Should Mark Richt’s job ride on winning the SEC East?
Predictions about what it will take to save Mark Richt's job are all over the place. (AJC file)
While we brace ourselves for the inevitable new round of Mark-Richt-on-the-hot-seat talk with the arrival of the SEC’s annual media days, it’s interesting to see the way expectations of what Richt needs to do to keep his job vary.
Recently we discussed here how many wins we thought Richt needed to get this season to keep his job, and the consensus appears to be that 10 wins was a sure thing, nine probably would save him and if it was eight, it would depend on whether that number included a victory over Florida.
But while South Carolina appears still to be most prognosticators’ favorite to win the SEC East, Georgia has popped up in quite a few predictions as the dark horse to take the division, and CollegeFootball News even goes so far as to posit that if the Dogs don’t win the East, Richt won’t be back.
Their all-or-nothing reasoning goes like this: “The timing couldn’t be better to come out of the blue and be a major player in the SEC. Florida probably has one more year before it becomes a monster again, Tennessee is still sleeping, and South Carolina, as good as it is, is still South Carolina; there’s going to be a gaffe or two along the way. Georgia might have a ton of flaws, and it might be relying on a slew of unknowns to carry the way, but the East is never going to get easier than it is right now, and Richt has to take advantage. … No, Georgia won’t be 2010 Auburn, but it could rise up and be good enough to win the East and play for the SEC title. And if not, next year will be all about a new era in Georgia football.”
Summing up its preview of Georgia, CFN says, “The season will be a success if … the Dawgs win the East. When you miss the three best teams from the West — Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas — and get South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Auburn at home, you have to take advantage of it. There are major holes on the offensive line, receiver, and linebacker, but the schedule is favorable, the influx of new talent should be a boost, and the desperation is there to win the East. Winning the SEC title is a stretch considering how good the West champion will be, but getting to the title game will be enough for Richt to stick around.”
At the other extreme, the Macon Telegraph asks whether Richt’s recruiting prowess and the commitments he keeps snagging might not be enough for him to keep his job even if the Dogs have another subpar year on the field, simply because a coaching change might send some of those recruits elsewhere.
I’m not buying either of those scenarios.
While winning the SEC East would surely boost Richt’s stock quite a bit, I don’t believe his job is riding on it. At the same time, if the wheels come off and Georgia has a disaster of a season, I don’t think nonbinding verbal commitments from some blue-chip recruits who may or may not pan out down the road are going to be enough to save Richt. That will still come down to wins and losses.
What do you think?
SILVER LINING
While I’m dismayed yet another Georgia running back has gotten himself in trouble, I have to admit the first thought I had when I heard Carlton Thomas likely won’t be playing against Boise State was that at least Mike Bobo won’t be tempted to run him up the middle on third-and-long.
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397 comments Add your comment
Plant
July 20th, 2011
7:33 pm
Based on watching Murray’s 2010 video against 4 ranked teams last year (Auburn, UCF, South Carolina, Miss St) here’s what you can expect against Boise, South Carolina, Auburn, Miss St in 2011:
1- 1 good quarter out of the 4 games
2- 7 interceptions
3- Not scoring more than 1 td in 3 out of 4 games
4- Not scoring 1 td in 2 of the games
5- Inaccurate on 3rd down
6- Inaccurate in the 4th quarter
7- Inaccurate & ineffective in the red zone
BigGAdawg
July 20th, 2011
7:37 pm
If Bobo runs ANYBODY up the middle on 3rd and long, much less little Carlton Thomas, he should be fired.
CMR does not have to win the SEC East to keep his job but he does have to have some improvement over last year.
Let us not forget who it is who set the bar so high in the first place.
John, the real UGA fan
July 20th, 2011
7:38 pm
Bill, it is evident that you are personally not a Richt fan.. You are entitled to your opinion but keep it to yourself. It does not need to be aired on a blog that only stirs negative attitudes. I really wish that you did not write for AJC as a UGA supporter.
Plant
July 20th, 2011
7:44 pm
Murray against 5 ranked teams in 2010:
1- 5 td’s
2- 3 int’s
3- 57% accurate
4- 0-5 record
PLEASE let ANYONE ELSE on the roster play QB this year. Greg Bingham coud have scored 5 td’s in 5 games and won at least 1 game.
Hutson Mason or Lemay: Richt keeps his job.
Murray for 12 games: Richt loses his job. (0-5 vs. ranked teams in 2010)
SuperB
July 20th, 2011
7:48 pm
Hell No!
