UPDATED: What happened to change direction of Georgia football?
The most significant change in the last four years has been Mark Richt's decision to relinquish offensive game-planning and play-calling duties. (AP photo)
I’m not sure how many people were watching College GameDay this past Saturday morning and saw the piece they aired on the Georgia football program. It was titled, “Discontent in Georgia” and I was among the individuals interviewed for it. Here’s A LINK to the video clip if you haven’t seen it.
But the real fireworks, I thought, came in the ensuing debate among the College GameDay panel, including regulars Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit and a new castmember named David Pollack, who some of you may have heard of.
In any case, it didn’t paint a very pretty picture of the direction of the Bulldogs’ football program, and that was before they went out and lost to South Carolina 45-42 on national TV. I thought it could have been a little more balanced — surely they could have found some folks that would have defended head coach Mark Richt — but the general theme was that Georgia fans are unhappy with the way things are going and want a coaching change. That’s what set off the debate among the GameDay guys.
The problem when you do television interviews for something like this is, typically, they ask you questions for 15-20 minutes and they may use 30 seconds of what you say. That was the case here and that’s fine. I knew that going in.
But one of the things they asked me about that didn’t make the airwaves was what I thought had taken place that precipitated Georgia’s downturn. It was a tough question and, honestly, one that I kind of struggled with. But after rattling it around in my brain for awhile, I came up with the best answer I could at the moment.
The only thing I could think of that changed from 2007, when the Bulldogs won 11 games, to 2008-10, when they won 10 then 8 then 6, was Richt relinquishing control of offensive game-planning and play-calling responsibilities.
If you recall, it was after the Georgia Tech game at the end of the 2006 regular season that we found out that Richt discreetly turned over those duties to quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo for that contest. Bobo also handled the responsibility in the bowl game and, after being bestowed the title of offensive coordinator in 2007, has been in charge of the offense ever since.
Now this is not to say I think Bobo’s offensive strategies have been the reason for Georgia’s demise. That was not and is not my point. In fact, Bobo’s offenses on average have actually out-gained (387.21-377.76 ypg) and out-scored (31.28-28.13 ppg) Richt’s. It has more to do with the resulting fundamental change in the way Richt directed the program as head coach.
Think about that for a minute. For 11 years before Richt came to Georgia, he was quarterbacks coach and/or offensive coordinator at Florida State, which happened to finish in the Top 5 nationally every one of those years. For the majority of that time, he was game-planning and play-calling for the Seminoles. Then he comes to Georgia in December of 2000 and, after doing calling the national championship game with FSU, he hits the recruiting trail for the Bulldogs and assumes the same offensive responsibilities at UGA in addition to being head coach.
That goes on through the 2006 season, when he finally entrusts the Xs and Os to somebody else. It was an exhausting run, I’m sure.
But again, more than not calling all the offensive shots, this represented a profound change in how Richt went about his business, both on a weekly and daily basis all the way down to game management. That must have had some sort of effect on the way things have gone.
Anyway, I’m not sharing all this to say I’ve figured anything out. This is much more of an observation than it is a hypothesis. But it’s something I’ll continue to look into going forward. And, of course, there are so many other aspects that go into running a college football program. Evaluation, recruiting, coaching, training, injuries, academics, luck, they all have something to do with it.
But that’s what I’m asking you guys today. Here is the cold reality: Georgia is off to an 0-2 start this season. It is 14-14 overall (12-14 vs. FBS) and 7-10 in the SEC since the 2009. So, what do you think happened?
UPDATE: I asked Coach Richt at his presser Tuesday what he would point to as the main reason for the recent downturn. Here’s what he said:
“Last year we went through all that, and we talked about things that are a year old. Those are old. This season is the only thing I’m really concerned about, and obviously, we turned the ball over. Not only were they turnovers, they were turnovers for points. I guess there was five yards they had to track one time. Our defense basically gave up 17 points to a pretty darn good football team. They had no responsibility for the fake punt, the pick six or the fumble for a touchdown. They could have stopped them on the five yard line going in. Sudden change – that’s their job to turn it into a field goal. We just gave that one away.”
