Let me preface this by saying these two things:
I am a Mark Richt guy. I have faith (blind faith, perhaps) that Mark Richt can get this ship turned around in Athens. He suddenly didn’t forget how to coach or win a close game overnight. I think he is owed some time to fix the mess we are in.
I don’t have a problem with the “vanilla” offense we run compared to other teams across the country (see Auburn, Florida, Oregon, etc…). If it works, and it has, then stop it. This offense produces NFL players. This offense led the SEC in scoring in 2009. So I don’t have a problem with it.
But sometimes, Coach Richt, you have to think outside the box. I am not saying abandoning your bread and butter for the sake of being cute. But you have to be a little more creative.
Mark Richt (or Mike Bobo, Rodney Garner, whoever-but Richt is the head man) whiffed on not recruiting Cam Newton. Hindsight is 20/20. I am also not one of those who bash Richt for not getting all the instate guys-Massaquoi, Knowshon, Stafford, Green, Ben Jones, Orson Charles, Chapas, etc…all came from out of state. If you can go into other states and get talented players, then who cares if you pass up on Zeke.
But to say you passed up on a 6’6” freak of nature because he was a more tight end is a problem to me. He has great God given gifts. Gene Chizik sure found a way to utilize him. Trey Burton is not a “traditional” quarterback, but he is an extremely talented athlete and Urban Meyer found a way to use his talents. I am not saying throw your basic principles out the window; it wouldn’t kill you to have a little more imagination, either. Why isn’t Branden Smith involved more with the offense? I know Smith was hurt for a while, but even when healthy he was underutilized when the offense needed a spark.
This goes back to one of the overall problems with the team: not talent evaluation, but talent placement. Carlton Thomas has a place on the team. He could be a useful weapon…but not running up the middle out of the I. The insistence of trotting Logan Gray out on punt returns (although he has had some nice returns). There is a talent on the team…putting that talent in the best postitions to succeed is another thing. Maybe we are seeing a reversal of thought…Nick Marshall is going to play DB at Georgia, not quarterback.
I am not saying start recruiting athletes and place them wherever and abandon your scheme. But if you have a great athlete out there or one on your team, find a way to make the most use of their talents and maximize their potential.
Corbindawg
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UPDATE: Bill King shares a similar sentiment.
Maybe they didn’t recruit very hard because of character issues or not wanting to deal with his father. If this was the case Richt isn’t the type of person to say this in public and tarnish someone’s reputation.
This may not be the case but it is certainly possible in light of all the allegations and rumors circling now regarding Cam.
Now I do agree Georgia has had some talent placement/utilization issues. Tripp, Samuel, and Carlton Thomas just to name a few.
There is probably some truth to that…they might have recognized real quick that Cecil Newton was crazier than bat crap.
Richard Samuel is another perfect example.
I disagree with the Samuel thing. Samuel did pretty well in High School as a running back and he had a lot of potential. Good speed, strong, and smart. I think the coaches felt like they could teach him the things he lacked. He never quite developed the natural instincts of a running back so they recognized it and made the change. They may have recognized it late and you could argue that they were stubborn, but he did have the potential to be a very good running back.
For all the people who claim CMR cannot control his players, and that he recruits kids with bad character, this article proves what a lose-lose CMR is in.
Cam Newton is a train-wreck wrecking ball disaster for any program. For God’s sake, he got kicked out of Florida, where you can steal dead people’s credit cards, shoot off AK’s, make death threats to women, and gouge people’s eyes in public with little to no repercussions.
Do you really not think that CMR didn’t want to recruit Newton? Or maybe, just maybe, the asking price for Newton was a turn off for CMR. Maybe CMR actually identified some character issues with this kid, and should be given credit for it.
Look, if you want UGA to be a thug rouge program, no problem. If you want CMR to run a clean program, no problem. But let’s have some consistency. I, for one, want no part of Cam Newton and the numerous scandals he’d bring to UGA. Hell, he had 12 traffic violations JUST DURING HIS TIME AT UF!!! INCLUDING DRIVING WITH A SUSPENDED LICENSE!!! People like y’all at this blog would have driven Cam off a long time ago.
CMR needs a break from posts like yours. I still very much enjoy this blog, though.
Spence,
Cam Newton is obviously a train wreck. But the point of me not wanting a clean program was never mentioned. I honestly don’t know where you got that from.
And as I stated, I am a “Mark Richt guy”…must have missed the first two paragraphs also. Don’t give me that crap about not recruiting thugs…Michael Lemon? I would say most of the guys on the team come from crappy home lives or have some sort of baggage. Mark Richt (and Garner) takes on “projects” and give these kids a chance and an opportunity-and if they misbehave then they are dealt with approrpriately. I never think that Richt is running a rouge program. Read some of my posts blasting UGA PD.
But there are several players, as Sanford222view pointed out, that are under utilized either during the recruiting process (Newton) or when they get to campus.
Lighten up, dude. Everyone else is a Debbie Downer, allow Corbindawg to be critical every now and again.
C-Dawg,
Sorry for being a Debbie Downer. You are correct that you have criticized the police force. I have a general frustration with the book ends of the blogosphere and how hard they go after CMR for off-field incidents. CMRs flaws are staff management and game calling issues, not his recruiting or player management.
So on one hand there’s folks like you that criticize him for not recruiting certain dudes, or recruiting folks you call thugs (Michael Lemon was not a thug, he was a troubled kid who had a lot going on and punched some douchebag at a college party. If that’s the standard, consider me a thug).
