Do I Still Have Faith in Mark Richt as the Head Coach of the Georgia Bulldogs?: A Reply to David Hale
by T Kyle King on May 18, 2010 12:15 AM EDT
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PrintDavid Hale (who, it should be stressed, was asking a question rather than advocating extreme action) called attention to such hardheaded coaching choices as the decision to put natural linebacker Richard Samuel in the offensive backfield for two seasons, and used such decisions as the jumping-off point for this inquiry:
Have all the offseason moves left you with as much confidence in Richt as you ever had? Or did two years of stubborn insistence on a largely unsuccessful approach shake your belief?
Or perhaps more to the point -- will you stick by Richt if Georgia finishes 8-5 again this year, but does it with a more fundamentally sound D, a better approach to kickoffs and a duo at tailback that understands how to play the position?
Senator Blutarsky gave his answer. Here is mine:
Hale is a professional journalist, so it shouldn’t surprise us that his questions get progressively more challenging. The first question is easy for me to answer: Mark Richt’s offseason moves, which were decisive and demonstrated a commitment to curing what ails us, left me as confident as ever that the right man is leading our football program.
The second question isn’t much tougher. While I agree with the characterization of the 2008 and 2009 seasons as "two years of stubborn insistence on a largely unsuccessful approach," a couple of down campaigns are not enough to overwhelm the achievements of the previous seven autumns, which included two SEC championships, three conference title game appearances, a trio of Sugar Bowl berths, four finishes of no worse than tied for first place in the division, and five double-digit victory totals. As NCT has pointed out, Vince Dooley survived downcycles considerably longer and deeper than those, and the Bulldogs have a 43-4-1 four-year run in the early ‘80s to show for their patience.
Hale’s third question also is his trickiest, in part because I appreciate the historical context into which his Samuel example must be placed and in part because I reject the premise of "Georgia finish[ing] 8-5 again this year" while demonstrating "a more fundamentally sound D, a better approach to kickoffs and a duo at tailback that understands how to play the position."
In an interview a good while back, I was asked which would matter more to me, a win over Florida without a national championship or a national championship featuring a loss to the Gators. Although I answered the question, I believe it posed a false dichotomy; today, unlike in the Ron Zook era, a victory in Jacksonville is a prerequisite to winning the division, which is a prerequisite to winning the conference, which is a prerequisite to winning it all. I feel the same way about Hale’s final question: I don’t believe a more fundamentally sound defense, a better approach to kickoffs, and an effective tailback tandem can fail to produce a record better than last year’s, particularly in light of what likely will be an easier 2010 schedule.
It is interesting to me, though, that David used Richard Samuel’s late-career position switch as his opening example. The reference reminded me of another Georgia player who spent a couple of years on the wrong side of the ball before being given the opportunity to play in his proper roster spot: Robert Edwards, who was a cornerback for two seasons before being moved to the offensive backfield.
Errors such as those occur on occasion. Even at his most pig- and thick-headed, though, Mark Richt has never come close to matching the misjudgment and mismanagement that plagued the program throughout the 1990s. I will grant that my faith was shaken by last year’s loss to Florida; after a six-year stretch (2002-2007) featuring two series wins and four losses by a touchdown or less, it was possible to believe that the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was close to being back on an even keel, so the Bulldogs’ lopsided losses by the St. John’s River in the last two seasons set the Red and Black back by quite a bit.
The unfortunate reality, though, is that the 2008 and 2009 seasons attest more to the reasons for faith in Urban Meyer (and, on the other side of the league, in Nick Saban) than to the reasons for a lack of faith in their SEC coevals, our own coach included. Partly as a result of the fallout following the Saturday Evening Post scandal, Coach Dooley seldom faced Bear Bryant in head-to-head competition; Coach Richt must square off with Coach Meyer annually and with Coach Saban regularly.
