Is Richt on a slippery slope when it comes to secondary violations?
Did Mark Richt forget UGA has a guy on staff whose job is to make sure the rules are followed? (Associated Press)
So what did you think of Mark Richt being tagged for an NCAA rules violation in the recruiting of Isaiah Crowell?
It’s a given that the violation, considered “secondary” by UGA and unlikely to draw any further punishment from the NCAA, is pretty picayune compared with some of the stuff going on these days in college recruiting.
The vast majority of UGA fans appear to feel it was definitely worth Richt crossing the line in order to land a must-have recruit like Crowell. A lot of folks admire his gumption in pushing the envelope.
But it’s worth noting that the true “missing man” in Richt’s recruiting stunt was Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance Eric Baumgartner, who’s there to advise coaches what’s a violation and what isn’t.
The problem is that Richt didn’t bother to check whether his little skit was allowed. According to Athletic Director Greg McGarity’s letter to the NCAA about the case, “Coach Richt knew that the team could not use equipment or run a play to create a tryout activity but did not not check with the Compliance Office beforehand about the offensive alignment. … Coach Richt knew that the activity could not occur in the stadium, for the public to view, equipment to be used or for an actual play to be run and did not believe this constituted a game-day simulation.”
The SEC disagreed and ruled that Crowell donning a Georgia jersey and joining an offensive formation was indeed a “game-day simulation,” even in an indoor practice facility. A quick call to Birmingham before Crowell’s visit to Athens could have ascertained that.
This situation was different from the five secondary violations UGA reported earlier when former players Randall Godfrey and David Pollack attended Ray Drew’s signing ceremony at the recruit’s invitation. UGA had nothing to do with that but had to take the blame under the NCAA’s peculiar rules about what it takes to constitute a representative of a school’s athletic interests.
In the Crowell case, however, the wound (admitted a very minor nick to UGA’s image) was self-inflicted, a result of Richt getting sloppy while caught up in his pursuit of the Dream Team. It also was probably unnecessary if McGarity was correct when he told the NCAA that “UGA does not believe a recruiting advantage was gained as [Crowell's] mother has stated that her son knew he was going to attend UGA since he was a young child.”
A few years back when Richt had his players deliberately draw a celebration penalty against Florida, most fans applauded the gutsy motivational ploy. “Evil” Richt was hailed as a welcome facet to the coach’s generally straight-arrow image.
Is the Crowell violation a similar situation? Should that letter of admonishment in his file be accompanied by a private “attaboy” pat on the back? Or should we remember that when Lane Kiffin was crossing the line at Tennessee, some of us weren’t quite as dismissive of secondary violations by a head coach.
I guess the question is, where should we draw the line? Is it ever acceptable for the coach to break NCAA rules, even minor ones? Would we be quite so accepting if it had been Nick Saban handing an Alabama jersey to Crowell?
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390 comments Add your comment
Alphare
March 16th, 2011
10:09 am
dawg gone
What’s the difference between Auburn giving $180K to Cecil and UGA giving $200K to Crowell’s? Of course UGA gives $20K more, but Cecil has an age disadvantage.
Football-wise, both are non-factor, neither is recruited by anybody else.
PMC
March 16th, 2011
10:12 am
At this point, it’s more honorable to break NCAA rules than it is to comply.
Remarkable
March 16th, 2011
10:20 am
Bill, you’ll never read this but get a clue about NCAA violations. It’s just a joke.
1eyedJack
March 16th, 2011
10:41 am
Lot’s of knuckle-draggers on this morning. Stand up straight Techies!
dawgster
March 16th, 2011
11:11 am
@Alphare…I think that of all the posts or comments I have ever read on here, your’s might just be the most absurd. I’m trying for the life of me to see how you get to Coach Richt actually giving a recruit $200K from having a secondary violation, if you want to call it that. I have to believe you really don’t believe anything you comment on.. Surely you have better stuff than that..Try posting some comments with any validity and you might actually get a little respece from others on here. Of course for you, you can just sit behind your computer, spout off anything whether true or not without having to substantiate anything. So have fun and just understand that no one on here is going to take anything you say seriously. I just spent too much of my time addressing you. I won’t address your comments any further so give me your best shot, but I won’t respond, hopefully others will do the same.
