What once seemed inevitable remains an unanswered question. In 2002 or 2004 or even 2008, Mark Richt was primed to guide his program to a national championship. But he’s about to enter his ninth season as Georgia’s coach and the Bulldogs haven’t gotten there yet, and only once in 11 years has the BCS title been taken by a coach who’d been in place that long — Bobby Bowden of Florida State in 1999.
That Richt is a good coach is beyond dispute. He has won at least 10 games in six of the past seven seasons. He has led Georgia to three SEC East titles and two conference championships. He recruits at the highest level and just saw two Bulldogs taken among the top dozen in the NFL draft. Georgia has finished in the top 10 of at least one major poll five times and in top five twice. But it hasn’t won, or even played for, the BCS title.
Last season was supposed to be the breakthrough. Georgia had finished No. 2 in the AP poll after the 2007 season and was ranked No. 1 last August. It wound up 10-3, and if ever 10-3 could be considered a rank disappointment this was the time. At season’s end the coach made much of the 10-win season in light of so many injuries — and the Bulldogs did have a bunch — but for the first time under Richt it was possible to look on UGA and think, “That team wasn’t very well coached.”
And now Richt has a new quarterback (and figures to have another new one in 2010) and his team has been given almost no chance to win the East, where Florida reigns, and the question occurs: Have we seen the best of this gifted coach? Or is Richt, who has done much already, capable of more?
To be fair, Richt hasn’t failed so much as he has been unlucky. LSU won the 2003 BCS crown with one loss a year after one loss cost Georgia a berth in the championship game. LSU won the 2007 title with two losses after emerging from a league that also housed Georgia, which likewise had two losses. Sometimes you have the right team at the wrong time.
But last year’s glaring issues — the rash of penalties and the defensive collapses in Georgia’s three losses — have made some among us wonder if Richt is too nice to finish No. 1. He has vowed to be stricter regarding discipline this time, and it must be noted Georgia didn’t face the same problems with players being arrested this summer as last. And he has promoted John Jancek to co-defensive coordinator alongside Willie Martinez, whom Richt has never once criticized.
Still, it’s worth noting that Steve Spurrier needed six seasons at Florida to win a national championship, and it didn’t happen until he hired Bob Stoops from Kansas State to coordinate the Gator defense. And Mack Brown took Texas to the BCS title in his eighth season in Austin only after importing Gene Chizik from Auburn to lead the Longhorn D. Something similar might need to happen for Georgia and Richt to take the final step.
But would Richt, for whom family and fraternity are of massive import, ever demote or fire Martinez? Is keeping a longtime friend who’s a solid coach — solid as opposed to inspired — more important to him than taking a risk that might (or might not) lead to a greater reward?
We know Mark Richt can coach football. What we still don’t know after eight years of watching is whether he’s pragmatic enough to be a national championship coach.
446 comments Add your comment
brewdawg
July 30th, 2009
6:30 am
I think you answered your own question in paragraph 5. I don’t think there is any doubt UGA can and will have more years similar to ‘02 and ‘07. And, eventually, the cards will fall into place.
Why am I up so early? For whatever reason, I can never sleep on my off day. Go figure.
saint simons
July 30th, 2009
6:33 am
((((( 45 42 ))))) hahahahahahaha
Woodstock Dawg
July 30th, 2009
6:39 am
saint simons, ((((7 out of 8)))) hahahahahahahah
brewdawg
July 30th, 2009
6:39 am
Congrats on the victory saint simons.
god and greyhound
July 30th, 2009
6:43 am
Rickt will never even sniff the bcs title. he will catch the bus after his fourth loss in a row to tech in 2011. dont miss the bus rickt.
who is asher allen?
July 30th, 2009
6:48 am
No natl titles for mr richt, but the man is a mighty fine dresser.
Bruce Weeks
July 30th, 2009
6:50 am
Will all you Tech nerds please put your sliderules where the sun doesn’t shine. You win ONE GAME and you want to be crowned national champions. Maybe one of you will cross a street at the North Avenue Trade School and be creamed by a bus. Oh, what thrills my heart. Get a life!
Bill
July 30th, 2009
6:55 am
There is debate over a couple of years ago when UGA did not get selected for the BCS Chanp game. Right or wrong, he had us that close. Dooley went much more than nine years.
This is a stupid question – Jounalism at it’s worst, the Jouornal – Constitution at it’s norm.
SuperB
July 30th, 2009
6:57 am
Mark Richt is a first-clss coach. All he needs to do is have a first-class defensive coach, which Willie Martinez is not. Had Brian Van Gorder stayed at Georgia we would have won a national championship. But Martinez is not that strong and neither is our defensive backs coach. It was obvious in the GT debacle that our DB’s didn’t know how to tackle.
BDAWG
July 30th, 2009
7:00 am
We were a dropped pass away from being undefeated in 2002 and a turnover away from being a one loss team in 2007. If either of those two things happen there is at least one BCS banner hanging at Sanford Stadium, possibly two. Everything had to fall perfectly into place for LSU to be in the N.C. game in 07 and for FLA to be there in 2006. So it is all how the cards fall and who is in the right place at the right time and who loses when and to whom they lose to. That being said, I am extremely excited and anxious for Sept 5 and everything that is in store for UGA football in 09. I think we have one heck of a leader (how many arrest have we had this off-season) who is ready to show what he can do. GO DAWGS and go to hell St. Simons
DawgSpanky!
July 30th, 2009
7:01 am
The only way we will ever have a shot at a measely second MNC, is if we can pay Herschel again to come back and play for us. Maybe we could have some plastic surgery performed on him (before OTaxya taxes this too), so the lazy fools at the ncaa won’t notice? Has anyone seen Coach Richt lately sportin’ his sexy short-shorts around Athens? He’s so dreamy!!!
SickandTired
July 30th, 2009
7:02 am
Ahh Bruce, we’re living in an advanced society now, they don’t use slide rules just like Herschel isn’t at Georgia any more. Tech has won a championship since Georgia won one. Your hated Gators have won three and are poised to win more. LSU has won two, Alabama & Tennessee have won one as well. Face it, you’ve got the makings of a championship caliber school and deserve to win multiple championships but Mark Richt isn’t the guy to get the job done. He’s soft and doesn’t have the killer instinct of Meyer, Saban and yes even Les Miles. Be happy in the fact you’ve got a good solid program….just like Wisconsin. Georgia: The Wisconsin of the SEC. Nothing to be ashamed of but certainly enough to be disappointed in.
GatorBait
July 30th, 2009
7:04 am
no but UGA fans seem to be so focused on SEC championships that they don’t care. expecatations aren’t so high for this program. UGA fans used to talk so much smack about winning sec championships and us gator fans always laughed about this. now it is even more humorous. go gators and no you won’t even be winning sec champioships for quite a while.
NEGACommunityCollege
July 30th, 2009
7:07 am
Weak Bruce- The intellectually superior grads from Tech don’t use sliderules anymore. From your jealous comments, it sounds like you need to “Get a life!”.
Sowegadawg
July 30th, 2009
7:08 am
Richt would have a better shot if he would fire Martinez and hire Will Muschamp away from the Longhorns and make him the Head Coach in waiting. Bring the dawg home!!
Dawg4Life
July 30th, 2009
7:09 am
(((( 7 of 8 )))) (((( 38 3))))) hahahahahahahahah.
dd
July 30th, 2009
7:14 am
Saint married one of tech’s ugly women
Dawg4Life
July 30th, 2009
7:16 am
They problem with Tech fans is low standards. Georgia wins 10 games, but looses 3 and we are “upset”. Tech wins 9 games, gets humiliated in their own backyard at a bowl game and you guys talk smack. Your “smart” coach is so good he goes for it against LSU from inside his own 30 on 4th and 4 and runs a fake punt with a defensive end and then yells at his players as they exit. What a coach! No defense whatsoever either. I hate idiots like St. Simons who post daily. Tech’s fan base sucks so bad they have had to start having rap concerts at halftime to fill the stands so people wouldn’t notice they horrible program on the field. When is the last time Tech won 10 games? hahahahahahahah, idiot!
mitch
July 30th, 2009
7:17 am
Dear Mr. MB–one of the nice things about Richt is he’s so nice. He believes in God and stuff like that. Know what I mean? Probably prays all the time. He also knows how to celebrate. Like in end zones. Your pal, Mitch
bull-gator
July 30th, 2009
7:18 am
To make it to the BCS championship game a team needs to be not only good in all phases of the game, but lucky as well. Luck is the wild card. UGA has all the tools in place, they just need a bit of good luck. You never know what might happen…
god and greyhound
July 30th, 2009
7:19 am
Fumbles and close games go both ways. like in 2007 when uga needed a lucky fumble to beat vanderbilt, and the their players proceded to dance all over the logo at midfield. a program changing win to be sure
DAMN!!
July 30th, 2009
7:21 am
what a dumb blog…all you are trying to do is stir up the UGA haters (you know the ones: jealous to the bone, eager to wake up at 6 am to post on a UGA blog). Georgia is doing just fine and will continue to do so. There are atleast 100 college football programs who would die to be where UGA is year after year. The chips will fall into place soon enough.
Not Disappointed
July 30th, 2009
7:21 am
<————- Loyal Jacket and Alumni.
Coach Mark Richt is an excellent coach; moreover as a person he’s hard not to like. That being said, I feel he will have to make a change at Defensive cordinator if things doesn’t improve this fall.
It doesn’t matter if you like Georgia Bulldogs or not. They have had top tier teams that should’ve come away with a shot a the title……
enough said.
See you in November pups!!!! Ramblin Wreck!!!!!!!
Frank M. Davis, Jr.
July 30th, 2009
7:22 am
What an idiotic waste of newsprint and web space. Is it Bradley’s job to report the news and comment on it? Or, is it to “stir the pot” in hopes of stirring up circulation/readership? Are you becoming the Rush Limbaugh of sports columnists? Richt has had the Dawgs in the national conversation more than once. That consistency will continue as long as Richt is in Athens. Scores of schools across the nation would be absolutely ecstatic to have a coach that positions his team to be in the BCS conversation more often than not.
G 7 G is a jealous idiot
July 30th, 2009
7:26 am
Uh, dummy, UGA did not dance on the Vandy logo. How many times does this have to be explained to you? Coutu’s FG was kicked from near midfield and the players were just celebrating the made, winning FG. I can recall Tech players going absolutely giddy after the Gardner Webb missed FG at the end of the game last year. I know that if there were a GW logo at midfield, all of your long headed players would have danced a jig on it!
FLDAWG
July 30th, 2009
7:28 am
We need to just not mind the Tech fans. Let’s let them enjoy this game since it was the only game of meaning that they have won this decade. Let CPJ have one more good season ad you can count on him jumping ship. Nothing personnel, it’s just the fact that if Tech can’t even sell out their own stadium, how are they going to keep a high profile coach there? Tech is a mid level program in the ACC and is used for a stepping stone for bigger and better programs. Enjoy the trend guys, get a coach you hate and lose 7 in a row, get a coach you love, win a few, and count on him bouncing when the big boy programs come calling.
78 DAWG
July 30th, 2009
7:30 am
WAKE UP! We weren’t that good in 07! We “upset” the gayturds when they were 8-4, beat bad awbarn and ners, then Hawaii…….
Was that really a great run, sacking a bad Hawaii team 10 times. Who did we beat last year, that was any good? Martinez better get it right this year. With these recruits beating the bottom half ain’t good enough.
Frankly
July 30th, 2009
7:31 am
Kind of a dumb article meant to stir the pot I suppose.
Brock D
July 30th, 2009
7:33 am
Georgia has articles about disappointment from not winning the bcs. GT? Let’s write an article on their inability to win the Peach Bowl.
THWG
July 30th, 2009
7:34 am
BDWAG, you’re an idiot and ignorant of recent football history. u[sic]ga couldn’t have gotten into the national title game in 2002 because there was AN UNDEFEATED OHIO STATE and an UNDEFEATED MIAMI in the spots above them, who happened to play the best BCS title game other than 2005. you’re gonna tell me u[sic]ga had a better team than either ohio state or miami that year? and they didn’t go in 2007 because they didn’t win the SEC title.
u[sic]ga is indeed the wisconsin of the SEC. they think they’re bigger than they actually are. they also seem to forget that there’s this little business about having to get past FLORIDA every year in order to have any chance of fulfilling those pipe dreams. hey u[sic]ga fans – try winning your division before even dreaming about SEC and national titles.
I'll take Richt
July 30th, 2009
7:38 am
It will happen. A national championship is inevitable. Richt will learn that style points DO count. As soon as he stops being so nice and conservative and pulling up in the 4th quarter and starts increasing the margin of victory, UGA will start getting the attention they deserve.
Bank Walker, Texas Ranger
July 30th, 2009
7:40 am
Mark you hit the nail on the head. Luckis totally involved. UGA has had a couple of 1 loss seasons when there were 2 even 3 undefeated teams. How bout Auburn, they go undefeated in the SEC and don’t go to the BCS. Now thats unlucky. It’s just a matter of time before they get their shot.
rocksteadyfreddie
July 30th, 2009
7:40 am
It is not a matter of when Mark Richt will win a BCS title, but how many more Urban Meyer will win before he does. Definately one, probably two.
dawg fan
July 30th, 2009
7:41 am
Mark, your thinly veiled Tech loyalty comes out again. You love to stir up the UGA haters.
god and greyhound
July 30th, 2009
7:42 am
Uog is a nice 2nd tier program that cleans up in its weak division and took advantage of gomer at tech. they might beat out sc for 3rd this year, but at least they cant get any worse than 2nd in the state
Mark Richt is a Hypocrite
July 30th, 2009
7:43 am
UGA will ask Mark to fire Willie, which CMR will not,CMR + Willie= many more yrs at UGA with never ever a chance of playing for or winning a national championship mutts.
Brock D
July 30th, 2009
7:47 am
Mark, didn’t you go to a little SEC school up north?
It's Great to be a Gator!
July 30th, 2009
7:47 am
Georgia Dawgs are Gator Bait!
UGA89
July 30th, 2009
7:48 am
Not only will UGA never win a BCS title under Richt –UGA will never win the SEC East again under Richt. UGA cannot beat Florida.
barneyb
July 30th, 2009
7:51 am
It will NEVER happen as long as Martinez & Fabris are still on staff.
m for gt fan blogger
July 30th, 2009
7:52 am
Richt wont win a title, but he should win against vandy more times than not. uk too
Zorro
July 30th, 2009
7:54 am
Georgia will never get to the BCS with Willie Martinez as DC. He chokes in tight games. As far as having a “co-defensive coordinator”, how the heck is that going to work? You can’t have two captains steering the ship at the same time.
bamaguy
July 30th, 2009
7:55 am
I like Coach Richt, I would want my son to play for him. But, being a nice guy doesn’t win national championships. After Nick Saban retires and Urban Meyer moves on, maybe. Until then, no way UGA beats Florida in the regular season then Alabama in the SEC championship game.
NEGACommunityCollege
July 30th, 2009
7:59 am
Yes indeed, another article about ugaY’s fruitless quest for a paltry second MNC and many of the same intellectually deficient ugaY grads are on here acting like they actually have a big-time program. Isn’t it about time for you dollar-menuaires to leave your trailer parks and make a selection from your favorite McDonald’s breakfast menu?
Lance
July 30th, 2009
8:00 am
DD – All the women at Tech are ugly so that was obvious. I have a feeling he swings the other direction as he continues to post the same Gay message.
gatorman770
July 30th, 2009
8:01 am
When the curs give Charlie Strong a couple of million to coach defense and the Gators take a year off!
J Moore
July 30th, 2009
8:02 am
The problem is UGA recruits players of great athletic skills but low moral character and limited brain power. I get so giddy each year the Dators send them back to the drawing board much like Wily Coyote in the cartoons. It is almost monthly an article appears about some former dog in legal trouble. Is it true they have a fulll-time bail bondsman on the team bus? Maybe Dog The Bounty Hunter could relocate to Athens. Now, about that JUCO schedule…does Barnesville Military Academy have an open date this year?
Joe "Tiny" Cox
July 30th, 2009
8:03 am
Coach Richt has a very nice spray tan. But, no, he won’t win a national title at UGA.
chiefdawg
July 30th, 2009
8:04 am
Unfortunately, in my opnion UGA will never win a MNC under Coach Richt or perhaps any other coach. There is a bias in sports against UGA. Even if UGA gets ranked high there are people just sitting and waiting for them to fall. Winning is not enough. You have to demolish teams and Mark Richt will never do that. Unlike other coaches who have won MNC he does not have a killer instinct. He is too lyal to his coaches. He does not demand enought from them. He is content to just hold a lead and that sometimes gets him into trouble by allowing other teams back into games. That is one of the major reasons why Joe Cox played very little last year. If you can’t win MNC with the talent that UGA had last year, then you don’t have much of a shot. but, hey it’s kinda hard to fire a coach with a record like Mark Richt has. I guess us UGA fans will just have to get use to it.
dawgs
July 30th, 2009
8:05 am
Why dont we have as many titles as tech?
Red Stick
July 30th, 2009
8:09 am
Hey, St. Simons…..(((((38-3))))), now make a ring for that game….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
LoelGator
July 30th, 2009
8:12 am
Chances are he will not win a title, the odds for any school is very low. Even Florida this year is not likely to go undeated. They didn’t last year either. There are so many factors. To go through a full season undefeated then the league championship game always against a powerhouse, then a BCS championship against another powerhouse. All teams will probably lose somewhere, then after that the chips have to fall in place.
RAMBLE ON!!!
July 30th, 2009
8:12 am
No Herschel and no development studies degrees, means NO CHANCE!!!
Paul Johnson will win 2 before the fleabags fire Richt.
ladyluckjc
July 30th, 2009
8:14 am
co-coordinators? genius. the last co-coordinator team i remember was AU 2003 when it took them 3 games to score the first touchdown.
Gen Neyland
July 30th, 2009
8:14 am
If the measure of a coach is defined as winning BCSNC’s, there is only 1 great coach each year. Will CMR ever bring a Crystal Football to Athens..? Ask Lady Luck.
SatchelBuzz
July 30th, 2009
8:15 am
Interesting article on CMR. Here’s the point that you should touch on concerning UGA under Richt. They enjoyed there collective initial success in the SEC East during a time when both Florida and UT were in a down cycle. Georgia folks have a difficult time acknowledging this fact. The truth hurts.
rok dawg
July 30th, 2009
8:17 am
Mark:
In 2008, UGA had the 4th toughest schedule in America per Phil Steele. Combine that with the 7th most starts lost to injury (44) again per Phil Steele and a -3 turnover ratio isn’t it a miracle that Georgia won 10 games?
So what will happen in 2009? Here are my thoughts.
First, not much help on the schedule – still ranked the nation’s 7th toughest, but we drop Alabama and replace them with Arkansas, we have South Carolina, Kentucky and Auburn all at home instead of on the road. On the negative side, we have to go to Kiffenville, Vandy and Tech. And instaed of going to Arizona State we go to T-Boones new place. But don’t forget that little week off UGA has before the WLOCP. All in all, a slightly better schedule than last year, but still one of the toughest in the land.
Now on to injuries. You shouldn’t make light of the devastating impact injuries had on the ‘08 DAWGS. Sturdivants loss before the 1st snap was crippling as was the loss of Owens on the 8th snap of the first game. Your best offensive and defensive linemen gone before the season starts. Who could absord those blows (Alabam couldn’t win one game without their left tackle). UGA also lost Washington at middle linebacker for the year and basically lost Ellerbe for half the year. Defensive ends? Pretty much the whole crew was lost for all or part of the season. Back up saferties? same story. And on offense, after losing Sturdivent, UGA lost his replacement Vance half way through the season. Later, Anderson was lost for several games and Chris davis was playing hurt all year. Both tight ends were injured almost all season (catching only 4 passes), and the starting fullback missed the first 5 games and never was the same. Many of these players were seniors. The list of inhuries goes on and on. It had a huge impact on offense, defense and special teams. For 2009, what are the chances UGA will suffer the same level of injuries? Very slim.
Now on turnovers. UGA sucked in 2008 with a -3. In 2007, UGA was +9. I can guarantee you UGA will have a poitive turover number in 2008. This will have a major positive impact on the defense.
Now on to penalties. No matter what, it is going to be better than 2008, perhaps much better.
Now on to special teams. They also were substandard in 2008. But with almost everyone healthy plus an inflx of fast freshmen to help out and perhaps a stronger leg to kickoff, this phase of the game will also be better. This will have a big impact on the starting position on both sides of the ball.
All in all, I’s willing to bet this is no worse than a 10 – 3 team. And a week off before the Florida game sure will make that one interesting. I wonder if any of the Georgia players remember the two times out called late in the 4th quarter by Urban to rub our noses in it? I know most DAWG fans do!
National championsip? Probably not this year. But soon.
gtfanfrom1951
July 30th, 2009
8:18 am
Hey Mark do you ever wonder if the Tech & Dawg fans even read the article? That they just trash each other. O well Coach Richt is a very good football coach and a Christian gentleman. As far as winning BCS its like a beauty contest on who gets in the title game.
hoopdog
July 30th, 2009
8:18 am
every one of you posters on here who post….then wait to read another post..then post again….are a bunch of no life tools.
follow the money trail
July 30th, 2009
8:20 am
Gator Bait- yeah winning the SEC championship is usually the first goal since winning it will be the determiner of who gets in the national championship.
If we have a crappy defense, Damon Evans will fire Martinez, Richt won’t have to.
honest_abe
July 30th, 2009
8:20 am
richt is one helluva coach and i’m glad he’s the coach at georgia. he’s the perfect man for georgia and anyone who thinks we can do better is delirious.
is he too nice? i don’t think anyone can be too nice. its called class people. richt just doesn’t see the point in embarrassing 18-21 year olds. when the game is in hand he calls off the dawgs. unlike a certain coach in gainesville. if that means uga can’t win the bcs in the current format so be it. at least uga can be proud of its coach as a man and a human being.
bravesfan
July 30th, 2009
8:21 am
More of the hard-hitting journalism we’ve come to expect from Mark Bradley. This is a completely irrelevant column. There are a ton of GREAT coaches out there that will never win a national championship. The odds are stacked against a coach the minute the season starts. To say Richt is “too this” or “too that” is grasping at straws. Georgia is in the toughest conference in the country, and they don’t have the built-in advantage that Ohio State and USC do by playing in weak conferences and only having to win a couple of tough games. Anytime an SEC team wins a national championship, it’s a heck of an accomplishment. Georgia has done just fine since Richt came to town. To think that Georgia could do better otherwise is foolish. Are they better off than they were with Donnan or Goff? Sure they are. To be mentioned among the elite is all Georgia fans could ask to be. Eventually, the chips will fall Georgia’s way.
