A most unusual sight: UGA absent from Rivals.com’s Top 10
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.
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600 comments Add your comment
The Plain Truth
February 3rd, 2010
12:11 pm
Quality professional sports journalism does not exist at the AJC.
Jason
February 3rd, 2010
12:11 pm
Lackluster? Mark, way to go….way to pump these kids up. Way to be in the spirit. Way to make these guys feel as players and as young men.
UglyOldDog
February 3rd, 2010
12:11 pm
Until Richt realizes that it would be smart to actually recruit the State Of Georgia and quit running after every kid in Florida this program is doomed. From what I’ve seen UGA recruits harder 800 miles away from campus that they do 25 miles down the road…anybody remember who recruited Richt’s 1st SEC Championship team…it was Donnan because he knew this state had the talent and he wasn’t very happy when other schools recruited his backyard.
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
12:11 pm
Adrian Coxson (4 star reciever) said he just faxed in his LOI to Florida
the rich get richer, and no Obama we aren’t going to redistribute our wealth!
Oz
February 3rd, 2010
12:11 pm
Wow ga took a hit. Last time I looked, they were ranked around 8. I believe they did well the past decade because of the star recruits and not the coaching. Now the recruting is slipping, things will not be so rosey in Athens over the coming years. This is the beginning of CMR exodus.
Spurrier
February 3rd, 2010
12:12 pm
It’s a good thing Georgia signs a great recriting class every year, or Kentucky might have beaten them by four or five touchdowns last fall.
dawgsrule
February 3rd, 2010
12:13 pm
Dawgs will be fine with this class. Unfortunately, we have to put up with the UGA insults from the mouthy SEC transplants in this state, mainly UF, Auburn, UT on these boards, because none of them want to live in their own states..can’t say I blame them. Go Dawgs…show ‘em on the field!
Valdosta Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:14 pm
Alec Ogletree is a 5 Star recruit anywhere anytime!
Dawg '88
February 3rd, 2010
12:14 pm
Mark Bradley knows absolutely nothing about sports let alone recruiting.
Lackluster is what Yech gets….UGA is in the Top 4 nationally according to ESPN rankings. Rivals does their ranking by total points…not avg rating of who you get. Take that and…never mind….MB is a waste of time!
anotherdawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:15 pm
This is pretty amusing. Mark is crying panic over UGA’s rankings, while Shultz is assuring the Tech fans that they will be OK. Wow! How bout a little home cookin ya’ll!
Jason
February 3rd, 2010
12:15 pm
since you like Tennessee so much Da’Rick Rogers go ahead and go up there now. I think thats a sorry thing to do at the last minute I hope that you have a losing season ever season you are there
UglyOldDog
February 3rd, 2010
12:15 pm
dawgsrule……….. it appears to this UGA grad that with this class UGA is gonna be rolling over and drooling for all the talent that they didn’t recruit and that left the state to play.
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
12:17 pm
Tiger_Fan_in_GA
Dream on little kitty. No matter which school..lsu…auburn, you align yourself with, you’re screwed. lsu on the way down…coach will be gone within 2 years. au trying to stay in middle if pack in the west. promised playing time is the reason for au’s present recruiting class. When the cupboard is bare, all positions are up for grabs.
anotherdawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:18 pm
If UGA’s ranking dropped 10 spots or so because of the “DaTrick” waffle, then maybe the ranking system is as screwed up as our National Health Care program.
76Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:19 pm
If Mr.Rogers is not a person of his word, I wouldn’t want him anyway. I hope he is not expecting his high school friend to be his QB again.
Jrob404
February 3rd, 2010
12:20 pm
all you tennessee fans are idiots- of course so is everyone who likes tennessee
a) the only reason you got Da’Rick is because he is bestfriends with Nash Nance, to bad they don,t realize their highschool glory won’t last a minute in the SEC, plus our third string is better then Nance, look it up
b) Da’ Rick realized he would be benched behind AJ for atleast a year
c) the only reason Dooley is your coach is cause of his dad and no one wanted that job, did we forget he couldn’t win at Louisiana Tech?
Enjoy watching Da’ Rick being wide open with nobody to throw to him. Your QB’s suck and so does your defense. Repeat of 2008? I think so.
Dennis
February 3rd, 2010
12:20 pm
A top 10 team does not mean you are going to have a good football team. Florida State is in the top 10 almost every year. What about this GA Tech team that just won the SEC? When was the last time Tech had a top 10 class?
