My blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 6 seconds. If not, visit
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/bulldogs-blog/
and update your bookmarks.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Richt says it's 'obvious' this is worst he's seen at UGA

Mark Richt said it was important for his team and coaches to “stay the course” amid the current troubles – while acknowledging that this is the most difficult period of his decade-long tenure as Georgia football coach.

“Oh yeah there’s no doubt it is. It’s obvious it is,” Richt said. “The bottom line is we’re 0-3 in the league and we’ve never been there. And we have had enough issues off the field that it’s been a big distraction and sad for our young men and our university. … There’s no doubt that it’s the toughest bit of adversity that we’ve faced since I’ve been here.”

Georgia has lost three straight for the first time since 1990, and on Sunday had its 10th player arrested this year.

Richt said after Saturday’s game that he was contemplating some changes. But on his Sunday post-mortem teleconference, he indicated those would be more personnel-based (to be decided) than coaching or otherwise.

“If you sit there and try to make a wholesale change in midstream then you’re asking for more trouble,” Richt said.

Richt also said the team would “probably be soul-searching just a bit deeper.”

A few more notes:

- There are no plans for offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to move into the press box during games.

“He feels real comfortable on the ground,” Richt said. “The information that we’re getting from upstairs is very accurate, so I don’t think it has any effect on how things are going.”

- Senior receiver Kris Durham apparently suffered a neck stinger near the end of Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State. Richt said the staff was “hopeful” the team’s leading receiver could play Saturday at Colorado.

“Sometimes you’re able to play the next week, sometimes you’re not,” Richt said. “I don’t know how severe it is or how he felt today as opposed to last night.”

- Star receiver A.J. Green is due back from NCAA suspension for the Colorado game.

“I’ll just say that we’re glad to have AJ back,” Richt said. “He certainly has paid a price for what he did. Now that he has a chance to play, I’m sure we’ll enjoy thinking of ways to use his talents.”

29 comments:

LADAWG said...

As disappointed as I was with the game yesterday, I am still a DAWG and damn proud of it. CMR is the guy, lets rally around him and the team. I will see you all in Colorado!

Tim said...

I have the feeling that his loyalty to Bobo along with the number of arrests is going to lead to his departure. This is year 3 of costly penalties. Sometimes change for the sake of change is needed. Every players' coach is followed by a disciplinarian.

Anonymous said...

At least he's only saying he doesn't want to fire someone midseason. That can't make bobo feel very secure in the long run.

And honestly, I like coach richt a lot, but I hope he's not saying that nothing about the play-calling is changing. Bobo can stay on the sideline, that's not a bad place for a QB coach to be. However, I hope he's done calling plays for UGA. I doubt we have many people on staff who could do worse.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking CMR will start interjecting some plays now. Having A.J. back in and of itself will help a ton. It doesn't look good for Bobo however. CMR needed to start cleaning house a couple of years ago. Loyalty is a good trait in a man, but sometimes too much of it is worse than none at all.

Edward said...

Ladawg you must be a closet Florida fan. That is the only explanation for your myopia.

I bet you think the only things this team needs more of right now is some JT3 and Tripp Chandler's hands!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

you richt loyalist are why we are now a bottom dweller in the sec you want a choir leader hire him for your church!!

PTC DAWG said...

I'm beginning to wander how much a distraction this AJ thing really is/was. Maybe, just maybe, he should have been dismissed from the team. How much worse could we be right now?

Anonymous said...

I believe we're about to find out how much we did miss AJ. You can't tell me a player of his talent doesn't make a difference. The only problem was none of the other players were willing or couldn't step into his shoes. I believe if he couldn't have played in the last 3 games we could of at least had 2 more wins. Just my opinion, you're entitled to yours.

LADAWG said...

No Doubt the CMR will start getting more involved on the offense. His comments with regards to us calling some running plays blindly even after recognizing a stacked front doesn't bode well for Bobo in the long term.

Like any good executive / person he doesn't air dirty laundry in public. If there will be a change it will come at the appropriate time. Being that Bobo is an Alumnus and if CMR decides to make a change, he will allow Bobo to save some face. If you have paid attention to the last few games, in key situations you can see Bobo telling CMR what he is gonna do. When we tied it up against ARK, he clearly came over after we got the ball back and said " we are gonna run it" and put his hand on Richt's shoulder. This tells me that Richt is already assuming some of play calling duties and that over the next several games it will probably be more magnified.

Terrible start, but its not the end of the world. Go Dawgs...See you in Colorado!

Rich Loyalist said...

God save the King!

Unknown said...

I think this goes beyond calling plays. It looks to me like we are not prepared to run plays outside of our plan. I reckon we spend a lot of our prep time working on things other than expanding the playbook. This is the cost of having too many penalties, off-field distractions, and young/less experienced players.

Ray said...

