Richt tells callers he’s staying and wants ‘Dream Team’ recruits to join him
Mark Richt was outspoken on two topics on his radio call-in show Monday night –- his intention to remain at Georgia and his aspirations for this recruiting season.
- On the recruiting front, Richt reiterated his vision of signing an in-state “Dream Team” that, he said, could make an impact as soon as Georgia’s Sept. 3 season opener against Boise State in Atlanta’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
“We’re trying to recruit guys right now that can make an impact so when we play in that Georgia Dome next year and open against Boise State, we can introduce those kids to the college football world and make a difference at the University of Georgia,” Richt said.
“When you talk about in-state kids, that’s why I’ve been talking about this Georgia ‘Dream Team’, this team of guys that I think are the best players in the state of Georgia. And I believe if they will stay in the state and come together, we can prove to the United States of America that we have the best football in the country [in] the state of Georgia. We need those Georgia kids to stay at home and do that thing for the Bulldogs, and I think everybody is going to get excited about that.”
- In light of recent reports that Colorado and Miami might pursue Richt for their open coaching jobs, one caller implored Richt to “hang in with us, don’t leave us now.”
Richt replied: “I’m definitely going to do more than hang with Georgia. Georgia is going to thrive, and Georgia is going to have a tremendous future ahead of us. And I’m excited to be here.”
Another caller had two questions: Will junior linebacker Justin Houston enter the 2011 NFL draft? And will Richt stay or “jump ship” to his alma mater, Miami?
Richt said he doesn’t know what Houston will do but suggested he could be a top-five or top-10 NFL pick in 2012 if he plays another season of college ball. Houston faces a tough decision, Richt acknowledged.
As for the caller’s second question: “For me, I don’t have a tough decision,” Richt said. “Georgia is the greatest place in the United States of America for me and my family.”
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443 comments Add your comment
Skyhook
November 30th, 2010
10:18 am
Went back and re-watched the Tech game from a coaching perspective and came away with these impressions. Bobo really did a good job of play calling in this game. On the long pass play that Durham scored on, he caught them in a Cover 1 setting (used to stop running plays), which was executed to perfection resulting in a TD. Thought he was effective in alternating running game and passing game as the game moved along.
Was not as impressed with Murray as I was Saturday as AJ made some catches that no other receiver in the country could have made. Aaron really has to work on his accuracy, and I’m sure he knows it better than anyone.
Really disappointed in the defensive scheme. Bob Davie doing his analysis commented on some of it as it pertains to the bubble that is inherent in the 3-4 alignment. You compensate for that by collapsing the defensive end toward the middle with the outside linebacker offering support or by having the outside LB’s pressure up the field to funnel the play back to the inside. The fullback dive killed us all night by having the Sam & Will backer 8 yards off the ball. When the defensive ends moved up the wide receivers cracked back opening up huge running lanes. All we had to do was move the Sam & will up to 3-4 yards off the ball, which would have taken away the dive, and taken away the angles for the crack by the wide receivers. Would have potentially opened up the passing game for them a little more as the safetys would have had to move up, but they were not going to beat us throwing anyway.
Simple adjustments that any good high school coach would have saw and made.
Hope CTG can expand his learning curve a little quicker, or we are going to have major problems next year.
jasont13
November 30th, 2010
10:25 am
I think it is hilarious that someone pointed out that Gene Chizik is doing more with less. If my memory is correct Auburn has had Top 10 recruting classes for the past 5 or so years. Plus they may have the best player money can buy as well. Please do not give me that crap.
