A UGA question: Is Richt getting tougher or more pragmatic?
Here we see a tight-lipped Mark Richt. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Georgia enters a put-up-or-shut-up season without its best holdover tailback. Had not the Bulldogs signed Isaiah Crowell, Washaun Ealey would constitute a major loss. But they did, and now skeptics have suggested Mark Richt might have been less inclined to let Ealey leave had Crowell not been inbound.
And here’s where I take up for Richt — you’ll have to excuse me if I wheeze; I’ve gotten out of practice — and say: Don’t think so.
I also say: Remember Zach Mettenberger.
There have been times when Richt’s famous patience seemed unending. (We think of Odell Thurman, the gifted-but-erring linebacker.) There have been years where Georgia’s arrest total approached — and last year even surpassed — double figures. We add those together to reach the obvious conclusion: Richt is too easy on his players.
But we’ve seen signs that Mr. Softee is casting a colder eye. Maybe this is a response to the direction of his program, which last season achieved the double whammy of off-the-field embarrassment and an on-field losing record. Maybe it’s just the weariness of a coach in his 11th season who’s sick of hearing excuses. Whatever the cause, I don’t believe it’s a triumph of pragmatism over altruism.
Richt had every reason to have tired of Washaun Ealey, whom he’d suspended twice. And I could be naive, but I don’t think Ealey’s departure hinged on Crowell’s arrival. Does it help that Georgia has a new tailback ready to take over? Uh, yes. But sometimes even the famous Richt forbearance reaches its limit.
Let’s recall Mettenberger, who got himself arrested in South Georgia on spring break 2010. Mettenberger was allowed to play in the subsequent G-Day game and was the best of the three quarterbacks on display, but Richt wound up booting him off the team. (It has been suggested that Richt was pushed by Damon Evans, the AD who would himself be jettisoned after his midnight ride in Buckhead. Still, Richt runs the football program, does he not?)
This left Georgia with two scholarship quarterbacks, neither of whom had played a college down. Had the redshirt Aaron Murray gotten injured last season, Georgia had only the true freshman Hutson Mason as backup. (Logan Gray had been moved to receiver.) Losing Mettenberger could have hurt the Bulldogs in 2010, and there’s a chance it could hurt in the future: He’s now at LSU, which could meet Georgia for the SEC title down the road.
The hope when a program signs a player is that he’ll fit athletically and otherwise. The reality is that not every signee pans out on both fronts. It’s a bit heartless to dump a guy if he’s not quite good enough to play for you: That’s not really his fault. If he fails to conduct himself in the way expected of a student-athlete, that’s something else.
Let’s not paint Richt as some scheming puppet-master. He gave Washaun Ealey repeated chances, and apparently Ealey didn’t seize them. This wouldn’t seem a case of Georgia freeing up a position — even if Ealey hadn’t started, he’d surely have been the No. 2 tailback — but of a coach cutting his losses. Had Richt done more of this sooner, he’d have spared himself much grief.
By Mark Bradley
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272 comments Add your comment
MC
May 10th, 2011
4:29 pm
A GT fan trashing anything is funny as hell with the sorry excuse for a football program they have over at the joke by the coke.
Bubba From Athens
May 10th, 2011
4:31 pm
Dang, CMR is pragmatic. I thought he was on birth control pills.
Snoop Dawg
May 10th, 2011
4:32 pm
Pleeeeeeze. Put the koolaid away…
Waushaun is a product of Preacha Man Mark Richt the Coach. Problem is, leadership is lacking. Richt is supposed to add value to the high school kids he trains up physically, spiritually, emotionally. Mark Richt is a no go at this station. It doesn’t matter, though, because he will still collect his $250K at the end of the month, just as he does at the end of every month. How long will the carousel turn?
Snoop Dawg
May 10th, 2011
4:34 pm
Obviously, the buck doesn’t stop at the coach’s desk. The buck goes all the way into Preacha Man’s multimillion dollar bank account…
gcs
May 10th, 2011
4:34 pm
You call this getting tough??!! Five strikes and you’re out?
.
Not surpised
May 10th, 2011
4:35 pm
Good point MC, but it’s typical of Tech fans. They still think they are the best in spite of having their rear ends plowed every year.
