Even as Richt focuses on Tech, there’s a grim big picture
Turnovers are a symptom, but they're not the problem itself. (AP photo by John Amis)
In the grand scheme, the Kentucky loss should be a blessing. It should yield the sort of clarity needed when quality control has slipped. A coach can fool himself for a while, but when he loses at home to Kentucky after leading by 14 points, he has to acknowledge the obvious. Doesn’t he?
Even as he approached a game against the best team in the state his Georgia Bulldogs long ruled, Mark Richt still wouldn’t address the greater issue, at least not on the record. “I’ve never been one to focus on several things at one time,” he said Wednesday. This week he would speak only of Georgia Tech, saying, “My feeling right now is on the next game; it’s such a crucial game for our program.”
But there he’s wrong. Beating Tech might mean the difference between a bowl in Nashville and one in Shreveport, but winning at Bobby Dodd Stadium won’t cure the systemic ill. On the contrary, it might offer Richt another reason not to change, and if that’s the case, this would be the one time when beating an in-state rival proved injurious to a program’s long-term health.
Because Georgia must change to keep pace, not just with Tech but with Tennessee and Kiffin and Auburn and Chizik. (Forget Florida and Alabama and LSU — they’ve already lapped the Bulldogs.) And it isn’t a one-year blip, as apologists insist, but a trend. In the first five seasons under Richt, Georgia played for the SEC title three times, winning twice, and had a record of 52-13. In these past four seasons, Georgia hasn’t reached the conference championship game and is 36-14, having gone 2-2 against Kentucky.
Think hard about that last part. Vince Dooley lost four times to the Wildcats in a quarter-century of coaching. Ray Goff lost once to Kentucky in six tries, Jim Donnan once in five. Richt has now done it twice. It’s one thing to lose to Florida, as Richt has managed seven times in nine tries, something else again to lose to a basketball school.
Asked about the need for change in his program on the SEC teleconference this week, Richt instead dissected the Kentucky loss. “Turnovers were the story of that game,” he said. “If it was zero-zero in turnovers or we’d have won the turnover battle, that’s a different game.” And it’s true that Georgia had four turnovers to Kentucky’s none, but ultimately Richt seemed to concede the futility of his argument: “Of course, you can’t throw out the turnovers.”
And you can’t. There’s no reason Georgia should be giving the ball to a lesser team four times without once being able to snatch it back. There’s no reason Georgia should be next-to-last in the nation in turnover margin, no reason it should rank 116th among 120 teams in penalties. Richt and his staff have stopped coaching effectively and have begun to rely on recruiting to see them through, and when you lose to Kentucky you see why recruiting is never enough. (If it were, Ron Zook would be Urban Meyer.)
No matter what happens against Tech, Richt will have to change his staff and his approach if he hopes again to play in the Georgia Dome for anything more than a Chick-fil-A Bowl trophy. Is there one Bulldog assistant who has gotten the most from his charges? Mike Bobo? Jon Fabris? John Jancek? Stacy Searels? Dave Van Halanger? Willie Martinez?
Forget this staff’s perceived February successes; even Rodney Garner, the chief recruiter, has insisted: “I’m a coach who recruits,” and not the other way around. But even with the gifted freshmen on campus — Branden Smith, Orson Charles, Washaun Ealey, Rantavious Wooten, Aaron Murray, Marlon Brown — is there any assurance they’ll flourish under these coaches?
Mark Richt is a smart man. He has to realize declining results call for an upgrade in standards. He has to know the only way back to the pinnacle of the SEC isn’t to stay the course but to change the navigators. He has to grasp this. Doesn’t he?
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425 comments Add your comment
Cuz
November 27th, 2009
10:14 am
chazzo, might as well talk to a stone wall.
Cuz
November 27th, 2009
10:15 am
first!!!!!!!
Oh yeah it is page three.
Cuz
November 27th, 2009
10:16 am
Three pages in three hours and fifteen minutes. Way to write em Mark.
jason
November 27th, 2009
10:18 am
Meyers idea of challenge= fla Intl, at the time, noone was saying how great a team OSU was when UGA signed to play them. Noone was saying that about ASU either. When those 2 games were added to the schedule, they were only slightly better than what UGA had been scheduling all alone. Remember last year UGA was playing GA South and CMich, and us UGA fans were all upset about other team’s fans talking about our strngth of schedule. Remember Tech wasn’t getting love last year either, they were the same ‘ol Tech team that had lost 7 straight to UGA. Now, after Tech whips our Arse and a down Tenn whips us also. we are bragging about how tough our scedule is and UF and Tech’s is not.