MURPHY
November 30th, 2010
10:27 am
ckgator,
I agree. Urban is one heck of a coach.I think losing all the talented coaches that were present in the last couple of years will set back the program for this year and maybe a couple more to come.I was in the Swamp for the Carolina game and I agree that UF has some outstanding young talent.I was very impressed with #7 Powell-WHAT A BEAST! Saw him return a kickoff,man he is a DEnd and ran the ball better than our UGA backs.#6-Other Dend is a monster also.I think it will take UGA and UF a couple years to mature with the young talent we have and will get in 2011
TONE
November 30th, 2010
10:28 am
the players are here what needs to change is the strength program . I know I am just stating the obvious but come on MAN !!
getting overpowered in the fourth quarter is getting old .
jasont13
November 30th, 2010
10:29 am
Georgian-Nick Marshall has said he doesn’t want to play QB in college. I can tell you do not follow recruiting at all.
UGAGirlFAN
November 30th, 2010
10:30 am
OH Heck Yes!!!!!!!! YEAH CMR!!!!!!!!!!!!
McDawg
November 30th, 2010
10:31 am
i’d rather be a hick and go to Auburn
dgog
November 30th, 2010
10:33 am
just facts Yes, recruits and their parents read this blog crap. it does damage recruiting. The negative crap people write about CMR, Garner and the team is stupid. Yes, recruits and their parents do read this stuff and it hurts!!!
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
10:33 am
LMFAO!!!!! What a bunch of bunk from the CEO!
Next year 8 – 4 at best. Still no championship, still no Number 1 ranking. Same problems continue that have plagued UGA for the last 5 years and you will still want to give MR one more year. You ppl are twisted!
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
10:34 am
So – Where does the great LeMay fit in your plans? This is a joke and should be stopped!
CollegeFootballFan
November 30th, 2010
10:35 am
Buckeye~
So Texas is not a top tier program because they didn’t make a bowl? Where the hell was Ohio State before Tressel? You sir, are an idiot!
I am not a fan of ole Lou “Spitter” Holtz but he said it best,
“Its better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are an idiot, rather than to open your mouth and leave no doubt!”
Georgia will be fine, like Texas, like Florida State, like Miami…college football is cyclical. There will be down years and there will be up years.
You just pick your team, support the hell out of them, and worry about the important things in life like faith, family, work, and health. Now, I love college football, don’t get me wrong, but I am not going to let it ruin or run my life because 17-22 year old kids have a bad year or two of football.
By the way Buckeye, you will find out soon enough what going to a lower tier bowl is like when Michigan finally cans Rodriguez and Nebraska starts owning that weak conference you call the Big Ten.
unoit
November 30th, 2010
10:36 am
Good to hear…. Now git-r-done!!!!!
UGAGirlFAN
November 30th, 2010
10:37 am
I do not care what any of you CMR haters have to say, He is good for UGA like it or not, you can throw out the facts all you want, but one bad season does not make him fired! How long did it take my all time favorite Coach Dooley to get us the National Championship? Just saying, I love Coach Dooley with all my heart!!!! But CMR is a good Coach and man too just like Dooley- Go ahead with your insults and personal attacks on me, I hear them coming! LOL! They always do….. because the ones who say them are just plain cruel!
Neverending Sleaze
November 30th, 2010
10:37 am
AJC headline: Damon Evans to appear in court Wednesday
Just one more reminder of the sleaze that runs through the UGA athletic program from top to bottom, from the AD to the coaches to the players and to the fans who tolerate this abomination.
This obscenity has been going on since the head sleazemeister Vince Dooley chose to break all the rules to win at all costs, and Mark Richt is the same. Players are mostly thugs who can barely read and write and seldom even attend classes.
A really pathetic situation and a huge embarrassment to everyone in this state.
wesleywhatwhat
November 30th, 2010
10:40 am
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/damon-evans-to-appear-759008.html?cxtype=rss_news
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
10:42 am
@UGAGirlFAN – You are entitled to your opinion and I’m glad you support UGA. Its OK you support the CEO as well, thats your right. All I have to say is that we will see who is proven right in 2 years!
Go DAWGS! In spite of the well intentioned, nice man, out of his class coaching wise CEO MR!
