Alas, Georgia’s coaching is no longer championship-caliber
It was another hair-raising loss for UGA and Mark Richt. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
On Oct. 27, 2007, Knowshon Moreno scored to give Georgia a 7-0 lead against Florida, prompting the Bulldogs’ semi-planned and twice-penalized on-field celebration. What you knew: Georgia won that day 42-30, marking the only time Mark Richt’s team has beaten Urban Meyer’s.
What you didn’t know: The day of the Gator Stomp marked the first and last time — in six tries, mind you — a Richt team has taken a lead on Meyer’s.
As disheartening as Richt being 1-5 against Meyer is, the repeated failure to nose ahead even 3-0 is more alarming. It’s a direct reflection of coaching, or the lack thereof. Rule 1 in the Coaching Manual: Get your team ready to play. Sad to say, the Bulldogs under Richt are rarely ready.
Say what you will about Meyer, but the man can coach. His work against Ohio State in Glendale, Ariz., in January 2007 was the greatest coaching performance the BCS title game has ever seen, and his work against Georgia on Saturday was no less inspired. In Jacksonville he took the demonstrably lesser team — anybody see an A.J. Green or a Justin Houston or even an Aaron Murray or an Orson Charles among Gators? — and wrung 450 yards and 34 points from it. Meyer tried everything. Richt’s team tried running the ball on second-and-10 in overtime.
The best you can say about Richt’s coaching is that his players didn’t quit when they fell behind. That’s surely because they’ve had so much practice: Georgia hasn’t led in any of its four SEC losses. South Carolina and Arkansas took the ball first and drove to touchdowns. Georgia took the ball against Mississippi State and went three-and0ut; on Saturday Murray threw an interception on the first snap.
We once considered Richt a splendid gameday coach, but that time is gone. Georgia was 52-13 in Richt’s first five season, reaching the SEC title game three times and winning it twice. It’s 42-19 since. Not coincidentally, Richt’s decline dovetails with Meyer’s rise. (Although it must be noted that Richt has a losing record against three Florida coaches: He was 0-1 against Steve Spurrier, 1-2 against Ron Zook.)
There’s still great talent at Georgia — the old Spurrier knock on Ray Goff now attaches itself to this coach: “Georgia gets all these players; I don’t know what happens to them” — but the coaching has fallen below SEC standards. If we’re looking for the sea-change game, we need underscore Sept. 27, 2008, the night Nick Saban and Alabama came to Athens and not only jumped ahead but led by 31 points after 30 minutes.
Back to Saturday: The Bulldogs got the ball to start overtime, which means the worst they should have done was gain no yards and let Blair Walsh try a 42-yard field goal to put them ahead. Instead Murray threw the ball into stacked coverage and saw the Gators nearly end the game without having to play offense. Murray has had a terrific freshman season and had a fabulous second half, but in the season’s biggest moment he made the one play a quarterback cannot make.
That’s what Georgia under Richt has come to do: It makes the one play to lose a game, as opposed to David Greene throwing to Verron Haynes in Knoxville or to Michael Johnson in Auburn. (Or even Matthew Stafford throwing to Mikey Henderson in Tuscaloosa.) Georgia under Richt has become the toothless tiger — the team everyone respects but nobody fears.
Richt’s 10-year body of work stands as a mighty argument for administrative patience. More current events suggest the Richt of 2010 isn’t the Richt of yesteryear. It took four full seasons under this coach and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder for Georgia to lose 10 games. The Bulldogs lost five times last year, changed defensive coordinators and have already lost five times this.
And now Richt’s gifted Bulldogs have fallen to the worst Florida team Meyer has fielded. In a year where the SEC East was ripe for a young team to rise up and march to the Georgia Dome, that team will not be Mark Richt’s. He’s no longer a championship coach. Dating back to Nov. 29, 2008, his Bulldogs are 13-11, which means he’s barely even a winning coach.
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1,352 comments Add your comment
Barry Gibb
October 31st, 2010
4:09 pm
Jayson, you are insane.
Scooter
October 31st, 2010
4:09 pm
You’re right Jayson…who wants those stupid national championships? As long as we have a good guy like MR in charge that produces players we can be proud of right? Oh..wait..we just had more players arrested in one year than most programs have had in three…but hey…MR is a good christian and won the SEC years ago…so let’s go ahead and give him a lifetime contract!!
REALITY CHECK
October 31st, 2010
4:09 pm
IF UGA runs the table & beats an unbeaten Auburn, should CMR be canned?
rosezeee
October 31st, 2010
4:09 pm
“Georgia’s coaching is no longer championship-caliber”
HOW INSIGHTFUL!!!
