Richt plans Dream Team II
ATHENS –- Georgia coach Mark Richt was asked who first came up with the idea of pitching a “Dream Team” in recruiting.
“I really don’t remember whose idea it was,” he said.
“It was actually yours,” recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said.
“It was my idea?” Richt said. “I didn’t want to take credit [if] someone else thought of it first.”
Georgia built its 2011 recruiting efforts, which culminated with Signing Day on Wednesday, around the high-profile notion of assembling a Dream Team of in-state talent. The Bulldogs wound up signing the state’s top three prospects, four of the top five and eight of the top 12.
The concept of a Dream Team was born almost a year ago as Georgia coaches embarked on what they knew would be a crucial recruiting season in a talent-rich state.
His memory jogged, Richt said: “As you’re looking at the guys you really want the most, you kind of dream about that as a coach, and that’s where I just came up with the idea: ‘This is my Dream Team. This is our Dream Team at the University of Georgia.’ We literally had names and pictures targeted that we could look at and shoot for, and we actually nailed it pretty good. You never get them all, but we came pretty darn close. And I would certainly say the dream came true.”
Richt said the concept resonated with recruits, who “bought in and got excited about it . . . and wanted to be on the Dream Team. I think it was effective.”
He acknowledged there was a risk of the concept backfiring if Georgia had signed a less-than-stellar class. In that case, he said, people might have “called it a nightmare class or whatever.”
“But we just said, ‘You know what? Let’s go for the best and go with reckless abandon and not care what anybody says.’”
Richt plans a Dream Team encore next year.
“Quite frankly, we’re in the process of putting together the 2012 Dream Team,” he said. “We’re formulating ideas and looking at film and deciding who’s going to be on that team.
“I hope ninth graders right now are looking at this thing and saying, ‘I want to be on that Dream Team when my time comes.’”
*********
Garner gave a lot of credit for the success of the Dream Team concept to Ray Drew, a five-star outside linebacker from Thomas County Central who not only signed with Georgia but enthusiastically lobbied other players to do so as well.
“Even though [last season] sort of tarnished us,” Garner said, “he was able to recognize that the University of Georgia is still gold. We just need to shine it up. We just need to get the glitter back.”
**********
Speaking to fans at the Butts-Mehre building, Richt offered some insight into recruiting in this state:
“One of the hardest things for us to do is to evaluate and nail down who you’re going to go after, especially in our own state. A lot of the out-of-state teams will just come in and just offer like mad. They’ll come in and just offer like candy. Quite frankly, I’m not going to name names of schools, but a lot of them will do that just to get in the fight. And if the kid commits too soon and they’re not sure they want [him], they’ll just tell them, ‘That’s not a committable offer.’ Whatever the heck that means.
“If we offer a kid in our state and he says he’s coming, we want to take him, OK? Sometimes we’re a little bit slower to offer maybe than some out-of-state schools. Sometimes that might hurt a kid’s feelings. Sometimes that might hurt a coach’s feelings. That’s not our intention. Our intention is to have integrity when we offer a kid and be able to follow through.”
– Tim Tucker, UGA Blog
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305 comments Add your comment
Trick Plays and No Defense minus QB
February 3rd, 2011
5:36 pm
Not going to respond to anything this poster writes.
Just wanted to share with the rest of you, I did report him via the report this comment form, and followed it up with a email and call to the the Sports Editor.
He is just a child, and therefore I ignore him.
Good Nite. Everyone.
Dawg House
February 3rd, 2011
5:42 pm
I guess CBS sports is wrong on that too! Auburn is PART of the investigation might be a better use of english language, but no one wants the NCAA near their campus.
Newton investigation still ongoing
Posted on: January 8, 2011 2:21 pmScore: 127
Log-in to rate:Log-in to rate:Log-in to rate:Posted by Jerry Hinnen
Cam Newton will be taking the field Monday night in Glendale. There’s no doubt about that. But it doesn’t mean he’s out of the NCAA woods just yet.
