What Mark Richt had to say at Liberty Bowl news conference …
ATHENS –Mark Richt flew back into town from a recruiting trip, just in time for his pre-Liberty Bowl news conference today.
Here are a few of the topics he touched upon:
On former Georgia player Will Muschamp’s hiring as head coach at Florida: “I think Will is a very fine coach. I don’t know if he’ll admit [it] to everybody, but he’s still a Georgia man in a lot of ways. I think he’ll do well. He’s a very good coach and a very good person.”
On the changes in Georgia’s strength program (earlier this month Richt reassigned Dave Van Halanger and named Joe Tereshinski director of strength and conditioning): “First of all, I think Dave Van Halanger is an outstanding strength coach. He’s as good as any out there. . . . But I think there are different ways to do things, and I want to go a little bit more old school, I guess, and get after it a little bit differently. By no means am I saying it’s just the strength area we need to improve on when it comes to winning the fourth quarter and finishing, because it has to do with coaching, it has to do with a lot of things. But I’m sure that will be a big emphasis of our program — to make sure we truly finish the drill. We say ‘finish the drill,’ but are we really doing it? Did we do it this year? We did not.”
On starting offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Trinton Sturdivant, among other underclassmen on the team, asking the NFL for a projection of their draft status: “I think every junior in America is kind of curious where they sit as far as the NFL is concerned. So there’s a lot of guys who want to turn in their papers and see where the NFL sees them. I think that’s not all that surprising.” He said the key is for players to get an accurate gauge of their NFL stock in order to make the best decisions for them. Losing players early is “just part of college football today,” said Richt, who noted it could be worse: “Basketball, they can be [in college] for one year and they’re off and running.” Still, “we certainly don’t want any of those guys to go, but we’ll just wait and see what happens here down the road.”
And from the recruiting trail, where he and his assistants have logged countless miles this month, Richt reiterated his belief that this is a special year for in-state talent: “I do think this recruiting year in the state of Georgia — even as we were mapping it out a year ago because you are looking that far down the road, this class in particular we thought was going to be extremely strong. And we still believe that. Not only strong in athleticism and ability, but very strong in character from what I’m seeing. I really like the young men we’ve been dealing with as people too. It’s been a very encouraging year in that way, too, which is kind of nice.”
– Tim Tucker
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341 comments Add your comment
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:09 am
Joey,
That’s considering we let him play QB at UGA not tightend.What a waste of talent he would have been as a tightend.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:12 am
ga gator,
Bulldawg girlfriend-WOW Then it is true,not all Gators are dumb. lol
Dazed and Confused
December 16th, 2010
10:13 am
I think tha we had a successful year and are making progress toward our “dream season.” I am real proud of our players and coaches, particularly Coach Bobo and “the strangler” defense under Coach Grantham
ga gator
December 16th, 2010
10:14 am
Murphy, I would say that is the best thing about UGA. We have fun with the whole thing when we go to Jax. Goin on 4 years now.
PMC
December 16th, 2010
10:15 am
Honestly, I don’t know why we bother with press conferences anymore.
If Dave Van Halanger was getting the job done he wouldn’t have been removed from duty. Other teams are physically destroying the Bulldawgs. He had to go.
PMC
December 16th, 2010
10:16 am
If we know anything from Richt it’s that he’s not going to actually fire any coach until about 3 years after he should have.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:16 am
Didnt you hear the truth? The choke sign was the call for the all out strangler blitz package we have incorporated. lol
gt4ever
December 16th, 2010
10:16 am
I really like your coach. His only weakness is that he has lost control and respect from the players. This is reflected in how they acto on and off the field… It’s kinda sad, that’s such an easy problem to fix… I can’t imagine why he wont discipline his team… I mean with the talent you guys recruit every year, who cares if a couple of disgruntled malcontents leave….
