I understand... you're upset.  You're incredibly frustrated, upset... and mad.  It's a natural feeling... the second step in the grieving process... just after denial and isolation, and just before bargaining.  After we get 51-7'ed by Tech and you have a week or two to get over that anger process, the "bargaining" phase will begin.  You'll say to yourself, "Well, if we can win the Music City/Independence/Liberty Bowl and get things turned around next year, maybe things won't be so bad."  Or, "If we just fire everybody on the staff and start from scratch, maybe things won't be so bad."

Also, let me be clear... I feel, like virtually everyone else, that change must be made.  This Saturday is the first game I've ever witnessed in the Mark Richt era where we've gone into a game and I've felt that we have absolutely zero chance to win. This, obviously, is completely unacceptable.

The question is which changes should be made. When you're losing, all the fans who think they know everything come out of the woodwork and want to fire both the offensive and defensive coordinators, every position coach, and some geniuses even want to fire the head coach.  Well, forgive my bluntness, but get your damn head on straight, people, before you barrage the internets with your ignorance.  (Either that, or go and comment on a Jeff Schultz or Bill King column on AJC.com.)

First of all, no one will argue that Willie Martinez must be replaced as the defensive coordinator.  Our defense's average PPG has gone up every year since he's been here, and no matter how many times we give the other team a short field, the defense simply can't use that as a crutch when they drive and score a touchdown every time (as Kentucky did).  Kentucky had no field goals all game... every time they were in scoring position, they scored a touchdown.  Allowing more than 30 points in even 1 game in a season isn't really acceptable... allowing it a dozen times in 3 years means you lose your job.  I'm sure Willie is a great guy, and it seems like many of the "insiders" I've heard lately think he really is a good secondary coach, but the bottom line is that in major college football, this is a results-oriented business.   CWM's results have sucked out loud, and he's going to have to answer for them.

Second, the fact that Joe Cox sucks is incredibly inconsistent is not a reason to replace Mike Bobo as offensive coordinator/QB coach.  For the record, that bootleg play that many people have lambasted worked the first 2 times he called it, didn't work the third time, and the fourth time there was an open Tavarres King ready for a touchdown run if Joe Cox puts it in the right place (which he didn't).  Mike Bobo has also coached David Greene and D.J. Shockley, and it makes me laugh when people say he wasted Matthew Stafford's talent. 

Stafford was a cocky kid who relied 100% on his talent, and Mike Bobo built up the kid's fundamentals, footwork, and judgement.  I mean, look at his progression from a freshman to a junior.  Yes, he still made a bad judgement call every couple of games and threw a pick 6, but he was able to find more open receivers... his footwork was much better, resulting in better, more accurate throws... Mike Bobo made Matthew Stafford better.  The fact that Stafford continued to rely on strictly his talent sometimes instead of what he was taught isn't Mike Bobo's fault.  Finally, Bobo runs almost exactly the same plays Richt would if he were calling the plays.  If you're going to fire Bobo, you might as well fire Richt, because he isn't going to bring in anyone who will run a substantially different offensive scheme.

Finally, to wrap all this up, Mark Richt knows better than anyone else that the complete turnover and upheaval of a staff is one of the top factors that can truly bring a great program (and, more importantly to him, a great coach) down.  He's seen his friend Tommy Tuberville at Auburn have stability for a while, and then replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators following a bad season, and then get fired himself the next year.  He's seen his mentor, Bobby Bowden, lose his best offensive and defensive coordinator (himself and Chuck Amato), and then get sent into a death spiral from which he certainly will never recover.  He will not replace everyone except himself... mark it down in pen and chisel it into a stone tablet... as long as he is the coach at Georgia, it will never happen.

I see poor mistakes on the offense, but those mistakes are bad judgement from the quarterback and not knowing what the plays are as a freshman running back... those aren't lapses in coaching.  I see poor mistakes on the defense, and those mistakes are a senior not knowing where the hell to run... not adjusting your own schemes when the offense adjusts theirs, and not tackling in a fundamentally sound way.  These mistakes are at least 90% attributable to coaching, and they have been consistently seen over multiple years since our current defensive coordinator took charge.

We need a new defensive coordinator.  We need a full-time special teams coach.  And, since that new DC will probably not be Rodney Garner, we need a new recruiting coordinator.  I don't know who would make a good ST coach (although I know it's not Fabris), but I think the new DC could be Dick Bumpas, and the new RC could be Ron Zook (he'll be available at the end of this season).  I mean, we're Georgia, dammit.  We should go after people who are the best in their fields.