The $50 Million Dollar Man
November 27th, 2009
10:18 am
Hi guys, Richt can coach. My future’s looking good. I had a little bit of a rough game yesterday–bum shoulder. But how cool was that to see me AND Knowson on Natl TV on thanksgiving day? I’ll be spending my $50 million in the future. Georgia’s future is bright as $50 million. Ok, gotta run and go spend some money.
Mattr Stafford AKA “The $50 Million Dollar Man”
Ramblin Wrecker
November 27th, 2009
10:19 am
Two things:
1) Richt did a poor job of picking his coordinators. Previously he had himself as the OC and Brian Van Gorder as the DC. Obviously Richt himself came with a sterling resume in coaching the offense and calling plays, having won all those years with FSU. Van Gorder has shown himself to be very competent not just at the college level but as a position coach and now DC in the NFL. I think the decision to hand the offense to Mike Bobo, who had never been a coordinator (not even at a lower level) was a power move for Richt. He didn’t want a strong, experienced personality in charge of the offense. But with the prestige of UGA, they could have lured a talented OC that could have taken their offense to new heights. As for the Martinez hire, it was purely nepotism, just like things were at FSU with Bobby Bowden. Friends win out over talent, even to the detriment of the program.
2) Richt has long held the philosophy that he learned from Bobby Bowden that discipline is not that important if you recruit better than everyone else. And when you are mining the talent rich state of Florida in the 1990’s without scholarship limits, that philosophy will not cost you much, other than a few headaches once in a while. But when you’re competing for recruits in Georgia against Nick Saban of Bama, Urban Meyer of Florida, Paul Johnson of GT, Lane Kiffin of UT and traditional recruiting competitors like Auburn and Clemson, you need your team to be disciplined because you aren’t going to out-talent any of those teams. You have to play clean to win, because most of those coaches (aside from maybe Kiffin) demand discipline. Richt has long shrugged off how many penalities his teams commit. Now they’re pulling kids off the field for penalities, but to me it’s too late in the season to make a difference and it tells me Richt and his staff don’t have their kids attention in practice. It shouldn’t take in game consequences to get his players’ attention. And to me that says you’ve lost a little bit of your coaching edge (if you even had it to begin with).
exNFLplayer
November 27th, 2009
10:20 am
firemarkricht.net how many preseason #1s have gone wire to wire in the BCS era? How many of them could of done it with 19 starters missing?
Kendawg
November 27th, 2009
10:20 am
If there are not any changes in the coaching staff after the season, then CMR’s job should be on the line next year.
JFKDawg
November 27th, 2009
10:21 am
‘82 UGA alum. Having been spoiled with a NC and SEC titles, its a bit difficult to sit through these games. However, I think Mark Richt is a wonderful HC, he just needs to be able to make the tough decisions that are difficult for most coaches. Because he doesn’t announce them on the lynch mob’s timeline is too bad. Many would have you burning through Murray’s redshirt year just to put him in the mix. Don’t you think there is a reason, such as he’s not ready, as to why he didn’t play this year? Same with Marlon Brown. If you don’t understand the system, what value are you? Truth is we had two first round picks snatched a year early from the program and that would be difficult for most teams to recover from immediately. I do believe that Martinez is a buffoon and Fabris has no business even being on the sidelines and hopefully both will be gone at season’s end. Richt is a good HC who has fallen prey to his assistant coaches. That will all change after the season. If you judge a program merely on W’s and L’s, Donnan would still be HC. Truth is, he was about as hillbilly as they come and couldn’t interact with alumni and faculty on an intelligent level. Things will even out on the Good Ship UGA in the near term. If you are a true Bulldog, you know this is true.
LAKE OCONEE DAWG
November 27th, 2009
10:22 am
THIS JUST IN—-
AS A RESULT OF TECH’S HUGE BLOWOUT 3 POINT WIN IN ATHENS LAST YEAR, MARK BRADLEY(OR IS THAT TERRENCE MOORE IN DISGUISE)HAS PAVED THE WAY FOR PAUL JOHNSON’S INDUCTION INTO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME, AND “GREATEST PLAYCALLER IN HISTORY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS INSCRIBED ABOVE HIS NAME”…GOT TO GIVE PAUL CREDIT…HE MASTERMINDED THE COMEBACK OVER THE BADA$$ DUKE BLUE DEVILS AND WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ANIMALS DUKE PLAYS ON DEFENSE….WITH DEFENSES LIKE FSU AND DUKE, NO WONDER WE AT TECH HAVE SOME NICE STATS…
Hayseed Dixie
November 27th, 2009
10:23 am
The last great act Richt will perform for UGA is getting Aaron Murray ready for Richt’s successor.
