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
UGA Watergirl
September 27th, 2010
7:58 am
What about me?
Sick of Dogs
September 27th, 2010
8:00 am
How Bout Them Dawgs?
Ok, everyone, get ready, and 1, 2 3, “Oh and three in SEC, Oh and three in SEC, Oh in three in SEC!” There, I feel better now.
More arrest than wins this season? It is time to pay the piper for all the BS that has gone down in Athens for years.
Best Monday morning I have had in years!
Sick of Dogs
September 27th, 2010
8:03 am
Come on Dawg fans, you can still go 9 and 3 this season….Baaaahaaaaaa, baaaaaahaaaaaaa!!!!!
Tndawg
September 27th, 2010
8:05 am
Long time dawg fan that [like the Georgia coaches] has no clue about what to do! I`m very lost! LOST! LOST! LOST!
Flea Bitten Dawg
September 27th, 2010
8:06 am
Please bring Damon and the red panrties back now. Things were never this bad under his watch. I guess Mark is too busy making commercials for Ford to worry about winning games.
bamafan
September 27th, 2010
8:08 am
Where is the UGA blogger from last summer who said Ealey was better than Ingram?? The world wonders………Watched the game Saturday with my UGA grad daughter…….Ugly ugly ugly – Reminescent of the 2000 Bama team. Offensive line ineffective. Play calling horrible. Running backs are AWOL. No intensity in any aspect of the offense. Something is seriously wrong, and I am not sure it is the head coach…………but it is his head on the chopping block. Looks like Richt and Miles have swapped positions……..Miles is 4-0 and while LSU is winning ugly, they are winning.
» SEC: Bama-Florida a game that truly matters John Clay’s Sidelines
September 27th, 2010
8:09 am
[...] There’s no other way to say it, Mark Richt is in trouble, writes Mark Bradley of the AJC. [...]
I say
September 27th, 2010
8:10 am
5-7. And, if it wasn’t for Colorado or Idaho St. it could be 4-8 or 3-9.
WonderDawg
September 27th, 2010
8:11 am
“How can we go from a great running team the last part of the season last year to this!”
**********************************
We ran the ball decently against UK, GT, and A&M. Let’s see, we lost in Athens to UK, We beat Tech, but 3-and-outed so much in the second half running the ball, that they came back and made it a game. And we came from behind to beat 6-7 Texas A&M.
Great running team? Nope.
Take A Bite Outta Crime
September 27th, 2010
8:11 am
Hey sicemdawgs.com, I don’t think there is any reason to list the SEC Championship game as part of the UGA schdedule anymore. What are you folks smoking?
Phil
September 27th, 2010
8:12 am
I say,
Where are the other 2 wins coming from to get us to 5? I don’t see us beating Colorado quite frankly.
John Boy
September 27th, 2010
8:15 am
UGA will outlast them all
Happyashell
September 27th, 2010
8:16 am
What a great weekend. Dawgs lose third in a row (in conference) and the Falcons beat the Aints in their dome. Where are all the loud mouth, red-neck UGA fans running around barking and shouting “How Bout Them Dawgs?” The silence is deafening along with the lack of rah, rah for UGA on the Atlanta TV stations. I guess there will be a lot of empty hotel rooms in Jacksonville this year.
Taylor Wooten
September 27th, 2010
8:16 am
The problems have their roots in recruiting. For whatever reason, they are NOT getting the very best from Georgia. For instance, average (at best) small running backs, a red shirt Freshmen starting at QB after a 5th year Senior (where are the Soph, Junior, Senior QBs), average talent on the defensive side of the ball.
The problems are deep. There are no quick fixes.
orson charles
September 27th, 2010
8:18 am
Guys no matter what Richt will not go we going to lose 5 more games….If the AD or the President even try to remove him crazy people like you all would have a fit…and with fans like UGA he’ll be a around for another 20yrs
Jo Mama
September 27th, 2010
8:18 am
Why is anyone surprised? This guy is a Bobby Bowden clone. Put on the Christian jag personally but go out and recruit thugs and scum. Let’s let them go unrestrained into the endzone, fill up the police arrest blotter and talk jack nonstop, and then be a leader in penalty yards. You call this leadership? Georgia is getting what it deserves – an ass whipping. It will continue if they hire another swaggering smart ass who recruits undisciplined thugs like Richt.
