What sort of ‘cutting edge’ football are we likely to get from Mark Richt?
Mark Richt doesn't want to "confuse" Aaron Murray with too much change. (Associated Press)
It’s the postseason, so fans and columnists are naturally devoting a lot of energy to parsing Mark Richt’s intriguing but typically vague comments at his season-end press conference.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot of substance there, and what there was isn’t likely to make folks feel any better about the direction of the Georgia football program.
In other words, a typical Richt press conference.
The most interesting revelation was that UGA athletic director Greg McGarity, who was notable in his presence at the press gathering, has taken some of the administrative duties off Richt’s plate, which the coach says is “going to help free me up to [spend] more time doing the things I love the most, which is study the game of football and be an expert and be on the cutting edge.”
Richt didn’t spell out what that meant, but he indicated he was “not making any plans” to take back the playcalling from offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. He said he would meet with his offensive staff to “just look at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and making sure we’re on the right path.”
Some wondered if he is contemplating revamping or opening up the offense, perhaps installing more spread option elements to take advantage of quarterback Aaron Murray being a dual threat.
But then Richt noted that when you make a lot of changes, it’s tough on the players. “If you just change for the sake of changing, then all of a sudden you’ve got to relearn something all over again. Do I want to confuse Aaron Murray right now? Heck, no. That guy knows what he’s doing, and he’s going to have a lot more confidence going into next season.”
So it doesn’t seem likely that he’s talking about installing the fun ’n’ gun.
Richt’s comments that Bobo and offensive line coach/running game coordinator Stacy Searels “have done a great job — not a good job but a great job” raised a lot of eyebrows and drew the expected hoots of derision. But, really, what did you expect him to say? It’s too late in the game for Richt to be reshuffling his offensive staff. He has to play the hand he dealt himself.
Perhaps a clue to what Richt will be doing with all this extra football time came when he said, “One of the biggest things I am going to be looking for is effort in the team and everyone around here. We need to do what we do well and do it full-speed. As a head coach, that’s the number one point of emphasis that I am going to watch for.”
Coupled with the installation of “old school” Joe Tereshinski in charge of the strength and conditioning program, you might take that to mean that Richt will be taking names and kicking butts during the offseason to try and light a fire under his team.
But then you remember this is Richt we’re talking about, the man mentor Bobby Bowden once joked was so calm and cool you needed to take his pulse to make sure he was still alive. It’s hard to imagine Richt summoning up any inner Nick Saban.
So the bottom line is that Richt says “we’re not looking to blow anything up.”
No wholesale changes, in other words. Which is not surprising. Sure, the Dogs just concluded a poor season in a lethargic manner that makes a good case for major change being needed, but the fact is that Richt only has the one season to turn things around and, as he noted, change confuses players. So whatever change we see on the field in 2011 is likely to be incremental and more of the attitude adjustment variety.
Richt tried to buck up the Bulldog Nation by declaring, “In my opinion we’re very close.”
He meant that the elements are there in his program for success.
But the reality is that if the head coach doesn’t manage to get more out of those elements in the coming season, we’re likely to be very close to the end of the Mark Richt era at UGA.
Were you disappointed by what Richt had to say or was it pretty much what you expected? And what “cutting edge” changes would you hope his football studies produce for the 2011 season?
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282 comments Add your comment
UGASlobberknocker
January 7th, 2011
8:30 am
Maybe we can learn how to tackle
JDawg
January 7th, 2011
8:30 am
Richt better thank his lucky stars for Vandy. It will keep him from DFL in ‘11.
Snake Doc
January 7th, 2011
8:38 am
He can now focus on what he loves doing. Missionary work! Football is only the means to that end, football is no longer his first love, its his fourth, fifth, sixth…..
I agree with several others who have posted – What a load of crap!
Vance Duuley
January 7th, 2011
8:48 am
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get every year. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 8-4 or even 9-3 occasionally, but Florida will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
UGADawg83
January 7th, 2011
8:52 am
Bill,
Since you never have an original thought perhaps you should read Loran Smith’s article in the Athens-Banner Herald comparing the current state of Georgia football to the state of Georgia football after losing to Miami of Ohio in the ‘74 Tangerine Bowl. Very similar situations. Lets hope the aftermath is similar.
