Blame Mark Richt? He’s not the one who’s embarrassing UGA
Even tougher love goes only so far. (Special to the AJC)
Mark Richt is a nice guy. Mark Richt believes in forgiveness. Mark Richt looks for the best in people. Mark Richt coddled Odell Thurman.
All of this is true. None of it explains, at least not fully, why Georgia players keep getting arrested.
Let’s stipulate that Richt was too lenient for too long. But he has toughened since the egregious offseason of 2008, when eight Bulldogs got arrested and stole a goodly part of the luster that should have descended on a team ranked No. 1 in preseason for the first time in school history. He has kicked more guys off the team. He has instituted an automatic one-game suspension for anyone arrested (for the first time) on an alcohol-related charge. Yet here Georgia sits, two summers later, having cut its offseason arrest total by …
One.
Seven Bulldogs have been arrested this calendar year. Three have been dismissed from the squad, including Montez Robinson, who figured to play at linebacker, and Zach Mettenberger, who might have challenged Aaron Murray as Georgia’s starting quarterback. Backup tailback Dontavius Jackson, arrested Saturday on DUI and five other charges, has been suspended for half the 2010 season.
This is no longer the Richt of repeated second chances, but it hasn’t much mattered. Bulldogs are still messing up — even as we note that an arrest isn’t a conviction, we must also face the reality that getting arrested generally isn’t a signal of meritorious behavior — even though they should know their actions can and will have consequences.
No, Georgia isn’t alone in having football players make the wrong kind of headlines. But it has happened so often with these Bulldogs that each incident bears a subtext: It isn’t that a Georgia player has been arrested but that another Georgia player has been arrested. And Richt, as head coach, must bear some responsibility. But responsibility isn’t the same thing as blame.
This man is a football coach, not a prison warden. In the name of discipline, he cannot put his men under dormitory lockdown. If he did, it wouldn’t be discipline. Discipline is about having the freedom to make choices and then choosing wisely. Too many Georgia players continue to be, for want of a better word, unwise. And that’s not on the head coach. That’s on them.
Maybe Richt needs to be more careful about the players he pursues — recruiting risks tend to bite the hand that signs them — but that can be said of every program everywhere. Richt is in business to win games, not to oversee the glee club. He’s going to be in a lot more trouble if Georgia goes 8-5 again than if another 19-year-old gets caught with a beer. But the 19-year-olds have to smarten up.
Loading ...If they can’t grasp that there’s increased scrutiny on this program — especially after the arrest and resignation of Damon Evans — they’re not bright enough to attend an institution of higher learning. If they can’t understand that being a Bulldog is both an honor and a responsibility, they shouldn’t be allowed to wear the red jersey.
Too many college athletes (and not just Georgia athletes) have been so pampered they believe they’re untouchable. Reality check: They’re not. Just because a bunch of folks followed their recruiting and got excited when these blue-chippers put on a certain school’s cap doesn’t mean a player can’t be arrested, can’t be disciplined, can’t be forgotten in the time it takes to say, “You’re off the team.”
Say what you will about Mark Richt, but for more than a decade he has carried himself in a way that has conferred honor on UGA. He is, alas, only one man. He cannot make choices for 85 others. He can try to lead them, teach them, punish them when necessary, but in the end everything comes down to free will.
Too many Bulldogs act as if they’ve been handed a free pass through life. (Reality check: Nobody gets one of those.) Too many Bulldogs need to grow up or go home.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
831 comments Add your comment
shane, shane come back...!!!
July 12th, 2010
5:51 pm
Alan Ladd died too young…..shane I agree…cops also get the same treatment in metro Atlanta…a DUI for them is a ride home….(I’m a bitter DUI recepient…but I aint lying)
dog789xyz
July 12th, 2010
5:52 pm
I’m a huge idiot. I never even made the B-team growing up, but think I know everything there is about football.
I’m more like the guy from ‘Silence of the Lambs’, tucked and everything.
