"I think a lot of people expect blood," Richt said of the reaction following a 45-19 loss Saturday to Tennessee that dropped Georgia to 3-3 for the first time since 1996. "They want somebody to be let go or fired or that kind of thing, and maybe that's what needs to be done, but at this point right now, we're going to do what we know is the best thing to do and that's to focus on this game this week."That's exactly what he should be saying. The only way to throw in the towel on the season completely and send this team into a death spiral way, way, way beyond anything we've seen so far is to say something stupid like "I'm going to fire some coaches at the end of the season."
The best we can hope for is that Richt will keep an open mind on staff changes at the end of the season. But for now, he's got to sell his team that 9 or 10 wins is still on the table. He's got to find some way to sell that.
He found a way to do that in 2006 following a streak of losing 4 of 5 games including the Vandy and Kentucky losses. And they followed that up with wins over #5 Auburn, Top 25 GT and Top 20 Virginia Tech.
Also, for those of you who absurdly think Richt needs to go and "he can't turn this around." Remember, that Vince Dooley was hung in effigy following the 1974 season. Two years later, he played Pitt in the Sugar Bowl for a share of the national title.
Anything can happen. It's on Richt to make something happen.
See Also:
-- 5 Fixes for the Dawgs - Legge
-- Dawgs intend to change course - ABH
-- Damon says the right things - AJC
-- Tickets: UGA at Vandy
PWD
27 comments:
I was at that Pitt game and we lost 27-3 as I recall. Other than the first series of the game, the game was never as close as the score indicated. It was a whipping as bad as I have seen. I believe Pitt had something like 150 players on scholarship that year.
I agree, PWD. Richt is saying all the right things. We can't afford a complete meltdown - we need to beat Vandy, TT, and Kentucky and "steal" one or two against UF, Auburn, and Tech.
That being said, I do think that one of the worst things that could happen would be for us to win out because Richt would then believe that the status quo is working, when it undoubtedly is not. (Not that we have a much chance of winning out or anything.) I'm not saying I won't be rooting for the Dawgs every weekend, but some serious changes need to be made - our defense is terrible, our kickoff coverage is terrible, our punt return game is a complete joke, and our offense is pretty sorry. Richt is going to have to make some tough decisions this off-season. We will definitely see what all this means to him in the next couple of months.
Go Dawgs.
obviously coaching changes can't be made in mid year... player changes can... we will see what happens at quarterback after florida... i really think all cmr wants is to be 4-4 after florida with both jc and lg coming out of the uf game healthy... the teams goal is 8-4 with a new year's day bowl... i think cmr knows that lg will have to play a large role in that endeavor... he just doesn't want to get him killed in jax.
Well said PWD.. if Richt hasn't earned that, then we've allowed ourselves to become too spoiled as a fan base. End of the year is fine with me.
"That being said, I do think that one of the worst things that could happen would be for us to win out"
Um, winning out would involve beating a decent team in Auburn, a good team in Trek, and one of the best teams of the decade in Florida. This would in no way shape or form be a bad thing.
I was at the Pitt game too. The fact is PWR is right...we were at the game. We were the SEC Champs, two years after Dooley was hung in effigy. And 4 years later he won the National Title.
Anon @ 12:50 ... I think PWD means that if we win out with some majic in the bottle then CMR won't feel the need/heat to make any changes. As such, we'll find ourselves in this same situation a year from now.
As I recall, we got to play Pitt featuring Anthony Dorsett twice: once in that Sugar Bowl, and earlier when they came to Athens. That was my first trip to New Orleans. Somehow Bourbon Street wasn't as enjoyable to a ten year old as it would become in just a few years.
I have nightmares about teams in the Big East and teams that would eventually belong to the Big East (somehow, after they've left the Big East, they're not so scary). Hmm. Does this mean I should skip the trip to Louisville?
Sorry. I digress. It's what I do.
I can't think straight. I'm not sure which has done greater damage: the football season or My Time With H1N1 (in my third week of feeling miserable; get vaccinated).
Can I get H1N1 from commenting right after someone on a blog?
I am fine with a reevaluation at the end of the season. If we, by some miracle, win every game to finish the season, then we probably wouldn't need any changes. So I'd be okay with that happening.
I just want my Dawgs back.
Now is an interesting time to be a UGA fan.
Starting to wonder if the successful years of the CMR regime were more of a commentary on the state of the SEC at the time.
"Starting to wonder if the successful years of the CMR regime were more of a commentary on the state of the SEC at the time."
Not any more than, say, Florida '06 was a commentary on the state of the SEC*, or LSU '07 was a commentary on the state of ALL of college football.
* And FWIW, that team should have really been 4-4 in the SEC, so.
we were at the game. We were the SEC Champs, two years after Dooley was hung in effigy. And 4 years later he won the National Title.
So for all of you newbies out there be not dismayed. The kind of stuff you see happening right now has happened before and will happen again.
A fan base is an ugly thing to actually have to look at sometimes.
You can always ask those questions, but you can make an argument that Spurrier was lucky to come to the SEC when Dooley and Majors retiring and LSU mostly in a tailspin. Florida played 2 consistent programs in Spurrier's regime every year: Terry Bowden's Auburn and Bobby Bowden's Seminoles. And they were the thorn in Spurrier's side. So, it's all kind of cyclical.
