Dear Mr. McGarity, I hope you'll forgive my presumption that you might listen to me -- on the other hand, if this message resonates with the Bulldog nation and becomes viral, and you won't be able to ignore it. I tried this "unsolicited advice" tactic once before, and things worked out pretty well. While I can't claim that my effort led to things working out to UGA's advantage, what I wrote obviously didn't hurt the Dawgs. And Roquan Smith sure looks great in red. Now I know you have a very difficult job, trying to keep the Bulldog fan base happy. Some "fans" have called for you to fire Mark Richt, even though our coach has managed to win nine tough games, including both Auburn and Georgia Tech on the road. This is in spite of the fact Coach Richt currently has the highest rated recruiting class during his entire tenure, with the chance to finish strong and dramatically improve the final ranking. Georgia could finish with the top ranked recruiting class. If Coach Richt and his staff can persuade blue-chip players like Isaac Nauta, Mecole Hardman, Derrick Brown, E. J. Price, Willie Allen, Demetris Robertson, Shyheim Carter, Tyler Simmons, Brian Burns, or a few similar highly prized recruits to come to Athens to play with Jacob Eason, we could have the necessary talent needed to play for SEC titles and national championships against the likes of Nick Saban, in spite of the advantage in financial support for his program at Alabama. Most of these kids have expressed strong interest or said they want to come to Georgia, but they want Mark Richt and Jeremy … [Read more...]
Mark Richt: the best man for a difficult job
Famous tennis instructor Dennis Van der Meer has often said that a player's IQ is cut in half as soon as he or she steps onto the court and the games begin. His quip translates to mean in the spur of the moment during heated competition, people tend to make ill-advised, emotional decisions as opposed to rational and reasonable ones. Apparently, that would also be an appropriate way to describe many Georgia Bulldog fans, especially during football season. Fans who are calling for a coaching change have let emotion shape their comments, which often lack logic and intelligent thought. People are called "fans" for a reason. It's short for fanatic. These "fair-weather" fans have unrealistic expectations for the present, and a very myopic vision for the future. The truth of the matter is that Mark Richt is an excellent football coach. However, his team has already lost twice this season. Some of our fair-weather fans (apparently those few suffering from temporary insanity) have called for Mark Richt to be fired. To fire Coach Richt at the end of this season wouldn't just be dumb, it would be one of the most stupid decisions in school history -- and that even includes Jake Scott's legendary death-defying ride over Stegeman Coliseum on a motorcycle. Coach Richt is currently one of the best in the business, and when he finally retires, he will ultimately be considered one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. The fair-weather Georgia fans currently calling for his ouster may be wondering -- how can anyone make such an outlandish claim, … [Read more...]
Why the Georgia Bulldogs will win a National Championship in football in the next two years
I had the pleasure of attending the University of Georgia at the same time Herschel Walker was in school -- the undisputed best running back in Bulldog history thus far, and arguably the greatest college player of all time. Bulldog fans got spoiled rotten. The Junkyard Dawg defense coached by Erk Russell rarely gave up very many points, and it seemed that nobody could stop Herschel in the red zone. Then again, nobody could really even slow Herschel down for very long, period. He ran by people. Herschel ran through people, and even leaped over them. Mr. Walker simply wore defenses down. When asked how he could carry the ball thirty five or more times per game, Herschel famously replied, "The ball ain't heavy." You might be wondering if I've lost my mind: am I living in the past? What does reminiscing about the past and the great Herschel Walker have to do with the chances that UGA will win a national championship within the next two years? What gives me confidence to say the Bulldogs can and will win it all under Mark Richt, other than the fact I love our coach and think he's fantastic? Well, I can summarize my answer to that question with only two words: Nick Chubb. If you haven't noticed, satellite television and TIVO are wonderful inventions. Several UGA football games recorded from last season remain on my play list to satisfy the occasional urge to watch football between seasons. One of the recordings I've kept was the Auburn game. Watching the replay this afternoon I was absolutely mesmerized by what I believe to be the most amazing play … [Read more...]
Ranking SEC football coaches
If I'm ever going to be objective about where Mark Richt stands as a head coach among his peers in the SEC, today would be the day. My rose-colored glasses may finally be a little dirty after yesterday's depressing loss to the archrival Yellow Jackets. Georgia blew its football game against Georgia Tech yesterday in heartbreaking fashion, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory after they seemed to have won the game by scoring a touchdown with only 18 seconds left in regulation. Yesterday's loss was almost as bad as the infamous Prayer at Jordan-Hare last year. Inexplicably, coach Richt called for a pooch kick on the subsequent kickoff, afraid that Georgia Tech might manage a long return for a touchdown if we kicked deep. The shorter squib kick gave the Yellow Jackets excellent field position, and just enough time to run one play that gained just enough yardage for their kicker to attempt and make the longest field goal of his career, with literally inches to spare. With that fateful decision, Richt only managed to delay the inevitable winning touchdown, scored by Georgia Tech during their first possession of overtime. Truthfully, Georgia had no business being in position to win the game at the end. They were thoroughly outplayed by the Yellow Jackets for the entire second half. Tech managed to take the lead with about five minutes left in the game, and should have iced it after the receiving team failed to field the ensuing kickoff, giving the Yellow Jackets possession deep in the Bulldog territory. However, they fumbled the ball when they could … [Read more...]
Todd Grantham versus Jeremy Pruitt — which Defensive Coordinator would you rather have?
It's a good thing I don't drink coffee. This morning during breakfast when I read Michael Cunningham's article in the AJC that was published a couple of weeks ago, suggesting that Todd Grantham has done a better job of coaching defense at Louisville than Jeremy Pruitt has been doing this year at Georgia, I would have spit that coffee all over my keyboard. Water cleans up much easier. Nor does it hurt very much if you laugh while swallowing and some goes up or down the wrong way. Was Mr. Cunningham serious? Has he actually watched the two defenses play, or simply looked at the raw statistical analysis? In his defense, Mr. Cunningham normally writes about the Atlanta Hawks and professional basketball. He must have wandered a little bit out of his comfort zone. That's the only way I can guess someone might think Todd Grantham could do a better job at Louisville than Jeremy Pruitt has been doing this year at Georgia. He simply can't have watched Todd Grantham coach a defense before. However, I have. In fact, I watched Grantham in action for four mostly painful years, from 2010 - 2013, every game the Bulldogs played. And in my personal opinion, Georgia won the freaking lottery when Grantham left and they hired Pruitt to replace him. Now it simply isn't fair to Grantham to compare him to Jeremy Pruitt, a man who has proven he knows how to coach a national championship caliber defense. Grantham's work should be measured against Willie Martinez, the guy he replaced. Grantham was a slight improvement. But I am sure that I can recognize a … [Read more...]
