There’s no other way to say it: Mark Richt is in trouble at UGA
This was Mississippi State's first touchdown Saturday. It would add two more. (AP photo)
I wouldn’t have thought such a thing possible a month ago or a week ago or even 24 hours ago, but here it is:
Mark Richt is in trouble.
It was possible to write off Georgia’s first two losses as having come against superior opposition. It is not possible to write off losing in Starkville. It is not possible to square all those ballyhooed recruiting classes with being 0-3 in the conference. It is not possible to look on the Bulldogs as anything more than a middling SEC team.
Five years ago, how many other league schools would have gladly traded their coach for Richt? Nine? Ten? How many would today? Maybe three, and that’s depending on how Ole Miss feels about Houston Nutt this week. Too many SEC programs have caught and passed Georgia, and this has nothing to do with the superpowers in Tuscaloosa and Gainesville. Consider:
Last year Georgia lost to Tennessee in Year 1 of Lane Kiffin. Last week Georgia lost to Arkansas in Sanford Stadium in Year 3 of Bobby Petrino. Last night Georgia lost to Mississippi State in Year 2 under Dan Mullen.
No longer does an opponent tremble at the sight of Georgia approaching. On the contrary, this has become — three weeks running! — the team you want to play if you’re looking to establish your program.
The old Steve Spurrier critique of Ray Goff — “Georgia gets all these players … I don’t know what happens to them” — again applies. Georgia doesn’t lack talent. It simply cannot bring its talent to bear. Its new 3-4 defense mustered one sack against Arkansas and Ryan Mallett. Its touted offensive line was able to carve out 113 yards rushing against Manny Diaz’s Mississippi State defense. Its offense could not score a touchdown against South Carolina and needed 58-plus minutes to manage one in Starkville.
There has been no improvement week over week. There is only a weird stasis. The weeks and the opponents change, but Georgia looks no different. How does that happen?
Loading ...Granted, the season might look different had A.J. Green played these four games. But he didn’t because he broke a rule, and that’s the other reason Richt is in trouble. A coach can get away with having his players mess up off the field if the coach keeps winning big on it. But Richt is 10-9 dating back to Nov. 29, 2008, and guess what cheery news awaited him on his return from Mississippi?
You got it. Another player has been arrested.
When I say, “Richt is in trouble,” I don’t mean I expect him to be fired this week or even after this season. I think Greg McGarity, the new athletic director, will err on the side of patience with a coach of such distinguished pedigree. (And a strong finish to this season — winning the next eight and beating Auburn and Florida en route — would effectively get Richt out of trouble.) But the loss at State seems a tipping point. It seems the game in which the majority of Georgia fans stopped seeing Mark Richt as the answer and came to regard him as the problem.
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1,529 comments Add your comment
Al
September 26th, 2010
5:10 pm
Concerning the player arrests and lack of discipline….one only needs to look at the UGA student population arrest for similar mishaps and one would note that the players are not ” out of line”. Who lacks control of the non-athelete students….their parents, school deans? I can’t blame Mark for this.
kwconct3
September 26th, 2010
5:11 pm
ga fans stop paying and going to the games. watch the games on tv and you will see where all the kids in this state are going to school. thats where we are getting beat, who would want to play in athens? the sespool of the state.
000
September 26th, 2010
5:11 pm
I blame brenda
RL
September 26th, 2010
5:12 pm
Tampa Gator, these Dog fans are living in the distant past. When I moved to ATL in April I was reading their trash talk. I thought they really had a rivalry with UF. Maybe they did in 1919, but it looks like they have beat UF three times in the last 20 years.
Larry
September 26th, 2010
5:13 pm
Georgia will finish between 3-9 and 5-7. There are problems with coaching, talent, strength & conditioning, effort, you name it. Richt is a class guy but I can see him realizing he is not getting the job done and leaving when the season is over. With the talent in Georgia and UGA’s facilities, they should be a top 5 to top 10 team on a regular basis.
RL is a Richard Head
September 26th, 2010
5:13 pm
Go back to Floriduh!
has anyone seen my paper bag
September 26th, 2010
5:14 pm
Thank God for the Falcons!! The Braves and Dawgs have caused my irritable bowel syndrome to flare up!