– Chip Towers
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734 comments Add your comment
I've been working o the Railroad
September 13th, 2011
10:52 am
On a Spiritual side, and I mean this with all respect, not to make fun of.
We all have heard about CMR and his relationship with God. And his summer’s when he goes on mission trips to other countries. I, for one admire him for that, a man of faith, who humbly goes about helping others. In a way, this is just as much a calling as is a Nun’s, a Priest’s, a Rabbi’s choice of vocation. It takes a lot of guts to these things, I mean to spend a life being refined by God’s will for us.
Anyway the point I wish to make, to throw out there is this. The hardest journey for any man man to make in life, is from his head to heart. We are so bent on what we think we need to do…., it makes us unable to see God’s will for us. Take CMR, there is no doubt in my mind that if he had won a National Championship, he would be out of football and on to serving God instead of Georgia. But he hasn’t and he thinks he needs to win that first and then go on. It is the one accolade he does not have. And now, trying to turn the team around to achieve that goal, when he has given up control of so much (Bobo), is like trying to push water up a hill. In other words, it “can’t be done.” As much as CMR tries, the more the program will sink…… Why, to me it is very clear. CMR has another calling and no matter what he does or tries tries to do with Georgia, he will fail because, there is a saying, “God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.” CMR has been called from Georgia by something greater than us all and it is time for CMR to hear that calling. Time to go do what he has been chosen to do and it is not football anymore.
gt4ever
September 13th, 2011
10:52 am
Exactly Old Dawg,,,
I can’t understand why so many people want to can a coach that simply has done better every year…. Mind boggling..
Sally Joe
September 13th, 2011
10:53 am
I agree that Aaron Murray was the reason UGA lost to S.C.
He act like the ball his baby. He need to throw it to a reciever or throw it away.
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
10:53 am
You won’t catch CPJ hugging anybody on the sidelines, unless it’s after winning a conference title.
Happy Warrior
September 13th, 2011
10:54 am
I disagree with you Lex, Hunker’s right, you is retarded.
DawginLex
September 13th, 2011
10:55 am
Hunkers Gone South
September 13th, 2011
10:52 am
DawginLex is just beyond retardation
**********************************************
nice cheap shot gerbil boy.
My points are clear, if you can read and comprehend what you read.
Your posts are idiotic, like you.
DawginLex
September 13th, 2011
10:56 am
good for you too happy warrior
Stupid is as stupid does
that applies to both of you
If either one of you could read, you would see I am right.
DawginLex
September 13th, 2011
10:56 am
Later
done arguing with idiots
DawginLex
September 13th, 2011
10:57 am
I am predicting a 10 game winning streak.
But to say the decision has already been made flys in the face of everything Richt has been saying.
He says it is weak to weak.
I say if the results are good, the plan will get announced, Richt becomes lame dick and the coach search starts publicly.
If the results are miracleville, the plan gets scrapped and richt will not be back.
That’s not my prediction
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
10:57 am
Richt just doesn’t fit the UGA personnel.
Richt tries to be cerebral, calm, the thinking man’s coach (even though his IQ is probably average).
But who does UGA recruit? Not the genius types,but the big, strong, meatheads that can flip VW bugs.
You guys need a coach who has a screw missing; somebody who will get on the practice field, no pads, and tackle somebody just to show how it’s done. somebody who will have veins popping out of his head on the sidelines…during a WIN.
Richt is not that man.
You
RxDawg
September 13th, 2011
10:57 am
“I thought it could have been a little more balanced — surely they could have found some folks that would have defended head coach Mark Richt ”
I agree Chip. I saw that piece and the first thing I could think of was that I’ve never seen such a strong segment against a technicaly very successful coach. It was almost a propaganda against Richt. The sad thing is I know a lot of players and even coaches watch gameday. So that had to be a little disheartening.
