5 reasons Mark Richt won’t leave UGA for Miami or anywhere
"Leave all this? And give up showbiz? Are you crazy?" (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
First it was Colorado. Now it’s Miami that’s believed to be interested in Mark Richt. As noted earlier, it might be best for both Richt and Georgia if he found a new job. But I’m guessing he won’t see it that way. And the reasons for that guess are:
• He makes too much money. Neither Colorado, which might not be seriously considering Richt, or Miami, which surely is, can match the $3 million Georgia is paying. His job security might be eroding — he needs to win at least nine games next season to feel safe — but he’s not so near unemployment he needs to take a pay cut.
• He works at a big-name school in the biggest-name league. You don’t exit the SEC to take a job anywhere but the NFL. (The weirdo Dennis Franchione is the exception that proves the rule.) The SEC is the place a college coach works all his life to land; it’s not the place you leave, at least not of your own volition.
• He’s a Miami alum, but he might not be a Miami fit. The folks in Coral Gables are serious about football — they just canned Randy Shannon on merit — but they’re more serious about image. The Hurricanes have worked mightily to clean up their image as Rogue U, and their president is Donna Shalala, who served in Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and isn’t about to let her school revert to being a rule-flouting football factory. And Richt, as we know too well, presides over a program that has seen 11 player arrests this calendar year.
• He has no powerful enemies in Athens. Nobody who matters wants Richt to fail. Already bearing the scars from Jim Donnan and Vince Dooley, UGA president Michael Adams isn’t anxious to fire another high-profile football man, and Greg McGarity, the new AD, is utterly sincere in his admiration for Richt. Indeed, Richt was the biggest beneficiary of Damon Evans’ midnight ride through Buckhead. The former AD’s often-stated goal was to win championships, and 6-6 in a season that coulda/shoulda been 9-3 wouldn’t have been received nearly as well by Richt’s former boss.
• He doesn’t see himself as the problem. For all his cordiality, Richt is a massively confident man. He hasn’t yet conceded that his stewardship is in real trouble. (Not many coaches would, it must be said.) Asked after the Auburn game how Georgia had gotten to 5-6, Richt leaned on the it-was-just-a-play-here-and-play-there crutch
I say again: I don’t think Richt is going anywhere, but I do think he should consider it. Because I’m not sure it’s going to get significantly better for him in Athens, and because the understanding Mr. McGarity mightn’t be so understanding if Georgia continues to be one play away. A coach gets paid $3 million to control his circumstances, not to be the victim thereof.
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324 comments Add your comment
Dawg 1
November 30th, 2010
9:46 am
Fuzzybee. Go back and read the article this time. That was the old ‘U’. They have worked very hard to clean that up. No excuses, we need to do the same. But remember, you still have the champion dope traffic champion of all time. And you guys ‘fixed it’, so that he didn’t do jail time. Regular guy on the street is still in jail. Suspended drivers licensed and drunk in public really is kid stuff. You have fewer offenses (and we can debate the reasons why, ranging from no ‘real campus’ to who is looking the other way and who isn’t.) Let’s be clear, CMR has to clean that stuff up, but you do not have a bunch of angels over by the Varsity. I have friends who have sons at Tech, believe me – there are issues, just like at any other D1 school.
Wally Butts' Designated Stumbler
November 30th, 2010
9:46 am
I’m thinking maybe….maybe…..Richt DID tell Ealey to take a knee once he got that first down, but those instructions were just a bit (shall we say) deep for #3?
Let’s face it…..the kid is a single-digit Wonderlic-in-waiting.
robodawg
November 30th, 2010
9:47 am
I think Richt does have some sense of the pressure he’ll be under next season. I think he also knows his defense needs to improve drastically. (How many games did we give up 30+ points this season?) But he won’t say that publicly. His hopes are hanging on Grantham. In fact, we all are. “Nobody who matters wants Richt to fail” is right — for better or worse, our best option is to give Richt and co. every opportunity to turn things around.
Reason for Miami Move
November 30th, 2010
9:48 am
No state income tax in Florida.
The cut he takes in pay by leaving Georgia is instantly compensated by what he would NOT have to pay the IRS.
Think not? Do the math: how much do you think someone with a $3,000,000 annual salary pays in taxes? HUGE.
