Richt calls this recruiting class ‘best bunch’ in his 11 years at UGA (Updated)
Mark Richt and his assistant coaches just wrapped up a visit with the 200 or so fans celebrating Signing Day at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall. Some highlights of what the coaches had to say:
- Richt: “We all know our [2010] season wasn’t the best, and there have been a lot of things we have had to battle — maybe a little bit more than other years when it comes to recruiting. But I really believe that this class will end up being the largest and most talented and the best bunch in the 11 years now.”
- As for what’s still to come on this Signing Day, Richt said: “We hope we finish as strong as we think we will. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
- After a fan thanked Richt for his work at Georgia, Richt said: “The best is yet to come, I can promise you.”
- Secondary coach Scott Lakatos called Nick Marshall, from Wilcox County, “one of the most amazing athletes we have in this class. . . . I usually don’t get a chance to coach those kind of guys because they’re usually over on offense. . . . He’s very athletic; he’s physical; he’s got good size to him. We’re looking forward to trying to start him off at corner, and I’m sure we’ll have some things to utilize him on the other side of the ball as well.” To which Richt added: “And if you’re going to run a little ‘wild dog’ formation, he’d be ideal for that with his tremendous experience as a quarterback.”
- Richt on signee Malcolm Mitchell, from Valdosta: “He’s a true playmaker on either side of the ball, and he’s a tremendous return man, too.”
- Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on signee DE/OLB Ray Drew, the state’s No. 2 rated prospect: “Tremendous athlete. He’s got size; he’s got length; he’s got pass-rush skills in the sense he’s got initial quickness off the ball. He’s got flexibility to be able to bend around the edge. Shows strength as far as being able to jack those guys up when they come at him. I think he’s going to be able to rush on the edge. . . . We’ll play him at the ‘Will’ position, which is where Justin Houston played last year, and we’re expecting big things out of him as a Dog.”
- Speaking of Drew, who enthusiastically tried to sway other recruits to Georgia, Richt added: “I’d say also his greatest strength might be his character — and his ability to recruit. He asked me, ‘Coach, once I’m on campus, can I keep recruiting for the next year’s class?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He’s something special.”
- Grantham: “I think if you look at this class, the vision that I had when I came here is coming true. I mean, if we get the players in the state of Georgia to stay at Georgia, we compete for SEC championships. “
- Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on quarterback signee Christian LeMay, who already is enrolled at UGA: “Christian, we think, is an outstanding young man that is a phenomenal quarterback. Some guys want to label him as an ‘athlete,’ but we think he’s a quarterback that has got athletic skills in the pocket and will be able to move around and make some plays with his legs, very similar to … Aaron Murray.” Bobo said LeMay has gained 10 pounds since reporting to campus and “I’ve been very pleased with his work ethic in the weight room. He has impressed not only our coaches down there but our players. That’s what you’re looking for in a quarterback — someone who’ll not only lead on the field but in the weight room and the locker room. . . . When players on the team talk about, ‘Hey, Coach, this Christian LeMay, he’s something,’ that gets you excited. I’m excited about working with him in the spring.”
- Richt said coaches are already at work on the “2012 Georgia dream team.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
218 comments Add your comment
Kirby
February 2nd, 2011
12:27 pm
Enter your comments here
midgadawg
February 2nd, 2011
12:27 pm
where is all the crowell information coming from? i have searched and searched and can’t find anything other that whats been already written…???
rduck
February 2nd, 2011
12:27 pm
not trying to hate but doesn’t he say these kind of things every year. no offense, but CMR’s problem has hardly ever been talent (at least as far as recruiting rankings go). people talk about CPJ always pointing the finger, and he tends to do so, but Richt is just as bad if not worse. putting all your hopes of program improvement on a single class of 17-18 year olds seems pretty ignorant to me. yes, talent is good, but you have to utilize that talent effectively in order to make a difference…
robodawg
February 2nd, 2011
12:28 pm
Kudos to the coaching staff. You don’t recruit like this without some fire in the belly. That’s what we’ll need from the whole team during the season. Recruit hungry, prepare hungry, play hungry … and let the big dawg eat!