I don’t know if everybody you interview in Athens would be ready for Richt to go but that gameday segment painted that kind of picture. I hope Richt can turn it around. If our boys play as hard as they did against the chickens then I think everything will fall into place.
One could point to Trinton Sturdivant’s ACL injury 3 years in a row as the main reason for our decline the past 3 years.
Joey
September 13th, 2011
10:59 am
Old Dawg, the D gave up 24 points – and one of those td drives was 4 yards!
17 points, and held SC to 4 of 14 on 3rd down plays.
Boise was another matter,but even in that game, our O and special teams gave the Broncos some short fields, and they will probably score 50+ on everbody else this year.
JR
September 13th, 2011
11:02 am
One could point to Trinton Sturdivant’s ACL injury 3 years in a row as the main reason for our decline the past 3 years.
If your program depends on one offensive lineman’s knee problems for 3 years, then you are in real trouble.
Jake
September 13th, 2011
11:03 am
I’m glad to see someone taking this on. Clearly there’s something wrong with the program. And if we’re to believe that Georgia gets it’s fair share of talent (to wit, the “Dream Team”), then it’s got to be a failure of leadership/management to get that talent to perform at the SEC level. Although the S. Carolina game was better, there still appears to be a lack of drive, a hunger to excel, to be the best. In the past few years, UGA just hasn’t played with aggression, excellence or creativity it used to have.
DawgInLex Eats Idiots Sandwiches
September 13th, 2011
11:04 am
He really does. Several sandwiches or more everyday.
Maked
September 13th, 2011
11:04 am
What happened?
Richt got complacent and lazy. Our fans kept saying “net year”! Our players became “stars” on campus and felt entitled.
While Alabama, LSU, Florida, USC, Arkansas, MSU, went out and hired quality head coaches and staffs, the UGA program lost good coaches and replaced them with unproven former grad assistants and not ready for prime time coaches.
Richt reflects no “hunger” or “desire” to earn those millions he is collecting,
Richt is phoning it in.
Maked
September 13th, 2011
11:04 am
“next year”
1eyedJack
September 13th, 2011
11:04 am
Georgia should hire all of you guys. Ya’ll have ALL the answers. Problem solved.
lannie bishop
September 13th, 2011
11:06 am
I may remember this wrong but I think when Mark Richt was the offensive coordinator there were also a lot of complaints about how he called plays. Florida State at the time he was there was mostly a passing team. Georgia was tailback U but running was an after thought. Tommy Tubeville when at Auburn made the comment that Mark Richt should realize that you cannot win in the SEC without running the ball. I think Bobo should go but going back to Richt calling plays I am not sure about.
bradcarter01@gmail.com
September 13th, 2011
11:06 am
The first 3/4 years of Richt’s tenure, he was using JIM DONNANS RECRUITS people. Once the team was 100% Richt recruits, we startd going down hill. We are the new Florida State, without the wins.
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:08 am
Also folks, just remember, SC played a terrible game. 2 INTs, passing under 50%, 4-14 on 3rd down, lost TOP, Garcia was AWFUL, only 15 1st downs.
Yet they still won, and it was an AWAY game.
Don’t think that your team is “almost” as good as SC, based on the final score. They aren’t. I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions about UGA from that game.
UGA Insider
September 13th, 2011
11:09 am
I hope you guys are right about us winning the next 10 but we still have to
Go to Knoxville. ….. Dooley is looking for his first signature win. CMR has gotten his tail kicked badly the past 2 times in Knoxville.
Peterson had his interview game and Dan Mullen will get his in Athens. He will have his team ready like Peterson did. He would love to get the UGA job.
Muschamp will want to get his signature win against UGA and will be ready. His D looks good and we all know how that series has been going the past 20 years.
I see 3 more losses and possibly a loss to Auburn at season’s end.
