Hot Button: Is UGA’s Martinez a good defensive coordinator?

Why, I don’t know what to say.

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“If you got the ball, we gonna get you. If yo mamma got the ball, we gonna get her” – Marvin Austin, UNC

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Richt is too nice a guy to fire him, and that’s why Damon Evans has to be the one to make that call for Richt. Georgia has too much defensive talent year after year, to give up the points they do under Martinez’s direction.

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CMR’s one major drawback is too much loyalty to his staff. While this is the kind of trait you’d want in a brother or a friend, it ignores the business aspect of the football world. This year will be telling because Willie Martinez will have been given every advantage and opportunity to excel as a DC. If we have another down year (with fewer injuries even), then I hope Coach Richt will be able to finally pull that trigger. In any case, I’m pulling for him to make it. This has been his first DC assignment and it is possible that he’s still growing into it but by anyone’s standard he better hit a big growth spurt this season.

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Mr. Bradley,
This is a real question. I don’t have the answer, and you probably have better resources to find the answer. Is there a difference in the average points by offenses in the Martinez era vs. the Van Gorder era, both nationally and in the SEC? I have a feeling that offensive production has gone up, but the comparison I want is whether or not Martinez’s defenses rise in points allowed is greater than the national and SEC average increase in offensive production. Fewer times at the top of the list for overall defense ( yardage ) and scoring defense would seem to indicate that despite increased offensive production overall ( and after “adjusting” for this ), our defenses still have slipped under Martinez. As a Dawg fan, I truly hope that last year’s defensive performance really was about injuries and “softer” practicing. The defense’s performance in the bowl game ( after full speed and tackling practice ) gives me some hope.

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Martinez blaming the offense’s failure to protect the ball against UF is what alarms me the most. He won’t take responsibility when his guys go out there and play terribly.

Key stops against last years Kentucky that put 38 on us and last years 5-7 Auburn team aren’t making me feel better about WM. Where was the key stop when we needed the ball back against Tech at the end of the game, or against Bama in the first half to stop the bleeding?

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Average at best…I was hoping we would go after Chavis when he left tennessee, now we have to face him at LSU.

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The blow outs make me mad, but don’t forget games like Vandy marching down the field on us with 2 minutes left to play and we had like 2-3 point lead and “them” fumbling saved us. If we ever have less than a 7 point lead and the other team gets the ball back with 2-3 minutes left, it’s 50/50 of us stopping them. Watch our DB’s when a team is storming down the field passing on us late. They’re 15 yards off the receiver and start back peddling when the ball is snapped. Geez. One Game a TE was catching Every pass on us, every possession. Willie NEVER made an adjustment. I think it was S.C. Stats tell it all. We have gotten worse every year…Still winning 10 I know, but the D will shorten your life. I’m hoping year he proves us wrong. We NEED the D this year.

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I’m also curious to see how Van Gorder’s defenses would have performed against the all-too-trendy Spread Offense that’s become so popular over the last few years. I personally hate the spread (I an a traditional SEC guy through-and-through: three years and a cloud of dust!) but recognize that in the right conditions, it can work pretty well.

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What concerns me the most about WM is that he flat out REFUSES to accept any responsibilty for his defensive shortcomings. He’s very good at throwing our defense under the bus by stating that “they did a poor job of tackling”. HELLO, whose responsibility is it to stay on these yong men. BOTTOM LINE: WM has ran out of excuses. I also don’t buy the theory that we don’t recruit as well on the defensive side of the ball. That is another lame excuse!

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Yeah, hard to argue with the column. CMR got rid of Callaway without having to fire him, if you recall. Creating a co-coordinator position for Jancek may have been a set up for the same thing to take place. Time will tell, but Willie adjusts fine at halftime, see the second half in the Alabama game, and the West Virginia debacle a couple of years ago. Seems that his problem is adjusting on the fly during the game, between series’, which was one of BVG’s strengths. Time will tell, but until it does get behind Willie, as long as he’s our dc, pull for him.

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Just block and tackle.

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Simple answer to a simple question. No, CWM is not a good DC. The trademark of his defense is giving up at least 38 points to everyone. There absolutely were injuries last year but whenever he discusses last year, he never takes accountability, EVER.

To hell with him.

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blitzmo– blitzmo–blitzmo. Good qb’s need the heat.

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I believe the defense is good enough to hold teams to an average of 38 points per game; we just need to average 40+ and we will win 10 games.

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Coach Richt has ultimate responsibility for the performance of the defense. The meer fact that Martinez is still coaching it says that Richt is ultimately satisfied with it. And I don’t think that’s a good thing.

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that’s “till”

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Willie has cost ya’ll chances at National championships and SEC Championships. IMHO, the longer Willie stays, the longer the Doggies stay a good team, but not a great one able to get the championships b/c they lack a great DC. See Charlie Strong, Will Muschamp, Chavez.

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I read the Loran Smith op ed about Martinez a while back. Loran scolded Willie-doubters and raved that Willie “is hard working, has a wonderful family, and absolutely loves UGA!” I believe all of that but, he is not getting the DC job done! My suggestion has been for Richt to keep him on as DB coach, at the same pay (if that is the issue), but hire a good defensive schemer. Saban and Myer don’t settle for mediocrity. To take that next big step (a NC game) in his career, he has to make hard choices, like demoting your college roommate when the evidence is clear that he needs to…

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I’ve been going to Georgia games since 1976. I know here are many of you that have been going longer, but I thought very seriously about not attending games until CWM was let go. Then I thought he may never be let go. CWM biggest problem is the option. He does not have a package to stop the option. The bottom line is each player has a role to play in defending the option and they must execute it. You can’t free for all this kind of thing and expect speed and talent to win out. That kind of play is why the option was invented. Teach these guys to stay at home and play their parts in team defense. If you can’t do that CWM then you can’t be a coordinator.

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FREE WILLY – FIRE MARTINEZ

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HE CAN’T STOP A BAD COLD, HIS D-FENCE IS AVERAGE AT BEST. IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE OVER TIME. GEORGIA BETTER GET USE TO SCORING OVER 40 POINTS A GAME IF IT WANTS TO WIN 10 GAMES A YEAR…..

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Say what you will. the Florida loss last year is on the offense. 3 picks and a fumble return all leading to TDs. The D had the short side of the field constantly or the O scored fast and put them right back on the field. When you are short handed, that aint good.

We will see what happens.

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Mark what you leave out is what Willie’s defense did against Boise St., Hawaii, and OK St.; teams that were supposed to have these high flying offensive attacks….the Willie picture isn’t as bleak as the one you paint by the numbers.

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Several bloggers have pointed out the lack of adjustment to the defensive scheme during the ball game by Martinez. Maybe, we should also focus our attention on the defensive coach(s) located upstairs who are making recommendations to Martinez. They must really suck!! Fire them as well if our defense under performs again this year. Not making adjustments during the quarter when your opponent is having his way with you but you decide to continue with more of the same game plan is just plain stupid. Maybe, you need a new set of eyes upstairs Willie…….??????

