Once again, Evans backs Richt but makes his point

Am I first?

Good read, Mark. I agree with you and Damon Evans.

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Suzanne Youclan for AD and John Gruden for football coach.

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If Willie Martinez is truly a friend to Mark Richt, he won’t force him to fire his DC. Willie should step up and be man enough to resign and forego his six figure salary because, let’s face it, in the business of college football results are everything. Willie hasn’t delivered, and he therefore isn’t earning the right to keep his position with the program. While I doubt Willie will step up and make this easy on his pal Mark, I am hopeful he’ll prove me wrong. After all, there should be a way out of this mess that allows Mark richt to remain the “nice guy” coach who stands by his staff, and still go out and get a new DC. With the resources GA football has, Damon Evans can give Willie a modest buyout in exchange for a resignation at the end of 2009.

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I’m a Tech Fan, as the name implies, and some may think I am biased for that. But I believe Richt is a fine coach and a good man and is good for UGA. Frankly, it’s difficult to sustain the “Good Old-Fashioned Hatred” for the Dogs with Richt there (and I’m not talking about W’s and L’s). But there are problems that need to be fixed and Richt needs to fix them. The so-called Jaw-Ja fans who want to fire him need to quit quaffing tractor fumes and let the man do his job. He’s had a lot more success at Georgia than his doom-sayers have had in their own jobs.

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Evans has done an excellent job in playing his role in the situation. A good sign for Georgia athletics as a whole. I am 100% on board with the need for Martinez to resign/get fired. But some of the loudest fans that are yelling for firings now need to relax. Ask Tommy Tubberville how firing his offensive coordinator in the middle of the year worked out for him. And Franklin was much worse for that program than Martinez is for Georgia. These types of decisions need to be made in early December, after the regular season, and while the quality coordinators that are open to moving are still available. Richt will make it right. As long as he’s been at Georgia, when things have broken down, he’s turned it around. How quickly us Dawg fans forget. Until he proves otherwise, I have confidence that he will do it again.

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And while I don’t want to see Richt take over offensive coordinator again, I would be very excited if he took the role of quarterbacks coach back. Would Stafford have reached all of that untapped potential with Richt, that he couldn’t quite unleash with Bobo? Will Bobo ever coach up two qb’s well enough to win heisman trophies?

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Is CMR going to impale himself as a result of his inability to make changes. We all say he can coach, and yes he can or maybe, yes he has, is it past tense? Can he not see what we, the loyal alumni, the crazed fan, the local and national media, see? Are all of those factions stupid, too rabid to make a serious review, did we all get stupider than we were in 2002 thru 2005?? The program lacks accountability.

What if CMR bails and resigns, ala Bill McCartney. Don’t be surprised!

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Has it occurred to anyone that maybe this team just isn’t that talented, and instead of obsessing over the coach’s style and ability, there should be some examination of how much talent this team actually has?

The offense lost the No. 1 pick in last year’s NFL draft, one of the 2 or 3 best RBs in the country and a receiver who is starting in the pros as a rookie. While people keep dumping on Stafford’s replacement, he has done a better job than the trio of TBs and the non-productive group of WRs whose job it is to take some of the load off Green.

A big part of the problem in evaluating what has gone wrong in Athens this season is that so many people in and out of the media have bought the BS produced by the so-called recruiting gurus.

If the recruiting gurus say a player is big time, it must be true. If the player winds up a flop in college, it must be some reason other than the recruiting “experts” were wrong.

How much talent a team has is best borne out by how many of them are playing in the NFL a few years later, and how much they are producing. Not by how many of them were high school All-Americans four or five years previously.

There are not a whole lot of guys on the current team who are going to be playing on Sundays after they turn in their college jerseys.

A few years back, I watched one of the current Bulldogs play in a state playoff game at the Georgia Dome. It was obvious from just a cursory view that Georgia should not have offered him a scholarship. But they gave him one and he’s spent the last few seasons taking up space on the sidelines.

I doubt he’s alone in that regard. The Georgia coaches may or may not be doing a very job of coaching (whoever coaches the DBs definitely ain’t getting it done), but I really wonder how well they’re recruiting.

Just because the various recruiting guides say the ‘Dogs have great talent doesn’t make it so, and this team simply appears to be outmatched in talent by the other top tier SEC games. They’ve probably been out-coached as well, which hopefully will be rectified at the end of the season, when the defensive coordinator is finally dismissed.

I realize that columnists/commentators are paid big bucks to delve into every aspect of the performance of head coaches and QBs, but a little analysis of other elements of a team would be welcome.

