It’s a strange feeling for Georgia fans, and it has to feel a bit odd to Mark Richt. According to Rivals.com, Georgia’s recruiting class of 2010 ranks 15th nationally and sixth in the SEC. (The ratings — updated as of 10:48 a.m. Wednesday — are subject to change.) That would be the Bulldogs’ lowest national rating since 2001, when Mark Richt had been on the job barely two months.
Over Rich’s first nine years, Georgia finished outside Rivals’ Top 10 only once. A year-by-year look:
• 2001: Sixteenth nationally, third in the SEC.
• 2002: Third in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2003: Sixth in the nation, third in the SEC.
• 2004: Sixth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2005: Tenth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2006: Fourth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2007: Ninth in the nation, sixth in the SEC.
• 2008: Seventh in the nation, third in the SEC.
• 2009: Sixth in the nation, third in the SEC.
About here, you might be saying, “So what if Georgia’s not in the Top 10 this time? All those highly rated classes really only resulted in one SEC title.” (That being in 2005; the 2002 conference championship was achieved largely with Jim Donnan’s recruits.) Not to be a Gloomy Gus, but here’s what:
When you get used to a school lighting up the recruiting board, it’s significant when it doesn’t. It’s significant when Georgia doesn’t land a single 5-star recruit. (That last happened in 2007.) It’s significant when an Auburn program in Year 2 under Gene Chizik lands 13 spots ahead of Georgia in Year 10 under Richt. And from this we can draw only one conclusion:
Mark Richt needs to rent some white limos.
600 comments Add your comment
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
11:42 am
I guess the grass really is greener over the septic tanks at Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and South Carolina (every SEC state that borders Georgia). Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
11:43 am
I thought I would bring you some good news just post on Rivals. by one of their anaylists:
Jamie Newberg: Hold your horses on this one – I am hearing that Christian Green is now torn between FSU and Georgia and it’s now up in the air again. Stay tuned.
i’m not pulling you leg, here is the link
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1047400
dawg85
February 3rd, 2010
11:43 am
One recruiting class does not a team make. This class will have little or no impact on next year. — which is usual. Teams that play a lot of freshmen are in trouble. Recruiting is about meeting needs, not getting national acclaim. Dawgs have plenty of talent already. Get a quarterback (Murray or Mettenberger will pan out. CMR knows how to develop quarterbacks) and fix the defense and this team will be dangerous. Look at who Georgia has signed. This is still turning out to be a good class. Georgia’s primary weakness the last few years has been defense. That’s being fixed. Blab all you want but the days of picking apart CWM’s soft defenses are over.
GaGatorHator
February 3rd, 2010
11:44 am
Remember the 09′Arkansas Game……That’s the Epitome of Florida Football ‘Success”
It was bought and payed for, and with all your “success” UGA still leads overall….We dominated you losers for almost a century. Your Team has no integrity(e.g. Brandon Spikes) so shut your mouth SCUMBAG!!!!!!!!
BleedRedAndBlack
February 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
CMR just confirmed in the presser that former 5-star Rival ranked LB Richard Samuel is moving back to his true position! GATA!
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
who has the 7th best program in the SEC? Georgia
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
GaGator
“Let’s just see who is coaching in2-3 years.”
It sure as h_ll won’t be
what has Georgia done since 1980..paul johnson
February 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
and to the FLORIDUH blogger , DA HICK couldn’t catch a cold..obviously you missed the two games on tv that he played in that resembled something other than AA high school ball….bricks for hands when he sees footsteps
Winder Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:47 am
Just saw on ESPN that GA has dropped to 23rd in the recruiting…….stop the bleeding NOW Richt!!!
Dawgs87
February 3rd, 2010
11:48 am
Welcome aboard Garrison Smith! Saw him play @ Douglas HS and he is a beast!
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
BleedRedAndBlack
February 3rd, 2010
11:45 am
CMR just confirmed in the presser that former 5-star Rival ranked LB Richard Samuel is moving back to his true position! GATA!
lol. Good idea trying to boost your ranking by counting a current player’s high school ranking when he played another position. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You dogs will stop at nothing to save face. Just admit it, you suck and are NOT a big boy any more.
dawg85
February 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Saint Augustine=Saint Simons. What a troll. I think he must of been beaten up as a child by a little girl wearing on of those Georgia cheer leading outfits. 7th best program in the SEC? We shall see won’t we wimpy boy. 30-24.
