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
UGA grad duece
July 12th, 2010
4:47 pm
It’s not the coaches fault or the player’s. They’re students first, and they’re doing what most of the students are doing in Athens, and that’s getting tanked. You have to change this entire campus culture. We need to look at teachers that encourage you to go out to happy hour in Athens with them. People mention no respect. Our fans DON”T have respect for our campus. Why should anyone have respect? After you change the campus culture. Then the culture needs to be changed at high schools around the state, where these players get a sense of entitlement. People these kids think they can get away with anything and guess what they do. We need to look at our commitments and recruits because further problems may be on the way.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:48 pm
Seems like I touched a nerve of all of those people that like to butt in on a UGA blog and start slinging your trash. Go sling it elsewhere. don’t care what you say.
Will
July 12th, 2010
4:48 pm
Georgia Pride,
Here are some of Georgia’s out of conference games over the past 5 seasons:
2005 – Boise State and Georgia Tech (played Boise in the first game and won by 35)
2006 – Colorado and Georgia Tech
2007 – Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech (played Oklahoma State in the first game and won by 21)
2008 – Arizona State and Georgia Tech
2009 – Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and Georgia Tech (played Oklahoma State in the first game)
Kinda shoots your theory out of the water, doesn’t it? You’re an idiot.
Jennifer
July 12th, 2010
4:49 pm
Scott W, nobody ever said “Armed robbery is no big deal.” It’s HUGE effing deal. And the kid got the axe. But, his situation was a one-off and justice was delivered swiftly.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:49 pm
Work it out on your slide rule Wiley. It’s on the shelf next to you in your mother’s basement
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:49 pm
Do keep in mind that your talking to a 20 year old. Please dont tell me you are a UGA grad with that type of vernacular…I know plenty of UGA fans who talk like they read the dictionary every night….you guys have a great journalism school. You have to be a sidewalk alum.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:50 pm
Oh, by the way, WE RUN THIS STATE!!!
JJ
July 12th, 2010
4:50 pm
Where are the parents? If my son was on the team and he did something stupid, Coach Richt would be the least of his worries
Beast from the East
July 12th, 2010
4:51 pm
Tide,
I don’t think anyone will be able to change the conspiracy thoerists minds. The same ones that blame the refs and Mike Slive for any UGA defeat or UF/Bama win. Cannot face reality and cannot accept responsibility. Maybe they’re the parents of the kids that keep getting into trouble? It would certainly make sense. That’s MY conspiracy theory!
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:51 pm
Here, Here JJ. I couldn’t agree more
Captain
July 12th, 2010
4:51 pm
Thanks Mark Bradley. You did a fine job of “lumping” underage consumption and possession into the same classification as the felony arrests made at Fla, Ala, Tenn, etc. While I do not condone nor excuse the behavior of football players at Georgia, by the same token I do characterize an arrest for MUI somewhat differently than say Darren Myles arrest for a felony assault, or that of the UT basketball player arrested with several pounds of pot, guns and money in his car, don’t you see the difference? An arrest isn’t an arrest, the “charges” make the difference. If my son was arrested for underage consumption I would hate to think he’s grouped into the same category by you as a 20 yr old arrested for rape, robbery, stolen auto, or drug dealing. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
Oh and by the way, for the person who posted ONLY football players were arrested, check the record friend, there were two NON FOOTBALL people arrested who were in the vehicle. A 20 yr old female along with another male. There were also two other football players in the vehicle who were NOT arrested.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:52 pm
My slide rule…hmm actually im a Junior with a 3.93 majoring in History, Technology, and Society. Should be attending Duke for law school shortly…I got a 171 on my LSAT. Dont assume just because I got to tech that I am a math loving book worm…I love to have a good time in the same way that many of you probably do. I am a liberal arts kind of person…and not a nerd at all…love college football and all types of sports.
DAWGS LICK BALLS!
July 12th, 2010
4:53 pm
Wow, great come back kerryb, i have never seen that phrase before……….you run the state congrats. Thats impressive.