TampaGator
September 26th, 2010
5:14 pm
Richt ties Golf with 0-3 start….
All Gator fans know the Gators have dominated Georgia in modern day football and that Georgia won most of its games against Florida prior to 1950. It just hurts to be a DAWG fan right now….and most of us Gators only hurt like they do when we lose SEC championship or national title games…but our program just regenerates after losing one of those and starts winning once again.
Tired of the Woof
September 26th, 2010
5:14 pm
Georgia has more losses than Vandy. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Roll Tide Roll
Matt
September 26th, 2010
5:14 pm
If Richt doesnt fire Bobo this week, he might need to go. After all the wins he has given us the last 10 seasons, he deserves one chance to fire Bobo, the real problem.
Lack of Institutional Control
September 26th, 2010
5:14 pm
The team is 0-3.
The program won the Fulmer Trophy
They lead in arrests AGAIN this year
All the pretty speeches at FCA meetings and churches can’t cover this dirt. We recruit scum, we just hope they don’t get caught because they’re big and fast.
The fish stinks from the head. EVERY bit of this happened on his watch, in the environment he created, with the people he brought in.
TampaGator loves RL
September 26th, 2010
5:15 pm
Man crush
MIKE T
September 26th, 2010
5:16 pm
kwconct3
ga fans stop paying and going to the games.
No we’re not Georgia Tech,we don’t stop supporting the team,we have the talent, we just demand better.Especially
in an obvious let down in coaching.
big dawg
September 26th, 2010
5:16 pm
Mark Richt will be at UGA for many years to come and will bring UGA more championships. With Mark Bradley’s constant negative pot stirring for all state of Georgia teams, pro and college, he is missing a great career in talk radio which thrives on negatavisim. I doubt he has ever put on a uniform past High School or Middle School JV level, certainly not like major college sports like some of us.
Jim R
September 26th, 2010
5:16 pm
MR better figure out what brung him and ride that pony again. He is an offensive coordinator and if he doesn’t see that he needs to leave. The offense has no imagination. Penalties again. Waasupwidat. This can’t be happening man.
BIG TECH FAN
September 26th, 2010
5:16 pm
I watched an old movie about Secratariat and after the movie was done, I could only think about of how UGA is our modern day horse Secretariat going in reverse!!!!! LOL!!!
Jack Mehoff
September 26th, 2010
5:17 pm
Git reddy ta here Rocky Top a lot!
Al
September 26th, 2010
5:18 pm
Think that guy at Michigan would come to UGA and try his talent in the SEC?
has anyone seen my paper bag
September 26th, 2010
5:18 pm
I hate Rocky Top!
BIG TECH FAN - a.k.a. NERD
September 26th, 2010
5:18 pm
was that movie before or after playing dongeon & dragons with yourself?
RL
September 26th, 2010
5:19 pm
UGA fans cannot wait for basketball season.
TampaGator
September 26th, 2010
5:19 pm
And did you see all those freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and sophs playing great on both sides of the ball last night….my…my….the Gators are going to be really, really good for years to come. And Trey Burton….wow….a true freshman and scores 6 TDs in one game….count ‘em….6 TD’s in one game!!! Looks like Florida’s second string QB is better than Georgia’s first string QB…..and then they will have Brantley, Burton, and Driskell on the same team next year. Yep….the winning record for Georgia will be short lived for sure.
RL is a Richard Head
September 26th, 2010
5:19 pm
Can’t wait for his cooking show to come on!
joe
September 26th, 2010
5:20 pm
Shreveport called…they’ve removed the welcome mat and turned on the no vacancy sign for UGA.
Tide Rising
September 26th, 2010
5:20 pm
I’m a rival fan and have always liked and respected mark richt. I hope he can turn it around, save his job, and restore Georgia to the upper tier fo the SEC. But for now what there are some glaring observations that some others have noted and that you just can’t ignore.
No. 1 is a poster noted a few weeks ago about Richt’s speech and body language. His speech nowadays is less than inspiring, he just doesn’t look enthused, excited, or most of all happy. He looks depressed and almost like he’s just going through the motions- like he just doesn’t much care anymore. Other people have noted this and I can’t help but notice it every time they show him.