Barbara Dooley
May 10th, 2011
4:42 pm
Herschel, honey, did you hear that CMR is pragmatic? We better be sure we use protection. I sure don’t want to wind up pragmatic.
Charlie Hayes
May 10th, 2011
4:45 pm
Ealey wanted out several months ago and CMR talked him into staying with the Dawgs. CMR cares more about Ealey’s future than any other coach would these days. Most coaches only care about winning. Dont get me wrong, CMR wants to win, however he also wants these kids to get a good education so they can have life after college and improve their well being. Ealey wants to play football with his best friend Dexter Moody and most likely they will both be playing at Georgia Southern this year. Ealey is wanting to play and be a star instead of fighting for playing time with four other RB’s. You cant blame Ealey for wanting to be the man, but it just shows that Ealey isnt as good as we all hoped when he came our way courtesy of ECI.
All I can say is that CMR is a coach with a lot of integrity, he provides second chances to mistakes and is a Damn Good Dawg! You guys that dont like CMR will never find another coach that will bring the level of success to UGA that he has brought in the past ten (10) years. Just think back to the Donnan and Goff days for a few minutes and you too will be proud of CMR. Now, let’s focus on talking crap about Boise State and get behind these Dawgs! Go Dawgs!
Charlie Hayes
May 10th, 2011
4:52 pm
Another point. Copied from Wiki on Jim Donnan……. was fired by University President Michael F. Adams, against the wishes of athletic director Vince Dooley, in 2000 after the Bulldogs struggled to two consecutive eight-win seasons, and three consecutive losses against Georgia Tech. Donnan’s inability to return the program to the national prominence of Dooley’s era and to compete with longtime SEC Eastern Division rivals such as Tennessee and Florida, combined with certain off-the-field problems for players, are believed to be the reasons for his dismissal.
Last I checked we have been whacking GT’s rear-end and we have been dominating UT. The “off-the-field” problems will always be present and can only be managed, not eliminated……What more do you Richt hatters want? Just tell me who you feel will be a better coach and we can start a blog on that topic. I dont think you will find one……
Vince Dooley
May 10th, 2011
4:58 pm
Barb, honey, did you hear that CMR is pragmatic? Wonder who the father is?
Sven Ottke
May 10th, 2011
5:00 pm
Neither. Richt grew up in the steps of Bobby Bowden, the king of the “aw schucks, boys will be boys.” Ealy wanted out awhile back.
And Joshua Barlowe nailed it early on, on this blog. This whole “Georgia Way” is as big a joke as the “Dream Team.” Ealy WAS doing it the “Georgia Way.” Trouble from the word ‘go.’
CMR
May 10th, 2011
5:02 pm
Can’t we all just get along?
Kirby Smart
May 10th, 2011
5:03 pm
Keep your chins up. I will be there next season.
Washin' Ealey
May 10th, 2011
5:03 pm
Dream team, smream team. We don’t need no stinkin’ dream team.
National Champs
May 10th, 2011
5:04 pm
UGA — undefeated once again and gets the glass football. Bwa bwa bwa bwa bwa bwa bwa bwa.
Athens Police Chief
May 10th, 2011
5:06 pm
Can’t wait for fall practice. We have several new cells to accomadate the thuga-letes.
Doctor Phil
May 10th, 2011
5:08 pm
“What was he thinking?”
Remember 1980
May 10th, 2011
5:10 pm
This is our year…..go dawgs. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bwa bwa bwa bwa
Cam Scootin'
May 10th, 2011
5:11 pm
Show me the money.
McDonalds HR
May 10th, 2011
5:13 pm
Wahshawn … please send us your resume.
Steve
May 10th, 2011
5:16 pm
“…have been years where Georgia’s arrest total approached — and last year even surpassed — double figures.” Really? We had 100+ arrests? Not sure how the University kept that quiet. Or did you mean to write, “and last year even reached’? Tighten up, Mark.
Arthur Dent
May 10th, 2011
5:32 pm
Richt is a joke, his players know it. Let’s cut through the BS, shall we?
Yes, please do. Richt is the biggest joke in Athens and the SEC. And the average reading level of his “student-athletes” is 4th grade, so they’re a complete joke too.
