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
mat
September 28th, 2010
9:04 pm
Earl Bruce was a good coach at Ohio St. and so was John Cooper but each could not do what Jim Tressel has done. Sometimes it is not the players who are the problem. Don’t cry for CMR, he knows this is big boy football.
Brian Van Gorder
September 28th, 2010
9:37 pm
Georgia has not been the same since I left. I don’t know why Georgia didn’t pursue me harder last year.
The Fire Mark Richt Debate… Patience Leads to Stable Success « The Sports Debates©
September 28th, 2010
11:09 pm
[...] to talk about, a quick perusal of UGA fan sites and blogs (such as the AJC blog and comments page here) show that this is not merely a media-generated [...]
The Fire Mark Richt Debate « The Sports Debates©
September 28th, 2010
11:10 pm
[...] heat has been turned up in Athens, [...]
zack
September 29th, 2010
6:35 am
http://rebuildingthedawgs.blogspot.com/
mack gaines
September 29th, 2010
9:52 am
look like richt may be eyeing the nfl
jon gruden!!jon gruden!!
September 29th, 2010
9:57 am
jon gruden!!jon gruden!!
Matt Dawg
September 29th, 2010
10:13 am
BOBO MUST GO=< McCLENDON MUST GO=<and Please take the strength coach with you=< who ever he is (old school)…I said once no innovation on offense no imagination and weak running backs and I LOVE GEORGIA but things age getting worst..And what's up with Murry not seeing Marlon Brown and tightends.. Must learn to spread the ball but with BOBO coaching him what can we expect…This week make AJ your Decoy and spread the ball around (ex: first play deep to AJ then open running game ,then spread field
Wreckmaniac
September 29th, 2010
10:33 am
Insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. Examples:
1. If you haven’t won a nat champ in 30 years, why would you think you’re going to win one anytime soon?
2. If having all the 5 stars in the world isn’t getting it done, why recruit 5 stars ?
3. If defense wins championships why is everyone worried about the offense ?
4. If the best team in the conference is now scheduling tough out-of -conference travel games why
schedule the Colorado School of the Blind ? How will that make you better ?
5. If you measure the success of your program by whether or not you beat FL but have won only twice in the past 10 years, why should you continue to use that as a valid measurement ?
valleyboy32
September 29th, 2010
11:19 am
MAN IF HE GETS FIRD THIS SEASON IT WOULD BE SHOCKING BUT THE THINGS HE COULD CONTROL WAS DEPTH AT RUNNIG BACK DEFENSIVE LINE OFFENSIVE LINE Q-BACK I MEAN IT JUST STUPID STUFF LIKE THIS THATS GOT HIM ON THE HOT SEAT YOU SEE WHAT MYER DID ONE Q-BACK STRUGGLE NOW YOU SEE TIM TEBOW 2 SABAN MARK INGRAM GETS HURT YOU GOT SOMEONE BEHIND HIM IT HURTFUL TO US FANS BECAUSE WE GET CALL OVERATTED EVERY SEASON I’M STATRTING TO BELIVE IT NOW THE REPORTER FROM ORLANDO WAS RIGHT ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Score Check
September 29th, 2010
2:54 pm
It’s interesting to know that Mark Bradley is in Greg McGarity’s inner circle.
MontanaDawg
September 29th, 2010
3:54 pm
Funny to read all of the ignorant comments. But then again, what is to be expected after another ignorance-filled rant from Mark Bradley. The problem with the college football coaching profession today is that you have no job security. Mark Richt had one of the top 5 winningest programs of the last decade. Granted this is now in the past, but that kind of success does not come easy, or without leadership and instilled work ethic. Programs are cyclical. The current state of the Georgia Football program will be but a passing bump in the road one, two, three years from now. The worst thing the university could possibly do is to fire Mark Richt. We would then be looking at a solid three to four year gap during which we could and should expect nothing Fire Richt, and we will be looking at a coach deserving of this hate, and not one with the gumption to get our program back to where he’s already proven he can take it.
