Mark Richt defends UGA’s disciplinary policies, actions of players
Georgia coach Mark Richt found himself defending UGA's disciplinary policies in his first stop on the UGA Days speaking tour Tuesday night in Augusta. (UGA photo)
Georgia coach Mark Richt has spent a lot of time this spring talking about discipline and I’ve spent a lot of time writing about it. I’ve filed a dozen stories on the subject already in 2012, including THIS ONE about drug-testing and UGA’s philosophies on crime and punishment.
So it should come as no surprise to learn that discipline dominated the discussion Tuesday night in Augusta when Richt and other UGA coaches and administrators spoke at the first stop on the annual “UGA Days” tour across the Southeast. Addressing of crowd of more than 200 supporters, the first question/comment received was from a man complimenting him on the handling of disciplinary matters, even though it has resulted in the dismissal and/or suspensions or eventual suspensions of at least seven football players.
Richt thanked the man, then launched into a soliloquy about his and UGA’s doctrine on disciplining students. Here what he said, as recounted in Seth Emerson’s “Bulldogs Blog” on The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer website.
“Did anybody here go through college, did anybody maybe do something stupid, and not have the whole world know? I know I did. . . . When a mistake is made, there needs to be a consequence; there needs to be a discipline; there needs to be a learning experience from it. I’m not gonna change the way I discipline. Some people may think it’s soft. A lot of people think you might be losing control of your program because you have a lot of suspensions for the season. But the reality is that’s how you keep control of your team, by disciplining your team.
“If you notice, we’re not gonna have any partiality as to whether a guy is a walk-on or a starter. I don’t like disciplining a starter. I don’t like disciplining a walk-on. But when they get out of line you want the punishment to stick. And the punishment that sticks the most is playing time. That’s what I’ve learned over the years. And then you’ve gotta educate them. You’ve gotta have them understand why what they did is wrong, and how it hurts them.”
Richt went on to recount his experiences with past players who ultimately benefited from his disciplinary style.
“Just this weekend I ran into Ray Gant and Danell Ellerbe. Now Daniel Ellerbe was this close from being gone. He had a DUI right before he did whatever he did, and he was that close to being gone. But then you know you have a conversation with that kid. You say, ‘one more thing and you are gone,’ and, ‘what you did is not gonna define your career. What you do from this point is gonna define your career.’ And so I said, ‘If you take care of business you have a chance to still have a great career, and still play in the NFL.’ And sure enough, this guy he got serious about school, he got his degree before he let, he got drafted to the NFL, albeit a little bit later than he would have been if he didn’t have an issue. Still he’s a starting linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and he’s doing awesome.
“There’s so many guys like that. Anybody remember Verron Haynes? What do you remember Verron for? Pass-44 for touchdown against Tennessee? Well if you don’t remember, he got himself in trouble, too. He made a mistake. He got suspended for the first game of the season along with a couple of other guys. But those guys turned it around and they recovered. They learned from it. The sad part of it is it’s so public.”
Richt went on to say he didn’t think we’d ever see a time when there would be a uniform policy regarding drug-testing or any other forms of discipline conference-wide or nationwide. But he did point out that Georgia has been more stringent from a disciplinary standpoint since his arrival in Athens in December of 2000.
There is some tangible evidence to back up Richt’s claim from a drug-testing standpoint. In the last year Jim Donnan was head football coach (2000), UGA spent just $3,385 on drug-testing for the entire fiscal year, according to records obtained by The AJC. That number jumped to $15,480.40 in Richt’s first year and was $39,473.50 for Fiscal Year 2011.
In that time UGA also established a written code of conduct just for student-athletes. In addition to stringent policies on drugs and alcohol, it also has hard and fast bylaws regarding academics, class attendance, tutoring and mentoring appointments.
“It’s not easy to be a student-athlete,” Richt said after the G-Day Game this past Saturday. “There is so much demand we put on them physically, in the weight room, speed and agility stuff, learning the system, playing the game, all of the practices. Then you’ve got academic mentors, you have tutoring, you have class, you’ve got your classwork you’ve got to get done. There’s just not that many hours in the day, so they don’t have much of a break. They’re grinding; they’re working hard. It’s not easy. The more you do it, the easier it gets. the better you do it the easier it gets.”
Richt’s remarks in Augusta are certainly the most candid and extensive we’ve heard him on the subject of discipline. He has tended be a little tight-lipped around reporters this spring as several of the disciplinary matters before him remain fluid situations. The court date for cornerback Branden Smith, arrested in Henry County, Ala., on marijuana possession charges last month, has been postponed until May 21. And UGA has never confirmed multiple-game suspensions for All-America safety Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree due to alleged flunked drug tests.
Whatever the case, Richt and Athletic Director Greg McGarity have found their disciplinary policies front and center before the public. It will probably be again Wednesday night as the UGA Days tour makes its next stop in Rome.
