What’s wrong with UGA? Sad to say, it starts with Mark Richt
"The meeting of the Mark Richt Fan Club is called to order." (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Mark Richt’s teams use to have all the answers. Whether it was P-44-Haynes in Knoxville or 70-X-Takeoff in Auburn, his Georgia Bulldogs would win the sort of breathless games that stamped Richt as college football’s next great coach. But it has been a decade, and Richt hasn’t taken Georgia to the pinnacle — got close a couple of times — and nobody sees him that way anymore.
If you’re looking for what has gone wrong with this program, there it is: Mark Richt never quite finished the drill. Georgia was No. 3 in the final polls after the 2002 season and No. 2 according to the Associated Press after 2007 and No. 1 according to everybody in preseason 2008, but the Bulldogs could never do as Florida and LSU and Alabama did — they couldn’t get to the BCS title game and win.
And now they’re 1-4 and Richt isn’t the sleek young man just in from Tallahassee; he’s a 50-year-old who has been on the job a decade and who seems at a loss to arrest the slide. This isn’t to say he’s a bad man or even a bad coach, but it is to say that in college football the blame must always fall upward: There’s a reason head coaches are multimillionaires.
It’s convenient to say that Georgia in Year 10 under Richt resembles Florida State near the end of his mentor Bobby Bowden’s reign. Convenient, and also true. Attention to detail has slipped. Players appear to be coaching themselves. Players also seem incapable of conforming to team rules and community laws.
A college coach can override almost any embarrassment so long as he wins 10 games as a matter of course, but Richt’s team is but 9-9 over the past season and a quarter. And you simply cannot play .500 ball and have 10 players arrested in one offseason.
The belief here is that Richt will not be fired this season or in its aftermath. The belief here is also that Richt stands before us a damaged coach. There was no reason for Georgia to lose to Mississippi State or Colorado, no reason other than that these Bulldogs no longer expect to win. They’ve seen themselves caught and passed in the SEC. They’ve seen their gimmicks — the blackout against Alabama in 2008, the black helmets in Jacksonville last season — fall flat. They’ve seen teams with lesser talent being coached up.
There was a time when we would have expected Richt to solve any problem, but that time is gone. The slide of 2006 — four losses in five games — was halted by three rousing victories at season’s end, but come 2009 the Bulldogs were back in the same place, needing to beat Georgia Tech and win a bowl to salvage a season.
This winter Richt steeled himself and fired three-quarters of his defensive staff, but nothing much has changed. Tackles are still being missed. Coverages are still being blown. The whole operation comes off as disjointed, distracted, dysfunctional. It’s as if the Georgia Bulldogs awoke one morning and found themselves reinvented as the Kentucky Wildcats. (Who, not incidentally, beat UGA in Sanford Stadium last season for the first time since 1977.)
The effect has been stunning. How long since we’ve seen the Bulldogs so inept? (Even Ray Goff’s otherwise lousy 1990 team managed to beat Alabama.) It would be one thing if Georgia wasn’t good enough to compete, but nobody can seriously believe that a roster including A.J. Green, Justin Houston, Branden Smith, Aaron Murray, Orson Charles and Washaun Ealey is without talent. Ask Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen if he’d trade rosters with Richt. Heck, ask Paul Johnson.
Rule of thumb: If it’s not the playing, it must be the coaching. What worked for Richt for five years and two SEC titles has stopped working. (He lost 13 games those first five seasons; he has lost 18 in the four-plus seasons since.) This team of 10 returning offensive starters and the new 3-4 defense hasn’t won a game in a calendar month.
The optimum course would be for the man making the millions — that’d be Richt — to seize the wheel and steer this program back to excellence. But if he could, wouldn’t he have done it by now? It’s the age-old question: What do you do when you’ve run out of ideas?
(Take the guys swimming? Nope. Tried that already.)
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894 comments Add your comment
chazzo
October 5th, 2010
8:53 am
Richt got results when he let the players loosen up back in Stafford’s second year. Then he went too far and never has gotten back. That one year half the team was out with injuries, and I think Richt instilled some “go lightly” policies as to not get anyone else hurt. In the most successful years back when VanGorder was around, you would hear rules like, “the players can get in fights with each other as long as they don’t throw punches; we kind of break it up once they wrestle each other to the ground.” Every since I have started hearing the term, “thud,” UGA’s intensity has been a dud. Things get more and more conservative. As much as I hated it, Spurrier’s big success at UF was that the players played full bore all the time, from first whitle to last. There was no taking it easy or not getting someone hurt or not taking it chance on a play because someone might turn it over. Georgia has just become a tenative team. I was happy to rea that they steppedd up Monday’s practice in full pads. We’ll see.