Fine Christian Man
March 16th, 2011
11:52 am
UGA sits upon their high throne of class and morals and straight and narrow Christian coach. The second a similar thing happens at another school, they are so quick to call names and look down their nose and act as if something of this caliber would NEVER happen at their fine institution. When it does happen, now all the sudden the NCAA is the big bad wolf coming to blow their house down and to pick on them.
The fact of the matter is, UGA is like the rest of the SEC. They will fudge the rules any chance they can to land what they want. There is no principal or moral in that. UGA is paddling as fast as they can just to stay afloat, and it’s hilarious.
I can tell you this, the last time Tech had a scandal, the AD was sent packing, immediately. We don’t have secondary violations year after year. It doesn’t happen, PERIOD. If it hurts you so be it. Isn’t that was standards and principals and morals are? Doing the right thing even if not doing so causes you to miss out? I mean UGA fans are hilarious. They want to have their cake and eat it too, and when they can’t, blame someone else.
I’m sure the next response from some idiotic UGA fan is going to be about the lack of principal in hypocricy, even though they have no idea what that word means. Look it up and then apply what you just read and you might, just might, get it. Or they will bring up a player from a decade ago, or 2 players in recent years whose cases were dropped. You have NOTHING on us in the moral regard. If my coach is arrogant, so be it. But he isn’t deliberately breaking rules and then justifying them by saying it’s a dumb rule or it’s just a little overreach or pretending like he doesn’t know. He has staff that is paid to know and that is not an excuse. HILARIOUS!
Alphare
March 16th, 2011
11:53 am
dawgster, you are a UGA homer, who cares you respond or not. But this is what I know:
In order to get Crowell: UGA will pay Crowel’s friend $200K.
In order to get Newton: Cecil solicited $180K (not sure he actually got anything).
Both are facts. But for a UGA homer like you, Cecil’s solicitation is all sin, while UGA pays a bribe is totally holy. What a surprise!
DAWGMAN
March 16th, 2011
12:00 pm
You got to tread that slippery slope. You have to KNOW when you are on it. If you must gamble, you must know what the stakes are. You lose, and the alumni & fans & the entire remainder of the Team get to pick up the tab for years of disappointment. For the salary coach richt receives, I expect him to KNOW. He is playing with our chips. As I have mentioned, he has no credit with me, and I have lost faith in him. I thought the UF end zone gimmick was tacky. I thought the blackout gimmick was tacky. I would like to see less of this stuff. Maybe I am too ‘old school’. I do not like our coach to fawn all over these young men. I want these parents to see a disciplined, hospitable, very well coached SEC Football program where the young man can expect to have to outperform his position team mates if he expects to play. I want the recruit to be dead sure it ain’t going to be easy. He has to man up for himself and the rest of the team. I want him to know that if he screws up on or off the field there are serious consequences. Fair and balanced. It’s all about the TEAM. I want these young men to be challenged, not ‘forgiven’. Unless we get to that kind of program, the dream team recruits will not get to the mountain top. They will learn to be satisfied with less than the best from themselves, their team mates, and their head coach. We cannot get to the mountain top with coach richt.
Alphare
March 16th, 2011
12:16 pm
dawgster,
do you really think Crowell’s friend would be a UGA football player if he is not Crowell’s friend? Really?
If you do, good for you to have Crowell’s friend on your team.
If you don’t, you should know UGA was bribing.
John Rogers
March 16th, 2011
1:29 pm
Wow. It’s tough to find something to write about this time of year. Maybe you focus on the diamond dawgs or the importance of the hoop dawgs making it back to the dance. Or maybe the Blawg could take five til Spring Ball comes back. Pretty insignificant.
budd
March 16th, 2011
1:43 pm
Oh wow, Lane Kiffin is the devil but when St. Mark does the same stuff its OK. Sounds like typical doggie out of both sides of your mouth. Richt is a cheater cause he can’t coach.
Ed (The Original)
March 16th, 2011
1:54 pm
Richt’s probably a nice man (I say probably because we only know his public image). But he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Richt proved that he can win championships when Florida, Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama are in down cycles, but when those teams are up he quickly gets exposed as mediocre.