Now, will the Braves ever win another World Series title with Cox? Hardly.
bali smith
July 30th, 2009
8:22 am
I would love for Georgia to win 10 bcs championships as long as coach Richt is at the helm. I think he is a man of character and I still like the way he runs his organization.I agree that last year the Dogs did not look well coached and seemed to lack disipline. Hopefully we will see Georgia play a better brand of footballthis season.
John Jancek and Mark Bradley: enquiring minds want to know. « Get The Picture
July 30th, 2009
8:23 am
[...] Jancek and Mark Bradley: enquiring minds want to know. Jump to Comments Mark Bradley keeps bringing up the subject that John Jancek was named co-defensive coordinator in the [...]
Brandon
July 30th, 2009
8:24 am
We are not going to win the BCS title as long as Martinez is DC, because there will always be at least two or three games a year when his Plan A does not work and we all know he has no plan B.
saint simons lover
July 30th, 2009
8:26 am
i am breaking up with you saint simons. you can’t satisfy a squirrel. maybe you can paint it silver and use it as a kick stand. it would have to be a mighty small bike though.
athensdawg
July 30th, 2009
8:28 am
To quote an orator from aincent Rome…..”There must be a vast fund of stupidity in human nature, or else men would not be caught as they are, a thousand times over, by the same snares…..”
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
8:28 am
I say it again: Willie Martinez isn’t a bad DC. His numbers tell us that. But the three breakdowns last season were un-Georgia-like, IMHO.
bravesfan
July 30th, 2009
8:31 am
Mark, I’ll say it for you. Willie Martinez is a horrible defensive coordinator. I fear the posters ahead of you are correct. He’s a very weak link in the chain.
BDAWG
July 30th, 2009
8:31 am
THWG-YOU my friend, are the idiot. Yes, I am saying that if Georgia had of beaten FLA in 02 we would have been in the NC game. An undefeated team from the SEC or one from the Big East (Miami at the time) or one from the Big 10? You’re a d**n idiot. You call us the Wisconsin of the south and you are a Tech fan?! Pretty comical. When success is measured by having an 8 win season and beating your rival once in 8 years makes you this proud and obnoxious you should need to either reevaluate your situation or keep your pie-hole shut till your mighty Jackets are relevant. All Gt is is the Vandy of the Acc
god and greyhound
July 30th, 2009
8:32 am
Bok, being in the oh so tough sec hasnt stopped uf from winning 3 times or lsu twice.
snapshot
July 30th, 2009
8:36 am
There is not such thing as national champions in college football. Under the current system it is impossible to crown a NC team. Mark Richt would be more successful at FSU. BDAWG, if frogs had wings they would not bump their butts when they jump.
AthensGA
July 30th, 2009
8:37 am
Nice guys finish as the 1st loser. Until we reincarnate Herchel it ain’t gonna happen. Lets see how coach myer does without Tebow. Probably about as good as Dooley did without Walker. 3 SEC’s in 25 years. Welcome back to mediocrity Dawg fans.
Gary
July 30th, 2009
8:37 am
I am more concerned about SEC titles. We have to figure out how to turn the story with Florida back into our favor. If we cannot get through that program more than twice every 17 years we will not have a shot at the title. Saying that, I love what we have now. We are a strong team in a the best conference and we give our rivals hell. It makes for great football for the fans. You have to be proud to watch it. Imagine being a USC fan where two games a year matter and none are in conference and you have to import two big wins every year. Not sure how they sell tickets for that show other than city poplulation. NC or no NC, I will keep driving to Athens for the great football they keep putting on the field.
Phil
July 30th, 2009
8:42 am
No – MR is too soft, not tough enough or demanding enough on the players or the coaches!
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
8:42 am
Georgia is one of the 10 best programs in the land. That’s beyond dispute. My question is: Five years ago, weren’t we assuming — I know I was — that the Bulldogs would move into that upper upper tier alongside Texas and Oklahoma and Ohio State and Southern Cal? (Then again, five years ago Urban Meyer was coaching Utah.)
saint augustine
July 30th, 2009
8:42 am
((( 49 10 ))) hahaha
DawgFan
July 30th, 2009
8:43 am
Anyone else noticed that when Georgia defeated LSU last year, by a margin of 14 points, the Dawgs were trying to figure out where they screwed up. But when Tech defeats Georgia by the same 3 point margin that they defeated Gardner-Webb, then loses by 35 to that same LSU team Georgia beat by 14, Tech treats it like a BCS Title.
Saint Simons
July 30th, 2009
8:45 am
Lets talk about tight ends, my favorite position on the team.
SEC4Life
July 30th, 2009
8:47 am
There’s no doubt that Coach Richt is a good coach, but as long as UGA continues to recruit DB’s and LB’s that are 5′11” and under, their defense will continue to keep them out of the BCS conversation. For the past four or five years UGA’s defensive recruiting scheme as appeared to value speed over size, and this has been their achilles heel. How many times did we see 6′1” and taller WRs and TEs outplay UGA DBs last year. The Ga Tech game only exposed what had been obvious all year. Guys like Champ Bailey and Rennie Curran are exceptions to the rule b/c even though they were relatively small for their positions, they could inflict maximum pain at a moments notice. The key to improving UGA’s defensive woes can be summed up in two words: size and discipline.
JT
July 30th, 2009
8:47 am
If Georgia does not want Richt Miami will gladly take him. Canes have a horrible coach in Randy Shannon. Hurrican fan.
TampaGator
July 30th, 2009
8:48 am
At the end of the 2007, Georiga without a doubt had the best team in America. No one could have beaten that team in January of that year. They were rolling on both offense and defense and had total team chemistry. Too bad they did not get a chance to play for the national title that year. They derserve to be there. It will happen again in the near future I am sure. Richt is now focused on not only getting top notch talent, which he is, but on building the team approach it takes to win it all coming out of the SEC…he has seen the light by what he has witnessed down in Gainesville (what team chemistry and team focus can do).
blackhawk
July 30th, 2009
8:48 am
Super B – Coach Martinez is the DB coach! This is kind of like the Braves discussion about not winning enough WS titles. I would rather be good every year and have a chance to win it all than to be mediocre most of the time. UGA has a chance every year. Maybe one day it will happen
chazzo
July 30th, 2009
8:49 am
Great article. Where do you come up with these penetrating questions? Nobody has discussed this all summer. The answer is YES.
PMC
July 30th, 2009
8:51 am
He is doing absolutely everything he can really. Look at the BCS talent gap between Florida and Georgia. Georgia is 4th in the nation in BCS recruits Florida is #1. They produce almost twice the talent we do in state.
Georgia has been right where they need to be several years they just either made thier mistake at the wrong time or were unlucky with injury. Mark Richt is the best head coach UGA has ever had. Yes he’s better than Dooley… Dooley had Irk Russell and Herschel Walker. This staff has done an excellent job they just need to get a year where they have the QB they need and the lines healthy. They are as good at the skill positions as anyone else in the country.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
8:51 am
These penetrating Hot Button topics are the product of brainstormin’. Thanks for asking.
dawes
July 30th, 2009
8:53 am
your tech fan think your will beat ga four in a row i got some swamp land for sale
DawgFan
July 30th, 2009
8:55 am
Mark – Within two or three years Urban Meyer will be coaching at Notre Dame and Florida will drop back out of the stratosphere and back to the real world with the rest of us.
Plus, you have to remember that a one-or-two-loss season in the SEC is the same as undefeated in any other conference.
Simple Simons
July 30th, 2009
8:57 am
Momma,Saint at the computer again
dawes
July 30th, 2009
8:57 am
you canse your will never have richt because georgia won,t let your have him
Dawgs73
July 30th, 2009
8:58 am
Mark, you are correct when it comes to Richt. He is undeniably a very good coach and an even better human being. His weakness is his blind loyalty to certain coaches (Willies Martinez) and sometimes players. He suffers from what I would like to term “Bobby Cox disease”. He is paid at a very high level and Richt needs to start making some tough decisions (or they will be made for him). It’s quite clear that the Dawgs were almost a great defense under previous DC Van Gorder (now with Falcons) and probably would have progressed to the next level under him (National Championship). Willie is neither progressive or good enough to take UGA to the next level (which has been quite clear for a few seasons now). I believe part of Richt’s major weakness(es) is that he doesn’t want to be upstaged by one of his assistants. Ultimately, he will have to hire himself an upgrade at the coaching position before UGA is to reach the pinnacle of college football.
Jim
July 30th, 2009
8:59 am
Mark Richt is a great coach who can , and will win the BCS. It is always easy (and cheap) to hit a guy who has yet to do something. Richt has a record at UGA that most coaches, schools, and fans would kill to have. Just take a deep breath and relax – he is a Winner.
Original Dawgs
July 30th, 2009
9:00 am
7-1
The Alpha Male
July 30th, 2009
9:01 am
Bradley, you’re a shmuck. Tired subject, ridiculous rhetoric, pointless debate. Richt is one of the best in the nation. Pull your head out of your arse.
the real Old Gold
July 30th, 2009
9:01 am
He better do something over there in Athens. 1980 was almost 30 years ago.
dawes
July 30th, 2009
9:02 am
dear mr athens ga georgia not back to mediocity you need your head check by a brain doctor
Butts' Mirror
July 30th, 2009
9:03 am
6
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:04 am
Never!! Doesn’t matter who is coaching them but especially not an ex FSU coach.
Dawgs
July 30th, 2009
9:04 am
caleb king will lead us to glory!
SEC4Life
July 30th, 2009
9:06 am
Am I the only one who’s nervous about Joe Cox as our starting QB?
nobie
July 30th, 2009
9:06 am
As long as Willie is our defensive coach, we will never win a NC. Just look at last year. If we did not have a high scoring offense we would have lost 3 more games, because our defense could not stop a blind turtle from getting in the end zone. Willie just does not inspire or scare our defensive players.
Tom
July 30th, 2009
9:07 am
Dowdle’s going to need to remember to speak more slowly and use smaller words than he does on “High-Q”.
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
9:08 am
Mark Bradley, you have been wasting waaaaaay too much time reading the comments on these blogs. That column is basically a regurgitation of what the haters have been saying for years. Richt is too nice of a guy. Richt is too laid back. Richt wants to hold hands with the opposing team and sing kumbaya. I have no idea if Richt will ever win a national title. I can’t predict the future big guy. What I do know is that if he doesn’t it won’t be because he is too nice of a guy. With all due respect, that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard in my life. It would be one thing if there was some tangible evidence of how Richt’s kind nature has cost Georgia games, but there isn’t. Its nothing but baseless speculation and you, as a journalist, should know better. What a crock. Get real. I’m out.
Another day in paradise
July 30th, 2009
9:08 am
UGA under the leadership of Mark Richt is one of about 10 teams that can go into the start of every football season with a shot to win the National Championship for several reasons including: (1) talent and (2) an SEC schedule with a Championship Game. However, it takes some luck to get into the BCS Championship game because of the bias in the formula. One thing is for sure. Win the SEC and UGA will definately be in a position to be considered for the game.
Conversely, teams not playing in the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 10 or Notre Dame have very little chance of getting to the big dance. This includes teams in the WAC and the ACC which simply don’t have the depth of talent or the strength of schedule for serious consideration. Those teams will argue that they can compete with the “big boys” as evidenced by Tech over UGA (2008) and Utah over Alabama (2008). However, those programs cannot consistently compete at a level sufficient to warrent serious consideration for a BCS championship game and quite honestly, do very little for the BCS series in general. The Orange and Sugar bowls have really been noncompelling in recent years becuase other than the schools in the game who really cares about watching Hawaii, Utah or the ACC champion which was Wake Forest a couple years ago?
Will UGA win the BCS Championship this year? Who knows? One thing is for sure though, win the SEC (no small task) and they will be in a position to play in the BCS Championship game.
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:08 am
Urban Meyer is NOT going to ND. I know all the puppy fans hope he leaves but it isn’t happening. Why would he leave the best program in all of sports? He will have 3 titles after this year and will not be going anywhere. Keep dreaming and good luck with your 4 loss season.
» SEC links: Tennessee’s planned billboard for Florida John Clay’s Sidelines
July 30th, 2009
9:09 am
[...] Mark Bradley of the AJC wants to know if Mark Richt will ever win the big one at Georgia. [...]
DawginLex
July 30th, 2009
9:10 am
They have moved up Mark from where they were. The “next step” requires a lot of things to fall into place. It just hasn’t happened yet. I love how all the idiots spew “fire Richt” just because he hasn’t won a NT. It is stupid.
The program has a shot at being really good every year. We haven’t had that under Dooley, Goff or Donnan. I’m talking every year. Not go 6-6 one or two years and then go 9-2, I’m talking 9, 10 or 11 wins very year.
Anybody who says otherwise is not paying attention or is a jealous hater.
On paper, 2009 appears to be an in-between year. That is when having a good coach helps.
tim
July 30th, 2009
9:10 am
never….I repeat not ever
r
July 30th, 2009
9:12 am
Here is the deal. When you recuit the best players in Division I who end up being coached by Division II ( can you say CENTRAL MICHIGAN)level coaches who are evaluated at year end by how well they get along with everyone rather than on coaching ability/results, you will never beat FL or AL much less win the SEC. Its great to be a number 3 in the SEC – so get used to it. The Andy Landers of football!!!!
Eric
July 30th, 2009
9:14 am
Good as he is, the odds are not in his favor. I don’t see it happening for Richt/UGA. On another subject, 78 Dawg is a moron.
Mike
July 30th, 2009
9:14 am
While I do agree with some of the things you point out- Lets be clear- FLA under Urban (and LSU for that matter) have happened to be in the right place at the right time to win the NC. FLA is not God’s answer to football- which most of the media fail to recognize and Urban is not God’s gift to the coaching profession- like the media and Urban beleive. That all said, UGA will win a title- sooner rather than later. It also has something to do with the media/sportswriters since they are the ones that really determine who is ranked where- and we all know they have slept with Urban, Nickie and Pete and Bobbie for awhile now. not so?? then explain to me how a team that is ranked number 1 and beats a good Div 2 school to open the year by a wide margin and drops in the polls????????????
GoldenDawg 84
July 30th, 2009
9:15 am
Sad to say, I seriously doubt UGA will ever win the MNC. The necessary confluence of talent, luck and media support never seem to align for Georgia. We have reached a point of being consistently good (huge improvement from the past and pretty enjoyable from a fan’s perspective).
bm
July 30th, 2009
9:15 am
When do the pictures of Richt doing a back flip off of the high dive come out this year? He’s really good at doing that. And bringing the entire team onto the field to celebrate a 1 yard touchdown run like it’s the Super Bowl. Winning national titles? Not so much. But Georgia is historically a consistent 8 win program so you all should be enjoying these golden years of 10 wins because it’s not going to last forever and your window is closing.
Mike
July 30th, 2009
9:16 am
7-1 and 51-7…..nuff said!
Herschel Talker
July 30th, 2009
9:16 am
No, sir. Mr. Richt will not ever win one. He too often makes foolish mistakes and doesn’t have the moxie.
Judge Dawg
July 30th, 2009
9:16 am
It is because of negative media bais on the part of the AJC that the UGA program will never be ranked number one unless they are undefeated and maybe not then. Get a life AJC.
Lou Vales
July 30th, 2009
9:17 am
Dear mark, Richt specializes in taking up Missionairy Positions around the world. If you want a great neighbor he is your man. Want a National Championship try someone else. Richt’s great salvation is that Meyer is coveted by college and pro teams and will eventually leave. Richt is coveted by NOBODY. His name is NEVER associated with other programs–Why?? This record thing really bothers me. Georgia is one of those ELITE programs like LSU, USC, Texas that is THE dominant school in a fertile recruiting base that every year plays a schedule with at least 7 sure wins due to vast talent differential. Look at who Georgia beat last year, look who Georgia lost to last year. Beat everyone they totally outmatched in talent and lost the games that beforehand would have been seen as competitive. This is why ALL these college coaches bomb in the NFL. Because they were overrated in the first place. Spurrier, Saban, Petrino. I’ll say it again look at Georgia’s schedule over the years. Take out the games against the directional schools, the Vandys, the Mississsippi States, The South Carolinas, The Kentuckys, the Vanderbilts and look at Richt’s record. Still as impressive?? Don’t think so. Basically all these coaches at Elite schools know they are going 7-0 before season starts, 5 competitive gmes, go 2-3 in those games and you have the boot lickers saying “How can you criticize the guy he went 9-3?”–Well, NO he didn’t. He really went 2-3. No directional schools on NFL schedules and definitely no Homecoming patsies. Believe NFL has finally learned and besides Meyer who has a reputation there will be NO college coach getting an NFL gig.
Doublewide
July 30th, 2009
9:18 am
We’re pre-season #1 !!
We’re pre-season #1 !!
We’re pre-season #1 !!
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:18 am
The question should be how long befire he gets fired? It appears that UGA is content with mediocrity so he may be there awhile.
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
9:19 am
Time for a new column Mark: “Will GT ever win a Chicken Bowl under Paul Johnson?”
I can’t wait.
Halsey
July 30th, 2009
9:20 am
Just remember that a 1 loss SEC Champ doesn’t get left out of the BCS Title game very often. UGA was good enough to play with Ohio State or Miami. 1 single digit point loss meant the Dawgs were not ‘worthy’ of the BSCS Title Game.
Bowl System = garbage
braveswin
July 30th, 2009
9:21 am
Gee thanks ATL GATOR, to think I was going to waste an entire fall of Saturdays watching football. Now thant I know what is going to happen, I’ll have plenty of time to cut the grass and get up leaves. I hope you don’t take your own life if the Fighting Tebows lose a game or two. Not one team is invincible, not even the “mighty Tebows”. Get over yourself, you ain’t Nostrodamus. Stating as fact, ie “he will” as opposed to “I think or I hope he will” is annoying at best. Good luck to the Gators this year, not that they’ll need a lot of it
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:24 am
Florida wins championships and that is the bottom line. Spurrier, Meyer. This talk about how they are the right place at the right time is nonsense. We do what we need to during the year (including the SEC championship). You have to be able to be consistent. Sure, we lost to Ole Miss last year on a blocked field goal. That was one bad afternoon and we never lost again. I will take losing to an SEC west team every year as long as we are in the NC game.
George P Burdell
July 30th, 2009
9:24 am
Willie Martinez may not be a bad DC, but he isn’t good enough to help UGA get a BCS title. Mr. Bradley, please do some reporting and ask Mr. Martinez why there were “heated discussions” on the sidelines between Mr. Martinez and Mr. Fabris during the Tech game? Why doesn’t UGA have a fulltime special teams coordinator?
Mr. Richt, the nice guy, is likely to face a hard choice at the end of the season (either fire Mr. Martinez or Mr. Richt loses his job). I am certain that Mr. Richt will have to change his coaching staff before UGA can get a BCS title. The handling of the changes will say a lot about Mr. Richt.
Nativebird
July 30th, 2009
9:25 am
Your statement; “He has led Georgia to three SEC East titles” says it all. It’s kind of like saying the Braves won 14 division “CHAMPIONSHIPS”. My friend, a division is not a Championship. Yes two SEC titles. Those are indeed Championships, but thats it.
Until he meets expectations the Georgia nation is really demanding and has always demanded (National Title), 1980 is still all this underperforming football program continues to hang its hat on, including the only other “claim to fame” it has, Herschel Walker…a great retired old football player.
scobydoodawg
July 30th, 2009
9:27 am
Richt has had his chances, he is not tough enough. He is to tame, when he was really good is when he had Vangorder which was like having an Erk Russell on your sidelines. Every team needs one to when the big one. Now uga is in a reaction mode rather than a acting mode. dawqs will lose 4 games this year…. richt want be able to bear florida and tech and soon will feel the heat…… even though he is well liked…
Jim morrison
July 30th, 2009
9:28 am
The answer is NO!
Give me a break! Most of you had GA just showing up last year and walking to the NCS!
Stop writing or talking and do your talking on the field.
Until you win a NC, shut the F up!
Unreal that you will write more about GA than the home team GA Tech.
Enough Said!
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:29 am
“Willie Martinez may not be a bad DC, but he isn’t good enough to help UGA get a BCS title. ”
Please do not get rid of him. We are looking forward to hanging another 50 on you on 10/31.
Damngooddog
July 30th, 2009
9:29 am
St Simons, techies got rings for a 3 point win against the Dawgs. When we kick that butt by 20 on Nov. 28, they can take them to the pawn shop and maybe get $30 bucks for them. Cubic zircons don’t go for much these days.
Georgia News - 7/30/09 | MrSEC.com
July 30th, 2009
9:29 am
[...] can accurately answer this one, but Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asks today if Mark Richt will ever lead Georgia to a BCS title.ESPN.com’s Chris Low has posted his “fresh faces” for Georgia… those [...]
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
9:30 am
Had Georgia been undefeated in 2002, we would have probably found ourselves in the same position as Auburn in 2004. Miami was a lock since they were ranked so high to begin with. Then it comes down to Georgia or Ohio State, and tell me who you think the ESPN blowhards would have been pulling for? Back then I used to waste away my life watching that stupid show PTI. Somebody sent in an email question about what they thought about Georgia, who was currently ranked in the top 5 at the time and still in position for a BCS title game berth should someone ahead of them lose. That clown Wilbon said he never watches Georgia because they are boring. Gee moron, how do you know they are boring if you never freaking watch them? I about threw my damn television out the window I was so angry.
That brings me to another thing Bradley, you make a huge mistake thinking that we Georgia fans ever want to be held in the same esteem as an Ohio State or even an Oklahoma. Look what happens to these overrated programs in bowl games. That is not what Georgia wants.
