The doctor is in: What UGA must do to rise from mediocrity
Yes, but being 6-6 shouldn't ever be cause for celebration. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
This is the week, Mark Richt said late Saturday night, to recruit in earnest. And it’s true that one of the teams that played in Sanford Stadium on Saturday needs a talent infusion, but it’s not Richt’s Bulldogs.
Georgia Tech has a clear idea of what it is but insufficient manpower to get it where it wants to go. Georgia has, and has long had, enough players — not that it couldn’t use more — but has come to lack direction. As these middling-by-definition teams head into December and then 2011, we address their respective needs. First, Georgia’s.
Step 1: Get stronger. It has long been suggested that Georgia’s conditioning program has gotten soft, and we saw striking evidence again Saturday night. Tech ruled the line of scrimmage. Dave Van Halanger, Georgia’s strength coach, had a hand in building SEC championship teams here — those were his offseason mat drills, transferred from Florida State, referenced in “Finish The Drill” — but the Bulldogs have come to look comparatively peaked. (And not just against Tech; Auburn scored touchdowns on six of its final seven possessions two weeks earlier.)
The issue: Van Halanger is Richt’s best friend. Willie Martinez might have been Richt’s college buddy, but it’s Van Halanger with whom Richt goes jogging. Richt waited long — too long — to sack Martinez as defensive coordinator, but finally he did it. He needs now to make an even more difficult personal decision and upgrade a position that has become substandard.
Step 2: Get edgier. An acronym born under Erk Russell is still written on the board before every Georgia game — GATA. (Loosely translated, “Get After Them Aggressively.”) The Bulldogs, however, have become slow burners. They didn’t take a lead against an SEC opponent until the season’s fourth conference game. They trailed Florida 21-7 in a game they might have won easily had they built a two-touchdown advantage. When they responded to Auburn’s opening touchdown with three of their own, the question asked itself: Why don’t do they do this more often?
As we say in hockey and figure skating, Georgia football has lost its edge. Some of this has to do with preparation, but not all. Which leads us to …
Step 3: Get an idea. Richt is a finesse coach. Georgia runs the ball as a counterpoint. Its staple running play over these 10 years has been the sprint draw, and a draw is by design a fake pass. There’s no reason for Richt to change what he believes and become Woody Hayes reincarnate, and that’s fine. Where Georgia errs is in seeking to be both finesse offense and power offense. Artificial concerns over “balance” need to be tossed in yonder trashcan.
When Georgia fans rage at Mike Bobo for “going conservative,” they have half a point. Running isn’t a bad conceptual idea, but Bobo/Richt seem to feature the run at moments when all running can do is slow Georgia. The top two teams in the BCS standings have gotten there by playing fast and attacking for four quarters. Time for the Bulldogs to join the fun.
Have a seat in the waiting room. Dr. Bradley’s Rx for Georgia Tech can be found here.
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601 comments Add your comment
No Brainer
November 30th, 2010
7:37 am
Uuuuuuhh…..stay out of jail, don’t recruit THUGS.
No Brainer
November 30th, 2010
7:38 am
Uga beats GT a lot
November 30th, 2010
6:46 am
Running the ball itself isn’t a bad idea, but if you only run the ball up the middle or off guard. it ain’t gonna get no where.
Anthony Allen, 166 yards rushing.
HARDY DOG
November 30th, 2010
7:39 am
Maybe the new AD will step in and tell Richt what he needs to do to get better. First get rid of that LOOSY Recruiter Gardner. he doesn’t know talent when he sees it. Send BOBo to an Offensive management/ creativity
Class and I don’t believe Grantham is our answer on Denfense. We give up as many points on defense as we did when we had Martinez.
rosezeee
November 30th, 2010
7:40 am
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS – ALWAYS HAS; ALWAYS WILL!!! PERIOD
AINT GOING TO WIN MANY GAMES GIVING UP 400-500 YARDS A GAME
CHOKE GRANTHAM IS ANOTHER ZERO
THIRTY FOUR POINTS to your thirty one points
November 30th, 2010
7:40 am
just a reminder chumps
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((34-31)))))))))))))))))))))))))
8 of 10
18 of 21
and we had an off year.
11 Arrests 6 Wins is a real
November 30th, 2010
7:41 am
nice ratio.
S Spurrier
November 30th, 2010
7:42 am
…all those recruits…..7-5 and 6-6….
411 yards rushing
November 30th, 2010
7:44 am
WHO runs this state?