That’s the biggest takeway from this report by Fox Sports’ Thayer Evans , who spoke to a pair of Atlanta-area contractors who had agreed to do repairs on Cecil Newton’s church in Newnan, Ga., and were interviewed by NCAA investigators the week before Christmas. The good news for Cam is that both said they weren’t aware of any kind of scheme to funnel money to the Newtons:
[Emory] Wilcox and [Eddie] Norris, listed on separate city permits for work to be done on Cecil Newton’s struggling Holy Zion Center of Deliverance, each told the NCAA investigators that they were never asked to deliver nor did they deliver money to Newton.
“There may be something there, but nothing related to me,” Norris told FOXSports.com.
The interviews also did nothing to support the theory that the Newtons had used an illicitly-paid windfall to repair the church, as Wilcox revealed that Cecil had yet to pay him for even minor electrical work. The church has avoided being condemned, a Newnan city spokeswoman confirmed, but is not yet up to code enough to host church services.
Despite all that, Evans’ story illustrates that while the attention into the investigation into Newton’s eligibility has waned, the investigation itself is carrying on all the same. Until the NCAA announces that it’s officially concluded its look into the Newtons’ finances — and that that look produced nothing damning — the possibility will remain that the next overturned log will uncover the improper benefits that would make Cam ineligible for the 2010 season.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
5:42 pm
“Not going to respond to anything this poster writes.”
You just did.
“I did report him via the report this comment form, and followed it up with a email and call to the the Sports Editor.”
Sports writers don’t ban people because they one-up pansy UGA fans.
“Good Nite. Everyone.’
Don’t let the barn door hit you on the way out.
LakeDawg
February 3rd, 2011
5:43 pm
One reason I want CMR to succeed, even though I have my doubts about him, is he is a man of integrity. Not enough of those in today’s world. I hope the tenacity he has shown on the recruiting trail follows him to the football field.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
5:44 pm
“That’s the biggest takeway from this report by Fox Sports’ Thayer Evans”
HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
“I guess CBS sports is wrong on that too!”
Considering CBS made up fake documents on George Bush….
“the possibility will remain t”
Ya know, there’s a possibility that an asteroid will destroy France but it doesn’t mean it will happen.
Keep on hopin and wishin, 6-7er.
Tdawg
February 3rd, 2011
5:45 pm
War Eagle all I can say is that I hope that you are not standing on the corner of some street and a car is bearing down on you and some bystander yells, look out. You won’t believe him until it actually run’s over you.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
5:48 pm
Tdawg
Why would I be standing on a street corner? I mean, I’m not your wife or anything.
trupert
February 3rd, 2011
5:50 pm
Auburn is being investigated by the NCAA and right after all the money was counted for the MNCG that investigation kicked into high gear.
The NCAA is coming but just keep denying everything with conviction like it will come true.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
5:51 pm
“Auburn is being investigated by the NCAA’
No they’re not.
“The NCAA is coming but just keep denying everything with conviction like it will come true.’
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.
Cedartown Tiger
February 3rd, 2011
5:52 pm
I just wanted to come back on the blog I read this morning and read some comments, and all I see is my fellow Auburn Tiger “War Eagle” stirring up the DAWG NATION.
I know he will not say it, but I will, I apologize for anything some of our fans do and say. We all have poor fans and this is just a prime example of someone who probably has never put on a football uniform or even understands the sacrifices a kid makes to play this game from a child all the way to his early twenties.
I will say it ” WAR EAGLE” but that proclamation also carries a form of pride with it and apparently this guys is more interested in fighting with others than carrying on a decent conversation.
I apologize to my SEC FAMILY.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
5:54 pm
Cedartown Tiger = UGA fan disguised as an Auburn fan.
UGA fan from Dalton
February 3rd, 2011
5:56 pm
I want to apologize to SEC nation for my fellow dawg fans who act like two year olds. People like trupert and Tdawg who blog all day long about how great UGA is.
