
September 29th, 2010
3:48 pm
Wouldn’t surprise me. He is a worthless piece of crap.
dawghater
September 29th, 2010
3:51 pm
Fire CMR, I dare you. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get!
WV
September 29th, 2010
3:51 pm
The only way Dawgs lose this weekend is if they beat themselves: turnovers and penalties. They should come with at least some confidence before the UT game.
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:52 pm
One thing hurting the offense is the limited amount of things the other teams DC has to prepare his guys for…….Very very limited to what we do, and based on down and yardage, the DC will guess right 8 of 10 times………..And of course, when you can’t run the ball, that’s helps the defense also……………I would trend just the opposite this week………
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:53 pm
If UGA does lose to Colorado do you think the Vols v UGA will be on TV anywhere?
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:56 pm
JB that maybe true. Bobo is still calling the plays Richt created at FSU with Ward and Dunn in the backfield. That is were all the 3 and long screen plays came from. If AJ can streach the field then that play works or well it did with Charlie Ward and Warrick Dunn years ago.
JB
September 29th, 2010
3:57 pm
5150…………..yes, he has been practicing….they didn’t stop that…………..hopefully , he’ll be game ready, and they will double him, which should open up the passing game to the tight end
a Big Dog
September 29th, 2010
3:57 pm
5150 P.O.A.D – unlike Wreck …. uh..I mean Yech…UGA v UT is on already been announced at 12:30 pm 10/8….dang you peckerwoods got a thing about sniffin’ my rump…what is it with you yellow bugs, huh
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
3:59 pm
JB I wouldn’t double AJ like I said earlier until AJ showes he is ready for PRIMETIME or that Murry can be upright long enough to get him the ball.
A Point to be Made
September 29th, 2010
4:03 pm
Richt = Bowden,,,in terms of recruiting character and discipline
Richt < Bowden,,,in terms of winning championships with his recruits
Richt + Donnan Recruits,,,won at the beginning of his tenure at UGA
Bob
September 29th, 2010
4:05 pm
Similar to the 0 and 3 start in 1979, and everyone was saying fire Dooley. Of course they only lost 6 games the 63, won 3 SEC championships a National Title, etc. Kinda glad they didn’t fire the coach that time. But hey, the next Charlie Weiss is probably available.
Reality Check
September 29th, 2010
4:06 pm
WV, Georgia is the worst SEC tesm. Also, you proved last year that you can not handle the big 12 versus a mediocre Ok State team so why is Colorado any different. UGA has no heart and will prove it by rolling over this week.
Hairless dawg
September 29th, 2010
4:06 pm
I guess you need to do a blog inquiring if the dogs can win the east with 3+ loses.
jtdawg
September 29th, 2010
4:09 pm
tell it like it is:
By what extension do fans like yourself feel others are not “REAL” fans if they choose to desire change at the prime leadership position of the program they root for?
In a funy ironic twist, for those with intelligence, those fans who always say “root for the program or get off the bandwagon” when it comes to the regime’s failures, would it not be a true statement to say that “true” fans are the ones who want the change to correct the glaring issues as opposed to “bandwagon” fans who defend the staffs failures to the last because the staff’s successes are what attracted them to root for the program anyway, hoping for an overnight return to the glory that brought them close in the first place??
Stop bind homering and LOOK AT THE TRENDS – they will never lie to you. Metrics are always good indicators if you will just open your eyes and read them for what they are good for…
Top Dog
September 29th, 2010
4:16 pm
I will say this much. Looking at Dooley’s record over 25 years, there were some ugly years and we would have killed for an 8-3 some years. Given, Richt makes 10 plus times the money that Dooley ever made. There were a few times but not many that the fan base was calling for Dooley’s head. Yes times have changed. Yes CMR has dropped the ball or rather taken his eye off the ball. No one wants to be in His position.. Just think of what he is going through. I hope that he is not operationg or coaching from a position of panic or desparation. If he is, then it will get worse. Maybe later that we had wanted, but he did make a very tough decision with CMR last year. Regardless of the outcome of this season as ugly as it could get, I believe we give him another year. This might be the jolt needed for him to regain control of this team. I will guarantee you that if he can survive this, he will do all in his power to never be there again. Mark Richt is not a loser. I believe we will see a different GA team for the rest of the year- let’s hope so.