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Mark,

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you for giving credence. For too long I have felt like a voice crying in the wilderness when it comes to guys like AltamahaDawg or other blindly-loyal Dawg fans, who refuse to see the great failings of Martinez.

One thing you haven’t talked about is the fact that Martinez and Richt have, to protect Martinez and cover for his inept handling and teaching of the defense, often publicly blame their players for “not executing.”

I cannot believe you or Schultz, or ANYONE hasn’t taken those two down for that. These are college kids. They need to be shaped and molded, taught fundamentals and how to play the game. If there is a problem in execution, it is a COACHING problem.

I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing Richt and Martinez blaming their players for Martinez’s poor performance as a defensive coordinator.

As Richt has said often, the team runs the same defensive scheme they ran under BVG. So I ask you Mark, what changed, hmmm? Couldn’t be the guy who’s now running that scheme, could it?

Richt seems to be so forthright, but he has blind spot for his coaches caused by his emotional attachment to them.

If you remember, his mentor, Bobby Bowden had the same blind spot with his son, the equally-as-Martinez-inept Jeff Bowden.

Bobby Bowden let Jeff Bowden destroy his once-proud program. I can only hope that Damon Evans doesn’t let Richt do the same thing with Martinez.

So, Mark, how do you feel about Richt and Martinez publicly blaming their defensive players for Martinez’s short-comings?

If you were a recruit, and you saw Martinez always blaming the defensive players instead of taking responsibility himself, would you want to play for him?

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Good article, Mark, that opened my eyes to things I guess I had forgotten. I like Willie but the pressure is on at this point. Big time.

Here’s something I’d like answered: BVG’s defenses did incredibly well for years. But there was an “eye in the sky” during that time and that was Willie. Do you think he just can’t make the same adjustments on the field instead of being up in the booth?

I, personally, think he should be upstairs during games.

Thoughts?

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CWM is an AVERAGE coach.You have got to motivate,focus,teach and be creative to be successful in this game! It’s not a problem with our talent(TOP TEN CLASS IN RECRUITING…year after year).This is his LAST year,if the D doesn’t improve greatly.

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Jake: Maybe he’s an “average” defensive coordinator but he’s always been recognized as a very good DB coach. There’s a difference.

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CWM should have been fired at halftime of last year’s Alabama game. After all, it’s not like we hadn’t seen that crap before. BTW, I do not believe we had sustained 19 (or 20 0r 21-whatever the number of the day is) season-ending injuries by the 4th game of last year. Just ANOTHER CWM disaster.

That was the same week that USC lost to Oregon St. and UF lost to Ole Miss. Suddenly everything tilted in our favor. 30 minutes into our game, we were exposed as the most over-rated team in years. Thanks Wille. Enjoy your raise!

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The only way CWM would have more job security is if he belonged to the UAW. Pretty similar actually. Run your employer into the ground and get a raise for doing so.

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Simple Question: If Martinez was the DC af UF and gave up over 40 at home to Bama and Tech while giving up 38 to both LSU and Kentucky (who basically put a WR at QB) do you think Meyer would’ve kept Willie around?

I think Martinez was ok as the secondary coach, but since he took over the DC position, there have been way too many games where the defense has given up too many points.

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BoiseDawg – I could be mistaken but I think we finished in the top 25 in yardage allowed, not scoring. Of couse when you’re coughing up the ball in your own backyard, that’s the way the numbers are going to skew.

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If we were 22nd, I’d hate to be 23rd.

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I’d also say that overall the SEC has gotten better on offense since Martinez took over, but I think if the defense struggles again this year with penalties and points allowed Richt may be forced to make a change.

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Overhaul the entire coaching staff. Now !!

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Nail on the head. Steady decline since Martinez took over. He should have been fired after the ‘06 tUTorsee game.

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Nice article Mark, I agree somewhat with my fellow Dawg fans comments. What is frustrating is the games like UT in 2007. Its not like they came out and threw the ball all over us, they just rolled up their sleeve and stuffed us & we looked helpless. I agree also about late game situations when we have the lead and need to make a stop or we trail and need the stop to get the ball back. To me, its like Martinez panics in games. And offensive & deffensive units take on the persona of their coach. I’m pulling for the guy b/c I love UGA, but the blowouts & track meet-shootouts are getting old.

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MB : Now you’ve done gone and stirred the pot..!

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Mark, CWM never accepts any blame. CMR also defends CWM with the “schemes are the same, the players suck” excuses. Pretty miserable stuff. CMR shows loyalty to buddy CWM at the expense of the players and university.

BTW, BugKiller, CWM’s raise came from our donations. Makes it hard to write that check, doesn’t it.

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Realist that it is funny. Me and Alt the only true fans. It sure would be an empty stadium if that were true. All I am saying is we have empirical evidence that Mark Richt did not fire CWM last season. He is still there drawing a check and coaching the defense. I will take the bet that CMR will not fire CWM before the season starts. I furthermore am 99% positive that he will not fire CWM before the end of the 2009 season. Look, if the defense tanks this year with healthy top notch players I will crank up and drive the Fire Willie bandwagon. I for one, okay Altamaha is two, will give CWM the first few games to prove himself before I throw him under said bandwagon. Last years defensive play was just as painful for me to watch as it was other fans. CMR took the blame on his own shoulders and that was that. I am not for firing Coach Richt for his taking the blame. The season is almost upon us and we will see if there is an improvement. I am looking for major improvement as are most “true” fans.

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Well, all I’ll say is that if the “falling apart” happens again this year I don’t see how Richt can keep him on the staff without severely weakening his own stability.

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All questions in my mind were answered about Martinez in the game against Georgia Tech. Not only did Willie have 2 weeks to get ready but several injured players returned for that game. For whatever reason Willie had a corner guarding an ineligible receiver most of the game instead of playing the ball. I could see it in the stands (and I’m an idiot) but for some reason Willie couldn’t and never adjusted.

Every year Willie has at least one game that his defense falls apart or just doesn’t show up. West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl in 2005 started it. Tennessee in 2006, Tennessee again in 2007, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Tech last year. Heck LSU and Kentucky ran up the points in wins.

The more I hear Willie talk the more I’m convinced he’s in over his head. He always talks about how players have to make plays. Yes, but they have to be put in the best position to make plays by the coaching staff. Apparently Willie doesn’t realize that’s his job too.

There is too much talent and too many financial resources at the UGA Athletic Association for not hiring a top notch coordinator.

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I’ve always wondered. Any resemblance between Bradley and a sportswriter?

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Jake7, I am not lost on the decline of our defense under Martinez…. but I assume last season was the first season under Richt where total defense finished worse than total offense. The trend is not good and 59th in scoring defense (thanks for the correction) is unacceptable. I am willing to have patience for one more season…but I also expect the offense to improve. Regardless of how much the defense improves we probably aren’t winning any national championships until we can consistenly field a top 20 offense and according to this article that hasn’t happened under Richt.

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Terrible DC

He isn’t even a solid DC. He has top ten defensive talent every year and this what you get. When was the last time he a top ten defensive draft pick or top 15. HE SUCKS and Georgia will never win an sec championship with Martinez as DC.