I am deeply sorry for our stupid fans and how they act towards better teams. I want to say GO DAWGS SIC EM WOOF WOOF.
I apologize and offer everyone a free dinner at Olive Garden where I am a dish washer.
Pacific Dawg
February 3rd, 2011
5:56 pm
War Eagle
The football progam at Awbarn is like a turd floating in a toilet bowl. You know it is going down the pipes. The only question is when.
Atlantic Dawg
February 3rd, 2011
5:58 pm
Pacific Dawg
The football program at UGAY is like a turd floating down a toilet bowl in Memphis. You know
it is going down the pipes. The only question is when.
Cedartown Tiger
February 3rd, 2011
5:58 pm
War Eagle, most of us REAL Auburn fans are tire of guys like you who have never written a check to Auburn University who continue to embarrass us with these pitiful insults. You need to grow up son. I will call you son because apparently you have no job or communication skills to be intellectual enough to be and adult.
War Eagle. to the real fans .
From Where I Sit
February 3rd, 2011
5:59 pm
Hey, how about continue to Dream about ever winning the East? What a freakin Gay concept, Dream Team! Give me a break! How about do you talking on the field and you will not have to recruit that hard? These kids are all unproven at the next level. Therefore, until they win the SEC and a few NC’s, I will not be a believer in this smoke and mirrors gimmick!
Enough Said!!!
Cedartown Tiger
February 3rd, 2011
6:00 pm
War Eagle is the same guy on all these post who swaps names and post useless information. Sorry fellas.
I am signing off now so anything posted under my handle is him making up false statements.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
6:01 pm
“most of us REAL Auburn fans are tire of guys like you who have never written a check to Auburn University who continue to embarrass”
You are “tire” of me?
“I will call you son because apparently you have no job or communication skills to be intellectual enough to be and adult.”
LOL!!!!! I love UGA fans who pretend to be Auburn fans/alum.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
6:02 pm
“War Eagle is the same guy on all these post who swaps names and post useless information. Sorry fellas.”
And that is how I know that you are pretending to be an Auburn fan. Hmmmmmm, who could you be?
Trick Plays and No Defense minus QB comes to mind.
“I am signing off now so anything posted under my handle is him making up false statements.”
Uh huh. Whatever you say, Trick Plays.
Pacific Dawg
February 3rd, 2011
6:05 pm
News from Pago Pago!!!
Vasi “Tombstone” Papulu has just signed with Midway Military College. He will be able to sign with a four year school next year with three years of eligibilty remaining. If his grades improve. His recruitment could be huge for UGA next year.
WAR EAGLE
February 3rd, 2011
6:06 pm
Cedartown Tiger
Answer these simple questions only an Auburn grad would know.
1: Who gave the commencement speech when you graduated and what year?
2: What was your major at Auburn and who is head of that department?
3: What is the most famous store on the Auburn campus?
4: Who is the most famous Auburn grad?
trupert
February 3rd, 2011
6:23 pm
Auburn University is a proud institution who does not cheat and never has.
Auburn has cheating and paying players so ingrained in it’s history that they named their stadium after a coach who was caught paying players and the team was put on probation in 1957.
Auburn was so proud of coach Pat Dye who had to resign for, guess what, paying players that they named their field after him and reassigned him to another position.
Auburn then continued to pay players, which Terry Bowden only found out after he was hired as the head coach. Bowden was told that he had to keep paying players and he said that after the players who were under contract were finished he would no longer allow it. This effectively ended a good coaches career.
Go ahead and deny it all, it will only show your lack of class. Way to represent your university. WDE!
WAR EAGLES' DOG
February 3rd, 2011
6:32 pm
Even I cant stand WAR EAGLE
WAR EAGLES' MAMA
February 3rd, 2011
6:33 pm
“War Eagle, you better pick up your room before your father comes home!! Or he will put you on TV restriction again. And quit hitting your sister!!”