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Mark,

In another AJC article (sorry I do not have the exact article or who it was by, but it was within the last two weeks) it was stated to a highly touted recruit that Willie Martinez was staying in place next year to assure the recruit to keep his commitment to UGA. I think he was a defesive back.

Was that an error in the article or did they just say what they needed to keep the recruit and after signing day will do what you think might happen and get rid of Willie in some fashion (resign, fire, buyout)?

That could be VERY PROBLEMATIC if they told a recruit that and then after signing day go against their assurance.

Can you check on that and verify if indeed they did tell this kid that Willie is staying next year and did not mislead him by demoting Willie to a position other than DC as the kid expects and why he is keeping his commitment with UGA and then post what you find out?

Even if Willie is on the staff and not the Defensive Leader (DC) and he will not have control of that defense they would have manipulated how they assured this kid and then future commits will go to other programs as other recruiters would use that against UGA in recruiting as an example of ethical practices and then all these 5 star kids will start to be 4 star kids coming to UGA.

That could be good if you think about it anyhow as 5 of the past 6 years UGA has top 10 recruiting classes and has talent out the ying yang at most every position two and three deep, but it is just not materializing on the field the way it should.

With that type of recruiting history UGA should have been recognized as a USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida on the national scene, but they are only really respected in the SouthEast as everyone else thinks of Florida, LSU & Alabama when thinking of SEC football and UGA is regarding as a second tier (although top of the second tier) program to everyone outside of the South.

I understand that some 5 star kids do not pan out, but going back to my question you have to get as many as you can so you get a Stafford, AJ Green, etc.. and if UGA’s staff did mislead this star recruit to get him in the program then fire or get rid of Willie Martinez in any fashion other than im being the head of the Defense next year have they not then taken a step back in credibility in the eys of future recruits?

I apologize for the long post, but I just hope the other article had an error or was misinformation as these star recruits do not need to be lured into false beliefs and then if they want to transfer out due to something not being the way they were led to believe before signing these kids are the ones that suffer as they could not play DIV1 football for a year and would have to sit out or play D1AA or whatever they call it now.

Again can you find out if indeed UGA stated to this star defensive recruit that Willie WILL be there next year and what they told him exactly and then let us know?

I will check back in the morning and thanks Mark,
Dave

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Get ready for Murray in 2010, and the fun and gun offense!!! Also get ready for Tommy Tubberville on the sideline with Richt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Hey 74 — Has it occurred to you that these are the coaches that are recruiting these players??? Has it occurred to you that they are the ones charged with coaching up these players??? The bottom line is that every major college out there recruited and offered scholarships to most players on our roster. However, they still play like a bunch of clueless idiots most games. I wonder why that is????

While I think the recruiting gurus are vastly overrated, I find it interesting that all the other schools that are recruiting in the same class as us are playing much better then we are. This makes me believe that perhaps the recruiting guys are perhaps correct and our coaches are becoming lazy and complacent. Let’s face it, our recruiting rankings are right there with USC, UF, Bama, LSU, OSU, OU, Texas, etc…..yet we are the one program that seems to completely underachieve. I don’t blame the recruiting services, as the other schools have vindicated their rankings. I blame the coaching staff at UGA for being completely complacent and inept fools.

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Tech Fan hit the nail on the head…It is hard to hat Richt…I know him from FSU..I liked him there…He needs to Shake things up…No offense..but loyalty to friends has no place in business relationships…

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I agree with observor. Did we offer to anybody at Cincinnati, Boise St. TCU, etc, or guess what, Georgia Tech? Good point observor!

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If certain “insider” reports can be believed, and the source of this information is never one to flout any special knowledge or self-promote his ties to inside info like some guys (ahem, Mike Florio, ahem), then the news is not good.

It seems, this coming from someone inside Butts-Mehre, that Mark Richt is “fanatically” devoted to Willie Martinez and has absolutely no plans to fire him or anyone else on his staff.

On Richt’s call-in show Monday night, Fred from Savannah laid out the exact same FACTS about Willie’s horrible tenure as Georgia’s worst DC ever that I have been quoting for two years: How under Martinez, the Dawgs have given up more yards per game and more points per game, EVERY YEAR.

When Fred was done and implored Richt to do the right thing for his team and replace Martinez, Richt very tersley thanked him and made a remark about Fred’s “opinion.”

This is what we Georgia fans have to deal with in Mark Richt now.

He refuses to see the truth. He refuses to see the facts.

A man puts it out there for him in undeniable truth, and Richt thanks the man for his “opinions,” as if it were possible that the information wasn’t factual and accurate.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Mark Richt LOST the moral authority to coach this team the moment he put his personal relationship with Willie Martinez ahead of what was and is in the best interests of our team. He no longer deserves to coach the Dawgs. He has lost that privledge.