Georgia will learn what the Jacksonville Jaguars learned last year…the best DC coach on the team is now coaching the Falcons(Van Gorder).

GO Tech

PS..What will you say when Georgia loses 4 in a row to Tech.

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MARK,
The auburn game your refer to,was my 1st notice of CWM ineptness.On 4th down and 20 something,he goes soft rushing 3..with 8 back.We had been blitzing all game not giving their QB time to set.Their QB had ALL nite to find the receiver.We gave the game away….like the Falcons in 1980 against Dallas.Who defends this guy is not watching or understanding the game of football!

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Martinez is a border line brain dead water head. I would rather have Forrest Gump running the defense then that hopeless and incompetent moron Martinez.

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Just to be clear, CWM does not get any of the heat for the boneheaded punt decision against Boston College, right? That was totally CMR’s stupid decision, right?

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“And before we dismiss 2008 as a function of injuries and penalties and suchlike, let’s note the Bullogs lost 31-30 to Auburn and 38-35 to West Virginia in 2005 and 51-33 to Tennessee in 2006.”

Mark, the losses to West Virginia and Tennessee were related to turnovers and blocked punts. That’s not to say the defense played well, but when you get punts blocked in endzones, and fumbles within the 20 yard line, they’ll score on you quick leading to inflated scores that don’t tell the whole story.

“In two of the biggest victories of the post-VanGorder era, Georgia beat Florida 42-30 in 2007 and LSU 52-38 last season. ”

In both of these games, the defense was able to generate turnovers and get to the QB. The offense actually only hung up 38 points on LSU, but got 2 INT’s for TD’s. And in the Florida game, if you take away that INT for a TD from Stafford, the score is actually 42-23.

Moral of the Story: Turnovers can make a HUGE difference in games, and UGA doesn’t generate enough of them.

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SAVANNAH DAWG,
Not taking away anything from our D against FLA that year we beat them …….but Tebow was hurt and didn’t run the ball.So we beat Hawaii,what conference are they a member?? We had 2 WEEKS to prepare for GT and we FORGOT to TACKLE….scored 42 points and LOST?? No pressure from our DE’s……get creative.. blitz or show blitz,make QB change play…I know it’s not as simple but you as a DC must MAKE it work with what you have.

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WM plays D too soft, but why is CMR not taking more of the heat he sees it just like we all do.

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Jake7

Tebow might not have been 100%, but the Gators were NOT going to win that game regardless. The score might have been closer and Tebow might have gotten sacked less, but it was just the DAWGS day that day.

Also, if Tebow was as hurt as bad as everyone said he was, then why didn’t Urban Meyer rest him? I’ll tell you why, he believed( arrogantly) that his Gators could grind out a victory and not be 100% to beat UGA. And Meyer found out the hard way that you don’t underestimate the competition.

Bottom Line: Florida didn’t lose that game because of a hurt shoulder or an endzone dance. They lost because they weren’t prepared, plain and simple.

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Gator Fan:

Shhhhhhhhh!
Let’s keep Charlie Strong the best kept secret in college football.

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I wonder how many times Wee Willie’s ineptness will cause us to give up 30 points this year….IN ONE HALF OF FOOTBALL?? Absolutely unacceptable. Implosion after implosion. I’ll be glad to pay for his ticket out of town.

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Gators are right, Charlie Strong is an excellent DC. Only drawback is the man will get a head coaching job soon, he’s too good to not get a chance somewhere.

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I am not sure if it has been discussed, but we scored pretty quickly last year which meant that our defense had less than the usual rest time between series. Then you compound that with the fact that by the end of the season, most of your defense wasn’t supposed to be getting significant playing time anyways with all the injuries. I am not making excuses for WM, because I’l have to admit evern as a WM defender, Mark makes some very good points, but the combination of inexperinced players and too much time spent on defense exasperated any sortcomings of WM.

Our defense will be better suited this year if our offense will hold the ball longer.

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LOL! Forrest Gump? LOL!

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Mr. Bradley, now that you have given to the world the best argument yet as to why I deserve to be fired, do you mind if I crash at your place while looking for my next job?

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What I find funny is that stats are so often the only thing that matter in some cases but it’s ok to totally ignore other factors at the same time.

BTW, please show me the quote where I ever said WM was great.
You can easily find plenty of post of me making fun of grown men who just can’t figure out how them throwing a hissy fit in a blog didn’t actually change reality, however.

The man is the DC, and it looks like we have some folks in here who have some serious decisions to make in about a week..

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…and how could I forget about the championships. It seems like they just keep on coming!

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now is not the time for this !!!! we need to stand behind the team and the coaches and we need to look at the success of this season before we start calling for heads to roll not 9 days b4 the season starts. who started this a fla. fan???

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Whatever happened to Gary Gibbs, he did a great job of cleaning up Kevin Ramsey’s big mess. CMR did not retain him, when he came on board, maybe that was a mistake, although BVG was outstanding. CWM just doesn’t have it on many fronts and needs to step down to save his friend Richt from having to do something very unpleasant.

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Hey, Mark aren’t you suppose to have a “reasons that WM is great” column linked to this?

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CWM and the defense fell apart agiant Tenn in ‘06? They were not the greatest but turnovers dug that hole. What about UT ‘07 with I think I’ll stick with the run for a 3 and out Bobo.

Last year consistantly losing the field position battle in the kicking game and the 2 star DTs being out really hurt, along with an explosive or dead offense. Keep in mind the 3rd qtr against GT Moreno and Stafford were shut down not just the arm tackling defense. Kentucky was close last year because the offense gave the ball away inside our own 20 twice. I would like to see the average field position the BVG defenses were given.

CMR’s greatest flaw has not been coaches it has been recruiting on the OL and DL. UGA paid the price last year. Take it from Saban if you can rule the line of scrimmage you’ll be in the game.

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MB – this is not your finest hour. The fact that you have to pull out Kevin Ramsey shows how bad he is. The guy is horrible.

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DawgFan… WHO IS TEACHING THE PLAYERS???

Come on, man!!! The lack of fundamentals in the Georgia defense since Martinez took over is NOT a coincidence!

Use your brain, man.

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Citizen, I take it you didn’t think punting 7 straight times, one getting blocked, was a good first half strategy?

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You always get the feeling that Georgia has a maturity issue. They certainly have the horses to do better, but unlike under Dooley where the maturity was a factor in the winning, this coaching staff seems too content with looking good off the bus and press clippings. Even when Irk was banging heads you had this picture of a master mechanic on the side line having fun because he was smarter than the other coaches and had chemistry with his players who trusted him. They all seemed in this deal together, sleeves rolled up blood rolling off his forehead, and his team dirty, shirttails out, but their heads in the game, not watching the side lines for some last minute trick. Irk’s free safeties were always coaches on the field, good athletes but better thinkers, don’t know if this team has that kind of leadership out there.

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When Georgia coughed up the ball in the shadow of their own goal posts Erk used to say, “We’ve got-em right where we want them.” Willie says, “OK, maybe they will miss the extra point.”

