What Mark Richt had to say at end-of-season news conference …
ATHENS — Mark Richt officially turned the page to 2011 at his end-of-season news conference Wednesday morning.
“Just want to start out by saying I’m glad 2011 is here,” Richt said. “I’m excited about that. Last season certainly was not anywhere close to what we expected or what we expect here, and it was certainly well below the standard of what Georgia football is all about. I understand that as much as anybody. I’m not happy with the way things went, but I do think in the process of going through what we went through, we’ll be better for it in 2011.”
Despite the team’s 6-7 record this past season, Richt said he has “a greater sense of excitement than I’ve had in a long time,” partly because of changes implemented in conjunction with new athletic director Greg McGarity that Richt said will free him from some administrative duties to spend more time focusing on football in 2011.
“In some ways, I feel like a first-year head coach,” Richt said. “Usually when you come in as the first-year head coach, the administration is coming to you and saying, ‘Coach, what do you need? What do you need to win?’ You wouldn’t think going into your 11th year you’d have that kind of feeling, but that’s what’s going on.
“Instead of me being the new guy, Mr. McGarity is the new guy. And as he has come in, we have had many conversations about what we need to get done to make this program the very best in the United States of America. That revives me; that rejuvenates me; that excites me in a big way.
“We’ve got some things that have been put in place and are being put in place that are going to make us better. And quite frankly things are being put in place that are going to help free me up to [spend] more time doing the things I love the most, which is study the game of football and … be on the cutting edge.”
Richt said director of player development John Eason, a former wide receivers coach, and administrative assistant Dave Van Halanger, a former director of strength and conditioning, will handle certain duties that previously fell on the head coach. Eason serves as the football program’s academic liaison, and Van Halanger heads a new mentoring program for the players.
Also, Richt said, “there are a lot of little things that crop up along the way that sometimes don’t get solved [or] sometimes take too long to solve in my opinion, but now the relationship that I have with Mr. McGarity is helping us expedite some of those things. . . . I am just spending less time messing around with things that Greg will be able to take off my plate from an administrative point of view.”
Richt, though, did not express any intention to take over as the Bulldogs’ play-caller.
“I’m not saying I’m taking over as the [offensive] coordinator or anything like that,” Richt said. “Mike Bobo is the coordinator; Mike Bobo is the quarterback coach, and Coach [Stacy] Searels is the running game coordinator. And they have done a great job . . . so I have confidence in those guys.
“The point I’m making is, I’m going to have the ability to have the time it takes to truly study the game of football, the trends and what’s going on, so a higher percentage of my time is going to be able to be used for that, which is exciting to me.”
Overall, Richt spoke with a confident tone as McGarity and several of Georgia’s associate athletic directors watched and listened.
“We’re not looking to blow anything up,” Richt said. “In my opinion, we are very close. I mean, how many teams have what would be considered a down season one year and the next year they are right there?”
He also stressed the importance of the recruiting class Georgia will sign on Feb. 2.
“You’ve got to get a boost from your recruiting class, your freshman class,” Richt said. “I’ve never been on a championship team that didn’t have guys step up and make a difference.”
– Tim Tucker
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727 comments Add your comment
mcdaviddawg
January 5th, 2011
2:19 pm
I KNOW RICHT HAS BEEN QUOTED SEVERAL TIMES, THAT WE FANS AREN’T SMART ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND FOOTBALL. RICHT IS A LAZY IDIOT, NOT CAPABLE OF MAKING ANY DIFFERENCE. THE ONLY TEAM IN THE EAST NEXT YEAR THAT WE’LL FINISH AHEAD OF IS VANDY. FOR THOSE OF YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE MONEY, THE PROGRAM WILL LOSE MORE IN CONTRABUTIONS THAN IT WILL COAST TO PAY HIM OFF. HE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE. FIRE RICHT NOW.
w s
January 5th, 2011
2:21 pm
potatodawg,,, I remember that,, also very good post,,,CMR would have more time to be involved with the players,,,,i guess that what you get with a Bo Bo.. Score only 6 points in a Bowl game,,what a joke,,,,its a shame… Dont it seem like UGA football it always wait till next year, I dont know but I am sick and tired of that. As a fan, I can handle playing tough hard football game sometimes you just don’t win,,,but when have the Bulldogs had a 100% team effort ?? The Hawaii game was about it.
LawDawg
January 5th, 2011
2:24 pm
Searels has done a good job? Really? Coordinating the running game and coaching the lineman have been arguably the two biggest problems that have not been addressed, assuming the strength and conditioning issue has been addressed (which I have no confidence it has).