Pope UGA XXIII
October 5th, 2010
9:04 am
I’m not a Mark Bradley fan, but this piece is fairly objective.
It might not be a bad idea for the team to pay some attention
to what Vince has to say. These “failure to executes” didn’t
happen that much while he was around.
Georgiaborn52
October 5th, 2010
9:04 am
Wow, Joey, really ?!?
Not only do many of the AJC readers know nothing about football and what is required by a head coach, now they seem to have an expertise in reporting and newspaper editing. Why attack the writer of the story that YOU THE READER is following and continuing to post. I don’t get it.
Anybody that thinks a coach can “coast” on your previous few years record is a fool. Again, this is the SEC. You are only as good as your last day. There’s plenty of hungry, young coaches willing to work themselves to death to coach at a major program such as UGA. Keeping someone around just because you “feel” they deserve it is not good business practice. Allowing a program to spiral out of control (both on and off the field) is irresponsible. IF all these guys were making straight A’s and staying out of trouble with a losing record, things could be different. IF we could see the desire and some sort of resolve and corrective action from Richt, things could be different……. but that isnt happening.
waynedawg
October 5th, 2010
9:07 am
that bragg about having the most players leave uga and go to the pros gives us a clue
that with this much talent we should have won at least one national championship over
these ten years. all we have is 2 measly sec titles and a lot of what ifs. the captain has to
go this year or it will continue to be what if
Jack
October 5th, 2010
9:17 am
Mr. Mark Bradley:
You have a theory, I have reality.
How does the spans of 2001-2002, or again in 2006-2007 jive with your theory?
I mean, if you’re right, that Richt cannot turnaround a program, then how do you explain 2002 & 2007?
Sorry, but this is another one of your out of left field theories that have no basis in truth.
mark twain
October 5th, 2010
9:21 am
CHILDREN PLEASE READ ONE MORE TIME, 2010 IS OVER, SO LET US JUST BRING BACK DRINKING TO ALL THE GAMES AND WE WILL FORGET ALL THOSE LOSES. TN WILL BEAT US AROUND 24 TO 17 BECAUSE OF OUR PURE STUPIDITY, BUT AT LEAST DOOLEY HAS HIS BOYS READY TO PLAY FOR 60 MINUTES,OURS PLAY FOR 8 MINS. THE ONLY PLAYER WHO HAS DONE IT ALL IS AARON MURRAY, NOW HOORAY FOR MINT JULIPS. BACK ON BOAT.
Tard dawg
October 5th, 2010
9:23 am
FIRST!!!!
JD
October 5th, 2010
9:37 am
Van Gorder???? No way,,,He may be an adequate defensive coordinator with talented players but he is not a head coach person…that has been proven twice.
Preston
October 5th, 2010
9:48 am
Here are some plausible possibilities as to why Georgia is 1-4.
1- Fumbles by the running backs
2- Poor run or pass blocking by the O-Line
3- Inexperience at QB
4- Inexperience running the 3-4 defense
Mark Richt’s not the problem, he’s teaching the same stuff that own him 90 games, to suggest Richt as the cause of the ills, is to abandon common sense, too much counter-proof to go there.
The players just arn’t executing the strategy correctly.
The problem has not been strategy, you don’t win 90 games in 9 seasons with poor strategy, it’s been execution.
Tard dawg
October 5th, 2010
9:50 am
UGA is the Clemson of the SEC, just another southern school that won a fluky title in the early 80’s creating a large base of retard fans who still expect another one three decades after the fact.
Those are fitting characteristics for a football program whose most distinguishing feature is the fact that they have a hedge. Oooh, look everyone! Topiary in the stadium! Isn’t that cool?
Preston
October 5th, 2010
9:53 am
By the way, Willie Martinez’s strategy of stop the run, make people pass to beat you, doesn’t look so dumb now, does it?
