Grading Mark Richt After Nine Years With the Georgia Bulldogs (Part I)
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 7:00 PM EST
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PrintGeorgia has gone 7-6 in the Bulldogs’ last thirteen games. These results keep recurring for reasons that continue to be repeated. This is where we are as a program. There is no explaining this away. . . .
The saddest and most frustrating part of it is that these players have talent to burn, are playing with heart, and want to win, but their gifts are being squandered. A wealth of NFL-caliber ability is going to waste before our very eyes. We have been down this road before and, although everyone agrees we are on this road again, no one seems determined to slam on the brakes, turn the car around, or even make sure the driver has a valid license. . . .
The systemic problems endemic to our program have reached the extreme levels they had reached in 1995, and the solutions to those problems must be as extreme now as they were then. . . .
I do not doubt that Mark Richt can still surpass Vince Dooley to become the most successful coach in University of Georgia history, but today, for the first time, I am no longer sure he will. When my head hit the pillow on the night of December 26, 2000, I was sure Coach Richt would get to 202 victories during his tenure in Athens. When my head hit the pillow on the night of October 30, 2009, I remained sure of the inevitability of that milestone, as I had remained sure each night in between. Tonight, my head will hit the pillow clouded by doubt as to the certainty of that which I have believed without wavering for nearly nine uninterrupted years.
T. Kyle King (October 31, 2009)
On Saturday, I will be taking my son to Sanford Stadium to see Georgia play Tennessee Tech. At some point, I will spot Mark Richt on the sideline and point him out to the six-year-old boy sitting beside me. I know that, by taking my son to college football games, I am sending a signal that he will see there things worthy of emulation. I will feel no twinge of conscience at the thought that I am tacitly endorsing my son’s adoption of Mark Richt as a role model. If my son is going to grow up admiring a football coach, he would be hard-pressed to pick a better one than Mark Richt. Certainly, the man even rival fans call "the nicest human being on the planet" would be far preferable to the man whose supporters describe him as their "prize assassin."
Damn it, Mark, one of us has to make a decision we don’t want to make. . . .
I know he’s your friend. I know he’s a good man. I know he has a wife, Kim, and three children, Christina, Ashley, and William. I take no pleasure in telling them it’s time for them to pull up stakes, find a new job, and start over somewhere else.
It’s not fair, but that’s life. That, as they say, is why you make the big bucks.
T. Kyle King (November 4, 2009)
Since I wrote those words, Mark Richt has led the Bulldogs to a win over their oldest rivals and a win over their in-state rivals (both of whom were bound for January bowl games), fired three members of his coaching staff, won a bowl game over an up-and-coming Big 12 team, hired Todd Grantham at the end of an exhaustive search for a new defensive coordinator, and gone outside his circle of acquaintances to hire Coach Grantham’s preferred secondary coach. Aside from one atrocious senior night between the hedges, it’s been all uphill since we hit rock bottom.
Any fair evaluation of Coach Richt’s record nine years into his tenure, therefore, most begin with an acknowledgment that he has proven his willingness to make the changes that are necessary to restore the Georgia program to prominence. When even guys who hurl toasters off of balconies during Bulldog victories are urging patience, we need to give credit where credit is due. Mark Richt is a fine man, an excellent coach, and a damn good ‘Dawg.
That said, here is the tale of the tape on Coach Richt’s time in the Classic City:
Just three of Coach Richt’s 24 predecessors lasted as long as nine years as the head coach in Athens. (While Alex Cunningham technically was at the Georgia helm from 1910 to 1919, the Red and Black did not field football teams during the war years of 1917 and 1918, so Coach Cunningham oversaw only eight Georgia squads.) For what it’s worth, Coach Richt’s office is located in a building named for two of the three previous coaches who served nine or more years, and that building is the centerpiece of an athletic complex named for the third such skipper. If, at the end of his coaching career, Mark Richt does not have a sports facility on the University of Georgia campus christened in his honor, it literally will be unprecedented in the annals of the nation’s oldest state-chartered university.