Bradley, you should join Richt and bozo on the unemployment is your just now figuring out the coaching staff at UGA is second rate.
Cocktail Party
October 31st, 2010
4:11 pm
Your team, coaches and players all SUCK! I am surprised CMR isn’t wearing the nasty red panties. LOL! Great season. Hey, were you overlooking UF for the upcoming powerhouse in Idaho State.
Jayson
October 31st, 2010
4:12 pm
Meyer just recuruited a class in 2010 that ESPN and others called the greatest in history. Hardly “Meyer’s worst team ever”. Perhaps his “best team ever” from a talent perspective.
And Richt came within 3 points of beating the team with the most talent in the history of college football.
Hairy Dawg
October 31st, 2010
4:13 pm
Being a Christian counts to overcoming advertsary and teamworks for winning. We lose that and winning is tougher to get good.
Supes
October 31st, 2010
4:13 pm
IF UGA runs the table & beats an unbeaten Auburn, should CMR be canned?
***********************************************************
It won’t happen.
Dawg Tired
October 31st, 2010
4:14 pm
If we somehow, someway manage to win out and go 7-5, Richt gets to come back in 2001 but must go at least 10-2 to come back for 2012.
If we go 2-1 to go 6-6, probably the same deal.
If we go 1-2 to go 5-7, his ass is gone after the Tech game.
REALITY CHECK
October 31st, 2010
4:14 pm
TOP 5 SEC COACHES:
-Saban
-Meyer
-Petrino
-Spurrier
-Richt???
Jayson
October 31st, 2010
4:14 pm
Since Meyer has the most talented recruiting class in the history of college foootball, and somehow, loaded with ALL THAT TALENT, could ONLY beat Georgia with 4 turnovers, and needed over-time to do it, how good of a coach is Mark Richt?
BiggestDawgintheWoods
October 31st, 2010
4:14 pm
What it has come down to, for me, is the awful reality that IF Florida were to win this year, I was hoping for a blowout of Biblical proportions so that our AD’s hand might be forced this year rather than next. I cannot see anything but change coming… and, unfortunately, Richt may have purchased an extra 12 months with a close loss. So, we’ll have these same frustrations and angst again in 2011… guessing from week to week which game or scenario is the straw eventually breaking the camel’s back.
Even more damning. perhaps, is that the Dawg Nation has become accustomed to this annual mess in Jacksonville. We are never short of the requisite ‘yeah, but’ or ‘wait til next year’ retorts… and have become somewhat comfortable that our seasons will need to find meaning independent of a win against the Gators.
Richt was hired to CHANGE the situation. He has not. Richt’s safety net has been his character and the theorem that, having him around, would inspire and teach otherwise impoverished young adults how to become men… good men.
I, for one, am no longer invested in the spiritual development of our football team. Each of our players have been given an opportunity to earn a degree from the state’s flagship institution… a place where, thanks to the Hope Scholarship, more academically deserving youth are regularly turned away. Each is provided with adequate housing, food, and resources to ensure their success at Georgia… again, in stark contrast to parents across the state who are tapping life savings to send their kids to Athens. If development is to take place, one hopes it will arise from the realization that they are given much and much is rightfully expected. It is not essential that the coach bear that responsibility or be tasked with it. The coach should win football games and league championships. Period.
If McGarrity is as smart as advertised, I hope that he contemplate facing the same situation next year… and, perhaps with a coaching staff who has fewer losses, still no championship, but a more compelling case for retention.
A great coach, the one we thought we’d hired ten years ago, would have had the player personnel and staff in place to contend this year. Especially considering that LAST year was the supposed rebuilding year. Richt has failed in every respect and the time is right to part ways.
Dawg Tired
October 31st, 2010
4:14 pm
Make that 2011, not 2001.
.
October 31st, 2010
4:15 pm
Jayson seems dumb.
collegeballfan
October 31st, 2010
4:15 pm
Mark Bradley this is a pretty damning assessment of the Georgia football program.
But you do note that the talent is allegedly at UGA. And the Florida program, based on recruiting services, has more talent than the UGA program. One would expect the most talented team to win most of the games. Florida should beat UGA most of the time and UGA should beat Tech most of the time. Talent prevails.
Of course, this does not explain losses to SC, Colo, Ark and Miss State.
UGA should have won those games on a bad day.
Question did the slid start with Richt giving up the play calling?
Anyone know?