GeorgiaVol
February 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Just think if you had kept your coaches instead of throwing them under the bus to take the blame for mediocrity off Richt, you would probably be exploiting the Tennessee coaching change instead of losing out bigtime to us.
BleedRedAndBlack
February 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
Just presenting facts Saint Augustine, Richard Samuel was ranked as a 5-star Linebacker by Rivals. UGA tried him at RB, an experiment that obviously didn’t work and now he is moving back to his natural position.
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
11:50 am
ESPN has bumped GA down to 9th. Still a good solid class.
ChattaDawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
It’s Better to have 1 UNUSUAL year than having a USUAL year for the “GNATS”. Don’t believe the techies are in the top 25.
Lakedawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
Last I saw (last night), Ogletree is a 5-star.
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
GeorgiaVol
“just think if you had kept your coaches instead of throwing them under the bus to take the blame for mediocrity off Richt, you would probably be exploiting the Tennessee coaching change instead of losing out bigtime to us.”
One receiver constitutes GA losing big time to tn? Quit dreaming, wake up and go to work. You’ve got potholes to repair.
LCDawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:51 am
Well…we’ve had tons of talent and no Defensive coaching the last few years. Let’s see how it works when you get in some new coaches and coach these kids up! I’m confident Grantham will pull top kids into the program going forward that FIT his system.
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
11:52 am
23rd? 23rd? OMG. Herman Munson would roll over in his grave!
dawg85
February 3rd, 2010
11:52 am
Yes it is.
DirtyVilleDawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:53 am
MARK YOU ARE THE WORST WRITER. VOLS CAN SUCK IT HAVE FUN IN SANFORD NEXT YEAR.
lowndesvikings06
February 3rd, 2010
11:53 am
According to Valdostatoday.com earlier this morning around 9:00am Telvin Smith at Lowndes was not sure of where he was going to sign!!!
The interview is posted on the website.
Telvin Smith is either headed to FSU or UGA. Earlier in the week he committed to FSU but heard a rumor his changed and headed to Athens to be a GEORGIA BULLDOG!!!!
LOL
February 3rd, 2010
11:53 am
look at the lost recruits falling from the sky
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
11:53 am
GaGatorHator
When you call people names, you have already lost the argument.
Bremen dawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:55 am
Just saw on ESPN that GA has dropped to 27th in the recruiting.
If they drop to 30 my four season tickets are for sell
TTindall
February 3rd, 2010
11:57 am
Maybe CMR should practice what he preaches in the “Finish the Drill” statement. We need to see a little “Fire in his Belly”. I do think losing Da’Rick is a good thing, but lets not forget about all of the other 5 Star guys that CMR could not recruit to GA. That is a bigger story than losing Dumb’Rick.
trey
February 3rd, 2010
11:58 am
So Garner isn’t so great after all? Imagine that.
UGA is the poster child for what it’s like to consistently have top ranked classes only to fail due to poor coaching.
Now that the class isn’t ranked so high, and the defensive coaching is supposedly going to be top notch (unproven of course) I can’t wait to see what happens.
cwm FAN
February 3rd, 2010
11:59 am
Willie Martinez and Oklahama (#3 class) are getting the last laugh at Georgia’s top 20 status. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
kauai dawg
February 3rd, 2010
11:59 am
I am one fan who is happy DaMess took his 5 stars to rocky top. If he didn’t want to be at Georgia that is fine. We like the players who desire to wear the red and black. The sky isn’t falling. Go DAWGS!
Lone Trumpeter
February 3rd, 2010
12:00 pm
ESPN has us at number 9. Calm down people. Rivals rated Moreno a three star, AJ a 4star, and samuel a five star. Coach these kids up and we will be fine.
NYC DAWG
February 3rd, 2010
12:00 pm
bla bla bla bla bla…. we’ve got some fine athletes coming to UGA next year. We will be a-okay come September. Everyone stop whining… but I guess that’s what people do when they listen to Mark Bradley.
K-Town Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:00 pm
Amen kauai dawg.