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Whoop his @ss sea bass! See you tomorrow night Saint Simey! We are so going to play us some Corn Dog this weekend! I can’t wait!

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and your point for the last sentence??? It’s obvious you look for all the bad and love to bash UGA. The good thing? Everyone knows your a lame sportswriter (ala the last article you wrote on the media guide) and laughs anyway. Anyone who would write an entire article to bash a team about typos in a media guide is clearly an Idiot and clearly any newspaper that would print it is weak. hmmmm….guess that sums up the AJC

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Until our defense improves we have no chance to really compete for the MNC. If that does not happen this year then CMR needs to bite the bullet and boot Wille.

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Citizen,
All teams go thru ALL the problems you speak…….BUT it’s up to the COACHES to make ADJUSTMENTS… If we have the talent…….COACH IT UP!

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CWM sux and so does GT!

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No. Not at all. He should be coachin high school ball.

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We cannot fire Willie Martinez. Georgia’s unemployment is already at record levels.

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45, if we don’t see some improvement, I might drive the bandwagon. I am giving the guy the month of September to see how he stacks up against the competition. We should know by the end of the month how CWM will fare.

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In all fairness Martinez has not and i repeat not had near the talent Van Gorder did. Almsot eveyone was drafted from the defenses that Van Gorder coached and not so much from the martinez coahed defenses.

Van Gorder had better talent bottom line

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If Willie and company go 0-4 in September, I am going to start a petition drive to change the name of our suburb from Martnez to VanGore. The middle syllable is silent.

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UGA English Dept

August 27th, 2009
11:14 am

dtanner – use “too” in place of “to” when describing excess. Back to Gainesville College!

I would’ve laughed, but there are grammar errors in this line, as well. UGA’s English Department should have higher standards.

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Stunt, Stunt, Stunt
Blitz, Blitz, Blitz
Disrupt the rhythm of the opponents backfield
and the blocking assignments.
Disrupt the confidence of the quarterback by
putting him on his arse every play, especially
on the first series. So what, if you get an early
penalty.
You can’t give a quarterback 4 or more seconds
or he will pick the defensive backs apart.
You can’t cover a good receiver over 3 or 4 seconds
the best pass defense is stay in the opponents backfield.

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Who are you going to get that is better than Martinez? That’s the real question that needs to be answered. Recruiting on defensive side of the ball has been lacking the last 3 years. Who is responsible for that? Then fire him and bring in somebody better. Simple.

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Willie should be Assistant Water Girl.

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Jake, That just it I don’t hink depth of talent has been there on OL or DL but UGA has 4 Elite 11 QBs.

Also play calling Stafford or Bobo has killed many drives. Several times UGA went for a long pass on 2nd and medium usually between our own 30 and 45 that missed and then ran a draw the next play.

I think we will find out many answers this year. I would like to see them both stay but with what maybe the best OL and DLs since ‘02 it is time to produce.

We all talk about play calling but special teams also has to hold up their end. The early CMR years always had great kicking in all areas, something that was not there last year. You can not give the ball to the other team between the 25 and 40 yardline regularly.

For all the remarks I have made about the team I do think the current coaching staff can put together a good year this year.

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My blood is red and black. If coach believes, and the team believes, you damn skippy I believe too!! Go Dawgs!! See you in Stillwater baby!!

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GW, losing 5 and 6 games a year is not having them “right where you wants them.” Erk had some terrible defenses, plenty. And then he had some great ones. Good thing the internet wasn’t around back then.

Hey, I am no more true fan than anyone, but I am a fan who knows why he even follows and enjoys college football, and hoping that our coaches fail, a week before the new season, is no way to go through life if you ask me.

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I have seen more games blown with a soft prevent D by more coaches. Dooley’s dawgs vs. Alabama in 1985 comes to mind. One of those awful Florida games when Green was qb where they just had one more possession than we did. Why anybody even has that in their playbook anymore is beyond me.

I also saw a couple of times that Van Goiter’s overanxious all or nothing D got burned for a crucial score.

Look at the 2008 schedule folks. How do you get a team up for the gators in Jax after playing in Baton Rougue? There is just not enough emotion available. Against Bama, it wasn’t the scheme; it was the penalties. We spotted Bama four first downs on penalties. As I recall, a couple of those negated big stops and killed morale. I know. I know. The penalties go back to coaching too.

I don’t pin last year’s losses on Willie. I think he will have a banner year in 2009. All you haters can eat crow and kiss my arse. The fact that Mark Bradley is expressing this opinion ought to tell you that it is wrong.

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PS With the exception of the Tech game. And, some of that goes to player execution as well in that they forgot how to tackle.

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I KNOW OF 3 HIGH SCHOOL DC’S WHO COULD PICK 11 PRISONERS OUT OF THE FULTON COUNTY JAIL AND OUT COACH MARTINEZ.

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Poor, poor puppy fans. Just pull for FL and you can actually enjoy winning the Cocktail Party, National Championships and not blame coaches or players for things like tackling (haha)….and you won’t have to deal with losing to lower tier teams like GT and Kentucky-some of the posts about losing to those losers are hilarious!

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Extend Willie Martinez’s contract.

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Cuz, I am with you. It will all work itself out. If our defense has a bad year, and Coach Richt decides its time for a change, I wouldn’t give a second thought about Willie Martinez. I think WAY too many people have this idea that the name of the DC is the only thing that comes into play. I don’t give a damn who we have in there. Personally, I haven’t seen one yet, anywhere, that was more than one year removed from goat/hero.

If the defense improves, well, for some of us, that is the objective. Others not so much.

The interesting thing to see reaction from this year is going to be this: UGA in all likelyhood will lose a game this year. And in that loss, our defense will surrender some points.

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Well Mark, for one thing Van Gorder had Willie and Willie doesn’t have Van Gorder. Since you’re so patched in up in Athens, I’m sure someone will tell you how big a role Martinez played even when VG was the coordinator. How well would VG have done sans Willie?

Secondly, Georgia’s defense in the Richt era has been powered by the defensive end and safety play. And in terms of relative prowess and talent in those 2 key areas, Van Gorder had a significant advantage. Heck, he had David Pollack, Sean Jones, and Thomas Davis on the same durn team. Hard not to play well with those 3 AAs.

Thirdly, look how the Georgia offense has played in MOST of the games where we likewise had defensive downturns. Yup, in almost every game, the offense played either atrocious halves or entire games, putting the D in even worse sports. We rarely saw the offense implode when Van Gorder was DC. You mentioned Georgia being down 31–0 vs Bama last year as support. Well, while that stinks for sure, the gooseegg sticks out prominently to me as well. The same can be said about the start of the Sugar Bowl, when turnovers and offensive ineptitude help spot West Virginia a big lead. I could likewise show similarities in the other games.

In the end, football isn’t played in a bubble. And in most if not all of our meltdown games, it was of the TEAM variety. And the blame can’t be placed just on the defense.

Would Van Gorder have fared much better in those scenarios? While we will never know, I do know that his job would have been that much harder.