MountainDawg
September 13th, 2011
11:09 am
We’ve not had a top level DC since Van Gorder left & Bobo just isn’t an SEC quality OC (too predictable). Add to that the OL & DL have underperformed. Finally, lack of discipline. CMR won’t get hardnosed w/ his assistant coaches or players.
bradcarter01@gmail.com
September 13th, 2011
11:10 am
Judging by the grammer on this blog, there are a lot of Atlanta school grads that are UGA fans! including myself!
ckgator
September 13th, 2011
11:10 am
Chip – its very simple. UGA’s success under Richt came at a time when Florida / Tennessee was down. Insert South Carolina for UT, add Florida playing to its potential again in the mid-decade, and Georgia becomes irrelevant again.
The one fairly constant program in the East is Florida, and they are not going away. UT / USC come and go. UGA is only allowed an occassional dip in the pool of success.
Otherwise… its “No Dawgs Allowed.”
Lame Kiffin
September 13th, 2011
11:11 am
Dear AD McGarrity,
My favorite mantra when coming to Tennessee would also apply regarding changes at UGA…”It’s Time!”
LEMON THROWER
September 13th, 2011
11:11 am
UGA offense scores 30+ points a game and still gets beat, who’s fault is it? Not Coach Richt guys.
UGA Insider
September 13th, 2011
11:11 am
I guess you could even say that the UGA/UT will be an interview game for Dooley. He would dump UT in a second for the chance to come back to UGA. That move would not surprise me at all…This is the SEC.
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:12 am
bradcarter, learn how to spell “grammar”
bradcarter01@gmail.com
September 13th, 2011
11:12 am
Joe, IT WAS A JOKE DUMBASS
TampaDawg
September 13th, 2011
11:12 am
GT Joe, you’re calling for your team to be favored two plus months before the game? Listen, Gailey may be long gone but it’s still 1-9. Nothing has really changed.
bradcarter01@gmail.com
September 13th, 2011
11:14 am
GT sucks. That high school offense doesn’t really work in real college football. The first year was the best it will ever be. The game films don’t lie.
JR
September 13th, 2011
11:14 am
UGA Insider
September 13th, 2011
11:11 am
I guess you could even say that the UGA/UT will be an interview game for Dooley. He would dump UT in a second for the chance to come back to UGA. That move would not surprise me at all…This is the SEC.
I think your inside information is bogus. McGarrity hiring him would be neither an impact or signature hire.
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:14 am
Lemon Thrower, is Richt not responsible for Offense AND defense? He is the head coach, right?
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:15 am
bradcarter, was your last post a JOKE too? I can’t really tell, your jokes are pretty lousy…
Maked
September 13th, 2011
11:16 am
Same old recycled excuses and excuses are for LOSERS!
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:16 am
bradcarter, actually, our 2nd season was the best (so far) with that high school offense. The same spread option that Florida ran, FYI.
Robert Jones
September 13th, 2011
11:17 am
No one wants to mention Rodney Garner (who is ostensibly one of the best recruiters in the country), but I do feel that he bears some responsibility here. We are recruiting athletes who look great getting off the bus and who have impressive 40 times. However, we do not seem to get the best “football players.” We need more players who are intelligent enough to understand our system and who will grow with it. We have too many players who can’t seem to find a home on either side of the ball and who appear to get worse as their careers go forward. Not to pick on anyone, but what has happened to De Angelo Tyson? Why was Kiante Tripp such a bust? Same with Justin Anderson? Same with Brandon Miller? The jury is still out on Marlon Brown and Taverus King, but does anyone really see super star status for either of them. I recognize that recruiting is basically intelligent guesswork, but lately more often than not we seem to guess wrong.
Garner has also never been known as a great defensive line coach. His players consistently do better in the NFL than they did at UGA.
Easily Amused
September 13th, 2011
11:17 am
What happened is the rest of the SEC started playing like the SEC again. We’re still better than Tech, and that’s just about as good as it gets. So get used to it.
If we keep CMR for several more years, then maybe we’ll catch another downturn in the SEC and we can then win another meaningless Championship. An SEC Championship that will not lead to a National Championship game.
