Team leaders preach accountability as Georgia loses another player to transfer
ATHENS – The hits just keep coming for the Georgia Bulldogs.
For the second time in as many days, a player informed coach Mark Richt he was unhappy with his role on the team and is seeking a transfer.
Deas
Marc Deas, a redshirt sophomore safety from Kissimmee, Fla., has decided to quit the team due to lack of playing time and is seeking a transfer, Richt said Saturday. Deas joins junior defensive lineman Derrick Lott, who made a similar decision less than 24 hours earlier.
“It was really an almost identical situation,” Richt said. “[Deas] felt like he wasn’t going to get the opportunity to get the kind of playing time he was hoping for at Georgia. I think both kids love Georgia, and we love them. They just didn’t feel it was going to happen for them during the time frame that they were here. So they decided to move on and go where they feel like they’re going to have a better chance of playing. That’s their choice to make.”
Their choices came on the heels of news earlier this week that at two of Georgia’s star defensive players – linebacker Alec Ogletree and safety Bacarri Rambo – are facing multiple-game suspension after failing a UGA-administered drug tests. Alan Ingram, Rambo’s coach at Seminole County High School, confirmed that Rambo is expected to miss four games due to marijuana use and said as many as five UGA players, includingOgletree, flunked surprise post-spring-break drug screenings arranged by the athletic association.
Richt and Georgia officials have refused to confirm or deny those and other reports, but have acknowledged they’re in the midst of “a process that has to run its course.”
Richt insisted Saturday the decisions of Lott and Deas have nothing to do with any ongoing disciplinary matters.
“There was no discipline issue, there were no problems, no academic issues,” Richt said. “They were just looking for an opportunity to play. . . . I’m telling you that straight up.”
Georgia has incurred an alarming rate of attrition in 2012. Since the Bulldogs returned from their Outback Bowl loss to Michigan State on Jan. 3, 11 players have either left the Bulldogs, been dismissed from the team or are expected to miss games due to disciplinary suspensions. In addition toOgletree and Rambo, fellow defensive starters Sanders Commings and Branden Smith are also facing suspensions. Tailback Carlton Thomas and cornerback Jordan Love each quit due to a lack of playing time and three other players were dismissed in the wake of a dorm-room theft.
All this negativity is occurring at a time when Georgia is being mentioned as a national championship contender for next season. That’s starting to grate on the Bulldogs’ players that have managed to stay in line.
“We’re going through some stuff and, as a team, we have to work together to solve those issues,” said linebacker Christian Robinson, a senior from Norcross . “We have two weeks left of spring ball and then we’ll have a break. We’ll definitely sit down as a group and lay down what our expectations are as far as holding each other accountable. We have such a great opportunity. We don’t want to throw it away. At this point it’s about grabbing whatwe’ve got left and dealing with it.”
Said senior defensive end Cornelius Washington: “There’s a whole lot of distractions. But, you know, you’ve just got to bring the guys in and tell them, ‘look, you’ve got to eliminate the outside distractions and focus in on what’s most important, which is try to get to Miami next year.’ So you’ve got to keep instilling the idea of what we’re trying to get done around here and just make sure they keep pushing.”
In the cases of Deas and Lott, it doesn’t appear that their losses will profoundly impact Georgia’s ability to compete. Deas (6-foot-1, 197 pounds) had three tackles last season playing mainly special teams. Lott (6-4, 303) appeared in five games in his career and recorded a total of 10 tackles.
But the sum total of the Bulldogs’ attrition is starting to stack up. Including past signees that failed to gain academic admission and players that have had to leave the program for any reason, Georgia is up to 30 players that could have had eligibility for the 2012 season.
“You definitely need as full of a boat as you can have,” Richt said. “You want to make sure you have enough guys out there to do all of your special teams work and everything. But that’s part of the reason we’re making sure that every guy, from the starters on offense and defense down through the scout team, are getting work [on special teams].”
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179 comments Add your comment
michael
April 1st, 2012
12:56 pm
Mettenberger? He couldnt get on the field last year for LSU, and their QB play in front of him was horrible at best! Nice try, Snoop Dummy!
Hairy Dawg
April 1st, 2012
1:04 pm
This makes me sickening how so many bad fans is a trying to hot sit Coach Richt. We knows Coach Richt is casting out the players that no good and stinkys. If we don’t cut loose the stinkys boys as part of roster manegements then we stuck with the sorry freeloaders for 4 years and that keeps schollie taken up by stinkys instead of talented recruits.
