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.
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831 comments Add your comment
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:30 pm
Please roll tide faithful, let me throw a few things out there and see if they ring a bell: robbing fellow students at gun point, on camera in a dorm, with team issued gear on.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:30 pm
I only care what real UGA fans think about this. Not all of you turds that support other schools. I think you are all here because no one else wants to blog about your teams so you have to come on here and try to stir things up. The only problem is that no UGA fans care the slightest bit about what your opinion is.
Tina
July 12th, 2010
4:32 pm
Mark Bradley has just lost any semblance of objectivity with this piece of apologist drivel. Maybe it’s time for him to go to DC and work for Obama.
Amen to that.
Just Another Example......
July 12th, 2010
4:32 pm
Like most teenagers…these kids need to be “saved from themselves”. So I wonder when CMR sits in front to the parents and he tells them “I’ll take real good care for him”………what does that really mean? All the “things that comes with a scholarship” is a “given” for ALL who except it, so what does “I’ll take real good care of him” really means……….And the tell me thats not what coach says to the parents.
Will
July 12th, 2010
4:32 pm
Georgia Pride,
Who is your favorite team? Just curious.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:33 pm
Kerryb….but you care. Your commenting about our opinions…did we hurt your feelings that bad? wow this is too funny.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:33 pm
Okay Dawgs, What’s your team or are you to scared to say?
Hawk
July 12th, 2010
4:34 pm
Discipline!! UGA don’t and will not have it under the leadership of Richt. To soft of a coach to win a NC period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just Another Example......
July 12th, 2010
4:34 pm
Or better yet…….what does “I’ll take good care of him” encompass………….
Dan Radakovich
July 12th, 2010
4:34 pm
Is there anybody out there who wants to buy tickets to see our program play football? Or maybe just take the tickets off our hands, promising to show up?
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:35 pm
You guys come on here and hide behind derogatory names like that and simple names like Wiley. Come on, who do you pull for so that we can start chopping them up.
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:35 pm
kerryb, Not scared at all. Florida Gators all the way. From Gainsville live and work in atlanta.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:36 pm
Do you really want to bring up GT’s AD…whos your AD again UGA?
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:36 pm
kerryb, start chopping, or chomping which ever you prefer.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:36 pm
Well, Dawgs I don’t think you have much room to talk. Your team has had a lot more severe problems that drinking under age.
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:36 pm
wiley – you have to remember that Kerryb is a techie. Being that they can’t beat us in football they will jump on any opportunity they get to talk smack. They forget that they have issues with their athletes as well. I expect nothing else from people like kerryb and other tech posters like him. They are UGA’s little brother!
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:36 pm
My real name is Wiley. Not hiding anywhere. Im a Junior at Georgia Tech and I love making fun of your school.
Gt4ever
July 12th, 2010
4:37 pm
Who else is there to blame! He is the top Dawg…… All this is because Richt has little or NO discipline… Good grief, Bradley….. Are you that dense…
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:37 pm
kerryb, I’m a UGA fan and you’re offbase.
Mountaineer.in.Georgia
July 12th, 2010
4:37 pm
What Georgia is going through isn’t any more embarrassing than what Tennessee continues to do…..
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:38 pm
Ok, I thought you were going to start chopping??????
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:38 pm
DIT…think you got that backwards. Im the tech fan…shes the UGA fan. Dyslexia is a dangerous thing…lighten up people. Quit taking everything so personal.
Marvin Berry
July 12th, 2010
4:38 pm
What’s the over/under on the number of times the average Tech fan replies to AJC blogs about UGA? It’s gotta be over 15. They want it to seem like there are a lot of them.
Georgia Pride
July 12th, 2010
4:39 pm
Will – my favorite college football team is Vandy.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:40 pm
No DIT, You can be more wrong. I have been a UGA fan for over 2
UGA grad
July 12th, 2010
4:40 pm
It’s neither the coach or player’s fault. It’s the entire culture in Athens. Alcohol is a bigger part of Athens than the football team. Look, our fans don’t have respect for our campus. Until we have campus banning alcohol at all school activities, it’s a problem that will remain in the culture.
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:40 pm
If only they could enter other names at Bobby Dodd, make it seem like they had a fan base.
DP
July 12th, 2010
4:40 pm
Mark, on a serious note I think if we’re going to hold the coaches accountable for the conduct of the players on their team (and we should), the ridiculous “Nick Saban rule” that was implemented in 2008 should be repealed. It bans head coaches from high school campuses between April 15 and May 30. Coaches could use that period to talk to teachers and guidance counselors in an effort to more thoroughly evaluate potential recruits and reduce the knucklehead quotient in their programs.
But coaches like Tommy Tuberville who would rather be hunting than recruiting didn’t like the fact that coaches like Saban and Urban Meyer liked to evaluate and recruit and would hit 5 or 6 schools a day. Between this ban and earlier commitments (which is about to be repealed, a good thing IMO), it is harder for coaches to thoroughly evaluate the kids they are recruiting.
Jennifer
July 12th, 2010
4:40 pm
Scott W – it’s telling that you have to go back more than two years to find an example of an Alabama player committing a real criminal act. Jeremy Elder was a moron who was not recruited by Saban and was booted from the team and booted from the school immediately. Saban has cleaned house.
dawgcrzy
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
Saben = Kilmer…” Are my boys to much for ya’ll to handle?”
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
I have been a UGA fan for more than 30 years.
TallyDawg
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
Alabama doesn’t have people arrested because the police in Tuscaloosa will be in fear for their lives for arresting players.
Ted Striker
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
People don’t learn from other people’s mistakes. (Otherwise there would be no mistakes being made, ever). Rather, people learn from their own mistakes.