SuperB
July 20th, 2011
7:49 pm
Plant– you are an idiot. It’s takes 22 players to win or lose a game
confusadog
July 20th, 2011
7:51 pm
Jerry, pull your head out of your dead ass and find a clue.
Still@theBAR
July 20th, 2011
7:53 pm
Plant what was LeMay’s record his senior year?
He didn’t play because he just had to get a Hummer at school during his Junior year.
Great decision maker for sure. I don’t think Murray is the answer but Mason gets a shot before Satan MeLay
Plant
July 20th, 2011
7:54 pm
It takes 22 players huh? Well, why did Richt pull Joe Terishinki Jr then genius?
Still@theBAR
July 20th, 2011
7:55 pm
Plant you are too smart. It was Joe T III actually not Jr.
BobbyDawg
July 20th, 2011
7:56 pm
I agree with Plant. I was leery of Murray all along, but the UCF game did it for me. I don’t know why M.R. didn’t Hutson Mason play the second half, and I also don’t understand kicking Mettenberg out of school over a misdemeanor incident that took place away from the school.
Plant
July 20th, 2011
7:57 pm
Ask Urban Meyer is QB matters–he didn’t do so well without Tebow.
Ask Gen at Auburn how the whole Cam Newton thing worked out, and if QB matters…
Ask Richt–how’d Richt do with Stafford & Greene & Shokley vs. Cox & Tereshinski Jr?
Dawg Man
July 20th, 2011
8:01 pm
Bill, with all these super recruits, we should be National Champs the next 6 years, so lets get the trophies ready. How many schools do you think will forfeit rather than be run off the field by the dawgs?????
Plant
July 20th, 2011
8:01 pm
Murray faced 4 of the worst pass defenses in the NCAA and went 0 & 4.
#110 ranked Colorado
#106 ranked Auburn
#97 ranked South Carolina
#90 ranked Miss St.
Knute
July 20th, 2011
8:01 pm
What a stupid questions. Should Bill King be fired if he doesn’t win a Pulitzer?
Still@theBAR
July 20th, 2011
8:07 pm
Plant it was Joe T III.
I guess you are not as great a Dawg fan as you think. Joe T III was a 3rd generation UGA player. They were all Joe T’s.
Have you seen Hutson mason’s Stats in High School? He should play a lot this year if Murray isn’t looking All SEC early.
jolieathens
July 20th, 2011
8:10 pm
Sure is setting the bar awfully low. If he can’t do it this year, the future looks grim.
ugaclassof2004
July 20th, 2011
8:13 pm
Plant:
Again that is an unfair comparison. Arkansas, South Carolina, and Auburn were all better teams in 2010 than they were in 2009. Joe Cox would have lost to all of those teams had he played them. Joe Cox needed either A.) AJ Green to bail him out or B.) the running game to go well for him to succeed. Murray on the other hand can throw the ball 40 times a game and the team can score 30-40 points on a consistent basis. The same could not be said for Joe Cox.
I think you read too much into the final score. You shouldn’t underestimate team psychology. By the time UGA played Colorado, their season was basically shot. The got beat by a good South Carolina team, lost a heartbreaker to a good Arkansas team, and came out flat vs. a much improved MSU team. Mentally the team had lost confidence and was trying to salvage the season. Had they had AJ during that 3 game stretch, they would have at least been 2-2 and probably would have beaten Colorado.
Your comparisons between Cox and Murray are apples to oranges. For a 5th year senior, Cox should have been able to at least manage the offense, and he couldn’t do it on a consistent basis. Murray to me has more upside. He’s more athletic and has a better arm. He’ll eventually beat a team with a winning record. Is he a difference maker like Cam Newton or a Tim Tebow? Probably not. But can we win games with him? Absolutely. But the pieces around him have to be better for him to have consistent success. That falls on Richt and the coaching staff, not Murray.
Honest Ingine
July 20th, 2011
8:14 pm
Would you rather have Donnon Back? With his BS, Ponzi scheme, bankruptcy? Give me a break, He’s better that the yo-yo on North Avenue…and the other Zoob at Southern…Curry, has some class but the guy is older than my dirty tennis shoes…..HUNTINGTON — A lawsuit alleges that former Marshall University football coach Jim Donnan helped initiate and run a Ponzi scheme that defrauded GLC Limited and its investors of approximately $27.7 million…. Lighten up all you UGA fans.. and be thankful we have a coach
RNB
July 20th, 2011
8:16 pm
Winning the SEC is not gonna happen. We will be lucky to finish with 9 wins. I believe we start 0-2 and he steps down mid season.
