Richt gets big laugh out of Spurrier’s latest jab
Athens – South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier was in midseason form when he talked to ESPN’s Chris Low in a wide-ranging spring practice interview this week in Columbia.
The barbs were flying for the Gamecocks’ outspoken coach, and both Georgia and defending national Alabama were zinged in the process.
Asked about having to play the Bulldogs in October now rather than in the second game of the season under the previous schedule, Spurrier couldn’t resist taking a shot.
“I don’t know, I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended,” Spurrier said.
Informed of Spurrier’s remarks after Georgia’s practice Thursday evening, coach Mark Richt just laughed.
“How ’bout that; I think that that’s funny,” Richt said after a hardy chuckle. “That sounds like Steve.”
What makes it particularly funny is Spurrier has been so lax on discipline. His previous quarterback Stephen Garcia was suspended five times under Spurrier’s watch but, interestingly, never missed a game until he was kicked off the team in the middle of this past season.
Spurrier even had a shot for Alabama’s Nick Saban. Asked what he thought about the job the Crimson Tide’s coach has done in Tuscaloosa, Spurrier compared him to Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari.
“He’s got a nice little gig going, a little bit like Calipari,” Spurrier told Low. “He tells his guys, ‘Hey, three years from now you’re going to be a first-round pick and go.’ If he wants to be the greatest coach or one of the greatest coaches in college football, to me he has to go somewhere besides Alabama and win, because they’ve always won at Alabama.”
Key players out for G-Day
Several key players are expected to miss Saturday’s annual spring game at Sanford Stadium.
Richt on Thursday said two-way star Malcolm Mitchell and true freshman tailback Keith Marshall were definitely going to sit out with hamstring injuries. Starting strong safety Shawn Williams is also out with what he called a minor knee injury and freshman quarterback Faton Bauta will also miss with a similar injury. Redshirt freshman ffensive linemen Zach DeBell (ankle) and Xzavier Ward (knee) will also sit out.
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
410 comments Add your comment
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:26 am
jarvis,
I’m always happy to edumucate folks. And it doesn’t take 40 minutes of research. Really just a dash of common sense and a good memory.
Big D
April 13th, 2012
11:26 am
That is funny. Good humor requires some truth which his reference to UGA had.
ClinchCountyDawg
April 13th, 2012
11:26 am
Buckeye
What’s up?
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:26 am
got the dawgs on the run….
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:26 am
hey dave, him beating uga yearly never gets stale…
Spurrier has a losing record against Mark Richt.
Rodster
April 13th, 2012
11:27 am
The ol’ ball coach is a classic. I want the Bulldogs to beat them like an army mule, but I love Spurrier and he’s good for college football.
Clarke County College for Girls and Effeminate Boys
April 13th, 2012
11:27 am
Go Dawgs!
grinder
April 13th, 2012
11:28 am
Spurrier is 2-0 vs. Richt lately.
Spurrier is laughing hardest.
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:28 am
http://mrsec.com/2010/12/sec-drug-policies-arent-created-equal/
Alabama’s drug policy is pretty lax compared to Georgia.
Its one reason you see a lot more UGA players getting in trouble.
The rules are stricter at Georgia.
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:29 am
Spurrier is 2-0 vs. Richt lately.
Spurrier is laughing hardest.
But a losing record all time.
Richt laughs last.
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:29 am
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:25 am
Saban has won everywhere he has coached.
Not in the NFL.
Well he did take over a Miami franchise that was completely in the dumps. Did you think he could work a miracle overnight? In his 2nd season he had the dolphins on a 6 game winning streak when the Bama news broke. They then proceeded to lose their last 4 I think it was. But don’t let the truth or the facts of the momentum they had going get in the way of your saban hate.
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:31 am
In fact Richt has a winning record against every SEC team not named Florida.
He is 3-1 vs Bama ( 1 – 1 vs Saban )
Think his record is even up against LSU. Something like 5 and 5.
He has dominated Auburn, Tennessee, Ark and pretty much every other SEC school.
bham dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:31 am
@Georgia is a Pretender… “As an LSU fan… Fans of other teams, please don’t bother posting here”… Little hypocritical don’t ya think?