This is the SEC and UGA: count on it.
Paul Johnson's breaf stanks
November 27th, 2009
10:29 am
6 – 6 …. What has happened to this program and the so called great recruiting classes? CMR Must Go !
Fix my email account, ya $40k/year geek!
November 27th, 2009
10:32 am
Mark is the kind of guy who gets his jollys by yelling “fire” in the movie theater. I wonder if he REALLY believes what he writes or is just trying to stir it up to sell papers…er, I mean free articles on the AJC.com. Reactionary Journalism at its worst.
Urban Meyers to Notre Dame!
November 27th, 2009
10:35 am
Can you believe Meyers is heading to Notre Dame? Without Tebow, I knew he’d take the money and run. I guess since Meyers is Catholic and was named after Pope Urban, and he mentioned coaching at Notre Dame was his dream, and the big cntract, he just couldn’t pass it up. Meyers, after Tebow leaves, you better get Lois Lane on the phone and call for Superman again. How many Natl’ campionships ya got without Tebow? What’s that? Your cell phone line is b…r…e…a..k..i…n..g. up. Ha ha ha.
Charlie
November 27th, 2009
10:35 am
Enjoy your time in the sun techie boys, just be ready to back to hiding under that rock.
And I do agree about the Blue Devil game, if they did not have some of that there Paul Johnson fancy playcallin, that mean defense would have eaten them alive.
6-5 vs.10-1......just a 4 point favorite?
November 27th, 2009
10:36 am
If Tech’s so good, why are they only favored to win by 4 against a 6-5 team whn they are 10-1?
rob
November 27th, 2009
10:36 am
MB = hack. You are a sycophant. For 8 years it was to Mark Richt, and for 15 months its been Paul Johnson. Get a life, hack.
Georgia's 'Grim' Future?
November 27th, 2009
10:38 am
46 NFL Drafts. Just had the #1 NFL pick. That ain’t grim for future prospects Bradley.
Dawgs73
November 27th, 2009
10:39 am
Mark, thank for eloquently stating what we objective UGA fan’s have been screaming for years. I can’t really say anything other than thank you!
firemarkricht.net
November 27th, 2009
10:39 am
chazzo…you’re very emotional.
Again, some of us want a NC and to beat FLA (I’ll settle for ‘compete with FLA), not just 10 win seasons…which we aren’t getting this year, and probably not next year either
Grim Picture is for Florida without Meyers!
November 27th, 2009
10:40 am
A Florida journalist says Meyers is going to Notre Dame.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/nov/21/david-moulton-dont-bet-urban-meyer-turning-down-no/
exNFLplayer
November 27th, 2009
10:41 am
I remember when Tennessee fired a damn good football coach after an 8-3 season to bring home Johnny Majors. Tennessee stayed mired in mediocrity for the next 15 years until Phil Fulmer’s palace coup. Be careful what you ask for.
Charlie
November 27th, 2009
10:42 am
Dawgs ended the season #2 in 2007 ( and did beat the National Champions head to head). Yet, this was part of the “downswing”. If could not even imagine the man-love of CPJ Tech finishes #2.
Great Journalism Mark!
Willie Is Fire Proof with a Win
November 27th, 2009
10:43 am
If Willie succeeds in shutting down BOTH Aubrn’s dual threat offensive genius AND Johnson’s 1 trick pony express, his job is absolutely safe.
Richt will realize 4 of the 5 losses came when Bobo’s O gave up 3-4 TO’s. Willie’s D has yet to give up a single 100 yard rusher this season. Normally, Richt wins 93% of those games.
1 more win Willie–shut the critics up, just like you did in the Hawaii game.
proudt2beadawg
November 27th, 2009
10:45 am
Hasn’t enough been written about this particular point? Wait until the season is over and talk about the changes that will be made. You know nothing will be done until the season is over so why continue to beat this into the ground? Mark will do the right thing. Find something else to write about until then. Good Grief! Go Dawgs!