Just Thinking
February 2nd, 2011
12:28 pm
Best Class in 11 years……….Flashback of Jim Donnan??? Famous last words!!!
BAMA FAN #2
February 2nd, 2011
12:31 pm
Crowell is going to sign with the dawgs!! Bama just lost the best OF lineman to the barn!!!
I took a day off for this CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WarEagle
February 2nd, 2011
12:32 pm
Good recruiting classes are nothing new for UGA. ESPN rated UGA’s 2008 class as No. 5 and 2009 class as No. 6. Those are the players who filled the squad this lousy season. Until these players — and their coaches — prove it on the field, it don’t mean squat.
ATLSportsNation
February 2nd, 2011
12:32 pm
If you’re an Atlanta/Georgia Sports fan and want to talk with other fans, check out our NEW message board.
http://www.atlsportsnation.com/forum
We have team forums for the Falcons, Bulldogs, Hawks, Braves, Yellow Jackets, Thrashers, etc. Please register and post! Be apart of a huge site in the early days of existence. See ya there!!!
Barkin'Dog
February 2nd, 2011
12:33 pm
Great class for UGA today, regardless of how it finishes up. All recruits don’t turn out as projected… take a look at this…
Mitch Mustain arrested on drug charge
By Pedro Moura
Special to ESPNLosAngeles.com
LOS ANGELES — Former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain was arrested late Tuesday night and held on a felony narcotics charge, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Bruce Borihanh confirmed Wednesday.
Bail was set at $30,000. Mustain has not paid bail and is still in jail, Borihanh said.
The arrest occurred shortly after 8 p.m. PT Tuesday by the West Valley division of the LAPD, and Mustain was later booked at the Van Nuys jail at 10:44 p.m.
Mustain, 22, was preparing for the upcoming NFL draft and had been on campus at USC to work out in the school’s athletic facilities late last week. He started only one game in four seasons at USC, a 20-16 home loss to Notre Dame in November, after transferring from Arkansas in 2007.
The Arkansas native was one of the most sought-after high school players in history.
I'm Chris Hanson with Dateline NBC
February 2nd, 2011
12:34 pm
I’m watching all of you weirdos get so excited over 17 year old boys…
Hankie Aron
February 2nd, 2011
12:35 pm
Guys fill me in- Is there rumors Saban is going back to NFL and leaving Bama?
Dawg 1
February 2nd, 2011
12:35 pm
5150 and Dawgster2 should be blocked.
Suggest that we all ignore these guys, regardless of what they post.
I’ve seen some sorry things posted on this blog and others by Dawg Fans, but nothing comes close to this.
The AJC should step in.
Hankie Aron
February 2nd, 2011
12:37 pm
Agreed Dawg 1.
Les W. Moore
February 2nd, 2011
12:38 pm
Coach Richt is running his mouth like a teenage jock sniffer. Blah, blah, blah coach. Recuiting has NEVER been your problem.
Johnny Craven
February 2nd, 2011
12:39 pm
For those who do not have ESPN U there is a live video set up for crowell’s pick
http://hedgestohardwood.blogspot.com/
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
February 2nd, 2011
12:41 pm
Good Class but will struggle against East teams like SC, Kentucky and Vandy. Not to metion its annual loss to the gators because of inept coaching.
Dawg 1
February 2nd, 2011
12:41 pm
Wareagle – your right.
But I find it interesting that it bothers you enough to post that statement.
Worry about your own house brother. Last year I was telling anyone that wouldn’t listen that Auburn looked pretty darn good and had a ton of momentum. With that said, you got your own problems for next year, including a likely NCAA investigation.
I’d worry about my own house verses commenting on Georgia.
Eat and Tweet
February 2nd, 2011
12:45 pm
I hear the next big annoucement is that Rlaph Freigden will be UGA’s meal photographer.