Favre
July 30th, 2009
9:30 am
I will come out of retirment if he wins one.an’t happening.
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
9:32 am
“Unreal that you will write more about GA than the home team GA Tech.”
Obviously you have never been to a UGA v. GT game at Bobby Dodd stadium. Home team? Go ahead and write “Clueless Goob” on your forehead with a sharpie. Same difference my friend.
ATL GATOR
July 30th, 2009
9:32 am
Enter your comments here
dap01
July 30th, 2009
9:37 am
What is the purpose of this blog? Perhaps, you should write about:
1. Can GA Tech ever fill up their stadium with Paul Johnson?
2. Can GA Tech ever win the ACC with Paul Johnson?
3. Will Saint Simons ever have a date?
What a lame subject. CMR has a record that is match by few in the HISTORY of college football. He even combs his hair which is more that can be said of Paul Johnson.
DamnDawg
July 30th, 2009
9:39 am
We Own the Maggots
Jim morrison
July 30th, 2009
9:39 am
Hey Goob!
Go Gators, you moron!
HH
July 30th, 2009
9:42 am
Bradley: In answer to your question: No. He doesn’t have what it takes.
BurningRedBleedingBlack
July 30th, 2009
9:45 am
You dumb As* people think stiring the pot will get mark Richt out of georgia not a chance he’s staying put! Plain and simple, you gators can kiss my hairy dog As* we’ll see you in jax! Tech well we all know when that date is. GATA GO DAWGS!!
Another day in paradise
July 30th, 2009
9:45 am
Jim Morrison. Take a deep breath and a shot of reality. Unfortunately for the GT team, there’s just not a sufficient amount of interest in the football program to warrent a lot of coverage as evidenced by the fact that (1) the fan base will not/cannot fill the stadium on any regular basis, and (2) the GT fan base appears to be spending more time talking down the UGA program than talking up their on program. How bout you and all the other so called GT fans getting out their and supporting your own kids!!! Only then, will GT become something meaningful for the AJC to write about. If it’s passion and coverage of a team that you’re looking for, you’re always welcome to join the Bulldog Nation!! Woof, Woof!!
Chris
July 30th, 2009
9:47 am
How many years did it take Vince Dooley to win a national championship? He won only one and he had the best college football player in history on his roster. Our best team was in 20002, when the team went 13-1, finished 3rd, and destroyed Fl. St in the sugar bowl. My question is, do you risk firing a guy that has made you a top-tier program in the nation? He has brought us two SEC championships and we played for another. GET OFF MARK RICHT’S BACK. The day you fire CMR is the day UGA goes back to the 6-5 days of Ray Goff.
Gator Growl
July 30th, 2009
9:47 am
Nope, they never will. They and their fans are much more worried about Urban Meyer going to Notre Dame or where Tim Tebow is gonna get drafted or if the WLOCP should be moved from Jacksonville or how the Gators are gonna fall down after Tebow leaves or how much money Matthew Stafford is making to worry about any stinkin’ championships.
GA G8ter
July 30th, 2009
9:49 am
I am a gator fan and I will say that UGA WILL win a NC within the next 3-5 years. It will happen my friends, though I hate to admit it. They will get the breaks and top ‘em all. Book it! We will still win 3 out of those 5 years against them though.
BIGBOY
July 30th, 2009
9:50 am
Some of you guys need a reality check.BVG had better players than CWM.Simple as that…we still run the same Defense.Go back and look it up..UGA had great recruiting classes during BVG’s tenure and the better players where defenders.When you are coaching kids who are future pros it can certainly makes u look good!Nobody was complaining about our DE and LB coaches when there was talent at those positions.UGA has had great classes under CWM too… problem is the best players have been on offense.If you don’t have the horses you are not gonna win many races.No offense to the kids but Wynn,Irvin,Byrd, were OK but Owens,Washington and Ellerbe were IMPACT players.Let’s not even get into the DE injuries.It’s not the jersey folks it’s the player wearing it.Some of you seem to think “hell this is GA we should have 2nd and 3rd stringers good enough to get it done” NOT!!Saban the god was unable to overcome losing Smith for one friggin game.Les Miles blah,blah,blah even Meyer the king blah,blah dropped to 8-5 after winning a NC.What? they stopped being this great coach during that season?Their coaching staff went out to lunch or something?People sing Charlie Strong’s praises now but in 07 the FLA defense sucked…SUCKED…same coach.. same scheme..upgrade in talent and what do you know?The gator d is now all of a sudden the greatest ever!!yada yada.We have better players on Defense this year so the D will improve.Most of you will say it’s because Willie is on the hot seat and he wanted to save his butt!Whatever floats your boat but IMHO the change in the D has much more to do with the personnel than the Coaching staff.As for Mark Richt being soft?30-4 on the road in the SEC?Are some of you idiots friggin serious?Enough said.Look out Willie haters!!You get a peek at that recruiting class for next year?CWM aint leaving anytime soon.Of course everyone will get on the band wagon talking about how he got it turned around after being under pressure.Whatever.Tell you this… that Richt guy at head coach…he don’t know a whole lot about losing…check his record over the last 18 years.
John Jenkins
July 30th, 2009
9:50 am
I reralize it is still the off season and the writers are paid to write although I’m sure they are miserable having to come up with such drivel to keep their job. Of course this brings out delusional Georgia fans and I am a dawg fan who realizes the absurdity of such a proposition concerning Richt. This is one fine man with a proven recored on and off the field. He may never win a National Championship, but so what. Winning one won’t solve race relations or effect the economy. Its a game. Too many Georgia fans are living vicariously through a program with 20 year olds. I would not trade this man for anyone and even a less than stellar season should never place this man on the hot seat. Tech’s got a good one too, but they won’t ever win a championship again. It takes a myriad of events to line up to win a championship, particularly with e BCS.It was the media who set Georgia up last year with unrealistic expectations. Stafford and Moreno were good but never played a down of defense.
TampaGator
July 30th, 2009
9:53 am
Mark, you must have a lot of Florida journalism school grads on your brainstorming team! Right? But I know that would not ever happen, not in the AJC sports department which is better known as the Georgia Bulldog PR department. (Just joshing, you know).
Saint Simons
July 30th, 2009
9:53 am
Tech owns UGA 45-42 !!!!!!! How bout that you toothless wanders!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahaha
dan
July 30th, 2009
9:54 am
Oh wow another ” Richt’s too nice to win the big one” article. This argument is getting so old. You have to coach your team the way you know best. Is Mack Brown an asshole? Is Pete Carroll? Is Bob Stoops? No. Do they win National Titles? Yes.Sure the Saban’s and Meyer’s are successful one year, but then they go 9-3 or 8-4 the next season.
Richt is a very cerebral coach which serves the team well in adverse situations. But when you have a head coach like that, then you need other coaches who can light a fire under a players arse. Richt had that in Brian Van Gorder. Van Gorder was the fire to Richt’s ice and it worked out well.I think Richt has missed that dynamic on his staff, in recent seasons. And if you’re going to have an intense coach, then that coach needs assistants who are more level headed. Great coaches have all kinds of personality types on their staff. As for UGA winning a National Title, I think if it does happen it will be in a year when no one expects it.
Gator Nation
July 30th, 2009
9:55 am
Richt is a great coach. Winning the National Beauty Contest..err..I mean the national championship is a mixture of having great talent who plays great as a team and gets a couple lucky breaks. Florida had this for the 96 and 2006 seasons. Richt will have this mix come together for him as well. If Tennessee stays down, it will be easier to do. If Kiffin turns it around, having three monsters in the east makes it tough to do. But really, give me another coach that would be an upgrade for Georgia? Can’t really think of any who would be available.
imgeorgia
July 30th, 2009
9:55 am
Yes, 2008 was tough. Now look at 2007. UGA was #1 in sacks in the SEC and 3rd in total D. In 2006, our D was the one thing going for us. IN 2005, our D won use some close ones and lead UGA to an SEC title. Ya 2008’s D was sub par. IN 2007 Charlie Strong’s pass D was dead last in the SEC. GO look it up. There is this thing called facts you know. The facts last year was we had 1 DE that stayed healthy though fall practice. First game of the season one of our best Leaders on D goes down Jeff Owens. As the season goes on, we can not keep our DEs healthy so without a pass rush which is just as much on the DE coach Coach Fabris(not jumping on him because look at his body of work since 2002) it is hard to run the Tampa 2. Our D held its own until Bama took full advantage of a banged up team. Later in the season CMR decided we were so banged up he told Coaches Bobo and Willie to stop tackling to the ground. Well that was before the LSU game and well things went down fast on D. After that, we looked like Texas Tech’s D not a soild SEC Defense. CMR admits he made a mistake not staying physical in practice. A great leader admits his mistake and corrects them. I find it funny the same D that got us an inch away from playing for a NC in 2007 is now a huge problem. Now for the Techies out there. Keep talking “boys” and enjoy your one year of bragging rights. It comes as often as Haley’s comet.
Tech sucks
July 30th, 2009
9:55 am
It’s not Richt that is the problem. It’s the flawed BCS system. The 1 loss 2002 UGA team under Richt was easily as good as the last 4 or 5 national championship teams. They just got screwed with 2 undefeated teams ahead of them. Hell LSU won with 2 freaking losses.
It’s all luck in this crappy system.
TampaGator
July 30th, 2009
10:02 am
GA G8tor…good point, no Gator fans are worrying about when Richt is going to leave Georgia or were celebrating when Mareno and Stafford left early. And no matter to us, we know the Gators will still have the better team even if Meyer goes elsewhere (WHICH ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME). But the Dawg fans can remain in fantasy or “la la” land about Meyer leaving and Tebow leaving and Strong leaving and Mullen leaving (how his leaving is going to hurt our offense…NOT), etc. etc. etc. Spurrier and Zook left (and especially after Zook left) and Florida got even better. If Florida lost Meyer for some unknown reason (again, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN), then Foley, the Florida AD and the best AD in the country, would just go out and get the next best coach in America to replace him and the story would just continue on for the next 20 or so years.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
10:03 am
A lot of it is luck, yes. But it’s worth noting that the two times Georgia under Richt was ranked highest in preseason — in 2004 and 2008 — it didn’t win the SEC East. And those two teams lost a total of three games in Athens.
Bayou Philosopher
July 30th, 2009
10:06 am
I give Mr. Bradley some credit: a couple of years ago (2006?), I recall a column on how the Dogs were now the class / marquee program of the SEC. It’s only fair that he revisit that issue now that a collective four national championship crystal balls sit in the trophy cases at LSU and Florida. BTW, to the Dawg fans that continue the whinning (yes, whine-ing) about 2007, recall in the SEC championship that LSU with it’s 2nd team QB defeated a Tennessee team that in October, had cleaned your clocks 35 – 14. Games in September and October count — unless you live in Michael Adams fantasy land where many of you do, I guess.
MR. GROUCH
July 30th, 2009
10:07 am
dd
July 30th, 2009
7:14 am
Saint married one of tech’s ugly women>>>>>>
He married her for the money!!!!! But he is your wife’s employer and he’s banging her on the side!
Odell
July 30th, 2009
10:07 am
Great coaches do not promote bad sportsmanship. Throughout Richt’s tenure at UGA, his teams have led the country in player arrests and penalties. Richt is Barry Switzer dressed in sheep’s clothing.
Red Elephant
July 30th, 2009
10:07 am
This is one Alabama fan that can’t wait to see the abuse that saint simons will receive on the blogs next year. Gee, they win a couple a decade against you guys and they lose their mind. I used to respect GT until I moved here and saw how pathetic they are in losing and insufferable they are when they pull out a win.
Now to the question at hand. Yes, I see a NC in Richt’s future as well as 4 or 5 more SEC Championships. I think Richt will stay at Georgia 25 or 30 years. He will retire as the greatest UGA coach of all time. You guys have been the best team this decade NOT to win a NC.
big dawg 89
July 30th, 2009
10:07 am
big dan is right, when nobody expects it. like this year. i’m telling ya. watch out for the dawgs this year.
and watch tech lose 4-5 games this year. if that happens, i would love to hear what they have to say.
something else to look for, the game chickens may only win 3 games this year. mark my words, and the ole ball coach will hang em up for good.
GA G8ter
July 30th, 2009
10:09 am
I’m worried about OUR team’s NC talk this year and the fact that UGA has a week off before they play us. I know, we should have enough confidence to win, but that game scares me. I know how talented Georgia is and how important the trenches are. They have a possibly dominating O-line and D-line this year. I think UGA’s tough early schedule will benefit them down the road this year. They may lose 1 or 2 but they will be a very good team.
MR. GROUCH
July 30th, 2009
10:10 am
Sorry a little harsh I went over the line sorry! I don’t even know you!
Yeah I do your a UGA grad you probably cut my grass or deliver my pizzas!!
CookMyOwnFries
July 30th, 2009
10:11 am
Going out on a limb…
UGA D will DOMINATE. DOMINATE. 2 reasons: Jeff Owens and Rennie Curan, who said, “We need to tackle more VIOLENTLY.”
Joe C has FIRE. This is his moment. He isn’t getting drafted #1. He’s playing for now, not a league audition. Our offense will be GOOD. They practice against our D.
No one knows who our RB will be – this can help us. Hard to prepare for the unknown. I think Knowshon was running not to get hurt. The leap was pretty, but he should have run over that CMU guy (He still got tackled on the play).
Kickoffs – Just kick it out the endzone and let our D DOMINATE.
Penalties – Stop giving yards away. Each man is accountable to the TEAM. We’ll have a TEAM this year, not individuals. Don’t hurt the TEAM.
I really think this could be our year. Love our TEAM. The D will tackle VIOLENTLY. Might even see some 3-3-5 wrinkles on it.
Might even hoist a crystal football this year…
Dallas Dawg
July 30th, 2009
10:14 am
Do you remember the Ray Goff era?? Thought so…..
RAMBLE ON!!!
July 30th, 2009
10:16 am
The only way would be to schedule UF and GT the first two games of the year and then run the table.
get the two automatic loses out of the way.
That’s the only way…
Paul Johnson will never, ever let the mutts win a NC.
The Other St. Simons
July 30th, 2009
10:16 am
The original saint simons poster was just caught shining his ring in between handing me my coffee and chicken biscuit at the new Chic-fil-a.
JB
July 30th, 2009
10:19 am
Mark, What year did Dooley win his….15th or so year……..Too much media now, internet and such….everyone is an expert…..Florida’s success ( hat’s off to them) hasn’t helped ANYONE who would be coaching at UGA….. I have to believe that with the influx of talent EVERY YEAR, our stars will line up……Maybe Meyer is a better coach than Mark, I’ll still take Mark over that guy…..I think Mark stays in Athens as long as we’ll have him, winning 80% of his games. Meyer won’t be a Gator for much longer. Too successful and too much money out there is why.He’ll be the FIRST 10 mil a year head coach. Book it.
Saint Simons
July 30th, 2009
10:19 am
Uga should have a ring made like a cupcake, they love those cupcake teams!!!!!!!!!
TheItalianDawg
July 30th, 2009
10:19 am
I have no doubt that Georgia will soon win the BCS crown, I agree with Mark that Georgia was unlucky; the 2002 and 2007 Dawgs could have beaten anybody but never given the chance.
Jacksonville is not fair for the dawgs as well, now is different than the 70s and 80s, the games are so competitive and little things can make or break the season. Jim Donnan, Mark Richt and other football experts clearly indicated that Jacksonville is not a neutral site. beside the economy is really tough, why dont we spend our money in Georgia?
heyberto
July 30th, 2009
10:21 am
I think Martinez is less the problem than the media likes to make him out to be. Defenses under Martinez have been good enough (2007 being the best example). Not saying Martinez is absolutely the answer either..but as we all know 2007 was really just unlucky. We’ll get our shot at some point, as long as Richt doesn’t have a collapse of monumental proportions. He’s certainly gettting the talent, and that’s probably one of the biggest parts of the puzzle.
GA G8ter
July 30th, 2009
10:21 am
Ramble On!!!!
do you think you are funny? Or cute? You post the most ridiculous stuff EVER on these blogs. Do you think UGA is worried about Tech and Paul Johnson? What happened last year was a rare treat for you, kind of like Ole Miss sneaking up on us. I don’t see GT has a major player in the near future. You certainly will NOT beat Georgia this year. Go back to fantasy land.
Mike
July 30th, 2009
10:23 am
Mark- Please tell me what the picture above has to do with the article???? DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE FLA EVERYWHERE????? GEZZZZZZ Again, this is the ATLANTA paper- you would never see it in Gainsville. I am over it- loser-
Mike
July 30th, 2009
10:28 am
ATL Gator…FLA wins championships and thats the bottom line???? what a complete and utter idiot! As if the rest of us have not?? Lets have a history lesson you dork- UF yes FLORIDA was the ONLY SEC TEAM that had never won a SEC TITLE let along any National Championship. and for as good as UF has been in recent times- tell me Gator what is the UGA-UF series record???????????????????????????????????????
Mike
July 30th, 2009
10:29 am
ATL Gator- had never won the SEC until 1991…….
uuugh.
July 30th, 2009
10:30 am
I hope Meyer Stays at Florida. I hope Johnsons stays at GT. I hope Kiffen brings UT back to respectability (although he is off to a rough start). I hope South Carolina gets better. Finally, I hope Richt stays for another 25-30 years.
It will all fall into place at some point for the dawgs. Keep filing away 10 win seasons and great recruiting classes–eventually we’ll get the breaks UF and LSU have had in their MNC seasons (anyone remember Vandy missing that field goal?). Last year Florida was lucky we had so many injuries. I would still like to see a full squad match up of the two. Florida has been extremely lucky that Tebow hasn’t been seriously injured as much as he runs the ball. These schools get all the good breaks one year, bring home the trophy and half of our own fans want to punish our great coach for it. Consistency is the name of the game folks and we have it.
Leave it to M Bradley and the Tech idiots on here to get the pot stirred up. Leave it alone already. We don’t need to know everything and we shouldn’t express doubt about things we know very little about.
As a side note…Keep up the great work AJC. I bought a Sunday paper last weekend and the Sports section was as bad as I have ever seen it. I will never buy another one of your papers. Anybody know where I can subscribe to the Athens Banner Herald or any of the other local papers? My home town paper is garbage.
braveswin
July 30th, 2009
10:32 am
All this Gator talk is wearing thin, The Fighting Tebows have a 1 thats ONE game winning streak over this “mediocre, never win with this coach” Ga team. Hate to break it to all the Gators out there but for all the talent and momentum Fla has going for it, your team must still play the games. I have no animosity toward Fla, (at least they’re not Tennessee) and I damn sure respect what Fla has accomplished, but this “we are the greatest and can’t be beat” attitude is sounding more like Ga Tech fans. Folks you’ve been there before, try to act like it. You guys are the SEC Champions you don’t have to brag, you did it on the field. Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
steve
July 30th, 2009
10:32 am
first of all will muschamp will only came back to uga if he is offered a head coaching job not a coach in waiting. The person they need to go after is kirby smart at bama he has worked for nick saben 7 years who else better to be DC fire willie gardner will leave after this season he will take a head coaching job, kirby smart is one hell of a recruiter.
Tide Rising
July 30th, 2009
10:37 am
Mark,
How many years did it take nice guys like Joe Paterno, Tom Osborne, Dooley, etc. to win national titles? I want to say it took Paterno and Osborne 20 years or so and Osborne was dominated forever it seems by his nemesis Switzer at OU before he finally broke through. Dooley took 15 years. There’s probably several other coaches you could say the same thing about.
Bottom line is that it takes a combination of several things including a little luck to get into position to play for a national title and it may take several more years for that to happen for Richt. But plenty of nice guys have won it like Osborne and it may have taken awhile for them to do it.
Robert
July 30th, 2009
10:40 am
Not as long as we keep losing our better in-state recruits like Mack Brown and Neiron Ball to the blue and orange crew to the south of us.
Willie Martinez should be coaching high school, not our Dawgs.
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
10:40 am
Here is one very basic insight into winning college football championships:
For all of the rhetorical excess applied to the offenses of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer during their 1996, 2006 and 2008 championship seasons, it was the Gator defense that was the difference in each of those seasons. The defenses of Bob Stoops and Charlie Strong made the differences in the close games that got the Gators into the championship games, and in 2006 and 2008, the defenses shut down the Buckeyes and Sooners’ offenses.
Some famous coach said “Offense puts butts in the seats; defense wins championships.”
Now, what conclusions do we draw from this example for the future of Coach Richt and the Dawgs?
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
10:42 am
Who is this ATL GATOR person?
braveswin
July 30th, 2009
10:42 am
BIGBOY (from 9:50), Touche!! son, mouth smashing Touche!! If you ain’t with us, you’re against us!!
Sting 'em Buzz
July 30th, 2009
10:46 am
I could see Richt winning a NC in 2011 or 2012.
Jim morrison
July 30th, 2009
10:46 am
Mike,
Who gives a F about the series record?
Truth is UGA has not won anything worth mentioning since 1980.
Until they do, you have nothing to talk about.
Again, GO GATORS!
Enough Said!
BDawg
July 30th, 2009
10:51 am
Give me a break, takes alot of luck along with a good team to win a championship….as for Tech, they were lucky last year, got us in a year all our defensive ends were hurt…don’t think your going to run around the corners this year….the Dawgs and everyone else will be ready for you….7 win season for you guys, if you stay lucky….the Dawgs on the other hand seem to have the team chemistry that they may have been missing the last few years….Yea, the baby lizards will be tough and our schedule brutal, but watch out, I think something good may happen this year…..and Techster’s if you played our schedule instead of your pansy slate, you wouldn’t even have a winning season. Everyone needs to get off CMR back….he shown meddle and I’m sure he willgo down as one of the best coaches in NCAA history before it’s all over.
Pi$$onaDawg
July 30th, 2009
10:51 am
I am not sure what the question is, but I know Willie M is not a good answer to any of them. Good Luck Dogs. You are always better than the bottom half of the SEC, but not always better than the top half of the SEC. CMR is a good guy and a good coach, but IMO I do think UGA has the money to get better coaches to join his staff to make him better. Mark knows that if he let Willie go there would be no team beating down the door to hire Willie for a job. Pat Nix knew the same at Tech and left for Miami before Chan was gone. Pat lasted 2 yrs. and is gone. CMR is being too nice to Willie and getting him paid before he is a car salesman in Alabama.