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
12:20 pm
The Gators have now signed all 27 of their studs and are waiting on Chaz Green
to announce at 3:30pm. If the Gators get him, it will be the strongest class in the history of the SEC. I think a month or so ago you folks were bragging that the Gator recruiting was in shambles———NOT
Georgia has signed 14 of your 18 studs. I wish you the best of luck.
I hope there is not a change of heart.
COMMITTED/NOT YET SIGNED
COMMITTED/NOT YET SIGNED
Brent Benedict
Dexter Morant
Derek Owens
Garrison Smith
Dynamicbigboy
February 3rd, 2010
12:22 pm
Bradley, Ogletree is a 5 star. You must not follow Rivals to much, they save all their 5 stars for Florida signees. Also, our best catch was Grantham who will return the Junkyard Dawgs to their prime.
Jason
February 3rd, 2010
12:22 pm
go ahead and go to Tennessee today since you like them so much. They arent going to win up there anyway I mean come on the coach couldnt even win at Louisiana Tech so how can he win the SEC. And Nash Nance isnt a good QB so go ahead and follow your friend up there.
Andy Coleman
February 3rd, 2010
12:22 pm
Still #9, even without Da’Trick “ME” Rogers.
mark louis
February 3rd, 2010
12:22 pm
They’re #9 on the ESPN list. But it’s always more fun to write about bad news, right Mark?
r2d2
February 3rd, 2010
12:24 pm
Scout reporting Christian Green will shock the world and pick Georgia.
Bradley may have typed too soon.
Green is the #1 rated player in Florida.
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/942923.html
Hahahahahahahahahaha
February 3rd, 2010
12:24 pm
Willie Martinez # 3 class
Georgia # 25 class
NCDawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:24 pm
Recruiitng rankings mean little, if nothing….what counts is what happens on Saturdays in the fall….
Black Beards Dawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:24 pm
arrrgh…..abandon ship ! abandon ship. But not you CMR your staying on board and going down with the ship. DaRick done recked DaShip.
AJC=JOKE
February 3rd, 2010
12:25 pm
Why the heck is some fuzzy-faced teeny-boy and his intention to play college football on the front page of the Atlanta paper? No wonder people talk about rubes from the South.
Get a real paper, get a life.
PHIL
February 3rd, 2010
12:26 pm
I am so not disappointed about Rogers, as I have mentioned on many occasions. I am, however, disappointed in the way that we were unable to recruit some of the other better players in the state. Auburns success is due to a very shallow depth chart this year and is not a trend.
Dawg in Denial
February 3rd, 2010
12:28 pm
We’re not in trouble! We will win a national champ with a no experience qb next year! We will blow out UF and Tenn!
Go dawgs!
Robby
February 3rd, 2010
12:28 pm
MARK,
Georgia only signed 18 players…their avg. stars per player according to rivals.com is 3.50…Auburn (no. 3) avg 3.53 stars but signed 30 players…
looking at the list by avg starts uga finished tied for 10th with not much separating 6 thru 10…
give me a break please!!!! dont feed the stupit instant gratification monster…do good reporting… props to CMR who is graduating players and winning and CRYING OR QUITTING OR WAIT NOT QUITTING BUT TAKING A LEAVE WAIT MAYBE NOT…
Lord of the Lizards
February 3rd, 2010
12:29 pm
GATORS!!! Best DL class in our history. Need to do something to stop those big Bama backs!
Robby
February 3rd, 2010
12:30 pm
excuse me NOT CRYING OR QUITTING OR WAIT NOT QUITTING BUT TAKING A LEAVE OR WAIT MAYBE NOT…
go dogs!
Jason
February 3rd, 2010
12:30 pm
They got a QB who really isnt that good Michael Johnson was way better than Nash Nance Calhoun could have won state had he been the QB and Da’Rick Rogers isnt all he is hiped up to be he showed that in the state Championship game when he only got one catch. And the Tennessee coach couldnt even win at Louisiana Tech so how can he win at Tennessee. He cant and he want. Da’Rick will end up flunking out of school because from what I hear he isnt that smart unless Nash Nance does his work for him
Robby
February 3rd, 2010
12:32 pm
if uga is where talent goes to die why are so many bulldogs in the nfl?
Dawg-Catcher
February 3rd, 2010
12:32 pm
I think high school recruits around the country are finally catching on to what the rest of us already know – that UGA is the place that talent goes to die (figuratively speaking). Despite all the talent on their roster the past few years, they have performed worse than schools whose recruiting classes are perennially ranked much lower. Bottom Line: If you want to have a successful college football career, stay away from UGA!!