Brooking56
September 29th, 2010
6:48 pm
Stewart, I am a believer that a fan base must always answer the question “And hire whom?” before they talk about firing a coach. If you cannot name a better option than the current guy, forget it. I find myself teetering on the Mark Richt discussion. If he goes, who would be your hire?
– Dave, Atlanta
I’m with you, Dave. If Georgia runs off Richt this year, it will be textbook Clemson/Ole Miss Syndrome. (Note the example cited in that link: Minnesota. How’s that working out?) Historically, Georgia is more prestigious than either of those teams — but not as much as Dawgs fans like to think. In all my travels, I’m not sure I’ve ever come across a fan base whose self-perception is so far from reality. Georgia fashions itself a national power in the vein of Ohio State, USC, et. al., based primarily off one glorious three-year run 30 years ago with Herschel Walker (and some kick-butt years in the 1940s).
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/09/29/mailbag/index.html?eref=sihp#ixzz10xetXgGQ
Jim from Buckhead
September 29th, 2010
8:50 pm
GR82BAG8R – I can only guess from that fishbowl you live in that you love Obama’s healthcare package. Any “objective” person (ie non-redneck from Georgia) would look at the facts and say that UGA is a perennial mediocre team that a had one NC on the back of Herschel and a normal distribution of SEC titles. Nothing more. You are not Texas – or Florida – or Alabama.
Get over yourself and take comfort in winning 7 or 8 games and get to SEC championship game 1/10 years – thats all you should expect. Anything else is a recipe for madness.
Danny
September 29th, 2010
8:56 pm
Mark Richt isn’t in ANY trouble, at all, none, zero, zilch, nada.
Look, when you’ve finished in the top 10 6x more often than Saban & Bear Bryant did in their 1st 9 seasons combined, when you’re 1 of 7 coaches to win 90 games in first 9 seasons, when your win % is top 5 with coaches withn 5+ years experience, when you’re #1 in the SEC at getting guys into the NFL, when you’ve finished in the top 10 in recuriting 7 out 9 seasons, when you’ve finished #2 in 02′ with 1 DC and #2 in 07′ with another DC, when your teams have finished in the top 10, 19 out of the last 24 seaons, like I said…..
Anyone who says Richt’s in trouble, simply doesn’t have a clue about the game of college football.
Mark's Rectum
September 30th, 2010
8:41 am
I am rolling of the floor laughing at what is happening in Athens, LAST in the SEC. Sure makes you alleged football experts at the Urinal look STUPID. Why does the Urinal keep you on the payroll anyway? Of course, the UGAG fans are too stupid to know good football from bad. HE HE HA HA
Bulldogron
September 30th, 2010
9:40 am
UGA: “Breaking Hearts Since 1785″
Folks, the SEC is dynamic
September 30th, 2010
10:47 am
Please stop with the CMR brought us two SEC titles and one additional East championship. Please cease with all of that. Why? College ball dynamics change about every 4 to 6 years. In the last 5 years, UGA has not done squat. The SEC is far more physical now than in 2000, 01, 02 and the coaches are far better. Far superior to richt. Besides, CMR won with J Donnan’s boys.
It is for this reason and this reason alone that CMR needs to take a hike.
Our lines are too small and Kevin Butler on WSB radio has been saying this for several years. Our D scheme has bee awful. Who knows about TG ………. he needs players and that deficit is not his fault. He HAS LOST his fire …………because of CMR telling him to ditch that.
O line is vastly underperforming, because they are not SEC caliber linemen. Until this one fact changes and the D line gets beefier, UGA is in for some very, very tough times. We need at least two years of heavy big time recruiting of big time linemen for both sides of the ball ……..or it will be very ugly. SEC ball is about line play ……… period. Big boy ball it is.
Look at Alabama’s QB. He does not throw the ball for 350 yds ………… he manages the game and his O line and his BIG, STRONG backs do it for him. Yes, he hits Julio Jones from time to time to keep the honest. They are balanced.
Sabin has a system and it FITS within the SEC style of play. Richt’s style? Similar to the finess FSU team of the 90s. Fast and lean and un necessary to have big O linemen because you just throw the ball around the lot. That worked in the old ACC and independnet play with Southern Mississippi, Tulane and Rice and schools that FSU usually played to get their gaudy numbers. We knew better. FSU would have been on average in the SEC 7-3 or 7-4. Like UGA usually is.