The majority — vast majority — of people (including UGA athletes) who make headlines aren’t repeat offenders. Would be great if we all had the life experiences and knowledge and retrospect of folks 10-20-30-40-50 years past our own experiences but we simply don’t.
Monica
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
It would be interesting to see the general arrest record in Athens – have there been more arrests all around, or are there a disporportionate number of football arrests? Perhaps the police in Athens are busier than police in other college towns.
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:42 pm
When was the last time a Vandy player was arrested? maybe because they have high standards when recruiting?
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:43 pm
Armed robbery is no big deal! Whatever, Bammers win one year and start crowing like you have everything figured out. You’re worse than Gators.
Tide Rising
July 12th, 2010
4:43 pm
-taking character into account when recruiting
-kicking the bad eggs off the team early on
-putting the fear of god into players so they’re afraid to act up
-instilling in them such a sense of pride and self-respect that they do not feel the need to act up
-motivating them academically and involving them in the community so they don’t have time to act up
Jennifer, excellent post and that’s pretty much what’s keeping our players out of trouble.
One thing that doesn’t get said very much is that the NCAA passed a rule that head coaches can’t go out on the road during the spring to personally evaluate players. The rule was aimed at Saban and Pete Carroll because they were supposedly outworking other coaches.
But the real reason Saban opposes the rule so much is that in that process he is able to talk to guidance counselors, teachers, principals, to find out what he wants to know about the character of the kid-the kid’s work ethic, his manners, how he handles problems, whether the kid has discipline problems with the police, school, etc. That’s another reason we’ve been able to avoid a lot of the bad eggs lately. Its because Saban has been able to find out these little things during those spring periods when head coaches were allowed to be on the road. This is a bad rule for college football and this evaluation period was valuable in helping head coaches like Saban uncover potential character issues with kids.
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:43 pm
To those that want to blame CMR (mostly techies because they are tired of him kicking their tails) you realy can’t. I was fortunate to play a sport in Collge. I never went out with guys from the team saying, “OH we better not because coach would not like it.” At that age you really don’t think about the consequences when you have a drink in your hand. For many, it’s the 1st time that they have been away from home and forget about any consequences. Yes, CMR could lower the boom more. I think Jackson should be kicked off the team.
CMR did not put the drink in there hand and tell them to go party. Coaches can not watch their players 24/7. This goes on at EVERY college. This has been going on at colleges for decades now.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:44 pm
So kerryb….now that you know im not hiding behind my handle what else do you have to say? Any other ways of trying to make my comments seem less valid…im waiting.
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:45 pm
wiley & kbeery I apologize for getting the names mixed up! But you got my point!
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:45 pm
Hey Wiley, the reason you don’t here Tech players getting arrested for under age drinking is because whatever PD that Tech has is too worried about working all the robberies and muggings on that sorry campus.
Freckly Albino Tech Fan
July 12th, 2010
4:45 pm
Hi guys!!!
Tide Rising
July 12th, 2010
4:46 pm
TallyDawg
July 12th, 2010
4:41 pm
Alabama doesn’t have people arrested because the police in Tuscaloosa will be in fear for their lives for arresting players.
Tallydawg,
If that were true then we wouldn’t have had all those players arrested during the Shula years and years previous to that such as David Palmer and his DUIs. And we wouldn’t have had 7 players arrested during Saban’s first year. Your point doesn’t hold water. The fact that we’ve had only one player arrested in the last year is due to a sense of discipline, focus, and most of all the fear of God that if you screw up at Alabama you will be asked to leave. Even for something small like breaking team rules.
Dawghater
July 12th, 2010
4:46 pm
Sounds like UGA should institute the “Bar Bus”. Every evening at 5PM the Bar Bus leaves the UGA Athletic Admin building and players dorms and promptly picks up at each area bar between 1AM and 2AM. Damon Evans is now crying that he didn’t come up with this idea a month ago. Jan Kemp can be the bus driver! No women with red panties on the Bar Bus is allowed!
Producer
July 12th, 2010
4:46 pm
You get arrested for an alcohol related infraction, you go home. Period. Most of the Bulldog fans hold there breath through the summer months to see which of the Einsteins will be declared too stupid to play or which ones end up in the slammer. Quality beats quantity every time it’s tried. Give it a try, Mark.
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:46 pm
kerryb, i believe its hear……not here.
GA_ t
July 12th, 2010
4:47 pm
Tuscaloosa hasn’t changed much since the days of Forrest Gump. That’s why their players don’t get arrested…they just pour the beer out, and let ‘em keep on going.
dawgster
July 12th, 2010
4:47 pm
Please someone on here site an incident involving a player where coach Richt didn’t hand down any discipline?..Come GT4ever give me just one incident that Coach Richt knew about and where he didn’t hand down discipline that was made public…I can tell you for the fact there are disciplinary measures handed down than just what you read about on the blogs or in the paper…But you know all and see all, so again give me just ONE incident where disciplinary action wasn’t given…It may not be what you think but again do you really have the facts and know just what disciplinary action is given…I can assure you the players know, is it enought, i can’t answer that, but don’t act like you have all the answers….
STUBBHUB
July 12th, 2010
4:47 pm
Got thousands of Dawg football tickets on line to all the games.
Selling for reasonable face price x’s all we can get,
average xs about 20 times face value. Got Master’s
tickets, too, about 30 times face value. Wonder where
we get the tickets? Don’t ask, don’t tell. Came from the
prez’ and the chairman. STill cheaper than trying to buy
them from the source after your donaton.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:47 pm
Is that he best you have? Can you provide something of substance? maybe some proof? until than your just an idiot talking on a blog…as am I. But I know bigger words. Continue please…