Dawg 1
February 2nd, 2011
12:48 pm
Hankie, I haven’t seen anything in print regarding that rumor; nor do I believe that he will do so. He is a proven winner at the college level. Get’s paid a ton of money and loved more than any coach at Alabama, except of course ‘The Bear’.
I personally think he will be a ‘lifer’ at Bama. Now with that said, let him have a couple of bad seasons and that bunch will turn on him, just like that will any where else at most major schools – especially a SEC school.
Dawgs?
February 2nd, 2011
12:48 pm
LeMay should fit in well with the halfway house inhabitants wearing red and black (should be in stripes) since he missed his high school senior football year for “various issues”.
Gator Man
February 2nd, 2011
12:48 pm
Here we go again, Mark R.shooting his mouth off, I guess the class of Matthew Stanford can not compare to this great class that have not played a game.
UGA, what a hard luck program, when the coach every year has to sell a bunch of freshman to the fans.
I guess this class is better then the ones in the last 30 years when UGA won a championship, this man sell this crap to UGA every year and the idiots in Athens buy in to it.
Richt you are at the right school because any school, including high school in Florida he would have been fired.
WarEagleRut
February 2nd, 2011
12:49 pm
Here we go again with the Dawgs……their “Dream Team” lol. Oh, yeah and they still rank behind Alabama, LSU and Auburn in the SEC. But their ‘gonna win it all now, aren’t they Dawg lovers????
LMAO
Please be quiet Gator Man
February 2nd, 2011
12:50 pm
Don’t stir up the Humpers, the rest of the SEC East hopes he gets a 10 year extension.
GwinnettDad
February 2nd, 2011
12:51 pm
The days that someone can post on blogs such as this one behind a phony name, such as 5150 or whatever, are numbered. I firmly believe that, sooner or later, one’s real identity will be necessary in order to post on a blog. A truth in packaging law, of sorts. Much of the cheap hate rhetoric seen here and elsewhere would then disappear because most are too gutless to express such hate if they could be identified. Time for responsibility to catch up with freedom on the Net.
Hope this is the best Dawgs recruiting class since the beginning of time. Maybe, just maybe, then the Dawgs might beat the Gators and Auburn in the same year. Oh, well, “to dream the impossible dream . . .”
bwell
February 2nd, 2011
12:51 pm
HOW BOUT THEM DAWGS!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH I TOLD YEA COACH SABAN DO NOT STAY NO WHERE FOR MORE THAN 5 YRS IN OTHER WORDS HE IS LEAVING!
Buckhead
February 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
Go check out Crowell’s Face Book Page- I wish the kid the best- I wish he wouldnt represent himself that way- F this and N word references, acting like he is popping champagne etc- I would hope someone is his inner circle wold advise the young man( This is his future) Beyond Football NOW-
bruce mac
February 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
Dawgs?, your mother must really be proud of you. Run down 17 year old kids regarding things you know nothing about. Man, what a bunch of losers on here.
You've been Da'Ricked
February 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
Saban is still a master in plucking away big time recruits from Markie boy. saban gets pagan ! Some players just realize where championships are won while others want to attend a Boys Home and be coddled..
Wow
February 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
This signing class almost guarantees a 7-5 record next year!
Footballfan
February 2nd, 2011
12:54 pm
Ok east hall senior sterling Bailey going to UGA for football. Now if he. Play college like his senior yr oh high school he will not make it. He let people run right pass him. He may be big but he’s lazy and gives up.
Globeflyer
February 2nd, 2011
12:55 pm
As a Bama fan, I have always admired the talent that UGA brings in, but they never seem to use it to it’s full potential. This is a loaded class, regardless of what Crowell does. One thing for sure, if CMR doesn’t win something with this class (if he lasts that long), he is surely gone.
hop
February 2nd, 2011
12:55 pm
DANNY, How much money you want to put on Lemay being the starting qb in 2011?
You most have lost your mind thinking a freshman can start and lead the dawgs in 11.
uga has the best qb in the SEC in murray and he will be even better thus year.