Uncle Ben
October 5th, 2010
10:03 am
Don’t mix crack and encyclopedic drivel. Look at me… I wrote a nifty word so now you know I really know what I’m talking about
Big-Mike
October 5th, 2010
10:03 am
Its not all coaching…..UGA does a POOR job of evaluating recruiting talent….Alot of kids with better skills get look over an go else where..If you look at the top 20 roster…..i wonder how many starters
are from Ga..Take alook at TEAMS that has fired there coach within the past 5 yrs…where is there program…Get some real ball players UGA..
No QB,RB,DE,LB CB you can win without stars in those position..we have none… look at Bama and other top teams….I rest my case..
Mike
October 5th, 2010
10:04 am
Time for Rich & BooBoo to move on. Get of rid Russ the bulldog, too. He’s bad luck.
Preston
October 5th, 2010
10:10 am
Is Mark Bradley showing common sense?
Here’s Richt’s record:
8-4
13-1
11-3
10-2
10-3
9-4
11-2
10-3
8-5
How does this compares to others in their 1st 9 seasons?
Only 9 coaches, in the HISTORY of college football, won 90 games in their 1st 9 seasons.
Conclusion:
No, Mark Bradley is not showing common sense.
noseknows
October 5th, 2010
10:11 am
Regardless of what the rating services say, UGA is NOT getting the recruits they used to.
RGRDAWG
October 5th, 2010
10:11 am
Great comment Mike.
I feel that the defense is going in the right direction also. I think there are three reasons why our defense breaks down. 1) We blow big plays. Most of the plays that the defense has given up are long ones. Those are a result of someone being out of position. The defense will eventually learn the system. 2) We don’t have a lineman that is right for the nose position. We need someone that will require double teams. Someone that can stand offensive linemen up and put them 2-3 yards in the backfield. We get manhandled at the line of scrimmage on every down. (on both sides of the ball for that matter) If I were an opposing team I’d go for it on 4th and short every time. 3) Strength and conditioning. Self explainatory.
As for Mark Richt, I support him. However, he made the decision a few years ago to take a more CEO role of the program. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out. It worked better for the whole team when he was more focused and involved on the offense and let the defense be the defense. Not saying the offese was steller back then but it seemed that the ENTIRE team took on his demeanor from that point on. That is when the defense stopped being the defense that we were used to.
CMR needs to make huge changes to the way he leads this team. I admire him for his loyalty to his coaches/friends and players but he has to look out for the good of the program. Being a leader is a lonely job. He is going to have to make the hard leadership decisions that he is getting paid for.
Enus Stokesberry
October 5th, 2010
10:13 am
4 hire
Seriously
October 5th, 2010
10:19 am
All Tech losers:
Please let us know what your seat numbers will be so we can find you in the upcoming anual ass kicking you will take again this year. You have A LOT of fans who would like to meet you in person.
Preston
October 5th, 2010
10:25 am
Bradley–
You sure are throwing a lot of rocks.
Hope your house doesn’t have any glass.
David
October 5th, 2010
10:26 am
Ga people don’t like Bradley. They don’t like him because he tells them the obvious. Sometimes it seems he has to back track so they will like him. You Ga people hate him because he is no homer, I guess that is a decent reason. Schulz will tell you what you want to hear, listen to him.
WOOPS
October 5th, 2010
10:28 am
Don’t see many of the regulars on here, but where the heck did all these new guys come from with their stupid remarks. CMR only has to run the table from here out and he will again be elgiable for man of the year award!!! This comment not a reflection CMR, but just to show how fickle some fans are.
UGABULLDOGGING
October 5th, 2010
10:28 am
Mark Richt is a decent coach and a great man, however we need someone that plays through their players, we need a fire starter someone to get them boys in the weightroom. I understand that we have a new defense scheme and Todd doesnt have his players to fit that mold yet, those boys in the 3-4 defense creates turnovers, we havent. Also the play calling is terrible, lets talk about recruiting , we do have talent there no doubt about that, but I think Georgia needs to take back our state, case you didnt notice South Carolina,Clemson,Florida State, Tennessee, Kentucky, heck even Stanford is coming in and taking our talent, we need a coach to claim the talent in our state first, half of South Carolina roster is from the state of Georgia…
New worst-case scenario: What if Richt loses to a Dooley? | Mark Bradley
October 5th, 2010
10:37 am
[...] now know, and it hasn’t been pretty. The Bulldogs have since lost again, spawning all manner of anti-Richt screeds from folks like me. And now I’m thinking of an even worse worst-case [...]