It’s nothing personal, just what I’ve deserved. Georgia was better than Florida in ‘02 – ‘05, but lost 3 of 4 anyway. When Meyer had Florida performing at a high level in ‘06, ‘08 and ‘09, they beat us easily. Once Saban got through his first year at Alabama, his team routed Georgia. Ditto for Chizik and Auburn. Tennessee is still down but for whatever reason we can’t play them competitively in Knoxville anymore. ‘07 and ‘09 were embarrassing performances against bad Tennessee teams.
Georgia can do better, 10 years of Richt is enough.
dawg gone
March 16th, 2011
2:38 pm
Alphare you know we hear from all the haters that the “Dream Team” will be a bust because no one can tell how a player will make the transition from H.S to college ball. And to a point that is a valid point ..but that works both ways Cootie just might be the second coming of David Pollack for all we know…so stick 200,000 firecrackers in your pie hole a light’em up…what we do know is that your a troll. The idea that there is a not a huge difference between offering a legit scholarship to a legit football player, and a father shopping his son to the highest bidder is well typical of your thought process…so please go sit in the corner and quietly stew in your own bile please…that’s a nice boy.
Auburn is All in jail
March 16th, 2011
2:55 pm
Alphare is too stupid to realize that the kid got a scholarship.
$200,000
Last I checked, out of state tuition was $34,000 a year.
The kid was from Georgia so it is in state.
More like $80,000 for the 4 years.
Cammie still got $100,000 more.
Gonna need it too and more to get his buddies out of jail
AUBURN=2011 FULMER CUP CHAMPIONS
Bill Sutton
March 16th, 2011
3:41 pm
we criticize him for not being competitive enough and too much of a nice guy to win and then we criticize him for getting aggressive to get the talent he needs to win. Got to make up your mind. do you want to win or do you want to always be second tier. Do you thing Sabin, Meyer, etc., don’t get as close to the line as they can. Atleast when Richt does it he admits it was him and not someone else.
Jim
March 16th, 2011
4:06 pm
This is the one of the crucial problems with Coach Richt since he has been at UGA he does not pay attention to the little details. Whether it be in recruiting or in play calling or decisions on and off the field Coach has demostrated that he id either uninformed or not to bright (you be the judge). Ethics is NEVER NEVER for sale nor should be set aside it truly speaks to character and guess what UGA has had a lot, character issues with players. Just saying if Coach wants that eagle feather in his cap (the crystal trophy) he had better pay attention to detail and never put his ethics up for discussion. I like Coach and really wish he would pay attention to things. Everyone in the media says run the football with our stable but what does Bobo do what ever QB wants to do pass. Don’t recurit he Moreno’s and Crowells if you are not going to commit to run 1st and pass 2nd, which by the way will beat everyone in the SEC and country. You have tried passing for several years why not try running and beating the heck out of people and set the pass up for success not failure. Even a Cox would have succeeded in the run oriented offense.
MobileDawg
March 16th, 2011
5:50 pm
Much ado about nothing. Just more Dawg hate from the AJC. Quit buying and supporting this crap rag , has-been newspaper.They won’t be happy til we all suck like the Techies.
Love my Dawgs
March 16th, 2011
6:21 pm
1) As Altamaha Dawg pointed out (as usual), this was not an NCAA deal. This was a Mike Slive deal. Sometimes I wonder if he, I and a few others are the only ones with reading/comprehension skills.
2) For the jack holes who are throwing around the word “intentional”, give me a break. You are the same people (other fans) who come on here day after day to spew your little hatred. You really look like fools.
3) #2’s, who are also saying this is the most well known violation, need to take another look at the facts of this POSSIBLE violation. You see, the rule states clearly that this kind of action can not be done in the stadium, it doesn’t reference the practice facility. So…..CMR not knowing is not an instance of irresponsibilty, deceit or whatever you yayhoos want to throw at it. Does this help?
4) No! CMR is not on a slippery slope. These last few self-reported, POSSIBLE secondary violations have all been out in the open. He, nor his staff, has tried to do slimy things. Also, remember who is the person saying these are violations….Mike Slive. Do all of you only like him when he’s proving his hatred for UGA or do you like him always? I personally think he’s a slime ball. Not only to UGA, but to several other schools. He really should go away.