We will be looking at the first nine years of service as head coach by Harry Mehre (1928-1936), Wally Butts (1939-1947), and Vince Dooley (1964-1972). Here is how Mark Richt has measured up against the best in Bulldog history from 2001 to 2009, beginning with his records against particular opponents:
Georgia v. Vanderbilt:
Mehre: 1-1
Butts: 0-0
Dooley: 7-0
Richt: 8-1
While that "1" on the right-hand side of Coach Richt’s ledger against the Commodores is as glaring as it is grating, he beat Vandy more times than any of his predecessors in his first nine years and his lone setback is all that separates him from the perfection achieved by Coach Dooley . . . who, by the way, was 8-1 against the ‘Dores in his first nine meetings with the Commies. It happens.
Georgia v. Kentucky:
Mehre: 0-0
Butts: 4-2-1
Dooley: 8-1
Richt: 7-2
This one is a tad more troubling, inasmuch as the Bulldogs have lost to the Wildcats twice in the last four years. Under Rich Brooks, Kentucky never beat Florida, Tennessee, or even South Carolina, making Georgia the only SEC East opponent the recently-retired Blue and White coach’s ‘Cats beat aside from Vanderbilt. Even so, though, Coach Richt is just one game off of Coach Dooley’s pace, and he clearly responded to the ignominy of falling to Kentucky on the gridiron: Mark Richt followed up both losses to the Bluegrass State Felines by changing coordinators.
Georgia v. Alabama:
Mehre: 1-4
Butts: 3-3
Dooley: 1-2
Richt: 3-1
Though undoubtedly aided by the turmoil in Tuscaloosa during much of the 2000s, Coach Richt still can say that he is the only Georgia coach to have made it through nine seasons at the Red and Black helm with a winning record over the Crimson Tide. He is 2-0 in Bryant-Denny Stadium, a venue in which the Red and Black had never won prior to his arrival.
Georgia v. LSU:
Mehre: 0-3
Butts: 1-4
Dooley: 0-0
Richt: 3-3
As disheartened as we all were by last year’s last-second loss to the Fighting Tigers, Coach Richt’s record against Louisiana State surely counts as one of the feathers in his cap. During one of the most dominant periods in the Bayou Bengals’ history, Mark Richt has held his own against LSU, going .500 against the Tigers both overall and in the Georgia Dome.
Georgia v. Ole Miss:
Mehre: 0-0
Butts: 1-1-1
Dooley: 4-3
Richt: 4-0
You can’t get much better than perfection, particularly when your predecessors all achieved mediocrity against that same opponent in the same span.
Georgia v. South Carolina:
Mehre: 0-0
Butts: 3-0
Dooley: 6-0-1
Richt: 7-2
There may be no more frustrating series for the Bulldogs than their annual affray with the Gamecocks. The Palmetto State Poultry have a long history of playing Georgia close and periodically pulling off the upset, but Coach Butts and Coach Dooley managed to keep the Roosters caged during their first nine years on the job. Coach Richt generally has kept the Carolinians under control, but he’s been nicked by the spurs a couple of times and he has beaten them convincingly just once.
Georgia v. Tennessee:
Mehre: 0-1
Butts: 0-0
Dooley: 0-2-1
Richt: 5-4
While, obviously, the Volunteers were not an annual rival of Georgia’s until the fourth season of the Ray Goff era, the fact is that Harry Mehre and Vince Dooley between them failed in all four of their attempts to conquer the Big Orange during the opening nine years of their respective stays in Athens. Mark Richt has a winning record against Tennessee (albeit only barely) and nearly one-third of all the Bulldogs’ series victories over the Vols (5 of 16) have occurred on Coach Richt’s watch.
Georgia v. Georgia Tech:
Mehre: 6-2-1
Butts: 5-4
Dooley: 7-2
Richt: 8-1
It’s Mark Richt’s state. Paul Johnson is only living in it. Even Vince Dooley didn’t beat the Yellow Jackets at that torrid pace, and, after Bobby Dodd left the Grant Field sideline, he faced some Ramblin’ Wreck coaches a good deal worse than Chan Gailey.
Georgia v. Auburn:
Mehre: 5-4
Butts: 6-2
Dooley: 4-5
Richt: 6-3
The Plainsmen lead the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with an overall 53-52-8 series record, so it is not surprising that no Georgia coach has put together a truly dominant record over Auburn. Nevertheless, Coach Richt has won two-thirds of his meetings with the Tigers and has taken six of the last eight games, including each of the last four, from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, despite overlapping with the extremely successful Tommy Tuberville for much of his tenure. Coach Richt simply does not get enough credit for his achievements against the Plainsmen. I hate Auburn.