Phil Fulmer
July 12th, 2010
4:53 pm
I agree. Its never the coaches fault, its always the players….. Now take my name off the cup!!!!!
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:53 pm
did you go to UGA? surely you didnt…you can barely formulate a coherent sentence.
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:53 pm
No one cares wiley, not even the person who insulted you.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:54 pm
Wiley, when your team wins every game with UGA over the next 60 years and evens the record you can come back and talk.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:55 pm
Im not bragging Scott..just setting the record straight. Plenty of tech people are social, and smart. You dont insult me with out getting a reply with the truth of the matter. Ignore my comments if they bug you.
kerryb
July 12th, 2010
4:55 pm
Wiley, what do you do with a history, technology, and society degree? Just asking. Teach high school history maybe?
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:55 pm
Ok shift to football…typical sidewalk alum tactic. Im done peace.
Woody Woodward
July 12th, 2010
4:55 pm
“And Richt, as head coach, must bear some responsibility. But responsibility isn’t the same thing as blame.
This is a distinction without a difference. It’s his watch.
Georgia Pride
July 12th, 2010
4:56 pm
Hey Will – show me where in my post I mentioned out of conference games and I’ll give you $1,000,000. You are as dumb as I would expect a UGA fan to be. Go to a good school and learn to read.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:56 pm
Umm did you miss the part about law degree from Duke? lol Im really done peace. I dont need to prove anything on an internet message board.
GSU Eagle 91
July 12th, 2010
4:56 pm
I don’t agree with this statement. As the CEO of this operation, it IS his responsibility to be accountable for all of his players and coaches actions. Why? Because it was his choice to bring these people to his staff/team…
He knows some of these kids are going to go wrong when he recruits them but he cannot resist the possibility that they can make a difference on the football field. As a recruiter I would check closely into backgrounds of my future players to avoid these embarrassments. And if it was an isolated incident, I would run them so hard they would NEVER repeat the offense again…
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:57 pm
wiley – the same can be said about UGA Alumnus, yet you are kicking out the insults pretty well yourself!
Jennifer
July 12th, 2010
4:57 pm
Wiley, they just go after personally when they can’t rebut the points you make. Ignore it, and bask in the glow of being right.
Beast from the East
July 12th, 2010
4:57 pm
Dawgster,
I’m sure Richt has disciplined the players that have been arrested. But obviously, what he is doing is not working. Tough times call for tough tactics. I think he really needs to evaluate his approach and start making the consequences much more severe. Between the off the field issues (no matter how minor you think they are) and the penalties and turnovers on the field, there is a serious self-accountability issue in the football program at present. Once again, I don’t blame Richt, but as the leader he has to correct it. The sooner the better.
Frankly Dawged
July 12th, 2010
4:58 pm
I have a real problem with the “thug” label being applied. As many have said, a minor in possession charge is overkill by the police. I was a student before they lowered the drinking age to 18, and back then the only charges brought regarding underage drinking were against the places that sold the alcohol. As long as a student was not DUI or engaging in violent behavior, underage possession was not a reason to make an arrest. Also, being a minor in possession is not an indication of a “lack of character.” Some of the most outstanding kids to come out of our town have received minor in possession charges at UGA. It is a shame that the drinking age cannot be lowered. A kid can go to Afghanistan and face hostile fire from the enemy, but if he comes home on leave and dares to have a beer he is turned into a criminal.
As to DUI, it certainly needs to be punished, both by the legal system and, in the case of athletes, by disciplinary actions on the part of the coaches. However, I do not believe that being DUI is the equivalent of being a “thug.” Extremely poor judgment and lack of concern for the safety of others, yes, but a thug? Is Damon Evans a thug?
There have regetably been a few instances of truly violent behavior by UGA athletes and those have received severe punishment. In fact, most have been dismissed from the team.
The bottom line is that I agree with Mr. Bradley – Coach Richt is trying to do the right thing in making the punishment fit the crime.