The Georgia Bulldogs deserve a man who is willing to do whatever it takes to win (within the rules) and is willing to put his program in the best position to win, both NOW and in the future.

Richt has shown, time and again, that he is not that kind of man. Sticking with Joe Cox now means that next year, with no Teblow in Florida and the East there for the picking, Georgia is AGAIN behind the 8 Ball, with no QB who has any kind of meaningful experience.

I’m sorry to have to be the realist here, Coach, but the season IS OVER. I’m sorry for your seniors, but the season IS OVER! You’ll be LUCKY to finish 6-6. Me, I can’t see this undisciplined mess of a football team beating Kentucky, let alone Auburn or Tech. I believe we finish 5-7, and I’d like to see Evans NOT fire Richt if that happens. There’d be a riot with the boosters, making life miserable for him AND Adams.

That brings up another point: for over two years now, this team has been playing stupid, undisciplined football, and the guy at the top has had a cavalier attitude about it the whole time.

Do you think Meyer, Saban, Miles, or even Kiffin, would allow their teams to be so stupid and undisciplined, beating themselves time and time again?

Richt has fostered a kind of attitude in his program that goes against everything that Georgia SHOULD be about. Does anyone one of y’all actually doubt the fact that Spikes WAS retaliating for something one of our guys did to him? I believe him. I believe one of our players cheap-shotted him or tried to hurt him with a dirty ploy. And THAT is the kind of team we have representing our beloved University now.

119th out of 120 in penalties.

119th out of 120 in turnovers.

I’m sorry, but this is NOT a football program we can be proud of, and it all falls on Richt.

I said at the beginning of the year that this program lacks accountability, particularly with Richt’s favorite players (Cox) and his coaches. Jeff Schultz just cribbed off of some of my rants during the Okie State game and wrote a blog about just that.

This is a program in DEEP decline.

Fire Mark Richt NOW. End the decline. Stop the bleeding. You know coaches have NO legs to stand on when they start talking about their overall record. Larry Coker did the SAME thing before he was fire. “I have a great overall record at Miami!” And Coker WON A CHAMPIONSHIP! But he let his program devolve into horrible behavior and undisciplined play and it turned into losses on the field. The SAME situation we’re in.

That guy won an MNC and was fired. And we can’t fire Richt? How does that make sense???

Our program deserves much better than Richt.

Our program deserves Kyle Whittingham. Our program deserves Brian Kelly.

The problem is, because Evans has no spine, he’s not going to fire Richt, who will refuse to fire Martinez, and next year, we’ll be in the same exact place.

But Whittingham and Kelly will be coaching at Michigan, or West Virginia, or Clemson, or some other big program, and we’ll be stuck with crap.

Fire Mark Richt now, and make the bleeding stop!

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74 Grad,

Do you not realize that all the other schools have offered most of the recruits we get? Do you think that all of our recruits don’t pan out but the ones that go elsewhere do pan out? Maybe occasionally, but it has to be what happens to these kids once they get here. Hopefully, changes will be made very soon or these recruits will catch on and stop signing with us.

Dave,
Saw the same article and wondered the same. They should not mislead a kid and we don’t know what they told him. His family just said he was satisfied. For the above reasons,(NFL,etc.) defensive recruits should and will begin stating that they will not sign unless a change is made and not vice versa!

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We have not recruited well in the secondary, and that is hurting us. And with the DT’s we have (3 very good Sr’s and DeAngelo Tyson), how are we not getting major push up the middle? And we are thin at DE. Our LB’s are as deep and talented as any team in the country, but their play is not reflecting it.

On the other hand, our offense will be fine next year. Caleb King is really flashing brilliance, but a hamstring keeps him out of 2 games, then a concussion and a broken jaw can’t be helped. Next year, if we can find a QB, our offense will be fine. Wish I could say the same for the Defense.

Bottom line on Offense – Cox is not as good as advertised. That arm/nerve thing must be affecting him more than we know. Great kid though.

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Oh yeah, the old “vote of confidence”. The beginning of the end…

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If certain “insider” reports can be believed, and the source of this information is never one to flout any special knowledge or self-promote his ties to inside info like some guys (ahem, Mike Florio, ahem), then the news is not good.

It seems, this coming from someone inside Butts-Mehre, that Mark Richt is “fanatically” devoted to Willie Martinez and has absolutely no plans to fire him or anyone else on his staff.

On Richt’s call-in show Monday night, Fred from Savannah laid out the exact same FACTS about Willie’s horrible tenure as Georgia’s worst DC ever that I have been quoting for two years: How under Martinez, the Dawgs have given up more yards per game and more points per game, EVERY YEAR.