If we fire Coach Richt, then we’ll be in even more trouble, because no Head Coach worth his salt would want this job. Reasonable Dawg Fans understand this. I just wish that the AJC writers would stop writing about it — we don’t really want to hear it. Let’s just concentrate on beating Tech and pretending that it actually means something.
bradcarter01@gmail.com
September 13th, 2011
11:17 am
No, the last post was 100% correct. he high school offense you run only works until teams see how easy it is to defend. That is why it works so well in Pop Warner and Flag football as well. People don’t usually study film at that level.
wreckbuzz
September 13th, 2011
11:18 am
One might conclude that it is the combination of Richt turning over playcalling and the departure of Brian VanGorder as defensive coordinator. The offense was entrusted to an inexperienced coach in Mike Bobo and the defense entrusted to good friend of Richt, Willie Martinez. After Martinez was fired he was replaced by Todd Grantham.
The question Georgia fans have to ask themselves is would any other big time program have hired these three guys to do the jobs they were given at UGA? Honestly I think the answer is a resounding NO.
PonGT
September 13th, 2011
11:18 am
UGA is fundamentally DUMB! We don’t block well, tackle well or pay attention to the little things on special teams … little things like always being prepared for the possibility of a fake punt. And why do we run the ball down the field into the redzone and then try to pass the ball 3 times. And if we throw on 1st down and miss, why do we try to run on 2nd down for 2 yards? Fundamentally we’re dumb. I don’t know whose fault that is, but I’m tired of running the same 5 offensive plays no matter whose on the field.
Maked
September 13th, 2011
11:18 am
UGA has gone from a top 10 job in the BCS to a bottom half of the top 30 jobs. Just stating the obvious.
Dawg Forever
September 13th, 2011
11:19 am
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail… “WE NO LONGER PREPARE”
Thomas Brown
September 13th, 2011
11:19 am
TampaDawg,
Aaron Murray is Drew Brees, now, TampaDawg ? What about my posts above at 8:10 am 8:13 8:14 you asked me for
TampaDawg
Steves Jones
September 13th, 2011
11:20 am
Richt needs to go back calling plays- They will finish 5-7
Coastal Carolina –W
Ole Miss –W
Mississippi State –L
Tennessee –L
Vanderbilt–W
Florida*–L
New Mexico State –W
Auburn–L
Kentucky–W
Georgia Tech–L
TampaDawg
September 13th, 2011
11:20 am
I have read several Dawginlex posts on this blog and many before it. Though I don’t always agree with what he says, I would hardly call this fellow Dawg support’s posts or himself retarded. I don’t think anything he has posted warrants that. GT Joe on the other hand, now that’s a different story.
GT Joe
September 13th, 2011
11:20 am
Yeah brad, so easy to defend with some game planning huh? We average 34 against UGA with that high school offense, I guess your coaches don’t do much tape watching huh.
Eddie
September 13th, 2011
11:21 am
No problem Happy Warrior…allow UGA to continue being the replacement for Vandy on every SEC teams Homecoming.You might,also,consider keeping Adams and your current AD.They have done such a SWELL job since running an SEC/UGA legend out of Athens!
Demote Bobo
September 13th, 2011
11:21 am
CMR, as the leader of the program, needs to replace Bobo immediately. While Bobo’s scoring stats may be better, I’d like to see time of possession and turnover stat comparisons between the two. If UGA is scoring more and losing more then the other team is getting the ball more. Pretty simple. Also, most every OC and DC in BCS programs has a resume that shows experience from other schools or teams other than the one they are currently coaching. Bobo has only been away from the UGA program for one year, to Jax St., since he left High School. He was coached by two guys that were fired, so he surely did not learn early on from top notch guys. CMR got away from the program he started with and learned from some of the best. How can Bobo be a creative and innovative coach not knowing anything other than the UGA program? If he left UGA right now, where would he go? He’s not on an upward trajectory and never has been. CMR was a hot OC when at FSU and ended up getting a HC job at a big time program. Now think of Bobo. UGA needs an OC that has experience, without patronage, and has shown some creativity. Let Bobo go and see what he does elsewhere.