No, Georgia Tech can’t compete with UGA’s illiterati and morons, but Tech players don’t end up pushing shopping carts or riding the back of garbage trucks like UGA players after Mark Richt dumps them when their eligibility is up.
That’s just one of those inconvenient truths for dawgtards.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
5:36 pm
Are you trying to set a record for consecutive blog posts with a colon in the title?
GeoffDawg
May 10th, 2011
5:37 pm
Right on the money GTBob. The old adage of never wrestle with a pig comes to mind.
But I digress…enough about tech cheerleaders.
John
May 10th, 2011
5:42 pm
Richt has a pattern of doing this.
Beat his favorite, he makes you really unhappy until you transfer.
Mett, Gray, Ealey.
Richt wants his guys starting, not the best performers.
How do you start Caleb King over Ealey when King has 2 td’s to Ealey’s 11?
Only if King’s your fav because you feel he passblocks better.
John
May 10th, 2011
5:44 pm
If Richt getting:
1) tougher 2) more pragmetic 3) dumber
Since his win totals have gone down every year from 11 to 10 to 8 to 6, I’d go with door #3.
The Real Dog Catcher
May 10th, 2011
6:13 pm
The old saying that a little too late, or water over the dam, water under the bridge, that ship has sailed, and on and on.
The Athen program was once a program that teams had to bring their “A” game to play, now they just have to bring a game. The thuggish players of the UGA team during the Outback bowl against Wisconsin still embarrasses me and those of us from Georgia who had to live through late hits, tackling out of bounds, players barking at Badgers and the total lack of class.
When a prison warden loses control, he is replaced with another warden and folks the players in recent history at UGA have acted more like convicts and rule breakers than football players. The record speaks for itself.
Coach Grohbo
May 10th, 2011
6:45 pm
Catcher bringing up ThUGAry from 1998. Keep up the good work!
Coach Grohbo
May 10th, 2011
6:47 pm
John,
Don’t forget about Dowtin.
he is not above criticism
May 10th, 2011
7:41 pm
for jettisoning a problem. The decline/spiral/spinning out of control seems to be a trend instead of an anomaly. 11, 10, 8, 7, 6…can 5 be far away?
What will crosseyedjack say then?
Former Mayor Bill Campbell
May 10th, 2011
7:52 pm
UGA will suck worse this year than a $10 ladyoftheevening on Stewart Avenue. You will be lucky to finish 5th or 6th in the EAST this year.
The Real Dog Catcher
May 10th, 2011
7:53 pm
2005..Outback Bowl
MC
May 10th, 2011
8:02 pm
Let’s all go over to the Tech blaog and talk about a program that’s really swirling around the bowl.
FLA DAWG
May 10th, 2011
8:04 pm
Mark,
After having read your article I come away with the certainty the continuation of player non performance of this program is Richt himself. A decade of “Warm And Fuzzy” did nothing to correct the on and off field problems.
Are you aware of the attitude change of Dooley during and after the “Dump Dooley” years? I can tell you he’d walk by players and often not acknowledge them. He left the details to the asst coaches. Tough for them to swallow but he had their respect.
I don’t think Richt can be that tough and cold. More’s the pity as this season will likely be the final allowance for this once highly touted Head Coach.
dawgtime now
May 10th, 2011
8:27 pm
without crowell, richt doesn’t kick ealey off the team. Richt knows crowell is the starter from game 1.
David Granger
May 10th, 2011
8:44 pm
Mark, I think Richt is trying to be a hard-ass, no-nonsense coach…but I’m not sure he can do it now. He has NOT been that kind of coach the last couple of years, and when you let a team get away from you…it’s almost impossible to get them back. For one thing, you’re raising hell at players for doing some of the same things you’ve just winked away in the past. And nobody respects inconsistency like that.
Look at Will Muschamp at Florida. He just got rid of Janoris Jenkins, the team’s best player who was projected as the top cornerback in the 2012 draft.
He didn’t wait for the legal system to run its course, he didn’t cover anything up and say he would handle it “internally”, he didn’t decide that Jenkins should remain on the team because he needs the structure and discipline football provides, and he didn’t suspend him for the first two “thump-a-chump” games of next season. Jenkins committed his third strike, and is OUT.