No. 2 observation is that his team just doesn’t respect or fear him or fear the consequences of getting in trouble at UGA- hence a completely undisciplined team on and off the field. I don’t think anyone really would even debate the point.
No. 3 I watched the replay this morning of the MSU game. Georgia just looked listless, punchless, they just didn’t look like a team that came to play. MSU is improving but they are still an average team at best. But that average team physically pushed around UGA in the 2nd half and dominated.
No. 4 Coaching- offensively and defensively this team has been outcoached in every game. The offense is unimaginative, predictable, and again just punchless. 6 pts against Carolina and 12 against MSU? The defense was gashed up the middle by Carolina and by MSU both of whom have been average running teams.
No. 5 Spurrier was right when he asked about what happens to all these 4 and 5 stars that go to UGA. This team does not physically dominate anyone- their strength and conditioning is subpar compared to UF, LSU, and Bama. Their athletes are simply not developed to the level of the 3 I just mentioned. In reference to the talent can anyone name a great player on the team other than AJ Greene. I can name 5 jrs on Bama’s team that will probably come out early this year and all 5 be 1st round draft picks or high 2nd round. And that doesn’t include McElroy, Trent Richardson, and many other high caliber players that I feel will certainly be in the pros one day. Other than AJ is are there really any dawg players that you can really say are in the top 1 or 2 at their position in the sec?
The strength of the team- a veteran O-line, has been physically whipped in all 3 losses. Dog fans have got to ask how can that be? ealey must be averaging something like 3 yds a carry and if I’m not mistaken I think Murray is the leading or 2nd leading rusher 4 games into the season. The other rushers have cumulatively accomplished nothing.
I don’t want to pile on Richt too much since I like him. But the dawgs have some serious problems in all phases of their program. He’s got a lot of work to do to right this ship.
Mr. Moral Ambiguity
September 26th, 2010
5:20 pm
We need to be more like UF. Recruit lawless thugs who are winners. Everyone loves a winner and looks the other way after off-field trangressions. It worked for Oklahoma in the 70s and 80s, Miami in the 80s and 90s, FSU in the 90s, and now UF. Georgia needs to get with the program, cause when you stink up the joint, there’s less tolerance for the lawlessness.
MIKE T
September 26th, 2010
5:20 pm
TampaGator, Quit wasting your time on this blog,almost
everyone here knows of Baja Georgia’s RECENT domaniance
and I’m sure everyone here feels Florida will win this year.Your not gonna get much of a rise at of anyone this year about the Georgia- Florida game.
RL
September 26th, 2010
5:21 pm
Basketball season in only two months. UGA will win the SEC East. Count on it!
TampaGator
September 26th, 2010
5:21 pm
Matt….
Richt is not going to fire Bobo in the middle of the season….especially since they read the Bible together every Wednesday night….when they probably should be studying game film for the next game.
Tim
September 26th, 2010
5:21 pm
Where did this guy learn coaching? That’s right, under Bobby Bowden. Why would anyone be surprised that his players put their SEC championship rings for sale on bay, or that 10 players have been arrested this year, or that players are dealing with agents, or that he can’t win regularly against quality competition like the SEC. Vince Dooley knew this would be the case, but as usual, his big ego couldn’t handle some possibly doing as well as he did, so he brought in an under qualified scumbag. Same thing he did in basketball!
dawglifer
September 26th, 2010
5:22 pm
I think Richt should fire Bobo now, takeover play-calling duties, and at seasons end, we can assess the situation.
Richt ties Goff with 0-3 SEC start
September 26th, 2010
5:22 pm
This just in, Georgia as the 61st team in the nation.
Since there only 120 Div I football teams, that means the dawgs are the worst of the best or the best of the worst—————take you pick. BTW Colorado is not far behind at # 64, this game will be a pick it tomorrow when the Vegas odds come out.
Check it out for yourself: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/polls/120/index2
Fake Urban Meyer
September 26th, 2010
5:22 pm
MSU just scored again.
