Georgia saw Cam Newton as ‘more of a tight end prospect’
ATHENS – Sound bites from Mark Richt’s news conference today:
- On Auburn quarterback Cam Newton: “Just when you thought [Tim] Tebow left town, he showed up again in another jersey.”
- On recruiting Newton as a high school player: “I remember him. He was a very talented guy, a guy that we did look at. We actually had him pegged as more of a tight end prospect. A lot of it had to do with what we like to do offensively, more of a fit [issue] than any disrespect to his ability to play quarterback. He’s proven to be pretty darn good, though.”
- On whether he expects Newton to be distracted by all the controversy swirling around him: “It was swirling last week. It didn’t seem to bother him last week. So I doubt it. . . . Usually, when you start playing ball, no matter what’s going on around you, it’s a haven for an athlete be in his element and shut the world out and go have some fun and play ball.”
- On who will simulate Newton in Georgia’s practices this week: “Well, we’ve got Parker Welch, just because he’s been our scout-team quarterback all along. And one of the best similarities I guess I could say he has to Cam is he wears No. 2 this week. Parker, he’s a great scout-team quarterback. He throws the ball real good. He’s doing great for us. But he’s not 6-6, 250. It’s just a little different.”
- On Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley: “I’ve not really seen any one man block him. I rarely have seen two guys block him very well. I’ve seen him get a sack without even touching the quarterback –- he knocked a guard into the running back and then the running back into the quarterback and the quarterback got knocked down. . . . And then when he sacks guys, he tends to like to body slam them. It makes me real nervous. Hopefully, [Aaron] Murray won’t see this press conference.”
- On whether Georgia figures it can get the ball downfield to A.J. Green vs. Auburn: “You know what the biggest problem is? The biggest problem in my opinion is Nick Fairley. Because when you’re talking about getting the ball downfield to A.J., to do that you’ve got to hold the ball a little while. And it’s hard to hold the ball a little while when that guy is coming. Because he is relentless. I think Ben Jones is a pretty good center, and I think Cordy [Glenn] is a pretty good guard, but I tell you: This guy, he’s a lot to handle. . . . Fifteen quarterback hurries, 18 tackles for loss, 7 ½ sacks — those are huge numbers for an interior defensive linemen. Those are [Warren] Sapp type of numbers. . . . Nick, he’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Warren Sapp in all the years I’ve been coaching.
- On the high profile of Saturday’s game: “We know everybody in the country is going to watch the game, but they’re probably tuning in to watch Auburn. Hopefully we’ll show up and give them something to watch.”
- On Arkansas’ victory over South Carolina last week, an outcome that would have boosted Georgia’s chances of reaching the SEC title game IF the Bulldogs had beaten Florida on Oct. 30: “I was sick. I’ll be honest with you; I was sick. . . . If we had won the Florida game, we’d have been in position to go to Atlanta depending on what happens this Saturday in Florida vs. South Carolina. And it would have been a wonderful story. But it’s not.”
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293 comments Add your comment
John
November 9th, 2010
4:11 pm
Did Cam Newton come out of high school the same year as Stafford?
If so, I’d have chosen Stafford too.
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:11 pm
Dawg byte,
Points well taken.
John
November 9th, 2010
4:12 pm
CMR this is the same man that redshirted Knowshon? Recruited Joe Cox and Logan Gray for QB, but Cam Newton is a TE? The sooner you fire this idiot the better Georgia will be.
powerhouse?
November 9th, 2010
4:12 pm
Simple dog wonders why people call him simple…LOL!
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:14 pm
Dave,
The point is all those q.b’s you named were successfull in college-more so than Stafford.Thats my argument.
dawgfacedboy
November 9th, 2010
4:15 pm
Murphy- it’s coaching. Stafford was a projected #1 pick before he even stepped foot on campus. The fact that they can’t even win an SEC title having him, Moreno (top 15 pick), and Massoquoi (1st round) for 3 years and add AJ as the SECs freshman of the year (future top 3 pick) is just plain sad.
JB
November 9th, 2010
4:16 pm
Richt’s problem as been his staff…..I always admired Tubberville for looking to improve his team by upgrading his staff. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. Some people thought he was jerk for firing Assistants, but at the end of the day, it was HIS butt on the line.
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:16 pm
John,
You will get no argument from me on your points
John
November 9th, 2010
4:17 pm
John…if we’re using hindsight for this arguement. If Cam Newton leads Auburn to a National Title, I would take Cam over Stafford. Stafford did nothing at UGA, no east title, no sec title, no national title, what good was Stafford? If Georgia can’t win a National Title with the pro-set, they shouldn’t they switch to a spread? Why keep doing the same thing expecting different results?
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:17 pm
dawgfaceboy,
You are preaching to the choir my friend.Been saying this for the last 2 hours.