Awesome
September 27th, 2010
8:19 am
Richt needs to go and coach in the Georgia Prison League. He is already used to dealing with criminal element, thug playes.
eastofA1A
September 27th, 2010
8:19 am
Actually it was me, not Steve Spurrier, who first made the comment about how UGA always has all these great players but nothing ever gets done with them. I was 7 years old, I am 56 today.
I seems that’s the earmark of UGA football.
Phil
September 27th, 2010
8:22 am
Taylor Wooten,
You are right about one thing, the best ones are getting away. Can you imagine what our defense would have been like with Eric Berry? What if we had Greg Reid in the secondary this year and also returning punts?
What do you want to bet Crowell goes out of state? Richt is losing the in-state big time players. Not acceptable.
10-1 lead after 3
September 27th, 2010
8:22 am
Some news service is reporting that the UGA-Fla. game will no longer be televised nationally.
Also, has Bobby Cox been fired yet, or is he still leading the Braves to one of all-time meltdowns in baseball history?
Sarge1
September 27th, 2010
8:24 am
Anybody else notice Richt’s disciplinary pattern? First teamers and “proven” players get a game or so suspension or less (no matter how severe the infraction) while subs get kicked off the team. Most UGAthug supporters will claim is smart. Mayhaps but is it the right thing to do?
VinceD
September 27th, 2010
8:24 am
Jo Mama:
Yes, Athens has become the North Annex of the Criminols. Richt certainly learned that part of coaching from his mentor. The sins of the past have come home to roost.
virginia dog
September 27th, 2010
8:25 am
Enter your comm
Phil
September 27th, 2010
8:27 am
10-1 lead after 3,
Like I said earlier, Bobby Cox is the biggest buffoon this state has ever seen. Mark Bradley and Schultz have covered for him the last 15 years.
They will cover for Richt also, they will never suggest a removal of Richt. They may tease he’s in trouble to fire up the blogs, but they will never stand up for anything like removing Richt, just like they never stood up and asked for Cox’s removal.
It’s about time… – Red and Black | DUI Attorney Local
September 27th, 2010
8:28 am
[...] (blog)Scrutiny of Mark Richt continues to grow after SEC record falls to 0-3Florida Times-UnionMark Richt is in trouble.Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Savannah Morning Newsall 166 news [...]
virginia dog
September 27th, 2010
8:28 am
oops…
i swear to god, if one more person calls CMR a good christian man one more time i am going to explode.
Dawg Nadds
September 27th, 2010
8:30 am
If you think its bad now…….just wait til we lose to Colorado on the road and UT comes into Athens and kicks out butts. No matter what kind of fuzzy math you do…..that’s a 1-5 record. CMR has got to gooooooooooooooo.
Jim Bob Cooter
September 27th, 2010
8:32 am
@ virginia dog………of course CMR is a GOOD CHRISTIAN MAN. BOOM!!!!!
MURPHY
September 27th, 2010
8:34 am
O.K we all agree this morning that coaching changes need to be made. What would be our pick for a new head coach. I say offer Cowher or Gruden a shot?
MURPHY
September 27th, 2010
8:35 am
Could we persuade Mullen to come from Miss St?
mambo
September 27th, 2010
8:35 am
CMR is paid waaay too much to let this happen! And, he’s still waffling about team discipline when asked if he now has “zero tolerance” with player arrests. And the team still can’t block or tackle. It begins and ends with coaching.
dawgster
September 27th, 2010
8:35 am
Hey TampaGator…you are quiet right the dawg fans are much more critical than you have been and i did go back and see some of your posts…my apologies…when i’m wrong i say i’m wrong…i wonder if i can use that line, think i got it from a movie…anyway..Well another player does a dumb thing and unfortunately from here on out there will be no 2nd chances and maybe that will be for the good…i’m sure the family of the young man is wondering why he is not treated the same as others before him…The team was warned by Coach Richt that the next offense would be dealt with very seriously…Hopefully this will start making the players think just a little maybe!!..The young man should be thankful that he didn’t cause an accident and get someone injured or killed…Its a shame that Coach Richt had to take that action…If i were the players, i wouldn’t even sneeze in public right now…Well, this should satisfy many of the dawg bashers now, and unfotunately he will be able to go to another school and be a model player and student…How many other programs would be kicking players off on the first offense..maybe they should, but how many are….I am not saying this is not a serious, serious offense, it surely is, but it seems as of this date the dawgs will have “0″ tolerance and maybe thats what is needed..maybe, just maybe, we can get some respect back even if it is not on the field…Go Dawgs.
