Mark Richt is the second “good guy” out of the last three this program has hired as a football coach. The first was RayGoff. Goff was an alumnus and one of the nicest people I’ve met and a great Georgia Bulldog. Mark Richt, while having much greater success especially early in his career is the same way. Great Christian, great family man, and most importantly an excellent representative of the University of Georgia.
However, many Dawg fans forget the #1 requirement of the job and that’s to win football games and at a program like the University of Georgia compete for SEC and national championships. Paul Finebaum (who many Dawg fans despise) said on his radio show recently that he viewed Georgia much like Bear Bryant saw Florida pre-Spurrier. “If the right man gets the job at Florida (or in Finebaum’s case UGA) then the potential for the Gators to be a college football powerhouse on the elite level year in and year out is simply unmatched.
The problem with our fanbase is many don’t see the BIG picture. They love Mark Richt for the same reason they love Ray Goff , because what they are as people instead of what they are as football coaches. This line of think can be devastating for a program.
In 1993, Georgia finished with an overall record of 5-6 in a year many expected UGA to compete for a SEC title after a somewhat successful 1992 season. The Dawgs finished 10-2 but many still view the 92 team as one of the most talented in the history of the program. So, 10-2 was seen by some as underachieving.
However, Goff had another shot in 1993. While UGA lost Garrison Hearst and Andre Hastings, the Dawgs still had future NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis as well as Eric Zeier returning. That season was abysmal and led to UGA keeping Ray Goff around basically two more season longer than he necessary. The program became a laughing stock and the recruiting efforts were decimated in state. If Jim Donnan had been the head coach at the time, he would have been let go after the 93 season but definitely no later than another mediocre 6-4-1 campaign in 1994. The reason, Donnan didn’t have the personality and likeability that Goff or Richt have.
Don’t get me wrong, the right decision was made in 2000 when President Michael Adams forced AD Vince Dooley to fire Donnan. Some said Donnan deserved one more year, but UGA avoided a lame duck 2001 campaign and brought in Mark Richt he was able to immediately boost the program without too much of a dip.
Now we’re faced with a similar situation with Richt. We can keep him too long because he’s a “good guy”. However, the best in-state players will go to Bama, Florida etc. and the program dips even further. Why would any top player want to go play for a program that is 10-8 in their last 18 games and 2-6 in their last 8 SEC games when you can trek on over to Alabama and Florida and compete for national championships. We can’t afford to repeat the Ray Goff situation. If the program continues on the path as we’ve seen so far in 2010. McGarity MUST pull the plug.
Kensingtondawg
This is sad. I predict we give him this year and next year before he is asked to leave.
He gets one more chance. Our offense has lost ALL imagination and creativity. We dont fool or confuse anyone It needs to be fixed. Either change the play caller or change the plays. CMR did the right thing and hired new defensive coaches. Allow him to do the same thing with our offense
Good point. Very smart evaluation. I agree, this is similar to what I’ve been saying all along. Mark Richt is a good guy, but he doesn’t have any fire, and swagger about himself. Even the way he presents himself is not itimidating. Nick Saban, Urban Myer, Steve Spurrier, those are guys that present themselves in a totally different way. They are guys you don’t want to piss off. I hate them but I respect them for their personalities. They know what they want and they expect nothing less. Coach Richt just lets stuff ride, not saying anything, he doesn’t want to step on any toes and piss anybody off. Sometimes you have to be a dick to get your point accross. Sometimes you have to piss people off and get under their skin to get the best out of them. I am not seeing the best out of UGA’s players. So yes I agree with you, its time for Mark Richt to go. He knew how severe this season was to his career but did the minimum to change things. He got rid of Slick Willie but wasn’t successful with his dicisions. I like Todd Grantham, i think he has a good scheme, he needs another year to intall what he needs and get the players that he needs to be successful. But Mark is done. Sorry its ture. Its just business
I agree with this assessment as well and think he should be let go at the end of this season. I believe if we keep him it will be more of the same next year only then you run the risk of the team showing marginal improvement and retaining him through 2011. I no longer believe he is capable of producing championship football. I always hoped he would be our long term championship coach but that simply does not seem to be the case. Whenever it happens there needs to be a definite plan in place so that the transition is swift and is both perceived as a great hire as well as truly is a great hire in order to maintain recruits with the possibility of boosting recruiting. It is sad but it will be necessary. It is now just a question of when.