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
7:44 am
GA sucks.
dagadawgs
November 30th, 2010
7:50 am
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
7:44 am
GA sucks.
Coming from a Tech fan
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
7:53 am
Edagadawgs
November 30th, 2010
7:50 am
Ex GA AD to appear in court tomorrow…..11 arrests of playuhs this year…48 arrests of playuhs in 3 years….yep, GA sucks
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:02 am
Mark-
Medicority? Mark Richt? Surely you jest.
96 wins in 10 seasons. .742 win %. 19 top 10 finishes in 24 coaching seasons. 6 top 10 finishes at Georgia. 12 top 5 finishes at FSU. Top 10 recruiting classes. Top 10 in profits according to Forbes.
There are only 120 teams, but Richt’s been in the top 10 70% of his seasons as a coach, won at least 8 games, 24 years in a row. Been to 10 Bowls in a row.
I guess that puts Richt in the top 10%.
Medicority? Hardly.
Kendawg
November 30th, 2010
8:02 am
CMR has said that he is NOT going to make any changes in the coaching staff this year. So prepare yourselves for a 2011 in which we will once again be a “weak” team.
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
8:05 am
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:02 am
….12 top 5 finishes at FSU….
WOW—and I thought Bobby Bowden was their Coach. Only a GA fan.
Ben
November 30th, 2010
8:07 am
If finishing in the top 10, 6 times in Rcht’s first 9 seasons is medicore, then what is Bear Bryant & Nick Saban, they only finished in the top 10 1 times in their first 9 seasons COMBINED. Does that mean Richt is 6 times better than SABAN & BEAR BRYANT COMBiNED?
Big Dawg Daddy
November 30th, 2010
8:08 am
Keep Richt, fire Bradley
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:09 am
Richt was at FSU from 1985-2000. Feel free to share your knwledge about how many top 5 finishes Bowdoen had before 1985, or after 2000. I bet it’s not many.
Hurley
November 30th, 2010
8:11 am
I guess Mark Bradley calls Mack Brown & Urban Meyer medicore, because they had a poor season in 2010. Guess they can’t coach.
Slim
November 30th, 2010
8:12 am
Silly me, I thought when you were #5 among active coaches in win %, you had already risen from medicority. How much farther can Richt rise? 4 spots? Come on. Get a clue folks. This is absurd.
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
8:14 am
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:09 am
Well, I guess Richt’s credit goes to Mike Bobo.
Trent
November 30th, 2010
8:15 am
Richt, alone, is able to decide what he needs to do to compete in the top 10 again. He’s done it 19 out of 24 seasons, pretty sure he’ll figure it out thsi time. Always does. Folks wrote him off in 2006. He finished #2 the next year.
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:16 am
Name 1 other coach out of the 120 schools who has finished in the top 10 more than 18 times in the last 24 years. Good luck.
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:18 am
Georgia was a top 10 team before Richt got to Georgia, and hasn’t been after Bobo took the reins. So no, genius, Bobo doesn’t get credit, 2 out of the 3 years Bobo’s been OC, Georgia has nt finished in the top 25.
Pete
November 30th, 2010
8:19 am
Maimi & Colorado don’t think Richt is a mediocre coach. Neither does anyone else in the country, except CERTAIN writers.
Pete
November 30th, 2010
8:20 am
Wonder how many times the AJC writers have finished in the top 10 in their profession?
Pete
November 30th, 2010
8:23 am
When you’re at the top, people try and bring you DOWN to THEIR LEVEL. It’s ENVY. They don’t think you’re worth the $3 mill a year, top 10 pay out of 120 teams, although you have a top 10 most profitble team. They want what us at the top have, that they lack.
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:25 am
If it wasn’t Richt who got FSU to 12 top 5 finishes, then why couldn’t Bowden do it, before 1985 or after 2000?
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
8:25 am
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:18 am
Georgia was a top 10 team before Richt got to Georgia, and hasn’t been after Bobo took the reins. So no, genius, Bobo doesn’t get credit, 2 out of the 3 years Bobo’s been OC, Georgia has nt finished in the top 25
Well, Einstein, you argue against yourself. Typical GA fan.
Olson
November 30th, 2010
8:26 am
If ain’t borke, don’t fix it.
No coaching changes.
It ain’t broke.
Dose of Reality
November 30th, 2010
8:27 am
Greg
November 30th, 2010
8:25 am
If it wasn’t Richt who got FSU to 12 top 5 finishes, then why couldn’t Bowden do it, before 1985 or after 2000?