Rachel Jernigan
September 27th, 2010
8:36 am
I agree with the people who say that Mark is a nice guy, and he is. I like him as a person, he is a good Christian, husband and father. But he isn’t paid $2+ million dollars a year to be a good person, he is paid to win football games, and control his players on the field. He is not paid to control them off the field, but needs to have stricter rules about who can play on his team, and if you violate the law, then you should be off the team. College football players are like everyone else when it comes to the law, and they should he held to that standard. It isn’t just Mark’s lack of control, it is Bobo’s play calling. Lets run it up the center, and if it doesn’t work two times, why not run up the center on third down! It seems like he is calling the same six plays again and again!
TheAntiMe
September 27th, 2010
8:37 am
UGA’s offensive line is horrid and their secondary is putrid. With that being the case it will take a boatload of luck for the Dawgs to win any given game this season. Gory, gory, is old Georgia.
DawginLex
September 27th, 2010
8:38 am
gatorbait,
Richt told the players weeks ago that the next person who did anything was going to regret it.
Danbo
September 27th, 2010
8:43 am
He should have been fired two years ago. He is soft, his coach(s) are soft, and his team is soft.
Chris
September 27th, 2010
8:45 am
TampaGator, you are essentialy dividing up the years when you say that Florida has had a better record than Georgia since 1958. Again, you are contradicting yourself.
The points you try to make are weak and make absolutely no sense. Your dominance started in 1990. Your 8 game lead over Georgia since 1958 is a direct result of your dominance since 1990. I am only taking what you have said to make your comments look ridiculous. It’s obviously not that hard to do.
Your program wasn’t even relevent until the 90’s. You didn’t win your first SEC championship until 1991. Florida didn’t dominate Georgia or any good teams for that matter before 1990. Yes you had Steve Spurrier as your QB in the 60’s, and he won the heismen, but he was 1-2 against Georgia throwing that forward pass.
All I have to do is back the rivalry up a few years, let’s say back to the 40’s possibly, and then I can say that Georgia has been dominant over Florida for the last 70 something years. Again, that is no more true than your statement, because you have only dominated us for the past two decades. Have we dominated the overall series? Well if a 7 games lead in a series that has been played 87 times is dominance then yes. I don’t really see that as much of a dominance over one team but I guess that’s just me.
The series has gone back and forth. We dominated the 70’s and 80’s, and you have dominated the 90’s and 00’s. Going back, you can say the same thing about both programs in previous decades.
Saying that Florida has dominated Georgia since 1958 is a false statement, end of discussion.
Mike
September 27th, 2010
8:48 am
You fair weather idiots – Georgia was in each game we played and had their chance to win. A fumble here, bad break there and you lose against three quality opponents. Arkansas took the defending national champs to the wire. This is the best Carolina team Spurrier has had. Mississippi State is much improved. We did this without AJ Green and Sean Chapas, the two best at their positions in the country. Caleb King, our best blocking tailback is not 100%. If you want to blame someone, blame the O-Line, this senior group has under-performed.
Look at our 1980 National Championship team. We had to come back to beat Tennessee 16-15. At Florida, we were “out of it and gone – I gave up, you did too.” Then a miracle play that fell our way, mostly because the defender fell down. There were other close games that year. We could easily be 4-0 right now. This team will get better. I’m not trying to be a Polyanna, but don’t burn a great coach at the stake. Besides, idiots, who do you think you can reasonably get that’s better?
Sharkman
September 27th, 2010
8:49 am
Y’all are a bunch of pathetic excuses for Georgia fans. Lose a few and you want to throw the Baby out with the bathwater? I’m as digusted as y’all are, but, in case you impatient morons haven’t checked out other programs lately, they all experience stuff like this. It’s normal. It’s cyclical. You don’t win 11 or 12 games a year, EVERY YEAR! ESPECIALLY in the SEC. Good grief, stop acting like a bunch of impatient little girls, and shame on YOU Bradley for stoking this fire. You’re a pathetic excuse for a journalist for getting the Bulldawg nation ever more upset than it already is.