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Go Frawgs! Lol. You guys can worry about tripping up 2nd tier schools like TN and GT. We’ll do the bigboy work of winning NCs over and over. 1st thing that needs to be done though is to extend Martinez’s contract. He’s a classy guy and you guys are lucky to have him. Cheers!

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38 – 3 {Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!}

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Gator CHOMP Champ, show me an undefeated Croc team. UGA has done it. When have the lizards done it? Huh??? When, CHUMP???????……..Answer me!!!! WHEN???????

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Please, please get a story that makes me want to read this stuff.
OK, so you say he stinks. If you are to complain, look at the head coach. He is thinking… “Who out there that is available, and is that person better?”
Lets move on to real news.

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STILL…the UGA countdown to kickoff clock is off by an hour. Is it that hard to correct?

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Gator Chump, chomp on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VojVTyYWGds

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john, are you suggesting that an article 8 days before the new season starts asking, “does your DC stink”, and how many hits do you think I can get with this, is not riveting journalism?

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In the immortal words of Hank Hill ” He ain’t much but he’s all I got”

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Mark, I applaud you for this article. It is the best you have written yet.

I want my DAWGS to win every game and have a great defense but Willie has got to go. I don’t care if we have a good defensive year, he should still be fired. One descent year out of five is not good enough.

So what if we were so close to playing for the SEC championship, and a possible national championship in 07. We would have been there with a great D.C. Willie has no business being a D.C. at Georgia or any other school for that matter.

Are we going to get into the same rut that we did with Ray Golf? It took way too long for the universtiy to get rid of that pathetic excuse of a coach, so why is it taking so long this time? Mark Richt can be overuled, and he should be in this situation. Willie Martinez SUCKS! I don’t care how nice he is. He will never get the job done at Georgia.

Why is that so hard for some people to see?????

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This guy is a clown.. add an inept coordinator into a mix of kids who don’t know how to tackle, and you have the recipe for disaster.

Get this boob out of there – UGA will NEVER win a BCS title with this schlep at the helm of the defense.

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I meant to say Football

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I’ll tell you if I believe CWM is a good DC at the end of the season. After last season, he has something to prove this season. Too much talent on this team year in and year out not to have stellar performances.

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I am not defending martinez, he is a decent Defensive Coordinator at a school where we demand greatness. That Tennessee loss in 2006 does not belong to him it belongs to the Offense and special teams which kept giving up TD’s and great field position. I wouldn’t be upset if Martinez was let go, but he is our DC and I hope he figures out how to make the defense Great this year. I am just glad that we got rid of our offensive coordinator / O line coach back in 2006.. (Thanks UAB for taking him off of our hands) Go Dawgs

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“What happened in 1980 was not a BCS NC”

I had to laugh at this quote. You think the BCS has somehow legitimized the so-called national championship? If anything, the BCS has become more of a joke than the old AP/UP system ever was. It’s been nonstop controversy since it’s inception. Last year, it left many people thinking that the best team was Utah. The year before, we were treated to a two-loss champion.

The national title is every bit as fictional today as it was in years past. And yes, that includes Georgia’s mythical “titles” in ‘42 and ‘80. The NCAA doesn’t even recognize a major college national championship. It should not be taken seriously.

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I like Ed’s post. WM just is in over his head. This is the HOTSEAT! One more year and I think Damon Evans pulls the trigger, and rightly so. This many fans can’t possibly be wrong, could they?

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Coaching is so much more than just taking a bunch of blue chippers and putting them out there and netting good results. All you have to do to determine if a team is well coached or not is watch them play. DO they look like they are giving maximum effort on every play? Are they intense? Football is all about intensity especially on the defensive side. I can’t remenber a game last year where I thought,”MAn this defense is fired up”. Maybe in the first half of the bowl game but not a regular season game.You can fake intensity but it only last until the other team starts to dominate.

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Willie Martinez defenses have zero intensity and just about zero effort. Fundamentals are awful (see tackling). And btw, all you Gaytor fans can GTH.

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The 1st person to come up with a way to “consistently” stop the Spread is going to be a very rich man…

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(((((NO))))), he is here to screw up GA program. One by one we will lose a top player without a title. He make CMR look bad even thouhg we have a top recruiting class every year.

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no we need brian vangorder back

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Adam,

I think the points off turnovers is huge. Florida was +22 in turnovers last year which is crazy, which divided by 12 is almost 2 turnovers per game. Compare this to UGA which -3 in turnovers. That’s terrible. The good news for the rest of the teams in the SEC is that according to Phil Steele, when a team has an overabundance of turnovers in their favor, they never generate the same amount in the second year. For instance in 2007 LSU was +21 in turnovers and were National Champions. In 2008 they were -1 in turnovers and finished 8-5.

There are some exceptions to the rule. Florida in 2005 was +18 in turnovers and finished 9-3 in Urban Meyers first year. In 2006 they had +6 turnovers and went 13-1 winning a National Title. However, the scores of many of those games in 2006 were decided by a TD or less. Now the Gators do have experience across the board this year to make up for the lack of turnovers they will get. I think the key for most teams will be to not buy into the Gator hype, which will be hard. But if they can do it, and not turn the ball over, I think some of Florida’s wins will be closer then they think like they were in 2006.

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When are we going to bring Will Muschamp back to Athens? Enough is enough! He has proven himself as a fine defensive coordinator and rumor has it that he is ready to return home.

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This was an interesting article. Since the total defensive yards given up BVG’s and WM’s defenses are virtual identical what constitutes the decline in defensive production? Perhaps A few things. 1 BVG was better at making adjustments on the fly. 2. BVG defenses did not give as many big plays. 3. BVG was better at making the correct defensive calls or better at disguising his defensive schemes. Regarding last year, it was the first time that under a CMR coached team, that the Dawgs had no defensive ends. If Mo Howard and Charles Johnson played on WMs defense last year, results may have been entirely different. Both BVG and WMs defensive schemes are predicated on getting pressure from the D-ends. Without that pressure, Georgia’s defense was exposed. I definitely feel BVG is a better defensive coordinator, working as the Falcons’ DC substantiates that, but I also believe last year’s defensive performance was an aberration. This is probably WMs last opportunity to prove himself. Any repeat performance like last year will doom him.

JJ

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mark,nice house ,great job i wouldn’t lose them ouer willie

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My question to the “fire martinez b/c he sucks crowd” is where exactly are you coaching? I would imagine you guys have some pretty high-proflie coaching gigs since you know so much, right?

Hurry up and get that resume up-to-date and start waiting by the phone because Damon Evans will surely be calling you!