DAYUM! I know I saw Bobby Bowden on the sidelines all those years…
Jerry
November 30th, 2010
8:32 am
Mark-
No offense, but even if you try your hardest, I don’t think you’re qualified to tell Richt how to fix his team. Coachign experience? Playing experience? Didn’t you write last year Georgia would be better without Willie Martinez?
Jerry
November 30th, 2010
8:33 am
Mark–
If you have a bad year as a writer, are you now mediocre?
The Alpha Male
November 30th, 2010
8:40 am
Excellent article. Spot on in every point.
Go Dawgs!
November 30th, 2010
8:56 am
The Owl of Prophecy
November 29th, 2010
5:54 pm
“Go”…and that’s why Kirby Smart won’t be heading to Athens. You know as well as I that Murray should have started last year. Could that be (1) coaching? (2) blind loyalty (3) incompetence (4) just plain being stubborn or (5) all of the above.
Owl- get the facts straight. Murray WAS poised to take over probably by game 2 or 3 last year, HOWEVER he got injured and missed a LOT of practice time. he wasn’t even ready to play physically until after the Vandy game. So now you’re saying Richt should have burned his redshirt and wasted a whole season for him to get 3-4 games of experience?
Wally Butts' Designated Stumbler
November 30th, 2010
8:56 am
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/in-georgia-smart-football-and-not/?src=twrhp
Go Dawgs!
November 30th, 2010
9:23 am
Some of our fans amaze me with their lack of football smarts.
Let me get this straight:
1. You (Some Dawg Fans) want to get rid of a coach who has won 2 SEC championships and played for a third because he’s brought the program to “mediorcricy” because he’s in a rebuilding mode after replacing Martinez at the uproar of the fans and boosters
2. Now everyone wants to get rid of Granthum for NOT being a miracle worker in year one despite the fact that:
a. He’s installing a 3-4 defense with 4-3 personnel
b. By admission of many “experts” on these blogs he inheritted a group of defenders who had poor tackling and coverage skills, so BEFORE he could even dive into the x’s and o’s he had to address those issues. Not to mention the players had to learn a new scheme AND terminology.
BTW, Bamas’first year running the 3-4 when Saban got there his team gave up an avg of 22pts with 4-3 personnel, UGA under Granthum year one 23pts. Bama also lost to Miss St and LA-Monroe that year. The next year Bama avg 14pts so let’s at least see what the man can do year two before we label him a failure.
3. And people want to get rid of an Offensive Coordinator who AVERAGED 30pts a game with a redshirt FRESHMAN QB and without his best offensive weapon for the first 4 games.
6-6 sucks I think we all can agree on that. However of those 6 losses only two were by two scores (SC & Aub). 3 of the losses were by 2, 3, and 7 pts respectfully and with a couple of the right bounces of the ball could have been won.
If we were sitting at 9-3 instead of 6-6 everyone would be talking about what a great job the staff did with installing a new defensive system, breaking in a redshirt freshman QB, and without one of the most talented offensive players for the first 4 games of the season.
Anyone who thought we wouldn’t have growing pains on the defensive side of the ball this year is just ignorant. Watch for the coaches to go out into the JUCO ranks and get us our true 3-4 nose, which will allow Tyson to move to end which is his natural position in the 3-4. More pressure up front means less blown coverage in the secondary.
BTW- all this bi-polar b*tching isn’t helping recruiting at all. If you want to know the real reason Richt and Co have been having a hard time landing the big recruits take a look in the mirror. If you don’t think potential recruits read these blogs or aren’t directed to read them by our rival recruiters you’re fooling yourselves. Why would any kid want to come and play for a bunch of fair-weather fans who will turn on them quicker than a rattlesnake at the first sign of trouble? If I’m Meyer or Saban I’m telling kids “you don’t want to go to UGA, look at their blogs they’re trying to run their coach out of town. He may not even be there in a couple of years, and you don’t want to head into your junior season with uncertainty do you?” But keep it up, maybe you’ll get what you want.