Does the off field discipline reflect a poor on field attitude on the part of the players? Anyone know?
fastdawg
October 31st, 2010
4:16 pm
How can you explain the defense or lack of it, allowing Burton to run for 110 yards including one right up the middle for 50+. Every time Burton enters the game as the QB he either runs up the middle or hands the ball of to a back. Everybody in the stands knows what is going to happen but the defense or lack of it can’t figure this out, pathetic. Burton’s longest run all year was something like 9 yards.
@ Tampa Gator
October 31st, 2010
4:16 pm
Do they not have blogs in Tampa, Florida for you to comment?
Jayson
October 31st, 2010
4:17 pm
Richt’s recent decline has NOTHING to do with Urban Meyer, and everything to do with Matthew Stafford and Moreno both leaving a year before Richt expected it. Threw everything off.
From that point, Georgia’s gone through 3 different QB’s in the last 3 seasons.
QB inconsistency is the reason for the recent minor slide, not Urban Meyer.
Dawg Tired
October 31st, 2010
4:18 pm
Reality Check,
I would list Miles ahead of Richt.
And yes, I know about his clock management issues. Richt’s aren’t much better…and his results are worse.
Redest and Blackest Zealot
October 31st, 2010
4:18 pm
THE PROGRAM WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU NAYSAYERS. SO PULL FOR GEORGIA OR PULLOUT!
Dawg Tired
October 31st, 2010
4:19 pm
Jayson,
Will you be using the “we don’t have AJ” excuse in 2011? Just looking ahead.
bart
October 31st, 2010
4:21 pm
Great article. It’s time we stopped making excuses for Richt. Granted, he’s a good guy, but he’s making 3 million dollars a year, and the Dawgs are regressing every year. There is no discipline on or off the field, and he is being outcoached in all the important games. It’s time for him to go.
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:21 pm
For those of you “scared” of a change, look to Auburn…..Would they be 9-0 without that guy Newton at QB, no, But they are recruiting well, building on that, and has someone running their offense with some ba$$s, some sense and is free from a ex OC Head coach who knows little about offense. There is life in that program. Last years class was 2 maybe 3 players away from being classified awful……..
Alas, Georgia's coaching is no longer championship-caliber | Mark …
October 31st, 2010
4:24 pm
[...] original post here: Alas, Georgia's coaching is no longer championship-caliber | Mark … marketing var infolink_pid = 142287; var infolink_wsid = 0; This entry was posted in 11 Oct. [...]
Headley Lamar
October 31st, 2010
4:24 pm
Mark Richt has lost 11 of 24 games. What other high profile, high paid coach could keep his job with that 2 year winning percentage?
Bear Bryant. He had a similar record over a two year span at Alabama.
Beeeeg Boy
October 31st, 2010
4:24 pm
Mark,
Worst column ever. We expect more from you.
jackyldo
October 31st, 2010
4:25 pm
Are you saying only Christians can win ?? That’s pretty delusional.
4-5 beat the Vandals 5-5..
probably gonna lost to Auburn 5-6.
Will take a win against Tech to be 6-6 and bowl eligible
Far cry from the team that we all thought would be 9-3 ..
AlphaDog
October 31st, 2010
4:25 pm
I like Coach Richt and he is a nice guy and has a good body of work over 10 years, but the results lately have been bad – Auburn, Alabama and even South Carolina for crying out loud are on the upswing and we are headed in the opposite direction. I think the best thing for Coach Richt is to get a start at a new school and begin fresh – he’s a good coach. I don’t know who Georgia could bring in – its not the marquee program that some Alumni think it is, but it is in the SEC so we should go hard after the TCU and Boise State coaches and see what happens. Chan Gaily was a nice guy too, but the Tech AD made the call and now that is what the UGa AD needs to do. I do wish Coach Richt and his family the best and someone will be getting a good coach.
trey
October 31st, 2010
4:27 pm
Meyer has had 31 arrested players in 5 yrs. So get off the stupid argument that the arrests are why Richt sucks. Read the freaking article here:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_bianchi/2010/09/florida-gators-arrest-record-under-urban-meyer-chronicled-by-hbo-usa-today.html
If UGA loses to Auburn and the Taliban then Richt will get fired this year. Otherwise he’s back next year with his pansy ansy good ole boy approach along with his stupid OC Booboo.
if UGA loses to only Auburn then it’s possible BooBoo will get fired but I wouldn’t bet any money on it. But Richt will certainly be back next year.
There’s a book of excuses and explanations for this year’s collapse. Just reach into the hat and pull one out because each one seems to satisfy the AD, President, and money supporters.
