Richt: Dogs’ lack of effort at times last year ‘embarrassing’
Mark Richt continued his spring speaking tour Thursday night in the town that’s been the site of his greatest frustrations, addressing a couple of hundred of the Bulldog faithful at the Marriott in Jacksonville.
The Florida Times-Union was on hand and reports the UGA head coach didn’t mince words in talking about his team’s lack of effort at times last season. The Dogs lost some games, he said, because the other team played harder. “That’s embarrassing,” Richt said. “It’s our shame and it’s my fault. We’re not going to let that happen again.”
While Richt told Dogs fans in Savannah earlier this week that “I don’t feel any pressure” coming off a losing season, he at least admitted in Jacksonville that the pressure is there. “There’s always going to be pressure in this type of job. There’s pressure every year.”
Talking about opening the season with the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Richt seemed to embrace the challenge he faces with the idea that the bigger the risk, the bigger the payoff.
“Boise State is a not a conference game,” he said, “but it’s a big game for the University of Georgia. To have a season like we just did that was so far below what we are used to and what’s expected, we needed this game. Boise State is the winningest team over the past 10 years. If we can battle with them, we can make Georgia very relevant again nationally.”
Of course, the subject came up of whether the transition from Urban Meyer to Will Muschamp at Florida means this might be the year to get the rivalry with the Gators back on an even keel.
“Any year would be a great year for us to do that,” Richt said. “It’s always a huge game and a game that’s talked about a lot, especially in this town. You hope to perform well as you get to that game, so that it’s extremely meaningful.”
Indeed. When it comes to assessing how well Georgia needs to do this season for Richt to keep his job, you hear a lot of folks say nine wins … or eight if one of them includes Florida.
What do you think? If Richt manages to start out on a winning note against Muschamp, does that buy him another loss elsewhere? Is the Florida game in a class all its own in terms of importance to Richt’s future, or should it be viewed as just another SEC game?
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346 comments Add your comment
JASon
April 22nd, 2011
6:06 pm
“Richt: Dogs’ lack of effort at times last year ‘embarrassing’”
And whose fault is that? Who recruited those players? Who coached them?
Dawg Tired
April 22nd, 2011
6:08 pm
Saul became a lot more insightful when his name became Paul.
Dawg Tired
April 22nd, 2011
6:09 pm
SOUTHGADAWG88 dies seem to understand football better than most on here.
Dawg Tired
April 22nd, 2011
6:10 pm
“does” not dies. Sorry.
Pago Pago DAWG
April 22nd, 2011
6:14 pm
Actually, ohio state does have one of the best bands in the Big Ten.
Einsteindawg
April 22nd, 2011
6:19 pm
Enter your comments here
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 22nd, 2011
6:19 pm
A couple of years ago..Carrol,Meyer and Mack Brown looked like they’d never win less than 10 games with all the talent they signed to go with their “superior” coaching ability
Einsteindawg
April 22nd, 2011
6:23 pm
Sorry for the “enter comments here” but the AJC seems to be having a problem. I’m Dawg Tired, too, of supporting our team financially and emotionally and getting mediocre results.
Dawg Tired
April 22nd, 2011
6:25 pm
That’s how the handle came about.
Dawg Tired
April 22nd, 2011
6:26 pm
But I’m hanging in there – like a loose tooth.
Vonce Diiley
April 22nd, 2011
6:37 pm
I’m fat, old, bitter and went to tech. I’ll continue to cut and paste this same drivel until I die.
who
April 22nd, 2011
6:39 pm
Where are the player-leaders?
KB
April 22nd, 2011
6:43 pm
SOUTHGADAWG88
What makes Smart not good as a HC prospect????
He is the DC for one of the best college football coachs ever. When UGA tried to hire Smart, Saban/UA doubled his salary and Saban make public comments that Smart should only consider HC job offers. Via public comments both Golf and Donnan think highly of Smart as a coach as do a lot of other NCAA coaches.
As a coach Smart has won more FBS national champsionships than any coach in UGA history, except for Dooley
You may not like Smart as UGA’s next HC but he will be somebody’s HC soon and will be a good HC.