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Where were all the Martinez critics in 07?
Defensive issues last year were the result of:
Injuries to key personnel that led Mark Richt to decide to limit live tackling in practice-if you look at the defensive slide-it started happening right about when this shift in practice routine started.
Penalties-both sides of the ball.
I will tell you that the defense will be one of the best in the country this year. We recruit in the top five every year-Willie martinez is a solid coach.
Last year was a tough year in many respects-yet we went 10-3 with the toughest schedule in the country-period. Let’s see when Florida had their off year in 07-what was their record?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe they lost 4 games-incl. the bowl game to a Michigan team which was nothing special. Their schedule in 07 not as tough as ours in 08
One more point- we beat Fla in 07-worse than they beat us in 08. I’m nuts right, look at the
scores. Look at the stats of the 08 game-I believe we actually had more yards of offense in that game. Don’t get me wrong, we deserved to lose, but that victory was gift wrapped.

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Everyone should read Jeff’s post, posted 8/27 at 4:27 pm. The man knows what he is talking about. VG never had to patch together third string ends and backs who weren’t allowed to full on tackle in practice. VG had once in a lifetime superstars in Pollock, Jones, and Davis all on the same team. Notice he left with his star power and has been in relative mediocrity ever since.

Alabama story: 10 penalties and 2 turnovers
Florida story: 8 penalties and 4 turnovers, also 2 missed field goals and an ill-advised onside kick
GT story: no tackling 7 penalties and 1 turnover (and I think GT was just plain due).

Thrid quarters are problematic: 21 zip against UF, 26 zip against GT

Yeah okay, what is up with the D? But, what is up with the O? They couldn’t get the depleted D off the field.

Also, consider flying to Arizona and back before meeting Alabama and playing in Baton Rouge the week before the cocktail party.

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We should never trust WM, he cost us 2 national championships! he is very inconsistant, I really wonder how bad an assitant coach should be for CMR to let him go?

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Who cares!

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before dogging on CWM compare his last fours years to strong , chavis and muchamp…im pretty sure his defenses were ranked higher than the those three. mark let me know what you get..please..i would take CWM anyday over those three. what CWM had to work with the last few years with the young guys on the def line and in the def backs that were also young he has done wonders..i bet cwm worst year is not as bad as the three i mention worst year…mark B get back with us on the research..thanks

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I predict there will be more complaints about Bobo in 09 than Martinez.

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I’ve gone back and watched a number of the games from last season. Willie’s defense was put in terrible positions in key games. NFL talent put up some incredible numbers on offense but if disciplined could have blown people ie: 2nd half int’s vs Tenn, GT, FLA for 6.

If the center of the defensive line is solid the backs aren’t exposed because the linebackers don’t have to plug the holes. If they don’t have to plug the holes they can cover the flats as well. Our problems didn’t exist in 07′ – occasional lapses but I’m not sure if that is a result of coaching 18 – 22 yr olds. Give him this year with NFL talent, a disciplined offense that will give the D plenty of rest and a team mentality. We’ll find out a lot about Willie the next couple of weeks. I believe in Richt and trust his judgement. Count the Ten Win Seasons. LSU got their most recent title because we were politiced out of the game. Florida benefited from the split into East and West divisions and the demise of their in-state rivals. We kept Auburn a traditional power and Tech. We play an additional out of conference challenger…this year two that FLA doesn’t.

Call me crazy but I’ll take our Tony Gwynn program any day. We have an above average program that will knock on the door. We were close with Greene and in 07. It is just a matter of time. Trust Richt.

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Some of you want to fire Coach Martinez. Then what? Think about it.
All this talk of running him out of town on a rail is ludicrous.
If you are going to call for his head at least provide a solution.
Defensive Coordinators don’t grow on trees.
Lets here some names people…..You know who you are.

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To all:
I’m not sure what our season holds, but I’m not as confident this year as I have been in the past. Starting with OSU, is our defense any better than last year? With a monster killer like Curran on the D, is it enough to overcome Martinez’s shortcomings? If our season starts to decline as Auburn did last year (ours will be b/c of our defense), Richt needs to fire CWM during the season instead of waiting until the end of the season. I don’t think CWM knows how to teach fundamentals or motivation. I hope that I am wrong. Does anyone else feel my pain?

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want names—Bud foster at Vtech would be a good fit–like I said, TCU’s def coord would be good–why did we let Chavis get over to Baton Rouge? UT’s problems were on offense, not defense–I think there are plenty of better DC’s out there–go and pay them, we have the money!!!

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Mark, outstanding comparisons.

I would like to see the YPP (yards per play) comparison, and how the YPP ranks nationally each year for each DC. That, when added to what you already have, will tell a lot about what’s going on.

Thanks.

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Was anyone else ever interviewed for DC when Willie was handed the job? And what were his credentials? A warm body? This was a Hail Mary by Richt that missed its mark.

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What is this sudden love affair with Chavis? Reminds me of the Al Borges, Al Borges, Al Borges crowd we had in here a few years ago.

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Willie is weak, and these “oh we have a game this week” mishaps are proof.
I find it frustraiting that CMR did not take advantage of Kirby Smart(alabama) or Will Muschamp(Texas). Don”t you think they would have been a great fit a UGA, considering that is where they played.

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Over time, the yardage figures are almost congruent. Opponents averaged 305 yards per game against BVG’s D; they’ve averaged 302 against WM’s. What has changed is more problematic:

I find this interesting. The yardage given up is similar. I am not defending CWM, but Starting field position via poor KOs of kick coverage coupled with a starting field position via inopputuned turnovers explains some up the points given up rising. Teams are stating pout at the 40 yard line vs starting at the 20. Eveybody knows that a short field is not what a defense wants to defend. Last year poor KOs aded with the injuries and all the senseless penalities was the culprit in giving up so many points.

I also agree that CWM is slow in making in game adjustments, but to say that he can’t teach the fundementals of defense (tackling) is a stupid remark. If he can’t teach a player to tackle, how did he even become a position coach? A DC’s job is not to teach players how to tackle. It is the DC’s job to oversee the other defensive coaches and to game plame and make adjustments accordingly. CWM is more of a failure to make adjustments.

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[...] It’s the line play, stupid. I don’t know that I’m quite at the point of saying you can forget about everything else, but I’m pretty damned close to it.  This team will live and die on how well the offensive and defensive lines perform this year.  A solid offensive line will let Bobo use the playbook to his best advantage, which in this case means giving Cox the time to play an intermediate passing game and keeping some degree of double coverage off of Georgia’s one offensive superstar.  I don’t worry about the situation at defensive tackle, but without some upgraded play from the defensive end position, Martinez will be hearing a lot more of this. [...]

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you should also be in love with Chavis due to him engineering some fine defensive schemes against us on several different years we played UT. Funny how our memories are as long as a bulldawgs p-cker.

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The test for WM comes very fast vs Okie St. If his guys put a whoop’in on that offense he can turn it around. To me he has a short leash and we will see what he can do on that short leash. It won’t take long UGA fans to see what we really have this season. My guess is that the offense will have to score like it always does.

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I’m tired of hearing about Muschamp, he was an average linebacker, and his defenses give up bunches of points. I’m sure he is a good coach, but we all know about coaches that give up bunches of points and we moan and complaing about that.

Let’s just see what happens, maybe the players will have more pride, afterall there will be some senior leadership out there, and maybe we will continue to have big scores. It all comes down to this year, Dogs this is now next year. We will start to notice in about 8 days. Give it a rest until then, and lets see what the players do on the field.