Georgia v. Florida:
Mehre: 6-2-1
Butts: 7-1
Dooley: 5-3-1
Richt: 2-7
Many critics claim that the major blemish on Coach Richt’s record is his lack of a national championship, but this is not the case. By far the worst deficiency to be found in Coach Richt’s resume is his singular lack of success against the Sunshine State Saurians. Where Georgia’s championship chances are concerned, the road from Athens to Atlanta (and beyond) runs through Jacksonville.
When, and only when, balance is restored to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party will higher achievements become possible; the days are gone when the Red and Black can lose to the Gators yet still win the East. Division, conference, and national championships will remain unattainable dreams as long as Florida occupies the upper hand in the rivalry. If this problem continues to remain uncorrected, it could overwhelm Mark Richt’s otherwise very successful career in the same way the inability to beat Michigan overshadowed every other achievement of John Cooper’s stewardship of the Ohio State program.
Coming Soon: How Mark Richt Stacks Up in Wins, Winning Percentage, Bowl Appearances, SEC Outings, Non-Conference Contests, and Championships.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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Excellent perspective
as always, Kyle. I agree that the lack of success Florida is a terrible blemish to Coach Richt’s stellar career, but most fans overlook his success over rivals Tech and Auburn. Four in a row over any team is impressive.
It is also impressive the record against LSU when the Bayou Bengals were having their best period of success.
I was thinking after reading this about Coach Richt’s record against coaches that have a MNC.
Urban Meyer: 1-4
Nick Saban: 2-3
Les Miles: 2-1
Steve Spurrier: 4-2
Phillip Fulmer: 5-3
Lou Holtz: 3-1
Bobby Bowden: 1-0
Aside from Urban Meyer, whenever Coach Richt goes up against the best coaches in the business he usually wins (and we won’t count Tommy Tuberville, who Coach Richt went 5-3 against).
www.grittree.wordpress.com
Are we just going with Division I-A national championships?
If not, we can include records of .500 or better (in one case, much better) against Chan Gailey and Paul Johnson (a/k/a “Chan Miserably”), too.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 10:34 PM EST up reply actions
Tip o' the Hat to "Chan Miserably"
That made me laugh.
by first and thom on Jan 20, 2010 10:45 PM EST up reply actions
Great post as always but....
And not to nitpick, but I know Dooley went at least 0-2 vs. LSU in the 80’s. I was at the one in Athens and I vividly remember listening to Larry for the game in Baton Rouge. Davis Jacobs stands out in my memory as a 2nd string kicker who may have missed a couple of field goals and we lost by 9 I think. The Athens game was a heartbreaker as I remember.
How 'Bout Them Dawgs!
I for one will always remember . . .
Dooley’s 1987 loss to Mike Archer’s LSU squad. Tommy Hodson led the favored Tigers from behind with under 4:00 to go in the 4th. It was my first trip to Sanford Stadium.
Misty watercolor memories aside, Coach Richt’s records against Auburn and Georgia Tech have balance out his misfortunes against Florida. If that series were to turn around, for whatever reason, it’s intriguing to imagine the level Coach Richt could take this program to. He has had the misfortune of coming in when Steve Spurrier had the Florida program on autopilot, holding his own against Ron Zook, then watching Urban Meyer take the program to levels that even Spurrier never attained. I can’t hold that against him.
You're right about those losses in the '80s, Marshmanslim . . .
. . . and I, like MaconDawg, was there for the 1987 game (although it was not my first trip to Sanford Stadium).
Please note, however, that, in the interests of comparing apples to applies, I have looked only at the first nine years of Harry Mehre’s, Wally Butts’s, Vince Dooley’s, and Mark Richt’s tenures. Accordingly, the won-lost records for Coach Dooley cover only from 1964 to 1972. I’m sorry if I failed to make that clear.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 10:29 PM EST up reply actions
And I was at the victory over LSU in Baton Rouge, 1978 (got to miss a little jr. high for the trip, woot).
Ah, Lindsay's touchdown return as a freshman . . .
. . . good times, good times.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 10:34 PM EST up reply actions
My folks and brothers sat in my dad’s four seats. I sat in the student section with my uncle, who was enrolled in LSU’s grad school at the time. Good times, indeed for a 12 year old.
by NCT on Jan 20, 2010 10:54 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
That's all right . . .
