Who gains from the SEC’s turmoil? Alas, not UGA
The SEC East is in flux in a way nobody could have envisioned on Christmas Eve. Urban Meyer resigned and recanted and is said to be relaxing. Tennessee has no coach. Kentucky has a new coach. Vanderbilt … OK, there’s the one constant.
With so much in motion, the moment seems ripe for a stable program to make a bold move upward in 2010. That program would not seem to be Georgia.
Having searched for six weeks, the Bulldogs don’t have a defensive coordinator or a defensive staff. They’ll enter next season with a new quarterback, the result of having left Aaron Murray to redshirt. (A wise choice in most years, but not necessarily in the worst season under this head coach.) Worse still, there’s a growing feeling across the South that Mark Richt is a year away from feeling the big heat.
From MrSEC.com, usually a clearinghouse of conference links, came this post-Kirby-Smart post from John Pennington, its headline reading: “Smart Stays; Richt In Trouble.” Pennington’s argument isn’t that Richt should be in trouble but that, having been spurned three times now by coordinating candidates, he’s being perceived as “inept.”
Short of landing Bill Belichick, it will be nigh-impossible for Georgia to emerge from this protracted search with a coordinator who will satisfy the majority of Dog-lovers. And it does seem troubling that three men who worked in the South and have coached against Georgia — Bud Foster of Virginia Tech, John Chavis of LSU and Alabama’s Kirby Smart, who’s a Bulldog born and bred — saw greater opportunity in the current positions than anything awaiting them in Athens.
Is Georgia now radioactive? Is Richt viewed in the industry as damaged goods? Is there a way for the coach who once moved from strength to strength to overcome this onset of weakness?
Sure. There’s a way. Just win, baby. (That’s Al Davis’ signature quote. The second-most famous Al Davis utterance: “Lane Kiffin is a flat-out liar.”) But I don’t see Georgia as poised to win big even in an SEC East that’s without Tebow, without Kiffin and perhaps without Meyer. Indeed, if you’re looking for the program harboring realistic expectations of a 2010 breakthrough, look first to the one that has never won anything of consequence.
South Carolina.
It has a head coach, which puts it ahead of Tennessee and perhaps Florida, and he has a national championship in his portfolio. It has a defensive coordinator, which puts it ahead of Georgia, and Ellis Johnson is a fine one. Its quarterback is returning, along with 15 other starters on offense and defense. And it plays Georgia in Columbia on Sept. 11.
No, the Gamecocks weren’t much good in 2009: They finished 7-6 and looked awful in losing the Papajohns.com Bowl to Connecticut. But the new season is another day, and long-suffering Gamecock fans get geeked up for every next season as a matter of course. This time they might actually have cause.
Not many Georgia fans seem similarly enthused, at least not at the moment. The coordinator search won’t go on forever, but it has left a mark on the Bulldog psyche. Georgia fans are like most: They can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to come coach their team. But they’ve just seen three men choose to remain in place despite the lure of big money at UGA.
Loading ...We learned in 2005, when he won the SEC in his first season without David Greene and David Pollack and Brian VanGorder, not to dismiss Mark Richt. We saw it again this season when he took his worst team and beat Georgia Tech’s best aggregation in a decade. That said, the prevailing wind now seems to be blowing against him.
He’s 14-8 over the past 22 games. (And that’s with victories in the final two of 2009.) He can wind up making a good hire and it won’t be seen as such. Some of the UGA fans who once swore by Richt have taken up a different brand of swearing. As Pennington suggested, Richt is no longer the fresh prince of the SEC but an elder and somewhat diminished statesman.
Five years ago I wouldn’t have thought Richt and Georgia incapable of anything. Now, heaven help me, I see South Carolina as the program on the rise. South Carolina, of all teams.
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785 comments Add your comment
RxDawg
January 13th, 2010
2:17 pm
BEAT
DEAD
HORSE
willie martinez
January 13th, 2010
2:18 pm
FLASH———lane kiffin replaces pete carroll at seattle
JB
January 13th, 2010
2:18 pm
Carolina can build off that Bowl game showing. Made me proud as a SEC fan…..Geez.
Iceman
January 13th, 2010
2:18 pm
Mark, are you that bored that your mind leads you to think SC will be better than Georgia?