Paddy
November 27th, 2009
10:45 am
Dwyer gets 7yrds in 5 carries…..Wow you are stuck in reverse. This just in…Bob Waterfield just threw 2 interceptions for the Cleveland Rams and lost to the Washington Redskins. Red Grange had a fumble in 1924 and they lost to Michigan. How did these guys ever get into the Hall fo Fame? Even my dog could have married Jane Russell!
Florida, Georgia And Carolina Headlines – 11/27/09 | MrSEC.com
November 27th, 2009
10:51 am
[...] Tech’s win over Georgia last year has apparently changed the world.9. This writer wonders if Mark Richt understands just how bad things are in Athens and just how much he needs to change.10. In basketball news, Ricky McPhee has to shoot [...]
Who's allowed to refer to Richt's Past?
November 27th, 2009
10:53 am
If a journalist is allowed to refer to Richt’s past loss against Kentucky, and that’s the proof of his point, then why is referring to the fact Richt has NEVER had 2 bad seasons in a row, not correct?
GTSteve
November 27th, 2009
10:54 am
You didn’t really just say that beating Hawaii was an accomplishment did you?
Dawg Lover
November 27th, 2009
10:56 am
Paddy, Wow, you are on the top of your game today. Bob Waterfield, Cleveland Rams and Jane Russell all in the same post. CLASSIC! I laughed my butt off.
exNFLplayer
November 27th, 2009
10:56 am
Had GT fired Bobby Ross after consecutive 2-9 and 3-8 seasons would they own that 1990 NC?
Bobo's Job is Safe with a Win
November 27th, 2009
10:58 am
Bobo’s been pretty solid until this year.
Bobo has had a tough year. 4 of the 5 losses were games where the O gave up 3 or 4 TO’s.
If Bobo plays a TO free game, he will absolutely keep his job.
And the dream of becoming a head coach somewday will stay alive.
If he coughs up 3 or 4 more TO’s for the 5th time this year, it ain’t lookin good for Bobo.
Come on Bobo, show us what ya got. You were practically error free as a QB in college, bring back the mojo baby. Just a 1 game. Make Tech remember ever bad word said about you.
Nesbitt good for 28 yards rushing in 14 carries
November 27th, 2009
10:59 am
If Nesbitt’s so good, and the “Triple Option” is so good, why didn’t he get more than 2 yards a carry against Miami?
Florida will be dead in 2010
November 27th, 2009
11:01 am
CBS is saying Meyers is going to the NFL:
http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/12585042/meyer-going-to-nfl-believe-it-numbskulls
Paddy
November 27th, 2009
11:04 am
Thanks Dawg Lover….But most of the credit must go to “Dwyer 7 yrds in 5 carries, he is such an easy target I just could not help it! Every once in a while Cumberland shows up on your schedule and you just have to kick their butt!
Florida will be dead in 2010
November 27th, 2009
11:05 am
Without Tebow and Spikes, the 2 leaders, Florida will be officiallly DOA in 2010.
2 Bad TO years in a row for Georgia?
November 27th, 2009
11:07 am
Has Georgia ever had 2 years in a row where they’ve been at the bottom in TO’s on offensive giveaways AND defensive takaways? No. It’s the perfect storm. Has NEVER happened before, and will NEVER happen again.
Dwyer gets 7 yards on 5 carries
November 27th, 2009
11:09 am
My left lugnut could for 7 yards, uphill.
bufordbox
November 27th, 2009
11:09 am
The problem with our overall defense is not a down-year problem, not even a two-down-year problem. It is a trend that goes back to BVG leaving, and more specifically to West Virginia running all over us back in the 2006 bowl game. It doesn’t make me a fair-weather fan to vocalize my disappointment with a problem than began to show itself 4+ years ago, and has gone basically unchecked since.
I love CMR, and want him to stay until he retires, but only if he can and will stay on top of the program, making those hard decisions that will continuously come up. Some of the probs we have now should have been addressed more aggressively last off-season, if not earlier. Instead, sticking with the status quo has allowed them to fester, and the result is the program is worse than stagnant, but in actual decline. This is unacceptable to me as a long-time Dawg fan back to late 60’s.
Come Sunday morning, there will no longer be the “gotta just concentrate on this week’s opponent” default excuse for Richt to use to sidestep the media. I love you Mark, but we are watching. If you want this job you need to show you can handle it and clean your house before the nation has to build a new one.
where is staff when you need him?
