I know some people didn't like me even posing the question, but I felt it was a topic worth exploring. It's easy to discount the criticisms of Richt if you're a supporter of his -- and largely I've discounted them, too. But my job is to be objective, and so I wanted to gauge just how prevalent the notion really is among fans that Richt won't be able to turn things around. The best way to disprove something isn't to ignore it, but to expose it.
Based on the comments I read from yesterday's post, I'd say the following is probably about accurate:
70 percent of fans are optimistic and some reasonable level of faith in Richt.
20 percent of fans either like Richt but don't think he can get the job done or wish he'd been fired years ago.
10 percent of fans decided halfway through the post that I was an a$$hole and stopped caring.
(*Note: Results not verified by any legitimate accounting firm.)
Anyway, I think the experiment was worthwhile, and both Richt and I should probably be pleased to still have a solid majority on our side. I'd like to think in the future we can have similar discussions about popular subject matter, too. In the meantime, I can assure that my only goal was to foster a discussion -- and ideally a sane, calm and healthy one -- and not to focus a negative spotlight on Richt.
And, as a final addendum, I should have offered this: I applaud Richt's willingness to admit his mistakes from past seasons, in particular the handling of Richard Samuel. It takes a good bit of character to tell a room full of fans that you were wrong, and he's done that more than once this offseason. Good for him.
On to a handful of links...
-- Further discussing the question I posed yesterday, The Senator looks at the causes for optimism and concern might be this year -- and it's a pretty solid list.
-- Sic 'Em Dawgs writes that there are some rumblings of a possible Georgia-Miami showdown in the Kickoff Classic in Atlanta for 2012.
-- Marc Weiszer writes that there likely isn't much to the UGA-Miami rumor though.
-- Matt Hinton comes up with a good list of old-school rivalries that need to be revived, and Georgia-Clemson is at the top.
-- Mark your calendars for June 19's Dawgs for Kids Party, where Mark Richt, Matt & Jon Stinchcomb, David Greene and other Bulldogs will be meeting with fans for a worthy cause.
-- Tim Tucker has some UGA notes including Hutson Mason, SEC expansion and the men's tennis team.
-- I had assumed when Lane Kiffin bolted Knoxville, we'd heard the end of the "It's all part of the plan" shtick. But good for Bulldog in Exile for finding another use for the phrase.
-- Sad news... Auburn put the clamps on the Justin Bieber write-in campaign.
-- Pitchfork has a good interview with The Hold Steady. Two things on that: 1.) The new album is fantastic, and by far their most accessible work to date. I highly recommend picking it up (that is, if anyone actually "picks up" music anymore). 2.) The Hold Steady is playing at the 40 Watt next week. If you're in Athens, it's a show worth catching.
-- Interesting article in Playboy about the late-night war between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno written by perhaps the most informed journalist out there.
-- ABC Family has a sitcom scheduled for the fall starring... wait for it... Joey Lawrence and Melissa Joan Hart. (See... the job market really must be getting better if these two can find work!)
-- RealTVAddict offers 12 suggestions for possible replacements on "The Office" should Steve Carrell follow through on his promise to leave after next season.
-- And finally, with just two "Lost" episodes remaining, this article seems particularly timely. Boston.com looks at why series finales so often go awry.
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18 comments:
any way to get this in front of finebaum?
I too agree that is a mark of a good coach (Richt)to admit fault and change game plan, personnel or player positions. .....
That's EXACTLY why he is in a different boat than Les Looser
David - here is the problem with someone from the UGA beat reporting/commenting on the "hot seat" rumors. For the most part, these rumors have started with media not closely associated, on the surface at least, with the UGA program. Due to the time of year and the lack of actual day to day news, these media professionals are running through their token off-season articles (potential impact freshmen, coaching hot seat rumors, spring power polls, schedule analysis) that for the most part are devoid of supporting data to verify their argument. These articles in way become chain messages unto themselves as other media link to the originating article to either confirm or rebuff their presence. These follow-up articles just add legitmacy to something that is probably just theory that somebody has in the first place.