Win P.
April 22nd, 2011
6:56 pm
….and where were coach Richt and other coachs during these embarrassing lack of efforts? Who is in charge of these imature atheletes? Is the score board the only measure of performance?
PT
April 22nd, 2011
7:07 pm
Thank you for 10 wonderful years, but it’s time to move on Coach Richt. Good luck at what ever you decide to pursue. Anyone know Dan Mullen’s number?
Bad Dog
April 22nd, 2011
7:18 pm
Lost because of lack of player effort?! Are you kidding me!
At least half our losses were attributable to bad play calling. Capped off with the call for field goal after we drove 90 yards down to the goal against UCF. Richt Sounds like Obama blaming Bush.
red and black
April 22nd, 2011
7:31 pm
Basically, all these comments about what is going to happen or what will have to happen are pure speculation, nothing more.
For now Mark Richt is the head coach at UGA, like it or not If you are a true fan, get behind him and the team and give them your most loyal supprt. If you aren’t willing to do that, then sell your tickets and shut up.
GOOOO DAWGS!
hobby
April 22nd, 2011
7:43 pm
The UGA program has an illness from top to bottom. This is evidenced by the lack of discipline by players on and off the field. The expectations bar has been set very low by the coaching staff.
Recruiting is a failure. Very gifted top ranked athletes from the state of Georgia are not pursued by UGA, so they go to Tenn and Auburn and Alabama. Schools that make the recruits feel wanted. UGA wants them to beg to play for them.
There needs to be a complete change of attitude or we are doomed to repeat mediocrity.
Sticks and Stones
April 22nd, 2011
8:56 pm
I’m fat, old, bitter and went to tech. I’ll continue to cut and paste this same drivel until I die.
Sticks and stones…
Now enjoy the weekend – a couple of days off before you go back to sweeping floors and emptying trashcans, bless your heart.
Texasdawg
April 22nd, 2011
8:59 pm
Beat Tech and I will be happy; I’m easy to please.
All in the Family
April 22nd, 2011
9:04 pm
Mark Richt = Mike Bobo = Mark Fox = Jay Clark = Andy Landers = Dave Perno = CHOKE ARTIST
All in the Family
April 22nd, 2011
9:06 pm
Enter your comments here
Burma Shave
April 22nd, 2011
9:07 pm
Over the hills
And through the glen
Mark Richt is a
Worthless has-been.
BURMA SHAVE
Cant Beat Gatuah in anything
April 22nd, 2011
9:07 pm
We run this state!
Bawbie
April 22nd, 2011
9:08 pm
FIRE DAVE PERNO!
Lakedawg
April 22nd, 2011
9:44 pm
Kirby Smart is as good a head coach as Will Muschamp is, neither has ever won a game. When Saban moves on in next couple years, who thinks Bama woulf hire Smart, not a chance in the world. He had his chance to coach at UGA and said no, and qould hope that would be his last chance ,same as Muschamp. After Dawgs win next couple against Bama see how many want hin then as coach.
Tim Dawg
April 22nd, 2011
10:02 pm
Beat florida 9 wins and win the east Go DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ugab
April 22nd, 2011
10:05 pm
The Dawgs better take it one game at a time. Losing to Boise will be a loss of confidence for the team going into the SC game. Spurier is going to run it down our throats. They have the players to do it. I agree with the lack of effort MR is talking about this year and the last 4 years this team had went downhill. We still have a new DC. We don’t have alot of depth. We don’t have anything solid to make one feel that we are ready to compete. It is always something. It is getting old. I want to have a regular season. Just play football. The last 4 seasons have been embarrassing. Its the coaching.
Class of 93
April 22nd, 2011
10:06 pm
Win the east or come very close. If we lose to either Boise State or USC I cannot see Coach Richt as our coach next year.
Camden Mark
April 22nd, 2011
10:07 pm
All I ask for is a strong well coached team.I can take a loss here and there,its the way we have been lossing the last few years thats unacceptable,keystone cop embarrassing.