Do I want Coach Richt to do better than he has done against the Gators? Obviously, I do. Could there come a point at which his other successes are overwhelmed by his inability to beat Florida, much as John Cooper’s losses to Michigan ultimately undid him at Ohio State? While improbable, it certainly is possible.
At the end of the day, though, it comes down to this: Joseph Heller was criticized for the fact that his first novel was his best, and, when challenged that he hadn’t written anything else as good as Catch-22, he replied: "Who has?" A couple of down years (one of which featured ten wins and a January bowl victory) will not prove to be Mark Richt’s undoing; if his time in Athens ends unhappily, it will be because he can’t beat Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
With apologies for answering David Hale’s question with a question (a la "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"), therefore, I pose Joseph Heller’s question in reply: "Who can?" Until that question can be answered satisfactorily, my response to Hale’s third and final question must be in the affirmative.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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What I wan’t from this season is a consistent effort on both sides of the ball, no taking plays off. I wan’t competent defense, even if they’re undermanned. I wan’t a call other than HB draw on 3rd-and-long.
The team is better than 8-5, but if we can go 9-4 and with those 4 losses being respectable, I’ll be satisfied.
Inhale deep, like the words of my breath—I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
Lets be hones't.
Mark Rich’t has se’t the bar so high tha’t nothing less than a 10-win season will be considered a “success” this year by Georgia fans. I dont think less than tha’t will put him on the ho’t sea’t, bu’t I do think it will be a cause for disappointmen’t among the fans.
I mean, think abou’t i’t. If Georgia wins less than 10 games, they will have lost to Florida and at leas’t 2 of the following: South Carolina, Auburn, Ga. Tech, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Losing two of those games in 2010 has to be considered a disappointmen’t.
Overall, I will be satisfied if Georgia shows improvement in defensive fundamentals, the kicking game, and the running game, as has been previously stated. I also believe tha’t if those areas are materially improved in 2010, it is incredibly unlikely that Georgia wont win 10 game’s.
As an amateur student of language ...
I am fascinated by the apostrophe insertion. Its consistency (every final “t”, but also the final final “s”) suggests something’s going on with whatever tool you used to type the post. And I’ve read enough of your posts to know it’s not a personal idiosyncrasy. It brings to mind the over-aspiration that some actors bring to their performances (which I always have assumed is due to stage training, where exaggerated articulation has a purpose, but which becomes distracting in filmed or taped studio performances).
Is your concluding parenthetical . . .
. . . a shot at William Shatner? or at the British William Shatner, Kenneth Branagh?
Go 'Dawgs!
As an amateur student of language...
… did you notice that Robert Downey Sr. put an apostrophe in “want” every time it appeared in his comment? ‘Cause that’s what I was making fun of.
At least someone noticed, though. :-)
And as long as you mentioned Shatner…
You know you just read that in your mind in his “Captain… KIRK” voice.
by vineyarddawg on May 18, 2010 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Curse you sha'tner, and your awesome Sha'tner voice
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
by Southern Dawg on May 18, 2010 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions
Bad Things Could Happen
“I don’t believe a more fundamentally sound defense, a better approach to kickoffs, and an effective tailback tandem can fail to produce a record better than last year’s, particularly in light of what likely will be an easier 2010 schedule.”
On first impression I strongly agree with that. On second impression all the indicators are there for improvement. But then I start thinking, what if Aaron Murray comes up way short, what if Todd Grantham comes up way short, etc. These are real unknowns. Remember Ray Goff’s last year. His two most important players went down before the season was 5 minutes old (yeah, yeah, all’s well that end’s well),
So I guess I’m saying you make sense, but they still gotta play the games, which is the same as saying nothing at all. Some insight, huh.
by Hogbody Spradlin on May 18, 2010 7:06 AM EDT reply actions
Actually, that's a fair point.
I wasn’t accounting for the possibility of injuries.