And that was a gutsy call for a rookie head coach. He didn’t do the easy, expected, or expedient thing…he did the RIGHT thing.
Sure wish we had him running things at UGA.
Davis
May 10th, 2011
8:46 pm
Mark,
No, no, no.
The question is:
Why does Richt lose more games than the year before,
7 out of 8 last seasons, 88% of the time?
Dialing it in...
May 10th, 2011
8:52 pm
CMR is like the Rip Van Winkle of college ball this year. It appears that he is having an epiphany and has finally realizes that he needs to right the ship. He stated earlier in the year that he needed to release some of his CEO duties and get back to field. He stated that he needed to get back in contact with how the game is being played now days. He has a player admit that he didn’t know how to play his position. His veteran O-Line was suspect all season, yet he waited until after the season to replace the coach (yea, I know he resigned…wink, wink). He has a very public display with his running back of 2 years and openly embarrasses him with that dog and pony show with the RB position vacant during Crowell’s visit. Not to forget Rip losing his cool with a fan
Well, it sounds that Rip Van Richt is finally stepping up and doing what he should have been doing all along. Perhaps ol’ Rip should return a few million from the time when he was just dialing it in.
tater tot
May 10th, 2011
9:05 pm
RUDY RUDY RUDY !!!
test
May 10th, 2011
9:16 pm
Enter your comments here
Who Cares
May 10th, 2011
9:24 pm
Too little too late for Richt. He is showing all the signs of a desperate coach that is trying to do anything he can to save his job and his own ass. He has turned on his friends, Martinez, S&C coach(Neither should have been hired to start with), and now his players. This guy has lost control of the players and the program, and trying to instill discipline at this stage of the disaster he has created just want work. He has proven over and over again that he is terrible at making difficult coaching decisions, whether it be on the field during games, or off the field as it relates to hiring and firing coaches. He waits until too much damage has been done to fire coaches, just like he waits until too much damage has been done on saturdays on the field. This guys should stop firing coaches, and stop bad mouthing his players in public, and look in the mirror at the root of all the problems facing the UGA program now. He will never admit he is the problem, but like many leaders that have lost control, he is pointing fingers and blaming everyone else. He will never be able to turn the UGA program around, and unfortunately for UGA fans, the damage he has done will take several years to repair.
Real Tech Engineer
May 10th, 2011
9:48 pm
Richt loses 3-4 games, but keeps his job again—because he is such a “nice guy.” Keep it coming uga!!
dawgster
May 10th, 2011
10:11 pm
@GT Bob…Have to admit that your posts are some of the most absurd I have seen on here over the past couple of years…Your knowledge of Coach Richt and all his thoughts are just mind boggling…Probably the most absurd was your comments regarding Mett and his dismissal from the team…I know for a fact that it was one of the toughest decisions that he and the UGA administration had to make…You can spin it anyway you like but you have absolutely no clue on what took place with that decision….but there are people that actually do know, don’t pretend to be one of them because sir you are not…It was an uncomfortable and difficult situation that was dealt with in the best interest of all parties involved…I f you are going to run your mouth, at least make sure you have some knowledge of the actual events….Don’t mean to come down on you so hard, but it disgusts me when you or others that have no knowledge of what took place with the discipline of players but have all the answers….Think about some of the stuff you posts, if you expect any respect from others….
dawgster
May 10th, 2011
10:13 pm
And GT Bob…if you want to know how Zach and his family feel about what happened, then you should look them up….Zach accepts responsibility for his actions…but yet you want to blame Coach Richt….go dawgs
Wonderful Ohio on the Gulf 'Dog
May 10th, 2011
10:18 pm
Washaun may not be welcome in Statesboro after all.
“Georgia Southern has not been and will not be in conversation with Washaun Ealey,” Rose Carter, Georgia Southern assistant athletic director for athletics media relations, said by email this afternoon.
Maybe Ealey burned his bridges across the Oconee River before he figured out where he’ll be the premier back without need to share.
PT
May 10th, 2011
10:20 pm
It’s hard to do preventative maintenance on a sinking ship.
It Ain't Rocket Science
May 10th, 2011
10:44 pm
It is truely amazing that you negative posters know just what to do with UGA’s coach and the team as a whole. You post the same old crap, day after day. So many of you do not even come close to having an original thought. I suppose you pull out your crystal ball to forsee the future.