Billy
January 7th, 2011
8:55 am
Bill, Did Coach Richt say, verbatem, “relearn everything all over again” or were you paraphrasing. I know I don’t need to analogize that quote with many made by Yogi Berra for you. Many organizational management common errors have been committed; not the least severe of which is the hiring of friends. Division 1 Head Coaches are not necessarily required to be the best of business operators; but, a better command of the language would indicate a better overall intrinsic understanding of and ability to manage such a high level organization. People love to compare to Coach Saban; he exudes confidence and command of the situation surrounding him with his reapectable control of the language. I am sure Coach Richt must be intelligent; but, he just doesn’t come across that well expressing himself. That said, I sure hope he makes things work out and he deserves our support if he is to be the Head Coach.
TP
January 7th, 2011
9:14 am
Some fans say Mr.Richt deserves another chance because Vince Dooley was given 25 yrs to right the ship after Dooley had a bad season. Here’s the difference between Richt and Dooley.
Vince Dooley’s teams played with passion, emotion and with urgency every yr. His playcalling was rarely questionable. He ran the ball on 1st and 2nd down 95% of the time. Heck, he would even run on 4th downs because he had enough confident in his players to make plays. The only weakness that I saw with his team was the qb. His qbs were terrible. They couldn’t convert on 3rd downs even if their life depended on it. That’s the truth. The only qb he had that I know about who could convert on 3rd downs was Buck Belue. That’s it.
Vince Dooley believe in the run. He live by the run and died by the run. Strength against strength. “Stop Me If You Can”. That’s what I loved about Vince Dooley. Smash Mouth Football! One more thing. His players fed off his emotion.
Ray Goff was similar. He show alot of emotions and he stayed committed to the run. Like Vince Dooley, he had terrible qbs. I never question his playcalling but he just couldn’t get his team over the hump.
Mr.Richt is totally different. Ever since he became the coach at uga I always question his playcalling. He is terrible. He would call a passing play in a running situation and vise versa. The 1st few yrs at uga the man rarely ran the football.
The only bright spot in his 1st few yrs at uga was the defense. His defense got after it. I truely believe the defense fed off of Brian VanGorder emotions because he is a very emotional coach. Since his departure, the defense seems emotionless and inept. There’s no spunk in that defense.
The offense is still the same and the defense has become like Samson when he lost his strength after Delilah cut his off. VanGorder represent the hair. Without the hair(VanGorder) now teams can throw our big guys around like rag dolls.
Todd Grantham has made a difference on defense since he been there. That’s the only bright spot going into next season with the exception of Aaron Murray.
I believe the team will improve with a new hc. But they can’t do what they did after Vince Dooley retired and hire a running back coach(Goff) to replace Mr.Richt. We need a proven hc who will show emotion on the sideline and has had success as a hc, oc or dc.
The Gators did the same thing when Spurrier resigned and hired their unsuccessful former assist coach Ron Zook. When Spurrier demoted Ron Zook in 93, you would think their sports director would have enough sense not to hire Ron Zook. Well at least they learn their lesson and hired a much higher profile coach(Urban Meyer) to replace Zook. The rest is history.
That’ what the dawgs need to do.
The Man
January 7th, 2011
9:25 am
The great thing about opinions is that no matter how stupid, uninformed and pathetic a person is, they can still express one….. this forum is proof.
