Cuff Arrested, Suspended

Georgia cornerback Vance Cuff was arrested Tuesday by the Athens Police Department on charges of driving on a suspended license and "emerging from an alley." He was released on $1,750 bond.

The incident occurred, according to a statement released by the school, when Cuff left the Butts-Mehre Building on his scooter. He made a left and drove down Rutherford Street, which is currently closed during construction. When he was stopped for driving down the closed road, it was discovered that his license was suspended.

Head coach Mark Richt said Cuff will serve a one-game suspension.

"He used poor judgment first in the route he took and also for being on the scooter at all with a suspended license," Richt said. "He will be suspended for the Vanderbilt game."

More Legal Problems For Okie State

Breaking news out of Stillwater: Oklahoma State's starting tight end, Jamal Mosley, has left the team.

Mosley was part of what was expected to be a committee at tight end as the Cowboys hope to replace the production of Brandon Pettigrew.

It's not yet known why Mosley left the team, but according to The Oklahoman, some legal problems could have played a part.

According to documents on the Oklahoma State Courts Network, Mosley was presented with a a restraining order on Thursday that was filed in Payne County court by Kayla Starks. It is unknown whether that situation and Mosley's departure from the team are related.

"Jamal Mosley is leaving our football team for personal reasons," OSU coach Mike Gundy said in a statement. "He has been a good teammate and we wish him the best. We will have no further comment on this matter."

This is the second incident of an Oklahoma State player running into legal trouble in the past 24 hours. It was reported yesterday that starting cornerback Perrish Cox was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

So, let's see... tons of preseason hype, highest ranking in school history, off-field legal problems, talented offense but questionable defense, SI cover jinx... it's almost scary how similar Okie State is to last year's Georgia team.

From the Mailbag: Rapping with Richt

With the start of practice yesterday, I got a little caught up in all the excitement and totally forgot to post the replies to your questions for Mark Richt from last week.

I actually still have a bunch of stuff from that interview to get posted, but the beauty of practice starting again is that there's no shortage of material, so while I'll definitely get to it all eventually, I'm having to parse it out in staggered doses. It's a lot like Jagermeister in that respect.

Anyway, I didn't want to keep my fellow Twits waiting too long (lest a few choice words be tweeted in my direction) so here ya go...

-- Our good friend @BernieDawg had two questions: From his perspective, what will the secondary do 2 create more turnovers this season? That, & can I ride shotgun to StillH2O?

First off, I'd be remiss not to encourage you to visit Bernie's Dawg Blawg HERE.

Secondly, Richt's answer to Bernie's question doesn't really have a lot to do with the defensive backs. He sees the solution coming from the boys up front.

"I think a lot of people think the turnover is created by a guy catching the ball, but it's usually created by the pressure you put on the passer when it comes to interceptions – whether it's interior D line, D end, pressure from a linebacker, whatever," Richt said. "Make the quarterback throw it when he doesn't want to, make him throw it out of a space that's more confined than he's comfortable in. When it comes to fumbles, you get fumbles when you hit QBs when they're not looking. You get fumbles when you stick your face on the ball. So we have to emphasize it in practice – not only talk about it, but drill it – and hopefully play hard enough and fast enough that those things happen."

I think that's a mantra that most Bulldogs fans can get behind, though I'll admit, those defensive ends still seem like a pretty big concern to me.

As for your second question, Bernie, I think you're gonna have to work on your pass-rush skills to make the cut for the travel team.

-- And actually, there is a bit of news on who might be riding shotgun with Richt on the road this season, and that comes from this question posed by @cbrannon: Coach, how do you manage to make time for your family?

Seems like an appropriate query for this time of year, so here's what Richt had to say...

"In season, I have breakfast and take my kids to school every day. We work late, so I don't see them at night, but I see them every morning. One night a week we have family night – Monday. We go to church together and have lunch together on Sunday before I get cranked up. And then any time they're able to come to practice or by the office or whatever – they come Thursday night after practice and then we go home and I have that evening with the family. My wife's been on the sideline. My boy, David, has been on the sideline. Zack's about to probably get a little sideline work. Zack and David will probably be my traveling buddies. Anya's been on the sideline, too. And I've asked my kids if they'd want it any other way and they say, ‘This is all we know.' They're fine with it. But I think the every single morning, getting up together, spending time together, getting them off to school, that's a big deal seeing your dad every day. Doing those kinds of things helps them feel like they're normal kids."