Very nice, Scott. I had to read your post three times before I could figure out exactly what you were saying. Try using punctuation there, Buddy. More people may listen to what you say instead of just passing you off as "backwoods" and uneducated.

Ray said...

I will give you "props" for knowing to make the first letter of your name upper case.

Scott said...

I will give Richt to the end of the season. If Bobo does not learn to call plays, read what the defenses are giving him, and generally call a better game than I could sitting in front of the television, then he has to go.

I give Bobo one more game. If he doesn't get his act together, I will be in the fire Bobo bandwagon. We did it to WilMart, we can do it to Bobo.

Oh yea... can we get some CBs and Safeties that didn't learn to cover passes by WilMart! These guys stink. They are getting burned in the corners and that's not good.

Unknown said...

Lmao Ray. And Scott, as one of those Richt loyalists you spoke of, I wonder if you wanted him out after the 2007 season when we only finished #2 in the nation? I mean, we've only finished in the top 10 in the nation FIVE times since he got here.

Anonymous said...

It is always darkest before dawn.

Michael said...

jerryv31: That's nice, but 4 of the last 5 years, we've been crap.

Can't you get it?

Richt can't trade on the first 5 years of his time here, when the last 5 years here have been 80% garbage.

And worse than that, it has basically been the same issues gradually getting worse and worse.

Anonymous said...

Jim Harbaugh anyone?

Unknown said...

4 out of 5 years, we've been crap??

From 2005-09, Georgia went 38-14, a 73% winning percentage and finishing in the top 15 three times in four years.

Since 1895, only one coach has had better than a 73% winning percentage (Stegeman at 74%, who only coached football three years, AND they named a coliseum after him).

I'm not oblivious to the fact that we are having a VERY trying start to the season, but don't lose sight of the fact that our star receiver has been on the sidelines the entire time, we've got a true freshman QB, and many of the players on defense are playing in roles unfamiliar to them prior to this season.

It feels like a lot of fans just got spoiled because of the success we've had since CMR got here. I guess I'm just not ready to throw in the towel on a coach who's brought us back to national prominence in the past ten years.

Anonymous said...

Do some research on your proposed hires people. Jim Harbaugh is a Michigan Man, waiting on RichRod to sink again this year or next and swoop into his dream job. If it doesn't happen, I'm sure he is quite happy in Palo Alto considering he was born there.

Anonymous said...

"But on his Sunday post-mortem teleconference, he indicated those would be more personnel-based (to be decided) than coaching or otherwise."

Nope, no change in who is calling the offense.

Chris said...

Jerryv31 - Murray is a redshirt freshman. defense 100% gets a pass in my book this year. AJ will help.

But

None of that changes the complete collapse of the Offensive Line. The FACT that we were getting out muscled on both sides of the line all night. The insistence of running between the tackles over and over and over when it is not working. The lack of motivation/fire. The overwhelming number of off the field issues.

In my book it's not that we are losing it is how we are losing that is the problem.

CSA said...

Ideally, Mark Richt is given another chance after rallying the troups and going 7-6 this season. Richt makes the necessary decisions and finally decides that further employing his friends will cost him his own job. He'll hire a new S&C coach, and new offensive coaches (replacing Bobo and Searels at the very least). In 2011, the Bulldogs will be a noticeably different team, this time dominating their opponents. He'll coach until his contract expires, and will decide to retire, leaving a triumphant program behind. That would be pretty awesome, right?

I fear that even if Mark Richt makes these sorts of changes, it'll just be too little, too late. I can only fathom how frustrated he is. I can see 2011 being marginally better, but nonetheless disappointing and frustrating. Finally, the plug will be pulled on Richt.

Michael said...

Hahahaha jerryv31. Nice sneaky dishonest BS including 2005.

2006 to 2010, look at our record in the SEC and against SEC east opponents.

Ignore the stupid padded stats that result from the 12 game season and the fact that we've had bowl games against chumps.

Michael said...

I'll help you out.

Last 5 seasons, 2006-2010:

20-15 vs. the SEC

10-11 vs. the SEC east.

That's right. We now have a LOSING RECORD vs. the SEC east in the past 5 seasons.

Conor said...

BRING BACK JIM DONNAN - at least we were okay with mediocrity when he was the coach. The thing is, without Richt, our expectations would probably not be as high as they are now.

I'm fairly certain that the wisest move is to keep Richt until he decides to leave/retire.

Or, we could try to lure Bobby Bowden out of retirement, Joe Paterno away from Happy Valley, or Vince Lombardi out of the grave.

Let us be thankful for what we have instead of grumbling about unknowns.

Can I get an amen?

Unknown said...

Someone needs to tell CMR the players are supposed to act like choir boys OFF the field and criminals ON the field, not the other way around.

David said...

2-7 in the last 9 SEC games