How bout them BEES!!!
July 20th, 2011
8:17 pm
I hope CMR does get fired, for his own good. He’s a good coach and a great person. He deserves better than UGA. Come on coach it’s time to give up the trailer park of college football. GO JACKETS!!!
Fan of the Game
July 20th, 2011
8:30 pm
I am so sick and tired of the media even posting these types of articles. Let’ s play the games and then you can question behind your little computer and write what you want and about who you want to. But I am sick of all this coach bashing.
PMC
July 20th, 2011
8:37 pm
Plant, Murray was a first year starter. Making lots of mistakes is kind of what they do.
Now, if he were Stephen Garcia and he was making the same mistakes as a 4th year starter ok, but you’re analyzing stats for a rs freshman behind, lets see how I can put this kindly,…. and extremely average and overrated offensive line. We know the backs weren’t smart enough to pass block either.
PMC
July 20th, 2011
8:40 pm
Two of those games where he went 0-4 they could have won. Miss State they were awful granted. But Caleb King lost the Colorado game. I have no problem putting it on a jr. running back that can’t hold on to the football. Auburn was lost by the weak offensive line getting skull crushed by the best defensive player in football last year and South Carolina… well, Georgia’s defense took a year off.
huffsleeper
July 20th, 2011
9:00 pm
Richt will continue to underperform with the talent he has and continue to be outcoached. This is many years into a slow painful descent of futility. I realize that hope springs eternal for many but realism will set in and I hope it is sooner than later.
playmeortrademe
July 20th, 2011
9:00 pm
Problem is that UGA shouldn’t even be in close games with Mississippi State or Colorado, and should always have superior raw talent compared to South Carolina. The university pays Richt big money to win, and the university spends big money to build facilities and third decks to stadiums to win. Second and third place teams will not fill a 95,000 seat stadium against the Louisiana Techs and Buffalos of the world.
Loyal Dawg
July 20th, 2011
9:18 pm
Plant, Oh I get your game. You want our coach to play an inexperienced true Freshman QB (who didn’t play his senior year in HS) over a experienced QB who was the 14th ranked QB for passing efficiency in the nation last year- as a 1st year QB- so that we’ll lose a bunch of games and get CMR fired. Besides, how good could a QB be that threw 3 TD’s and zero interceptions against the eventual National Champs. Oh, wait, that was just one game though, right? Bad offensive line play, no running game, and defense trying to catch on to a new scheme= 7 losses.
Biggie Dawg
July 20th, 2011
9:21 pm
Richt needs to win 10 games and must beat Tenn,Fla,Auburn,and Ga Tech. If not he’s toast !
Loyal Dawg
July 20th, 2011
9:24 pm
PMC add a blow blocking assignment at the end of the Arkansas game causing our QB to get crushed 3rd down. Plant’s is trying to pin the whole season on one player. I’d love to pin it all on Caleb King (a bunch of missed blocks in pass protection and fumbles in key situations), but WE ALL know this is a team game. Plant’s just throwing rocks. He must be LeMay’s dad, brother or uncle or something.
HotDawgs
July 20th, 2011
9:35 pm
AV i will also take that bet. Put your money where your mouth is.
Fan of the Game
July 20th, 2011
9:36 pm
Man let the games begin! We will beat Boise St. and we will beat a SC team that beat us last year in what may have been our worse played game besides the Bow game. Dawgs will be 2 and 0 and I really believe could be undefeated going into the Florida game. I heard Brantley say Muschamp has brought in discipline and kids weren’t getting away with things they got away with Meyer. That is why Meyer quit anyway. He was flat out tired of dealing with the problems.
antonio romero
July 20th, 2011
9:43 pm
Enter your comments here
ATLBAMAFAN
July 20th, 2011
9:54 pm
Some of you UGA fans are nuts. Richt beat Saban twice- once vs LSU and once vs Alabama. You guys think that was a fluke?
WONDERING
July 20th, 2011
9:58 pm
Could CMR job depend on beating GT? If he is 7/4 going into the GT Game and dosen’t win, will a 7/5 season cost him his job?
UGAKev
July 20th, 2011
10:03 pm
Still@thebar….Forget me and the pipe, put down your bong. Hutson Mason is no Aaron Murray or Christian Lemay. Anybody can have great high school stats and be a disappointment. I have actually seen Mason play and although he is not a bad QB he does not have the ”it” factor Murray or Lemay has. Murray is going to be fine this year because he is going to have a stellar defense behind him. You all keep flashing Murray’s records against winning teams like you all know what your talking about but there were others to blame besides him in those games. He was a redshirt freshmen, in other words still just a kid who will be lightyears ahead this season from last. Murrays not only a great QB, but he is a natural born leader who has the intangibles. He’s tough and will do whatever it takes to lead a team to a victory.