November 27th, 2009
11:10 am
CMR did not get stoopid just because fatboy and nono departed early….those guys still in atown, dogs would be barking before the Tech game….yelping after though….LOL!
exNFLplayer
November 27th, 2009
11:10 am
So firemarkricht.net , just who do you propose hiring? The SEC is loaded with good and great coaches. Compare Mark Richt’s record against them and it is extremely favorable. Urban Meyer is 13-1 against UGA, Tenn, and FSU, so it isn’t just UGA he’s beating. Who do you propose to bring in here to beat up on the Meyers the Sabans the Kiffins, the Nutts, the Miles, the Spurriers, and the Petrinos that inhabit this league? You want to fire Richt? Give us a replacement. The only guy I can think of that could do what you THINK can be done is Bill Belichik and I don’t think he’s moving anytime soon.
GT Rules State
November 27th, 2009
11:11 am
Sad that UGA has to celebrate other teams losing good people … build your own program. Here’s proof of what the UGAyers know how to play with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCFXwUo8v0&feature=related
Florida will be dead in 2010
November 27th, 2009
11:12 am
23 players gone, in one year for Florida in 2010. WOW!
shards1967
November 27th, 2009
11:12 am
Mark is right on. The UGA program has slipped greatly in the last couple or three years. It is the sum of the small things, like TWO ugly losses to Tech and now KY twice. It is the inexplicable TWO UT blowouts in the last three years or the breakdown VS Auburn on what was 4th and 32? and we ALLOWED THEM to hit one on a slant route to the corner of the endzone for the eventual win.It is the unsportmanslike conduct call vs LSU and the subsequent lousy short kick after UGA’s TD and the missed tackle by Rennie Curran ( too small ) on Charles Scott for the winning TD or the lousy, lousy play of the 09 OSU game after about 8 minutes gone in the first qtr. I could go on and one with the goofy inexplicable things that defintily show a lack of HIGH CALBER coaching like Penalties and turnovers,etc.
We all know the truth if we are REAL UGA fans and not simply onlookers.
It is time for them all to go. Why wait for yet another lousy year to take place at UGA, then in 2010 make the changes? Get TCU’s coach NOW and his Head D coach and we could go 8-3 next year, then maybe 10-1 in his second year. Why not?
UGA, class of 71 & 73
Charlie
November 27th, 2009
11:13 am
So we killed Hawaii, they were who we had to play. No shame in that, as a matter fact, we also beat the National Champs that year head to head. Thanks for reminding us what a farce the BCS is. And to thing, 2007 was part of our “down” cycle.
Summit Dawg..
November 27th, 2009
11:14 am
Hey MUTTS BARK…..Be careful how you criticize anyones faith!!!! Maybe you need a little preaching to yourself!! I guess you had rather have a coach who swears at your son!
Charlie
November 27th, 2009
11:18 am
Shards, just exactly what are you basing a 8-3, 10-1 projections on if we hire a new coach? I man, you guys are just plain idiots.
exNFLplayer
November 27th, 2009
11:20 am
Who you gonna hire Shards1967? I guess USC needs to fire Pete Carroll too, huh guys?
UGA Fan
November 27th, 2009
11:21 am
The idea that LSU & Alabama have lapped us as a program because of one bad year is laughable (I’ll give you Florida). LSU lost five games last year, including a loss to UGA. Yes they beat UGA this year but it was a close controversial game in which the SEC admitted the officials made a bad call at a critical point. Obviously UGA has issues but so does LSU. Do you even think through what you write?
Alabama has had two good years and is clearly on the uptick but they don’t have any SEC championships or BCS game victories. We may want to wait on Alabama to win something of note before we put them on a Florida level pedastool.
Clearly some changes need to be made on the staff and they absolutely will. However, before you start writing the eulogy for Coach Richt and UGA football you may want to consider the following:
Coach Richt has an elite level record as a coach and has been part of a championship calibre organization for the better part of three decades. He knows what he is doing and we are in good hands with him at the helm.
The program is stacked with young talent and has a great recruiting class lined up for next year. We should have enough talent in Athens to compete for SEC titles for the next half a decade at least.
UGA has first class facilities, is among the most profitable athletic departments in the country, is committed to putting championship teams on the field, continues to put a large amount of players into the NFL, and has a head coach who has the respect of just about everyone who has ever met him.
Charlie
November 27th, 2009
11:21 am
Yea, we need to fire Richt, then we can go 8-3, kinda like Richt did last year, but want, then in 2011 will go 10-1, GUARANTEED!!! I mean, any logical person would fire Richt today based on these facts.