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:32 am
But don’t let the truth or the facts of the momentum they had going get in the way of your saban hate.
Dont worry. I wont.
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:33 am
it doesn’t matter what other schools policies are…uga players know the school’s policies and chose to break them…c’mon now…the reason you see alot more uga players getting in trouble has more to do with respect for the program, or rather, lack of respect…thats the bottom line…
bill arp
April 13th, 2012
11:34 am
Richt’s comeback should’ve been “that’s funny, especially seeing as he doesn’t suspend players for actual games over there!”.. But Richt’s too classy of a guy, and for that, he has my utmost respect.
bham dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:35 am
@Georgia is a Pretender… 12 yards no 1st downs. With added depth the defense is not going to wear down this time.
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:36 am
it doesn’t matter what other schools policies are…
Really ?
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:36 am
keep living in the past bham…sad when one half of a game is your crowning achievement for the season…pathetic…42-10…
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:37 am
really…
MyPatootie
April 13th, 2012
11:38 am
Well, it MIGHT be funny if it wasn’t so true! I heard a rumor they were going to move the state prison to the campus of UGA to make it more convenient for them.
Terry
April 13th, 2012
11:38 am
evil empire brown nosing Tide rising, this gives a greater meaning to the term; the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
bham dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:39 am
@evil empire… you are right that it doesn’t matter what other schools policies are. But for the sake of the debate on this blog hell yea it matters. If these players were at any school besides uga or kentucky in the sec the suspensions would look like this. Branden Smith not suspended first offense, Alec Ogletree not suspended first offense, Bacarri Rambo suspended 1 game 2nd offense, Sanders Commings (this one is debatable as to what would happen at other schools, but at most 1 game suspension anywhere but UGA). So our policies are in place to better the athlete and they know the rules. However, our stricter policies put UGA at a disadvantage when is comes to suspensions for playing time.
southgadawg
April 13th, 2012
11:40 am
For Gator and other Fla bloggers, maybe you shoud read about your own program before ever commenting on another programs suppoosed suspended players. Your players are seldom suspended for violations. At Georgia, they have the toughest drug testing policy in the SEC, NO FREE PASS! Richt’s players are held accountable more than any other program, especially UF.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-04-09/urban-meyer-florida-ohio-state-ncaa-violation-recruiting-drugs-program-will-musc?eadid=EL/SICOM&sct=hp_t2_a6
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:40 am
He is 3-1 vs Bama ( 1 – 1 vs Saban )
And a big bravo for beating Mike Shula and scholarship reduced Bama teams in the early 2000s. Good thing you’ve had the good fortune of otherwise only playing Bama in Saban’s inaugural year and only one other year. I know you guys are breathing a lot easier after getting to dodge us this after conference realignment.
Clarke County College for Girls and Effeminate Boys
April 13th, 2012
11:40 am
Please don’t bring the prison to Athens. Go Dawgs!
J.T.Keene
April 13th, 2012
11:41 am
Say what you want about Spurrier but most of us are going to miss him when he steps down. Not enough colorful coaches around now. He set the bar for coaches as far as salaries go. They should all be grateful for that. He went 12-20 in two years at Washington. Parcells & Gibbs did the same thing the next two years at their stops. How many coaches do you know that would say goo0dbye and leave the money on the table like he did at Washington. He could have stayed and got terminated and collected a pile like most of the coaches do(some in Georgia). Not many would walk off and leave the money. Bet Petrino would like to have that “for cause” stricken from his contract.
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:43 am
headley lamar,
Georgia’s drug policy is only really only significantly tougher on the 2nd strike. 1st strike is only 10% which is 1 game and one qtr of a 2nd game. 3rd strike is dismall at uga but a season long suspension at other programs. Well a season long suspension might as well be a dismissal sir.
bham dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:44 am
@evil empire… definitely not living in the past just saying with added depth to the defense we are not going to wear down like we did last year last in games. And watching the first half of the lsu game was very encouraging and to see the potential of the defense is scary.
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:45 am
the reason you see alot more uga players getting in trouble has more to do with respect for the program, or rather, lack of respect…thats the bottom line…
No. The bottom line is players at alabama can fail a drug test and still play.