EDawg71
November 30th, 2010
9:48 am
College Football goes in cycles. WHEN Coach Richt turns this around I hope Bradley and Shultz are both called out on all the “clever” articles belittling CMR. It’s like it’s personal for these two.
UTVOLS
November 30th, 2010
9:49 am
Dear Georgia Fans….Richt does need to go…There are some simliarites between Fulmer and Richt. However Bulldawg nation..please remember Richt has not and will not spend the years at Georgia that Fulmer did at The University of Tennessee. But most importantly Fulmer wion a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP which is something Richt will never be able to to accomplish….Good Luck Dawgs
Carl
November 30th, 2010
9:51 am
Mike, that’s +30 points this past Saturday only if you include the defensive TD and the 20-yd unchallenged run after GT turned to ball over on downs.
Where o Where
November 30th, 2010
9:51 am
mark, please wrtie another column about Aaron Murray so we can hear from marcu again. he only posted about 500= times last week telling us how BAD murray is…haven’t heard form him since we beat tech…Marcus, where are you?????
Dawg Fan
November 30th, 2010
9:52 am
What a piece crap to write. Of course Mark should stay. He is one of the best Coaches in the US and we could not get a better Coach/Person to lead our program. Please leave Mark alone.
mark twain
November 30th, 2010
9:52 am
DEAR. MR. BRADLEY, THE REASON FOR ALL THE SCHOOLS BECOMING ALMOST EQUAL IS VERY SIMPLE. NOW ALL THE PLAYERS GO TO SCHOOL FOR 2 YRS AND A SEMESTER THATS IT, IN BBALL 1 YR. THANKS TO LAWYERS . ALSO WHO YOU GONNA REPLACE CMR WITH? WHO?
Tweets that mention 5 reasons Mark Richt won't leave UGA for Miami or anywhere | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
November 30th, 2010
9:53 am
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Boo Radley
November 30th, 2010
9:53 am
Mark — Another day, another dollar. Well played sir, well played. It is like stealing money. Admit it though, you are a little disappointed when you look in the mirror at what has become.
P.S. Pray tell, why aren’t these coachless teams courting the “Genius”? Seems like he would have suitors lined up down Techwood Ave. Odd, isn’t it?
dawgster
November 30th, 2010
9:54 am
@Dawg_Mike…good points, the D does have issues and that is what is holding us back in my opinion…Hopefully next year the defense will be better, it has to if we are ever going to compete for the SEC or NC in the future…As far as our offense, i think we will be ok there, and even better if we get a great RB…the O-line did not perform as expected this year, some of that could be because of people coming back from injuries and and having nagging injuries during the season…I think that our RB’s inability to hit the holes or break tackles at times made our O-Line look worse than they were, but we do need to show some improvement up front…again, the D is where we have to step it up a notch, especially up front, thats where we are absolutely getting manhandled…If we can see that then i know the coaches also see it..Next year we should see if Coach Grantham is the answer for our D…go dawgs
Elvis Dog
November 30th, 2010
9:56 am
Part of the reason our defense is not good is because we still do not have a consistant running game. We have never had a running game that we could relie on to run the clock. Yes we have had plenty of capable players but they have not been deloped and our team has not been coached to have a running game that will chew up clock. If we held more time of possession, all the teams would not have scored as much and we would have won most our games. The offense CMR runs puts too much pressure on the D. I am not saying that our defense doesn’t need improvement. It does. We run a typical ACC offense.
EDawg71
November 30th, 2010
9:56 am
Someone needs to write an article entitled “50 reasons Mark Bradley and Jeff Shultz won’t leave the AJC…but should”. Seems like they would have followed good ole’ Terrance by now!
Fire Mark Bradley
November 30th, 2010
9:56 am
No one likes you Bradley. Nobody.
Lakedawg
November 30th, 2010
9:56 am
Mark,
I think that you’re a good writer but I can certainly see where “Done
with you” is coming from….interesting parallel that he postulated.
All too often it appears that the AJC staff uses a degree of negative
sensationalism in choosing how to frame up a story, particularly when
Georgia football is concerned….and when you have a negative story to
report, does someone there seek to find the LEAST flattering picture
of the subject that you can find ? I see that over and over. And you
don’t need to wonder whether the Athens police targeting UGA football
players…..that happens, because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. A
few years back a football player rear-ended my car on Milledge Avenue
during heavy stop-and-go traffic – could’ve happened to any driver.