Mobile Dawg
November 9th, 2010
4:18 pm
Spoke to soon. Matthews Dawg, I admire your stepping up. Don’t take the “blind homer” and “kool aid” comments to personally, same as I don’t get insulted by the loyalists remarks aimed at those of us who would like “major” change.
Where we disagree is IMO, most of the “homers” are thinking with their hearts and not their heads. Seems like you’re describing the herd mentality. I’m going to follow the Leader no matter where he takes us. In today’s society, that’s an unhealthy line of thought. We can put that in many perspectives, from peer pressure to politics to UGA football. We will go out of our way to support the weak today. Just remember the law of the land, since the beginning of time, the smartest, strongest, and fastest are the ones that survive.
As far as making plays, everyone makes a mistake every now and then. If you look at our performance, our players “consistently” make those mistakes. And the results are consistent. These mistakes are being made by poorly coached players, i.e. lack of fundamentals, focus, and discipline. None of them are poor atheletes.
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:19 pm
JB,
Richt and Goff are alike in their blind loyalty to their assistants. It cost Goff his job and probably will Richt also.
Joseph
November 9th, 2010
4:20 pm
Imagine if you were Meyer, actually had Cam Newton recruited, on your team, and somhow, let him slip away through your fingers to Auburn.
Meyer might have made the dumbest move in college football history, what a terrible judge of talent.
JB
November 9th, 2010
4:20 pm
Stafford and Moreno lit it up, but Martinez was leaking points in huge numbers on D. When you’ve got folks putting 30-40 points on you regularly, you won’t win many trophies.
bulldogsteve
November 9th, 2010
4:20 pm
If UGA had signed Newton after he got kicked out of FL, can you imagine what our AJC would have said about that? And now with this other information coming out, UGA would have been crucified. Rumor is LSU is going to sign Mett after his stint at JC. Bet AJC won’t touch that one either. My dog won’t even crap on the AJC anymore.
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:21 pm
Mobile Dawg,
Well said my friend.Great comments
Bosshog
November 9th, 2010
4:21 pm
cammy cam is going to school the puppies.
it is going to be oogly this weekend.
cammy cam will run all over the pups.
just think of the florida game with cam as the QB.
you folks will have no idea which way the backs will be going.
cammy cam. one and done. dude is off to the nfl.
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:22 pm
bulldogsteve,
No rumor-Mett will be a Tiger.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
November 9th, 2010
4:23 pm
All you need to know about the system and evaluation techniques at UGA. They had him more as a TE. Incredible.
JB
November 9th, 2010
4:23 pm
Cam will be out of the NFL in 3 -4 years working at Circuit City selling Lap Tops……He’ll know a good one when he see’s it……
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
4:25 pm
JB,
OUCH! LOL
John
November 9th, 2010
4:29 pm
JB…If Cam is a first round pick, he would be able to buy a Circuit City.
Mobile Dawg
November 9th, 2010
4:32 pm
One last thought for the day and I gotta go, my curfew has already been extended once.
The mistakes our players are making which are contributing to the losses are happening for a number of reasons. As I said in my last post, lack of fundamentals, lack of focus, lack of discipline, etc.
There is another reason these mistakes are happening in critical situations. “Culture”. This has been the norm for a while now and the thought process permeates through everything we do as players and as a team. Bad culture is like a slow growing cancer, the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to change. That’s what scares me most.
Thankfully I’m self employed, and fit this in with the administrative tasks that come with the territory. I don’t live to blog and be critical of the CMR regime. I blog with you all because I enjoy it and I usually learn something here. Some days I spend to much of my work day here but communicating with the knowledgeable crowd is a pleasure, even when we disagree….
PTC DAWG
November 9th, 2010
4:34 pm
The Barn recruited Phillip Rivers as a TE. Things happen.
DawgByte
November 9th, 2010
4:36 pm
John -
You may be overreacting just a tad. Matt Stafford was the number one draft pick in the NFL. He won 10 games in his final season with Georgia. God only knows how many we would have won had Stafford and Moreno stayed on. Let’s see where Cam goes. For that matter lets see if Cam can stay out of jail.
MontyP
November 9th, 2010
4:36 pm
CHDawg – You do know who the offensive coordinator is for Georgia don’t you? You can’t believe that Mike Goff Bobo hasn’t run a creative offensive play! You can’t believe that Mike Goff Bobo doesn’t put Ealey and King in the backfield together! Do you think Bobo goes to Dairy Queen and gets his vanila ice cream cone dipped in chocolate? No way!