JB
September 29th, 2010
4:18 pm
AJ catch’s 8-10 balls Saturday and a couple of TD’s, Dawgs win 24-14
jtdawg
September 29th, 2010
4:20 pm
OK – every one follow along here…
College football programs are “businesses”. They provide an entertainment service for profit to the university and aligned conference.
Disagree? Fine. They are and should be run like a “business”. The CEO is the Head Coach and to be successful, he should treat it as such.
Busninesses should, if they are properly run, make balanced decisions not only on subjective observation of operations, but also METRICS
METRICS: (definition)
“A metric is a system of measurement that includes the item being measured, the unit of measurement, and the value of the unit.”
“Metrics deals with measurements that are used to determine the progress toward meeting certain goals. It quantifiably answers the question whether or not the goal has been met. Every person with goals has used a measuring system to determine if his/her goal was met and what steps needed to take to continue to reach that goal. Metrics are used by organizations to measure which business and organizational goals are appropriate for the organization, given its particular mission.”
Qunatify the metrics of our CEO over his 10 year period, then compare them over time
everyone will see the same thing – a DOWNWARD TREND
Graph it…
Calculate it…
Project it into the future…
Put colors on it…
It still does the same – it tells us our “business” of college football in Athens is heading into disturbing territory. It tells us that those driving this ship have not paid attention to detail. It tells us that, well, things are not well.
Everyone, stop being emotional about it and put practical sense to it.
What does your practical, logica sense tell you? The same thing that looked subjectively obvious after the 2006 Auburn game…
Things have got to change, and this leadership has had 5 YEARS to measure, weigh and correct these trends, yet have failed to do so.
Unfortunately in this country, failing CEO’s get golden parachutes….
Coachdawg 2000
September 29th, 2010
4:24 pm
Memo to Team-
We need forget being 1-3. We need to forget trying to go 9-3. We need to forget the scoreboard. We need to focus on being the best on every play. we need to bring maximum effort, focus,and intensity on every single snap in all three phases and then will get where we want to be.
Mobile Dawg
September 29th, 2010
4:25 pm
“Yes I am a pirate, three years and a day to late, my cannons they thunder, you/ve already been plundered, we’re the overdue victims of fate.” Leach has a nice jingle but he’s not gonna happen here.
Scott
September 29th, 2010
4:30 pm
Well put, Loran, Whatayagot. . . .I’m with you. CMR is a great coach who’ll get this figured out. GO DAWGS!!
Jeff
September 29th, 2010
4:30 pm
As an alum (’79) let me put in my vote for Peterson from Boise State. Florida went out west and got the best at that time, why can’t we? We have no choice, we cannot accept this. I do not.
Top Dog
September 29th, 2010
4:31 pm
My point is Dawgs in 1977- 6-5, 1978 9-2-1, 1979 6-5, 1980 12-0. How many better coaches are there out there than Richt? That will come to GA? Richt will get his parachute. I for one had rather give him a chance to fix this mess if I am McGarity if he has an acceptable (believable) business plan. Otherwise we are set back 4-5 years for sure. I cannot take this losing for 5 more years. I will be in my grave.
Red Panties
September 29th, 2010
4:33 pm
Just some helpful info for any of you going to Colorada for the first time. Boulder is higher than Denver at 5430 feet above sea level.
Here are some helpful hints on adjusting th altitude.
About Altitude Sickness
Altitude sickness is hardly something most people prepare for, but it still affects scores of unsuspecting newcomers to Boulder each year. Boulder is staggering 5,430 feet above sea level. At that height, the air pressure is lower making respiration more difficult for some.
Symptoms of altitude sickness:
•Nausea
•Headache
•Diarrhea, Upset Stomach
•Fatigue
•Dizziness
Physical Adjustments to Higher Elevations
Being aware of your elevation and following some common high altitude tips is the best way to reduce the risk of suffering from altitude sickness. The number one way to reduce the risk of sickness is to refrain from any hard physical activity upon arriving to the higher altitude.
I particularly like the idea of no hard physical activity, at this altitude the air pressure is less and it make breathing more difficult, also, panties come flying off faster!!!!
Delbert D.
September 29th, 2010
4:34 pm
“We don’t want to take our frustrations out on anyone, except maybe Colorado.”
That’s great news for all the teams on the schedule after Colorado.
Coachdawg 2000
September 29th, 2010
4:35 pm
Jeff-
If you were Chris Peterson,would you want to leave a spot where you do have an outside shot at playing for NC becuase you play a creampuff sked to come Athens and its traitorous fanbase?