One Win Tech
January 13th, 2010
2:18 pm
We can beat SC with Hairy Dawg coaching the defense.
4tix4dogs4cokes
January 13th, 2010
2:20 pm
Mark — You have devolved into the 14 year adolescent who is wearing Goth clothing, taking up smoking, etc., all in a sad attempt to garner attention. There has to be a better way man. Seriously, while you still have a paying gig and an opportunity to regain some credibility I think you need to back away from the keyboard and reassess where this thing is headed. Just to give you a head start on that introspection — it is NOT headed in a direction that is good for you.
willie martinez
January 13th, 2010
2:20 pm
i have never seen such vicious, outrageous, distorted blogging in my entire life.
Bob Horner had a sweet compact swing
January 13th, 2010
2:21 pm
We usually always beat the poultry….if not the coach will get sent back to Moultrie…that’s already happened…
Kirby Smart
January 13th, 2010
2:21 pm
Mark Bradley – you are the reason I did not take the UGA job. There was opportunity but beside Daddy not given me my balls back so i could go back to A town, I would have had to put up with your blogs.
Dude – that great D coordinator – he sucked against UConn with a long time to prepare. Are you serious? I think you need to get some new material.
Ooooohhh excuse me – Daddy is ready to tell me what to tell UT on their offer…..off I go.
NCDawg
January 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
I won’t believe that USC can win big until they prove it. Mark Richt has proved it, and I think he will again. And I agree, all he has to do is win a few big games next season and everyone will forget all about the overblown attention this DC search has gotten. Of what I consider to be the “Big Four” rivals (UT, Florida, Auburn and Tech; no, not USC), Georgia won two of them this year. No, we lost to Florida again and that has to change, but Richt has done better than his two predecessors against these teams. And he’s never had a losing season which Dooley, Goff and Donnan all had. We’ll be fine.
Dawg Gone
January 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
How does Urban go on a LOA, but still manages to recruit 15 of the ESPN top 150 in the nation (and another four still possible)? And how does Urban hire a complete staff, including a coach who was in consideration to be DC for the Giants?
Sounds like Damon ought to give Mark R. a LOA and get some production.
Ask a beauty first, then another until
January 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
Let us speak about Richt and his “failure to land a name brand” D coach. Ok? Honesty is best.
We are mostly men here correct? If you dated, or tried to date, we always were told to ask a beauty out first and if she declined, then ask her gorgous friend until we found just one cutie. Isn’t that really how it works in courting and dating and the S word? Stand at the bridge area near Memorial Hall at Sanford stadium in springtime and you will fully understand my point here. BEAUTIES ARE EVERYWHERE ……… except at Go Taliban U. Mark only needs one to get where he wants to, correct?? It takes only one GOOD ONE to have some fun in the SEC.
Richt did just that with ( if even true ) with Koenig, Foster and Chavez and now K Smart. Where is the crime here??? These “beauties” were ALREADY at great and WINNING SEC programs, except for Koenig and I am sure geography came into play there. I did not want him anyway and neither did 98% of the UGA fan base. He does not count at all and neither does Foster. I know this to be true.
Richt just needs one “beauty” and UGA will be fine. Smart looke good and Richt was rejected. SO what. UGA is not “damaged” or “radio active” anymore than a yong man at the bridge is………….by the way my bride of 35+ years was one of many UGA beauties and that is that. It only took one ask out for me and to this day I know that I got the better of that deal.
Richt ALSO only needs one to run with.
UGA wins big and soon. Go Dogs.
Coach Saban
January 13th, 2010
2:23 pm
The trail of tears must have froze again. Mark, thanks for the salt to keep things flowing.
You the man!
robodawg
January 13th, 2010
2:25 pm
As far as preparing for next season, we don’t really need a DC until spring practice — no disadvantage there. But if ever South Carolina was going to challenge for the east division, next year is it. They’ll be returning a starting QB, they play us early, and we’ll be starting a new QB against their good defense while installing a new defensive system against a Spurrier offense that looks to be the best he’s had in Columbia.
I haven’t looked at their schedule, but seems to me that if they can beat us and beat Tennessee, there’s a chance they could lose to Florida (at the end of the season when their lack of depth tends to show) and still win the division, depending on what kind of season the Gators have after losing several of their best players and coaches. Florida will probably just reload, but it could be interesting. If we all beat each other up, the division will be wide open.