Oh well, Richt will live or die by the decision to allow Searles to continue and not bringing in new S&C blood.
JB
January 5th, 2011
2:25 pm
Well, he’s got a season to show us…..Let’s see what happens……If he can win 9-10 games with that group I saw in the bowl, maybe he needs an extension. That would be a coaching job.
Andy in Blairsville
January 5th, 2011
2:27 pm
irondawg
January 5th, 2011
2:10 pm
i guess we could be excited to be like fsu and have an “ok” record in the ACC and beat Carolina, yes, weird year we you are wishing to be fsu and excited about beating carolina
———————-
LMFAO
The puppies could only dream of slaughtering UF then beating USC in a legit bowl game in 2010 and having a top 5 recruiting class going into 2011.
needums
January 5th, 2011
2:27 pm
Like I had said earlier on another blog, CMR is getting ready to go. He no longer wants to coach at UGA, or any other school for that matter. This is all by design so we won’t say please,please don’t go. When UGA hires his replacment they just need to get someone who is competetive and has fire in their belly and the wins will come again cause this awesome state produces the best types of athletes to play the sport. When we get the right guy everything will be back to normal, mark my words.
Jeff in Calhoun
January 5th, 2011
2:28 pm
So, what CMR is saying ” This will be my last year as coach of the Georgia Bulldawgs. I’m going to enjoy ever minute of it.”
NewnanDawg
January 5th, 2011
2:29 pm
Hmmm…..I was hoping more for a “We’re hiring VanGorder back as DC” type announcement. But, paperwork changes are right up there too.
Jeff in Calhoun
January 5th, 2011
2:30 pm
CMR is in denial! He will be fired before the bowl games in 2011.
Jeff in Calhoun
January 5th, 2011
2:33 pm
WS, it has been all down hill since that Hawaii game. They peaked and down hill since.
Flat Tire on I-95 In Jacksonville
January 5th, 2011
2:34 pm
PALADIN DEATH DEALER
Seriously bud
Richt has been here 10 yrs as the leader of this team
Who’s fault is it then as to why we dont have the recruits in a state that ranks in the top 5 in the nation in high school recruiting, they have been here for a decade
Really who is trying to hire Bobo when even the commentators on ESPN are saying something needs to be done with our offense play calling
Our athletes dont stack up with FL AUB LSU AL.
Really, since 1999 UGA ranks ahead of them in sending players to the NFL
You just keep drinking your kool-aid, better yet, take yourself and the rest of you mediocrity loving, blind homers and go pull for Vanderbilt where mediocrity reigns supreme
5 - 7 here we come 2011
January 5th, 2011
2:35 pm
Seems like Ive heard Richt say this before. Oh well home for the holidays in 2011.
trupert
January 5th, 2011
2:37 pm
How many on here are really Auburn and Alabama fans just hoping that Richt will be fired before he turns it around? My guess about 50% and that dosen’t account for the Tech fans. Go Dawgs!!!
ARdawg
January 5th, 2011
2:38 pm
There’s one big hot steamy pile of Dawg Pooh for you fans
DawgFan
January 5th, 2011
2:38 pm
We were a better offensive team when Coach Richt called the plays and coached the QB’s. We were unpredictable to the other team. QB’s did more fakes and protected the ball. Now, every person watching a game, doesn’t even have to have seen any game films, knows what we are doing. 1st down – Pass, incomplete, 2nd down – run, gain 3 yds., 3rd down – pass, gain 4 yrds., 4th down – punt. We’ve done it for 3 years and after watching the Liberty Bowl, I see no change whatsoever in that mentality. No guts either. drive 96 yards and settle for a FG????????????? COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Richt
January 5th, 2011
2:38 pm
This year to get the team moral up and get everyone ready for the game we will be pre-gaming with the fans and blowing free kush for anyone that wants to join.
-Head Coach
howard
January 5th, 2011
2:42 pm
I’m excited about next year, too, because I believe it will be Richt’s last as UGA head coach.
fat chance
January 5th, 2011
2:43 pm
As the late Lewis Grizzard once said, “Shoot low boys, they’re riding shetland ponies!” Mark Richt’s statements and great excitement about studying football and new trends is very under-whelming. Another break even season with four and five star talent.
Dogfaddle
January 5th, 2011
2:44 pm
Karnak say… UGA won’t see a 10 win season in the next 5 years.
ARdawg
January 5th, 2011
2:45 pm
“I mean, how many teams have what would be considered a down season one year and the next year they are right there?””
was this a Richt prognostication? “Right there” WTF is “right there”?