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
4:58 pm
Everyone who keeps tauting the Fulmer Cup should look at the rankings. UGA is in 4th not 1st, that would be Minnesota.
GA_ t
July 12th, 2010
4:58 pm
Wiley…I wouldn’t talk too much trash about football if i were involved in the two schools you “represent”!!! Ga Tech and Duke. You might wanna focus on basketball.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
4:59 pm
I respect UGA alums…just not the sidewalk fans who talk crap to me. I worked my @ss off to get where I am…and so did anyone with a degree from UGA…you have my respect. I wont tolerate anyone belittling my accomplishments….no harm no foul though.
DIT
July 12th, 2010
4:59 pm
GSU Eagle 91
I see your point, but let’s look at it from this stand point. If I get hired by a large company and I get caught drinking “Off company time” The CEO would not be held accountable for my actions outside of the office. Yet he hired me.
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
5:00 pm
Jennifer, I guess after pulling a firearm on a fellow student(which is rock bottom) you would clean house. If that personally makes you feel better.
dog789xyz
July 12th, 2010
5:01 pm
Don’t be fooled. I love UGA. I hate FLA. ga tech. Auburn. I could care less about an insignificant Tennessee. I used to like Alabama,now their idiot fans have about made me into a Alabama hater.
Please let us replace Mark Richt, he is not a real coach. CMR was not proven when he came to UGA. CMR was an offensive assistant at FSU. Every week he went against teams much less talent than FSU. Now everyone UGA plays has as much or talent than UGA. CMR must coach. Sadly, he has demonstrated time after time that he cannot coach.
wsewell525
July 12th, 2010
5:01 pm
It’s not mark, it’s Athens. The town is just too fun, and I’d imagine if you get to go around telling all the chicks your football players, what better place to be. They just need to be smarter about it.
OSCAR
July 12th, 2010
5:02 pm
This goes on and on and on and on and………………….
Stinger
July 12th, 2010
5:02 pm
I can tell by looking at UGA players they are thugs. It is just a matter of when they will get caught. Change the type student athlete that you recruit and this problem will go away. It’s great to have a coach like Paul Johnson who can recruit the good kids and then coach them up. Go Jackets.
GT
July 12th, 2010
5:02 pm
You put a kid on a college campus that really didn’t have that as his goal, in the first place, the college part, meaning the education part. Then you expect him to act like he knows where he is? Too many people in America just don’t get it. Obesity, poor health habits, we are proud to be Johnny Six Pack. In my dad’s age it was the depression, but today any kid that is not just sorry can get an education, but problem is most are sorry. The sorry ones were not suppose to go to college, it was for they upper half. Still is only maybe the upper fourth since most of this crowd had defaulted.
wiley
July 12th, 2010
5:03 pm
Im not haha. I like basketball better anyway…I know party foul…but I was always the basketball kind of person. Doesnt mean I dont love college football though…I will always have a pretty good program in Georgia Tech too root for though. Duke football should continue to improve under Cutcliffe but its a joke right now…automatic W for Tech…usually.
DIT
July 12th, 2010
5:05 pm
“Smoke em if you got Em” there Stinger
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
5:05 pm
All of you Tech guys really are Cracker Jack, with knowing what everyone else should do with their lives and who is trying to get an education and what their motives are.
SMITTYSTHEMAN
July 12th, 2010
5:06 pm
I’m not really a Tech fan, but every time in the future I see the same old tired, immature “30-4″, “we run this state”, yada, yada, yada, I’m posting the following: — “I see red panties falling from the sky, I see red panties falling from the sky!!!!!”. HAHAHAHAHA. You will NEVER EVER live that one down! And also to the idiots that keep saying to the Tech fans, “we’re 8-1 against you guys the last 9 years”. What a joke. Why are you only counting the Richt years? You were just as glad to get rid of Goff and Donnan as the Tech fans were to get rid of Gailey. Actually the two current coaches are 1-1. Going forward, let’s see how the record stands 10 years from now although I doubt Richt will still be around.