As a sidebar, it reminds me of one of the opening scenes in Broadcast News where Holly Hunter's character explains that she hates it when "White House reporters are chatting about something and one of them will float a theory and the next day another reporter will file a report as White House sources say and include the other reporters theory."
Finebaum may have great sources deep inside UGA program, but my guess is he really does not and is just writing something for the off-season.
But then you get Chris Lowe commenting on it and even though he thinks it is not true, he is now addressing it. Then someone from CFN ranks the coaches on the hot seat and they reference Finebaum or the others. Then someone else does it and so on and so on. Eventually the story becomes not if he is on the hot seat, but just how hot it is, because after all there have been articles about it since May 2010.
I am pretty certain that Finebaum put Richt on the seat after the 2004 season and the 2006 season. He put him back on it after 2008 and last year. I guess he figures if puts Richt on it every year, he might eventually get it right. Then he can crow about how they should have fired him way back in 2004.
Your post on richt just didn't have your normal objective feel...It was like beating a dead horse. Like the newspaper wants to keep that same stuff rolling.
Regardless of where people stand on that topic, who cares it's getting tiresome.
I do think Finebaum is right that Steve Carrell is on the hot seat. However, most of the named replacements would be all wrong for the program.
Right now, Colbert is like Chris Peterson. He is successful exactly right where he is. He destroys the competition on his level and occasionally beats the big boys in head to head matchups.
Jeong is Kirby Smart. Good - maybe even great - but he needs more experience.
Jermaine Clement is Paul Wulff. He has had some success at one program of which only an enlightened few are aware. He will be/is a disaster at higher level.
Samberg is Kiffin. Young, weird, will spurn you for something else as soon as his dream job comes along. Every Office episode would be an homage to his SNL digital shorts.
Lehr is Bill Stewart. A guy who parlayed his limited run into a full time gig only you are not really certain if he is good or bad.
Burrell is Butch Jones. He is new star for an up and coming program but probably not seasoned enough to carry an established heavyweight.
Will Arnett is Mike Leach. He is a genius but in that eccentric smarmy way. He could lead you to a brief period of greatness and then it will devolve into a mess of weird allegations and name calling. Plus you could see him banishing lazy writers to a dark shed.
Warbuton is Bob Davie. A good to great supporting player, but just mediocre as the head man.
Offerman is Muschamp. He can/will be the man right where he his and not miss a beat. Why take over a ship that might be sinking.
Thomas Lennon is Gary Patterson. He is really good but not high profile. He likes his gig, has his own way of doing things and appears to be completely happy with where is at and the respect he receives.
Chevy Chase would be a Spurrier like choice. He would not be bad but he will never again achieve the spectacular heights of his earlier career.
Ricky Gervais is the hardest one to peg. He is successful figure who made his mark at this level awhile back, it did not translate to the next leve, and he now sort of toils in semi-obscurity. I am thinking Dennis Erickson. He could be great but also the role may have passed him by.
Finebaum thinks what they really need to find is that John Gruden. A guy who has been successful at the ultimate level winning it all but then it went bad. Now he might be willing to take a step back but get back to winning again. Plus he will think it is fun and get really enthusiastic about it because it will remind him of those halcyon days of when he worked as a supporting player as an up and comer. Sure he might leave you for the next level after 1-3 years of greatness but it will be worth it. The real question is who is Gruden? Is it Forest Whitaker (although he has his own drama series on CBS), Jamie Foxx or Kevin Spacey?
For the record, I am not Bill Simmons.
Again... I'm OK with the feedback. I get it. But two things:
1.) It's not just Finebaum. The "hot seat" stuff has appeared many places, and while I'm in no way getting behind it, I thought it was worth trying to find some quantitative measure of its value.