Abe
January 5th, 2011
2:46 pm
When wearing comfortable shoes and then wearing a new pair that does not fit your mind is on them. Then you get another comfortable pair your mind is on them. Richt now has comfortable shoes. We will see the difference they make. Dawgs will soar.
who should be the next head coach
January 5th, 2011
2:48 pm
To all u Richt haters,Answer the question.What coach is out there that would want to live in east ga.
JoeFan
January 5th, 2011
2:48 pm
Politically correct talk. CMR has gotten to comfortable and needs to get an edge back plus control of the players. Only time will tell.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
January 5th, 2011
2:49 pm
Keep doing what you are doing, we are all having a great time throwing darts at an easy target.
mrk
January 5th, 2011
2:51 pm
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? THE OC AND OL COACH ARE DOING GREAT JOBS!!! WTH….WE HAVE MORE NFL TALENT THAN MOST NFL TEAMS AND WE CAN NOT SCORE A TD IN TWO GAMES AND ONE IS AGAINST A TEAM THAT JUST MOVED UP FROM IAA!! IT TOOK YEARS TO REALIZE MARTINEZ WAS NOT VAN GORDER, IT WILL TAKE EVEN MORE YEARS TO REALIZE BOBO IS NOT WEIS! HERE IS A GOOD MEASURING STICK, HOW MANY SCHOOLS ASK IF BOBO IS READY FOR A MOVE? HOW MANY WANT HIM TO COME COACH FOR THEM? THE TRUTH HURTS, BUT IT IS STILL THE TRUTH.
7576DAWG
January 5th, 2011
2:51 pm
The play calling and the running backs are the number one and number two problems. I have alway’s liked CMR but his statement can’t be backed up , even a little.
Why didn’t he tell Evans and then McGarity what the priblem was at the first of the 2010 season.
He reminds me of Arkansas against Ohio State making changes at half time and then nearly shutting Ohio State out the rest of the game but was too far behind at half to catch up and win.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
January 5th, 2011
2:53 pm
So you no one will admit there is a problem in Athens?
http://firemarkricht.net/
RussDawg
January 5th, 2011
2:53 pm
6 points against UCF is doing a good job ???
Fair and Balanced
January 5th, 2011
2:54 pm
Sounds like a bad excuse to me. Excuses only sound good to the person making them. I’m not buying.
Flat Tire on I-95 In Jacksonville
January 5th, 2011
2:56 pm
who should be the next head coach
Athens has been rated numerous times by top publications as a top 5 college town and retirement town
Plenty of coaches will want to live there, heck Donnan still hasnt left, Frank Beamer and Ralph Freidgan have a lake Occonee home whats your point
7576DAWG
January 5th, 2011
2:58 pm
I got cut off,
Over the last two years UGA makes too many changes at half time and not in the first quarter when it would have made a difference.The AD last year would have been more than glad to take some of the administration job away from CMR if he had asked. It sounds like CMR is just using that as an excuse which surprises me because I thought CMR had more integrity than that. So I am really confused now..
JB
January 5th, 2011
3:00 pm
To answer ” who would want to be Georgia’s next head Coach” and live in the EAST………………………At the Alamo, when a guy got shot and killed, they picked up his dead body and moved him so someone else could take his place and shoot. They still got slaughtered, but at least they keep shooting back.
ARdawg
January 5th, 2011
3:01 pm
“I mean, how many teams have what would be considered a down season one year and the next year they are right there?”
Okay, let’s back up and break this down just a bit, “what would be considered a down season one year” (I assume this is the 6-7 of this year) “and the next year they are right there” Where the FxxK is “right there”?
Right there? Is this the right there in position for have another hefty heartily 6-7 in 2011. His changes of doing some things different amounts to nothing more than he gets to surf the net and stay on the cutting edge of football? For crying out loud kool-aid drinker’s wake t eff up and smell the freaking coffee
UGA92
January 5th, 2011
3:02 pm
I have been one of the biggest CMR defenders around, but after reading this article, my stomach sank. I understand loyalty, and not causing turmoil before signing day, but come on. Bobo and Searels did not do a great job this year. Our O-line was supposed to be the envy of the nation, but it was woeful. I cannot count the number of times Bobo killed game momentum with terrible play calling. Everything would be going our way, then Bobo would call two off-tackle runs and a long pass. Three and out, and the momentum shifts. During the first quarter of several games, the ball was not thrown anywhere near AJ Green’s direction. Today’s comments from CMR do not inspire confidence. If he places personal loyalty over doing what’s needed, then perhaps it is time for him to go. And I hate to say that.
hatfieldgeoff
January 5th, 2011
3:02 pm
If Searls did a “great job” how come the offensive line under achieved for the last two seasons. What were we 10th in the league in rushing. If the standards are lowered enough everybody is doing a great job. I have been a Mark Richt supporter, but hearing obvious BS from our coach does not inspire confidence.
