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
gary
November 1st, 2010
2:16 pm
why in the world would ga fire mark richt yea he has had acouple of bad yrs so did dooley plus if you fired him uga would just end up with another ray goff or jim donnan no thank you!!!!!!!
Mark Richt/Paul Hewitt's/Bobby Cox's Agent
November 1st, 2010
2:17 pm
Mark is so distraught about this Georgia team, he had to go to mass. He needs to go to confessional. “Father, I have sinned. I thought Georgia was going to be a good football team this year…”
Mark Richt/Paul Hewitt's/Bobby Cox's Agent
November 1st, 2010
2:23 pm
@Las Vegas Dawg – well said, at least you had sense enough to get something out of the trip. If CMR is let go do you think “Little General Dooley” will be in line?
Boca Baby
November 1st, 2010
2:23 pm
Mark, how would you have evaluated Vince Dooley’s work from 1977 to 1979? How many games did UGA lose in 1979? Was it six? Did he lose to four (that’s 4) ACC teams. Did Georgia get shut out by Virginia in Sanford Stadium in front of Prince Charles? Did they get blown out in a bowl by Nebraska that they had no business playing? Would you have wanted to put his head on the block for chopping? Oh, yeah, then there was 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983. The best four years of Georgia football history. The blessing and possibly the curse of coaching at UGA is that we do not make coaching change decisions in haste. And history has been kind to that posture.
Jim Nasium
November 1st, 2010
2:24 pm
jtdawg…
Dawg Nation is blind. If Boise or TCU jobs became available and Richt was job hunting, they would not look at him once, much less twice. That’s what he’s thought of everywhere except in Georgia. Keep him and UGA football will be another Tennessee. When you’re getting hammered in the 6th inning, never wait until the 9th inning to go to your reliever – it’s too late. Florida has a bad year and they’re still in the race for SEC title. Georgia has a bad year and they play Tech to determine if they’ll finish below .500 or just .500.
NWGADawg
November 1st, 2010
2:27 pm
MB, you are every definition of a whore.
Here’s how we shut UF up, move the game home away or don’t play it at all. Let Jacksonville and the rest of that state die, I personally refuse my business to anyone in that state as it is, they are not even reliable consumers and I don’t accept WIC vouchers, which makes up 3/4 of the state’s population….
fair and Balanced
November 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
This UGA team has not beaten a good team – and it won’t. Even if GA beat FL this would still be true. The solution to this digression is to replace the OC. If it does not get better then we replace Richt. One more season of this kind of stuff and he must go. Duh! Even Richt knows this – I think.
Steve Superior
November 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
I was looking for a little help this week, but don’t worry Georgia, we will show you how to beat Florida in a couple of weeks. See ya, in Atlanta. Oh yeah, can we have those extra tickets your fans already bought.
James
November 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
Mark-
If you really believe Richt’s a poor coach, then you seriously don’t know a thing about college football. I am assuming this article was meant to be humorous.
Reality Check
November 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
all u people need to get a life…….Its a football game…..get over it and get a grip. And if you have posted more than 2 times……thats pretty pathetic.
Richard Dawson
November 1st, 2010
2:53 pm
WE AGREE!!!!! FINALLY!!!!! Thanks for listening!
FIRE MARK RICHT.
Richard Dawson
November 1st, 2010
2:57 pm
Las Vegas Dawg — great story. I’ve said the same thing about Richt being chaplain, but have never seen anyone else say that. You are dead on, friend. I have never seen the Dawgs lose to the Gators. However, my last UGA-Florida game was 1982. Those were the days.
Dawgs73
November 1st, 2010
2:57 pm
I just don’t look forward to what used to be the best time of the year…fall and UGA football. It’s sad to say that I’ve lost hope and faith in Mark’s coaching ability and think that it’s finally time to go in a new direction. It has been a progression of failures and an inability to live up to expectations that has me believing that the overall direction of this program is in severe trouble.