CMR has not recruited running backs or linemen or linemen or linemen or nose guards. 5 star QBs, wide outs and tight ends and flankers and kickers can FALSELY inflate your recruiting rankings. If you do not sign running backs or linemen or running backs or more linemen, your all world QBs are in trouble.
Get a new, tough minded in your face coach and he will fix this within two years. Do not give CMR 2011 to continue this miserable slide. It will be a copy of 2010.
UGA man, class of 71 & 73
Folks, the SEC is dynamic -II
September 30th, 2010
10:55 am
One more UGA comment:
DO not, DO not, DO not start AJ Green and do not put him in the game until the second half. If Kris Durden is hurt, then start a third teamer but do not, do not start that selfsish punk Green. He will not be remembered within three or four more years.
We have been losing without him and we will continue to lose with him. I would not ever play him or ealey again.
Go Dogs.
UGA class of 71 & 73
GR82BAG8R
September 30th, 2010
2:23 pm
Jim from Buckhead – - what posting of mine are you basing your diatribe on? You do know I am a Gator, don’t you? Yes, I am full of myself. Every posting I make is based on facts, not conjecture. I also ask strategic question – - like why does Georgia not have a fistful of NCs by now with all the blue chips athletes they recruit year after year?
Bryan
October 1st, 2010
10:53 am
I have watched nearly every televised UGA game since 1979. I have NEVER seen UGA field a team that seems to be so afraid to HIT SOMEBODY!? How many times does a defensive player have to run up and hug the guy with the ball (or dive at his feet) trying only to PUSH him down instead of taking his head off before anyone starts talking about defense (anyone watched any Auburn games this year? They’re KNOCKING people OUT…literally)? And how come nobody is talking about the backs squatting, tip-toeing and/or stopping instead hitting the holes and leaving a redshirt-freshman QB to be the only player seemingly willing to run the ball with authority (and not fumbling it on the 1 yart line)? FOR PETE’S SAKE…TAKE OFF THE TUTUS AND HIT SOMEBODY!!
Is this a coaching issue or is something going on in the locker room that we are unaware of? I will not pretend to know a concrete solution…I don’t really believe firing Richt is the answer though…everyone should remember all of the barely .500 seasons prior to his hiring.
Bryan
October 1st, 2010
3:20 pm
oh, and btw….someone mentioned previously something about don’t call for the firing of Richt unless you have a replacement in mind already………ladies and gentlemen….something that noone has said yet…………………………………..MIKE LEACH……BOOYAH!
Bryan
October 1st, 2010
3:21 pm
oh, and me? UGA Class of 95
True fan
October 1st, 2010
11:10 pm
Come on we lost three games and half of u r ready to just richt under the bus don’t
jump off the wagon just yet
B.Herren
October 3rd, 2010
12:12 am
Die-hard, life long UGA fan here and I can not believe what I am about to say. I hope UGA does not win another game this season. This will make a better case to let Richt go. This is the 2nd season that I have noticed a horrible thug problem on and off the field. A total lack of discipline amongst the players, few players who seem to care about the legacy that is UGA football and a coaching staff who seem totally incapable of righting the ship are the reason why we are 0-4 and dead last in the SEC east. Last! Behind Vandy and KY! What the cuss?!
BOBBY
October 3rd, 2010
12:26 am
THIS IS THE WORST GEORGIA TEAM SINCE I CANNOT REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
B.Herren
October 3rd, 2010
12:29 am
@True fan…..Get real! 4-4 in the conference last season. 0-3 so far this season. Off the field arrest and on the field penalties. The most penalized team in the SEC and 4th most in the nation. It’s time for a change….
B.Herren
October 3rd, 2010
12:35 am
A 10-9 record since the ‘08 season. Is this what Mark Richt was hired for?
UGGA10
October 3rd, 2010
8:29 am
We should had have at least 2 National Championships with the talent Mark RIcht has had. The man is over rated as a coach.