ARdawg
January 5th, 2011
3:04 pm
Richt would have been better off not even having a press conference than walk out and spew this tripe
DAWG with two bags over his head
January 5th, 2011
3:04 pm
What a load of crap from our CEO. If you weren’t convinced before that he should be fired immediately, you should be now. Searels is a great coach? No apology for mailing it in at the Liberty Bowl? Call Mayflower/Bekins/Two Men and a Truck today.
George W. Bush
January 5th, 2011
3:05 pm
“You’re doing a great job Brownie…I mean Bobo”.
JB
January 5th, 2011
3:07 pm
Today’s press conference saddened me. It’s obvious Coach Richt has come out of the “private’ meeting with McGarity and refused to make any major changes to help this program. He has told McGarity we are a band of brothers( staff) that will make or break this team. You have allowed us to come back next year, and i will do so with my coaching staff. You could smell the smoke as Rome burned around him.
dawg1967
January 5th, 2011
3:07 pm
a lot of BS from CMR and if you believe then i have a sun farm to sell you at the north pole.
How does 0-2 for 2011 sound to you.
Our system is going into 3rd year of foreclosure—hello anyone home in the AD office.
7576DAWG
January 5th, 2011
3:10 pm
I think that with one of the easiest schedules in the next 5 years if CMR, who is the only one not seeing that McClendon,Bobo, Searels and Gardner all need to be replaced, doesn’t win at least 10 games that he and his entire staff , with the exception of Grantham if he does his job in 2011. need to be replaced.
McGarity who is running the Athletic Department you or CMR? You are suppose to be an independent observer. We lost to every team that is ranked in the top 40 this year and then lost to UCF and didn’t even score one touchdown. Why come to UGA if you are going to wear blinders.
JB
January 5th, 2011
3:11 pm
Is Mark Richt a State of Georgia Employee? Is Adams? Rumor has it Governor Elect Deal is not a fan.
kevin
January 5th, 2011
3:11 pm
DIT,
UGA wins come before God to me, b/c I do not believe in God. And for the record, I do not believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy either. However, I do believe that a program that recruits in the top 10 nearly every year should do a lot better.
KB
January 5th, 2011
3:14 pm
CMR must have some really incrminating photos of Dr. Mike Adams!!!!! CMR makes John Gotti look like Mr. Magoo.
You got to give it to a man that can fail in his duties and responsbilities and keep his $3million/year job. Love him or hate him he is a smart man, crazy like a fox.
Professor Van Nostrin
January 5th, 2011
3:14 pm
To FSU Fan: Are you seriously on a UGA blog? My god man, you play in the ACC. You’re hanging your hat on a Chick-fil-A bowl win and now you think the Noles are back? Laughable at best. You guys are just now playing better after Richt left a decade ago. What championship has FSU won lately? Last I heard, GA whipped FSU the last time the two teams played. 2003 Sugar Bowl to be exact.
Flat Tire on I-95 In Jacksonville
January 5th, 2011
3:15 pm
Searles and Bobo have done a great job thats why Lou Holtz called our offense terrible the other day right?
Blah blah blah
Darling will you please pass the Grey poupon so I can make my CRAP sandwich more tasteful
Oh and please pass the Kool-aid so I can wash it down
Palmetto State Dawg
January 5th, 2011
3:18 pm
This is clearly “Richt’s last stand” so to speak. Think about it…..there’s no way that McGarity is going to come in and fire Richt after being so new to the job. He’s going to give it a year so he looks like he gave Richt a chance. This time next year, we will be looking for a new HC. I like Richt and think he is a good man, but the job has clearly passed him by. UGA has slipped to Ole Miss and Kentucky status and that is unacceptable. GA should be in the upper echelon of the SEC every year, period.
Rick
January 5th, 2011
3:22 pm
I’ll be laughing at that optimism in September when Boise comes to town.
still@the bar
January 5th, 2011
3:24 pm
Stills sounds like political speak. Say nothing that means anything and add a few hollow promises.
kevin
January 5th, 2011
3:25 pm
Boise is losing most of their team–something like 17 starters. Last time UGA played Boise (the year after they beat Oklahoma), UGA killed Boise. That said, after this past season, who knows what to expect from the Dawgs.