I’m tired of “wait till next year”, “we have xyz players coming back next year”, “Mark deserves another chance next year”, “he hasn’t forgot how to coach”…followed by “wait till next year”, “Mark can’t catch the football, tackle, or block for players”…followed by “wait till next year” and on and on and on and on. The list of excuses for keeping Mark sound good in theory, they just don’t hold a lot of weight or evidence that he can turn this around…just my opinion.
TVDawg83
November 1st, 2010
3:01 pm
UGA Alums, we are who we are and that is a .500 team with loads of talent and no leadership. Vince Dooley’s playbook is better than Bobo’s; How many of you know where the ball is going before the snap? Don’t you think the other team knows this, too? Richt shows no leadership with players and this coaching staff is very weak at best. Rodney Garner is no longer an elite recruiter. Who coaches the offensive line? Who coaches the defensive line? Look, we are just an average team. Idaho State is a win. AU will kills us and UGA will beat the insects. UGA gets a crap bowl and seven wins. Woo Hoo. I know that will keep me warm all winter—NOT. Richt gets one more year. The year better end with the SECC game and wins over the gators, chickens, war buzzards, and the rest of the games on the schedule. Anything less will get our Dawgs a chance to start over…one more time.
Flatsdawg1
November 1st, 2010
3:05 pm
Well said, west ga dawg, Coaches can’t play the game for them. New defense, freshman quarterback= growing pains. Florida is going through the same thing the Gators are no longer that much better than UGA, they are only a play better even with every turnover and mistake of the dawgs, Alot of parity now in the SEC.I don’t believe Auburn is that much better than us either. We will see.
Jim
November 1st, 2010
3:09 pm
If Richt does not find a new offensive coordinator, then it is time to let Mark go. Coach Richt has proven himself to be a great man. He has to prove himself as a great coach, and that means making the tough decisions about his coaching staff.
sr citizen dawg
November 1st, 2010
3:09 pm
Spurrier was right ! Selah !
GA Faithful
November 1st, 2010
3:14 pm
I don’t believe changing the head coach at this point will change the outcome in Jax. What the Dogs have is the Jax Jinx! They go into this “away” game every year (except 2007) way too uptight about the game. Just notice how “loose” the FL players were. They went into the game as if they had nothing to lose. Why didn’t GA players go into it loose and ready to play? After all – they’ve lost 18 of the last 21 years. What did they have to loose? It is time to get the hell out of Jacksonville! Why give the state of FL or the city of Jacksonville the revenue for the week? Why can’t some of that stay in Georgia? It is time to get the game out of Jax!
DS32223
November 1st, 2010
3:53 pm
The difference this year with the Gators is they aren’t that good with a young inexperienced team, and no kicker. The difference with Georgia this year, is well nothing. 4 turnovers in this year’s game, 4 turnovers last year and 4 the year before.
jwilli120
November 1st, 2010
4:05 pm
2-8 against Florida..in the words of nikki i’m…i’m…
i’m good …NOT we suck and so does CMR..if the vikings
can put Randy Moss on waivers then UGA can fire CMR i’m
good not even randy moss is safe these days…just sayin
jwilli120
November 1st, 2010
4:07 pm
@gafaithful it’s the coaching !!!
Flatsdawg1
November 1st, 2010
4:40 pm
Regardless of the outcome of the Dawgs/Gators, We always have a great time and that’s part of the appeal of the game, I get a good bit of fishing in before the game and then enjoy a few adult beverages and its usually a three day affair. The atmosphere is like no other in college football. Athens is great but it’s not Jax.