irondawg
January 7th, 2011
9:31 am
I LOVE reading the comments. Most of you guys are clueless about coaching. What is good coaching? Great broad statments. What coaching x and o would you implement. Please dont say “needs to pass and run” I love those comments. Remember Donnan? You guys are spoiled. Besides Florida, Alabama, and Auburn, and LSU got a lot of luck playing for and winning National Championships. Look at Richt SEC Title years and 1 lose year, GA was close to playing for the NAtional Championship. Heck, no ga coach without a Walker has played for a championship or the hunt for one. Honestly, I like Richt, I think he is a good coach and has a good staff. Should GA hire a new coach? Maybe, but that doesnt mean it will bring a championship.Also, I love the comment of dooley ran 95% of the time on first down. Heck, most people did than. He didnt have a qb or a system to throw the ball. Maybe Richt should have a “game face”I love what Bobby Knight said when a reporter asked about if a player needs to have a game face on. Knight said what the heck is a game face and basically what does that matter. I understand the frustration but some of you do not understand coaching and leading a football. I am not talking about “daddy ball”
bitter ole school
January 7th, 2011
9:47 am
newnan dawg totaly agree, vangorder should and possible could be the next head coach keeping gratham as “D” cord:, lissen richt heart is not into his job and it takes a 24/7 coaching effort.
if after 10 years richt is trying to re-vamp and re-tool, sorry its to late freddo, its time for the boat ride on the lake(god-father)
with coachs switching jobs it will be hard to keep a solid coaching staff any where
all sec schools go through it, case in point
1. mac brown at texas lost “D” corr: to fla
2. miss st on a solid up swing just lost a fine top shelf “D” corr:
3. whos next?????????????
PS: bottom line———-gratham could leave!!!!!!!! changes always aquire and trust me SLICK stan at bammer will lose his coaching staff soon, things will always change, ga. will be back with or without spoiled retarded recruits like BRAY and his corn fed family headed to “hick” ville usa AKA allburn war hoggs!!!
wasn’t there a time when black players could not wait to flee the rascist alabammer, GO FIGURE, what has change???? nothing but our high schools dont teach kids about that RED neck state, but at least its a place to dump our trash like bray who i never understood one word out of his mouth, hahahahahah
AltamahaDawg
January 7th, 2011
9:52 am
(Dooley) “His playcalling was rarely questionable.”
What planet are you from? Dooley’s playcalling being questioned was the model on which modern day fans complaining is built on. Not saying they were right or wrong, but it was certainly the norm.
And I can name quite a few years that passion and urgency could certainly be questioned just as much as anyone could this past year. Not sure how fair that was (then or now), but thats a purely subjective measure, and no real facts in either case to say that was a factor one way or the other. Some of Dooley’s team were manhandled and wilted late just the same as this last edition. So IF they always had passion and urgency, they were just very poorly selected/prepared by him.
Bottom line, Dooley was never held to the standards that Richt is. But he existed in that climate and Richt exist in this one. The comparison doesn’t really matter.
AltamahaDawg
January 7th, 2011
9:58 am
Why in the world are grown men discussing what coach UGA should hire today when they already know we aren’t in the market for one. Not this offseason anyway. Next offseason WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. Honestly, fellows its time to put away the comic books. We don’t know if Spiderman coud beat Batman. Ok?
bitter color blind
January 7th, 2011
10:07 am
happy new years to all dawg fans and a happy go f—- yourself to all the haters who have nothing to do but take up space on this blog and be rude to uga fans., times are tough but hang in there and keep hoping joega only recruits solid I want to be a dawg my hole life kind of playa
and is it just me or is the AJC lean on picking only black players for its top 11 each year, look at 4aaaa state champs and you will see a lot of fine tallent like there white QB who passed for 30 td’s and only 2 interceptions, he ran for 1500 yards so why the rascism,
AJC staff stop being color blind yaaaaaw, there are both fine white and black football playa’s, scouts and espn and rivals are all guilty of being COLOR BLIND—————JUST SAYING
bitter slow white guy
January 7th, 2011
10:13 am
ask new orlans if there QB is fast, nobody wanted him out of high school in the state of texas so he ends up at pardu “U” and so-on and so-on, super bowl champ that almost did not happen, only 6′ and 180 he rose to the top. speed is over-rated except deion and well 3/4 of the NFL—-just saying
CANTONDAWG
January 7th, 2011
10:29 am
Coach Richt,
Even though you have the fourth best winning % among active coaches and have given us 6 10 win season and a #2 and #3 ranking. You have recruited players like AJ Green, Matt Stafford, Knowshon Moreno. It is unfortunate that you have joined a disgraceful group of coaches that have had back to back disappointing seasons. These coaches obviously have no clue what they doing.