John
November 9th, 2010
4:38 pm
JB…Stafford couldn’t do it when it counted. Against Alabama and Florida, UGA couldn’t score in the 1 & 2nd quarters, defense got tired and UGA was blown out. Against 2nd tier teams UGA scored 30 and 40 points, against the elite they choke. Why do you think Billy Bennett left Georgia the highest scorer in the NCAA? Why do you think CMR recruits good kickers? Because they are a major part of his “Pro-set” offense, it’s hard to score in the red-zone with Pro-style QB in the fast SEC. Georgia needs good kickers to score.
John
November 9th, 2010
4:45 pm
DawgByte…Even the year Georgia won 10 games, they still was blown out by Florida. Stafford and Moreno last year was another Florida and Alabama blow-out. Georgia’s plan is to lose to Florida, then hope & pray someone beats Florida to try to get to the SEC Championship game. How’s that working for the DAWGS? How’s the Pro-set offense working? 7-5, 5-6, yeah, keep praying, you’ll win it one day.
john
November 9th, 2010
4:49 pm
Matthews Dawg, you make some great points and the great Nick Saban even had his team blow it twice this year. The two Alabama losses compare very much to Georgia’s five losses. If a couple more would have slipped the other way, the Bama lunatic fringe would be crying for Saban’s job!! This is what we have to deal with the age of the internet. The days of the Bear Bryants, Joe Paternos and Vince Dooleys are almost extinct due to the constant barage by each team’s unrealistic fan base, that is, the lunatic fringe part that is most vocal on the blogs and callin shows. My prayer is that Coach Mark Richt can weather this storm like Bryant, Paterno, Osborne, and Dooley did theirs. Remember, every coach on the planet has gone through his storm, including even Bear Bryant.
Go Dawgs!!
MontyP
November 9th, 2010
4:50 pm
Mark Richts loyalty to his staff and PLAYERS will ultimately lead to his demise. Why was Joe Cox the QB last year when during a rebuilding year he could have started his future QB Aaron Murray to get him some experience under his belt. During past years Mark Richt has always used the kick off team as an opportunity to get the bench warmers in the game instead of putting his best athletes on the field. Todd Grantham changed that this year and the difference is very noticable; the UGA kick off coverage is great this year. Other concerns: Mark Richt acknowledged earlier this year that practice was too easy due to fears of causing injuries. TRAIN LIKE IT’S REAL! How can you have “no contact” practice and then wonder why the guys can’t tackle? Mark Richt definately needs to change his approach to how he prepares his team or things will never improve and he needs to grow a pair and replace Bobo.
john
November 9th, 2010
5:02 pm
Whether it is by one point or twenty points, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. Would I like to see us win by 30 points every game. Sure, but that is unrealistic. The key is win baby. If you want a championship, recruit a championship player like Tebow, Shockley, Pollack, Greene, Thomas Davis, Herschel Walker, and Bo Jackson. Players are the key. Richt has recruited them before and I believe he will again – Murray/LeMay and Ealey/Crowell will leave with a championship in my opinion before they graduate, provided the defense continues to improve under Grantham’s leadership, which I think will happen based on what I’ve seen this year.
Go Dawgs!
Let's Talk About UGA!
November 9th, 2010
5:02 pm
“The two Alabama losses compare very much to Georgia’s five losses.”
Hmm.
I’m not that good at math.
Would I rather have two beers or five?
Hmm.
Go Dawgs!
Sic ‘em!
Woof! Woof! Woof!
john
November 9th, 2010
5:06 pm
MontyP, if you will review the tapes you will find that you have inaccurately assessed the situation. Chad Gloer along with several others continue to cover on kickoffs. It’s the coaching and the newcomers like the Ogletree twins that are making the difference, not the benching of players like Gloer (#47) who by the way is one of the leading tacklers on the special teams units.
Go Dawgs!
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
5:12 pm
We need to recruit kids that lead not follow. Pollack,Green,Shockley,ect.
Let's Talk About UGA!
November 9th, 2010
5:13 pm
DawgNation,
Anybody want to review the VHS tape of the 1981 Sugar Bowl?
We can accurately review the win over the Fighting Irish.
I wish I were Irish. They drink a lot.
Heck, I drink a lot.
Man, I remember when the twins came over to our trailer. They really made a difference.
Go Dawgs!
Sic ‘em!
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Another Reason to Outsource Recruiting
November 9th, 2010
5:13 pm
With all due respect to CMR, the FSU offense of the ’90s just doesn’t work anymore. And, how many National Championships have you won with our “pro-style” type players? How many times have they beaten Florida? Sometimes you just have to change, and sometimes you just get fired.
gt
November 9th, 2010
5:15 pm
I think Richt is hoping he insults Newton. Richt much rather Newton show Georgia he is a quarterback that knows how to pass than run all over them like a fast tight end. Auburn doesn’t have the receivers for a SEC power, they have a great running attack, average receivers.