So what do you think about them and how do you think Georgia is doing?
UGA DAYS
All programs begin at 7 p.m. with a 6 p.m. social hour unless otherwise noted
- Wednesday — The Forum, Rome
- April 24 — Doublegate Country Club, Albany
- April 25 — Rivermill, Columbus
- May 8 — Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve, Macon
- May 9 — Charlotte Marriott, Charlotte, N.C.
- May 15 — Coach’s Corner, Savannah (noon); Morgan Center, Jekyll Island (6 p.m.)
- May 16 — Rainwater Conference Center, Valdosta
- May 22 — Sheraton Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
- May 24 — Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, Fla.
- July 23 — Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta
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216 comments Add your comment
Dawg Alum
April 18th, 2012
8:23 pm
@Techie and proud of it
Right on pal…..and I’m embarrassed when “make believe” Dawg fans act like fools on Tech’s blogs. I agree, we (Dawg fans) all sat back and had fun watching “Tide Fan” chew those guys up with merely one tooth. Imagine what he would have done with a full set!!! I wish he would come back because he had those guys realling big time.
Torching a Blunt with the Bulldog Nation
April 18th, 2012
8:33 pm
Until CMR learns the difference between a “mistake” and wrongdoing there will never be any real order at UGA. This is the term he uses whenever this topic comes up. A mistake is when you zig & the receiver zags. Beating up your girlfriend is wrongdoing. Also, everything Techie and proud said is a lie including being a Techie. What an idiot.
Just Sayin
April 18th, 2012
8:42 pm
@Techie and Proud of it….My daughter got accepted to UGA without a problem! She went to a great private school, and was a National Honor Socierty Member. Sorry your daughter went to a Public School! The reason UGA is hard to get into is because the number of applicants and “Hope”. Know your facts tool before you spout! BTW..Throw the acceptance letter in the garbage!
RHall55
April 18th, 2012
8:44 pm
When you are constantly defending yourself something is wrong!! Enuff of that!! C’mon CWF, do your job and get more OL in @ UGA!! “Win, Baby, Win”!!!
Just Sayin
April 18th, 2012
8:49 pm
BTW..Techie and proud of it….I have no interest in either GT or UGA. Have no connection to either school.
KJ
April 18th, 2012
8:51 pm
“National Honor Socierty Member”
Obviously wasn’t genetic.
Dawg Alum
April 18th, 2012
8:55 pm
Geez “Techie and proud of it”…..sounds like you hurt “just sayin’s” feelings. That guy has a real attitude problem. Glad his daughter got into UGa because he needs some help raising his family’s intelligence level after reading his 7:44 blog. Sounds like a real hateful idiot to me.
Dawg Alum
April 18th, 2012
8:57 pm
@KJ
Right on brother
Just Sayin
April 18th, 2012
9:01 pm
Pretty funny ‘Dawg Alum” I know you want to defend your school and almighty SEC tradition.
Lets face it. The SEC is not about academic excellence! Sorry your feelings are hurt. I do understand though that the SEC fans stick together.
Dawg Alum
April 18th, 2012
9:09 pm
I thought it was funny too!!! I also like KJ’s comment……what are you dumb or something?
Just Sayin
April 18th, 2012
9:10 pm
KJ…Got me on that one! Fat fingers
Dawg Alum
April 18th, 2012
9:20 pm
Just saying, when have I mentioned football and/or how my team does on Saturday? You are so out of touch with reality.
CasualObserver
April 18th, 2012
9:22 pm
GTBob…you think if Tech drug tested all players after Spring Break there would not have been a few flunked tests? At least the UGA boys are just smoking weed, not smuggling harder stuff in from out of state and selling it! You won’t find anything if you don’t look, and if you do find something but don’t impose any disciplinary measures, then it never makes the papers.
hind tit
April 18th, 2012
9:39 pm
So Bama trophy ball got busted.
OkieDawg
April 18th, 2012
9:39 pm
GT Bob makes a stool look good.
hind tit
April 18th, 2012
9:41 pm
Look what happened to the gators when their ball got busted. Maybe seven years of bad luck.
GTBob
April 18th, 2012
9:42 pm
You may have more success on the Tech blogs because all of us Tech grads just cringe every time you appear on these Georgia blogs. Thanks
Hmm. Ending the post with a Thanks. Just like every post by dawgfan. Sneaky, but im not fooled.
GTBob
April 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
You won’t find anything if you don’t look, and if you do find something but don’t impose any disciplinary measures, then it never makes the papers.
You have no idea who we tested, and who we didn’t. All that you know is that you have a new suspended player or two every week, and we don’t seem to have any problems.
Brainiac
April 18th, 2012
9:45 pm
@ 82 DawG:
How dare you call “Just sayin” an idiot.