When Fred was done and implored Richt to do the right thing for his team and replace Martinez, Richt very tersley thanked him and made a remark about Fred’s “opinion.”

This is what we Georgia fans have to deal with in Mark Richt now.

He refuses to see the truth. He refuses to see the facts.

A man puts it out there for him in undeniable truth, and Richt thanks the man for his “opinions,” as if it were possible that the information wasn’t factual and accurate.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Mark Richt LOST the moral authority to coach this team the moment he put his personal relationship with Willie Martinez ahead of what was and is in the best interests of our team. He no longer deserves to coach the Dawgs. He has lost that privledge.

The Georgia Bulldogs deserve a man who is willing to do whatever it takes to win (within the rules) and is willing to put his program in the best position to win, both NOW and in the future.

Richt has shown, time and again, that he is not that kind of man. Sticking with Joe Cox now means that next year, with no Teblow in Florida and the East there for the picking, Georgia is AGAIN behind the 8 Ball, with no QB who has any kind of meaningful experience.

I’m sorry to have to be the realist here, Coach, but the season IS OVER. I’m sorry for your seniors, but the season IS OVER! You’ll be LUCKY to finish 6-6. Me, I can’t see this undisciplined mess of a football team beating Kentucky, let alone Auburn or Tech. I believe we finish 5-7, and I’d like to see Evans NOT fire Richt if that happens. There’d be a riot with the boosters, making life miserable for him AND Adams.

That brings up another point: for over two years now, this team has been playing stupid, undisciplined football, and the guy at the top has had a cavalier attitude about it the whole time.

Do you think Meyer, Saban, Miles, or even Kiffin, would allow their teams to be so stupid and undisciplined, beating themselves time and time again?

Richt has fostered a kind of attitude in his program that goes against everything that Georgia SHOULD be about. Does anyone one of y’all actually doubt the fact that Spikes WAS retaliating for something one of our guys did to him? I believe him. I believe one of our players cheap-shotted him or tried to hurt him with a dirty ploy. And THAT is the kind of team we have representing our beloved University now.

119th out of 120 in penalties.

119th out of 120 in turnovers.

I’m sorry, but this is NOT a football program we can be proud of, and it all falls on Richt.

I said at the beginning of the year that this program lacks accountability, particularly with Richt’s favorite players (Cox) and his coaches. Jeff Schultz just cribbed off of some of my rants during the Okie State game and wrote a blog about just that.

This is a program in DEEP decline.

Fire Mark Richt NOW. End the decline. Stop the bleeding. You know coaches have NO legs to stand on when they start talking about their overall record. Larry Coker did the SAME thing before he was fire. “I have a great overall record at Miami!” And Coker WON A CHAMPIONSHIP! But he let his program devolve into horrible behavior and undisciplined play and it turned into losses on the field. The SAME situation we’re in.

That guy won an MNC and was fired. And we can’t fire Richt? How does that make sense?

Our program deserves much better than Richt.

Our program deserves Kyle Whittingham. Our program deserves Brian Kelly.

The problem is, because Evans has no spine, he’s not going to fire Richt, who will refuse to fire Martinez, and next year, we’ll be in the same exact place.

But Whittingham and Kelly will be coaching at Michigan, or West Virginia, or Clemson, or some other big program, and we’ll be stuck with crap.

Fire Mark Richt now, and make the bleeding stop!

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amazing… frakking amazing. trolls can take over an earlier blog with their pathological hatred for the Falcons’ QB, yet I can’t post something that may take a hard line on Richt, yet at least has some kind of logic about it.

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Good input Mark…much better than simply kicking Richt in a down year. Coach Richt will fix this. I have seen him in action on the sidelines and locker room lay into folks when needed. I talked with him once on the difference between high school kids today versus ten to fifteen years ago. I told him that I felt his focus on player character development was a great thing as a lot of kids come from broken homes these days. Some kids don’t even have a positive male role models readily available. At the end of our discussion, Coach Richt told me that people will ultimately guage the program by is wins. “My job is to win football games,” he said.

There is fire and desire living within Coach Richt and those who have had the priviledge of being close to the program know it. I don’t think Coach Richt will walk away from this program. He has brought his family here with him. He took this job with the intentions of staying as long as we would have him.

As an aside, it is rumored that the FSU crowd wants Kirby Smart in Tallahassee next season. That’s gonna drive up his value for either Alabama to retain him or his next employer.

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I agree with many comments on here… yes, Richt is a fine man and a very good coach and he did not get “dumber” in the last couple of years. We need to remember (myself included) where we were under Goff & Donnan… we were South Carolina, for gods sake, going 6-5 or 7-4 every year. Richt came in and won big and raised expectations and pretty much dominated Tech, Tennessee, Carolina, etc.