Dirty Dawg
November 30th, 2010
10:43 am
Suspect that my comment has been included somewhere above, but nevertheless…this is exactly the kind of strategy and positioning that Georgia should be doing every year – and probably should have been doing, and I mean openly, not just in players living rooms with momma and/or daddy, all along. Fact is it’s the same strategy that we should be using with both basketball and baseball – as for the rest of the sports, e.g, tennis, golf, track & field, gymnastics, maybe not as much in-state talent, but that’s really not the point. Let the kids know that assuming they’re good enough, they can play right away and help make a difference – after all, the best ones are gonna bolt for the pros the first chance they get anyway so why not play ‘em as freshmen?
And as for the ‘Dog Fans’ that want to criticize Mark Richt, or Mike Bobo, or Grantham…lay the hell off…you’re only making their jobs more difficult. That way we’ll know for sure that the on-line critics are just dirty, rotten spies, whose only intent is to undermine our program.
Thanks Coach Richt and stick to this plan from now on – after all, we can have a Dream Team every year from now on as far as I’m concerned…and for those that you want to recruit out-of-state, tell ‘em we’ll make ‘em an ‘Honorary Georgian’ if that’ll help.
Scout.com
November 30th, 2010
10:45 am
UGA recruiting classes National rankings by Scout.com
‘05 – 4th
‘06 – 4th
‘07 – 17th
‘08 – 5th
‘09 – 4th
SEC East titles – 0
UGAGirlFAN
November 30th, 2010
10:45 am
TO NEVERENDING SLEAZE regarding the team on reading and writing :
2009
• Football ranked #1 in the SEC for APR – True again this year…also tied for first among all top-25 football programs nationwide
• Football earned a new team record 2.876 for the spring, 2009 term
• 24 scholarship football players and a total of 46 football players earned a 3.0 or higher for spring 2009 term
• 51.8% of student athletes earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher this spring
• 11 of 17 teams earned team GPA’s of 3.0 or higher this spring
• 14 of 17 teams earned team GPA of 2.7 or higher this spring
• Student-athletes combined for an all-time record high department GPA of 3.01
• 43 student-athletes earned a 4.0 during the 2008-2009 academic year
You want the truth...
November 30th, 2010
10:47 am
In the 1986 Jan Kemp trial, O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for UGA, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
That trial exposed UGA for the football factory that it was, and exposed Vince Dooley as a fraud and a sleazebag. It also derailed Dooley’s plans for a political career. That’s why we see the decrepit old fraud doing TV commercials even now.
Mark Richt is just the latest in a line of sleazy UGA coaches who coddle athletes and discard them after four years of football. He recruits illiterate morons he knows aren’t smart enough for college, but he doesn’t care, as long as they help him line his pockets with millions of dollars each year.
Suntanned Saint Mark isn’t all he appears to be, is he?
Sugarhilldawg
November 30th, 2010
10:48 am
UGAGirlFan, I resent you trying to say that we HATE Mark Richt and it is a pretty tiresome ploy you people use who want to ignore the obvious because Richt is a good guy.I will be the FIRST to admit that he is a model for every man to try to emulate BUT HE IS IN OVER HIS HEAD! Coaches don’t have that long like Dooley had to turn things around because they are paid too much and the pressure to win is 10 times what is was when Dooley was coach.If that is a personal insult, I apologize.
collage graduate
November 30th, 2010
10:48 am
richt is talking like a tea-bagger….
Les W. Moore
November 30th, 2010
10:49 am
It’s a sad day when the coach going into his 11th year is hoping true freshmen will contibute. Can anyone imagine Saban, Miles, Meyer, or even Chizik saying that?