. . . since I, obviously, replied to your first comment before reading your subsequent comment rendering my previous comment superfluous. My bad.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 10:31 PM EST up reply actions
Nice job.
We all agree that the lack of wins against Florida are troubling. However, we have to remember that, at least in my opinion, no team, except maybe Alabama, has EVER experienced the kind of recruiting coup that Florida has earned over the past 12-15 years. There are many reasons for that, and hopefully we have cut into that area and are bringing in some of the best talent in the country and will be coaching it up to the level that Florida has done. If so, we get our wins.
Good point
This is why it is good for us that the Bobby Bowden/Jimbo Fisher transition appears to be paying recruiting dividends for Florida State and Randy Shannon has Miami moving in the right direction. A Skip Holtz upgrade at South Florida wouldn’t hurt, either. The more the local talent base is divided, the less of an edge the Gators get. If the Sunshine State squads divide, we will have a better shot at conquering.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2010 10:37 PM EST up reply actions
1st 9 years vs. teams vastly different, not really the point, now is it ?
Coach Richt Era of 9 years :
17-19 vs Final AP Poll Top 25 teams plus 8 more losses to teams UNRANKED.
The Final AP Poll Top 25 are the real teams a Coach faced that season.
We are mediocre at 17-19 against Final AP Poll Top 25 the year we played them.
And, of course, on the average a Loss every year against some UNRANKED team in the Final AP Poll Top 25 the year we played them with 8 such truly troubling losses.
Looking at just the Final AP Poll Top 25, combined with the 8 troubling losses to teams not in the Final AP Poll Top 25, what we have as a record in the Coach Richt Era, compared to the Final AP Poll Top 25, the year we played them, it is only therefore 17-27.
If you play a 1-A team and Lose, then that counts as a Loss.
If you play a 1-A team and win, that game was not a great game.
Similarly, if we play a team that ends the season not in the Final AP Poll Top 25 and Lose, that is a Loss looking at the Final AP Poll Top 25 because, as against a 1-A team, a Loss to a team outside the Final AP Poll Top 25 counts a Loss.
17-27 Coach Richt Era 9 years vs Final AP Poll Top 25 or Losses to teams outside Top 25.
Further, sir, if Mike Bobo was supposed to be the answer for Offensive Coordinator, then look a might closer at The Coach Richt Era please.
Coach Richt beat 3 Final AP Poll Top 10 teams. Only 1 of those was by David Greene, his Freshman season, never matched by him again in the hobnailed boot. DJ Shockley had 1 in 1 year against Number 6 LSU.
Since Mike Bobo has been the Offensive Coordinator, we have 0 wins over a Final AP Poll Top 10 team.
Mike Bobo as O.C. is 5-6 vs Final AP Poll Top 25 (0 over Top 10) plus 4 Losses vs UNRANKED teams in the Final AP Poll Top 25.
In the seasons we UGA Bulldog fans consider Close, in fact, Coach Richt got to play a 5-Loss Florida State team who had no business being ranked at all whatsoever, obviously. And, he got to play Hawaii, a hapless team that ended up ranked just barely, like FSU.
Have a great season ? Beat great teams ? Get a bowl game against a Top Opponent as the Reward on the National Stage and be therefore considered for a really big Bowl Game ? We haven’t had that.
Largely, we have whiffed on evaluating talent the 9-Year Coach Richt Era.
9 of the Best Football Players in the Nation were Redshirted on this team who Lost 5 games without them.
We ripped the Redshirt Off the Rivals’ Number 11 Running Back in the Nation with three quarters of the 5th game already played, and our season long since by then in the Tank. Washaun Ealey got to play 9 games of the 13, well 8 and a half of the 13.
Even then, we seemed reluctant to send him out there.
Marlon Brown we did not Redshirt. We threw him a grand total of 2 passes all season long for a grand total of 15 yards on the season. He played 8 of the 13 games.
Knowshon Moreno, you recall, we only got to see 2 years because we Redshirted him.
I have no idea what we have done to the recruits that come in here Ranked on The Average in Both Rivals and Scout.com as the Number 7 Recruiting Class in the Nation, but no where is it more evident probably than in the Secondary, that we just haven’t seemed to have UGA Bulldog Secondary players. Not in the mold of Secondary Players prior to Coach Richt.