I called the police since it was an accident, but no damage to my car
occurred. The policeman, after finding out who the other driver was,
urged me to press charges. As I had no damage to my car, I declined.
I’d have done the same with any reasonable person, and both the driver
and his passenger (another UGA football player) were very respectful.
I mentioned that I didn’t want to get the young Bulldog in trouble, and
the policeman continued “You don’t need to worry to about that – they
have so many privileges”. Again I declined. I just wonder if this
goes on in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, etc (I doubt it). Mark, you and your
staff write for the AJC – a GEORGIA newspaper. There are certainly
negative things to report (in ANY college town), but if you want your
readership to truly believe that you’re reporting accurately, quit with
the negative framework. Do you honestly believe that the offenses that
our players got arrested for would have achieved such attention from
significant state media in Alabama or Tennessee ? Some would have, but
not most of them…..sorry, but I don’t buy it. Our players certainly
need to behave and follow the rules, and Richt has implemented much
stricter punishments over the last year. Just as Richt might not
see himself as part of the problem, neither do you and Schultz see
yourselves as part of the problem. There’s room for improvement in
both camps. There are many, many people who would LOVE to see our
program get torn down…..all too often Schultz and to a lesser extent
you seem quite willing to help them do it. You think recruits don’t
read these stories ? Please consider the journalistic power that you
have, use it fairly, and remember which state you and most of your
readers are in.
Damn Yankee
November 30th, 2010
9:57 am
My father was a sportswriter for a Midwest newspaper for 30+ yrs. He always said it was a great job…but in the scheme of things…somewhat meaningless. He laughed that he got paid to watch a sporting event and write a story describing the events of the game. Not, as they say, rocket science. Take what Mr. Bradley….and his associates at the AJC….for what they’re worth.
BTW….Mr. Bradley, in all of his “expertise”, predicted this UGA team to finish 9-3 this year…..AND last!!!!
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 30th, 2010
9:57 am
MB,
Do you follow your own advice or are you of the “Do as I say, not as I do” ilk? If you are of the former then I wish you the best when you join Terrance!!!
Tis the season of dreams and wishes!!!
BG
November 30th, 2010
9:58 am
Mark, Why do you hate Mark Richt so much?
Tweets that mention 5 reasons Mark Richt won't leave UGA for Miami or anywhere | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
November 30th, 2010
9:58 am
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collegeballfan
November 30th, 2010
10:00 am
Bradley – “He doesn’t see himself as the problem.”
Lowcountry Bulldawg – “…the apparent poor recruiting on each side of the line…”
Sam – “…#5 recruiter in nation over last decade”
A couple of comments on these selected comments.
If Richt does not see himself as the problem can he identify and fix the problem? What problem? The last 5 recruiting classes were an average of 10th best classes in the nation (per Scout). The problem is how did UGA go 6-6 with top 10 recruiting classes?
Lowcountry says the problem is recruiting in the OL & DL. Sam says Richt is the #5 best recruiter in the nation over the last decade. Are both correct? Does Richt recruit the “skill” players exceptionally well but not the “grunts” where games are actually won and lost.
Just asking questions based on the comments above.
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 30th, 2010
10:00 am
BTW-One big difference in Miami…no UGA Police!!!
reason #6
November 30th, 2010
10:02 am
the nfl lockout will keep aj green in athens for another season
Lowcountry Bulldawg
November 30th, 2010
10:03 am
Collegefootballfan-
Right off the top of my head I cannot think of a OL/DL lineman that was a top 1-2 rd pick that was a CMR recruit. We had plenty in the early part of this decade, but all where Donnan guys. Let me know if I am missing one.
EDawg71
November 30th, 2010
10:03 am
Lakedawg, very well said.
Fire Mark Bradley
November 30th, 2010
10:03 am
So Mark do you think the gators are going to win the national championship next year? How did that work for you this year?
Red
November 30th, 2010
10:05 am
Funny that panties in the lap saved Mark Richt….