Class of 93
April 22nd, 2011
10:16 pm
To keep his job Richt must coach twice in the Georgia Dome this year. And the second time must not be the Peach Bowl(Chickenfillet}.
Jeff
April 22nd, 2011
10:38 pm
I like CMR but no more excuses. I’m sick of excuses and setting the bar at 8 or 9 victories. Every year seems to be a transition year and wait until next year and next year never comes. Meanwhile Auburn (cheats), Alabama, Florida, and LSU all take home the crystal football. UGA staff and players have underachieved for years and it is time to step up and bust the opposition in the mouth and UGA relevant in the SEC and nation.
athensdog
April 22nd, 2011
11:25 pm
Get away from win-loss record. If we end up beating a Florida team that is down, Tenn that is down, Auburn that will be down after their graduation losses, Boise that lost it’s OC and look disjointed and poorly coached doing so, he won’t survive. If we look as though the team and the staff is back to the excellence of their first five years, we could slip up against one of these teams and he’d be back.
The offense starts with line play. Bobo loves play action and if you can’t block well enough to run the ball, play fakes don’t work.
Defense starts with line play. If you can’t clog up the middle and let linebackers make plays, your defense is toast. We’ve got to win the line of scrimmage every single week!!!
suwanee dawg
April 22nd, 2011
11:56 pm
I keep saying OL is the key which makes me nervous. Richt has to turn the program around in 2011 and has earned the right to do so. His winning % is .738 compared to Dooley’s .715 which included two 5-5 seasons back to back. For those who think we should win 11 games every year need a reality check. Shocking news in – half the teams lose every week in CFB! With money and parody in CFB it is foolish to assume so.
Not taking away from the past five SEC / National champs but there is always some luck in winning the NC, (we had plenty of it in 1980). I can think of a few things, LSU 2 losses, SC fumbles in 4Q at Auburn, SC missed field goal at UF, etc. Getting very tired of the lack of NC discussions. When reviewing SEC championships since 2000 I noted – FL (3), LSU (3), UGA (2), Auburn (2), Alabama (1). Maybe the sky is not falling. Our real issue is UF. Beat them 3 out of 5 and the grass gets greener.
Sticks and Stones
April 23rd, 2011
12:00 am
I’m going to play with my joystick now. I just wish it weren’t so tiny.
icedawg
April 23rd, 2011
12:03 am
Here are the spots needed for drastic improvement: OL, DL, DSecondary, RB. That’s a tall order even for the supposedly stellar recruiting year. Recruiting has always been hype and more to jawbone about than producing anything real on the field. It would be surprising to me to see a beast in the east. Too many mediocre teams, so on that level the DAWGS should be in the mix to compete in the east.
Sticks and Stones
April 23rd, 2011
12:04 am
I’m dismayed at how relatively few bulldog fans mention TECH as a must win. It is really depressing. They own us and we know it will always be that way.
Florida Dawg
April 23rd, 2011
12:19 am
Beat Florida and everything else falls into place. If you can’t beat Florida, you are overpaid and should be fired. This has been addressed with EVERY UGA coach that has ever been hired.
Ace
April 23rd, 2011
12:27 am
Boise will be better than Central Florida so that’s a loss.
Fire Mark Richt
April 23rd, 2011
12:35 am
Tennessee in Knoxville and Florida are pretty much guaranteed losses, so Richt needs to go 9-1 against everyone else to have a realistic chance of keeping his job. I don’t see it happening and hope it doesn’t. Georgia football deserves better than Richt and the outlaw program he’s been building over the past 10 years.
RED DOG 77
April 23rd, 2011
2:04 am
I am so tired of listening to all these crybaby-bedwetters I could just puke!!!!………The University of Georgia football program is indeed a proud one, yet one like others have had it’s ups and downs. Coach Mark Richt set the bar and is now being burned at the stake for not being perfect. I suspect, however those bedwetters, are far in the minority……..The majority of BULLDOG NATION respects and supports the coach, and understand he has brought us more wins and championships than Vince Dooley over his first ten years…………LOOK at the record book you morons!!!!!………YET the crybaby…….me……..me……me…..me…..I want it NOW and I want it every year idiots should at least know, they don’t know a damn thing about college football……..or yet, how to coach it!!!……………If I were to be given the choice of one man to coach “my” school for a twenty year period there is no contest for me………and who would that be?…………No question: Coach Mark Richt…………….Regards to the “real” BULLDOG NATION………….RED
Hmmmm.....
