Richt's Wrap-Up

Mark Richt held his end-of-season wrap-up teleconference this morning. He was at his most evasive when discussing -- well, almost everything -- but here are a few tidbits from the phone call...

-- Richt said he would not comment on the DC hire until a final decision was actually made, including about John Chavis. "I'm not taking any pleasure at all in what people might be going through out there, but the only comment I'll make on that is that, when I do have that decision made and it's ready for public consumption, we'll let everybody know. But my goal is to get the right man for the job and the timetable, I never set one. I gave a general idea. But the bottom line is that I'm not going to make any comments until the job is done."

-- Richt said he hoped the final two games of the year helped change the public perception of this season a bit, but on the program overall, he said he thinks the perception is still high: "People have a picture in their mind of what should be and we do too. We certainly don't want to say that 8-5 is the greatest season in Georgia football by any means. But I liked the way we finished and I liked the way the guys battled to the very end."

-- Richt on Rodney Garner as a DC candidate: "Rodney is not a candidate for the job and he knows that. We're just still in the search."

-- Richt on the battle for the starting QB job in the spring: "The things I'm going to be looking for are a guy who can hit his target, make great decisions, a guy I think can handle the pressure of the job. It's the same thing I'm looking for when we're going recruiting. Whoever wins that job has to have a very good respect for the football. … I think it's going to be a very difficult thing for these young men because in one sense they want to do something great to win the job but they also have to understand that the ultimate respect for the football and not being careless with it is a big part of the job description. That might be the biggest thing they've got to understand."

-- On Logan Gray: "I think he's trying to make a decision right now. I don't know for certain what he'll come up with but we want to respect what he wants to do. We didn't put a timetable on that either."

-- On other position changes: "I do think there's a possibility of a couple things but if I say it publicly it becomes a big issue and causes people to maybe be uncomfortable before they want that decision to be public. I'm not saying there's some certainty that there'll be some changes but there's going to be some thought about that as a staff. What you want to do at this point of the season, which is very young and brand new, is to get everybody in the right spot where they'll have the greatest chance of success… I think that conversation is going to happen after recruiting because we have to see what we've got at certain positions. Are we filling our needs with the recruiting process or will we possibly have to make a move within the program to get us as solid at every position as we possibly can. And again, is there a move out there that would possibly help a young man's future? Those are the things that will come into play, but that conversation really won't be done in ernest until after the signing date and we know who we have coming in."

-- Richt said he has spoken with Rennie and Reshad since the bowl game but didn't elaborate much beyond that. He also said he did not know of any other juniors or redshirt sophomores who are seriously considering the NFL. He did say, however, that he was sure some were "curious" while not seriously pursuing it, which is almost exactly what he said about Reshad last year.

-- The dead period for recruiting ends after Jan. 3, and Richt had originally said he hoped to have his new DC in place to make calls after that. Now, not so much. Richt said he'll be on the road or making some calls to a few players at that point, but he seemed more enthusiastic about having a DC in following the next dead period, which lasts from Jan. 7 through Jan. 10. He also backed off his "first week in January" prediction a bit.

-- Richt said no other schools have contacted him for permission to speak with any of his current assistant coaches regarding job openings.

-- Richt said he did not expect Trinton Sturdivant to participate in any contact drills this spring.