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UGA coach Mark Richt: ‘We don’t recruit bad kids’ (UPDATED)

11:13 am July 19, 2012, by Chip Towers

UPDATED THROUGHOUT . . .

HOOVER, Ala. — I’m going to have a lot more for you a little bit later, but for now I’m going to give you just the high points and raw quotes from the beat-writer’s session with Georgia coach Mark Richt here at SEC Football Media Days this morning.

Richt will address the full media contingent here at the Wynfrey Hotel later today. Players Jarvis Jones, Abry Jones and Tavarres King are also here and I talked to them as well and will share their thoughts as soon as I can get around to it.

Now for Richt . . .

>>>As you might expect, the conversation was dominated about team discipline. We hadn’t had a chance to talk to Richt about Isaiah Crowell’s dismissal since it happened on June 29. So he talked about that and about the perception that there is a lack of discipline at Georgia.

On having to kick Crowell off the team: “Well, no decision to dismiss a guy from the team is an easy decision. It’s always tough because I care very much about all these guys. Having to make those kinds of decisions are tough. But, in the end, I think we did what was in the best interest of the program. I wish Isaiah the very best in his future and I hope everything will work out for him.”

>>> On type of kids they’re recruiting: “We’re not recruiting bad kids,” Richt said. “We’re competing for the same guys everybody else is in the league.”

>>> On perception there is a discipline problem at UGA: “We’re certainly going to have an expectation for how we want our guys to behave. If they don’t behave, we’re going to discipline them. So if the discipline involves running up and down the stairs at the stadium or some things that might be at the level of losing playing time or it might be something at the level of losing your ability toi stay at Georgia, the thing we’re going to do at Georgia is we’re gpoing to take care of any issues that do come up in the proper way. And so, if a guy does end up having to leave, it’s for the best interest of the group. From time to time that has to happen. It’s sad that it does but we’re going to keep taking care of business in that way.”

>>> Richt remained mum on whether suspensions are imminent for safety Bacarri Rambo, cornerback Branden Smith and linebacker Alec Ogletree. All have been reported to have run afoul of Georgia’s drug policy and Smith is known to have been arrested for marijuana possession.

Asked if he knew what personnel would be available for Missouri, Richt said” “Do I know? I do know, yeah.”

Asked if he cared to share that information, Richt said: “We’ll share it sometime, but not today. I’ll announce that if there needs to be an announcement on those guys.”

>>> On tailback situation without Crowell: “We’ve got some really good backs. It’s going to change Richard Samuel’s role certainly.”

>>> Richt on being picked by media here to win the SEC Eastern Division. LSU was tabbed as overall champion:

“I hope the media is right. I was looking at the record of picking the eventual champion and it wasn’t real good (4-16). Maybe you guys are a lot better at picking divisional champions anyway. But it would be nice to get back to Atlanta.”

>>> On how much Malcolm Mitchell might play wide receiver this season: “We’re getting him ready to play as much defense as he can. . . . I think by the time the season is over we will have seen a lot of Malcolm on offense. Early on, I don’t know.”

OTHER COVERAGE FROM DAY 3 OF SEC MEDIA DAYS:

FULL AJC COVERAGE FROM DAY 2 OF SEC MEDIA DAYS:

FULL AJC COVERAGE FROM DAY 1 OF SEC MEDIA DAYS:

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122 comments Add your comment

I dropped my fried twinkie

July 19th, 2012
12:29 pm

kerryb………….WHY don’t the coaches KNOW they are recruiting Pot Heads before the kid gets on campus?

Kerryb

July 19th, 2012
12:31 pm

Staying with FSU, didn’t Greg Reid get locked up last week for having pot in his car? But yet Richt has a discipline problem.

Packin'a Hot Piece with the Dawg Nation

July 19th, 2012
12:31 pm

The sad thing is the alumni & Richt are more interested in placing blame on other conference members and making up excuses than actually changing and improving the perception.

I dropped my fried twinkie

July 19th, 2012
12:31 pm

kerryb……you can find arrest at most colleges. The issue is Richt and UGa have had 50 something and look at all the players on scholarship that UGa has lost the last 5 years.

Kerryb

July 19th, 2012
12:32 pm

They are all recruiting pot heads for the most part. I am in Law Enforcement and it is an epidemic with the young generation right now. It is everywhere. If every college team did random drug test they would find several player with it in their system. EVERY SCHOOL.

GTBob

July 19th, 2012
12:34 pm

GTBob….it will not cut down on anything but the Multiple post by the same person using 27 different names.

Im not sure about that. These blogs are fueled by trash talking most of the time. If you force people to use their real facebook accounts then a lot of those people are going to trash talk anymore because they don’t want their real identity exposed. A lot of people don’t like exposing their identity even if they aren’t trash talking also. Integrating facebook authentication is very easy and they could probably have it up in a week. They aren’t doing it for a reason.

Kerryb

July 19th, 2012
12:37 pm

I can only think of three that he has actually kicked off the team. The LB form Indiana (can’t remember his name) , Mettenberger, and Crowell. Ealey left because he knew he was in Richt’s dog house and wasn’t getting out. Most left because they were not getting playing time and thought they should be starters and we lost some because of chronic injuries. Some left like King, Harrow, and AJ Harmon because they couldn’t pass their classes. You can get them to school but if they are too dumb to study what are you going to do?

DAWG POUND

July 19th, 2012
12:43 pm

I think most of you missed this Sports Illustrated article last year. In case you did and need a little enlightening of what is going on outside of UGA, then read this!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/09/08/crime.update/index.html

And that the daily bark from… The DOG POUND

K CONWAY

July 19th, 2012
12:51 pm

Good thing Obama wasn’t a football player at Harvard or he would have ended up at a community college!

Kerryb

July 19th, 2012
12:51 pm

Richt is right. All of the guys we signed and have gotten into trouble were also being recruited by most everyone else in the SEC. Crowell was being recruited by Auburn and Alabama so it is not just because it is UGA. They would have gotten into trouble anywhere. The difference is that in most places you never would have heard about it.

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
1:05 pm

Bob, don’t you need the criteria to be the same when you comnpare one thing to another, to determine which is worse? Clearly when it comes to the public knowledge of behavior among football players, UGA is operating under a completely different set of rules than some other SEC schools.

I’m not saying that is morally superior, or even a smart thing to do. It’s probably a little more of the first than the second. (actually none of the second). I am just stating an accepted fact.
ie. Crowell could have done the identical things at some other schools and that Gun arrest would have been the first hint of any problems from him. I dare say he would still be on that team as well. As he would be at Georgia, under different rules. Does anybody think that Rambo would have even been hit a game suspension for a traffic stop, not charged with any offense, but did have a young lady in the car carrying a doobie in her personal purse, at all SEC schools? In fact , we know his recent (rumored) drug test failure would not have even see the light of day at most. They handle that “internally” (again not passing judgement on that)

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
1:07 pm

One thing we know for sure is that if Obama had been a football player, his stats would be sealed in a vault, and he and his worshipers would just make up some new ones.

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
1:09 pm

And for the Love of all things Gold , Bob. Please respond without cutting and pasting my comments in italics. I KNOW what I said. I am capable of following along.

Nick

July 19th, 2012
1:20 pm

Fact is, CMR & staff goes after the same players every other team goes after too. Not sure what happens after they get to UGA. I think being in a small town, it’s easier to get caught doing something stupid than if they’re in a large town. UGA isn’t the only school that has players get in trouble.

btgt69

July 19th, 2012
1:30 pm

CMR confirmed it,,, everyone in the SEC recruits bad kids

JB

July 19th, 2012
1:41 pm

The reason for ALL the high numbers of trouble in Athens is two fold. Like one poster said earlier, Athens is a fun fun place. The second reason is unlike some other outpost in the SEC, The powers to be and police are not “ALL IN” on whatever it takes to be successful in football, meaning take’m to the coach rather than the pokey. College boys are college boys everywhere and cut from the same cloth.

GTBob

July 19th, 2012
1:59 pm

UGA is operating under a completely different set of rules than some other SEC schools.

That may be true to an extent but that excuse is getting old. According to UGA fans, every team in the country has had 50 arrests in the past 4 years, UGA is just the only team that doesn’t cover them up. Own up to your own issues. Don’t pretend everyone else is down at your level with no proof.

Brownies and Milk

July 19th, 2012
1:59 pm

Coach Richt is right. He doesn’t recruit bad players…ummmmmm. These brownies are so gooooood!

Signed B. Rambo

I dropped my fried twinkie

July 19th, 2012
2:01 pm

Just for FUN….maybe when the coaches got to talk to a kid to offer a UGa scholarship he should take one of the new PEE in the Cups that does a general Drug test instantly. That could save UGa a lot of time and troubles.

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
2:04 pm

But the other side of that JB is that the local probably are be a bit more likely to “call me first” IF the University(s) involved were pushing that, and I don’t get the idea that our Admin does. I had thought that Mcgarity would have brought a bit more of that mentality, but at this point I think its pretty well cast in stone.

Which is why I wonder why we compound that by insisting on making public things that could be handled internally. Not sure what you can really do if a player get literally Arrested, but missing tutoring is a suspension for a quarter, and even if the policy is right, that counts the same as a felony in the court of public opinion.

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
2:14 pm

As is typical, your cut and paste style is simple to disquise that your exagerated point is very weak on its own merit. I’m not in the mood to get caught up in your “gotcha” battle of wording and symantics today.

GTBob

July 19th, 2012
2:24 pm

As is typical, your cut and paste style is simple to disquise that your exagerated point is very weak on its own merit.

Because I quote who I am responding to in italics that invalidates my point? Please give us proof that UGA’s arrest total over the past 4 years is equivalent to most other schools, it is just not reported at other schools. If you are going to make stuff up then you are going to get called out for it.

Joey

July 19th, 2012
2:28 pm

So twinkie belle, did you ever consider that: every single recruit we sign is pursued by most top 20 teams; and that maybe we have more suspensions than other schools because we have (undisputedly) stricter rules regarding the desciplining of our athletes?

A lab mokey has more powers of deduction than you . . .

The Georgia Poetaster

July 19th, 2012
2:35 pm

Richt recruits punks,
We all agree on that.
But his suntan is fading,
And Rodney Garner is too fat.

Daniel D

July 19th, 2012
2:37 pm

“A lab mokey has more powers of deduction than you . . .”

Hey, Joey, what’s a mokey?

Bigun

July 19th, 2012
2:37 pm

You people are so fickle. And, NO, you don’t see these problems as much at Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, Rice, etc, but then again, when were any of these teams in a BCS game (besides Stanford and that was all because of Andrew Luck)? Big time programs go after a different type of athlete and unfortunately all of the drama comes with them. You just do the best you can and that’s all you can do.

I wonder how many of you idiots would be singing the praises of “we haven’t had anyone arrested!” if we had Duke’s or Northwestern’s clout in football. Winning isn’t everything in college football, but it beats the heck out of what comes in second.

Joey

July 19th, 2012
2:41 pm

Mokey = a little old lady who corrects spelling on sports blogs

SEC, ACC, BIG12, PAC10

July 19th, 2012
2:42 pm

YES…winning IS everything and if you don’t agree, let’s see a coach in the SEC go 6-30 over three years, but he graduates 80% and hasn’t had a kid even spit on the sidewalk…..see how long he’ll stay employed. Yes, you imbicles…it IS all about winning.

I dropped my fried twinkie

July 19th, 2012
2:52 pm

Charlie Sheen…….WINNING?

:)

I dropped my fried twinkie

July 19th, 2012
2:54 pm

Winning ISN’T everything…….Maybe that is what we are teaching the youth but doing it RIGHT in moral, ethical & honorable way is so much more important.

SEC, ACC, BIG12, PAC10

July 19th, 2012
3:01 pm

Well then, twinkie….you have tons of college football programs that are “doing it right” (just like we thought Penn St. was….*) and their winning percentage hovers around the .500 mark. Go tailgate and cheer with them, because the game tickets can’t be too hard to find. In fact, they’ll probably give you a 2 x 1 deal….

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
3:06 pm

What invalidates your comment Bob is that you are trying to play “gotcha” with stuff that YOU MADE UP.

I never said a word about other school covering up arrests, nor did I imply that.

Crackatoe

July 19th, 2012
3:10 pm

The same sh@t goes on at all the schools. Mark just doen’t take it as lightly as everyone else. He will suspend your butt or kick you off the team. Most of the other schools just let it slide. That’s why the perception is that GEORGIA has a discipline problem. Coach Richt is actually diciplining his players.

Crackatoe

July 19th, 2012
3:12 pm

Pardon me. I wrote that very fast. Much msp.

BreadCostume

July 19th, 2012
3:13 pm

Just pointing out once Richt left FSU and came to UGA the numerous felony arrests and arrests in general left FSU in volume and apparently followed him to Athens.

Dooley: ‘You’re not going to have Tennessee to kick around anymore’ | UGA sports blog

July 19th, 2012
3:19 pm

[...] Mark Richt: ‘We don’t recruit bad kids’ [...]

Joey

July 19th, 2012
3:22 pm

SEC, ACC, BIG12, PAC10,

I hope twinkie belle isn’t cheering for “you know who.” That “moral, ethical, and honorable” stuff goes by the wayside at Tech, who has been on Major NCAA Probation for about a decade.

They do have that “two tickets, two cokes, two hotdogs” deal, though . . .

JB

July 19th, 2012
3:24 pm

Sometimes you gotta wonder if we should cheat and fill the program up with players and get caught and lose 3 or 4 scholarships at worst. How much worse could it be

1. A J Harmon, 5 star transfer
2. Dontavius Jackson, 4 star transfer
3 Carlton Thomas, Tb transfer
4. Brent Benedict, OL transfer
5. Nick Williams, S, transfer
6. Marcus Dowtin, LB, tranfer
7. Toby Jackson, DE, transfer
8. Makiri Pugh, CB, transfer
9 Montez Robinson, DE transfer
10. Washaun Ealey, RB, ASk to leave
11. Lonnie Outlaw WR, transfer
12. Jakar Hamilton, S, transfer
13. Derek Owens, CB, transfer
14. Demetre Baker, LB, transfer
15. Jalen Fields, DE, transfer
16. Kent Turene, LB, transfer
17. Chris Mayes, DT, transfer
18. Chris Little, OT, transfer
19. Derrick Lott, DE, transfer
20.Zach Mettenberger, QB, transfer
21. Jordan lawrence, CD, transfer
22. Sanford Seay, WR, transfer
23. Chris Sanders, DB, transfer
24. nick Marshall, CB, transfer
25. John Atkins, transfer
26. Leonard Floyd, transfer
27. Cootie Harrow, transfer
28. Isaiah Crowell

Now, tell me if we have a problem? Was told this is equivalent to a 16 player NCAA probation player punishment for this upcoming season. When you see us in a tight game this year late with hands on knees, remember this,.

FahReelz

July 19th, 2012
3:24 pm

Kerryb, do you seriously not remember the high profile national news arrests FSU had back in the day? How many of those have their been since your lord and savior Mark Richt left? How many has UGA had since his arrival in Athens? There is a common denomiator in these equations and I’ll let you scratch your head to figure out what it is.

falcon fred

July 19th, 2012
3:27 pm

Big time programs go after a different type of athlete and unfortunately all of the drama comes with them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

and there is the rub in Athens. You out-recrut 99% of the country, have tons of arrests in the last 4-5 years, and nothing to show for it, other than a win over a over-hyped Hawaii squad and a victory in the Weedeater Bowl.

falcon fred

July 19th, 2012
3:28 pm

@FahReelz

amen brother

Really?

July 19th, 2012
3:29 pm

It would be refreshing to hear CMR say what everyone knows is fact. “Well we have kids get into trouble because no other SEC school actually drug tests their kids. Also the Athens PD is one of if not the only police dept in a college town that not only arrests football players but activly goes out of their way to do so.”

Gosh coach Saban’s daughter trying to kill her sorority sister and the tuscaloosa cops covering it up sure does seem to support your claims.

Alabama vows to avoid 2010-type complacency | UGA sports blog

July 19th, 2012
3:29 pm

[...] Mark Richt: ‘We don’t recruit bad kids’ [...]

falcon fred

July 19th, 2012
3:33 pm

@Really?

Its’ everyone else’s fault that the UGA program is in the shape it is in? Everyone else is cheating? C’mon man..

AltamahaDawg

July 19th, 2012
3:34 pm

Joey, I posted and article a few weeks ago that detailed the same type of list for Alabama the past 2 years. 24 was their count.

Tim

July 19th, 2012
3:34 pm

What a load of crap! We don’t recruit bad kids. Did he just go there? Please!!!!!

Let’s see, Rambo-Ogletree-Smith-Commings-Crowell!!!!! Not bad kids. Just a little misguided maybe. Well isn’t it your job to guide them in the right direction.

I had to pull over when I heard this one. I was laughing really hard.

GTBob

July 19th, 2012
3:38 pm

That “moral, ethical, and honorable” stuff goes by the wayside at Tech, who has been on Major NCAA Probation for about a decade.

True. If we commit 3 or 4 more major NCAA infractions, and have 48 more arrests we will catch up to UGA. Its very comparable.

FahReelz

July 19th, 2012
3:38 pm

Other schools have problems too, there is no denying that. However using one example of one kid from one school constantly screwing up to equate the constant stream of kids at UGA getting locked up isn’t the same.

Tim

July 19th, 2012
3:39 pm

Oh I forgot to add Nick Marshall, Chris Sanders and Sanford Seay to the “we don’t recruit bad kids” list.

Still laughing…..

falcon fred

July 19th, 2012
3:40 pm

What does it matter regarding incidences at other scools? UGA is your school, and the problems there are yours. Let Bama take care of Bama. For gods sake, quit your crying!

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