You need to apologize to idiots everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!
takedowndawg
April 18th, 2012
10:01 pm
I believe that there should be a uniform NCAA drug disciplinary policy that all coaches are required to enforce.in order for their teams to be bowl eligible. Over the last three years how many Div I teams would be playing a major bowl must less a national championship? Just something to ponder……..Hope the issue does not let up for coaches not disciplining their players for dope use.
chicken boy
April 18th, 2012
10:27 pm
Richt is what he is—there is no changing it—-he is a nice guy. Every now and again though you have to be a you know what if you want results. Practice is the answer. Repetiion. (sp?)–???? It is what it is————–Saban is on top I think right now——–he is a business man, so to speak. Hopefully Georgia will beat Florida and Tenn this year anyway.
The Truth
April 18th, 2012
11:07 pm
Smoking weed…not a problem. Smoking crack…huge problem. Let’s get our priorities in line. Weed is no worse than alcohol. Sure, if a guy is driving under the influence – of anything – that is a problem. The bottom line is that the biggest joke in America is that marajuana is illegal. The majority of your children’s teachers and your bosses partake of weed on a recreational basis – deal with it and get over it. This is no big deal. Those of you who disagree with me most likely have wives who are sexually frustrated…there is a commonality between people who think weed is “bad” and those who suck like Tech in the bedroom.
National Grantham
April 18th, 2012
11:37 pm
Its against the law you dummy!
Profiler
April 18th, 2012
11:39 pm
I think it sucks he will be in Savannah at noon. “That’s the only time available.” That’s a bunch of crap.
Shawn
April 19th, 2012
12:20 am
At least CMR does not sweep it under the rug like other coaches in the conference. I just wonder if he had coached the kid from Bama that OD’d in the off season and disciplined him at the first sign of trouble…. Maybe he would still be alive. I’m sure there were signs of trouble prior to that happening!
SEC Football Daily: April 19th | Saturday Down South
April 19th, 2012
5:16 am
[...] Mark Richt defends UGA’s disciplinary policies on his first stop of the “UGA Days” tour across the southeast. He spoke candidly and was adamant about his policies: “I’m not gonna change the way I discipline. Some people may think it’s soft. A lot of people think you might be losing control of your program because you have a lot of suspensions for the season. But the reality is that’s how you keep control of your team, by disciplining your team.” Richt and his Bulldogs have been front and center this off-season, with the arrests and pending suspensions of several key players, so he better be prepared to answer this question again and again on this tour. [AJC] [...]
notso fast
April 19th, 2012
5:49 am
Coach R other than game day is great. I think he really cares about his players. Maybe he can improve on game day and become one of the best.
Lobosolo
April 19th, 2012
8:48 am
Wow. GTBub… you must not have much to do with your life rather than beat an insignificant horse… Richt deals with it and doesn’t hide it… if Johnson deals with it you wouldn’t know… WHO CARES??? Your dope smokers must be better than ours… sheesh…
notsofast, I’d venture to say that on his worst day, Richt has you beat by a mile… he IS one of the best… you can look it up…
AVikingFan
April 19th, 2012
10:00 am
In response to THE TRUTH and his/her comments at 11:07 pm yesterday: I assure you the majority of your teachers and bosses do NOT use weed. First of all, it’s against the law! And you’ll NEVER convince me a majority of teachers use “weed’ or break the law. And whether or not I agree or disagree with a knucklehead like you has nothing to do with my wife! It’s the way I was raised and the way I’ve lived my life! And weed is indeed “worse” than alcohol, because people smoke it, and it get’s in their lungs, and the smell is on their skin, in their hair, on their clothes. It stinks and is offenseive to anyone around them! And like I said, it’s against the dadburn law!
Hatfieldgeoff
April 19th, 2012
10:07 am
GT Bob,
Paul Johnson and the Tech AD and staff coached a kid to lie to the NCAA infractions committee. So don’t hold up Paul Johnson as the poster boy for a clean program.
Charles
April 19th, 2012
10:33 am
GTBob – still need that link to the Drummond DUI? LOL. If that had been a UGA player, you would have known about it a while back; instead, you had to find out from a couple of UGA fans that actually get some good info.
Tech isn’t worth caring about, and this is just another example. Not until he’d already entered a plea and a couple of UGA fans pointed it out to the AJC did the paper even bother to check…at UGA, that’s front page news. And that’s because we’re just better than you. People actually care about what is happening in Athens.
Again, your sad little program is the one on probation for lying and covering up the facts. Don’t worry…I don’t expect you to respond. You’ve been owned as usual by big brother. Now run along.
GTBob
April 19th, 2012
10:40 am
Paul Johnson and the Tech AD and staff coached a kid to lie to the NCAA infractions committee.
And you know this how? Even the NCAA didn’t go so far as to imply this.