GA_ t
July 12th, 2010
5:07 pm
dog789xyz – you may want to re-think your assessment of one of the top 5 winningest coaches over the last 10 years in NCAA football. Richt also was the offensive signal caller (not just a typical offensive assistant) for the FSU National Champions. Georgia’s offense took a turn for the worse, only after assigning Mike Bobo the duties of signal caller. He’s the coach that should be gone, not Richt.
Mike
July 12th, 2010
5:07 pm
These things did not happen in my day. It’s the caliber of athlete we are getting these days. Players of my generation believed in sacrifice and discipline as a way to succeed. They had heart. Players caught pulling this crap would have been worked over by the team – no kidding.
Get rid of these bums. Three weeks before practice and they are out drinking? They are supposed to be out running and working out to get into shape. You don’t need players that care this little. Zero tolerance – weed them out …
Ginger
July 12th, 2010
5:09 pm
Mark…agree with your article…CMR has tough penalties for breaking team rules….And we don’t know what in house penalties are such as running all of Sanford Stadium’s steps…….Here is what I would like to see happen…Team leadership……Team leaders who are players meeting with the team weekly and reviewing rules and stressing to their teammates that this is not acceptable…Peer pressure…peer pressure….Would like to see players who break rules receive punishment from CMR and then additional punishment from Team leader committee (approved by Richt)….Team leaders need to have meeting weekly with team. Addtional–would like to see Team counselors–meeting with team and stressing importance of being successful…and things that team members can do to be successful in college and on the football team…There needs to be a culture change…CMR may be doing the punishment etc well…But looks lack some have a lack of respect for rules, authority…Look at the number of times we were penalized in games….the team members must grasp the importance of respecting authority and following rules….Now we drill this into them by Team leaders, peer pressure, counselors speaking, coaches speaking….small group meetings to talk about team and how team can perform better and be successful…..culture change and this are good methods to start with.
Casn You Dig It
July 12th, 2010
5:11 pm
Tide Rising we are all laughing once again at your attempt at an impartial post on the Georgia blog. …..Please give me a break…Saban checking for character issues? Yeh right….Saban recruits thugs… always has. He sucks up to the local police and they eat it up and look the other way.Bama players are no better than anyone elses when it comes to underage drinking…did you ever stop to think that maybe ..just maybe the Athens and UGA police dept.are just that much better than Alabamas….they actually do their job, overzelously maybe…but they are far better than those uneducated rednecks working for the campus police at Bama….What a pompous a$$ you are …please go away little boy….Can You Dig It!
Tide Rising
July 12th, 2010
5:11 pm
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
5:00 pm
“Jennifer, I guess after pulling a firearm on a fellow student(which is rock bottom) you would clean house.”
Scott W.
Put things in perspective. Everybody out there has a felon or future felon on their squad. A Tony Cole type if you will. What we’re talking about is the difference between having 1 or 2 bad apples which everyone has and slews of player arrests year in and year out. There is a difference.
Ed
July 12th, 2010
5:12 pm
Is Georgia out to recruit the bad boy in an effort to compete with Florida, another school that keeps its local police force very busy? Try to be an updated version of 1990s FSU, in other words…
If so, it isn’t working. Maybe we should substitute some of the 4-5 star goons we’ve been bringing in with some 3-star talent that has high character. That works amazingly well for a lot of schools around the country.
This is way past the point of being embarrassing. Surely there are coaches who can go 8-5 or 9-4 with less off-field problems.
Scott W.
July 12th, 2010
5:13 pm
Right I guess it would be good to use UA as a moral compass, in fact a healthy portion of the NCAA rule book has been written for your school.
RAMBLE ON!!!
July 12th, 2010
5:13 pm
Mark, You called UGAg an institution of higher learning. That’s a good one, I almost spit my water clear across the room.
“Too many Georgia players continue to be, for want of a better word, unwise.”
Um, When did UGAg have any “wise” players.
You saw how bad they wanted that UT Thug that spurred them at the last second.