-- This one actually came via email from Jim Franklin: Did the SEC rule banning Asst coaches from HS run "clinics" get changed? Big topic w CMR & Corch Myers @ Destin?

Jim's referring to the rule Richt took issue with during the SEC league meetings this spring that prevents coaches from attending clinics they aren't hosting themselves. This creates a distinct disadvantage to schools like Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, each of which have in-state ACC counterparts who are allowed to attend these events.

Unfortunately, any attempts at changing the rule seem to have hit a wall. First off, there's the typical bureaucracy that goes on, where rule changes must also be approved by the athletics directors and presidents, too.

The bigger problem with this one, however, was actually the other coaches. Since the majority of SEC schools don't have big-time out-of-conference rivals in their home state, the coaches weren't as inclined to add more work to their offseason. I'll let Richt explain...

"I think that actually lost a little steam in our room because one thing I discovered is part of the reason why the SEC was not allowing coaches to do it was because if they're allowed to go to every single one of these things, then all of a sudden your assistant coaches are going all over creation. They lose some of their sanity because they think, well if they're there then we have to be there. On one end, you don't want an ACC school in your own state, for us Georgia Tech, you don't want them to be able to be at something that we can't be at. And the perception is that we don't care or we don't want to be there, which is not true. So that was where we were coming from. But there are some schools that don't have that in-state issue. They don't have that competition factor."

So bottom line... sucks for Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, but Ed Orgeron and Monte Kiffin have got better things to do.

-- I did manage to get one more answered, this one from @Grayson47, who wanted to know if Georgia might start using a few more aspects of the spread in its offense in the future. For that answer, however, you'll need to come back tomorrow, as I'll actually have a much more in-depth post on the issue.

For anyone else who posed a question, sorry, but I ran short on time with Richt and couldn't get to all of them. We'll keep doing this throughout the season though, so let me know when you have a burning question you want asked. (If anything else is burning though, I'd prefer you just consulted a physician.) And remember, you can follow me on Twitter HERE.

Practice notes coming later this evening...

Practice Notes: Fine First Day

Jeff Owens hasn't participated in a full practice in 11 months, and he nearly missed his triumphant return. He spent the weekend in New York and a weekend bomb scare at the airport delayed his return until Monday afternoon, arriving back in Athens just a few minutes before the team's first meeting.

The hectic journey paled in comparison to the work he put in to rehab a torn ACL, however, but after one day of practice the effort seems to have paid off.

"I think I did quite well," Owens said. "I even conditioned with the team and I wasn't held out of anything. I think it's going pretty good."

That doesn't mean the practice was easy, however.

Georgia spent nearly three hours on the practice field Tuesday, the team's first practice session with coaches since April. The players only donned shorts and practice jerseys and there was no contact, but brushing away the cobwebs still meant breaking a pretty hearty sweat.

"The first day's always tough," Owens said. "It was tough for me, but overall, I think it went pretty well on both sides of the ball. The guys competed and got after it."

Tuesday not only marked Owens return from injury, but it was also the first chance coaches had to meet with Georgia's incoming freshmen class.

The findings on Day 1 weren't significantly different from the reports coaches had gotten from players throughout a summer of voluntary workouts – the freshmen were prepared and eager to learn more.

"When you can walk into a meeting room for the first time with guys this morning and ask them some questions and they can fire the answer back at you, it certainly means a lot at this point," tight ends coach John Lilly said.

Georgia will practice in shorts again today before putting on shells for the next three days of practice. Monday will feature two practice sessions, including the first with full pads and contact.

"It won't be the same until you get into your first day of pads and contact," safety Bryan Evans said. "We've been running all summer, but when you put on the weight and start banging on each other, that's when you really see where our team is at physically."

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Bulldogs' first practice session may have been an eye-opener for many of the new faces on campus, but freshman tight end Orson Charles couldn't get enough.

After wowing his teammates during voluntary workouts this summer, Charles gave coaches a taste of his high-energy approach, and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo was impressed.