BullDawgWillie
November 30th, 2010
10:49 am
I’m so tired of all the negative stuff on CMR and my Dawgs. CMR has averaged almost 10 wins a season and we have folks everywhere wanting to clean house because of several below average seasons. Please chill-out and give the man another year. Other than Colorado our losses were to very good teams who could beat anyone on a given day. Also, my Tech buddies keep harping on how lucky the Dawgs were last Saturday and how they dominated the field of play. Let’s see, 92 plays to just 48 for the Dawgs…..and 512 yards vs 425 yds. At first glance that sounds like Tech won the “stat” game, but for the analytical Teckies consider this: The Dawgs averaged 8.9 yards per play to Tech’s 5.6 (Is that domination when the Dawgs average almost 60% more yardage per play)? Also, Tech leads the Country in “rushing” yet both teams averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Georgia averaged 1.1 plays per point scored vs. 2.7 for Tech (200+% more efficient on the Dawg’s side). Of course I keep hearing about the turnovers and how they killed Tech, well UGa averaged 1 turnover per 16 plays and Tech had 1 turnover per 23 plays so that is to Tech’s advantage.
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
10:49 am
@UGAGirlFAN – Where are the championships? Oh yeah, that doesn’t matter as long as MR keeps his job. Not a one of you demands excellence on the football field! You’re OK with mediocrity on the field, and probably in life as well!
@Dirty Dawg – WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, cry us a river!
Les W. Moore
November 30th, 2010
10:50 am
UGA recruiting classes National rankings by Scout.com
‘05 – 4th
‘06 – 4th
‘07 – 17th
‘08 – 5th
‘09 – 4th
SEC East titles – 0
When is the last time they played for a title?
Sugarhilldawg
November 30th, 2010
10:50 am
Hey collage graduate, what ddoes a “tea Bagger” talk like? I hope it’s not like a Socialist Booger- Eater like you.
MURPHY
November 30th, 2010
10:51 am
You want the truth?
1-9 against the Dawgs in past 10 years! Dont think Jan Kemp assisted in those win’s!
schmeckdawg
November 30th, 2010
10:55 am
You can’t appreciate the peaks until you have been in the valley’s and UGA football has been down for the last couple of years; HOWEVER, WE WILL BE BACK and CMR will be the lead DAWG in getting us there!!!!!
DAWG fan’s Keep Hunkerin’!!!!!!!!!!
just facts
November 30th, 2010
10:55 am
skyhook… you sound pretty knowledgeable, from where do you get your coaching perspective. as far as bob davie, if he was so good at scheming then he wouldn’t be in the pressbox. davie says he loves his job. a lot of his love comes from the fact that he can’t get a job coaching.
dgog… prove me wrong , give me one concrete example of a kid not coming to uga because if negative blogs. I am a uga fan and would be glad to use any excuse for our several poor years but I think blaming bad football on negative bloggers is a BIG stretch.
ugagirl had to win an award for the funniest post. she says that regardless of the facts that richt is good for uga. someone explain that for me.
DawgByte
November 30th, 2010
10:57 am
There’s only two coaches that need to go and they are Rodney Garner and Dave Van Halanger.
Read Buck Belue’s latest blog. He’s right on the money and has some key inside information on why Garner’s got to go.
For those of you wondering what happened during the SC game versus the end of the season. Uhhhhh, it’s real simple fellas… new QB and no AJ Green.
The keys for 2011 are as follows:
1. Improving the defensive line!
2. Improving the offensive line!
3. Improving our LB’s and secondary!
4. Improving our strength and conditioning!
You do those 4 things and we’ll go 10-2. You don’t and we’ll be right back at 7-5, or 8-4.
WDE
November 30th, 2010
10:57 am
Haha, sorry Dawg fans. This just reeks of desparation. CMR might finally have fallen off his rocker.
WDE
November 30th, 2010
10:57 am
desperation*, my apologies.
JB
November 30th, 2010
10:58 am
He better play freshman next year, he better play wide open and aggressive. When Richt/Bobo take their foot off the gas, we three and out and punt. Now, no AJ next year, I don’t know what we do….But this team needs to pass to set up the run.