What he needs to do now is read Bradley’s and Schultz’s observations and do what he hasn’t had to do in 8 previous seasons: fire some coaches, throw some chairs around the room, and light a fire under his team’s butts. He needs to have an accountability session starting the first day of post-season workouts… every man, from head coach to player to water boy, MUST improve and MUST expect excellence in 2010. If not, heads need to roll.

For the first time ever, I’m starting to wonder about Richt’s ability to do this… he’s never had this situation (even in 2006, remember that those Dogs were young, inexperienced and only struggled half a year… by mid-season, that team turned it around and destroyed Auburn, Tech and Va. Tech to end the year). This team had a ton of seniors and should have gotten a “wake up call” from last year’s debacles against Bama and Tech, not too mention the poor performances in wins over LSU and Auburn.

All that being said, I’ll give Richt the benefit of the doubt… but come next August, if the same coaches are making the same decisions, and if the first game or two next year sees the same players making the same mistakes… then we’ll be no better than an 8-4 team from here on out.

I believe and hope and pray that Richt will get this done. Say what you want about “not giving up on 2009″, but this is a lost year and we all know it. Starting Saturday against Tennessee Tech, we need to start planning for 2010: play young players, change our methods and schemes and make a renewed commitment to excellence and accountability.

If not, we’d be just as good having Goff or Donnan back, and we’d better expect to be South Carolina-Athens campus from now on.

Go Dogs!!!!!!!

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part of the UGA biggest problem is CMR “nice guy” image. I am not looking for someone who is a complete a-hole but at the same time these student athletes need a stronger leader. They need to have a standard to work for. Go back to ‘07 after the Tenn beating and reread CMR quote about looking around on the sideline. That was the exact same situation we found ourselves in this years Tenn game as well.
On any other team i would be willing to bet that Joe Cox would have been sat down by now and a red shirt would have come off either Murray or Mettenberger (how you decide to redshirt two freshmen QBs in the same year is beyond me). Could they lose a game that Cox might have won yeah probably so but by the same token that QB would be gaining invaluable experience for next year. Everyone talks about well you pull the redshirt now you basically lose a full year, true but unless what do you expect next year to be like with a untested redshirt freshman QB in the SEC. Do you really think we will suddenly contend for SEC championships? Much less a NC?

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Coastal Dawg,

You are right and thanks for reminding me about that point as you are right that the kid and his family are satisfied with the answers they got about Willie and next year.

My reading comprehension might have been off a little or it is just my memory as I do not have that article in front of me, but I recall that they lead in (that blog/article) with that Willie will be there next year and his position is safe so that the recruit and his family are satisfied in knowing that Willie WILL be there next year.

That would go against the feel you get from Mark’s article stating Damon wants something to be changed up in the program and we know Richt will be there as he is some 60 games over 500 and one year the ball is just going bounce the other way and give a couple losses instead of wins. How many years in the past 5 or 6 have they made a last minute play, stop, etc.. to beat Auburn, Kentucky, even Vandy and if they did not get a fumble in the red zone or make a last minute play that they could have had 4 loss seasons instead of 10 win seasons?

That is why I would like Mark to reply as it was from one of his associates in the ajc sport’s department that wrote that and must have more insight into it.

I just want to know is the understanding from the recruit that the UGA staff assured him to keep his commitment as Willie WILL be there next year or was it that they were satisfied with something else like the staff PLANS for Willie to be there next year.

If the kid thinks he WILL be there and he is not after signing day the kid might be mad, go public, etc.. and that harms recruiting whether anyone thinks or not..

These recruiters are salesmen and EVERYONE in the SEC will pound that into top recruits and if they use that to steal away a Stafford or Green caliber player that would have otherwise signed with UGA then the staff should have used the great COACH speak and told the kid WE PLAN TO KEEP WILLIE NEXT YEAR; HOWEVER, ONCE THE YEAR IS OVER, AS WE DO EVERY YEAR, WE WILL EVALUATE EVERY COACH AND DO WHAT IS BEST FOR UGA..

If Mark can find out if the kid was told it in that type of way and is satisfied with that answer then they can get him and still get rid of Willie, if they worded it in a way that it is highly unlikely that Willie will not be there next year then that could create problems.

Why even tell the kid he will be there next year when they all can do the COACH SPEAK and simply tell the kid that Coach Richt has zero intentions to remove Wille and that would be truthful and then after signing could easily say that Coach Richt fought for Willie and Damon pressured him into removing Willie.

They should know how to sidestep these land mines and it just seemed that the wording in that article (I wish I knew who wrote it) lead the family and the kid to be satisfied with the belief that Willie WILL be there next year.