If UGA had a powder puff team, I’d play center…
shane
July 12th, 2010
5:53 pm
……back to learning from recent history…..if you (the head coach) let your players go undisciplined out on the field to celebrate in the face (with intent to embarrass or challenge) the other team…
Like Spurrier never tried to embarrass the other team. Everyone is on their high horse today !!!
Iowa corn fed dawg boys
July 12th, 2010
5:54 pm
Its CMR’s fault for not recruiting us 3 star guys. We may be a half a second slow but we can win Championships under smart coaches. Wake up CMR and recruit us guys with no character issues. You’ll be glad you did !
shane
July 12th, 2010
5:54 pm
UGA’s program is just fine. We have come close to the title twice ( 2002, 2007, both years we were the best team in the country)
I wouldnt cry for UGA and Richt just yet.
dog789xyz
July 12th, 2010
5:55 pm
I will go now. I leave you with this: Mark Richt is incompetent and we are wasting time with him as our coach.
Also, when I die please bury me upside down in the grass, where all the Ga Tech and Ga Southern fans can kiss my ass.
Ginger
July 12th, 2010
5:55 pm
My 2 cents…agree that college is a time of partying and drinking….so never see something totally stopping P & D…..but UGA does have alot of arrests…7 this yr –is what I think Mark quoted..These arrest have increased in number over the yrs….So I stand by my thoughts…because the punishments seem severe enough..but it is still happening too many times at UGA….thus my thoughts of adding more things to help guide and deter Student -Athletes…The mentoring idea would help..mentors could be famous folks or just good folks who are very successful in life…good advice to student-athletes about life and how to be successful is certainly not going to hurt them…
MyPatooti
July 12th, 2010
5:57 pm
UGA Grad Deuce at 4:47PM had the best and brightest, most down-to-earth, common sensical comment I have ever seen. Not only on this article, but on any post previously pertaining to this subject. He nailed it dead center! It’s the environment they come from, and the one they enter. It’s also the enablers, the condoners, and the sympathizers! AND it’s NOT CHOICES or MISTAKES! I am so tired of hearing that. IT IS A LIFESTYLE, PERIOD!!!!!
frank james
July 12th, 2010
5:58 pm
The coaches are to blame, the media is to blame, fans are to blame, NCAA is to blame, but most of all it goes back to the players. They make the choice, but they cannot make good ones because some can’t handle all the hoopla with their recruiting, they have never been raised right, and they think rules and laws are for other people. Look at the news and see what the police have to put up with. I would put them back in dorms, get rid of people like Jamie Newberg and the other recruiting shows and shows like that mess at Hoover High. Bottom line there needs to be a ban on alcohol and also players going to bars where they don’t need to be. Coaches won’t ban them because they fear for losing recruits. And don’t say they recruit the wrong kids, other SEC schools recruited these same kids.
Jerry
July 12th, 2010
6:00 pm
Mark you can only make excuses for Mark Richt for so long. The fact is he is the head man or captain of the ship. As such, he is accountable for recruiting players that not only can play the game but also have the character to represent the University of Georgia in a positive manner. The problem at UGA is that the ship is sinking and the captain goes down with the ship.
Georgia people need to take a hard line stance against the ongoing behavioral problems that have led to a continuing and growing cancer on the football program. If they continue to turn a blind eye to this Georgia will be thought of in the same terms of past outlaw programs like Miami and Alabama. Winning is great but not at any cost. Mark Richt needs to either set a policy of zero tolerance or Georgia ought to look for a Coach that can bring honor back to the University of Georgia.
Ginger
July 12th, 2010
6:00 pm
Charlie Sheen…are you also sometimes…Coach Willie Martinez and Coach Todd Grantham…just sounds like you….if so…good to hear from you …..I will check back in later to see if you replied…..getting ready to go to work.
This is why
July 12th, 2010
6:00 pm
Mark Richt will never win a MNC at Georgia. He is too soft and coddles his players. Book it Dan’o !