WAR EAGLES' MAMA
February 3rd, 2011
6:34 pm
I forgot WAR EAGLE was from Alabama..Quit hitting ON your sister
trupert's prostitute wife
February 3rd, 2011
6:43 pm
trupert
Chu owe me sum money! Don’t makes me git my pimp on you, b!tch!
help for Cedartown Tiger
February 3rd, 2011
6:46 pm
I can help answer WAR EAGLE’S questions for you CT
1: Who gave the commencement speech when you graduated and what year?
LARRY THE CABLE GUY….3 YRS RUNNING 1991 92 92
2: What was your major at Auburn and who is head of that department?
SEX EDUCATION. We didnt have a dept head, just a bunch of sheep
3: What is the most famous store on the Auburn campus?
1ST PLACE: THE VET SUPPLY STORE..THOSE SHEEP ARE PICKY
OSSUMS R US
2ND PLACE
4: Who is the most famous Auburn grad?
NOBODY
trupert
February 3rd, 2011
6:52 pm
The history of Auburn football.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/584912-auburn-football-over-50-years-of-buying-success-and-violating-ncaa-rules
Doc Dawg
February 3rd, 2011
7:23 pm
We have a great group of recruits, now lets get a Top Ten linebackers coach and line coach . The sooner the better .
Its gonna be Willie Willie bad again......
February 3rd, 2011
7:53 pm
Belin is gone and this dream team bull crap will make UGA a laughing stock when it hiccups and loses to a Vandy or some mickey mouse school.
Uncle Curly
February 4th, 2011
6:10 am
Saban is sharpening the slingblade. He has to make room for oversigning as usual. Players are on pins and needles cause they know it’s coming. This will be the year the Liar’s tactics will get seriously exposed. One more year and he is gone. You as a player may be committed to Alabama but rest assured they are not committed to you.
zbulldawg
February 4th, 2011
6:53 am
Settle down Richt act like you been then there before.This in state Talent has been here all along!!!!!!!!! you want 9th graders START WINNIG CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Stilla Skeptic
February 4th, 2011
8:19 am
Has the issue at UGA ever been lack of talent??? The recruiting presents great opportunity but bottom lines is getting W’s. UGA restocks RB’s every year yet has only had 2 guys top 1000 yards since ‘93 with several dissapointments that were “top recuits”. Our own football alumni (Fran T) and people outside the bulldog nation know a good recruiting class at UGA means nothing, in most cases Richt doesn’t “better” these guys.
Jborodawg
February 4th, 2011
9:13 am
PacificDawg, why do persist with the fantasy? It’s getting old.
Coach Belin was definitely a good coach. LB play was greatly improved as was special teams play. That’s why he’s in the NFL now, obviously.
To come here and say “…CMR needs to hire….” is laughable; like he doesn’t know how to hire? And for those wondering why it’s taken so long to get an OL coach, Coach was pretty busy recruiting. It takes a lot of focus to get this top 10 recruiting class. Lazy for not concentrating on state of Ga players? I don’t think so. He says they just de-emphasized out-of-state a little and concentrated on in-state. Nothing major; just a tweak in philosophy.
His comments about this class and the process show a man of integrity and class.
See his and coach Garner’s press conference…
http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020211aam.html
Florida Dawg
February 4th, 2011
9:16 am
I would think every single college football team has a “dram team” in mind and they go after there targets.
Let’s hope the players focus on football, grades and citizenship.
It’s a wait and see with the coaching staff….go dawgs!
Jborodawg
February 4th, 2011
9:22 am
And to clarify the in-state vs out-of-state philosophy, what’s wrong with getting a Stafford or Moreno or AJ Green? Hard to argue with getting those type guys. Conversely, one can question whether someone from Texas or N.J. are, or ever have been, “lifetime Bulldogs” and truly committed to Bulldawg Nation. But this year the state of Ga produced more ESPN top 150 than any state except Fla. Pretty cool.
‘Course, we still can go after the Pago Pago kid.
old time dog
February 4th, 2011
9:30 am
So we have another top 10 class. How many in a row is that? One tiny little insignificant question. Why have we not won a national chapionship or SEC championship in so many years?