2.) My editors have never once told me what to write or how to write it, and the last thing I want to hear is how I'm purposefully shirking my objectivity to drive page views... so there's no legitimacy to that. (And, further, I don't make an extra dime by having higher page views.)
But again, from where have all of the "hot seat" articles emanated? Has a single one of these "hot seat" articles originated with sources that even reasonably close to the program? Everyone that I have seen has been a version of the original "Finebaum-esque" supposition with the reporters/columnist own take. The point is the information/sourcing does not appear to new just a rehash of arguments that Finebaum has been making off and on since 'O4.
CMR is a great man, and a steady leader. At times last year I was very distressed with the direction our team was heading, but in the end he proved that he is one of the best in the business. Last season could have been a lot worse had CMR not been the steady hand. He knew changes had to be made, but he knew he had to lead and get the best from what he had and the schemes the guys knew. Comparisons of CMR and Miles are ludicrous. CLM is a complete knucklehead and I think we can all see that CMR is not.
Nobody seems to get it! It's a high stakes poker game called "Championships Plural"(The National Championship and The SEC Championship) It started at the beginning of the 21st Century. Mark Richt and Georgia were playing at the table with two SEC Championships! Over the past four years "Middle of the Pack Mark" has posted no Championships and is no longer at the table with LSU, Florida and Alabama.
It's not about 10 wins (or averaging 10 wins), It's about winning championships!
Just to air a contrarian point of view- fire that worthless dog CMR!!
We alumni hardly feel that we have addressed the offensive coaching staff, poor personnel choices on offense by them, and their utter lack of experience in the arena playing the positions they are coaching with the resultant lack of basic skills being taught the players at the positions they are put by having the head football coach we all love take time away from trying to figure out how to recruit offensive in-state players, beat Florida, beat the vols and have a winning record in a down and lousy SEC East to sit in on every offensive meeting, teach the quarterbacks himself, take over personnel decisions from the questionable offensive coaching staff, and make the play calls so everyone of us do not feel compelled to boo the play calls at Sanford Stadium.
For 9 years Coach Richt has put the most miserable coaching staff together he possibly could.
# 19 in the nation at 38-14 the last 4 years is not where any of us thought that Coach Richt would be after he had such a stellar 1st five years.
We alumni would really like to think that if Coach Richt were not so stubborn that he could quit arguing with the fan base on Internet blogs, and get rid of the offensive coaching staff that signed us no one in-state of all the in-state offensive stars.
We alumni do defend a 10-10 record against The SEC East the last 4 years in a row now, and we expected Coach Richt to bow to the pressure to get rid of Willie Martinez AND Mike Bobo.
We alumni can have all the hope we want that the DEFENSIVE and SPECIAL TEAMS coaching changes across the board would fix the offense just by having the head coach take over all their responsibilities as well, but ultimately it is the stubborn nature of Coach Richt to on the one hand admit the offensive coaching staff needs help but on the other hand, not get rid of them so the recruits in-state on offense want to come here and play in this offense.
28 games on Offense in the Coach Richt Era we scored 2 touchdowns or less and we lost 23 of those 28.
Yes, we have won 90 and lost 27, but only 4 of those 27 losses were when we scored more than 2 touchdowns in any of the 27 losses.
It is more a problem of offense than defense; yet, we spend $750,000 on an 11-year NFL veteran DC and more than that on his Defensive Staff, but have still the same problem on Offense we have had.
Scoring. Coaching staff all coaching positions they NEVER in the arena played. Personnel decisions and play calls that boggle the mind.
Yes, I think Coach Richt knows what he is doing.
9 years Coach Richt has had a coaching staff that did NOT.
Hasn't Coach Richt agreed with this ? Sure he has. He fired the entire Special Teams' Coaching Staff, and he fired the entire Defensive Coaching Staff except for the Recruiting Coordinator / Defensive Tackle coach, a position he DID play in the arena.