Elvis Dog
November 30th, 2010
10:06 am
Please stop bashing MB! He is doing a great job. You people complaining about his journalism can’t handle the truth. I have seen CMR struggling for the past 3 years. And it used to make me sick how supportive MB was of the team and CMR. His points in the article are very valid. Many of you will attack anyone that has anything negative to say about CMR no matter how valid the issues are. We just want a competitive team. Your blind loyalty to CMR only puts the program farther away from becoming a quality competitive football program.
Coach Johnsons Paul
November 30th, 2010
10:07 am
For all the handwringing did not you and about 70%+ annoint Bama as the SEC Champs pre-season? Oh at Bama they don’t rebuild they just reload!!! or how about Texas or FL??? They have landed either #1 or no worse than #5 class year after year and yet they will not even be going to a bowl or in UF’s case they were picked to win the East hands down!!!
Last year Auburn and SC both lost 5 or more games and look where they are this year.
SEC football is what it is…Highly competitive and you are “one or two plays here and there” from Champs to middle of the pack.
EDawg71
November 30th, 2010
10:09 am
Elvis Dog, there are no points to be gained by sucking up to MB. Once he posts these crappy stabs at humor, he’s on to the next one.
I think I’ll leave it to the powers that be “McGarity” to decide if/when CMR needs to go….not Mark Bradley.
wildbill
November 30th, 2010
10:09 am
Mark Bradley, please read sports writer Bill Murphy’s article “Bulldogs in need of a fresh start” in todays paper, Nov. 30, 2010, page 1 B.
Tweets that mention 5 reasons Mark Richt won't leave UGA for Miami or anywhere | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
November 30th, 2010
10:09 am
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2011--Year of the Dawg!
November 30th, 2010
10:09 am
Richt’s building a machine in Athens—in 2011, UGA will be loaded on both sides of the ball for a deep BCS run! Florida’s run is over—they suck and will not be better next year. That win over UGA was a fluke! Ga beats florida next year like a rented mule. Ga wins the SEC in 2011—mark it down!
MR
November 30th, 2010
10:09 am
Who really cares. What dawg fans do not understand is that the rest of the SEC has caught up. There are five or six teams in the SEC that are head and shoulders about UGA. The other SEC schools that are in the top 10 in recruiting seem to post good seasons and their recruits become a team. What causes that? Good coaching. Something UGA is missing.
Terry Shirey, Sr
November 30th, 2010
10:10 am
To paraphrase General Patton, you don’t know any more about football than pigs do about fornicating.
Last National Bank in Georgia
November 30th, 2010
10:13 am
AJ, stay and we will set you up an ATM account
This goes for all potential recruits considering
crossing the state line, we will match any offer.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
November 30th, 2010
10:14 am
5 Reasons Mark Richt will leave Athens:
1. Miami will pay him much more money than he is currently making, and Miami has much larger financial resources than Athens.
2. Miami is a much better program with 5 national titles since 1985 and has a much better chance of winning a title in the next 5 years than Athens.
3. He needs enemies to push him in Miami, thus a national title within 5 years of taking over the program, unlike Athens who does not push any coaches to win.
4. UGA is not a big name school, and there only claim to fame is being in the SEC, but unfortunately UGA has the ugliest and cheapest house in the neighborhood.,
5. Florida has superior talent, which is right in his backyard.
So not so fast my friend, CMR is just waiting for his Napa Car Parts bowl to end, then he is packing up.
Elvis Dog
November 30th, 2010
10:15 am
EDawg71, I believe sports writers have been posting their oponions in newspapers for the last 100 years. We all know he does not have the power to fire CMR. He is simply bringing up some points. I don’t understand the anger coming out about it.
CoachDawg 2000
November 30th, 2010
10:19 am
Dr.CoachDawg 2000 has Three ways to imporve AJC Sports Department;
1- Let Mark Bradley get back to his true calling(mopping the restrooms at Burger King)
2- Let Jeff Schultz get back to his true calling (weekend fill-in role as Bozo the clown)
3- Prohibit Mark Bradley from prognasticating about football teams future success. (apparently if the team proves him wrong he spends several weeks skewering the coach)
td
November 30th, 2010
10:22 am
I told all of you change people last year that the D was not going to get any better this year just because you fire CWM. Guess what it did not. Why, because we are not playing college football on XBOX. It takes time for a new DC to come in and turn things around. Plus, Defense, and well as offense, is won in the trenches. First rule of coaching, if you can stop the opponents running game with your front 4 then you have the advantage. We could not and and had to bring the 8th man in the box to slow down the running game. UGA had three DL’s that went to the NFL and had to replace them with young players. It takes time folks be a freaking realist and not a stupid idiot. I think CTG has the right concepts and in a couple years he will improve the D if he can recruit the players he needs.