Mark, once again can you simply just let us all know how that article was supposed to be conveyed as I took it to mean that the UGA staff went to this kid to reassure him Williw will be there next year and now I read your article that Damon wants some changes….

You can not burn bridges anywhere and if the family believes he will be there and is not then you might miss out on the next Herschel (well you know what I mean as there will never be anyone that dominating again) simply due to that small doubt that the school could have sold the recruit on something during recruiting and he might think that might not really be the case as if they misinformed, mislead, etc.. someone in the past and UT is in the kids’s house on a final visit and he really wants UGA, but is reminded of this incident then the kid might think hey UT wants me just as bad and they have never had a recruit come out in public and say they were mislead then sign and things turned out to be different than originally believed.

I just get the feeling from that article that the kid is satisfied due to the fact they told him Willie wil be there next year and now I read that Damon will probably heavy hand his way into making changes whether Richt steps up and does it or not (ADs seem to get their way in the end as they do have the power)

I could be wrong and just have miscomprehended the way the article was written and that is why I would love Mark to clear up the conflict I have between the two articles so that we know about expectations given out to the kids.

I would rather the article have stated that the UGA staff went to reassure this kid, and his family, with the fact that they HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF WILLIE NOT BEING THERE NEXT YEAR instead of the wording that lead me to believe that he kid is satisfied DUE to the fact that Willie WILL be there next year.

I mean anyone can go into the kid’s house and say I am the coach of the program and all my coaches will be there next year that you have bonded with and that have recruited you and then later do whatever they want in regards to the staff and then tell the kid it was the AD’s choice to get rid of the coach in question after the kid signs and then it would look like the kid was mislead when in fact he was not as the AD can do that even when he coach wants to keep his staff intact.

I understood by reading that article that the UGA staff that went to see this star recruit assured him Willie would be there next year is speaking on behalf of the entire Sports Program so if Mark’s article above is spot on and they do get rid of Willie (even if Richt fights for Willie) on Damon’s decision that shows the discord within the Sports Program as everyone should be united in their understanding so things do not get crossed up, kids mislead, etc..

Again sory for the long post, but PLEASE MARK just read that other article as it was within your department and let us know then how you understood what was written and if it now seems that the coaching staff is on one page spreading WE ARE ONE to these kids and knowing that the AD wants major changes.

If the article is correct the way I read it then this kid BELIEVES and is satisfied with the coaching staff’s reassurance that Willie WILL be there next year, but your article above BLOWS THAT TOPIECES and suggests that Damon will get rid of Willie even if Mark does not do it in whatever fashion.

Going to sleep and I look forward to someone that read that article (like Coastal Dawg) to just tell me they way they read these two articles and if they think it shows some DISCORD within the program…

I am just trying to understand why one article is preaching unity and the top guy wants some heads to roll.

Or is it just that the article’s wording led me to believe the kid believes, and was assured by the UGA coaching staff, Willie WILL be there next year?

Someone shine light on this and I PROMISE I will not post again!!!!

Dave

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okay… I want to apologize for the quadruple post… totally not my fault.

AJC CAN YOU PLEASE DELETE ALL BUT ONE OF MY REPEAT POSTS???

Posting has been spotty for the last couple if days, posing some things, not posting others, or waiting until an hour later to post something.

AGAIN, PLEASE DELETE ALL OF THE REPEATED POSTS

THANK YOU!

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This season IS over…not beating Florida…it’s over….OVER.

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Here’s my thing about the people who think Richt should go or doesn’t know what he’s doing: If Georgia plays a patsy to open the season and hangs on against LSU, is he still a horrible coach at 6-2? Heck, just put a normal patsy in to open up and Georgia is at 5-3 and clinching bowl eligibility this weekend.

As Barnhart alluded to this week, part of the problem is the LOADED schedule. I would personally rather see more games like UGA-OSU and UGA-ASU, but not if the other teams I’m playing are opening with Wofford and Southeastern Louisiana State Tech Northwest JV. Take Tennessee: The Vols only have Vanderbilt as a rivalry (SEC game), while UGA has Tech (out of conference). Tennessee’s OOC schedule was *loaded* with UCLA (which UT lost), Western Kentucky, Ohio and Memphis. UGA had schedules like that earlier this decade and won conference titles.

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I think alot of this has to do with the NFL seeking these young men who are granted scholarships to play football,and also recieve an education.Scholarships are like contracts and should be enforced to keep the NFL waiting their rightful turn to exploit these young men for their greed.

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Michael,
We are what we are. We measured ourselves against a good OOC schedule and know where we stand. We didn’t hide behind patsies this year. If we were playing patsies and were 6-2, it would be a very hollow 6-2 and we would be a .500 team hiding behind a 6-2 record.