Phildo
September 27th, 2010
8:52 am
Let’s think about this, or at least something related. This morning Richt booted Baker off the team for a DUI. Baker was a red-shirt freshman who hadn’t played a down and may have been, although it’s hard to tell, not projected to contribute in the long run. This was to signal Richt’s newfound toughness. Interesting, however, that several weeks ago, Washaun Ealey, a definite starter, was arrested again, this time for DUI, driving without a license, hitting a vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident. He drew a whopping one game suspension against a lightweight team. Notice any difference here. Big time fumbler, er ah, starter = 1 game suspension, whereas noncontributor = dismissal. Unbelievable. What a hypocrite. But, then again, perhaps McGarity is beginning to let his presence be known. Yet, if left to Richt, Baker would probably be still on the team.
DawginLex
September 27th, 2010
8:55 am
Phildo, show me any link that proves Ealey was DUI.
you can’t.
there is a huge difference between what they did.
however, I do agree that Ealey’s suspension was a joke. He should have sat out with AJ for 4 games. We might be 3-1 now without his fumbles.
Links for Monday « Josh and Will
September 27th, 2010
8:56 am
[...] Georgia’s 0-3 SEC start has left head coach Mark Richt in trouble, writes Mark Bradley. (AJC) [...]
St. Richt
September 27th, 2010
9:02 am
Just curious why its always the scrubs that the holy one kicks off the team in Athens? He’s good at making an example of the scrubs and then sweeping the good player’s infractions under the rug. This kid should sue CMR and the University for his inconsistent policies when it comes to his “student” athletes..
St. Richt
September 27th, 2010
9:04 am
Looks like SteamingLoginLex is in here again trying to defend the disciplinary policies of Mark Richt. Its pretty easy to see what’s happening here, Lex. That is, for anyone but you.
WAR DAMN EAGLE
September 27th, 2010
9:05 am
TampaGator
You, like other armchair qb’s, have predicted several things that have not come true. Auburn beat two teams that beat up on UGA by more than 2 touchdowns. Auburn is a very unpredictable team but they have more heart and more talent than UGA.
Hell, their qb has won SEC player of the week twice this season and will be in the Heisman race this year or next.
Fire Dawg
September 27th, 2010
9:09 am
What makes Ealey fumble at the sight of a touchdown ? LACK OF COACHING UP !
What makes team sluff through games ? Sluffing through practice ! ie. LACK OF COACHING UP !
Oh, the heck with it ! I could go on all day !
hatfieldgeoff
September 27th, 2010
9:11 am
When you promote from within in College Football it always means their are at least a dozen other guys you could have hired that would have done a better job. All the new coaches around the country took the cream off the top and Richt promoted guys who were so far down the list nobody knew who they were. The offensive playcalling lacks imagination, the offensive line lacks toughness and never gets any better. But Mark understand this the talent level at UGA has dropped. In 2002-03 the talent was significanty higher than today. Their are always a few players on any team that don’t meet expectations. But UGA has probably 15 players who were considered top recruits who are about to graduate without making any impact on the program. Caleb King, Brandon Wood, Israel Troupe, Logan Gray, 5 aor six offensive and defensive linemen. The quality of the players recruited has to improve as well as the coaching. While I have been a supporter of Coach Richt the last few years, the problems now seem so widespread and soaked through the fibers of the program that I believe our new AD should “finish the drill” and fire the coach.
Phil
September 27th, 2010
9:11 am
Mike,
I would go after Jim Harbaugh. He has made Stanford a tough physical team, the kind you need to play with Alabama and South Carolina. Our O-Line and D-Line are manhandled every game. Look at Alabama’s line, they are all monsters that punish their opponents.
The downward spiral is apparent, Richt and his thug recruiting isn’t working anymore. 10 years is long enough to give a coach a chance to move a program to the next level.
And Richt has done that, although it’s to a new LOW level. 10 years is more than enough of a chance.
Now go get Harbaugh.
WAR DAMN EAGLE
September 27th, 2010
9:12 am
“Only an idiot(which describes you) would come on to a UGA blog bashing a team when your own savior of a coach can’t beat NC State.(or Kansas)”
NC State is undefeated. Miss St. had two losses before they destroyed UGA.
Sucks to be a dawg fan these days.
Sally Manders
September 27th, 2010
9:12 am
Give Mark Richt a lifetime contract. He is still a great coach and he is soooo good looking.