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[...] Martinez is under a microscope this season in [...]

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I’ve looked over the stats. Willie’s aren’t that bad. Honestly. Actually, in 2005-2006, the were pretty stellar. I was trying to do a comparison with other DCs, but they move around so much, it is hard. But most of good ones mentioned in this thread coach Ds that allow btw. 3800-4500 yds. a season and fall in around 13-21 ppg allowed in any given season. Muschamp is stellar, true. Last year his D allowed 4458 yds and 18.8 ppg. Willie’s allowed 4056yds and 24.5 ppg. If you look at Willie’s record 2005-2009 as DC, it tells a story. The story is a bunch of top players graduated and/or went pro. As he is building it back up, all his big time players get season ending injuries. IN miserable 2006, Willie’s D held opposing teams to 17.6 ppg and 3357yds., and that was with freshman stafford throwing something like 10-13 picks. To pin the missed NC opportunities on Martinez is simply unfair and inaccurate. I don’t think he is the best, but he has done a good job.

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There is nothing wrong with Willie Martinez. Georgia fans should be happy about winning ten games a year. He should be given a raise and contract extension due to the continuation of such consistency.

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Willie contained Florida and Alabama to 90 points. That’s on par with some other 2nd tier SEC teams, which isn’t all that bad. 10 wins a year is great at Georgia.

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Mark – Well done. You brought good data to help us judge the performance of Willie Martinez. The problem with evaluating Willie in totality is that in spite of defensive lapses UGA’s overall success has been very good – better than Vince Dooley’s!

The problem as I see it is inconsistency. One game Willie can create a masterful game plan (see ‘08 Sugar Bowl and ‘07 Florida games), then we have the ‘08 Tech game. Inexplicable is the only way to describe it.

For me 2009 is the judgement year for Willie Martinez. He’s got a ton of talent and a healthy squad to work with. Georgia should be vastly improved over last year. There are no execuses to lose to teams like Tech. Stack the line and make Tech beat you through the air. Ensure your defensive ends are pounding the QB on every option play. Defeating the option is not brain surgery!

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IT IS NOT THE MARK RICHT IS JUST A NICE GUY WILLIE MARTINEZ WAS HIS COLLEGE ROOMATE. HE WILL NEVER FIRE WILLIE MARTINEZ. NEVER!!! OUR ONLY HOPE IS THAT HE GETS A HEAD COACHING JOB SOMEWHERE(SOMEONE WOULD BE DUMB TO GIVE HIM THAT POSITION.) OR THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR STEPPS IN AND SAYS THAT HE HAS TO GO. WE CAN ONLY HOPE FOR THAT.

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Richt is giving him one more year, but do not be fooled by the move to make Janeck co-dc. This was done so if georgia’s defense is having a terrible season, Richt can fire Martinez and not have to look for a replacement. Martinez is essentially training his possible replacement and he knows it. PS there are lots of other ways to score besides with your offense, so points given up can be deceptive. And the GT game was not Willie’s fault. GT just wanted it more and it showed in the second half. There was also a pick six and fumble inside the twenty.

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Nothing is the coaching staff’s fault right?

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Mark – This is not necessarily as simple as most of us, including me, often make it seem. First, let me say that I would have either fired Willie or demoted him to different duties on the staff. As has been pointed out, a lot of things happened last year. The most obvious was an unbelievable rash of injuries. The other problem was an unbelievable inconsistency on offense – look no further than the bowl game against MSU. Really, I’m 63 years old and played QB only one year in high school ( that was due to an injury to the real QB). However, I really believe I could have done better than Stafford did the first half of the bowl game. Such poor offensive performances put tremendous pressure and excessive playing minutes on a defense. Yes, I know many dawg fans got excited about how well the D played against MSU. Have they forgotten it was against MSU, a mediocre team in a mediocre conference? I don’t believe the bowl game performance means much because of the calibre of the team we were playing. Another problem was a team with very poor leadership from players. This resulted in lack of effort several times when the going got tough. Most notably, this was obvious in 2nd half against UF and Tech.

Having said all that, suffice it to say that it is the responsibility of the coaches to make sure players play hard and “execute properly.” If they don’t, put someone else in the game. Neither Richt nor Martinez seem very good at being willing to do that. As to defense specifically, my admittedly limited experience as both a player and coach at the high school level makes me think that defense is primarily about effort. Having the players play hard is the job of the coach. Our D does not always show great effort under Willie. That’s his fault. That he is still the DC is also partially his fault. Knowing the “loyalty to the staff to a fault” syndrome of his boss, Willie should have already voluntarily stepped aside. However, ultimately the fault lies with the head coach. I love CMR, but he’s messed this DC thing up.

Looking at the talent that has been brought into Athens, there is no excuse for poor defensive play. Many on this blog have indicated this year is the year to determine whether Willie stays on as DC. While I think the decision is already over due, I do agree that with the talent on D we have this year, anything less than a top 5 defensive year should result in replacing Willie. I fear neither will happen.

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Yea homer, that’s exactly what I (and 20 other people in here) have been saying, Nothing is Ever the coaches fault. geeez! That’s why you drama queens are so difficult to have a discussion with.

And at least identify yourself to your comments, coward.

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RAMBLE ON!!!

who is Tech’s opening opponent, again? (crickets chirping)…that’s what i thought sweetheart. leave this debate to people who can actually provide analysis – it is not for wives of Tech alumni who log on their husbands’ computers.

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Interesting trivia about the ‘99 Auburn game and the ‘08 Bama game.

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Sic’em, Alt. Tag time since you, Cuz and a few others did yeoman work yesterday also.

Mark, you knew this would trip the smoldering fire that was finally diminished from a conflagration during and right after last season. The same fans are on here agreeing and disagreeing with the same reasoning as before, but with no resolve. You just had to start this up before the season’s start so that the naysayers could blog and hold Martinez’s feet to the fire once again. To what avail? You don’t compare apples to oranges, then sell it and then act as if a meaningful discussion might ensue.

Can’t we pack everything together and make a meaningful analysis somewhere? I have not seen the omission of last year and a comparison made to VanGorder’s years. Either you think the injuries accounted for a great deal of the problems last year or you don’t. Using the data from a flawed year when averaging all the years produced a “kickout” in my statistics when comparing apples to apples. Solution: Go back one year and start the comparison. Of course, if you don’t believe that is an anomaly (# of injured players), then that is what your blog is centered on, not Coach Martinez. Isn’t there a scientist anywhere on this blog? Mobile Dawg-Where are you?

Mark-Leaving out last season, how about a comparison to Van Gorder as to points scored, overall defense each year and all the other subjective “data” compared? Then we have a discussion. Otherwise you are holding Martinez to an artificially created standard that is flawed(by you) from the beginning. You either accept or reject last year’s injuries cascading thru the team and leading to other problems that permitted us ONLY to win 10 games. You cannot compare the two men otherwise.