"He loves to play." Bobo said. "He wanted to take every rep. He didn't want to sit out a single play. He's hungry, and when the ball was thrown to him today, he made some catches. He didn't know everything that was going on, but neither did A.J. Green last year, but he made plays."

The comparisons to Green are impressive enough, but the Georgia wide receiver said Charles actually reminds him more of another prominent Bulldog.

"He reminds me of Knowshon a little bit," Green said of Charles. "He's got one of those motors that never stops."

ENJOYING THE SILENCE

Before his team took the field for its first day of practice a year ago, Mark Richt spent the morning answering questions about two players who had been arrested and a third who earned a suspension for damaging property at a local hospital. So when a reporter asked about the quiet offseason this year, Richt's response was relief.

"Amen," he said with a laugh.

The troublesome offseason a year ago foreshadowed a problematic season on the field in which Georgia was among the most penalized teams in the nation. Richt said his hope is that the trouble-free break this year will be precede a similar on-field turnaround.

"Have we been a more disciplined team from January to August than we were a year ago? To this point, we have," Richt said. "We hope that will translate to being a more disciplined team on the field."

A Painful Reminder

Rennie Curran spent most of the early offseason reminding his teammates how important it was to avoid off-field problems this year. Dozens of teammates repeated a similar mantra.

But for all the talk, the axe still fell last month when defensive end Justin Houston and tight end Bruce Figgins were suspended for violations of team rules -- Houston for two games, Figgins for six.

Rather than lament the losses, however, Curran said he's tried to use the suspensions as a refresher course for the rest of the team. Even with all the reminders earlier this offseason, trouble still found its way into the locker room. The pressure to remain dedicated to the cause was turned up another notch.

"We know how hard we worked as a team this offseason, having mat drills and coming through the spring, having guys make awesome strides during this offseason," Curran said. "It's just disheartening to see somebody make a mistake when they know they have so much to lose. But at the same time you have to continue to motivate the guys and encourage them and continue to let them know that we're all in this together, that you've got to stay out of trouble and that you're not invisible to the public."

While the disappointment was significant, Curran said, the rest of the team has handled the situation as well as could be expected.

For one, other players are stepping up and volunteering to take on some of the load their suspended teammates leave behind.

"Houston's out because of some slight things that happened, and we have guys in our unit that have the capability to step up and make plays," defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said. "All I'm trying to do is just make up some of the slack, and just do as much as I can."

"I didn't need somebody to get suspended to know that I'm going to step up to the challenge," freshman tight end Orson Charles said. "I have my own mind-set from the get-go that I just want to make everybody better around me. I just want to win."

The suspensions were a challenge to the rest of the roster and a reminder of just how careful everyone needs to be, but they can't serve as a distraction from the task at hand.

"The player reaction was that we've got to keep moving on," offensive lineman Vince Vance said. "Things happen, but we've got to let those players that it's not the downfall of their careers. But we also have to keep everyone on the right track."

It's Official: Wilson, Figgins, Houston Out

From UGA Athletics...

Two University of Georgia football players will incur suspensions due to violation of team rules, according to an announcement Saturday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.


Junior tight end Bruce Figgins has received a six-game suspension and redshirt sophomore defensive end Justin Houston has been suspended for two games. A third player, junior wide receiver Tony Wilson, also violated team rules; however, he is in the process of being medically disqualified from competition due to slow recovery from a severe ankle injury originally suffered in the spring of 2008.


"I'm very disappointed in the poor judgment of these players," said UGA head coach Mark Richt. "They'll have to pay an appropriate price and I'm confident they will learn an important lesson from their mistake."

No Word on Suspensions

Georgia could be without three players to start the 2009 season due to suspensions, according to UGASports.com.

The Web site reported that tight end Bruce Figgins, defensive end Justin Houston and wide receiver Tony Wilson would each be suspended for an undetermined period after violating team rules.

Head coach Mark Richt would not confirm the suspensions Wednesday, however, saying in a statement through sports information director Claude Felton that "there is nothing to report" at this time.

Georgia was plagued by off-field incidents a year ago and began the 2008 season with more than a half-dozen players suspended. Things had been quiet on that front so far in 2009, with Richt noting that he was employing a stricter approach to discipline this year.