Point two, there is nothing wrong with the O. UGA scored enough points in most games, once they took the reigns off of Murray, to win. They will continue to do this for at least the next three years.
Point three and the most important: Recruiting. This is were we have failed the past few years. I am sure CRG has not forgotten how to evaluate talent and could get us some great recruits in but there is something you all have to realize. CRG and CMR ARE HAVING THEIR HANDS TIED BY ADAMS ON WHO CAN COME AND PLAY FOOTBALL AT UGA. It takes a mean, nasty streak to play LB or DL in the SEC and a good deal of the great ones have a shaky past (fights in HS, suspensions for cussing teachers, discipline problems ect). Adams has set up a special committee to review all athletic scholarships and if there is a hint of past character issues then these athletes can not play at UGA. This committee has refused admission to at least three I can think of in the past 5 years. CMR is a smart man and I am sure he knows what they look at and I am sure he has not even offered scholarships to some great players because he knows they can not get in. Example, The last two great LB that went to FL out of the state of GA. If I was a betting man I would bet that we did not even seriously recruit them because they could not get in. This committee was set up one year before CBV left the program and I bet he knew he would not be able to recruit the same players and it had something to do with his decision to leave? I wonder if this also played into the decisions of some of the DC’s we looked at last year?
If you really want to lay blame then you need to look at Adams first. Even if CMR was to leave the program, do you really think things will change that much when the next coach could not get the players they need? I have said it for the past three years. UGA will not be a consistent player on a national level until Adams is gone but you so called fans are just to stupid to see the real reason for the problems.
MR
November 30th, 2010
10:27 am
Let us pray—-no, I mean let’s talk about the situation
IMark Richt finds himself in. First, $3 mil is a pretty good chunk of change. Next, the fans seem to be a little surly after a loss, but sure as the sun rises, they’re optimistic about a national championship the next year. Hey!IMark Richt can ride this gravy train for another 10 years before anybody gets overly concerned.David
November 30th, 2010
10:27 am
Is this a joke? I enjoy Ga losing, but he needs to leave. They need fresh faces and a winner. Richt is tired of coaching football. I not sure his first years were just lucky. He is what we call diminishing returns. Deep down I wish Ga would sign him to a lifetime contract.
Al
November 30th, 2010
10:28 am
I love CMR and the example he sets. He is to be commended for that. And that is part of the problem. He is such a great guy that no one wants to be the heartless bastard to stick a fork in him and that is why he gets another year. Rather than calling for his firing, the fan base should begin raising our expectations of the Bulldog program. Our expectation should be that GA win the SEC East next season and appear in a top tier bowl. Now given the tallent we have returning that will be no easy task. However, if the bar is sufficently high, people will achieve more than they ever thought they could.
Dawghater
November 30th, 2010
10:29 am
The puppies seem to think they can go out and pluck all the A+ recruits and the world will be fine. Think again. 6-6
TheItalianDawg
November 30th, 2010
10:30 am
9 wins!!!? I would say if Georgia doesn’t win 11 games, Richt should be fired. honestly should be favored in all of these games
Rayburn Golf
November 30th, 2010
10:32 am
We have got to work hard to get better.
mambo
November 30th, 2010
10:33 am
I’m all for CMR but he has to bring us championships. Some changes need to be made.
JB
November 30th, 2010
10:34 am
Richt is 50… been a long time since he roamed the streets of Miami…30+ years….Miami is NOT the same place Mark grew up…….He would not put his family in that town.TV shows the glamor side of that place. 90% of the place is a crime infested Hell hole, just say’n.
Playmakers!!
November 30th, 2010
10:34 am
“He doesn’t see himself as the problem”
Then who the hell is the problem???????