Coach Saban
January 13th, 2010
2:25 pm
Kirby, How many times do I have to tell you blogging is not allowed. Get back to your DC chores or I will take away that “Coach in Waiting” plaque.
Did Mark Richt forget to renew his AJ-C subscription? « Get The Picture
January 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
[...] like I said, that’s fairly mild stuff compared to Bradley, who’s outdone himself with this post today. Talking about the state of the SEC East in the wake of Kiffin’s departure, the ironies [...]
Theron Sapp
January 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
Mark, please. You are better than this.
You’re just poking the cage with a stick.
gatorman
January 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
My only concern if I was a Dawg fan would not be about CMR trying to hire probably the 3 best names for a DC and being turned down because they each proabably had valid reasons; none of which would be the impending demise of the UGA program. My real concern would be why in the world would they not get whomever the best of the 2 Freshman QB’s some game experience because now he will start the season with either last years backup, which seems unlikely or 1 of 2 totally untested freshman. It makes no sense, because with today’s top atheletes (see Stafford and Moreno) very few stay 4 years anyway. That kind of decision making as the head of the program is what I would be concerned about.
anotherdawg
January 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
Could the AJC please hire “whatchagot Loren” and “OneEyeJack” as commentators?
Erk The Great
January 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
UGA and CMR will be just fine, I see the Dawgs going 9-3 or 10-2 next season so things will get back to the norm in Athens. If they had played next year’s schedule this season they would have been 9-3 and WM would still be inhabitating Butts-Mehre!
Raleigh
January 13th, 2010
2:27 pm
Hi, Mark – did you hit your quota? No reason to trash your inane logic. I realize that you have to please the editor and the “click-counters”. It was time to please the USCe fans with something that might get them to flock to the AJC and beat their chests. Nevermind that they have trouble keeping talent in their own state much less acquiring talent from elsewhere.
And calling Richt inept because he couldn’t lure any of the three guys with great jobs already? I give him credit for trying. Did you ever wonder why you see some really hot women married to complete dorks? That’s because the dorks had the guts to ask – and perhaps lots of cash, too. It’s apparent that Richt has the cash – he just needs to find someone who’s not already happily married.
Yawn
January 13th, 2010
2:28 pm
Wake me up when Bradley doesn’t try to pick a fight with UGA fans and when South Carolina wins 9 games in a season. Until then, everyone should see Bradley and South Carolina for what they are jokes trying to be taken serious.
AppalachianDawg
January 13th, 2010
2:28 pm
Mark Sadley = Terrance Moore….with less class, if that’s possible. (There, I said it.)
BTW, Bradley….your lazy usual response of “Get paid? Am I supposed to get paid? Nobody tells me nothin’” is getting tiring and was never funny to begin with. You arrogant prick.
ECDawg
January 13th, 2010
2:28 pm
Mark – Your ramblings have gotten more and more ridiculous. Richt will soon have a DC and staff and Georgia will be much better on defense, with a good to great recruiting class to boot.
You describe yourself as a blogging fool…….it’s time to remove the blogging description……
Without-a-clue
January 13th, 2010
2:29 pm
I think when Bradley plans an article his thought process goes like this: “How can I pi$$ off the BullDawg Nation and increase the blogging totals on my site?” Yeah, I “bit” too(this time)but the tactic is being overused.
DawgGoneRight
January 13th, 2010
2:29 pm
Did I mention that I am an intern at the AJC and I report to Mr. Bradley?
+jim wynn
January 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
you have to write trash to get people to read trash+
RJM Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
Another useless article written by the baffoons from the ajc! Do you and Jeff “nerd” Schultz compete to see who can write the most worthless nonsense. I’m surprised Tony “Mr. College Football Nerd” Barnhart hasn’nt chimed in yet regarding the coaching search… oh wait, no one has really heard anything from him UGA related since before the Tech “nerd” game.
winterville
January 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
Mark, I realize that you have to kno how to get people to make the most posts on your board. But constantly going off on the UGA team is going to make you more of a parriah (spelling?) than Terrence Moore. Georgia will be absolutely fine over the long haul as Richt will be the head man for quite some time. You should also report how often memebers of Richt’s staff have stayed put rather than chase other offers that have come their way. But that would go against your argurment and not make for the posting that feeds the advertising. I get it but your a good likeable writer who usually has good insight. There is plenty of positive with UGA and Tech. Negative articles on Tennessee right now will feed the blog monsters.
jellybeandawg
January 13th, 2010
2:30 pm
I am a UGA grad and I love the Dawgs as much as anyone but I have no problem with what Mark is saying here or in any of his blogs about UGA for that matter. He calls it like he sees it and is more often then not right regardless if some blind, inbred loyalist UGA fans choose to accept it.