Also amazing is the fact that a Tech. fan or whinner actually, comes onto these blogs about matters UGA, and does one of two things. Either it is the fact that tech. has such high moral standards and educational ones as well, and therefore we are better than UGA, or UGA only has thugs at the school. I would think tech. fans would be well served to find a way to not lose consistently to UGA before you critsize UGA. When you quit getting your lunch handed to you, almost every year by UGA, then you can make positive comments and even offer suggestions about how UGA needs to improve in the football area. But when you are getting your butt handed to you with another loss in the column, you need to be quiet since you are only putting down your master.
rocketfuel
May 10th, 2011
10:55 pm
After this year DawgFans one of UGA’s own will be coming home to coach the Dawgs.Kirby,Greg Mcgarity on line 1.
Concerned!
May 10th, 2011
11:38 pm
I keep reading over and over again about the players, and their actions. Why CMR should step up and why it is about time. After ten years on sitting on his hands as well saying come on boys please be nice, it should be no surprise that CMR is reaching in all directions for relief.
The bottom line is CMR has not done a very good job assembling a strong coaching staff to direct players to higher standards. The asst. coaches are not doing their jobs. I know I was there once and Georgia coaches from the past higher character decades would not put up with this sort of stuff. One offense and you are gone. ONE! So weak coaches give you exactly what you have. A grouping of players who do not care, are there for themselves, and are unwilling to be serious about life because they never came to UGA to be a student/athlete.
Case in point in that the true leaders on the recent teams have come from Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and North Carolina. There are no in state of Georgia true leaders. The kids playing from Georgia for the Bulldogs do not graduate, cause trouble, and are there for the free ride. Another case in point, is that the overall school system that you are pulling from in the state is ranked 49 or 50 in America. Maybe someone really will speak truth here in acknowledging that UGA has recruited non students coming out of Georgia High Schools that need a huge face lift, as well a great change in the course of non parents in Georgia who hang out at the lottery store, the local fishing hole, and some wing shack. This is what we have, and God knows CMR cannot fix this. CMR knows he cannot fix this. How then does one get past the obvious fact that our resources in the state of Georgia are so poor that we must take kids that should not be in the UGA system?
The answer is to raise the bar, change how we look at recruiting. Only take a few not 20 kids that have no chance but maybe an NFL Degree. We did not loss anything, we never had it. # 34 was a surprise, and it would take three of him to win with the cancers within the recent UGA Teams.
Truth is never taken well. If we keep washing ourselves in the same water, expect for the smell never to change.
Say recruit nationally, say get rid of coaches that are not there for the right reasons, say no more 30 players majoring in Housing, say sorry good bye when you do DUI, break the law, disgrace your self and the university. Someone needs to be reading, and hearing the truth.
Greg are you there?
Buck Blue
May 10th, 2011
11:39 pm
Gary, if you are right about VD and ER, then fine. I hope that VD appreciated what all ER did for the Dogs and VD for years. Look what he accomplished at GSU. Just short of a miracle. I think that VD is a good fellow and smart fellow and good coach, but he seemed to lack that passion…like CMR. Maybe Richt is trying to pattern himself after VD.
I like the visors being thrown. That’s just me. Satan — erh, Saban — gets after their asses. And I notice that he doesn’t have a backfield by committee. He finds his starters and sticks with them, regardless if feelings are hurt.
I guess I was spoiled by the blood rolling down Erk’s forehead before the game. That does inspire. GATA.
I love the Dogs. Pull for them constantly. Bleed Red & Black. But, getting beat by the likes of Colorado? I remember the terrible 1979 season…with us opening up with Wake at home with John Makovic (very passionate) at the helm for Wake. We got beat, and we got beat by four or five other ACC opponents that year. We didn’t win against a single ACC team. But, in 1980…well, you know the story.
I give Dooley are hard time…and Richt…because they don’t fit my personality. They are good guys…and good coaches…but I want to see more passion…like Derek Dooley. I think that Derek is a lot like his mama, Barbara. Now she’s a passionate one. I’d to see her on the sideline! You’d have to have a “Get Back Coach” keeping her on the sideline!