Jay in VA
July 12th, 2010
6:02 pm
Hey dog789xyz, I’m as sick as you are over the ugly losses we’ve suffered the last few years, particularly FL ‘08, ‘09, AL ‘08, GT ‘08, TN and KY ‘09. Total collapses all, and I make no excuses for them. However, I also have to factor in 2 SEC titles, the aforementioned 10 wins per, a 7-2 bowl record (owning every other conference except the Big East) and winning records vs AU, GT, SC and the usual suspects. Fairly even vs TN, LSU, everybody else except FL, and yes he’s gotta fix that to avoid the John Cooper award. He’s hardened up his stance towards his staff and player dismissals, which shows he’s willing to evolve to meet reality. Points for that. And, okay, sue me…..but I like having a coach that I can respect as a human being.
My 2 cents__@ Ginger
July 12th, 2010
6:03 pm
Ginger…I love your posts..you are one of my favorite posters… a true dawg fan…that said…please tell me you agree when I say UGA players are no worse than any other teams…the Athens/UGA police dictate our arrests…..I think in Gainsville and Tuscalossa and Auburn the cops turn their collective heads…..just sayin….I’m a realist…not an idealist….
Tide Rising
July 12th, 2010
6:04 pm
Scott W.,
Didn’t copy the link but the source is provided. The NCAA legislative database of major infractions cases at NCAA.ORG.
Blind Homers Club
July 12th, 2010
6:05 pm
Shane….. 2007 was a farce my friend. Dawgs were beaten by a pathetic SC team in thier own backyard without even scoring a T D and the dawgs got thier brains bashed in by Rocky Top. Hawaii? What a frikin joke.
Crimedog
July 12th, 2010
6:06 pm
The facts are, Montez was not dismissed by Richt. Montez was jailed for beating his girlfriend, continuing to stalk her, and violating a restraining order. He will not be available for football for about a year. Mettenburger had a number of serious charges, including assaulting a female. Richt kept him on the team for a month until the police report was coming out, and the details could not be contained. Like Montez, Dontavius’ problems are bigger than what Richt can contain. He will likely be taking a year off and won’t be available for the six game suspension anyway. The NCAA mandates a minimum of a one game suspension for arrests, so Minimum Mark is really not invoking any penalty at all. This whole issue has been misrepresented in the above article. Richt’s motto should be, “If you can play, you can stay,” as illustrated by Odell Thurman and Danell Ellerbe.
Jimmy
July 12th, 2010
6:07 pm
Harsher penalties by Richt will not change anything.
These kids need harsher penalties imposed on them from the time they can walk.
That is the problem.
We cannot expect any coach to change a kid’s life training (or lack thereof) with hard first offense penalties.
Arrests are going to be a fact of life in college football until middle and high schools start putting in harsher penalties for athletes.
Kids need to get the message early and often that if they violate the law…they will be punished.
Local programs are too quick to give passes.
Parents need to learn how to parent.
Mark Richt is not embarrassing UGA
July 12th, 2010
6:07 pm
UGA is inherently, intrinsically embarrassing. Its not the fault of any particular person. It is just a humiliating experience for everyone involved…
Tide Rising
July 12th, 2010
6:08 pm
Shane,
What was that about textbooks? Do we need to go into the Jan Kemp fiasco where football players were being graduated who were functionally illiterate. The difference is that the Bama players abused a loophole in the textbook distribution system to help out friends who were having trouble affording textbooks. At UGA the institution itself coaches, professors, etc. were collectively involved in cheating and passing players who couldn’t even read. Jim Harrick and Jr were doing the same. Which is worse? A couple of students breaking some rules to get an extra textbook? Or the whole institution being actively involved in cheating?
Errrrrbody get Tipsy
July 12th, 2010
6:08 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGUwafCcL2M….. New public address announcement at Sanford Stadium this football season.
jeff
July 12th, 2010
6:08 pm
Sting em…what an idiot…
Red Pantayzzzz
July 12th, 2010
6:09 pm
Lemme get some Red Pantayzzzz Dawgzzzzz!!!
dog789xyz
July 12th, 2010
6:11 pm
Jay in VA. I respect CMR as a human being. I’m glad he is a good man. I understand he is a good Sunday School teacher. He is a Christian. All this is excellent.