Here are the list of disgraceful coaches that CMR has joined by having back to back disappointing years.
1) Bear Bryant
Nick Saban
2) Vince Lombardi
3) Vince Dooley
4) Steve Spurrier
5) Joe Paterno
6) Bobby Bowden
7) Pete Carroll
What a bunch of losers these coaches are to even dare to have bad seasons.
irondawg
January 7th, 2011
10:43 am
preach it
TP
January 7th, 2011
10:44 am
I read comments that I disagree with all the time but you will never read a comment by me that is derogatory towards another.
Like I said, Vince Dooley teams played with emotion, passion and urgency rather he had a bad season or a good season. I never question the man’s playcalling. He live by the run he died by the run and that’s why I like Vince. His teams play hard nose football day in and day out. If you question his playcalling and the way he coach plz explain why? I would like to know. I explain why I don’t like Mr.Richt’s playcalling so plz explain why you didn’t like Vince Dooley playcalling.
Donnan had a losing season after his 1st yr at uga. After that yr the man had a winning season and won all of his bowl games. If they had given him 10 years like they gave Mr.Richt I believe the dawgs would have won a nc with DJ Shockey. But we will never know because they didn’t give him the time to complete the mission. At least he didn’t have another losing season after his 1st yr. Give the man credit.
I hope Mr.Richt have success from this yr forward but I have zero confident in the man.
BUBBA GUMP
January 7th, 2011
10:56 am
MIke Bobo KNEW how to hand the ball off to Hershel Walker…………..that is about it as I remember him being an awful passer. Am I wrong ? How is he an expert on advising a pure passer??
TP
January 7th, 2011
11:00 am
Was Bobo born when Hercshel played?
ATL XMAN
January 7th, 2011
11:01 am
nope as i agree with coach richt 100 percent. just have to get his players to play with a little more fire. i too beleive uga is very close as do most of the UGA fans that know football. mark richt will be at uga for another 10 years or so or whenever he retires. he was close to haveing a shot a the NC 2 or 3 times in 10 years. not bad at all. just sit back and let the man do his job. he knows what he is doing.
BUBBA GUMP
January 7th, 2011
11:04 am
scratch my post about Mike Bobo handing off to Hershel Walker…………..got my years mixed up. I still don’t remember Bobo being any great passer during his playing days………….How does BOBO assit a pure passer anyway??
ATL XMAN
January 7th, 2011
11:06 am
donnan was good but not better than richt as richt has proven. he gets better players than donnan. i liked jim donnan but love mark richt and have faith and confidence 100 percent in him to win sec championships again and with better luck get a few National Titles.
ATL XMAN
January 7th, 2011
11:11 am
he can assist because bobo actually played the qb position at the college level and ran a similar offense. his work speaks for itself. his offense and qb put up great numbers and are very balanced which is very hard to coach and succeed at. NFL scouts are all impresed with his qb coming out of college and praise how well they are prepared for the pros and how fast they pick up the NFL type of play from the qb position and running backs. the guys ar doing a great job at teaching the game of football..keep it up
UGA89
January 7th, 2011
11:18 am
BUBBA GUMP you must be very young or not much of a Dawg fan, Bobo handed off to Robert Edwards and he set many records for passing efficiency while he was a QB at UGA. He may still hold the record for most consecutive paases completed in a game. I remeber he beat Tech with a beautiful fade to a receiver in the corner of the end zone . He was not the best QB UGA has ever had but he was definetly a good QB and seems to really know how to work with young QB’s.
Lucky Dawg
January 7th, 2011
11:42 am
If Mark Richt were up to his neck in carving knives he still couldn’t be cutting edge. His football “skills” are no longer valid in today’s game.
William
January 7th, 2011
3:45 pm
I think the “Cutting Edge” Richt is referring to is going to be scoring touchdowns! If it isn’t it should be. 3 games in a single season with no touchdowns is not how you win games!