The only way to fixes it is to cast out the stnkys players that not exposing talents. If they not exposing talent on field then they don’t deserve access to the parties and ladies in Athens. But you have to do like The Book says and cast out those that not exposing talents to play with SEC speed.
LogicalUS
April 1st, 2012
1:35 pm
Who besides the homers at the AJC was mentioning UGA as national championship contenters?
I haven’t heard any such nonsense besides the beaners at the AJC who make their livings boosting UGA from February to August as the preseason MNC. Then of course the “greatest team ever” actually has to play a game and the collapse occurs.
Top Dog 34: 2012 will be an instant replay of 2011 at best.
April 1st, 2012
5:55 pm
Enter your comments here
TigerinGA
April 1st, 2012
9:41 pm
Snoop, Zach IS the LSU starter and he will light up UGA should they be lucky enough to make it back to the SEC championship game this year.
Bama=home of the T-bag special
April 1st, 2012
10:28 pm
We are the Bull Dog Nation…..we are coming get on the train or prepare yourself to be road kill..Go Dawgs!
Bama Roll TR
April 1st, 2012
10:38 pm
No transfer problems at Bama–Saban’s loaded up the roster for another title run!!! 14 titles, going for 15!!!! RTR!!
DawginTX
April 1st, 2012
11:06 pm
Oversigning?
Hairy Dawg
April 2nd, 2012
12:35 am
You Bammer trolls get off our blog and keep your filthy Sabans away from GA recruits. We own state and recruits and that means this site to. Go back to bed with your sisters tonight.
And Zach Mettenburger was a second rate hack that beat out by All-SEC Murray. That why we gave Zach the Hack his releases.
tape worm
April 2nd, 2012
7:28 am
What baffles me the most is that the athletic department had a meeting with all student athletes before spring break. Did these players not understand that they would be tested when they returned from spring break? How stupid can some people be?
Brown Dog
April 2nd, 2012
7:36 am
Hairy Dawg,
The “we own this state” spiel doesn’t stand up to the events of Feb. 2, so save it for the Techies. To the kids in Georgia now gazing westward: I-20 is ready when you are.
What an extra special time to be a walk-on at UGA. Plenty of scholarships available.
Jimmy Crack
April 2nd, 2012
8:05 am
This is not a problem, although Lott seemed to be destined for rotational work. There are plenty of players waiting in the wings. Our main problem with competing for any title is Aaron Murray. He has got to cut down on interceptions. He can’t even make it through a scrimmage game without throwing a pick. Ball security is the most important issue with our offense. We will score plenty, no doubt. We just can’t give anything away.
DawginLex
April 2nd, 2012
9:01 am
01HAWK
If you are interested in hits, I’m sure we can all arrange some for your ugly face
Hairy Dawg
April 2nd, 2012
10:07 am
That is why Saban is scum. Not cause he over signing and roster manegement. But cause he comes into GA to try to steal GA players that is supposed to wear red and black for Dawgs. Saban tries to get them to be traitors to home state by playing for Bama instead of a helping Dawgs win BCS. Sabans is trying to get the GA young mens to be Beneditcs Arnolds against Dawgs. Thats what not fair.
The oversigning problem is an Adams problem not a Saban problem. Adams and his pointy heads has been applying all the restrictoins that keep Dawgs from effective roster manegement like Sabans. Adams is the problem there’s.
Case of the Mondays - Friends of the Program
April 2nd, 2012
10:15 am
[...] Everybody is getting the hell out of Athens for some reason [AJC] [...]
Dawg Tired
April 2nd, 2012
10:53 am
Surely the kid would play in light of all the suspensions IF HE WAS ANY GOOD. If he would not have been palying in light of all this attrition one wonders why he was ever given a scholarship in the first place.
AltamahaDawg
April 2nd, 2012
11:46 am
Why are folks arguing about Mettenberger being a starter one way or the other? He was good enough to get a SEC scholarship out of HS. He’s a big kid, with a rifle arm, a RS Junior, who had a year of starts at a JC in between. You would think it’s about time for him to be a productive player. Looks to me as if Miles saw the exact same thing as Richt. Good to have him as a back up, but not ready for a starting role, until Maybe now. But if LSU had a 3rd yr returning starter, Zack would still not be the automatic starter. He is by default now. Not to say he won’t do a great job, but clearly he didnt “take” that job away from anybody. I think he is finally a true passer they haven’t had, but yet to be seen if LSU is really a true passing team around him. We will see, and best of Luck to him, unless we play em.
What exactly is the issue here? I’ve never understoood how just mentioning “Mettenberger” was some dig at Georgia.