Jborodawg
February 4th, 2011
10:06 am
When’s the last time FSU won one?
Cardinal Sin
February 4th, 2011
10:24 am
Amen From Where I Sit, Amen and well put///lmao!!!!
“Hey, how about continue to Dream about ever winning the East? What a freakin Gay concept, Dream Team! Give me a break! How about do you talking on the field and you will not have to recruit that hard? These kids are all unproven at the next level. Therefore, until they win the SEC and a few NC’s, I will not be a believer in this smoke and mirrors gimmick!”
Enough Said!!!
DawgFace Blues
February 4th, 2011
11:36 am
Go after clowney and it will be the ultimate wet dream team!
DawgFace Blues
February 4th, 2011
11:45 am
It will all have to start out in the dome. An az beatn again the blue ponies. No 42-28 bullcrap. A thorough thrashn. Then take out SC, plan and train hard for Gainesville and roll it from there. The momentum of the gator win will take us to Atlanta again!
Go Dawgs!
The Truth
February 4th, 2011
12:24 pm
GA Tech, Tennessee and Auburn are the three biggest outlaw schools in America! I’m sure their fans are proud of this.
Plus, Paul Johnson is ugly as hell.
1punchdawg
February 4th, 2011
2:34 pm
The hype is for the KIDS, Rict knows he is on thin ice, were it up to me i’d fire him as a coach, but hire him as a pastor or a mentor. No doubt his life choices are on target, but his game day choices leave a lot to be desired. Tired of taking a knee when there is time on the clock…talk about a morale killer…sittin there with a phenon QB & WR not even trying…then have the audacity to ask the players to finish the drill..maybe Ralph can help eliminate some of that junk, as well as get that great talent to perform at SEC level for the full game. Talk is over– git r done..or go preach!!!
JC Boscan II
February 4th, 2011
9:42 pm
Interesting update on Vasi Papulu from American Samoa. It appears that he did not fax his LOI to Midway, and on Chip Tower’s AJC blog it is reported that a number of schools are on his final list, led by UCLA and Georgia. If Jenkins signs with us on Saturday, adding Papulu would add great depth at the NT position. Plus, he can also play OT. 6′7 375 is hard to argue with, with his reported agility. Go Dawgs!
Gary
February 5th, 2011
8:59 am
Just keep this class out of Jail..
Bail is set...
February 5th, 2011
9:47 am
How much money has Richt budgeted for bail bonds and attorneys to get these thugs out of jail after they’re arrested?
Buh Bye
February 5th, 2011
9:50 am
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get every year. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 8-4 or even 9-3 occasionally, but Florida will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
Jborodawg
February 5th, 2011
10:31 am
“…UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC….In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar…”
Funny, the fans and teams that beat us last year ALL thought of em as “great win” or “signature win” or “one of the greatest wins in our history”. I get this from reading the home town or capitol city news from those schools, etc…EG The Denver Post, S.C. Statesman, Arkansas Gazette, Orlando Sentinal, Knoxnews, Montgomery News, B’ham News, Ms Clarion Ledger, etc. And, most of em were hyped leading up to the games about playing THE Georgia Bulldogs. At the end of the season, about every one of em, and ESPN and CBS Sports, etc were surprised and even dumfounded with the Dawgs losing record. So much for not being relevant or blips on the radar.
From Where I Sit
February 5th, 2011
10:41 am
Hey Jborodawg,
And you point is? The only reason these papers said what they did is because it was a conference win, not the fact that they beat UGAY! Your lack luster team has not won a NC in 30 years so, until you win a few, you will remain on the bottom of the SEC.
Enough Said!
wildbill
February 5th, 2011
11:43 am
Another year, another excuse. Dream Team is it this year. CMR is banking on it to extend his tenure, about 3.5 million a year isn’t it. I guess that is the value of a Dream Team. Next year, Fabulous Team. The year after next, the SUPER TEAM. I am so excited, NOT!!!!!!!