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:27 pm
It will get worse before it gets better ( if we make a change) See Knoxsville. We will suffer for a while, But the New guy will have Murray as Junior with two year under his belt to build around.
Notice how Meyer jazzed up their offense this week…..How about Brandon Smith and Bokin in the backfield some. How about more that 5 passes to the best receiver in college football?
Headley Lamar
October 31st, 2010
4:28 pm
Actually Bear was 12-10-1 over a two year span.
Rational behavior
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
A poster a little earlier made the point that when Bama fired Shula they did the rational thing. They had enough people that cared and demanded excellence rather than sitting around saying lets be patient. Now look at them. Consistenly at or near the top year in and year out after one trasitional year under Saban in 07. Dawg fans should demand the same change.
67 Cheers
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
The truth of the matter is the Athens dogs have been living on borrowed time for many years. The law of averages can’t be beat. So when you see an interception or a fumble recovered by an opposing team or a missed field goal, or a bad call by the coach, or some other human error…. just remember, your playing against a team that can’t be beat…..law of averages U. Be thankful for the ball that bounced your way for so many years, and look forward to the time in the distant future when the law will once again bless you with wins. Until then, take a deep breath and go support your team and your coaches.
Paul in RDU
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
Headley Lamar – you aer absolutely correct that Bear Bryant had back to back poor years (1969-70, 6-4 and 6-5-1). Somehow I think that the MNC’s in 1961, 1964 and 1965 may have earned him a little leeway
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
NO ONE GETS FIRED THIS YEAR. NO ONE I’M TELLING YOU. NEXT YEAR, YOU BETCHA !
GT
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
A head coach should be clever. Too many times like with Tennessee or Gailey at Tech a school hires a resume instead of a coach. The press doesn’t like the smart asses like Spurrier or Johnson, probably the schools don’t either. Every mother wants a child like Richt, prep schools are filled up with them. The problem is the well behaved leave lots of room for the hungry to take hold. I almost wish it was Richt they found with the girl and the panties instead of the athletic director. It would have been the first time he thought outside the box in a very long time. His players see him as soft, they act like fools on the field knowing they will find peace on the sidelines.
Paul in RDU
October 31st, 2010
4:29 pm
Oops – Bear went 6-5 in 1969
Enough
October 31st, 2010
4:30 pm
Enough with the crap about the dawgs winning the east this year. Glad that nonsense has been put to bed. It was never realistic to begin with.
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:31 pm
GT……You nailed it……..
Paul in RDU
October 31st, 2010
4:31 pm
GT – I disagree with you – I think that the press loves wise guys like Spurrier and Johnson as the quotes from them make it easier to write columns
JSS
October 31st, 2010
4:32 pm
It is one of the main reasons I’ve never invested my time in Division I college football, especially in terms of the BCS level schools; it is a waste of human emotion! Now this was a nice observation: “the team everyone respects but nobody fears.” That pretty much sums up Georgia! Say what you like about Alabama. I despise the what it stood for as a institution, just like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and UGA. Nevertheless, whether it was at Bryant-Denny, Legion Field, or on the road (and traveled outside of the SEC and the South). Bama has rarely shied away from competition. It took UGA 34 years to even sniff the ground out of the South. You want to win on a National level and you don’t have a feeder system like the State of Florida; get off of your butt and hit the road. Instead Georgia drops Oregon and has never returned visits to BYU, Boise State, or UCLA over the last 30 years. Good luck with that type of thinking!
Delbert D.
October 31st, 2010
4:32 pm
Is Todd Grantham on a 1-year contract?
Pete
October 31st, 2010
4:32 pm
Mark, first of all, words and phrases such as “Alas” and “lest we forget” simply have no place in a heterosexual context such as – presumably – your column.
Second, this column is nothing more than a cut and paste from numerous, numerous other columns you’ve already written. Though I agree there is not much left to say.
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:33 pm
3 year Delbert……He knew Richt was on a short rope
Ginger
October 31st, 2010
4:34 pm
Tell you what…I am a Mark Richt supporter and believe that he has earned the chance to right the ship so I stand behind him at this point and will evaluate at the end of the year. We are in a rebuilding year—new QB and new defense..so these are the growing pains. The game yesterday could have went either way….We had our chances. We must learn how to win. It hurts now that we did not play Murray last year–He is getting his experience and will only get better.
Having said that—Mr. Mark Bradley does have some valid points that could be very useful if taken by CMR as constructive criticism. So what do we teach our players–how do we teach them to win?