We have had seasons where it was totally obvious even to AJ-C Sportswriters and the rest of the nation, including truth be told all of us, that we had glaring holes on our team. We went out and recruited nothing to address those holes.
Other years, we have stockpiled our recruits at positions we were already 5-Deep at.
Before Matthew Stafford got here, the national publications said that all of this adds up to UGA is NOT an Elite Football Program.
We’re really not.
LSU and Florida both have done better in the Coach Richt Era than UGA. Now, too, Alabama clearly is ahead of us. And, while UGA has been higher ranked in the Final AP Poll every year for the last 8 years and counting than the vols, we have Lost to them HALF OF THOSE GAMES.
We are like the Buffalo Bills of College Football.
We don’t seem to have any strategy on offense.
We can’t even line up and run a play without a penalty.
We don’t seem to have any strategy on kick-offs or kick-off returns.
We watched Caleb King all year the year before this one. And, he was going to be our Savior ? We watched Richard Samuel with his fumbles, and figured we could Redshirt Washaun Ealey ?
9 Top Football Players in the Nation were Redshirted by a team that Lost 5 games.
And, if you are going to talk about and break down The Coach Richt Era, then respectfully, I submit that you must disclose too the 121 Arrests/Suspensions in the Coach Richt Era. You simply cannot ignore it, lie about it and say they did not happen, nor attempt to mitigate it by saying they are 18-year old kids and made a mistake. We have been undisciplined on the field and off. Haven’t we ?
We have largely had a Failed Offense for 9 years. While David Greene and DJ Shockley certainly did not fumble the football or throw interceptions, the rest of our Quarterbacks most assuredly have, especially the Mike Bobo Offensive Coordinator Era.
We went 13 Consecutive Seasons starting Mike Bobo’s Great Senior Season Top 10 Final AP Poll Ranking in 1997 being ranked in the Final AP Poll Top 25; then this year we did not.
However, there is little reason to believe that we really deserved to be ranked the year before this last season. Had we started out at Number 13 where we ended, we would have been UNRANKED. We started Number 1, as you recall in every poll.
Matthew Stafford’s Freshman Year, we did not deserve to be ranked either, ending up Number 23.
David Greene’s Freshman Year, too, we ended up Number 22 and really did not deserve that ranking either.
2009, 2008, 2006, and 2001, honestly, we were not that great and didn’t deserve to be ranked but got ranked in some polls and other polls we were not ranked. That’s half the Coach Richt Era.
Coach Richt Era has Averaged Number 13 Final AP Poll Top 25.
That is good, if you compare it Ray Goff Era. And, like I say, we never have had a season in which we were rewarded with a truly big Bowl Game Opponent we then beat.
Number 13 team in the nation on the average.
It is what it is.
It is very difficult to sit there and argue we are an Elite Football Program in the Coach Richt Era with 8 Losses in 9 seasons against teams UNRANKED in the Final AP Poll Top 25 teams.
Moreover,
17-19 vs Final AP Poll Top 25 teams Coach Richt Era plus 8 Losses UNRANKED teams
We are going to have a good season, this season coming up. We have a Stellar Couple of Kickers, and we have Probably The Best Defense we have Lined up since Erk Russell this up-coming season.
It’s out Offense.
We do not have an offense.
You can fool yourself all you want about 90-27, but the facts are that we are the 3rd team in The SEC in the Coach Richt Era. And, now Alabama has passed us too.
Only 3 states send more of their high school football players to the NFL than the Sovereign State of Georgia. California, Florida and Texas then Georgia.
We hand this coaching staff better talent than the results prove.
We stockpile at some positions while others which are Glaring Holes to the World, go without proper talent, like we don’t even recognize the Urgency at those positions.
We have not prepared a Quarterback again for next season with 3 Quarterbacks none of whom has taken a meaningful snap.
We are thin at Running Back and recruited 1 ranked outside the Top 25 in the nation by every recruiting service.
We go year after year after year without recruiting running backs.
We go year after year after year without a Secondary.
We have 2 top fullbacks and never gave either the football without any Running Backs.
Then, rip the Redshirt off Washaun Ealey in the 3rd Quarter of Game 5.
Season by then already in shambles.
How long are we going to hang on to Mike Bobo as OC ?
The results are NOT THERE.