Top Row Dog
April 19th, 2012
10:42 am
Not until he’d already entered a plea and a couple of UGA fans pointed it out to the AJC did the paper even bother to check.
Is this true AJC. This happened last July, how come CPJ didn’t know about it until now?
GTBob
April 19th, 2012
10:42 am
GTBob – still need that link to the Drummond DUI?
I am not sure how you got the story that early but kudos to you. As for Drummond, he should have been kicked off the team already and I am losing respect for CPJ if he really only gives him a 1 game suspension. That is a Mark Richt like punishment and is pretty embarrassing.
Charles
April 19th, 2012
10:51 am
Sure, Bob…a Mark Richt-like suspension…uh huh. There is documentation that you can find very easily that will show you that UGA’s suspension policies are among the toughest in all of college football. You hear about things at UGA that you would never hear about at many other schools, and that my friend is a fact.
And again, your program is the one on probation for lying and covering up. Keep those stones in your pocket, big guy. Your pathetic little house is already missing most of its windows, and lord knows the broke GT athletic department can’t afford to replace them.
Charles
April 19th, 2012
10:53 am
Oh, and one other thing…I didn’t get that story ‘early’. The kid was arrested last July. It’s just that Tech is so irrelevant no one bothered to pay attention.
Rest assured, the AJC doesn’t even cover the story if a few of the good guys hadn’t dropped it in their lap and essentially forced them to do so.
@GTBob
April 19th, 2012
10:54 am
GTBob, I would really like to know your take on this story:
http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2012/04/19/techs-drummond-faces-suspension-for-alcohol-conviction/
Cdpridg
April 19th, 2012
10:55 am
Gt bob…since you are representing the bug comunity on a bulldog blog lets discuss CPJ’s running of his program and recent events surrounding Daniel Drummond. what is your take on what exactly is going on down on North Ave??
UGA Insider
April 19th, 2012
11:04 am
I am going to give everyone a little inside nugget this morning…..
McGarity and Richt think the Smith, Ogletree and Rambo weed issues are a complete joke!
The MAXIMUM these three will get is the first game…… I don’t care if it’s second offense. McGarity is gonna work around it somehow or another.
GTBob
April 19th, 2012
11:07 am
what is your take on what exactly is going on down on North Ave??
My take is that Drummond is a criminal and should be kicked off the team immediately. Personally I will never root for the guy again.
GTBob
April 19th, 2012
11:09 am
There is documentation that you can find very easily that will show you that UGA’s suspension policies are among the toughest in all of college football.
Their drug policies are. There policies on arrests are a joke. No kid on any team should be getting arrested and any that do should lose a years scholarship and a year of playing time at a minimum.
UGAgirlFAN
April 19th, 2012
12:02 pm
Good article and you TELL ‘EM CMR!!! GOOOOOO DAWGS! I love UGA football, cannot wait for the season to start!!!!
What happens to the rest
April 19th, 2012
12:15 pm
Stuff happens all over the country all the time, but if CMR’s policy is to punish everyone, it will be reported more often. If you don’t think things happen in other places as much, if not more than at UGA, then you are in denial of the facts or just want to torment UGA fans.
Just this morning, shots were fired on campus at Alabama that allegedly involved players. If you lived in other places, you could mention lots of other stuff.
Chip Towers
April 19th, 2012
12:33 pm
Charles: News is covered no differently for Georgia Tech than it is Georgia. Regarding arrests, it’s much more difficult for us to discover the information because Tech is locating in the middle of a 5.5 million population metropolis. There are dozens of jurisdictions and jails and court districts handling thousands and thousands of cases. This case was adjudicated in Hall County. We could have easily missed it. In the case of UGA, there’s one jail which post inmates daily.
WDE
April 19th, 2012
12:48 pm
Hey anyone know when Tech gets off probation??
GTBob
April 19th, 2012
12:50 pm
Hey anyone know when Tech gets off probation??
Im going to introduce you to a website that might help. It’s a little old now but still works relatively well:
http://www.google.com
AltamahaDawg
April 19th, 2012
1:34 pm
Insider, with that nugget are you more or less “ashamed to call yourself a Bulldawg Fan” this afternoon?
Better declare now before we lose those FIVE games that you predicted.
SEC Football Morning Coffee: Eliminate Pete Carroll from the Arkansas Search | SEC Football
April 19th, 2012
1:50 pm
[...] Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Georgia head coach Mark Richt is defending Georgia’s drug policy, which has resulted in the suspension of several players to start the [...]
Spanky
April 19th, 2012
1:53 pm
Chip, I just wonder why when a UGA football player is suspended, it’s open-season- however when this Tech LB was arrested/suspended..”comments closed”. Just curious- no offense meant….
Spanky
April 19th, 2012
1:59 pm
My point?…Ken’s a wuss.