Time for a Change
November 1st, 2010
4:43 pm
Been a proponent of CMR, but not anymore, and not just because of last Saturday in J’ville. 4 out of the past 5 years have been and end in disappointment, only ‘07 was good, and still did not make it to the SECC game, due to losing to an inferior USC team that year, and that all started in the 6th year of his career @ UGA. Yes, record was good in ‘08, but overall underachieved. We are not prepared any longer for big games or the season in whole. Takes UGA several games to start playing well every year, this year was even longer, and a quarter or 2 in most big games to get going, as evidenced on Saturday. I think a program takes on the personality of the person in charge, and for some reason, CMR has changed in the last several years. (I have my theories, which are valid) He is a great person, but it is time for a change, or the direction is going to continue going south. After 10 years we should be doing better than this in terms of the program’s direction, or I guess we accept mediocrity, both on and off the field. Seems like he has been given the opportunity to have this moving in the right direction, so another opportunity is invalid, which is what a lot of people are calling for, hard to understand. Don’t think Florda, Alabama, Texas, Ohio St. and many other schools would accept this on and on….
LumpkinDawg
November 1st, 2010
5:11 pm
Did someone lock Ealey in the bathroom? Where was he?
tell me again
November 1st, 2010
5:21 pm
Anyone who says UGA does not have Championship caliber coaching is just so brain dead that they do not deserve a retort. Does Florida have championship caliber coaching? If they do then I guess something just happens to all of those super talented classes they recruited because losing three in a row and barely beating a UGA team that is struggling would seem to suggest that UM has forgotten how to coach. Or maybe he was never the coach people thought he was – maybe Mullen was, hmmm? How can you sports writers print such trash – do you actually get paid for printing these worthless observations?
NewnanDawg
November 1st, 2010
5:34 pm
Why is this UGA team always referred to as “young”. UGA returned more starters than any other SEC team this year. Murray is a REDSHIRT Freshman (aka Sophomore). There are no valid excuses for what the program has become other than a lack of quality coaching.
DS32223
November 1st, 2010
5:36 pm
There are just as many Georgia fans at the game as Florida. It is even. Home games are not split down the middle. Georgia signed the 6 year deal to keep the game in Jax, because of the insane money they make off all of the GEORGIA fans that live or travel to the game. (Jax is a stones throw from the Georgia state line).
Remarks that Florida is playing a home game, while staying in a hotel, traveling an hour and half by bus and sharing the stadium with almost 50 thousand Dawg fans is just so stupid. Come up with a better reason you haven’t won lately, it isn’t the venue!! Dawgs and Gators are very proud of the tradition of the game it is like no other. We had an Auburn fan go this year with and he had a blast and said he had never seen anything like it.
You are grasping when you blame Florida for your struggles because they “won’t” play in your staduim. We have played in LSU and Alabama, not to mention the Ohio game in the west, no one is terrified to play in your stadium, it would be just as hard as the others, no better, no worse than what the Gators face all the time. The Swamp would be no better for you either.
uga 2000
November 1st, 2010
5:44 pm
UGA UNDER CMR is a 5-stars training camp for the NFL. We need a new coach that can win championships and graduate 5-stars recruits with a degree.
Scott
November 1st, 2010
5:59 pm
Georgia always has been and always will be a second level team in the SEC.
I don’t know why anybody is surprised at what they are doing now.
As much as the doggies fair weather fans hate to admit it, they will never be able to play with Alabama, Auburn, LSU ..just to name a few.
LT
November 1st, 2010
6:10 pm
First and foremost, Im a Gator fan. You UGA fans who want Richt gone better be careful of what you wish for. IE Tennessee. The writer of this article is a moron. Theres no way Georgia is “demonstrably” more talented than Florida. Floridas problems this season stems from a head coach who worked part time in the off season, NOT a lack of talent. The talent on this team and the players Florida has brought in the past few year is why they were ranked #3 in the pre season poll. A lot of people felt with Florida on a losing streak coming in to the game and UGA on a winning streak that UGA had the momentum and that feeling fueled the thoughts that UGA would win this game. The real reason for the streaks was competition being played. Florida had lost 3 straight games, to 3 teams all ranked in the top 20. UGA had beaten 3 bad teams. Thats not momentum, its just where you were at in your schedule. Richt is a good coach who needs to get his staff settled. Run him off if you will, you will regret it later. But I love beating UGA so run him off if you like!