Just another target for Rambo, Tree, and The Hitman.
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
12:00 pm
what are you people smoking that says espn dropped GA down to the twenties?
longtimedawgfan
February 3rd, 2010
12:01 pm
If you are unhappy with this recruiting class, be certain that Mark Bradley is not….he is happy and smiling….he might not admit that he is a long-suffering UK fan, but he could not be happier with our recruiting class…if the class is sub-standard, and I do not believe that it is, just remember that his punishing articles higly critical of Coach Richt and his coaching staff had the impact Bradley desired… we would all be better off if Bradley returned to Lexington…
Bobo the Dodo
February 3rd, 2010
12:01 pm
Well the good news is: Just maybe you have at least some coaches now who will instill a little control and will train the players you have better, and install some discipline in the team. The last 4 years have been a complete waste of talent and coaching. No scooters for football players, and get your DL if you are over 16.
Greg
February 3rd, 2010
12:02 pm
People get a life !! You spend way to much time thinking some 17 and 18 year olds will turn around the program. Not going to happen!! let’s see how many of the so called 4 and 5 star kids are around in two years.Most either flunk out of school are transfer because some unrated kid is getting his playing time.
Tiger_Fan_in_GA
February 3rd, 2010
12:03 pm
You Georgia fans are funny……you never accept anything without an argument or name calling. Face the facts…UGA is in the 2nd tier of teams in the SEC. Maybe one day you will get a coach that can get you winning, but Richt isn’t it. Sorry for the truth, I know it hurts.
truth
February 3rd, 2010
12:04 pm
If you don’t give them cash, women and other gifts you don’t get the 5 star recruits!!!!
A recruit does not back out on the lst day or two unlss someone has given them something very substantial!!!!
Paul's Johnson
February 3rd, 2010
12:04 pm
No one can predict the future with these recruiting classes. Georgia is one of just a number of schools that consistently have had “big-time” recruiting classes, only to recently underachieve on the field. It takes talent AND coaching, folks.
Al
February 3rd, 2010
12:06 pm
This is stupid reporting. He takes another publication and bases his analysis off their analysis without even mentioning the athletes/kids that make up those classes. Rivals is always wrong. It is not a good indicator. It is fun!!! But please do your own analysis if you are going to post on a significant publication’s website. Again, is there no editor for the AJC?
JacksonvilleDawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:07 pm
but you should realize that Georgia class is the smallest by far among all SEC schools which makes this ranking misleading
LSU Tiger_Fan_in_GA
February 3rd, 2010
12:07 pm
Someone confused my Tigers with Auburn……..don’t feel bad though, your lowly bulldogs won’t beat LSU again anytime soon.
Tiger_Fan_in_GA
February 3rd, 2010
12:08 pm
UGA has beaten my Tigers 4 in a row. But it isn’t like we at Auburn will not resort to paying cash money to recruits in order to get them. Auburn is the most NCAA penalized school in the SEC.
Jax Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:08 pm
It’s still fun to see Gator and Tech fan’s thought written down though.
jaxdawgfan
February 3rd, 2010
12:08 pm
Congratulations, Mr Bradley. You did just what you set out to do (as always), create web page hits.
C’mon Dawgs. Stop responding to the cage rattling and Bradley will have to start writing quality pieces. What you should have done is REFUSE to post and let him listen to the crickets… and Tech fans who can’t seem to find articles about their team to which they can respond.
Time to work harder
February 3rd, 2010
12:09 pm
Richt’s 2001 16th ranked recruiting class led the Dawgs to the 2005 SEC title and stomped LSU in the SEC Championship game. Richt & Co. just need to work hard like they used to.
mark bradley is the reason why willie martinez robs ga tech students
February 3rd, 2010
12:09 pm
only thing that is faster than st augustine’s typing is king and ealey running through the ga tech d-line. St Augustine isnt a good name, more like St. Chump. 30-24 NERD! i think there is some guy standing on piedmont and 10th waiting to take your wallet.
coach smith
February 3rd, 2010
12:09 pm
Any CHRISTIAN GREEN updates?
Jax Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:10 pm
Anyone who thinks Les Miles is a better coach the Richt is confusing riding Saban’s coattails and poor decisions with actual coaching.