1. Fall on the ball when there is a fumble–no try and scoop and run–We could have had 2 fumbles.
Don’t just tell players—drill it in them…Monday at practice everyone falls on the ball–100 times each and weekly thereafter…no excuse for not getting those fumbles.
2. Rambo was close to making a pick in the last minutes of regulation and he could have run to about the Fla 40 yard line….Secondary must make picks in those situations….So drill entire secondary with juggs machine—100 reps each and weekly thereafter ….underscore catch the ball –look it into your hands and then run. But get that ball….We have a pretty good kicker.
3. Murray–played well all in all…but can’t throw that pick in at end of game or beginning of game or fumble…so he has gotta do some drills in practice–linemen chasing him and he has to make decision on on throwing it or eating it or throwing it away…Big game trying to do too much in that situation….Coaches need to review critical elements of play with him in those situations..drill it in head ..But I love Murray and see he is going to be a great player..doing well for R S freshman.
4. Offensive play calling—-We don’t have enough speed playmakers on offense.We are just too vanilla on offfense and we usually don’t score quickly–our scores are long drives & it hurts if you are behind 2 scores or more…it helps when you get some fast cheap scores…..Would have like to seen Brandon Smith on offense….Would like to use Boykin for 1 or 2 plays per game on offense too……Now when we had the ball at midfield around the beginning of the game and it was third down and 1–we ran the ball-King and Fla had the box stacked and we made nothing..I wanted us to take a chance and throw downfield to A J or quick slant to AJ….The run to King was not going to work….We must start fast in games and have the other team playing from behind. Auburn usually has at least 5 throws down the field to the endzone—I don’t know how many we had and maybe we did better that I think—Tarvarres King TD was great and Orson’s also. So what am I saying…..We got to jazz up the offense—attack more and this will be a great week to do it–put some new plays in and then work on them against Idaho State….and then let’s get ready for Auburn.
6. Recruiting need—-We got to get a tailback that can take it to the house and more playmakers on offense for next year….let’s expand the offense some now and show the recruits we are who they want to play for……If we stay vanilla offense—we are not going to beat Meyer and UF anytime soon…A. Murray can do it and look for great things from him next year
JB
October 31st, 2010
4:35 pm
It’ll be Muschamp or Smart and I’m not sold on that.
Terry Logan
October 31st, 2010
4:35 pm
Mark Richt is still a good coach,he will get through this season and the team will learn. The problem with Fla. is deeper than Coach Richt,we have lost 18 out of 21 games and he has 2 of those wins.Until we get past this neutral jacksonville bullcrap,and start back playing home and away games it aint ever gonna change!we are more concerned with revenue than beating fla. and the alumni needs to get their head out of their rearends and get the president to put a stop to this lunacy. Go back and check the records before we started doing this game every year in jacksonville ,we had a whole lot better record in the swamp and believe me Fla. loves this setup and dont want to play in athens every other year!
Headley Lamar
October 31st, 2010
4:36 pm
Somehow I think that the MNC’s in 1961, 1964 and 1965 may have earned him a little leeway
As should Richts earlier work. We had the 4th most wins in the last decade.
That earns him a little time. I normally respect MB’s writing but this one is pure and simple to drive up the page hits.
Did Richt forgot how to coach? No.
HE has a winning record against every team but the Gators. We do the same thing every year. Come out tight and hand them the game. Did it again this year.
Is it Richts fault Murray came out nervous and was throing the ball waaayy off target.
We are snakebit in this game pure and simple. I cant explain it. When Florida drops the ball in this game it bounces right back to them. For us it doesnt. Every tipped pass finds a Gator.
Heck even when we stop em on third down there is a late False Start penalty and then they score.
georgiadawg70
October 31st, 2010
4:36 pm
I have had enough of loseing to those half breed foreighnors and yankees down there. It’s time to call Chris Peterson.
Tide Rising
October 31st, 2010
4:36 pm
Paul in RDU,
Yes. Bear won mythical national titles in 61.64,65 and his best team of all time was the 66 team that went undefeated and thrashed Nebraska in the sugar bowl. But this team was left out of the national title when no. 1 ND and no. 2 Mich State started the season 1-2 and played to a 10-10 tie. They stayed 1-2 despite both teams staying home for bowl season and having a blemish on their records. After what should have been a 4th title in the 60s Bama fans weren’t about to let the Bear go after 2 subpar years.
I would think that Georgia should give Richt one more year but as you stated he doesn’t have the good will of having won national titles or even getting into the national title game- just 2 conference titles when the SEC was largely down.