April 23rd, 2011
2:17 am
I really think the D is gonna be super atheletic this year and very stout against the run. Question is will the O-line be solid enough to create some holes for the RBs, Don’t think pass blocking is a huge issue. If the O can sustain some drives, we will be a conteder for the East, if not….well it will a coaching change at the end of the season. Hope Richt gets it right, I’m rooting for the guy.
MattMD
April 23rd, 2011
3:52 am
It’s just Georgia. Who the hell cares anyway?
Hmmmm.....
April 23rd, 2011
5:21 am
Obviously you MattMD. At least enough to comment on it. If it were that unimportant and a waste of time, you wouldn’t have spent the time to read the article, much less comment on it.
lizard king
April 23rd, 2011
5:57 am
Dooley beat Florida. So what is the problem? Richts problem is he thinks too much. Its Football. Just run over em all. If you have to put a lineman in the backfield—then do it!!!! Im done. Watch the Lomabardi HBO Biography.—Its all in the movie===anything you want to know about how to win.
Sickentiredofbeinsickentired
April 23rd, 2011
6:57 am
Coach, you are right. Lack of effort and preparation are your primary responsibilities. If you cannot motivate and correct bad behavior, you can’t do your job. I gurantee you Coach Muschamp at FLA will never tolerate this behavior. Rather lose with players giving 110% than with your starters giving half effort, is what I was taught and is a fundamental. Get it together. Be a leader. Set the tone. Let your assistants crack some heads and never tolerate anything less than full effort. Go have a heart to heart with Bobby Cox. He demands and receives nothing less.
chazzo.crw
April 23rd, 2011
7:01 am
I don’t think there is a number. If they win 7 and lose for, but play their best in every game…. who knows? The issue really seems to be discipline for most of us. The team seemed woefully unprepared in a couple of games in a season that was supposed to be a run at an NC, and last season was just a cluster. I love the Dawgs, and I have been a loyal fan of Mark Richt. I don’t think it’s an issue how many games they win or whether they win the East or whether they beat a particular team.
The bottom line is: Have the problems of discipline, motivation, and preparedness been addressed?
The bottom line for Georgia fans: I think the criticism of the trolls on these threads is spot on. Let’s not get all freaked out imagining hypothetical victories and championships. Get behind your team. One game at a time. Be positive.
chazzo.crw
April 23rd, 2011
7:01 am
four
fla dawg
April 23rd, 2011
7:08 am
I am so glad that richt says he will not let “lack of effort” take place this year. my question is that if he can control “lack of effort” this year then why did he not control “lack of effort” last year?
Thomas Brown
April 23rd, 2011
7:17 am
Lack of effort at times last year ?
Mark Richt, sir, do you mean like when we were not beating the 6 teams all with losing records ?
At what other time (s) did we have real effort ?
While you are talking about not just lack of effort, but lack of effort last year, we have had no effort any of the last three entire seasons in a row.
And, 21 losses over these last five (5) seasons – an average of more than 4 losses a season.
When in all 10 years have we really beat any truly top team who finished that season as a top team while we ourselves didn’t finish with 3 or 4 losses ourselves ?
4-Loss seasons (and worse) are not anywhere near a top team, relevant on the national stage. Mark Richt has had such seasons (irrelevant seasons) when he beat a team who ended the season in the Top 10 of the AP Poll. Mark Richt has not in all 10 years had a relevant season when he was relevant because he beat a top team.
We are irrelevant and have been since falling behind 31 to nothing at half time on the national stage, at home. Now, this up-coming season, that was 4 years ago now. We have had a lack of effort on coaching staff assembled, since that very game.