It’s bad enough with the advent of spreads that Coach Martinez dealt with about five times more often than VanGorder. Compare their successes to like offenses you bonehead. I don’t recall VanGorder doing very well against the option.

I have read your articles and saw disguised humor and a little sarcasm that most bloggers haven’t caught, but somehow feel that I’ve missed those flavors this time. Go back to tongue-in-cheek, it’s better than ped in buccal cavity.

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We like Martinez. But don’t be too down on him because UGA is (as usual) overated. With or without him UGA will have another average year with out SEC honors, no BCS bowl, no Nat Champ (as usual).

Here are five reasons UGA will flop this year:

1) Overated (See last year)
2) UF, LSU, GT & Bama
3) Can’t win the big one (See 30 years and counting to a Nat Champ.)
4) Arrests of various players
5) History: Lot of wins but few against top talent See #1, 2 & 3

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#1 reason he probably isn’t that exceptional…..NOBODY comes offering him a job. Every great coordinator at big schools get offered HC jobs even if at smaller schools…..and he hasn’t been offered anything because he is just average. Just average aint good enough in the SEC.

Mark I will say this to play the other side….our special teams have gotten worse and given up worse field position. It shows because we don’t give up any more yardage than VG’s teams did, just more points. When the field is 10 yards shorter each drive, they can score more points with the same yardage.

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I agree with Gator Fan (and that hurts) way back up there in this post. We have lost opportunities to win because of REALLY bad defensive coaching. Let’s dig up Erk. He could do better, if in spirit only.
Time to fire the guy and move on…… I remember scores like 7-0, 13-7, 10-3, where the defense WAS the game because we had little or no offense.

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Umm where were Mr Martinez’s key stops in the tech game when we needed it most. Or in the ALabama game when the game was avalancing on us? Thats a load of you know what if thats what his defenders are saying. He has this year to fix it or Mark Richt may not be able to save him.

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Rodney Garner for DC

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Um, Where were our 3 first round draft pick in the entire 3rd quarter of the tech game when we needed ONE first down? It’s a team sport.

And in the Bama game, how many points did we score during the first half? Is that acceptable whatsoever? Or is the defense the only squad with any control over the score of a football game.

And to the other guy, you know and I know and everyone in this blog knows that you usually post under a different name. Coward. And stating that sometimes things are factors in a GAME played by teenagers is hardly saying that coaches can’t do anything wrong. That’s just a stupid. I leave myself open all the time, just hoping somebody will take me up so we can have banter. Don’t preach to me about an interesting blog when you come up with to call me on is “coaches know more than we do”. brilliant! Thats just saying something for the sake of doing so, cause it damn sure isnt an opinion or fact. How boring would this blog be if everyone just accused each other over overly simplistic cliches. How about quote me correctly if you are going to tread on my name.

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You Dawg fans should just be happy you only have to play one high school offense a season.

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who farted?

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I think Jim D is looking for work

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I say let’s see what happens this year. I do believe that this will be a telling year for WM. Injuries and poor offensive play I do believe hurt the GA D lately. The year after BVG left GA had absolutely no LB play and that was a glaring weakness and the ultimate undoing against Auburn and W Virginia. POOR Oline play and injuries have haunted this team for years now, but I think we can all agree the right man is on the job now! Just as I think Donnan and Gary Gibbs deserved another year, especially without Q Carter and with D Green, I think WM does too, but this will be a telling year for him………………………..YOU SHOULD HAVE PAID BRIAN VANGORDER BUT YOU DIDN’T AND THAT WILL HAUNT YOU FOREVER! HE DESERVED A HEFTY RAISE AND YOU JUST LET HIM WALK….FEELING BETRAYED FOR HIS HARD WORD. BVG LEFT AND A WEEK OR TWO LATER R GARDNER THREATEN TO DO THE SAME AND EVERYBODY (cmr AND adams) FLEW BACK INTO TOWN TO SAVE HIM! I’M SORRY BUT BVG WON ALOT OF THOSE GAMES HIMSELF AND DESERVED A HEFTY RAISE. LSU WAS PAYING ITS TWO TOP COORDINATORS OVER $400,000 AND I DON’T THINK BVG WAS MAKING OVER $200,000.THIS IS A TRUE AND FACTUAL STATEMENT!

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The better question: Is Mark Bradley compent to write a column about which he knows nothing?

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Willie will have a good year! Stacey Searls will have a good year! The real question is will Bobo have a good year? Does anyone else think that Stafford was not coached up enough like I do? How good would he have been under Cutcliff? Cox can’t be any worse on the deep ball……….and for all those that say we missed on Chavis you’re smoking CRACK! UGA’s year will depend on the running game and I believe that anyone can run behind GA’s line this year…..GO DAWGS…SIC EM!

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Willie would have been gone a long time ago if he was coaching for anyone but CMR. I have been watching Willie. He is showing more energy, but everything else is the same. Either you have it, or you don’t. Willie doesn’t.

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What exactly is “it”?

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Altamaha, “it” is coaching ability.

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Mark,
It is real simple. No one is worrying about last season. It is THIS SEASON that counts. I have been in the presence of a University board member who stated “Richt better win more than nine games if he wants to stay at Georgia.” Certainly that doesn’t mean a particular year, but on average. This has to do with the amount of money being spent, the players being recruited and the expectations of those who write the checks. The rest of us are irrelevant. My opinion is that the Georgia D will likely be the best since 2002. They may or may not win the SEC East, but they will be in the race until the last week. Florida holds the cards this season just like UGA did last season. Let’s tee it up and see what happens. I like theire chances mainly because of the significant upper classmen starting and the bitter taste from last year….and no one worrying about their NFL draft position. If I am wrong, then you can guarantee changes will be made by Mark Richt including the departure of CWM. I don’t think he is going to sacrifice his job to protect his DC. At least I hope not.

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[...] Willie Martinez, Georgia defensive coordinator: His players were in position; they just didn’t make the tackles. But seriously, folks … here’s the reason Unslick Willie is substandard. [...]

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The facts dont lie,CWM should have been run out of town after GT BREAKDOWN.Time will soon tell weather he goes or stays.It is sink or swim timeCWM!

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If I were the DC, I would make it simple. Tackle the ball carrier before he crosses the line of scrimmage. If the quarterback tries to pass it, don’t let him. Any questions?

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Where did Martinez even develop his style from? If he worked under Van Gorder briefly, it would have been nice if he mimicked his schemes. Like the Van Gorder schemes where UGA was dominant, got lots of sacks and turnovers, and brutalized the opponents with several memorable hits every game. Ahh, the days of the early and mid 2000’s…

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He is poor at making adjustments during the games. His players are not coached up. What success the defense has is due to the players talents not coaching!

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Martinez, nice guy, but nice guys wont cut it in the SEC especially at a top notch program like UGA. This guy belongs in division 2 the bend dont break defense breaks all the damn time and im glad he is gone now. Personally i think uga should go after a proven guy not neccsarily a big name guy. With bud foster and kirby smart out probably muschamp too we need tyrone nix or dick bumpas from tcu who can take inferrior talent and turn it to top notch NFL caliber talent.

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