Pitbull
July 30th, 2009
10:56 am
I think UGA will win a BCS under Coach Richt when they are least expected to do so.
People forget that UGA experienced its only losing season under Coach Dooley in 1979 before coming out and winning the 1980 National Championship with the same players except for new starting QB Buck Belue who was not as strong a passer as his predecessor Jeff Pyburn, but was a stronger leader. Soung familiar?
And we won the first of 3 straight SEC championships, and a Cotton Bowl victory over No.1 Texas in 1984.
The 4 greatest years in Georgia football 1980 – 1984 came when expectations were not that high.
Some would say that the 2001 — 2004 period was the 4 greatest years in Georgia Football due to the 44 wins during that period. Again, we were excited to have Coach Richt as our new coach but did not have the expectation of that type of success at the time.
I think it will come when we are least looking for it. In the meantime I read that UGA is either number 1 or 2 inwinning percentage by BCS Division teams over the past 9 years that Coach Richt has been here.
I will take that any day of the week.
Herschel Talker
July 30th, 2009
10:59 am
Jim morrison likes men. So does Pi$$onaDawg.
Loyal Homer
July 30th, 2009
10:59 am
Mark,
Interesting column. Are UGA fans really getting restless with Coach Richt?
By the way Mark, I referenced you and your colleagues in my sports blog debate yesterday. We are friends of you with Twitter. Check it out!
http://thesportsdebates.com/category/tsd/the-espn-dedicated-local-coverage-debate/
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
11:01 am
“A lot of it is luck, yes. But it’s worth noting that the two times Georgia under Richt was ranked highest in preseason — in 2004 and 2008 — it didn’t win the SEC East. And those two teams lost a total of three games in Athens.”
That says more about how absolutely clueless you media folks are than it does about Georgia. Georgia football does not rank itself and should not be punished for failing to live up to the expectations that others set for them. The fact that Georgia continues to befuddle the preseason prognosticators tells me that the preseason prognosticators don’t know anything about Georgia. Watch a little ESPN if you don’t believe me. They can rattle off the names of LSU and Florida players like they’ve got the media guide memorized, but can only name 2 or 3 Georgia players most years. And you continue to act Mark as if Georgia is the first team in all of history to not live up to a lofty preseason ranking. Earth to Mark Bradley: It happens every single year. Even the mighty Florida Gators have taken a preseason #3 ranking and turned it into a 9-4 barely top 15 season, and that with Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow. It happens Mark. You seem bitter that Georgia exposed you as a clueless media blowhard last year. Can’t wait for 2009 Georgia Tech to do the same. Good day.
braveswin
July 30th, 2009
11:05 am
RAMBLE ON, This is your reality check, CPJ has nothing to do with whether or not CMR wins a NC. He will build a fine GT program, but it’s still the ACC (Almost Competitive Conference) Yes I can see GT beating UGA 2 or 3 times a decade most times less sometimes more. Good luck to you and all GT fans
Native Atlantan
July 30th, 2009
11:07 am
When looking at differences between Florida and Georgia, you can start from the top. UF AD Jeremy Foley is willing to make tough decisions and get rid of people and replace them with who he thinks is best for the job. When Zook was winning 8 or 9 games, many people would be happy. Foley wasn’t. Not only did he fire the coach in the middle of the season, the popular and easy decision would have been to re-hire Steve Spurrier. Foley instead opted for Meyer, which appears to have clearly been the right decision.
Meyer appears to be ready to make tough decisions and execute them as well. If someone on his staff isn’t cutting it to give him and the Fighting Gators the best chance to win, he will cut that person loose and go get a better employee. Mark Richt will not do this unfortunately. If Willie Martinez was the DC and if Jon Jancek was the LB coach at UF under Meyer do you think they would still be on the UF payroll after “great” performances such as giving up over 50 at home to UT in 2006, giving up 49 in the Jax game, giving up 38 to Kentucky w/ a QB who should be playing WR or Corner, giving up 45 to Tech at home? No way in Hell.
On the other hand, the history at UGA is quite different. Vince Dooley was ok with “Significant Improvement” Ray Goff & “let’s give him another chance” Jim Donnan. 7 and 8 win seasons were clearly ok with Dooley. BCS to us meant “Before Christmas Special” because that was our last bowl game with Jim Donnan, Christmas Eve vs. UVA.
Evans and Richt are an improvement, but that last hump to national titles is a big one. To get over this hump, the head coach has to have the best possible assistants he can hire. There are better ones out there Richt could hire but he won’t do it because demoting or replacing Martinez and removing Jancek are tough decisions and actions CMR is not willing to make. Meyer will make those decisions in a heartbeat.
Sunshine
July 30th, 2009
11:14 am
SEC, and specificaly Gawja is such a bore. Bunch of loud mouths that never live up to their talents. Hey your preseason champs after all!
Gregg T
July 30th, 2009
11:14 am
Winning BCS championships is about good players, good coaches, and most of all, a favorable schedule. At least Meyer is honest about it. He says he is not about to ubgrade his schedule because he plays enough big games in the conference depending on the “luck of the draw” for that year. OK, Penn State, et al are the same. No matter how good you are, and the Gators, Sooners, etc. are very good, if you happen to get your non-conference schedule filled with reasonably good teams, maybe even a BBCS team, your chances of making it to the dance are practically zero. These kids just can’t do it every week with just one freebie. All the top 10-15 teams get good players and have good coaches. It’s the ones that manage the make up of their non-conference schedules that pick up the trophies. That’s UGA’s real problem. The AD listened to us ignorant fans about these small games on the schedule, and they gave us OK State and ASU to go along with a good TECH. It looks great on the schedule until the reality hits on game day. Oh well, such is life.
Scott
July 30th, 2009
11:15 am
Georgia can forget about national titles.
They do the same thing every year, win 8 – 10 games, never win their division because they always lose the big games, never win the SEC, because of better coaching and programs elsewhere. They simply aren’t a “national power” like the THINK they always have been.
BugKiller
July 30th, 2009
11:15 am
Mark,
First, I read the article and think that you finally get it about Martinez.
Then, you go and say something as illogical as “I’m not saying Martinez is a bad DC… the numbers alone prove that.”
REALLY?
Because actually, the numbers PROVE, unequivicably, that Martinez is NOT a good DC, and that any success he had early was the product of players coached by BVG.
Mark, really go look at the numbers. Right them down. Then draw a line graph. I’ve actually done this.
POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME.
YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME.
The most important stats to a defense.
Do it. Go to http://www.georgiadogs.com and find these stats and draw a line graph.
You know what that line graph does?
It goes UP. For both stats. EVERY YEAR.
That is a TREND that cannot be explained away by injuries.
That is a TREND that proves that Martinez is absolutely incompetent. His defenses have gotten worse every year.
And let’s not even talk about the mental breakdown of his defenses over his four years. The stupid, avoidable MeAngelo Hall-like personal foul penalties, which have grown under Martinez, not to mention back-breaking in-game breakdowns like against Auburn in 2005.
Or the times they’ve come out not even looking prepared. Sugar Bowl 2006. Tennessee 2007.
Or the times Martinez has refused to make a single adjustment in-game. Especially in games where he lets an experienced, yet not-so-talented QB pick apart his secondary because he refuses to let pressure come from anywhere but the line. Florida in 2005. Tennessee in 2006 and 2007. Alabama in 2008.
Mark, Martinez is anything BUT a good defensive coordinator.
Can you explain why, Mark, Martinez got a RAISE last year when NO ONE WANTED HIM???
Can you explain why Mark Richt gave his BFF a raise after Miami took a look at Martinez and said NO MAS?
I mean, Martinez is so bad, his alma mater doesn’t want him. Randy Shannon looked at Martinez and decided he’d be better off taking on twice the work-load to be his own DC.
Mark… I thought you got it… and I think you’re almost there to make that intuitive leap.
Find the numbers.
Make the graph.
See, in FACT, written on paper with lines that go UP and never go down, just how horrible Martinez is.
Volman
July 30th, 2009
11:16 am
Simply put… NO, they will NEVER win the BCS Championship. Never.
DirtyDawg
July 30th, 2009
11:17 am
Bradley, you guys just love to ‘get the fight started’, don’t ya? Is Richt good enough to win the NC? Is Obama good enough to provide affordable healthcare to all Amercians? Is Sonny Perdue good enough to keep from falling out of his boat? And is Mark Bradley good enough to keep his job with a newspaper that’s losing money everyday and could lose just as much without you as with you? The answer to all the above is ‘maybe’…we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?
Historically, Georgia is the most successful whenever the expectations are the lowest – although the prediction of finishing second in the SEC East is hardly low, eight wins is – and particularly when we have what should be superior offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage. So check with us come next January, assuming you’re still around these parts, that is.
Regardless, we’ll take Mark Richt ability and class over the rest of the preening, narcissistic options that populate the rest of the conference.
AltamahaDawg
July 30th, 2009
11:23 am
Psst., if you wait 10 days and change the wording around to something like “Will Mark Richt Win a BCS Title at UGA”, nobody will ever suspect that you phoned it in.
JB
July 30th, 2009
11:24 am
Native Atlantan……hate to say it….lot of truth there………Fine line with being unreasonable and great results……We all love Mark, Fuzzy with 10 wins, but too nice and compassionate to excel to greatness, and you have to make tough decisions……..Meyer would have canned Willie, not for being great guy, or father or friend, but for job performance……Mark wants a long term steady situation, Meyer wants win at almost any cost….That’s with the right players and Coach’s. I wanna see them with Tebow gone…..Yes, I know they will still have a great team, but he is a once in a life time player.
PTC DAWG
July 30th, 2009
11:25 am
I’m just glad to know the UF fans think the Title is in the bank. They should check on how hard it is to repeat.
PTC DAWG
July 30th, 2009
11:26 am
Actually Richt wins 8-12 games every year…and plays for the SEC Title almost half the time…keep doing that, and the LUCK required to get into the MNC game will follow.
Dooley's Cardiologist
July 30th, 2009
11:28 am
I hate to inform UGA, but when Mr. Bowden finally hangs it up, Coach Richt WILL exercise his right to opt out of his contract and go coach the Noles. Take it to the bank.
VMM-Athens
July 30th, 2009
11:29 am
Of course we will. We have the top recruiting class every year! We’ve already booked all of the Days Inn and Motel 6’s out in California because like every year, we’re going to play for the title! Go Dawgs! Coach Richt might not have a championship yet, but he has the best sun tan of any coach in the land. Go Dawgs! Its great… to be… a Georgia Bulldawg(sp?)
Mark,
All of the programs that you listed (Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, UF, LSU, etc.) have won national titles in the past 10 years. Nice try, slap nutz
59bulldawg
July 30th, 2009
11:37 am
Are you kidding me? It not only takes a very good team, it takes a “lotta” luck in the current system. But pressure to win it all or else in the 9th season? Mark, surely you jest! It took Vince 17 seasons to win it all and even then it took a Hercules from Wrightsville and a huge play in the Florida game that year to make it happen. NCs are the right combination of athletes, coaches, team chemistry and heart, and yes plain old lucky breaks. People who think any team can just go out and win a NC any time they want to are just plain crazy. It don’t work like that. I think Richt is the right man at Georgia. And with the athletes we’re getting on defense, CWM is not going to have any place to hide if he doesn’t start to consistently produce winning defenses. That’s the only pressure I see on Richt . . . that of covering for coaches who can’t get it done.
juvenal
July 30th, 2009
11:39 am
only a few get the real point-BCS SUCKS-(to paraphrase)-in march, the toughest team is the best team, nobody votes you into the final game
Dawgaholic idiot
July 30th, 2009
11:39 am
Two words: Gator Bait.
Name does not matter; 45/42 does
July 30th, 2009
11:39 am
If he could not win one last year with a pro team, what will he do with Cox at QB?
By the time the dogs play Tech, they might be on their second freshman QB…
Lost dog
July 30th, 2009
11:40 am
CMR will definitely win. A few years ago everyone said Mac Brown could not win the big one. Look at what has happened to Bob Stoops when he gets the chance to win the big one, yet he is always said to be a great coach. The stars have to line up perfectly each year. Just ask Miles and Meyer. UGA will get its chance and I doubt that GT ever will.
JaxDawg
July 30th, 2009
11:41 am
The gators are having a nice run, but before you gator fans chest thump too much, remember you had to have luck on your side to win them.
In 06, you needed WV to choke to Pitt, and USC to UCLA in the final week of the season, or else you don’t get in, and even with that, if Lloyd Carr had done a little more politicing we might have seen a OSU/Mich rematch. You needed some help last year as well.
Again not taking anything away from what they’ve done, but to think any team can go out and “plan” to win a MNC is laughable. The only thing any team can control is winning their own conference and hoping for the best. UM & Florida are fortunate that his two 1 loss seasons got them to the game, but he’s 9-3 & 9-4 the other two seasons.
C. Strickland
July 30th, 2009
11:42 am
Hey Mark, it’s me Carter again. All of those fired sports journalists reading this(and those that can are) are going to be jealous that you are generating so much interest.
Whopper Dawg
July 30th, 2009
11:48 am
First and foremost, the BCS championship has nothing to do with football, When the pre-season rankings are published, most teams are eliminated from contention at that time, So, judging a football coach based on winning or not winning this concocted mess of a system is truly ludicrous.
That being said, if he doesn’t can Martinez, sooner or later Richt will be gone, fired or leave due to not wanting to fire Willie, and I believe that one of the two will happen. That is real unfortunate, as he is a real quality coach and man, with his weakness being loyalty to his staff, Sad when that admirable trait can be a downfall.
jimthorpe
July 30th, 2009
11:53 am
Although he fields better teams than Ray Goff, henceforth Richt, like Goff, will have to settle for middle of the Eastern pack. Look out for the youngster in Knoxville; Bulldog fans will soon hear Rocky Top in their sleep.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
11:58 am
I think Georgia under can win the BCS title. I do, however, think the program has slowed in momentum. Richt’s first five years — three division titles, two SEC championships. The past three years — neither of the above.
dan
July 30th, 2009
11:59 am
Bayou Philiospher,
You bring up the example of LSU beating Tennessee in the SEC championship as a claim that they would have beaten UGA too. But that’s flawed thinking. If you use that logic, then Florida would have destroyed UGA that year because they killed Tennessee. The Vols also had a bye week prior to the UGA game that year. I’m not using that as an excuse because the Dawgs played like crap. But that bye helped Tennessee just like it helped UGA that year against Florida.
Momentum is a BIG factor in sports and you shouldn’t underestimate it.If you asked me who would won between UGA vs. LSU in early 2007, I’d say LSU because they clearly had the momentum. But, if you ask me who would have won between UGA vs. LSU in late 2007, I would say UGA! LSU lost their last freakin home game against Arkansas and looked awful against Tennessee in a win. UGA went through the likes of Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tech like a buzzsaw. 2003 LSU were the real deal National Champs, 2007 LSU were paper champions.
Lou Brown
July 30th, 2009
12:00 pm
Tech fans in the know – is it true that you guys sold 24,000 season tickets this year? thanks
BugKiller
July 30th, 2009
12:00 pm
Anyone who believes Lame will actually be a good coach, ’cause you know, he’s proven so much already , is in line for a HUH-YOOGE letdown.
Lame is Ron Zook 2.0.
Believe that.
DoucheNozzle
July 30th, 2009
12:01 pm
Uhmm, is Richt is a super nice guy? Let’s all run into the Gator’s endzone and celebrate like jackassess.Let’s just overlook all the criminal activity of our players. **He’s just not too smart, that’s all.**
I hope he and the current coaches all retire after many years at Georgia.
Enjoy this beatdown of a season Georiga fans. It’s coming soon…
Michael Stipe
July 30th, 2009
12:04 pm
Sadly, the old bugaboos of defense & the kicking game, are stifling us. CMR will never get rid of the bunny, Martinez, so our best bet is that a program like Tulane or Ga. Blechhhh hires him as a head coach.
And now I’m off to mumble some indecipherable lyrics to my next song.
~Peace
cga8000
July 30th, 2009
12:06 pm
How about Urban Meyer leaving Fla for NFL only to find it ridiculous trying to coach man babies therefore returning to college and eneding up at UGA and finally taking them to greatness sound ridiculous doesn’t it. Way to go Nick ass clown Saban!!!!
Jason
July 30th, 2009
12:08 pm
Enough talk everyone….pointless…football is here. Let the debate take place on the field.
dan
July 30th, 2009
12:10 pm
Hey DoucheNozzle,
You really expect anyone to feel sorry for the Gators about that endzone dance? After all the years they’ve intentionally run up the score on opponents? Boo hoo, poor Gators.
Hell if UGA did that against Florida this year, they might have won. And you forget that they could have lost that game after that stunt, but it worked. Florida underestimated UGA going into that game and they got exactly what they deserved.
Mike Jay
July 30th, 2009
12:11 pm
I will care for about the BCS title when it is decided on the field. Too much luck and opinons decide it now.
Dooley's Cardiologist
July 30th, 2009
12:13 pm
AS I SAID EARLIER: “I hate to inform UGA, but when Mr. Bowden finally hangs it up, Coach Richt WILL exercise his right to opt out of his contract and go coach the Noles. Take it to the bank.” He will not be there long enough to win a NC. Some of the players he recruited will be there, but he will not.
uuugh.
July 30th, 2009
12:13 pm
Douche? Sounds about right. How many times are people going to point at that as proof that Richt is the bad guy all of UGA’s opponents wish he was? The guy tried a ploy to motivate his players. It worked. It also worked to motivate the Gators the next year. Meyer calling 2 time outs in a blow out has never been questioned though. Hmmm sounds like the World Wide leader controls how an event is defined and yahoos like you eat it up hook line and sinker.
Carefeul…thinking causes headaches in the easily led.
Mike
July 30th, 2009
12:15 pm
Hey st simons…<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahah
Matt
July 30th, 2009
12:16 pm
Haha @ Dan for calling ‘07 LSU “paper champions.” That’s such a load of crap. Sure, LSU was lucky to get to the National Championship game but they played and won two Championships in ‘07 ON THE FIELD. UGA played for none!! Stop your crying. UGA has had several oppurtunities now to win championships but they simply cannot do it. Face it, some programs are championship programs and some are not. UGA has gymnastics. LSU has Football and Baseball.
Matt
July 30th, 2009
12:18 pm
oh, LSU wins national championships in Track and Field (mens and womens) as well.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2009
12:18 pm
I don’t think Richt will go to Florida State. I never have.
Dooley's Cardiologist
July 30th, 2009
12:19 pm
Matt,
Well said my good sir.
MtDawggie
July 30th, 2009
12:19 pm
Mark,
You’re exactly right. CMR is TOO nice, TOO stoic. No fire. And speaking of fire…until he fires Willie, it’s clear to all that he thinks mediocrity is acceptable.
doc bailey
July 30th, 2009
12:21 pm
You know, i really wish Mark Richt would hold a press conference and announce he is tired of supposedly dawg fans( like i read on this and other sites) backstabbing his coaching and tell Georgia to shove this job up your ass. Where i am going with this, who would you replace him with. Want do you people really want. Sure, everyone wants to national champ every year. who doesn’t. Don’t you think Mark Richt wants to. Look at his record in the eight years at Georgia. The one major thing i see is STABILITY!!!. Each year the quality of athletics has gotten better. He is now able to go into Florida and get the type of kids that at one time ,never considered GA. He has made UGA a school kids around the country look at now as a quality program. College football is such parity now. No longer are there the Alabama’s of the Bear that dominated football. To win a national champion requires as much luck and intangibles as anything else. I know our time will come, but it will be under Mark Richt and no one else.
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
12:22 pm
Let’s concede that Mark Richt is a good coach, a decent human being, and probably a great guy to have has a neighbor. Let’s also concede that the 2007 end zone stomp was out of character. What, exactly, does any of this have to do with Richt’s potential to win a future BCS championship?
Let’s try to tone down the gratuitous insults, and contribute something meaningful to the blog conversation about college football. And, no, “the Gators suck,” and “Mark Richt is leaving for FSU soon” do not qualify as meaningful facts or opinions.
Bo Williams
July 30th, 2009
12:23 pm
Will GaTech, UNC, Arkansas, Alabama, etc? UGA’s chances are no better than these teams, and they can’t all win. I.e., a stupid question!
Cuz
July 30th, 2009
12:29 pm
I just want to win another SECC, and with the Gators at the height of their powers, that will prove difficult. Win the SECC and if you do that, there is a chance you have a shot at the crystal football. Aint that right Urban?
Hubert
July 30th, 2009
12:32 pm
To you Richt apologists who maintain that winning a BCS championship is mostly a matter of “luck”…are you saying that LSU, USC, and UF are somehow consistently luckier than UGA? It’s more than luck, my friends…it’s being good enough and disciplined enough to make the most of your luck, and to capitalize when the other team doesn’t do the same. UGA has always had talent, but what they have always lacked is discipline. Until this is finally addressed, no championships for UGA.
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
12:37 pm
doc bailey—-Every college football program has a certain percentage of idiots for fans. Unfortunately, the idiots tend to be the biggest chest-thumpers when their team is doing well, and the loudest and most obnoxious about their mistaken facts and misplaced opinions when their favorite team is not.
There appear to be several representative of the idiot class of fans from each of Florida, Georgia and Georgia Tech on Mark Bradley’s blog today. It’s a fairly stated opinion to say that Mark Richt should replace Martinez; it’s nonsense to say that Richt is anything less than a very good college football coach. It’s also a fairly stated opinion that the Gators are not invincible, that they have had their share of luck, and that Tim Tebow may not be the greatest-ever college football player. It’s utter nonsense to suggest that the Gators are fundamentally flawed, that the spread offense is a “gimmick,” that the team will collapse after Tebow graduates, and that Tebow is anything less than a very gifted, once-in-a-generation football player.
