The man led the Georgia Bulldogs to a losing season last year after stumbling to a very poor record the year before after losing three of the biggest four games on the schedule in 2008. The man is dumb. The offense is boring, but he is too loyal to fire Mike Bobo. He took WAY too long to get rid of Willie Martinez. He got lucky by snagging this recruiting class and only did so because his last two teams were so bad that he could tell these high school kids they could play right away. Now he’s about to face Boise State in the Georgia Dome, a game he’ll probably lose because he is overmatched as a coach.
Those, sadly, are the crazy thoughts by some of the fans that call in to radio shows, post messages on newspaper message boards and boo in the stands during yet another loss to Florida. A slow-simmering yet ever-growing portion of Bulldog Nation is fed up with Georgia head coach Mark Richt. They think he is past his prime, finished, donezo.
What are they missing?
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Todd Grantham certainly respected Mark Richt enough to leave the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, where he was a former defensive coordinator and certainly a candidate to get another gig after his work with DeMarcus Ware, to come work for Richt. Grantham took a three-year deal with a very steep buyout because he believed in what Richt was bringing to the table and the Georgia program.
Now a man very respected in the NFL coaching world and who comes from a fine coaching family has decided to leave the Washington Redskins after eleven seasons, having worked for seven different head coaches to come and work for Richt. Kirk Olivadotti decided to make the same trip to Athens that Grantham did one year ago, entering the college ranks from the pro game because he believed in Richt and his direction for the Georgia program. Two straight offseasons saw Richt go to the NFL coaching pool to draw in an assistant coach. Would a coach that is dumb or lucky or stupidly loyal be able to attract such professional talent to his on-the-way-down program?
The truth is Mark Richt is has a program that is about to bust back on track thanks to incredible defensive coaches and talent that is ready for primetime. You want to blast Richt for the losing season last year? Saban’s first Alabama squad lost six games (including one to Richt’s Bulldogs) while learning the 3-4. You want to blast Richt for losing at home to Kentucky in 2009? I guess now we know why Joe Cox was a Duke lean until Georgia got into his recruiting process. A good coach is going to have a rough year every now and then. Richt is a good coach: the NFL sure seems to think so. As a Georgia alum and fan, I’ll take the NFL circles over the tailgate circles any day.
No comments:
Post a Comment