I said this weekend that Richt had to make his mind up on Monday morning about what he was going to do in December...no matter what happens in Jax. The call-in show convinced me that he's already done so. I've never heard him say anything remotely close to that.
Great insight. . finally someone who isn't jumping the gun and calling for heads to roll. Changes needs to be made with the personnel (coaching and playing) we HAVE right now. Next year can be a different story if need be.
But i think if we can get back to begin aggressive and not playing afraid, we can turn it around with who we have. Thanks for your input.
Anon 2:04: I agree. The 1979 team went 6-5, and the defense gave up a lot of points. After that season, Dooley showed his good friend, defensive secondary coach Jim Pyburn the door. In 1980, the kid who beat out Pyburn's kid, Jeff, for the QB spot won the NC with a couple of coached-up guys named Woerner and Hoage. Damon's put the gun in Richt's hand -- I'm sure at the right time, he will pull the trigger.
First off - we played Pitt in Athens in '75 and they beat us.
And yes - our '76 SEC Champs partied on Bourbon Street and played like hungover drunks against Majors' Pitt team.
And yet again - we all know that Pitt beat us AGAIN in the '81 Sugar Bowl. Marino's 4th down TD toss kills me.
Actually - I hate the state of Pennsylvania b/c of Pitt and PSU.
Question. For everyone that is commenting on the call for Dooley's head after a 6-5 season...what did Dooley do in response?
I do have a little fear that if we pull out a decent season, then we will get the same song, 5th verse. I was not looking for change before, but I am now convinced that our D is not a good thing. I want the wins as much as anyone, but the pain of these meltdowns, and they happen every year, is strong. These are not close losses to a competitor or an unexpected loss to an upstart team gunning for us. These are gut wrenching collapses with no explanation what so ever. The case for change has been made for me even if we win out. I hope others feel the same.
Let's let this season play out....and see where we stand...I think we all expected some offensive drop off after Stafford/Moreno/MoMass left...
GATA @ Vandy, get healty, and give FU our best shot.
PTC: What does that have to do with the defense? Or the special teams?
And an offensive drop off is one thing. Total incompetence is another.
Tracy Claeys, who is the D-Coordinator for Northern Illinois, is only giving up 16 ppg. Can we give him an interview?
The meltdowns are predictable. It was unfair to ask WM and Bobo to go up against exNFL coaches. Whenever we go up against a set of good coaches with talent as good as we have, we get out coached. As we continue to run the same defense and offense year after year without regard to the particular talent we have, our competitors become more aggressive assuming (correctly) we have not changed. When a new coach enters the conference, they have to initially assess the competition and work to attack our weaknesses. If we beat them, they adjust and learn. I never thought Alabama would beat us like they did the second year with Saban. We still think we are playing zook, Fulmer, Tommy, etc.
Muck, it's all inter-dependent. All the three-and-outs do not help the defense. However, it isn't like that wasn't happening last year as well. I don't have the statistics, but I'm guessing that through 6 games we had fewer TOs and 3/outs on offense last year than we have now. But that's just a guess.
Any talk about winning out is, well, it's sort of silly isn't it? This team is going to have to scrap and fight for 6 wins. Vandy nor Kentucky are going to lay down when we roll out those red helmets. Florida, Auburn and Tech are all well-coached on offense and it goes without saying that they don't run conventional "pro-style" attacks. The only way we steal one or two of those (AU or Tech) is if the OL comes together at some point (soon) and we can get a running game going. IF that happens, then Joe Cox is perfectly adequate to get the job done. Then perhaps we can outscore them like we did Arkansas. Then some thought can be given to 7 or 8 wins; but I'm still skeptical.
If we could just end the '09 season now and have 6 wins, I'd take it just so I don't have to go through the torture of the actual games... which is precisely why I'm driving up to Nashville this weekend... what? I guess I'm a glutton for punishment?
If staff changes aren't imminent, then we'll be looking for a new head coach after '10. The negativity surrounding this team, our fans and in the media will simply snowball unless something significant happens.
Richt's solution to a staff issue last time was to let someone else hire away the problem and we're paying a dear price with our O-line now because of the failure to act. I hope Richt learned from that experience...
I agree, I've followed this program since the 60's Every team has cycles where the have to make significant adjustments to how they approach these kids. I love the dawgs and Mark Richt, I have faith he will right the ship. I will have my tickets until the day I die. Born a dawg and die a dawg.
Yes, I am pulling for this staff and team to turn it around this season.
Just because there is some late success doesn't mean there won't be fundamental changes in staff next season.
It just means that each member of the staff will have more career options going into next season.
The goals set for the staff as a whole last four seasons will not have been met, so changes will be made to bring new ideas and energy and properly challenge the status quo.
Four seasons is about as much as you get in the SEC these days.
If you are a committed Georgia fan, there is no reason to root against this team.
I never advocated rooting against the Dawgs. I merely stated that if we win out, then Richt, being a loyal person, might say that the status quo is working and decide that no changes are necessary. And we'll all find ourselves in this situation next year.
- FF
Thanks Paul. Great points. Now, let's get behind this team. There is so much to like about this bunch! What do we gain by continuing to bash the situation. Like you, I hope coach will see and make changes!
A little BVG flashback from a site some might be aware of
http://georgiasports.blogspot.com/2007/12/brian-van-gorder-3-games-from.html
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