So, having said that, does anyone have anything intelligent to say why (or why not) Mark Richt is likely to win a BCS championship in the next 5 or 10 years?
bigeasy830
July 30th, 2009
12:39 pm
Aaron Murray need to be the starting QB by week 4. UGA will win 6-8 games this year so let the most talented QB on your team get some experience and make a run at it next year. God forbid if Ritch redshirt Murray, that kid has the atleticism of D.J. Shockley, the quick release of Dan Marino and a biy time arm. Him and Caleb King will make a championship caliber duo in 2010.
uuugh.
July 30th, 2009
12:39 pm
Richt won’t go to FSU. He has always talked about making 1 move. I believe he has already made that move and will be with us for a long time.
…plus it will cost FSU a lot of money if Bowden stays another year, which they might be willing to pay. It will cost them way more money if they hire anyone but Jimbo when Bowden does finally split.
macrotech
July 30th, 2009
12:39 pm
FLDAWG, you suck at ‘not minding’ Tech fans….
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
12:41 pm
Hubert—-There’s an old expression to the effect of “winners make their own luck.” There’s some truth in that . . . if you have a very good team, you may be in a position to take advantage of that luck when it comes your way. If you have a so-so team, you will never be lucky enough to win a national championship.
EW
July 30th, 2009
12:41 pm
Dear Saint Simons. UGA’s new basketball coach said it best: “There’s 50 stars on the flag. There’s one for Georgia. It’s not for Georgia Tech or Georgia State or Georgia Southern.”
Tide Rising
July 30th, 2009
12:41 pm
Atlanta gator,
We got our idiots too. We just didn’t want to feel left out since you failed to mention us.
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
12:43 pm
Tide Rising—-Yes, I know. Sorry you felt left out. For the record, the Crimson Tide has its share of idiot fans, too. RTR
Hairofthedawg
July 30th, 2009
12:43 pm
I do not think lightening will strike twice in the same place. The injuries were costly last year and while great teams work around them we just had way too many in one season. Hopefully, things will go in a cycle and we can stay healthy this season. The fact that CMR has more tenure than most SEC coaches for head coaching at any one school in the SEC will start to pay dividends I feel. Stablility is important to players and recruits. This will be a very interesting year in my opinion for the Dawgs. They should be much improved on defense and hopefully critical penalties will not be such a factor. The OL should be really good and if we stay healthy maybe the best in all of the SEC. Lots of games are won in the trenches and this should be where UGA accels. I do not see UGA as a NC team this year, hopefully I am wrong, but feel a very solid team can emerge if leadership on the field takes charge. I feel that CMR will win a NC at UGA as he is too good of a coach and UGA is too good of a program and that day will come sooner or later. Nice article I thought by MR. B. Just can’t wait til sept 5th and the start of the season…Go Dawgs.
joe34
July 30th, 2009
12:47 pm
EW, by the way it is stated, there are also stars for U of Maine, UMass, Ohio University, U of North Dakota, and on and on. So, is the star for California for Cal or USC?
bigeasy830
July 30th, 2009
12:48 pm
Also Mr. Bradley, our momentum have slowed somewhat, but we did finish #2 in the nation 2 years ago. I know ifs mean nothing but that Vandy/ Tenn game and the Kentucky/Tenn game 2 years ago in which Tenn. , survived in two close games cost us a chance at playing LSU. Dorsey had the leg injury, I think we would have ran the ball down LSU throats and then beat “The Ohio State University” for the BCS title. But can’t complain because Tenn. did beat the breaks off us in our head to head match-up in which Mark Ritch and his staff was out coached. So, my answer is yes Mark Ritch can win a BCS title but not with his current Offense and Defense coordinators.
MaconKnight
July 30th, 2009
12:53 pm
CMR has to get rid of willie to win a NC, NC are won with a great defense and if you look at the past champions they all had a great Defense, the only eception being the Texas & USC game..( greatest NC game of all time)..anyway UGA needs to a better job of keeping the top high school talent in state and going out getting dominate Defensive Lineman… Dogs have not had a presence at DT since Johnathan Sullivan was taken sixth in the first round by the New Orleans Saints of 2003 NFL DRAFT and have not had a true DE since Charles Johnson and Quentin Moses were drafted in the 2007 NFL DRAFT..(Marcus Howard was a LB playing DE)….MY POINT IS THIS LOOK LSU’S 2008 DEFENSE, LOOK AT FLORIDA’S 2007, 2009 DEFENSE AND YOU WILL SEE STANDOUT DEFENSIVE PLAYERS WHO HAVE GONE TO THE NFL. HOW CAN UGA WIN A NC IF THEY DON’T GO OUT AND RECRUIT BETTER DEFENSIVE PLAYERS AND GET A DC WHO CAN COACH THEM?
BIGBOY
July 30th, 2009
1:00 pm
All you guys are side stepping the fact that the talent has not been there on Defense on par with our Offense during CWM tenure.You keep throwing out this gibberish about the stats show the D getting worse but you DON’T want to admit the talent has declined as well.This year we have the most talent we have had on D in a very long time.For the Urban Meyer would have fired WM crowd…oh yeah?We did hell didn’t he fire Strong after that terrible defensive performance in 07?
BIGBOY
July 30th, 2009
1:00 pm
Why
Chris
July 30th, 2009
1:03 pm
As everyone else has said, we recruit well, we have great players, and a great head coach. However, we have a horrible defensive coordinator that should have been gone after his first year…yes his first year. That was Shockley’s year at QB, and we lost to Florida because he didn’t play but then lost to Auburn and West Virginia because our defense was TERRIBLE. The signs were there early on, and something should have been done about the walking disaster know as Willie Martinez at that time. Our defense has become progresively worse each year since, and as a die hard DAWG fan there is a small part of me that wants Willie to fail again. I know that would spell a bad year for my beloved DAWGS but something has got to be done to run that joke of a coach out of Athens.
If we get a great DC, then we will have all the pieces we need to make a run at a National Championship. We stand no chance as long as Willie is on the sidelines.
BIGBOY
July 30th, 2009
1:04 pm
Atlanta Gator what did Aub do wrong when they went undefeated?
Chris
July 30th, 2009
1:06 pm
BIGBOY, Strong had ONE bad year in 07. Georgia has had FOUR bad defensive years with Willie…big difference.
Gatorzone
July 30th, 2009
1:11 pm
For what its worth, I think Richt is a VERY good coach who seems to be learning from his mistakes and progressing gradually in different aspects of his coaching. He had some bonehead decisions the first few years of coaching that cost games. However, until he address the lack of discipline on the field and gets a new DC he will have trouble winning it all.
The defensive stats are moving in the wrong direction and have been the last 3 years.
And for all you who claim they missed out in 07 and were unfairly left out of the game, I have news for you. Champions don’t get blown out ANY game during the season like UGA did against UT. They may lose a game, but not get embarrassed.
EW
July 30th, 2009
1:11 pm
joe34 you are right, there are stars for all of those, the point is that Tech fans know there’s no star for them. As for your question, the star would be for Cal, not the University of SOUTHERN Californial, cmon you didn’t need my help on that one right?
EW
July 30th, 2009
1:11 pm
california, can’t type my apologies lol
Gatorzone
July 30th, 2009
1:13 pm
BIGBOY, the whole defense graduated from UF after the championship year of 06. IT was clearly a rebuilding year.
JaxDawg
July 30th, 2009
1:14 pm
Dooley’s Cardiologist – Do your homework, Jimbo Fisher is already signed to take over for Bowden. Regardless of what Bowden wants to do he’s out next year as FSU has to pay Jimbo $5 million if he’s not named HC by 2011.
UGA’s time will come as far as the MNC is concerned. Goals should be in order, focus on each game one at a time, win the east, win the SEC, wait to see if it’s good enough to get to the BCS championship.
To say UGA is not NC caliber team simply because we haven’t gotten the breaks others have is silly. Does anyone with any kind of football intelligence think that there was THAT much difference between the 13-1 02 Dawgs and the 13-1 06 Gators other than one got the chance to play for the MNC? In 07, if Kent. can win a 4 ot game or Vandy can kick a 40yd FG, We probably beat LSU in the SEC championship game and play OSU in the title game. Does it suck that neither of those things happened? of course, but for people to say CMR won’t win one, can’t win one, simply because we haven’t had some of the same lucky breaks other teams have is silly. Richt is doing a fine job, and trust me our time will come.
Before gator/tiger fans try to jump on me for my comments let me make it clear, 1. not making excuses, those are just facts, and 2. I have a ton of respect for both programs and their accomplishments, just think if you look at it a little closer, UGA could just as easily have had 2 championships in the same time frame had things played out in our favor. The fact that they didn’t, doesn’t mean UF and LSU are vastly superior programs to UGA. The MNC is a beauty contest that requires the right breaks at the right time. Realistically any team that starts outside the top 15 is in an uphill fight to play for one before game one is even played. If your team loses 1 game, your team will need help/luck to get to the game. Auburn didn’t get it’s shot in 04, simply because they started too low in the preseason polls that year.
UGA is just fine with Richt.
jeff grady
July 30th, 2009
1:20 pm
UGa, or any other team with sustained top-15 recruiting success, will have the chance to compete for a NC if they have a Teabow talent-level QB and Harvin-quality players at the skill positions. They don’t appear to have the latter at present in my opinion.
Must be getting close
July 30th, 2009
1:44 pm
Why else would such a nonsensical article as this appear in the hallowed pages of this fine institute of higher journalism…kickoff must be around the corner.
SEC4Life…relax, Joe will be fine. Just look at the new media guide to reassure yourself about his bonafides (credentials)
As always HBTD
Will
July 30th, 2009
1:45 pm
I think we take this BCS Nat’l Championship stuff way too serious. We are talking about a bunch of 18-21 year old kids playing a kids game. It’s ridiiculous. Plus the fact, I don’t want our fanbase to turn into a bunch of spoiled babies like FSU or UF fans. I hate it for CUM (meyer), when he has a couple of 8 or 9 win seasons in the future, they are going to run his ass out of town like they did Spurrier. But yes, I would like to win the big game one day because that’s what ya play for. But I’m not losing any sleep over it I promise.
Atlanta Gator
July 30th, 2009
1:47 pm
BIGBOY—-The 2004 Auburn team did nothing wrong, except start the season lower in the AP and Coaches polls than USC and Oklahoma, the two teams that ultimately played for the 2004 BCS Championship. Personally, I think the 2004 Auburn team was better than Oklahoma, but I’m just a blogger; no one gave me a vote. As I recall there was a lot of discussion about the Tigers playing a weak out-of-conference schedule, and Auburn’s early season collapse in 2003 against USC and Tech didn’t help their case, either. On the other hand, I also remember that Auburn struggled to overcome a 9th-ranked Virginia Tech 16-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
In any event, sometimes you get a little bit lucky, and sometimes, life ain’t fair.
Saint Simons
July 30th, 2009
1:49 pm
We upset two teams last year (Gardner=Webb and UGA) that were better than us. I’ll brag about these games forever. Mama. could you please change me I think I just had another accident.
AltamahaDawg
July 30th, 2009
1:51 pm
Did anyone cover “it factor” yet?
Mrs. Chanandler Bong
July 30th, 2009
1:53 pm
MB, I’ve been hanging out over at JS’s blog because I’m still seething after last night. Just got around to this one — my apologies. Yes it will come — but not this year. And probably not next year.
P.S. No knock on Jeff (he seems like a nice guy), but I like you better. He’s taking Hohn’s side.
C. Strickland
July 30th, 2009
1:54 pm
JaxDawg, if I had just a fraction of your writing ability, I’d still be working at the AJC. Sigh.
What does UGA need to win a national championship? | The Junkyard Blawg
July 30th, 2009
2:00 pm
[...] Mark Bradley looking at the chances of Richt ever winning a BCS title today, I thought this would be a good time [...]
Mark in Woodstock
July 30th, 2009
2:06 pm
Richt can’t even win his own division now that Florida is up and running much less with a National Title.
L-Dawg
July 30th, 2009
2:12 pm
SWALLOW THIS…. Richt doesn’t win a NATIONAL TITLE in 8 years and idiots like mark Bradley want to put him on the block as a failure. ANY Georgia Teach coach beats Georgia (this rare occurence has only happened 4 times in the last 18 years btw) and the idiot is considered a hero. Seems like one is a much higher caliber program with much better expectations year in and year out to me…… GO DAWGS!!!!
jc_atl
July 30th, 2009
2:20 pm
Wow. Of course not. Richt peaked with Stafford. He’s gone after next season.
gratefuldawghead
July 30th, 2009
2:22 pm
Right on the money! Good article!!!!!!
More praise from ESPN on Georgia recruiting efforts and other links « Football on the Brain
July 30th, 2009
2:23 pm
[...] Mark Bradley gets all controversial again with Georgia fans by asking whether Mark Richt will EVER win a BCS title at Georgia? [...]
could care less
July 30th, 2009
2:24 pm
No, he is to much in love with himself
StAugDawg
July 30th, 2009
2:28 pm
Richt’s career looks like it may mirror Phil Mickelson’s a bit. I think eventually he will break through and maybe even win a few, but as long as Meyer is at UF, he will probably consistently contend in the conference, win his share of big bowl games, and have a hall of fame, great career. I don’t think Meyer is nearly as talented as Tiger, but he does seem to get it done when it counts.
gratefuldawghead
July 30th, 2009
2:34 pm
SEC4Life…Cox actually scored against Florida!
dogcrap
July 30th, 2009
2:37 pm
I wish someone would drop an atomic bomb on cesspool athens and kill every damn one over there. Now that would make my day.
Josh
July 30th, 2009
2:38 pm
Bali Smith, that is the most sensible post I have read on this blog in a long time. Thanks for the knowledge of the situation.
Josh
July 30th, 2009
2:41 pm
Oh, and Mark, you are the worst Braves jinx of all time. Don’t say anything more about the success they will have. Please.
TheItalianDawg
July 30th, 2009
2:41 pm
for every one who is saying Georgia will never win NC, I say to them PROVE IT!!
TW
July 30th, 2009
2:49 pm
Richt’s ability to win the BCS is contingeNT upon his ability to FIRE WILLIE MARTINEZ. THE DAWGS WILL NOT WIN ANOTHER SEC TITLE, LET ALONE THE BCS, WITH WILLIE MARTINEZ AS DC!
WE ARE WASTING LOADS OF CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT ON OUR INSUFFICIENT DEFENSIVE COACHING!
URBAN, SABAN, SPURRIER, AND MILES WOULD NEVER TOLERATE SUCH DISMAL COACHING ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL.
And that’s why they got the ring.
Chris
July 30th, 2009
3:01 pm
Mark,
278 comments. You really do know how to light a spark but unlike others who simply try to kick an ant hill, your stuff is lucid and always a pleasure to read.
Your take that the program was on the rise first five years and momentum has ’slowed’? I don’t know that that’s accurate. Mack Brown was always being criticized for being too nice until he broke through. Just because a coach rips his shirt off and busts a vein in his neck from screaming too hard at players doesn’t mean he’s effective.
As an aside, I think that ‘m’ guy is the retired Mysterio.
gdawginkalamazoo
July 30th, 2009
3:02 pm
ATL Gator, with in five years. 1) his luck that he makes will change 2) talent is still coming in 3) he will finally understand that you can’t take a half (either the first or second), a third quarter, the last minute, a drive or any second off during a game and expect to come back and win it on talent alone. UGA has had breakdown performances the past few seasons that just aren’t acceptable. You can’t get spanked by UF, get beat down by UT, or not show up at any point in the game. I think starting this season his discipline program is a lot better. No off season arrest yet, but really there haven’t been that many across the board. That discipline translate to better on field performance. Also I think if the D isn’t pulling it own weight then Willie is as good as gone. But everyone is back and healthy on that side of the ball, especially the middle of the line so I wouldn’t expect a let down on that side and Willie keeps his job.
Gordon
July 30th, 2009
3:13 pm
Question for dawg fans, and be honest. If you could go back in time to 2001, would you hire Mark Richt or Urban Meyer?
dap01
July 30th, 2009
3:23 pm
Perhaps only coaches with NC in the past 2 years should be hired by a college. Perhaps only coaches averaging 12 wins per year should even be allowed to live.
UGA has a record other schools can only dream about. The stadium is packed, the brand of football is excellent, the atmosphere is electric, and the wins come every year.
That yellow team would love to have UGA’s problems!
Gatorzone
July 30th, 2009
3:26 pm
Zoo, good to hear from you! I think you are accurate on all counts Richt seems to be learning something new each year that will make him a better coach, but if I were a Ga fan I would still want him to dump Willie. I do not believe UGA can win it all with WM.
Outsiders perspective only.
Jeff
July 30th, 2009
3:31 pm
Am a life long Dog fan, AND Tech fan. Only thing I don’t like about Richt is he has moved Georgia away from Hard Nose Football. Too much shotgun and not enough option and toss sweep. Tech has played run to set up the pass and now option at it’s BEST. Georgia passes to set up the run. Not SEC football. Who cares about Fla.
Bleedredandblack
July 30th, 2009
3:32 pm
Yes I think the dawgs will win a national title if they get rid of Martinez…He is not aggressive enough to be in the sec and the defense was not well couched last year…
gdawginkalamazoo
July 30th, 2009
3:33 pm
Gordon, I don’t know how to answer that one. Are you talking about hiring somebody based on hindsight? If I knew that Meyer would bring two NC’s to UGA would I hire him? Of course you would be a fool to say that you wouldn’t want that success. But hell let’s just say that we hired Spurrier back in 1989 instead of Ray Goff and call it a day. Now if you go back to 2001 and have no idea which coach would have 2 NC’s by 2008 then I would have picked Richt. Major programs that he has been involved with that have had major success (Miami and FSU). Well established coordinator that has played with and coached Heisman trophy winners. Obviously nothing wrong with Meyers path to champsionship status he has won consistenly everywhere he has coached and has turned into one of the best coaches in the country, if not the best. However Richt’s not too bad either. He is a proven winner and his NC time will come. He has already been close twice in his short tenure and IMO will eventually get there.
Bleedredandblack
July 30th, 2009
3:36 pm
The dawgs had talent from top to bottom to be champions and in the sec you can’t be a nice guy…You have to part religion and football…I mean I’m a strong christian man and I believe in prayer before and after games…But Richt has to seperate the two..This is a man’s game nd players are not trained to go out there to be nice…Its an aggressive sport and I think we don’t have the aggressive couches to put us over the top…
gdawginkalamazoo
July 30th, 2009
3:38 pm
Gatorzone, I have been lying low this summer waiting patiently for kickoff. I know it is a tough decision for Richt and this season I believe will tell all. If the D faulters like it has the past couple of years then Willie is gone. I believe UGA can draw a top rated D co-ordinator to the program that will show some fire FOR 60 MINUTES. Maybe even Monte if Kiffy doesn’t make it past a full year at UT.
Gordon
July 30th, 2009
3:38 pm
Ok, kalamazoo, let me ask it another way. Would you trade right now? Just yes or no.
By the way, I’m a Tech fan, and I’d trade Johnson for Richt. I hope that turns out to be something I look back on and say was a bad decision, but Richt has proven over too many years he is a very good coach. At least Johnson has put us back in the conversation.
Jay in VA
July 30th, 2009
3:43 pm
Winning the national championship is basically a political crap shoot. Who knows if Coach Richt will win one, or 3, or none? A lot of excellent coaches have never won one. Takes a good coach to get in position, but then you need a lot of luck (which the Dawgs haven’t had much of for years in my opinion) and the politics have to be right. Coach Richt had a 12-1 SEC championship team in 2002. Most years that would have been good enough to get to the big game, but that year there were 2 undefeated teams ahead of him. Heck, Tommy Tuberville did have an undefeated SEC title team in 2004 and was not picked to play for the BCS title. Like I said, a crap shoot.
shane#1
July 30th, 2009
3:44 pm
I think one of the most idiotic sports cliches is that a player or coach, “can’t win the big one.” When Roy Williams was at Kansas tv pundits were saying that he was a good coach, but he hadn’t won the big one. Did going to UNC suddenly make Williams a better coach, or did the stars simply align correctly? Dan Moreno never won the big one, yet I hear he was a pretty good qb. I never drank the #1 koolaid last year anyway. IMO, UGA’s offensive line was too young, and that was before Sturdivant and Vance went down. Can Richt win it all? Well he is recruiting good athletes and he has consistancy in his coaching staff, and he is a pretty good coach himself, stranger things have happened!
Go Gators
July 30th, 2009
3:45 pm
Some people just don’t have it. The chips fall into place for Florida and LSU because they have coaches that create positive momentum and have swagger. I have been to every Florida home game since 2005 and I have NEVER seen the Gators play not to lose, where as Georgia constantly seems to be trying to avoid losing rather than attacking and playing to win. They don’t have the swagger or the killer instinct. There is nobody on UGA’s schedule that fears them to the point they expect to lose. People are afraid to play Florida,LSU, OR USC.
big_dawg_fan
July 30th, 2009
3:47 pm
I’m tired of Tech fans bringing up 45-42 all the time. It’s just 1 win Jackets. 1 out of the last 8. Although, I suppose it’s actually 4 of the last 8. If they win the next 3 it’s 7-7. If Paul Johnson is around 3 more years that’s very likely to happen!!!!!
David
July 30th, 2009
3:48 pm
Come on Ga, you knew this article was coming. Heck you guys have been wondering the same thing. I will say this. No your not going to win any championships but I think Richt has done a hell of a job. It beats having down years by a mile. Changing defensive coaches is not going to get you championships. Mark has hit a ceiling but so what? I will take 10 wins any year. Besides, some people are still profiting from the 80 championship like Belue and Vince. You think they want another MNC?
big_dawg_fan
July 30th, 2009
3:48 pm
That’s 4 of last 11.
BIGBOY
July 30th, 2009
3:53 pm
Atlanta Gator,Gatorzone I still say the same thing.The major difference between FLA and UGA is Fla has recruited better on the defensive side of the ball..period.Now is that the Gator’s fault?Hell no that’s on our staff.Fla has seemingly always had a fair share of 4-5 star recruits on defense while UGA has more of a 4-3 mix.Rankings are not every thing but they give a pretty accurate overall assessment of talent.We have had a few great D units under Mark Richt and a lot of the games were close… but Fla always seemed to have a little better group of athletes on D.One thing though is Fla was very familiar with Richt’s scheme from playing FSU every year.I’d say the combination of the of the two was an edge..turning to the present a win this year and it’s 3-3 over the last 6.I don’t see talent as an issue any more moving forward…looking at this 2010 class with 2 out of 18 on O..Richt seems to get the message.