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What is with BugKiller today. Coach Richt and Coach Martinez will both be back next year and Jawja
will be a big winner again. You fair weather fans will forget and be woofing again.

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tech fan here…are you people crazy? you have 1 disappointing season and the knee-jerk reaction is to start firing coordinators or even (gasp) fire the head coach??? vince dooley would never have had the opportunity to become “legendary” had he been held to the same standards…it was only 2 seasons ago, georgie finished #2 in the land and you “fans” were singing cmr’s praises…cmr and this staff didn’t suddenly forget how to coach…as tommy tubes correctly pointed out, there’s nothing wrong with this team that a stafford and moreno wouldn’t fix…just a few years ago, when cmr’s star was at it’s brightest, he could have easily leveraged his status for a sweeter deal but cmr is a man of character, integrity and undisputed loyalty and did nothing but profess is love for uga…of course, everyone admired his loyalty and felt so fortunate to have this kind of coach, and all he stands for, in charge of the football team and the stability he brings to the program…and here you are 4-4 following the early departure of 2 first-round draft picks from the offensive backfield and you people want heads to roll? shameful, utterly shameful! truth be told, as a techie, i hope evans does stick his nose in this and does demand staff changes…it’s a slippery slope that will ultimately lead to starting over with a new head coach…and what coach worth his salt will want to work for someone that doesn’t allow 1 subpar season out of 9? and what kind of fans are ready to write off the season with tennessee tech, kentucky and awbun left before the tech game??? geez louise, you’ll be 7-4 going into clean old fashioned hate…and that’s cause for termination??? you people ARE crazy!!! just be careful what you ask for…

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Rather than questioning a proven winner the last nine years, I questioning the intelligence of all these people who’ve commented on this column in the middle of the night when the normal world is sleeping. You people need to get a life.

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Oh, and lest we not forget Coach, the players who sold championship rings on e-bay were, in my humble opinion, slapped on the wrist instead of banished and shunned. I am not surprised that your approach to discipline has resulted in virtually the most penalized team in Division I.

And yes, it’s still Division I, not the politically correct NCAA term, whatever that is.

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MB- In light of all of the novellas and the terse dialog from several dog fans – many of whom I expect to be buried in a red and black logo’d coffin – so, I think it is time to take an online poll .

Set up some logical, thoughtful, and reasonable Q&A’s. Allow everyone time – say 7 days – then publish the results. Screw the instant polls – those are just emotional. I hope there will more responses from different people. So I wonder what they are thinking all of your market reach? Don’t know if that is possible but I thought it was worth a comment.

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Mark – who might be on the short list of DC’s that would consider the move to UGA. Let me also say that I wish UGA and TECH would come to be such powers that their annual November meeting would have NC implications. When I compete, I want to know I went up against their best and won.

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Georgia will soon get the reputation of Alabama. Never satisfied with a coach. Pressure on Dooley to retire, firing of Donnan who won 80 percent of his games, and now Richt who is a very successful coach. Success comes from getting a good coach and staying with him through some bad times( Frank Beamer in the early 90’s is a prime example.)

Richt is good just ask Bowden who has struggled since he left

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One should never see loyalty as a fault. That said, I think Damon will, shall we push CMR to bringin a new DC. I think it’s needed but some times change is good for changes sake. The fact that Damon played, and played D, gives him a lot of credibilty, as opposed to some stuffed shirt. It will happen. I’ve really no doubt.

HBTD!!!

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I think more than Willie needs to go. It won’t happen. Mark needs 3 to 4 new coach’s. Move Garner to full time Recruiting Cord. and bring in a whole new Defensive staff. Might need a real RB coach also, and a top notch special teams coach.

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As a UGA alumni and 30+ years fan, I am truly sorry to say that for once, I agree with BugKiller. These problems didn’t manifest overnight- they are a culmination of close to 5 years of neglect and denial. CMR’s categorical refusal to let Martinez go last year and to keep Cox as starter show his inability or refusal to make the hard choices that as CEO, he is paid an obscene amount of money to do.

Dark Days at the Bottom has also hit right on some major points. The entire staff must go! There is no discipline, focus, nor accountability with this team and the staff. The rap music, tattoos, burns, dreadlocks, Soulja Boy dancing, and off field antics are unacceptable. I do not wish for my children to see that thug behavior at my Alma Mater, so we have not gone this year, and refuse to support this team financially until there are wholesale changes made.