Vangorder was the real genius behind the UGA program and now that he is gone we have and will continue to slip.
Happy SC fan.
January 13th, 2010
2:31 pm
Best blog ever written on the AJC.
That70sGAdawg
January 13th, 2010
2:32 pm
Bradley can’t even get a headline right: It’s the SEC East, not all the SEC!
Move along, nothing to see here…
dostadawg
January 13th, 2010
2:32 pm
This article is such a load of BS. How much does the AJC pay you? How much did the Carolina people pay you?
Delbert D.
January 13th, 2010
2:33 pm
Richt to Tennessee for $5 million? Anyone buy that?
winterville
January 13th, 2010
2:33 pm
Van Gorder only coached the defense. Richt managed the whole team and controlled the offense. If Van Gorder is so magical tell me why Georgia Southern slipped so badly in his one year of coaching. Oh yeah, he also pulled a Lane Kiffin on Southern. So what exactly makes him so great that he was the master of the UGA program?
Middle GA Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:33 pm
Mark, you sound like Chicken Little. “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” You make it sound as if making 3 offers and being rejected is the end of the world. USC (who sportswriters like yourself continually annoint as one of, if not the, top program in the country) just had to make 4 offers to find a head coach. Wasn’t Nick Saben the 2nd or 3rd coach offered the Alabama job? Neither, Lane Kiffin nor Gene Chizik were Tennessee’s or Auburn’s first choice. It doesn’t matter who rejects your offer, but rather it matters who accepts. Wait until after hiring a defensive coordinator to slam UGA and Mark Richt. Frankly, even then, you won’t know if it was a good move until after next year. I remember when Mark Richt hired Brian VanGorder, nobody I know was impressed. Boy, were you, me, and everyone else wrong! Mark Richt knows what he is doing. You don’t win 90 games, 2 SEC Championships, 2 BCS Bowls in the SEC East over 9 years without knowing what your doing.
Asheville Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:34 pm
I’m for coach Garner taking over. He will take the job won’t he? And hey give a big raise like everyone else got!
DFWTX Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:34 pm
Wow! I don’t what you’ve been smoking but you need to put it down! Are you trying to keep people from coming back to read your articles? I don’t know if I’m disturbed more by the fact that you get paid to write this tripe or the fact that I come back to read it. I actually feel I should have been paid to read this one Mark. Spurrier’s day in the sun is OVER!!! He has done nothing at SCar but produce 5-6 loss seasons. Below is my “bottome line” response to this article.
1.) Spurrier is stubborn. His offense is antiquated, and he hasn’t realized that he will need to establish an effective running game to be successful in the SEC.
2.) Spurrier is 1-4 against UGA since 2005.
3.) UGA’s worst season under Richt (this year) equals Spurrier’s best at SCar (2006: 8-5)
4.) UGA formula for improvement next year is simple: 1.) Reduce turnovers and 2.) improve on defense. UGA’s defense will improve. It really couldn’t get any worse. I don’t care who the new DC is, UGA’s defense will be better.
5.) Spurrier will be feeling more heat and be under more pressure than Richt by the end of next season.
This article is just horrible! I actually considered not reading and responding to your future articles, but I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to give you the satisfaction.