The problem is, he is not good coach. Parents should give kids a good upbringing. CMR was hired to coach and win games. As I have said before, UGA has great facilities, A great fan base, A great recruiting base. We have it all, except coaches and leaders. Quit settling for adequate. go for GREAT.
59bulldawg
July 12th, 2010
6:13 pm
I agree with much of what you say. However the buck stops at Richt’s desk. It’s his responsibility to set the tone for both the type of player he expects and how little toleration he will have for misbehavior. Lack of discipline equates to lack of respect for Coach Richt and his program and I guarantee you that there is a correlation between teams that are undisciplined and their quality of play on the field. Richt needs to get control of his program or it will be his undoing.
crusher dawg
July 12th, 2010
6:13 pm
Wonder how many athletes from the University of Alabama have been picked up and not charged/
frank james
July 12th, 2010
6:15 pm
Jimmy – You are so right. One problem is we have kids having kids. Look at your schools and all the programs we as taxpayers are having to fund to try to help save these kids. ISS, Alt Schools , graduation coaches and on and on. The parents are having too good of a time themselves and don’t make time to raise their kids. It is not unusual to have kids living with grandma and mama living somewhere else. Lord knows where dad is. It is a wonder some of these kids turn out as well as they do. But we can blame home life only so long. These student athletes need to realize the opportunity they have.
need2fish
July 12th, 2010
6:15 pm
As a Tech alum, I’m no UGA or Richt apologist but he seems to have hit the right tone on this one. Sounds like the punishment fits the crime. It was delivered quickly with room for increased consequences if the facts warrant it. It’s college ball – they are all kids and it is gonna happen.
Rich
July 12th, 2010
6:17 pm
If players at other schools have been picked up and not charged, it has happened here too. These players think that they can do anything they want. Maybe players (3star) who do not feel entitled would be better. They generally will work harder for what they want.
doggoneit
July 12th, 2010
6:19 pm
Blame CANADA!
Jay in VA
July 12th, 2010
6:23 pm
I respect your point of view, dog789xyz. This may well be the year that either proves your point or mine. GO DAWGS!
Ezekiel
July 12th, 2010
6:23 pm
Georgia players get suspended for the 1st game which is always against a lousy team like Louisiana Lafayette so it isn’t even like it is a suspension. The players are missing a meaningless, glorified scrimmage type game. Richt is to blame for this same problem happening over and over again. To absolve him is silly, Mark. It falls squarely on Richt’s shoulders as obviously the players don’t respect him enough to follow the rules.
Delbert D.
July 12th, 2010
6:24 pm
Lack of discipline on the field and off the field the last few years correlate well.
Realistic Dawg
July 12th, 2010
6:25 pm
@Rich, Do you think that the 3* guys have less of a tendency to drink a beer or are they just smarter? I say neither. And with only 3 stars comes a lot of 8-5 (or worse) seasons because you can bet that Bama, Fla, Tenn and Auburn aren’t going to scale back. Is that going to be ok? You can also bet that GT would be happy because they could be on equal grounds.
Jennifer
July 12th, 2010
6:29 pm
I find it hilarious that Alabama fans are called rednecks by the team that had to change its tailgating policies because its fans were DEFECATING on the Quad.
Jay in VA
July 12th, 2010
6:32 pm
Game 1 is not always a “glorified scrimmage.” Remember last year in Stillwater to consecrate the shrine to T. Boone Pickens? We’ve played some of the toughest schedules in the land the last few years. Time for a little break, similar to that routinely taken by many others.