Big-Mike
October 5th, 2010
10:42 am
I love`d college football for many moons….One thing has change…the
talent level has even out across the board,which sets us up for
Boise St`s….to get better,you must get clever in recruiting…just like we try to find that edge at our job…
Uncle Ben
October 5th, 2010
10:46 am
The last three best players we’ve had were from Texas, Jersey and SC. hmmmmm.
irishinchs
October 5th, 2010
10:49 am
Georgia’s five step plan to recovery:
1) CMR, fire Bobo…now! He has an uncanny knack, a gift really, for calling the worse possible play at the worse possible time.
2) CMR, let Grantham be the motivator and arse chewer (when needed). You hired him for who he was…let him execute. You had CWM pick up your persona after the Great Brian Van Gorder moved on and the Defense and team, in general, went into steady decline.
3) CMR, get engaged…show some emotion. The last time I remember the team showing any emotion was at the ‘07 GA/FLA game.
4) AD Willie, give them another year to fix the hemorrhaging and change the negative progression
and if that fails…
5) AD Willie, put together a search committee.
New Guy On Here
October 5th, 2010
10:57 am
oops! speaking of stupid do you have any coherent thought or just rely on Brownian motion to move the electrical pulses?
USC GAMEC0CK
October 5th, 2010
11:11 am
USC is pulling for Georgia this weekend and for whoever Florida is playing….after watching the Auburn game, it is clear USC needs some help too…hope Alabama doesn’t steamroll my team but we will still be in the hunt if Georgia will just win the tenn game and fla loses too.
USC GAMEC0CK
October 5th, 2010
11:13 am
Forgot to mention….by all means…KEEP Mark Richt….just beat him up real good for awhile…smiles everyone.
Leland
October 5th, 2010
11:16 am
For those who say that Mark richt is a great coach I have aquestion, what has he done to be considered a great coach? Two SEC titles in 10 years does not qualify him as so. I thimnk he is a good coach who has lost instituional control of the program. The off filed issues, the stupid mistakes on field that negate big plays. UGA needs an injection of new blood and I don’t think Richt is the guy that can do it. As for Dooly, nobody has the luxury of starting off that slow anymore. College football is big business and a what have you done for me lately business. Richt elevated UGA back to relevance but the program is starting to decline again. With the remaining schedule I don’t think they get to 6-6. Maybe one more year might do the trick, but I don’t see him lasting beyone that wihtout major improvement both on and off the field.
USC GAMEC0CK
October 5th, 2010
11:17 am
Folks on this blog talking about “keeping the georgia talent in the state” need to understand…USC only gets the 2 and 3 star rated recruits from georgia….the 35 players in the USC roster from the state of georgia were NOT wanted by UGA….heck we were luck to get them away from GT….but at least they get developed into good football players when they get to USC.
New Guy On Here
October 5th, 2010
11:41 am
Leland wins the prize! The first Dawg fan to have a meaningful and honest statement. Thanks for proving that we are not all mindless robots
Disappointed Dawg
October 5th, 2010
1:11 pm
Does anyone honestly believe Richt will ever take UGA to a national championship game? After 10 years we seem to be further from playing for a BCS championship than ever.
reasonable
October 5th, 2010
2:28 pm
The point of Bradley’s article was the direction of the program. At some point failing to live up to expectations has to cost you your job, no matter how decent a person you are. Mr. Bradley, your mention of Bowden was on point. Has anyone else ever noticed that all of Bowden’s coaching disciples follow the same track. successful, at first, then plateau, followed by collapse and firing? I hope Richt can turn it around but once you let any sort of organization (football or otherwise) drift, it is very very hard for the individual who oversaw the drift and collapse to turn it around; no one listens or believes anymore. Sadly, it usually takes a new boss to instill discipline and direction and that usually takes 2 or 3 years to occur and reverse the trend. I hope Richt proves the exception on this but to me the evidence against it appears pretty overwhelming.
Richard Dawson
October 5th, 2010
4:05 pm
Here is why you lose a football game. It is not because a player made a mistake that Richt is not responsible for. Richt is responsible for everything the players do. Regardless, this particular fumble was due to Richt’s highly predictable decision to run up the middle to set up a field goal. Colorado, I, and my dead grandma saw this coming from 1000 miles away. Colorado blew up the play, forced a fumble, and won the game. Blame lies squarely and only with Mark Richt, who is responsible for the terrible, predictable playcalling (and why would you want to set up Walsh for a 40+ yard FG when he already missed one? Go for the TD. Go for the win.), responsible for Bobo’s playcalling, responsible for recruiting good players, and responsible for how they execute. Richt and Richt alone is responsible. Here’s what Colorado’s DC had to say on this horrendous decision.