59bulldawg
November 9th, 2010
5:15 pm
Yeah I understand that CMR prefers the pure pro-style QB profile. But considering we currently have a duel-threat QB, I think it’s a fair question as to why we were recruiting Newton as a tight-end. Can’t be simply be that Newton is 6′6″ and 250 because at 6′5″ and 230 Mett was close to that . . . but then again Mett was a pure pro-style QB. Of course even if we had recruited Newton he probably would have been kicked off the team by now. So considering that . . . it’s a non-issue except for the fact that it still calls into question our analysis of talent. In short if we would recruit a 6′1″ 206 lb. guy who can throw it and run it, i.e. an Aaron Murray, why would we not want a bigger, stronger version behind center. This is not a criticism of Murray with whom I am very happy to have in red and black. But it is a legitimate question regarding our analysis of talent.
SOUTHGADAWG88
November 9th, 2010
5:17 pm
Random thoughts….
player projections can be tricky…Charlie Ward got his 1st pt at FSU as the punter..I wonder what happens if Bama loses to MSU and AUB?Does anybody have faith that SC will beat FLA?What if we beat Aub…will Richt get the praise for getting things under control?The offensive schemes are getting the upper hand these days in the college game.What’s the next great defensive innovation?
If Boise and TCU played would we get a split NC if we have a 1loss team from a major conference?
john
November 9th, 2010
5:17 pm
Let’s Talk About UGA, I was just making a point that we have been in every game this year, and granted our players have not finished well this year where in years past we usually have. Saban after his 7 and 6 season made it a point to focus on finishing games. We will obviously focus on that as well. Sure, I’d like to see us at 8 and 2 or 9 and 1, but we can still turn this around just like Bama did a few years ago. I’m not a Bama fan, but just using that as a measuring stick. Remember, Richt has had success versus Saban before (vs. LSU ‘04 and Bama ‘07), Meyer (07) and Miles (05), so those that claim he can’t beat the other big name coaches is false. He simply needs players to make plays.
Matthews Dawg
November 9th, 2010
5:21 pm
John…great points! The internet gives all of us who want to say something the chance to say it.
Being the blind homer that I have been called…but there are some great points being made by everyone. Remember, it’s always easier to look back or to say “I wish our offense was this or that”. It’s the flavor of the month with college football. I want to win something terrible, but I believe that CMR is the right man. But, that being said I believe SC coach needs to be evaluated, along with our “recruiting coordinator”. CRG is the person who evaluates and “starts the ball rolling” on players. I agree that CMB could use his imagination more, but I’m not convinced he is a huge problem. But, if CMR took over the play calling that would not upset me! Let’s get after Auburn and then Tech! Go Dawgs!
tide roll
November 9th, 2010
5:22 pm
It’s apparent that Richt would recruit him as a tight end prospect TODAY!! It’s incredible. They’re doing the same thing with C. J. Uzomah. No wonder Damon got drunk and rode around with red panties on his head.
gt
November 9th, 2010
5:23 pm
Georgia should be crucified it they had signed Newton and this came up. At Georgia Newton would have turned out the same as he was turning out at Florida. The AJC should get on Georgia more, they have a track record of sorry behavior and the AJC really hides a lot until it has to be told such as arrest, car wreaks and things impossible to cover up. Newton is actually getting more attention than most of the criminal element at Georgia ever did, and as I read this at least 11 Georgia players have a longer arrest record than Newton.
He Hate Gator
November 9th, 2010
5:26 pm
Yeah we pay Richt 3 mill a year not to get blown out and just be in each game…yeah…right on!
STUDENT ATHLETE
November 9th, 2010
5:28 pm
Well I guess that explains (1) why Newton went to Florida and not Georgia and (2) why Auburn is
10-0 and Georgia is 5-5.
dawgcrzy
November 9th, 2010
5:33 pm
Goes back to evaluating talent ,we can’t do it
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
5:33 pm
gt,
I say the issue is not that we did or didnt recruit him.The issue myself and some other have is that our coaches were projecting him at tightend before he even hit campus.Some others are saying he wouldnt fit in our system.My biggest issue is our system-offensive system that is-very outdated if you ask me.But yes,we Dawgs cannot cast stones at Cam’s background.
ARdawg
November 9th, 2010
5:33 pm
The team with the best athletes and the best coaching or “corching” as Maxine would say wins ball games. Remember that looking at the recruits next year Corch Richt
just saying
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
5:34 pm
Hard to recruit a great
MURPHY
November 9th, 2010
5:35 pm
OOPS-Hard to recruit a top tier High Scholl QB that doesnt come from the spread. Almost all high school teams now run a version of the spread or wing t versions. I-Formation,Pro-style offenses in High School are a deminishing breed.