Richt knows: It’s what have I done for you lately
Mark Richt knows winning solves all your problems. (Associated Press)
There weren’t a lot of surprises that came out of UGA’s turn in the spotlight at SEC Media Days. We heard that Mark Richt wasn’t too thrilled with his running backs last season, but we already knew that. He also indicated that some of the players who have “gotten off the bus,” as he put it, “got a little bit of help” in making that decision. But we pretty much already had that idea, too.
Richt said he isn’t looking for a freshman like Isaiah Crowell “to come and carry our program,” but that there’s no question “we will need help from our freshman class to become a championship team, I don’t have any doubt about that.”
Richt also let us know that, like everyone else who watched a Georgia game last year, he recognizes what has to happen in the second year of Todd Grantham’s defense to keep from repeating last year: “If we can get off the field when we get them in the third-and-long, we’re going to be a whole lot better team.”
We heard a very encouraging report from Aaron Murray about incoming wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell and lots of the usual talk about how everyone’s committed to working hard and doing what it takes to win. But we heard that least year and the year before. And we also heard from Murray that maybe not all of the players last year were that committed, that he’d call a meeting and not everyone would show up. It remains to be seen if this year is really different.
As for all the hot seat talk, Richt handled that like he usually does. Asked about the difficulty of being the coach at an SEC school for more than a decade, he summed the situation up beautifully when he said, “It’s not difficult if you win nine, 10, 11 a year, win the Eastern Division every other year, win the SEC every three or four years. It’s not a problem at all. It’s when you get 6-7, that’s when it’s a problem.”
But, he added, “greater days are coming. The best is yet to come.”
Doesn’t sound like a guy who’s feeling the heat.
Let’s hope that a year from now we’re not remembering that with irony.
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135 comments Add your comment
John, the real UGA fan
July 22nd, 2011
2:33 pm
UGA negative morons!!!!!!!!!! Take your comments to your own college football blog. You are definitely not UGA fans!!!!!!
SSIgator
July 22nd, 2011
2:39 pm
“greater days are coming. The best is yet to come.”
I guess he is talking about when he is fired from UGA and gets to turn his full attention to the minister career that he likes to wear on his sleeve.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 22nd, 2011
2:40 pm
Herschel Talker
You better watch out with coments like that because Low Country Bulldawg, chazzo, DAWG, Altamaha Dawg will be attacking you shortly.
They will add you to the “Your not a UGA fan List” and tell you to get off Their blog like they tell me all the time when I say something negative about the Kool-aid that has been poured the last 5 yrs is no good
Your not allowed to say anything negative about Richt
AFDawg
July 22nd, 2011
2:46 pm
JC, you’re an idiot — of course a coach is going to talk-up his starting RB to give him confidence. Just like CMR right now is trying to take the pressure off IC right now. It’s called coaching and until you get a clue how it is done the rst of us would like you to keep your trap shut. CMR knows what he is doing. As long as the players perform like they want to be at UGA, and they’re giving their best effort — I could care less about the win-loss record. As more info comes out about these dirty coaches and programs we should all be very thankful we’ve got CMR as our head coach.
DAWGMAN
July 22nd, 2011
2:46 pm
I see the weed is in the curing barn, and the starry eyed are believing their press clippings.I read that the quarterback called a team meeting and some don’t bother to attend. Nobody who can lead; Not enough who want to follow. This team doesn’t have those few necessary enforcers to keep everybody present or accounted for. Coach at peace with himself; that’s just great. Slackers giving the rest of the team the finger. Wonder if that would have even been dared to have been considered with Coach Russell. I think not. Y’all stop drinking the bong water. We fixing to get skinned. Coach at peace. Showing off the new duds with a cute skit. Great, just great.
Eaassyy
July 22nd, 2011
3:00 pm
what do you expect he get up there and say? nothing but negative? i am sure that is what all you NCAA head coaches in waiting will do one day with your respective programs. f’n idiots. What if your boss came in everyday and only focused on the negative? how would you perform at your job?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 22nd, 2011
3:03 pm
I dont care about our win loss record either
I get delighted to see FL play almost every year for the east spot in the SEC championship game. And with an ocassional Tenn or S.C representing every now and then, makes sitting at home watching other teams play for championships that much better
Heck no one enjoys it more than I do to watch us go to Jacksonville and get beat by an avg of 30 points
Adams and Mcgarity should really think about raising the donations to get season tickets, we dont pay enough for what the on the field product we get
These coaches should get paid more than they are making now. They are grossly underpaid
S.E. Dawg
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
DAWGMAN, as you know coach Russell is not with us anymore (maybe in spirit). If we could find someone like him I’m sure we would go out and get him.