Dawg Tired
January 7th, 2011
4:52 pm
Well,if I were the head coach I would not say Bobo and Serles are both doing a great job! You asked what do you expect him to say. I say don’t say something that stupid.
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
6:10 pm
Mark Richt :
beat 3 top 10 final AP Poll teams in 10 years
lost 9 top 10 final AP Poll teams in 10 years
won 17 top 25 final AP Poll teams in 10 years
lost 24 top 25 final AP Poll teams in 10 years
lost to 10 more NOT top 25 final AP Poll teams in 10 years
is # 60 in the nation over the last two (2) years
is # 69 in the nation this year just over
won 5 of his last 14 games vs SEC
has no coach on his staff not 1
NOW,
Then, there are your idiotic statements that WE cannot discuss it
That WE are idiots
PARDON ME RETARDS
you DISNEYdawgs.com
ASK THE RECRUITS WHY THEY WILL NOT COMMIT TO COME PLAY FOR MARK RICHT ?
don’t give me this crap when of the top 10 football players in this state Mark Richt has ZERO -0-
Signing date is 3 Thursdays from now
none will come play for him
NONE
Now, what is it I am not supposed to know about ?
As the recruits
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
6:13 pm
Mark Richt saying stupid comments doesn’t bother me
I have come to expect that B.S.
What I take exception to are the
BOLD-FACED LIES by Mark Richt
BoWeevil
January 7th, 2011
6:15 pm
BOLD-FACED LIE by Mark Richt :
that he is the 4th best coach in all of America
———-which I presume explains why he is # 23 in won/lost over the last five (5) years ?
Sports Radio Interviews » Blog Archive » Fran Trakenton Rips Mark Right And Is “Appalled” By His Recent Comments
January 10th, 2011
12:51 pm
[...] before now? Before disaster happens? And then I read this quote. Holy cow! Yesterday, where Mark Richt says, ‘I have been freed from administrative duties to spend more time on football.’ Then I quote [...]
RichtFan
January 12th, 2011
8:35 pm
We’re going to get draw plays and screens on 2nd and 3rd and long. We’ll get a play action pass on first or second down, as long as its 10 yards to go or less. We like to surprise our opponents by throwing to our fullback in the flat. We’ll get crazy by throwing a tight end screen. They haven’t seen us do that before.
We’re going to run the clock out if we have the ball and are receiving in the 2nd half, or if we are on our own side of the field with anything less than 1:30 left. We might run a draw or throw a screen pass and see if we break one into FG range, but if we don’t we’ll just head to the locker room. It doesn’t matter if our kids play hard and rush to the line of scrimmage to get off another play. If there’s less than 30 seconds left, we’ll tell them to get off the field.
We’re going to drive 94 yards and kick a field goal to let our players know we have confidence in them. We’re going to stop trying to block punts, surprise the opponents with an onside kick, or faking a punt. We’re going to act like we’re playing in the NFL. In fact, let’s not have fun anymore either. We’re all business. Don’t put your heart into the game. Spend more time thinking about all the things that might go wrong if we take a chance. Let’s play smart.
We’re going to see strategic and tactical decisions that demoralize our players. They’re going to feel like they’re not there to have fun, but to be perfect on every play. We’ll see our inspiring QB try to calm down and throw the perfect pass. We’ll see him stop making motivating runs that spark a fire in the team and instead throw the ball out of bounds. It’ll be great. 2nd and 10 will turn into 3rd and 10, but he won’t get hurt and the game clock may not expire. We might make a field goal, but it’s the smart thing to do.
I love the Dawgs and Mark Richt, but there is a reason we’ve been losing games. It’s difficult to watch and must be heartbreaking to players when they’re abilities are being restricted by coaching decisions. Call the game like you can win and we will tear up the SEC. We have all the tools: players, coaches, fans, facilities, funds. Coach confidently and we won’t get the flat Bulldogs we’ve become accustomed to seeing. They will come out ready to play because they know their coaches believe in them.
GO DAWGS!