True, there is not a whole lot of exceptional talent on this squad (other than AJ and maybe a select few, if any). But that needs to be for the coaches to cultivate. We have recruited some great players who just did not pan out for myriad of reasons, much of it coaching. Everyone on staff must go, and if CMR refuses to do the deed, then he needs to go as well. Nice guy or not, this is a business and he has failed his organization with his head-in-the-sand lackadaisical attitude. Sorry, these are sad times in Athens. We need to truly rebuild and not start tinkering as a stop-gap measure. UGA needs to do it right and gut everything.

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word is that richts wife inherited 15m recently dont think hes worried about much lost edge for coaching if meyer and strong were our coaches and our staff was at fla uga wins nuff said

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Mark Bradley ” A talnted team should forse the issue not back pedal” was the smartest quote you ever spoke. I will say your most disliked by me is stating the Program is goin in the wrong direction based off a season. Totally wrong

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Talk is cheap. We shall see what happens after the season has ended. After the season, in private, in no uncertain terms, in terms that even Martinez could understand, I would inform Richt that a win over FL and GT as well as an SEC East crown would restore the confidence of the fan base, and, that if that did not occur, perhaps he should consult the yellow pages for real estate companies as his tenure in Athens looks extremely doubtful.

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Drew, Willie Martinez could have done Mark Richt a favor last year by resigining, but at this point I think everyone needs to see him fire the man to show that is it truly his decision. The points and yardage allowed have spiked up an unbeleiveable amount since Willie took over. It Richt had made the move last year this season would probably have been better and prospects for next season would be better. (Just an opinion here but I think Vandy’s defensive coach might be a good choice.)

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the season went south when kris durham got hurt..lol

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Somebody find “bugkiller” a job please! He really needs to find something constructive to keep hiis mind occupied.

It could be that the current group of coaches should be praised for us not losing more than we have – it’s obvious to anyone with a brain that these players are very young and immature – that equates to not being a very sound team when it comes to penalties, proper positioning in pass coverage (few interceptions and fumble recoveries). You can coach your head off but you still will find it tough to evercome all the bad habits these kids developed when they were stars on the high school level. Understand this, there are no David Pollacks, Thomas Davises, Greg Blues, Kendrell Bells, David Greenes, Richard Seymours, Hines Wards, Musa Smiths, Knowshon Morenos, or Matthew Staffords on this team. Some stars (other than AJ) may develop but they are just not there yet. If you remember, several “big time” players left and took the money – I don’t blame them – but they were counted on to be a very large part of this years team back when they were recruited. What would our offense be with Stafford and Moreno in the mix this year? Teams would not be able to zero in on AJ the way they do for sure. The Dawgs will be very good the next couple of years – if we can keep the stars that develop from leaving early!

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mark bradley, once again i guess you think you got reach to fire mark richt or make any changes at the georgia football program…lol (please, real football fans who love georgia lets be honest & supportive. we got the 3more games to play inwhich hopefully leads to one more bowl game, to watch georgia football in 09.) i believe in mark richt, he got proven track record when he has the right players for his system/ mark richt teams are very good. WE LOST THE #1 & #17 OVERALL PICK IN THE NFL DRAFT LAST YR., both were underclassmen w/others being pick in latter rounds. face it, we’re not good this yr/plus any team wouldn’t be including tenn., bama, florida if they best players had left. but to act like this man(mark richt)has destroy or lost control of the georgia bulldawgs sound stupid & good-ole boy iffy. a pass rush & couple of georgia players need 2man-up, and we’ll be fine

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to jack the Tech fan – you stated what I’ve been trying to say to these folks all year! Thanks for chiming in with so much common sense!

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Thanks Mark for “elucidating”what Evans said to all us peons,we could have never figured it out .

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Let’s be real here everybody. You don’t really think Richt or Evans is going to fire a coach with four games left in the season do you?? Who would they hire?? Give it a rest. Richt has certainly done an excellent job over the last few years. He has returned UGA to prominence on the national scene. With a break or two, he could have played for a NC in 2002 and in 2005. One bad season and you want to hang the man. Hey, I heard Ray Goff was available. Maybe that’s who we could hire to lead us from the valley of darkness.

I trust Mark Richt completely. If change is needed, he will make it. I have never coached, never played, and never even seen the Georgia locker room (or pictures for that matter). With his experience and credentials, I know he can turn it around. The rest of you whiners need to take a break from reading all these blogs.

As for the team, I’m behind you 100% percent. Sometimes it just doesn’t go like you expected for it to go. But, true fans are with you all the way. If UGA has real fans, the stadium will be full the rest of the games with everybody cheering the Dawgs (hopefully to victory). The team needs to know that the majority of fans haven’t quit on the team. I would never quit on my team, win or loose. I AM A DAWG FAN – not matter what happens.

GO DAWGS!!!!

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