Still, Richt cautioned that these issues are likely to crop up at any program.

"We do have to remember these guys are human," Richt said last month. "These guys are being watched more closely than probably any group in the state of Georgia. There's no place to hide. So am I going to sit here and say that these guys are never going to make a mistake again? That's very unrealistic, but I think at least we’ve had a very good start and guys, as a whole, want to do the right thing. But shoot, who knows what tomorrow brings, right?"

Deleted Scenes: Staying Focused Off the Field

In case you didn't pick up the paper Sunday, I had a story on Georgia's approach to the real offseason -- the three-plus months that follow G-Day and precede the start of spring practice. The team won't have much oversight from coaches and the schedule for the players isn't nearly as regimented, and that lack of structure can often lead to a loss of focus and off-field distractions. After struggles in those departments a year ago, however, Georgia's coaches and veterans are promising a much different approach this time around.

Again, you can read the story HERE.

I also had blog posts a couple of weeks ago dealing with Mark Richt's new attitude toward discipline. You can read them HERE and HERE.

There were plenty of other quotes that didn't make the final cuts on any of those stories though, so here they are...

Bryan Evans on the defense's attitude toward leadership...
"Right now, as players, we don't want Coach Martinez to tell us what to do. We want to be led as a team, not be coach-driven. We want to show Coach we can do it without him having to jump down our backs."

Joe Cox on how to keep the players thinking football during the summer...
"Doing things that are going to keep our team together and around each other. I think once you hit this part of the season, the guys that hang out with each other, the little cliques on the team, kind of hang out a lot more and people start doing different things. But us as seniors, we've talked about having things like cookouts just to bring everyone together and still talk about what we want to do this season and the strides we want to make this summer and just make sure that everybody gets a good feel for each other and that the whole team gels. We're going to need everybody on the same page if we're going to do good this fall."

Tony Wilson on staying motivated for voluntary workouts...
"It's hard to get energy up at 6 o'clock in the morning, but I think the coaches did a good job of conditioning and the way they approached things, and I think we responded well. By far this has been the hardest offseason conditioning I've been through in my life by far. They ran us into the ground, and nobody moaned or complained. We took care of business."

Shaun Chapas on the team's mentality this offseason...
"Since January it's been like this. We're just going back to work and trying to do the little things. We don't have a problem at all getting everybody out and participating. Everybody knows what we have to do to be good."

Jeff Owens on his approach to the months spent away from the coaching staff...
"There is no offseason. You go from January to January. The summer is very important because it's the time where you get stronger, get faster and get your body in shape. You work on your technique, just work on the little things and fine tune your game."

Owens on how to keep players out of off-field trouble...
"Guys have to be accountable for their mistakes. There's consequences for every decision you make. If you get in trouble, you're not going to make the media. But at Georgia, you're always under the microscope, and you have to know that there are consequences for all your actions."

Dave Van Halanger on the continuing workouts after spring practice...
"Spring breaks you down a bit physically with all the hitting, so we're building ourselves back up physically and mentally, getting together again team-wise, and focusing on academics."

Mark Richt on his approach to players who get in trouble...
"I've had young men that have had an issue where they got in trouble. They've got to understand that reputations take a lifetime to build and one night to damage. I never like to say destroy, because that means it's beyond repair. Some individual guys in their career, you do damage to your reputation, son, and it's going to take a long time for people to believe that you're truly back on the right track. But from this day forward, if you do right, you begin that process. This moment won't define your life and your career. What you do from this moment forward will define you. A lot of guys have really responded well to that."

Richt on what to expect this offseason...
"We do have to remember these guys are human. These guys are being watched more closely than probably any group in the state of Georgia. There's no place to hide. So am I going to sit here and say that these guys are never going to make a mistake again? That's very unrealistic, but I think at least we've had a very good start and guys, as a whole, want to do the right thing. But shoot, who knows what tomorrow brings, right?"

To Beard or Not to Beard

I had a post yesterday on Mark Richt's new focus on the minor details, which he hopes will extend to bigger-picture issues such as academics and off-field incidents. Part of the new philosophy for Richt, however, means that players won't be able to have beards during the season -- a rule that seems to have struck a nerve with some fans.

