CollegeFootballPoll.com Message Board

All I can say is....WOW...what a way to lose.

That being said...I'm going to miss Mark Richt.

It sucks that they are 0-2, but I think they will be very good. And I think they are a bit better than South Carolina. If they don't play anyone a step or 2 better than SC...they will win out.

I saw SC score then boom, another quick score on the fumble. That sucks.

Tough loss. I really thought Georgia was going to win that game.

I'm not sure Richt will survive this one.

Spence wrote:I'm not sure Richt will survive this one.

Unfortunately, no.

Such a good man, but he's paid a LOT of money to win. It's not his fault that Murray made a rookie mistake and fumbled, but that was not all that cost them the game, there were other mistakes that simply came down to coaching and play calling. And being the Captain, you are held accountable.

It looks like the USCe - Fla game might decide the east. Florida does have to play LSU and Alabama while USCe plays Auburn and Arkansas (favorable to USC, I would think).

Richt wasn't the only one that probably lost his job yesterday, Tom O'Brian at NC State may have just lost his with that WF beatdown. After ND poor performance at the end of the Mich game, I'm for firing him too.

Georgia will be remiss if they have some knee jerk reaction to this loss. And....you get these large "super" conferences...going to be a lot more of this. In the end in conference play, half the teams will win and half will lose and schools not use to losing will find it much more difficult to maintain their air of superiority. I think it would be a horrendous mistake to fire Richt.

donovan wrote:Georgia will be remiss if they have some knee jerk reaction to this loss. And....you get these large "super" conferences...going to be a lot more of this. In the end in conference play, half the teams will win and half will lose and schools not use to losing will find it much more difficult to maintain their air of superiority. I think it would be a horrendous mistake to fire Richt.

I think firing him in the middle of the season after he has been a faithful coach is a bad call. He is a classy guy, and if they did do that...I would probably write a letter. Not that it will even get read.

As most of you know, I'm a man of faith, and that's why I love this story.... http://www.uga.edu/teamunited/testimonies/mark_richt.htm

I had no idea Bobby Bowden had so much influence in his life.

This is hilarious to me...and it's really kinda making fun of Georgia fans when he constantly makes references to Richt's chances of being fired.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2011/uncensored-play-by-play-georgia-vs-south-carolina/

Unfortunately, college coaching is about two things; recruiting and developing talent - with a premium on recruiting. If you miss on a recruiting class or two, you are finished.

The SEC is one of those places where tenure is only as good as your last win. The fans, boosters, and the school know that they have access to the best recruits, the coaches are the some of the highest paid, have some of the highest paid staffs, and they are expected to win or they won't stay.

The Recruiting

Georgia
2008 - 5th ESPN
2009 - 6th ESPN
2010 - 12th ESPN
2011 - 6th ESPN
2012 - Outside the top 30 ESPN (31st Scouts.com, 21st Rivals.com)

Where have all the recruits gone? Scared of committing to Richt when they aren't sure of his tenure?


The Money

The SEC has 5 of the nations top 10 highest paid coaches including Richt at #8(3.5Mil).(coacheshotseat.com)

Last year the SEC had 6 of the top 10 highest paid staffs in college football and that included Georgia at 2.54Mil.(OrlandoSentinel.com)


The Wins

Probably the most important stat is wins. More wins, more titles, more job security. Richt has been good but the staggering numbers over the last three years are going to finish him off. Over the last 3 years he has a 25% win Pct. against top 25 teams. A 54% conference winning percentage, and a 73% winning percentage overall.(Bloguin.com & Rivals.com) Last year their 6-7 was good enough for 64th in the league.(.462%)


In closing, when the 8th highest paid Coach and top 10 highest paid staff nationally finish tied for 8th in their own conference it's a bad return on the investment. The big wins that could have saved his job have dwindled to unsatisfactory levels. Winning only half your conferences games over the last 3 years and only a quarter of games against top 25 teams is not a way to keep your job. Going 3-5 in conference and 0-4 against ranked teams last year started the hammer coming down. Opening the season 0-1 in conference play, 0-2 against top 25 teams, a 6-9 record overall the last 15 games with a .400% over that period(6-9), a .333 Conference record (3-6), "0" big game wins (0-6), recruiting class outside the top 25, and no positives in sight it may be a good time to step down.

I couldn't agree more VIle, not good numbers for the last two years.

Numbers do not always give an accurate picture but they are all that's needed in the SEC. Richt since coming to Georgia has built a system of stout offense but the success was built on a combination of offense and defense. Brian Vangorder(2001-2004) had them ranked in the top 15 in total defense from 2002-2004 (15th,4th,6th). Since then?

2002 15th (13-1)
2003 4th (11-3)
2004 6th (10-2)
2005 15th(10-3)
2006 8th (9-4)
2007 14th(11-2)
2008 22nd(10-3)
2009 38th(8-5)
2010 23rd(6-7)

The anomaly is in 2010. They hired a new defensive coordinator and he is developing a defense that is good against the pass but the run defense is the worst it's been in a SEC full of big name rushers. As rank compares to the rest of the league each year, let's break it down to numbers.

Rush Defense
2002 114ypg (13-1)(189ypg-Pass)
2003 102ypg (11-3)(174ypg-Pass)
2004 106ypg (10-2)(182ypg-Pass)
2005 143ypg (10-3)(170ypg-Pass)
2006 108ypg (9-4)(150ypg-Pass)
2007 109ypg (11-2)(214ypg-Pass)
2008 122ypg (10-3)(190ypg-Pass)
2009 126ypg (8-5)(213ypg-Pass)
2010 147ypg (6-7)(181ypg-Pass)

All of the losses between 2002-2004 involved lack of offense. The team has averaged about 31 points a game over the last decade. Had they scored their average in the games they lost from 02'-04' they would have been undefeated in that time. If they want to resurrect the winning tradition it's going to have to be by doing a better job of shutting down the run.

Source: NCAA.org statistics