UGAKev
July 20th, 2011
10:07 pm
Mark Richt is a great coach when his defense’s are great, fortunately it’s looking like Richt’s about to be great again..;-) Go Dawgs!
ATLBAMAFAN
July 20th, 2011
10:09 pm
Experience at QB counts and makes a difference. Just watch Bama struggle at QB this year. Saban will have his hands full. Good thing our defense is outstanding.
wreckmaniac
July 20th, 2011
10:24 pm
Richt will never have to win any championship. Not even his division . His permanence is based on two things: 1. Getting 5 star recruits even if they never perform decently at UGA 2. Beating Tech. Thats all that matters. Why would you even have to ask this question ? UGA fans accept losing to Florida every year. Its like Tenn vs Vanderbilt.
aarh
July 20th, 2011
10:51 pm
Mike- Not saying Boise’s not good, but they didn’t play that many ranked teams last yr. the last time I checked. What a joke! I know they probably played a few, but you make it sound like they played a lot of them.
OldFan
July 20th, 2011
11:05 pm
CMR is good as long as we have a winning season, and a barely winning season is all we’re likely to have. But that’s still an improvement. Too much money being made by the program for the administration to trade dollars for a new and risky venture.
Columbus
July 21st, 2011
12:31 am
No. Only Paterno has as many 10 win seasons in the first 10 years as being a head coach. The others had 3 or less including Bryant, Bowden, Dooley, Saban. Richt’s record in the first 10 years much better than Saban, Bryant, Dooley overall also. Dooley did not do that much in 16 years before Herschel arrived. I mean I can put in more and more figures that show Richt as being in the top football in FBS history in the first 10 years of a coaches career.
Pick a coach, go compare his record to Richt’s and you will see Richt is better than 90% of them and as good as the BEST in history. None won a National Championship in their first 10 years as a head coach, not even Saban. Paterno may have I will have to check.
Bottomline the guy who wrote this article needs to be writing an article stating why it would seem to be th DUMBEST MOVE in NCAA history to fire Richt unless we win win the East or 9 games or 8 games or 7 games. Simply pathetic. I am not worried because we are going to be good unless our Qb goes down.
Last year was a fluke and UGA could have easily been 10-2 but hey everybody has those years. You guys are putting TOO much pressure on Richt, while some pressure is warranted, this MUCH is a bad thing and that includes the writer of this article who is supposedly a fan. He is adding to the pressure on the school, administration, coaches, players and head coach which is undeserved to this extent and when under pressure, bad things happen that would not ordinarily happen by the players or decisions by coaches.
I DARE YOU WRITERS AND READERS TO CHECK RICHT’S RECORD AGAINST ALL OTHER COACHES IN HISTORY, THE BEST COACHES IN HISTORY, THE IMMORTAL COACHES, AND SEE HOW RICHT STACKS UP!
THEN apologize, do an about face and PRAY that Richt NEVER leaves and SUPPORT him in the tough times like he DESERVES. YOU MORONS. You too writers! You MEN, are ignorant and WRONG!
Thank God the AD says Rchts record his first 10 years SPEAKS FOR ITSELF and he just wants to see progress. That is SENSIBLE AND CORRECT.
Last year was a FLUKE and expected to be down just not as bad but we shot ourselves. Sometimes TEAMS just dont know how to win and find a way to lose. It happens at ALL SCHOOLS AND COACHES INCLUDING SABAN, BRYANT, ETC.
The year before was EXPECTED to suck with Stafford and Moreno gone and Cox at Qb.
Fire Bobo maybe. Richt? NEVER. You got that you so called UGA fans? Compare Richt’s record to ANYBODY. If you dont say wow maybe I made a rush to judgement and could not see the forest for the trees. Yeah Richt is actually not bad at all. He is really as good as Paterno was in his first 10 years and that was damn good. He has been better than Bryant and Saban and Bowden. Wow. They you should say why have I been wanting him to not be the coach at UGA? Look at all these other coaches and man some of them had a couple down years too. Some won only 6 games multiple years in their first 15. Man Richt has done an AWESOME job when you compare him to all these great coaches! Why are there so MANY people who do NOT realize how good their coach actually is and insist on him being gone? You are a disgrace to UGA and to men everywhere.
Richt has put himself in position to win a National Championship at about the same time Saban did and he won his among the earliest, maybe the earliest, of any coach in history, 11 years.
Columbus
July 21st, 2011
12:46 am
Hey Bill King….Did you not hear the AD when he said he wants to see progress and that Richt has proven himself his first 10 years? Progress would be a win or 2 more and/or a program heading in the right direction. It may not come down to wins at all if say the Qb goes down, we lose more OL or we cant run the ball due to no blocking. It is not the coaches fault many times and they can only control what they can. I expect UGA to win 9 games at a minimum this year if we can run the ball and we have no significant injuries, too many turnovers and penalties. It could be an undefeated season coming up and all you idiots are taking about how many games Richt needs to win to save his job…..I hope UGA wins them all so all of you who can see what idiots you are. I bet many dont apologize. You writers are hurting UGA keeping this thing rolling and in the forefront. You could EASILY write the same article with a different perspective. One that does not FEED a fire nor put more heat on. PLEASE do an article comparing Richt’s first 10 years to the best SEC coaches, the immortal coaches, the greats from every school in history. Pick some big names and put Richts record besides theirs in black and white for the readers and fans to see and compare. Put it next to Dooley’s, Bryant’s, Paterno’s, Bowden(maybe not counting his start at Howard)pick others that did not play in weak conferences etc. Put it out there for the world to see and title the article” does Richt and the UGA players really deserve all the heat WE are putting on him? Why dont you do that?
Still@theBAR
July 21st, 2011
12:53 am
Columbus
What Have You Done For Me Lately?
You are talking about the past. Today fans want what they want and they want it NOW. For the money Richt is getting he should be better than tied for 8th, 9th, and 10 in the SEC ahead of only Vandy and Ole Miss.
In 10 years Richt has done great but it continues to go down hill the last 4 years.
SOUTHGADAWG88
July 21st, 2011
1:46 am
I don’t know how the SEC will play out this year..most years some teams aren’t as good as folks expected and some are better.As for UGA….It’s pretty simple really…the better the defense the better the record.I don’t care about the schedule..easy?hard?who really knows?Bama was the preseason no 1but SC looked like they had just as much talent as the tide when they played to me.Who saw Aub coming last year?Every year is different in this league.One constant at UGA under CMR has been this….give CMR a decent defense and the man will win most of the games on the schedule
Valdosta Dawg
July 21st, 2011
3:07 am
This kind of topic makes me sick! The man has won 96 games in 10 years, he is 9-1 against the most hated rival we have! The APR rating is 2nd only to Vandy, I know most of you bandwagon fans do not know what that is, it means grad rate! It is media types like you Bill that keep the “how many games should he win” storm going! I hate the way the media and litlle bloggers can create crap that does not exist! 96 wins in 10 years Bill, 9.6 wins per year! We are the 11th winningest program of all time Bill! We have a bowl record thats only beat by about 4 teams Bill! We have 12 SEC titles, onlly trail UT by 1, a then there is Bama. Coach Richt is fine and should be left alone! Oh here is the answer to the “we aint won a national title yet” crew. Bobby Bowden was at FSU 17 years befroe he won one, now what if FSU had fired Bobby?
Dizzy Dawg
July 21st, 2011
3:16 am
FURRRRSTTT!!!!! Ouch, blew out my nut sack.
My bad
houndog
July 21st, 2011
6:07 am
Ga will be lucky to win 5 games, and that will depend on most staying out of jail.
jackyldo
July 21st, 2011
6:49 am
If the team loses 2 or 3 in the regular season 10-2 9-3 a lot depends on the quality of play and the losses themselves.
We all understand that the 0-4 start might well have been 2-2 or 3-1 without untimely fumbles on the way to game winning drives.
It’s the laying of eggs against teams your favored to beat by 15 that arouse anger and the call for change.
Columbus Dawg
July 21st, 2011
6:55 am
Calling all Aubies….Looks like the NCAA has stepped up it’s investigation since Auburn’s idiot head coach started pulling on the vice prez’s cape in Destin, and according to what Finebaum was told, that they now think that that they have the bagman who was the link to Newton getting paid.
There is going to be a whole lot more to be sad about in Opelika than those oak trees before long.
Oh and by the way can’t wait to see all of you D.A. weagles in the Classic City in November, pick up where we left off kicking that tail.
Nub
July 21st, 2011
7:09 am
Win or tie the east ……. Nothing less is acceptable…!