(After all, do you think Corvey Irvin could have had such a fine senior season if he still looked LIKE THIS?)

Dancing in the End Zone offers a friendly retort to Mark Richt's no beards policy. It comes replete with a photoshopped image of Richt with a Fu Man Chu and Joe Cox sporting a very Ulysses S. Grant look (or maybe it's an 1860s gold-rush era mountain man). Either way, I like it.

Also, I totally forgot that this new rule by Richt will essentially end the campaign I started with Paul Dehner of the Albany Herald to convince Richt to grow a mustache.

The Devil's in the Details

No Georgia player has ever been arrested for failing to tuck in his shirt. Players aren't suspended for having chin straps unsnapped. The newspapers don't run stories on Bulldogs' facial hair.

But after a season in which his team developed a reputation for off-field trouble, Mark Richt has learned that there's a definite link between the minor details and the big disappointments.

In the weight room, players are working harder. On the practice fields, drills are being done with more precision. But the new dedication to Georgia's attitude this spring goes beyond the physical demands. Richt has adopted a new philosophy -- well, actually it's really his old philosophy -- that every little thing that happens on the field or in the locker room is significant.

"It's just setting an expectation of everything is important," Richt said. "Even our locker room. When those guys are out of there, all you need to do is run the vacuum, and that's it. It's not a pigsty. Every little thing matters, and if it's not done right, then we're on top of it."

So Richt has stepped up the basics -- like the chin straps and the shirt tails -- and the coaching staff is making sure every shortcoming is punished. More time is left after practice for discipline and more focus is given to the details.

Last year, that wasn't always the case, and Richt said the team paid the price.

"I think me, as head coach, allowed things to get just a little bit loose. It didn't seem like a big thing." Richt said.

So some of his old rules went by the wayside. The details were overlooked. If a player didn't want to shave, he didn't have to. Never mind the letter of the law.

The attitude trickled down, and this year, Richt hopes the opposite is true.

"If they have a beard and they keep it nice and trim, why not? What's the big deal? But I changed that and I've gone back to old school," Richt said. "What's the big deal about my shirt not being tucked in? I said, 'That's the rule.' I think it just starts with that and hopefully it will continue to permeate."

So far, the results have been promising. Richt said academically, Georgia's players are having a banner semester. Class and study hall attendance is at a superior level, he said, and no one is in any danger of missing playing time for academic reasons.

Other off-field issues seem to have subsided as well. Last year, Georgia's season was marred by player arrests and suspensions. Seven players missed time after off-field incidents resulted in suspension, with three eventually leaving the program. Several other players were involved in additional off-field issues that were handled in house.

The result was a bevy of media coverage that Richt said damaged the program's reputation and hurt the team's on-field performance. But Richt said this year's players have taken personally the problems that occurred last season, and he has preached a message of change -- even to those players who were involved firsthand in 2008's off-field distractions.

"They've got to understand that reputations take a lifetime to build and one night to damage," Richt said.

So Richt's message this season was simple: Start the healing process now.

"You do damage to your reputation, son, and it's going to take a long time for people to believe that you're truly back on the right track," Richt told his players. "But from this day forward, if you do right, you begin that process. This moment won't define your life and your career. What you do from this moment forward will define you."

So far, the message seems to have taken hold. Georgia has not had any off-field problems this offseason, and Richt hopes that continues.

"A lot of guys have really responded well to it," Richt said. "We do have to remember these guys are human. These guys are being watched more closely than probably any group in the state of Georgia. There's no place to hide. So am I going to sit here and say that these guys are never going to make a mistake again? That's very unrealistic, but I think at least we've had a very good start and guys, as a whole, want to do the right thing."

Richt said this offseason has been about returning to his roots, going back to the philosophy he employed during his first season in Athens.

Last year was a difficult one, but it was a learning experience, he said. In the end, the players failed to take responsibility for their actions, but Richt admits he failed to set the proper tone. That won't happen again.

"I probably asked myself, is it really that important that that guy's shirt is tucked in on that play?" Richt said. "Is it really going to make a difference between winning and losing? I think the answer is yes, and I spent a little moment there where I didn't think it was as important as it really was. Every little thing is important."