I have spoken
September 26th, 2010
5:23 pm
Game Over!!!
TampaGator
September 26th, 2010
5:23 pm
Mr. Moral….
I think Georgia out recruits Florida in that area already…and you are still losing. What is your next excuse?
Randy
September 26th, 2010
5:23 pm
Mark-
Why not just write off this year, play the young guys, recruit the dream team, get the coaching staffinf right, and then play for 2011?
Don’t forget, Saban lost 6 games in 07, did pretty well after that.
RL
September 26th, 2010
5:24 pm
TampaGotor, When are you coming over for our Sunday night dress up game? I’m wearing your favorite color……..
GT
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
You looking down that sideline in those Georgia pictures and you see a ton of hanger oners. Everybody wanted to be seen with the champs. Now that they are losing maybe you get a atmosphere more realistic. Georgia has been more than they really are in their own minds and the fans minds for years. They do this every year only it gets later in the season every year. They will come to earth long enough to beat a Auburn or a Tech, then the press gets back on the bandwagon, they start reading their clippings and the cycle starts all over again. I want Tech to play the cocky dawgs, we always get the repenting dawgs by year’s end. If I was Richt I take away some of those hanger oners, clear that sideline of the Chuck’s and Tony’s that message these players feet, Russel use to say it is great to be a Dawg on Saturday night when they win. Now it is great just being a dawg, doesn’t matter what or who they are. They are living off Erk’s and a lot of Dooley years, meal ticket. And the bums that hang on these players are a huge part of the problem.
Charleston Jacket
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
They teach you that at school? Oh, that’s right most of you mutt heads did not even finish high school.
JB
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
I hear that UGA has a good equestrian team. We can go see them!
historydog
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
Reason for kicking players off the team who get arrested, violate NCAA rules or team rules: football is a team sport, when a player conducts himself in a way that he knows is a violation of team rules, or the law, he is saying: I am more important that the team, I have no respect for the team or I am so important the coaches won’t let me go. When the team is not important to a person when he is off the field, its not important when he is on the field: its 100% loyalty the team all the time. That is what championship teams are made off. It is obvious the UGA players will not understand that until some examples are made. Start now, start with Green!
Tim
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
Does mr. Moral Ambiguity have a clue more of Richt’s dawns have been arrested this year than any year for any of the programs he listed? Think he realizes that his coach came out of the FSU program that regularly gets spanked by the NCAA? That he looks morally bankrupt. Losing with a scumbag trained by Bowden?
PR
September 26th, 2010
5:26 pm
I don’t think it’s all Richt’s fault. All you have to do is look at all the problems he’s had with the spoiled immature players and thier arrests. Today’s NCAA athlete’s are all spoiled a-holes. They want everything given to them and don’t want to do any work. Mark needs to start benching people who don’t perform. Get rid of the troublemakers and shake things up. Those who really want to play will get their head’s out of their butts and do the job. Those who don’t will end up on welfare.
Charleston Jacket - "I'm Gay"
September 26th, 2010
5:27 pm
I’m such a beast!
Bambelle in ga
September 26th, 2010
5:27 pm
To uga fans: The disrespect you show to opponents that beat you on the field is reprehensible. Have you people ever practiced sportsmanship?
Roll Tide
September 26th, 2010
5:27 pm
I will never understand Georgia and their fans. It seems everything is always accepted and another year will come around and things will be better. I think the Dawg fans accept mediocrity these days and accept losing the big games each year. The games this year havent been big and the sentiment seems the same. UGA was once a proud program and now very mid-tier. I truly hope it works out for the Dawgs but really think the fans just dont demand championships. As a Bama fan I pull for GA every time they play Fla or Aub in a big way and even watched the GA-Fla at 3.30 am in Japan a few years ago but was disappointed once again.