Realistic Dawg
July 12th, 2010
6:32 pm
Mr Ezekiel, last year we opened with Okla St on the road and we still had players suspended for the SC game which was no cakewalk. I don’t like the underage drinking either but it would impossible for a coaching staff to police that entirely. CMR tries to teach these young men to develop personal responsibility much like we try to teach our own children. The problem is that by the time he gets them, many have already developed their own standards. So you say, just don’t recruit them. Well, I don’t know of a test you could run on them to totally screen for character
Stars or Stripes
July 12th, 2010
6:33 pm
Realistic Dawg…. David Pollock was a 3 star. Im just sayin……..
boots
July 12th, 2010
6:33 pm
The two numbers the AJC columnist seem interested in are the number of players arrested and the status of who posts first on these blogs. I would suggest to them they be more concerned with the number of people paying for subscriptions. Honestly, the AJC seems to see four seasons for college football: (1) recruiting / spring game, (2) the summer arrest records for underage drinking, (3) the summer practices, and (4) the actual season. The problem is they are in that order in the minds of the AJC.
Realistic Dawg
July 12th, 2010
6:34 pm
Jay, I agree. That is the only bright side to seeing Damon leave. I think his scheduling put us under the bus too often.
TampaGator
July 12th, 2010
6:34 pm
Shane….the only time Spurrier embarrassed another team is when Florida put up 60 points…and there is nothing wrong with that, my friend (sort of like when Nebraska did the same to Florida in the championship game…Florida couldn’t stop them and that was Florida’s fault, not Nebraska’s. It is the other team’s responsiblity to play defense…be it the first quarter or the fourth quarter. Spurrier was just running his offense in those days…even with his 2nd and 3rd team QBs and WRs were in the game. I can’t recall one time when all his players ran onto the field/end zone to celebrate together in front of the other team after a TD.
TampaGator
July 12th, 2010
6:37 pm
crusher dawg….ever been around Alabama cops??? I don’t think they give anyone a break…much less a football player.
Jacob Hester
July 12th, 2010
6:38 pm
Everybody wants to talk about CMR being a good Christian and all….then how come he discriminates against white athletes. Has he ever recruited a white running back? Maybe if he did he might win a national championship.
Jay in VA
July 12th, 2010
6:41 pm
Toby Gerhart was taken.
Kirby Smart
July 12th, 2010
6:42 pm
Bring me back and these problems will go away because I am the best coach.
surfdawg
July 12th, 2010
6:42 pm
JACOB HESTER you win ignorant comment of the day
Damon Evans
July 12th, 2010
6:42 pm
They were just following my example.
TheAntiMe
July 12th, 2010
6:43 pm
See, the thing that most people don’t know about Mark Richt is that he actually has an evil twin brother named Garth. Garth is a real bad dude as he is actually the biggest drug lord in the Western Hemisphere. Garth Richt makes Scarface look like Pee Wee Herman.
While, on the surface, this takes nothing away from the fine upstanding citizen that coach Mark Richt is, sometimes the evil twin Garth sneaks over to Athens and kidnaps his good twin Mark and pretends to be Mark around the UGA faculty. But when Garth gets alone with certain Bulldog players and no one else is around, Garth – who is also a master at hyptnotism – places these certain players in a hypnotic state and delivers to them a post-hypnotic suggestion.
Well, I don’t have to tell you the rest of this story because, as you can plainly see, when those bad boys (the post-hypnotic suggestions, not the players themselves) kick in, then it causes those poor helpless Bulldog players to do all kinds of bad things like drinking and cursing and disrespecting authority. Yes, it’s a very sad thing what that evil Garth Richt does to his good twin brother Mark and especially to those poor Bulldog players.
But guess what? I wouldn’t bet against the good twin Mark Richt just yet because anyone who knows about these good twin vs. evil twin situations can tell you that the good twin always triumphs over the evil twin in the end. It’s true.
Bobby Bowden once said.....
July 12th, 2010
6:44 pm
” I can’t police the team or players 24 hours a day. What else can I do?”…..Hey coach Richt use that excuse from now on.
Mr. Hester
July 12th, 2010
6:44 pm
He recruits white Fullbacks….ummmmm name me a white 4star or 5star Tailback…if you do I’ll buy dinner….you sir might possibly be a nucklehead…..