EDawg71
July 22nd, 2011
3:13 pm
OK, so if CMR goes, who comes in? Who do you folks see as a potential replacement? Would it be Kirby time? What about Patterson at TCU?
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
3:30 pm
@ 5$Dawg you sir, are a racist slime ball
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 22nd, 2011
3:31 pm
Gary Patterson my first choice
Chris Peterson
John Gruden
Air Forces coach
Mike Leach
Kirby if those didnt take, enough with the giving Asistants and Div II ponzie schemers the keys to this program
EDawg71
July 22nd, 2011
3:32 pm
Flat Tire, I like Patterson as well. I also wonder if Dan Mullen would consider making the move.
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
3:39 pm
@ flat tire.. no disrespect, but weak list..
1. Charlie Strong
2. Dan Mullen
3. Urban Meyer
4. Gus Malzahn
5. Kirby Smart
6. Derek Dooley
7. Rich Rodriguez
8. George O’Leary
9. Bo Pelini
10. Tommy Tuberville
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
3:39 pm
10 solid choices, any questions?
EVERYBODY RESPECTS CMR!
July 22nd, 2011
3:42 pm
CMR is the Classiest Man in college football and you know it. Has he had some bad luck with certain players? Sure, who doesn’t? The man will be on the comeback this season because of the character he brings to the war. THWGT
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 22nd, 2011
3:46 pm
Charlie Strong no thanks
George O’Leary definantly a no he didnt do anything at Tech come on dude
Tommy Tuberville heck no, theres nothing but controversy with him
Rich Rodriguez couldnt do anything worth considering at Michigan
Derek Dooley hasnt proven anything yet
Dan Mullen is still a wait and see
Urban Meyer yea
Thats not a solid list, your list has to many unproven people
dmr
July 22nd, 2011
3:47 pm
Somebody please give JC and HT a Zannax. You guys really need to put your heads down on your desks and take a nap.
CMR is 96 – 34 in 10 seasons. Do the math. He got rooked out of a possible NC bid in 2002 with a one loss team because Ohio State went undefeated while CHEATING. If you don’t like NCAA rules I understand, but they are what they are.
Richt has lost some talent through attrition and injury on the offensive line, which has hurt. Losing Brian Van Gorder probably wasn’t on Richt’s list either and that did not help matters.
As for guys like Green, Stafford, Houston…yeah, going to the NFL was probably a lifelong dream; not sitting around in some classroom. If you’ve got the talent to go…you go. That’s not a reflection on Mark Richt.
By the way, Mark Richt will never get UGA in trouble with the NCAA like USC, Oregon, UNC, Ohio State, and Georgia Tech.
This is a bounce back year. Maybe not SEC Championship year, but I can see 9 – 3 as a possibility. The defense will be decidedly better. Special teams should be able to flip field position. The offense will probably have to play some grind it out ball with a 240 lb. running back and a 270 lb full back.
Richt has done more with this program than anyone since Dooley. McGarity as A.D. is going to help bring about greater results as well. Don’t sleep on the Dawgs over the next few seasons and keep Richt right where he is regardless of what this season brings.
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
3:50 pm
everyone on that list is a winner at something and possess something we don’t (save O’Leary and Tuberville). O’leary could have had the Notre Dame job if his resume didn’t contain a one line lie. He didn’t do anything at Tech? But he was actually HIRED by Notre Dame. How many times did he beat UGA? No need to discuss the many accolades of Tuberville and his undefeated season (04). Hasn’t he put just as many players in the league as CMR? Who recruited the majority of this year’s Aubrun team?
Not a weak list sir.
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
3:53 pm
in case you didn’t know, the current trend is to hire an up and comer. How many coaches have National title rings? over half of them were in our conference. NONE in this state.
john
July 22nd, 2011
4:03 pm
Samuel now has maturity and experience. It would not surprise me if he has a very good season this year especially if the line maintains some consistancy. Glenn, Gates, Jones, Burnette, and Anderson gives a veteran line with experience across the board. Long, Lee, Andrews, Dantzler and Houston will offer the depth needed. Boo Malcome, Carlton Thomas and Branden Smith will provide contrast and Crowell will give the homerun threat we’ve needed!