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:17 am
ga gator,
Bet that’s a quite ride home uh?
ga gator
December 16th, 2010
10:17 am
I agree that Van Halenger had to go. UGA simply looked small getting off the bus compared to other teams I have observed. I like the new guys old school approach, it should show improvements quickly.
ga gator
December 16th, 2010
10:19 am
Murph, we actually spent the weekend in Charleston and had a good time. She is a pretty good sport about it, we dont talk during the game at all and of course since we sit in the middle of the Bulldawg section, I sort of behave. She did turn to me once and said, “I am sorry but I hate the Gators”. All is well though.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:21 am
ga gators,
Looks are decieving.I remember back in the Spurrier days watching all those little guys get off the bus in Jax and thinking the same.Then they kicked our behinds! Remember laughing at Travis Mcgriff then I saw him play.OUCH
Five-star-recruit
December 16th, 2010
10:23 am
Man, I would love to wear the red and black, play in Sanford stadium, represent my home state, and have a person of character leading the way (Richt), but from the posts I read, most Dawg fans are just a bunch of negative jerks who don’t know that much about football and don’t appreciate anything. Why would I want to play for that crowd? I’d rather even go to a second tier school like SC. At least their fans shout the priases of their team and keep their negative cr@p quiet.
ga gator
December 16th, 2010
10:24 am
Murph, Spurrier always had big linemen on both sides of the ball. Plus he knows how to utilize talent. Spurrier never had a recruiting class ranked in the top 5 and only 2 in the top 10.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:24 am
ga gator,
What can she say? Send her my best,Im sure she will blow up if we ever win again.Im sure that wont be a fun ride home for you.As my grandmother would say: God luv here. lol
ga gator
December 16th, 2010
10:25 am
Out guys, been fun as usual. Good luck in the bowl, I hope you kill UCF and their imposter coach.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:25 am
Five-star-recruit,
Maybe Tech is the place for you!
Duck Fan
December 16th, 2010
10:33 am
UGA sucks
gt4ever
December 16th, 2010
10:34 am
ga gator, that imposter coach could beat the bulldogs, unless they bring their A game. I mean it’s a proven that UGA has NO defense… So, it should be a crap shoot….
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:35 am
Duck Fan,
Duck you!!!!
Joey
December 16th, 2010
10:35 am
“I agree that Van Halenger had to go”
*************************
But he didn’t go, ga gator, he’s still on the staff. Hell, he probably got a raise . . .
Richt still thinks he is as good as anyone in the country.
Richt obviously just doesn’t let results interfere with his feelings for his staff.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:36 am
Joey,
Isnt Van Halenger related to Richt?
keep tellin' ya
December 16th, 2010
10:38 am
It’s Tommy Bowden all over. One more year, one more year. Give him an extention so he can recruit. Then reality sets in and you have to fire him and you owe him so much money you have to hire somebody named Dabo. I thought the Dawg people were sharper than their neighbors.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:39 am
gt4ever ( It pains me to type this name)
O Leary did have success against UGA.He is a good coach. UCF will be out maned against UGA.Even as bad as we are we still will pound UCF.
Five-star-recruit
December 16th, 2010
10:40 am
@MURPHY – Eat me! I am class of ‘85 and bleed red and black. Was there for Nat Champ and loyal to the end. Just sick of the how many supposed Dawg fans do nothing but beat down the team and coaches. There are idiots on here that actually attack Aaron Murray! Are you kidding me? He’s a freshman QB in the SEC and the ninth rated passer in the country – among ALL quarterbacks. And we’ve got know-nothing fans bitching about him? What five-star recruit would want to play for us (bitching Dawg fans)? Our complaining makes the recruiting job even harder. Just damn.
Respectful Moment of Silence
December 16th, 2010
10:40 am
Attention, everyone, especially the great unwashed dawgtards. We will now observe a moment of silence in memory of Saint Jan Kemp, who exposed the shameful practices at UGA that were initiated and carried out by slimeball Vince Dooley. Dooley’s image as a coach and a nice guy were forever shattered during the trial, not to mention the one million dollars that dawgtards had to pay Saint Jan. These practices of recruiting morons and coddling them for four years, them tossing them out like garbage, are still going on, but at least the world knows what’s happening in Athens now.
And now, the moment of silence…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Thank you, you may resume your normal activities now.
shankit
December 16th, 2010
10:41 am
Five Star Recruit
You have hit the nail on the head.
Georgia fans have become a nightmare
for recruiting.
Bail & Bonds R Us
December 16th, 2010
10:45 am
How many players arrested In Athens this week?
patrick
December 16th, 2010
10:49 am
Snoop Dawg
December 13th, 2010
9:30 am
UGA is screwed as long as the wimpy regents, UGA President, and AD procrastinate in firing the most incompetent coach in the SEC, Mark Richt and his entire team of overpaid losers. The rest of the SEC continues to put distance between us and them while we mill around aimlessly.
========================
I need to remind this moron that 2 bad years dont erase the 8 good ones or the 6 great ones.
.
Name another coach in the SEC with 6 top ten finishes in the poll AP/USA today coaches poll in last 9 years.
.
To you morons that say…yeah but no NCs….. might I point out what the president of the NCAA (the governing body of all thing collegiate sports said yesterday……….
.
His EXACT quote (this from the NCAA)………”"We are heavily involved in the rules in which the game is played and the way football is operated but we don’t manage the media revenue for the conferences or the championship,” Emmert said. “We never controlled the championship. We never had one. There’s NEVER been a I-A football championship in American history. It’s easy to forget that the BCS was an ATTEMPT to create one.”
.
notice this line in particular……. “There’s NEVER been a I-A football championship in American history”
.
So since there has never been a NC in D1A football how do you measure sucess? Bowl wins and top ten finishes.
.
No SEC coach has a better bowl record over last nine years at 7-1 (this year yet to be played) and no SEC coach has finished more times top ten at 6 in last 8years (not including this one as its not final yet).
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:50 am
Five Star Recruit,
How much money do you give the University each year? I have given alot over the past 27 years.Im pretty sure I have earned the right to express my opinion on this blog as I please.Sometimes the truth hurts.Recruits dont need to go on these blogs to see what disary our program is in at this time.So with that said: I dont disagree with you on some points but I will continue to post in any manner I see fit.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:52 am
Five Star Recruit,
I do agree that bashing our freshamn q.b is a little out there.He has played very well this year.
READ DUMB UGA FANS
December 16th, 2010
10:52 am
You will know UGA has the right football coach when we are beating Florida a minimum of 50% of the time! Mark Richt is at 20% over TEN YEARS. This includes losing to a really bad Gator team this year. Why this record is acceptable to ANY UGA fan is way way beyond me! Georgia has the resources to beat Florida we just don’t have the coach. DEMAND MORE!
shankit
December 16th, 2010
10:53 am
All you “Dawg” bloggers on here blasting
the coaches, recruiters, need to listen
to Five Star Recruit and Patrick. They
are right on.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:55 am
shankit,
Listen? No thanks,I have listened for past 3 years,and were are we at?
patrick
December 16th, 2010
10:56 am
Disarray? 4 fumbles away from 10-2
.
1. Ealey at the 1 in one game (lost by 3),
.
2. Ealey at the 6 (lost by 11),
.
3.King while setting up game winning chip shot against Colorado and
.
4. interception in the OT game against the gators (lost by 3).
.
This “team in disarray” could just as easily be 10-2. Some people should not be allowed to make comments if they are this ignorant.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:56 am
shankit,
Maybe you should listen to READ DUMB UGA FANS poat @ 10:52
shankit
December 16th, 2010
10:57 am
Where are we at? Losing four, five star recruits
to Auburn, Alabama, SC, Tenn., Fla. because
they read your blogs.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:57 am
patrick,
2010 sure was alot of should be’s? Thats our motto now-SHOULD BE
AltamahaDawg
December 16th, 2010
10:59 am
Really Joey? Because he certainly would never make major changes on his staff, right? Not to “freinds”. Hell they are all friends. You do think WM, Jansek, and Fabris, got thier feeling hurt? I’m guessing so.