Mark "Spray Tan" Richt
July 30th, 2009
3:54 pm
Sadly, no. And I am currently owned by Paul Johnson.
Tide Rising
July 30th, 2009
4:01 pm
If you stay at or near the top long enough then eventually the right combination of talent (UGA will always have), chemistry, and luck (staying injury free and having other top teams topple out, lucky bounces of the ball) then you will eventually get to the top.
Just ask Tom Osborne of Nebraska, Joe Paterno, Roy Williams, Mack Brown, Vince Dooley. I could go on and on about top coaches that everybody seems to forget just how long it took for them to get there and in cases above it took a few of them over 20 yrs to win their first title.
Have some perspective folks. As long as CMR keeps the talent stockpiled eventually the pieces will all fall into place.
gdawginkalamazoo
July 30th, 2009
4:02 pm
Gordon, right now, no I would not trade Richt for Meyer. I can’t think of any coach I would trade Richt for right now. That’s why I have a tough time with all the naysayers that want Richt gone if doesn’t win an NC soon. He is doing a great job with the program. I remember the Goff and Donan years all too well so I know worst things can happen. I know you remember Chan.
Go Gators, you are correct about the killer instinct and playing not to lose. I think he will finally get that idea soon enough. He is still learning and I think that is one of the last key components to get him to that NC game. He has been close twice already in just eight season. I know Urban has two NC’s but you guys have a once in a lifetime player helping with that. Mack Brown is a hell of a coach and look how long it took him. Look at Pete Carroll with his loaded to the gills NFL team out there, only one NC so far. I believe the first thing a coach needs is to be consistently successful and Richt is.
Tide Rising
July 30th, 2009
4:04 pm
gdawginkalamazoo.
You wouldn’t trade Richt for Mike Shula? I hear he’s available!
UGA livin' through LSU
July 30th, 2009
4:12 pm
Keep living vicariously through LSU since y’all suck ass.
45-42
#1Threader
July 30th, 2009
4:17 pm
Has Tebow touched enough 3rd world gregs to win the national title again this year?
gdawginkalamazoo
July 30th, 2009
4:17 pm
Tide, definitely no but I hated the way you guys canned him. Like Ray Goff for us, I don’t think Mike’s problem was a lack of effort or not wanting to win, he just couldn’t get it done.
JaxDawg
July 30th, 2009
4:19 pm
Gordon- good question, but going back in time I personally would still hire Richt. Urban is a great coach and has won everywhere he’s been, but again the comparrisons aren’t as far off as people might think.
Urban’s 1st 4 yrs:
44-9
2 SEC East titles
2 SEC Championships
2 National Championships
Richt’s 1st 4yrs:
42-10
2 SEC East titles
1 SEC Championship
What truly seperates the two in most people’s minds is the two national titles, but again as I alluded to earlier, there is a great deal of luck that goes into winning the MNC.
Think about this S.Spurrier he won 6 SEC titles played for 2 titles won 1, and in his run with UF only failed to win 10 games 3 times from 90-01.
Again not taking anything away from Meyer, but he has been lucky that things fell into place for him the two times he had florida in contention.
Gator fans enjoy the run U.Meyer is on, but don’t put him on such a high pedestal that you can’t realize that as good as he is, he’s been lucky as well. Seriously how many Gator fans truly thought you guys had a shot of making the game in 06 knowing that to have any chance, USC would have to lose to a 6-5(heading into the game) UCLA team AND He had to politic to make sure voters moved UF to #2 above Mich.
Anyway, no I personally wouldn’t trade Richt for Meyer.
bballfan
July 30th, 2009
4:19 pm
Until Richt can put together 13 straight games without a dud, he is going to have a hard time winning a championship. He always seems to have 2 to 3 games a year that they just look out of sync. Sometimes you win those games like at Vandy and sometimes you lose like at SC. Richt knows what went wrong: bad game plan, bad prep, players not ready to go, whatever. Great coaches make the adjustments and overcome. He gets the talent to win, we’ll see if he is a great coach or just a very good one. I’m betting he will. But not this year.
#1Threader
July 30th, 2009
4:22 pm
who does Nigeria’s circumcisions during the football season, Shane Matthews?
SAINT SIMMONS
July 30th, 2009
4:25 pm
I’m stupid!
#1Threader
July 30th, 2009
4:27 pm
Chuck Norris vs. Tim Tebow, who dies?
Comin' Down The Track
July 30th, 2009
4:33 pm
University of Georgia record over Georgia Institute of Technology
59-39-5 .720 all-time since 1893
32-12 .727 overall since 1964 (the year Tech ran away from the SEC with their tiny stingers tucked between their legs)
12 wins in the last 44 years.
Tech would have to go 20-10 (a .667 clip compared to the previous one hundred sixteen years at .280) in order to EVEN this series within thirty years (2039 (Good news! Star Track [sic] might be even true by then)).
Thy beatdown cometh, bugs.
BLAZER
July 30th, 2009
4:34 pm
2ND IN THE SEC EAST IS ALWAYS GOOD!
#1Threader
July 30th, 2009
4:37 pm
I LIKE TURTLES!
#1Threader
July 30th, 2009
4:44 pm
Tebow is a virgin anally too?
shane#1
July 30th, 2009
4:56 pm
Zoo, Goff was put in a bad spot, he wasn’t prepared to be a head coach. Donan averaged 8 wins a year, just like Dooley. His problems were losing to UT, and UF consisrently and losing to Tech at times. Plus, the man had no political skills. University Presidents all want to win, but the coach at a State school like UGA has to hobnob with fat cat boosters and state pols to bring in more money. Donan was not good at that part of the job and those guys didn’t like him. So Dooley goes into the college coaching hall of fame and Donan gets fired.
gtforever
July 30th, 2009
5:02 pm
NO
Gordon
July 30th, 2009
5:06 pm
Kalamazoo and Jaxdawg,
Thanks for your responses. I have to say I’m a little surprised, but you guys have obviously thought it through. Richt is a great coach, and I do see one advantage over Meyer: I think he wants to stay where he is long term. I’m not so sure about Meyer.
gtforever
July 30th, 2009
5:14 pm
Comin’ down the track or whatever you call yourself….. The gap will be closing, domination is OVER! The game will be competitive every year…. Your going down, again, this year! Bank on it!
David Granger
July 30th, 2009
5:17 pm
I don’t think so. He’s a good recruiter and a pretty good administrator. UGA will be consistently strong under him, if fo no other reason than just because he’ll be a competitive recruiter. But he’s a little too “gimmicky” for the SEC, I think. He tries to finesse too much, when there are times you need to just hitch up your pants and knock the slobber out of the other team. (Georgia seems to get less out of our blitzes than just about any team I’ve ever seen. And we blitz in some of the strangest situations…) Plus, I think Richt has brought a little of that Bobby Bowden “aw, them boys are just having a little fun” attitude of ignoring players acting like punks. (And it’s hard for a longtime Georgia fan to see my beloved Dawgs act like that FSU scum…)
I think that Richt is an Eisenhower, not a Patton.
weak SEC sisters club
July 30th, 2009
5:18 pm
Huh?
July 30th, 2009
5:28 pm
So to sum up today’s Mark Bradley blog:
Mark Bradley: Will Richt ever win the BCS?
Georgia fan: Yes we will win a national title.
Crybaby haters: No you won’t.
Georgia fan: Yes we will.
Crybaby haters: No you won’t.
Georgia fans: Yes we will.
Crybaby haters: No you won’t.
And so on and so forth….Real riveting stuff AJC. I definitely see a Pulitzer on the horizon Mark.
Jermaine Johnson Lives
July 30th, 2009
5:31 pm
“Uh, dummy, UGA did not dance on the Vandy logo. How many times does this have to be explained to you? Coutu’s FG was kicked from near midfield and the players were just celebrating the made, winning FG.”
Wow, midfield? I didn’t realize the Dawgs had Tom Dempsey kicking for them (in the clever guise of Coutu) in 2007.
Cheese balls
July 30th, 2009
6:15 pm
Jermaine Johnson lives,
you obviously do NOT know the tradition of UGA kickers. Go crawl back into your hole. The quote said “near mid-field”. I know you guys love to take things out of context and try to be cute with your hatred remarks but, the truth is you are JEALOUS of the Dawgs otherwise you wouldn’t be on this blog and certainly not responding.
Houdawg
July 30th, 2009
6:19 pm
Hey Ramble ……. Tech winning two before Richt, etc. ?? Simply NO WAY that ANY current ACC team even gets to the MNC game, muchless Tech.
And IF by some harmonic convergence, it happened ….. they’d have the fertilizer kicked out of ‘em by an SEC ; Big 12 ; Pac 10 ; or even a Big 10 opponent. Ya dreamin’ boy ………
Fire the Coordinators
July 30th, 2009
6:23 pm
Bobo is average at best and Martinez is just plain awful. Bradley points out that UGA’s defensive numbers and stats lead us to believe that CWM is doing a fine job at coordinating, however there is so much more to defense than just plain numbers. I remember watching than VanGorder coached players flocking to the ball carrier and knocking people as hard as possible (Davis and Blue). Willie’s players completely lack that intensity. There is no reason why players such as Brandon Miller and Reshad Jones should not have that killer instinct. Jones was slated to be the next coming of Blue or Davis, and that is a completely fair assumption based on his size and skill level, but anyone who as the Tech game couldn’t help but notice how he tried to bump players out of bounds to no avail, rather than driving them into the ground. The only reason a player of his caliber would play in such a manor is poor coaching.
This season we had three incidents where the defense completely collapsed, but all we have to do is keep looking back and we find plenty of examples of times when it seemed like the D had no idea what they where doing. There was the West Virginia game, the first half against VA Tech, 2006 and 2007 against Tennessee. I know anyone can go back a few years with any team and find poor defensive performances, however the examples I cited were complete and utter breakdowns caused by BAD preparation and coaching.
Richt needs to realize that Willie is dragging the team down, the players don’t respect him, and if something does not change with the coordinators, something will change with the coach.
And on a side note Richt needs to improve with his overall team discipline. Its no secret in Athens that Moreno and Stafford were downtown almost every night. That doesnt seem like a great pattern for your 2 star players and LEADERS.
BS Patrol
July 30th, 2009
6:44 pm
Comin’ down is not too good W/ fractions. The correct % is 60. Dogs win 6 of 10. Tech wins 4 of 10. But all that is about to change.
dawgfan1911
July 30th, 2009
6:52 pm
Coach Richt is a good coach and an even better person. The problem is that Urban Myer is a GREAT Coach and a lousy human being. That said, Gators have the advantage. The coaching staffs are so far apart as well. Florida’s coaches are better by a long shot. Our special teams and defensive coaches are terrible. We cant even kick the ball out of bounds. Georgia also faces a lot of media critics as well. It will be hard for them to win any votes in the polls and they play a conservative type game where they dont blow teams away, they put in the second string and run the ball for the rest of the game. I hope we can win a championship soon, but the reality of it all is that we have a few more thing going against us than Florida. Another thing I didnt mention earlier is the scheduling. Look at Florida’s non conference schedule and even their conference schedule. They dont play anyone especially since FSU have fallen so much.
BS Patrol
July 30th, 2009
7:00 pm
I would also point out for the mentally challenged like track man that this is 1 game per 10 years of being an even split. That’s 50-50 for you.
Blue Fox
July 30th, 2009
7:22 pm
And everyone forgets that UNC turned St. Mark down before UGA interviewed him, what idiots are running the Tar Heels FB program??
BS Patrol
July 30th, 2009
7:25 pm
Hey Train Wreck,
With your slightly less than impressive command of the logic of math, I hope you aren’t planning to design any parking decks any time soon. At least wait until you have mastered grammar school arithmetic.
Top Dawg
July 30th, 2009
7:27 pm
Since like 8th grade or something, Joe Cox has not lost a game he started. (And he has started quite a few.)
doug
July 30th, 2009
7:31 pm
Georgia is not allowed to win National titles. They can however win SEC titles when know one else wants it. Leave the BCS Championchips to Lsu and Florida. I hate it but thats the way it is. We dont have the DC to get us to the promised land. Georgia had the offence to get there last year but the Defense choked.
Top Dawg
July 30th, 2009
7:33 pm
Nobody has been more concerned about our Defensive Coordinator than I have. That said, I think a lot can be said out CMR’s loyalty and family environment he creates and promotes at UGA. Long before Less Miles hired John Chavis, I was calling out for CMR to hire him. Maybe the promotion of John Jancek to Co-Defensive Coordinator will pay big dividends. Plus, a lot of the recruits cite CWM as a reason they have chosen UGA.
Bottom line: Our defense needs to get shored up, and again, maybe it will be. That has been my main concern. I like Coach Bobo as OC, except for his propensity to throw the fade route close to the goal line when it rarely, rarely, rarely ever seems to work for us (for whatever reason).
Go Dawgs!!! Mark Richt is THE MAN!!!!
The Blog Referee
July 30th, 2009
7:40 pm
AJC Editors,
Please delete the blog entries by “uga sucks —-” @ 7:09, @ 7:11, @ 7:15 and @ 7:16. The blogger’s handle is a violation of the AJC blog user agreement.
Thank you.
UGA Grad '08
July 30th, 2009
7:55 pm
The answer: yes. When? When UGA gets the right breaks just like EVERY National Champion that did not start the season as # 1 or #2 then proceeded to go Undefeated.
I hate the Gators but I definitely respect UM and the powerhouse he’s built at UF as well as their accomplishments. With that being said I can’t help but roll my eyes every time some Gator “fan” comes on here and tells me the reason that UF has won Nat’l Championships is because and I paraphrase “UF comes to EXPECT Nat’l Championships, UGA’s just content to win the SEC”. First of all any logical person can see how utterly stupid a statement that is. Second, if there’s ever a poster child for how you NEED good fortune that’s completely out of your control for a NC it’s UF. Let’s go down gator memory lane shall we:
1996 first Nat’l Championship. #1 Gators lose to #2 Seminoles in the final game of the regular season. Texas defeated defending NC Nebraska who was I believe # 2. Due to conference bowl obligations then #2 AZ St. went to the Rose Bowl to play #4 Ohio State. #3 then gets a rematch with FSU in the Sugar Bowl. You can guess what happens next: OSU upsets ASU, the Gators take advantage of their opportunity rolling to a big win in the Sugar Bowl.
2006: Season long #1 and #2 OSU and Michigan always play each other during the regular season as opposed to being a #1 and #2 that have to wait until Bowl week to play each other (like Texas and USC in ’05). The week after #2 USC loses to a 6-5 UCLA team in a HUGE upset. UF beats Arkansas in the SECCG thus ending up as the default team to play #1 Ohio State. Personally I believe, USC would have beaten any SEC team that year had they met in a BCS bowl. Keep in mind this is the team that under Pete Carroll is 6-1 in BCS bowls and more importantly Stomped SEC west champ Arkansas 60-14 to open the season.
Meyer has built a great program in Gainesville but let’s not kid ourselves that lucky breaks are needed to win a NC. A program can only take care of things it can control: recruiting and contending for its conference championship consistently. Do that (which UGA does under Richt) and your shot will come.
Vin Stooley
July 30th, 2009
7:58 pm
The answer is NO! Richt is too busy grovelling to some high school coach in Columbus.
BruffDawg
July 30th, 2009
8:03 pm
Gators don’t kid yourselves. NOBODY repeats as national champs. Even when USC had the chance texas wanted it more. There will always be a team hungrier than you if you are defending champs. Just the way it is. Yes the dawgs will win one under richt if as dawg fans we trust him to keep it up and wait for our turn of breaks to fall into sync. DONT PUT RICHT ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT LIST AND HE WILL GET US THERE!!!!
SabanRules
July 30th, 2009
8:07 pm
No BCS title for Richt as long as Meyer, Miles and Saban are ruling the SEC. Richt is not a prime time, big game coach. He chokes it up big time against the top teams, with a couple of fluke SEC titles when Bama and Florida were down. Richt needs to take the florida state job when the old geezer at fsu leaves, since he will not be winning any more SEC titles!
GT9
July 30th, 2009
8:09 pm
Mark Richt has done an excellent job in Athens as a head football coach. He’s quite capable of winning a National Championship. He’s beaten coaches who have won national championships; Fulmer, Saban, Meyer, Miles, and Spurrier. Richt coached the winningest quarterback in the history of the NCAA. (Was Richt calling the plays during all 4 of Greene’s seasons?)
The Richt family are an incredible asset to the University of Georgia, Athens-Clarke County, state of Georgia, SEC, and the NCAA.
Would it be U of Cal, Berkeley or U of Cal, Los Angeles or U of Cal, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, or Santa Barbara?
Anonymous
July 30th, 2009
8:13 pm
UGA Grad ‘08,
So, your point is what? That the Gators were “lucky” and they didn’t deserve to be national champions in 1996, 2006 or 2008? Or, the Gators did exactly what they were supposed to do, and were in a position to take advantage of their “luck” when it fell their way? Are you saying that’s exactly what the Dawgs need to do—-become annual SEC contenders, and then wait for the inevitable BCS title opportunity?
You sound a little conflicted.
Dawg'94
July 30th, 2009
8:16 pm
Richt is a great coach & will win the big one soon. On the other hand, Fabis is NOT a good coach & should have never been allowed back when he left for Oklahoma for a week. He is the coach that should be outta here!
BruffDawg
July 30th, 2009
8:24 pm
Look at miles and sabans record vs richt. Miles has NEVER beaten richt. Saban and richt are separated by a game, and meyer is a different story. That being said he has beaten them all and will do so again. Plus, richt will go to miami b4 he ever goes to fsu. Do some research before you post about a man you know little about. Stay forever richt.
weston
July 30th, 2009
8:34 pm
>>Uga should have a ring made like a cupcake, they love those cupcake teams!!!!!!!!!
Ha. Ha. Hee. Haw. at the yellow wig. Hmmm, Jacksonville St, Gardner Webb, Duke. Yeah, those are some powerful teams there that Bug U plays, yellow wig. We look upon your schedule and tremble, thankful we don’t play any of them….LMAO
Mark: obviously the AJC needed some web hits for you to dig up this corpse of a story again. But to answer your question: until Martinez and Boobo are fired, Richt’s teams will continue to come up short every year. Neither coach (n.e.i.t.h.e.r) should be coaching at this level. Coach Searels should be the OC, Boobo and Martinez should be at Troy.
I know. I know. “10 win seasons are great!” “I don’t care about winning the BCS as long as we win 10 games!” “Remember Goff? Nuff said!” “It took Dooley 100yrs to win one!” There. I saved you all the trouble.
Dawgs lose 2 games this year: LSU and FL. Possibly 3rd at OK ST. Just depends on how well JC can manage to keep the team ahead with the Martinez defenses laying down on the field.
BruffDawg
July 30th, 2009
8:47 pm
Final score in stillwater sept 5th UGA 35 OKST 17.
Gatorzone
July 30th, 2009
8:51 pm
This just in: Meyer just called another timeout! 49-10 baby—it’s all good!!!!
This year, it could be worse! Tebow wants an undefeated season and should get it. He’s really fired up!!!
Chad
July 30th, 2009
8:54 pm
Playing in BCS game is sometimes due to a lot of luck, or bad luck. In 2002 UGA has 12-1 record, but Miami and Ohio St are undefeated. In 2006 FL doesn’t get to BCS game except that UCLA upset USC in last game; and in 2007 LSU doesn’t get to BCS game except MO and WVA, #2 and #3 ranked teams both get upset in last week of season.
HanDAWG
July 30th, 2009
9:10 pm
read http://www.bighairyblawg.com for real coverage of Richt’s Golden Era: We’ve been in the Top 10 five of Richt’s 8 years and finished #2 and #3; only one goal remains, and the path leads through Jacksonville, where we can even the recent (6 games) series with Florida with a win. We did beat Tebow two years ago and can again, although Gators will be favored this year. Dawgs get past Okie St and will be favored in every other contest.
UGA Grad '08
July 30th, 2009
9:13 pm
anonymous my point being: so long as UGA continues to recruit well and contend for the SEC as they have every year under Richt, they will eventually will win a NC.
As a corollary: it’s a bogus argument that Richt is anything less than a very good coach or that UGA is heads and shoulders below title programs like LSU and UF because UGA has not won a NC. UGA has the sixth best overall record this decade ahead of LSU and Florida (which includes an 8-4 year in 2000 under Donnan). Richt has also been to the SECCG more times than Florida during his tenure and has won at least a share of the SEC east five times during his eight year tenure at Georgia.(’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07) So during the MR years ,UGA more often than not, has had one of if not the best records in the division that is also home to the Gators. Mark Richt also has a three game winning streak against the LSU Tigers, all three of which were pretty big wins against very good teams (with the possible exception of last year).
UGA Grad '08
July 30th, 2009
9:23 pm
I don’t think it’s conflicting to say that you must be consistently good in order to have opportunites to be “lucky” as the Gators did. or as Anonymous said “the Gators did exactly what they were supposed to do, and were in a position to take advantage of their “luck” when it fell their way”.
Chad
July 30th, 2009
9:31 pm
Of course to play for BCS championship you have to have a very good season, but sometimes other teams get the votes and your team never even gets a chance. Remember Auburn was undefeated a few years ago and did not evan get in the BCS game.
Chris
July 30th, 2009
9:31 pm
GEORGIA TECH WINS I GAME IN SEVEN AND THINKS THEY ARE WORLD BEATERS BUT THIS YEAR WITH A BETTER DEFENSE THE DAWGS WILL KNOCK YOU THROUGH THE VARSITY ONTO I-75.KIDS IN THIS STATE DREAM OF WEARING THE RED AND BLACK.