Receivers Charles, King, Brown, Wooten, White, Lynch, Rome and Mitchell will offer plenty of options to balance our attack! Because of our tight end depth watch for Charles to be split out frequently to create mismatches. Throw in the top returning qb in the conference and I feel extremely good about this season. No promises, no guarantees, but I definitely see why Coach Richt is so optimistic about this upcoming season.
Go Dawgs!
slydog
July 22nd, 2011
4:08 pm
allow me to erase derek dooley and replace him with Mike Leach, cause the Adam James story was all a lie and the kid admitted it under oath.
ugaclassof2004
July 22nd, 2011
4:11 pm
JC
Defense wasn’t the problem last year? What team have you been watching? They couldn’t wrap up Lattimore to save their lives. They gave up 29 points to a HORRIBLE Colorado team, gave up 34 points to a HORRIBLE Florida Gator offense, gave up 49 points to Auburn in a game that they lead 21-7 at one point( I’ll let that one slide though because Auburn had a beast offense), and gave up 34 points to a HORRIBLE Tech offense.
Also, what is everyone’s problem with Murray? The guy was a FRESHMAN last season and by the end of the year the ENTIRE offense was filtering through him. What more does everyone want? He will eventually beat a team with a winning record and would have done so last season if the defense held up their end of the bargain.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 22nd, 2011
4:22 pm
slydog
Chris Peterson, Gary Paterson have taken programs that recruit 1 and 2 star players to BCS bowl victories
Just because George Oleary was hired by Notre Dame doesnt mean a thing, what did Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham do that was so special before they got to Notre Dame bud
Oleary couldnt even get Tech to its 1st BCS bowl appearance in 40 yrs,
and beat UGA is good enough for the resume, buddy everyone beat UGA in the 90’s including Southern Miss and Texas Tech, come on
Who cares about the up and coming trend as you call it. What did Texas do, hired Mac Brown who proved himself at UNC, what did FL do they hired Urban who proved himself at Utah, Alabama with Nick Saban, etc
LogicalUS
July 22nd, 2011
4:29 pm
“Richt gushed about Caleb King after spring game. Richt felt real good about his running back situation then. ”
SHHhhhhhh, you are not supposed to upset the apple cart….that was when King was actually the better back of the Ark back, Trent and Lattimore kids at Ark\Bama\SC. He with his 4.3 ypc (entirely against cupcakes) was the answer to losing the prior better than any other back in the SEC, Washaun Ealey.
The new delusion is that these two “cancers” were holding back the real, new and improved Hershel who has been hiding on the Scout team defense.
You are going to upset some koolaide drinkers.
Jack
July 22nd, 2011
4:34 pm
Spurrier doesn’t gush about Garcia the way Richt goes on about his UNREAL running backs and wide receiver situation. Spurrier tells the honest truth. How many of Richt’s rb’s & wr’s made the pre-season all SEC?????? 0.
john
July 22nd, 2011
4:35 pm
Defense will have the best line we’ve seen since 2007: Tyson, Abry Jones, Derrick Lott and Cornelius Washington rotating at ends and Geathers and Jenkins rotating at the nose. Alec Ogletree will be an All-SEC linebacker by season’s end and Jarvis Jones may be as well. Add Christian Robinson and Cornelius Washington; starters are set! Faloughi, Stripling, Gilliard, and Vasser give the depth needed with very little dropoff in talent. Vasser was all over the field in the spring game and Stripling is a tremendous pass rusher. Throw in nationally top ten recruit Ray Drew, plus the addition of Turene, Herera, and Wilson with Sterling Bailey playing either end or OLB, this position may be the deepest we’ve had since 2007. That includes losing Houston, Dent, and Dowtin.
The corners are also very deep and talented with Boykin, Smith, Commings, Love and Owens along with top corner recruit Damian Swann. The only question mark with the defense is at safety but does not lack experience. I look for Rambo to bounce back and be the player he was two years ago and Jakar Hamilton to be the player we expected last year after coming in as the top rated junior college db in the nation. Shawn Williams has a year of experience in the system now and Sanders Commings has ideal size for the safety spot. Marc Deas, Nick Marshall, Conner Norman, Corey Moore, and Chris Sanders will provide the depth needed. Bowman and Harrow are wildcards in that they could play safety or corner due to their speed. If UGA gets solid safety play this could be the best defensive unit since the Van Gorder years! Go Dawgs!