Just remember be very careful what you wish for, you may just get it and live to regret asking for it in the first place.
mark twain
November 30th, 2010
9:39 am
WELL I SEE ALL THE techiees ARE BACK WITH ALL THEIR missspellled WORDS. PLEASE 5150 TOAD GO BACK TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND FINISH ALL THOSE ENGLISH CLASSES YOU FLUNKED. THE north ave PEOPLE JUST CANT ACCEPT DEFEAT IN ANY ARENA. I GUESS NOW THEIR WAITING FOR BASEBALL SEASON TO START SO THEY CAN WIN A FEW GAMES, RUN THEIR MOUTHS AND THEN GET SHUT OUT ONCE AGAIN IN THE acc. PLEASE GO BACK TO BLDGS IN YOUR OWN AGENDA. I DID HEAR THEY ARE HIRING ENGINEERS TO RUN SOME TRAINS SO GET ON BOARD.
Red-N-Black
November 30th, 2010
10:07 am
Mark I was just wondering how many collegiate teams and championships you have under your belt to assume what you say is valid to turn around a program that is going through a down period?
Enough said.
Red-N-Black
November 30th, 2010
10:11 am
Go Dawgs!
– Your last post = Right on the money!
Vaildawg
November 30th, 2010
10:36 am
Thats great insight on the offense. Especially since our offense averaged over 30 points per game. If Richt had that kind of production back in his early years UGA would have won the national title. What UGA needs to improve on is defense. And hopefully TG 3-4 defense will be much better next year. We just don’t have a championship defense. By the way, go and look at Saban’s first year statistics at Alabama installing his 3-4 defense. Identically scary.
Boobie Bowden
November 30th, 2010
11:07 am
A dawg named Brucie on the sideline going “bowsie, wowsie” fits the UGA program perfectly.
Bagwell
November 30th, 2010
11:37 am
Notice how all the words on the sign were spelled correctly. Wonder what Tech fan wrote it for them.
crossdawg
November 30th, 2010
11:43 am
G A T A …very loose translation
UGA Rules the State!
November 30th, 2010
9:20 pm
Richt’s team in 2011 will be loaded—-look for UGA to win the SEC and get a top BCS bowl bid. This team on the oline may be the best in the country next year and Grantham’s 3-4 D will finally start producing big plays since the players understand the system. Murray—best QB in the SEC next year. Dawgs: 13-1—mark it down!
BK
November 30th, 2010
9:59 pm
Not a word said about the defense? That’s the main problem. The offense really didn’t cost us much this yr. When you look at those good ole junkyard dog erk & vangorder golden days when we had a real SEC defense and held teams to 14 pts, With an average UGA defensive year, we would have been a powerhouse with this yr’s offense and kickers! Defense was constantly lost on the most critical plays. Again unable to stop straight ahead plays or redundant trick plays. We also don’t mentally prepare well, as our players seem to be the most tricked, confused, out of position bunch i’ve seen at UGA in a long, long time.
Cyber Dawg
November 30th, 2010
10:48 pm
rj5g2 g8hm3 e67he c6j3r ygx9r s3f1v rj5g2 g8hm3 e67he c6j3r ygx9r s3f1v j24g2 g8hm3 e67he c6j3r ygx9r s3f1v rj5g2 g8hm3 e67he c6j3r ygx9r s5dr2 00000
Key tango echo
Harry the Hat
November 30th, 2010
10:51 pm
“We also don’t mentally prepare well, as our players seem to be the most tricked, confused, out of position bunch i’ve seen at UGA in a long, long time.”
That’s because the players are morons. Most of them can barely read a playbook and understand it.
muddiver
November 30th, 2010
11:22 pm
Of course Richt isn’t leaving, he’s making millions to go 6 and 6. He’d have to be a complete moron to give this up. He’s a wuss but he isn’t stupid. After it’s all said and done UGA’s biggest problem is that is doesn’t bother CMR to lose, be it four games in a row, nine out of ten SEC games, Colorado, or our biggest rival (again). If you don’t have the competitive fire to the degree that losing is unacceptable and warrants consequences then mediocrity is what we will have to get used to. I’ll promise you that the other more successful coaches in the SEC or elsewhere have the same mentality. Even Tebow got it (no one will work harder to make sure this never happens again).
Seriously, does this really matter?
November 30th, 2010
11:43 pm
I find it sad that people will make 600 posts on an issue that they have absolutely no control over. Why not worry about the real issues facing this nation? You people have no personal connection to Mark Richt or the ever-changing roster of 18-22 year olds that make up the UGA squad. You speak of “us” and “our team”, yet you are not a member of that team. Who cares if you went to UGA a generation ago or have a UGA decal on your car? Get a life and get involved with some real issues. Unless you do, this nation is doomed.
thUGA injuneerin skule
November 30th, 2010
11:57 pm
Let Kevin Butler coach. He seems to know it all….just ask him. What a douche.