IF WE HAD THE ROOM WE COULD PUT 150,000 OR MORE IN SANFORD,TECH YOU CANT EVEN SELL OUT BOBBY DODD AND YOU HAVE EVEN TAKEN OUT SEATS THROUGH THE YEARS YOU COWARDS DID NOT WANT TO PLAY IN THE SEC.WE REMEMBER LAST YEAR AND WE WILL KICK YOU IN ATLANTA THIS YEAR!GO DAWGS!
truth-serum
July 30th, 2009
9:35 pm
Richt is an underachiever and a loser. Hes had a top 5 recruiting class for nearly a decade and a half and has barely made it to the tangerine bowl. What a loser the guy is…
Mo dumb Bradley. I was trying to buy Michael Vicks jersey. seems there has been a run on them….Tell me, whose jersey is selling more Vicks or that guy that hands of to Turner and Norwood?
Chuckles
July 30th, 2009
10:59 pm
I’m a Boston College grad – so I have no Dawg in this fight (sic).
But, I’d be proud to have Mark Richt as my team’s coach, be it football, hockey, heck, even badminton. He’s a good man.
As for if he wins or not? I could care less. He brings so much more to the table that as long as he’s competitive on the field (as he has been), I’d thank my lucky stars he was my coach.
Want to win so bad that you’d dump him if he didn’t? Who would you get to replace him?
Saban? Spurrier? Carroll? Good luck. This is one of the problems I have with folks who scream ‘fire the coach’ if he’s not constantly winning. If you dump him, you have to already have in mind someone that can do BETTER. And that is not an easy thing to find.
Truth
July 30th, 2009
11:40 pm
Richt ain’t winning anything unless Florida brings back Ron Zook!
Bruce
July 30th, 2009
11:49 pm
It is extremely hard for any team in the SEC to win a National Championship because everybody keeps knocking one another off…. which is why the schedule makes the difference. To win, you have to be almost injury free, extremely lucky, and have the schedule as a friend. Richt will not be able to win a National Championship because some idiot in the Athletic Office keeps trying to play the hardest schedule in the Nation. Florida, on the other hand, has finally learned from the Vince Dooley Championships, taking a page from Vince’s playbook. Just compare the schedules … Richt verses Dooley ( a great coach and very good scheduler) and Richt verses Florida’s schedules. Plus, I might add, Vince had great defensive coaches…. ’nuff said.
Taurus
July 31st, 2009
1:50 am
UGA has taken Texas place since Texas won their BCS Championship in my opinion. You see Texas always had top 5-10 talent every year, send players to the NFL all the time, but couldn’t win a championship and have constant issues with Oklahoma. UGA, same thing, but their issues are with Florida.
ckgator
July 31st, 2009
4:47 am
Richt will win at least 2, maybe 3 preseason national titles. Last year was only the first.
ckgator
July 31st, 2009
4:50 am
Taurus – you are delusional. UGA is not near Texas’ level. You are one season away from being the new South Carolina.
Jordan
July 31st, 2009
4:54 am
This is an easy easy question:
NO
Mark Richt will not win a NCAA title at Georgia. Guys, he will be no Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden type who stays at UGA FOREVER. He will eventually move on. Unfortunately for him, he has too many good coaches to compete with to ever go undefeated and win a national title. That being said, if they change the BCS format to a playoff in the next 5-6 years, come back and see me and you might get a different answer.
GT4Ever
July 31st, 2009
6:35 am
NOT while you have UF, LSU and Bama in the mix. It’s tough enough just to win the SEC championship much less the whole thing. I just don’t see it happening even though you guys will continue to have good teams in the future.
GT4Ever
July 31st, 2009
6:40 am
Chris, I agree with you. Nobody wanted to go see Chan and his buch. Would you if you were a GT fan? That’s all changed now. CPJ and GT are headed in the right direction. The stands will be filled for years to come.
Dawg
July 31st, 2009
6:46 am
Stats and records are all nice but what have we done lately? AS long as UF is playing in our conference and until our talent meshes and comes together we will never make it over that hump!!!!
UFgrad
July 31st, 2009
6:51 am
Handawg, your nuts. OK ST. will kick your butts!!! You’ll also be lucky to be favored against Vandy much less another teams. Don’t even talk about coming to our house. Tebow is going to blow up and WE WILL destroy you!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
UFgrad
July 31st, 2009
6:55 am
BruffDawg
July 30th, 2009
8:47 pm
Final score in stillwater sept 5th UGA 35 OKST 17.
YOU ARE CRAZY!!!!! In their house with. You guys will be lucky to score a TD. Zach Robinson and Dez Bryant are going to light you guys up!!!!
jerry
July 31st, 2009
7:05 am
If there are no extenuating circumstances concerning all those Willie Martimez clunkers then no, he will not as long as Willie is DC. Because there will be more clunkers to come.
tennessee tom
July 31st, 2009
7:06 am
i don’t see any body beating Fla,this year,everybody else is playing for 2nd,things will probley change when tebow is gone, You have 2 teams in the east tn and fla,and 2 teams in the west ala,lsu with NC in the last 20 yrs,that want change either,what we have here is the big 4 and the little
8,ala is back as much as i hate it,lsu is loaded,fla is loaded,tn is on the way back up,the only place ga can go is down,oh and by the way GT is a very good team,ga probley want win the state title much less th NC
Here’s My Bucket List | Betting FBCC: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
July 31st, 2009
7:12 am
[...] The Hot Button: Will UGA win a BCS title under Mark Richt? One’s a nice guy; the other has two national championships. What once seemed inevitable remains an unanswered question. [...]
Gen Neyland
July 31st, 2009
7:42 am
Tennessee Tom : The public education system in Tennessee has apparently taken a beating since I attended Crieve Hall Elementary back in the 60’s…
Dan
July 31st, 2009
7:46 am
Maybe, though I believe it will take the presence of a once-in-a-decade-or-longer type of player (e.g., Herschel; Tebow; Bo Jackson) for Richt to do it. That’s not necessarily a knock, either; the same applies to plenty of good coaches. And it might take a few more years; Tom Osborne and Bobby Bowden, for example, were good coaches for a long time before they snagged their first national titles.
tony
July 31st, 2009
8:34 am
There are 3 things Mark Richt must do for him to win a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP starting with the most obvious.
1) Stop Lying! DJ was better than D.Greene and Richt knew that, Moreno was better than T.Brown and Richt knew that and just recently he said Mettenbeger and Aaron Murray had a good spring when he knew full well that Mettenberger had a bad spring. His lies is causing the team bad luck. http://www.jacksonvillecom/tu-online/stories/090602/col_10375439.html
2) he need to hire a qualified defensive and offensive coordinator.
3) he need to put his best players on the football field rather they are seniors or not, starting with Aaron Murray over Joe Cox.
Florida Dawg Fan
July 31st, 2009
8:46 am
Need a Def. Cood. that is not a friend, clock is still ticking on Off. Cood. With the talent Georgia has why are they not winning more. That is the question only the football gods can answer. Not me as I’m waiting for you know who to go to ND and you know who to finally graduate cause they are going to win it all again I’m afraid. But I’m still yelling loud as I can GO DAWGS
GADawg58
July 31st, 2009
9:20 am
I am a proud UGA season ticket holder, especially because Mark Richt is our coach. UGA may or may not win a national championship. I, for one, believe it will happen some day. Far more importantly, UGA has a man of integrity leading these young men. Just look other “championship” programs with the win at any cost mentality (thugs, drugs, cheating, recruiting violations, etc). I would much rather have a coach with integrity, a moral compass and a geniune interest in developing these young men into successful adult lives. Yes, Mark Richt was the first coach in college football to team up with Tony Dungy in his All-Pro Dads program. Not because it was the fashionable thing to do. But because that is a program consistent with who Mark Richt is at the core. A very good person (and a damn good coach). UGA players under Mark Richt win continue to win on the field and off the field in the right way. Go Dawgs!!!
Comin' Down The Track
July 31st, 2009
10:44 am
Keep smokin’ it, gtforever. It’s the only thing that’ll get you through because once the purple haze clears from your mind, you will see that thy beatdown continues through the ages. (I think I’ll go post these stats on other message boards so that all you math lovers can continue to try to refute them).
SmartJay
July 31st, 2009
11:25 am
I have posted this before, but this is why Mark Richt is nothing but an above average SEC coach:
Record against these coaches:
Spurrier, Meyer, Mile, Saban, Fulmer, Gailey, CPJ: 17-14. Remove GAILEY and it’s 11-14. Remove Fulmer and it’s 6-11. He’s going to have to get better against, specifically: Saban, Miles, Meyer. Granted he only has to face one of those guys EVERY year, but who doesn’t think Kiffin is going to be better than Fulmer, and that Spurrier isn’t still capable of playing .500 against UGA, even at USC?
Richt is at best the 4th best coach in his own conference, and that may be good enough for UGA fans, who all seem to remember 1980 like it was yesterday, but, in that time span, how many SEC schools have won national titles (none of them being Georgia)?
Sorry, he’s a nice coach, just not a great one.
Ed
July 31st, 2009
11:31 am
Dwelling on something that requires as much luck as talent (see Auburn ‘04 and LSU ‘07) is a complete waste of psychic energy. Worrying about a championship that doesn’t actually exist in the record books is also a waste of time.
Let’s focus on what we can control – winning the East, then the SEC Championship. One more banner to tie Tennessee at 13, then we can start chipping away at Alabama’s all-time lead.
Atlanta Gator
July 31st, 2009
11:53 am
Ed—-I hate to pop your bubble, but most great human accomplishments require skill, hard work AND luck. That doesn’t make those great accomplishments any less noteworthy. Ask Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
Moe
July 31st, 2009
12:29 pm
I’ll take Mr. Niceguy Richt and 10 wins per season over Mr. F-bomb Johnson and the 1 out of the last 8 Yechies!
UFgrad
July 31st, 2009
1:15 pm
GADawg58, I’m a little confused!!! While he may have high moral character it’s not rubbing off on the athletes or IS he just over looking all their off field stuff because HE wants to win at any cost?
GT4Ever
July 31st, 2009
1:32 pm
What’s wrong Comin’ Down The Track? Are you mad that everyone around the SEC is winning championships but you guys. I have no delusions on GT. We’ve been bad for a long time and unlike other GT fans I’ll start glamming GT up when they win a few from you guys. You can’t refute CPJ has the program back on track, can you? When I’m not pulling for Gt I’m pulling for UF to kick UGA butts!!!!
Ed
July 31st, 2009
2:11 pm
Atlanta Gator, my bubble hasn’t been popped at all. It’s a fact that the so-called national championship at the highest level of college football is mythical. It doesn’t exist as an official NCAA record. No bias here – Georgia’s championships in ‘80 and ‘42 are just as fictitious as anyone else’s. (The 1942 crown was somehow awarded in the 90s, which is still a headscratcher). When I note that LUCK is involved, I wasn’t talking about a fumble here or an untimely injury there, I was talking about things a team has no control of – huge upsets, or a win by a higher ranked team that didn’t impress the voters, etc.
It’s a complete joke, I can’t believe anyone takes it seriously. To base a coach’s legacy or worth on how many fictitious titles he has won seems a little silly to me. But apparently I’m in the minority.
southgadawg88
July 31st, 2009
2:15 pm
SmartJay stop lying!Mark Richt is 2-0 against Miles,4-2 against Spurrier,5-3 against Fulmer,2-3 against Saban,1-3 against Meyer and he never lost to Gailey so PLEASE TELL ME HOW AND THE HELL DID YOU COME UP WITH THOSE NUMBERS?You know what IDIOT?You could have looked up that info before you posted that gibberish!
BIGBOY
July 31st, 2009
2:21 pm
88 You busted that A……….!!!!LOL
Ed
July 31st, 2009
2:23 pm
Example of how silly the MNT is: Tommy Tuberville lead Auburn to a 13-0 record in ‘04, but has exactly as many national championship seasons as Richt: ZERO. He has one less title than Les Miles, who has never had so much as a ONE-LOSS season. Make sense?
Richt, the coach we are all wondering has what it takes to “win” a BCS title – went 13-1 his second season, which ties the best season Florida has ever had. Nevertheless, Florida has won two MNTs in the Richt era.
And my favorites: 1990, Colorado lost one game, tied another, and should have lost a second game after they were stopped on downs but were awarded a 5th down (official lost count), got a split national championship after barely surving their bowl game on a controversial call.
I almost forgot to mention: nearly two-thirds of Division I schools are effectively ineligible for the national title before the season even starts because they either are not ranked high enough at the beginning of the season (Kansas ‘07, Auburn ‘04), or they come from a non BCS conference (Utah last year, TCU, Tulane and Boise State in years past).
Utah has had two perfect seasons (including, ironically, one under Meyer), but 0 titles. Last year’s Utah team was probably the best team in the country, but by the time they showed their stuff against Alabama, it was too late.
I stand by my point: to base a coach’s worth on such a crazy, arbitrary system makes no sense.
BIGBOY
July 31st, 2009
2:35 pm
Good post ED
SOUTHGADAWG88
July 31st, 2009
2:36 pm
SmartJay where you at?
Kevin
July 31st, 2009
2:54 pm
Call me crazy all you want but this UGA team this year has everything it needs to play in the BCS title game. As long as UGA can stay healthy they have all the pieces to get to the National title game this year! They have an outstanding vocal leader ( Joe Cox) One of the best offensive lines in the country, and great receivers and solid running backs. The defense will will be back to the old days as long as the secondary steps up. This UGA team this year is a better version of the Alabama team that made a run last year. Georgia Vs Texas 2009 BCS title game
SmartJay
July 31st, 2009
3:08 pm
This forum reminds me why I despise UGA fans and Liberals. Say something they don’t like and you’re an “IDIOT” or an “A_______”
Get over it, I’ll detail the Richt record, but, I admit to forgetting Zook. You remember him, don’t you?
Betting FBCC: Dallas Cowboys » Big 12 logjam: A team-by-team breakdown as season closes in – USA Today
July 31st, 2009
3:32 pm
[...] The Hot Button: Will UGA win a BCS title under Mark Richt? One’s a nice guy; the other has two national championships. What once seemed inevitable remains an unanswered question. [...]
Smart Jay
July 31st, 2009
3:45 pm
Ok, I will admit when I am wrong. Here’s the Richt record, and I have looked it up. I apologize the last time I did this, I missed some games. Against these coaches (Saban, Miles, Spurrier, Fulmer, Meyer, Zook, Gailey and Johnson), his record is 21-14. Seven of those wins (2001-2007) are against Chan Gailey, making him 14-14 against the rest. Against Fulmer, he’s 5-3. Against Spurrier, he’s 3-2 (0-1 in one time at UF, 3-1 at USC. I am sure his teams could have beaten Spurrier’s Redskins teams, but they never played – where are you getting a 4th victory?). Against Meyer, he’s 1-3; Saban, 2-3; Zook, 1-2; Johnson, 0-1; Miles, 2-0.
I stand corrected, he’s 13-11 against Fulmer, Meyer, Miles, Saban, Spurrier, which isn’t too bad in a competitive league like the SEC. Problem is, throw in Zook (who you could say just coached Spurrier’s teams) and he’s 14-13.
Now, you can call me an idiot all you want, it doesn’t really bother me. I happen to really like and respect Mark Richt. I think he’s a great man, and a very good football coach. I just don’t think he’s as good as Saban, or Meyer, or Spurrier in his prime.
And, were I a Georgia fan, seems he needs to be at better than .500 against those teams.
Saban would seem the most closely comparable coach (in tenure in the SEC), so I’ll look at him and see how Richt compares.
Smart Jay
July 31st, 2009
3:51 pm
Correction – I gave one of those losses of GT’s to Gailey (2001). That was O’Leary’s team. So, 6-0 vs. Gailey, 1-0 vs. O’Leary. Point is 7-1 vs. Tech, regardless of who the coach is.
tony
July 31st, 2009
3:56 pm
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090602/col_10375439.html I had to try again-didn’t work on my 1st post.
Smart Jay
July 31st, 2009
4:02 pm
This should provide some consolation to Richt fans. Saban is 10-8 against Richt (3-2), Fulmer (4-1), Miles (1-1), Spurrier (0-2), and Zook (2-1). So, not much different from Richt at two history rich SEC schools.
Lesson learned – Fulmer is the real whipping boy here, but, he does have one National Title (mythical or not).
LSUFavors
July 31st, 2009
4:03 pm
Richt is a good 9-10 win type coach, but not a championship coach. He has too many gaps on the coaching staff. But, UGA’s happy with that, so he’ll keep his job for awhile, while the Tigers and Gators keep winning national titles!!! OK with me.
Texas Fight
July 31st, 2009
4:10 pm
We will be screaming TEXAS! FIGHT!!! all the way to a 5th championship. UGA has NO shot. none
southgadawg88
July 31st, 2009
4:41 pm
OK.for all those who want to know ..the SEC coaches records are on an old chris low blog on espn.You can google it if you like.I want even bother with GT…Mark Richt was 30-14 against all SEC coaches in that article.The tittle is how SEC coaches have fared against their peers.Keep in mind this was on sept 16 2008 so what ever games were played after that would have to be added.Read up and some of you maybe surprised just how the head to head match ups have went.Some of these guys have not exactly dominated as you may think…interesting read.
southgadawg88
July 31st, 2009
5:04 pm
In regards to coaching records is this…people like to assume that Meyer,Saban,Miles and Spurrier have dominated against Richt and that just is not the case.However the PERCEPTION is still there.Spurrier is no longer at Fla and I guess most people still think about how he did dominate UGA.LSU is always thrown out there as a superior program because they won 2 NC but head to head they are 2-6 in the last 8 with the 2 wins coming in Saban’s NC year.Meyer has the edge over most coaches in the SEC.He is number 1.Richt 2. Miles 3.Saban 4Spurrier 5.
Smart Jay
July 31st, 2009
5:19 pm
southgadawg – rather than call you an IDIOT, I am going to support you. I would say Meyer’s numbers are not valid, as he hasn’t been in the league long enough. Without 5 years, it really isn’t enough time to make a determination (although Meyer’s success is hard to argue).
I also wouldn’t put too much stock in overall numbers, as those tend to bring all these guys closer together. I really would look only at the elite programs – Georgia, LSU, Florida, Tennessee (lost most of its luster) and maybe Alabama (Saban), and perhaps Auburn (over the last ten years). The rest of the teams (even Spurrier’s USC) are just fodder for the rest. In fact, over Richt’s tenure, you’d probably have to list the premier SEC programs as LSU, Florida, Georgia, Alabama (Saban led), with Auburn, Tennessee, maybe USC (Spurrier) next, then, the rest. Ole Miss is on the rise, and Arkansas at times had success, but, other than those schools the rest of the SEC is basketball teams.
Again, Richt has a good record. Not awesome of overwhelming, but good. He’s coach for life barring some total breakdown (or, the indignity of being beaten consistently by GT, since we’ve seen losing to Florida regularly is ok).
His failure to really even compete seriously for a NC is a huge knock against him. His best team may have been the 2007 team, which fell victim to timing. I hope he has a great 20-30 year career at UGA. He brings great credit to the school, and does not lose stupid games. But, he has to compete in a league where superstar coaches exist (and have won national titles), and he needs to really get more competitive with UF and bring home a title to UGA. It’s pushing 30 years since 1980. It’s good for Richt that he has such loyal support, because for a school that fancies itself a perennial national power, 30 years is a long time between titles.
saint simons
July 31st, 2009
5:34 pm
Guys, I’m sorry…it’s been a tough week. Sorry to take it out on you.
momma simon
July 31st, 2009
6:12 pm
little simon get your but upstairs we have arby’s for dinner.dad says cut the grass and blow the driveway now.
southgadawg88
July 31st, 2009
6:41 pm
I take the idiot back as you have responded with some clarity…however I really don’t know what else people want Richt to do.He went 13-1,I’d say UGA with 2 losses was just as good as LSU’s 2 loss team.Yeah FLA won two tittles but every body else in the country was without a NC those two years.What programs are supposed to be better and why?ALA?They did well last year but they did drop their last two games and were 6-6 the year before..why are they supposed to be so great?.LSU I already went over that one…who else in the SEC is supposed to be a power?If the great Saban and Miles played FLA every year how do u know they would do better?Who exactly are the power house programs in the nation then?OK and Tex?You really believe they play in a better league?USC?Think the PAC-10 is better than the SEC?His time will come as long as he continues to do what he has done….recruit well and coach em up..If you think the SEC is a strong conference then 30-4 on the road does not impress you?Mark Richt can only answer for what happens at UGA on HIS watch.The man has done a great job at his 1st HC position in the toughest league in the country and people say he doesn’t have what it takes?Give me a break man.I tip my cap to the GATORS (hate em )I do but they have got it done on the field.Losing to them is not OK..they are not only in our division but they are a long time rival as well…BUT as I said earlier a win this year and it’s 3-3 over the last 6.Let’s see what happens
Atlanta Gator
July 31st, 2009
6:57 pm
southgadawg—-Got a perspective question for you. Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier have both been with their current teams for four seasons, and are starting their fifth in September . . .
Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks are 1-3 against Mark Richt’s Dawgs.
Mark Richt’s Dawgs are 1-3 against Urban Meyer’s Gators.
Same record, same conference, same division, nearly identical scheduling over 4 seasons (given the current rotation, everyone play everyone else over 5 years). Objectively, what’s the difference? If Richt has dominated Spurrier, what’s the logical implication for Richt and Meyer?
I’m really NOT trying to rag on you and your fellow Dawgs; I’m just pointing out some of the logical inconsistencies folks seem to have when they are defending their own coach and team, and when they are mocking some one else’s coach and team.
For the record, Spurrier is 1-3 against Meyer, too. (Never count the Evil Genius out—-he really doesn’t like to lose.)
BIGBOY
July 31st, 2009
7:00 pm
On a similar vein I wonder how many of the supposedly superior coaches have done better in their first gig?I never thought about that.I know some body can research that…what about you Bradley?It might be the guy’s 1st run as a HC…but a good gauge of his abilities is to look at what happened to FSU when he left..They were in the NC game now look at them.Looks like Bobby Bowden should have made HIM his coach in waiting instead of saying “I don’t know if he’s tough enough” ..looks like the pupil has out performed the master in a tougher league to boot!
GT4LIFE
July 31st, 2009
8:23 pm
Whatever CPJ IS 1-0 OVER SAINT RICHT!!!!