5) Ed (The Original), regarding your last post, wouldn’t your logic ring true for the opposite? I will let you think on that one a few minutes. Ok, times up. According to your theory, UGA only does well when your mentioned other schools are having down years. Hmmmm. So logically, each of those other schools would also benefit from each other & UGA having down years. Which in CMR’s tenure, is technically only 1 season. The 2009 season wasn’t great, but it was still a winner & he has a great record as the head coach. Basically, your theory is silly.
6)”Nick Fairley”……really? Did I read one of your posts correctly or do you not know how to write properly? Since you’re an AU fan (I won’t even guess grad), I would go with the latter. But, by your statement, Gene Chizik wrote a complaint to the SEC regarding Pollack & Godfrey attending Ray Drew’s announcement? Wow, did Gism self report himself for clearly breaking the rules by being there or did you really not think through your lie? Just curious.
To end, I will address Bill’s question. The answer is NO! I would not give a rat’s hiney who gave who a jersey, lined up in formation or gave someone a hat. I believe in rules, and as much as I and everyone else believe the NCAA is full of poop, I will respect their idiotic rules. In this case, the Pollack/Godfrey case and the accidental phone call, I believe they are all just silly and were not done to be dirty or malicious. I would defend any coach in this situation. I don’t hate others so badly that I don’t see things with perspective.
For you so-called Dawg fans who are bashing, I don’t believe you are really Dawg fans. If you are, well honestly, you really aren’t.
Alabama Mike I believe it was, you questioned about how to get the perspectives of OSU fans regarding their true violations. Here’s my advice, while you’re on your magic computer box on this site (which is a Dawg site), why not open another tab and go to an OSU fan site? Now there’s an idea.
Have a fine day!
GO DAWGS! Beat the Huskies! One more little rant regarding the Huskies….why would they have us believe they are the “original Dawgs” as many of them have said? I have strange family members who went to the Dub and not a one buys this load of poo. Seriously, why would people in one of the most northern areas of the contigent United States begin the use of a southern slang term? I have nothing against UW, but these idiots who were on here the other night really seemed like true fans. Um, not really!
Go Dawgs!
Steve Fennell
March 16th, 2011
6:22 pm
What the Hell Bill? You have been after Richt all year. I’ll admit we have had a couple of rough years but can’t anyone remember the miserable years we had before we got Dooley and Richt? I suffered through some pretty rough games beck in the 60’s and 70’s and Coach Richt has been a blessing compared to those times. Go ahead and run him off and see what you get for a replacement.
Love my Dawgs
March 16th, 2011
6:38 pm
Amen Steve! He’s a blessing compared to others.
Dawg89
March 16th, 2011
6:45 pm
Who says Nick Satan didn’t hand Crowell a Tide Jersey?
Collegiate Clown
March 16th, 2011
7:03 pm
NoMoBobo. thats good. wish i’d thought of that one. I wish someone in the SEC or the NCAA would get together and rewrite those laws or rules. It all seems so stupid. I know they have to have some rules to go by but some are so goofy.
Ray Goof
March 16th, 2011
7:23 pm
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 or Alabama or LSU or Auburn 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.
Joe
March 16th, 2011
7:23 pm
What a joke NCAA. Le’t see, if you can check the broom closet so you don’t have to look into the real violations. And King. check your bark, it sounds like a whine to me…
Love my Dawgs
March 16th, 2011
7:32 pm
Ray Goof, what’s it like copying & pasting the same bunk every couple of days?
Alphare, I forgot to address you earlier. I must say that you have now become one of the king morons on this site. Stop & think for a second. You come on a UGA dedicated blog, then refer to all the fans as UGA homers. How long did it take you to figure that out? Sadly, it probably took years! I wish Bill would do a poll and let us vote on the biggest morons. That would be fun!
Oh wait, I have to make my donation to Crowell’s “friend”. I don’t know whether to laugh at you or feel sorry for you. For now, I will laugh & feel sorry for anyone who has contact with you.
savannadawg
March 16th, 2011
7:42 pm
Well, if people could learn to keep their mouth shut. I personally think the NCAA is a wayward and rudderless ship in the night. It “the NCAA” in my opinion has become a joke. When a coach cannot sell his program too these kids how does one expect to atracht them. Specially todays kids. My goodness. I am totaly at a loss for words. And I really need to get this off my chest and I just pray that someone important enough to do something about it will stand up! Mike Slive needs to be handed his walking papers right along with the NCAA. This goes back to A.J. Since when can a student athelete “Marcel Darius” attend a party in Miami Fla. ALL EXPENSES PAID by an NFL FOOTBALL agent and get less time in the pokie than a guy who sold his jersey to some maybe agent chogghi boy? Someone PLEASE explain this too me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
savannadawg
March 16th, 2011
7:47 pm
Ooohps, didn’t finish. Mike Slive thats how. I believe the guy has too many UA contacts, and therefore should not be the Commisioner of the SEC. The SEC needs to go hire a guy who is strait up yet can still be politically savy, without getting his ass stuck on the indecission button.