That some fans THOUGHT the 92 team underachieved at 10-2 doesn’t mean that they were right. You can find fans who THINK almost anything, and especially when it comes to “we should win it all this year” religious enthusiasm.
That Richt’s public persona is not as abrasive as Saban’s, Spurrier’s, or Meyers’ means nothing about his ability to coach. Many have succeeded with many different kinds of personalities. And many fanbases have become exasperated with mediocrity from many different kinds of personalities. When the “buttkickers” are running up and down the sidelines, yelling at everyone for not doing their job, and the team is going 6-6 for the second year in a row, then the fans of those programs will turn around and mock the “swagger” of their coach. This is all a pop-psychology rabbit trail, I’m afraid.
(On a related note, that Richt is not an alpha dog is directly contradicted by the way his assistant coaches and players behave around him. There are myriads of private observations that bear this out. Richt is the top dog, and everyone knows it. That he does not usually fly off the handle in response to screw ups, bad days, and “adversity” is something I’m pleased about. But, again, there is room for disagreement here as far as what kind of personality we would prefer. I don’t think anyone can say that their preference is the only personality that can produce success.
If Richt ever has a run like Goff 93-95, then we can talk. I’m sorry, but he hasn’t even had a single year that is like that yet. The 08 team underachieved, but not at 5-6 levels. To even make the comparison wreaks of a girl after a fight (“he NEVER understands me, it will NEVER get better, sob sob!”) Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, but those who think that the same history is happening all over again are usually wrong and doomed to make very bad analogies in their arguments.
If you think Richt lacks some sort of coaching substance that is necessary to be successful, then you must believe one of the following:
1. Richt used to have it (01-05), but he’s lost it.
2. Richt never had it (even in 01-05), but was lucky/shielded in those years by other factors.
If (1), then why do you think he lost it, and why can’t he get it back, in principle? (And notice that his personality has nothing to do with anything, if you go this route)
If (2), then I’m having trouble taking you seriously, but for the sake of argument, why can’t the same be said of Spurrier (who was regularly disappointing Gator fans from 97-01, we have forgotten that I guess), of Meyer (Tebow is gone; so is his offense), etc.
I’ll tell you another line of thinking that can ruin a program: we want to win it all every single year, and if we are forced to wait through a drought of more than three years, then we will puff ourselves up with dreams of a white knight saving us and instantly taking us where no program can go (Is Saban going to win the SEC every year from here on out? If he has 3, 4, or 5 years that are not at the level of 08-10, will the fans be right to grow bored with him and want him gone?) So we run off a good coach who wins games at a clip far beyond what anyone has ever done at this school before (and that is not knocking our program, which is recognized by anyone as being in the top 15 historically). We then go into a Tennessee down-cycle, whiffing on the huge fish we puffed ourselves up into thinking we cuold get, settling for a smaller fish, spinning our wheels, firing that fish after a few years, looking again for another diamond in the rough, etc. THAT line of thinking will ruin a program.
Bama and Florida have those expectations and while they have down years they always seem to rise back to the VERY TOP. UGA fans like yourself chatise those expecations and we are on average a top 20 program with a few years below and above that. UGA has the potential to be at the Bama and Florida level. But our fan base continues to baffle me defending coaches who don’t get us to that level.
You make some valid points until start comparing this downward trend under Richt to Spurrier’s 97-01 campaign? How many 4 or 5 loss season did Spurrer have during that time? Answer is 0! Spurrier’s teams rebuilt with 2 or maybe even three losses. UGA under Richt rebuilds at 4 or 5 losses and maybe more in 2010.
Let me as you this would Florida or Bama defend Richt if he had the same resume at their school?