DawgByte
November 30th, 2010
11:00 am
Les W. Moore -
Now take those same recruiting classes and compare them to the rest of the SEC and you’ll find they’re ranking is not as high as Florida, LSU or Bama’s. You can’t compare our classes nationally, because we don’t play a national schedule, we play a SEC schedule. If you’re not consistently recruiting at #1 or #2 in the SEC how do you expect to win SEC titles. HelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllO!!!
Fire Rodney Garner, period!
OkefenokeeDawg
November 30th, 2010
11:00 am
collage graduate – can’t spell.
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:01 am
Belue is a blind homer. I quit listening to him 2 years ago as his blind faith in all things Richt was too much for my stomach to take. Belue is as relevant as is the 1980 NC UGA won. Which is to say it is not relevant any longer except in the annals of history!
As for anything 680 the fan and in general all sports radio in Atlanta, what a joke. You have the yankees on 790, you have the idiots on 680, no college football on either station on Saturday when Mich/Ohio State was playing. Sports radio in Atlanta stinks!
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:03 am
To paraphrase Spurrier – “Georgia gets all these great players and then what happens to them?”
Suwanee Lawrenceville Sugarloaf Dawg
November 30th, 2010
11:03 am
I hope CMR does his missionary work in athens where it is most needed. I hear the editor job is open at the red and black- are resumes flying?
bruce mac
November 30th, 2010
11:04 am
Thank goodness for Georgia Tech, at least we have someone we can kick around every year. CMR will be back so all of you negatives might as well support him and the Dawgs or change teams. Either way, we don’t care.
WDE
November 30th, 2010
11:05 am
Mr. Red- are you saying that we stink because we don’t care about OSU/Michigan?
But I’m loving this. CMR is actually begging recruits to stay at home. And he’s not selling the university, he’s trying to guilt-trip them into staying home just because of the state they live in.
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:05 am
@DAWGBYTE – You’re the first one telling us what a great recruiter MR is. You can’t have it both ways son! So now its all Garners fault? You ppl are sick! Anything to promote MR!
AltamahaDawg
November 30th, 2010
11:06 am
and how did that recruiting class turn out????
Buckeye
November 30th, 2010
11:06 am
CollegeFootballFan,
1. Texas remains an elite program – though a rather weak conference, wouldn’t you say?
2. Speaking of “spitter”, Ealey is the kind of punk that spits on his opponent. Witnessed first hand. I guess he had the Spikes eye gash coming to him. Class all around the SEC, wouldn’t you say?
3. Agree
4. thUGA will be fine, agree. Elite, never.
5. Agree
6. Look forward to the competition when Nebraska come on board…
7.The Buckeyes have won seven national titles in five different decades, their most recent coming in 2002. thUGA remains stuck in 1980.
Finally, Sir, I appreciate the personal complement.
BUCKEYE
Pago Pago DAWG
November 30th, 2010
11:06 am
It seems that UGA has always had a “Top Ten Recruiting” class every year
but nothing happens.
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:07 am
No I’m saying sports radio in Atlanta stinks! I don’t want to hear 4 hours of the yankees on 790, or 10 hours of the idiots oliver and chernoff on 680 the fan when football is being played somewhere in America on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Put the darn games on and get your stupid pontificators off the air! Thats what I’m saying!
funny...
November 30th, 2010
11:10 am
Grantham’s defense still beat Tech right? By the looks of some your posts I would have thought Georgia lost….
DDPO
November 30th, 2010
11:11 am
I’m surprised CMR didn’t close by singing the National Anthem.
So, its the incoming class that’s being looked upon to carry the load starting in the first game? Does that mean that CMR/staff missed on the 65 plus players currently on the roster?
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:11 am
Ahh, but of course I forget, mediocrity is all that anyone in the great state of Georgia is about! To heck with excellence I’ll be mediocre. LMFAO
Mr. Red
November 30th, 2010
11:12 am
@DDPO – Bingo – oops, lets not forget that now its all garners fault! LMFAO