Tell Burke
March 16th, 2011
8:00 pm
I can’t wrap my mind around this type of witch hunt. There’s an egg sucking hammerknocker behind all this trivial B.S.
Morgan
March 16th, 2011
8:56 pm
What about the ELEPHANT in the room?? …Auburn and Cam Newton’s Dad, and ALL THAT MONEY! Give me a friggen break! The NCAA is senseless, arbitrary, and inane! Period!
Brucerugby79
March 16th, 2011
10:33 pm
just to set the record straight-we are all sinners-there are none righteous no not one- I am proud our coach is on the record as a Christian-i love UGA football but in the end all this is just a wisp-gone-lets enjoy football but i call on all ya’ll to get right on something more important
DC DAwg
March 16th, 2011
10:59 pm
break all the rules! The NCAA basically only holds players responsible for their actions, not coaches, adminstrators, parents, etc. and there is enough presenance to argue that!
NinetogoDawg
March 16th, 2011
11:36 pm
This headline makes me think I am reading the AJC Sports section. Bill, I hope you are not trying to keep up with Schultz or Bradley.
Big Dawg Daddy
March 17th, 2011
8:08 am
Lane Kiffin and Mark Richt should never be mentioned in the same story. Kiffin is a 1st rate scumbag.
MikeP
March 17th, 2011
9:21 am
Morgan
March 16th, 2011
8:56 pm
“What about the ELEPHANT in the room?? …Auburn and Cam Newton’s Dad, and ALL THAT MONEY! Give me a friggen break! The NCAA is senseless, arbitrary, and inane! Period!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What money? There was no money, only talk of money between ex Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers and Cecil Newton. You guys are truly earning the name “DullDawgs”. You keep ignoring the facts in the case and whining because you took a 49-31 beatdown. Grow up.
Snoop Dawg
March 17th, 2011
9:45 am
Richt da Preacha Man’s not necessarily on a slippery slope, but this stupid incident is just another indicator that he is a slippery character.
I am a retired 30 year Army officer. I’d like to think that I know just a little bit about leadership. I would like to ask you: How do you think Caleb King, Waushaun Ealey, and the rest of the UGA running backs and even the rest of the team feels when the head coach directs that they get in a “missing man” formation, with the missing man being the position you have been filling to date? Is it any wonder why King and Ealey aren’t focused and act the way they do? Do you think that this builds team spirit and camraderie? Well, it certainly does not. It is counterproductive. Richt does this stupid stuff on a semi-regular basis. The gimmicks–blackouts, intentional celebration penalties, etc. only take away from team confidence in the long run. That is why we will not beat Florida or Alabama again for a long time, as long as Richt remains the coach. So you diehard Richt defenders, but keeping this imposter at the helm at $3M per year, are trading off a winning UGA program for your “religious” man.
Poppy
March 17th, 2011
9:52 am
Didn’t have time to read all comments, but does anyone know of a database that lists all the violations of all the major schools. It would be interesting to see a comparison with other schools. I know there has to be some rules, but some seem very unnecessary. Lust wondering how all the schools compare.
Poppy
March 17th, 2011
9:54 am
Should say Just wondering!
UGAG is gitting the ncaa death penalty, he he ha ha
March 17th, 2011
10:26 am
More lying, cheating, and stealing out of Athens…..give em the death penalty, it is the only thing those clowns understand!
dawg85
March 20th, 2011
3:36 pm
This is asinine. Snoop Dog is silly.
Shelley
March 20th, 2011
8:26 pm
“So you diehard Richt defenders, but keeping this imposter at the helm at $3M per year, are trading off a winning UGA program for your “religious” man.”
Amen, you said it.