I’ll be more forgiving of a poor record if key players are hurt, but not if that becomes an excuse for failing to live up to whatever potential the players who are on the field possess. I am willing to cut the baseball team some slack due to all the injuries that affected the team at the beginning of the year, but that is no excuse for some of the more extreme results the 2010 Diamond Dogs have produced. Losing is one thing; giving up 20 or 25 runs in a game is something else again.
Go 'Dawgs!
NO more blowouts!
That is just the basic first step. We must at least be competitive in every game, which has not happened since 2005. If we don’t roll over to the tune of 4 TDs behind or more (as has happened the past THREE years in a row), then I have faith that the changes being implemented will, sooner rather than later, give us a chance to win any game on our schedule.
It's the nature of the losses
I agree, Vindexdawg. To me, it’s impossible to make any kind of prediction of how I’ll feel about things at the end of a season if we’re 8-5 (or any other record, for that matter: I wouldn’t have thought 10-3 could be as disappointing as it was in 2008, even with the pre-season hype). Assuming (only for the sake of Hale’s hypothesis) there are five losses, a lot of things matter. To whom did we lose? By what score? How good did those teams turn out to be? Can we attribute any of the losses to no-fault factors, such as injuries? Were there repeated instances of bad play selection? Were our best players on the field, and did they appear prepared?
Five losses by a touchdown or less to teams that finished with very good to great seasons in games that weren’t marred by multiple (one or two can happen) boneheaded decisions would be deeply frustrating but would not prompt me to unlock the torch and pitchfork cabinet.
Is that metaphorical, or do you literally have a torch and pitchfork cabinet?
’Cause I can see that one going either way.
Go 'Dawgs!
"would not prompt me to unlock the torch and pitchfork cabinet"
I think there’s some sort of gun control joke there, but I won’t be the one making it.
Position reassignments are an interesting dilemma for coaches. If the coaches had not moved Samuel to linebacker, perhaps he would have played some in the backfield in 2010, especially in short yardage situations. I always thought Richard had the makings of a star fullback as well.
But like some sort of gridiron Schrodinger’s cat (except, you know, weighing 230 pounds, which would be one fearsome cat, locked in a box or not) we’d never know whether or not he would have been a serviceable or even exceptional linebacker. Now, we will get the answer to that question. It’s a little humorous that Mark Richt probably is subjecting himself to more scrutiny by refusing to stubbornly keep Samuel on offense, and instead giving the young man a chance to maximize his talents. But this is one of the things I like about Mark Richt and one reason I think he can be successful in the longterm. He’s not concerned with admitting that he made a mistake, and he’s willing to correct it.
Once again, however...
… the coaching staff has ruined the experiment by observing the result.
by vineyarddawg on May 18, 2010 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions
He is the Anti-Kiffin in every possible way
He is a very humble coach. Not a ME-first kind of guy at all, and will take every hit that he feels is right for him to take. And its another reason why i’d rather have him than anyone else.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
by Southern Dawg on May 18, 2010 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I really feel the urge to point out
Vince Dooley survived downcycles considerably longer and deeper than those
These cycles and how they are handled really do make the differences between the long and short-term successes. The Vince Dooley’s and the Jim Donnan’s, in UGA parlance. Look at guys like Lloyd Carr and John Cooper. Nobody in their right minds could look back on their tenures at Michigan and Ohio State and say they were unsuccessful as a whole — but neither were able to keep their programs winning at a level their constituents deemed suitable.
You don’t see the patience for these cycles anymore because in general, nobody coaches anywhere long enough. Even great coaches like Meyer and Saban have never stayed at one place beyond 5 years (though Meyer’s going to enter year 6 this year obviously). How do we know they can whether the storm? Sure, it’s reasonable to assume that since they’re so successful short term, it will sustain, but an assumption isn’t knowledge. What if UF’s offense continues to stall post-Dan Mullen? Will Gator fans being asking the same questions about Steve Addazio (and similarly complaining about Meyer’s stubbornness re: the OC) a year or 2 from now? There’s no way to know.
It’s how you whether these down cycles that make up the differences between the long-termers and the short-termers. 2010 will probably begin to answer that question for Georgia (and even more so for my own Alma mater).