From ESPN.COM:
During a timeout in the waning minutes and with the Georgia Bulldogs already in range for a game-winning field goal, Colorado defensive coordinator Ron Collins decided to turn linebacker B.J. Beatty loose on a blitz.
“I told him, ‘Let’s run it,” Beatty said. “Because we knew they were going to try to run the ball, milk the clock and kick a field goal. I knew I had the opportunity to come off the edge and maybe disrupt the hand-off.”
Lining up with the Buffs clinging to a 29-27 lead, Beatty was just hoping for the Bulldogs to run the ball, and sure enough, it played out exactly like he envisioned.
Beatty stripped Caleb King just as he got the handoff from quarterback Aaron Murray at the Buffaloes’ 30-yard line and he held King back while teammate Jon Major smothered the loose ball.
Capt Sam
October 5th, 2010
5:09 pm
Without question, Georgia will lose to Tennessee this weekend. Then what will the “give him another year to turn it around” fans say? Tennessee will win because they are well coached and play with a lot of heart. I see improvement in a team with a new coaching staff. So what is Georgia’s excuse? AJ is back, they still lose. Ga is soft on defense which is becoming expected now year after year. Offensive line experienced but awful. That should tell you all you need to know. One word, RMS TITANIC. Going down by the bow. Mark Richt is not going to turn around anything.
Dawg4Life
October 5th, 2010
5:50 pm
If you get rid of Richt, it is the dumbest thing to be done in the history of college football. He hasnt lost the games for us. The players execution has lost us games. Coaches coach, players execute. Fumbling the ball inside the 10, fumbling with a minute left in FG range, and not being how to tackle. Thats why we lost, Richt has done so much for us
BigDawg 777
October 5th, 2010
6:04 pm
Does Richt ever talk to anybody on the sideline’s, everytime they put the camera on him he is just walking up and down the sideline,never saying a word. You see Derek Dooley coaching his kid’s and high fiveing them when they come off the field. Richt just stand’s and walk’s, he may glance up at them sometime. He is never showing any emotion, never talking to coach’s or player’s.
CHRIS
October 5th, 2010
9:02 pm
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline. The reason you finish the drill is so you won’t fumble on 1st and 10 with 1 minute to go. So that you don’t foul or hold when the other side is 4th and 1. So that you don’t miss tackles you should not miss. So that you get to the opposing quarterback before he can throw.
You are not as good as you think your are, just as good as you have proven yourself to be. Rapping and black helmets don’t win games, discipline and practice and respect do. Any coach can be good if he command these things, firing CMR won’t get these.
dawgsfan21
October 6th, 2010
1:53 am
I would like to add to.this conversation. Just quickly. Sure Richt has done good.things. he has been a great coach. Problem is as a coach you.are paid for what you will do. If the past few seasons are any indication well. Fire him today. Do not wait. It will just be longer until the program can be lead by someone who still has IT. Not someone who cannot keep his players in check on or off the field
McKinnDAWG
October 6th, 2010
10:03 am
First of all, who in the hell do you think will come in a replace a coach like Mark Richt? Kirby Smart? Will Muschamp? You’re an idiot if you think something like that is going to happen. If we fire Mark Richt and do not give him the chance he’s earned, to turn this program around, then we stand to face risking a Florida scenario under Ron Zook, Alabama under Mike Shula, etc. Its a good thing your writing is good because its clear you know nothing about what it takes to run a top caliber football program in the SEC!!!
SCDawgWatcher
October 7th, 2010
7:56 am
If GA had 10 arrests and was 5-0…nobody would care. Pundits would say “at least the thugs can play”…give Richt a break. Meyer was great ONLY because Tebow stayed….What if Stafford and Moreno stayed another year….Saban is riding the wave right now…You’ll see how Alabama fans feel about him as soon as he loses two in a row…
gafan
October 8th, 2010
9:39 am
Wow, since you all are so smart an know everything, why is it that none of you are head coaches? I guess those that can’t, write?