Florida Dawg
November 1st, 2010
6:24 pm
GA Fateful…playing in Jax is the only place to play this game. We have already done that deal in Athens and lost big time and lost in Gainesville the next year.
Vince Dooley didn’t have a problem.
Only people like you and our current coaching staff has a problem.
Miss State doesn’t have a problem, Bama doesn’t either…we need to man up….Erk Russell would roll over listening to you.
Old Dawg 55
November 1st, 2010
6:37 pm
To paraphrase Rhett Butler, frankly Mark, I don’t give a damn for your opinion on our head coach. You must be dizzy jumping on and off the bandwagon! CMR is a good coach…maybe not the greatest coach but great by Georgia standards. He does need to sit down and honestly analyze the direction of the team for next year. Take a look around at some of the successful strategies of the successful programs and revamp the Dawgs. We have the talent and will have more with this recruiting class. CTG needs to do the same and put the round pegs in the round holes with the defense. Who wasn’t thrilled at watch Branden Smith race ahead of the reciever and intercept Saturday..or Houston charging in for the sack? The Dawgs will recover and I for one don’t regret losing the fainthearted fans..or columnists along the way!! Stay the course, finish the drill and GATA Dawgs!! We love you!!!
donny ballgame
November 1st, 2010
7:05 pm
As an Arizona fan & alum I must say Richt reminds me of Mike Stoops. Both coaches have instilled a massive amount of unearned arrogance in their teams and each team plays with the idea that the only thing they have to do to win is just decide we are going to win it. That works against mediocre talent. Not in the big games and against big talent. I shudder to think what’s going to happen against Oregon for Arizona.
Both coaches become head coaches of programs via associating with greatness, but not really being the reason why. The only difference is that while Mike Stoops loudly rants and raves at nothing in particular, Richt is the silent opposite and yawns and sighs at nothing in particular…if only we could combine them! Ha ha!
Hurricane Joe
November 1st, 2010
8:20 pm
CMR is a lame-duck coach. He already has a verbal to coach FSU next year.
SouthGADawg
November 1st, 2010
8:30 pm
Mark, I think you are low life scum. Why dont you write about your glorious GT team? You have nothing but negativity to say about UGA. That was ahell of a hard fought game plain and simple win or lose both teams played their asses off. You just have to try and start crap like this. FL did not blow UGA out of the game. UGA should have won this battle. We know now why you are a low rent part time sports writer for this GT based dump. By the way I assure you UGA will stomp a mud puddle in GT butt. Will you write that their coach sux too? I am damn proud of the way they fought back. I am one pissed off UGA fan but not at CMR at you and your paper. It should have read Dawgs lose battle by a nose.
SouthGADawg
November 1st, 2010
8:35 pm
Play the game in ATL every other year. Lets get some of this revenue for our state.
SouthGADawg
November 1st, 2010
8:37 pm
Scott,
You must be stupid to think UGA can not play with Auburn, LSU, Alabama. Is this your first year watching football?
still a dawg fan
November 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
There as been a report that the real CMR is in Africa doing missionary work. The report stated that he appointed Bobo OC back in 06 because he was leaving country before the Peach Bowl game against VT & what nobody knew was that CMR has a twin brother that took his place as our Head Coach. This would explain why the person who is acting as our Head Coach is clueless.Will the real CMR PLEASE COME HOME–WE NEED YOU
THE (G) ON UGA HELMET STANDS 4 GATOR
November 1st, 2010
9:55 pm
SUFFER YOU REDNECK RACISTS CRACKERS AT UGA!
KARMA FOR THE MUTT FANS!
KEEPMARKRICHT.COM
Carl
November 1st, 2010
9:58 pm
If you can’t see as talented or more talented players on Florida’s team (when compared to any other team in the nation let alone Georgia) then maybe the AJC should fire you. Our problems center around underutilization of talent, and not lack thereof.