The results we do have our LOSING RESULTS.
If you Aspire to be 10-3 every year, you will finish where we do Number 13 on the average.
Just compare that to the other programs in our own conference over the same period of the Coach Richt Era, and you will see that we are 3rd in The SEC in the Coach Richt Era and now too Alabama has passed us. That makes us Number 4 in our own conference.
How are you going to be considered an Elite Football Program when you are the 4th Best in your Own Conference ?
That really is not what I would like to have as our goal.
Therefore, I am not satisfied by it.
There is something called the Top 25.
I would like to be in that.
There is something called the Top 10.
I would like to be in that, and we have done that but we have had HALF the Coach Richt Era where Frankly in 2001, 2006, 2008 and 2009 (note 3 of the last 4 seasons) we did not deserve to be even in the Top 25.
Then, there is something better than Top 25, better than Top 10 and those are the Elite Football Programs that stand out at the top, and yes to be in that group you have to have won a national championship in some poll anyway in the last 3 decades.
We haven’t done that.
Blame it on 3-17 vs. Florida over the last 2 decades all you want.
LSU is better and so is Alabama now too.
Hell, we lose to two 7-5 UNRANKED TEAMS Kentucky and vols.
17-19 vs Final AP Poll Top 25 teams Coach Richt Era plus 8 Losses UNRANKED teams
Number 13 in other words.
90-27.
10-3 in other words.
by Thomas Brown UGA on Jan 20, 2010 10:01 PM EST reply actions
Wow
That was very hard to read.
Are you sure
that you
can’t try and
use
the
enter
button more
frequently?
by vineyarddawg on Jan 20, 2010 10:28 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks, Thomas Brown UGA
I agree with NCT that you raise some valid points, and I am in no position to criticize anyone for being long-winded. Here, in a nutshell, is why I disagree with your assessment of Mark Richt:
Your basic premise is that Coach Richt’s record consists of too many empty calories and too few wins over quality opponents, which you (quite reasonably) define as teams that were ranked in the final Associated Press poll. Since Coach Richt’s 90-27 record averages out to 10-3 per year, you evaluate his performance as good but not elite, especially in light of his 17-19 record against teams ranked in the final AP top 25 and his eight losses to teams that were not ranked in the final sportswriters’ poll.
If I misapprehend your point, please feel free to correct me.
I am reminded of another coach. His first nine years as a college football head coach were from 1987 to 1995. During that span, he posted an overall record of 81-26-2. That looks good at first glance, but it averages out only to 9-3 per year. Moreover, during that nine-season stretch, he lost eight times to teams that were not ranked in the AP postseason poll and he was under .500 (16-18-1) against teams that were ranked in the final AP top 25.
I believe it is fair to say that the coach in question compiled in his first nine seasons a record of achievement comparable to, and arguably slightly inferior to, that compiled by Mark Richt from 2001 to 2009.
The coach who went 81-26-2 with a 16-18-1 record against teams that ended up ranked between 1987 and 1995 was Steve Spurrier.
Was Coach Spurrier not an elite coach? If not, who is? If so, what is your basis for distinguishing between the Evil Genius (who, through 1995, did not have a national championship, either) and Mark Richt?
Once again, I thank you for taking the time to make your points, which are well worth considering. Much obliged.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 21, 2010 12:33 AM EST up reply actions
How come every post you make is incredibly long-winded and nearly unreadable?
Condense, man!
by get swoll yunel on Jan 21, 2010 12:41 AM EST up reply actions
No, Thomas Brown UGA…
I’ve seen this guy post on Blutarsky’s blog as well the Texas A&M hack’s blog, and he always posts these rambling, incoherent pieces that are nearly unreadable. I don’t really understand the purpose. It got to the point on the A&M blog that I just started thinking he was a bot or something because I couldn’t understand someone taking such a long time to craft something that no one was going to bother to read.
Your writing can be verbose, sure, but it’s always coherent and easy to read. TBUGA just takes it to a ridiculous new level.
by get swoll yunel on Jan 21, 2010 2:53 PM EST up reply actions
Specifically, I’m referring to his responses righthere.
by get swoll yunel on Jan 21, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Look it up
You make some decent points, but I think it would be difficult for any team or coach to live up to your standards (are you sure you’re not a Bama or Irish fan?).