UGA Football
April 2nd, 2012
12:17 pm
We must stay positive people. We have been doing ok for many years with bad coaching and all that. I think we have always had the problem of people being unhappy playing for UGA… This isn’t Bama or Auburn or Tech or LSU or Florida. We have always had a poor attitude with our players but we have always made it happen. GOOOO DAWGS!!!
"dawg-hater" hater
April 2nd, 2012
12:35 pm
“good call UGA football…seems our “dawg fans” are major major bandwagon fans, which makes me sick to my stomach! all things aside we do seem to have an underlying issue, but i have complete faith in the dawgs and the coaching staff…we WILL be fine! whatever the problem is “this” season will be resolved and we will improve on our record from last season. “DAWG FANS”…stop criticizing “YOUR TEAM” and start feeding on the positives at UGA. theres going to be negativity at any school, ours just seems to be building up around the same time…the team leaders will step up, the selfish teammates will hunker down and join the group, and we will do some amazing things this year. I dont expect to hear anymore negativity coming from our beloved dawgs this season, and Lord willing a lot less next season. Go Dawgs and someone please put me in a coma and wake me up when sept. 1st gets here
flo-ri-duh
April 2nd, 2012
1:24 pm
UGA has the strictest drug policy and drug testing in the NCAA.
Truth. Go Dawgs!!!
April 2nd, 2012
1:27 pm
I totally agree with “UGA Football”. UGA has never been a school with good players or coaches but they still make it through and have done fairly well in the last 15 years. UGA fans need to quit complaining about their team. UGA is not bad and has a long history in College football with many successes. UGA will never be a great team but they can keep being a good one. UGA has always lacked coaching and talent but they can still make a difference in an effort to win close games against other SEC schools and close games against Tech for the fans. Go Dawgs!!!!
Bama Hater
April 2nd, 2012
1:38 pm
Bama sucks. When you really think about UGA we have done more with less. Bama has had way better coaching and talent but UGA has done better without it. Sometimes attitude, talent and coaching doesn’t win games.
Brown Dog
April 2nd, 2012
2:37 pm
Bama Hater,
Please say you’re joking. And please stay on the line so we get medical help to you as soon as possible.
LHardingDawg
April 2nd, 2012
2:57 pm
I think Georgia and Coach Richt finally has it right. If a player breaks the rules, he accepts the consequences. It might mean running steps or missing four games. If he don’t have the sense to do the right things, he will be caught and punished. EVEN starters.
If a player is not good enought to start and wants to transfer. Coach Richt doesn’t hold it against him and even helps the player to get to another school where he can get playing time.
Like I said, Georgia finally has gotten it right, and the Georgia Bulldogs will be just fine this fall.
The Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
April 2nd, 2012
3:18 pm
It’s a good thing Richt doesn’t oversign…
Bulldawgman46
April 2nd, 2012
5:28 pm
Well this is getting out hand , The bad apples are showing there ugly head and I am not liking it at all . There are guys on this team that give 110 % and they aren’t talked about there has to be some guys that are giving back the to community and don’t get talked about. I guess the world we live in is
the only thing that sells is negativity but can it so bad as it looks ? This Dawg Fan is getting frustrated !!!
REALLY?
April 3rd, 2012
9:12 am
I’m so disappointed in these young men. Unfortunately for UGA these guys sign with them in hopes of only going to the next level. It’s rare to catch a Thomas Brown, David Pollack, David Greene and a Brandon Boykins type player to fill your roster. Most of these kids fail to get their College Education and leave empty handed. If they are lucky enough to make it to the next level they end up broke and mismanaging their money. UGA does not recruit character or players who are academically sound so I will suggest that they hire some more physically abled assistant coaches to keep these guys in line. Hell… most of these guys had behavior issues in high school.
William
April 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
The problem is that Athens more heavily policed than any comparable town in the country. I am UGA fan, but if I was a recruit, I wouldn’t go to Athens for the simple fact that you get arrested for jay-walking – and that is not a joke. You can’t jay-walk in Athens. Lets be real, a young kid, age 18, away from home for the first time, and praised by the students is going do something stupid his freshman year. That does not make it right, but neither should it suprise any one that these kids are getting caught. These is nothing really wrong with MOST of these kids, the program, or CMR. It’s Athens.
chief 1
April 7th, 2012
11:13 am
Georgia has good football player BUT! they [Some] doesn’t have Much when it comes to Character your word is what you are these players that are leaving thier word didn’t mean a lot because they wasn’t much in keeping there word they ride on a freeride for a time the up and RUN Quit now Quit on the team and on the Field, Run, Run,Run. NO>>>>CHARACTER………!