THE (G) ON UGA HELMET STANDS 4 GATOR
November 1st, 2010
9:58 pm
AND I MEAN SUFFER CRACKERS UP IN ATHENS,GA!
Dawg '88
November 1st, 2010
10:53 pm
Its not coaching or being unprepared…that implies that UGA runs on the practice field throws the ball around and run sprints and goes inside. Thats ridiculous and unfounded.
Hey Bark MAdley…why don’t you say this to CMR’s face…”your not championship caliber”….know why you won’t …..you’re a coward hiding behind a computer screen.
While we’re at it….you’ve never been championship caliber in reporting or writing…so why do we still have you around and the ajc hasn’t fired your sorry behind? I know…they can’t find anyone any better. The ajc is know for its weak, narrowminded sports reporters who have no guts to say things face to face with the person they slam.
Coward!
Gamecock
November 1st, 2010
11:02 pm
Mark Richt is a fine Christian Man and UGA should keep him around for ever, he’s turning UGA football players into nuns. Did you see how the defensive players were afraid to touch that scary devil Lattimore running back?
But for all you fans that want change, maybe you could convince Vince Dooley’s kid to leave UT?
Gary
November 2nd, 2010
1:16 am
Whoever called that offensive series in overtime need to go. Period
LeMay > Murray
November 2nd, 2010
2:02 am
Mark it down—LeMay will be the starting UGA QB in 2011! He’s a lot better than murray.
Dawg4Life
November 2nd, 2010
6:35 am
Mark, don’t even need to read this article. UGA wasn’t out coached. They just like to give the ball to the other team. Did you actually watch the game????
Dawg in FL
November 2nd, 2010
7:50 am
What if Richt were to take back the play calling during games? I think we were a much stronger team when he called the plays.
JMac12003
November 2nd, 2010
8:18 am
Thank you Mark for such a spot on article. I have maintained for years that UGA would never reach their full potential (all that talent and very little to show for it) under CMR. All REAL UGA fans should be crying for change. All the band wagon fans (which are the majority) will soon be gone anyway and basically will not really care as long as they are winning 8-10 games most seasons. Me, I could care less, because I do not wear rose colored glasses. Before the pups can claim to be a relevent team in football again, CMR has to go. Bottom line!!
Doug the Jacket
November 2nd, 2010
12:41 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Wright Marshall
November 2nd, 2010
10:25 pm
Good points in this article. Three years is definitely enough time on which to base a reasonable judgement. While I want like Richt as a person and coach, the results speak for themselves. Georgia has dropped to the middle of the SEC and, as the article suggest, is no longer an elite team.
It is easy to think what might have been and how different the conversation would be if the following had happened:
AJ had not been suspended
Ealey and King hadn’t made those critical fumbles
Murray hadn’t throw his first and last interception in Jax
The defense had jumped on one of those many Florida fumbles
Rambo had made that easy interception on Florida’s last drive
If AJ hadn’t been penalized for that ridiculous “excess celebration” penalty against LSU last year
If a few of those players had made, or not made, those plays, Georgia might be 7-2, and we would be having a completely different conversation…. but they didn’t.
The buck stops with Richt. Players used to come to Georgia and get better. Are they still doing that? Finish the Drill has been replaced with uniform gimmicks. Richt’s own past players have made plenty of comments that it is not what it used to be. Things are slipping.
The offensive play calling is still mystifying. While you may defend Bobo, you certainly can’t consider him to be elite, and you must be at the top of the game to win in the SEC. The defense is speaking for itself. We can only hope that a second year and some DBs can turn this thing around.
I want more than anything for this staff to get it together, and Richt deserves one more year. If we go from 3, 5, to 7 losses, that’s as obvious as it can be. This was the easiest schedule we have had in years. It was hard to imagine less than 8 wins back in August.
We need 10 wins next year or a change. Mark Richt, make it happen. Good luck. Go Dawgs!