Alex
January 13th, 2010
2:34 pm
This feels like a “punch-in, punch-out” piece Bradley. Pretty weak. Fact is, the three guys who turned us down run three of the top D programs in the country, teams that are literally defined by their D. Since UGA has been a defensive joke for five years, WHY WOULD YOU EVER ASSUME THIS IS A GOOD MOVE? The answer, you wouldn’t. Thus, this has nothing to do with Richt.
jellybeandawg
January 13th, 2010
2:34 pm
Since Vangorder left Richt has been exposed for what he really is. A slightly better then average coach who must really on superior talent and a superior DC to save his behind. Now if he can go out and find an excellent DC then I think he will be fine but if not he will be gone within the next 2-3 years.
winterville
January 13th, 2010
2:35 pm
Learn to score on Conneticut and then we will talk about South Carolina being competitive
Brunswick Marsh Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:35 pm
Mark – The fact of the matter is Foster or Smart wouldn’t have left their current positions for any other programs in the country, period!!! Yet we were a nats a$$ from getting them both. Richt and UGA have handled this search beautifully with no drama or controversy. Had Richt hired George Edwards (who?) and not Meyer at Florida, you would have deemed that the worst DC hire in the history of college football!!! There’s a ton of great DC’s out there, and Richt will finish the drill……just wait and see!!! P.S. – Aren’t you the guy that said Mark Fox was a terrible hire?? Yeah, thought so!!! Go Dawgs!!!
Coach Saban
January 13th, 2010
2:35 pm
Mark, Now you know what its like to be Willie Martinez. Good time to listen to some vintage Who. No one knows what its like…….
George Dawg
January 13th, 2010
2:37 pm
Bradley, How did you get into this line of work. You’re stupid! Really. Almost anyone could do better. No wonder the AJC is sdoing so poorly. Oh, Cynthia Tucker. Your worse. What crap. It would be great to have someone inteligent and unbiased to read.
DawgLink
January 13th, 2010
2:37 pm
I for the life of me can not figure out why the AJC hasn’t sent you packing Bradley. You are a poor excuse for a sports reporter. Just go and play with Paul’s Johnson. You suck.
Ozzy
January 13th, 2010
2:37 pm
Lame.
Let’s vote. Here in Atlanta, which team do you like better, Georgia or South Carolina?
Thought so.
Where do I pick up my paycheck?
Mark Bradley
January 13th, 2010
2:37 pm
Alas, Coach Saban, I don’t have blue eyes.
Bruce Mac
January 13th, 2010
2:38 pm
Let the blow hard go, he is just trying to generate a response and we fall for it evey time (me too). Put your money where your mouth is now Mark on South Carolina winning the SEC Championship. I think you could get some incredible odds. No, I didn’t think so.
papadawg
January 13th, 2010
2:39 pm
Bumper sticker on Mark Bradleys car. I love quiet walks on the beach, poetry & poking dead things with a stick. Explains a lot
Ginger
January 13th, 2010
2:40 pm
Boy lots of news around SEC East this yr…..Dust will eventually settle and let’s see how things look then…..Florida still the favorite in the East…too much talent and the 4 & 5 star recruits keep on saying yes to UF….will Fla be as good next yr..Have a lot to prove and losing players to NFL and new DC has to prove himself…Meyer being there or not makes a difference too. South Carolina has had the most stable offseason so far…but talent level at SC has been inconsistent with ability to win games and not make mistakes weekly.If SC signs Lattimore and he proves out to be as good as advertised—then a really good running game gives them at least 2 more wins for next yr…Tennessee got slapped in the face by Kiffin–the new HC hire will be huge for them—In the long run—Tennessee comes out on top in the future with Lane leaving—He lacks sound judgement at times and does impulsive ill advised things….UT may lose some recruits this year, but if they make a sound hire–they will be ok in future…Would look around at coaching candidates available..would really consider David Cutcliffe. Eli & Peyton Manning believe in Cutcliff….Kentucky will do ok with Phillips..about the same as with Brooks……Now for my team –UGA..If Richt has another subpar yr–heat will be on as He really will be perceived as being too laid back…the hiring of the DC may not be entirely his fault if he does not have enough authorization to outbid the present DC schools…..Again they make the mistake in playing the DC game without using enough ammo to win the coach….As long as Richt makes a quality DC hire and he gets some pretty good additional defensive coaches who are good teachers & good at coaching players up–think that UGA will be ok with decent recruiting class..does not have to be great, but good decent class…If UGA gets back to winning big, more recruits will follow….New QB has to be ready to go & hopefully running game can take pressure off QB some…..So really there is a lot of dust in the air at many SEC East schools…meanwhile in the West—things are stable at Bama, Auburn, and LSU…