Nice guys finish last
July 31st, 2009
9:34 pm
I don’t think we recruit well enough.We are too soft. I said it several years back….I don’t think we will EVER win a NC with Richt. Hate to say it cause he is a GOOD coach and an even better man….just not a GREAT coach
Chuck Uga
August 1st, 2009
1:27 am
GatorBait, you are dead wrong.
Now, on to the article. I ask you this Mark, exactly what is the alternative? Fire a coach who is 82-22? One who likely will win 9, 10 or 11 games even this year? Give me a break. Winning an MNC without a damn playoff is PURE LUCK. Kind of like being in the right place at the right time. Florida will not win another MNC for while. Assuming they get to the game again this year, probably against USC or Texas, they will get KILLED. Had they played USC last year for example, they would have been slaughtered. But that’s not the gist of this article. Richt has reproduced FSU at Georgia. That’s good enough for 95% of us UGA supporters. He’ll eventually luck out and make a BCS Title Game just like Meyer has (twice). He’ll also win an SEC Title again within three seasons. Book it.
Chuck Uga
August 1st, 2009
1:39 am
Ed,
Great post about the coaches. Also, the 1942 National Title is a concensus title. There is also a 1927 and 1946 title although those were not consensus, just some groups voted UGA national champs. I dare say the 1946 team was robbed of the title. Both the 1942 and 1946 teams were the most talented teams in college ball those years according to historians but were voted out because of a heavily-biased east coast media (pro-Army, pro-Notre Dame).
Chuck Uga
August 1st, 2009
1:49 am
One last note about CPJ at Tech. He will average 8-4 his entire career there with a few ten-win seasons. He will ALWAYS lose two games a year when he is favored. Check his career results. He also will not win more than 35-40% of his games against UGA no matter what his offense does. All he will do is make the games a little closer. I could see him gone to another school after 7 or 8 seasons. UGA will take Tech apart this year in Atlanta.
BEATDOWN BY THE HEDGES
August 1st, 2009
5:54 am
45-42. HOW DO IT FEEL DOGGIES???
Jim morrison
August 1st, 2009
6:29 am
I love all of you GA Homers that always want to pull out the stats or try to say if FL had played another team for the NC that they would have lost.
What a bunch of losers!
The bottom line is until GA wins a NC like FL has in the last few years, SHUT THE F UP! Your whinning and moaning gets a little old!
Enough Said!
GO GATORS!
Crystal Ball
August 1st, 2009
7:03 am
As long as Willie is around NO………
Tom, Resident Georgia Fan
August 1st, 2009
9:48 am
St. Simpletons …((((( 4559-37-5 ))))) hahahahahahaha
Tom, Resident Georgia Fan
August 1st, 2009
9:49 am
St. Simpletons ((((( 59-37-5 ))))) hahahahahahaha
KG
August 1st, 2009
10:03 am
NEVER!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
Richard
August 1st, 2009
10:20 am
Florida is winning because of Defense! No doubt about that! Their offense has such a dangerous running attack it has to be respected. If you watched Georgia last year, they did not run the ball effectively. Strong running teams ran at will, ie Alabama, Florida, GA Tech. Heck, we couldn’t run the ball against Arizona State or Michigan State(Bowl). I am a Ga Fan for many years! It sounds simple, but we must run the ball great and stop the run consistantly to have a chance at BCS bowl or championship.
ohiodawg
August 1st, 2009
11:24 am
earl bruce was a good coach. john cooper was a good coach. what do they have in common? no national titles!!! jim tressel comes in and has one and played for three. if you want nice guys and “good teams” go to youth football. it is time for mark richt and georgia to win now!! the sec has had 5 champions since 1998. no more excuses.go dawgs!!!!
Dangerous
August 1st, 2009
12:05 pm
He had his man in Brian VanGorder, but did not want to pay him! Neil Callaway and Richt himself were the worst coaches on this staff. Callaway was a terrible O-line coach and recruiter and Richt had nothing but redzone calls all the way down the field, not to mention all the Chinese fire drills that they had on goal-line that lost a couple of games. To say that Martinez is the problem is absurd. Last year the whole team was devastated by injuries, 22 starters out with 54 total injuries being serviced. Who could field a competative team with those numbers and to such key personel? I’ll tell you NO ONE! Before last year the O left the D on the short side of the field so many times and and when your only putting 3’s up that doesn’t help much either. It’s funny the GA D has either won it for Richt(under VanGorder….reality) or lost it for Richt(under Martinez……not reality). Lets face it we all thought we were getting this offensive guru from Fl St, but in reality that was a school that was beating uncompetitive talent. They were king of the hill and it didn’t take much to coach the far superior kids. Lets l
talk about Richts victories. He came here when Spurrier had left Fl, Cutcliff had left Tenn(which became a trainwreck), and Freidgen left Ga Tech. Let’s face it, he came at a damn good time. Now I like Richt, I always thought he needed to be tougher, but I like Richt. He did a great job landing Stacey Searls and keeping him with his little salary! This guy is the real deal and he should not let him go. For gosh sakes BoBo needs him. Give Martinez a break and I mean on the field, not just off the field. One thing for sure is that life in the SEC is getting a whole lot tougher than when Richt started and we’ll see just how good he really is or was.
Links from around the SEC « The Blog Hawgs
August 1st, 2009
12:49 pm
[...] Mark Bradley at the AJC ponders, Will UGA contend for a BCS birth? [...]
SickandTired
August 1st, 2009
1:13 pm
Come now Dawg fans. It’s not the fault of anyone but Mark Richt that he doesn’t have a National Championship. He makes enought money, he’s got the the faciliies, so what is it gonna take? Fire Mark Richt now rather than later and bring someone in like Tubberville. Now there’s a coach.
BIGBOY
August 1st, 2009
1:14 pm
Dangerous if all that was so than how do you explain FSU falling off the map when Richt left?If the coaches were soo weak how do you explain 30-4 on the road?
Ed
August 1st, 2009
1:20 pm
How exactly does one “win” a BCS title? I know, you get to the BCS title game, then win it. But how do you “win” the right to get to the BCS title game? If you follow LSU’s model, lose twice in overtime to unranked teams but back in after West Va. fails to show up against Pitt (’07). Or Florida’s model – back into the game after 1/3 of Nebraska’s team catches the flu before the Big XII championship (’96), or after UCLA pulls off a rare upset of USC (’06), or after an undefeated team that’s arguably better than you – Utah – gets snubbed due to conference affiliation(’08). Or the Oklahoma ‘08 model – win an arbitrary three-way tiebreaker in your conference.
All a coach can do is get his team prepared week in and week out and be ready if the opportunity presents itself. Richt did that during the 13-1 season in ‘02. If Georgia won the pretend title that year, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Ed
August 1st, 2009
1:43 pm
Thanks Chuck – good points about the east coast bias for Notre Dame and Army. I personally believe that the mythical national championship is a creation of sportswriters who wanted to crown Notre Dame and other media darlings like Army and Navy at the end of the season. These independents really had no other “title” to play for, and don’t to this day.
This system lasted forever until it received too much criticism (look at how many undefeated Penn State teams have been snubbed through the years), so the BCS was created. It’s based on a computer model that is incomprehensible (and still arbitrary) and, as always, largely on media votes. No legitimate champion can emerge from such a system unless you have a team that is clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else, like Nebraska in ‘95. Those teams are extremely rare.
Dangerous
August 1st, 2009
2:07 pm
BIGBOY it was not my intent to explain FLST downfall. There was nothing in my post to suggest that? I was stating that Richt was an overated coordinator! FlSt’s downfall was the conference finally caught up! 30-4 is great since he should have been that with all the coaching changes that were on his schedule(Spurrier, Cutcliff and Freidgen) That figure doesn’t include FL does it. Did he beat Zook at all? I THINK HIS COACHING HIRES AND THE ONES HE LET GET AWAY HAVE HURT HIM THE MOST! HE ALSO HAD A GREAT WINDOW TO WIN AGAINST LESS COACHING TALENT THAN HE WILL IN THE FUTURE.
BIGBOY
August 1st, 2009
2:58 pm
Dude so now what your are saying is FSU is a victim to everybody just catching up to them talent wise.It has NOTHING to do with their OC and best recruiter going to UGA?Then while he was at UGA all of a sudden the SEC was full of mediocre coaches?Oh well Mark Richt comes being mediocre as well bringing along his subpar coaching staff with him just happens to go 82-22 win a couple of SEC tittles and the only reason this happened is the rest of the league was mediocre as well?Now all of these GREAT coaches are in the SEC so his window has closed?Who are all these superior coaches?Miles?0-2 against Richt what?that’s luck?Saban 3-2 against Richt with 2 wins coming in same season..what?fluke?Yeah he beat Zook..now I guess Zook was a great coach too.30-4 is so easy well why haven’t Saban,Miles,Spurrier or Meyer duplicated it?forget the win total how about the win pct?Yet he is a guy who was overrated as an OC..poor judge of coaching talent and just SOMEHOW managed to pull off these feats because mmm.the rest of the SEC sucked when he came on at UGA?Is that what your trying to get across?
BIGBOY
August 1st, 2009
3:18 pm
Do you guys realize that you are watching the next coaching legend in college football at work in Mark Richt?All these coaches you try to throw out there..Spurrier,Miles,Meyer,Saban,Petrino hell CPJ do you even realize that all these men are on their 3rd some 4th HC stint?Maybe 2 for Meyer ..not sure..I would love for you to go back and tell me which one of these guys came into a tough league on their first job and out performed this guy!!Who was it?I’ll tell you NOT FRIGGIN ONE OF THEM!!!!
Jason
August 1st, 2009
3:57 pm
I’m a Tech fan (and graduate), and here is my honest opinion of Richt and the direction of the UGA program.
Richt would have won a BCS title in ‘02 if he had not felt so compelled to play Shockley in every game. Shockley’s interception in the Florida game cost UGA the national title that year. I’m shocked that more UGA fans do not feel that way.
Richt is a great coach, and an even greater person. I hate that he is at UGA because I want to see UGA fall on its face, but I do want to see Richt succeed. However, Richt does have some tendencies to be a little too soft with a cheerleader type encouraging attitude with his players, when he sometimes needs to be a little tougher on them. Nothing wrong with encouragement, he just sometimes chooses the wrong method of encouragement. Unfortunately for Rict, UGA’s fan base is full of redneck bandwagon losers (note: I’m not referring to the UGA grads here, I’m referring to most the people in the state that are in no way affiliated with UGA) who know how to make a huge stink anytime the team doesn’t live up to their over-inflated expectations. Its amazing how quickly Richt goes from Superhero to worst coach ever as soon as UGA loses to a quality team. Last years high expectations that were based on a great 2nd half of ‘07 and ignored obvious problems in early ‘07 didn’t help him much. If he loses to a really good OK State early this year, its going to be a long year for him this year.
As far as UGA’s future goes, I think that they will remain a top 10 talent, but I do not see them being good enough to win a BCS championship without some luck as long as Urban is at Florida and Saban is in Alabama. They may win one at some point, but I highly doubt that they will be a multi-championship team like Florida or LSU. If a championship comes, it won’t be for another couple of years as UGA needs to restock at the QB position. Knowing the history of UGA fans, the real question is whether or not their patience will run out before they can get that QB that they need. I’m hoping that they lose sight of Richt’s quality due to the number of whiners who only care about UGA for their football and screw up their program trying to go from great to glorious, and that Richt goes on to win one somewhere else.
Dangerous
August 1st, 2009
4:42 pm
That’s right BIGBOY, YOU GOT! He came into a great situation and won big with left over talent, a hell of a D-coordinator in VanGorder and a schedule with teams missing its better minds. You think Mark Richt is a superior coach, well I don’t. He has a great coach in Searls who is one of the best in the business of Olines( DON’T LET THIS GUY GO…PAY HIM)! He has to keep his coaching talent and he has to be a better head coach and that should be his focus. Let’s not forget that this is his first coaching job. He has made mistake after mistake on the sideline, but with time has become wiser. Like I said I like him. I think he is a great man of faith, a great father and a devoted husband. He just has work to do to become a great coach and with all the coaching talent in the SEC he has it tougher than he did before.
BIGBOY
August 1st, 2009
4:58 pm
Dangerous I’d say we will have to agree to disagree.Maybe we need a beer summit!
McLouth of the South
August 1st, 2009
4:58 pm
UGA will win the BCS title as soon as they find a freshman equal to Herschel Walker. On a national level the whole Dooley era was irrelevant outside of those three years. They are a Johnny-come-lately vs. a traditional power. Compare with my Crimson Tide- why do you think they scored a top coach and top recruits immediately after the silly probation? Because they’re the New York Yankees of college football, that’s why! The Dawgs are more like the Mets- perpetual bridesmaids.
Trade School Junkie
August 1st, 2009
5:04 pm
By most accounts, Richt is a good person, and is a pretty good coach.
So, all this hand-wringing is not really about Richt.
Its really about…”expectations.” UN-MET EXPECTATIONS.
Its about the UNWRITTEN & UNSPOKEN fan expactations that have developed as as the result of the UGA Athletic Association charging “big” amounts to fans and alums…to have…or get access to…UGA football tix.
In 2008, Damon Evan’s office was charging fans $10,000…just to “buy” the right to buy season tix. Fans are now a lot more “discretionary” with their money now that the economy has changed.
How do you suppose those folks who paid $10,000 (before the 2008 season began) feel NOW that not only did Richt supposedly “not deliver” but now, Damon Evans has “discounted” that “right” down to about $4000. Do you think those $10,000 fans feel MORE than a little disappointed that they essentially overpaid by $6000? Theyre probably pissed, and need something or SOMEONE to “blame.” So much for “Supply & Demand.”
So, now, lets get to…the REAL ISSUE.
How do you suppose the REAL BIG MONEY UGA fooks feel? You know, the folks that pony $50,000, $100,000, or more to the UGA AA?
Theyre pissed…WITH MORE ZEROS.
Damon Evan’s office has created an “Expectations Monster” that has now started to take on a life of its own. When you’re “charging a lot” and “promising a lot”, you had better deliver or a “human” scarifice is gonna have to be made to the BIG MONEY FOLKS that REALLY run the show form Evan’s office.
Any surprise that Richt has appointed a “Co-Defensive Coordinator?”
Either Richt or Eans will have to “feed” Martinez to the “monster.”
BUt it wont keep the “monster” happy for long.
The Guy
August 1st, 2009
6:06 pm
Don’t know if it’s been said b/c there are 5 pages of posts, but Bradley, I believe that the D-coordinator from Auburn that went to Texas was Will Muschamp, a UGA grad, and NOT Gene C., the new head coach at Auburn. Please get your facts straight for the sake of good journalism. Thanks, and Go Dawgs!
Anonymous
August 1st, 2009
8:16 pm
The Guy,
Yes, sir, you are confusing Will Muschamp and Gene Chizik. Chizik was defensive co-coordinator during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, before he became head coach at Iowa State. Will Muschamp was defensive coordinator at Auburn in 2006 and 2007, and was the DC for Texas in 2008. Google them for confirmation.
Dangerous
August 1st, 2009
8:51 pm
That BEER SUMMIT sounds mighty tasty BIGBOY. I belive we would enjoy ourselves. AS for the poster who says GA has too high expectations, well hell everybody has high expectations for their team, except maybe you!
45-42 wORLD TOUr
August 2nd, 2009
5:45 am
sMaCKDoWn btw the HEDGIES. 45-42 FO LIFE YO
Tim
August 2nd, 2009
6:41 am
As a season ticket holder at UF since 79 I have been able to watch what MR coached teams are capable of both at UGA an FSU. You all have one of the top 10 head coaches in the country,hold on to him embrace him if your smart. This yrs UGA squad scares myself and the rest of gator nation more than the trip to LSU. He’s flying under the radar with a boat full of talent. He’ll get his BCS title look how long it took Bowden,Lavell Edwards, even JoPA question is will it be at Georgia or somewhere else like say Florida State?
Bill
August 2nd, 2009
8:07 am
It’ll be tough in ‘09 when Richt starts 0-2. A distinct possibility.
southgadawg88
August 2nd, 2009
10:02 am
The dawgbone is back up thank god!
Pitbull
August 2nd, 2009
10:27 am
Am I the only one who is sick of this subject and sports hacks like MB milking it to death in order to have something to write about that people will respond to in order to justify their jobs?
I guess Bobby Dodd was one crappy coach. He never won a NC.
I know GT “claims” the 1952 NC. However a slightly more unbiased organization names Michigan State (9-0) the 1952 NC. Go to http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/champions_national.html for details.
How many years did Tom Osborne, Bobby Bowdon, and Joe Paterno have to wait before the won NC’s? I guess they were crummy coaches for all the years leading up to their winning their NC’s.
Bottom lines:
1 A coach does not have to win a NC to be an outstanding coach
2 The book on Coach Richt’s career will not be over until he retires. He might have several NC’s in his future.
And won’t that make sorry writers like MB look even more stooopid.
GeorgiaOldDawg
August 2nd, 2009
10:33 am
Richt needs to get it together soon and win a bCS title. He better clean house on a bunch of these worthless assistant coaches and get some who know what they are doing. Why not throw big money and get Van Gorder back? It will take a mil, but UGA’s loaded and can easily pay that cash. If Richt keeps losing big games, he better hit the road.
dawghater
August 2nd, 2009
11:07 am
You ARE kidding. Right? There is no chance in the bloody pit of hades.
UGA-We do less with more.
dawgster
August 2nd, 2009
11:33 am
I am always amazed at the comments i read here especially from the tech fans, gator fans and yes the dawg fans about how great or not so great there football teams or coaches are. Coach Richt is an extremely good coach and person, and i would love to have my son play for him, is he perfect, no has he made mistakes and will he continue to make mistakes, yes, but our program is strong, and no we have’nt won BCS, yet, but alot of luck and having the right mix of players and talent along with coaches goes into the formula, for tech fans, it is great that you feel your program is back and that you have a good coach that will take you to the promise land, and perhaps he will, but one win over your state school rival does not mean a dynasty, but we will wait and see, for gator fans, yes you are on top now as we read and hear all the time, enjoy it while you can because things do change, coaches, players, injuries, luck and etc, you have had some special players the last few years and may have some more, but so do a lot of teams, and again things do run in cycles, while I don’t have a lot of respect for Coach Meyer, just based on things he says and does and actions on the field tell me alot about him, but hey, his teams keep winning so there is something to be said for that, for dawg fans, we have a great coach, and yes he may need to make some tough coaching decisions at the end of this year, he already has made some, I truly believe we will win a BCS, I don’t know when, but all the things mentioned above will play a part in it. We will continue to get very good talent, some will turn out like we expect, others will not, and there always be surprises, this is true for all teams, I’m not sure what Mark Bradley is trying to stir up here, but it makes good reading along with some interesting opinions, Well I’ll close for now so the great, great schools with the greatest coaches on earth can continue to tell us how the dawgs will never win the BCS and how many each of their schools will win over the next few years..go dawgs
The Hot Button: Will UGA win a BCS title under Mark Richt? - Gambling IQ
August 2nd, 2009
11:51 am
[...] eight years of watching is whether he
Dawg's History 101
August 2nd, 2009
10:30 pm
Every year is the year to win a NC at Georgia, just ask the fans. If they don’t there is always a reason or excuse. Born and raised a dog fan. Maybe the ball could have rolled one way or the other a year or two. The reality is that great coaches find ways to win regardless and/or they have talented enough coaches around them that pick-up the slack win other area’s of the team are down. Georgia will always be that team that plays like a roller coaster of inconsistency. Georgia reminds me of the falcons with Vick, everyone makes up excuses why they aren’t winning, but they don’t want to point the finger at Vick. The same is true for the Mark Richt program, everyone wan’t to make-up excuses on why UGA can’t win the big one, but nobody holds Richt responsible. Maybe UGA has what it deserves, second best to Florida.
Think about this, where would Sabin, Meyers, Miles or even Paul Johnson have the UGA program at if they started when Richt did? I bet everyone one of them would have the same level of success, plus a few more conference titles, more BCS apperances and atleast 1 NC. Just a thought.
For now I am going downstairs to watch ESPN classics of UGA winning the NC.
Big Bart
August 3rd, 2009
9:31 am
Richt is a great coach and a great role model. However, he may be too nice to win a BCS Championship. I believe if Van Gorder had sayed at Georgia, we would have won a national championship. Martinez is a good coach but not a great one. I am afraid Richt is just too nice to do what he has to do and demote his old friend Martinez and get a truly great defensive coordinator.
Scared Dog
August 3rd, 2009
3:15 pm
Mark, The more realistic question would be winning the SEC Championship, as to climb over Florida, Bama and LSU seems quite a challenge presently, and will remain so until changes are made to the coaching staff.
Limeydawg
August 3rd, 2009
3:21 pm
Hey, Mark, what gives? You get a dime for every post on your blogs? How about some cutting edge stuff for once, something the fans can enjoy…oh, right…never mind then. Keep on writing stuff that stirs the pot but adds nothing resembling journalism to the mix.
HEY DAWG FANS. Will you please, for the love of Dooley, STOP responding to idiot tech posters? Every time you do they swarm around our news, our blogs, and ruin even these entertainment-as-journalism pieces Mark Bradley excels at. Talk about the dawgs, the piece…whatever, but please don’t reference their stupidity. You love the Dawgs. That should be enough for anyone.
biggbuzz
August 3rd, 2009
9:24 pm
HEY WOODSTOCK DAWG HOW ABOUT 8 OUT OF 8 AND WE STILL HOLD THE RECORD. DOES’T LOOK LIKE YOUR GONNA BREAK IT ANY TIME SOON LEGHUMPER!!
biggbuzz
August 3rd, 2009
9:35 pm
HEY CHUK UGAG CPJ 1-0 WITH MORE ON THE WAY
David Jones
September 3rd, 2009
10:01 am
A better question to ask would be why do universities pay glorified P.E. teachers nine times what they pay their professors? The functions of a university are to teach and engage in research, not to make money through a side sports business. Semi-literate “student-athletes” are given “scholarships” despite the fact that most of their applications would be laughed out of the admissions office if they applied as regular students. College football is a corruption of education and a sin against academic life.
But the yahoos and rednecks we see here live and die for it. And for that reason it will continue…and grow.