The rules are different and the players know it.
At bama you can party a little and get away with it. That doesnt fly at Georgia.
One school is very lax on discipline ( Alabama ) and one School is very strict ( Georgia )
My parents were pretty strict on me growing up. Other parents were not.
Its basically the same thing. My friends could get away with stuff I couldnt.
oakwood dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:45 am
you have to give the ole ball sack credit i.e. he never makes his wise cracks face to face with a rep or a coach of the university he is making fun of cause he knows someone would slap that silly sh!!t eating grin off his face. he is a good coach but i can’t stand him. will be glad when he retires so we want have to see or hear him again.
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:46 am
“With added depth the defense is not going to wear down this time.”
And how long you been saying that? Funny but I thought UGA had top 10 or top 15 recruiting classes every year so that they would have depth.
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:46 am
well if you aren’t going to change your policies, you better recruit players who don’t smoke weed…this “other schools have more relaxed policies” bs is just that…bs…and is a really dumb arguement…if you had kids who didn’t smoke, they wouldn’t get suspended…they know the rules, chose to ignore them…thats it….
Coach Bobby Petrino
April 13th, 2012
11:46 am
It appears that Kirby Smart will be my replacement…
;(
Very sad day for Hog Fans.
Damon Evans
April 13th, 2012
11:47 am
Women are destroying the SEC!
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:48 am
“No. The bottom line is players at alabama can fail a drug test and still play.”
Yes. Of course Lamar. Those players missing the cupcake opener that Georgia will play is really, really going to impact your season huh? Who do you guys open with that the 10% or 1 game and a qtr is going to affect?
Ringleader
April 13th, 2012
11:48 am
Mal……….It’s still 18-17
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:48 am
Well a season long suspension might as well be a dismissal sir.
But it isn’t.
A dismissal is a dismissal. A season long suspension is a season long suspension.
Anthony Weiner
April 13th, 2012
11:49 am
Does anyone have Bobby’s girlfriend’s number?
I wanted to send her a picture.
evil empire
April 13th, 2012
11:49 am
The rules are different and the players know it.
so uga should relax their rules to bring in more pot smoking players?…just enforce your rules, or change them…but please quit crying about it…
HardTruth Soldier
April 13th, 2012
11:49 am
Coach Spurrier, The Ole Ball Coach is at it again. He wanted badly to sit Garcia down last year, and when he realized Connor could at least manage the game, Garcia was gone. Just like his win total this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Al Sharton
April 13th, 2012
11:50 am
I am offering my assistance to restore ethics in the SEC.
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:50 am
The suspensions for some weed still doesn’t explain the 40 something arrests/police contacts between Georgia players and the police since 2007.
Deke
April 13th, 2012
11:51 am
What did Spurrier say that wasn’t true?
headley lamar
April 13th, 2012
11:52 am
Yes. Of course Lamar. Those players missing the cupcake opener that Georgia will play is really, really going to impact your season huh? Who do you guys open with that the 10% or 1 game and a qtr is going to affect?
We had several players miss the Boise game because of the strict UGA policies.
Excuses excuses. You guys are caught red handed and trying to spin this faster than a politician.
Also for the second offense its 50 percent. At bama its 15 percent.
Id say that’s a pretty significant difference wouldn’t you.
KSU Dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:52 am
Isn’t half of Steve’s team suspended for living in those apartments for free? What a damn fool. He even had to go in front of the NCAA on it.
Tide Rising
April 13th, 2012
11:52 am
headley lamar,
And how many players that you know of that receive a year long suspension and end up staying instead of transferring? Not many. We’ve had a few at Bama and they just ended up transferring.
PerfectDawg
April 13th, 2012
11:52 am
He won at LSU….duh….
DJ Dawg
April 13th, 2012
11:53 am
The old ball sack will be whining when he hammer them in October!!!!!
GTBob
April 13th, 2012
11:53 am
if you had kids who didn’t smoke, they wouldn’t get suspended…they know the rules, chose to ignore them…thats it….
Well said. I have never seen so many people try to excuse rule breaking and law breaking before.