On VanHalenger, Do you really care if he as given a desk job? Does that really matter to you? really?? He was removed from his position …appearantly due to results. Wouldnt you say? If it wasn’t due to results, what would you call that move? (the fact that he IS loved by the players as a mentor type, and he gets to continue working in that capacity, which is a very smart thing to do, God knows they needs all the help they can get, since obviously these boys don’t have real parents, is beside the point).
You think because there’s not a moving truck circling the block, and babies crying in the background, Richt didn’t really make an “actual” change at the position that matters? He’s still around the clubhouse somewhere, so your point is what?
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
10:59 am
shankit,
I guess that’s why we lost Tank to FSU yesterday uh? Maybe him and his high school coach at the last minute picked FSU over UGA because they were on hear reading the comments yesterday. Give me a break-Wake up dude.
gt4ever
December 16th, 2010
10:59 am
I’s sorry, explain to me how your recruiting has been hurt…. Your in the top 10 every year…..
patrick
December 16th, 2010
11:05 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5921518
.
is the link to where the NCAA president declared that there has never been a national chammpion in american history for D1A football.
shankit
December 16th, 2010
11:06 am
Okay, I have been banned from this blog.
I get the picture, hurting AJC’s position.
shankit
December 16th, 2010
11:08 am
Well, I guess the AJC let me back on, so….
I will respond again, I know of two local kids,
four star and five star, that want to play for
Mark Richt. They have been talking around
the state with other potential recruits, and are
concerned with you bloggers on here wanting
Mark Richt’s head. Ya’ll are killing the recruiters.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
11:08 am
gt4ever,
We have recruited well enough to compete for a SEC Championship.We must find a way to get the most of our recriting talent once they reach campus.Or it could be we dont recruit the right players for UGA.Recruiting is a crap shoot per say.
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
11:11 am
shankit,
Yall are killing the recruits? Please. Im pretty sure the state of our program is killing the recruiting.Maybe our Dream Team campaign for 2011 will revive our efforts. Did the bloggers on here coach this 6-6 team this year?
patrick
December 16th, 2010
11:11 am
Murphy, UGA has lost a single game in regulation in last 6 games. Fla has won one game in regulation in last 6 games. I dont see the disarray. Do you? I see a OC that tried to break in a freshman QB early in the season and limited his play calling which made close game of inferior teams (SC, Ark, OU etc) allowing for a single mistake to cost the game. You are oblivious to the reality of this year and the “cause and effect” of Murray being a freshamn QB. Once he (the OC) got confidence in his QB UGA played at a much higher (disarray my asz) level. If you dont know football….go to AOL, there is a knitting blog you might can contribute to.
Alabama | MrSEC.com
December 16th, 2010
11:14 am
[...] 1. Dan Mullen’s team had a “sloppy day” at practice yesterday.2. Mississippi State whipped Belhaven 101-76 in an exhibition game last night, but Renardo Sidney’s debut was dulled by cramps.3. If Sidney doesn’t turn out to be great — not good, but great — this writer says “Rick Stansbury and Mississippi State will look like fools” for investing so much time and energy in landing him.4. The Ole Miss quarterback situation in 2011 looks be about as unsettled as a quarterback situation can be.5. Excited about Will Muschamp, Gator fans? Good. ‘Cause the price for your tickets is going up next year… after a 7-5 season.6. This writer suggests the Florida-Florida State rivalry start using the Muschamp/Jimbo Fisher jointly-owned beach house as its trophy. 7. Ron Zook says Muschamp will do fine in Gainesville.8. Nose guard Kwame Geathers wants to have a bigger impact for Georgia next year. (Bigger than eight tackles? Pshaw.)9. Mark Richt knows that the possibility of losing a few of his junior players is “just part of college football today.” [...]
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
11:15 am
Patrick,
Are you kidding me? You are dillusional.You are happy with where our program is at to date?
MURPHY
December 16th, 2010
11:16 am
Patrick,
You sound like one of my kids. Well since UF id down its ok for UGA to be down? Well mom he did it why cant I?