And, now last month, Coach Richt took over COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY for the OFFENSIVE COACHING of this team. When the head coach does that : (1) He admits his coaching staff for 9 years has SUCKED and (2) he admits that he thinks stubbornly that he can get our football graduation rates up from 9th worst in The SEC, beat Florida more than 2 times in 9 years, beat Top 10 Final AP Poll teams more than 3 times in 11 games, and not lose to NOT RANKED in the Top 25 Final AP Poll as he has done already now in 9 years, 8 times - AND he can also coach all the offensive coaching staff responsibilities I spend MY monies on paying for a sorry lot of out-of-position offensive coaches he stubbornly KEPT.
There is NOT 1 FAN and there are NO ALUMNI who believe that UGA should be, nor can continue to be the # 19 team in the nation at 38-14 over the last 4 years, most especially with the added pressure that Coach Richt MUST beat South Carolina in Game 2 or over the last 5 years then Coach Richt has a LOSING RECORD to The SEC East with 5 of those 10 losses the last 4 years in The SEC East coming to lousy not ranked in the Top 25 Final AP Poll down sorry lousy SEC East teams the last 4 years.
Yes I, as an UGA graduate with Honors, love Coach Richt both as a man and as a Football Coach with Offensive Knowledge; what I do not love is his entire coaching staff for the entire 9 years. It caught up with him. He better spend the money and get himself an Offensive Coordinator and let that man bring in a staff. If he does that, he can keep his job with another 9-4 or 10-3 season this year. If he does not, there will be no place to hide. He cannot be the head coach and do all their jobs on his Offensive Coaching Staff of ninnies.
He better spend the money and get himself an Offensive Coordinator and let that man bring in a staff. If he does that, he can keep his job with another 9-4 or 10-3 season this year in 14-game seasons nowadays. It is a great team we have this year; it is too bad we do not have an Offensive Coordinator with supporting cast. If he does not immediately bring that in too, there will be no place to hide. He cannot be the head coach and do all their jobs on his Offensive Coaching Staff of ninnies anymore than Logan Gray can be the back-up Quarterback to Aaron Murray and spend all Fall Practicing at Wide Receiver.
We continue to make horrid decisions on Offense. Ask the in-state recruits on Offense. This is where it comes from that Coach Richt, if he does not replace his Offensive Coaching Staff he just told that he Coach Richt was taking over all their responsibilities, then Coach Richt will be on the hot seat. After all, we lose 14 seniors and 5 juniors, all starters, after this season. This should have been a big year for us. Had we played Zach Mettenberger last year in Game 1 with a sore-armed missing practices every week Joe Cox who also had the flu, we would not be in this position today yet again at QB where we have NO ONE READY again at QB as we did not 2006 when we lost 4 games and as we did not 2009 when we lost 5 games. Pull that again now 2010 and have no one ready for next year at QB and lose another 4 games at 9-4, and Coach Richt can keep his job only if he then fires the offensive coaching staff he himself put there, all coaching positions they never played in the arena themselves. Obviously.
Sadly, the new The Hold Steady is their worst album yet. No songs really stick out, very generic sounding. Bring Franz back.
I love all these Anonymous experts.
As I said at 3:15 PM yesterday, the "hot seat" floating theory chain becomes a self-fulfilling event.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2010/05/18/is-it-hot-seat-time-already-for-mark-richt-at-georgia/
"We Alumni" do not all agree with anonymous poster up there.
*sigh*
THIS Alumnus thinks CMR is the right guy for the job. He brings great character and leadership, and what we call in the military "tactical patience" to the job. Sure, he's had a few down years but he made the hard decisions to help right the ship. Half of the offense's problems came as a result of poor defensive play anyway.
"Offense wins games, DEFENSE wins championships"
Speaking of graduating from UGA with "honors," please take a few minutes to go back and review English 1101 (or maybe even your High School English class) and re-read the section on sentence structure and grammar. Oh wait. That's the entire class.
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