LogicalUS
July 22nd, 2011
4:38 pm
“everyone’s problem with Murray”
The problem isn’t with Murray, he is a solid player but the obvious worry is that he is NO Cash Newton in that he requires a strong supporting cast around him and unfortunately he is not going to have that this year at UGA.
Nothing horrible can be said about Murray, he is what he is. A good player but not a game or season changer. The sneaking issue is not that he lost to better teams like UF, Auburn or SC but his “talent” alone was not even good enough to propel UGA to wins over the Colorados and UCF of the world?
Given the cast which surrounded David Greene, Murray could really do some things but the program is no longer at that point. He is being asked to do something which he is not really capable of doing…carrying the entire UGA season.
shane#1 STREET AGENT
July 22nd, 2011
4:40 pm
CMR isn’t going anywhere, not as long as Sanford sells out and the donations keep coming in. Adams would love a BCS title, but he loves money more. What got Donan fired? I’ll give you a hint, Donan was not a politician. The big boosters didn’t like him and he had shouting matches with his AD. He gave the QB job to Quincy Carter with no competition and that was a debacle. All that didn’t get him fired. Home games not selling out and a drop in donations got him fired. The money is rolling in this year so CMR has bought himself at least a couple of years.
JimB
July 22nd, 2011
4:45 pm
Ike Leach??? That gives good insight to your intellect, FlatTire.
JimB
July 22nd, 2011
4:46 pm
Mike that is.
Dogz
July 22nd, 2011
4:48 pm
JC, YOU ARE JUST PLAIN STUPID BOY, ANY KID WOULD LEAVE FOR MILLIONS,I DONT CARE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE YOUR COACH. EVERY TIME YOU SAY SOMETHING IT SHOWS HOW STUPID YOU ARE..PLEASE LEAVE
jay
July 22nd, 2011
4:51 pm
Players not committed to working hard last year? Well who’s fault is
that? Sure, to a large extent it is the players. How can a Dawg fan
not be concerned with players not being committed to working hard.
Those players need to be gone (hopefully, a lot of them are). Furthermore, coaches who are not getting the team ready to play
need to be gone as well. Dawgs are a major program in the best conference in the NCAA. Putting a team on the field that isn’t
ready to play and not committed to winning is unaccecptable.
Dogz
July 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
Jay you ever coached?
icedawg
July 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
Faith and football are not inextricably bound.
Athens= God's Country
July 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
Herschel Talker
Once again rooting for failure, further proving he is not a true Dawg fan. Go the hell away. True Dawgs root for success even if you hate the coach. You, my friend, are the train wreck.
jay
July 22nd, 2011
5:09 pm
I don’t need to have coached. Even a non-coach like me can tell when
a team isn’t playing up to its potential. Did you drive to Memphis to watch them
play in the bowl last year? Did you watch? That was as bad as I’ve
ever seen a Dawg team play. But Dogz, if you are happy with what
you have seen lately, I guess nothing I post will make any difference.
I’m not just a Georgia fan, I’m a Georgia alumni. I want to see the
team win. How about you?
Athens= God's Country
July 22nd, 2011
5:15 pm
jay
Watching that game in Memphis was brutal. It reminded me of Richt’s first year against BC. You could tell Richt was teaching the kids a lesson. Play hard for 4 quarters as a team or LOSE. Those kids chose to lose. UGA went 12-1 the next year with a team full of character. Keep that in mind with this team. The hunger is there with the leaders on this team and the players are being held accountable by the leaders.
Go Dawgs!
Athens= God's Country
July 22nd, 2011
5:17 pm
That being said, 8-11 wins this season. Richt keeps his job and Dawgs are legit in 2012 and 2013. Very legit.
Jack
July 22nd, 2011
5:26 pm
Over 15,000 fans polled on ESPN. Only 17% think Crowell will be a premiere back. Either fans are all wrong, or Richt missed on Crowell.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/22684/biggest-sec-impact-player-poll
Athens= God's Country
July 22nd, 2011
5:40 pm
slydog
You are such a moron. The fact that you have Rich Rodriguez as a possible candidate proves how dumb you are and we should not pay attention to anything you have to say. The guy has put his last two programs in shambles. You still want to fire Richt? Look at Tennessee and Michigan’s programs. Once proud programs, then these morons start calling for the coach’s head because they are not winning the NC every year. Be patient people!!! Richt is the right guy for the job and I hope he stays as long as he wants. If we are patient with him, WE WILL WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AND MULTIPLE SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS. Relax and root for your team and your coaches.
Go Dawgs Dammit!
Bob
July 22nd, 2011
5:48 pm
I’m sure most of you work for a living (or if retired, used to work), and if you don’t add value to your company/contribute to its success, then you are gone. Doesn’t matter how great you were five years ago, it’s what you contibuted this year. Richt’s record is 14-12 the past two seasons, and he’s lost more games his last five seasons than Jim Donnan did in his tenure (five seasons). Plus, we can’t seem to beat UF, whom we used to own, and we’re having a difficult time beating top 20 teams. I would like to know what you “Richt homers” think we should do if we lose five games including a loss to UF. BTW, we’re paying coach Richt $3M a year.
LakeDawg
July 22nd, 2011
5:54 pm
If CMR is going to sell out UGA’s tradition by shilling for NIKE more than once this year, he better win the national championship. Otherwise he will lose my support. In the Athens paper CMR is talking about mixing and matching several uniforms ala Oregon. This coming from a coach who had the good sense to take the black stripe off the helmet that Donnan put there. He understood the importance of tradition then. What’s changed? Oh yeah, MONEY. Nothing is sacred in this day and age.
LakeDawg
July 22nd, 2011
5:56 pm
Crowell has never struck me as being a savior. He’s a nice addition.
Praise Saint Mark
July 22nd, 2011
6:24 pm
The biggest change that Mark Richt needs to make is to stop recruiting the low-class illiterates and thugs who he seems to think will win for him and keep his oversized paychecks coming in. People like Marcus Dowtin, A.J. Green, Washaun Ealey, Caleb King, and others too numerous to mention are not team players, they’re “me first” jerks who don’t give a rip about anyone else.
It’s sickening to see goons like these representing the state’s flagship university.
Charlie Hayes
July 22nd, 2011
6:29 pm
@ Bob-
I am a Richt homer as so you call it. I don’t think you will ever find a head coach that has more integrity, discipline and honor that CMR. I understand that you want to win a SEC and NC. I think that all of us what too! But what makes you think that Richt is the problem and he should go? Because he is the front man? I do agree that Richt made a big mistake by keeping Willie M. on staff too long and it caused our D to become soft and suffer. That was a mistake that he made. But Richt fired him and went and got the best guy he could find that would install the “Nick Saban” style D. But from the O side of the ball, Bobo’s numbers are better than Richt’s when he was the OC. Go compare them and you will see. The only complaint that I feel is legitimate is consistency. That is where we should spend some time. Why can’t we consistently score 30+ points every game? Why can’t we consistently win? Look at our kickoff coverage. It was superb last year. What was the change? They changed coaches and opened up competition to see who wanted to play on kickoff instead of assigning guys as Fabris was doing. There are a lot of small things that could be tweaked that could take last year’s team from 6-7 to a 9-4 with ease. But changing a head coach that brings in top recruiting classes I don’t fell is the answer. Who would you use to replace Richt and what makes you think that they wouldn’t face the same challenges and end up with the same record?
rs
July 22nd, 2011
8:18 pm
we need a general,huh last time i looked there are a lot of bad generals out there.
Don't Matter
July 22nd, 2011
8:45 pm
Hope springs eternal!
Buzz
July 22nd, 2011
9:29 pm
At least with Richt as your coach, you’re not going to end up on probation. These win at all cost people will be the first ones ripping the coach and administration when their new hot shot coach gets busted cheating. You can bet on that.
Lane Kiffin
July 22nd, 2011
9:33 pm
Yea, it sucks being on probation.
James K. Polk
July 22nd, 2011
9:38 pm
It is so interesting reading these comments, and it paints a sad reality for me. Florida, Alabama, and LSU fans would not be supporting Richt. In fact, I think at those institutions he would have been gone las year. Fans of those schools would not tolerate losing, which is why they win. Here, fans are completely satisfied with a 10 win season and a Capital One Bowl victory. It’s sad, because we are capable of so much more. I knew Richt was not the man to win us a title during the Florida game of 2002. He is just too uninterested in winning, and will never do what it takes to get the crystal ball. It is so evident and I cannot believe the majority of our fans and alumns refuse to see it. As satisfying as the 2002 and 2005 titles were, winning them may become the death of us, despite the fact Richt was just plain lucky to come into the SEC when Spurrier was leaving Florida, Bama was on probation, Tennessee was in the free fall that we are currently in,and Auburn was a coaching controversial heaven. In other words, we won those titles by default. Now, we are not even in the top half of the conference. Again…sad.