I was going to look at what I considered to be the top programs of the past 9 years and compile their overall records, their records versus Final AP Top 25 teams and versus unranked opponents. Then, I was going to look at their average ranks in offense over those years compared to UGA. But honestly, I don’t have that kind of time on my hands, so I challenge you to do it.
You find us a better coach or a better program over that time.
I would suggest starting with these teams:
USC, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio St., Auburn, Alabama, Miami, Penn St, Virginia Tech, Boise St, Utah
Most of those teams have the best records since 2002 (per recent post by David Hale)
Texas 110-18
Oklahoma 110-24
Ohio State 102-25
USC 102-26
Florida 100-30
LSU 99-31
Georgia 98-31
Virginia Tech 99-32
If my memory serves me correct, all of the teams I listed have had some down times.
USC crashed this year.
OU ditto
Florida had the Zook years
LSU was down the past 2 years
Miami hasn’t been the same since the early 2000s
Sustained excellence over 9 years is extremely hard in any sport.
Has Richt made some mistakes? Yes. Have we had some let downs? Yes. Have we missed some opportunities? Yes. But statistically, there are probably less than 5 coaches in the game today that have been better: Carroll, Corch Meyers, Saban*, Mac Brown, maybe Stoops
*remember Saban had a few rebuilding years at the beginning of his terms with LSU and Bama and stunk up the joint in Miami.
So there is the challenge. If Richt is so bad, find us someone better.
I'll give you some numbers
(Poll rankings include both AP and Coaches’)
Records against top 10 (final poll) teams, 2001-2009:
USC: 12-4
UF: 12-13
LSU: 7-15
OU: 8-10
Texas: 6-9
Ohio State: 8-9
UGA: 3-9
Records against top 25 (final poll) teams, 2001-2009
USC:26-10
UF: 25-22
LSU: 21-21
OU: 20-19
Texas: 21-10
Ohio State: 22-14
UGA: 19-21
Losses to unranked (final poll) teams, 2001-2009
USC: 9
UF: 5
LSU: 6
OU: 5
Texas: 6
Ohio State: 7
UGA: 6
I’m not sure where TB gets the numbers, btw. I understand the discrepancy between mine and his to the extent that the database I consulted pulls records for both major polls, but I can’t explain how my database has 6 losses to unranked teams compared to his 8. For the record, the six losses in my numbers are Auburn (2001), Vandy (2006), Kentucky (2006), South Carolina (2007), Tennessee (2009), Kentucky (2009).
Anyway, yeah. Some of UGA’s numbers don’t look all that great. And I’ll bet Florida singlehandedly accounts for almost all of the difference between Georgia and those other programs, which brings us back to Jacksonville.
Yes, the Gators
Take out Florida, and from 2001-2009, Georgia is
17-14 against year-end top 25 teams and 3-5 against year-end top 10 teams.
EXCELLENT BREAKDOWN!
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Well done, NCT
One interesting side note unrelated to Georgia football is that Southern California (a) performs very well in big games and (b) plays darned fewer big games than the national championship-winning programs in the SEC.
On the one hand, a 12-4 record against top ten teams is impressive, but, on the other hand . . . the Trojans played sixteen top ten teams in a nine-year period in which USC scheduled aggressively in non-conference play, while the Gators played 25 during the same span, in which their toughest out-of-conference opponent (Florida State) was down? Wow. As SEC homers go, I give the Pac-10 a good deal of respect, but that says something about conference toughness.
Go 'Dawgs!
Thanks
Thanks for doing the legwork. I would UGA is near the bottom of that list, but again, you are looking at the what has probably been the very best in college football during that time. And as you noted, unfortunately, we play the Gators yearly who is probably #1-3 on that list and we haven’t turned the tables yet. Also, we play LSU who is on the list, while USC and OSU don’t play the others yearly.
Is this written in iambic pentameter?
Am I supposed to hum it?
I’m confused.
Funny that you should mention John Cooper...
… my all-time favorite quote by a coach on national TV came from John Cooper after he led Ohio State to a win against Arizona State in the 1997 Rose Bowl.
When being interviewed on the field after the game, on live television, with his voice being broadcast live to the Rose Bowl crowd, John Cooper said the following:
I want to thank our fans… they’re behind us win or tie.
That’s a Jim Donnan-esque quote right there.
I have but one thing to add....
I hate Florida.
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
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