I agree with the "Who can" Sentiment
I think this goes back to the “what if” scenario where we do fire CMR for some god awful reason, who are you going to bring in that’s better right now. Most likely you are going to have to take a risk on a “good” assistant coach, sure that worked in the past but since when have we been that fortunate that often, the answer would be a typical T. King answer of never.
I still have faith in CMR and i think he’s at least earned our faith with the off season adjustments and firings. He didn’t even wait till after the bowl game to do it. He’s shown he’s not too stubborn to make changes and i think we need to give him time for this new defensive transition to do its work and reap the fruits of concentrating on in-state talent.
I’m behind CMR come hell or high water.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
2008...
was our year and we were decimated by injuries. 2009 was always going to be rebuilding year. There’s a narrow window for success the next two seasons. The last two losses against UF are excusable, but we should have a shot at the Gators this season. A competitive loss wouldn’t be the end of the world, but another blow out would not be positive.
After we
totally demolished utilizing a slash/burn, Blitzkreig offensive, bug-squashing domination, can of whoop ass beat down whipped Tech (calling Craig T…I’m totally obsessed with Tech again…please chime in) at the end of the year, Richt blew up the Willie Two Thumbs experiment, and I’m sure thanked coach Fabris for all his hard work as he handed him the pink slip. In my mind, this bought our coach all the time he needs to get it right. The only questions facing this team is how quickly do we adapt to the 3-4. A great defense is being built as we speak by a coach who knows how to recruit to the positions. How quickly this gets done totally depends on the quality of the building materials on hand, which ain’t bad. I am absolutely convinced we’ve got the right contractor! No need to worry about blow-outs once the concrete sets up.
At the risk of becoming tangential regard the subject of this post, I’m not worried in the least about Aaron Murray. He doesn’t have to be great to be good.
I have total faith in our coach, regardless of the UF record (we’ve had some real shit-end of the stick breaks in a few of these contests). And in case you haven’t been up-to-speed on the recruiting trail: we are kicking some butt out there and recently added a guy who is faster than Chris Rainey (and is about 25 pounds heavier as well.)
Why, it’s a tank. No…it’s a running back. Coming soon to a blog near you…stay tuned.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
i wasnt happy with the more than just the blow outs
we had a freaking shoot out with SC for goodness sakes – in Athens. Then did it again with Arkansas. And we darn near beat LSU. And we should have NEVER lost to UK. So, in my mind, we were as close to being 10-3 as we were to being 6-7. It was just a crappy year all in all, sickening. Shoot outs scare the heck out of me because it means the game is out of control essentially. Whoever happens to get the last fumble or the last posession wins b/c of luck – not strategy and playmaking. And the worst part of the season was the turnover ratio – which I largely place blame on Bobo for continually allowing Cox to try plays that he couldnt make. It wasnt until the O-Line and running backs decided to actually be leaders and stop making excuses that we beat Tech like we could have beat several other teams.
BUT, CMR did his thing, made his adjustments, recruiting is fine, we have a lighter schedule. We all want to beat florida. I would like to do better than 8-5 but wouldnt consider that a bad year if we 1) block 2) tackle. And Murray will do ok if we 1) block and 2) bobo uses those backs and TEs and pulls his head out of his back. Finally – I have nothing but happiness and good expectations of a very solid defense.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
I have confidence that we will bounce back but
if we go another 2 years without an East Title, how could ANYONE justify 7+ years without an East Title?
I mean, are we that desperate?
Richt should be held to SOME sort of standards and 7+ years of no East Title is unacceptable, period
I have absolutely no idea . . .
. . . what’s going on with the italics in these comments.
Go 'Dawgs!
Probably caused by
The Locke Monster.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on May 18, 2010 10:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
This is weird!
When I first posted my comment, it wasn’t all in italics . . . then I came back, and it was.
Strange. . . .
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 18, 2010 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions
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