Gump Goobers
February 2nd, 2011
12:58 pm
This Crowell kid has some questionalble character issues. He is a limelight grabber too. I think he will be a first on the Athens Jail Blotter page.
HAHA
February 2nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to win!!! Richt is a joke!
Please be quiet Gator Man
February 2nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Hop because of Murray’s height he is as good as he is going to get. It is why he didn’t win against a team with a winning record.
frank costanza
February 2nd, 2011
1:00 pm
Yep, every class we get is always the best yet. Shut up and do it on the field.
Prince of Alabama
February 2nd, 2011
1:00 pm
Saban to NFL!
The General Feeling
February 2nd, 2011
1:00 pm
It is so sad to watch the slow-burn demise of Mark Richt. Sad.
Why
February 2nd, 2011
1:01 pm
does Richt work so hard at recruiting? It just means he and his staff need to work that much harder to coach them down to a sub .500 record. It would be so much easier on him to just recruit 2 and 3 stars and let them finish in the basement of the SEC east while he goes swimming. C’mon, work smarter not harder.
NFL Bound
February 2nd, 2011
1:02 pm
LeMay is also a major character liability. Already kicked out of high school and missed his senior year of football because of weak character. Another cheat/rule breaker in the house.
VolMan
February 2nd, 2011
1:02 pm
OK GREAT YOU GOT SOME SOLID PLAYERS AND A FINE RECRUITING CLASS……. CAN YOU DEVELOPE THEM INTO REAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS……. OH AND INTO A TEAM??? I AM NOT “HATE’N” ON THE DAWGS, JUST OBSERVING FROM MY HUT ON LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
John
February 2nd, 2011
1:03 pm
Bobo knows nothing about coaching a mobile QB like LeMay. He had more yards passing his junior year than most QB that Georgia has recruited, yet people still lable him a “athlete”. Just like Georgia labled Cam Newton a “athlete”. Look at all these “athletes” QB’s winning BCSC in the last 5 years in Flordia, Texas, Auburn.
dawgster
February 2nd, 2011
1:03 pm
Ok guys…just got on this blog and have been reading some comments regarding some other bloggers…I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that i am not, absolutely not, Dawgster2…I don’t ever, ever capitilize my blog handle…i hope everyone knows whatever was said by this apparent jerk that it was not me….go dawgs
CHARLOTTE DAWG
February 2nd, 2011
1:04 pm
Given the way things are, I’m absolutely amazed and thankful for the class Richt brought in. Crowell will be nice to get and it will sting a bit but we’ll move on. Not getting Jenkins will sting worse especially if he spurns the Dawgs and goes somewhere for less immediate playing time.
Still a great class considering the circumsances. IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MUCH WORSE FOLKS!
Ron
February 2nd, 2011
1:05 pm
They always have a good recruiting season. Don’t worry! They will find a way, to screw these recruits up too. They should be recruiting coaches.
CHARLOTTE DAWG
February 2nd, 2011
1:06 pm
NFL bound,
He was kicked out for getting a BJ from a girl on school grounds. You and I should have been so lucky back in the HS days.
He’s not a bad kid….HE JUST LIKES GIRLS!
idiot
Gump Goobers
February 2nd, 2011
1:06 pm
Clempsun has moved ahead of UGA in Rivals. Mark Richt is a joke with this stupid Dream Team gimmick.
UGA Advocate
February 2nd, 2011
1:08 pm
…The DAWGS are officially allowing people on the bandwagon….we’ll turn this thing around and continue to flex the SEC muscle on a national level.
BTW…..I do believe Crowell will join us, if he does choose BAMA…Good luck to him….we’ll still reign!
CHARLOTTE DAWG
February 2nd, 2011
1:09 pm
Yeah Clemson…..what exactly have you don lately. Talent has never been your problem either.
For Christ’s sake, even Georgia Tech owns you.
Carry on ClemPson
JoesJohnson
February 2nd, 2011
1:10 pm
“Goobers” thats without Crowell or Jenkins idiot and both will sign with GA alond with scott wesley tomorrow.