Saint Simons
February 3rd, 2010
12:32 pm
• 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.
* 2010: TWENTY-SEVENTH (27th) in the nation, SEVENTH (7th) in the SEC.
Jona
February 3rd, 2010
12:36 pm
Dawg-Catcher
Are you a chick? Because obviously know nothing about football. Unless you’re a FL or AL fan, you are beneath us and always will be. And if you are a fan of one of those schools…..see ya in the fall.
Tide Rising
February 3rd, 2010
12:36 pm
Lord of the Lizards,
Congrats on the class. It may go down as the best signing class ever although some of the USC classes from the early 2000s may argue that. Time will tell but I have to admit you guys pretty much blew everybody out this year with the haul you got.
I’ve read that the year after winning a national title is when you really reap the recruiting rewards so I’m hoping we rack em up in 2011 and get back to the top class or at least a top 2 class. We’ve had back to back no. 1 classes and slipped this year to no. 4 and no. 5 in the 2 services but still pretty decent I guess. I guess we’ll know 3-5 years from now.
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
12:37 pm
Robby
February 3rd, 2010
12:30 pm
excuse me NOT CRYING OR QUITTING OR WAIT NOT QUITTING BUT TAKING A LEAVE OR WAIT MAYBE NOT…
Your worthless words and hope won’t beat the Gators.
Kyle
February 3rd, 2010
12:37 pm
Hey Roll Tider. Last time i checked this was not an english class. Do not really understand why an alabama fan would be bashing anyone when it comes to correct grammar.
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
12:39 pm
I for once am speachless
Tide Rising
February 3rd, 2010
12:40 pm
DaRick Rogers spurns Georgia for UT. I know the feeling. We lost our 2nd biggest recruit 5 star Keenan Allen to Cal in the last couple of days after he had been committed to us since last year. Still had a great top 5 class but its very disappointing to lose one of the crown jewels of a class with a couple of days to go just like with DaRick at UGA. I must be getting spoiled because this top 5 class feels like a downer after losing Keenan Allen to CAL. Yep. I’m definitely spoiled.
Kyle
February 3rd, 2010
12:41 pm
And David i have seen Auburns and Georgias palyers and top to bottom georgia has a better quality of players hands down. 6 of the 18 are in the ESPNU 150. Auburn has like 30 recruits and only 6 are in the ESPNU 150. Auburn has recruited alot of players and depth but quality is just as good as quantity
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
12:42 pm
Saint Simons, explain something to me. How can Richt have 8 top ten classes
and go 8-5 last year, then I hear all the dawgs say it doesn’t matter that this is
a #15-20 class, and all we need to do is coach’em up. Makes no sense to me.
Dawg man
February 3rd, 2010
12:43 pm
We’ll be National Champs next 4 years- get trophies ready, with this class and Murray, all teams are already trembling. Wish Jan Kemp hadn’t caught us, then we’d been champs the last 27 years.
Gatorzone
February 3rd, 2010
12:43 pm
UGA losing Da’punk is like last year when UF lost “newkeys.” I can relate. Hopefully, Da’rick will be just as prosperous in rocky flop
nate
February 3rd, 2010
12:43 pm
I am a little late. But I just read “Not Don Waddel”’s comments on the 2000 recruiting class. Very good comment.
That’s the sort of thing I consider good journalism…rather than this “article” that just has a sensational headline and no real content.
It’s taken me 10 years to finally start respecting your journalism Mark, but lately you have been back to your old self. Oh well…
Good post “Not Don Waddell”
Rivals Ranks UGA #4
February 3rd, 2010
12:44 pm
rivals ranked Georgia’s defense VERY HIGHLY:
#4 for DE’s
#4 for DB’s
#11 for DL’s
http://uga.rivals.com/TeamRank.asp?sort=0&year=2010&postype=14
vollball96
February 3rd, 2010
12:44 pm
btw rogers was just redeeming from the loser WR you stole last year..remember his granny said no to ut..LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO
dougdawg
February 3rd, 2010
12:44 pm
only to comment on the obvious ajc bias towards tech. if we finish in the teens in the recruiting ratings, that is a disasterous trend for us; the foreseeing of hitting the bottom. if tech finishes 45 or so, that is a good sign things are going right, and ajc js and mb report that and hype it. to where would tech commits go? uga didn’t recruit them anyway. flip? to where? samford? ga southern? ajc is so blatantly biased.