Chris
September 26th, 2010
5:28 pm
Mark, I do agree with your article, but I don’t agree that Richt should be given another year. He has had enough time to make improvements, and we have only gotten worse. I do think that given another year, we may be better but you know, we thought that before this as well. We knew we had a young QB, but we also knew that he was more talented than Cox. We knew we had a new D.C., but we never thought that our defense could get any worse. We also knew that we had 10 starters returning on offense, and even with the absence of Green, this offense and especially the offensive line should be playing much better. Most importantly though, I am reminded of the comments Richt made before the season started. He said that this team was better, more improved, and would show it on the field this. He also had a lot of good things to say before the start of last season but we struggled. Now, we are playing the worst football fans have seen at Georgia in 20 years. The last time we had a 4 game stretch this bad was when Ray Golf was running the show.
Things my get a little better next year but it will not be enough. I don’t believe that Mark Richt will ever get us back to where we were in 2002 and 2005. It is obvious that changes need to be made, and the sooner that happens, the better it will be for Georgia’s football program.
Mark Richt needs to resign after this year, and if he doesn’t then he should be fired.
Jack Mehoff
September 26th, 2010
5:28 pm
Richt will get fired after the lousy Vowels beat the dawgs at home to make it 4 of the last 5. If UGA loses to UT then you will know just how bad the dawgs are, and they are bad!
Ed
September 26th, 2010
5:28 pm
Tide rising, that was well said. Richt’s body language has been terrible. I think he mailed it in back in ‘06, and everyone is now starting to accept that fact. I noticed the Georgia offensive lineman look a little soft. No muscle tone on their arms, and these are guys who’ve been in the program for 4 years. A far cry from the “Finish the Drill” Bulldogs of ‘01-’04. It’s like their spirit and heart left with Van Gorder, Green and Pollack.
The defense gets overmatched by physical lineman and running backs from the other team (schematically I’d say Grantham has done a pretty good job). And the fact that a freshman felt at liberty to get drunk and drive while his team was playing in Mississippi says a lot – these players simply don’t have any discipline or fear of the coaching staff. Grantham has been strangely mute since his blowup in the La.-Lafayette game. Something is way off in Athens, and it has to start at the top. I’m not sure Richt has it in him to turn this thing around, or even that he wants to.
Adam
September 26th, 2010
5:28 pm
You people are freakin morons for saying Mark Richt needs to go. Who are we going to go hire as out head coach? Is Tommy Tuberville better? Gene Chisik?? he is about 2 steps down from CMR. Bob Stoops would never leave Oklahoma. Mike Stoops possibly but he is doing great things in Arizona. So it sure looks like CMR is going to have his first losing season in how many years has it been 10??? Your all idiots! Starkville was unfortunate and it was a bad game but its the first we have had all year sometimes you come out and just have a bad game. South Carolina we executed the game plan but it was a horrible game plan. Arkansas we should have beat a team that is probably closer to the top 5 than top 10 in the rankings. Maybe you freakin idiots that wanted to blame Joe Cox for our losses last year can see that this team just isn’t playing very well. Maybe you morrons can understand now that, when you called Matthew Stafford an uderachiever and Joe Cox a horrible Quarterback, overall as a team Georgia has not been that talented overall. 5 stars doesn’t mean anything becaue the people that are giving the stars don’t understand the fundamentals of the game. There is no way in hell Marlon Brown should have been any more that 3 stars. Georgia has lived off the talent of star players since Matthew Stafford took over as the starter. Take Fred Gibson away from David Greene and they still win 95% of their games. I’ll agree with you that Bobo should not be back but he shouldn’t be fired or asked to step own until after next year. Stacy Searels should be gone after the bowl game. What you idiots don’t understand is that if you say screw it and knock every wall in your house down then your roof will fall down. You would have to knock one wall at a time down and replace it. These are the two keys to the Georgia Offense. Bobo’s playing calling has been far from spectacular and the offensive line is playing like a bunch of Betty White Clones. If we could run the ball then we would be able to finish drives. CMR says we look really close on film when you break down play by play because you have 7 or 8 guys doing what their supposed to do and 2 or 3 that slip up just a little and you can’t have that. This is a solid 9 win team but until we have 5 offensive linemen that can move someone off the line then we are going to continue to lose SEC games. One last thing, I hope you see how important Brennan Southerland was for our running game. When he missed games our run struggled ever with Knowshon Moreno in the game. Now he is gone and I see guys that aren’t blocking as well as brennan was.