You and I totally agree that the Athens Police is a problem. UGA’s inability to get any leeway for football players is another problem (yeah, I said it).
Any my point about the clean program comment is just that I’d like everyone to pick a stance on this. Either you want a clean program or you’re willing to look the other way (see every SEC school other than us and Vandy). Recruiting Cam Newton would have been a grave mistake and I think Auburn is going to pay a major price for getting him. Well, I would think that if the football gods were just, but they’re not, so I’ll have to live with AJ getting suspended for 4 games for selling his jersey while Cam leads his team to a NC and gets the Heisman. But I digress.
I agree with you that CMR does recruiting the right way, but I don’t understand how you want him to recruit someone like Newton. Yes, the dude is a freak, but he’s the super-hot girl that is willing to sleep with anyone, and something that good is bound to have consequences you don’t want. I just don’t get what you want out of our program.
Anyway, again I enjoy this blog and don’t mean to be a jerk. Bear in mind your blog is one of many that people read and your opinions are often compared and contrasted to others, thus they are taken in a larger context. For all the thousands calling CMR incompetent and claiming he can’t control his players, it is maddeding to see someone get on him for not recruiting the biggest train wreck to happen to the SEC in a while (I really do believe this thing will end badly, unless the NCAA sweeps it all under the rug beacause of his prominence).
Keep up the good work.
Go Dawgs.
Allowing Corbindawg to refer to himself in the third person should never happen.
Don’t you think if that jackass at florida thought Newton would be this good he would have figured out a way to keep him?…..I heard a couple of weeks ago Pat Dooley say that no one at florida thought it was that big of a deal when he left b/c everyone thought the Brantley kid was a better qb…..but all Georgia fans can focus on is that we looked at him as a TE…..I swear to the all mighty we are the biggest chicken little fan base on the planet.
Is so hard to believe that he just wasn’t as good of a qb as he is now when he left UF?
And taking this post to it’s logical conclusion…I assume (I know, I know…that’s dangerous) that you would like to see us running the spread??? Even though you say “I am not saying start recruiting athletes and place them wherever and abandon your scheme.”…you kind of are saying just that. I think is fairly obvious that Newton + Malzahn’s offense has made this thing go….not sure you know who Cam is without that system.
I apologize for going 3rd person with you. I got carried away.
No, I don’t think we should run the spread. But we shouldn’t be afraid to mix it up a little either. No need in trying to fit square peg into a round hole. Russell Shepard is never going to be QB at LSU. They have found creative ways to get the ball in his hands and let him make a play. Percy Harvin lined up at WR and RB. Burton lines up at QB, RB, WR, TE.
I am saying you can either force Samuel to play RB when he should be a linebacker, or make Carlton Thomas a power back. Or you can take these talented players and find ways to utilize their talents more effectively-and not be afraid to recruit an obviously gifted, talented player just because he may not match up well with what you do.
I agree that we could use a little more creativity, but I also agree with Chris. I think Auburn got lucky is all. Florida had him as third string behind Brantley and even the coaches at Auburn said they didn’t know he was going to be this good.
Richt was upfront with Newton. We had Stafford and Cox on the team and Newton wasn’t going to be playing anytime soon. Newton didn’t want that. That’s why he transferred from Florida. (The cheating stuff probably had something to do with it too, although he probably would have been put on probation and not expelled.) So they recruited him as a tight end, but they did recruit him. It’s not like they said “we don’t want him at all because he doesn’t fit our system.” They did recognize his ability and tried to find a place for him on the team. He chose to go somewhere else because it was best for him. Coming to UGA would not have been.
I think once Cam cheated in the class (twice) it was out of Myers ability to control. There was no turnig back.
Good points on LSU and Florida…but again, a spread offense at UF and a sudo-spread at LSU.
I really do think the Samuel thing sucks for the kid but it was done out of necessity b/c of lack of depth at RB.
I agree totally with your CT comment.Really your entire last comment.
Really enjoy your blog…thanks for the time you put in on it.
IMO there are 2 issues here. Cam is a train wreck and for whatever reason he didn’t go to UGA maybe CMR thought he was a train wreck and did not attempt to recruit him with full gusto, or maybe UGA flat out lost on the recruiting process. Only CMR’s staff and Cam know for sure.
If he was recruited as a TE because of Cox and Stafford. Auburn had 4 other QBs on scholarship when he signed. If Cam was better than the QBs in Athens maybe he should have started, it never stopped CMR from signing a top QB prospect before. UGA had 2 redshirt freshman elite 11 QBs in spring camp this year plus Logan.
The other issue is UGA has a list of players who were not used to their potential because a) it was not recongized or b) it did not fit the system.
Murray is great moving around, running, roll out, zone read etc. UGA does not use that talent to its fullest.
Carlton is a great weapon in space but not between the tackles. Mullen or Chizik could find ways to use his skills and he would most likely would have been SEC player of the week material under their play calling.
Throw in JoeT starting, Moreno redshirting, Marlon burning a red shirt for 2 catches, possible misuse of Samuel etc and it is not hard to see why many fans are upset.
The problem that concerns me most is the seeming absence of team leadership, how many player only meetings have been called in Athens vs Baton Rouge. Leadership also translates into arrests.
The 2nd biggest problem is and has been since atleast 2007 (yes the 2 loss team) is play calling/scheme/use of weapons on offense. A National title run was blown with playcalling against S. Car and UT.