Kensingtondawg is absolutely correct. I have no dog in the hunt, so I can be objective. The trend is downward and will continue. Unfortunately for UGA fans, I don’t see anything being done about it until after Richt’s contract supposedly expires in 2012. Even then, it may be renewed. I wouldn’t bet against it.
OK reality check. Number 1 Florida has more of the best football players in the country, they have a very good coach and recruiter that gets the 25 best of the best. He will not keep players who do not play well, so his second string guys are better than most 1 stringers on other teams. We can compete with UF in coaching but not in recruiting. If FSU and UM can start to cut into this pool of talent then we maybe able to but until then our 85 are not as good as their 85.
Alabama is for good or evil a much more storied program than UGA. They can’t under normal circumstances (Shula et al) get the highest caliber of football players but when they are on a roll they can and will. Nick Saban is a man possessed. He will do anything to win and so you have a semi-pro team now at Ala. If you don’t perform you are out. If you don’t learn the playbook fast enough you are out. Nick Saban has finally gotten his machine running on all 8 and nobody in the SEC is going to slow it down except UF or Alabama if they have a really bad day.
So what are we left with. Georgia has very good football players just not as many. UT SC ALA Auburn all depend on Georgia and Florida for their teams. We have fewer players to go to many more teams. We must try to protect the state. This is still not an easy task as the state is large and bordered by other states that can have a closer contact to the player than Athens.
Our coach is an honorable man who apparently believes that you have a 4-5 year contract with the University if we sign you to a scholly. Good bad or indifferent your here to stay if you are chosen. This means that we have a zero margin of error on our recruits, cause if we pick them we’re stuck with them unless they get hurt enough to get a medical scholly. We are in a word running a Union Shop. Now not to be anti-union but if there is absolutely no fear what so ever of losing your scholarship as long as you don’t a) commit a felony, b) get too many misdemeanors or c)lie to the coach, then why, unless you are good enough to go pro, try harder than you need to. And even if you are good enough to go pro why try until it matters like your junior year. Ever wonder why the pro’s get better when their contracts are up for renewal. I see this as a BIG disadvantage. Is Mark a better person than Nick/ Urban or are Nick/Urban teaching their guys a valuable life lesson about performance and consequences for not performing? Just my two cents.
http://uga.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1128347
I used to like this blog. Lot’s of blame to go around for yesterday, but with the team’s main goals still within reach, not time to fire anyone yet. However, Georgia has to get better soon or it may have to adjust its goals after next week and I may have to concede I’m wrong on this post. Just don’t like the predestined, predetermined negativity you’re preaching.
My 2 cents are (a) Murray looks like a pretty good quarterback who will soon have his day, and (b) the defense WILL improve.
My ten cents are A.J. Green would have made a difference in 1 of the games. However, learning to play without A.J. with a less than average play-caller as a coordinator will only make Murray better for years to come.
Don’t write Richt off yet, and b/t/w who would you suggest we hire as his replacement?
Exactly, CDawg. Yeah, there are a lot of mistakes that were made on Saturday — a lot. But, at the end of the day, the Dawgs held it to 1 TD against a highly ranked Arkansas. Yes, Arkansas dropped a lot of passes and made their fair share of mistakes that made it a closer game than it should have been, but come on, what’s the deal with the negativity?
Move up to Salem if you’re on a witch-hunt, but quit trying to throw Richt into the fire.
Please, tell me what Dooley’s record was before his National championship? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Dooley You’re so quick to holler and bitch, you people. Bobo’s an idiot, I could make better play calls from my experience just playing football on my XBOX, but put the blame on the right person and stop pointing your guns at the wrong person.
A true Dawg fan realizes you do not implement a completely new Defensive Scheme, break in a Freshman QB. And have Green out, King out, Chapas out, Dowtin out, Smith out and not have some problems.
The O Line well there is really no excuse for that mess.
I never had a backup school, but if I did it would be the school over in the Plains. I hate promoting folks over there across the river, but they’ve got a football coach: